After a custom which Father John had taught her, though he could not
himself explain it, Dorothy "set her mind" like an alarm clock to wake
her at six the next morning and it did so. She bathed and dressed with
utmost carefulness and succeeded in doing this without waking anybody.
Those whose business it was to be awake, as the house servants, gave
her a silent nod for good-morning and smiled to think of her energy.
The reason appeared when she drew a chair to a desk by the library
window and wrote the following letter:

"MY DARLING AUNT BETTY:

"Good-morning, please, and I hope you'll have a happy day.
I've written you a post card or a letter every day since you
went away but I haven't had one back. I wonder and am sorry
but I suppose you are too busy with your sick friend. I hope
you aren't angry with me for anything. I was terrible sorry
about somebody--losing--stealing that money! There, it's
out! and I feel better. Sorrier, too, about it's being
_him_. Well, that's gone, and as you have so much more I
guess you won't care much. Besides, we don't need much.
Dear Mr. Seth is just too splendid for words. He thinks of
something nice to do all the time.

"Yesterday we went to church and so did the dogs and the
twins. I haven't told you about them for this is the first
letter since they came and that was just after breakfast
Sunday. A crazy man brought them and said he'd 'passed them
on.' They're the cutest little mites with such horrible
names--Ananias and Sapphira! Imagine anybody cruel enough to
give babies those names. They aren't much bigger than
buttons but they talk as plain as you do. They said 'A-ah!'
and 'A-A-men!' in the middle of the sermon and stopped the
minister preaching. I wasn't sorry they did for I didn't
know what they'd do next nor Luna either. They three and Mr.
Seth are the uninvited, or self-invited, ones and they're
more fun than all the rest. Mabel fell out the carriage, or
jumped out, and spoiled her dress and fainted away.

"My House Party is just fine! Monty got stuck in the barn
and had to be sawed apart. I mean the barn had to be, not
Monty; and not one of us said a word about it.

"I'm writing this before the rest are up because afterward I
shan't have a minute's chance. It's a great care to have a
House Party, though the M