The Quest of Happy Hearts | Page 3

in to supper, the old place hasn't had such a merry set for quite a while, and it does my heart good to have you."
The old lady turned and led the way into a spacious dining room, where the table was set with the daintiest china and gleaming silver.
The room also seemed filled with the softest most musical notes, that made the place seem to Beth and Alice like fairyland at once.
"Now tell me about your journey," Aunt Janice began, after seeing to the comfort of each, because she declared, they must really be almost famished after the long trip.
Soon they began to talk and the evening advanced in an unaccountable manner toward bedtime, so delightful were the hours of getting acquainted. When she felt they must break up, Aunt Janice led the way up the winding stair.
"Good-night, and happy dreams!" she said, with a smile for all the group, "take a good rest now, and be ready for some good times tomorrow."
"Oh, Aunt Janice, we're already having a lovely visit, and you are indeed kind to invite us for a stay in this beautiful, old house."
"The more the merrier, my dear," she beamed on Nora. "All of you in turn, will make the old place far happier than it has been in a long while, and I shall be much helped by having you here."
"Is it a fairy castle?" Alice had slipped one hand into the old lady's, as they stood talking together.
"I think I'll wait a bit and let you tell me if it seems like a real fairy castle, Alice, after you've been here awhile."
"That will be fun," Beth answered.
Aunt Janice smiled.
"Don't you believe in fairies? The fairies I believe in have always been welcome companions of mine, namely, the fairies of kindness, good thoughts and wishes and deeds; they drive out loneliness, if you let them live under your roof. Moreover, the world then seen is brighter because of their light."
Alice beamed.
"There is a little song that says, 'Brighten the corner where you are--', I love brightness and light, don't you, Aunt Janice?"
"I believe we feel that way, Janey, because of the One who is the Source of all good thoughts, wishes and deeds and who said, 'I am the Light of the world.' How desolate life would be without the light of His love, shed on dark pathways to make them shine!"
Nora and Janey looked quickly into the old lady's face. They saw both sadness and gladness, smiling through.
"I'm sure we're going to love it here," they said impulsively, as they threw their arms around the old lady to bid her goodnight.
"I'm ever so glad that you feel that way; you may look forward to some happy hours and surprises, I hope--just wait and see!"
Then Aunt Janice turned, and with a wave of her hand, disappeared into a room at the end of the long hall.

CHAPTER III
A GLIMPSE OF THE TOWER ROOM
Not even the excitement of anticipation could keep the Merediths awake that first night of their visit to Land's End, but after a refreshing sleep, bright and early the next morning they were awakened by the sun shining through the green blinds that shaded the old castle windows.
Also by Aunt Janice calling pleasantly, "Did you have a good night's rest, and are you ready to go down to breakfast now?"
She beamed happily around on all the young Meredith's, as they hurriedly joined her at the top of the stairs.
A little later at the breakfast table she asked suddenly,--"What shall the program be today; an exploring expedition into the forest--a trip to the city to shop, or perhaps a ride on the ponies and a visit to the old castle gardens?"
"Oh," chorused the Merediths--"everything sounds so delightful, it's hard to choose!"
Aunt Janice's eyes twinkled.
"Perhaps I'd best help you out to begin with then--suppose you explore the gardens and the old place this morning; then by the afternoon, you'll be ready to choose what you'd prefer next. I shall not go along, but you are to feel perfectly at home; go anywhere you fancy--_only_--," Aunt Janice lowered her voice--"only pass quickly by the tower room at the extreme west wing--perhaps sometime--," the old lady paused, a sigh escaping her lips, that she forgot to stifle, but quickly remembering, brought back a bright smile, as she first led them in family prayers and then waved them off, bidding her young visitors to have a happy morning.
"What a wonderful old place!" Nora was the first to speak, as they passed here and there examining one thing after another.
"It certainly is," Harry's eyes were thoughtful. "I wonder why Dad has only dropped a word, here and there, of it, and about Aunt Janice. I hardly realized that she was real until we came and saw!"
"It puzzles me, too," Nora