"Are you, indeed?" retorted his companion drily. "Too lazy, I suppose, to
do anything else."

"Well, that may be the case; but this I know, that I'm going to cable
Lady McAllister to-morrow, and tell her that I'm going back. You may stay
here if you like, as you appear to find the country so charming."

"It is very kind, indeed, of you to give me your permission," replied the
other. "But, my gay and festive friend, I doubt very much whether Lady
McAllister will allow you to return. You know, as well as I, how decided
she is. When she has once got an idea into her head, it is hard to get it
out."

"But, my dear sir," said the younger man, "it is such an utterly
ridiculous idea that she has got into her head now."

"Not quite so ridiculous as you think. It is a well-known fact that,
about the year 1754, Ivan McAllister, with a regiment of Scottish
soldiers, did embark for Canada, and landed at Quebec. It is just as well
known that a Scottish regiment was disbanded near Rimouski a few years
later, and we have every reason to believe, from our correspondence with
the Quebec Government, that Ivan McAllister settled in this district."

"I grant you all that, but he is dead long ago."

"Yes, but in all probability he has descendants living. If not, of course
the McAllister male line is extinct, and Lady McAllister's hopes will
receive a terrible blow."