"Yes, the whole family. I've accepted an appointment there, and we start in a fortnight."
"Isn't it—isn't it very sudden?" faltered Lesbia.
"Paul knew some months ago, dear," said Minnie, "and our passages have been booked quite a long time."
"And you never told me!" Lesbia's voice was most reproachful.
"We were afraid it would unsettle you at school if you knew you were leaving. I spoke to Miss Tatham about telling you, and she quite agreed with us."
"But do you mean I'm to leave Kingfield and the High School and everything in a fortnight?" asked Lesbia, her eyes suddenly swimming with tears.
"Come, cheer up!" said Paul. "You'll like Canada well enough when you get there. Girls have rather a good time I believe."
Later on, when Lesbia was alone with Minnie, she heard fuller particulars.
"Paul is very glad to get the appointment. It's so difficult to make any headway in England nowadays. There seems more scope in a new country. It'll be a good thing for the children too, when they begin to grow up. England's overcrowded. They'll have better prospects in Canada."
"What's the place like? Are there great forests and lakes and rivers and Red Indians?" asked Lesbia, calling to mind any stories she had read of the Dominion.