. Strafford answered. "No one
seems to have seen anything of a boat at all. However, they would need
to be close in shore to be distinguishable through the drift."

"But it seems that there is very little chance of their being here by
three o'clock. Would not it be better to decide that in any case the
funeral will not be till to-morrow?"

"I think it would. I intend going by-and-by up the island, and will
take care to arrange that first, and also about the reception of the
boat when it does arrive."

Mrs. Costello looked up anxiously.

"Are you going quite to the other end of the island?" she asked.

"Yes; to your old house. The woman who lives there is very ill, and, you
know, I am doctor and parson both in one."

"Will you take me with you?"

"You! Impossible! You would be frozen to death."

"It would not hurt me; and I confess I have so little control of myself
to-day that sitting here quietly by the fire is just the hardest thing I
could have to do."

Mr. Strafford examined her face, and perceived that she had really grown
painfully nervous and excited. He turned to Lucia.

"What do you think?" he asked. "Ought I to say yes or no?"

"Say yes, please, and let me go too."

"But, my dear friends, what good can you possibly do? If the drift and
mist clear away, you may be able to see a little way up the river, but
your doing so will not bring the boat one bit faster."

"That is true; but it may end our uncertainty a little sooner."

"I doubt even that. One cannot calculate on having more than an hour or
two of clear daylight between the subsiding of the storm and sunset; and
even if it were possible for you to stand watching all that time, I do
not believe the boat would come while there was daylight enough to see
it."

"Who is the sick woman? Did I ever know her?"

"No; she came to the island after you left."

"Don't you think she would let us sit for a while in her outer room? It
has a window looking right up the river, and she, I suppose, is in the
inner one, so that we need not disturb her."

"You seem to have decided," Mr. Strafford said, smiling, "so I give up.
Yes, poor Martha has not been out of the inner room for weeks, and you
can sit by the window you speak of as long as you please. I am sure you
will be welcome; only, remember I do not approve of your going at all."

However, they remained obstinate. As soon as dinner was over they
wrapped themselves warmly, and started with Mr. Straf