little green gate that
connected the Chatsworth gardens with the old orchard where he had built
his nest.

"What lazy children, just having breakfast! I feel as though I had eaten
mine ages ago, and yours looks so good, I believe I'll have some
more,--just a cup of coffee and a biscuit. Aunt Mary, you have made a
better cook of your Molly Baby than you have of Caroline. I never have
such biscuit as these except when you come to spend the day."

Aunt Mary had become so feeble that she was not able to do steady work.
She lived in a comfortable cabin at the foot of the hill, making
frequent excursions to the "great house" to see that "the niggers was
'memberin' they places and that that there Ca'line wan't sleepin' out er
season."

"Well, Miss Milly, it's jes' this way: some folks is good slow cooks an'
some is good quick cooks. Now Ca'line shines when slow patience is the
needcessity. She is great on a biled dinner, where the 'gredients have
to jes' simper along. You have her make a Brunswick stew an' you'll
think she is the bes' cook in the county. Her yeas' bread is good 'cause
that takes time and Ca'line is twins to whatsoever takes time; but ef
you have a steak to brile or quick bis'it to cook, you jes sen' fer this
ole woman, an' ef she can't crawl up the hill she kin ketch holt er
President's tail an' he kin pull her up."

Aunt Mary then busied herself clearing off the table, as her way of
spending the day was to help her hostess in many ways.

What a peaceful picture the orchard home presents on this late summer
morning! The little brown bungalow looks as though it had always been
there. The trees are laden with apples. The fall cheeses are beginning
to ripen, and the wine saps are so heavy that Edwin has proudly propped
up the bending boughs. The quickly growing vines have done their best
for the newly-wedded pair, and the slower ivy has begun to send out
shoots that need daily training with matting tacks until they accustom
themselves to sticking to the stone foundations. Molly's porch boxes are
filled with nasturtiums and petunias, and on each side of the steps are
beds of scarlet sage.

Her sister Sue drove over to the orchard as soon as the news came of
Molly's approaching wedding, and superintended the planting of many
flowers to beautify the little home; and even stern old Aunt Clay unbent
to the extent of lending her gardener to do the work. She had also
donated a clump of Adam's and Eve's needles a