Both slept late the next morning, and breakfast and the morning papers were brought up together for Hawthorne.
Ralph saw that his charge was comfortable, and went out to a neighboring cafe where he was wont to meet his friend Mr. Hill at the morning meal.
Hawthorne made a very light meal in bed, dismissed the servant with the tray, and then turned his attention to the newspapers—the Chicago Herald first.
And as he skimmed over the telegraphic news from abroad, he came across a paragraph that worked a curious change in him.
His face grew pale with emotion, and sinking back on his pillow, he sighed to himself:
"I must go home."
When Ralph returned with Mr. Hill, who always made a morning call on his protege, as he humorously termed Hawthorne, they found the patient dressing in feverish haste.
"Boys, I must return to New York to-day," he exclaimed.
While they gazed at him in surprise, he continued:
"Business of a very important nature obliges me to cross the ocean as soon as possible; and—in brief—I owe you both a debt of gratitude that I wish to repay you by asking you to accompany me on my trip to Europe as my guests. Will you come? I am not poor, as you supposed, in the kindness of your hearts, when you took me in, a stranger, and nursed and cared for me, and a cordial welcome will meet you in my English home!"