Hester always waited upon her child at night; so, feeling that she might be wanted later, Christie went to her own room to rest.  Quite sure that Mrs. Carrol would come to tell her what had passed, she waited for an hour or two, then went to ask of Hester how the visit had sped.

“Her mamma came up long ago, but the dear thing was fast asleep, so I wouldn’t let her be disturbed, and Mrs. Carrol went away again,” said the old woman, rousing from a nap.

Grieved at the mother’s disappointment, Christie stole in, hoping that Helen might rouse.  She did not, and Christie was about to leave her, when, as she bent to smooth the tumbled coverlet, something dropped at her feet.  Only a little pearl-handled penknife of Harry’s; but her heart stood still with fear, for it was open, and, as she took it up, a red stain came off upon her hand.

Helen’s face was turned away, and, bending nearer, Christie saw how deathly pale it looked in the shadow of the darkened room.  She listened at her lips; only a faint flutter of breath parted them; she lifted up the averted head, and on the white throat saw a little wound, from which the blood still flowed.  Then, like a flash of light, the meaning of the sudden change which came over her grew clear,—­her brave efforts to make the last day happy, her tender good-night partings, her wish to be at peace with every one, the tragic death she had chosen rather than live out the tragic life that lay before her.

Christie’s nerves had been tried to the uttermost; the shock of this discovery was too much for her, and, in the act of calling for help, she fainted, for the first time in her life.

When she was herself again, the room was full of people; terror-stricken faces passed before her; broken voices whispered, “It is too late,” and, as she saw the group about the bed, she wished for unconsciousness again.

Helen lay in her mother’s arms at last, quietly breathing her life away, for though every thing that love and skill could devise had been tried to save her, the little knife in that desperate hand had done its work, and this world held no more suffering for her.  Harry was down upon his knees beside her, trying to stifle his passionate grief.  Augustine prayed audibly above her, and the fervor of his broken words comforted all hearts but one.  Bella was clinging, panic-stricken, to the kind old doctor, who was sobbing like a boy, for he had loved and served poor Helen as faithfully as if she had been his own.

“Can nothing save her?” Christie whispered, as the prayer ended, and a sound of bitter weeping filled the room.

“Nothing; she is sane and safe at last, thank God!”

Christie could not but echo his thanksgiving, for the blessed tranquillity of the girl’s countenance was such as none but death, the great healer, can bring; and, as they looked, her eyes opened, beautifully clear and calm before they closed for ever.  From face to face they passed, as if they looked for some one, and her lips moved in vain efforts to speak.