marry in
Shampuashuh."

"What brings him here, then?"

"The spirit of restlessness, I should say. Those people that have been
everywhere, you may notice, can't stay nowhere. I always knew there was
fools in the world, but I _didn't_ know there was so many of 'em as
there be. He ain't no fool neither, some ways; and that makes him a
bigger fool in the end; only I don't know why the fools should have all
the money."

And so, after a little, the talk about this theme died out, and things
settled down, not without some of the reaction Mr. Dillwyn had
predicted; but they settled down, and all was as before in Shampuashuh.
Mr. Dillwyn did not come again to make a visit, or Mrs. Marx's aroused
vigilance would have found some ground for suspicion. There did come
numerous presents of game and fruit from him, but they were sent to
Mrs. Barclay, and could not be objected against, although they came in
such quantities that the whole household had to combine to dispose of
them. What would Philip do next?--Mrs. Barclay queried. As he had said,
he could not go on with repeated visits to the house. Madge and Lois
would not hear of being tempted to New York, paint the picture as
bright as she would. Things were not ripe for any decided step on Mr.
Dillwyn's part, and how should they become so? Mrs. Barclay could not
see the way. She did for Philip what she could by writing to him,
whether for his good or his harm she could not decide. She feared the
latter. She told him, however, of the sweet, quiet life she was
leading; of the reading she was doing with the two girls, and the whole
family; of the progress Lois and Madge were making in singing and
drawing and in various branches of study; of the walks in the fresh
sea-breezes, and the cosy evenings with wood fires and the lamp; and
she told him how they enjoyed his game, and what a comfort the oranges
were to Mrs. Armadale.

This lasted through January, and then there came a change. Mrs.
Armadale was ill. There was no more question of visits, or of studies;
and all sorts of enjoyments and occupations gave place to the one
absorbing interest of watching and waiting upon the sick one. And then,
that ceased too. Mrs. Armadale had caught cold, she had not strength to
throw off disease; it took violent form, and in a few days ran its
course. Very suddenly the little family found itself without its head.

There was nothing to grieve for, but their own loss. The long, weary
earth-journe