"I want some one for a companion," said the lady, slowly. "I have recently lost my niece, Miss Barbara Hallenbeck, and her death preys heavily upon my mind."
Dorothy was shocked at the news, but she could utter no comment.
"I am soon to lose my son," went on Mrs. Garner, slowly.
Dorothy sprang to her feet with a gasping cry:
"Jack dying!"
Poor, dear, faithful Jack Garner, who had loved her so well! It seemed to Dorothy that every pulse in her body quivered, and her heart was almost bursting at the news.
In that one hour the girl's heart was revealed to her.
She was face to face with the truth at last: she loved Jack Garner—yes, she loved Jack!
In that moment of time the past seemed to glide before her mental vision like a vast panorama.
She turned with a gesture of woe pitiful to behold to his dear old mother.