"The Roselands carriage," said Chester, glancing from the window; and both he and the captain rose and hurried out.
They found the whole Roselands family there—Calhoun and his wife and children; Dr. Arthur, his Marian, and their little Ronald.
Violet and her children, with Lucilla and Grace, had hastened down to receive them, and warm greetings were exchanged all around.
Chester took particular pains to get possession of a seat near Lucilla, and had many questions to ask in regard to the manner in which she had spent the long weeks of her absence from home—for long, he averred, they had seemed to him.
"Well now, they didn't to me," laughed Lucilla; "on the contrary, I thought them very short; time fairly flew."
"And was so filled with interesting occurrences that you hardly thought of your absent friends?"
"Oh, yes; I did think of them, occasionally even of you, Chester," she said in sportive tone. "Really, I do wish you could have seen and enjoyed all that we did. Were you moping at home all the time?"
"Not all the time; much of it found me very busy; and for a fortnight
I was away on a boating excursion with some friends."
"I am glad of that, for I am sure you needed some rest. Sometimes I think you are too hard a worker. Don't forget the old saying that 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.'"
But there the talk was interrupted by another arrival—the carriage from The Oaks, bringing all that family, including Chester's sister Sydney. They were on their way to Ion to welcome Grandma Elsie home, so made but a short call.