'Except the luxury of paying neither rent nor taxes,' rejoined Robert promptly.
'You seem to have been carpenter, house-painter, wood-cutter, ploughman'——
'No, sir; there isn't a plough on the premises, and I shouldn't know what to do with it if there were.'
'Had you no assistance in all this?'
'Oh yes; invaluable help in Jacques Dubois, a lively little French Canadian from the "Corner," whose indomitable esprit was worth more than the stronger physique of a heavy Anglo-Saxon. But come, sir, I hear the dinner bell.'
Which was the rattling of a stick on an invalided kettle, commonly used by Andy to summon his masters home. To impress the new arrivals with a sense of their resources, a feast, comprising every accessible delicacy, had been prepared. Speckled trout from the lake, broiled in the hot wood ashes, Indian fashion; wild-fowl of various species, and wild fruits, cooked and au naturel, were the components.
'I hardly thought that you would have found time for strawberry cultivation,' observed Mr. Wynn the elder.
'And we have far more extensive strawberry beds, sir, than I ever saw in Ireland,' said Robert, with a twinkle of his eyes. 'I'm thinking of turning in the pigs to eat a few pailfuls; they are quite a drug for abundance.'
'A raspberry tart!' exclaimed Linda, 'and custards! Why, Bob!'
'Would you like to know a secret?'—followed by a whisper.