se. On this special occasion the Flower Girls went with
their father to The Paddock, and thus avoided receiving until late in
the evening the all-important letter which was to alter their lives
completely.

George Lennox, whose dead wife had been a Cameron--a near relative of
the head of the great house of Ardshiel--bade his sister a most
affectionate good-night, and returned to The Garden with his five
bonnie lassies. They had passed a delightful evening together, and on
account of the double birthday Lennox and Mrs Constable had made up a
most charming little play, in which the Flower Girls and the Precious
Stones took part. Ever true and kind of heart, they had invited from
the Glen a number of children, and also their parents, to witness the
performance. The play had given untold delight, and the guests from
the Lower Glen finished the evening's entertainment with a splendid
supper, ending with the well-known and beloved song of 'Auld Lang Syne.'

Mr Lennox and Mrs Constable taught their girls and boys without any aid
from outside. All ten children were smart; indeed, it would be
difficult to find better-educated young people for their ages. But Mrs
Constable knew only too well that whatever the future held in store for
her brother's Flower Girls, she must very soon part, one by one, with
her splendid boys; for was not this the express wish of her beloved
soldier-husband, Major Constable, who had died on the field of battle
in Africa, and who had put away a certain sum of money which was to be
spent, when the time came, on the children's education? He himself was
an old Eton boy, and he wanted his young sons to go to that famous
school if at all possible. But before any of the Precious Stones could
enter Eton, he must pass at least a year at a preparatory school, and
it was the thought of this coming separation that made the sweet gray
eyes of the widow fill often with sudden tears. To part with any of
her treasures was torture to her. However, we none of us know what
lies in store for us, and nothing was farther from the hearts of the
children and their parents than the thought of change on this glorious
night of mid-June.

The moment Mr Lennox and his five girls entered the great hall, which
was so marked a feature of the beautiful Garden, they saw a letter,
addressed to The Hon. George Lennox, lying on a table not far from the
ingle-nook. Mr Lennox's first impulse was to put the letter aside, but
al