Then Alice said, 'We don't mean that exactly, Father. It is rather
lonely sometimes, since Mother died.'

Then we were all quiet a little while. Father stayed with us till we
went to bed, and when he said good night he looked quite cheerful. So
we told him so, and he said--

'Well, the fact is, that letter took a weight off my mind.' I can't
think what he meant--but I am sure the G. B. would be pleased if he
could know he had taken a weight off somebody's mind. He is that sort
of man, I think.

We gave the scent to Dora. It is not quite such good scent as we
thought it would be, but we had fifteen shillings--and they were all
good, so is the G. B.

And until those fifteen shillings were spent we felt almost as jolly as
though our fortunes had been properly restored. You do not notice your
general fortune so much, as long as you have money in your pocket. This
is why so many children with regular pocket-money have never felt it
their duty to seek for treasure. So, perhaps, our not having pocket-
money was a blessing in disguise. But the disguise was quite
impenetrable, like the villains' in the books; and it seemed still more
so when the fifteen shillings were all spent. Then at last the others
agreed to let Oswald try his way of seeking for treasure, but they were
not at all keen about it, and many a boy less firm than Oswald would
have chucked the whole thing. But Oswald knew that a hero must rely on
himself alone. So he stuck to it, and presently the others saw their
duty, and backed him up.