alled me here," gravely replied
Alden.

"But for a day or two you might have joined us," persisted Laura.

"No," said Alden. Then turning toward his red-headed fishing comrade he
said: "Here's Cousin Charley waiting to welcome you, Laura."

And Charley Lytton, blushing and stammering, held out his hand and said:

"How do you do? I am very glad to see you."

"And now come to dinner," said Aunt Kitty, opening the dining-room door.

They all went in and sat down to as fine a dinner as was ever served in
Blue Cliff Hall, or even at the Government House, although this was laid
on a rough pine table, covered with a coarse, though clean linen
table-cloth, and in a room where the walls were whitewashed and the
floors were bare.

"And now," said Uncle Jacky, as soon as he had served the turtle soup
around to everybody, "I want you to tell me why you couldn't ride the
gray mare, and why you came in a pony-carriage with a slap-up pair of
bloods?"

"Why, you know, I am a good-for-nothing city-bred girl, Uncle John, and
Miss Cavendish knew it and doubted my ability to ride eighteen or twenty
miles on horseback, and so insisted on my having the pony-carriage,"
explained Laura, soothingly.

"Well, I'm glad it was no worse. I was thinking may be as you despised
the old family mare," said John, somewhat mollified.

"Oh, no, uncle! Quite the contrary. I did not feel equal to her,"
laughed Laura.

"Well, when must we send that fine equipage back--to-night or tomorrow?"

"Neither, Uncle John. It is not wanted at Blue Cliffs just at present.
They have the barouche, the brougham and the gig. They can easily spare
the pony-chaise. And Emma insisted on my keeping it here until I should
be ready to return. And I promised her that I would do it."

"Now I don't like that. That is a patternizing of us a great deal too
much. We've got a carriage of our own, I reckon," said John, sitting
back in his chair and lifting his red head pompously.

"Now-now-now, John Lytton, don't you be a foo-foo-fool! Carriage! Why,
our carriage is all to pieces! A'n't been fit to use for this six
months! And sin-sin-since the Caverndishers have been so obleeging as to
lend the loan of the pony-shay to Laura, I say let her keep it till she
goes back. And while it's a staying here idle I can use it to go and see
some of my neighbors," said old Mrs. Lytton, in that peremptory way of
hers that did not brook contradiction from any one--even from the master
o