ly after dressing the poor fellows' sores.
Will you therefore be good enough to get the small boat ready, with some
fresh meat, and tell Le Rue and Michel to be prepared to start in an
hour or so."

The day after the above conversation McLeod senior walked down to the
wreck accompanied by Flora. Kenneth had been left in charge of the
invalid, whose system had received such a shock that his recovery was
extremely slow, and it had been deemed advisable not only to avoid, but
to forbid all reference to the wreck. Indeed Roderick himself seemed to
have no desire to speak about it, and although he had roused himself on
the arrival of his relations, he had hitherto lain in such a weak
semi-lethargic state that it was feared his head must have received
severer injury than was at first supposed. On the morning of the day in
question an Indian had arrived with a letter from Mr Gambart of
Partridge Bay, which had not tended to soothe the luckless father.

"It seems very unfortunate," said Flora, in a sympathetic tone.

"_Seems_ unfortunate?" exclaimed McLeod, with some asperity, "it _is_
unfortunate. Why, what could be more so? Just think of it, Flo! Here
am I without a penny of ready cash in the world, and although Gambart
knows this as well as I do myself, he writes me, first, that he has sold
Loch Dhu to that fellow Redding, and now that he has bought Barker's
Mill for me without my sanction!"

"But you gave him leave to sell Loch Dhu," suggested Flora.

"Oh, yes, yes, of course, and I told him to let it go at a low sum, for
I needed cash very much at the beginning of this venture at Jenkins
Creek. But I find that our expenses are so small that I could afford to
hold on for some time on the funds I have. To be sure Gambart could not
know that, but--but--why did the fellow go and buy that mill for me?
It's being a great bargain and a splendid property, just now are no
excuse, for he knew my poverty, and also knew that I shall feel bound in
honour to take it off his hands when I manage to scrape the sum
together, because of course it was done in a friendly way to oblige me.
No doubt he will say that there's no hurry about repayment, and that he
won't take interest, and so forth, but he had no business to buy it at
all!"

Flora made no reply to this, for she saw that her father was waxing
wroth under his misfortunes.

Her silence tended rather to increase his wrath, for he was dissatisfied
with himself more than w