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+Project Gutenberg's The Pleasant Street Partnership, by Mary F. Leonard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Pleasant Street Partnership
+       A Neighborhood Story
+
+Author: Mary F. Leonard
+
+Illustrator: Frank T. Merrill
+
+Release Date: June 26, 2007 [EBook #21944]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PLEASANT STREET PARTNERSHIP ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Garcia, Emmy and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Kentuckiana Digital Library)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+The Pleasant Street Partnership
+
+
+
+
+BOOKS BY MARY F. LEONARD.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+        =THE SPECTACLE MAN.= A STORY OF THE MISSING
+        BRIDGE. 266 pages. Cloth. $1.00.
+
+        =MR. PAT'S LITTLE GIRL.= A STORY OF THE
+        ARDEN FORESTERS. 322 pages. Cloth. $1.50.
+
+        =THE PLEASANT STREET PARTNERSHIP.= A
+        NEIGHBORHOOD STORY. 269 pages. Cloth.
+
+[Illustration: A SMALL BOY . . . STOOD SURVEYING THEM WITH GREAT
+COMPOSURE]
+
+
+
+
+
+The
+Pleasant Street Partnership
+
+_A Neighborhood Story_
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+  By
+  Mary F. Leonard
+
+
+  _Illustrated by_
+  Frank T. Merrill
+
+[Illustration]
+
+        W. A. WILDE COMPANY
+        BOSTON      CHICAGO
+
+
+
+
+        _Copyright, July, 1903._
+        BY W. A. WILDE COMPANY.
+        _All rights reserved._
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+        THE PLEASANT STREET PARTNERSHIP.
+
+
+
+
+=To Charlotte=
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                        PAGE
+
+      I. A WAVE OF IMPROVEMENT                   11
+
+     II. WHAT SHALL WE CALL IT?                  21
+
+    III. AN ALIEN                                24
+
+     IV. MISS WILBUR                             35
+
+      V. THE SHOP                                42
+
+     VI. IN THE EYES OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD         50
+
+    VII. A SPOOL OF TWIST                        60
+
+   VIII. A MATTER OF LOYALTY                     72
+
+     IX. IN THE SHOP                             82
+
+      X. ALEXINA                                 90
+
+     XI. THE LAST STRAW                          98
+
+    XII. THE DISCOVERY                          107
+
+   XIII. AFTERWARD                              115
+
+    XIV. MRS. MILLARD DEPARTS                   121
+
+     XV. GIANT DESPAIR                          129
+
+    XVI. CHARLOTTE                              138
+
+   XVII. AN EVENING CALL                        146
+
+  XVIII. THE ADVENTURES OF A BIRTHDAY CAKE      156
+
+    XIX. TEA AND TALK                           166
+
+     XX. MERRY HEARTS                           175
+
+    XXI. THE RICH MISS CARPENTER                185
+
+    XXII. VALENTINES                            192
+
+   XXIII. NEIGHBORS                             203
+
+    XXIV. WAYLAND                               215
+
+     XXV. THE PRICE OF A BOND                   222
+
+    XXVI. NORAH'S ARK                           229
+
+   XXVII. AN ANNIVERSARY                        236
+
+  XXVIII. WHAT IT MEANT                         248
+
+    XXIX. A LETTER                              253
+
+     XXX. CHANGES                               262
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+                                                                     PAGE
+  "A small boy . . . stood surveying them with great composure"
+                                                 _Frontispiece_       17
+
+  "Securely entrenched behind the lace curtain, she levelled her
+      glass"                                                          61
+
+  "She sank into a chair"                                            109
+
+  "James Mandeville's taste was exacting"                            194
+
+
+
+
+The
+Pleasant Street Partnership
+
+=A Neighborhood Story=
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIRST
+
+A WAVE OF IMPROVEMENT
+
+
+Pleasant Street was regarded by the Terrace as merely an avenue
+of approach to its own exclusive precincts. That Pleasant Street
+came to an end at the Terrace seemed to imply that nothing was to
+be gained by going farther; and if you desired a quiet, substantial
+neighborhood,--none of your showy modern houses on meagre lots, but
+spacious dwellings, standing well apart from each other on high
+ground,--you found it here.
+
+It could not be denied that the Terrace was rather far down town.
+Around it the busy city was closing in, with its blocks of commonplace
+houses, its schools and sanitariums, its noisy car lines, until it
+seemed but a question of a few years when it would be engulfed in a
+wave of mediocrity. Fashion had long ago turned her face in another
+direction, and yet in a way the Terrace held its own. It could boast
+of some wealth, and more distinguished grandfathers were to be heard
+of within its small area than in the length and breadth of Dean
+Avenue.
+
+Its residents felt for each other that friendliness born of long
+association. Some of the best people of the town had built their homes
+here between thirty and forty years ago, and a comparison of
+directories would have shown a surprising proportion of the old names
+still represented.
+
+Perhaps no one thing contributes more to a sense of dignity than long
+residence in one house, and it was natural enough that the Terrace
+should shrug its shoulders at the row of toy dwellings that sprang up
+almost magically on Pleasant Street. That this thoroughfare, so long
+given over to side yards and vacant lots, was showing a disposition to
+improve, was a matter of no concern to the Terrace until unexpectedly
+its own territory was invaded.
+
+On the northeast corner of the Terrace and Pleasant Street there had
+long stood a cottage. In the midst of a large lot, with fine
+shade-trees around it and a beautifully kept lawn, it had never seemed
+out of place among its more pretentious neighbors; but now upon the
+death of its owner the property was divided into three lots and
+offered for sale. What this might mean was at first hardly realized,
+until one day men were discovered to be at work on the corner, digging
+a foundation.
+
+Upon inquiry it developed that a drug store was to be built. The
+neighborhood did not like this, but felt on the whole it might have
+been worse,--this conclusion, as Wayland Leigh pointed out later on,
+being founded on the mistaken hypothesis that all drug stores are
+pretty much alike.
+
+It happened that the druggist had for a brother a young and aspiring
+architect, who conceived the idea of putting up a building in keeping
+with a residence district. The result was a sloping-roofed structure
+whose shingled second story projected over the first, which was of
+concrete. It might have been a rural station, or post-office, or a
+seaside cottage, but a drug store it did not remotely suggest.
+
+The store opened on Pleasant Street; to reach the private entrance you
+must go in from the Terrace, where there was a square of lawn and a
+maple tree, relic of better days.
+
+The worst of it was its utter incongruousness, the best--so Alexina
+Russell said--that it invariably made you smile, and anything in this
+weary world that caused a smile was not wholly bad. Miss Sarah Leigh
+pretended to admire it, and declared she wanted to meet the architect.
+Of all things she liked originality. Mrs. Millard heard her
+disdainfully. Any departure from tradition was objectionable in her
+eyes, and she was deficient in a sense of humor. Judge Russell
+complained that now St. Mark's had taken to high-church customs, and
+the Terrace was degenerating, it was time for him to be put away in
+Spring Hill Cemetery.
+
+Pretty Madelaine, his granddaughter, looked longingly toward Dean
+Avenue, being divided between a desire for its new splendors and a
+complacent consciousness that it was something of a distinction in
+these days to live in the house where your father was born. Alexina,
+her sister, treated this with scorn. She loved the shabby old house
+for other reasons.
+
+In spite of the original intentions of the builder, fate decreed that
+this much-talked-of place was not to be a drug store after all, and
+early in the summer, before it was finished, it was advertised for
+rent.
+
+The plastering stage was beginning when the agent in charge one day
+appeared conducting a young woman over the premises. If the agent's
+manner revealed some slight curiosity concerning her, it was not to be
+wondered at, for it was more than probable he had never before seen so
+charming a person in the guise of a possible shopkeeper.
+
+Her bearing was dignified and businesslike, and if a smile hovered
+about her lips as they explored the odd little house, it did not go
+beyond the bounds of a polite interest. At length she seated herself
+on an empty nail keg in the shop, and became absorbed in thought. The
+agent leaned against the door frame and waited.
+
+"I shall want a few changes made if I lease it," she announced
+suddenly, after some minutes of silence.
+
+The agent started as her eyes met his. "Oh, certainly," he replied, as
+if ready to agree without hearing what they were. On second thought he
+added that the architect was at that moment coming up the street, and
+the best plan, perhaps, would be to submit her wishes to him.
+
+To this she graciously assented, and he left her. When he was gone,
+the young woman's dignity relaxed. She smiled broadly; she even
+laughed. "How ever did it happen!" she exclaimed.
+
+She produced a tape-line and made measurements, then she stood with
+the tip of her tongue touching her upper lip. "I do wish Marion could
+see it," she said. "She will never believe what a fascinatingly funny
+place it is."
+
+She was surveying the neighborhood from the front door when the agent
+returned, accompanied by the architect.
+
+She wanted very little, she announced reassuringly; a fireplace in the
+shop was the chief thing.
+
+The agent suggested that it would be far more expensive to heat the
+room with an open grate than with an anthracite base burner. Whereupon
+she explained that an open fire was part of her stock in trade, and it
+would be impossible to carry on her line of business without one.
+
+The agent ventured to inquire what her line was, and she answered with
+a twinkle in her eye, "Notions."
+
+The architect was doubtful about the fireplace, but not unwilling to
+discuss it, and they grew so friendly over the matter that the agent
+retired to the door and stared gloomily up the street.
+
+From the fireplace the discussion turned to other things. As a
+possible tenant, the young lady consulted the architect about the best
+color for the walls, so adroitly insinuating her own ideas as to the
+proper stain for the woodwork that they seemed his own.
+
+While they talked, a small boy in a gingham apron, with a sailor hat
+on the back of his curly head and a gray flannel donkey under his arm,
+wandered in and stood surveying them with great composure.
+
+"Who's going to live here?" he presently asked, his brown eyes upon
+the lady.
+
+She met his gaze with a smile that drew him a step nearer, but caused
+no break in his seriousness. "I am thinking of it," she said, adding,
+with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes, "if they will let me have a
+fireplace in this room. Shouldn't you want a fireplace if you were
+going to live here?"
+
+He nodded, "'Cause if you didn't, Santa Claus couldn't come."
+
+The lady turned gravely to the architect. "That is a consideration
+which had not occurred to me, but it is an important one. I shall not
+take it without the fireplace." Her manner said there was no need for
+further discussion.
+
+"What is your name?" she asked the small boy.
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"Do you mean you haven't any?"
+
+Another more vigorous shake.
+
+"Perhaps you have forgotten it?"
+
+"No, I haven't."
+
+"Why not tell, then? I am always willing to tell mine."
+
+"What is it?" he inquired with great promptness.
+
+"But I don't think it is fair to ask me when you won't tell yours."
+
+"You said you would."
+
+The lady laughed. "Very well, I am Miss Pennington."
+
+The small boy pondered this for a moment, then announced with much
+distinctness, "My name is James Mandeville Norton."
+
+"Well, James, I am glad to meet you. I see you are a fair-minded
+person. Do you live in this neighborhood?"
+
+James Mandeville pointed in the direction of the row of toy houses on
+Pleasant Street, and said he lived over there.
+
+"Then if they give me a fireplace, you and I will be neighbors."
+
+They were standing in the door, just outside which, on the sidewalk,
+was a velocipede. This James Mandeville now mounted with gravity. He
+did not express a hope that she might come to live near him, but there
+was friendliness in the tone in which he said good-by as he rode
+away.
+
+"Good-by Infinitesimal James," replied the lady.
+
+"My name's James Mandeville," he called back.
+
+In the course of a day or two the matter of the fireplace was adjusted
+and the lease signed. Norah Pennington was the tenant's name, and her
+references all the most timorous landlord could ask.
+
+On the afternoon of the day on which the transaction was closed Miss
+Pennington might have been seen walking along the Terrace, gazing
+about with interested eyes.
+
+"What dear old houses," she said to herself. "I am sure Marion will
+like it here. This might be Doubting Castle, and there is Palace
+Beautiful, a little out of repair."
+
+She stood for a moment on the corner in the full blaze of the summer
+sun. The happy courage of youth seemed to radiate from her. There was
+a vitality, a sparkle in her glance, in the waves of her sunny hair,
+in her smile, as with a slight gesture that embraced the Terrace, and
+Pleasant Street, too, she said half aloud, "Good-by till September."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SECOND
+
+WHAT SHALL WE CALL IT?
+
+
+"And now what shall we call it?" Norah asked.
+
+"Call it?" echoed Marion.
+
+They sat on the rocks beside a mountain stream that filled the air
+with its delicious murmur.
+
+"Certainly, everything has to have a name. Shall it be _Carpenter and
+Pennington, Dry-goods_?"
+
+Marion removed the dark glasses she wore, turning a pair of serious
+eyes upon her companion. "How absurd," she said.
+
+"No," insisted Norah, taking the glasses and adjusting them on her own
+nose, "not at all. It is businesslike. Can't you see it?--a large
+black sign with gilt letters."
+
+"Give me my glasses, and don't be silly. It is not to be a dry-goods'
+store in the first place, and above all things let us be original. If
+such signs are customary, ours must be different."
+
+"Here speaks wisdom. Here the instinct of the born advertiser betrays
+itself. Let us think." Norah buried her face in her hands.
+
+Marion watched her with a half smile, then as an expression of
+weariness stole into her face she restored the glasses and sighed, as
+with her elbow supported on a ledge of rock she rested her chin in her
+palm and looked down on the swift running water. She was extremely
+slender, and it was easy to guess she was also tall, and that, seen at
+her best, she was a person of grace and elegance rather than beauty.
+
+"I have it," Norah cried presently. "_The Pleasant Street Shop._"
+
+"Or _The Neighborhood Shop_," Marion suggested.
+
+"No, let us have Pleasant Street in it. It seems a good omen that the
+street is called Pleasant."
+
+Marion smiled. "Have you told Dr. Baird?" she asked.
+
+"Yes. He said I should be a novelist, and confine my wild-goose
+schemes to paper."
+
+"_The Notions of Norah_ would be a taking title," laughed Marion, the
+weariness gone from her face.
+
+"But as I told him, 'Deeds, not Dreams,' is my motto, and I'll show
+him if it is a wild-goose scheme. I am convinced that deep down in his
+heart he was interested; and although he made no promises, I believe
+we may count on him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRD
+
+AN ALIEN
+
+
+With the swiftness of a small tornado, Charlotte descended the long,
+straight stairway only to sink in a heap on the broad step at the
+bottom. "Oh, dear!" she said, her chin in her hand, "Oh, _dear_!"
+
+A ray of sunlight falling through the side-lights of the door with
+their pattern of fleur-de-lis on a crimson ground, cast a rosy stain
+on the neutral-tinted carpet and brought to notice a few atoms of dust
+on one of the rosewood chairs that stood to attention on either side
+of the tall hat-rack. The wall against which they were ranged was done
+in varnished paper to represent oak panelling, and on it hung one or
+two steel engravings.
+
+"If only something were crooked!" Charlotte sighed.
+
+Now at Aunt Cora's nothing was straight. Etchings and water colors
+fought for the honors of the walls, and chased each other up the side
+of the stairway. Tables and shelves were crowded with trifles, costly
+and otherwise, the chairs were deep and cushiony, except now and then
+a gilt toy which was distinctly for show; the divans were smothered
+with gay pillows. In contrast this house in Kenton Terrace seemed
+unbearably stiff and prim.
+
+Why had not Uncle Landor allowed her to stay with him instead of
+sending her so far away? Perhaps, after all, he had not wanted her.
+Nobody wanted her--dreadful thought!--unless it were Aunt Cora; and
+Charlotte knew in her heart Uncle Landor was wise in deciding she was
+not to travel about with Aunt Cora any more.
+
+Since she had been taken away, a child of seven, her memories of this
+southern town had grown vague, and it seemed strange to hear Uncle
+Landor refer to it as her home. He also said it was the sort of a
+background she needed for the next few years, until she should be
+ready for college. After that he promised, if she still wished it, she
+might come and keep house for him.
+
+But it would be so long. How could she stand it? If only she might
+have gone to boarding-school. Why had Aunt Caroline and Aunt Virginia
+agreed to her coming? They did not like her. Nothing she did pleased
+them. Charlotte looked about for a refuge where she might fling
+herself down and cry her heart out. She rose and stole on tiptoe into
+the drawing-room.
+
+Here the same absolute order prevailed. She felt sure the carved
+chairs and sofas, with their covering of satin brocade, had occupied
+these same positions ever since they first appeared on the scene when
+Aunt Caroline made her début, more than thirty years ago. Fancy Aunt
+Caroline having a party! Aunt Virginia had described it to her, but it
+sounded unreal. Thirty years ago was too far in the past. Charlotte's
+own mother had been a little girl then.
+
+The buhl cabinet near the window, the inlaid chess table in the corner
+beside the white marble mantel, even the folds of the handsome lace
+curtains, seemed petrified into their present positions. For thirty
+years the mantle mirror had been reflecting the Dresden clock and
+candelabra, and the crystal pendants of the chandelier; the face and
+figure that confronted Charlotte in the pier glass was, however,
+something new and alien.
+
+It was a brown face with blue eyes that danced with mischief or
+flashed with anger, or grew soft with entreaty beneath their black
+lashes, as occasion might demand. Her hair, too, was brown, and
+shadowed her face in a wavy mass held most objectionable by her aunts.
+That a girl barely fourteen should have decided views on the subject
+of dress, and insist upon wearing what she called a pompadour and
+having her belts extremely pointed in front, was surprising to Aunt
+Virginia, shocking to Aunt Caroline.
+
+As she stood facing her own image, the sound of sweeping skirts on the
+stairway sent her flying behind the half-open door.
+
+"What has become of Charlotte?" she heard Aunt Virginia ask.
+
+"I am sure I don't know," responded Aunt Caroline.
+
+"And what is more, you don't care," added Charlotte, under her breath.
+
+When the door had closed behind them, she ran to the window and
+watched as they went down the walk and entered the waiting carriage.
+Two very charming ladies, an unprejudiced observer might have
+pronounced them. A little precise in their elegance, perhaps, but
+pleasant to look upon, especially Aunt Caroline, from head to foot a
+shimmer of silver gray. Aunt Caroline was Mrs. Millard, the widow of
+an army officer, and Charlotte had expected to like her best; but
+after all, Aunt Virginia, who was only Miss Wilbur, had proved the
+least objectionable.
