She raised her eyes as she spoke, and they met his. For an instant the two regarded each other as if each strove for mastery in that long, deep glance. Then she turned away once more. "We had better go to the house," she said. "The grass is very wet." He took a long stride towards her, and caught her by the arms, looking full into her face. "You shall love me!" he exclaimed in a voice intense with feeling. "You _must_ love me! I will have you, Patty, in spite of yourself." A look of defiance flashed upon him from the dark eyes, but it faded into one of gladness. She freed herself gently from his grasp, and moved on. But at the first step she turned back; and, lifting one of his hands in both of her own, she kissed it. "I do love you," she said in a low voice. "I think I have loved you always." Then she found herself half smothered in his arms. * * * * * There are few threads which need further gathering up. Mrs. Smithers persistently refused to receive her daughter, and the girl soon died from poverty and heart-break. A late remorse seized the unhappy mother, who made Mullen House the scene of disgraceful orgies, until an overdose of opium put an end to her ill-regulated life. In process of time, by a train of circumstances which need not be related here, Mullen House came into the possession of young Dr. Sanford and his wife: Ease thus returned again to the home of her ancestors. But all this was long after the April day upon which Patty and her cousin Flossy were both united to the men they had chosen. "Giant Blunderbore and the Princess Thumbling," Will called Mr. and Mrs. Blood; but the giant was so bewildered with happiness, that he shook the joker's hand cordially, and thanked him for his good wishes. Patty and her husband walked home across the bridge over the brook, on whose banks the grass was already green, and the alder-tassels golden. "Let us look in the eddy," the bride said. "We might see that ring." For answer, her husband lifted her hand, and showed her, embedded in the midst of her wedding-ring, the golden thread she had thrown in the pool. "It is symbolical," he said with a happy smile. "It signifies how my life is enclosed in yours." She answered him with a look. FINIS. [Illustration] A LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISHED BY Messrs. James R. Osgood & Co. _Any book on this list sent_ POSTPAID _on receipt of the advertised price_. _ANGELL'S_ (DR. HENRY C.) Records of the Late William M. Hunt. With numerous Illustrations from the works of Mr. Hunt. 1 vol. Small 4to. $1.50. _ARNOLD'S_ (GEORGE) Poems. Edited, with a Biographical Sketch of the Poet, by WILLIAM WINTER. With Portrait and Illustrations. 1 vol. 16mo. Cloth, $1.50. Half-calf, $3.00. Morocco antique or tree-calf, $4.00. _BARTLETT'S_ (T. H.) The Life of the late Dr. William Rimmer. With Illustrations from his Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture. _In the Press._