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CHAPTER XXII.

"Link by link the chain is made,
Pearl by pearl the costly braid,—
The daily thread of hopes and fears,
Weaves up the woof of many years.—
And well thy labors shall have sped,
If well thou weav'st thy daily thread."

A far more important event than anything that occurred at home awaited Walter's return from college. James Morgan's year of probation drew to a close. Just a year from the night they had the interview, he sat down and wrote the following letter:

"My own beloved Mary,—One year ago to-night I pledged myself before God, in the presence of Walter Claremont, that I would never again touch the intoxicating cup. Through divine help and your influence, Mary, I have kept the pledge. You may call it selfish, but I never should have had the strength to do it if it had not been for you. Many, many times should I have yielded to my craving thirst, but for the agonizing thought of being separated from you forever. Mary, my angel guide, I will conceal nothing from you, so that you shall never have it to say that I deceived you. All my bad deeds you know, and my struggles against temptation will not certainly lower me in your eyes, especially when I have triumphed over them.

One Saturday night it seemed to me I could not live through another Sunday without some kind of excitement. That is the hardest day I have, because