te?"

"Hit it first time! Anyhow, you've got my notion of what he meant,"
Jim replied. Then he paused and added thoughtfully: "But I don't know
if we're as different as you think. In the North, men get back to
primitive things."

The other nodded. "It's possible. One certainly gets a primitive
hunger and learns something about bodily needs."

Jim lighted his pipe and mused. He had not talked to cultivated people
since he left McGill. He felt rather moved and quietly excited; the
strange thing was, their English voices and manner were not new. In a
way, it was ridiculous, but he felt as if he had known them, or others
of their kind, before.

"You are from the Old Country and your friend seems to know
Cumberland," he said. "Do you know Langrigg Hall?"

He thought the older man gave him a keen glance, but next moment his
face was inscrutable and with a little gesture of satisfaction he
stretched his legs to the fire. His companion, however, looked
interested.

"Why, yes," said the latter. "But there are a number of Langriggs in
the North of England."

"At the place I mean there is a marsh."

"Then, I do know the hall. It stands upon a low ridge--what we call a
knowe--with the big fells behind and the sands in front. At low-water,
a river winds about the flats. It's a fine old house, although it's
small."

"Isn't there a square tower with a battlement? The roof beams in the
older part are bent, not straight."

The other looked surprised. "Have you been there?"

"No," said Jim, thoughtfully. "I've never left Canada, but a man I
knew used to talk about Langrigg. I expect he told me about these
things; he is dead now."

He glanced at the older man. The latter's eyes were half-closed and
his pose was slack, as if he were languidly enjoying the warmth, but
Jim thought he had been listening. Then he wondered why the other's
short description had given him so distinct a picture; he could see the
rugged blue hills in the background and the river winding among the
sands. After all, his father had not talked about Langrigg often; in
fact, only once or twice, when he was ill. Moreover, Jim reflected
that he himself had used no Western colloquialisms; he had talked to
the strangers like an Englishman.

"Then your friend must have been at Langrigg. It looks as if he knew
the hall well," remarked the younger man.

His companion roused himself with a jerk. "I was nearly asleep. Give
me your pou