ut her way as if through molten
silver, and there was many a time when the little craft held but two
persons, one being Lancy Gurney, and the curly head of his companion was
very like to that of Dexie Sherwood's!

The early days of October were marked by the departure of Louie and the
kind old nurse Dinah.

Poor Louie! her heart was rent with conflicting feelings. She had been wild
with delight to think that she had been the one chosen to spend the winter
with her grandma, and, though the journey thither was a pleasure she had
long looked forward to, the final leave-takings were so much harder than
she had anticipated that she felt almost tempted, at the last moment, to
give it up, and stay with those she had never loved so much as she did now,
when prepared to leave them.

We must not stop to tell of all the changes which took place in the old
homestead when it was decided that Louie was to spend the winter there. The
eyesight of the grandparents became so much better as they thought of her
coming, that they noticed with startling clearness how dingy the old
farmhouse had grown. Their brightened vision regarded the faded carpets
with aversion, and when they had given place to new ones the curtains
looked positively shabby, and they were astonished to find how much
difference a little paint on the house and out-buildings made in the look
of the place.

Without chasing away the _homey_ took of the low, comfortable rooms, they
were made brighter and more cheerful, as if rejoicing with the grandparents
in their joy, and joining in the attempt to make the little grand-daughter
feel at home.

Unconsciously, the old folks grew brighter themselves, and Grandma Sherwood
even went so far as to lay aside the cap she had worn so long that it
seemed to belong to her head quite as much as the beautiful grey hair
beneath it; and after putting it away reverently in the bottom drawer of
the bureau, she took out instead her "best cap," and wore it daily, in
anticipation of her grand-daughter's arrival.

The pretty room that had been fitted up for Louie's use lacked nothing to
make it perfect except its occupant, and if Louie needed anything to
reconcile her to a winter's stay in the quiet farmhouse, this pretty room
contained it.

Neither were its treasures revealed in a day, for, weeks after she arrived,
grandma would bid her search for some secret drawer which contained
something that she would like; and Louie's curiosity woul