asleep in one of the state rooms engaged for us. It was not until
we had put out to sea that we discovered that Mabel was missing,
and a thorough search of the ship was at once made. The nurse
persisted in her statement that Mabel went aboard with her. Every
nook and cranny of the ship was overhauled, but my child could not
be found, and the supposition was that she had in some way fallen
overboard.

"I was distracted with grief, and nearly lost my reason, and when
we reached the other side I passed into a long illness. It was
many weeks before I returned to consciousness of my affairs, and
the terrible realization that my baby was gone forever. I felt as
though I could not face the future without her. I had scarcely
recovered from the first shock attending my great loss, when my
husband contracted typhoid fever and died after an illness of five
weeks.

"We were in Florence, Italy, at the time and I prayed that I might
die, too. It was during those dark hours that Mrs. Gibson proved
her friendship for me. She sailed for Italy the instant she
received the cablegram announcing my husband's death, and brought
me back to America with her. I spent a year with her in her New
York home, before returning to Denver. Since then I have never
been east until this summer.

"Four months ago I received a letter from the nurse who had charge
of Mabel on the day of her disappearance. It was a great surprise
to me, as she had left us directly after we landed with the
intention of returning to France. But the news the letter
contained was a far greater surprise, for she stated that Mabel