strawberries are trying to get ripe, but I haven't seen a single
wild rose yet. Come right in; I know by Dick's eager look that he is
ready for my baked mackerel. I have Luella Barnes to help me this
year," she whispered, "and she has a big white satin bow in her hair
because we have a young man as guest." She laughed mirthfully and
Polly thought the way her eyes squeezed up was perfectly fascinating.
Her Aunt Ada had visited Colorado when Polly was a baby, but, of
course, Polly did not remember it, nor would her aunt have recognized
her baby niece in the little rosy-cheeked girl before her.

"This is something like our house," said Polly, looking around with a
pleased expression at the unplastered room with its simple furnishings.

"Then you will feel at home," said her aunt. "Take off your hats,
girlies, while I see to dinner, for you know the necessity, Molly, of
looking after things yourself up this way."

Just here Luella appeared. She was a tall, angular young woman with a
mass of fair hair, very blue eyes and a tiny waist. The white satin
bow was conspicuous, and as she caught sight of Dick Reid she simpered
and giggled in what the little girls thought a very silly way since it
displayed Luella's bad teeth to which she evidently never gave the
least attention. However, they all soon forgot everything but
satisfying their appetites with the baked mackerel, deliciously fresh,
the roasted potatoes, young peas and lobster salad.

"These taste so different from canned things," said Polly, passing up
her plate for a second helping of lobster.

Luella reached out a bony arm and took the plate. "I'm glad to see you
can eat hearty," she remarked. "Give her a real good help, Mr. Reid."

Molly giggled, though she knew the ways of the "hired help" her aunt
employed in the summer. Aunt Ada gave her a warning look, for the
natives were quick to take offense and Miss Ada had no wish to be left
with no one in the kitchen. "And when is Mary coming?" she asked.

"Oh, we don't know exactly," Molly told her. "Mother will bring her up
when she and papa go to Rangeley. Mother thought it would be in about
a week. What will you do with three little girls to look after, Aunt
Ada?"

"Oh, I expect them to look after me," returned Miss Ada.

"And if they don't do that properly, or if they get obstreperous," put
in Uncle Dick, "it is the easiest thing in the world to throw them
overboard. I'll do it for you, Ada; the