Crossing the Atlantic they doubtless suffered some dilution; but all that was possible to conserve them under very adverse conditions Mrs Milburn and Miss Filkin made it their duty to do.

Nor were these ideas opposed, contested, or much traversed in Elgin.

It was recognized that there was "something about" Mrs Milburn and her sister--vaguely felt--that you did not come upon that thinness of nostril, and slope of shoulder, and set of elbow at every corner.

They must have got it somewhere.

A Filkin tradition prevailed, said to have originated in Nova Scotia: the Filkins never had been accessible, but if they wanted to keep to themselves, let them.