w her father. The attack
had left him with intellect clouded and limbs nearly powerless on one
side, while he would hardly permit either his sister or daughter, who were
the only persons he apparently recognized, to leave his sight. It was also
with some trepidation that I awaited the first interview with Grace, but
this vanished when she came in showing signs of an anxious vigil but only
pleasure at my presence.

"I am sorry that I spoke so to you, Ralph, that awful day," she said. "For
hours together I have thought over all that happened, and though it was
hard to overcome a feeling of resentment against the others, and even you
at first, I tried to judge them fairly; and, if it is not disloyal to say
so, I think they were right. Some day, when there will be many things to
settle, I hope to tell them so; but I cannot do it yet."

She would say nothing in the meantime as to her own plans, beyond that
before she could consider herself there was much to be arranged that
concerned her father and the Manor, and with this I had to be content.
Lyle also showed his regret in a practical fashion by visiting the Manor
constantly and supervising the farming, though I knew his own holding
suffered in consequence, and by his advice young Foster had been appointed
bailiff at a salary. Meanwhile, Harry and I were busy almost night and
day, for when the sowing was finished I brought out carpenters and set
them to work extending Fairmead, while with our own hands we hewed
wind-felled timber where we could find it in the bluffs ready for them and
the creamery. It was often necessary to ride long leagues for birches
stout enough, and we frequently slept on the bare earth or in the wagon
beside our work.

To please a friend in Winnipeg I had accepted the services of a destitute
British mechanic, who, when he arrived at Fairmead, with his fare advanced
at our expense, demanded the highest wages paid in Canada, and then
expressed grave doubts as to whether he could conscientiously undertake
the more laborious parts of the framing, because he was a cabinet joiner,
and this, so he said, was carpenter's work. We had met others of the kind
before, who had made their employers' lives a burden in the old country,
but they were the exception, after all.

"You can please yourself," said Harry. "I'm a landowner and ploughman; but
if I hadn't my hands full already I'd tackle anything, from making bricks
to framing bridges, for the wages you're ge