Copyright, 1904, by
The Century Co.
Published October, 1904
The DeVinne Press
TO
DEAR DOROTHY ESTERBROOK
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE [I Primrose Hall] 3 [II Ladybird] 17 [III A Guest for the Night] 28 [IV A Few Questions] 35 [V Another Attempt] 54 [VI Up a Tree] 68 [VII Civil War] 81 [VIII Stella Russell] 93 [IX Doing Right] 106 [X A Self-made Burglar] 120 [XI A Matrimonial Bureau] 137 [XII A Scriptural Command] 152 [XIII A Ridiculous Party] 165 [XIV Some Letters] 180 [XV The Arrival of the Earl] 191 [XVI Ladybird Triumphant] 203 [XVII In the Apple-tree] 218 [XVIII Lavinia Lovell] 235 [XIX Ladybird vs. Lavinia] 247 [XX Half-sisters] 260 [XXI An Orchard Wedding] 272
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE [“I’m Ladybird, and I’ve come to stay”] Frontispiece [Precisely at ten o’clock the procession formed] 10 [It’s postmarked “London”] 18 [“Should auld acquaintance be forgot?”] 43 [Suddenly Matthew’s face appeared] 57 [“Come down, little lady”] 71 [She worked diligently and rapidly] 91 [Ladybird at school] 108 [“You see, Cloppy-dog, it’s a crisis”] 115 [“Come on, Matthew”] 132 [The two firemen] 159 [Ladybird marshaling her guests] 169 [Writing the letter] 183 [After dinner they all sat on the veranda] 209 [Across the line of stepping-stones] 221 [Ladybird’s flying figure] 225 [“You talk like a lawyer”] 249 [The wedding under the trees] 279
THE STAYING GUEST
CHAPTER I
PRIMROSE HALL
Over the hills and far away there was once a quaint little old town which was safely beyond the reach of the long, grasping arms of any of the great cities.