GRANDMOTHER ELSIE




CHAPTER I.

"Every state,
Allotted to the race of man below,
Is in proportion, doom'd to taste some sorrow."
--_Rowe_.


The Ion family were at home again after their summer on the New Jersey
coast.

It was a delightful morning early in October: the dew-drops on the still
green grass of the neatly kept lawn sparkled in the rays of the newly
risen sun; the bright waters of the lakelet also, as, ruffled by the
breeze, they broke gently about the prow of the pretty row-boat moored to
the little wharf; the gardens were gay with bright-hued flowers, the trees
gorgeous in their autumnal dress.

But though doors and windows were open, the gardener and his assistants at
work in the grounds, there seemed a strange quiet about the place: when
the men spoke to each other it was in subdued tones; there was no
sound--as in other days--of little feet running hither and thither, nor
of childish prattle or laughter.