een like a brief
return of her old childish days with her boy comrade. She remembered
the heartache and the empty days after they had gone back to their
Western home, and the little printed childish letters that came for a
few months till she was forgotten.

But not really forgotten, after all. For some link of tenderness must
still remain that they should think of her now after all these years
of separation, and want to visit her. They remembered the cookies! She
smiled reminiscently. What a batch of delectable cookies she would
make in the morning! Why, to-morrow would be Wednesday! They would be
here to-morrow night! And there was a great deal to be done!

She turned from the belated sunset unregretting, and hastened to begin
her preparations. There were the two front rooms up-stairs to be
prepared. She would open the windows at once, and let the air sweep
through all night. They had been shut up a long time, for she had
brought the invalid down-stairs to the little sitting-room the last
few months to save steps and be always within hearing. The second
story had been practically unused except when Ellen or the children
were over for a day or two.

She hurried up-stairs, and lit the gas in the two rooms, throwing wide
the windows, hunting out fresh sheets and counterpanes. She could dust
and run the carpet-sweeper over the rooms right away, and have them in
order; and that would save time for to-morrow. Oh, it was good to have
something cheerful to do once more. Just supposing she had yielded--as
once that afternoon she almost had--to Ellen's persistent urgings, and
had gone home with her to-night! Why, the telegram might not have
reached her till after the children had come, and found the house
empty, and gone again!

Julia bustled around happily, putting the rooms into charming order,
hunting up a little picture of the child Samuel kneeling in the
temple, that Allison used to like, going to the bottom of an old hair
trunk for the rag doll she had made for Leslie to cuddle when she
went to sleep at night.

Mrs. Ambrose Perkins across the way looked uneasily out of her bedroom
window at half-past nine, and said to her husband:

"Seems like Julia Cloud is staying up awful late to-night. She's got a
light in both front rooms, too. There can't be company. I s'pose Ellen
and some of her children have stayed down after all. Poor Ellen! She
told me she simply couldn't spare the time away from home any longer,
but Ju