"It is not you who will miss him most, my dear," said Miss Elliott; "it is those who for twenty years have seen him go and come, who have depended upon his unostentatious acts of kindness, his little deeds of willing service, and among them all it is Miss Phosie who will mourn longest, who will miss the ministering to his wants, who will have to become used to the silence of his room, who can no more watch for him at noon and at night. Yes, Gwen, he was but a new pleasure in your life, and when you go back home you will not miss him from your accustomed surroundings. Miss Phosie will have no one to take his place. Her lot is the hardest."
Gwen wiped her eyes and took hold of her aunt's hand. "Do you think—" she began.
Miss Elliott understood. "I think hers has been the devotion of years. You did not see her when she made her last farewell and put her one white rose into his hand. I did. At such times one sees to the depth of a human heart. I tell you because I want you always to cherish and love Miss Phosie as you would one who had been your own father's best friend."
Gwen's tears again flowed. "Dear Miss Phosie," she said. "You may be sure, Aunt Cam, that I shall always love her for what she did for Daddy Lu."
They were walking on alone. Kenneth had lingered with Cap'n Ben's family. "Aunt Cam," said Gwen after a while, "what was it Daddy Lu wanted to talk to you about, that last time?"
"About a sad family misunderstanding which he has not liked to mention to anyone," replied Miss Elliott quietly. She had been prepared for this question. "He also wanted to say," she went on, "that he had decided to leave his savings to you, or at least most of them, since you seem to be the nearest relative for whom he entertained any affection."
"Then he was really a relative."
"Yes, he had made investigations which gave him proof of that. Cap'n Ben says the will was probably made but a few days ago. Mr. Williams told him it was that which took him to Portland recently. He gave Cap'n Ben the name of the lawyer who drew it up and who has it now in his possession. Cap'n Ben is one of the executors I believe, while I am the other."
"It seems almost as if he must have had a premonition," said Gwen thoughtfully. "And to think he cared for me that much. Dear man! there will never be his like again. It does not seem possible that we had known him only this short time. I feel as if we had been friends always."
"Evidently he had the warmest affection for you," said Miss Elliott unsteadily, as she wiped her eyes.