sed my eyes and listened to him
reading off that fine stuff and--for a spell I fathered him and got
real thrilled. But what I came to say to you to-night, 'Tilda, is no
dream unless you can class it as a dream come true. Beginning
to-morrow morning, I want that you should go into town and shop."

"Shop, Levi?" Matilda leaned up on her thin elbow and scanned her
brother's face in the white light of the moon. "Shop, Levi? Shop for
what?"

"Why--things! Have all the help you can get and take a reasonable
time, but I'd like to have you get real stylish fixings. I'd like real
well for you to have a lavender frock, something like that Treadwell
woman wears. You and Sandy and I are going vacationing!"

"Lands, Levi! Vacationing just as canning time is coming?"

"That's about the size of it. What's the fun in a vacation if you
ain't running away from plain duty?"

"Why, Levi, I do declare! Where are we going?"

The dear old face was shining in the ghostly gleam.

"Oh! we're going to see mountains that will make Mt. Washington and
Lost Mountain look foolish."

"Levi, don't trifle lightly with God's handiwork. I've always held
that scenes of nature ought not be compared--it's real presumptious."

"Well, then, Matilda, we're going to do the grand tour!"

"Levi, you surely are romancing."

"I'm going to buy tickets to-morrow for about the middle of September!"

"You can't be serious, brother?"

"I am going to spend money--for _nothing_ once in my life! I'm going
to get what we want and not count the change!"

"It sounds scandalous, Levi!"

"It's going to be a--scandal."

"What a sight we three will be, Levi." The dear old soul chuckled.
Like a child she had at last caught the contagion of Markham's humour.
"I just know them foreigners will think we are a pair of fond parents
with our one chick and child. Do you think we need tell right out that
we ain't, Levi? When it isn't necessary, couldn't we keep ourselves to
ourselves and--make believe, with the ocean between us and them that
know, that Sandy is ours?"

"We can, Matilda. And I want that Sandy should get his fill of
paintings. Did you ever know how he leans to art? Why, he's got about
a square acre of sketches among his belongings--he's shown me some, and
while I do not set myself up for a critic I do say that there is
feeling in his stuff."

"I've seen that dogwood one he carries about with him," Matilda
answered, leaning back on her