FROM FOUR TO SEVEN.

 "GGo o iviattie, dear," said thoughtful Hattie. "No fair! No fail
to tell!" shouted the children; but Hattie took Ruth's hand and led
her up to Mattie. Mattie kissed her first, and there was no dreadful
" spatting" at all; and nobody said again that it was n't fair. So
the sunshine came quickly back into Ruth's face, and the game went
merrily on.
 Mamma made buttonhole bouquets of dainty blue forget-me-nots,
and pinned one on each little girl's dress.
 By and by, when they were all very hungry, the dining-room
doors were thrown open and the children went in in pairs. The
long table looked very gay. The shutters were closed, and the gas
was lighted. How red the strawberries looked The tall dishes of
pop-corn and candy, and the baskets of frosted cookies and currant
cake seemed very tempting. A merrier group never gathered around
a tea-table; but every little head was bowed while papa asked God
to bless them.
 There were many jokes and stories and conundrums. They all
laughed at Nell when she found a cracker pig on her plate. It was
very amusablee,' they thought.
 But with all the chatter, the biscuit and lemonade and berries
disappeared before something happened that Marjorie herself did
not know about. What do you think it was Laura came walk-
ing in, with a beautiful birthday cake! She set it down in front
of Marjorie's plate, and the dear little girl just said, O-h !"
 It was round, with white frosting trimmed with pink scallops,
and Marjorie's name and age in pink letters. Around the cake
were burning brightly six wax tapers above a wreath of smilax and
roses, one taper for each year of her life.
 Then the ice-cream was served, and all the children ate till they
could eat no more.
 Suppper was early, so there was time for one more game of
forfeits before the door-bell began to ring, and messengers came
for the little ladies. Every one said good-night with a happy
face.
 They did not look like the same children, with gossamers and
rubbers over their pretty white dresses and dainty slippers. The