hion, as agitated as Emily. "Your father!" she
stammered.

Mr. Mahon had come into the house and was now in the little study,
which he called his den. Cousin Irene and Emily almost flew thither,
and a few minutes later his voice, with a glad ring in it, was heard
calling first his wife and then the children to tell them the joyful
news.

The will so long sought, so strangely brought to light, made a great
change in the family fortunes. By it Bryan, the old man's son, who was
unmarried and dissipated, was entitled to merely a certain income and
life-interest in the estate, which upon his demise was to go to the
testator's nephew William (Mr. Mahon) and Cousin Irene. In fact,
however, at his father's death, Bryan, as no will was discovered, had
entered into full possession of the property; and when within a year
his own career was suddenly cut short, it was learned that he had
bequeathed nothing to his relatives but a few family heirlooms.

"I did not grudge Bryan what he had while he lived," said Mr. Mahon;
"but when, after the poor fellow was drowned, we heard that he had left
all his money to found a library for 'the Preservation of the Records
of Sport and Sportsmen,' I did feel that, with my boys and girls to
provide for and educate, I could have made a better use of it. And
Cousin Irene would have been saved a good deal of hard work if she
could have obtained her share at the time. Thank God it is all right
now, and the library with the long name will have to wait for another
founder."

The girls of the literature class soon heard of their friends' good
fortune, and were not slow in offering their congratulations.

One day, some two years after, when Anna and Rosemary happened to call
at the Mahons', a chance reference was made to the discovery of the
will. "Only think," exclaimed Rosemary, "how much came about through
the spoiling of that mirror! Emily, you surely can never again believe
it unlucky to break a looking-glass?"

"No, indeed!" replied Emily, thinking of the uninterrupted happiness
and prosperity which the family had enjoyed since then.

"It was a fortunate accident for us," said Cousin Irene; "but I should
not advise any one to go around smashing all the looking-glasses in his
or her house, hoping for a similar result. It certainly would be an
unlucky sign for the person who had to meet the bill for repairs."

"Miss Graham, how do you suppose this superstition originated?" asked
Anna