Toward evening the old man opened his eyes, and saw Nance standing by his side. He started up in surprise.
"Nell, Nell, is that you?" he demanded.
Then seeing the look of astonishment upon Nance's face, he sank back upon the pillow, while a deep sigh escaped his lips.
"Fergive me, Miss," he said. "I had sich a beautiful dream, an' when I opened my eyes an' saw you a-standin' there I was sure it was my Nell."
"Would you like to see her?" Nance asked. "Would you like for her to be standing by your side now? How you must miss her."
"I do, I do," was the emphatic reply. "God alone knows how I long fer her!"
"Can't you go to her, then? Or why doesn't she come to you?"
"That can't be, Miss. It's been twenty years since she left me, an' I've been wanderin' ever since. I laid her in the little churchyard way back East, an' I haven't seen the spot since. But I see her in a way, an' that's all I can expect on this earth now. She's ever with me day an' night. Out in the hills she's by my side, an' I often talk to her jist like I used to do years ago, an' it's very comfortin'."
"W-was she your daughter?" Nance queried.
"No, Miss. She was my wife."