CHAPTER IV.
THE RING AND THE BOOK.
My return to health was a slow though not a painful one. My mind, however, was clear, and even before I could partake of food I enjoyed hearing sister play to me on her harp. Sometimes aunt, too, would play. My mother seldom left the room by day, and one of my chief delights was her stories from Bible life and tales of Bible lands.
At last I was permitted to get up and recline in fauteuil or on sofa.
'Mother,' I said one day, 'I feel getting stronger, but somehow I do not regain spirits. Is there some sorrow in your heart, mother, or do I only imagine it?'
She smiled, but there were tears in her eyes.
'I'm sure we are all very, very happy, Murdoch, to have you getting well again.'
'And, mother,' I persisted, 'father does not seem easy in mind either. He comes in and talks to me, but often I think his mind is wandering to other subjects.'