"You gave me twenty years to grow into a woman, uncle," answered the pleasant voice of Charlotte Harman. "I could not choose but make good use of the time." "So you have, lass--so you have; I have been growing old and you have been growing beautiful; such is life; but never mind, your turn will come." "But not for a long, long time, Lottie my pet," interrupted the father. "You need not mind your uncle Jasper. These little speeches were always his way. And I'll tell you something else, Jasper; that girl of mine has a head worth owning on her shoulders, a head she knows how to use. You will not believe me when I say that she writes in this magazine and this, and she is getting a book ready for the press; ay, and there's another thing. Shall I tell it, Charlotte?" "Yes, father; it is no secret," replied Charlotte. "It is this, brother Jasper; you have come home in time for a wedding. My girl is going to leave me. I shall miss her, for she is womanly in the best sense of the word, and she is my only one; but there is a comfort--the man she is to marry is worthy of her." "And there is another comfort, father," said Charlotte; "that though I hope to be married, yet I never mean to leave you. You know that well, I have often told you so," and here this grave young girl came over and kissed her father's forehead. He smiled back at her, all the care leaving his eyes as he did so. Uncle Jasper had sprung impatiently to his feet. "As to the lass being married," he said, "that's nothing; all women marry, or if they don't they ought to. But what was that you said, John, about writing, writing in a printed book? You were joking surely, man?" "No, I was not," answered the father. "Go and show your uncle Jasper that last article of yours, Charlotte." "Oh, heaven preserve us! no," said uncle Jasper, backing a pace or two. "I'm willing with all my heart to believe it, if you swear it, but not the article. Don't for heaven's sake, confront me with the article." "There's nothing uncommon in my writing for magazines, Uncle Jasper; a great many girls do write now. I have three friends myself who----"