\'Ay，ay;butmanyathinghappensinfour—and—twentyhours。Hermotherisdying，maybedeadbythistime;andherhusbandshouldbetherewithher。Can\'tyousendforhim？\'
\'Idon\'tknowwhereheis，\'saidHester。\'Hewentofffromhereallonasudden，whentherewasallthemarket—folksint\'shop;Ithoughthe\'dmaybegonetoJohnFoster\'saboutth\'money，fortheywaspayingadealin。I\'llsendthereandinquire。\'
No！themessengerbroughtbackwordthathehadnotbeenseenattheirbankallmorning。FurtherinquiriesweremadebytheanxiousHester，bythedoctor，byCoulson;alltheycouldlearnwasthatPhoebehadseenhimpassthekitchenwindowabouteleveno\'clock，whenshewaspeelingthepotatoesfordinner;andtwoladsplayingonthequay—sidethoughttheyhadseenhimamongagroupofsailors;buttheselatter，asfarastheycouldbeidentified，hadnoknowledgeofhisappearanceamongthem。
Beforenightthewholetownwasexcitedabouthisdisappearance。BeforenightBellRobsonhadgonetoherlonghome。AndSylviastilllayquietandtearless，apparentlymoreunmovedthananyothercreaturebytheeventsoftheday，andthestrangevanishingofherhusband。
Theonlythingsheseemedtocareforwasherbaby;sheheldittightinherarms，andDrMorganbadethemleaveitthere，itstouchmightdrawthedesiredtearsintoherweary，sleeplesseyes，andcharmtheachingpainoutofthem。