"You'll be coming north for your holidays next summer, I suppose. That will be a great old time for the U. S. C.," he said hopefully.
"It would be simply too fine for words if the U. S. C. could go to Washington for Washington's Birthday next winter the way it did this winter," returned Ethel Blue, beaming at him.
"There certainly is every inducement to get up an excursion there now," said James. "You know we've decided on a round robin, don't you?"
"Helen and Ethel Brown and the Honorary Member and Dorothy will be here in Rosemont, Margaret will be in Glen Point, Della in New York, you at Fort Myer and we boys at Harvard and Yale and the Boston Tech. Helen is going to start a letter on the first day of each month. She'll tell us what she's been doing. Ethel Brown will add on a bit; so will Dicky and Dorothy. It will go to Margaret. She'll put in a big batch of Glen Point news and send it in town to Della. When she has finished she'll send it on to Tom at New Haven, and in course of time it will reach Roger and me in Boston and Cambridge and we'll send it on to you in Washington."
"That will be perfectly great!" exclaimed Ethel. "You can illustrate it with kodaks, and we'll all know what every one of us is doing all the time."
"That was Aunt Daisy's idea. She thought we'd all like to keep together in some way even if we couldn't have our Saturday meetings."
"Isn't she splendid!" ejaculated Ethel Blue, and at that instant she felt that she was far richer than ever before in her life.
The morning of the breakfast proved to be clear and not too frost-filled for comfort.
"We really hardly need the glass," Mrs. Smith said as she and Dorothy examined the terrace at an early hour.
"It was safer to have it, though," answered Dorothy. "It might have rained and it never would have done to have the bride take cold. Now we can have the sashes open and the fire will take off the chill. It's a great combination."
Mrs. Smith agreed that it was, and went on with her scrutiny of the table.
When the guests arrived at nine o'clock, which was the very latest moment permitted them by Roger, they found the sun shining merrily on silver and glass and china, twinkling as if it were in the secret of the jokes that Helen and Roger had up their sleeves. Mr. Emerson had sent over his car for the Hancocks, for the Doctor's car was too small to convey the entire family.