as often assured me that such was the fact; not waiting to be
questioned, but telling the story of her love as something in which we
could both rejoice, and which she was sure was reciprocal. As it
certainly is. I love her very dearly; though not more than I do each of
the others. Indeed, it gives me a heartache to think I shall ever be
called to part with any one of them."

"Not very soon, I hope," said Violet. "You have frequently told me you
did not intend to let either of your daughters marry for years to come."

"No, I do not; and as I dread the pain, for both them and myself, which
would be caused by the necessity for refusing to let them follow their
inclinations in such a matter, I sincerely hope no one will succeed in
winning their affections for years to come."

"Then if I am right about Donald and he asks your permission to make an
offer to Lu, you will forbid him to do so?"

At first the captain's only reply was an amused sort of smile. Then he
said: "I must tell you of a talk Donald and I had, some years ago, at
West Point. You perhaps remember that I took Max and Lulu there, and
found Donald already at the hotel, and we spent a few days together, the
children with us nearly all the time. One night I sent them early to
bed, and, afterward, spent an hour or more talking with my friend alone
on the piazza. In that talk he expressed a great admiration for my
little girl, and--half in jest, half in earnest--asked leave to try to
win her when she should reach a proper age. I told him certainly not for
at least six years. It is five now."

"Then he ought to wait at least another year," remarked Violet, who had
listened with keen interest to her husband's little story.

"Yes; and I hope he will feel that obligation and refrain, for the
present at least, from courting her. And, though I should be sorry for
my friend's disappointment, I cannot help hoping that he has not won,
and will not win, my daughter's heart. I want to become neither his
father, nor my daughter's cousin," he added with a slight laugh.

"Why, yes, to be sure! I had not thought about those relationships,"
exclaimed Violet, joining in his mirth. "But," she added, "Donald is so
distant a relative of mine that, if that were the only objection, it
need not, I think, stand in the way."

"No, perhaps not. A greater objection to me, so far as I am concerned,
would be the fact that, if married to an army officer, my daughter would
be kept at a di