"Now put your head down here, right on my neck--so."
He complied with her request, and placing both her bands upon the
bowed head of the young man, Nina whispered,
"May the Good Shepherd, whose lamb Nina hopes to be, keep my
Arthur boy, and bless him a hundred fold for all he's been to me,
and if he has wronged me, which I don't believe, but if he has,
will God please forgive him as fully, as freely as Nina does--the
best Arthur boy that ever lived. I'll tell God all about it, and
how I pestered you, and how good you were, my Arthur boy--Nina's
Arthur first and Miggie's after me. Now put your arms around me
again," she said, as she finished the blessing which brought such
peace to Arthur. "Put them around me tight, for the river is
almost here. Don't you hear its splashing? Miggie, Miggie," she
cried, shivering as with an ague chill, "hold my hand with all
your might, but don't let me pull you in. I'm going down the bank.
My feet are in the water, and it's so freezing cold. I'm sinking,
too, and the big waves roll over me.
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