Dora, the heroine of Tennyson’s famous poem, lived with her uncle, Farmer Allan and his son, William. Her uncle had cared for the girl since childhood, and longed for the day when she would wed his son. But William did not propose to the girl, and his father, mistaking his silence for bashfulness, called William and Dora to him, and informed them that it was his wish that they wed. William, living in the same house with Dora and knowing her since they were children together, did not regard her as a sweetheart, and to his father’s surprise and indignation, refused to marry her. The father stormed and threatened, but to no avail. Dora, who had always loved William, was heartbroken at her cousin’s action, but generously tried to reconcile the two. But her efforts were useless, for the farmer ordered his disobedient son from his home. The months passed, William obtained work at a neighboring farm and married a farmer’s daughter. Illness and misfortune came upon him, but his father, stern and inflexible, refused to aid his disobedient son. But Dora, the forgiving, secretly sent money to William, contriving it so that he did not know from whom it came. When William’s son was five years old, William was taken sick and died. Dora, determined that the child and its mother should be forgiven by Farmer Allan, came to the little home and induced Mary, William’s widow, to let her take the two with her into the fields. There Dora and the child met the stern old farmer, and Dora told him that the boy was William’s child. Allan, suspecting that the child’s presence was due to a trick of Dora and Mary, upbraided Dora and ordered her to leave his home, but said that he would take the child. Dora sadly returned to Mary’s home, but the high spirited mother, when told of the old farmer’s action, refused to permit Dora to be sacrificed, and declared that they would take the child away from him, and she and Dora would work for the boy and care for him together. But when they reached the farm house, they found that the child had softened the old man’s heart, and he humbly asked them to pardon him for the wrongs he had done to them and to the dead William.