'Mother,' I whispered, 'you know what has occurred?'
She considered for a moment or two; I assisted her memory.
'Jessie,' I said.
'I know now,' she replied, with a look of distress. 'Jessie has gone.'
'Will you be strong for my sake, mother?'
'I will do anything you tell me, my darling child,' she said humbly.
'First I will go and send a doctor to you. Then I want to try and find Jessie.'
'Dear child, do you know where she is?'
'No; and I have no hope of inducing her to return. I know she will never come back, but I cannot rest without doing something. I shall go mad if I stop in the house all night and make no effort to discover her.'
'Go, then, dear child,' she said; and added imploringly, You will come back, my darling, will you not? You will not desert me after all these years?'