“How far is Lincoln from here?”

“About fifty miles.  It’ll be a real treat to her.  Mrs. Slocum’s sister is a real nice woman.”

“It is goin’ to make it pretty late about my goin’ home.”

“If you don’t feel as if you could wait, I’ll get her ready and send her on just as soon as I can,” Mrs. Dent said sweetly.

“I’m going to wait,” said Rebecca grimly.

The two women sat down again, and Mrs. Dent took up her embroidery.

“Is there any sewing I can do for her?” Rebecca asked finally in a desperate way.  “If I can get her sewing along some—­”

Mrs. Dent arose with alacrity and fetched a mass of white from the closet.  “Here,” she said, “if you want to sew the lace on this nightgown.  I was going to put her to it, but she’ll be glad enough to get rid of it.  She ought to have this and one more before she goes.  I don’t like to send her away without some good underclothing.”

Rebecca snatched at the little white garment and sewed feverishly.

That night she wakened from a deep sleep a little after midnight and lay a minute trying to collect her faculties and explain to herself what she was listening to.  At last she discovered that it was the then popular strains of “The Maiden’s Prayer” floating up through the floor from the piano in the sitting-room below.  She jumped up, threw a shawl over her nightgown, and hurried downstairs trembling.  There was nobody in the sitting-room; the piano was silent.  She ran to Mrs. Dent’s bedroom and called hysterically: 

“Emeline!  Emeline!”

“What is it?” asked Mrs. Dent’s voice from the bed.  The voice was stern, but had a note of consciousness in it.

“Who—­who was that playing ‘The Maiden’s Prayer’ in the sitting-room, on the piano?”

“I didn’t hear anybody.”

“There was some one.”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“I tell you there was some one.  But—­there ain’t anybody there.”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“I did—­somebody playing ‘The Maiden’s Prayer’ on the piano.  Has Agnes got home?  I want to know.”

“Of course Agnes hasn’t got home,” answered Mrs. Dent with rising inflection.  “Be you gone crazy over that girl?  The last boat from Porter’s Falls was in before we went to bed.  Of course she ain’t come.”

“I heard—­”

“You were dreaming.”

“I wasn’t; I was broad awake.”

Rebecca went back to her chamber and kept her lamp burning all night.

The next morning her eyes upon Mrs. Dent were wary and blazing with suppressed excitement.  She kept opening her mouth as if to speak, then frowning, and setting her lips hard.  After breakfast she went upstairs, and came down presently with her coat and bonnet.

“Now, Emeline,” she said, “I want to know where the Slocums live.”