CHAPTER XVIII.
SEARCHING FOR LOST ONES.
To bind anew the ties which slavery had broken and gather together the remnants of his scattered family became the earnest purpose of Robert's life.

Iola, hopeful that in Robert she had found her mother's brother, was glad to know she was not alone in _her_ search.

Having sent out lines of inquiry in different directions, she was led to hope, from some of the replies she had received, that her mother was living somewhere in Georgia.
Hearing that a Methodist conference was to convene in that State, and being acquainted with the bishop of that district, she made arrangements to accompany him thither.

She hoped to gather some tidings of her mother through the ministers gathered from different parts of that State.
From her brother she had heard nothing since her father's death.

On his way to the conference, the bishop had an engagement to dedicate a church, near the city of C----, in North Carolina.