+
+She was not so handsome, but seemed kinder; and when she laughed,
+Charlotte always felt a little thrill of sympathy. When Aunt Caroline
+laughed, it was in a reserved, controlled manner. Charlotte had
+arrived at the conclusion that Aunt Virginia stood in awe of her
+sister; and this might have been a bond of union if it had been
+possible to become really acquainted, but Aunt Virginia held aloof.
+It was almost as if she were afraid of Charlotte, too. Still there was
+something rather nice about her. Charlotte hardly realized how often
+she returned to this opinion.
+
+When they had driven away, she went to the library,--a less formidable
+apartment than the drawing-room,--and making herself comfortable in an
+arm-chair by the window, began to consider what she should say to
+Cousin Francis, for she had decided that pouring out her soul in a
+letter would, after all, be more satisfactory than tears.
+
+She looked out across the garden to where, on the other side of
+Pleasant Street, stood the little corner shop with its gray-green
+shingles, its upper windows all aglow in the afternoon sunshine.
+Before it stood a furniture van, and Charlotte idly watched the
+unloading.
+
+She had made up her mind that life here was going to be hopelessly
+dull. She swung her foot listlessly, and, forgetting her letter,
+thought of Aunt Cora's home in a gay little suburb where something was
+always going on,--teas, dinners, receptions, where, although in the
+background, she had had her share of the excitement.
+
+At the Landors', where she sometimes spent several weeks while Aunt
+Cora, worn by her strenuous social life, went down to Atlantic City to
+recuperate, it was much quieter. And still she loved to be there. The
+elder Mr. Landor was a busy lawyer, his son Francis a literary person,
+and they lived in a tall, brown stone house in the old part of
+Philadelphia, among any number of others exactly like it. It was a
+man's house, overflowing with books and pictures, and yet showing the
+lack of a woman's presence. Charlotte was very fond of her guardian
+and his son, who petted and made much of her on the occasions of her
+visits. She was conscious, however, that Uncle Landor was not quite
+satisfied with her. He had a way of looking at her long and steadily
+through his glasses, as if he were studying her.
+
+Cousin Frank, perhaps because he had no responsibility in the matter,
+treated her as a comrade in a way that was flattering. She was, of
+course, an ardent admirer of his stories and verses, and upon one or
+two rare occasions had been made blissfully happy by being allowed to
+listen to one fresh from the typewriter. But most interesting of all
+had been a discovery made on her last visit in the spring. Between the
+leaves of a manuscript she had been allowed to read she found some
+verses beginning:--
+
+        "I love her whether she love me or no,
+         Just as I love the roses where they blow
+         In fragrant crimson there beyond the wall."
+
+There was something more about roses being sweet although out of
+reach, and teaching a lesson to his heart; but before she had quite
+grasped the idea, Francis took the paper away from her with an
+exclamation of impatience.
+
+"Why should Francis have minded, unless those verses meant something
+personal?" Charlotte wondered. As she thought it over, she recalled
+some remarks of Aunt Cora's about a little water-color portrait of a
+child in Uncle Landor's study.
+
+"Who is this?" Mrs. Brent asked one day, pausing before it.
+
+"That is old Peter Carpenter's granddaughter May, when she was ten
+years old. He had two portraits done of her, and liking the other
+better, gave this to me not long before he died."
+
+Aunt Cora said, "Ah!" and studied it with interest. "So this is _the_
+Miss Carpenter, is it? I presume Francis has a more recent likeness."
+
+"I do not know that he has. We see very little of May in these days.
+She is a great lady." Uncle Landor spoke as one who dismisses a
+subject.
+
+Then one rainy afternoon Mrs. Wellington, the Landors' housekeeper,
+entertained Charlotte with stories of this same young lady who, it
+turned out, lived just across the street in a house distinguished from
+the rest of the block by a garden at one side. According to Mrs.
+Wellington she was beautiful and rich, and if one more touch were
+needed to make her an irreproachable heroine, the long illness from
+which she was then beginning to recover supplied it. Watching at the
+window, Charlotte had the pleasure of seeing her carried out for a
+drive once or twice, but she never had a glimpse of her face.
+
+Putting two and two together, she became quite sure that this Miss
+Carpenter was the rose which was out of reach; but though she was on
+the point of it several times, she never quite dared to question
+Cousin Francis about her.
+
+Charlotte had woven a charming romance with these slender threads,
+being at the romantic age when real life is seen beneath the
+lime-light of fairyland. Was it any wonder things seemed dull here in
+Kenton Terrace?
+
+These entertaining memories being for the time exhausted, her thoughts
+turned to the grievance that had sent her downstairs with such
+vehemence,--a thrilling, fascinating story taken from her at the most
+critically exciting point.
+
+"I cannot allow you to read novels when you are going to school," Aunt
+Caroline had said; adding, "and this book is not at all the sort of
+thing for a little girl."
+
+At the recollection Charlotte put her hand to her hair. Little girl,
+indeed! When people wished to be disagreeable, they reminded you that
+you were a little girl.
+
+"I have always read what I pleased," she insisted, relinquishing the
+book unwillingly.
+
+"I cannot understand Mrs. Brent's allowing it; but however that may
+have been, while you are with us your Aunt Virginia and I will
+exercise some supervision over what you read."
+
+Questions about the owner of the novel followed, and here was another
+grievance. It had been lent to Charlotte by one of her schoolmates, a
+girl with fluffy yellow hair and many rings, whom after a week's
+acquaintance,--to use her own phrase,--she simply adored. Her name was
+Lucile Lyle--in itself adorable--and the intimacy with her had
+resulted in Charlotte becoming Carlotta.
+
+"Lyle?" Aunt Virginia repeated questioningly.
+
+"Don't you remember Maggie McKay, Virginia? This is her daughter," was
+Aunt Caroline's reply. To Charlotte she said, "To-morrow I shall give
+you this book to return, and while of course I wish you to be polite,
+I do not wish you to be intimate with this girl."
+
+"I don't care what she says, I shall read it, and be as intimate as I
+please with Lucile," Charlotte told herself; which goes to show that
+Mr. Landor was right when he felt she needed different training.
+
+And now having nothing else to do, she wandered to the piano, and
+finding an old music book, turned its pages, playing snatches of
+"Monastery Bells" and "Listen to the Mocking-bird." She was putting a
+good deal of feeling into "I'm a Pilgrim, and I'm a Stranger," when a
+sound behind caused her to start.
+
+"You have a pretty touch, my dear," said Aunt Virginia. "We have been
+out to Marat's greenhouse, and I have brought you some roses." She
+laid them on the piano as she spoke, and slipped away before Charlotte
+could make any response.
+
+Was it a peace offering?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTH
+
+MISS WILBUR
+
+
+Miss Wilbur was perplexed to the point of annoyance, a state of mind
+most unusual with her.
+
+She was by nature a serene person, quite content with her easy,
+uneventful life. The outside world she faced with a timid reserve
+which had not diminished with years and indulgence, finding her life
+in her family circle and the round of small cares, her flowers and her
+embroidery. She disliked responsibility, and except in what she
+considered matters of principle was inclined to distrust her own
+judgment. She was full of family loyalty, and had been satisfied to
+look on from her place in the background, while her more clever and
+ambitious sisters and brothers one by one passed from the home into
+the world.
+
+Naturally enough she had not married. She had not cared to, and had
+never given any one the opportunity to combat this indifference. Most
+people liked her, but she had few intimate friends, having apparently
+no desire to be singled out in any way, and yet she was warmly
+affectionate. In truth Miss Virginia was an elusive sort of person,
+sometimes allowing a glimpse of herself in all her unselfish
+sweetness, and then, presto! her reserve had taken alarm, the vision
+was gone.
+
+She was conventional, made so by her environment; yet her failings,
+many of them, so her sister Caroline declared, were those of an
+untrained child. She was careless,--as Charlotte had noticed, she
+sometimes forgot the fastenings of her skirt; when she wrote, she
+invariably inked her fingers; and she was constantly losing or
+breaking her glasses. She treated these matters lightly herself, but
+tried to conceal them from her sister.
+
+In their girlhood this sister, a few years older than she, had been
+the object of her deepest devotion. Caroline was beautiful and clever,
+and to question her opinions never entered Miss Virginia's mind. It
+puzzled and hurt her loyal heart that she could not quite get back to
+the old attitude when Caroline returned to her home a widow. She
+submitted when Caroline assumed command of the household; but after
+their father's death relieved her of the position of devoted nurse,
+Miss Virginia found life a little empty; and what made it the harder
+was that she no longer felt herself altogether in sympathy with her
+sister's opinions and methods.
+
+Her aspirations had never gone beyond making home pleasant for
+somebody, and now even this was taken from her. The things that most
+absorbed Mrs. Millard were of little interest to her; she began to
+feel useless and unhappy. She was a failure. Life had somehow slipped
+by unawares. She felt old at forty-eight.
+
+Above everything she disliked change, and the sale of the corner lot
+and the building of the shop caused her many a pang. In the midst of
+all this disquietude Mr. Landor's letter arrived.
+
+"I have most agreeable recollections of your home," he wrote, "and I
+realize I am asking a good deal of you, for our little niece is a
+somewhat tumultuous person. She has suffered from both over indulgence
+and neglect. She needs a different atmosphere, and much in the way of
+training that her old guardian cannot give her, so he ventures for
+Helen's sake to ask if you will take charge of her daughter for a few
+years."
+
+This half sister, twelve years younger than herself, had come and gone
+like some happy dream in Miss Virginia's life. She had grown up under
+the care of her grandmother, almost a stranger in her father's house,
+to which she returned in her gay young girlhood, and for the one time
+in her experience Miss Wilbur had been swept into a whirl of gayety as
+Helen's chaperon. Her charge had married early, and after a few years
+went abroad with her husband and little girl in search of health she
+was never to find.
+
+The thought of Helen's child aroused memories both bright and
+sorrowful, but at least here was an opportunity to be useful again. It
+would be pleasant to have a child in the house, Miss Virginia thought,
+studying the photograph of Charlotte at seven, bright-eyed and demure.
+
+The tall, well-grown girl had been a surprise to her aunts. Her
+assured manner and pronounced style of dress were not exactly what
+one desired in a girl of fourteen. At sight of her Miss Virginia had
+been seized with a fit of shyness; in consequence the reins had been
+taken by Mrs. Millard, who was not shy and was, besides, a born
+manager.
+
+Miss Virginia felt a sympathy for Charlotte, even while disapproving
+of her; she felt her sister to be too peremptory. In the matter of the
+novel it would have been better to allow Charlotte to finish it, with
+the understanding that it was to be the last. What could be more
+aggravating than to have to give up a story with only two-thirds of it
+read? It was an interesting story, too. Miss Virginia herself sat up
+till midnight to finish it. Some time perhaps she would tell Charlotte
+the end. Then she reminded herself that this would never do.
+
+It was no use talking to Caroline, and yet Mr. Landor had asked _her_
+to take charge of Charlotte, and Caroline had no right to assume
+command. Miss Virginia wished they had not agreed to take the child.
+
+She paced back and forth on the front porch one afternoon, thinking of
+all this and of the peaceful days of the past, feeling that dulness
+was better than problems like these. Across Pleasant Street was the
+little shop already showing signs of habitation. As she stood idly
+with her hand on the rail, a boy came up the walk and handed her what
+at first glance she thought was a note, but it proved on investigation
+to be an announcement.
+
+               THE PLEASANT STREET SHOP
+                      WILL OPEN
+               WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER SECOND
+
+        Dainty Turnovers     Pretty Draperies
+        Ribbons              Bright Chintzes
+                      Baskets
+                      Pottery
+        Needles and Pins and Other Small Matters
+                    A Specialty.
+
+"How absurd!" thought Miss Virginia. "A shop of this sort in the
+Terrace!"
+
+"Have you heard about the new shop, Miss Virginia?" called Alexina
+Russell from the gate.
+
+Miss Wilbur held up the card. "I am just reading the announcement. Who
+can be starting it? and isn't it too bad?" As she spoke, she descended
+the steps and joined the young girl.
+
+"It is the funniest little place I ever saw," answered Alex. "I
+suppose it is not nice to have shops springing up in the
+neighborhood, but--sometimes I wish I were going to keep a shop."
+
+"My dear! I trust you will never have to do that."
+
+"Haven't you ever felt that you would like to be doing something?--to
+be in things--part of the real working world?" Alexina spoke with
+fervor.
+
+"I never wanted to keep a shop, I am sure," answered Miss Wilbur.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTH
+
+THE SHOP
+
+
+James Mandeville did not forget the pretty young lady who said she was
+coming to be his neighbor if they would give her a fireplace. He had
+kept an eye on the shop all summer, and he knew there was a fireplace.
+
+He saw plasterers, carpenters, and painters come and go as he rode
+back and forth on his velocipede at a rate of speed altogether out of
+proportion to the effort put forth by his plump legs, bare and brown
+above his socks. From beneath the brim of his old sailor hat he looked
+on with solemn intentness. He was on excellent terms with the workmen,
+and often carried home a whole armful of treasures--odd-shaped pieces
+of wood, curly shavings, and bits of tile.
+
+At length all was done; the square of lawn on the Terrace side was
+sodded, and from the street in front of the shop all the débris was
+carried away. Surely, she would come now!
+
+Some rainy days followed, and when the weather permitted James
+Mandeville and his velocipede to be abroad again, the place showed
+unmistakable signs of occupancy. There were muslin curtains in the
+upstairs windows, and, peeping in through the glass door of the shop,
+he saw packing-boxes. At another time a woman stood on the curbstone
+buying vegetables from a wagon, but she was far removed from the lady
+of his dreams. His heart fell.
+
+The door of the shop stood open the next time he passed. James
+Mandeville halted, letting one foot slip along the pavement as a
+brake. Under his left arm, pressed close to his linen blouse, was a
+tin horn. At this moment a lady came to the door and looked out. She
+was not the lady of the fireplace,--a glance told him that,--yet she
+was quite different from the one who bought vegetables. She was tall
+and dark, and wore unbecoming smoked glasses. She took no notice of
+him, but turned and went back into the shop. James Mandeville
+dismounted and followed.
+
+The packing-cases had been removed, and the sunshine that streamed in
+above the sheet tacked across the lower part of the west window
+lighted up a scene of cheerful disorder, pervading which was a
+pleasant odor of newness. With her back toward him, the lady began to
+measure off lengths of some green fabric, standing before a long
+table.
+
+He waited, but still she took no notice. Should he go away? He
+summoned all his courage and gave voice to the question that was
+asking itself in his own mind: "Where is she?"
+
+The lady turned in surprise and looked down upon him. If he could have
+expressed his feelings, he would have said she was a haughty person.
+But as she looked at him her manner changed, and she smiled as she
+asked, "What is it? I don't understand."
+
+James Mandeville struggled to reply, but words were hard to find. As
+he stood silent a voice behind him cried, "Why, if it isn't
+Infinitesimal James!" and there she was, with her shining hair and
+laughing eyes. He laughed, too, for very relief.
+
+"There's a fireplace," he announced, going to meet her. "I saw them
+make it."
+
+"So you knew I would come back, didn't you? Yes, it is a very nice
+fireplace, and will be all ready for a visit from Santa Claus," she
+replied, shaking hands. Then quite unexpectedly she picked him up and
+set him on the table among the waves of green stuff. "Now you look
+like Triton," she said.
+
+James Mandeville held fast to his horn and eyed his captor doubtfully,
+as if he had a mind to escape.
+
+"Do you remember my name? I am Miss Norah, and I want to introduce you
+to my partner, who is almost as nice as I am. She is Miss Marion."
+
+The other young lady smiled. "Do you believe in blowing your own horn,
+as Miss Norah does?" she asked.
+
+James Mandeville looked at his horn, and then at the speaker; but as
+he did not understand, he made no reply.
+
+"She asks foolish questions, doesn't she?" said Miss Norah. "As you
+are the first neighbor to call on us, you shall not be required to
+answer. You may help me trim the show window, if you like."
+
+James Mandeville wriggled out from among the green waves. "What are
+you going to keep in your store?" he asked.
+
+The reply was disappointing. "Why don't you keep candy?" was the next
+question.
+
+"Because Miss Marion would give it all away, and we shouldn't be able
+to make a living."
+
+"Would you?" he asked, turning to that lady with earnest eyes.
+Clearly, she might be worth cultivating.
+
+She laughed and left the room for a moment, returning with something
+in her hand wrapped in silver paper. "Do you like chocolate?" she
+inquired; adding, "I don't know how it would be if I kept it; but as I
+don't keep it, of course I give it away."
+
+This had a puzzling sound. James Mandeville almost forgot to say thank
+you. He decided to go, feeling he could better enjoy the chocolate
+alone. He edged toward the door.
+
+"Good-by," called Miss Norah. "Come again."
+
+"All right," said James Mandeville, and disappeared from the scene.
+
+After his departure all was quiet in the shop for a time, except for
+the occasional sound of Norah's hammer as she worked in the window.
+Marion was putting things away in the cases which stood against the
+wall. It was she who first spoke.
+
+"I wonder if we shall have any customers?"
+
+"That is reflection upon my skill as a decorator. Do you think the
+public can resist the display which is about to dawn upon it on the
+morrow?" was Norah's reply.
+
+Marion left her work and sat on the window ledge. Norah wore a blue
+dress and a large white apron, and as she stood to drive a tack, the
+sunshine sparkled in her hair. She looked the incarnation of cheerful
+industry.
+
+"I do not know that I altogether believe in show windows," Marion
+said, smiling up at her friend.
+
+"Of course not. It is all of a piece with your haughty reserve. Let me
+remind you that after we have made a success and have a name we can
+retire into our shell and become the sought rather than the seeker,
+but at present it is needful to catch the public eye. You have imbibed
+your ideas from the rich Miss Carpenter, but _we_ have our living to
+make." She drove her tack with emphasis, then sat down on the floor of
+the window. "I am not sure I shall not always like this way best,"
+she continued. "Think, if there were no show windows at Christmas!
+Marion, think of Christmas!"
+
+"Isn't it a little early? There is a good deal to be done between now
+and then." Marion spoke calmly.
