r lap, was the little
curly-headed, sunburned sister of thirteen whom he remembered? The
young man leaning against the sideboard must be Leo, of course; a
fine-looking, broad-shouldered young fellow who made Selwyn think
suddenly that he must be growing old. And there was the little, thin,
grey father in the corner, peering at his newspaper with nearsighted
eyes. Selwyn's heart gave a bound at the sight of him which not even
his mother had caused. Dear old Dad! The years had been kind to him.

Mrs. Grant held up a glistening spoon and surveyed it complacently.
"There, I think that is bright enough even to suit Margaret Graham. I
shall take over the whole two dozen teas and one dozen desserts. I
wish, Bertha, that you would tie a red cord around each of the handles
for me. The Carmody spoons are the same pattern and I shall always be
convinced that Mrs. Carmody carried off two of ours the time that
Jenny Graham was married. I don't mean to take any more risks. And,
Father----"

Something made the mother look around, and she saw her first-born!

When the commotion was over Selwyn asked why the family spoons were
being rubbed up.

"For the wedding, of course," said Mrs. Grant, polishing her
gold-bowed spectacles and deciding that there was no more time for
tears and sentiment just then. "And there, they're not half done--and
we'll have to dress in another hour. Bertha is no earthly use--she is
so taken up with her bridesmaid finery."

"Wedding? Whose wedding?" demanded Selwyn, in bewilderment.

"Why, Leo's, of course. Leo is to be married tonight. Didn't you get
your invitation? Wasn't that what brought you home?"

"Hand me a chair, quick," implored Selwyn. "Leo, are _you_ going to
commit matrimony in this headlong fashion? Are you sure you're grown
up?"

"Six feet is a pretty good imitation of it, isn't it?" grinned Leo.
"Brace up, old fellow. It's not so bad as it might be. She's quite a
respectable girl. We wrote you all about it three weeks ago and broke
the news as gently as possible."

"I left for the East a month ago and have been wandering around
preying on old college chums ever since. Haven't seen a letter. There,
I'm better now. No, you needn't fan me, Sis. Well, no family can get
through the world without its seasons of tribulations. Who is the
party of the second part, little brother?"

"Alice Graham," replied Mrs. Grant, who had a habit of speaking for
her children, none of whom had the Carston n