To settle Dr. Carr in his new quarters was another pleasure, in which they all took equal part. When his books and microscopes were unpacked, and the Burnet belongings arranged pretty much in their old order, the rooms looked wonderfully homelike, even to him. The children soon learned to adore him, as children always had done; the only trouble was that they fought for the possession of his knee, and would never willingly have left him a moment for himself. His leisure had to be protected by a series of nursery laws and penances, or he would never have had any; but he said he liked the children better than the leisure. He was born to be a grandfather; nobody told stories like him, or knew so well how to please and pacify and hit the taste of little people.

But all this, of course, came subsequently to the double wedding, which took place two days after the arrival of the home-party. The morning of the twentieth was unusually fine, even for Colorado,—fair, cloudless, and golden bright, as if ordered for the occasion,—without a cloud on the sky from dawn to sunset. The ceremony was performed by a clergyman from Portland, who with his invalid wife were settled in the Hutlet for the summer, very glad of the pleasant little home offered them, and to escape from the crowd and confusion of Mrs. Marsh's boarding-house, where Geoff had found them. Two or three particular friends drove out from St. Helen's; but with that exception the whole wedding was "valley-made," as Elsie declared, including delicious raspberry ice-cream, and an enormous cake, over which she and Clover had expended much time and thought, and which, decorated with emblematical designs in icing and wreathed with yucca-blossoms, stood in the middle of the table.

The ceremony took place at noon precisely, when, as Phil facetiously observed, "the shadows of the high contracting parties could never be less." There was little that was formal about it, but much that was reverent and sweet and full of true feeling. Imogen and Johnnie had both agreed to wear white muslin dresses, very much such dresses as they were all accustomed to wear on afternoons; but Imogen had on her head her mother's wedding-veil, which had been sent out from England, and John wore Katy's, "for luck," as she said. Both carried a big bouquet of Mariposa lilies, and the house was filled with the characteristic wild-flowers of the region most skilfully and effectively grouped and arranged.

A hospitably hearty luncheon followed the ceremony, of which all partook; then Imogen went away to put on her pretty travelling-suit of pale brown, and the carry-all came round to take Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Carr to St. Helen's, which was the first stage on their journey of life.

The whole party stood on the porch to see them go. Imogen's last word and embrace were for Clover.

"We are sisters now," she whispered. "I belong to you just as much as Isabel does, and I am so glad that I do! Dear Clover, you have been more good to me than I can say, and I shall never forget it."

"Nonsense about being good! You are my Dorry's wife now, and our own dear sister. There is no question about goodness,—only to love one another."

She kissed Imogen warmly, and helped her into the carriage. Dorry sprang after her; the wheels revolved; and Phil, seizing a horseshoe which hung ready to hand on the wall of the house, flung it after the departing vehicle.

"It's more appropriate than any other sort of old shoe for this Place of Hoofs," he observed. "Well, the Carr family are certainly pretty well disposed of now. I am 'the last ungathered rose on my ancestral tree.' I wonder who will tear me from my stem!"

"You can afford to hang on a while longer," remarked Elsie. "I don't consider you fairly expanded yet, by any means. You'll be twice as well worth gathering a few years from now."

"Oh, very fine!—years indeed! Why, I shall be a seedy old bachelor! That would never do! And Amy Ashe, whom I have had in my eye ever since she was in pinafores, will be married to some other fellow!"

"Don't set your heart on Amy," said Katy. "She's not seventeen yet; and I don't think her mother has any idea of having her made into Ashes of Roses so early!"

"There's no harm in having a girl in one's eye," retorted Phil, disconsolately. "I declare, you all look so contented and so satisfied with yourselves and one another, that it's enough to madden a fellow, left out, as I am, in the cold! I shall go back to St. Helen's with Dr. and Mrs. Hope."

The others, left to themselves in their happy loneliness, gathered together in the big room after the last guest had gone. Geoff touched a match to the ready-laid fire; Clover wheeled an armchair forward for her father, and sat down beside him with her arm on his knee; John and Lionel took possession of a big sofa.

"Now let us enjoy ourselves," said Clover. "The world is shut out, we are shut in; there are none to molest and make us afraid; and, please Heaven, there is a whole, long, happy year before us! I never did suppose anything so perfectly perfect could happen to us all as this. Now, papa,—dear papa,—just say that you like it as much as we all do."

