_EM’S HUSBAND_ _A Sequel to “Em”_ By MRS. E. D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH Author of “Ishmael,” “Self-Raised,” “Lilith,” “The Unloved Wife,” “Why Did He Wed Her?” Etc. [Illustration: [Logo]] A. L. BURT COMPANY PUBLISHERS :: :: NEW YORK EM’S HUSBAND CHAPTER I TO THE ISLAND On the cliff-bounded stream! When it is summer noon, And all the land is still, But on the water’s face The merry breeze is playing, Whitening a ripple here and there. H. ALFORD. The pretty _White Dove_ lay rocking at its moorings. It was gray on the outside and white within, and as clean and nice as any little boat need be. Old ’Sias handed his young passenger into it, and made her very comfortable on a seat in the stern. Then he loosened the chain of the boat, spread the snowy sail to the breeze, took the tiller in his hand and steered for the island. They had a beautiful run down the river. The clear bosom of the water, reflecting the brilliant morning sky with its sunlit clouds, displayed all the blending rainbow hues of rose, violet, azure, gold and green. The shore on the right hand was a wide range of high, undulating, wooded hills, rising one behind the other until their outlines were melted amid the vapors of the distant western horizon. The shore on the left hand was a wall of lofty, rugged, moss-studded cliffs, whose tops were lost among the clouds. Before them, down the river, lay the lovely isle, with its girdle of green trees, from the midst of which arose its velvety green hill, crowned with its airy palace, whose high, white walls and many crystal windows flashed and sparkled in the sunshine. “Oh, how heavenly the country is!” exclaimed Em. “I always thought it was beautiful, but I never dreamed it was so divine!” “You come from the city, honey?” inquired the old man. “Yes, but I never want to go back to it,” answered Em. “Ay, ay! I never was in a city in my life. Dey say how ‘De Lord made de country and man made de town.’ Do yer think dat is true, honey?” asked ’Sias. “Yes, I _do_,” said Em., decidedly. “And if you could see a town you’d think so, too.” “Well, honey, I has libbed in dis yer sublunatic speer a hundred and fifty years, more or _less_, and nebber sot eyes on a city, nor likewise a town. But I libs in hopes to see one, or both, ’fore ebber I ’parts for de glory land,” said old ’Sias.