And the birds sing again.
But, oh! the fond heart
Which one storm has swept o’er,
Can ne’er know the peace,
It rejoiced in before.”
As the last sound of the poor creature’s voice ceased, Ada clasped her hands and uttered a cry of terror, for she heard without the low whistle which she had been taught by Gray to recognise as the signal of his return.
CHAPTER XXXI.
The Interview.—Jacob Gray’s Meditations.—The Slip of Paper.—The Nail.—The Guilty Conscience.—The Departure.
For perhaps the space of a minute, Ada lost the power of action; but the stern necessity of doing something to save the poor creature from the death which Jacob Gray’s fears would, she doubted not, induce him to put her to, braced the nerves of the young girl.
She took Maud by the arm, and looking her earnestly in the face, she said,—