ing.

Dorothy took the aged face between her two hands and kissed it
repeatedly. She forgot that Jim was standing near, waiting for a
greeting--forgot everything except that she was home again, with Mrs.
Elisabeth Cecil Somerset-Calvert, the best and dearest aunt in the
world, to love and pet her.

"Break away! Break away!" cried Jim, after a moment, forcing a note
of gayety into his voice for Aunt Betty's sake. "Give a fellow a
chance for a kiss, won't you, Dorothy?"

"Certainly, Jim; I'd forgotten you were with me," was the girl's
response.

"You, as well as Dorothy, are a sight for sore eyes," cried Aunt
Betty, pleased at the warm embrace and hearty kiss of her one-time
protege.

"And we're glad to be here, you bet!" Jim replied. "A long, tiresome
journey, that, Aunt Betty, I tell you! The sight of old Bellvieu is
almost as refreshing as a good night's sleep, and that's something I
stand pretty badly in need of about now. And just gaze at Dorothy,
Aunt Betty! Isn't she looking well?"

"A perfect picture of health, Jim. Had I met her in a crowd in a
strange city, I doubt if I should have known her."

"Oh, Aunt Betty, surely I haven't changed as much as that," the girl
protested.

"You don't realize how you've grown and broadened, and--"

"Broadened? Oh, Aunt Betty!"

"Broadened, not physically, but mentally, my dear. I can see that my
old friend, the Bishop, took good care of you, and that Miss
Tross-Kingdon has borne out her well-established reputation of
returning young ladies to their relatives greatly improved both in
learning and culture."

"Well, auntie, dear, I'm satisfied if you are, and now, let me take
off my things. I'm so tired of railroad trains, I don't care to see
another for months."

"Well, you've had your work, and now you shall have your play. I do
not mean that you shall be shut up in this hot city all summer
without a bit of an outing. What would you say to a--oh, but I'm
ahead of my story! I'll tell you all this when you are rested and can
better decide whether my plans for your vacation will please you."

"Oh, auntie, tell me now--don't keep me in suspense!"

"Young ladies," said Aunt Betty, regarding her great-niece
half-severely over her glasses, "should learn to control their
curiosity. If allowed to run unbridled, it is apt, sooner or later,
to get them into trouble."

"But, auntie, I want to know!"

Just the suggestion of a pout showed itself on Dorothy's lips.

"Wh