"why do you keep smiling to yourself, phebe?" asked rose, asthey were working together one morning, for dr. alec consideredhouse-work the best sort of gymnastics for girls; so rose tooklessons of phebe in sweeping, dusting and bed-making.

"i was thinking about a nice little secret i know, and couldn't helpsmiling.""shall i know it, sometime?""guess you will.""shall i like it?""oh, won't you, though!""will it happen soon?""sometime this week.""i know what it is! the boys are going to have fireworks on thefourth, and have got some surprise for me. haven't they?""that's telling.""well, i can wait; only tell me one thing is uncle in it?""of course he is; there's never any fun without him.""then it's all right, and sure to be nice."rose went out on the balcony to shake the rugs, and, having giventhem a vigorous beating, hung them on the balustrade to air, whileshe took a look at her plants. several tall vases and jars stoodthere, and a month of june sun and rain had worked wonders withthe seeds and slips she had planted. morning-glories andnasturtiums ran all over the bars, making haste to bloom. scarletbeans and honeysuckles were climbing up from below to meettheir pretty neighbours, and the woodbine was hanging its greenfestoons wherever it could cling.

the waters of the bay were dancing in the sunshine, a fresh windstirred the chestnut-trees with a pleasant sound, and the gardenbelow was full of roses, butterflies and bees. a great chirping andtwittering went on among the birds, busy with their summerhouse-keeping, and, far away, the white-winged gulls were dippingand diving in the sea, where ships, like larger birds, went sailing toand fro.

"oh, phebe, it's such a lovely day, i do wish your fine secret wasgoing to happen right away! i feel just like having a good time;don't you?" said rose, waving her arms as if she was going to fly.

"i often feel that way, but i have to wait for my good times, anddon't stop working to wish for 'em. there, now you can finish assoon as the dust settles; i must go do my stairs," and phebe trudgedaway with the broom, singing as she went.

rose leaned where she was, and fell to thinking how many goodtimes she had had lately, for the gardening had prospered finely,and she was learning to swim and row, and there were drives andwalks, and quiet hours of reading and talk with uncle alec, and,best of all, the old pain and ennui seldom troubled her now. shecould work and play all day, sleep sweetly all night, and enjoy lifewith the zest of a healthy, happy child. she was far from being asstrong and hearty as phebe, but she was getting on; the once palecheeks had colour in them now, the hands were growing plumpand brown, and the belt was not much too loose. no one talked toher about her health, and she forgot that she had "no constitution."she took no medicine but dr. alec's three great remedies, and theyseemed to suit her excellently. aunt plenty said it was the pills;but, as no second batch had ever followed the first, i think the oldlady was mistaken.

rose looked worthy of her name as she stood smiling to herselfover a happier secret than any phebe had a secret which she didnot know herself till she found out, some years later, the magic ofgood health.

"'look only,' said the brownie,'at the pretty gown of blue,at the kerchief pinned about her head,and at her little shoe,"'

said a voice from below, as a great cabbage-rose came flyingagainst her cheek.

"what is the princess dreaming about up there in herhanging-garden?" added dr. alec as she flung back amorning-glory.

"i was wishing i could do something pleasant this fine day;something very new and interesting, for the wind makes me feelfrisky and gay.""suppose we take a pull over to the island? i intended to go thisafternoon; but if you feel more like it now, we can be off at once.""i do! i do! i'll come in fifteen minutes, uncle. i must just scrabblemy room to rights, for phebe has got a great deal to do."rose caught up the rugs and vanished as she spoke, while dr. alecwent in, saying to himself, with an indulgent smile"it may upset things a trifle, but half a child's pleasure consists inhaving their fun when they want it."never did duster flap more briskly than the one rose used thatday, and never was a room "scrabbled" to rights in such haste ashers. tables and chairs flew into their places as if alive; curtainsshook as if a gale was blowing; china rattled and small articlestumbled about as if a young earthquake was playing with them.

the boating suit went on in a twinkling, and rose was off with ahop and a skip, little dreaming how many hours it would be beforeshe saw her pretty room again.

uncle alec was putting a large basket into the boat when shearrived, and before they were off phebe came running down with aqueer, knobby bundle done up in a water-proof.

"we can't eat half that luncheon, and i know we shall not need somany wraps. i wouldn't lumber the boat up so," said rose, whostill had secret scares when on the water.

