"Can it be possible dat dis is my little Marie?" she exclaimed.
It did seem almost impossible to realize that this faded woman, with pale cheeks and prematurely whitened hair, was the rosy-cheeked child from whom she had been parted more than thirty years.
"Well," said Robert, after the first joyous greeting was over, "love is a very good thing, but Marie has had a long journey and needs something that will stick by the ribs. How about dinner, mother?"
"It's all ready," said Mrs. Johnson.
After Marie had gone to her room and changed her dress, she came down and partook of the delicious repast which her mother and Iola had prepared for her.
In a few days Marie was settled in the home, and was well pleased with the change. The only drawback to her happiness was the absence of her son, and she expected him to come North after the closing of his school.
"Uncle Robert," said Iola, after her mother had been with them several weeks, "I am tired of being idle."
"What's the matter now?" asked Robert. "You are surely not going East again, and leave your mother?"
"Oh, I hope not," said Marie, anxiously. "I have been so long without you."
"No, mamma, I am not going East. I can get suitable employment here in the city of P——."