the same. Did you notice
how Julia _withered_ when mother said we were not to look upon Beulah as
a place of hiding?"

"She didn't stay withered long," Kathleen remarked.

"And she said just the right thing to dear old Gilly, for Fred Bascom is
filling his head with foolish notions. He needs father to set
him right."

"We all need father," sighed Kitty tearfully, "but somehow mother grows
a little more splendid every day. I believe she's trying to fill
father's place and be herself too!"

XVI

THE POST BAG

Letter from Mr. William Harmon, storekeeper at Beulah Corner, to Hon.
Lemuel Hamilton, American Consul at Breslau, Germany.

Beulah, _June 27th._

Dear Lem: The folks up to your house want to lay out money on it
and don't dass for fear you'll turn em out and pocket their
improvements. If you haint got any better use for the propety
I advise you to hold on to this bunch of tennants as they are
O.K. wash goods, all wool, and a yard wide. I woodent like
Mrs. Harmon _to know how I feel about the lady_, who is
hansome as a picture and the children are a first class crop and
no mistake. They will not lay out much at first as they are
short of cash but if ever good luck comes along they will fit
up the house like a pallis and your granchildren will reep the
proffit. I'll look out for your interest and see they don't do
nothing outlandish. They'd have hard work to beat that
fool-job your boys did on the old barn, fixin it up so't
nobody could keep critters in it, so no more from your old
school frend

BILL HARMON.

P.S. We've been having a spell of turrible hot wether in Beulah.
How is it with you? I never framed it up jest what kind of a
job an American Counsul's was; but I guess he aint never het
up with overwork! There was a piece in a Portland paper about
a Counsul somewhere being fired because he set in his
shirt-sleeves durin office hours. I says to Col. Wheeler if
Uncle Sam could keep em all in their shirtsleeves, hustlin for
dear life, it wood be all the better for him and us!

BILL.

Letter from Miss Nancy Carey to the Hon. Lemuel Hamilton.

BEULAH, _June 27th_.

DEAR MR. HAMILTON,--I am Nancy, the oldest of the Carey
children, who live in your house. When father was alive, he
took us on a driving trip, and we stopped and had luncheon
under your big maple and fell in