nt; but they had that shadow of sorrow
in their eyes which the rest had not.

But now all faces, grave and gay, were turned to Mr. Collinson; for
when the good man woke himself thus emphatically from his evening nap,
and brightened up the blazing fire, it generally meant that he had
something important to say. So no one was surprised when he cleared
his throat and put himself into an attitude for speaking. Only the
larger and merrier of the twins looked anxious, and edged imperceptibly
nearer to Stephanie.

"Mrs. C," he began, with a bow to his wife, "and young
people--Stephanie, Dick, Roger and William Charles--I have something to
say which concerns us all, because it concerns Stephanie and Dick here
especially. I would not speak of it at all, but it seems to me, and
also to the wife, that things need to be discussed a bit."

Stephanie glanced up quickly, with an expression that was both anxious
and relieved, anxious because the future seemed so dark, and relieved
in that the subject had at last been mentioned. Dick looked dejected,
he hated discussions.

"You know, my dears," said Mr. Collinson, smiling at his two guests,
"that I would not for the world bring up, unnecessarily, any subject
such as this, which is bound to give you pain. But things had better
be talked over, for good and all, to-night."

He gazed thoughtfully into the glowing heart of the fire for a moment,
and then continued. "Six or seven weeks ago, Stephanie, my dear," he
went on, "you came here, and welcome indeed you both were. Since then
I have been looking after matters a little, and as far as I can tell,
things are like this: Your poor father was more a hermit in the
wilderness than a proper settler; he just put up his lodge in the woods
as an Indian might have done. He did not put in his claim for any land
in the townships as he ought to have done, but must needs wander off by
himself. He found this clearing--the worst land in the region, by the
same token--and here he managed to keep body and soul together on what
he grew, and the little money he had left. But he was not really a
settler, and he had no right there. Though it's not likely anyone
would have interfered with him until the country came to be surveyed,
which may never happen. But the land, I fancy, was no more his than
mine, as he was there but four years--though I may be wrong in thinking
so, knowing little of the law. But at any rate, what I want to say is
this,