en in connection with that other precious promise,
'As thy days, so shall thy strength be.'"

"Don't you think, papa, that if we always remembered and fully
believed the promises of God's word we might--we should be happy under
all circumstances?"

"I do indeed," he said emphatically. "We all need to pray as the
disciples did, 'Lord increase our faith,' for 'without faith it is
impossible to please him.'"

CHAPTER XIII.

The next three weeks passed very delightfully to our friends at
Viamede. There were rides, drives, boating, and fishing excursions,
not to speak of rambles through the woods and fields and quiet home
pleasures. Also the approaching wedding and the preparations for it
greatly interested them all, especially the young girls. It was
pleasantly exciting to watch the making of the bride's dresses and of
their own, intended to be worn on that important occasion. Besides,
after a little there were various arrivals of relations and friends to
whom invitations had been sent: the whole families from Riverside,
Ion, Fairview, the Oaks, the Laurels, Beechwood, and Roselands.

Herbert Travilla would have denied himself the pleasure of the trip in
order that Dr. Arthur Conly might take a much-needed rest, but it was
finally decided that both might venture to absent themselves from
their practice for a short season.

All Grandma Elsie's children and grandchildren were taken in at
Viamede, making the house very full, and the rest were accommodated
with the other relatives at the Parsonage, Magnolia Hall, and
Torriswood; in which last-named place the family from the Oaks were
domiciled. It was not until a very few days before that appointed for
the wedding that the last of the relatives from a distance arrived.

To the extreme satisfaction of all concerned the wedding day dawned
bright and beautiful--not a cloud in the sky. The ceremony was to be
at noon, and the guests came pouring in shortly before that hour.

The grounds were looking their loveliest--the grass like emerald
velvet bespangled with fragrant flowers of every hue, the trees laden
with foliage, some of them--the oranges and magnolias in
particular--bearing blossoms; the former their green and golden fruit
also. Under these an arch, covered with smilax, had been erected, and
from its centre hung a large bell formed of the lovely and fragrant
orange blossoms; the clapper made of crimson roses. Under that the
bri