ck, Mrs. Barton was sewing in her little
sitting-room when an unusual feeling of loneliness overcame her.
Circumstances had separated her from her husband, and her only son was
hundreds of miles away.

"Why," she asked herself, "can I not fare as well as other wives and
mothers? I am a wife, yet I cannot enjoy my husband's society.
Fortunately I am not likely long to be separated from Bert. If he only
succeeds in his mission, and comes home able to vindicate the fame of
his father, and restore him to me, I shall be perfectly happy."

She felt unusually restless, and found it difficult to keep on with her
work.

"I feel as if something were going to happen. I hope no misfortune is
impending over me."

She had hardly spoken when the door bell rang.

"It is some neighbor come to make a call," she thought. "I am glad of
it, for I am not in the mood for work."

She rose and opened the door. She started back in surprise when in her
visitors she recognized Uncle Jacob, and leaning upon his arm the
husband of whom she had just been thinking.

"May we come in?" asked Uncle Jacob, cheerily.

"Surely, but--has anything happened?"

"Only this; that your husband is sick and has come here to be nursed
back to health by my advice."

"But--is it safe?"

"I think so. The fact is, Bert has made an important discovery, and is
likely to make more. We are in a fair way to prove your husband's
innocence, and put the guilt where it belongs."

"And where does it belong?"

"The man who stole the bonds, we have every reason to believe, is Albert
Marlowe."

"I do not wish to get him into trouble, but if it is necessary in order
to vindicate my husband's reputation, I will not object."

"Albert Marlowe has been a cruel enemy to you and your family," said
Jacob Marlowe, sternly. "He is entitled to no consideration. The past
ten years cannot be recalled; but I think that we shall be able to
provide a brighter future for yourself and Mr. Barton. The first thing
to do is to get him well."

"What is the matter with you, John?" asked Mrs. Barton, now for the
first time noting with alarm her husband's pale face.

"The doctor says my system is run down, and that I need time to
recuperate. I was living in a boarding-house in Montreal, and the
prospect of being sick there was too much for me. I wanted my wife to
take care of me, and, taking the first train to New York, I consulted
Uncle Jacob as to whether it would be safe. In the lig