present, hanging over it in delight.

"It is just the right kind of watch for a little girl like you,"
admired the Doctor; "neither too large nor too ornamental."

"It is beautiful!" sighed Polly rapturously. "Is n't Colonel
Gresham nice to give it to me?"

The Doctor smiled an emphatic "Yes," which rejoiced Polly's
heart. She had been afraid he would shake his head, as he had
shaken it over the touring-car. In that case, she reasoned
conscientiously, she should have felt as if she ought to give back
her watch.

It was a six-o'clock wedding. The bridal procession formed at the
foot of the stairs in the spacious hallway, marching its length,
and then proceeding through the east drawing-room to the library,
where the ceremony took place under a canopy of roses. A troop of
children attended the ride, children to whom, as nurse of the
convalescent ward, she had at some time ministered. The girls,
two and two, gowned in silken chiffon of harmonious colors, had
each a basket heaped with blossoms. Polly and Leonora came last
of all, both in delicate pink, from the ribbons that bound their
hair to the tops of their kid slippers, Leonora's black braids in
happy contrast with Polly's fair curls. The boys, clad as pages,
ranged, at regular intervals, on either side of the long line,
carried light arches of vines and flowers, making a fragrant arbor
for the others to walk under.

The brief service over, the flower girls strewed roses in the path
of the bridal pair all the way to the great west drawing-room.

It was like a queen's pageant in a vision of fairyland. The
myriad lights, the gaily dressed children, the lavish profusion of
flowers, the soft music floating from a bank of ferns,--all
united to make the scene unusually dreamlike and beautiful.

As the bride stood to receive her guests, in her simple white silk
gown, the necklace of pearly her only ornament, Polly gazed into
her sweet, thoughtful face, and longed to throw her arms around
her neck and give her a loving hug. But she had to be content
with only one little decorous kiss, and she consoled herself with
the words that had been singing in her heart all the day, "She is
going to be my mother! She is going to be my mother!"

There were many guests, and it was long before the bride and groom
were free from hand-shaking. Polly only caught glimpses now and
then of the two she loved best. She was with a group of merry
children, when she heard her na