rt and
clutched at the side of the door for support. It was the face of the
girl she had seen in her dream! It was her own daughter who had
appeared to her for one fleeting instant. Mrs. Hampton trembled
violently as she stood there. Was she still asleep? she wondered, and
would she awake to find it all a dream? But when she saw the look of
love in the girl's eyes, and the smile which illumined her face, she
knew that it was no fading dream. And just then John saw her.

"Mother!" he cried, leaping to his feet. "I am glad you have come.
Here she is, and she wants to meet you."

He had now taken Mrs. Hampton by the arm, and was leading her across
the room to where the girl was lying.

"Mother, this is Jess--Jess Randall, and she has met with an accident.
I have brought her here for you to nurse."

"Jess Randall!" Mrs. Hampton repeated, as she took the girl's hand in
hers. It was the name of the girl who had been drowned at Benton's
wharf. Could it be possible that she was the same! And was this
stranger her own daughter?

John noted her bewildered look, and laughed outright.

"No wonder you are astonished, mother," he told her, "This is really
Miss Randall, the girl who was drowned. It's a great secret, and we
shall tell you all about it later. Don't ask too many questions now,
for we are too happy to answer them, are we not, Jess?"

The latter smiled and pressed Mrs. Hampton's hand more firmly. Then
her eyes became moist, and a tear stole down her cheek. At once Mrs.
Hampton aroused to action, and dropping upon her knees by the sofa she
put her arms lovingly about the girl and kissed her upon the lips. Her
heart was too full for utterance. This was her own child, she had no
doubt about that now. Her dream was fulfilled in a wonderful manner.
She looked into the clear eyes, drank in the beauty of her face, and
stroked her soft hair. So this was her own child, the one she had
longed to behold for so many years. She was with her at last. But the
girl must never know. She must never call her "mother." The thought
was terrible. Her own daughter, and yet not her own. She had sold her
for money, and how she would spurn her should she ever hear of it. It
was almost more than she could endure. In her confusion she tried to
say something, to utter words of welcome. But all in vain. A feeling
of helplessness and despair swept upon her, so throwing her arms
impulsively about the girl's neck, and b