of the best boy in the
world.

As Mrs. Daly told of her Willie's affection for her, she broke down
completely. The clerk summoned a nurse. Mrs. Daly was taken into a side
room, and under the firm but kind management of the nurse, she soon
calmed down. Frank, although so tender-hearted, was not an expert at
giving sympathy. Indeed, it was good that he was not, for in Mrs. Daly's
hysterical condition, sympathy would have made her worse. The excitement
was hardly over when word came from the office that William had regained
consciousness, and that he was out of danger. The messenger also added
that he was sleeping quietly, and that it was not advisable to disturb
him now, but that his mother would be welcome to see him in the morning.

Mrs. Daly turned to Frank. "You are one of Willie's friends?"

Frank reflected on the fight and the contemptuous terms that Bill had
used toward him, but he also remembered their final talk, and so replied
without hesitation, "Yes, Mrs. Daly."

"Oh, he was the good boy to his mother! And it's a hard time of it he's
had, with no one knowing how much the poor boy went through to help his
mother. O Blessed Mother of God, help him from your place in heaven!"

Frank was affected by the emotion which was again overcoming the fond
mother, but he said as calmly as he could, "Don't you think we had
better go home now, Mrs. Daly?"

"No, I can't go home and him up there," she replied.

"But you can't stay here all night," objected Frank. "Come home with me
now. That's what Bill would want if he had the say."

"Is that what you call him--Bill?"

"O, for short you know, Mrs. Daly. Boys always take short cuts."

"I never called him anything but Willie," she sighed and started to cry
again.

"Won't you come home now?" Frank asked tenderly.

"I've got no heart to go anywhere while he is up there," she again
declared.

Frank now realized that things were getting serious. His own mother
would be anxious about him, and the hospital bench was not a place for
Mrs. Daly to spend the night. He tried all his persuasive powers, to no
effect.

While he was in this state of anxiety, he heard a voice at the desk ask,
"Is William Daly doing nicely? Has he regained consciousness yet?"
Looking up, Frank, to his great joy, saw Father Boone. At the same
instant, hearing a sob and looking in its direction, the priest
perceived Mrs. Daly and Frank. He stepped over to where they were.

"Good gracious, my dea