much, you
know. One of the queer things about life is that it has an end, sooner
or later, and in mamma's case it comes to an end a little sooner than
you and I might wish it to."

"Oh, Mamma Tone!" An agonized cry, with the small hands clasped tightly
over her throbbing heart. But Tony Seaver did not flinch.

"The news I have will surprise you, Lory dear. Your father, who loved
you devotedly when you were a baby, but whom you have never known till
now, is coming here to see us."

Alora's eyes grew big with wonder, but other thoughts drove even this
strange news from her mind.

"I can't let you go, Mamma Tone," she wailed, sobbing; "I can't let you
die and leave me all alone!"

The woman's breast heaved. She was silent a moment and then said
quietly:

"Even kings and queens, sweetheart, have no command over life and
death. When it is too late to help it, we realize we have been born;
when it is too late to help it, we realize we must die. But why
complain, when it is the fate of all humanity? To be true to our
Creator, who directs all things, we must bow to His will without
protest. You will love your father, Lory, because he will love you; and
he is a good man, and kindly, so I believe he will make your life as
happy as I could have done."

"I don't want him; I want _you,_ Mamma--I want _you!"_

The mother sighed wearily and the alert nurse advanced and said to the
child in grave, cold tones:

"You must control yourself, Miss Alora, if you wish to remain."

The threat quieted the little girl at once.

"I'll be good, Mamma Tone," she whispered softly. "Talk to me, and tell
me what I must do."

So the dying woman talked to her, not of herself, but of Alora's
father, and of how she would like her child to conduct herself while
she grew in womanhood. She spoke of her will, and told Lory what it
meant to her and how she had safe-guarded her interests as well as she
was able. To this Lory listened intently and, although she still
trembled at times, she had Tony Seaver's blood in her veins and could
be brave in spite of the terrors that faced her. Dimly she realized
that her mother was suffering through the knowledge of their inevitable
parting, even as Alora was suffering, and felt she could comfort that
beloved mother more by controlling her grief bravely than by giving way
to it in her mother's presence.

Meantime, Dr. Anstruther had returned to his office and had written and
dispatched the following tel