"Down the hill to the shore--then along the shore for three miles to Greenbushes," replied the young lady. "And then through the house, which is to be Le's and Odalite's home after New Year, when they are married," volunteered Wynnette, a pretty, saucy little brunette of fourteen years. "Wynnette! Wynnette! Hush!" exclaimed Odalite, blushing vividly. "Why must I hush? Everybody knows Le is coming home to marry you at Christmas!" retorted the second sister. "And what do you think, Col. Anglesea?" whispered Elva, a gentle, little blonde of twelve. "What, my elf?" playfully inquired the colonel. "Why, when Le and Odalite get married and go to live at Greenbushes, Wynnette and I will live there just as much as we shall at home here." "Indeed! and what will Mr. Brother-in-law say to that?" "Who, Le? Why, Le will say he is very glad. Le loves us all dearly. Le would give us anything we want, or do anything in the world for us. Especially now I should think he would, when we are going to let him have our sister and take her away." "Elva, my dear, you are talking too much," whispered Miss Meeke, a small, demure young woman, with a pale face, gray eyes and smooth brown hair. "Why? When he wants to pretend that our Le will not be glad to have us all three to live with him? I must take Le's part, you know, Miss Meeke, especially in his absence," pleaded Elva. "Shall we walk on, Col. Anglesea?" suggested Odalite, to put an end to an embarrassing conversation. "Certainly, if you please. What are these sticks for?" inquired the colonel, referring to the wands the girls dragged behind them. "Oh! these are to thresh the chincapin bushes, when we get there! And we expect to fill our baskets!" answered Wynnette. "Can I not carry them for you?" he inquired; and without waiting for an answer, collected the sticks from the children, who not unwillingly gave them up. "And now I think of it," suggested the colonel, "you will require but one stick, and that I will use and thresh the bushes while you gather the nuts. See, I will leave these three here, and take this thickest one. Now give me the four baskets; I will hang them on my stick and sling them over my shoulder, thus," he said, suiting the action to the word. The two children laughed at the figure he cut. "Now! Right face! Forward! March!" he cried, stepping out in front. They left the lawn by the east gate and passed through an orchard where a few late winter apples still clung to the nearly leafless branches of the trees; opened another gate and entered a narrow path leading down through the thick woods to the shore. Then they turned southward and walked by the side of the bay, the children chattering as they went. "What do you think, Col. Anglesea?" inquired Elva. "I don't know. What ought I to think?" laughingly inquired their escort. "Well, I'll tell you. Although Greenbushes is only three miles off, we have never seen it in our lives." "Really, now?"