the room into which sally pendleton was ushered was so dimly lighted that she was obliged to take the second glance about ere she could distinguish where the couch was on which jay gardiner lay. the next moment she was bending over him, crying and lamenting so loudly that the doctors waiting outside were obliged to go to her and tell her that this outburst might prove fatal to their patient in that critical hour.

jay gardiner was looking up at her with dazed eyes. he recognized her, uttered her name.

"was it to-night that i left your house, after settling when the marriage was to take place?" he asked.

miss pendleton humored the idea by answering "yes," instead of telling him that the visit he referred to had taken place several weeks before.

"to-day was to have been our wedding-day," she sobbed, "and now you are ill—very ill. but, jay," she whispered, bending down and uttering the words rapidly in his ear, "it could take place just the same, here and now, if you are willing. i sent a note to a minister to come here, and he may arrive at any moment. when he comes, shall i speak to him about it?"

he did not answer; he was trying to remember something, trying, oh, so hard, to remember something that lay like a weight on his mind.

heaven help him! the past was entirely blotted out of his memory!

he recollected leaving miss pendleton's house after setting the date for his marriage with her, but beyond that evening the world was a blank to him.

he never remembered that there were such people as david moore, the basket-maker, and a beautiful girl, his daughter bernardine, to whom he had lost his heart, and whom he had wedded, and that she was now waiting for him. his mind was to be a blank upon all that for many a day to come.

"what do you say, jay?" repeated miss pendleton; "will not the ceremony take place to-day, as we had intended?"

"they tell me i am very ill, sally," he whispered. "i—i may be dying. do you wish the ceremony to take place in the face of that fact?"

"yes," she persisted. "i want you to keep your solemn vow that you would make me your wife; and—and delays are dangerous."

"then it shall be as you wish," he murmured, faintly, in an almost inaudible voice, the effort to speak being so great as to cause him to almost lose consciousness.

sally stepped quickly from jay's beside out into the adjoining room.

"mr. gardiner wishes our marriage to take place here and now," she announced. "a minister will be here directly. when he arrives, please show him to doctor gardiner's bedside."

mamma pendleton smiled and nodded her approval in a magnificent way as she caught her daughter's eye for a second. the doctors looked at one another in alarm.

"i do not see how it can take place just now, miss pendleton," said one, quietly. "we have a very dangerous and difficult operation to perform upon your betrothed, and each moment it is delayed reduces his chance of recovery. we must put him under chloroform without an instant's delay."

"and i say that it shall not be done until after the marriage ceremony has been performed," declared sally, furiously; adding, spitefully: "you want to cheat me out of becoming jay gardiner's wife. but i defy you! you can not do it! he shall marry me, in spite of you all!"

at that moment there was a commotion outside. the minister had arrived.

sally herself rushed forward to meet him ere the doctors could have an opportunity to exchange a word with him, and conducted him at once to the sick man's bedside, explaining that her lover had met with an accident, and that he wished to be married to her without a moment's delay.

"i shall be only too pleased to serve you both," replied the good man.

"you must make haste, sir," urged miss pendleton sharply. "see, he is beginning to sink."

the minister did make haste. never before were those solemn words so rapidly uttered.

how strange it was that fate should have let that ceremony go on to the end which would spread ruin and desolation before it!

the last words were uttered. the minister of god slowly but solemnly pronounced sally pendleton jay gardiner's lawfully wedded wife.

the doctors did not congratulate the bride, but sprung to the assistance of the young physician, who had fallen back upon his pillow gasping for breath.

one held a sponge saturated with a strong liquid to his nostrils, while another escorted the minister, the bride, and her mother from the apartment.

"remain in this room as quietly as possible," urged the doctor, in a whisper, "and i will let you know at the earliest possible moment whether it will be life or death with your husband, mrs. gardiner."

at last the door quickly opened, and two of the doctors stood on the threshold.

"well, doctor," she cried, looking from one to the other, "what tidings do you bring me? am i a wife or a widow?"

"five minutes' time will decide that question, madame," said one, impressively. "we have performed the operation. it rests with a higher power whether it will be life or death."

and the doctor who had spoken took out his watch, and stood motionless as a statue while it ticked off the fatal minutes.