They were in a room on the second floor, and there was no one in the lower part of the house. Just then the front door was heard to open.
“Go downstairs, Katy,” said Mrs. Raymond. “Somebody has come in. See who it is, and come and tell me.”
Katy went down, and directly Mrs. Raymond heard a loud exclamation. She could not exactly make it out, but it sounded like “Harry!” A wild hope sprang up in her heart. Without thinking of her bridal dress she hurried downstairs. She was not deceived. There stood Harry, her Harry, taller and manlier than when she saw him last, but with the same frank, handsome face, holding his little sister in his arms.
“Harry!” exclaimed Mrs. Raymond, in joyful surprise; and in a moment the long-separated son and mother embraced.
“God be thanked for your return, my dear son!” she said. “Where have you been all this long time?”
“It will take a long time to tell, mother. I have just returned from Australia.”
“From Australia!” exclaimed Mrs. Raymond, in amazement.
“Yes, mother, it’s a long story. I will tell it by and by. But how well you are looking! And (for the first time noticing his mother’s elegant dress) how handsomely you are dressed! Have you come into a fortune since I went away?”
“No, Harry,” said Mrs. Raymond, confused.