"No; but to escape that is the least of my reasons for wanting to keep you healthy."
Just then Max came in with Eva, bringing a book on architecture.
"Here are some plans for houses, father," he said, laying the book open before the captain. "Please look at this, and tell me what you think of it, as in some respects it is what would suit us. You too, Lu. Eva and I like the most of it very much."
The captain and Lucilla examined it with interest, and were as well pleased as were Max and Evelyn. It was a matter in which they and Chester also were deeply interested, and they were taking time and trouble to make sure of having their future home all that could be desired. It was not to be built in haste. They had agreed to take plenty of time and thought in regard to all the interior arrangements, making everything as convenient as possible, as well as to the exterior, which they were resolved should be such as to cause the building to be recognized as an ornament to its neighborhood.
Chester was the one most anxious to get the house built and to secure his bride; the other three seemed well content to defer their marriage until the captain should give full and hearty consent.
The exact spot on which the building should stand had been selected, and the plans for it almost matured, when there came an order for Max to join a naval vessel about to sail for a distant foreign port.
There was a tender and sorrowful leave-taking, and Max was absent from the home circle for many months.
For a time those left behind seemed to have lost much of their interest in the building of the new home. Then came the fall rains, after that the winter storms, and it was decided that the actual work should not be begun until spring. Then Grace had a serious illness, which kept her in bed for several weeks, and she had hardly recovered when the little ones at Fairview were taken down with measles. They all passed through that trouble safely, but the weather had now grown warm enough to make a more northern climate desirable, and they—the whole Fairview family, accompanied by their grandma and the Raymonds—went aboard the captain's yacht and sailed up the coast and the Hudson River to Evelyn's pretty home, Crag Cottage.
That became their headquarters for the summer, though occasional short trips were taken to one or another of the points of interest in New York and the adjoining States. They all enjoyed themselves, though Chester and Max were missed—especially by Lucilla and Evelyn. Chester, however, joined the party late in the season, and was with them on the journey home.
Soon after their return, work was begun upon the proposed site of the new double dwelling, the cellars were dug, and the foundation was laid. But the work proceeded slowly. Max was not likely to be at home again soon, and it was well to take time to have everything done in the best possible manner.