“You did it, anyway, didn’t you?” Lois asked, in order to hide her embarrassment.  “But there is the car,” she added.  “I wonder what brings father home so early?”

Going downstairs, they found Mr. Sinclair and Jasper seated upon the verandah in a corner protected from the wind by heavy vines.

“You are early to-day, Father,” Lois remarked as she gave him the customary kiss.  “We generally have to wait dinner for you.”

“It is quite necessary that I should get back early, from what I have heard about you young women,” was the reply.  “It is hardly safe to leave you alone.”

“So you know all about our narrow escape, then,” and Lois looked enquiringly into his face.  She believed that Jasper must have been telling him, and it somehow disappointed her.  She did not think that he would be the first one to talk about the rescue he had made.

“Oh, yes, I learned all about it before I got home,” Mr. Sinclair explained.  “The men down the road saw it all, and then when Tom took the boat back he gave them the full details.  You must be very careful after this, Lois, about going over to the island.  You might not always have a rescuer handy as you had to-day.”

Lois did not reply.  She was glad that Jasper had not told, and she was sorry that she had judged him wrongly.  She might have known better, so she mused.

Mr. Sinclair was in excellent spirits.  He had changed a great deal since his illness and had become more like a father to her than he had ever been before.  He entered more into the life of his family, and his old sternness passed away.  Lois wondered what brought him back so early from the city.  She asked no questions, however, feeling sure that he would explain the reason in due time.

She did not in fact have long to wait, for after they were all seated at dinner Mr. Sinclair looked quizzically into his daughter’s face.

“I know you are puzzling your brain why I came home so early,” he began.  “Now, are you not?”

“I certainly am,” Lois laughingly replied.  “Margaret and I have been having all kinds of surmises.”

“I’ve done a great stroke of business to-day,” Mr. Sinclair continued, “and it has lifted a heavy burden from my mind.  Can any of you guess what it is?”

“Bought a new tract of timber, Dad,” Dick replied.  “I can’t think of anything that would please you better than that.”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Maybe you’ve found some work for Dick to do,” Lois suggested.  “That would certainly be a great stroke of business.”

“Come, come, Lois,” her brother remonstrated.  “You seem to think that I have nothing to do.”

“Haven’t I good reason to think so?”

“No, it’s not that,” Mr. Sinclair intervened.  “You’re a long way off.”

“Have you bought out the new Light and Power Company?” Jasper asked.

“No, no,” and Mr. Sinclair chuckled as he went on with his dinner.  He was enjoying immensely the little game.