Zealand mail came
in this morning."

"Can I come now, Aunt Mary?" replied a clear voice, its owner appearing
suddenly at the head of the stairs pinning on to a mass of sunny hair a
very large hat. "I want to go early, for if I arrive first, I often get
more than my regular time, and you know how greedy I am for new songs."

Mrs. Trevor did not reply; she walked slowly into her morning-room and
stood at the window looking perplexed and serious, thinking nothing
about her niece's lessons, and looking at, without seeing, the midsummer
beauty of her garden. A few minutes later the door opened, and she
turned to the young girl, who with a song on her lips danced merrily
into the room.

At the sight of Mrs. Trevor's face she stopped suddenly, exclaiming,
"Something is wrong! What has happened?"

"You are right, Eva, something has happened--something, my child, that
will affect your whole life." With a falter in her voice the woman
continued, "You are to leave me, Evelyne, and go out to New Zealand. You
are needed in your father's house."

[Sidenote: "I Refuse to Go!"]

"To New Zealand?--I refuse to go."

"You have no choice in the matter, dearest. Your mother has become a
confirmed invalid, and is incapable of looking after the children and
the house. Your father has naturally thought of you."

"As a kind of servant to a heap of noisy boys, half of whom I never have
seen even. I daresay it would be very convenient and very cheap to have
me. However, I shall not go to that outlandish place they live at in New
Zealand, and you must tell father so."

"But I cannot, Evie. There is no choice about it. Your parents have the
first claim on you, remember."

"I deny that," said the girl passionately; "they cared so little about
me that they were ready to give me to you and go to New Zealand without
me; that fact, I think, ends their claims. And Auntie, having lived here
for eight years, and being in every way happy, and with so much before
me to make life worth living, how can they be so selfish as to wish to
ruin my prospects and make me miserable?"

"Eva, Eva, don't jump to conclusions! Instead of believing that the
worst motives compelled your father's decision, think it just possible
that they were the highest. Put yourself out of the question for the
moment and face facts. Your parents were _not_ willing to part with you;
believe me, it was a bitter wrench to both to leave you behind. But
settling up country in the