ney, sitting down and drawing his wife to his side,
"it's a long story. You see, when I was a little youngster, and--"

"You were John Whitney then," put in Mrs. Pepper, slyly. "That's the
reason I never knew when they were all talking of Mason Whitney."

"John Whitney I was," said Mr. Whitney, laughing, "or rather, Johnny and
Jack. But Grandmother Mason, when I grew older, wanted me called by my
middle name to please grandfather. But to go back--when I was a little
shaver, about as big as Percy here--"

"Oh, papa!" began Percy, deprecatingly. To be called "a little shaver"
before all the others!

"He means, dearie," said his mamma, reassuringly, "when he was a boy
like you. Now hear what papa is going to say."

"Well, I was sent up into Vermont to stay at the old place. There was a
little girl there; a bright, black-eyed little girl. She was my cousin,
and her name was Mary Bartlett."

"Who's Mary Bartlett?" asked Joel, interrupting.

"There she is, sir," said Mr. Whitney, pointing to Mrs. Pepper, who was
laughing and crying together.

"Where?" said Joel, utterly bewildered. "I don't see any Mary Bartlett.
What does he mean, Polly?"

"I don't know," said Polly. "Wait, Joey," she whispered, "he's going to
tell us all about it."

"Well, this little cousin and I went to the district school, and had
many good times together. And then my parents sent for me, and I went to
Germany to school; and when I came back I lost sight of her. All I could
find out was that she had married an Englishman by the name of Pepper."

"Oh!" cried all the children together.

"And I always supposed she had gone to England for despite all
my exertions, I could find no trace of her. Ah, Mary," he said
reproachfully, "why didn't you let me know where you were?"

"I heard," said Mrs. Pepper, "that you'd grown awfully rich, and I
couldn't."

"You always were a proud little thing," he said laughing. "Well, but,"
broke in Mr. King, unable to keep silence any longer, "I'd like to
inquire, Mason, why you didn't find all this out before, in Marian's
letters, when she mentioned Mrs. Pepper?"

"She didn't ever mention her," said Mr. Whitney, turning around to face
his questioner, "not as Mrs. Pepper--never once by name. It was always
either 'Polly's mother,' or 'Phronsie's mother.' Just like a woman," he
added, with a mischievous glance at his wife, "not to be explicit."

"And just like a man," she retorted, with a happy little laugh, "no