� didn t i mr and i kicked away the dress and i rushed right to where mr was standing and i held to his legs � i did and he took me right up and kissed me i put my arms round his neck and i cried and sobbed fit to break my heart and what do you think s voice conveyed notes of emphatic exclamation mr was crying too he was seed he might have added as you are crying now mother for as the climax of the narrative was reached broke down completely and instinctively held out her hand to the of her little boy could not refrain from pressing his lips to it and the action conveyed a thousand times more than the old custom is wont to convey under ordinary circumstances overcome by the recollections of the scene he had up flung his arms round his mother s neck and then held up his face to to be by kissed let s kiss altogether he said in the of the moment and was fain once more to turn away her head lest should see her in connection with all this portion of the disastrous chances that had experienced it will be noticed that no mention of his father crossed his lips it was only when the moving accident on board the was under discussion that frank s share in the strange history came to be and even then for the reason that s presence recalled his behavior on that dreadful night more strongly to s mind than that of his absent father or whether because his personality was in point of fact so much the stronger of the two it is certain that the child persistently assigned the of the principal hero to his friend notwithstanding the well efforts of the latter to transfer a portion of his to lord les ab ont forty says the french proverb and in a modified sense was unconsciously proving the truth of the proverb it must not be supposed however that neglected to inform herself in so far as was possible of her husband s movements the from had her of his safe arrival and of his enforced through bad weather the three days gale had grown into a five days gale and every morning by the fa te of to lady with an expression of becoming gravity the deplorable reports that had reached him from the authorities and insisted upon the of a channel crossing until the present winds should have as was growing better and had been promoted by the doctor from roast chicken to mutton and indeed to anything he fancied which was a larger order perhaps than the worthy man could have imagined lady accepted the delay in her husband s return with philosophy i am not sure that she would have shown equal resignation if there had been no one at hand to in her delight at s recovery but s interest in the event seemed almost to equal her own and his suggestion that the longer frank remained away the greater would be the joyful surprise that awaited him as regarded the amount of flesh that would have put on during his absence seemed the best of reasons for taking patience it is an ill wind says the old proverb that blows nobody any good the wind that the boats was blowing the roses into s cheeks and joy into s heart when it suddenly lifted and a great calm fell upon land and sea looking from the balcony saw the lake in the opposite park shining in the distance like a silver shield and reflected that at the by j same time next evening she would probably be watching it with her husband by her side was now running about in the full exercise of a s privileges and over his mother and his friend upon the principle that he was to live at his ease to do as he pleased and not to be worried the doctor says with the force of childhood he seemed to grow and and many were the conversations that had with upon the subject of his future training she noticed that a word from the latter went farther than a whole chapter of from herself and fell unconsciously into the habit of referring the little boy to his friend upon every occasion it may be that as she watched the sky this evening she was wondering what would do when the firm and gentle influence that was so to him was removed and altogether so absorbed was she in her thoughts that she did not even heard s step approaching until he was by her side then she turned her face by the sunlight glow and looked at him with questioning eyes s face was very grave there was bad news written in every line he held a in his hand and with a� sudden sense of icy her forehead and cheeks took it from him without a word seeing her so white thought she was about to by the fa te of and forced her gently back into a chair the was brief as are wont to be even when infinite joy and sorrow are compressed into them lord seriously ill it said advise lady to come at once oh why was s first thought had she not gone sooner why had she allowed herself to take it for granted that the winds and the waves were the cause of the long delay might not her heart have told her that some stronger power than those was holding her husband back had she even once taken the trouble to for herself the list of the and on the boats what selfishness what what indifference alas she had been guilty of these were the that pursued her all the time she was making her hurried and eager preparations for departure had in his usual calm 