I always call her aunt, for I don't remember poor papa's sister at all; and no aunt that ever lived could be kinder to me than aunt Dorothy.

I am always so happy here," she said; "and it seems such a treat to get away from the Lawn--of course I am sorry to leave mamma, you know," she added, parenthetically--"and the stiff breakfasts, and Mr.Sheldon's newspapers that crackle, crackle, crackle so shockingly all breakfast-time; and the stiff dinners, with a prim parlor-maid staring at one all the time, and bringing one vegetables that one doesn't want if one only ventures to breathe a little louder than usual.

Here it is Liberty Hall.

Uncle Joe--he is aunt Dorothy's husband--is the kindest creature in the world, just the very reverse of Mr.Sheldon in everything.

I don't mean that my stepfather is unkind, you know.