to eat? The
boy hesitated. The man looked very worn and weary. Then the lad
thought of the words,--"If thine enemy hunger, feed him." He hesitated
no longer. He slipped into the dining-room, took a large slice of
bread, and pressed it into the man's hand just as the policeman hustled
him off. Then he hurried away, scarcely hearing the man's thanks,
though seeing his look of surprise.

That day was a busy one for the inhabitants of the Island House. Mansy
was very anxious that as far as possible every sign of the damage done
by the water should be repaired and cleared away. So she kept the
young people well employed. But the Island House, however, was rapidly
becoming an Island House no longer, for the flood continued to subside
on every hand.

When the man was examined before the magistrates, of course Alfy had to
be present to testify what he knew about the matter, and the causes of
the flood were thoroughly investigated. To do him justice, the man
himself did not attempt to conceal anything. His fault was chiefly
that of gross carelessness and neglect of duty. The wall of the
reservoir had showed signs of weakness which he had failed to report to
his superior officers. In fact, he had seen but little of those signs,
for, instead of keeping to his work, he had wasted his time in
drinking; and on the afternoon when the wall burst he was loitering in
a public-house some distance off. He hid in the Island House for the
night, not knowing anyone was still there.

The heavy rains of an exceptionally wet July had increased the volume
of water in the reservoir to a great extent, and placed a much greater
strain on the weakened wall. Hence it came to pass that when the
increased pressure came, the wall not being repaired and strengthened,
gave way with a crash. As the man had entered the Island House, he was
committed for trial at the next assizes, and Alfy was complimented on
his bravery and cleverness.

Next morning, when the children came down, they were quite astonished
to find that the water had all disappeared, and the garden and grounds
looked very strange and muddy after their long and unusual bath.

"Why! where has the flood gone to?" exclaimed Edie. "It has quite
vanished away in the night."

"It was subsiding quickly yesterday," said Alfy.

"Now that we have done up the damage in the house, we must see what we
can do for the garden," urged Mansy. "Why here is the postman coming
up the pa