Dr. Anderson and Mr. Quinn were already in the dining room, having arrived a few minutes earlier. They were still busily talking when Aunt Madge and Mary Lee entered.

Mr. Quinn had completed his report of the work that had been done at the farm and was enthusiastic about the prospects for the coming summer and fall. The arrival of the newcomers halted the conversation. The doctor looked toward his fiancee inquiringly, and she nodded gayly to him, whereupon he grinned boyishly at Mary Lee and she smiled back at him.

"Well, Mary Lee, now that you know the secret, we can tell the rest of the folks," and he immediately proceeded to do so.

Mr. and Mrs. Quinn were delighted and their good wishes were cordial and sincere. They were very fond of these two friends and they felt they owed much to them. Mixed with their gratefulness and appreciation was the glad feeling that this romance had been partly cemented through them and through their Mary Lee.

"Madge, dear," said Dr. Anderson, as they sat at the table partaking of the excellent and well-cooked supper. "Mr. Quinn has done splendid work here, but I cannot get him to admit that he works too hard."

"I hope it will be the means of his making lots of money," replied Miss Cameron. "I'm glad he shares in the profits due to his labor and good management. Dear, you were extremely fortunate to find so good a manager."

"That I was," affirmed the doctor.

But Mrs. Quinn couldn't see it that way. "Fortunate, you fortunate? Why, it's we who have to bless our lucky stars for being here."

Mr. Quinn nodded his head very decidedly in confirmation.

"That is the truth, friends," he said. "My wife finds it a real delight to live out here, and you know, work is never hard or arduous when one is in love with it. Moreover, it's just the place for the children and for Mary Lee, too."

The doctor turned to the latter.

"I suppose you know, young lady, that you are to come to the city this fall and enter high school. Both Mr. and Mrs. Quinn know of it and have agreed that it is the thing for you to do."

Mary Lee turned her happy, joyful face first toward Dr. Anderson and then toward Aunt Madge and Mr. and Mrs. Quinn.

"And if I go," she spoke slowly as if she were realizing what it all meant, "I shall be with Ruth and Letty and the other girls and I can be at the Campfire Girls' meetings and see Bobbie and, oh, ever so many other things, can't I?"

Then her face clouded suddenly.

"But won't Mrs. Quinn need me here?" she asked. "Oh, I'm sure she will, and it's wicked for me to think of anything else. And anyway, I love it here, so much."

"I'll not need you, my dear, except for your smiles and cheerfulness," said Mrs. Quinn from the kitchen. "You can just make up your mind you are going." And Mrs. Quinn spoke very decidedly.

"You see," added Aunt Madge, "you really need the schooling. You are getting older and there are things you must learn and which you cannot acquire except in school. You must have an education to get on in the world."

"By the way," interrupted the doctor, "has Mary Lee ever thought of what she is going to be when she grows up?"

Everyone in the room looked at the girl expectantly.

"When I grow up," said Mary Lee, speaking in a way which showed she had made up her mind long ago, "I am going to be a nurse—a Red Cross nurse. In the meantime I am going to be a Red Cross Girl."

"Why, of course," replied the doctor. "I remember now you did say last year that you wanted to be a nurse when you grew older. Isn't it fortunate," he continued, "that I can help you because I am a physician. We will certainly give you lots of chances to become a good nurse and in the meantime you can learn much as 'Mary Lee, our Red Cross Girl.'"

"Why, that's fine," said Aunt Madge enthusiastically, while the boys clapped their hands, and Mr. and Mrs. Quinn both smiled proudly.

"And," added Aunt Madge, "what Mary Lee has learned in the way of first aid to the injured as a Campfire Girl, will help her materially to be a good and capable Red Cross Girl."

Mary Lee just beamed. She was too happy to speak but her looks expressed her feelings.

A very quiet though determined voice now spoke up.

"I'm going to be a farmer boy, and when I grow up I'm going to be a farmer-man, just like father." It was Eddie, the younger of the two boys.

"Why, of course," agreed the doctor, after the laugh was over, and looking at Mr. Quinn, who was smiling with great pride. "And I hope you will make as good a farmer as your father, Eddie. And, Tom, what are you going to be when you grow up?"

Tom spoke bashfully but yet none the less decisively.

"I'm going to be a real sailor and go all over the world."

"That's splendid, Tom," said Aunt Madge.

"Yes, Tom," added the doctor. "There are a lot of sailors-to-be until they reach the age of ten, so you won't be lonely."

The merry supper party was now over. Aunt Madge insisted upon helping to clear the table and to dry the dishes. While the three were busily at work, Dr. Anderson and Mr. Quinn went out on the porch, to smoke.

For a few moments the men puffed away in silence. Then Mr. Quinn resumed the subject they had been discussing before supper.

"You say you are having an investigation made, doctor?"

"Yes, Mr. Quinn. Mr. Cameron left instructions to do so before he went to Europe. Some day we may know who Mary Lee's parents were. I feel sure of that."

"I hope so," answered the older man. "She has done so much for other folks, I hope we shall be able to do something worth while for her."

Mr. Quinn continued after a pause.

"Do you know, Dr. Anderson, the child has absolute faith that some day she and her relations, those that are still alive, will be reunited?"

"If that's the case, I think it would not be wise to let Mary Lee know anything of the search that is being made because something might turn up to shatter her hopes."

Mr. Quinn nodded understandingly.

A few minutes later, the ladies came out on the porch. The boys had already gone to their room as was their usual custom.

"Are we all ready for our ride?" the doctor asked.

Aunt Madge nodded. They invited Mr. Quinn to join them, but he had some last duties to perform and he wanted to retire early. So he bade the guests good-night.

The next minute the machine was gliding down the road.