Elsie perched herself on the arm of her father's chair; Katy stood behind, stroking his hair. Dr. Carr held out his hand to Johnnie, who ran across the room, knelt down, caught it in both hers, and fondly laid her cheek upon it.

"I like it quite as much as you do," he said. "Where my girls are is the place for me; and I am going to be the most contented old gentleman in America for the rest of my days."

THE END



SUSAN COOLIDGE'S POPULAR STORY BOOKS.

SUSAN COOLIDGE has always possessed the affection of her young readers, for it seems as if she had the happy instinct of planning stories that each girl would like to act out in reality.—The Critic.

Not even Miss Alcott apprehends child nature with finer sympathy, or pictures its nobler traits with more skill.—Boston Daily Advertiser.

THE NEW YEAR'S BARGAIN. A Christmas Story for Children. With Illustrations by ADDIE LEDYARD. 16mo. $1.25.

WHAT KATY DID. A Story. With Illustrations by ADDIE LEDYARD. 16mo. $1.25.

WHAT KATY DID AT SCHOOL. Being more about "What Katy Did." With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.

MISCHIEF'S THANKSGIVING, and other Stories. With Illustrations by ADDIE LEDYARD. 16mo. $1.25.

NINE LITTLE GOSLINGS. With Illustrations by J. A. MITCHELL. 16mo. $1.25.

EYEBRIGHT. A Story. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.

CROSS PATCH. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.

A ROUND DOZEN. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.

A LITTLE COUNTRY GIRL. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.

WHAT KATY DID NEXT. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.

CLOVER. A Sequel to the Katy Books. With Illustrations by JESSIE MCDERMOTT. 16mo. $1.25.

JUST SIXTEEN. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.

IN THE HIGH VALLEY. With Illustrations. 16mo. $1.25.

A GUERNSEY LILY; or, How the Feud was Healed. A Story of the Channel Islands. Profusely Illustrated. 16mo. $1.25.

THE BARBERRY BUSH, and Seven Other Stories about Girls for Girls. With Illustrations by JESSIE MCDERMOTT. 16mo. $1.25.

NOT QUITE EIGHTEEN. A volume of Stories. With illustrations by JESSIE MCDERMOTT. 16mo. $1.25.

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Messrs. Roberts Brothers' Publications.



OLD ROUGH THE MISER.

By LILY F. WESSELHOEFT, author of "Sparrow the Tramp," "Flipwing the Spy," "The Winds, the Woods, and the Wanderer." With twenty-one illustrations by J. F. Goodridge. Square 16mo, cloth, $1.25.



Mrs. Wesselhoeft's "Fable Stories" are proving themselves more and more acceptable to the children. "Old Rough" is a decided acquisition to the series.

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Messrs. Roberts Brothers' Publications.



IN MY NURSERY.

A BOOK OF RHYMES

FOR

YOUNG FOLKS.

BY

LAURA E. RICHARDS.



"What a beautiful book! How fine are the illustrations! How pure and sweet are these rhymes!" Grandpa bought the book, and Dot was delighted with her present. So is mamma. She says the stories are as good as she could make them herself. If you want just the daintiest book of the season, get this. Don't be put off with something common. This beats "Mother Goose" and all the old nursery books all to pieces. It contains a great deal of sense, just a little nonsense, and sparkles with fun, which all the household will relish. This is better than forty dolls, because the dolls usually can't talk, but this can.—Illustrated Christian Weekly.

This is a charming collection of nursery ballads, full of lively nonsense and quaint conceits, such as appeal to childish imaginations. The merry rhymes and grotesque illustrations make each other doubly effective. No better book since "Mother Goose" than this for reading to children, who will cry, "Again, again," and will never tire of its felicitous jingles. It is dedicated to "My mother, Julia Ward Howe."—Boston Woman's Journal.

The rhymes and jingles in this little volume are very genuine products, for they have every sign of being what many nursery rhymes are not, songs which have stood the critical test of a house full of children of different ages and varying temperaments and been approved. Mrs. Richards has a natural gift of striking the whimsical without rising above the comprehension of young people, nor on the other hand, falling into the strained or the commonplace.—New York Times.

