tty; "something for the
tree-house, I know!"

"Maybe 'tis, and maybe 'tain't," answered King, with a mysterious wink
at Marjorie.

"Me buyed present for Kitty," said Rosamond, smiling sweetly; "gold an'
blue,--oh, a bootiful present."

"Hush, hush, Rosy Posy, you mustn't tell," said her brother. "Presents
are always surprises. Hey, girls, here's Father!"

Mr. Maynard's appearance was usually a signal for a grand rush, followed
by a series of bear hugs and a general scramble, but to-night, owing to
festive attire, the Maynard quartette were a little more demure.

"Look out for my hair-ribbons, King!" cried Midget, for without such
warning, hair-ribbons usually felt first the effects of the
good-natured scrimmage.

And then Mrs. Maynard appeared, her pretty rose-colored gown of soft
silk trailing behind her on the floor.

"What a dandy mother!" exclaimed King; "all dressed up, and a flower in
her hair!"

This line sounded singable to Marjorie, so she tuned up:

"All dressed up, and a flower in her hair,
To give her a hug, I wouldn't dare;
For she would feel pretty bad, I think,
If anything happened to that there pink!"

Then King added a refrain, and in a moment they had all joined hands and
were dancing round Mrs. Maynard and singing:

"Hooray, hooray, for our mother fair!
Hooray, hooray, for the flower in her hair!
All over the hills and far away,
There's no one so sweet as Mothery May!"

Being accustomed to boisterous adulation from her children, Mrs. Maynard
bore her honors gracefully, and then they all went out to dinner.

As Maiden of Honor, Kitty was escorted by her father; next came Mrs.
Maynard and Kingdon, and then Marjorie and Rosy Posy. The table had
extra decorations of flowers and pink-shaded candles, and at Kitty's
place was a fascinating looking lot of tissue-papered and ribbon-tied
parcels.

"Isn't it funny," said sedate and philosophical Kitty, "I love to go to
Grandma's, and yet I hate to leave you all, and yet, I can't do one
without doing the other!"

"'Tis strange, indeed, Kit!" agreed her father; "as Mr. Shakespeare
says, 'Yet every sweet with sour is tempered still.' Life is like
lemonade, sour and sweet both."

"It's good enough," said Kitty, contentedly, looking at her array of
bundles. "I guess I'll open these now."

"That's what they're there for," said Mrs. Maynard, so Kitty excitedly
began to untie the ribbons.

"I'll go slowly," she