“We shall want to go away for a while to get rested,” she remarked; “to the seashore or the mountains, you know, so we had better not have a houseful of boarders. The school would be better, and I can teach other things in it besides music.” Victoria inclined towards working the farm in some way, in which Peter agreed with her. She pointed out that boarders in summer would perhaps be hard to procure, and also that it would be impossible to go to the mountains or the sea, as Katherine suggested, and leave the place to take care of itself, even if there were no boarders, and even if they had made enough money to warrant such an expense. On the other hand, the working of the farm presented endless possibilities. There was much good sense in what she said, as Honor and Katherine were forced to admit. They determined to wait, however, before actually deciding upon their future course, until they should see Mr. Abbott; and Honor wrote to him that night, begging him to come to Glen Arden again as soon as it should be convenient, as they wished his advice. “We have some new ideas,” she wrote, “and we cannot rest until we hear you say they are good ones.” Mr. Abbott replied in person to the note; for he was sincerely anxious about the welfare of his wards, and was also curious to know what they had thought of as a means of escape from the grasp of their Aunt Sophia. He came, therefore, on Tuesday afternoon. At first he was sceptical. The mere idea that five young persons, all under twenty-two, and four of them girls, should set out to support themselves, with no experience to call upon, and in absolute ignorance of the magnitude of that which they were about to undertake, seemed to him preposterous, and he did not hesitate to tell them so. But in spite of himself, he was soon impressed by their earnestness. Their enthusiasm was contagious, and there was certainly a fair amount of common sense in their remarks. Mr. Abbott allowed himself to be persuaded to stay to dinner, and before the evening was over, he was discussing as eagerly as any one of them the possibilities of selling butter and of teaching children their alphabet; while the idea of raising violets appealed strongly to his flower-loving soul. He promised, when he bade his wards good night, to call upon their aunt the next day, and place the subject before her; and he would do his best to win her approval, difficult as he knew that would be. In the meantime, they might be sure of his consent and support. He only wished to impress upon them, however, that they should decide upon a course which would necessitate as little outlay as possible.