The great rooms were very silent and peaceful and solemn.

The hush, the stillness, the mystery of the half-seen forms in the cases around, were all in harmony with the deeply-felt sense of a great deliverance that filled our hearts.
We had passed through into the next room before either of us broke the silence.

Insensibly our hands had crept together, and as they met and clasped with mutual pressure, Ruth exclaimed: "How dreadful and tragic it is! Poor, poor Uncle John! It seems as if he had come back from the world of shadows to tell us of this awful thing.

But, O God! what a relief it is!" She caught her breath in one or two quick sobs and pressed my hand passionately.
"It is over, dearest," I said.

"It is gone for ever.