ream called Le Roi,
which flows into the river Oise near the hamlet of Mours. Acquired in the
fifteenth century by the lords of Prerolles, it had become an
agricultural territory worked for their profit, first by forced labor,
and later by farmers.

Even recently, the courtyard, filled with squawking fowls and domestic
animals of all kinds, and the sheds crowded with agricultural implements
piled up in disorder, presented a scene of confusion frequent among
cultivators, and significant of the alienation of old domains from their
former owners.

"We have arrived!" said the Duchess, alighting first.

"What, is it here?" Henri exclaimed, his heart beating more quickly.

"Your old farm was for sale just at the time that Mademoiselle de Vermont
was seeking an appropriate site for the Orphan Asylum. This spot appeared
to her to combine all the desirable conditions, and she has wrought the
transformation you are about to behold. It might as well be this place as
another," the Duchess added. "In my opinion, it is a sort of consolation
offered to us by fate."

"Be it so!" said Henri, in a tone of less conviction.

He followed his sister along the footpath of a bluff, which as children
they had often climbed; while the carriage made a long detour in order to
reach the main entrance to the grounds.

The footpath, winding along near the railway embankment, ended at a
bridge, where Zibeline awaited the three visitors. A significant pressure
of her hand showed Henri how little cause he had had for his
apprehensions.

They entered. Seen from the main entrance, the metamorphosis of the place
was complete.

The old tower that had served as a barn alone remained the same; it was
somewhat isolated from the other building, and had been repaired in the
style of its period, making a comfortable dwelling for the future
director of the Asylum. Mademoiselle de Vermont occupied it temporarily.

On each side of the grounds, standing parallel, rose two fine buildings:
on the ground floor of each were all the customary rooms and accessories
found on model farms; on the upper floors were dormitories arranged to
receive a large number of children of both sexes. There were schoolrooms,
sewing-rooms, a chapel-in short, nothing was lacking to assist in the
children's intellectual and manual education.

"You have done things royally," said the Duke to the happy donor, when,
having finished the inspection of the premises, they returned to the