242 THE DREAMER'S MISSION. 



It was strange that a creature like Katharine should have 

 stooped from her " pride of place" to minister to such a feeble 

 and dreamy soul as that which animated the frame of her 

 invalid cousin. An illness which seized upon the gay girl and 

 left her with a low nervous debility, had induced her father to 

 send her to the quiet and humble abode of his farmer brother. 

 The contrast between the glitter of fashionable life with its 

 wearing excitements, and the peaceful tenour of a rural home, 

 where simple kindness and affectionate hospitality would come 

 with a charm of freshness and novelty to the world-wearied 

 beauty, was judged to be beneficial. With a feeling, therefore, 

 of utter indifference, Katharine bade adieu to the scenes of 

 gayety, and took up her summer residence in the rustic abode 

 of her uncle. At first she was amused by the absence of her 

 habitual luxuries, then she was pleased by the novelty of her 

 associations, and finally, she became deeply interested in the 

 peculiar character and moody habits of Horace Lee. 



The insidious disease which was slowly pointing him toward 

 the grave had been his maternal inheritance, and at the time 

 of Katharine's visit, it was known to all that the youth was 

 marked for death. To the child of prosperity and gladness, 

 there was something inexpressibly touching in the sight of 

 talent, and gentleness, and goodness, thus doomed to go down 

 unvalued to the tomb. With the quick tact of woman's ten- 

 derness she discovered the peculiar sensitiveness of his nature, 

 and he became a new and delightful study to her. In adapting 

 herself to his moods, and ministering to his moral and mental 

 needs, she learned to look into some of the secrets of life, — 



