y morning
as she woke, and felt the tired pressure at her head, she felt a pang of
relief at the remembrance that there was no longer the old necessity to
be up and doing. Every evening as she rested on the old sofa she
remarked afresh to her husband how sweet it was to be alone, and to have
the rest and peace of a quiet house; but between the two ends of the day
there came a dozen other moments, when she longed for the cheery bustle,
the clamour of youthful voices, the presence of the merry young band.
Such a moment came to her now, and the tears were already glistening in
the sweet grey eyes when the sound of wheels crunched up the drive, the
vicar dashed into the house to shed his alpaca coat, and his wife and
daughter flew excitedly into the garden. The carriage stopped, a blue-
robed damsel leapt out of either door, and for the next two minutes four
female figures were so inextricably mixed together that it would have
been difficult to an onlooker to say which was which, or to apportion
the waving arms and bobbing heads to their proper owners. The vicar
stood in the background, looking on with a comical gleam of amusement on
his long face, while Rob shrugged his shoulders and looked bored and
superior, as men are fond of doing when women enjoy themselves in a way
which they themselves cannot understand. Presently, however, the
kaleidoscope-like mass dissolved into its component parts, and a young
lady advanced towards the vicar with a pretty flushed face beneath a
French hat, and two little hands stretched out in greeting. Mr Asplin
looked at her critically. _Was_ it Peggy? For a moment memory was
baffled by the sight of the elegant young lady, but a second glance
revealed the well-known features--the arched brows and kitten-like chin.
For the rest, the hazel eyes were as clear and loving as ever, and the
old mischievous gleam shone through the tears.

"Is it Mariquita?" he cried, and Peggy stood on tiptoe to kiss his
cheek, and hung on to the lapels of his coat, saying tremulously:

"No, it's Peggy! I never was Mariquita, you know, unless I was going to
be scolded in the study; and you couldn't possibly scold me the first
day. Are you half as pleased to see me as I am to be back again?"

"God bless you, child!" he said softly, and laid a tender hand on her
cheek. The bud had blossomed into a flower; the little school-girl whom
he had loved so well had grown into a woman, and her early grace and
charm w