"So they have," broke in Everett; "but a chap wants to know his own flesh and blood, and, since Mother told me that I was not her own son, I've looked into the face of every woman I've seen and wondered if my own mother was like her. I don't want to seem ungrateful; but if they would only tell me more I could rest easier." A painful pucker settled between his brows. "Sit down here, Everett," Ann urged, "and tell me if you have ever tried to find them." "I asked my fath--Mr. Brimbecomb today." His faltering words and the change of appellation shocked Ann; but she did not chide him, for he was speaking again. "I told him that, now I was through college and had been admitted to the bar, I insisted upon knowing who my own people were. But he said that I must ask his wife; that she knew, and would tell me, if she desired me to know. I promised him long ago that I would register in his law office at the same time that Horace went to Vandecar's. Confound it, Ann!--I beg your pardon, but I feel as if I had been created for something more than to drone over petty cases in a law office." "But, Everett, it has been understood ever since you went to Cornell that you should enter Mr. Brimbecomb's office. You would not fail him now that he is so dependent upon you?" "Of course not; I intend to work with him. But I tell you this, Ann, that I am determined to find my own people at whatever cost!" "Did you ask Mrs. Brimbecomb about them?" "Yes; but she cried so that I stopped--and so it goes! Well, Dear, I don't want to worry you. It only makes a little more work for me, that's all. But, when I do find them, I shall be the proudest man in all the world." Ann rose to her feet hastily. "Here comes Horace! Let's talk over the fair--and now, Dear, I must kiss away those naughty lines between your eyes this moment. I don't want my boy to feel sad." She kissed him tenderly, and turned to meet her brother. "I was tired of staying in there alone," said Horace. "Hello, Everett! It was nice of you, old chap, to ask me along to Dryden. That's my one failing in the fall--I always go. Let me see--you didn't go last year, did you, Everett?" "No; but I knew that Ann wanted to go this year, and I thought a party would be pleasant. I asked Katherine Vandecar; but her aunt is such an invalid that Katherine can scarcely ever leave her." "Mrs. Vandecar is ill," said Ann. "I called there yesterday, and she is the frailest looking woman I ever saw." "She's never got over the loss of her children," rejoined Everett. "It's hard on Vandecar, too, to have her ill. He looks ten years older than he is." "Yes; but their little Mildred is such a comfort to them both!" interjected Ann. "They watch the child like hawks. I suppose it's only natural after their awful experience. Isn't it strange that two children could disappear from the face of the earth and not a word be heard from them in all these years?"