to the
passengers for Montreal. From this a rather striking procession was
descending. It was led by a dark handsome boy about twelve years of
age, while a fair girl, a little younger, followed behind. Another boy
and then another girl, smaller and chubbier than their predecessors,
were next to receive the assistance of the obsequious porter. And
lastly he gave his attention to a woman who carried a baby in her arms.
The woman wore a hat and coat new to Clematis, but there was something
not unfamiliar in her erect carriage, and the capable fashion in which,
she directed the movements of her little flock.

"Straight ahead, children. Algie, you walk right toward that hack with
the two gray horses, and the rest of you follow Algie. Well, here's
Uncle Joel come to meet us."

Some one pushed Joel forward. With his jaw dropping and his eyes
protruding, he looked like a criminal urged on toward the scaffold
rather than a man of affectionate disposition welcoming home a family
circle unexpectedly enlarged. The hoarse gurgle which escaped his lips
might have gassed for a greeting, or it might have presaged an
epileptic seizure.

"Well, Joel." Persis nodded affably, at the same time patting the baby
which, frightened by the proximity of so many strange faces, was
beginning to whimper. "As long as you're here, you might as well see
about our trunks. Give Uncle Joel the checks, Algie. No, not that
pocket. You put 'em in the right-hand one."

The crowd surged nearer and a piping voice made itself heard above the
confusion. "Miss Dale, looks as if you was going to have lively times
with all that company."

Persis cast a benignant gaze in the speaker's direction. She had never
held curiosity in low esteem as do the more rigid moralists,
acknowledging indeed, her full share of that characteristic. And
moreover she was quite willing that her old friends and neighbors, the
most of whom had congratulated her so heartily on her recent good
fortune, should know of her latest acquisition.

"I guess we'll have a lively time all right, Mr. Jones, but these
children ain't what you call company. I adopted the whole lot up to
Boston, and every one of the five's a Dale, as hard and fast as the law
can make 'em."

CHAPTER XV

A WOMAN AT LAST

Even if Joel's command of English had enabled him to express himself
freely regarding his sister's latest acquisition, the opportunity was
not immediately forthcoming. The