proceed. The urgency of this thought made me speak her name aloud; and the faintest motion of her closed eyelids showed me that she heard my voice, but beyond that there was no sign of consciousness.
In a restless agony I went again to the window, and saw that the coolies were making preparations for our departure, and that it was necessary, without further delay, to learn from Laura if she felt able to bear the motion of the dooli.
Once again I knelt by the cot on which she lay, and took her hand in mine. It felt strangely chill in my warm clasp, and the dim terror, which for some hours had haunted me, took a distinct shape at the unresponsive touch of her small fingers. With a cry which I was unable to restrain, I folded her closely in my arms, and pressed my lips to her pale cheek. As I did so her eyes opened; and her whole face was illuminated by an ineffable smile, while her bosom heaved in a long, soft sigh. By some despairing instinct, I knew in a sudden flash that this smile was her last farewell; and that I now only held to my heart the sweet body from which her pure young soul had escaped.
The waxen image which lay on the pillow where this beloved woman had rested was a thing of unfamiliar beauty, scarcely in any way reminding me of the warm loveliness which had been the delight of my eyes for so long. The fever in my blood was subdued by the touch of that icy hand, and it seemed to me that, could Laura have been given back to me again in place of that pale stranger, the passion that had possessed me would henceforward have changed to a pure and tender emotion which could have been the consolation and best influence of my life.
At sunrise the body of Laura was laid to rest under the shadowing branches of a large tree, about a hundred yards from the bungalow. A native woman of the lowest caste, with gentle kindly hands, had prepared her for her grave, by swathing the dear form in a thin woollen shawl, going softly about the room with pitiful little ejaculations, and, now and then, pausing to wipe a tear from her brown cheek with the end of her crimson chuddah. This tender soul came an hour later to the newly-raised mound, and laid at its foot a little offering of bright, yellow flowers; then, making respectful salaams, stooping almost to the earth, she hid her face in her drapery and passed slowly out of sight, having sought no reward for her services.
