Thomas--too frequently, I'm afraid."

"Ah, well, Lizzie my dear, it doesn't matter now. By-the-way, doesn't
little Mary breakfast with you?"

"Oh yes, usually; but this morning I told Janet to give her her
breakfast in her bedroom, then after she has made herself presentable
she can join us. I'm sure she and that dreadful boy Jim will get you to
inspect their 'cubby house' down on the river bank in the course of the
day. Sometimes Edward makes me quite cross by the way he yields to their
stupid whims. He actually spent a whole day in helping them build their
precious cubby house."

Gerrard laughed: "Good old Ted--just as much of a boy as he was twenty
years ago! But who is this youngster Jim?"

"Oh, I quite forgot to tell you about him when we wrote to you. He
is another of Edward's extravagances. You will remember that when the
_Cassowary_ was lost, the only survivors were one seaman and a child
of four years of age. Well, about eight months ago, when Edward was
travelling to Sydney in the _Balclutha_, he--as he always does--made
the acquaintance of every seaman on board. One of them, a quartermaster,
turned out to be the man who had been washed on shore from the
_Cassowary_. Of course Edward was very much interested, and the man,
whom he says is a very respectable steady person, told him that he had
taken care of the child, who was his fellow-survivor. Well, the end of
it was that Edward went to see the boy, and brought him home with him.
He _will_ do those extraordinary things."

"Who were the boy's parents?"

"No one knows. Coll, the quartermaster, said that there were a great
number of steerage passengers on board, and that he remembers seeing a
young woman and her husband with this child, whom they called Jim, but
what was their name was never ascertained. It was believed that they
were newly-arrived emigrants, for no inquiries were made from any
quarter about them, and so Coll, who seems to be a very kind man, took
the child to his own home, although he has quite a large family, and
actually did not want to part with him. Of course, Edward, as usual,
went to extremes, and gave the Coll family fifty pounds."

"It was a generous action, Lizzie," said Gerrard gravely, "and shows him
to be a good fellow--and a Christian."

Mrs Westonley looked at her step-brother in surprise. "But, Thomas, you
don't seem to understand. These Coll people are really very poor--the
father, I suppose, earns about seven pounds a