and how grandpa's eyes, dim and old as they
were, yet knew in a minute that his own boy Dick stood before him, and
how they talked and laughed, and cried, and had a wonderful dinner;
every one of the twelve rosy apples bubbled into sauce; nor how they
moved the next day out of that street entirely into the nicest of
little houses, and how roasted potatoes and apple-sauce came to be
every day matters to Mollie, and how she made the dearest little
housekeeper in the world. You see it can't be done; it sounds like a
fairy story, but Mollie knows that it all happened.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

FISHING.

Stuart Milburn did not feel very good-natured. "The whole world has
gone crazy," he muttered; "anyway this little snipe of a village has.
Why can't they let a fellow alone? I don't want them to look after me,
and I don't feel in need of their interference either. I never saw
such a time; I can't turn in any direction but some old maid will ask
me something stupid; and the girls are as bad, and the boys are
worse."

Now, what do you suppose all this was about? You will be surprised
when you hear, for no doubt you think from his picture that Stuart was
a sensible boy.

The truth of the matter was just this: Stuart's home was in the city,
but he had come to the country to spend the summer vacation at his
uncle's, and have a good time. In his uncle's family were five
cousins, three boys and two girls. Robert, the oldest, was five years
older than Stuart, and, being a college graduate, Stuart looked up to
him and respected his opinion. He, as well as the others, were
Christians.

[Illustration]

Now, it so happened that when the family of cousins heard that Stuart
was coming to spend the summer, they entered into an agreement to pray
for him every night and morning, and to do every thing that they could
to get him to be a Christian. A most reasonable and unselfish thing,
you will say. What would Stuart have thought of them if they had
possessed any other good thing in this world, and had kept all
knowledge of it to themselves!

But it was this very thing that had vexed him, and sent him off alone
with Tiger, that summer morning, instead of joining the cousins in
their fun. And yet they had been very pleasant about it all; they had
not tried to force him into doing anything that he did not want to
do. I hardly know what made him so absurd.

"Stuart," his Cousin Will said, "I wish you were going to Ya