"I'm afraid it won't be of much use to me in a place like this," Ralph answered, with a despondent look in his eyes. "There's no knowing, my boy. Knowledge, they say, is power. If you are thrown overboard you will swim; but with mother and me it is different. We're too old to start again, and all our savings are swallowed up." "Not all, surely, father! There are the crops and cattle and implements." David shook his head. "Over against the crops," he said, "are the seed bills, and the manure bills, and the ground rent, and over against the cattle is the mortgage. I never thought of telling you, Ralph, for I never reckoned on this trouble coming. But when I started I thought the money I had would be quite enough not only to build the house and outbuildings, and bring the farm under cultivation, but to stock it as well. But it was a much more expensive business than I knew." "And so you had to mortgage the farm?" "No, my lad. Nobody would lend money on a three-life lease." "And yet you risked your all on it?" "Ah, my boy, I did it for the best. God knows I did! I wanted to provide a nest for our old age." "No one will blame you on that score," Ralph answered, with tears in his eyes; "but the best ships founder sometimes." "Yes. I have kept saying to myself ever since the news came that I am not the only man who has come to grief, and yet I don't know, my boy, that that helps me very much." Ralph was silent for several minutes; then he said-- "Is this mortgage or note of hand or bill of sale--or whatever it is--for a large amount?" "Well, rather, Ralph. I'm afraid, if we have to shift from here, there'll be little or nothing left." "But if you are willing to remain as tenant, Sir John will make no attempt to move you?" "I'm not so sure, my son. Sir John is a hard man and a bitter, and he has no liking for me. At the last election I was not on his side, as you may remember, and he never forgets such things." Ralph turned away and bit his lip. The memory of what the squire said to him a few days previously swept over him like a cold flood. "I'm inclined to think, father," he said at length, "that we'd better prepare for the worst. It'll be better than building on any consideration we may receive from the squire." "I think you are right, my boy." And they turned and walked toward the house side by side. They continued their talk in the house, and over the dinner-table. Now that the ice was broken the stream of conversation flowed freely. Ruth and Mrs. Penlogan let out the pent-up feelings of their hearts, and their tears fell in abundance. It did the women good to cry. It eased the pain that was becoming intolerable. Ralph talked bravely and heroically. All was not lost. They had each other, and they had health and strength, and neither of them was afraid of hard work.