cape to do
one's heart good."

"All hearty and all here, thank God!" said Captain Jem in the first
pause that came, as he looked about him with a grateful face.

"All but Rose," answered loyal little Jamie, remembering the absent.

"Faith, I forgot the child! Where is George's little girl?" asked the
Captain, who had not seen her since she was a baby.

"You'd better say Alec's great girl," said Uncle Mac, who professed to
be madly jealous of his brother.

"Here I am, sir," and Rose appeared from behind the curtains, looking as
if she had rather have stayed there.

"Saint George Germain, how the mite has grown!" cried Captain Jem, as he
tumbled the boys out of his lap, and rose to greet the tall girl, like
a gentleman as he was. But, somehow, when he shook her hand it looked so
small in his big one, and her face reminded him so strongly of his dead
brother, that he was not satisfied with so cold a welcome, and with
a sudden softening of the keen eyes he took her up in his arms,
whispering, with a rough cheek against her smooth one,

"God bless you, child! forgive me if I forgot you for a minute, and be
sure that not one of your kinsfolk is happier to see you here than Uncle
Jem."

That made it all right; and when he set her down, Rose's face was
so bright it was evident that some spell had been used to banish the
feeling of neglect that had kept her moping behind the curtain so long.

That everyone sat round and heard all about the voyage home how the
Captain had set his heart on getting there in time to keep Christmas;
how everything had conspired to thwart his plan; and how, at the very
last minute, he had managed to do it, and had sent a telegram to Archie,
bidding him keep the secret, and be ready for his father at any moment,
for the ship got into another port, and he might be late.

Then Archie told how that telegram had burnt in his pocket all
dinner-time; how he had to take Phebe into his confidence, and how
clever she was to keep the Captain back till the speech was over and he
could come in with effect.

The elders would have sat and talked all the evening, but the young
folks were bent on having their usual Christmas frolic; so, after an
hour of pleasant chat, they began to get restless, and having consulted
together in dumb show, they devised a way to very effectually break up
the family council.

Steve vanished, and, sooner than the boys imagined Dandy could get
himself up, the skirl of the ba