prosperous one without any
remarkable adventure, and the shopping proved quite as interesting and
enjoyable as any of the shoppers had expected.

They all made the yacht their headquarters while they stayed, and the
little ones hardly left it at all. They had always a companion;
generally it was Grace, and she exerted herself for their
entertainment--playing games with them and telling them stories or
reading aloud from some interesting book.

All enjoyed the return voyage to Viamede and the warm welcome from
Grandpa and Grandma Dinsmore on their arrival there. Then it was a
pleasure to display their purchases and hear the admiring comments
upon them. The bridal veil and the material for the wedding dress were
greatly admired and all the purchases highly approved of by both these
grandparents and the relatives from the Parsonage, Magnolia, and
Torriswood, all of whom came in early in the evening, full of interest
in the results of the shopping expedition.

They had a pleasant social time together, the principal topic of
conversation being the bride's trousseau and so forth, and the various
arrangements for the coming festivities to be had in connection with
the approaching marriage.

Chester had been very generous in providing the trousseau, and Sidney
was very grateful to him. Each of the Raymonds made her a gift of a
handsome piece of sliver, Grandma Elsie adding a beautiful set of
jewelry. Sidney was delighted with her gifts. "Oh, Ches, but you are
good to me!" she exclaimed with glad tears in her eyes; "and all the
rest of you, dear friends and relatives. This jewelry, Cousin Elsie,
is lovely, and I shall always think of you when I wear it. All the
silver is just beautiful too, and indeed everything. I feel as rich as
a queen."

"And when you have Cousin Bob added to all the rest, how do you
suppose you are going to stand it?" laughed Harold.

"Oh, as the gifts are partly to him, he will help me to stand it,"
Sidney returned, with a smiling glance at her affianced.

"I'll do my best," he answered, returning the smile.

"You must not allow yourselves to be overwhelmed yet," remarked Mr.
Embury, "when not half the relatives and friends have been heard
from."

"And I'll warrant my sister Betty will remember my bride with
something worth while," remarked the bridegroom-elect.

"Yes, she will; I haven't a doubt of it," said Mrs. Embury; "and as
they are in good circumstances it will no doubt be something
h