"
"Found on the shore where wrecks come in! And she is just fifteen. Oh,
Nell, are you sure you are telling the truth?"
There was a sound in Reine's voice that startled Nell.
"The plain truth. Every village child knows it. What has it got to do
with you?"
"I don't know. I don't know. I am afraid to think. Why, Nell, listen to
me. When I was a child of seven years old, my mother and father took me
to France. They had inherited a property there and were going to take
possession of it. They were fond of the sea, and they long travelled by
sea. While still near this coast the vessel was overtaken by storm and
wrecked. My father, mother, and myself were saved. But my little baby
sister was washed out of my mother's arms and drowned."
"Well?"
"Well!"
"If she was drowned how can she be Hetty, if that is what you mean?"
"They thought she was drowned. We were taken into another vessel and
carried on to France."
"And never asked any more questions about the baby?"
"I don't know. My father and mother are both dead," said Reine
pathetically; "I am sure they did all they could.
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