he
solicitous but inquisitive mother; but more often it is the unregenerate
and disrespectful young brother or sister. In this case it was Miss Rosa
Very, who burst into the room, bright and rosy, after her trip upon the
water. As she entered she cried out, "Oh! you don't know what you
missed. I had a most delightful--" She stopped short, the truth flashed
upon her that there were other delightful ways of passing the time than
in a sailboat. She was in a dilemma.

Quincy solved the problem. He simply said, "Good-by, Alice, for one
short week."

He turned, expecting to see Miss Very, but she had vanished. He clasped
Alice in his arms, and kissed her, for the first time, then he led her
to her easy-chair and left her there.

As he quitted the room and closed the door he met Miss Rosa Very in the
entry.

"I did not know," said she, "but I am so glad to know it. She is the
sweetest, purest, loveliest woman I have ever known, and your love is
what she needed to complete her happiness. She will be a saint now. I
will take good care of her, Mr. Sawyer, until you come again, for I love
her, too."

Quincy pressed her hand warmly, and the next moment was in the little
street. He was a rich man, as the world judges riches, but to him his
greatest treasure was Alice's first kiss, still warm upon his lips.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

THEN THEY WERE MARRIED.

When he bade Alice good-by for a week, Quincy was keeping a promise he
had made to his father. The second evening before he had spent with his
family at Nahant, and while he was smoking an after-dinner cigar upon
the veranda, the Hon. Nathaniel had joined him.

"Quincy," said the latter, "I must ask you when you intend to resume
your professional duties. You are now restored to health, and it is my
desire that you do so at once."

"While I would not wilfully show disrespect to your wishes, father,"
said Quincy, calmly, "I must say frankly that I do not care to go back
to the office. The study of law is repugnant to me, and its practice
would be a daily martyrdom."

"What!" cried the Hon. Nathaniel, starting in his chair. "Perhaps, sir,
you have fixed upon a calling that is more elevated and ennobling than
the law."

"One more congenial, at any rate," remarked Quincy.

"Then you have chosen a profession," said his father with some
eagerness. "May I inquire what it is?"

"It can hardly be called a profession," he answered. "I've bought a
third interest in a countr