“Too bad! I must know where she is—I must communicate with her as soon as possible. This is terrible news!”
Merry sat down weakly, and his manner showed how he was affected.
Little Jack whispered something to Nellie, and then slipped out of the room.
A sudden gloom had come over the merry gathering. Hans and Ephraim looked at each other dolefully. Little Nell got up and came round to Frank, putting an arm about his neck.
“Dear Frank,” she whispered, “you know Heaven orders everything for the best. You must have perfect trust.”
He put his arm about her slender waist, drew her to him and kissed her.
“Yes, dear little comforter,” he said, in his low, musical voice, “I am sure Heaven orders everything for the best, for many a time I have seen apparent misfortune prove a blessing in disguise. For instance, your falling downstairs. But this separation from Elsie is hard. Before I became a day laborer, forced to depend on my hands for a living, I could have spent money freely in tracing her and finding her. Now that is an impossibility. We separated for a year, neither dreaming of the changes a few months would bring about. I fear those changes, instead of bringing us nearer together, have torn us further apart.”
Nellie was surprised.
“Why, Frank!” she exclaimed, “you are seldom this way. You are so light-hearted and hopeful. Nothing seems to daunt you.”
“That is true, but things have been going against me for some time now, and it is but natural that I should not feel as cheerful as usual. The railroad strike came just when my prospects were brightest, and then, at the very hour when it seemed certain everything would be settled and I should go back to my old job, the railroad went to the wall and the F. B. & Y. swallowed it. Now comes the news of Elsie’s misfortune, and I cannot extend to her a helping hand. I cannot even write to her, for I do not know her address.”