mere song I have named. It be a wondrous bargain, madame."

"And when I come upon it, I shall find that I have bought a crumbling pile
of ruined masonry, unfit to house a family of foxes," replied the old woman
peevishly.

"One tower hath fallen, and the roof for half the length of one wing hath
sagged and tumbled in," explained the old Frenchman. "But the three lower
stories be intact and quite habitable. It be much grander even now than
the castles of many of England's noble barons, and the price, madame ---
ah, the price be so ridiculously low."

Still the old woman hesitated.

"Come," said the Frenchman, "I have it. Deposit the money with Isaac the
Jew -- thou knowest him ? -- and he shall hold it together with the deed
for forty days, which will give thee ample time to travel to Derby and
inspect thy purchase. If thou be not entirely satisfied, Isaac the Jew
shall return thy money to thee and the deed to me, but if at the end of
forty days thou hast not made demand for thy money, then shall Isaac send
the deed to thee and the money to me. Be not this an easy and fair way out
of the difficulty ?"

The little old woman thought for a moment and at last conceded that it
seemed quite a fair way to arrange the matter. And thus it was
accomplished.

Several days later, the little old woman called the child to her.

"We start tonight upon a long journey to our new home. Thy face shall be