It was a lovely summer evening, toward the end of July, that the party of friends were all together upon the lawn; they had drawn the garden chairs up, and, after the game of croquet in which Madeleine and Howard had succeeded in beating Ethel and Martin, were prepared to devote the remainder of the evening to chat. Seeing this, Mr. Morton had put away his book, and drawn up his chair beside them, while Mrs. Morton, regardless of falling dews and rising damp, had followed the example of her husband. "Now," said Mr. Morton, "short holidays, like this Saturday afternoon, are good; but are not long holidays better? And now that everybody is thinking of taking a trip somewhere or other, should not we 'do as Rome does,' and think of the same thing?" "I suppose, sir, we all have been thinking of it, more or less, for the past year," said Martin; "and I for one must think of it seriously, for my holidays are fixed by official rules, and begin very soon." "And yours, Howard?" inquired Mr. Morton. "I can take a holiday now, or later," he answered. "But I do not generally get a month straight off, as these government officials do. However, I shall try for a longer holiday this year than I had last." "Well, now," said Mr. Morton, drawing up his chair more closely to the group, "don't you think we might make up a party, and all go somewhere together?" A burst of assents went up like a flight of rockets. It was just the very thing that all the young people wanted. And then began such a storm of questions; such a variety of wild and improbable suggestions; such a catalogue of countries as would take years to explore, and such merry banter and repartee, that even Mrs. Morton caught the enthusiasm, and threw herself into the proposal with a vigor that caused her husband to open his eyes wide in a gratified astonishment. After discussing places, from Siberia to the Sandwich Islands, the votes were unanimous in favor of a tour to the North of Scotland, including Skye and the Shetland Isles. (_To be continued._) [Illustration: SEEING HIMSELF AS OTHERS SEE HIM.] THE THREE WISE WOMEN. BY MRS. E. T. CORBETT. [Illustration] Three wise old women were they, were they, Who went to walk on a winter day. One carried a basket, to hold some berries; One carried a ladder, to climb for cherries; The third, and she was the wisest one, Carried a fan to keep off the sun! [Illustration] "Dear, dear!" said one. "A bear I see! I think we'd better all climb a tree!" But there wasn't a tree for miles around. They were too frightened to stay on the ground; So they climbed their ladder up to the top, And sat there screaming, "We'll drop! we'll drop!" [Illustration]