After school closed Mrs. Allen had a serious conversation with her son on the subject of First Holy Communion. "You are now past eleven, dear child, and I want you and Amy to devote the whole vacation to immediate preparation for your First Communion. Sister Amy is thirteen, but owing to her infirmity, has been deprived of that favor until now. I have made arrangements with the Sisters of Mercy to take you for the next six weeks, that you may be under special instruction and away from mischievous pranks and scrapes like those of last summer, when in company with the village boys."