ovely! I hope, when I grow to be
her age, I'll be at least just a tiny bit like her. You'd like her, Don."

"I'd like her anyway for being such a peach to you," said Donald.

"I'll never forget it," Virginia told him, a little break in her voice.
"And especially when--when Jim went--Somewhere Else. Oh, Don, she was so
good to me at that time! And she seemed to understand everything! I'll
always love her for it!"

Her gray eyes filled with tears. The boy beside her placed his hand on
hers in quick sympathy.

"I know," he said. "We don't find a friend like that every day, Virginia.
I wish she were coming, too! I'd like to thank her myself."

Virginia swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled again.

"I wish so, too, but she can't, so we must make the best of it. Aunt Nan
is next best. She'll love everything! I know she will. She's such a good
sport, too! She'll learn to ride and shoot, I'm sure. I hope she'll want
to go everywhere with us, and that we won't seem too young for her."

"I think Malcolm may go along some--at least before threshing starts. He
said he would. Isn't he about your Aunt Nan's age? He's most thirty."

"Yes," said Virginia. "I never thought of it before, but I guess he is.
Aunt Nan's thirty, I know, because I remember she told me she'd always
sort of dreaded being thirty, but now she'd reached there she found it the
most comfortable age in the world. I hope Malcolm will go along. He's
splendid!"

"He's all right," returned Donald loyally.

"Every one's been so dear at home about getting ready," Virginia went on.
"William put the finishing touches on the flower garden yesterday. It
looks lovely, and Aunt Nan's marigolds are all in bloom. William planted
some to make her think of home. And Alec and Joe and Dick insisted on
riding three of the horses so they'd be ready for the girls to ride
to-morrow. Hannah's baked everything I like best, and Father bought two
bran-new tents, because the girls want to sleep out with me. Do Jack and
Carver ride, do you suppose?"

"Jack does a little. Of course, I don't know about Carver Standish. You
think he'll fit in all right, don't you, Virginia? Eastern fellows don't
sometimes, you know."

"Oh, I'm sure he will," Virginia assured him. "I wish you could have seen
how pleased he was when Father asked him to come. And his grandfather, the
old Colonel, nearly burst with pride! Of course Carver's different. I
think his father and mother are very--well, _N