Returned Empty By Florence L. Barclay _Author of “The Rosary,” etc._ G. P. Putnam’s Sons New York and London =The Knickerbocker Press= 1920 COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY FLORENCE L. BARCLAY =To= CATHERINE Lord Tennyson’s poem, “Crossing the Bar,” is printed by kind permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co. CONTENTS SCENE PAGE I. GLASS WITH CARE 15 II. THE UNEXPECTED WELCOME 35 III. THE EXPECTED GUEST 49 IV. THE PRISON BARS DISSOLVE 59 V. “I HAVE WAITED SO LONG!” 65 VI. “SUNSET AND EVENING STAR” 73 VII. “AND AFTER THAT—THE DARK” 79 VIII. THE DAWN BREAKS 133 IX. THE WATCHER 149 X. “WHEN THAT WHICH DREW FROM OUT THE BOUNDLESS DEEP, TURNS AGAIN HOME” 153 XI. “MY LIFE FOR HIS!” 165 XII. THE DEEP WELL 175 XIII. “NEVERTHELESS——” 193 XIV. “NO SADNESS OF FAREWELL” 203 XV. “THE SECRETS OF OUR HEARTS” 211 XVI. “WHO WAS HE?” 219 XVII. IN THE PINE WOOD 223 XVIII. THE HOME SHE PLANNED 233 XIX. THE GREAT CHANCE 239 XX. “COMING!” 243 SCENE I GLASS WITH CARE A limitless expanse of opal sea, calm and unruffled, reflecting the crimson and gold of the sky, as the sun went down behind pine woods and moors. A clear-cut line of cliffs, rising sheer from the stretch of golden sands. Whirling white wings, as the gulls, shrieking in hungry chorus, swooped to the fringe of the outgoing tide. A narrow path, skirting the edge of the cliffs, all among the pungent fragrance of gorse and heather and yellow bracken.