me for," said Fani, taking out his
purse; "how much do I owe you?"

The man turned his cap about in his hands, as if he were turning his
thoughts over too.

"I don't want to be unreasonable," he said presently, "and I don't
suppose a young gentleman like you knows how much a boat with all its
belongings is worth. I cannot say less than eighty marks; I shall lose
at that, but I will not ask more."

Fani stood thunder-struck. Of course, as the boat was lost, he must make
it good. But eighty marks! He had never even seen so much money as
that. He was speechless. The fisherman looked thoughtfully at him.
Presently he said modestly:--

"I can understand that you cannot pay me the money yourself; you will
have to ask your mother for it. I will come again to-morrow."

"No, no!" cried Fani. "I will bring it to you as soon as I get it. I
will certainly come," he added, as he saw the man's disappointed look.
"I shall keep my word; only I can't say exactly when."

It seemed as if the man had something more to say; but he swallowed it
down, and went away, muttering to himself, "No boat! and no money to buy
another!"

Fani ran back into the house. He looked at Emma's door to see whether
her boots were still outside, but they had disappeared; so he tapped on
the door and said softly:--

"Come out, Emma, I have something to say to you."

"What is the matter? Has Mrs. Stanhope been talking to you?" asked Emma,
in a low tone, as she opened the door.

"No," said Fani, "it's not that"; and he drew her into the garden, to an
arbor in a far-away corner, and there he told her about the eighty marks
that were owing for the lost boat. Emma was greatly excited.

"We can never in the world get together so much as eighty marks! What
can we do?" she cried in a tone of anguish.

"I don't know. We can't ask Mrs. Stanhope for a lot of money like that,
after all that we have done to displease her. Can't you think of any
way? If I only knew some one to borrow of! Oh, don't you know of
anybody, Emma?"

Emma had sunk upon a bench, and her eyes looked as if they would start
out of her head; she was trying so hard to see some way out of the
dilemma.

Fred came running down the walk. He wanted to know what they were about
the night before, but they had no time to answer, for just then the bell
rang for breakfast.

The meal was not a merry one. The children were all embarrassed, and
they knew why; they were all conscious that they had not