't she
look like a goose?" asked one tormentor, tweaking a curl that strayed
out from the cushions.

"I didn't think she'd be so silly," said Mac, in a tone of
disappointment that told Rose she had sunk in the esteem of her wise
cousin.

"That Blish girl is a nuisance, and ought not to be allowed to come here
with her nonsensical notions," said the Prince, feeling a strong desire
to shake that young person as an angry dog might shake a mischievous
kitten.

"How do you like it, uncle?" asked Archie, who, being the head of a
family himself, believed in preserving discipline at all costs.

"I am very much surprised; but I see she is a girl, after all, and must
have her vanities like all the rest of them," answered Dr. Alec, with
a sigh, as if he had expected to find Rose a sort of angel, above all
earthly temptations.

"What shall you do about it, sir?" inquired Geordie, wondering what
punishment would be inflicted on a feminine culprit.

"As she is fond of ornaments, perhaps we had better give her a nose-ring
also. I have one somewhere that a Fiji belle once wore; I'll look it
up," and, leaving Pokey to Jamie's care, Dr. Alec rose as if to carry
out his suggestion in earnest.

"Good! good! We'll do it right away! Here's a gimlet, so you hold
her, boys, while I get her dear little nose all ready," cried Charlie,
whisking away the pillow as the other boys danced about the sofa in true
Fiji style.

It was a dreadful moment, for Rose could not run away she could only
grasp her precious nose with one hand and extend the other, crying
distractedly,

"O uncle, save me, save me!"

Of course he saved her; and when she was securely barricaded by his
strong arm, she confessed her folly in such humiliation of spirit, that
the lads, after a good laugh at her, decided to forgive her and lay all
the blame on the tempter, Ariadne. Even Dr. Alec relented so far as to
propose two gold rings for the ears instead of one copper one for the
nose; a proceeding which proved that if Rose had all the weakness of
her sex for jewellery, he had all the inconsistency of his in giving a
pretty penitent exactly what she wanted, spite of his better judgment.

Chapter 16--Bread and Button-Holes

"What in the world is my girl thinking about all alone here, with such
a solemn face?" asked Dr. Alec, coming into the study, one November
day, to find Rose sitting there with folded hands and a very thoughtful
aspect.

"Uncle, I want to hav