“You know,” he whispers, “what do you know of my child?”

And then as Stanhope hesitates, he cries piteously: “Oh, tell me, is she alive?”

“I have not a doubt of it,” says Stanhope, smiling. “She was alive half an hour ago.”

“And safe and well?”

“And safe and well.”

“Thank God! Oh, thank God!”

A moment he bows his head upon his hands, then lifts it and exclaims eagerly:

“Half an hour, you said; then—she must be near?”

“Yes; she is very near.”

“Take me to her—tell me where to find her—at once.”