The wind from the sea fairly blew them up the street toward the home of Doctor Winslow. For a moment the old Irishman drew the girl under the shelter of an evergreen tree while he said hurriedly:
“Rilla gal, I reckon ’twould be best if I sent the letter, bein’ as that was yer grand-dad’s wish, an’, like’s not, ye’d better not be mentionin’ it to anyone yet fer a spell, not knowin’——” The old man paused. He did not want to hurt the girl’s feelings by saying that after all these years her own father might not care to claim his daughter.
“You are right, Uncle Barney,” was the reply. “I’ll not say a word, but, oh, how I do, do hope that my own father will love me.”
That evening the little iron box was opened, the address found and Molly, who at one time had been a school mistress in Connaught, penned the letter that was sent speeding to its destination on the midnight train.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
A LETTER FROM GENE.
When Muriel entered the house she found awaiting her a letter from Gene, and strange indeed was the postmark, for with his good friend, the Viscount of Wainwater, the lad was traveling in foreign lands.
There were several sheets of thin paper and these were covered with such fine handwriting that it took the girl much longer than usual to decipher them.
She retired to the doctor’s den directly after the evening meal, and having made a fire on the hearth, she curled up in a big, comfortable chair near the reading table, for she felt that she wanted to be alone while she had this visit with the far-away lad who called himself her brother-friend.
The first part of the epistle was devoted to descriptions of their travels and adventures.
Then came some personal news items, the most astonishing of these being that Monsieur Carnot had received a cablegram informing him that Marianne was leaving High Cliffs Seminary at once and would return to France to complete her education. Her reason for this unexpected action was not given.