e crazed about her. Everybody is. Isn't
she just splendid?"

"There is nobody like her," answered Lucy. Minnie could never know
what she had been and was to her.

"Lovers are stupid, don't you think?" asked Minnie again. "They
always go away by themselves, and things; you just watch George and
Carrie to-day. It is a great trial to me."

"What is?" asked Mr. George Keane, pausing at the side of the waggon.
Minnie laughed outright, so did Lucy.

"It's a secret," replied she in a very dignified way.--"O Miss
Goldthwaite, are you coming into the waggon?"

"Yes;--will you make room for me, Lucy?"

Lucy moved further up the cushion, and Mr. George Keane assisted Miss
Goldthwaite to her place.

"O Carrie, succumbed already!" cried Miss Keane.

"Won't you come in too?" replied Carrie.

"No, thank you; I mean to climb to the top. Somebody must sustain the
credit of our sex."

"I know it's safe in your hands, Alice," said Carrie serenely.--"Lucy
dear, you look happy. Do you enjoy it?"

The sparkle in Lucy's eyes answered her better than any words.

The road was becoming rougher and steeper, and Billy's progress
slower and slower, and the summit of the Peak drawing nearer and
nearer. Miss Keane and Tom had got ahead of the waggon, and were the
first to reach the top. At last Billy, with a great pull, brought the
waggon to the level ground, and then stood still. They all alighted,
and, forming a little circle, stood drinking in the beauty of the
scene. Wondering how Tom would be affected, Miss Keane turned to
speak to him, but he had gone; and looking round, she saw him
standing by a huge boulder, but his face was turned away, and
understanding why he felt it best to be alone for a few minutes, she
did not venture to disturb him. It was a panorama of wonderful
beauty. They seemed to stand up among the clouds, the air was so pure
and cool and bracing. Far beneath, the houses of the town looked like
a tiny ant-nest, enveloped in a filmy haze. The great plain stretched
around for miles and miles, dotted here and there by many a pretty
homestead, and intersected by the winding river, glinting and
glistening in the sun as it hurried on and on to join the far-off
sea. Far across the plain the smoke of distant cities obscured the
horizon, but none of the noise or bustle was borne on the breeze to
this lonely mountain peak. A great silence fell upon the little
company, and some bright eyes grew dim as they looked upon the b