Mr. Davidson was apparently satisfied with the explanation of the unusual noise, and settled himself over his newspaper. Presently a young girl fluttered down the staircase and entered the room where the elderly couple sat.
"Grandpa," said a fresh young voice, "we want to come and call upon you."
"Call upon me! Well, what is to hinder?"
"Well, we want to have it a sort of tableau; we want you and grandma to be the Emperor of Germany, and cousin John is to be the Crown Prince, and I am to be 'Vicky,' and we are to call upon you in state. Lannie is making your epaulettes. She will come and fix you and grandma, and tell you where to stand, then when we get dressed we will enter."
The old people laughed, but grandpa said:
CARRYING OUT THE PROGRAMME.
"All right!" and when his wife would have demurred a little, he said, "We must make things lively for the young folks or they get homesick." The programme was carried out. The satin dress and mantle came out of the old chest, but those epaulettes and stars and badges! Let me tell you a secret, they were home-made, but you would never have guessed it. Cousin John upon inspecting the work, exclaimed, "Lannie, you are a genius; how did you know the way to do it?"
"Oh! there are ways of knowing things," returned Lannie, with a good-natured laugh.