to conceal. Already the car was at the
door with the luggage aboard and its engine humming invitingly. As the
boy listened to the sound he could not but rejoice that the purring
monster could tell no tales. How disconcerting it would be should the
scarlet devil suddenly shout aloud: "Well, Steve, don't you hope we do
not get stalled to-day the way we did going to Torrington?" Mercifully
there was no danger of that. The engine might puff and purr and snort
but at least it could not talk, and his secret was quite safe. This
reflection lighted his face with courage and when the family came out to
join him no one would have suspected that the slender boy waiting on the
doorstep harbored a thought of anything but anticipation in the prospect
of the coming holiday.

"Is everything in, Steve?" asked his father, approaching with Doris's
remaining grip.

"I think so, Dad," was the reply. "It certainly seems as if I had piled
in almost a dozen suitcases."

"Nonsense, Stevie," pouted Doris. "There were only four."

"Five, Miss Sophomore!" contradicted her brother. "Five! That one Dad is
bringing makes the fifth, and I would be willing to bet that it is
yours."

"That's where you are wrong, Smartie," the girl laughed good-humoredly,
making a mischievous grimace at him from beneath the brim of her saucy
little toque of blue velvet. "I am not guilty of the extra suitcase.
It's mother's."

"Your mother's!" ejaculated Mr. Tolman incredulously. "Mercy on us! I
never knew your mother to be starting out on a short trip with such an
array of gowns." Then turning toward his wife, he added in bantering
fashion: "Aren't you getting a little frivolous, my dear? If it were
Doris now--"

"But it isn't this time!" interrupted the young lady triumphantly.

Her mother exchanged a glance with her and they both laughed.

"No, Henry, I am the one to blame," Mrs. Tolman admitted. "You see, if I
am to keep pace with my big son and daughter I must look my best; so I
have not only brought the extra suitcase but I am going to be
tremendously fussy as to where it is put."

"I do believe Mater's brought all her jewels with her!" Steve declared
wickedly. "Well, she shall have her sunbursts, tiaras, and things where
she can keep her eye on them every moment. Suppose I put them down here
at your feet, Mother."

Without further ado, he started to lift the basket suitcase into the
car.

"Don't tip it up, son. Don't tip it up!" cautioned his mother