And indeed he had thought for her. It was impossible to be with her and not give oneself up to her charm. "I have been wanting to see you alone for a minute, Doctor Churchill," she said. "It has been such a busy week I haven't had half a chance to express to you how I appreciate your care for my little family. And especially I am grateful to you for the perfect recovery of Celia's knee. Doctor Forester has assured me that the knee might easily have been a bad case." "I am very thankful that the results were good, Mrs. Birch," Doctor Churchill answered. Nobody interrupted the two for a long half-hour. At the end of it Doctor Churchill rose, his eyes kindling. "Thank you!" he said fervently. "Thank you! More than that I won't ask--yet. But if you will trust me--I promise you may trust me, little as you know me--you may be sure I shall keep my word, not only to you, but to my mother I know her ideals, and if I can be fit to be the friend of one who fills them----" Mrs. Birch held out her hand. "I do trust you, Doctor Churchill," she said. "Not only from what Doctor Forester has told me of your family, but from what I have seen and heard for myself." With a light heart the doctor went away over the hill to the path which descended to the river. Far down the bank, near the pond-lilies, he had caught a glimpse of a blue linen gown. Captain Rayburn and Celia came over to establish themselves upon rugs and cushions by the side of the hammock. Mr. Birch, who had been out with Just and Norman in a boat, appeared, sunburned and warm, and joined the party. "I've been wanting to get just this quartet together," remarked the captain, when his brother-in-law had cooled off and was lying comfortably stretched along a mossy knoll. "Go ahead, Jack, we are ready to listen. Your plans are always interesting," Mr. Birch replied. "What now?" "In the first place," began the captain, "I want you people to understand that the person who has had least fun out of this absence of yours is the young woman before you." "O Uncle Ray!" protested Celia, instantly. "Haven't I had as much fun as you?" "Hardly. Between Mrs. Fields and Miss Ellen Donohue I don't know when I've been so enlivened. I hardly know which of the two has afforded me more downright amusement, each in her way. But Celia, I tell you, Roderick and Helen, has been one brave girl, and that's all there is of it." "You'll find no dissenting voice here," Celia's father declared, and her mother added: "Nobody who knows her could expect her to be anything else." Celia looked away, her cheeks flushing. "So now I want her to have her reward," said Captain Rayburn. "Let me take her with me for the year abroad." Celia started, glancing quickly from her father to her mother, neither of whom looked so surprised as she would have expected. Both returned her gaze thoughtfully. "How about the going to college?" Mr. Birch questioned. "I thought that was the great ambition."