don't think my wife will care to give them up in a hurry. She said this
morning the youngsters had taken a tight hold of her heart."

"Ef I had a hum of my own--" began Barringford. "But no, 'tain't right--I
ought to find out whar they belong."

"Perhaps you can find out all about them at Bedford, or Fort Loudan, or
Annapolis, or Philadelphia," put in James Morris. "Certain it is they
belong somewhere."

They had now come to the end of their search and, as there seemed nothing
more to do, prepared to return home. The ground was too hard to permit of
the burial of the remains of the stranger, and they were placed between
some rocks, with other rocks over them, to keep off the wild beasts. Then
Joseph Morris marked the nearest tree with a large cross and a question
mark--a common sign of those days, showing that somebody unknown had met
death in that vicinity.

When the Morris cabin was again reached they found the babies wide awake
and cooing contentedly. Mrs. Morris had dressed them up as best she could,
and she was holding one while Rodney held the other. Little Nell was
dancing around the floor in wild delight.

"Oh, I just love those babies so much!" cried the little miss. "I want
mamma to keep them, if nobody comes to take them away."

"Don't want to send them to the poorhouse, then?" questioned her father
quizzically.

"To the poorhouse?" she repeated scornfully. "No, indeed!"