Elsli was pouring out her whole heart; and she told Clarissa all that
she and Nora had said to each other about the heavenly land, and she
repeated the hymn that Nora had taught her. Then she told how quietly
Nora had left her at last, and said that she hoped to follow her soon
into her beautiful home.

Clarissa hung upon every word that fell from Elsi's lips with gratitude
and satisfaction. It was she who had taught Nora that hymn as she sat
upon her knees when she was a very little child, and as she heard it
repeated now it was with the same tones, the same motions of hand and
head that the child had used who learned it from her own lips; it seemed
to Clarissa as if Nora lived again in Elsli. Weeping with mingled joy
and sorrow, she went in search of Mrs. Stanhope.

"Surely," she exclaimed, "this child is the image of our darling; it is
her sister, with her voice, her words, her very thought. This, too, is
our child."

Mrs. Stanhope roused herself for a moment to listen to Clarissa's words,
but she was not moved by them; she threw herself again on her bed and
would not be comforted. Clarissa was not disheartened by this
indifference; she was so completely impressed herself by the wonderful
resemblance between the children that she led Elsli into the room where
the hopeless mother lay in full indulgence of her grief, and said:--

"I bring you this little girl, Mrs. Stanhope; for I look upon her as a
legacy that our Nora has left us."

Mrs. Stanhope looked for a moment into the girl's face; then she
suddenly kissed her and said:--