"And then, sir," said Cousin Jane, "it appears that all these wretched,
unsatisfactory scraps of stories you were telling us were nothing after
all but"--

"My way of telling THIS one," said Uncle Sylvester.

As the others were eagerly gathering around the unearthed treasure,
Marie approached him timidly, all her audacity gone, tears in her eyes,
and his ring held hesitatingly between her fingers. "How can I thank
you--and how CAN you ever forgive me?"

"Well," said Uncle Sylvester, gazing at her critically, "you might keep
the ring to think over it."