yce and
the luggage were deposited there, while Mrs. Falconer and Piers were
taken on to Clifton. Mrs. Arundel shared the large town house with her
son, but she was away on a visit, and only two servants were in the wide
old-fashioned hall to receive the travellers.

The children's spacious nursery was bright and cheerful, commanding a
view of the cathedral just below, the tower of St. Mary Redclyffe
Church, of the tall masts of the ships, and of the hills beyond. A
blazing fire in the old grate, and the rocking chair by the high guard,
looked inviting, and Joyce sat down there with little Joy in her arms,
while Susan put Lota and Lettice to rest in their cots in the next room,
to sleep after the excitement of the morning; and Falcon rushed to the
garden to inquire into the condition of the white rabbit, which he had
left in its hutch when they went to Fair Acres some three weeks before.

Gilbert, who had been looking after the luggage, and settling the
postboy's fee, soon came up, and, kneeling down by the chair, took both
mother and baby in a loving embrace.

"My two Joys," he said; "my two best Joys. I am afraid you have been a
good deal frightened, my darling; but cheer up now; the danger, if there
was any, is over, thank God!"

"Gilbert, it was not the crowd, it was not the fear about the poor
people who stopped the carriage, it was that amongst those dreadful
faces I saw Bob Priday's, the man who stopped us on Mendip years ago,
and who, as we think, killed dear father. Oh, it was the sight of his
face which was too much for me! And poor Susan saw him also. It brought
it all back. Father! father!"

Gilbert stroked his wife's head tenderly as it lay upon his shoulder,
and said:

"Are you sure it was Bob Priday? So many years have passed."

"Quite, quite sure. And, though I have not spoken to Susan yet, I _know_
she is sure also."

"You did not tell your mother, then, or Piers?"

"No, no; I would not have given mother the pain I felt, for anything.
Dear mother! I let her drive off with scarcely a good-bye, and she has
been so kind at Fair Acres, and has enjoyed the children in the old
house. But, oh! Gilbert," she said, rallying, "it is so delightful to be
at home with you again. While we have each other nothing can be _very_
bad, can it?"

"Nothing," he said, fervently. "And now, while you are resting, I must
go down to the office, for my partner is at the meeting at the "White
Lion," helping to bolster