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quest of something really vital. Oh, here it was-- "Jottings from Glen St. Mary." Susan settled down keenly, reading each one over aloud to extract all possible gratification from it. Mrs. Blythe and her visitor, Miss Cornelia--alias Mrs. Marshall Elliott --were chatting together near the open door that led to the veranda, through which a cool, delicious breeze was blowing, bringing whiffs of phantom perfume from the garden, and charming gay echoes from the vine-hung corner where Rilla and Miss Oliver and Walter were laughing and talking. Wherever Rilla Blythe was, there was laughter. There was another occupant of the living-room, curled up on a couch, who must not be overlooked, since he was a creature of marked individuality, and, moreover, had the distinction of being the only living thing whom Susan really hated. All cats are mysterious but Dr. Jekyll-and-Mr. Hyde--"Doc" for short-- was trebly so. He was a cat of double personality--or else, as Susan vowed, he was possessed by the devil. To begin with, there had been something uncanny about the very dawn of his existence. Four years previously Rilla Blythe had had a treasured darling of a kitten, white as snow, with a saucy black tip to its tail, which she called Jack Frost. Susan disliked Jack Frost, though she could not or would not give any valid reason therefor. "Take my word for it, Mrs. Dr. dear," she was wont to say ominously, "that cat will come to no good." "But why do you think so?" Mrs. Blythe would ask. "I do not think--I know," was all the answer Susan would vouchsafe. With the rest of the Ingleside folk Jack Frost was a favourite; he was so very clean and well groomed, and never allowed a spot or stain to be seen on his beautiful white suit; he had endearing ways of purring and snuggling; he was scrupulously honest. And then a domestic tragedy took place at Ingleside. Jack Frost had kittens! It would be vain to try to picture Susan's triumph. Had she not always insisted that that cat would turn out to be a delusion and a snare? Now they could se

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