“But perhaps grandpa Dinsmore and grandma Elsie will never invite me again.  I wouldn’t in their place, I’m sure.”

The captain’s letter to his wife made the same announcement of his intentions in regard to Lulu; adding, that, for the present he would have her disposed of as should seem best to them—­Mr. Dinsmore, his daughter, and Violet herself—­upon consultation together; he had entire confidence, he said, in their wisdom and their kind feeling toward his wayward, troublesome, yet still beloved child; so that he could trust her to their tender mercies without hesitation.

He went on to say (and, ah, with what a smile of exultation and delight those words were penned!), that “there was a possibility that he might be with them again in the fall, long enough to find a suitable home for Lulu; and, in the mean time, would they kindly seize any opportunity that presented itself, to make inquiries in regard to such a place?”

Violet read that portion of his letter aloud to her mother and grandfather, then asked if they saw in it any thing necessitating a change in their plans for the summer.

They did not, and were glad for Lulu’s sake that it was so.

Lulu, in the solitude of her room, was anxiously considering the same question, and presently went with it to her mamma, taking her father’s note in her hand.

Finding Violet alone in her dressing-room, giving the captain’s missive another perusal, “Mamma Vi,” she said, “what—­what does papa tell you about me?” She spoke hesitatingly, her head drooping, her cheeks hot with blushes.  “I mean, what does he say is to be done with me?”

Violet pitied the child from the bottom of her heart.  “I wish, dear,” she said, “that I could tell you he consented to mamma’s request to let us try you here a little longer; but—­doesn’t he say something about it in his note to you?”

“Yes, mamma Vi,” Lulu answered chokingly:  “he says he can’t let me stay here any longer, to be such a trouble and torment to you all, and will put me somewhere else as soon as he can find a suitable place; but he doesn’t say what is to be done with me just now.”

“No, dear:  he leaves that to us,—­grandpa, mamma, and me,—­and we have decided that no change in the arrangements for the summer need be made.”

“O mamma Vi! how good and kind you all are!” cried Lulu, in a burst of irrestrainable gratitude; and her tears began to fall.

Violet was quite moved by the child’s emotion.  “You have been a dear good girl of late, and we feel glad to take you with us,” she said, drawing her to her side, and giving her an affectionate kiss.  “Your father says there is a possibility that he may be at home with us again for a while, in the fall; he expects to settle you somewhere then:  but if you continue to be so good, perhaps he may relent, and allow you still to have a home with us.  I am quite sure that such a child as you have been for the last two or three months, would be heartily welcome to us all.”