It is like getting a new and greatly enlarged sequel to dear old "Mother Goose" to take up Mrs. Laura E. Richards's pretty book. She knows how to be funny without being silly; her rhymes are lively and jingle merrily on the ear; the odd fancies and quaint imagery are just of the sort to entertain very young children. "In My Nursery" may be heartily commended as an almost inexhaustible store house of amusement for little girls and boys.—The Boston Beacon.

One handsome small quarto volume, bound in cloth. Price, $1.25.

Sold everywhere. Mailed, postpaid, by the publishers,

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THE LITTLE SISTER OF WILIFRED.

A Story. By Miss A. G. Plympton, author of "Dear Daughter Dorothy" and "Betty, a Butterfly." Illustrated by the author. Small 4to. Cloth. Price $1.00.



The author of "Dear Daughter Dorothy" needs no passport to favor. That bewitching little story which she not only wrote but illustrated must have given the name of A. G. Plympton a notable place among the writers of children's stories. Followed by "Betty, a Butterfly" and now by "The Little Sister of Wilifred," we have a most interesting trio with which to adorn a child's library.—Boston Times.

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SUSAN COOLIDGE'S POPULAR BOOKS.



A GUERNSEY LILY;

OR,

HOW THE FEUD WAS HEALED.

A Story for Girls and Boys.



BY SUSAN COOLIDGE,

Author of "What Katy Did," "Clover," "In the High Valley," etc.

* * * * *

NEW EDITION. Square 16mo. Illustrated. Price, $1.25.

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Messrs. Roberts Brothers' Publications.



A LOST HERO.

BY ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS WARD AND HERBERT D. WARD. With 30 illustrations by Frank T. Merrill. Small quarto. Cloth. Price, $1.50.



The lost hero was a poor old negro who saved the Columbia express from destruction at the time of the Charleston earthquake, and vanished from human ken after his brave deed was accomplished, swallowed up, probably, in some yawning crevice of the envious earth. The story is written with that simplicity which is the perfection of art, and its subtle pathos is given full and eloquent expression. But noble as the book is, viewed as a literary performance, it owes not a little of its peculiar attractiveness to the illustrations with which it is now adorned after drawings by Frank T. Merrill.—The Beacon.

ROBERTS BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, BOSTON, MASS.

Messrs. Roberts Brothers' Publications.

By the author of "Dear Daughter Dorothy."



BETTY, A BUTTERFLY.

By A. G. PLYMPTON.

With illustrations by the author.

Square 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00.



* * * * *

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MRS. WESSELHOEFT'S STORIES.



THE WINDS, THE WOODS, AND THE WANDERER.

A Fable for Children. By LILY F. WESSELHOEFT, author of "Sparrow, The Tramp," and "Flipwing, the Spy." With illustrations. 16mo, cloth. Price, $1.25.

* * * * *

ROBERTS BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, BOSTON.

Roberts Brothers' Juvenile Books.



DEAR DAUGHTER DOROTHY.

BY MISS A. G. PLYMPTON.

With seven illustrations by the author. Small 4to. Cloth

PRICE, $1.00.



"The child is father of the man."—so Wordsworth sang; and here is a jolly story of a little girl who was her father's mother in a very real way. There were hard lines for him, and she was fruitful of devices to help him along, even having an auction of the pretty things that had been given her from time to time, and realizing a neat little sum. Then her father was accused of peculation; and she, sweetly ignorant of the ways of justice, went to the judge and labored with him, to no effect, though he was wondrous kind. Then in court she gave just the wrong evidence, because it showed how poor her father was, and so established a presumption of his great necessity and desperation. But the Deus ex machina—the wicked partner—arrived at the right moment, and owned up, and the good father was cleared, and little Daughter Dorothy was made glad. But this meagre summary gives but a poor idea of the ins and outs of this charming story, and no idea of the happy way in which it is told.—Christian Register.

ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston.

By the Author of "Jolly Good Times."



THEIR CANOE TRIP.

By MARY P. W. SMITH,

AUTHOR OF THE "BROWNS."



A story founded on the actual experiences of two Roxbury boys, during canoe trip on the Concord, Merrimac, Piscataquog, and other rivers.

16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.

ROBERTS BROTHERS, BOSTON.



