l the world to her; that life without him would be almost like a
body without a soul, a world without a sun.

Her uncle's death had come upon her so like a thunderbolt out of a clear
sky, almost benumbing all her faculties with the grief it had hurled upon
her so remorselessly, that she could think of nothing else until Mr.
Graves had come to her with that other fatal piece of news--the loss of
her fortune.

She had scarcely looked into a daily paper until that evening, for
she felt no interest in the outside world; she could apply her mind to
nothing but her own afflictions; consequently, she had not known anything
of the mysterious and exciting circumstances connected with Ray Palmer's
sudden disappearance and the stolen diamonds. That little blind
paragraph, which she had seen just before she was called down to Mrs.
Montague's room, was the only hint that she had had of any trouble or
loss in the Palmer family.

So, of course, it is not strange that she so misjudged Ray; she could
not know that only a great wrong kept him from speeding to her side to
express the deepest interest and sympathy for her in her sorrow.

And it was well, perhaps, that she did not know, for it would only have
added to her troubles and caused her greater suffering.

CHAPTER X.

MONA MEETS MRS. MONTAGUE'S NEPHEW.

The next morning, as soon as she had finished her breakfast, Mona asked
Mary to conduct her to the sewing-room, and there she found a pile of
work, which would have been exceedingly disheartening to a less resolute
spirit.

But the young girl had bravely determined to do the best she could and
not worry about the result.

Fate had willed that she must work for her living, and she had resolved
not to murmur at her lot, but, putting forth all her energies, hope to
please her employer and meet with success in her undertaking.

So she arranged her chair and table by a pleasant window overlooking the
street, and then boldly attacked the mountain before her.

"I wonder if Mrs. Montague intends to have these done by hand or
machine?" she mused, as she shook out the folds of snowy cloth and
began to turn a hem on one of the sheets. "And then"--with a puzzled
expression--"how am I to know how broad to make the hems?"

She feared to go on with the work without special directions, for she
might make some mistake. But after considering the matter, she determined
to leave the sheets altogether and do the over-and-over sewin