Just then a scream of laughter from childish voices was heard, and the sound of several automobiles that were coming up on the road behind them.
“Oh, dear!” exclaimed Lady Vivian, “I hope they will not frighten the pony.”
Mrs. Arling turned off to one side to let them pass, and as they came nearer they slowed up so as not to frighten the horse. “It is hard to realize,” she said, “that there are fully one hundred children in those three cars. Doesn’t it do your heart good to see Mira with all three children around her at last?”
The two brides who are on their wedding trip are not happier than Princess Lovechild, who is the life of the party. To give happiness to those who would have been deprived of it without her assistance was to her full recompense and she was truly the happiest among them after all.
“Well it is a wonder to me how the Princess and Mira can stand the racket those youngsters are making. It may be their way of expressing their joy, but I must confess that I like to be beyond their voices.”
CHAPTER XXV.
After the wedding party had returned home, the Vivian family met to talk over the gift that Prince Charley had made Lady Vivian of the mortgage of Geron’s property. The mother did not feel justified in giving it to Geron, as had been the idea at first. He had risked losing it once and now she thought it her duty to come to an understanding with him. If he would deed the property to her, she would secure for him shares that would keep him during his life, by turning the property over to the society. He could then help his boys to secure their necessary shares as they grew to manhood, besides giving them the advantages of the society. This he was willing to do, so the affair was settled.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Twenty-five years had passed. Tom Vivian was governor of the state and his son was in charge of the first Colony which had become a large town, or groups of towns, rather, for the many industries had settlements in different localities. Human beings had become as valuable as property, and when one part of land was built up another had been selected.