Not one of them knew how long that blissful trance lasted. It was broken by the slightest sound--it might have been the opening of a door, or even the light tread of our old friend the tortoise-shell cat--but whatever the sound was, the trance was at an end, and they were all awake again. Ellen withdrew her arm, and, with downcast eyes, hurriedly left the room. Joshua turned to Dan, and holding out his hand, said, "Dan, take my hand, and say, Brother Jo." "I do. Brother Jo!" "That's good; isn't it, Dan?" "Yes, Jo." "Brothers more than in heart, Dan, as we have always been. But Brothers really and truly, if Ellen says yes." "Ellen loves you, Jo. You have but to ask." He paused for a little while before he spoke again. "There is something in my mind that it is right you should know. It is the only thing I have ever kept from you; but now, since you have told me about yourself and Ellen"-- "Did you ever doubt it, Dan?" "I wasn't certain, Jo. You have removed a great weight from my heart. It seems strange that now, when I see the almost certain prospect of your future being as bright as we used to hope it would be--it seems strange that I cannot say I am happy. Yet one thing would make me so perfectly." "There is no cloud between you and me, Dan?" "None--nor ever will be, brother of my heart. But a great hope, shadowed by a great fear, has entered into my soul--a hope which fulfilled, would make earth heaven for me. Is it too precious a thing to pray for? It seems so to me. I tremble as I think of it. But if it is not to be, I hope I shall soon die." "Dan!" cried Joshua in alarm, for Dan's last words were like a cry of agony. "Haven't you seen it, Jo? Haven't you suspected it? I love her so that, if I knew she were lost to me, I scarcely think I could live. I love her so that, if she were lost to me, some stronger motive, some stronger feeling than any I can now think of; would have to animate me to make my future less black than the blackest night." "You mean Minnie, Dan?" "Yes; she is my light. Ah, Jo! How I love her! I have never spoken of it till now; I have never dared to breathe it. And now that I speak of it for the first time, it frightens me." "Nay, Dan, take courage. You are frightened by shadows." "If I could think so!" mused Dan in a less agitated voice. "What can I, a cripple, offer her? Love? Yes, I can offer her that, pure and undefiled. Nothing more--nothing more! Keep my secret, Jo." "Yes, Dan," said Joshua sadly. "If all should come right in the end, Jo! You and Ellen, and me and Minnie!" He trembled, and burying his face in his hands, thought of the happy night when the Old Sailor traced Joshua's course on the map, and when Minnie's arm was round his neck and her cheek had touched his. How many times had he thought of those few blissful moments, and what balm and comfort had the memory brought him! CHAPTER XIX. SUNSHINE AND CLOUD.