nd melting, his smile pleased and apologetic; but Rita
persisted in considering him a fire-eater of the most incendiary type,
and enjoyed this view so much that no one had the heart to undeceive
her. Altogether, the two lads made a charming addition to the party, and
no one was in a hurry to break it up. Rita was to return to Cuba with
her brother, but Carlos showed a most thoughtful unwillingness to hasten
his sister's departure. Peggy's flaxen hair and blue eyes had been a
revelation to the young man, accustomed to dark beauties all his life,
and he found "Cosine Paygi" a charming companion. They were excellent
friends, and when Rita and Fernando sighed and rolled their eyes (as
they were very fond of doing), Peggy and Carlos laughed.

Margaret was still kept a little quiet by her hands, though the blisters
were rapidly healing. The other four scampered here and there, playing
hide and seek in the house, straying through the garden, dancing,
singing, from morning to night. Margaret was always at hand to welcome
them when they came in, to listen and laugh, or sympathise, as the case
might demand. She was happy, too, in her own way, but she found herself
wondering, as she had wondered before, whether she were seventeen or
thirty-seven, and there was no doubt in her mind that Uncle John was
nearer her in age than any of the others. Her heart was full of quiet
happiness, for this dear uncle had asked her if she would stay with him,
would make her home here at Fernley with him and Aunt Faith. She felt
as if nothing in the world could have given her such happiness, and she
shook her head, smiling, at Rita's violent protestations that she must
come to Cuba, and at Peggy's equally earnest prayers that she would come
out with her to the Ranch.

"Some day!" was all she could be brought to say, when her cousins hung
about her with affection whose sincerity she could not doubt.

"Some day, dear girls, when Uncle John can come with me. As long as he
needs me here, here I stay!"

And Peggy would pout and shake her shoulders, and Rita would fling away
and call her an iceberg, a snow-queen, with marble for a heart; and two
minutes after they would both be waltzing through the hall like wild
creatures, calling on Margaret to observe how beautifully the boys were
learning the new step.

The young men had been taken to visit Mrs. Cheriton, and came away so
deeply smitten that they could talk of nothing else for some time. Rita
and