d vanished, leaving at Ion a priceless
treasure.

It was a soft, hazy, delicious September morning; Elsie sat in her pretty
boudoir, half-reclining in the depths of a large velvet-cushioned easy
chair. Her husband had left her a minute before, and she was--no, not
quite alone, for her eyes were turning with a sweet, new light in them,
upon a beautiful rosewood crib where, underneath the silken covers and
resting on pillows of eider-down, lay a tiny form, only a glimpse of the
pink face and one wee doubled-up fist to be caught through the lace
curtains so carefully drawn about the little sleeper.

A familiar step was heard in the outer room. The door opened quietly, and
Elsie looking up cried, "Papa," in a delighted yet subdued tone.

"My darling," he said, coming to her and taking her in his arms. "How nice
to see you up again; but you must be careful, very, very careful, not to
overexert yourself."

"I am, my dear father, for Edward insists on it, and watches over me, and
baby too, as if really afraid we might somehow slip away from him."

"He is quite right. There, you must not stand, recline in your chair
again, while I help myself to a seat by your side. How are you to-day?"

"I think I never felt better in my life, papa; so strong and well that it
seems absurd to be taking such care of myself."

"Not at all; you must do it. You seem to be alone with your babe. I hope
you never lift her?"

"No, sir, not yet. That I shall not has been my husband's second order.
Mammy is within easy call, just in the next room, and will come the
instant she is wanted."

"Let me look at her; unless you think it will disturb her rest."

"Oh, no, sir." And the young mother gently drew aside the curtain of the
crib.

The two bent over the sleeping babe, listening to its gentle breathing.

"Ah, papa, I feel so rich! you don't know how I love her!" whispered
Elsie.

"Don't I, my daughter? don't I know how I love you?" And his eyes turned
with yearning affection upon her face, then back to that of the little
one. "Six weeks old to-day, and a very cherub for beauty. Aunt Chloe tells
me she is precisely my daughter over again, and I feel as if I had now an
opportunity to recover what I lost in not having my first-born with me
from her birth. Little Elsie, grandpa feels that you are his; his precious
treasure."

The young mother's eyes grew misty with a strange mixture of emotion, in
which love and joy were the deepest and stro