It was a long time before either child closed her eyes that night. They talked in whispers, or rather Dulcie talked, for it was she who made all the plans, while Daisy merely listened, and murmured faint, frightened little protests. The whole scheme appeared to her so utterly preposterous and impossible that at first she thought Dulcie was making up one of her famous stories, but Dulcie’s was the stronger nature of the two, and in the end she had her way, as she generally did with her younger sisters. But poor little Daisy’s heart was very heavy. Long after Dulcie had fallen asleep, worn out by excitement, she lay with wide open eyes, staring into the darkness, until tears would not be kept back any longer, and then she cried herself to sleep. Almost as soon as the first streaks of sunlight had made their way through the closed blinds, and while the birds were still singing their morning chorus, Dulcie was wide awake again, ready for the day’s work. She lay still for a few minutes, listening to the breathing of her sleeping sisters, and then rose softly, and seating herself at the desk, began to write. She wrote steadily for the next ten minutes, and then paused, arrested by a slight rustle from the bed she had left. Daisy was sitting up, watching her anxiously, her blue eyes full of trouble. “What are you doing?” she inquired, in a tremulous whisper. “Writing that letter to Papa,” Dulcie answered. “I’m just finishing. You can read what I’ve written, if you want to. I think it’s rather nice.” Daisy slipped out of bed and tiptoed softly across the room to her sister’s side. Leaning over Dulcie’s shoulder, she read: “DARLING, PRECIOUS PAPA: “You will find this letter when you come, and it will explain why we are not here to welcome you. We are terribly, terribly sorry not to be here, but if we waited to tell you our plan, we are afraid perhaps you would not let us go away at all. Oh, dear Papa, please don’t be angry with us. I am sure you wouldn’t be if you knew how very unhappy we are. We don’t blame you for marrying the stepmother, because Daisy says you may have been very lonely. We hope you will be very happy, but we don’t want to stay and be burdens. It was bad enough to be burdens to Grandma, but it would be much worse to be them to a stepmother. So we are going away to earn our living. Daisy and I can both sweep and dust very well, and Daisy can cook a little. She made some very nice cookies the other day; even Grandma said they might have been worse. Molly can wash dishes, and wheel a baby carriage, and once she helped Mary clean silver, so I am sure she will soon learn to be useful. Maud is too little to work, but we can earn money enough to take care of her. We will send you our address just as soon as we are settled, and will you please tell Grandma not to worry about the bag. We had to take it to carry some things in, but we will send it back by express just as soon as we can.