His griefs and his joys were hers, and though he still
held her a mere child, it was with a woman's self-forgetting love she
ministered to him, gladly accepting whatever confidence he would give,
but content to wait until he should give more. So she stood waiting,
with her tears flowing quietly, and her face alight with wonder and joy
for him. But as her brother's sobbing continued, this terrible display
of emotion amazed her, startled her, for since their mother's death none
of them had seen Allan weep. At length he raised himself from the ground
and stood beside her.
"Oh, Moira, lassie, I never knew how terrible it was till now. I had
lost everything, my friends, you, and," he added in a low voice, "my
mother. This cursed thing shut me out from all; it got between me and
all I ever loved. I have not for these months been able to see her face
clear, but do you know, Moira," here his voice fell and the mystic light
grew in his eyes, "I saw her again just now as clear as clear, and
I know I have got her again; and you, too, Moira, darling," here he
gathered his sister to him, "and the people! and the Glen! Oh! is it not
terrible what a crime can do? How it separates you from your folk, and
from all the world, for, mind you, I have felt myself a criminal; but I
am not! I am not!" His voice rose into an exultant shout, "I am clear of
it, I am a man again! Oh, it is good! it is good! Here, read the letter,
it will prove to you.
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