queer, and----not at all nice, if
we had first been introduced to each other as father and daughter, and
told it was our duty to love one another without delay. And then there's
another thing. Though, at first, it seemed cruel to you, daddy, that your
little girl should have been lost for so many years, when I think how much
more--very likely--we shall love one another, than we ever should have
done if I had not been lost, and how much happier we shall be together, it
seems quite kind of God to have allowed us to be separated for a little
while--especially as He found such good friends to take care of me in the
meantime."

"Cobbler" Horn gently stroked the dark head, which still nestled against
his breast.

"We at least, little one," he said, "can say that 'all things work
together for good.' But now, there are other things that we must talk
about. You have come back, Marian, to a very different home from the one
you left. Your father was a poor man when you went away; he is a rich one
now. Are you glad?"

"Oh yes, daddy," she answered, simply, "for your sake, and because I think
my daddy is just the best man in the world to have charge of money. And
you know," she added, archly, "that, in that respect, your daughter is
after your own heart."

"I know that well."

"You must let me help you more than ever, daddy."

She seemed scarcely to have realized the fact that she was heiress to all
his wealth.

"You shall, my dear," he said, fondly; "but you mustn't forget that all I
have will be yours one day."

She started violently.

"Well now, I declare!" she gasped. "I had scarcely thought of that. I was
so glad and thankful to have found my father, that I forgot he had brought
me a fortune. Well, daddy, that won't make any difference. We'll still do
our best to put all this money to the right use. And, as for my being your
heiress--you must understand, sir, that you've got to live for ever; so
there's an end of that."

She had withdrawn herself from his embrace, and, kneeling back, was
looking at him with dancing eyes.

"Well, darling," he said, with an indulgent smile, "we must leave that.
But there is something else that I must tell you. When I was arranging
about the disposal of all this money, in case I should be taken away, I
thought of my little Marian; and I had it set down in my will that you
were to have everything after me, if you should be found. But, beside
that, I directed the lawyers to invest for