The Masked Lady replied: "Nothing delights me so much as to have children and their parents find each other. That is my highest dream—to bring together the parents and children who have lost each other."
"And shall I find them?"
"I think you are on the way even now to find them—perhaps sooner than you dare to hope."
"If I could find them now," continued Everychild, "I think I could willingly give up my search for—for the truth. It seemed a wonderful thing to seek for when I began, but I am not anxious to do so any more."
There was a new note in her voice as she replied, "Truth is very close to those who still seek, but who have ceased to be anxious."
He did not know why the words should have thrilled him so. If he could find the truth, after all, and still have his parents again! He permitted his eyes to rest on the Masked Lady's rather forbidding face. And then he began impulsively—"Dear lady!…"
"Yes, Everychild?" she returned gently.
He sought eagerly for the right words. "I did not know it myself for a long time," he said, "But I think I know now …"
"I am waiting, Everychild!"
His voice almost failed him. "There was such a long time that I thought I feared you a little," he continued, "—when it seemed better to stand quite apart from you and look at you from a distance. But you've been so good a friend that now at last …"