ned to leave the
room, an expression so much like that assumed by the countenance of
"Cobbler" Horn at times when he was very firm, that the heart of Miss
Jemima gave a mighty bound.

Meanwhile Miss Jemima's brother was eagerly awaiting her return. She had
been absent less than five minutes, when she once more entered his room.

"There," she said, holding the two little shoes out towards her brother,
side by side, "there can be no doubt about the shoes, at any rate. They
are a pair, sure enough. Why," she continued, turning up the shoe that
Miss Owen had produced, "I remember noticing, that very morning, that half
the leather was torn away from the heel of one of the child's shoes, just
like that."

As she spoke, she held out the shoe, and showed her brother that its
heel had been damaged exactly as she had described. Then a strange thing
happened to Miss Jemima. She dropped the little shoes upon the bed, and,
covering her face with her hands, cried gently for a few moments. "The
Golden Shoemaker" gazed at his sister in some wonder; and then two large
tears gathered in his own eyes, and rolled down his cheeks.

All at once Miss Jemima almost fiercely dashed her hand across her eyes.

"Brother," she cried, "I've often heard of tears of joy; but I didn't
think I should live to say they were the only ones I had shed since I was
a little child! But there's no mistake about those shoes. And there's no
doubt about anything else either."

"Cobbler" Horn was, perhaps, quite as confident as his sister; but he was
a little more cautious.

"Yes, Jemima," he said; "but we must be careful. A mistake would be
dreadful--both on our own account, and on that of--of Miss Owen. We must
send for Mr. and Mrs. Burton at once. Mr. Durnford will telegraph. It will
be necessary, of course, to tell him of our discovery; but he may be
trusted not to breathe it to any one else."

Miss Jemima readily assented to her brother's proposal. Mr. Durnford was
sent for, and came without delay. His astonishment on hearing the
wonderful news his friends had to tell was hardly as great as they
expected. It is possible that this arose from the fact that he was
acquainted with the story of Miss Owen, and that his eyes and ears had
been open during the last few months. It was, however, with no lack of
heartiness that he complied with the request to send a telegram summoning
Mr. and Mrs. Burton to "Cobbler" Horn's bedside.