"Do you see that cottage close to the river? That is the nest of the
prettiest bird in Cacouna; and in this long white house to the right
lives my most hopeful pupil and my wife's right hand, Maurice Leigh."

"Miss Costello told me they were near neighbours," said Mr. Percy. "Has
she no father or brother, that she seems to be so much the property of
this pupil of yours?"

"No, indeed, poor girl! Her father died, I believe, when she was an
infant. Mrs. Costello came here twelve years ago, a widow, with this one
child."

"Is young Leigh any relation?"

Mr. Bellairs laughed. "Not at present certainly, though I have thought
it would come to that by-and-by. It is only a case of devoted
friendship. Alice Leigh, Maurice's sister, and Lucia used to be always
together; but poor Alice died, and I suppose Maurice felt bound to make
up to Lucia for the loss."

"Who or what are the Leighs then? It is a queer-looking place."

"Mr. Leigh is an Englishman; he came out here many years ago with a
young wife; she is dead and so are all her children except Maurice.
Father and son live there together alone."

"I don't of course pretend to know how you manage such things in Canada,
but it appears to me that a beautiful girl, like Miss Costello, might
expect a better match, at least if one is to judge of the Leighs by