TWO.

AT SILVER LAKE ONCE MORE.

It were needless to detail all that was said and done during the
remainder of that night, or, rather, morning, for day began to break
soon after the happy meeting narrated in the last chapter. It would
require more space than we can afford to tell of all that was said and
done; how Robin embraced his children over and over again in the
strength of his love, and thanked God in the fervour of his gratitude;
how Roy and Nelly were eager to relate all that had befallen them since
they were carried away into captivity, in a much shorter time than such
a long story could by any possibility be told; how Walter rendered the
telling of it much more difficult by frequent interruptions with eager
questions, which induced divergencies from which the tale-tellers forgot
to return to the points where the interruptions occurred; how Larry
O'Dowd complicated matters by sometimes volunteering anecdotes of his
own, illustrative of points similar to those which were being related;
how Slugs always cut these anecdotes short with a facetious poke in the
ribs, which caused Larry to howl; how Stiff rendered confusion worse
confounded by trying to cook some breakfast, and by upsetting the whole
affair into the fire; and how the children themselves broke in on their
own discourse continually with sudden and enthusiastic questions as to
the health of their mother and the welfare of the live stock at Fort
Enterprise.

All this cannot be described, therefore we leave it to the vivid
imagination of the reader.

"Now, comrades," said Robin, after the sun had risen, after breakfast
had been and eaten, after every incident had been related at least twice
over, and after every conceivable question had been asked four or five
times--"now, comrades, it remains for us to fix what we'll do."

"To the Fort," said Larry O'Dowd abruptly.

"Ay--home!" cried Walter.

"Oh yes--home--home!" exclaimed Roy and Nelly in the same breath.

"Ditto," observed Obadiah Stiff.

Slugs and the Black Swan, being men of few words, said nothing, but
nodded approval.

"Well, it's quite plain that we're all of one mind," resumed Robin;
"nevertheless, there are one or two points to which I ax yer attention.
In the first place, it's now near the end of November. Fort Enterprise,
in a straight line, is more nor three weeks' march from hereaway. Our
provisions is low. When I left the Fort provisions was low there too,
an' if my brothe