Kenneth McAlpine Part 35

"There are few flowers in November," she said, quickly.

"Here are two. Do you remember them, Miss Redmond?" As he spoke he produced old Nancy's Bible, and opened it.

The flowers were there, but sadly withered.

This is precisely the remark that Jessie made.

"I do," she said, with a blush and a sigh; "but they are sadly withered."

"Like my hopes," replied Kenneth. "I leave my country a broken-hearted man--"

How handy for an author is a line of those little stars called "asterisks!" How neatly I dropped the curtain by means of it on that conversation between Kenneth and Jessie!

But _did_ Kenneth leave his country a broken-hearted man? No; how could he with Jessie by his side?

They were married at Alva House by old Mr Grant. It was a quiet wedding indoors, but out of doors--well, Harvey McGregor determined his tenantry should all go mad together if they chose. There were b.a.l.l.s and bonfires, breakfasts, dinners, and suppers _galore_, and such rejoicing and such general jollity as will never be forgotten while the heather blooms on Alva hills, and the dark pines wave in its valleys.

The honeymoon was spent in the New Forest; and Kenneth did not forget to visit his old friend Major Walton, whom he found happy and hearty.

Beautiful are the farms that Kenneth and Archie occupy in far-off British Columbia. There is a thriving village near them now, and churches and schools; but their farms lie well in the outskirts. What though in winter wild winds wail around the dwellings, and shake the pine trees on the mountain sides? there are warmth and light and brightness indoors; and some laughing and fun, too, for there are children, one, two, three; and Uncle Archie, as the latter call him, drops in nearly every evening to spend an hour or two, so no one thinks the time long.

Then in summer, oh! to roam in those beautiful woods, and cull the fruit and the wild flowers. And at this sweet time of the year, the gardens and lawns and terraces, and the verandahs of Kenneth's many-gabled dwelling, are bathed in floral beauty. It is quite a sight to see, and to dream about ever afterwards.

And no one, I think, would begrudge Kenneth his happiness. He worked for it.

Good-bye, reader.

The End.