"All right, I will," promised the doctor, "if you'll march upstairs this minute." "I'm coming, too," announced Sarah. "I was up early this morning, wasn't I, Mother?" "Yes indeed you were," agreed her mother, catching her as she scrambled past and holding her tightly--Sarah usually had to be caught or pursued if one wanted to kiss her. "Kiss Mother good night, dearest." Mrs. Willis understood perfectly that Sarah was saving her pride when she spoke of being up early that morning--some excuse had to be made to explain her willingness to go to bed when Shirley did. "If Sarah had known I'm going to sleep outdoors to-night, she would have been wild to come, too," said Rosemary, when she and her mother were left alone. "Are you sure you want to try it, dear?" asked Mrs. Willis. "Why Mother, I've always wanted to sleep outdoors!" cried Rosemary earnestly. "I'm so tired of ordinary beds and houses--and--and things. It will be perfectly lovely to lie under a tree and see the stars over my head and pretend I am out on the desert. I'd like to sleep outdoors every night." When Doctor Hugh came down to report that both little girls were asleep, he found his mother and sister knitting under the shaded porch light. "I don't approve of night work for women," he informed them gravely. "Especially for those who have had as active a day as you have had. You don't want to knit, do you, Mother?" She put down her work at once and smiled. "I'll play for you," she said quickly and went in to the piano. Doctor Hugh sat down in the swing and patted the pillows invitingly. Rosemary, fastening her needles securely in place, put down her work a little reluctantly and crossed over to the swing. But when he put his arm about her and she leaned back against the cushions, her head on his comfortable shoulder, she gave a little tired sigh of relief. A big brother was nice! And as the music drifted out to them--all the sweet old melodies the doctor loved best, played as only Mrs. Willis could play them--Rosemary felt her impatience and hurry slipping away. She who had been so eager to have nine o'clock come, so anxious to get the evening over so that she might be free to put her wish into practise, began to wish that she could stay up later than usual. "Ten minutes after nine," said Doctor Hugh, all too soon. "I must help you get your sleeping outfit together." "Oh, I'll just take a quilt and spread it out and then roll myself up in it," planned Rosemary. But Doctor Hugh insisted on a rubber sheet, to go under the heavy quilt and insure positive protection from dampness; and blankets, he declared, would be indispensable. He arranged the quilt under a maple tree--the tree most distant from the house--which was Rosemary's choice, carried out a pair of light blankets and parried Winnie's volley of questions good-naturedly when she came in from visiting Mrs. Hildreth and discovered what he was doing.