"couldn't you make a smaller parcel, phebe?" asked dr. alec,eyeing the bundle suspiciously.

"no, sir, not in such a hurry," and phebe laughed as she gave aparticularly large knob a good poke.

"well, it will do for ballast. don't forget the note to mrs. jessie, ibeg of you.""no, sir. i'll send it right off," and phebe ran up the bank as if shehad wings to her feet.

"we'll take a look at the lighthouse first, for you have not beenthere yet, and it is worth seeing. by the time we have done that itwill be pretty warm, and we will have lunch under the trees on theisland."rose was ready for anything, and enjoyed her visit to thelighthouse on the point very much, especially climbing up thenarrow stairs and going inside the great lantern. they made a longstay, for dr. alec seemed in no hurry to go, and kept lookingthrough his spy-glass as if he expected to discover somethingremarkable on sea or land. it was past twelve before they reachedthe island, and rose was ready for her lunch long before she got it.

"now this is lovely! i do wish the boys were here. won't it be niceto have them with us all their vacation? why, it begins to-day,doesn't it? oh, i wish i'd remembered it sooner, and perhaps theywould have come with us," she said, as they lay luxuriously eatingsandwiches under the old apple-tree.

"so we might. next time we won't be in such a hurry. i expect thelads will take our heads off when they find us out," answered dr.

alec, placidly drinking cold tea.

"uncle, i smell a frying sort of a smell," rose said, pausingsuddenly as she was putting away the remains of the lunch half anhour later.

"so do i; it is fish, i think."for a moment they both sat with their noses in the air, sniffing likehounds; then dr. alec sprang up, saying with great decision"now, this won't do! no one is permitted on this island withoutasking leave. i must see who dares to fry fish on my privateproperty."taking the basket on one arm and the bundle on the other, hestrode away towards the traitorous smell, looking as fierce as alion, while rose marched behind under her umbrella.

"we are robinson crusoe and his man friday going to see if thesavages have come," she said presently, for her fancy was full ofthe dear old stories that all children love so well.

"and there they are! two tents and two boats, as i live! theserascals mean to enjoy themselves, that's evident.""there ought to be more boats and no tents. i wonder where theprisoners are?""there are traces of them," and dr. alec pointed to the heads andtails of fishes strewn on the grass.

"and there are more," said rose, laughing, as she pointed to ascarlet heap of what looked like lobsters.

"the savages are probably eating their victims now; don't you hearthe knives rattle in that tent?""we ought to creep up and peep; crusoe was cautious, you know,and friday scared out of his wits," added rose, still keeping up thejoke.

"but this crusoe is going to pounce upon them, regardless ofconsequences. if i am killed and eaten, you seize the basket andrun for the boat; there are provisions enough for your voyagehome."with that uncle alec slipped round to the front of the tent and,casting in the big bundle like a bomb-shell, roared out, in a voiceof thunder"pirates, surrender!"a crash, a shout, a laugh, and out came the savages, brandishingknives and forks, chicken bones, and tin mugs, and all fell uponthe intruder, pommelling him unmercifully as they cried"you came too soon! we are not half ready! you've spoilt it all!

where is rose?""here i am," answered a half-stifled voice, and rose wasdiscovered sitting on the pile of red flannel bathing clothes, whichshe had mistaken for lobsters, and where she had fallen in a fit ofmerriment when she discovered that the cannibals were her merrycousins.

"you good-for-nothing boys! you are always bursting out upon mein some ridiculous way, and i always get taken in because i'm notused to such pranks. uncle is as bad as the rest, and it's great fun,"she said, as the lads came round her, half scolding, halfwelcoming, and wholly enjoying the double surprise.

"you were not to come till afternoon, and mamma was to be hereto receive you. everything is in a mess now, except your tent; wegot that in order the first thing, and you can sit there and see uswork," said archie, doing the honours as usual.

"rose felt it in her bones, as dolly says, that something was in thewind, and wanted to be off at once. so i let her come, and shouldhave kept her away an hour longer if your fish had not betrayedyou," explained uncle alec, subsiding from a ferocious crusoeinto his good-natured self again.

