and love you hard all the days of our life. Amen.

"As there is no more paper in our boxes on account of spoiling so
much we will say good-bye.

"ETHELWYN, BETH, NAN, and BOBBY.

"P.S.--The first one she wrote it.

"P.S.--My mother said because she had faith in you was why you have
our money, and so have we."

When the banker had finished this somewhat remarkable epistle, of which
the children had been so proud, there were tears in his eyes, although
his mouth was smiling, and the lines of worry did not seem so deep nor
so stern.

He pushed his other mail aside unread, and sat for a long time thinking.
Presently he called for his stenographer, and dictated telegram after
telegram, the import of which made that impassive person start and
glance up in amazement several times. Then, seizing a sheet of paper,
the banker started to write a letter for himself.

"DEAR CHILDREN, (it began)

"Do not worry. I shall not lose one penny of yours, nor Grandmother
Van Stark's, nor the blessed Home's, nor any one's, I hope, but my
own, and not enough of that to hurt; at any rate, I shall still
have enough, I think, to buy a railroad ticket to Bobby's house. So
tell him that I wish he'd tell his mother to have a good supper
to-morrow night, and you children must plan it and all come and eat
with me.

"Yours, with love,

"BOBBY'S GRANDFATHER.

"P.S.--Be sure to have plenty of candy for supper."

The excitement and the joy that this letter produced were something
startling. Away went the worry lines from Mrs. Rayburn's dear face, and
back came the laughter the children loved. In Bobby's house they planned
a most wonderful menu of fried chicken, candy, cake, and ice cream.
Mandy baked spice cakes at Nan's and Bobby's special request, and nobody
thought anything whatever about indigestion or after effects; for where
everybody laughs and is happy, there is no need to fear indigestion.

The children went to the station to meet the guest, and, when the train
came in, greeted him with shouts of welcome, and, proudly surrounding
him, marched down the street like a royal procession.

There would not be words enough to describe the feast that followed at
Bobby's house. All the children wished to sit next to his grandfather,
so that he had to change places at every course (all of which had candy
interludes) and thus that mighty matter was accompli