"That's the right spirit, Bessie. Make your misfortunes work out so that you think only of the good they bring. That's the way to be happy, always. You know, it's an old, old saying that every cloud has a silver lining, but it's just as true as it's old, too. People laugh at those old proverbs sometimes,--people who think they know more than anyone else ever did--but in the end they usually admit that they don't really know much more about life and happiness than the people who discovered those great truths first, or spoke about them first, even if someone else had discovered them." "I've been happy, too," said Zara, but there was a break in her voice. "If I only knew that my father was all right, then I wouldn't be able to be anything but happy, now that I know Farmer Weeks can't take me with him." "You must try not to worry about your father, Zara. I'm sure that all his troubles will be mended soon, just like yours. Don't you feel that someone has been looking after you in all your troubles?" "Oh, yes! I never, never would have been able to get away from Farmer Weeks except for that--" "Well, just try to think that He will look after your father, too, Zara. If he has done nothing wrong he can't be punished, you may be sure of that. This isn't Russia, or one of those old countries where people can be sent to prison without having done anything to deserve it, just because other people with more money or more power don't like them. We live in a free country. Be sure that all will turn out right in the end." "I feel cramped, Miss Eleanor. May I get out and run along by the horses for a little while?" "Yes, indeed, Zara." And Wanaka stopped the wagon, so that she could get out. "Do you want to go, too, Bessie?" "I think I'd rather ride, Miss Eleanor. I'm awfully tired." "You shall, then. I want you to do whatever you like to-night. You've certainly done enough to-day to earn the right to rest." They rode along in silence for a few minutes, while the glow of the great welcoming fire grew brighter. "Miss Eleanor?" "Yes, Bessie?" "Don't you think it's very strange that Farmer Weeks should take so much trouble to try to get hold of Zara?" "I do, indeed, Bessie. I've been puzzling about that." "I believe he knows something about her and her father that no one else knows, something that even Zara doesn't know about, I mean. You know, he and Zara's father were very friendly at first--or, at least, they used to see one another a good deal." "Yes? Bessie, what sort of man is Zara's father? You have seen a good deal of him, haven't you?" "I used to go to see Zara sometimes, when I was able to get away. And unless he was away on one of his trips he was always around, but he never said much." "He could speak English, couldn't he?"