around her, and kissed her, and offered a few
suggestions about appropriate food for angel babies,--feeling very wise
from her recent experience with Nathalie and Dan, and invited them all to
go driving with her on Saturday afternoon, and mentally planned to send
them an enormous box of candy in the morning after their arrival, and
then said she must hurry back to work.

"Oh, you poor thing," cried Eileen in contrition. "You did not have any
luncheon at all, did you? Wait until I fix a sandwich and you can slip
into the dressing-room and eat it. It will only take a minute. You may
have some of these animal cookies too,--I got a dollar's worth,--I knew
the babies would love them. Now, Eveley, won't you come to dinner
to-morrow night and meet my little blesseds? The train comes at six-ten,
and Mrs. Allis, I mean, Aunt Martha,--we have decided to call her Aunt
Martha,--will have dinner all ready for us."

"Certainly I'll come," said Eveley promptly. "I shall love it. And I'll
come for you in the car and take you to the station."

After work that night, Eveley went into the ten-cent store, and bought a
startling array of drums and horns and small shovels, and sent them out
to Eileen's for the babies. And that night she insisted that Nolan must
come to dinner with her to hear the great good news.

"It is just because she wants to do it," she said happily. "That is why
she is so full of joy. It is plain selfishness,--she has no thought of
doing her Christian duty nor any such nonsense. And--well, you would
hardly know Eileen. Her eyes are like stars, and her voice runs up and
down stairs in beautiful trills, and she forgot to wear her hair net."

"Wait till Billy gets jam on her lace bedspread, and Betty cuts up her
new bonnet to get the pretty flowers, and wait till they both get mad and
yowl at once,--she'll be lucky if she remembers her Christian duty then."

"Isn't he crabbish, Marie?" asked Eveley plaintively. "He doesn't like to
see people happy and thrilled and throbbing."

"Oh, yes, I do. I am thrilled and happy and throbbing myself right now.
There is something about this Cote in the Clouds that--"

"And dear Eileen has lived alone so long, poor thing."

"I can sympathize with her all right. I have, too."

"And now she will have a home, a real home--"

"My own dream for years."

"Sweet companionship--"

"Heaven on earth, Eveley, heaven on earth."

"Something to live for--"

"Alas, how I envy her."