people where they are from. You know the West is settled with people
from all sections of the East, and many from Europe and from Canada,
and I thought your ancestors may have moved here from some other
state, as from Pennsylvania for example, where my mother's people
once lived."

"Let me advise you, Young Man," said the grandmother briskly, and in
a tone that reminded Percy of the twinkle he had at times noticed in
her eyes when she seemed young again--"Let me advise you never to
ask a Virginian if he was born in Pennsylvania. That's more than
most Virginians can stand. Once a Virginian, always a
Virginian,--both now, hereafter, and hitherto. It's mighty hard to
find a Virginian who came from anywhere except from the royal blood
of England; although some may condescend to acknowledge kinship to
the Scottish royalty."

The grandmother's voice was raised to a pitch which commanded the
attention of the other members in the carriage and a hearty laugh
followed her jovial wit, to the full relief of Percy's temporary
embarrassment.

"Well," she continued, "to answer your question: my husband and my
children are direct descendants of Colonel Charles West, a brother
of Lord Delaware, who was Sir Thomas West, whose ancestry goes back
to Henry the Second, of England, and to David the First, of
Scotland; and my granddaughter is the great-granddaughter of Patrick
Henry. So now you know where _we _came from," and she laughed again
like a girl. "Yes," she added, "we have a family tree six feet from
branch to branch, but it is stored in a back room where I am sure it
is covered with cobwebs, for we have no time to live with the past