"And do you know where the convent is?" "No; I know nothing! She is dead, that's all." "Tamsin," I replied, "something tells me she is not dead. I have heard this again and again, and I cannot believe it. I am going to search for her until I find her." "Why do you not believe she's dead?" she asked, like one in anger. "I have reasons," I answered. "They are real to me, although they might not be real to you. Besides, I cannot think of her as dead. Tamsin, suppose you loved a man, would you rest upon hearsay in such a case?" "I would search until I died," she cried. "If he were alive I would find him; if he were dead I would die too." "Then you can feel for me," I said, "for I love Naomi Penryn. I shall love her till I die, and if she be dead, I shall want to die, too." Then the girl gave a heartrending cry. "Don't, Jasper Pennington," she said, "don't!" I looked around me and saw that Eli had wandered toward the Porth. I was glad for this, for I realised what her words meant. "Tamsin Truscott," I said, "I never had a sister; will you be one to me? For I love you as truly as ever brother loved sister. Can you care for me as a sister cares for a brother?" I said this because I wanted to be true to Naomi, and because I determined to dispel from Tamsin's mind all thoughts of me as one who could ever love her. I wanted to appeal to all that was best and truest in her, too, believing, as I have always believed, that by this means alone can we get the best that people are capable of giving. For some minutes she seemed like one fighting a great battle, then she said quietly, "Yes, Jasper Pennington, I will do for you all that a sister would do." "Then, Tamsin," I said, "if it should please God to let me find my love, would you befriend her?" "Yes," she gasped. "It seems as though she hath many enemies," I went on, "and there be many who plot against her. If I find her among friends all may be well, but if I were to find her among enemies and rescue her, I know of no place to take her where she would be safe." For a little while Tamsin sobbed as though her heart would break; and at that time I thought it was because she pitied both me and Naomi. Presently she said, quietly, "If you should ever find the one you mean alive, and she needs a home, take her to my aunt's at Porth Mullion. She is a good woman, my mother's sister, and hates my father's ways. She will do anything I ask her." "What is her name?" I asked, "and how shall I find her?" "Her name is Mary Crantock, and there are but three houses at Porth Mullion. Hers is a white house, with a wooden porch painted green. The other houses have no porches." "And how will she know about me?" "I will ride there to-morrow and tell her." "And where will you go to-night?" "I will ride to St. Columb. I have another aunt who lives there." Then a great fear came into my heart, and, almost without thinking, I had caught hold of Tamsin's hand.