careful Dr. and Mrs. Burnett would never have intrusted their
daughters to her.

Her husband had been a young Scotchman, well-born, finely educated, and
possessed of ample means, whom she had met when a girl travelling abroad
with her parents, and her brief wedded life had been spent in beautiful
Edinburgh, her husband's native city. Very soon after Margery's birth
came the terrible grief of her husband's death, and lonely Elizabeth
Douglas came across the sea, bringing her two fatherless children to
make a home for herself and them among her girlhood friends.

Malcom, a well-developed, manly young fellow, has just graduated from
the Boston Latin School. As he stands beside his mother we see the
military drill he has undergone in his fine carriage, straight
shoulders, and erect head. He has the Scotch complexion, an abundance of
fair hair, and frank, steady eyes that win him the instant trust and
friendship of all who look into them. Though full of a boy's enthusiasm
and fun, yet he seems older than he is, as is usually the case with boys
left fatherless who early feel a certain manly responsibility for the
mother and sisters.

Proud and fond indeed is Malcom Douglas of his mother and "little
Madge," as he calls her, who, petite and slender, with sunny, flowing
curls, the sweetest of blue eyes, and a pure, childlike face, stands,
with parted lips, flushed with animation, by her mother's side. Margery
is, as she looks, gentle and lovable. Not yet has she ever known the
weight of the slightest burden of care, but has been as free and happy
as the birds, as she has lived in her beautiful home with her mother and
brother.

Barbara and Bettina stand a little apart from the others, with clasped
hands and dim eyes, as the shore, the home-shore, is fast receding from
their sight. They are alike, and yet unlike. People always say "Barbara
and Bettina," never "Bettina and Barbara." They are of the same height,
each with brown hair and eyes.

Barbara's figure is a little fuller and more womanly, her hair has
caught the faintest auburn hue, her eyes have a more brilliant sparkle,
and the color on her cheeks glows more steadily. She looks at strangers
with a quiet self-possession, and questions others rather than thinks of
herself being questioned. As a child she always fought her own and her
sister's battles, and would do the same to-day did occasion demand.

Bettina is more timid and self-conscious; her dreamy eyes and quick