"Oh, Daddy, you know I was fourteen in January," she said half
reproachfully. "You sent me such beautiful things from Japan."

"Yes, but you might be eighteen now from your looks and height. And
living here alone with the servants. Why--why, it's, it's all out of
order; you are off your course entirely. You must have someone with you,
or go somewhere, or--or--well SOMETHING has got to be done and right
off, too," and poor perplexed Neil Stewart ran his hand through his
curly, gray-tinged hair in a distracted manner. Peggy looked startled,
then serious. Such a contingency as this incumbent upon growing up had
never entered her head. Must the old order of things which she so loved,
and all the precious freedom of action, give way to something entirely
new? Harrison had more than once hinted that such would be the case when
Daddy Neil came home and found a young lady where he expected to find a
little girl.

"Oh, Daddy, please don't talk about that now. You've only just got here
and I've ten thousand things to tell and show you. Let's not think of
the future just yet. It's such a joy to just live now. To have you here
and see you and hug you, and love you hard," cried Peggy suiting her
actions to her words. Mr. Stewart shook his head, but did not beggar his
response to the caress. It sent a glow all through him to feel that this
beautiful young girl was his daughter, the mistress of the home he so
loved, but so rarely enjoyed.

"We'll have a truce for a week, honey, and during that time we'll do
nothing but enjoy each other. Then we'll take our reckoning and lay our
course by chart, for I'm convinced that I, at least, have been running
on dead reckoning and you--well--I guess the good Lord's been at the