Minna Gray clasped her hands, and, while the tears coursed down her young fair cheeks, she said—
"And I, too, loved him!"
"I always thought you did, my dear, and I'm sure, if you had been an angel out of Heaven, my poor boy could not have thought more of you than he did. There was nothing that you said or did that was not excellent. He loved the ground you walked on; and a little old worsted mitten, that you left at our place once, he used to wear round his neck, and kiss it when he thought no one was nigh, and say—'This was my Minna's!'"
The young girl let her head rest upon her hands, and sobbed convulsively.
"Lost—lost!" she said, "and poor, kind, good Tobias is lost!"
"No, my dear, it's a long lane that hasn't a turning. Pluck up your courage, and your courage will pluck up you. Keep sixpence in one pocket, and hope in another. When things are at the worst they mend. You can't get further down in a well than the bottom."
Minna sobbed on.
"And so, my dear," added Mrs. Ragg, "I do know something more of Tobias."
The young girl looked up.
"He lives!—he lives!"