+
+Norah tossed a ball of twine at her. "I see it will be by the hardest
+work if I get any fun out of life. But to resume my train of thought
+which you interrupted--"
+
+"I beg your pardon, you interrupted yourself."
+
+"Did I? Well, to resume, at any rate: my idea is that it will be much
+nicer to keep a shop which will attract both great and small, so to
+speak. To make a specialty always of nice, simple things."
+
+"Flannelette?" suggested Marion.
+
+"Why not? It is a useful fabric."
+
+"I foresee if we enter into a discussion of this momentous question
+your window will not be finished, and I own to some curiosity as to
+how you mean to attract the great, for instance."
+
+Marion returned to her baskets, and there was silence again for a
+time.
+
+"Your idea of the bookcases was a happy one," she said presently,
+standing back to view her work. "These baskets have the air of a
+collection of curios behind the glass."
+
+"A charming touch of color against our olive walls. Confess, did you
+ever have such a good time in your life?"
+
+"My enthusiasm is sprouting vigorously."
+
+"And the fun is only just beginning. But do come here--quick, Marion!
+I want you to see Giant Despair."
+
+A tall, heavily built old man was passing along Pleasant Street, his
+brows drawn together in a tremendous frown. He swung a stout
+walking-stick in his right hand, as if he would have been pleased to
+lay it over somebody's shoulders. At the corner he paused and looked
+back at the shop.
+
+"Did you see? He shook his fist!" cried Norah.
+
+"Have we an enemy?" asked Marion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTH
+
+IN THE EYES OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD
+
+
+Its isolation in the heart of the city had something to do, no doubt,
+with certain village-like customs that prevailed in the Terrace. The
+neighbors ran in upon one another with their needlework for a social
+afternoon. If Alexina or Madelaine Russell were going to a party,
+there was sure to be an audience of two or three waiting to see them
+after they were dressed. When the Leigh's cook, Aunt Minty, made
+jumbles, a plateful always found its way over the back fence to Miss
+Virginia Wilbur; and when the Wilburs had something particularly nice
+for dessert, some neighbor had a share of it. Judge Russell and Mr.
+Goodman played chess together and talked of old times, and on the
+whole friendliness prevailed, with only an occasional neighborly tiff,
+when perhaps some one was heard to wish that Caroline Millard would
+mind her own business. There were other occasions when Mrs. Millard's
+executive ability proved helpful and was warmly appreciated.
+
+The strenuous life had not as yet invaded the Terrace. Mrs. Millard,
+to be sure, belonged to the Woman's Club, and presided at various
+board meetings, but she was the exception.
+
+The Terrace had its problems. We know Miss Virginia's; but Alexina,
+not suspecting it, watching her in church on Sundays, wished she
+herself were middle-aged and had all her troublesome questions
+answered, for at forty-eight one must have solved life's problems,
+Alex thought.
+
+Madelaine only wanted money to gratify her taste for pretty things.
+Given plenty of money, and life would be a simple matter. And so it
+seemed to Miss Sarah Leigh, always cheery, yet always burdened with
+the doubt where next month's bread and butter were to come from, and
+with the regret that her nephew, Wayland, must work instead of going
+to college.
+
+Old Mr. Goodman had the money, and his great tomb of a house was full
+of valuable things, but his problem was hardest of all; for having to
+a sad degree lost his faith in men and things, he found no use for it.
+Judge Russell sighed for the good old days; but it was a gentle sigh,
+and soon forgotten in the companionship of his beloved books.
+
+If from one point of view the neighborhood characteristic was
+sociability, its attitude toward the outsider was another matter. A
+new resident must undergo a term of probation before being in any
+sense accepted. Charlotte Creston, as the Wilburs' niece, was received
+and freely discussed. She was only a child, and for that reason
+something of a novelty in the Terrace, since the Russells and Wayland
+Leigh had grown up.
+
+Toward the shop, which divided with Charlotte the distinction of
+latest comer, the feeling was decidedly antagonistic. It was as if
+that monster Business had suddenly reached out from his own domain,
+blocks away, and laid his hand upon their peaceful territory.
+
+Something like a council of war took place in the Wilburs'
+drawing-room several evenings before the opening. Charlotte, supposed
+to be studying in the library, became an interested listener, shielded
+from view by the half-drawn hangings.
+
+Alexina Russell was the first comer. Charlotte had not yet made up
+her mind about Alex, she was so different at different times. She
+might have been almost as pretty as Madelaine, if she had fluffed her
+hair and dressed a little less plainly. Sometimes she was full of
+animation, again, as this evening, she appeared abstracted and silent.
+
+After Miss Sarah Leigh and her aunt arrived there was no more silence;
+it had no charms for either of these ladies. Charlotte had at first
+felt something like contempt for a person so odd as Miss Sarah, who
+wore skirts short enough to display to advantage her serviceable
+shoes, and poked her head out when she walked. But if Miss Sarah had
+no pretensions to beauty or style, her face was pleasant, her eyes
+really fine, and her smile full of kindly humor. Charlotte learned
+from Aunt Virginia that Miss Sarah had an unusual number of
+distinguished ancestors, which went to show how little appearance can
+be relied on in such matters.
+
+Mrs. Leigh suggested a bit of pretty old china of a pattern grown
+rare. Her eyes were bright, there was a hint of pink in her cheeks,
+and the silvery puffs beneath her lace cap had the exactness born of
+long years of training in the way they should go. When she walked, it
+was with a lightness wonderful in a woman of seventy-eight.
+
+Before the Leighs were fairly seated one or two others dropped in,
+until it seemed quite like a called meeting of the neighborhood. Aunt
+Caroline was in the chair which, on this occasion, happened to be
+placed where the rosy glow from a shaded lamp fell becomingly on her
+soft gray draperies. Aunt Virginia fluttered about, constantly
+interrupting conversation with footstools or sofa cushions, or
+irrelevant remarks.
+
+"Miss Virginia is always wondering if one more cushion or some other
+chair would not make you a little more comfortable," said Alex, as
+that lady appeared after her sixth excursion to the hall, this time
+with a light shawl for Mrs. Leigh's rheumatic shoulder.
+
+"Do come and sit down, Virginia," laughed Miss Sarah; "you have no
+repose of manner."
+
+"It is very fortunate that so many of us happen to be together this
+evening," began Mrs. Millard, "for I think we should decide upon our
+course in regard to the shop." Her white hand, veiled in a fall of
+lace, made a slight motion in the direction of the corner.
+
+"Don't you want some chocolate candy?" asked Miss Virginia, in an
+audible aside to Miss Sarah. "Charlotte and I made some this
+afternoon."
+
+"When we have decided the fate of the shop," the lady whispered back.
+
+"Seriously," continued Mrs. Millard, turning toward her sister with a
+slight frown, "should we not take some action?"
+
+"You are right, Caroline. In my day shops kept to their own
+territory," Mrs. Leigh responded. "I remember the colonel used to
+say--but there! I promised Sarah I wouldn't tell any stories this
+evening. She says I bore people."
+
+"Why, Aunt Sally! you are telling the biggest kind of a one this
+minute," cried her niece.
+
+A good-natured warfare waged continually between these two. Mrs.
+Leigh, who was in reality the most petted and indulged of old ladies,
+pretending to live in constant fear of Miss Sarah.
+
+"But what can we do?" Alexina was heard asking, as the skirmishers
+finally retired, Mrs. Leigh having the last word. "We can't exactly
+blame these persons, whoever they may be, for coming here. They could
+not know we did not want them."
+
+"I saw some one standing in the door of the shop this morning who
+_looked_ like a lady," Miss Virginia remarked.
+
+"How do you define a lady, Virginia?" her sister asked with some
+severity.
+
+"Why, Caroline, I am not a dictionary; I wish you wouldn't ask me to
+define things," replied Miss Virginia, with a little laugh. Then with
+the manner of one who regretted this flippancy she added, "I think I
+understand the word as you do."
+
+"It seems to me we are too often content with a surface meaning," Mrs.
+Millard continued.
+
+"That is true," agreed Alex. "Now, there is no reason in the world why
+these shopkeepers may not be ladies."
+
+Mrs. Millard looked at her doubtfully. "Still," she interposed,
+"ladies do not as a usual thing keep shops."
+
+"No; they sweep and scrub and cook, and pretend they don't,--that is
+the difference," put in Miss Sarah, crossing her knees and bending
+forward with the air of one who had found a congenial theme. "I am a
+paper-hanger, a painter, and a maid-of-all-work; and this is what it
+usually means to be a lady when you are poor."
+
+"Teaching has always seemed to me a most suitable occupation for a
+woman," suggested Mrs. Millard.
+
+"The day has passed, Caroline, when just anybody can teach."
+
+"I don't know any girl who had a better education or was more studious
+than you, Sarah," spoke up her aunt.
+
+"And when Brother Willie died I didn't know how to write a check or
+make the discount on a gas bill."
+
+"I feel as you do, Miss Sarah. It is dreadful to be so ignorant as
+women are of the simplest things," exclaimed Alexina.
+
+"Still, I think it is more comfortable not to have to know about them,
+don't you?" Miss Virginia asked timidly.
+
+"What are you people talking about?" The question came from the
+doorway, where Madelaine stood, a vision of such airiness, daintiness,
+and ethereal charm that nothing else seemed worth a thought. Behind
+her towered Wayland Leigh.
+
+"May we join the party and help decide the burning question?" he
+asked. "Don't get up, Miss Virginia; we'll find chairs."
+
+"I know it is the shop," said Madelaine, floating across the room to
+an ottoman beside Mrs. Millard. Madelaine, too, had an instinct for
+the effective, and nothing could have made a more charming picture.
+"Grandpa and Mr. Goodman were at it a few minutes ago. Mr Goodman
+talks about an injunction."
+
+"We began with the shop, but we seem to have switched off on to
+education," said Mrs. Leigh. "One never heard such talk when I was
+young. Then we had plenty of servants, and there was always some man
+to attend to business. After the war I asked our old Malinda one day
+how she liked freedom. 'Well, Miss Sally,' she said, 'I likes it, and
+I don't like it. I tell you what, Miss Sally, freedom's monstrous
+industrious.' That is what I think about these times,--'they's
+monstrous industrious.' Goodness, I have gone and told a story!"
+
+"I shall have to take you home before you transgress again," said her
+niece, rising.
+
+"Don't go. We haven't decided what we must do," urged Miss Virginia.
+
+"What do you think, Mrs. Millard?" asked Madelaine, with an upward
+glance, and flattering emphasis.
+
+Mrs. Millard caressed the hand that lay on her lap as she replied, "My
+own feeling is that we should refuse our patronage--not that they are
+likely to have anything we'd care to buy--and use our influence
+against it."
+
+"Well, I for one shan't make any promises; if I need a spool of thread
+and can save a walk, I shall go over there to get it," Miss Sarah
+announced positively.
+
+"You might add that your patronage is not likely of itself to save the
+shop from bankruptcy," put in her nephew.
+
+Everybody seemed to be going. Charlotte tucked her history under her
+arm and ran upstairs. As she went to the window to draw the curtain a
+bright light shone from the shop across the street.
+
+"I wonder if you'll be sorry you came here?" said Charlotte to
+herself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTH
+
+A SPOOL OF TWIST
+
+
+The shop windows on the opening day proved most alluring to Miss
+Virginia. There were two,--one overlooking the square of lawn on the
+Terrace, the other, Pleasant Street. Between them, placed across the
+corner, was the door.
+
+The Terrace window was full of plants, while on the Pleasant Street
+side there was a tempting display of color. Miss Virginia hunted up
+her distance glasses, which she seldom used, in order the better to
+view it; but she failed to make out anything in particular. Her ardor
+might have suggested an archćologist over a cuneiform inscription, as
+she tried to decide whether a certain patch of blue and white was a
+pillow or a table-cover.
+
+Charlotte openly stopped to view the window on her way home from
+school, and Miss Virginia, observing it, privately questioned her.
+
+[Illustration: SECURELY ENTRENCHED BEHIND THE LACE CURTAIN SHE
+LEVELLED HER GLASS]
+
+"You ought to go over and look in, Aunt Virginia," she said. "There
+are the prettiest baskets you ever saw."
+
+Miss Virginia adored baskets.
+
+"And there is the dearest sofa pillow."
+
+She had decided on a pillow for Caroline's birthday.
+
+"And, Aunt Virginia, there are the cunningest little collars with
+cuffs to match," Charlotte continued with mischievous eyes.
+
+Miss Virginia grew impatient. It was out of all reason that such
+desirable things should be brought almost to her door and yet be
+beyond her reach.
+
+"It wouldn't be giving them much encouragement just to look in the
+window," observed Charlotte. "I'll tell you," she cried the next
+minute, "opera glasses!"
+
+"My _dear_, look at my neighbors through an opera glass?"
+
+"But they _want_ to be looked at," insisted Charlotte, with
+unanswerable logic.
+
+Miss Virginia allowed herself to be persuaded, and, securely
+entrenched behind the lace curtain, she levelled her glass. As is ever
+the case with one who dallies with temptation, the result was an
+increased desire to have that pillow in her hands.
+
+Standing absorbed in contemplation, she suddenly, without intending
+it, turned her gaze upon one of the upper windows; and as she did so
+the muslin draperies parted and a pair of merry eyes belonging to a
+pretty face looked straight into hers.
+
+"I beg your pardon," cried Miss Virginia, dropping her glass and
+sinking into a chair, "I shall be ashamed of this to my dying day,"
+she groaned, while Charlotte went off into fits of laughter.
+
+It was some time before she could be brought to realize she had not
+been seen. "Not that that makes it much better," she added contritely.
+"And, Charlotte, don't mention it to your Aunt Caroline. I think my
+ideas of propriety are as strict as hers, but I do not succeed so well
+in living up to them. I fear I am, as she says, childish."
+
+"I shall not say anything about it, and I am sure I think you are very
+nice, Aunt Virginia," answered Charlotte, still laughing.
+
+The suspicion that Charlotte liked her better than she did Caroline
+was a secret pleasure to Miss Virginia, and she flushed prettily as
+she said, "Thank you, dear; I am far from what I should be."
+
+Charlotte went to take her music lesson; Mrs. Millard was attending a
+club meeting; the house was very quiet as Miss Virginia sat down to
+her embroidery. While she worked, the face so vividly imprinted on her
+memory in that moment's view continued to rise before her. She began
+to feel something like sympathy for its owner. She had not supposed it
+would be such an attractive shop. What possible harm could there be in
+going over just to look? She might even go in and explain to the
+proprietor that she had made a mistake in coming into the
+neighborhood. It would be a kindness. She could use a spool of
+buttonhole twist as an excuse. She really needed it.
+
+Then she saw the foolishness of all this and tried to think of
+something else. She worked another scallop, and concluded to go for a
+walk.
+
+When she stepped out of the gate, she turned her back upon the shop
+and walked in the opposite direction, but a quarter of an hour later
+she might have been seen approaching it by way of Pleasant Street.
+
+It was a beautiful October day; there was a suggestion of autumn in
+the maples, but the air was soft as spring. As she stood before the
+door her heart beat guiltily; her own home across the way wore an
+oddly unfamiliar look.
+
+Being a shop one was, of course, expected to open the door and walk
+in. Miss Virginia did so, and for a bewildered moment felt she had
+made a mistake, for there was nothing in the room she entered that
+seemed to bear any relation to a shop.
+
+In the window, where the ferns and palms were, three persons sat, two
+young women and a small boy in socks. One of the three rose and came
+to meet her. The identity of the face with the one she had seen
+through the opera glass so recently, added to her confusion.
+
+"Can I show you something?"
+
+Miss Virginia gazed at the speaker despairingly. "I have forgotten
+what I came for," she stammered.
+
+It might have been an everyday occurrence to have customers who had
+forgotten what they wanted, for anything the manner of the young woman
+showed. She smiled indeed, but sympathetically, saying she often
+forgot things herself; and, pushing forward a willow chair, added,
+"Won't you sit down and let me show you some of our things?"
+
+Not seeing her way clear to escape, Miss Virginia accepted the chair.
+There were other chairs of the same variety, some of them supplied
+with cushions; around the olive-tinted walls were low cases which
+might hold books or anything; there was a table with a lamp and
+magazines upon it, and in the corner fireplace a low fire flickered.
+The most businesslike piece of furniture was the long table upon which
+the young woman was laying out a bewitching assortment of collars and
+cuffs of a daintiness that went to the heart. Miss Virginia forgot her
+embarrassment in her pleasure at the array of pretty things.
+
+The small boy crossed the room, and depositing a gray flannel donkey
+on the table leaned upon Miss Virginia's chair. He was a pretty child,
+and she smiled at him as he lifted his serious brown eyes.
+
+"Jack likes to see what you are doing, but you mustn't sell him by
+mistake, Miss Norah," he said.
+
+"Is this your little boy?" she asked.
+
+"No, James Mandeville is a neighbor and very good friend of ours.
+Aren't you, Infinitesimal James?"
+
+He nodded emphatically, and continued to look on with interest while
+Norah hung soft-tinted fabrics over a convenient rack, and brought out
+baskets of all colors and shapes.
+
+It was clearly James Mandeville's fault that Miss Wilbur was unable to
+preserve that distant manner which was the only proper attitude toward
+this objectionable shop. When he laid his plump hand on hers and
+looked up at her in silent good fellowship, she felt a thrill of
+pleasure. Could any one refuse a child's offer of friendship? Not Miss
+Virginia, certainly. She bent and touched his cheek with her lips.
+James Mandeville, moved to further demonstration, brought the donkey
+and laid him on her lap.
+
+"Don't show me anything more," she said, patting the donkey.
+"Everything is beautiful. I really didn't come expecting to buy, but
+I must have one of these collars." She laid a bit of embroidery
+against her sleeve and looked down at it thoughtfully.
+
+The sunlight fell slantingly across the room, gleaming in James
+Mandeville's short curls and emphasizing all the cosiness and
+pleasantness of her surroundings. The spirit of friendliness grew
+strong in Miss Virginia. She felt in no haste to leave.
+
+While Norah searched for something in one of the cases, Miss Wilbur
+peeped around the chair back at the occupant of the window who was
+employing herself with knitting. She was not--so Miss Virginia
+thought--as attractive as her associate, although she could not be
+called ordinary. Meanwhile James Mandeville investigated her shopping
+bag with absorbed interest.