"as this seat is rather damp, i think i'll rise," said rose, as theexcitement lessened a little.

several fishy hands helped her up, and charlie said, as he scatteredthe scarlet garments over the grass with an oar"we had a jolly good swim before dinner, and i told the brats tospread these to dry. hope you brought your things, rose, for youbelong to the lobsters, you know, and we can have no end of funteaching you to dive and float and tread water.""i didn't bring anything " began rose, but was interrupted by thebrats (otherwise will and geordie), who appeared bearing the bigbundle, so much demoralised by its fall that a red flannel tunictrailed out at one end and a little blue dressing-gown at the other,while the knobs proved to be a toilet-case, rubbers, and a silvermug.

"oh, that sly phebe! this was the secret, and she bundled up thosethings after i went down to the boat," cried rose, with sparklingeyes.

"guess something is smashed inside, for a bit of glass fell out,"observed will, as they deposited the bundle at her feet.

"catch a girl going anywhere without a looking-glass. we haven'tgot one among the whole lot of us," added mac, with masculinescorn.

"dandy has; i caught him touching up his wig behind the treesafter our swim," cut in geordie, wagging a derisive finger at steve,who promptly silenced him by a smart rap on the head with thedrum-stick he had just polished off.

"come, come, you lazy lubbers, fall to work, or we shall not beready for mamma. take rose's things to her tent, and tell her allabout it, prince. mac and steve, you cut away and bring up the restof the straw; and you small chaps, clear off the table, if you havestuffed all you can. please, uncle, i'd like your advice about theboundary lines and the best place for the kitchen."everyone obeyed the chief, and rose was escorted to her tent bycharlie, who devoted himself to her service. she was charmedwith her quarters, and still more so with the programme which heunfolded before her as they worked.

"we always camp out somewhere in vacation, and this year wethought we'd try the island. it is handy, and our fireworks willshow off well from here.""shall we stay over the fourth? three whole days! oh, me! what afrolic it will be!""bless your heart, we often camp for a week, we big fellows; butthis year the small chaps wanted to come, so we let them. we havegreat larks, as you'll see; for we have a cave and play captainkidd, and have shipwrecks, and races, and all sorts of games. archand i are rather past that kind of thing now, but we do it to pleasethe children," added charlie, with a sudden recollection of hissixteen years.

"i had no idea boys had such good times. their plays never seemeda bit interesting before. but i suppose that was because i neverknew any boys very well, or perhaps you are unusually nice ones,"observed rose, with an artless air of appreciation that was veryflattering.

"we are a pretty clever set, i fancy; but we have a good manyadvantages, you see. there are a tribe of us, to begin with; then ourfamily has been here for ages, and we have plenty of 'spondulics,'

so we can rather lord it over the other fellows, and do as we like.

there, ma'am, you can hang your smashed glass on that nail anddo up your back hair as fine as you please. you can have a blueblanket or a red one, and a straw pillow or an air cushion for yourhead, whichever you like. you can trim up to any extent, and be asfree and easy as squaws in a wigwam, for this corner is set apartfor you ladies and we never cross the line uncle is drawing untilwe ask leave. anything more i can do for you, cousin?""no, thank you. i think i'll leave the rest till auntie comes, and goand help you somewhere else, if i may.""yes, indeed, come on and see to the kitchen. can you cook?"asked charlie, as he led the way to the rocky nook where archiewas putting up a sail-cloth awning.

"i can make tea and toast bread.""well, we'll shew you how to fry fish, and make chowder. nowyou just set these pots and pans round tastefully, and sort of tidy upa bit, for aunt jessie insists on doing some of the work, and i wantit to be decent here."by four o'clock the camp was in order, and the weary workerssettled down on lookout rock to watch for mrs. jessie and jamie,who was never far from mamma's apron string. they looked like aflock of blue-birds, all being in sailor rig, with blue ribbon enoughflying from the seven hats to have set up a milliner. very tunefulblue-birds they were, too, for all the lads sang, and the echo oftheir happy voices reached mrs. jessie long before she saw them.

the moment the boat hove in sight up went the island flag, and theblue-jackets cheered lustily, as they did on every possibleoccasion, like true young americans. this welcome was answeredby the flapping of a handkerchief and the shrill "rah! rah! rah!"of the one small tar who stood in the stern waving his hatmanfully, while a maternal hand clutched him firmly in the rear.

