"A RIFT IN THE CLOUDS."


"Where in the world is Katherine going, and who is that man?" exclaimed
the younger widow, her light blue eyes wide open in amazement, when
Katherine had passed her with a smiling "Good-by for the present," and
walked down the road beside the precise lawyer.

"She is going-to her uncle, Mr. John Liddell, who expressed a wish to
see her to-day, and that gentleman is Mr. Liddell's solicitor," returned
the elder lady, smiling to think how soon she had been driven in upon
the reserved force of her daughter's suggestion.

"What! that terrible old miser poor Fred used to talk of? Why, he will
take a favorable turn, and leave everything to Katie! Oh, dear Mrs.
Liddell, that will not be fair. _Do_ contrive to let him see Cis and
Charlie. We will declare that Cecil is his very image. Old men like to
be considered like pretty young creatures. I always get on with crabbed
old men. Let _me_ see him too. Katherine must not keep the game all in
her own hands. Let me have a chance."

"I don't fancy Katie has much of a chance herself," returned Mrs.
Liddell, as she followed her daughter-in-law into the dining-room. "It
is an old man's whim, and he will probably never wish to see her again."

"Very likely. You know dear Katherine does not do herself justice; her
manners are so abrupt. You do not mind my saying so?"

"Not in the least." Mrs. Liddell had a fine temper, and also a keen
sense of humor. Though fond of and indulgent to her daughter-in-law, she