+
+The opening of the shop door interrupted her thoughts, and before she
+had time to push aside the draperies which, disposed upon the rack,
+intervened between her and the door, she heard a cool, clear voice
+announce, "I wish a spool of twist--black if you please."
+
+Miss Virginia gazed wildly toward the door at the other end of the
+room, her first impression being that Caroline had come in search of
+her. The next moment she realized with surprise and amusement that her
+sister had come altogether on her own account and had asked for the
+very same thing she herself had thought of purchasing. Miss Virginia
+braced herself for the inevitable encounter, and when Miss Norah
+returned, thanked her for her kindness in showing so many of her
+wares, and selected one from the collars before her. The while she
+heard her sister's voice.
+
+"Do you consider this a good locality for a shop?" Mrs. Millard asked.
+"It seems to me quite otherwise, and I think it the only proper course
+to tell you that the neighborhood strongly objects to such an
+intrusion."
+
+Miss Virginia felt her face grow hot.
+
+"Isn't it a little late to tell us this?" The tall young woman who had
+put down her knitting to serve the newcomer seemed not a whit abashed
+at Mrs. Millard's manner. If anything, she was the more queenly of the
+two, and might have been bestowing a favor as she handed back the
+change.
+
+Norah's sunny face intervened, "We are very sorry if you don't want
+us," she said, "for we shall have to stay for the present. We think we
+are quite as nice as a drug store, and perhaps we shall be able to
+convince you of it before long."
+
+Could Caroline hold out against such winning address? What she might
+have said or done was never known, for James Mandeville, desiring to
+see what was going on, and attempting to crawl under the rack with its
+burden of fabrics, precipitated it upon himself and was lost in the
+ruins, while Miss Virginia was revealed in all her ignominy, with a
+flannel donkey in her lap, to the eyes of her relative.
+
+"Virginia! I am astonished!"
+
+Miss Wilbur rose to the occasion. "So am I, Caroline. I, too, came to
+get a spool of twist." There is good authority for the assertion that
+one may smile and be a villain, but hitherto such depths of perfidy
+had been unsuspected in Miss Virginia.
+
+The united efforts of the shopkeepers were required to disentangle
+James Mandeville and quiet his cries of alarm. In the struggle Miss
+Wilbur's bag suffered a complete upturn, and her small change was
+scattered to the four corners of the room.
+
+Mrs. Millard stood apart looking on in disdain at the confusion, when
+again the shop door opened, this time to admit Miss Sarah Leigh who
+advanced and addressed her, fumbling in her pocket-book meanwhile and
+not lifting her eyes. "I want a spool of twist," she said, producing a
+sample of blue silk. "Why, Caroline Wilbur!" and she stared in
+amazement.
+
+Norah who had set James Mandeville, still weeping, out of harm's way
+on the table, met Miss Sarah's bewildered gaze with a frank smile, as
+if she appreciated the joke.
+
+"Do you call this a shop?" Miss Sarah demanded; adding, "Well, if
+there isn't Virginia! Are Judge Russell and Mr. Goodman hiding
+somewhere? Is this a conspiracy?"
+
+"I'll explain later," said Mrs. Millard, with dignity. "Virginia, are
+you ready?"
+
+As they crossed Pleasant Street together, Miss Sarah was disposed to
+make merry at Mrs. Millard's expense, but that lady's haughtiness was
+extreme. There was nothing funny in her actions. She had gone to the
+shop with a purpose, thinking it only the part of fairness to tell
+them frankly they were not wanted in the neighborhood.
+
+"That is what I thought of doing," said Miss Virginia. But who can
+blame her sister for looking incredulous.
+
+"Well, I'm going again," said Miss Sarah, pausing at the gate. "It is
+an interesting place."
+
+Miss Virginia agreed with her, and yet she was beginning to feel a
+little doubtful about her own behavior this afternoon. She feared she
+had not been quite dignified.
+
+"Sarah Leigh was never a person of very strong convictions," her
+sister remarked, as they waited at the door.
+
+"Why, I don't know, Caroline,--perhaps they are just different."
+
+"Really, I don't understand you, Virginia," was Mrs. Millard's
+response, nor did she manifest any desire for enlightenment.
+
+Miss Virginia felt that her conduct that afternoon was embraced in her
+sister's remark, and that it would be quite hopeless to try to
+explain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTH
+
+A MATTER OF LOYALTY
+
+
+Mrs. Millard's irritation was not long in bearing fruit. On the hall
+table lay a card, and pausing on her way upstairs she examined it
+through her jewelled lorgnette. Charlotte, halfway down, leaned over
+the rail and watched her, admiring the sweep of her gown, the
+perfection of the gloved hand that held the card.
+
+One might object to Aunt Caroline's methods and rebel against her
+mandates, and yet not be blind to the exquisite perfection of her
+appearance and belongings. Charlotte had privately borrowed one of
+Aunt Virginia's skirts, and practised before the cheval glass, but the
+flowing lines that so much pleased her she found unattainable.
+
+"Miss Lucile Lyle," Mrs. Millard read aloud.
+
+"It is for me, Aunt Caroline," said Charlotte, from above. "I have
+been walking with Miss Alex and missed her."
+
+"Which is rather fortunate than otherwise; for," Mrs. Millard tapped
+the card with her glass, "I desire you not to make a friend of this
+young lady."
+
+Charlotte sat down on the step. "Does that mean I am to be rude to
+her?"
+
+"Certainly not. There are ways of letting people know you do not care
+for their society without being rude."
+
+"I don't see how you can do it without being unpleasant," argued
+Charlotte; "and I like Lucile."
+
+"That last fact has nothing to do with it. It is important at your age
+to form proper friendships. This I do not consider desirable, and I
+expect you to be guided by me."
+
+"What am I to do?" Charlotte persisted.
+
+"I see no occasion to do anything."
+
+"She will think it rude if I do not go to see her."
+
+"What she thinks is of little moment. You can say your aunt does not
+care to have you make visits while you are occupied with your
+studies."
+
+"But she knows I have been to see the Mays."
+
+"Well, really, Charlotte, I cannot argue the question further. I
+simply expect to be obeyed in the matter." With this final utterance
+Mrs. Millard swept past her.
+
+Charlotte had come in from her walk in good spirits. She felt it an
+honor to be chosen as a companion by a grown young lady, and Miss Alex
+had been very entertaining as they walked about the park under the
+beech trees. In these days Charlotte's ideals were in an unstable
+state. On the one hand, she admired Lucile, longed to be Carlotta and
+the heroine of romantic adventures. On the other, she recognized a
+certain distinction in Alexina's severe style, and felt proud of her
+notice.
+
+This afternoon Alex's influence had been in the ascendant. She had
+shown a flattering interest in all Charlotte told about her life at
+Aunt Cora's and the Landors'. She had read some of Cousin Frank's
+stories and poems and admired them, making Charlotte proud of being
+even distantly related to him.
+
+"It must be splendid to do things," Alex said. "To feel that you have
+your own special work to do in the world."
+
+"I should love to write stories or paint pictures," agreed Charlotte.
+
+"Any sort of useful work,--work there was a demand for, and that I
+could do better, or at least as well as any one else, would satisfy
+me," said Alex.
+
+Alexina had gone on to give Charlotte a great deal of good advice
+about making the most of her opportunities. She listened gravely to
+the story of the borrowed novel Aunt Caroline had taken away; and
+while she acknowledged it was trying, she pointed out that it was a
+foolish story, and not worth reading.
+
+When Charlotte went on to describe Lucile, Alex did not seem
+impressed, only saying, "I wonder who the Lyles are; I never heard of
+them. Of course they may be nice people, but Lucile Lyle is such a
+silly name."
+
+"I think it is beautiful," cried Charlotte, wondering what Miss Alex
+would think of Carlotta Creston.
+
+"No," the young lady said, as if replying to her thought, "I prefer
+plain names. For instance, if you should turn out to be a brilliant
+beauty and all that, there is nothing inappropriate in your name,
+Charlotte Creston. You can glorify it; but if you are only an ordinary
+person, you are made absurd by a name you cannot live up to."
+
+This was a new view to take of it. Charlotte wavered, and really
+Lucile's influence was a little on the wane when the encounter with
+Aunt Caroline gave it new life. At school next day Charlotte came
+again under her spell.
+
+Lucile was undeniably pretty and almost as grown up in appearance as
+Miss Alex, though only fifteen. She was intensely romantic, her own
+personal experiences at this early age would have supplied several
+novels, and her manner toward Charlotte was caressing and flattering.
+Charlotte was one of the few who understood her, she said. They were
+kindred souls.
+
+Lucile wrote verses which seemed to Charlotte quite as good as Cousin
+Frank's, and she could sing any number of love-songs charmingly. The
+girls would gather about the piano at recess and beg her to sing. The
+favorite was one beginning:--
+
+        "Teach, oh, teach me not to love thee!
+         Turn those beauteous eyes away,"
+
+and Lucile always bent a soulful gaze upon Charlotte when she sang it.
+Charlotte wondered if her eyes were beauteous.
+
+"When are you coming to see me Carlotta?" Lucile asked one day.
+
+They were walking home from school, and had paused on the corner where
+their ways divided.
+
+"I don't know. They don't like me to go out alone," was the answer,
+given with a flushed face.
+
+"But the cars bring you almost to our door. I shall be terribly hurt."
+
+Charlotte looked gloomy. "I can't come if they won't let me. You don't
+know. They think I am six years old."
+
+"You don't love me. I see it plainly." With a tragic gesture Lucile
+drew a ring from her finger and held it out. "Take it back," she said.
+
+In the first ardor of their friendship they had exchanged rings,
+Charlotte feeling a little mortified at the time that Lucile's was so
+much handsomer than hers, and she had kept it carefully turned in to
+avoid comment. But after all it was not giving up the ring she minded.
+Lucile's apparent distress touched her affectionate heart.
+
+"Don't say that!" she entreated, drawing back. "I do love you, and I
+will come to see you whether they let me or not." In the glow of her
+devotion she felt like a heroine in one of Lucile's favorite tales. It
+was a question of loyalty now. She had promised to be friends before
+Aunt Caroline issued her commands. So they parted with renewed vows,
+and Charlotte's assurance that she would come that very afternoon on
+her way from her music lesson, if she could escape unobserved.
+
+Charlotte had very imperfectly learned the lesson of obedience to
+higher powers, and it was not difficult to convince herself that she
+was justified. It did seem a little underhand, this was all that
+troubled her.
+
+Aunt Virginia, who was going down town in the carriage, offered to
+take her to her lesson; adding, "You can find your way back, I
+suppose."
+
+"I should think so, after so many times," Charlotte answered, feeling
+guilty.
+
+Aunt Virginia was particularly agreeable and funny that afternoon.
+Charlotte was really becoming very fond of her. She was a merry
+companion; she liked foolish things, such as soda-water and candy, and
+was even willing to stop and watch a circus parade.
+
+"If it is cool when you leave, be sure to put your jacket on," was her
+parting injunction.
+
+"And if it rains, I'll put up my umbrella," Charlotte called after
+her, saucily. At the same time she felt ashamed of what she had
+planned to do. If it had not been for the memory of Lucile's
+reproaches, she would have given it up.
+
+It must have been the thought of Aunt Virginia that kept the call from
+being the pleasure she had expected. Lucile was very glad to see her,
+and took her over the large, showy house, which seemed exactly suited
+to the large blond woman with a complexion of pinkish lavender, whom
+she introduced as her mother. Mrs. Lyle wore a costume of black and
+white, in broad stripes, and a wonderful, black plumed hat, which
+brought to mind Aunt Cora's poster room.
+
+She was most gracious, complimenting Charlotte's eyes, and asking if
+she did not find the Terrace dreadfully far down town. She also asked
+about the Russells; said Alexina was odd and Madelaine a beauty, and
+that it was a great pity the judge had not known how to keep his
+money,--all of which seemed strange to Charlotte, when she remembered
+Alex's question, "Who are the Lyles?"
+
+Lucile seemed proud of the house and told the cost of a good many
+things. She wanted to know why Charlotte's aunts did not sell their
+house in the Terrace and build out on the Avenue.
+
+"I don't believe they want to," Charlotte answered; "and I think the
+Terrace is very nice," she added, feeling Lucile was rather too
+complacent.
+
+"Why, they are beginning to put up stores there!" Lucile exclaimed.
+
+Charlotte had herself freely criticised the Terrace, but this did not
+keep her from resenting Lucile's remarks, and she carried away with
+her a consciousness of the friction. As she walked home, she felt a
+vague dissatisfaction with life in general, and heartily wished she
+had not gone. She could not help seeing, just a little, why Aunt
+Caroline did not care for the Lyles.
+
+Charlotte had a strong impulse to confess, and say she was sorry for
+what she had done; but the right moment did not come. Aunt Caroline
+was out that evening and Aunt Virginia in one of her shy, elusive
+moods. She got as far as "Aunt Virginia, I want to tell you,--I did
+something dreadful to-day--" when a visitor was announced. Her aunt
+looked relieved.
+
+"Never mind, my dear; if you are sorry, I have no doubt it will be all
+right," she said, rising hastily. "Go to bed early."
+
+How could you tell people things if they did not want to listen? At
+any rate she would not go to the Lyles' again, and she gave herself to
+her studies with a new earnestness born of repentance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINTH
+
+IN THE SHOP
+
+
+The opposition of the neighborhood resulted in advertising the shop to
+some extent. Whoever saw the odd little place was certain to tell some
+one else; and this person and that, dropping in out of curiosity to
+look, remained to buy, if only a trifle.
+
+The wares were novel and attractive, the prices reasonable, and the
+shopkeepers themselves afforded food for speculation. Like their
+wares, they were unusual,--considered as shopkeepers, that is. To all
+appearances ladies, their manner of speech betrayed they were not
+Southern; yet they did not single out the letter _r_ as worthy of
+peculiar emphasis,--a thing the Terrace could not tolerate.
+
+To those who often passed the shop, James Mandeville became a familiar
+figure; for from the first he elected to bestow upon its proprietors
+his unqualified friendship, and a day rarely went by without a visit
+from him. He quickly learned to adapt himself to the rule that he must
+not finger things, nor interrupt when customers were present. He
+usually brought some plaything with him,--most frequently the flannel
+donkey,--and amused himself quite happily, with an occasional appeal
+to the sympathy of his companions.
+
+His new friends began to look forward each day to his coming and to
+the invariable piece of news with which he entered.
+
+"Miss Norah, what do you think?" he exclaimed one morning. "The moon's
+awake and it's daytime!" and drawing her to the door he pointed out
+the misty phantom in the southwestern sky, with the air of a
+discoverer.
+
+On another occasion, "Miss Norah, I can't stay very long to-day,
+'cause my geranium is going to bloom."
+
+It developed that James Mandeville's mother was ill in a sanitarium,
+his father absorbed in business, and his only guardian an old colored
+woman, known as Mammy Belle. Mammy Belle was of the type fast
+disappearing. She wore head handkerchiefs of bright colors, and her
+purple calicoes were stiff with starch and spotlessly neat. She
+possessed the peculiar dignity that accompanied a faithful,
+unquestioning acceptance of her station in life.
+
+Mammy had sole charge of the Norton household, and no doubt it was a
+relief to her to know that her charge had found so safe an asylum; but
+on the occasion of her first visit the shopkeepers felt they were
+being weighed in the balance. Her manner was apologetic and reserved,
+as she stood, her hands folded on her white apron.
+
+"'Tain't possible to keep dat chile at home," she explained. "Yes'm. I
+takes keer of him. Miss Maimie, she's in a hospital, an' dey ain't
+nobody to raise James Mandeville but his old mammy."
+
+"I ain't comin', mammy," declared her charge, positively.
+
+"Yes, you is comin', honey; don' you talk to mammy dat way. 'Tisn't
+pretty. Looks like it's mighty hard to raise you polite, James
+Mandeville."
+
+Norah delighted to talk with her, and gathered from her conversation
+that her greatest pleasure, next to a funeral, was to take James
+Mandeville to white folks' church on Sunday afternoon, "to see dem
+chillen march and sing." To her enthusiasm was due the aspiration of
+her charge to be a choir boy, and he was often heard singing lustily
+versions of "Onward, Christian Soldiers," and "O Paradise," which were
+all his own.
+
+"Dey's ladies, store or no store," Belle was overheard remarking to
+Susanna. "I knows quality; you can't fool Belle, no'm."
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+"I never in my life felt so rich," Marion said, rattling the money
+drawer.
+
+It was Saturday evening at the end of their first week. All was in
+order in the shop, the long table pushed back, the small one with the
+lamp brought forward, the shades drawn, the door barred, and Norah now
+rested comfortably in one of the roomy chairs with a gay pillow behind
+her head.
+
+"We have done very well, I think," she agreed.
+
+"I perceive this is one subject upon which my enthusiasm is greater
+than yours. It must be because you have made money before." Marion
+still hung over the money drawer.
+
+"I don't consider that we have made anything yet; but the difference
+between us is that I expected all along to do very well, while you
+were a doubting Thomas."
+
+"As I always am." With surprising ease for one so tall, Marion slipped
+down on the rug at her friend's feet.
+
+Norah caressed the dark head against her knee. "But you are improving,
+dearest," she said, "and I'm glad, indeed, if this first week has
+encouraged you." She laughed a little as she added, "I believe I am
+just a bit more anxious to prove to our friend Miss Carpenter that in
+lending us the capital for our venture she has not done a reckless and
+unwise thing."
+
+"But, Norah--"
+
+"I know what you are going to say. She is not worrying about the money
+and could well afford to take the risk, but with you and me it is a
+matter of principle. We must succeed and justify her confidence. So we
+won't count our chickens too soon, but lay low, like Brer Rabbit, and
+say nothin'."
+
+"At any rate I know what it is to have worked all the week, and to be
+tired and glad of Sunday. Norah, it is nonsense expecting people
+really to care for Sunday when they don't work."
+
+"I hope you haven't tired yourself too much;" Norah bent forward till
+she could see the face on her knee. Her manner was oddly motherly; she
+seemed so much the younger and smaller of the two.
+
+"Oh, no; and sometimes I have almost forgotten--"
+
+"Go on forgetting, dear. I know you need not fear, if you will only
+think so."
