t surprising. It made Bab's
head so much higher than usual that she was as tall now as auntie, and
that in itself was a great gain. Besides, this style, as Lucy said, was
the "pompy-doo," and very fashionable!

If Bab could have kept her hat on! But she couldn't, and the moment it
came off they all cried out:--

"Why-ee, Barbara!" and turned away to laugh.

If Mrs. McQuilken had been there she would have said the child looked
"as if she was possessed of the fox."

"The little goosies! Let them enjoy it!" whispered Mrs. Hale to Mrs.
Dunlee. "But those topknots will have to come down before the child can
go to the dinner-table."

And then both the ladies laughed privately behind a large tree. The
mountain air was doing them good, and they often had as merry times
together as the young people.

"Hear the boyoes," cried Edith, meaning Jimmy and Nate, who had now
reached the air-castle and were shouting with all their might. The
children ran, and so indeed did the older ones, for there was an
excellent path all the way.

"So that is the air-castle," exclaimed Kyzie, when they were all within
sight of it. "It's a real house, built right in the mountain."

She was right. There happened to be a great crack right here in the
rocky side of the mountain, and a cunning little house had been tucked
into the crack. It was built of small stones. It had two real windows
with glass panes, and a real door with a brass knocker, which the
children declared was "too cute for anything."

"The house is as strong as a fort," said Uncle James. "Do you observe it
is walled all around with stones?"

"Do you know who built it?" asked Aunt Vi; "and why he built it?"

"A rich Mexican named Bandini. He admired the view from the mountain,
and I don't blame him, do you? He wanted a nice, quiet place where he
could read and write; that was why he came here. He has been here every
summer for years."

"Well," said Mr. Dunlee, "if you call this an air-castle I must say it
is the most solid one I ever heard of! It doesn't look dreamy at all.
Why, an earthquake could hardly shake it."

"The steps that lead up to it are not dreamy either," said Mrs. Dunlee.
"Real granite; and there's a large flag up there floating from the
evergreen tree."

The "boyoes" had already climbed the steps, and Nate called down to Mrs.
Dunlee, "It's the Mexican flag!" But she had known that at a glance. The
colors were red, white, and green, and the device was an e