She worked on, unheeding all around her, till darkness began to steal over the sky. And just as she was going to stop, a knock came to the door, and a servant said:
"Miss Warner, your father wishes to see you in his study as soon as possible."
[CHAPTER II.]
FATHER AND DAUGHTER.
"In the way that he shall choose,
God will teach us;
Not a lesson we shall lose—
All shall reach us."
IT was with a feeling of wonder and reverence that Priscilla Warner entered her father's study.
The room was almost dark, though the parting rays of light lingered longer there than in the rooms at the other part of the house. Dr. Warner still sat, by the window, with an open book before him.
As the girl entered, he rose and greeted her gently, nay even courteously.
Priscilla noted the change the last few days had wrought in his appearance: his hair was grayer, his tall figure more bent than of yore, and when he spoke there was a tremble in his voice strangely unlike that of former times. Fain would the impulsive girl have thrown herself into his arms and tried to comfort him, as a daughter might have done; but the habit of years held her back, and she only stood before him quietly and respectfully, forcing back the emotions that filled her heart, knowing how her father dreaded what he called "women's scenes."
"You wished to speak to me, father," she said at last, breaking a silence which was becoming painful.