On getting back to Mrs. Gibbs' boarding house Robert found a telegram from his mother awaiting him. It read:
"Come home at once. Your step-father is very ill."
Without delay our hero started for Granville, arriving there late in the evening. His mother met him at the front door, and it was plain to see that she had been weeping.
"Oh, Robert!" she cried, and embraced him. It was several minutes before she could say more.
"Mr. Talbot is very sick then?" asked the boy.
"Yes, very sick, and the doctor is afraid he will never get well," answered Mrs. Talbot.
James Talbot was suffering from a sudden stroke of paralysis, which had affected his stomach and his left side. He was almost unconscious, and remained in that state for several days. During that time Mrs. Talbot was at his bedside constantly, and Robert did all he could for both.
At the end of two weeks the physician pronounced James Talbot out of danger. The paralysis was gradually leaving him, and he could now take a little nourishment.
His sickness seemed to have changed him wonderfully, and his harshness appeared to be a thing of the past.
"I have had my eyes opened," he said to his wife and Robert. "I have done wrong in the past, but from now on you will find me a different man."