began to feel
more at ease with him, and to think that he was not such an ugly young
man after all; but very soon the gloomy look came back to his face, and
he pushed his way out through the branches, as if anxious to get away
from the shade of tree and his own thoughts at the same time.

The children followed him out into the sunshine, and the young man
looked down at them with a queer sort of expression in his black eyes;
then he said something quickly in the strange language in which he had
spoken before, and looked at Una as if he thought she would understand;
but the little girl stared blankly back at him, and he saw that she did
not know what he had said.

[Illustration: "The children followed him out into the sunshine."]

It was not the first time Una had heard that language, however. Her
father had sometimes talked to her like that in soft caressing tones as
she sat on his knee before the fire, or when they walked together in
the garden; but he had always laughed when Una had asked him what he
was saying, and had told her that she would understand some day. The
only other people whom she had heard speak in that tongue were the
strange gentlemen who sometimes came to stay in the house.

Then the young man began to speak in French--a little slowly at first,
as if he were not at all sure that his listeners would understand; but
when he saw that Una understood quite well, he brightened up and began
to speak quickly, pouring out such a torrent of words that Tom and
Norah and Dan had not the least idea what he was talking about, and
wondered how it was possible for Una to understand what he said.

That Una did understand was quite certain, for her little face paled
and flushed at the young man's words; her dark eyes grew big with fear,
then filled with tears, and by-and-by a little sob broke from her
throat, and the children saw that she was crying bitterly--not loudly,
but very, very sadly, as if she could not help it and really hardly
knew that she was crying at all.

When the young man saw Una's tears he suddenly stopped talking, and
looked uncomfortable; then he softly stroked the little girl's fair
hair, and whispered something to her so gently and kindly that Una
smiled at him through her tears, and the children felt that they liked
him a little bit after all; though just before, Tom had been wishing
very much that he were quite big, so that he could knock the strange
man down for making Una cry.

Then