And the breath of the west wind passed out of the silent sick room, and went roystering through the long suite of stately apartments, where it met no man. It was a strong puff of wind, which had travelled far and sturdily across wild seas and smiling lands. It had raced with man's toy of steam and iron, and laughed in derision at the poor engine and its boasted speed; it had swayed dim forest-trees in a far-off land; it had ruffled a quiet ocean into deep furrows of foam; it had breathed upon a band of icy mountain giants, and had grown cold at their contact; it had come sighing down the Grand Canal, and had entered the great palace unceremoniously; it had fanned the cheek of a sleeping woman beautiful as the vision of a saint; it had whispered in her ear its message. And now, at the doorway of that great palace, the bold wind ceased its blustering, and died away into the still air of the ante-chamber, getting behind the heavy arras, and imparting a trembling motion to the faded figures of warrior and horse. A dim, gray Presence had entered the palace, before which the merry west wind had grown quiet. The hush of deepest night was on all the sleeping house, and the tide of the Adriatic was at the ebb. Silently the Presence crept toward the sick-room, and, as it crossed the threshold, the spark of the night light flickered and went out, while the nun crossed herself as she slept.When Maurice Galbraith called at the Palazzo Fortunio early on the morning after he had seen Millicent, to inquire how she had passed the night, he found the porter's room empty. He rang at the door of the apartment, which was opened, after some delay, by a weeping woman. He could not understand what she said to him, and made his way to the boudoir where he had last seen Millicent, without meeting any one. He heard voices in the next room, which he knew to be her sleeping apartment."It must have been quite painless," he heard a strange voice say in English. "See! she has not moved; the clothes are quite unruffled. It is doubtful if she woke at all. Sister Theresa says she was in this attitude when she last saw her. If she had even breathed heavily the nun would have heard her, she sleeps so lightly."A chill fell upon the young man's heart. What could those strange words mean? The door opened at last, and two men entered the room, the younger carefully closing it behind him. He was evidently a physician. The elder man passed him with bowed head and clasped hands. Galbraith touched the younger man on the arm, and asked him what his words had meant. The doctor waited till the father had left the room, and, turning to the stranger, answered him gently and compassionately; told him the little there was to tell beyond the great fact that Death had entered in the night and stolen the breath of the fairest, while she slept."If I could but fall quietly asleep!" he remembered her words of yester eve. Her prayer had been answered. The grim visage of Death had been hidden by the tender veil of sleep.The physician was very patient with the stranger who asked him so often if it were certain, if there could be no mistake regarding the dreadful event. At last, when he was satisfied that there was no hope, he turned to go, stumbling over a chair as he went. The doctor made him take a glass of wine, and bade him rest awhile before going out. Maurice Galbraith was a strong man, and after the first faintness which the news had brought him, he nerved himself to meet the terrible grief, and bear it as a strong man should."You are Mr. Galbraith, from California, of whom she spoke last night?""Yes.""Perhaps you could help me in a little matter which Mr. Almsford has asked me to attend to. This telegram came an hour ago. It was directed to her, and is dated California. Do you know the sender, and the meaning of the message?"Galbraith took the slip of blue paper, and read these words:--"I am coming to you. I start to-night."GRAHAM.""You know the person?""Yes, very well.""As we have not his address, would you kindly answer the despatch and tell him?""Surely.""It would be a great favor.""It is the last but one that I can ever do for her now."He found his way to the telegraph office, he never knew how, and with trembling hand penned this message, which should fly swifter than west wind or shifting water, to John Graham on the far golden shore, where the tide was at the flood, and the earth glad and green in the promise of the new-born year:--"Millicent died last night."University Press: John Wilson & Son, Cambridge.* * * * * * * *CHOICE FICTIONFORSUMMER READING.VESTIGIA. By GEORGE FLEMING, author of "Kismet," "Mirage," "The Head of Medusa." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.A NEWPORT AQUARELLE. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.THE USURPER. An Episode in Japanese History. Translated from the French of Judith Gautier by ABBY L. ALGER. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.THE SAN ROSARIO RANCH. By MAUD HOWE. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.SUWANEE RIVER STORIES. By SHERWOOD BONNER. With illustrations by F. T. Merrill. 16mo. Cloth.TREASURE ISLAND. By ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. With illustrations by F. T. Merrill. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.MOODS. A Novel. By Louisa M. Alcott. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.BY THE TIBER. By the author of "Signor Monaldini's Niece." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.THE HEAD OF MEDUSA. By the author of "Kismet" and "Mirage." