and penniless."

"Ay, ay," muttered the others; "that Jason--that Red Jason."

"But he's gone now, and serve him right," said Jacob, "and you're
wedded to the right man, praise God."

So saying he shambled to his feet, and his brothers did likewise.

But Greeba stood without moving, and said through her compressed
lips, "How did you know that I was here?"

"The letter, the letter," Asher blurted out, and Jacob gave him a
side-long look, and then said:

"Ye see, dear, it was this way. When you were gone, and we didn't
know where to look for you, and were sore grieved to think you'd
maybe left us in anger, not rightly seeing our drift towards you, we
could do nothing but sit about and fret for you. And one day we were
turning over some things in a box, just to bring back the memory of
you, when what should we find but a letter writ to you by the good
man himself."

"Ay, Sunlocks--Michael Sunlocks," said Stean.

"And a right good man he is, beyond gainsay; and he knows how to go
through life, and I always said it," said Asher.

And Jacob continued, "So said I; 'Boys,' I said, 'now we know where
she is, and that by this time she must have married the man she
ought, let's do the right by her and sell Ballacraine, and take her
the money and give her joy.'"

"So you did, so you did," said John.

"And we sold it dirt cheap, too," said Jacob, "but you're not the
loser; no, for here is a full seventh of all Lague straight to your
hand."

"Give me the money," said Greeba.

"And there it is, dear," said Jacob, fumbling the notes and the gold
to count them, while his brethren, much gratified by this sign of
Greeba's complacency, began to stretch their legs from the easy
chairs about them.

"Ay, and a pretty penny it has cost us to fetch it," said John.
"We've had to pinch ourselves to do it, I can tell you."

"How much has it cost you?" said Greeba.

"No matter of that," interrupted Jacob, with a lofty sweep of the
hand.

"Let me pay you back what you have spent in coming," said Greeba.

"Not a pound of it," said Jacob. "What's a matter of forty or fifty
pounds to any of us, compared to doing what's right by our own flesh
and blood?"

"Let me pay you," said Greeba, turning to Asher, and Asher was for
holding out his hand, but Jacob, coming behind him, tugged at his
coat, and so he drew back and said,

"Aw, no, child, no; I couldn't touch it for my life."

"Then _you_," said Greeba to Thurstan, and Thurs