What could virtues be? she asked herself. Were they anything like feathers, or were they good to eat, or were they something she had never seen and knew nothing about? But the letters said plainly, 'his virtues are with us still.' Truly, if they were among the family possessions, why had she not seen them? For anything that belonged to any of the Spoon-bill family that was at all out of the ordinary was always placed in an oak cabinet with glass doors that stood in a corner of the hall in their marsh home. Delilah had often looked in this cabinet to see if the virtues of her brother were not there. There were dried snake skins, and curious white stones, and Spanish moss, and devil's snuff-boxes—but no, there were no virtues. Of that she was convinced. She appealed to her older sister. 'Lilith,' said Delilah, 'what are virtues, and where do we keep Roland's? Don't you know,
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