ABSTRACT
NORTHWOOD arrived at Singapore after an absence of two years. His mother was naturally delighted to see him. Her son’s letters, which reached her regularly by every mail, had been a great comfort to her, but that she should have her Johnnie back again seemed to her almost too good to be true. She was living tranquilly in her pretty bungalow in town, and could always drive out to her Ayer Manis estate whenever she wanted a change. She would not now have cared to go back to the gaieties of Woodleigh. As long as she had her son with her she was serenely happy, albeit she had perforce to become accustomed to his frequent absences from Singapore.
