the invitation to Roselands the news of their safe arrival was
communicated to the family at Ion, and as soon as the doctor thought
Mrs. Croly sufficiently rested to see visitors, Grandma Elsie and Rosie
called upon them there.

They were mutually pleased--Mrs. Croly delighted with the prospect of
having so charming a daughter as Rosie.

And now preparations for the wedding went on rapidly, the bride-elect,
and those who were to be her attendants, being particularly interested
in regard to their attire for the great occasion, and keeping the
dressmakers very busy in fashioning their finery.

Then, as the time drew near, relatives and friends from a distance began
to arrive.

To the great joy of Mrs. Calhoun Conly her parents were among the
first, and their and her near relatives from Indiana and Louisiana soon
followed; their coming giving great pleasure to both her aunt Annis and
herself, as well as to the Ion family. Mrs. Betty Norris and her brother
Dr. Robert Johnson, their half brother Dr. Dick Percival, and his sister
Mrs. Molly Embury of Magnolia Hall, with her husband, were among the
later arrivals, and about the same time came Captain Donald Keith,
having succeeded in obtaining a furlough for several weeks.

He, Dr. Percival, and several others of the family relatives were at
first domiciled at Woodburn, where they were made very welcome and most
hospitably entertained. Donald's was the first arrival, though only a
day or so in advance of the others. He and Captain Raymond met with all
the old cordiality, evidently glad to renew the comradeship of earlier
days, while Violet's greeting was warm and cousinly, and that of the
young girls such as they might be reasonably expected to bestow upon a
valued friend and relative of the family.

Donald, hardly realising how many months and years had rolled by since
his last sight of them, was surprised at their growth in height and
beauty, and did not wonder at their father's evident pride and delight
in claiming them as his own.

But for the few days between his coming among them and the wedding there
was little opportunity for becoming intimately acquainted, so greatly
interested and occupied with the preparations for it were they, and,
indeed, all the family connection. He furtively watched them, however,
while Captain Raymond, calling to mind a talk he had had with Donald at
West Point, some years before, in regard to his eldest daughter, did the
same by him w