“All in health, except, of course, the two little ones who have been so ill,” he said, taking the chair Edward drew forward for him; “and them we consider out of danger, with the careful attention they are sure to have.”

“How have mamma and Vi stood the anxiety and nursing?” asked Edward.

“Quite as well as could have been expected.  They have lost a little in flesh and color, but will, I think, soon regain both, now that their anxiety is relieved.

“And you, Ned, are quite yourself again, I should say, from appearances?”

“Yes; and I desire to give all credit to the nurse in whose charge you left me,” returned Edward, with a smiling glance at Zoe.

“As is but fair,” said Arthur.  “I discovered her capabilities before I left.”

“She made the most of her delegated authority,” remarked Edward gravely.  “I was allowed no will of my own, till I had so entirely recovered from my injuries that she had no longer the shadow of an excuse for depriving me of my liberty.”

“I thought it was a good lesson for him,” retorted Zoe.  “I’ve read somewhere that nobody is fit to rule who hasn’t first learned to obey.”

“Ah! but that I learned before I was a year old,” said Edward, laughing.

“Nobody would have thought it, seeing the trouble I had to make you obey,” said Zoe.

“Now, cousin Arthur, tell us all about Viamede, and what you did and saw there.”

“It is a lovely place,” he said.  “I expected to be disappointed after the glowing accounts I had heard, but I feel like saying, ’The half has not been told me;’” and he plunged into an enthusiastic description of the mansion, its grounds, and the surrounding country.

“I was loath to leave it,” he said in conclusion.

“And you make me more desirous to see it than ever,” said Zoe.

“Oh, do tell us! had Capt.  Raymond been heard from before you left?  We have seen by the papers that the report of the loss of his vessel was untrue, and, of course, we were greatly relieved.”

“Yes:  letters came from him the day before I started for home.  Fortunately, they had been able to keep the report from Vi and little Gracie; but May and Lulu had heard it, and were terribly distressed, I was told.”

“They are very fond of their father,” remarked Zoe.

“Yes, as they have good reason to be,” said Arthur:  “he is a noble fellow, and one of the best of husbands and fathers.”

“Did you hear any thing in particular about Lulu?” Zoe asked.

“No, I think not,” he said reflectively; “nothing but that she, May, and Evelyn Leland were staying, by invitation, at Magnolia Hall.

“Ah, yes!  I remember now that Betty told me there had been some trouble between uncle Horace and Lulu in regard to her taking lessons of a music-teacher whom she greatly disliked; that, because of her obstinate refusal, he had banished her from Viamede, entering her as a boarder at the academy the children were all attending; but that her distress of mind over the illness of her little sisters, and the sad report about her father, had led her to submit.”