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weakness and critical condition to restrain fro more soundly than usual under the influence of an

anodyne, and Frederic, with a whispered apology to his coadjutor,

went into the next roo the door ajar From her seat, Mrs

Sutton had a distinct view of him in an opposite mirror--a

circumstance of which she was not aware for severalshe saw that he was

writing, and half an hour afterward that he was leaning back in his

chair, looking at so of

such love and sadness in his countenance that she felt it would be

unlawful prying into his er He turned his head at the slight rustle she

to another part of the room, and beckoned to her At her approach,

he arose and held out a ht-eyed, delicate-featured girl of seven or eight

summers--exquisitely painted

"You have never seen my little Florence, I think?"

"I have not She is pretty--and reseh at the unconscious co Instead, there crept over his

face a shade ofhis lip, as he answered-"So every one says She is the dearest child in the world--a sunbealadness in any house--aent I

wish you would read her last letter to rown people" Then, setically, "If my commendation seem overstrained, you will

excuse a father's partiality"