GRIEF AND JO Y OF A GE. 993
"He is not looking for such return, father."
" But he has been very kind, Madge ; I "nust show him some strong token of my r egard. What shall it be, Maggie ? "
Madge hesitates ; Madge blushes ; Madge stoops to her father s ear, as if the very walls might catch the secret of her heart ; "Would you give me to him, father?"
"But my dear Madge has he asked this?"
" Eight months ago, papa."
"And you told him "
" That I would never leave you, so long as you lived ! "
"My own dear Madge, come to
me, kiss me ! And you love him, Maggie ? "
" With all my heart, sir."
" So like your mother, the same
figure, the same true honest heart ! It shall be as you wish, dear Madge. Only, you will not leave me in my old age ; En, Maggie?"
" Never, father, never."
And there she leans upon his chair ;
her arm around the old man s neck, her other hand clasped in his ; and her eyes melting with tenderness, as she gazes upon his aged face, all radiant with joy, and with hope.
