n no longer let you remain at Ion to
be a trouble and torment to our kind friends there. I shall remove
you elsewhere as soon as I can settle upon a suitable place. In the
mean time, if you are truly sorry for the past, you will, I am
sure, earnestly strive to be patient, submissive and obedient to
those who have you in charge.

"Your loving father,

"L. RAYMOND."

The paper fell from Lulu's hand, and fluttered to the floor, as she
folded her arms upon the sill of the window beside which she had seated
herself, and rested her head upon them.

"And that's all; just that I am to go away, nobody knows where; to be
separated from Max and Gracie and every one else that I care for: and
when papa comes home, maybe he won't visit me at all; or, if he does, it
will be for only a little bit, because, of course, he will want to spend
most of his leave where the others are. Oh, dear! oh, dear! I wish I'd
been good! I wish I'd been born sweet-tempered and patient, like Gracie.
I wonder if papa will ever, _ever_ let me come back!

"But perhaps grandpa Dinsmore and grandma Elsie will never invite me
again. I wouldn't in their place, I'm sure."

The captain's letter to his wife made the same announcement of his
intentions in regard to Lulu; adding, that, for the present he would
have her disposed of as should seem best to them--Mr. Dinsmore, his
daughter, and Violet herself--upon consultation together; he had entire
confidence, he said, in their wisdom and their kind feeling toward his
wayward, troublesome, yet still beloved child; so that he could trust
her to their tender mercies without hesitation.

He went on to say (and, ah, with what a smile of exultation and delight
those words were penned!), that "there was a possibility that he might
be with them again in the fall, long enough to find a suitable home for
Lulu; and, in the mean time, would they kindly seize any opportunity
that presented itself, to make inquiries in regard to such a place?"

Violet read that portion of his letter aloud to her mother and
grandfather, then asked if they saw in it any thing necessitating a
change in their plans for the summer.

They did not, and were glad for Lulu's sake that it was so.

Lulu, in the solitude of her room, was anxiously considering the same
question, and presently went with it to her mamma, taking her father's
note in her hand.

Finding Violet alone in her dressing-room, giving the captain's missive
another perusal, "