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.BLESSED SAINT CERTAINTY. By the author of "His Majesty Myself." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.DOCTOR JACOB. A Novel. By Miss M. B. EDWARDS. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.OFF THE SKELLIGS. By JEAN INGELOW. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.FATED TO BE FREE. By JEAN INGELOW. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.SARAH De BERENGER. By JEAN INGELOW. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.DON JOHN. By JEAN INGELOW. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.MARGARET. A Tale of the Real and the Ideal, of Blight and Bloom. By SYLVESTER JUDD. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.THE VICAR'S DAUGHTER. By GEORGE MACDONALD. With illustrations. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.MY MARRIAGE. A Novel. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.TIP CAT. A Story. By the author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" and "Laddy." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.SOME WOMEN'S HEARTS. By LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.GEORGE SAND'S NOVELS. Mauprat; Antonia; Monsieur Sylvestre; The Snow Man; The Miller of Angibault; My Sister Jeannie. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50 each.FRANCES M. PEARD'S NOVELS. The Rose Garden; Unawares; Thorpe Regis. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50 each.WENDERHOLME. A Story of Lancashire and Yorkshire. By P. G. HAMERTON. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $2.00.THE THIEF IN THE NIGHT. By HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD, author of "The Amber Gods." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.THE MARQUIS OF CARABAS. A Romance. By HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.WORK. A Story of Experience. By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. 16mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price, $1.75.PINK AND WHITE TYRANNY. A Society Novel. By HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.MOONDYNE. A Story of the Under World. By JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.FOR SUMMER AFTERNOONS. By SUSAN COOLIDGE. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.REALMAH. By ARTHUR HELPS. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $2.00.CASIMIR MAREMMA. By ARTHUR HELPS, 12mo. Cloth. Price, $2.00.PHANTASMION. A Fairy Tale. By SARA COLERIDGE. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $2.00.Our publications are for sale by all Booksellers, and will be mailed postpaid, on receipt of price, by the publishers,ROBERTS BROTHERS, BOSTON.*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOKTHE SAN ROSARIO RANCH***
And the breath of the west wind passed out of the silent sick room, and went roystering through the long suite of stately apartments, where it met no man. It was a strong puff of wind, which had travelled far and sturdily across wild seas and smiling lands. It had raced with man's toy of steam and iron, and laughed in derision at the poor engine and its boasted speed; it had swayed dim forest-trees in a far-off land; it had ruffled a quiet ocean into deep furrows of foam; it had breathed upon a band of icy mountain giants, and had grown cold at their contact; it had come sighing down the Grand Canal, and had entered the great palace unceremoniously; it had fanned the cheek of a sleeping woman beautiful as the vision of a saint; it had whispered in her ear its message. And now, at the doorway of that great palace, the bold wind ceased its blustering, and died away into the still air of the ante-chamber, getting behind the heavy arras, and imparting a trembling motion to the faded figures of warrior and horse. A dim, gray Presence had entered the palace, before which the merry west wind had grown quiet. The hush of deepest night was on all the sleeping house, and the tide of the Adriatic was at the ebb. Silently the Presence crept toward the sick-room, and, as it crossed the threshold, the spark of the night light flickered and went out, while the nun crossed herself as she slept.
When Maurice Galbraith called at the Palazzo Fortunio early on the morning after he had seen Millicent, to inquire how she had passed the night, he found the porter's room empty. He rang at the door of the apartment, which was opened, after some delay, by a weeping woman. He could not understand what she said to him, and made his way to the boudoir where he had last seen Millicent, without meeting any one. He heard voices in the next room, which he knew to be her sleeping apartment.
"It must have been quite painless," he heard a strange voice say in English. "See! she has not moved; the clothes are quite unruffled. It is doubtful if she woke at all. Sister Theresa says she was in this attitude when she last saw her. If she had even breathed heavily the nun would have heard her, she sleeps so lightly."
A chill fell upon the young man's heart. What could those strange words mean? The door opened at last, and two men entered the room, the younger carefully closing it behind him. He was evidently a physician. The elder man passed him with bowed head and clasped hands. Galbraith touched the younger man on the arm, and asked him what his words had meant. The doctor waited till the father had left the room, and, turning to the stranger, answered him gently and compassionately; told him the little there was to tell beyond the great fact that Death had entered in the night and stolen the breath of the fairest, while she slept.
