I shrank from the thought of the boy being taken away from us . Since we had found him the dream-child had never called . My wife seemed to have turned back from the dark borderland , where her feet had strayed to walk again with me in our own homely paths . Day and night she was her old , bright self , happy and serene in the new motherhood that had come to her . The only thing strange in her was her calm acceptance of the event . She never wondered who or whose the child might be -- never seemed to fear that he would be taken from her ; and she gave him our dream-child 's name . At last , when a full week had passed , I went , in my bewilderment , to our old doctor . `` A most extraordinary thing , '' he said thoughtfully . `` The child , as you say , must belong to the Spruce Cove people . Yet it is an almost unbelievable thing that there has been no search or inquiry after him . Probably there is some simple explanation of the mystery , however . I advise you to go over to the Cove and inquire . When you find the parents or guardians of the child , ask them to allow you to keep it for a time . It may prove your wife 's salvation . I have known such cases . Evidently on that night the crisis of her mental disorder was reached . A little thing might have sufficed to turn her feet either way -- back to reason and sanity , or into deeper darkness . It is my belief that the former has occurred , and that , if she is left in undisturbed possession of this child for a time , she will recover completely . '' I drove around the harbor that day with a lighter heart than I had hoped ever to possess again . When I reached Spruce Cove the first person I met was old Abel Blair .
I asked him if any child were missing XXXXX the Cove or along shore .
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