.

"Papa, I want a word with you about Cal. I do not like Foster and Boyd;
that is, they seem to me to be unprincipled men, of violent temper and
altogether very bad associates for him; and you must have noticed how
intimate he is with them of late."

"Yes, I regret it, but have no authority to forbid the intimacy."

"I know; but, papa, you have great influence; he is proud to be known
as your nephew; and don't you think you might be able to induce him to
give them up for some better friend; my brother, for instance? Papa, he
is twenty-one now, and are not his principles sufficiently fixed to
enable him to lead Cal and Arthur, doing them good instead of being
injured by association with them?"

"Yes, you are right; Horace is not one to be easily led, and Calhoun is.
I am glad you have spoken and reminded me of my duty."

"My dear father, please do not think I was meaning to do that," she
cried, blushing, "it would be stepping out of my place. But Edward and I
have had several talks about Cal of late, and decided that we will make
him very welcome here, and try to do him good. Edward suggested, too,
what a good and helpful friend Horace might be to him, if you approved,
and I said I would speak to you first, and perhaps to my brother
afterward."

"Quite right. I think Horace will be very willing. I should be loth to
have him drawn into intimacy with Boyd or Foster, but as he likes
neither their conduct nor their principles, I have little fear of that."

They sauntered about the garden a few moments longer, then rejoined the
others, who were still in the library.

The children were romping with each other and Bruno on the veranda
without; the merry shouts, the silvery laughter coming pleasantly in
through the open windows.

"How happy they seem, Cousin Elsie," remarked Calhoun, turning to her.

"Yes, they are," she answered, smiling. "You are fond of children, Cal?"

"Yes; suppose you let me join them."

"Suppose we all do," suggested Mr. Dinsmore, seeing Travilla lay asi

Martha Finley (1828 - 1909) was a teacher and author of numerous works, the most well known being the 28 volume Elsie Dinsmore series which was published over a span of 38 years. The daughter of Presbyterian minister Dr. James Brown Finley and his wife and cousin Maria Theresa Brown Finley, she was born on April 26th, 1828 in Chillicothe, Ohio. Finley wrote many of her books under the psodonym Martha Farquharson. She died in 1909 in Elkton, Maryland, where she moved in 1876.

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