+
+"If I were only sure," Marion sighed. "And sometimes I am," she added.
+
+"At least I am charmed with the neighborhood," Norah went on, "If the
+haughty lady across the street continues her opposition, our success
+is assured. Her name, I have discovered, is Millard, and that dear
+Miss Virginia is her sister, of course; and there is a bright-looking
+little girl who goes in and out, and seems to belong to them.
+
+"And I forgot to tell you my adventure this morning. When I got off
+the car at Walnut Street, coming home, there was an old gentleman with
+some books just behind me. He had an armful, and as he stepped to the
+ground they slipped and fell in the dust. He was evidently lame and
+stiff with rheumatism, so I picked them up for him. He was a beautiful
+old man, with a most courtly manner; and he seemed to think as I had
+helped him, I was entitled to know about the books. We walked along
+together, and he explained they were some he had found at a
+second-hand store. One of them was a first edition of the 'Essays of
+Elia' which he thought a tremendous bargain; and it was, I'm sure.
+
+"We fell to discussing books, and he seemed delighted to find I was
+not absolutely ignorant and ended by inviting me in to see his
+library. He lives in the house that needs paint so badly,--where you
+have noticed that beautiful Ginkgo tree."
+
+"Did you accept his invitation?"
+
+"No, I told him I had not time just then. He asked if I lived near;
+and, Marion, you should have seen his puzzled look when I said, 'On
+the corner of Pleasant Street.' 'You are visiting?--the Wilburs,
+perhaps.' he said. 'No,' I answered, 'I am one of the proprietors of
+the shop.' He was terribly shocked and disappointed, I could see. I
+had really made an impression. He grew a little distant, but was still
+charming, thanking me again for my kindness; however, he said no more
+about the library."
+
+"It is funny--" began Marion, but she did not finish her sentence, and
+they sat in silence for a while. Presently Marion took possession of
+the hand that was touching her hair so lightly, and laid her cheek
+against it. Not many people, she thought, had such a friend. One who
+had been everything in a time of need, who had given her new hope and
+courage in an hour of darkness. She felt herself unworthy, because she
+did not believe she could ever be such a help to any one.
+
+"Do you remember, when you were a child, Norah, how sometimes when you
+had found some delightful game that stirred your imagination, you
+would go to sleep at night with the most blissful sense of waking up
+to go on with it in the morning? I have had much the same feeling
+lately."
+
+"Then I am satisfied about you. 'As little children' is the key to the
+best things of life, I firmly believe. Let's read a bit of 'The Golden
+Age' before we go to bed," said Norah.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TENTH
+
+ALEXINA
+
+
+Alexina Russell longed to be of use in the world. It fretted her to
+live as they did, pensioners on her grandfather, whose fortune had
+sadly dwindled of late years. Her mother's income was barely
+sufficient to clothe the three of them, and Alex felt she ought to be
+earning her own living. That her grandfather made them more than
+welcome, and besides had an old-fashioned horror of a woman going out
+into the world as a worker, did not alter her conviction.
+
+She did not feel competent to teach. Delicate as a child, she had gone
+to school intermittently, and the best of her somewhat scrappy
+education had been gained in her grandfather's library; but she found
+it difficult to combat the prejudice of the whole family against any
+other method of supporting herself. Alex loved the old house,--the
+outside of which time and coal-dust had turned a uniform dingy
+gray,--and sometimes wondered how she could ever stand it to live
+anywhere else. There is a point where dinginess becomes picturesque;
+and the vines, undisturbed by repairs, were doing their best to hide
+all deficiencies. The grounds were ample for a city; and the tall
+Ginkgo tree which reached out its fern-like branches protectingly
+toward the timeworn mansion was only one of many other fine trees and
+shrubs. Inside, the lofty rooms and handsome furnishings of many years
+ago, some fine old portraits, and many valuable books and prints gave
+it a distinction not to be achieved by many modern houses.
+
+Pretty Mrs. Russell, almost as dainty and girlish as her youngest
+daughter, shed tears over Alex's oddity; and Alex, who sincerely loved
+and admired her mother, felt her burden all the greater because she
+was a disappointment. She had submitted for one winter to be taken to
+receptions and teas, and to have a dinner given in her honor, in the
+newspaper accounts of which the rare old Russell silver figured
+effectively, and on the whole she had enjoyed it. But a season of it
+was enough; her practical mind rebelled against the expense and
+uselessness of such a life. She adopted the plainest style of dress,
+declined invitations, and privately studied shorthand.
+
+In the bottom of her heart Madelaine thought it just as well. Plain
+things became Alex, and it was nobody's fault but her own if she
+preferred the background. And Alex was not in the least jealous of her
+sister's popularity. She had something of the responsible feelings of
+a father or brother toward her mother and Madelaine.
+
+Alex's refuge was the library and the companionship of her
+grandfather, who often told her she took life too seriously.
+
+"You are young yet. Be happy, and things will work out of themselves."
+
+But Alexina did not share his gentle optimism. It seemed to her at
+once the charm and weakness of her grandfather's character. She was
+impatient; she wanted to know what was the right path for her to take,
+not to waste years in finding it.
+
+Mrs. Russell sometimes laughingly declared that Alex's most intimate
+friends were Miss Virginia Wilbur and Miss Sarah Leigh, and it was
+true she often sought their society. Miss Wilbur had made pets of the
+Russell children from their babyhood, and they were both fond of her.
+There were times when Alex found her placid absorption in everyday
+matters rather soothing, at others Miss Sarah suited her mood better.
+
+Miss Sarah had all manner of troubles and worries, but she did not box
+them up and label them "Personal"; instead, she offered them to her
+friends dressed up in whimsical fashion for their entertainment, until
+it was difficult to consider them seriously. Old Mrs. Leigh was heard
+to say she did not know what Sarah would find to laugh about if she
+ever became prosperous.
+
+Alexina found shorthand depressing, and after spending an hour or more
+over it one afternoon she gave it up in despair and went over to see
+Miss Sarah. As she entered the sitting room Mrs. Millard stood talking
+to Mrs. Leigh.
+
+"I suppose the next thing we'll be going to the Poor House," the old
+lady was remarking cheerfully, for she was not far behind her niece in
+the ability to extract pleasure from adversity. "Sarah says the Cement
+Company has passed their dividend again. I know that means we don't
+get any money."
+
+"Dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Millard; "why, Sarah, what are you living
+on?"
+
+The person addressed looked up from her sewing with a grim smile. "I
+don't know--Caroline. We--are just living--_on_."
+
+"I don't see how you can _smile_," said Mrs. Millard, with reproachful
+emphasis. She was never guilty of making light of affliction.
+
+"Well, there are funny things about being poor, Caroline; but I
+suppose it takes a poor person to appreciate them." Then observing
+Alex in the door, Miss Sarah added, "Come in and cheer us up, Alex."
+
+"I am ashamed to say I came to be cheered," Alex said, after Mrs.
+Millard had rustled away.
+
+"Well, misery loves company, so just come to the kitchen with me while
+I stir up a spice cake for Wayland, and we'll swap woes and have a
+good time. I let Anne go to see her sister this afternoon."
+
+When the materials had been collected and Alex assigned her share of
+the task, Miss Sarah continued: "I have two things to tell you. First,
+I have made up my mind to take boarders. I was trembling in my shoes
+all the while Caroline was here, for fear Aunt Sally would tell her.
+She will think it a disgrace to the neighborhood; I'll be ranked with
+the shop, but I must do something. We can't sell the house, and it
+would break Aunt Sally's heart if we could, for it is all she has."
+
+"I don't think it will hurt the neighborhood, and I hope you will
+succeed. I'm sure I should love to board with you."
+
+"Would you really, Alex? Doesn't the house strike you as very forlorn?
+I'll tell you what I am going to do," and Miss Sarah launched forth
+into an account of how she meant to cut the hall carpet in two and
+turn it around so the worn part would come under the stairs. "But dear
+me!" she interrupted herself to say, "how absurd to bother you with
+all this. It is your turn to say something."
+
+"I like to hear it. I am interested, and my worries are the same old
+ones. I do want to learn how to do something to support myself, and
+stenography is so--abominably dull. I am angry with myself for finding
+it so." Alex rested her chin in her hand, and looked at Miss Sarah
+disconsolately across the table.
+
+"I do not believe you were meant for that sort of thing," Miss Sarah
+said stoutly. "Of course I can't tell you what you _were_ made for;
+but I know what I'd like to do, and that is, keep a shop such as the
+one on the corner."
+
+"What would Mrs. Millard say to that?" Alex asked, laughing.
+
+"She can't say much since she was caught there herself. You needn't
+tell me curiosity had not something to do with it. But I am forgetting
+the other thing I had to tell you. I have made trouble in the Wilbur
+household."
+
+"What do you mean? How?"
+
+"I was never more provoked with myself. The other day I happened to be
+out on Dean Avenue, and whom should I see going into the Lyles' but
+Charlotte Creston. You know that big, showy house near the park. What
+possessed me to mention it, I don't know, but I did, one evening when
+Caroline and Virginia were here. I knew in a minute something was
+wrong. I have an idea Charlotte went without permission."
+
+"Who are the Lyles?" asked Alex.
+
+"Mrs. Lyle was at the glove counter at Mason's years ago; she was then
+Maggie McKay, and a vain, pretentious thing. She married a plumber
+with a romantic name, and her rise has been rapid. Now, if you and I
+could only be plumbers!"
+
+"I remember Charlotte mentioned a Lucile Lyle, and seemed rather
+fascinated, but I did not think she would be so silly as to go there
+against her aunt's wishes. I am afraid she is headstrong."
+
+"She is the sort of a child to be goaded to distraction by Caroline. I
+wish I had held my tongue. I can see Virginia is dreadfully upset
+about something."
+
+"I think I'll go over and talk to Charlotte," Alex said, as Miss Sarah
+shut the oven door on the spice cake. Alexina had had dreams of
+influencing Charlotte, and she felt a little annoyed that what she had
+said on the subject of this foolish friendship had made such a slight
+impression.
+
+"Now don't you go and make matters worse, Alex," cautioned Miss Sarah.
+"I have no doubt Caroline has harped on the matter till the child is
+desperate. I feel terribly guilty."
+
+"I am disappointed in her, and I mean to tell her so," Alex replied
+firmly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVENTH
+
+THE LAST STRAW
+
+
+Charlotte was closing the piano after an hour's practice when Alexina
+walked in. A week had passed since the discovery of her
+disobedience,--a week of increasing unhappiness. The blow had fallen
+unexpectedly. One day at dinner she had been conscious of something
+amiss. A remark of her own met with no response; Aunt Caroline looked
+haughty, Aunt Virginia despondent. Charlotte had not, however, guessed
+the cause until she was summoned into the library and the question put
+to her by Mrs. Millard, "Did you go to the Lyles' in defiance of my
+express wishes, Charlotte?"
+
+"I--"
+
+"Yes or no, if you please."
+
+"Yes," Charlotte answered, "but--"
+
+"I want no explanations. There can be none."
+
+"But, Aunt Caroline, you don't understand--"
+
+"You are the one who seems not to understand," again Mrs. Millard
+interrupted. "You have deliberately disobeyed. I see you are not to be
+trusted. Hereafter, whenever you go out, you shall be provided with an
+attendant. The carriage will take you to and from school, your Aunt
+Virginia or I will accompany you to your music lesson when possible;
+at other times Martha will go."
+
+"Aunt Caroline, you might let me speak. I tried to tell Aunt
+Virginia--I had promised Lucile--I had to go; but I am dreadfully
+sorry, and--"
+
+"Charlotte, I will not have any words on the subject. You have
+deliberately disobeyed. Nothing you can say alters that." Mrs. Millard
+swept from the room, almost running down Miss Virginia, who hovered
+about the door.
+
+"She did try to tell, Caroline," Charlotte heard her say.
+
+"Nonsense, what difference can that make?" was the reply.
+
+Not to be allowed one word in self-defence was hard. Charlotte locked
+herself in her room and shed bitter tears of anger and mortification.
+That she was sorry and had tried to confess seemed to her to be very
+much to her credit, and Aunt Caroline was unreasonable as well as
+cruel. She refused to go down to supper, saying her head ached; and it
+would have been in harmony with her state of mind if she had been
+compelled to go without any, but it was sent up to her without
+comment.
+
+The worst was to come, however. To a high-spirited girl, used to the
+greatest freedom, the constant surveillance was unbearable. She was
+not locked up, but in all other respects she felt herself a captive.
+
+She was certain Aunt Virginia was sorry for her,--in an aloof and
+timid fashion she showed her friendliness; but Charlotte longed for
+some one to whom she could pour out all her unhappiness; and for this
+Aunt Virginia allowed her no opportunity.
+
+How long was it to last? Aunt Caroline gave no word. As the days
+passed, Charlotte began to wear a sullen, dogged look. The sight of
+Alexina brought a thrill of hope. Surely, Miss Alex would listen to
+her, and be sorry.
+
+"Charlotte, what is this I hear about you?" Alexina demanded, seating
+herself on the piano-stool.
+
+"Oh, Miss Alex, I am so unhappy." Charlotte, who was kneeling to put
+away some music in the cabinet, sank in a forlorn little heap at her
+feet. "She won't let me go anywhere by myself,--not even to school;
+and she wouldn't listen when I said I was sorry." Charlotte's tone was
+guarded, but none the less appealing.
+
+But Alex hardened her heart. "I suppose it is because you were
+disobedient. I must say I am disappointed in you, for it seems to me
+you were deceitful as well as disobedient."
+
+Charlotte sat up. Her last hope of a confidante was gone. "You have no
+right to say that. I had to go: I had promised. I was willing to be
+punished, but she has no right to treat me like a baby. I wish I had
+never come."
+
+"Probably your aunts wish so too," Alex observed coolly. "You are not
+reasonable, Charlotte. You have acted like a silly child and made
+yourself talked about, and you are just worrying Miss Virginia to
+death. But don't look at me in that way. I am sorry for you, and if
+you will be patient and accept your punishment, it will come out all
+right." Alex laid her hand on Charlotte's shoulder, but the girl
+twitched it away. Rising, she stood stony and silent. Alex's
+condemnation was the last straw.
+
+As she went drearily up the stairway, Charlotte's thoughts turned with
+a great longing to her guardian and the quiet house in Philadelphia.
+He did perhaps care a little for her. He had sent her here because he
+thought it best, but it had turned out a terrible mistake. She would
+write to-night and tell him so. Tell him how impossible it was to
+endure it any longer, and implore him to send her to boarding-school.
+
+But would he understand? It was so difficult to write things. If only
+she could be with him and Cousin Francis for half an hour and tell
+them her story, she was sure she could make them see the matter as she
+did. And now a daring thought entered her mind. Why not go to them?
+Naturally self-reliant, the thought of the long journey by herself did
+not terrify her. In the little silver purse (Aunt Cora's parting
+gift) were two gold pieces,--more than enough to buy a ticket to
+Philadelphia.
+
+Charlotte's misery grew less at the picture her imagination drew of
+her aunts' consternation when her flight should be discovered.
+Probably there would be more talk; but little would she care, safe
+with Uncle Landor.
+
+Carried away by the excitement of the idea, she found a daily paper
+and sat down in the dainty room prepared for her with so much loving
+care by Aunt Virginia not three months ago, to study the time-table
+and lay her plans.
+
+There was a through train at half-past eight at night which would
+exactly suit. She could steal away after supper. It was the evening
+for Aunt Caroline's Antiquarian Society, and Aunt Virginia could be
+easily eluded.
+
+In stories people who ran away usually left notes. Charlotte
+considered this, and decided she would write one to Aunt Virginia. It
+took a long while and a great deal of note-paper was wasted before it
+was done, and her enthusiasm had cooled a little as she folded it.
+
+She carried a flushed face and an abstracted manner to the supper
+table, but her aunts were evidently too much interested in some
+matter they were discussing to notice her. If she had been less
+absorbed, her curiosity would have been aroused by the guarded manner
+in which they talked.
+
+"It is a case where duty seems to call one in opposite directions,"
+said Mrs. Millard, studying the handle of her spoon with an air of
+profound seriousness that provoked one of those occasionally profane
+suggestions from her sister.
+
+"You'll have to toss up a penny," remarked Miss Virginia.
+
+The thought of Aunt Caroline tossing a penny caused Charlotte a
+moment's diversion, and a faint smile curled about her lips as Aunt
+Virginia promptly took it all back.
+
+"I realize, of course, Caroline, that it is hard to decide; but,
+really, I think you can't refuse Georgiana."
+
+"I shall take the matter under careful consideration till to-morrow,"
+replied Mrs. Millard.
+
+Before they left the table Miss Sarah Leigh looked in to ask Virginia
+about a Mount Mellick stitch. Thus fortune seemed to favor Charlotte's
+plans.
+
+"Are you going to study, dear?" Aunt Virginia asked.
+
+Charlotte flushed at the kind tone, "I am going upstairs, Aunt
+Virginia," she answered. "I am tired."
+
+If Aunt Virginia's kindness weakened her resolve to run away, an
+encounter with Aunt Caroline in the upper hall made it strong again.
+
+While the servants were at supper and Miss Virginia occupied with the
+embroidery lesson, and just as Mrs. Millard left the house by the
+front door, a slight figure in a long gray coat with a blue veil over
+her face slipped down the back stairs, bag in hand, and out of the
+side door.
+
+Pleasant Street was full of swaying shadows, for the wind had risen
+and the electric light on the corner swung slowly to and fro.
+Charlotte held to the gate a moment to steady herself; she seemed
+swaying, too. Not a single person was to be seen. For the first time
+in her life she was alone on the street at night. She told herself
+there was nothing to fear, but she looked wistfully at the lighted
+windows of the houses along the Terrace, and the cheerful glow that
+shone from the little shop across the way; but she did not think of
+going back. It was not far to the street-car, which would take her to
+the door of the station; after that all would be perfectly simple.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELFTH
+
+THE DISCOVERY
+
+
+It was still early when Miss Sarah rolled up her work, saying her aunt
+was not well and must not be left any longer alone.
