e flowers. The old man awed them with his impatience to be gone.
There was such a townful of people about him, and he seemed as lonely
as if he were the last survivor of a former world. Until that moment
they had felt as if everything were just beginning.

"Now I want to buy somethin' pretty for your mother," said Mr. Hilton,
as they went soberly away down the street, the children keeping fast
hold of his hands. "By now the old horse will have eat his dinner and
had a good rest, so pretty soon we can jog along home. I'm goin' to
take you round by the academy, and the old North Meeting-house where
Dr. Barstow used to preach. Can't you think o' somethin' that your
mother'd want?" he asked suddenly, confronted by a man's difficulty of
choice.

"She was talkin' about wantin' a new pepper-box, one day; the top o'
the old one won't stay on," suggested Susan Ellen, with delightful
readiness. "Can't we have some candy, father?"

"Yes, ma'am," said John Hilton, smiling and swinging her hand to and
fro as they walked. "I feel as if some would be good myself. What's
all this?" They were passing a photographer's doorway with its
enticing array of portraits. "I do declare!" he exclaimed excitedly,
"I'm goin' to have our pictures taken; 't will please your mother more
'n a little."

This was, perhaps, the greatest triumph of the day, except the
delightful meeting with the judge; they sat in a row, with the father
in the middle, and there was no doubt as to the excellence of the
likeness. The best hats had to be taken off because they cast a
shadow, but they were not missed, as their owners had feared. Both
Susan Ellen and Katy looked their brightest and best; their eager
young faces would forever shine there; the joy of the holiday was
mirrored in the little picture. They did not know why their father was
so pleased with it; they would not know until age had dowered them
with the riches of association and remembrance.

Just at nightfall the Hiltons reached home again, tired out and happy.
Katy had climbed over into the front seat beside her father, because
that was always her place when they went to church on Sundays. It was
a cool evening, there was a fresh sea wind that brought a light mist
with it, and the sky was fast growing cloudy. Somehow the children
looked different; it seemed to their mother as if they had grown older
and taller since they went away in the morning, and as if they
belonged to the town now as much as to