e was ready to
trust him fully. Owen held out his hand impulsively.

"I am your cousin, Owen Dugdale. Perhaps you may have heard of me; and I
want to say I'm awful glad to make your acquaintance, Jessie Ferguson. I
didn't know I even had a cousin until just a short time ago this night;
and I came out on purpose to see what you were like. Look! I carry a
picture of my mother in this little waterproof case fastened around my
neck. That is what she looked like when she was a very little girl; and
you are her image. I'm glad I came back here now; something seemed to
whisper to me that it was best, and I know it was her dear spirit
speaking to my heart."

The child took the little locket and glanced at the face it contained,
at the same time uttering a cry of delight.

"Why, it is my picture. But you said it was your mother--that must have
been my Aunt Jessie! And you are my cousin, then? I have heard
grandpapa speak of you. But you don't look bad, and he said----" and
there she suddenly stopped, while Owen's face flushed angrily with a
sudden wave of resentment.

"What did he say--I want you to tell me?" he asked imperiously.

"I wish I hadn't spoken--he said you were a willful, headstrong
boy--there; but I think he didn't know you," she answered, clinging to
his hand in a confiding way that gave Owen the joy of his life.

With that he laughed, this time aloud.

"I guess he knows the Gregory spirit all right. I am headstrong; yes,
and willful, too, for I wouldn't be a Gregory otherwise. But don't let
us talk any more about that. Show me your new dolly. I don't know
anything about dolls, and never had one in my hands in all my life, for
you see we didn't have a little girl in our home, and the neighbors were
miles off. But I'd like to know your dolly. I heard you singing her to
sleep. Ain't you afraid all this talking might wake her up?" he went on.

"Oh, no. She sleeps so soundly you see. I can do anything with her and
she never cries. There, take her for a little while, Cousin Owen. How
funny it is to know a real and true cousin. I never met one before; but
I wanted to. I get awful lonely sometimes, for you see it's only me and
grandpapa at the table; and he is so busy he can't play much with a
little girl like me. Won't you stay here and be my real cousin? I don't
think I'd mind it much if there was only somebody like you to talk with
me. I get so tired being alone; and dolly won't answer me; she lets me
do all t