+
+After she had gone Miss Virginia moved about the drawing-room, pushing
+chairs back into their places, changing by a few inches the position
+of some ornament, and rearranging the folds of the curtains. Meanwhile
+she was thinking that, in part at least, the problem that had been
+weighing upon her was about to be solved. She had not felt so cheerful
+in weeks.
+
+At last she was to have a chance to redeem herself and silence that
+troublesome conscience which continually reminded her she was shirking
+her duty. Her relief was not unmixed, for at times she felt convicted
+of disloyalty.
+
+Ever since the episode of the spool of twist Caroline had been a
+little disagreeable, though in an intangible way that hardly stood
+analysis. Where Charlotte was concerned, Miss Virginia considered her
+sister's severity extreme, and she had been hurt that her own protest
+and plea of extenuating circumstances should have been so scornfully
+dismissed. Now if events turned out as they promised, all would be
+well again. If only she dared give Charlotte a hint. The child looked
+pale and unhappy.
+
+Could there be any harm in saying to her that something was about to
+happen which would make everything right? Miss Virginia resolved to do
+it. There could be no reasonable doubt as to what Caroline's decision
+would be. She ran upstairs light-heartedly.
+
+Charlotte's door was closed, perhaps she was already asleep. Softly
+Miss Virginia turned the knob. The room was dark, except for the
+outside electric light that threw a vivid shadow of the window-frame
+and curtain on the opposite wall. She crossed the room to lower the
+blind, and as she did so, discovered the bed was unoccupied.
+
+[Illustration: SHE SANK INTO A CHAIR.]
+
+With nervous haste she searched for the matches. Why did she tremble
+so? It seemed an age till she found them. No, Charlotte was not
+there; but how absurd to be alarmed, she must be somewhere in the
+house. Mechanically Miss Virginia began to fold a ribbon that lay on
+the dressing-table. Then her eye fell on a folded paper addressed to
+herself. Scarcely able to breathe, she sank into a chair and opened
+it. It was written in a large, schoolgirl hand.
+
+        "DEAR AUNT VIRGINIA: I am going away to Uncle Landor.
+        I am sorry to give you so much trouble. I am going to
+        ask him to send me to boarding school, because I can't
+        stand it any longer. I know how to go to Philadelphia,
+        and I have money enough. I did not mean to be
+        deceitful, but Miss Alex said I was, and that I was
+        making you miserable, so I think I ought to go.
+
+                            "Your niece,
+                                    "CHARLOTTE CRESTON."
+
+To Philadelphia--that child! Miss Virginia, who never travelled alone,
+was overcome with the terror of it. What could she do? Was it too late
+to stop her? Oh, for some one to help! She ran out into the hall, but
+something checked her first impulse to call the servants. At what
+hour did the evening train leave for the north? She hastened
+downstairs for the paper.
+
+"It is all my fault! all my fault!" she murmured to herself, as with
+trembling hands she searched for the railroad column. It was too late;
+the train must have left half an hour ago.
+
+She must consult somebody. Surely, something could be done. Opening
+the front door, she looked out into the night. A bright light shone
+from the Russells' across the way. Forgetting to close the door behind
+her, she hurried over the street and rang the bell.
+
+She told the servant tremblingly that she wished to speak to Miss
+Alex, who presently came to her in evident surprise.
+
+"Why, Miss Virginia! Is anything the matter?"
+
+"Oh, Alex, something dreadful has happened!" In her agitation it was
+not possible to say more.
+
+"Is any one ill?"
+
+"No, it is Charlotte--she has gone!"
+
+"Gone?" echoed Alex. "But do come in, Miss Virginia."
+
+"I can't; I left the door open. I don't want people to know. Oh, Alex,
+what shall I do?"
+
+"I'll go back with you," said Alex. "I don't understand yet what has
+happened. Where has Charlotte gone?"
+
+Once inside her own door, Miss Virginia thrust Charlotte's note into
+Alexina's hand. "What shall I do?" she cried. "That long journey
+alone, and it is all my fault!"
+
+"Don't say that; I am afraid it is partly mine. I was hard on her this
+afternoon, but I didn't dream-- There must be some way to stop
+her,--by telegraphing ahead, you know. I wonder-- It should be done at
+once. The train left half an hour ago, you say?"
+
+Miss Virginia nodded; words were beyond her.
+
+And now into the drawing-room, where they stood in agitated
+uncertainty, walked Miss Pennington, the shopkeeper. Her face was
+flushed, her hair a little disordered by the wind, but she was
+smiling, and somehow her presence seemed at once to relieve the
+tension.
+
+"Perhaps you can help me," cried poor Miss Virginia, hardly knowing
+what she said.
+
+"I am sure I can," answered the stranger, going to her and taking the
+trembling hands in her own firm ones. "Are you worried about
+Charlotte? If you are, I have come to tell you she is safe, and is not
+going to Philadelphia to-night."
+
+"You are sure? How do you know?" cried Miss Virginia, in bewilderment.
+
+Alex drew near in surprise. She had not at first recognized Miss
+Pennington.
+
+"I'll tell you about it as quickly as I can, but you must sit down;"
+and Norah drew her to a sofa, where, sitting beside her, she explained
+that her friend, Miss Carpenter, had had occasion that night to go to
+the station with her maid, whose nephew was to pass through the city
+on his way to a western army post. In the waiting-room her attention
+had been attracted by the efforts of a man to annoy a little girl.
+Finally it became so marked, and the child seemed so alarmed, that
+Miss Carpenter interfered, and appealed to a passing official. Then,
+surprised that a girl of her appearance should be travelling alone at
+night, she questioned her; and thoroughly frightened, Charlotte had
+revealed the fact that she was running away.
+
+"Miss Carpenter is a very decided person, and when she understood the
+matter, would not let her go, but instead brought her home, where we
+talked it over. I hope you won't think me very presuming when I say
+that it seemed to us if there were any way of keeping it quiet, it
+would be so much better. It was just the momentary rebellion of a
+high-spirited girl. I know she is sorry now."
+
+"Caroline need never know a thing about it," exclaimed Miss Virginia,
+looking at Alex.
+
+"I am sure that would be best. I'll never speak of it," answered Alex.
+
+"Then I'll bring her over," said Norah, rising. "She is a good deal
+excited, so I offered to come over and pave the way."
+
+"You can tell her I will be as good to her--things are going to be
+very different." Tears came into Miss Virginia's eyes.
+
+"I am sure you are always good. I haven't the least doubt she was
+naughty, but girls are very foolish sometimes." Norah looked at Alex
+as if she might be expected to agree to this.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+A very pale, subdued Charlotte made her appearance soon after. There
+was nobody to receive her but Aunt Virginia, who waited at the door.
+
+Little was said that night. "We'll just pretend it never happened,
+dear," Aunt Virginia said tearfully, as she took her into her arms and
+kissed her. "You didn't know it, but your Aunt Caroline is going away
+for the winter," she added. "It is a secret yet, but she is going very
+soon; and I was thinking you and I would have such a good time, and
+then--" They both fell to crying over this in a manner to suggest to
+one unenlightened that a good time without Aunt Caroline would prove
+but a dreary affair.
+
+"I am so sorry, and I am going to be good," Charlotte whispered, when
+her aunt came to tuck her in. "And oh, Aunt Virginia, they are lovely!
+They were so good." This, of course, referred to the shopkeepers.
+
+"I didn't thank Miss Pennington; I didn't say one word, so far as I
+remember," exclaimed Miss Wilbur, "and she was certainly kind. I shall
+have to go over and express my appreciation. Judging from her
+appearance she is a charming young woman."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEENTH
+
+AFTERWARD
+
+
+The newly built fire crackled and blazed merrily, putting to rout what
+little daylight sifted through the slats of the window-shutters. How
+pleasant to lie there safe and warm! Charlotte hugged her pillow in
+thankfulness.
+
+Far from being the heroine she had imagined herself, she realized she
+was only a foolish little girl. For once she felt the truth of that
+objectionable phrase. The experience of the night before had subdued
+her. She went all over it as she lay there, waiting for the rising
+bell.
+
+On her way to the station the persistent stare of a man who sat
+opposite in the street-car made her uneasy; and when at the station,
+after she had bought her ticket, he again appeared and attempted to
+talk to her, even following her when she changed her seat, her
+uneasiness became alarm.
+
+The dreadful loneliness of that great station, with its hurrying
+crowds, she would not soon forget. If it had been day, Charlotte was
+sure she would have been braver. In her despair Miss Carpenter came to
+her rescue. She recalled vividly how the young lady swept down upon
+her tormentor, with blazing eyes, demanding imperiously what he meant
+by annoying a little girl; and then Charlotte, clinging to the
+friendly hand held out to her, had allowed herself to be led meekly
+away. It was all over in a moment, and in a quiet corner out of the
+crowd she was replying brokenly to the questions of her rescuer.
+
+Why was it that under the serious gaze of those dark eyes all her
+self-confidence and determination had oozed away? Miss Carpenter's
+manner was kind, but her decision had been prompt and final. It seemed
+to Charlotte no one could have resisted her.
+
+"My child," she said, still holding Charlotte's hand, "you cannot take
+such a journey alone. I cannot let you. Come home with me, where we
+can talk it over. We'll find some way out of the trouble." And she
+added: "You live on the corner of Pleasant Street and the Terrace,
+don't you? I think I have seen you there. I am Miss Carpenter of the
+shop."
+
+In a sort of bewilderment Charlotte had submitted, and escorted by
+Miss Carpenter and the elderly maid she rode back to the Terrace. And
+that half-hour in the shop, where they found Miss Pennington
+comfortably established by the fire with a book! Charlotte could still
+feel the atmosphere of sympathy and reason that enveloped her as she
+poured out her story to these strangers with all the pent-up
+unhappiness of the past week. How gently they had pointed out that
+running away would only add difficulties to the situation.
+
+Her face grew hot now at the thought of how silly she must have seemed
+to them. And she wished these young ladies to think well of
+her,--which, of course, they never could do.
+
+Aunt Virginia had been good, too. A wave of warm affection surged up
+in Charlotte's heart, and with it a determination to be a comfort to
+her after this. As she dressed, she wondered if she would ever again
+be free from this dreadful feeling of shame. She hated to go down to
+breakfast, even though Aunt Caroline did not know.
+
+Later in the day Aunt Virginia called her into her room and closed
+the door. There was a pretty flush on her face as she sat erect in an
+arm-chair which, like the other furniture in the room, had been her
+grandmother's. Beside her on a table was an old Bible with yellow
+leaves, and some ancient books of devotion.
+
+"I have been talking to your Aunt Caroline," Miss Wilbur began.
+
+Charlotte started.
+
+"I do not mean about last night. While I feel almost deceitful in
+keeping it from her, I have decided to do it. As I told you, your Aunt
+Georgiana is out of health and must go to California, and it seems
+Caroline's duty to go with her. This will leave you in my charge. You
+were really put in my charge at first, but I felt inexperienced and--"
+Miss Virginia hesitated, then continued: "What I have been thinking is
+this. I should like to try again, starting fresh and forgetting all
+that has happened. I think if you would promise always to be frank
+with me, and perhaps put up with some things that seem to you foolish
+and old-fashioned notions, that we could get along together. I loved
+your mother, and I want to love you and have your affection. But if
+you cannot be happy, I will write to Mr. Landor and explain--"
+
+"Aunt Virginia, I do love you. I don't want to go away. I am so sorry
+about last night!" Charlotte buried her face in her aunt's lap.
+
+"Don't cry, dear. It is all over, then, and we will forget it." Miss
+Virginia caressed the brown head.
+
+"But I am so ashamed. It hurts--I can't forget."
+
+"Well, dear, perhaps you had some excuse. Caroline overlooked the fact
+that you have lived an unusually independent life, and I think she did
+not just understand how you felt about Lucile. I don't mean you were
+right to go there, but-- Well, from now on you are my charge, and the
+punishment is over. After this we'll try to understand and trust each
+other."
+
+"I am going to be good; you'll see," Charlotte whispered, her arms
+about her aunt's neck.
+
+She felt impatient to show Aunt Virginia she was really in earnest.
+What could she do? As she dressed for the evening an idea occurred to
+her. With many a pang she shook out her wavy brown hair and combed it
+resolutely back from her face. It had always taken an absurd length of
+time to arrange that drooping mass in just the proper manner, but
+Lucile had commended her skill. It was much easier to brush it back in
+a way to show how prettily it grew about her forehead, but Charlotte
+really considered herself a fright as she tied a blue ribbon on her
+long braid.
+
+The change gave her rather a chastened look, combined as it was with a
+timid self-consciousness when she entered the dining-room. Her aunts
+surveyed her with evident astonishment.
+
+"Well, Charlotte," Mrs. Millard remarked, affably, "you are really a
+nice-looking little girl when you let yourself alone."
+
+Aunt Virginia patted her hand and said nothing, but Charlotte felt
+sure she understood.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEENTH
+
+MRS. MILLARD DEPARTS
+
+
+Relieved and thankful though Miss Virginia felt, and confident, too,
+that she and Charlotte would now get on very well together, she still
+had something on her mind. The feeling that she was concealing
+something from her sister weighed upon her, but not so heavily as her
+sense of obligation to the shopkeepers. In her agitation she had
+hardly thanked Miss Pennington; and the more she considered it, the
+more remarkable their kindness and thoughtfulness appeared. Would
+Caroline call it officiousness?
+
+Mrs. Millard had gone so far as to acknowledge the shopkeepers
+_seemed_ to be persons of refinement, and their effort to make a
+living was, of course, creditable; but she feared they did not quite
+know their position. Perhaps they were from some small town, where
+social distinctions were overlooked.
+
+"Perhaps they are well born, but have lost their money and have to do
+something," Miss Virginia suggested, thinking that the manners of the
+young women in question were not in the least rustic.
+
+Ignoring this her sister continued: "It is quite evident to my mind
+that they are pushing. Why else should they have come into a
+neighborhood like this, instead of going where they belong, among
+other shops? They evidently hope for some social recognition, and this
+is why I lay stress upon not giving them our patronage in any respect.
+I see plainly they will leave no stone unturned to ingratiate
+themselves."
+
+Did this account for Charlotte's rescue? Miss Virginia shivered at the
+thought. It had seemed to her the extreme of neighborly kindness. One
+thing was certain,--Miss Carpenter had not invented the occasion. Had
+she seized it in the hope of advancing her own interests? Miss
+Virginia felt this was silly.
+
+How friendly and helpful Miss Pennington had seemed! Could a
+commonplace, pushing young woman have so won Miss Virginia's heart?
+She lay awake at night thinking about it, wondering how she could
+suitably express her gratitude and at the same time preserve a distant
+dignity. In the silence and darkness all sorts of dreadful
+possibilities floated through her mind. Perhaps these harmless-looking
+young women were adventuresses, come into the neighborhood with some
+deep scheme, and the attractive shop as a blind. They might be
+burglars. One read of astonishing things done by women in these days.
+
+Miss Virginia felt impatient over this new problem, and her irritation
+caused a display of unusual spirit when her sister began to give her
+parting instructions.
+
+"You'd better send the drawing-room curtains to Lucinda in January,"
+said that lady, thoughtfully, balancing her pencil above the pad on
+her knee. "I have made a list--"
+
+"It is quite unnecessary, Caroline," interrupted Miss Virginia; "I
+kept house for a good many years without you, and you can't expect to
+run things here while you are in California."
+
+"It seems to me, Virginia, you use very unbecoming expressions. I have
+no desire to _run things_; I only supposed you would be glad of a few
+suggestions."
+
+"I am sure I don't wish to be rude, but I will be frank and tell you,
+Caroline, that I mean to do as I please while you are away."
+
+Mrs. Millard gazed at her in surprise. "Why, Virginia, one would
+suppose you had been a captive in chains! Very well, I wash my hands
+of it all,--only," relapsing into a tone of pathetic reproach, "you do
+such singular things at times, you know."
+
+She was manifestly shaken by this declaration of independence, but she
+was committed to her older sister. It was too late to change her
+plans. She ventured one parting injunction. "Pray, Virginia, do not
+patronize the shop. Let me beg of you, if you have any regard for me."
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+In Mrs. Millard's sudden departure the Terrace naturally felt an
+interest.
+
+"So Caroline's going to leave us," Judge Russell remarked at the
+breakfast table. "We shall be free to do as we please this winter.
+I'll have that poplar set out in February."
+
+"Aren't you ashamed, grandfather!" laughed Madelaine. "As if you had
+not strength of mind to do as you like."
+
+The judge smiled as he stirred his coffee. "Caroline is a forceful
+woman; and then, too, she is generally right. It may be, as she says,
+the tree will not grow, but I want to try it."
+
+"I wonder she is willing to leave Virginia all the responsibility of
+Charlotte. She is such a headstrong child, and so northern," said Mrs.
+Russell.
+
+"Now, mother," expostulated Alexina, "isn't that dreadfully narrow?"
+
+"What harm is there in liking your own part of the country best?"
+asked her sister.
+
+"I did not mean any such thing," cried Alex. "I only insist that no
+locality has the monopoly of nice people."
+
+"But some peculiarities are northern and some are southern, and I
+don't see that it is narrow to prefer one sort above the other,"
+Madelaine persisted. "How can Mrs. Millard make up her mind to leave
+the shop?" she continued. "Miss Sarah has gone over to the enemy, and
+Alex is going."
+
+"I don't understand about that shop," said her grandfather, not for
+the first time, by any means. "I told you about that young lady who
+so kindly picked up my books,--a most intelligent person, and as
+pretty as--as Madelaine." This with a smile at his youngest
+granddaughter.
+
+"Here is another conversion," laughed Madelaine.
+
+"I can't understand about the shop," the judge repeated.
+
+"Why isn't keeping a shop just as respectable as teaching or keeping
+boarders?" asked Alex. She had in truth been strongly attracted to
+Miss Pennington that evening at Miss Wilbur's, and had a secret desire
+to see more of her.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+Wayland Leigh brought the news of Mrs. Millard's proposed departure to
+his two aunts. He had it from Madelaine Russell.
+
+"I wish you could have such a trip, Sarah," said Mrs. Leigh. "It would
+do you a world of good. As Aunt Nancy used to say, you are so thin you
+have to stand up twice to cast a shadow."
+
+"Caroline is going from a sense of duty, you may be sure. And what
+would my boarders do while I was skylarking in California?" her niece
+demanded. This was a mild joke, for the boarders had not as yet
+materialized.
