once she knew that the sweet spirit of the
mother had fled.

With her face slightly turned away, a smile of good-night upon her lips,
and the peace of God upon her brow, the mother had entered into her
rest.

XIII

THE CALL OF THE DESERT

Hazel, with her eyes blinded with tears and her heart swelling with the
loss of the woman upon whose motherliness she had come to feel a claim,
burned the letter she had written the night before, and sent a carefully
worded telegram, her heart yearning with sympathy towards the bereaved
son.

"Your dear mother has gone home, quietly, in her sleep. She did not seem
any worse than usual, and her last words were of you. Let us know at
once what plans we shall make. Nurse Radcliffe." That was the telegram
she sent.

Poor Amelia Ellen was all broken up. Her practical common sense for once
had fled her. She would do nothing but weep and moan for the beloved
invalid whom she had served so long and faithfully. It fell to Hazel to
make all decisions, though the neighbours and old friends were most kind
with offers of help. Hazel waited anxiously for an answer to the
telegram, but night fell and no answer had come. There had been a storm
and something was wrong with the wires. The next morning, however, she
sent another telegram, and about noon still a third, with as yet no
response. She thought perhaps he had not waited to telegraph but had
started immediately, and might be with them in a few hours. She watched
the evening stage, but he did not come; then realized how her heart was
in a flutter, and wondered how she would have had strength to meet him
had he come. There was the letter from his mother, and her promise. She
had that excuse for her presence--of course she could not have left
under the circumstances. Yet she shrank from the meeting, for it seemed
somehow a breach of etiquette that she should be the one to break the
separation that he had chosen should be between them.

However, he did not come, and the third morning, when it became
imperative that something definite should be known, a telegram to the
station agent in Arizona brought answer that the missionary was away on
a long trip among some tribes of Indians; that his exact whereabouts was
not known, but messengers had been sent after him, and word would be
sent as soon as possible. The minister and the old neighbours advised
with Amelia Ellen and Hazel, and made simple plans for the funeral, yet
hoped and dela