e.

There was Saidee standing before her, found at last. Saidee, well and
safe, and lovely as ever, hardly changed in feature, and yet--there was
something strange about her, something which stopped the joyous beating
of the girl's heart. It was almost as if she had died and come to
Heaven, to find that Heaven was not Heaven at all, but a cold place of
fear.

She was shocked at the impression, blaming herself. Surely Saidee did
not know her yet, that was all; or the surprise was too great. She
wished she had sent word by the negress. Though that would have seemed
banal, it would have been better than to see the blank look on Saidee's
face, a look which froze her into a marble statue. But it was too late
now. The only thing left was to make the best of a bad beginning.

"Oh, darling!" Victoria cried. "Have I frightened you? Dearest--my
beautiful one, it's your little sister. All these years I've been
waiting--waiting to find a way. You knew I would come some day, didn't
you?"

Tears poured down her face. She tried to believe they were tears of joy,
such as she had often thought to shed at sight of Saidee. She had been
sure that she could not keep them back, and that she would not try. They
should have been sweet as summer rain, but they burned her eyes and her
cheeks as they fell. Saidee was silent. The girl held out her arms,
running a step or two, then, faltering, she let her arms fall. They felt
heavy and stiff, as if they had been turned to wood. Saidee did not
move. There was an expression of dismay, even of fear on her face.

"You don't know me!" Victoria said chokingly. "I've grown up, and I must
seem like a different person--but I'm just the same, truly. I've loved
you so, always. You'll get used to seeing me changed. You--you don't
think I'm somebody else pretending to be Victoria, do you? I can tell
you all the things we used to do and say. I haven't forgotten one. Oh,
Saidee, dearest, I've come such a long way to find you. Do be glad to
see me--do!"

Her voice broke. She put out her hands pleadingly--the childish hands
that had seemed pathetically pretty to Stephen Knight.

A look of intense concentration darkened Saidee's eyes. She appeared to
question herself, to ask her intelligence what was best to do. Then the
tense lines of her face softened. She forced herself to smile, and
leaning towards Victoria, clasped the slim white figure in her arms,
holding it tightly, in silence. But over the girl's sh