+
+"I wish you would give up that idea, Aunt Sarah," growled Wayland.
+
+"You agree with Mrs. Millard, I suppose. She thinks it involves the
+whole Terrace in a downward step. But what am I to do? Caroline
+assured me she could secure the position of matron at the Children's
+Home for me, but what would you and Aunt Sally do then, poor things?"
+
+"Oh, it is easy to laugh--" began Wayland.
+
+"Is it? Then I wish you would favor us sometimes, my dear nephew."
+
+"I was going to say," continued Wayland, with dignity, "that it was
+easy to make fun of Mrs. Millard, but she is my idea of an elegant
+woman."
+
+"Far be it from me to deny Caroline's elegance. I am often proud to
+know her. I believe there could be no emergency great enough to make
+her say 'hello!' over the telephone, and I saw her on one occasion put
+up her lorgnette when she answered a call."
+
+"Now, Sarah," said Mrs. Leigh, laughing.
+
+The two ladies talked on about neighborhood affairs, but Wayland paid
+little heed, being absorbed in his own thoughts. He was in an
+impatient and critical mood. What he considered his aunt's oddity
+annoyed him. He wished she would dress like other people,--meaning
+Mrs. Millard. He was twenty years old, and was working in a bank for
+fifty dollars a month, with small chance of promotion. He had wished
+to go to college,--not so much, however, as his aunt had wished it for
+him,--but now this was overshadowed by the ambition to be rich. And
+all for Madelaine. Sometimes he fiercely resolved that he _would_ be
+rich; and again he lost heart at the thought that lovely, dainty
+Madelaine was certain to find another palace long before his was
+built. Her frank worldliness did not weaken his adoration, strange to
+say.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEENTH
+
+GIANT DESPAIR
+
+
+"Miss Norah, I am afraid Miss Marion is falling back." Susanna stood
+in the doorway, a tea towel in one hand, a cup in the other.
+
+Norah, who was putting in order certain shelves before the day's work
+began, asked, "Why do you think so, Susanna?"
+
+"Well, Miss Norah, I caught her walking around the house with her eyes
+shut, feeling her way like she was trying to get used to it." Susanna
+advanced and spoke in a whisper, "And she hasn't had a smile for
+anybody this last day or two. Haven't you noticed it?"
+
+"To tell the truth, I have, Susanna; but, after all, it is not
+unnatural. The excitement of getting settled and beginning work made
+her forget, and now the novelty is wearing off she has, as you say,
+slipped back. All this rain and fog is in itself depressing. Don't
+worry, Susanna. Hasn't everything I promised you come true up till
+now?"
+
+"I suppose so, Miss Norah," was the reluctant answer.
+
+"Then don't worry, and I'll let you keep shop this afternoon."
+
+Where the shop was concerned, Susanna was like a child; and nothing
+pleased her more than to be left in charge for an hour or so. Her own
+domain, the three bedrooms, dining room, and kitchen, she kept in
+spotless order, creating the daintiest repasts as if by magic, and
+seeming always to have time to spare.
+
+She went back to her dishes, and Norah worked away with a thoughtful
+frown. Presently Marion entered and dropped into a chair with a weary
+sigh. "It is a horrid day," she said.
+
+"There is a bit of blue in the west; by afternoon it may be pleasant,"
+Norah responded.
+
+When one is immersed in gloom, the sight of determined cheerfulness is
+irritating. So Marion found it.
+
+"The air is so heavy one can hardly breathe," she went on. "I believe
+I'll let Susanna attend to the plants; I am tired."
+
+"I have time to do it," said Norah, closing the door of the case.
+
+Marion rose impatiently. "You shall not touch them. If Susanna cannot
+do them, I will."
+
+"Susanna would cut off her hand if you asked it; but I know she has
+more than usual to do this morning, and we agreed the shop was to be
+our part. I am not in the least tired. Please, Marion!" Norah stood
+between her and the door.
+
+"Very well. I shall attend to it myself," and Marion swept by her.
+
+"O dear!" sighed Norah, "I feel like a tyrant; but she must not give
+up."
+
+Marion returned presently and began washing the palms and clipping
+away the dead leaves. She worked listlessly, her face wore an
+expression of deep melancholy.
+
+A diversion was created by the entrance of James Mandeville. He had
+been kept in several days by a cold, and the joy of release radiated
+from his small person.
+
+"Mammy says she reckons the sun's going to shine by and by, so she let
+me come," he announced.
+
+"Mammy and I are of the same opinion, then," said Norah, helping him
+off with his coat. "Can't you think of something to cheer Miss Marion?
+She is very tired of this rainy weather."
+
+"I'll sing her a song, that's what I'll do," James Mandeville cried
+eagerly. "You wait."
+
+He disappeared into the next room, where presently his voice was heard
+uplifted in "Onward, Christian Soldiers," and if the tune was a trifle
+uncertain, nothing was lacking in spirit. Through the open door he
+marched, holding the morning paper before him, and proceeding the
+length of the shop.
+
+        "One in hope of _doctor_, one in _cherry tree_,"
+
+he proclaimed lustily.
+
+Even Marion must smile a little at this.
+
+"It is beautiful," said Norah, "though I don't quite understand it. I
+seem to feel a sort of connection between the doctor and the cherry
+tree, too."
+
+"There's a heap more of verses," James Mandeville assured her. "Do you
+feel better?" This to Marion.
+
+Who could resist? She laughed as she drew him to her and kissed him.
+"I am cross this morning, and you are a nice boy to sing for me. I
+make life very hard for Miss Norah. Suppose you go tell her I am
+sorry."
+
+James Mandeville trotted off obediently to find Norah, who had left
+the room a moment before. Marion, having finished with the plants, was
+absently looking out of the window when the door opened with a jerk
+and some one bounced into the shop. Turning with a start, she
+recognized the personage Norah called Giant Despair.
+
+"What do you mean?--" he began, then paused and stared about in
+bewilderment. "Where am I?" he demanded; and as Marion advanced he
+removed his hat, displaying a massive head covered with shaggy gray
+hair.
+
+"We call this the Pleasant Street Shop," she answered.
+
+"See here--I thought it was the plumber's. I am getting so blind I
+shall soon have to be led around. So you call this a shop? Does it
+belong to you? For I can tell you now you have made a mistake in
+coming here." His voice was gruff, and as he spoke he peered this way
+and that, as if to get some idea of his surroundings.
+
+"If we can't make a success here, we will go elsewhere, but we are
+doing very well," Marion said, "The plumber is on the next block."
+
+"I know that now. I am not losing my mind as well as my sight."
+
+Something impelled Marion to say, "I am sorry about your eyes. Can't
+something be done?"
+
+"Sorry? How can you be sorry? Nobody knows anything about it who
+hasn't tried it."
+
+"I have lived in constant fear of blindness for a year." Marion seldom
+spoke of her eyes, but the sight of trouble like her own broke down
+her usual reticence.
+
+The old man softened. "You have? A young thing like you?" He peered at
+her in his intent way. "I guess you have grit," he said.
+
+"Not much," she answered. "But my eyes are better, they tell me. Time
+will show. Can't something be done for yours?"
+
+"Oh, yes, they are going to operate on the right one in the spring,
+but it is not likely to do any good; and then I shall have just half
+an eye left."
+
+Norah and James Mandeville now entered unobserved.
+
+"I have got to row up that plumber," Giant Despair continued, looking
+at his hat. "As I told you, I don't approve of a shop in this
+neighborhood, but I don't see anything that looks like one. Good day,"
+and with a grim smile he went out more quietly than he had entered.
+
+"Who would ever have expected a visit from Giant Despair?" cried
+Norah, "and he seems to have a bit of humor about him, too."
+
+"I am sorry for him. He looks as if he had no one to take care of him,
+and he is nearly blind, as you can tell," said Marion.
+
+When Mammy Belle came for her charge at noon, Marion asked her if she
+knew anything about old Mr. Goodman.
+
+"Yes'm," answered Belle, "I knows him, Miss Marion," smoothing her
+apron.
+
+"Does he live alone in that big house on the Terrace?"
+
+"Yes'm, and he's mighty rich and crusty. He don't waste no pleasant
+words, and he don't waste no money. Law, Miss Marion, he's got rusty
+dollars layin' up in bank."
+
+"Rusty dollars?" repeated Norah.
+
+"Yes, honey, been layin' thar so long they's rusty. Get up offen the
+floor, James Mandeville. You won't have no skin on your knees, fust
+you knows."
+
+"Then will I have to be born again to get some?" inquired the small
+boy, sitting back on his heels to consider the matter.
+
+"Law, chile, what you talkin' 'bout? You mus' think you's
+Nickorydemus! Miss Norah's settin' there laughin' at you. Come 'long
+home with mammy."
+
+"Isn't there a delightful variousness about our neighborhood?" said
+Norah. "Do you see that sun? Tell me I am not a prophet!"
+
+"You are an angel to put up with me," sighed Marion, but her face was
+no longer gloomy.
+
+"I have been constructing a grab-bag, and you shall have the first
+grab;" and Norah brought out a bag made of rainbow ribbons. "This is
+outwardly symbolic of the cheer within. The principle on which it
+works is simple. Whenever I find a consoling sentiment, I write it on
+a card and drop it in, then when I am low in my mind, I take one out.
+Help yourself."
+
+"What an absurd person you are!" said Marion, obediently putting her
+hand in and drawing out a card. She read:--
+
+        "Cleave ever to the sunnier side of doubt,
+         And cling to faith."
+
+Norah looked over her shoulder. "That is good, isn't it?"
+
+Marion caught her hand. "You preacher," she said, adding, "I accept
+it, dear, and I'll try." The visit of Giant Despair seemed the
+culmination of Marion's depression. It was Saturday afternoon, and
+leaving Susanna in charge, they set out on an exploring expedition in
+the mood of two light-hearted children.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEENTH
+
+CHARLOTTE
+
+
+With the departure of Mrs. Millard a season of repose came to the
+Terrace. Charlotte and Miss Virginia actually found life a little tame
+after the excitement, for their neighbors were just then absorbed in
+their own affairs.
+
+Miss Sarah and her aunt had some new boarders on which to expend time
+and thought, and Alexina was living a life of rigid usefulness,
+studying shorthand in secret and helping with the house work, for the
+Russell mansion was large and servants not numerous. She also made
+dainty things for that radiant butterfly Madelaine. Alex was a born
+milliner, but she rather despised her gift, even while acknowledging
+its usefulness.
+
+The fame of the corner shop was spreading abroad till it was in a fair
+way to become fashionable. Charlotte, from her window where she
+studied, could see people passing in and out, and not infrequently a
+carriage stood before the door. Sometimes she would forget her lesson
+in the interest of recalling her evening visit there. How cheery and
+cosey it had looked in the lamplight! Should she ever see it again?
+Miss Pennington bowed and smiled in a friendly way when they
+occasionally met, Miss Carpenter she had not seen again.
+
+It occurred to Charlotte quite suddenly one day that it was something
+of a coincidence that there should be a Miss Carpenter across the
+street here, and while she was thinking about it she was called down
+to see--of all persons!--her guardian. Having business in the South,
+Mr. Landor had made it convenient to stop over a day or two.
+
+She was so glad to see him she came near crying, a most unusual thing
+for Charlotte, and her guardian eyed her closely as she drew him into
+the library and seated herself on an ottoman beside his chair. Miss
+Wilbur was out, and there was nothing to interrupt them.
+
+With her elbow on the arm of his chair, and her chin in her hand as
+she looked up at him, Charlotte at first had a dozen questions to ask
+concerning Cousin Frank and Mrs. Wellington, and Spruce Street affairs
+generally. But after a little, Uncle Landor began to ask the
+questions, and then came the confession.
+
+She unfolded the whole story, trying not to spare herself, though
+unable to conceal some resentment against Aunt Caroline. Mr. Landor
+listened in grave silence, and continued to look at her thoughtfully
+after she had finished. Charlotte's eyes fell under his scrutiny, but
+she quickly lifted them again.
+
+"Was I deceitful? I did not mean to be."
+
+"What do you think yourself?"
+
+"I--but I tried to tell."
+
+"Things were rather against you, Charlotte. I like to see you loyal.
+Do you still think this girl the sort of friend you care to have?"
+
+Charlotte hung her head. "I don't know," she faltered. The truth was,
+Lucile's excess of devotion was beginning to grow tiresome. There were
+other of her schoolmates who, she could not help seeing, were more
+desirable as friends, but they now held aloof. It was hard to
+acknowledge that Aunt Caroline had been at least partly right.
+
+Mr. Landor lifted the downcast face, and his gaze was kindly. "I
+believe you are learning your lesson, little girl, but it has been a
+sharp one. It is always a mistake not to be straightforward. In all
+your life I fear you have never truly learned to obey. You are fast
+growing up now, and the responsibility will rest more and more upon
+yourself. Are you going to listen to the voice that speaks in your
+heart, and obey when the conflict comes?" He laid his hand on the
+brown head. "In spite of it all, you have improved, Charlotte."
+
+"Do you mean my hair?"
+
+"Have you done anything to your hair? I didn't know; it is very pretty
+hair. No, you have grown more gentle and womanly."
+
+"I am happy with Aunt Virginia. She is a dear, and I feel so ashamed
+and sorry when I think how she would have felt if I had run away.
+Uncle Landor, is it that voice you spoke of--in our hearts--that makes
+us feel so dreadfully ashamed sometimes?"
+
+"I suppose we may say it is in this instance. It is the judgment of
+the higher self upon the lower self."
+
+Mr. Landor was a reserved and somewhat silent man, and never before
+had he talked to Charlotte just as he did this afternoon. Till now
+she had been only a child to be petted or reproved. To-day he gently
+pointed out her faults, showed her how from now on it rested largely
+with herself what she would make of her life; he spoke of the guiding
+voice that all may hear who listen and who keep their hearts pure and
+loving, and last of all he put into her hand a little pocket
+Testament, in which he said he had marked certain things which had
+served him as guide-posts on the way, and might help her.
+
+Charlotte was touched and pleased, and took the book with a very
+earnest promise to read it and follow its guidance.
+
+After this they went on to talk of other matters. Charlotte pointed
+out the shop over the way, and gave an account of the neighborhood
+which showed such a keen appreciation of individual foibles, that her
+guardian found himself laughing heartily.
+
+"Uncle Landor, I wish you would ask Aunt Virginia to let me go to the
+shop," she said. "I liked Miss Carpenter and Miss Pennington so much,
+and they were very good to me."
+
+Mr. Landor spent several days in town, and before he left, Miss
+Virginia herself asked his opinion as to the proper attitude toward
+the shopkeepers.
+
+"They did me a great service, and in the excitement of that evening I
+cannot recall thanking Miss Pennington. I went into the shop the day
+after Caroline left, meaning to give some expression to my gratitude,
+but both the young women were out. I feel uncomfortable about it. I
+can't think as Caroline does, that they are trying to force themselves
+upon our notice. They really seem to be ladies. What would you
+advise?"
+
+A smile illumined Mr. Landor's usually grave countenance at Miss
+Wilbur's earnestness.
+
+"It is a thrifty-looking little shop," he said; "Charlotte pointed it
+out to me. And I should say, Miss Virginia, that you are perfectly
+safe in following your own instincts in the matter. To suppose their
+motives in helping Charlotte other than kindly seems to me both
+ungracious and absurd. You say they appear to be ladies. They probably
+are, but however that may be, you and Charlotte and I owe them our
+thanks."
+
+Miss Virginia told Charlotte afterward that she was greatly relieved.
+"For Philadelphia people are not likely to go too far in a matter of
+this kind. Then, too, Mr. Landor is a man, and able to judge whether
+they could possibly be dangerous persons."
+
+Charlotte opened her eyes. "How could they be dangerous?"
+
+"Well, my dear, they might be burglars, come to spy out the
+neighborhood, with the shop for a blind."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Virginia!" laughed Charlotte.
+
+"I am sure I have read of such things," the lady insisted stoutly.
+
+Not long after this Charlotte received a letter from Cousin Francis.
+
+"Father tells me you have been having your own troubles, little Char,"
+he wrote. "Well, keep up a good heart and work hard. This is what I am
+doing just now. Things have not gone my way at all, but in spite of it
+I am going to try to do something worth while this winter. I often
+wish you were here to be my admiring critic."
+
+A letter came from Mrs. Wellington also, relating chiefly to a package
+Aunt Cora had commissioned her to send, but at the end she said:
+"Perhaps you will be interested to know the Carpenter house is closed.
+Miss May has gone away--not to be home for a year, they say--so if you
+were here, you could not watch for her as you used to do."
+
+Was it on account of Miss Carpenter that things were not going Cousin
+Frank's way? Charlotte wondered, and began to think once more of the
+rose that was out of reach.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH
+
+AN EVENING CALL
+
+
+"Alex, I am glad to see you. I was about to send Martha over for you;
+I am alone this evening. How very nice you look!"
+
+It was an understood thing that if Alex had no other engagement, she
+was to take supper at the Wilburs' on Fridays. She stood before Miss
+Virginia pulling off her long gloves, looking indeed unusually
+handsome in a gown of pale gray and a plumy black hat, which she had
+made herself with a sort of reluctant pleasure in its becomingness.
+
+"I simply had to go to the Burtons'," she explained. "Madelaine was
+receiving, and mother insisted if I never went anywhere, people would
+begin to say she pushed me into the background and showed partiality.
+There is no arguing with her when she is in that state of mind, so I
+went."
+
+"And enjoyed it, I am sure," said Miss Virginia. "I suppose I
+should have gone if Caroline had been at home, but to tell the
+truth, I forgot it. Charlotte was asked to a party,--one of her
+schoolmates,--and I was interested in seeing her dressed. I am
+glad the child is to have a little diversion; she has been as good
+as gold lately."
+
+"I am certain you will not have any more trouble with her; Charlotte
+is a nice child," Alex replied with a half sigh. She felt that
+Charlotte had never quite forgiven her for her severity, and that
+Madelaine without any effort or care had won the place she had meant
+to hold in the little girl's regard.
+
+Madelaine occasionally joined the Friday tea-party; to fascinate was
+as natural to her as to breathe, and Charlotte had been quickly won.
