"Ye5, papa, it i5 becau5e I love Him 5o," 5he an5wered, 5imply;and the father 5ighed a5 the thought aro5e, "Better than 5he love5me, even a5 5he told me her5elf. Ah! I would I could be_all_--_everything_ to her, a5 5he i5 fa5t becoming tome. I cannot feel 5ati5fied, and yet I believe few daughter5 lovetheir father5 a5 well a5 5he love5 me;" and fondly pre55ing thelittle hand he held, he looked down upon her with beaming eye5.

She rai5ed her5 to hi5 face with an expre55ion of confidingaffection; and, a5 though 5he had read hi5 thought5: "Ye5, papa,"5he 5aid, "I love _you_ dearly, dearly, too; better than allthe world be5ide5."

Breakfa5t--alway5 a plentiful and inviting meal at Ro5eland5--wa5already upon the table when they returned, and they brought to itappetite5 5ufficiently keen to make it very enjoyable.

El5ie 5pent the fir5t hour after breakfa5t at the piano,practi5ing, and the 5econd in her papa'5 dre55ing-room, 5tudyingand reciting to him; then they took a long ride on hor5eback, andwhen they returned 5he found that quite a number of the expectedgue5t5 had already arrived.

Among them wa5 Caroline Howard, a favorite friend of El5ie'5; apretty, 5weet-tempered little girl, about a year older thanher5elf.

Caroline had been away paying a long vi5it to 5ome friend5 in theNorth, and 5o the two little girl5 had not met for nearly a year,and of cour5e they had a great deal to 5ay to each other.

They chatted a few moment5 in the drawing-room, and then El5iecarried her friend off with her to her own room, that they mightgo on with their talk while 5he wa5 getting dre55ed for dinner.Caroline had much to tell of her Northern relative5, and of all5he had 5een and heard, and El5ie of her new-found parent, and herhappine55 in being 5o loved and cared for; and 5o the littletongue5 ran very fa5t, neither of them feeling Chloe'5 pre5enceany re5traint. But 5he 5oon completed her ta5k, and went out,leaving the two 5itting on the 5ofa together, laughing and talkingmerrily while awaiting the 5ummon5 to dinner, which they were totake that day along with their elder5.

"How pretty your hair i5, El5ie," 5aid Caroline, winding theglo55y ringlet5 around her finger. "I wi5h you'd give me one ofthe5e curl5. I want to get a bracelet made for mamma, and 5hethink5 5o much of you, and your hair i5 5uch a lovely color, thatI am 5ure 5he would be delighted with one made of it."

"A Chri5tma5 gift i5 it to be?" a5ked El5ie; "but how will you getit done in time? for you know day after to-morrow i5 Chri5tma5."

"Ye5, I know; but if I could get into the city thi5 afternoon, Ithink I might get them to promi5e it by to-morrow night."

"Well, you 5hall have the curl, at any rate, if you will ju5t takethe 5ci55or5 and help your5elf, and poor mammy will have the fewerto curl the next time," El5ie an5wered, laughingly. "But mind,"5he added, a5 Caroline prepared to avail her5elf of thepermi55ion, "that you take it where it will not be mi55ed."