ed. She seemed to wake and see her
father bending over her; to hear him say, "My little Rose"; to answer,
"Yes, papa"; and then to feel him take her in his arms and kiss her
tenderly. So sweet, so real was the dream, that she started up with a
cry of joy to find herself in the arms of a brown, bearded man, who held
her close, and whispered in a voice so like her father's that she clung
to him involuntarily,

"This is my little girl, and I am Uncle Alec."

Chapter 3--Uncles

When Rose woke next morning, she was not sure whether she had dreamed
what occurred the night before, or it had actually happened. So she
hopped up and dressed, although it was an hour earlier than she usually
rose, for she could not sleep any more, being possessed with a strong
desire to slip down and see if the big portmanteau and packing cases
were really in the hall. She seemed to remember tumbling over them when
she went to bed, for the aunts had sent her off very punctually, because
they wanted their pet nephew all to themselves.

The sun was shining, and Rose opened her window to let in the soft May
air fresh from the sea. As she leaned over her little balcony, watching
an early bird get the worm, and wondering how she should like Uncle
Alec, she saw a man leap the garden wall and come whistling up the path.
At first she thought it was some trespasser, but a second look showed
her that it was her uncle returning from an early dip into the sea. She
had hardly dared to look at him the night before, because whenever she
tried to do so she always found a pair of keen blue eyes looking at her.
Now she could take a good stare at him as he lingered along, looking
about him as if glad to see the old place again.

A brown, breezy man, in a blue jacket, with no hat on the curly head,
which he shook now and then like a water dog; broad-shouldered, alert in
his motions, and with a general air of strength and stability about him
which pleased Rose, though she could not explain the feeling of comfort
it gave her. She had just said to herself, with a sense of relief, "I
guess I shall like him, though he looks as if he made people mind," when
he lifted his eyes to examine the budding horse-chestnut overhead,
and saw the eager face peering down at him. He waved his hand to her,
nodded, and called out in a bluff, cheery voice,

"You are on deck early, little niece."

"I got up to see if you had really come, uncle."

"Did you? Well, come down here a