interested in those things. I get a few new songs; Peter gets a
few new books; we both get a catalogue and pick out plants, and
that's about the extent of our dissipation! The things I want,"
Alix finished, "can't be bought for money!"

"I know!" Cherry said, a warm little hand quickly touching her
sister's.

"But to have you here, Cherry dearest!" Alix said, joyfully, "and
to think of what it means to us both! My dear, the walks and talks
and fires and music and dinners--"

"And duets," Cherry said, with her old fresh laugh. "Don't forget
'tu canta rio sul tuo liuto!' and 'Oh, wert thou in the cauld,
cauld blast!'"

"Oh, Cherry, how utterly delicious it is!" Alix said, gathering
wraps and bags for the change from the boat to the train that
would land them in twenty minutes at the little station in Mill
Valley.

Sausalito, fragrant with acacia and rose blooms, rose steeply into
the bright sunshine beyond the marshes skirting the bay glittering
in light. Cherry's eager eyes missed nothing, and when they left
the train at Mill Valley, and the mountain air enveloped them in a
rush of its clear softness and purity, she was in ecstasies. She
welcomed the waiting red setter as a beloved friend, and leaned
from the shabby motor car, delighted at every landmark.

"Alix--the post office, and the blacksmith's, and how the hill has