, just something this wedding reminds us of," Bess replied.

"I'm reminded that there is not much more fun for me," said Ikey, in a
momentary fit of despondency.

"What a long face!" laughed Dora. "Remember this is a cheerful
occasion. The next thing you will be married yourself to some
California girl."

"He is coming back to see us before then, aren't you, Ikey?" said
Louise.

"In six years he is coming back to stay," added Carl.

"I wonder where we shall all be six years from now," said Constance,
placidly eating her ice.

"Dear me, I shall be twenty; think of it!" From Bess's tone one might
have inferred that this meant extreme old age.

"I expect to be married before that," remarked Elsie confidently.

"Is it possible? I wonder to whom," Aleck exclaimed with an air of
great surprise.

"I am sure I don't know, for I have never seen anybody I'd marry if he
begged me forever," she retorted scornfully.

"Be quiet, you two geese, and don't spoil this lovely day by
quarrelling," admonished Dora.

"To change the subject, isn't Aunt Zelie a daisy?" said Carl, pointing
across the lawn where she stood, looking wonderfully fair and sweet in
her soft white dress, with a touch of sunlight on her hair.

"There is nobody in the world like her," said Dora.

"I should think not!" echoed Jim.

"She is the dearest, loveliest, most beautiful, and
everything-else-you-can-think-of person that ever lived," Louise
declared with emphasis.

"You haven't left much for the rest of us to say," remarked Will, "but
I am sure we all agree."

There must have been some attraction about the ten pairs of eyes, for
just then she turned, and seeing them smiled and threw a kiss in their
direction.

The sad thing about this wedding was the parting which followed. Mr.
Arthur found himself very unpopular when at last it dawned upon her
young relatives what it meant to tell Cousin Helen good-by with the
certainty that, though she promised to come back often to visit, she
would never live among them, their merry playfellow, again.

Aleck discovered that he was extremely fond of this sister, and felt
what he considered an unmanly tightness about his throat when she
kissed him. The bridesmaids were decidedly tearful, and only the
thought of the other wedding in prospect restored their cheerfulness.
This last-mentioned affair took place two days later at the Cathedral.
The whole family attended, and Joanna, in blue with a white veil and