Page:Cornelia Meigs--The Pool of Stars.djvu/141

 "And it was that fortune that built this house," David took up the thread of speculation, "and gave Mr. Reynolds his scientific education and sent him to all sorts of places abroad to study. But where is it?"

"Wherever it has gone," Betsey said, "it may come back again some day. I will always like to think of how Jonathan and Humphrey succeeded in the face of everything. I think Mr. Reynolds will succeed in the same way."

"Miss Miranda will never lose courage," David observed reflectively, "but her father is—a little different. He is old and tired and he is trying to do the work of a young man, of a person with strength and confidence in himself. Without Miss Miranda he might have lost spirit long ago, but she will help him to the very end. She is anxious and lonely, she wants her brother, and she wants her house. But more than anything she wants her father's success."

"They must have been very happy when they lived here," Betsey went on, "with Mr. Reynolds busy at his work, with Ted coming home for vacations—he was only just out of college, Michael says, when the war began—with that Cousin Donald gone into business and doing well. Mr. Reynolds must have given him the money for a start and I think they must all have felt more comfortable