was a wide-awake, irrepressible youth of twelve, who had a large
share in the doings of his older sister and her friends. They did
their best to spoil him by their unlimited admiration; but, to be
sure, the temptation to do so was a strong one, for Alan was a
lovable fellow, always merry and good-natured, generous and
accommodating to his friends, and quick to plan and execute the
pranks which added the spice of mischief to the doings of the V.
In person he was tall for his age, and slight, with thick, yellow
hair, that lay in a smooth, soft line across his forehead, large
gray eyes, and a generous mouth, full of strong, white teeth which
were usually in sight, for Alan was nearly always laughing,--not
a handsome boy, exactly, for his features were quite irregular,
but a splendid one, whom one would instinctively select as a
gentleman's son, and an intelligent, manly lad.

His sister Molly, two years older, was an attractive, bright girl,
whose only beauty lay in her smooth, heavy braids of brown hair.
She and Polly had been constant companions from their babyhood,
had quarrelled and "made up," had quarrelled and made up again,
three hundred and sixty-five days a year for the last thirteen
years, and at the end of that time they were closer friends than
ever. Two girls more unlike it would have been hard to find, for
Molly was as quiet and deliberate as Polly was impetuous; but
nevertheless, in spite of their continual disagreements, they were
inseparable. They were in the same class in school and in Sunday-
school, they had the same friends, and read the same books, and
had a share in the same mischief. They even carried this trait so
far as to both come down with mumps on the same day, when their
unwonted absence from school was the source of much speculation
among their friends, who fondly pictured them as indulging in some