t," was the answer. "I see you need something to eat
this morning, even if you weren't hungry last night. Come with me to the
house."

So Rupert Ames remained with the farmer and did the chores around the
house until he became stronger, when he helped with the harder work. He
was treated kindly by them all, and it was not long before he mingled
freely with the family.

During this time Rupert realized that his right senses, as he called
them, were coming back to him, and every night he thanked God in vocal
prayer for his deliverance from a dark pit which seemed to have yawned
before him.

The Jansons were newcomers in the West, and had much to learn about
farming. Mr. Janson was a Swede who had been in the country twenty
years. His wife and her cousin were from Norway, the former having been
in the country long enough to become Americanized; it was two years only
since the latter had emigrated from her native land, so she spoke
English with a foreign accent. Her name was Signe Dahl (first name
pronounced in two syllables, Sig-ne). She attracted Rupert's attention
from the first. She had a complexion of pink and white, blue eyes, soft,
light hair; but it was not her peculiar beauty alone that attracted him.
There was something else about her, an atmosphere of peace and assurance
which Rupert could feel in her presence. Naturally, she was reticent at
first, but on learning to know Rupert, which she seemed to do
intuitively, she talked freely with him, and even seemed pleased with
his company.

Two weeks went by, and Rupert proffered to remain with Mr. Janson and
help him with his harvesting. The latter gladly accepted the offer, for
he had by this time learned that Rupert Ames could give him many
practical lessons in farming.

The song that Rupert heard that first evening continually rang in his
ears. He remembered some of the words, and, as he thought of them,
strange ideas came to him. One evening they were all sitting around the
fire in the living room. Rupert had been telling them some of his
history, and when the conversation lagged, he asked the two cousins to
sing that song about "O my Father." They readily consented.

"A most beautiful song," said Rupert at its close; "and so strange. It
seems to bring me back for an instant to some former existence, if that
were possible. What does it mean:

'In thy holy habitation,
Did my spirit once reside;
In my first primeval childhood
Was I nurtured ne