"Mamma!" she faltered, with trembling lips, and even Olive and Monica held their breath while they waited for Mrs. Beauchamp’s answer. "Don’t be frightened, dear," she said kindly; "it certainly is about your mother, who is not quite so well. But your father thinks there is nothing to be alarmed at, and hopes she will be as well as usual by the time you reach home to-morrow." "Are you sure that is quite all?" Elsa whispered, in a voice hoarse with emotion; she loved her mother so intensely that she could not bear the thought of her being worse than her usual invalid condition. "Quite, my dear; you may read it, both of you," and the twins found nothing different in the few sentences the letter contained. "I wish we were going home to-day," murmured Elsa wistfully, while tears trembled on her long, dark lashes. "Nonsense, Elsa!" said Olive, a touch of impatience in her voice; really a sign that she was troubled, too. "I don’t suppose that mamma is very much worse than usual, only Lois croaks so." But Elsa, although she said no more, did not feel comforted; and Mrs. Beauchamp and Monica stole furtive glances at the sad, downcast face of the gentle, loving girl, who had endeared herself to both of them. Breakfast was a quiet meal, and all were glad when it was ended, although the bright sunshine seemed suddenly clouded over, and the girls’ interest in the various amusements they had planned for their last day at Sandyshore had vanished. They were in their bedrooms, getting ready for a morning on the sands, when a double knock was heard upon the open front door, and poor Elsa grew white as death. "Oh, Olive, perhaps it’s a telegram!" she gasped. "What a grizzler you are, Elsa!" said Olive, not really unkindly, for she was very fond of her mother, too, though in a totally different fashion from Elsa; "probably it’s only the butcher or greengrocer." But Barnes, with alarm on her face, came to summon the twins, and Elsa knew that her foreboding was true, even before she saw the fateful pink paper in Mrs. Beauchamp’s trembling fingers. "Oh, don’t say she’s--dead!" wailed Elsa, as she crossed the room; and Olive shuddered convulsively. "No, no, my dears," said the old lady; "no, no, not that; only very ill, and your father wants you home at once." "Oh, my dear mamma, my darling mamma!" sobbed Elsa pitifully, as she clung to Mrs. Beauchamp; while Olive, with horror-stricken face and dry eyes, read the few words of the telegram, which ran thus-- "Mother very ill: girls to come home with all possible speed." "Oh, I wish I’d never left her! I don’t believe I’ll ever see her again," wailed Elsa, in such heart-broken, pitiful tones, that Monica begged her to try not to cry so, and whispered words of comfort. "How soon could we go, Mrs. Beauchamp?" Olive said, in a strained, unnatural voice.