"Can you tell me, faithful and true, that you had no part in what John Henry said?" he asked. "Because if you, or any other, put it into his head, then it's all in vain."
"Nobody put it in John Henry's mind, dear father," she answered. "It was his very own thought."
"That makes it a valuable thing, Auna."
"I know it does. And Avis dearly wants it to happen too."
"And you? Would you rather be with Avis or your brother, or——?"
"Father! You know better than that," she said very earnestly. "You and me are one, and what's right for you is right for me."
"So I think," he answered. "A very clever, deep thought in you to say that we are one."
CHAPTER VII
WILLIAM'S BIRTHDAY
George Middleweek came to see old William with a message and a gift. It was Mr. Marydrew's eighty-fourth birthday and Auna had sent him a very fine ham, and a reminder that he had promised to eat his dinner at Red House.