"Would not you like a bowl of broth, lady? I have brought some for you."
The lady gazed at Rollo a moment with a sort of bewildered look, and then, raising herself up upon the settee, she took the broth, and began to eat it with the spoon. At first, she seemed to take it cautiously and with doubt; but presently, finding that she liked it, she took spoonful after spoonful with evident pleasure. Rollo was extremely delighted at the success of his experiment. The lady said nothing to him all the time, though she looked up at him repeatedly with a very earnest gaze while she was taking the broth. At length she finished it, and then gave Rollo back the bowl, saying, as she did it,—
"Did my husband send you with that bowl of broth to me?"
"No," said Rollo, "I brought it myself."
"And what put it into your head to do that?" added the lady.
"Why, Maria brought some to me when I was sick," replied Rollo, "and it did me good; and so I thought it would do you good."
The lady looked at him a moment more with an earnest gaze, and then lay down again, and shut her eyes.
Presently she opened them a moment, and said,—
"Do you know my son Hilbert?"
"I have seen a boy about the ship," said Rollo, "not quite so big as I am. Is that he?"