y cabin chamber.
Mollie slept peacefully. Mrs. Curtis did not stir. She was like a
figure carved in stone. She was waiting for something to happen. Was
it for the girl on the bed to speak again?

Madge and Phil scarcely dared to breathe. They did not understand the
situation, but they felt themselves to be in the presence of a mystery.
A drama was being enacted in the tiny room, and they were the only
audience to it.

"Mother, where are you?" Mollie's voice sounded clear and strong.

"I am here," Mrs. Curtis replied softly, not stirring from her position
by the bed.

"Why hasn't Tom been here to see me? And why are Phyllis and Madge so
good to me? I don't understand."

Mollie turned restlessly on her pillow. Her hair fell away from her
forehead and revealed the jagged, ugly scar. Mrs. Curtis saw it. For
the first time she gave an involuntary shudder of emotion. Mollie put
up her hand to her head with the old, familiar gesture of pain.

"My head hurts," she announced, as though she had not known of her
injury before. "Have I been sick a long time? Somehow, you look so
different."

Mrs. Curtis nodded. "Yes, daughter, you have been ill a long, long
time. But you will be well and happy when you wake up again. You are
with Mother now."

Mrs. Curtis gathered Mollie into her arms and the two girls stole out
of the tiny cabin, closing the door behind them. The mother and
daughter were alone.

"What has happened to you, Madge Morton? Why do you girls look so
strangely at me?" demanded Tom Curtis as he caught sight of Madge's
face. He was leaning against the deck rail staring curiously at his
friends. "Is Mollie worse?"

"Oh, no; she is not worse. She is well. That is, she can remember.
She is---- Oh, I don't know what I am saying," cried Madge in
confusion.

Miss Jenny Ann came out of the sitting room. Lillian and Eleanor also
joined the little group on deck. Still Madge was silent.

"Ought I to tell?" she faltered, looking at Phyllis. "Don't you think
Mrs. Curtis ought to tell Tom?"

"If you have bad news for me speak quickly!" returned Tom. "I would
rather hear it from you than anybody in the world. You are almost like
a sister to me, Madge."

The little captain went forward and put her hand gently on Tom's arm.
"You won't need me for a sister now, Tom," she said gently. "Phil and
I do not understand what has happened. Your mother will have to
explain to you. But our Mollie i