"Pretty Nina! Sweet Nina! Jolly Nina!" she kept repeating, "I
guess I used to see you in Heaven, before I came down to the nasty
old Asylum. And mother was there, too, with a great long veil of
hair, which came below her waist. Where was it?" she asked herself
as Nina, her mother and Marie were all mingled confusedly together
in her mind; and while seeking to solve the mystery, the darkness
deepened in the room, the gas lamps were lighted in the street,
and with a fresh shudder of loneliness Edith crept into the bed,
and nestling down among her pillows, fell asleep with Nina,
pressed lovingly to her bosom.
At a comparatively early hour next morning, the door of her room,
which had been left unfastened, was opened, and a chambermaid
walked in, starting with surprise at sight of Edith, sitting up in
bed, her thick black hair falling over her shoulders, and her
large eyes fixed inquiringly upon her.
"An, sure," she began, "is it a child like you staying here alone
the blessed night? Where's yer folks?"
"I hain't no folks," answered Edith, holding fast to the locket,
and chewing industriously the bit of gum which Rachel, who knew
her taste, had slipped into her pocket at parting.
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