Gurney, and she kindly asked:
"Are you very tired, Hugh?"
Without lifting his eyes, he replied:
"No, not tired, but heart-sick."
"What is it, Hugh? What is the trouble?" she asked, in her kind, motherly
tone.
"Do not ask me, please! it is nothing that can be remedied, believe me,"
and he raised his eyes a moment and met her inquiring gaze.
"Well, my boy, you, like the rest of us, I suppose, have just so much pain
and trouble to bear in this world. Do not let it bear too heavily on your
young heart; all is for the best in the end, you know," and her hand was
laid on his shoulder with a sympathetic pressure, as she passed on.
All for the best! when in all the hasty preparations that are of necessity
left till the last few hours before a journey, no one even thought of the
fierce heart-struggle that was his, or would have cared about it had they
known it! There seemed to be no kind word of remembrance for him, amidst
the bustle and confusion that reigned around him. He felt as if he stood
apart from those who, up to this time, seemed as near to him as kith and
kin.
CHAPTER XIX.
Both families were early astir the next morning, but the hour soon arrived
that the last "good-byes" must be said, and Mrs.
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