"Most of it," smiled Forsyth. "We called on the commissioned officers and that young giant ate a hearty breakfast at each place."
"He is the life of the settlement, and I don't know what we'd do without him. I never saw anybody with such an inexhaustible fund of good spirits. Nothing is so bad that George can't get a joke out of it and make us laugh in spite of our trouble. Did you see Doctor Norton?"
"Yes, but only for a moment."
"He's jolly too, and very good to all of us."
"I forgot to tell you when I first came in," said Robert, "but I met Mrs. Howard and she asked me to tell you that she was coming over to see you this afternoon."
"Bless her heart," said Mrs. Mackenzie, tenderly, "she never forgets her old mother."
"You'll never be old, Aunt Eleanor. I believe you have found the fountain of eternal youth."
"What, another flatterer?" she asked, but the heightened colour in her cheeks showed that she was pleased.
During the afternoon, while Johnny struggled manfully with digits and addition, Robert saw Mrs. Howard coming across the river. She was a fair, tall woman, very blonde, with eyes like her mother's. The Doctor stood at the entrance of the stockade, watching her, with something akin to wistfulness in his attitude.