seemed to be in some way withdrawing her from him.  He struggled against allowing this dim feeling to become a perception.  For she might be free; then she should become his wife:  she might be already bound; in that case,—­again the terrible shadow darkened his face for an instant.  Then he recollected himself, and his eyes, seeking a visible object, rested on her face a little sad with its dwelling upon her unfinished sentence which would have spoken of her mistakes.  A flash of perception revealed the truth to him; he saw the gulf that yawned between his nature and hers, and, almost cursing her for being so above him, there came to him a strange longing to feel some touch upon him which would give his face the calmness that under its pathos he read upon hers.  It was no determination to struggle to a higher plane, no desire for it, but only the old cry for some one to be sent to cool the tip of his tongue because the flame tormented him.  It was not, however, an appreciable lapse of time before he again felt his feet upon the floor and thrilled under the light touch upon his arm.  The insight was over, the whirl was over; he was one of the guests talking to his host’s probable daughter-in-law.  He went on with his subject.  “At least you have not changed your nature,” he said with courteous freedom.  “You are royal still in defence of your friends.  I shall not attack them again.”

“You would better not,” she answered more than half in earnest.

“And Katie is—.”

“Yes, I know,” he said.  And she felt so keenly that he did know all about it that she readily drew away from him when Archdale came up with some one to speak to her.  Stephen saw the movement; Edmonson felt it.  “Proud as Lucifer,” thought the latter, “will not own where it galls her.  She is the kind to hate him if she is bound to him in this way.”

[Footnote 13:  Copyright, 1884, by Frances C. Sparhawk.]

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PUBLISHERS’ DEPARTMENT.

NOTES.

The welcome accorded to the BAY STATE MONTHLY by the reading public of New England during the past year has demonstrated the fact that the magazine has entered a field in which there is room for it to thrive.  To many the idea of a local magazine is novel; so in its inception was the idea of a local newspaper, now generously supported by nearly every hamlet in the Union.

The GRANITE MONTHLY for New Hampshire and the BAY STATE MONTHLY for Masachusetts are pioneers:  their claim for existence is shown by their existence.  The growth of each depends upon the patronage afforded by the public.  The indications now are that the BAY STATE MONTHLY is fairly launched on a long and prosperous voyage.

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