She objected to taking the nourishment Tulee offered, saying she wanted to die.  But Mr. Duroy reminded her that Madame was longing to see her, and she yielded to that plea.  When Tulee brought the same travelling-dress in which she had first come to the cottage, she shrunk from it at first, but seemed to remember immediately that she ought not to give unnecessary trouble to her friends.  While she was putting it on, Tulee said, “I tried to remember to put up everything ye would want, darling.”

“I don’t want anything,” she replied listlessly.  Then, looking up suddenly, with that same wild, hard expression, she added, “Don’t let me ever see anything that came from him!” She spoke so sternly, that Tulee, for the first time in her life, was a little afraid of her.

The eastern sky was all of a saffron glow, but the golden edge of the sun had not yet appeared above the horizon, when they entered the boat which was to convey them to the main-land.  Without one glance toward the beautiful island where she had enjoyed and suffered so much, the unhappy fugitive nestled close to Tulee, and hid her face on her shoulder, as if she had nothing else in the world to cling to.

* * * * *

A week later, a carriage stopped before Madame’s door, and Tulee rushed in with the baby on her shoulder, exclaiming, “Nous voici!” while Mr. Duroy was helping Rosa to alight.  Then such huggings and kissings, such showers of French from Madame, and of mingled French and Italian from the Signor, while Tulee stood by, throwing up her hand, and exclaiming, “Bless the Lord! bless the Lord!” The parrot listened with ear upturned, and a lump of sugar in her claw, then overtopped all their voices with the cry of “Bon jour, Rosabella! je suis enchantee.”

This produced a general laugh, and there was the faint gleam of a smile on Rosa’s face, as she looked up at the cage and said, “Bon jour, jolie Manon!” But she soon sank into a chair with an expression of weariness.

“You are tired, darling,” said Madame, as she took off her bonnet and tenderly put back the straggling hair.  “No wonder, after all you have gone through, my poor child!”

Rosa clasped her round the neck, and murmured, “O my dear friend, I am tired, so tired!”

Madame led her to the settee, and arranged her head comfortably on its pillows.  Then, giving her a motherly kiss, she said, “Rest, darling, while Tulee and I look after the boxes.”

When they had all passed into another room, she threw up her hands and exclaimed:  “How she’s changed!  How thin and pale she is!  How large her eyes look!  But she’s beautiful as an angel.”

“I never see Missy Rosy but once when she wasn’t beautiful as an angel,” said Tulee; “and that was the night Massa Duroy told her she was sold to Massa Bruteman.  Then she looked as if she had as many devils as that Mary Magdalene Massa Royal used to read about o’ Sundays.”