. Then the kitchen, shining with new tin,
and a brisk little stove, and the rack hung with neatly-hemmed
dish-cloths; the brand new cake of soap on the table, and the orderly
line of pots and kettles--oh, it was all a sight to tickle your eyes.

Up stairs, the ceilings were low, and a very tall person would have
bumped his head unmercifully, but then, it all looked lovely. The pretty
bedroom was all in blue, and nearly everything in it was the work of
Bea's hands. She had made all the pretty mats on stands and bureaus,
also the carpet ones on the floor. The daintily ruffled Swiss curtains,
knotted with blue bows, she had made, washed, fluted and put up. All
the fancy, pretty work about the bed was hers; and the bunches of
forget-me-nots that adorned the chamber-set, looked as though they had
sprung into real life on the snowy surface, instead of having been stuck
and artistically plastered on. Oh, it was all lovely, and beyond
improvement, every one said, and Bea laughed and looked so proud and
happy.

"This is to be my spare room," she said, throwing open the door to the
back room. "The view from this window is just as pretty as the front,
because it looks off to the hills; and just as soon as we are able, we
will furnish it, and I shall fix it just like my room, only in pale
pink. Won't it be lovely?"

"Ecstatic!" cried Kat. "Who is it to be for?"

"All of you. I expect you and Kittie will have it first, when mama and
Jean and Ernestine go to visit Uncle Ridley next year. There are lots of
things we can't afford yet," Bea continued, as they went down stairs. "I
haven't anything to put in the hall, and it looks a little bare, but I
don't mind it much. Then the parlor hasn't a thing in it except the
carpet and curtains; but I can wait easy enough. I don't want Walter to
think I'm at all dissatisfied or want to be extravagant, because I think
everything is just lovely, and I'm so happy."

"Uncle Ridley said when he started for the city this morning, that it
was because he was in a hurry to see Olive, and to bring her home
to-night; but I just know he's going to bring you something beautiful!"
exclaimed Jean, who had flitted everywhere, like a butterfly, and looked
radiant with happiness.

"Of course he'll get something," said Kittie, polishing the slim,
shining bannister with her handkerchief. "Let's hurry home; the train
has just come in since we left, and I know Ralph has sent something; he
said he was going to