Numerous boats were already making their way out to
her. They soon learnt that the ship was from Malta, though she was not
the _Minerva_ they had expected.
How Norah's heart beat as she eagerly, breathlessly, watched the
passengers descend the ladder and take their places in the different
boats. A keen breeze had got up, and even in the harbour there were
waves already.
[Sidenote: "There is Mamma!"]
"There is mamma!" exclaimed little Ethel--"see her, Nory, in the white
hat! Oh, my pretty mamma!" she exclaimed, dancing with glee as the boat
came nearer and nearer.
Then came exclamations, hugs and kisses, intermingled with the quick
vivacious chattering of the boatmen bargaining over their fares. A
perfect Babel of sound! Several passengers were landing--so a harvest
was being reaped by these small craft.
The children clung to their parents, and Norah followed behind, feeling
a little lonely, and out of it all--would there ever come a time of joy
for her--a time when she too would be welcoming a dear one?--or should
she just have to go on living the life of an outsider in other people's
lives--having no joys or sorrows of her own, she who might have been so
blessed and so happy? How long those five years had seemed, a lifetime
in themselves, since she had last heard her husband's voice! Well, he
had not come, that was clear.
That evening as Norah was preparing to go to bed, a knock came to her
door, and Mrs.
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