"Mother, you are safe now," was my oft-repeated remark to her.
"I know that I am; and I thank God for giving me such a noble and devoted son," was her reply.
We enjoyed every day of the passage in talking over the past and the future. I told her everything I had ever done and said with the utmost minuteness. I described my life at the cottage, my excursions on the lake, all my friends, and related the history of "Breaking Away." In twelve days we reached New York. As soon as we had taken rooms at a hotel, I hastened with my mother to see Kate Loraine.
"O, Ernest Thornton! I am so glad to see you!" exclaimed she.
"My mother, Kate," I replied proudly.
"I am so delighted!" cried Kate, seizing her hand. "Now you must tell me all about it, Ernest Thornton."
I told her all about it, and she wondered, ejaculated, and wept.
"Mrs. Thornton, your son is the best boy in all the world, and I love him—I love him as though he were my own brother," said she, warmly.
"I am very proud of him," replied my mother, as she smiled upon me.
"All right," I added, feeling my cheeks glow. "What has happened, Kate, since I went away."