ing to the traditions of
his ancestors. I wonder, will he expect us to feed Billy also! And I
do hope Mrs. Bruce will have something nice for breakfast. The poor
gentleman looks half-starved."

"Oh! yes, she has. We bought a half-dozen pairs of 'broilers' last
night; but she meant them to last for supper, too."

"Run. Bid her cook the lot. There'll be none too many."

"But, Auntie, dear! They cost fifty cents a-piece. Six whole dollars
for one single breakfast? Besides the potatoes and bread and other
stuff! Six dollars a meal, eighteen dollars a day, how long will what
is left of three hundred dollars last, after we pay for Billy, as you
said we must?"

This was on the morning after the Colonel's first call at the Water
Lily. This had been a prolonged one because of--Billy. That wise
animal saw no stable anywhere about and, having been petted beyond
reason by his loving, sad-hearted master, decided that he dared
not--at his time of life--sleep out of doors. At least that was the
way James Barlow understood it, and no persuasion on the part of his
new friends could induce the mule to remain after the Colonel started
for home.

"Tie him to the end of the wharf," suggested Gerald.

"That would be cruel. He might fall into the water in his sleep. We
don't want two to do that in one day," protested Dorothy.

At that point Billy began to bray; so mournfully and continuously that
Mrs. Calvert sent word:

"Stop that beast! We shan't be able to sleep a wink if he keeps that
noise up!"

The Colonel paused once more. His departure had been a succession of
pauses, occasioned by two things: one that the lazy man never walked
when he could ride; the other, that he could not bring himself to part
from his "only faithful friend." The result was that he had again
mounted the stubborn beast and disappeared in the darkness of his
melon-patch.

Now he was back again, making his mount double himself up on the
ground and so spare his rider the trouble of getting off in the usual
way.

"My hearties! Will you see that, lads?" demanded Melvin, coming down
the bank with his towels over his arm. He had promptly discovered a
sheltered spot, up stream, where he could take his morning dip,
without which his English training made him uncomfortable. "Pooh! He's
given the mule and himself with it! He's fun for a day, but we can't
stand him long. I hope Mrs. Calvert will give him his 'discharge
papers' right away."

"If she doesn't I