ng her from room to room, as she inspected the
linen closet, superintended the weekly cleaning of the pantry, and
rearranged some of the library shelves to make room for the Christmas
books. But in the afternoon she had a number of letters to write,
acknowledging the gifts which had been sent her by distant friends, and
Lloyd was left to her own amusement.

[Illustration: "ONE OF THE BOYS HAD DARED HIM TO CARRY IT."]

The doctor did not want her to read long at a time. The rain was pouring
too hard for her to venture out-of-doors, and about the middle of the
afternoon the silence and loneliness of the big house seemed more than
she could endure.

"I could scream, I'm so nervous and ti'ahed of being by myself," she
exclaimed. "If just a piece of a day is so hah'd to drag through as this
has been, how can I stand all the rest of the wintah?"

She was counting up the weeks ahead of her on the big library calendar,
when, through the window, she caught sight of Rob coming toward the
house. The rain was running in streams from the bottom of his
mackintosh, and from a huge umbrella that spread over him like a tent.
It was an enormous advertising umbrella, taken from one of the delivery
wagons at the store. One of the boys had dared him to carry it.
"_Groceries, Dry Goods, Boots and_" appeared in black letters on the
yellow side turned toward Lloyd. "_Shoes. Jayne's Emporium_," she
called, supplying the rest of the familiar advertisement from memory.

"What on earth are you doing with that wagon-top ovah you?" she asked
from the front door, where she stood watching his approach. He was
striding along whistling as cheerily as if it were a midsummer day. He
looked up and smiled in response to her call, and twirled the umbrella
till the rain-drops flew in every direction in a fine spray. Lloyd felt
as if the sun had suddenly come out from behind the clouds.

"I've come to finish my Christmas hunt," he said, as he stepped up on
the porch and shook himself like a great water-spaniel.

"Oh," cried Lloyd, "I intended to ask Betty befoah she went away where
she had hidden yoah present, and she left next mawning so early that I
was still asleep. Maybe mothah knows."

But Mrs. Sherman, busy with her letters, shook her head. "I haven't the
faintest idea," she answered. "But I remember she said something about
Rob's being the hardest one of all to find, so you'll probably be kept
busy the rest of the day. Don't you children bother