house was
enchanting. They dressed and undressed the dolls, they gave Hanny two,
and called her Mrs. Hill, because Underhill was such a long name, and
they had an aunt by the name of Hill. They "made believe" days and
nights, and measles and whooping cough, and earache and sore throat.
Josie put on an old linen coat of her father's and "made believe" she
was the doctor. And oh, the solicitude when Victoria Arabella lay at the
point of death and they had to go round on tiptoe and speak in whispers,
and the poor mother said: "If Victoria Arabella dies, my heart will be
broken!" But the lovely child mended and was so weak for a while that
the greatest care had to be taken of her, for she couldn't sit up a bit.
And Hanny proposed they should take her up to Yonkers, where she could
recruit in the country air.

Mrs. Dean came up with a basket and said it was supper time. She
arranged a side table to hold some of the things. There was a nice white
tablecloth and Josie's pretty dishes. There was a pitcher of hot water
to make cambric tea, square lumps of sugar, dainty slices of bread
already spread, smoked beef, pot-cheese, raspberries, cherry-jam, and
two kinds of cake. Well, it was just splendid.

Then they went out on the sidewalk and skipped up and down. There was
quite an art in skipping gracefully without breaking step. When they
were warm and tired they came in, and Mr. Dean played on the piano for
them.

At seven o'clock Mr. Underhill walked up for his little girl, whose
cheeks were pink and her eyes shining like stars. He sat on the stoop
and talked a little while with Mr. Dean, and said most cordially the
other girls must come and take tea with Hanny. And if they liked he
would take them out driving some day. That was a most delightful
proposal.

Jim let the whole school know the next week that his "big brother" had
won a prize of one hundred dollars. And when Joseph passed with honor
and took his degree, they were all proud enough of him.

"Mother," said the little girl after much consideration, "if any of us
get sick will we have to pay Joe like a truly doctor?"

"Well--why not?" asked Mrs. Underhill. "That will be his way of earning
his living."

The little girl drew a long breath. "He might come and live with us
then. Where will he live, anyway?"

"He is to practise in the hospital awhile."

"Couldn't he doctor us at all?" she asked in surprise?

"Oh, yes, he might if we had faith in him," returned he