“And you know she is!” he exclaimed, dropping his hand upon her shoulder, with hearty, kindly roughness; “you know she is! Rouse yourself this moment, Elsie; I command you; collect your thoughts; remember where you are, and what has occurred. What sort of behavior is this? Have I been premature and too partial in ascribing to you strength of mind; courage, coolness, promptitude in emergency? Can I depend upon you in extremity? Come out of this amazement this instant, Elsie! Wake up, and make yourself useful; weakness is meanness. Be strong; strength is grandeur. Be heroic; strength is heroism. Make me proud to call you wife. Stand up, now; give me both your hands. Look me straight in the eyes, and let me see if I cannot infuse some sanity and strength into that amazed and fainting soul of yours.” Elsie placed the back of her hands against her brow, while she slowly arose to her feet, and then, slowly throwing off her hands, as if to dispel an illusion, she said: “There; the cloud has passed, Magnus; the weakness has left me; I will be worthy of you. What is it that I can do, Magnus?” “There! I know you were not a poltroon; only a fatigued hero, Elsie. Come, one kiss, and then to work.” And he caught her to his bosom with an ardent clasp and fervent kiss, that inspired from his own rich and strong vitality all her life, and warmth, and energy, and activity that her weaker nature needed at this trying moment. Then he led her to the bedside of her mother, whispering as he did so: “Now, my own heroic wife, no relapse into weakness.” “No, no, indeed, my strength; I will be worthy of you. Oh, Magnus, I think you have life enough to raise me from the dead, if I were to die. Oh, Magnus, I begin to realize now that she lives, and that I am blessed; blessed to the fullness of content,” said Elsie, sinking upon her knees and raising her clasped hands and streaming eyes to heaven. “Calmly, calmly, my Elsie,” said Magnus, laying his hand gently on her head. “There, rise now, and sit beside your mother, and watch her, and listen for her words, that we may know the nature of her illusion, and not rudely shock it. She seems in a happy trance now—and her pulse is good, yet her state is so critical that her waking must be watched for.” “Hush-h-h! her lips move! she speaks!” said Elsie, bending over her. “Oh, mother! mother! darling mother! warm and living, restored to me! What shall I render Heaven in exchange for thee? Hush-h-h! she is saying something. Oh, Magnus, that look of quiet ecstasy has left her countenance, and the troubled, earthly look she used to wear has come again! What is the reason of it? oh, what is the reason of it? Oh, see how her brow contracts! how her lips quiver! Oh, see her hands fly together and clasp like vises! Oh, Magnus! Magnus do something! She is going into a spasm.”