"Ye ken the history o' my early days, Annie Douglass; and ye ken fu' well that Elsie ne'er forsakes the ane she luves, though Stephen luved anither. When the tidings o' his loss reached Scotland, I greeted sair for him wha lay buried in the deep sea; but when he appeared suddenly amang us, I saw that his puir mind was a' shattered, for he seemed dark an' gloomy, and could na' bear the sight o' Malcolm Graham. He was aye jealous o' that stricken mon; an' had the notion that Malcolm yet luved his wife wi' a fond an' tender luve. He hid himsel' frae his friends, got some o' his money secretly, bound me by a solemn oath to keep his secret, and then started again for America to watch his wife. I kenned that he was crazy; an' leaving a comfortable hame, where I had enow to live on weel, I cam' owre here; found puir Stephen separated frae his wife and bairns, an' wandering aboot wi'out a hame. I could na persuade him to gae back to his wife; but he employed me to see that their wants were weel supplied. I went out to sarvice, for I had nae ither way to live. At last, the money he had brought was gane; he had become so much warse that he could na' tell me how to write to Scotland; then cam' the dark days. I had to wark vera hard to find a hame for puir Stephen; the only thing that I am sorry for was that I agreed to stop the letters which Mary sent to Scotland, for he was beset wi' the notion that, in this way, she could hear frae Malcolm; an' he was niver at rest until I brought the letters, an' he destroyed them in my sight. Then he seemed a little better; for he felt that he had closed the door for aye between his pure an' holy wife an' the mon that she had luved sae truly. But Stephen luved her a' the time. I used to tak' him sometimes several lang mile just to get a glint o' Mary an' her bairns in her humble cottage. I led him to her grave, an' I saw him weep bitter tears owre the green sod, and owre the grave o' his daughter, Effie; an' I hoped that the warm tears wad wash awa' the cloud owre the puir brain; but it is there yet, Annie; an' I ken o' only ane ither way to lead him hame. I hae told him meikle aboot his son Roland; he luves that boy wi' a' a father's pride; if he could see him, he might prevail on him to gang back to Scotland. I hae helped to bear Stephen's sorrows, Annie, an' a' the pay I ask is just to see him happy; an' that is my mission here, Annie; when I see him wi' his ain people ance mair, an' his puir stricken heart at rest, then I shall gang hame again, an' spend the rest o' my life in preparing for my last journey." Mrs. Douglass listened with many tears to this sad story, and agreed with Elsie in the fancy that Roland only could persuade his father to return. She lost no time in writing; Roland came at once, and the three set out to find the heart-broken man. Elsie entered first. "Stephen, I hae brought a friend, whom ye wad luve to see, an' wha wad luve to see ye."