How long she sat there she never knew, so confused were her thoughts; but it could not have been more than an hour, when she heard carriage wheels grating on the stillness of the street, then pausing before the house, and a man sprang out and came into the porch, ringing a furious peal on the doorbell. Daisie put her head out of the window, exclaiming nervously: “What is wanted?” At the same moment she recognized the young minister, and heard him say: “Your husband is dying--they have sent for you to come!” CHAPTER XVII. HIS CRUEL RIVAL. A cry of angry incredulity came from Daisie’s lips. “It is not true. This is some new plot against me. I will not go!” But just then Mrs. Bell jerked open the front door, and held an anxious colloquy with the young man. As a result of it, she came upstairs presently, exclaiming: “It is all true, Daisie. That young man is a preacher, so, of course, he wouldn’t tell you a lie! Royall Sherwood was shot to-night--shot in the back as he was walking along with his cousin--and they think he is dying. He begs for you, and, my dear, you can’t refuse to go.” No, she could not refuse. The wishes of the dying are sacred. But her lips trembled so with the shock that she could hardly stand upright. Aunt Alice helped her to put on a warm, dark gown suited to the chilly midnight hour, and supported her feeble steps down the stairs. “You will come with me?” she said, in a dazed way, and the old woman assented readily. The young minister helped them into the carriage, entered himself, and the door was closed. The driver whipped up his horses, and then Mrs. Bell asked, in a tone of awe: “Who was the wretch that did it?” “I do not suppose any one knows. It was all very sudden. Mrs. Fleming and her cousin were walking in the grounds, discussing his marriage, when the shot was fired from behind by some one who must have been concealed in the shrubberies. Instantly all was confusion, as there were other parties also out in the moonlight. A crowd gathered instantly. It was found that Mr. Sherwood was shot through the body. A physician was by, fortunately, and, on a hasty examination, he pronounced the wound mortal. He was removed to his room, and, on recovering consciousness, asked for his wife to be summoned. Mrs. Fleming begged me to come with the carriage and urge her to return with me.” Daisie sobbed aloud in grief and pity for the man suddenly stricken down in youth’s early dawn, and the young minister thought: “Mrs. Fleming was right: She loved him, after all, and they would have been reconciled to-morrow. What a calamity it is that sunders their wedded lives so soon.” But he did not attempt to offer any condolences to the sobbing girl. It seemed to him that she had been rude to him all through in her pettish anger.