A Lost Brother

How long it may have been before the man, eager as he was to hear the
full explanation of the seeming miracle through which his happiness had
been made possible, was ready to urge Rose to tell the story which she
had promised, and what whispered words the cricket heard in the interim,
concern only the three of them.

When, at last, he was able to bring his winging thoughts down from the
clouds to earth, it was to discover still another unsuspected trait in
the woman who had become his all; for Smiles, eager and excited, was
still dwelling in a world of romance, and she insisted upon recounting
what had happened, almost verbatim, and in a dramatic manner quite
unlike the simplicity which naturally characterized her speech.

Nor could Donald's commonplace interruptions, during the course of which
he affirmed that fact _was_ stranger than fiction and that the world
_was_ a small place after all, check her narrative.

"I don't know whether I can make you understand why I acted as I did,
when Philip asked me for my answer, dear. Indeed, I hardly know,
myself," she began. "It wasn't that I didn't know what I had got to
tell him, for I had made up my mind long ago--at least, it seems long
ago, although it was only this morning, when I got his letter. Much as I
cared for him, my heart knew that there was only one man in the world
for me--even though he appeared not to want me!"