7

WAITING FOR FATHER.
(See Frontispiece.)

   
 
 

ep >S it time for father to come home yet, mother
ee ee dean? If little May had asked that

fi, question once, she had asked it twenty times
since dinner ; and it was not to be wondered
at that Mrs. Wilson began to get a wee bit
tired of hearing it so often. At last, seeing
that her small daughter was too excited to settle to anything
indoors, Mrs. Wilson said, after looking at the clock,
‘Father will soon be home now, dearie. Come to the gate
with mother, and we will wait for him.” May ran for her
hat; and then, clasping dolly in her arm, and holding fast
to mother’s hand, she stood; as you may see her in our picture,
waiting for father.

Would you like to know why May was so specially
anxious on that particular day for fathers return? You
shall hear, then. It was her birthday. In the trim little
parlour of the cottage home a grand tea was laid, with
a wonderful cake of mother’s making in the middle of the
table. Naturally, mother and May could not think of
sitting down to that meal without father. So there they
stood, watching and waiting for the father who was all the
world to them.

At last May gave a shout. Here he comes! And off
she flew, even dropping dolly in her excitement, never
stopping until she rushed, breathless and happy, into father’s
outstretched arms. Was the party a success? ‘That, surely,
is a question that needs no answer!