PRINCE VANCE.

A Story of a Prince with a Court in His Box. By ELEANOR PUTNAM and ARLO BATES. Illustrated by Frank Myrick.



"Prince Vance" is an Entertaining Fairy Story of the wildest and most fantastic adventures and of amusing and original impossibilities, which, however, carry with them a stern puritan moral. This allegiance of unfettered imagination and straightforward, wholesome, moral teaching is unusual, and gives the little book a special value.

Small 4to. Cloth gilt. Price, $1.50.

ROBERTS BROTHERS, BOSTON.



FLIPWING, THE SPY.

A Story for Children.

BY LILY F. WESSELHOEFT,

Author of "Sparrow, the Tramp," "The Winds, the Woods, and the Wanderer," etc.



The story represents the action of certain animals, the characters of which are depicted in accordance with their natures and the exigencies of the story. The object is to cultivate the love of animal nature, which most children feel, and especially for such creatures as bats, toads and others, which children are often improperly taught to regard with disgust. The human characters introduced talk and act naturally, and the book will be found very entertaining to young people.

16mo. Cloth. Price. $1.25.

ROBERTS BROTHERS, BOSTON.

Uniform with "The Joyous Story of Toto."



TOTO'S MERRY WINTER.

BY LAURA E. RICHARDS.

With Illustrations. 16mo. Price, $1.25.

ROBERTS BROTHERS, Publishers, BOSTON.



NONSENSE BOOKS.



By EDWARD LEAR.

COMPRISING "A BOOK OF NONSENSE," "NONSENSE SONGS, STORIES," ETC. "MORE NONSENSE PICTURES, RHYMES," ETC. "LAUGHABLE LYRICS," ETC.

With all the original illustrations. In one square 16mo volume. Handsome cloth. Price, $2.00.

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SUSAN COOLIDGE'S POPULAR BOOKS.



NOT QUITE EIGHTEEN.

By SUSAN COOLIDGE, author of "What Katy Did," "The Barberry Bush," "A Guernsey Lily," etc. 16mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price, $1.25

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Messrs. Roberts Brothers' Publications.



NELLY'S SILVER MINE.

BY H. H.

With Illustrations. 16mo, cloth. Price $1.50.

"The sketches of life, especially of its odd and out-of-the-way aspects, by H. H. always possess so vivid a reality that they appear more like the actual scenes than any copy by pencil or photograph. They form a series of living pictures, radiant with sunlight and fresh as morning dew. In this new story the fruits of her fine genius are of Colorado growth, and though without the antique flavor of her recollections of Rome and Venice, are as delicious to the taste as they are tempting to the eye, and afford a natural feast of exquisite quality."—N. Y. Tribune.

"This charming little book, written for children's entertainment and instruction, is equally delightful to the fathers and mothers. It is life in New England, and the racy history of a long railway journey to the wilds of Colorado. The children are neither imps nor angels, but just such children as are found in every happy home. The pictures are so graphically drawn that we feel well acquainted with Rob and Nelly, have travelled with them and climbed mountains and found silver mines, and know all about the rude life made beautiful by a happy family, and can say of Nelly, with their German neighbor, Mr. Kleesman, 'Ach well, she haf better than any silver mine in her own self.'"—Chicago Inter-Ocean.

"In 'Nelly's Silver Mine' Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson has given us a true classic for the nursery and the school-room, but its readers will not be confined to any locality. Its vivid portraiture of Colorado life and its truth to child-nature give it a charm which the most experienced cannot fail to feel. It will stand by the side of Miss Edgeworth and Mrs. Barbauld in all the years to come."—Mrs. Caroline H. Dall.

"We heartily commend the book for its healthy spirit, its lively narrative, and its freedom from most of the faults of books for children."—Atlantic Monthly.

* * * * *

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* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired.

Page 69, word "in" inserted into text (For in spite of)

Page 138, word "to" inserted into text (sit next to you)

Page 237, "daguerrotype" changed to "daguerreotype" (Grandpapa Carr's daguerreotype)

Varied hyphenation was retained. This includes:

bedroom bed-room carryall carry-all homesick home-sick housekeeping house-keeping pigtail pig-tail postpaid post-paid straightforward straight-forward zigzag zig-zag

THE END