commanding a fine view, and in the winter season is filled to overflowing, but it is always closed in April. They found the hill on which it stands an excellent point of view of the country, and itself a mountain of bloom, color and fragrance; and it was evident that the views from the windows and broad verandas—views of orchards, gardens, pretty villas, purple foothills and snowy ranges, must be fine indeed.

“What a beautiful place it is,” exclaimed little Elsie when they had gone about the house, viewing it and grounds from side to side. “I wish it was open so we could stay here. Papa, it has our name; are the folks who own it related to us?”

“I don’t know, daughter, but I hardly think so; it is not an uncommon name,” replied the captain.

“It’s a good name; I don’t want any better,” said Ned sturdily.

“I’m glad you are satisfied, and I hope you will never do anything to disgrace it,” said his father, with a gratified smile and an affectionate pat of the small hand which happened to be held in his at the moment.

Our party found a great deal to interest them in and about Pasadena. There were the fine hotels, the pleasant boarding houses, the Public Library in the town, and three miles away the old mission of San Gabriel. They made various trips in the vicinity of the town—to Mt. San Antonio, ten miles away, but none too far for a little trip, they thought; also to Mt. San Jacinto, whose height is twelve thousand feet above the Pacific.

Our friends found Pasadena so delightful that they lingered there for some weeks. Then they passed on in a southerly direction till they reached the lovely city of Santa Barbara, where they lingered still longer, finding the place itself wonderfully attractive and the many drives in the vicinity delightful. They found that there were as many as twenty-eight distinct and beautiful drives, and almost every day they tried one or more of them. They greatly enjoyed the scenery—the mountains, the valleys, the beautiful villas, with their trees, shrubs, vines and flowers, one grape-vine in especial with a trunk eight inches in diameter, with foliage covering ten thousand square feet, and which they were told yielded in one year twelve thousand pounds of grapes.

Another drive took them to the lighthouse, where from the balcony there was a fine view of the fields below, the blue sea beyond them, and the blue sky overhead. There was hardly anything which the ladies of our party and little Elsie enjoyed more than the sight of the vast profusion of roses—hundreds of varieties and vines covering many feet of arbor or veranda.

Santa Barbara proved a place hard to leave, and they lingered there for a number of weeks, all of them—especially those who had been on the invalid list-feeling that they were constantly gaining in health and strength. News from their homes was favorable to their stay; everything seemed to be going on very well without them; so they yielded to the fascinations of this Western fairy land and lingered weeks longer than they had intended when they came.

The summer was nearly over; they began to think it time to be on the move toward home, and after a little talk on the subject decided to start the next day, go on to San Francisco, tarry there a few days, then travel eastward to their homes.

Evelyn was the most eager for the start; it seemed so long since she had last seen her young husband, and they were hoping he might get a furlough and spend some weeks with her at Crag Cottage, their pretty home on the Hudson.

They tarried in San Francisco long enough to acquaint themselves with all its beauties, then wended their way eastward as fast as the cars could carry them. They felt it still too early in the season for an immediate return to their southern homes, but they scattered to various places in the north-some to visit relatives, some to the seaside, while several accepted an invitation from Evelyn to spend some weeks at Crag Cottage. She knew that her aunt, Elsie Leland, was already there, and had everything in order for their reception. Grandma Elsie, Dr. Harold Travilla, Grace Raymond and her sister, Lucilla, were the others who accepted the invitation. But Captain Raymond, Violet and their two younger children expected to visit for some weeks one of Long Island’s seaside resorts.

Max had written to Evelyn that he hoped for a furlough that would enable him to join her at their cottage and spend with her the few weeks she would care to stay there; and she was looking forward to that reunion with eager delight, while journeying from far-off California to the home of her childhood.

“Father and Mamma Vi,” she said to them as they journeyed through the State of New York, “stop with me at Crag Cottage and make at least a little visit there. I think you will see Max if you do. I have a feeling that he will be there to meet us on our arrival.”

“Thank you, daughter,” returned Captain Raymond, with a look of pleasure, “I shall be happy to accept your invitation if it suits my wife to do so. What do you say, Violet, my dear?”

“That I accept gladly! I shall be pleased to see both Max and the pretty cottage; as well as to be Eva’s guest for a few days.”

“And what will Elsie and I do?” asked Ned, with a roguish look. “Go on to the seashore by ourselves?”

“No, little brother, we wouldn’t any of us be willing to trust you to do that,” laughed Evelyn, “and large as you are, I think the cottage can be made to hold you two in addition to the others.”

“Oh, good! I’m glad of that, for I always enjoy a visit to Crag Cottage,” cried Ned, clapping his hands in glee.

“And I hope you will be often there visiting your brother and sister,” said Evelyn, smiling affectionately and patting the hand he had laid upon the arm of her seat.

Her invitation was not extended to other members of the party, as their plans were already made. Mr. and Mrs. Lilburn had already left them to visit their relatives at Pleasant Plains, and Mr. and Mrs. Horace Dinsmore had announced their intention of visiting theirs in the neighborhood of Philadelphia.

“We will reach New York presently,” remarked the captain, after a little, “and there we will leave the train and go aboard the Dolphin, if, as I have every reason to expect, she is lying at the dock there; and we can all journey up to Crag Cottage in her.”

“Which will be a pleasant change from travelling on land in a car,” remarked Lucilla.

“You will go with us, will you not, Chester?” asked Evelyn.

“Thank you,” he returned heartily; “I must leave my wife with you and hurry on home to attend to some professional matters that I have neglected too long in my desire to fully recover my health.”

“Be careful that you don’t lose it again,” said Dr. Travilla, warningly.

“Oh, yes, for your wife’s sake be careful,” urged Lucilla, a look of anxiety on her usually bright, happy face.

“You may trust me for that, I think,” Chester returned laughingly. A few hours later they reached New York, and as they left the train Evelyn was overjoyed to find herself in her husband’s arms. His furlough had been granted. He had already been aboard the Dolphin and was able to assure them that everything there and at Crag Cottage was in order for their reception.

They had already bade good-by to Mr. and Mrs. Horace Dinsmore, who were going on at once to Philadelphia, Chester with them as far as that city, so the party for the Dolphin went aboard of