cleopatra landing from her golden galley never received a heartiergreeting than "little mum" as she was borne to her tent by theyoung folk, for love of whom she smilingly resigned herself tothree days of discomfort; while jamie immediately attachedhimself to rose, assuring her of his protection from the manifoldperils which might assail them.

taught by long experience that boys are always hungry, auntjessie soon proposed supper, and proceeded to get it, enveloped inan immense apron, with an old hat of archie's stuck atop of hercap. rose helped, and tried to be as handy as phebe, though thepeculiar style of table she had to set made it no easy task. it wasaccomplished at last, and a very happy party lay about under thetrees, eating and drinking out of anyone's plate and cup, and quiteuntroubled by the frequent appearance of ants and spiders in placeswhich these interesting insects are not expected to adorn.

"i never thought i should like to wash dishes, but i do," said rose,as she sat in a boat after supper lazily rinsing plates in the sea, androcking luxuriously as she wiped them.

"mum is mighty particular; we just give 'em a scrub with sand, anddust 'em off with a bit of paper. it's much the best way, i think,"replied geordie, who reposed in another boat alongside.

"how phebe would like this! i wonder uncle did not have hercome.""i believe he tried to, but dolly was as cross as two sticks, and saidshe couldn't spare her. i'm sorry, for we all like the phebe bird, andshe'd chirp like a good one out here, wouldn't she?""she ought to have a holiday like the rest of us. it's too bad to leaveher out."this thought came back to rose several times that evening, forphebe would have added much to the little concert they had in themoonlight, would have enjoyed the stories told, been quick atguessing the conundrums, and laughed with all her heart at the fun.

the merry going to bed would have been the best of all, for rosewanted someone to cuddle under the blue blanket with her, thereto whisper and giggle and tell secrets, as girls delight to do.

long after the rest were asleep, rose lay wide awake, excited bythe novelty of all about her, and a thought that had come into hermind. far away she heard a city clock strike twelve; a large starlike a mild eye peeped in at the opening of the tent, and the softplash of the waves seemed calling her to come out. aunt jessie layfast asleep, with jamie rolled up like a kitten at her feet, andneither stirred as rose in her wrapper crept out to see how theworld looked at midnight.

she found it very lovely, and sat down on a cracker keg to enjoy itwith a heart full of the innocent sentiment of her years.

fortunately, dr. alec saw her before she had time to catch cold,for coming out to tie back the door-flap of his tent for more air, hebeheld the small figure perched in the moonlight. having no fearof ghosts, he quietly approached, and, seeing that she was wideawake, said, with a hand on her shining hair"what is my girl doing here?""having a good time," answered rose, not at all startled.

"i wonder what she was thinking about with such a sober look.""the story you told of the brave sailor who gave up his place onthe raft to the woman, and the last drop of water to the poor baby.

people who make sacrifices are very much loved and admired,aren't they?" she asked, earnestly.

"if the sacrifice is a true one. but many of the bravest never areknown, and get no praise. that does not lessen their beauty, thoughperhaps it makes them harder, for we all like sympathy," and dr.

alec sighed a patient sort of sigh.

"i suppose you have made a great many? would you mind tellingme one of them?" asked rose, arrested by the sigh.

"my last was to give up smoking," was the very unromantic answerto her pensive question.

"why did you?""bad example for the boys.""that was very good of you, uncle! was it hard?""i'm ashamed to say it was. but as a wise old fellow once said, 'it isnecessary to do right; it is not necessary to be happy.' "rose pondered over the saying as if it pleased her, and then said,with a clear, bright look"a real sacrifice is giving up something you want or enjoy verymuch, isn't it?""yes.""doing it one's own self because one loves another person verymuch and wants her to be happy?""yes.""and doing it pleasantly, and being glad about it, and not mindingthe praise if it doesn't come?""yes, dear, that is the true spirit of self-sacrifice; you seem tounderstand it, and i dare say you will have many chances in yourlife to try the real thing. i hope they won't be very hard ones.""i think they will," began rose, and there stopped short.

"well, make one now, and go to sleep, or my girl will be illto-morrow, and then the aunts will say camping out was bad forher.""i'll go good night!" and throwing him a kiss, the little ghostvanished, leaving uncle alec to pace the shore and think aboutsome of the unsuspected sacrifices that had made him what hewas.