t Daphne just came in and
kissed me good-night. She told me again how glad she is that I'm
not a boy. Uncle Cassius hasn't committed himself yet, but I
think he's curious about me anyway. Good-night all, and write
oodles of news to me.

"Devotedly yours,
KIT.

"_Sign of the Mummy,
Delphi, Wis_."

At the same moment that Kit was writing home, the Dean and Miss Daphne
stepped out on the broad veranda. Every evening about nine-thirty
passers-by might have seen the flickering glow of the Dean's good-night
cigar. He was not an habitual smoker, but the evening cigar was a sort of
nocturnal ceremonial. It gave him an excuse to step out into the fragrant
darkness of the garden walk for a quiet little stroll before bedtime, and
usually Miss Daphne would try to join him.

So to-night they paced together, discussing the girl with the red curls
who had come to them from far-off New England, in lieu of the boy they had
sent for.

"There's no reason," remarked the Dean, reflectively, "why the child
should not have a pleasant visit, since she is here. I have had a long
conversation with her, and while I would not say that she was
exceptionally--er----"

"Bright," suggested Daphne.

"I should like to call it intellectual," the Dean said kindly, "she is
keenly impressionable and self-reliant. I think I may be able to interest
her, at least in a simplified course of study. I have always believed that
boys were more amenable to routine discipline in education than girls, but
we shall see."

Miss Daphne's eyes, if he could only have seen them, held a twinkle of
mirth, and her smile was a little more pronounced than usual.

"I think," she said, softly, "that she is a very lovable, attractive girl.
I am quite relieved, brother, not to have a boy in the house."

Kit wakened the following morning with the sunlight calling to her. It was
early, but back on the farm the girls usually rose about five. There did
not seem to be any one stirring yet, so she dressed quietly, and found her
way down-stairs. The Dean kept a cook, gardener and second girl. Kit heard
Delia, the latter, singing in the dining-room and went out at once to make
friends with her.

"Is it very far down the bluff to the shore, Delia?" she asked, eagerly.
"I'm dying to climb down there, if I have time before breakfast."

"Sure, Miss, it's as easy as rolling off a log. You take the