"I will take these men into the city, then," said the detective, "and return for you, Mr. Lawrence, as we intend to search the house thoroughly. It is strongly suspected that some persons as sane as you or I are confined here through the wickedness of their relatives and the connivance of this man, Dr. Heath. I will leave two officers on guard here while I am away." He went out, followed by the officers with their prisoners. Mary Brown followed after, and the banker was left alone with the daughter who had been so strangely restored to him after he had mourned her as dead for many months. He bent down and clasped her in his arms, and his joyful tears rained upon her sweet, white face. A smile of heavenly sweetness beamed on her pale face. She lay still a little while, nestling against her father's breast, trying to picture to herself the ineffable sweetness of the re-union that awaited her. She pictured to herself the happiness that would shine in the dark eyes of her lover when she came back to him as one from the dead. Her heart began to beat tumultuously, and a tinge of color crept into her wasted cheeks. She closed her eyes to shut out the hateful sight of her prison walls, and fancied herself at home with the loved ones instead. In the meantime Mr. Lawrence was gazing sadly on her pale and wasted features, marking the mournful ravages privation and sorrow had worked in that once blooming face. "My Lily," he said, in a tone of anguish, taking up one delicate hand and looking at the blue veins wandering so clearly over its surface, "you have grown to be a lily indeed. How white and wan you look." She trembled and clung closer to his breast. "Ah! papa," she murmured, "they tried to starve me into compliance with their wishes. But though my strength failed and my beauty faded, I would not give up, though I thought I should have died with the weakness and the horror of it all." "The devils!" exclaimed Mr. Lawrence, smothering a stronger malediction between his lips. "Papa," she said, in her weak tones, "you know all, do you not? How Mrs. Vance hated me for Lancelot's sake? How she tried to murder me?" "Yes, my dear," he answered, gently. "Thank God, her wicked attempt did not succeed. A terrible retribution awaits her." "Papa, I can forgive her now since I am restored to you all again," said Lily, sweetly. "Cannot we let her go away and not punish her for her cruelty? I hated her at first, but that is all over with now since she has failed in her endeavor. You know it was all because she loved my Lancelot." "My love," said the banker, "your sweet forgiveness is angelic; but the secret of Mrs. Vance's crime is in other hands than mine. However much we might wish to shield her from the consequences of her sin we could not do so. The law will have to take its course."