130 TRUE RICHES; OR,

 

thoughts on the child who was soon to be resigned,
according to the tenor of his contract with her guar-
dian, he was suddenly startled by seeing Jasper a
short distance ahead, approaching from the direc-
tion in which he was going. Happening, at the mo-
ment, to be near a cross street, he turned off sud-
denly, in obedience to an instinct rather than a
purpose, and avoided a meeting by going out of his
way.

| x How vain,” he sighed to himself, as the throb-
bing of his heart grew less heavy and his thoughts
ran clear. ‘I cannot so avoid this evil. It will
most surely find me out. Dear, dear child! How
shall we ever bear the parting!”

All day long Claire was in momentary dread of a
Visit or a communication from Jasper. But none
came. A like anxiety had been suffered by his wife,
and it showed itself in the pallor of her cheeks, and
the heavy, almost tearful, drooping of her eyelids.

» The next day and the next passed, and yet

nothing was heard from the guardian. Now, the
true guardians of the child began to breathe more
freely. A week elapsed, and all remained as before.
Another week was added; another and another. A
month had gone by. And yet the days of a suc-
ceeding month came and went, the child still re-
maining in her old home.

Up to this time but brief allusions had been made
by either Claire or his wife to the subject first in
their thoughts. They avoided it, because each felt
that the other would confirm, rather than allay,
fears already too well defined.

“It is strange,’’ said Claire, as he sat alone with