"You may be newsteller and questioner, Elsie," said their father, and she told in hurried, joyous fashion what he had promised, and what she thought of buying for Grace with her $50, concluding with the query, "What will you do with your fifty, Ned?"
"I do not know. I cannot go to the stores to find anything," he sighed disconsolately.
"But you can trust mamma and the rest of us to select something for you," suggested his father in tender tones.
"Oh, I guess that will do," responded Ned more cheerfully; "and be sure that I want it to be something handsome, if it costs every cent of the $50."
So that matter was settled, and the next morning the captain, Violet and Elsie drove into the city, visited the best jewelry store, and selected a beautiful ring and bracelet. Elsie was so charmed with them that she seemed hardly able to think of anything else on the homeward drive.
"I hope Ned will be pleased with the bracelet," she said; "but if he would rather have the ring for his gift to Gracie, he may, and I will give the bracelet."
"That is right, daughter," said the captain. "I think they are both beautiful, and they cost very nearly the same."
They found Ned awake and full of eager expectation. He heard the carriage wheels on the driveway, and cried out, "There they are, grandma, and oh, how I wish I could run out to the veranda to meet them!"