"It is a good many years ago, but even now it is painful to think of those days," he began.  "We came from Cornwall, in the `old country,' where your Uncle Stephen, your mother, and I were born.  She had married your father, Michael Penrose, however, and had emigrated to America, when we were mere boys; and we were just out of our apprenticeship (Stephen as a blacksmith and I as a carpenter) when we received a letter from your father and mother inviting us to join them in America, and setting forth the advantages to be obtained in the new country.  We were not long in making up our minds to accept the invitation; and in the spring of the next year we crossed the sea, with well nigh three hundred other emigrants,--some going out to relatives and friends, others bent on seeking their fortunes, trusting alone to their own strong arms and determined will for success.