The tender-hearted Anna wiped the tears from her eyes as she exclaimed, "O, I am so glad he was provided for at last!" "And could all his family go with him?" inquired Walter. "All who pleased could go; the invitation was made freely to all of them." "Of course they did, then," cried Helen. "I wouldn't have staid a minute in that old ugly place, when I could live in a palace, and have such nice things." "When Edward heard this noble, generous offer," resumed Mr. Dermott, "he could hardly believe it. With a choking voice, he replied, 'Dear cousin, your kindness overcomes me; but I am not ungrateful, and whatever conditions or agreement you may see fit to make, I will do my part toward their fulfilment.' "'No, my poor Edward,' responded the gentleman; 'formerly my father, as you well remember, made an agreement with you, whereby you could secure your own happiness. That was forfeited; now I make another covenant with you, whereby I promise all the blessings which, by means of my immense estates, I have it in my power to grant. You have nothing to do but to accept of them as freely as they are offered.'" "O, what a kind man!" exclaimed Helen. "I was afraid he was going to try them with another box." "If he had," cried Walter, "they wouldn't have been such fools as to touch it, after all they had suffered. If I had been there, 'I should have said, I thank you exceedingly, sir, for your kind offer, but I had rather earn the privilege of living in such a fine mansion. Won't you please to try me in some way, and see if I don't exactly obey your orders.' Then he'd have seen one boy that could walk right up to the mark." Walter drew up his form, and stood resolute and determined. His father gazed at him with a sad smile; and Anna wondered to see her aunt wipe a tear from her eye. "What did Edward say?" asked Helen. "He said nothing. He had no voice in which to utter his thanks; the proposition was beyond what he could realize, from his utter, forlorn, and hopeless wretchedness, to free, full, and entire bliss. Indeed he was lost in wonder, love, and praise. He lifted his eyes, streaming with tears, to his cousin's face, and, catching him by the hand, whispered, 'I accept your offer, and henceforth shall delight to know that all my dependence is upon one I so much esteem and love.'" "And what did his wife and children say?" urged Walter, more moved than he cared to have seen.