"You seek news, Doctor Craig."

"That is true."

"News of one who has long been lost; news concerning a member of our
holy order; the dear sister who has consecrated her life to charity, and
who, under my fostering care, has long since redeemed her past--Sister
Magdalen."

The words almost unnerve John; he has a feeling that perhaps Heaven
means to be kind and allow him the bliss he craves.

"Ah! madame, you know my secret. It is true. I would find her, would
hear from her own lips the story of the past. I believe you can help
me. She has occupied this house."

"That very chair upon which you are seated sustained her fainting form
one afternoon when she came in. I thought she was dying. In her hand she
carried a paper, an American daily. I glanced at it to see if I could
learn the truth, and saw it there as plain as day. She had read a notice
of a fire in Chicago where a young man named John Craig, said to be a
medical student, perished."

"Did she see that account? It was cruel. The next day's paper refuted
the lie, and explained how he escaped," says John, warmly.

"Yes, I saw it. She would give us no rest until we procured a later copy
of the same paper, and there she read the truth. Sister Magdalen was all
smiles from that hour; she said that Heaven had indeed answered her