"No; I'm not afraid of you. He told me to come, and not fear any thing."
Mrs. Thrasher drew close to the girl and bent over her.
"He, dear; tell us, father and I, you know, who it is you mean by he?"
Katharine looked up, and a strange light came to her face; it was as if a pearl had been suddenly illuminated at the heart.
"It was Nelson who told me to come," she said, in a tender voice.
"Nelson Thrasher—our son?" interposed the old man, almost sternly.
Katharine shrank together in her chair, and looked at him with a frightened glance.
"Did I say Nelson?" she questioned, faintly. "Not if it makes you angry with him."
The old man rose from his chair, and stood up in the fire light.
"Katharine," he said, "tell us the truth—was it our son who brought this shame and trouble on you?"