The haunted house was, in consequence, looked upon with ten times more
awe than ever; nobody would venture to pass a night in it for the
world, and even the doctor had ceased to make his expeditions to it in
the day-time.
It required some preparation before Dolph's return could be made known
to his mother, the poor soul having bewailed him as lost; and her
spirits having been sorely broken down by a number of comforters, who
daily cheered her with stories of ghosts, and of people carried away
by the devil. He found her confined to her bed, with the other member
of the Heyliger family, the good dame's cat, purring beside her, but
sadly singed, and utterly despoiled of those whiskers which were the
glory of her physiognomy. The poor woman threw her arms about Dolph's
neck: "My boy! my boy! art thou still alive?" For a time she seemed to
have forgotten all her losses and troubles, in her joy at his return.
Even the sage grimalkin showed indubitable signs of joy, at the return
of the youngster. She saw, perhaps, that they were a forlorn and
undone family, and felt a touch of that kindliness which
fellow-sufferers only know. But, in truth, cats are a slandered
people; they have more affection in them than the world commonly gives
them credit for.
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