"If I could but fall quietly asleep!" he remembered her words of yester eve. Her prayer had been answered. The grim visage of Death had been hidden by the tender veil of sleep.
The physician was very patient with the stranger who asked him so often if it were certain, if there could be no mistake regarding the dreadful event. At last, when he was satisfied that there was no hope, he turned to go, stumbling over a chair as he went. The doctor made him take a glass of wine, and bade him rest awhile before going out. Maurice Galbraith was a strong man, and after the first faintness which the news had brought him, he nerved himself to meet the terrible grief, and bear it as a strong man should.
"You are Mr. Galbraith, from California, of whom she spoke last night?"
"Yes."
"Perhaps you could help me in a little matter which Mr. Almsford has asked me to attend to. This telegram came an hour ago. It was directed to her, and is dated California. Do you know the sender, and the meaning of the message?"
Galbraith took the slip of blue paper, and read these words:--
"I am coming to you. I start to-night.
"GRAHAM."
"You know the person?"
"Yes, very well."
"As we have not his address, would you kindly answer the despatch and tell him?"
"Surely."
"It would be a great favor."
"It is the last but one that I can ever do for her now."
He found his way to the telegraph office, he never knew how, and with trembling hand penned this message, which should fly swifter than west wind or shifting water, to John Graham on the far golden shore, where the tide was at the flood, and the earth glad and green in the promise of the new-born year:--
"Millicent died last night."
University Press: John Wilson & Son, Cambridge.
* * * * * * * *
CHOICE FICTIONFORSUMMER READING.
VESTIGIA. By GEORGE FLEMING, author of "Kismet," "Mirage," "The Head of Medusa." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.
A NEWPORT AQUARELLE. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.
THE USURPER. An Episode in Japanese History. Translated from the French of Judith Gautier by ABBY L. ALGER. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.
THE SAN ROSARIO RANCH. By MAUD HOWE. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.
SUWANEE RIVER STORIES. By SHERWOOD BONNER. With illustrations by F. T. Merrill. 16mo. Cloth.
TREASURE ISLAND. By ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. With illustrations by F. T. Merrill. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.
MOODS. A Novel. By Louisa M. Alcott. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.
BY THE TIBER. By the author of "Signor Monaldini's Niece." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.
THE HEAD OF MEDUSA. By the author of "Kismet" and "Mirage." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.
BLESSED SAINT CERTAINTY. By the author of "His Majesty Myself." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.
DOCTOR JACOB. A Novel. By Miss M. B. EDWARDS. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.
OFF THE SKELLIGS. By JEAN INGELOW. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.
FATED TO BE FREE. By JEAN INGELOW. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.
SARAH De BERENGER. By JEAN INGELOW. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.
DON JOHN. By JEAN INGELOW. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.
MARGARET. A Tale of the Real and the Ideal, of Blight and Bloom. By SYLVESTER JUDD. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.
THE VICAR'S DAUGHTER. By GEORGE MACDONALD. With illustrations. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.
MY MARRIAGE. A Novel. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.
TIP CAT. A Story. By the author of "Miss Toosey's Mission" and "Laddy." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.
SOME WOMEN'S HEARTS. By LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.
GEORGE SAND'S NOVELS. Mauprat; Antonia; Monsieur Sylvestre; The Snow Man; The Miller of Angibault; My Sister Jeannie. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50 each.
FRANCES M. PEARD'S NOVELS. The Rose Garden; Unawares; Thorpe Regis. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50 each.
WENDERHOLME. A Story of Lancashire and Yorkshire. By P. G. HAMERTON. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $2.00.
THE THIEF IN THE NIGHT. By HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD, author of "The Amber Gods." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.
THE MARQUIS OF CARABAS. A Romance. By HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.
WORK. A Story of Experience. By LOUISA M. ALCOTT. 16mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price, $1.75.
PINK AND WHITE TYRANNY. A Society Novel. By HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50.
MOONDYNE. A Story of the Under World. By JOHN BOYLE O'REILLY. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.
FOR SUMMER AFTERNOONS. By SUSAN COOLIDGE. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.
REALMAH. By ARTHUR HELPS. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $2.00.
CASIMIR MAREMMA. By ARTHUR HELPS, 12mo. Cloth. Price, $2.00.
PHANTASMION. A Fairy Tale. By SARA COLERIDGE. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $2.00.
Our publications are for sale by all Booksellers, and will be mailed postpaid, on receipt of price, by the publishers,
ROBERTS BROTHERS, BOSTON.
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOKTHE SAN ROSARIO RANCH***