assure her. "It will be a great
pleasure to have you. There is one room which is always ready, and,"
here her voice became low, "no one has slept in it for over thirteen
years. It was my son's room," she explained, seeing the look of
surprise in her guest's eyes.

As Mrs. Royal uttered these words, she turned and lighted a lamp, and,
therefore, did not notice the strange expression which overspread Miss
Royanna's face. Together the two went upstairs and entered the sacred
chamber.

"It was Alec's room," Mrs. Royal remarked, as she placed the lamp upon
the dressing-table. "He was fond of all those things," and she
motioned to the walls lined with books, fishing-rods, rifle, banners,
snow-shoes, and pictures. "I have aired the bed, and made it up every
week since he went away. I know it will seem childish and foolish to
you. But, oh----" she suddenly paused and sat down upon a chair by the
side of the bed. "You little realise how much he meant to us. He was
our only child, and his memory is very dear."

"I know it," Miss Royanna replied, dropping upon her knees, and
throwing her arms around Mrs. Royal's neck. "I think I understand how
much you have suffered during all of these years. But is it right for
a stranger to occupy this room? Could I not sleep on the sofa
downstairs? I would be quite comfortable there."

"No, no. You must stay here. I could never before bear the thought of
any one sleeping in this room. But with you it is so different. You
seem to me like my own daughter, and that you have a right here which
no one else ever had. I cannot understand the feeling."

"May I be your daughter, then?" the younger woman eagerly asked, as she
caught Mrs. Royal's hands in her own hot ones. "It will make my heart
so happy to be able to call you mother, and to feel that this is my
home."

In reply, Mrs. Royal kissed the fair face so close to hers, and gave a
loving pressure to the firm white hands. For some time they remained
in this position, unheeding the storm which was still raging outside.
Tears were in their eyes, but a new-found joy had entered their hearts,
which made that chamber of sacred memories a more hallowed spot than
ever.

When at last alone, and with the door closed, the singer stood as if
spellbound. Could it be possible, she asked herself, that this was his
room, just as he had left it years before? The memory of the past rose
suddenly and vividly to her mind. She saw ag