+
+"You look sweet with your hair back," Madelaine had said, loosening
+the waves about Charlotte's forehead with fairy touches. "It was too
+extreme before. We could hardly see your eyes, and they are too pretty
+to hide."
+
+Silly flattery, Alex thought, but she knew Charlotte would never
+return to the old way.
+
+As she poured the coffee, Miss Virginia told Alex about Mr. Landor's
+visit and his decision in regard to the shopkeepers. "I was so
+surprised," she concluded, "for Philadelphians are so exclusive, you
+know."
+
+"I think he is sensible. I wish one could do the natural, simple thing
+always," sighed Alex, "without thinking of dignity or position. It
+might be much more entertaining to associate with persons whose social
+position was different from one's own."
+
+"Do you think so, Alex? If it were done generally, there would not be
+any social positions, would there?" Miss Virginia spoke as one who
+faced a deep problem.
+
+"It would be heaven," answered Alex; adding, "suppose we go this
+evening."
+
+"Alex! will you go with me? I am so relieved."
+
+Later it appeared that unsuspected difficulties lurked in the
+seemingly simple matter of an evening call.
+
+"Shall I take a card?" Miss Virginia paused on the stairway to
+inquire. "It is not quite an ordinary call, you know."
+
+"I should take one if I were you; and let me put my name on it," Alex
+answered, laughing.
+
+On the porch Miss Wilbur paused again. "Shall we ask them to come to
+see us?"
+
+"Need we mention it at all? Let them do as they see fit."
+
+"Of course. You are very sensible, Alex." Miss Virginia sighed.
+
+At the gate there was another delay. "I am afraid your mother will not
+like it. I don't want to lead you into mischief, Alex."
+
+"Now, Miss Virginia, I proposed going with you, and I am going whether
+you go or not," and Alex linked her arm in her friend's, and drew her
+toward the corner.
+
+"I don't know what Caroline _would_ say; but then, she does not know
+the circumstances." After this remark, they crossed the street in
+silence, broken only by another sigh from Miss Virginia, as Alex
+touched the bell.
+
+The maid who admitted them showed some surprise, but ushered them
+toward a half-open door at the end of the small hallway, Miss Wilbur's
+card in her hand.
+
+"We'll just refer the matter to the _rich_ Miss Carpenter," a
+laughing voice was announcing as they entered a room, the first
+impression of which was that of a pleasant library, with its shaded
+lamps, open fire, and happy mingling of books and work; a second
+glance showed it to be simply the shop in evening dress.
+
+The voice belonged to Miss Pennington who now came forward with a
+cordial greeting, and presented Alex and Miss Virginia to her friend,
+Miss Carpenter. Miss Carpenter's manner was somewhat distant in
+contrast, but seen without the disfiguring glasses she usually wore,
+Alex found her unexpectedly handsome.
+
+"I have wanted so much to have an opportunity to thank you," Miss
+Virginia began, an evident victim to a terrible fit of shyness. "I
+came one afternoon, but you were out. You were both so kind to my
+niece," she looked at Miss Carpenter.
+
+"I beg you not to think of it again. It was nothing at all. I happened
+to be at the station, and seeing how frightened she was, went to her
+rescue." Miss Carpenter spoke as one who dismissed a trivial matter.
+
+"We were so interested in her," put in Miss Pennington. "It occurred
+to Miss Carpenter that it might be possible to avoid the trying ordeal
+of explanations, so she brought her here to talk it over."
+
+"Charlotte is a dear child," said Miss Virginia, "and all the trouble
+is over now." Then she added with a sudden accession of
+self-possession: "It may seem a small matter to you, Miss Carpenter,
+but perhaps you can understand it would have been a most serious and
+unhappy thing for me if the child had carried out her plan. I can't be
+thankful enough."
+
+"I do see it, and I am very glad that, by a happy accident, I was able
+to be of service." Miss Carpenter's manner changed, her tone was soft,
+her smile winning. Alex, who was playing the part of spectator,
+suddenly warmed to her.
+
+"I met your grandfather several weeks ago, Miss Russell," said Miss
+Pennington, turning to her. "He had an armful of books, and seemed to
+think I had done him a wonderful favor in picking up two he dropped in
+getting out of the car."
+
+"He told me," Alex answered. "He was so pleased that you appreciated
+the value of his find."
+
+"And he was so disappointed when he found I kept a shop," laughed
+Norah.
+
+Alex smiled and flushed. "Grandfather has old-fashioned ideas about
+women supporting themselves, and then, too, the neighborhood was
+rather opposed to having a shop built here."
+
+"I know," answered Miss Pennington, "but as it is here we flatter
+ourselves nothing could be less objectionable than _our_ shop."
+
+"You are undoubtedly winning us over. It seems to me a delightful
+occupation, but I suppose it is not so easy and pleasant as it looks."
+
+"Of course it is work, but we find it pleasant. For several years I
+taught, but to keep a store has always been my ambition since I was
+three years old, and I at last persuaded my friend to join me in an
+experiment."
+
+"You don't make all your lovely baskets, surely?" Alex asked, her eyes
+on the strings of raphia and an unfinished basket that lay on the
+table.
+
+"Oh, no. It is work Miss Carpenter can do at times,--her eyes allow
+very little of any sort,--but most of our stock comes from a Mothers'
+Club in a settlement in which we are both interested. I lived there
+for a time. You can't think how much it has meant to those women. They
+bring their babies with them, and they sing while they work, and the
+babies sleep or are entertained by their surroundings. Many of the
+patterns are original, and they have developed a wonderful sense for
+color and form in some instances."
+
+"How interesting!" exclaimed Alex. "I don't see how you ever happened
+to come to a stupid town like this."
+
+"Our pottery has a history, too. It is designed and decorated by two
+young women, and it has taken very well wherever it has been
+exhibited. But I do not mean to go on talking shop all the evening,"
+and Norah paused with a smile.
+
+"I like to hear about it. It has been such a puzzle to me to know what
+I could do to support myself. There seemed to be nothing but teaching
+or stenography, and I should hate both, I am afraid."
+
+"If possible, do the thing you like to do, is my theory. There are a
+good many fields in these days, and still in almost any paper you can
+find a young lady who wishes to be a companion and is willing to
+travel."
+
+Alex laughed. Miss Virginia was rising, and she reluctantly followed
+her example. "May I come again sometime?" she asked.
+
+While Miss Wilbur and Alex were talking over their call, Charlotte
+came in in a flutter of gayety, her checks matching her rose-colored
+ribbons.
+
+"I wish I could have gone with you," she said when she had heard of
+the visit. "Did they say anything about me?"
+
+"You were mentioned," her aunt replied, pinching her cheek; and
+adding, "they are certainly very pleasant young women."
+
+"They are charming," said Alex.
+
+"I wonder if this Miss Carpenter could be any relation to the one who
+lives across the street from Uncle Landor?" said Charlotte.
+
+"Did you hear what Miss Pennington was saying when we went in, Miss
+Virginia?" asked Alex.
+
+"It was something about the rich Miss Carpenter, wasn't it?"
+
+"_My_ Miss Carpenter is rich," said Charlotte, and she related the
+romance, almost forgotten of late, which she had built upon Aunt
+Cora's remarks about the little portrait and upon Mrs. Wellington's
+stories.
+
+"She is the granddaughter of Peter Carpenter," Miss Virginia said. "I
+have often heard my father speak of him. They were college mates. He
+was very rich and rather peculiar. He had a half-sister much younger
+than himself who once visited here on her way South. She and my oldest
+sister, Georgiana, were friends and used to correspond, but that was
+years and years ago. Mr. Carpenter--for some reason he was always
+called Peter--had only one child, a son, who was killed in a railroad
+disaster, probably twenty years ago. Your Miss Carpenter, Charlotte,
+must be his daughter."
+
+"Carpenter is a common name; there may be a number of rich Miss
+Carpenters," said Alex, "but it would be a little odd if they should
+turn out to be connected in any way."
+
+"I don't think they cared to talk about themselves," continued Miss
+Virginia, referring to the shopkeepers. "I am sure Caroline was wrong
+when she called them pushing."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH
+
+THE ADVENTURES OF A BIRTHDAY CAKE
+
+
+In a great, handsome, dreary room sat Giant Despair. The December day
+was damp and cheerless, and the coal fire in the ugly old-fashioned
+grate beneath the elaborate marble mantel burned in a grudging,
+spiritless way. Above the uncurtained windows, with their shutters
+thrown wide upon a view of moist, bare garden, the heavy gilt cornices
+seemed to frown. Giant Despair was frowning as he searched in a
+massive black walnut secretary for a missing paper.
+
+Things had gone wrong to-day. His housekeeper who knew his ways was
+absent on her annual vacation, and for the carelessness and stupidity
+of the servants he could find no adequate words. In truth he had
+exhausted his vocabulary early in the day, and now was reduced to
+inarticulate growls.
+
+Against one of the maids in particular his anger burned. He had
+mislaid a paper brought to him the evening before by his business
+agent; and now that it could not be found, the luckless maid was
+accused of making way with it.
+
+She was a Swiss girl with a meek manner and eyes that belied it. Giant
+Despair could not see the eyes, and the manner annoyed him.
+
+"If you please,--did you this day order a birthday cake?"
+
+"What? Order what?" cried Giant Despair, turning in great rage to face
+the unfortunate maid.
+
+She stood her ground. "A cake,--white, with candles of pink."
+
+"Did I order a pink cake? What do you mean by asking such a question?
+You know I didn't." His frown was terrible.
+
+"Candles of pink," corrected the girl, and holding up her hand she
+counted, "One, two, three, four, five."
+
+"What is the woman talking about?" demanded Giant Despair.
+
+"De con-fectionaire man bring it. He say it vas for here. He comes not
+back."
+
+"Then telephone him to send for it at once. Why do you come bothering
+me about it?"
+
+"We know not who sends it."
+
+"Bring the thing here and let me see what you are talking about."
+
+The maid retired, returning presently carrying a small cake covered
+with an elaborate white icing, and further decorated, as has been
+said, with five pink candles. This she set upon the desk, and, a gleam
+of--was it malice or mischief? in her eyes, slipped away.
+
+"Humph!" growled Giant Despair, peering at the strange object, even
+resorting to his big magnifying glass that he might see it the better.
+
+An innocent, saucy little cake, it was a wonder it did not shrivel and
+disappear amid those strange surroundings, beneath that unfriendly
+gaze.
+
+Could this be a joke some one was playing on him? Giant Despair
+wondered. But who thought enough about him even for that?
+
+"Take it away," he commanded; but Annie had vanished, and so the cake
+had a chance to tell its story.
+
+In this gloomy, tiresome world, somebody was five years old to-day.
+Not very much of a story, but somehow it impressed Giant Despair
+strangely. He leaned back in his chair, his frown relaxing a trifle.
+
+He did not care for children; they were meddlesome and noisy. He waged
+continual warfare against certain naughty boys on Pleasant Street,
+who, divining his dislike, resorted to all sorts of teasing tricks.
+They carried off his door-mat, unhinged his gate, favored him with
+uncomplimentary valentines, and robbed his grape arbor,--each in its
+season.
+
+So far as this went, however, he could not be called a favorite with
+older persons. In the large drug company where he was still senior
+partner he was held responsible for the policy of extorting just as
+much work as possible for just as little pay.
+
+Persons of forbidding countenances are fated to be harshly judged; and
+the sins of others may have been laid at his door sometimes; but while
+his defective sight might be the cause of his frown, it remained that
+Giant Despair seldom spoke a kindly word.
+
+The sympathy of that young woman in the shop, into which he stumbled
+by mistake, had touched him. She _knew_. It was not pity,--that he
+despised,--but a sort of fellowship in misfortune, and he had seized
+upon it hungrily, even while he called himself a fool. Perhaps it was
+this slight but softening experience which made possible to-day the
+faint regret that a little child was to be disappointed about this
+cake.
+
+Such feelings could not find a harbor for long in that impatient
+breast. Becoming aware of sounds in the hall, Giant Despair strode
+across the room and flung open the door, intending to demand the
+instant removal of the cake. He was confronted by a small boy in a red
+coat and cap who cried excitedly, "Has you got my birfday cake?"
+
+"Hey? So it is yours, is it? And who are you?"
+
+But its owner had caught sight of it through the open door; and
+pushing past Giant Despair, he lifted up his voice in a pćan of joy.
+"It's here! it's here! it's here!" he cried, standing before the desk
+with clasped hands and uplifted eyes, like a worshipper before a
+shrine. "Somebody give it to me! It's mine!"
+
+"Where did that child come from?" asked Giant Despair, as he spoke
+becoming aware of the presence of some one else in the hall.
+
+"I brought him, Mr. Goodman. It is Miss Carpenter of the shop." Marion
+advanced. "It is James Mandeville Norton, a small friend of ours, to
+whom we had promised a birthday cake. He was on the watch for it and
+was quite sure he saw it carried in here, and to pacify him I ventured
+to come and inquire."
+
+If Giant Despair could ever be said to be affable he became so at this
+moment, to the evident astonishment of Annie, the maid. She could not
+know of the bond of sympathy that existed between this graceful young
+lady and her surly master.
+
+"Why, how do you do? Come in;--ridiculous mistake. Glad to find the
+owner," he stammered, offering her a chair. "Fearful weather," he
+added, poking the fire.
+
+"Very Novemberish," Marion agreed, declining the chair. "We won't
+trouble you further," she said.
+
+"Somebody _please_ give me my cake. It's mine; I know it's mine."
+James Mandeville's voice betrayed anguish of soul.
+
+"He will let you have it, dear. Mr. Goodman doesn't want it. It was
+brought here by mistake," said Marion, reassuringly putting her arm
+around the child.
+
+That any one could see such a cake and not want it was naturally
+beyond James Mandeville's powers of belief. He stood silent, looking
+from Marion to Mr. Goodman.
+
+"Of course you can have it. What do I want with it?" asked the old
+man, grimly.
+
+James Mandeville moved forward and slipped his small, soft hand into
+Giant Despair's big, hard one. "I'll tell you," he said, "you can come
+to the party, and I'll let you have a slice of it; and you can help
+blow out the candles."
+
+The little voice was eager, but the confiding touch of the dimpled
+hand did most execution.
+
+"We shall be glad to have you, Mr. Goodman," Miss Carpenter said,
+laughing. "The party is to be in the shop, and very select for the
+reason that our circle of friends is limited."
+
+"There's going to be candy," added James Mandeville.
+
+Giant Despair was embarrassed. "Thank you," he said; "I have not been
+to a party for a hundred years, and I am in too bad a humor to-day."
+Then it seemed necessary to explain the cause,--the lost lease that
+had been burned or thrown in the ash barrel.
+
+Miss Carpenter stood beside a table on which lay several large
+volumes; from the leaves of one of them the edge of a folded paper was
+visible. "Could this be it?" she asked.
+
+"Pshaw! I put it there myself. Confound my eyes and my memory!" cried
+the old man.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+Of course Giant Despair had no idea of going to the party, yet,
+strange to relate, he went. Miss Sarah Leigh met him striding down the
+street with two long, gray flannel ears and a beady eye visible above
+a bulging overcoat pocket. She turned to look after him, and was much
+amazed to see him disappear presently within the shop.
+
+It was Jack, the flannel donkey, who really won the day. After the
+visitors had left, Giant Despair stumbled over him as he lay forgotten
+on the floor. The strange object was at first puzzling. He turned and
+twisted and felt it, until at length getting the right point of view
+he recognized it to be a donkey.
+
+A toy animal was no less out of place in that house than a birthday
+cake. He was going out for his daily walk; he would leave it at the
+shop door. But once at the door he was lost, for James Mandeville
+seized upon him joyfully and would not be denied.
+
+It was Saturday afternoon, and so a half holiday in the shop; and it
+seemed to Giant Despair, as he stumbled in looking anything but
+festive, yet unable to resist his small captor, that there were a
+great many people assembled.
+
+It turned out that the only guest was Charlotte Creston, who had been
+the first to discover James Mandeville bewailing the disappearance of
+his cake before Mr. Goodman's gate, some hours earlier, and after
+trying to console him had taken him back to his friends. This seemed
+to entitle her to an invitation, which she delightedly accepted. Mammy
+Belle and Susanna were there, also, to look on.
+
+It is certain that never before in his life had Giant Despair
+participated in a scene of such childish gayety. He was exceedingly
+gruff and awkward, but no amount of gruffness could dismay James
+Mandeville.
+
+The sight of Giant Despair seated at the small table, personating the
+fifth guest for whom Miss Pennington assured him they had been on the
+lookout, and drinking a cup of tea in lieu of the goodies the young
+host pressed upon him, was one not soon to be forgotten. After a time
+he succumbed to the humor of it, and blew out his candle with the
+rest.
+
+James Mandeville did his best to be entertaining. He sang, and recited
+Mother Goose, after which he climbed on Giant Despair's knee and asked
+for a story.
+
+This was something Giant Despair couldn't do, but he showed the big
+seals on his watch chain, and dropped some bright new five-cent pieces
+into the chubby hand.
+
+The old man walked home in a somewhat dazed condition. He told himself
+roughly that he had turned fool; and yet more than once that evening,
+as he sat by his lonely fireside, he felt again the pressure of James
+Mandeville's warm little body upon his knee and heard the childish
+voice, prompted by Mammy Belle, saying, "Thank you for coming to my
+party, Mr. Goodman."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEENTH
+
+TEA AND TALK
+
+
+"I used to think if ever I kept a shop there would be a bell on the
+door to jingle cheerily whenever a customer entered." Norah spoke from
+the window where she was occupied in making some changes. Outside the
+rain fell steadily, the terrace gardens had a soaked, dismal look, and
+the street was almost deserted, except for an occasional wagon.
+
+"If it will add to your happiness, we will have it put in; but I doubt
+if you would be able to find one that would ring cheerily,--they
+usually jangle."
+
+"I suppose that depends somewhat on the hearer; however, we must
+confine ourselves for the present to the strict necessities of life.
+Did it ever occur to you, Marion, how the old-fashioned bell is
+passing? When I was a child, the milkmen heralded their approach with
+bells; and maids would appear with bowls and pitchers and have the
+milk measured out to them from large tin cans."
+
+"Your youth must have been in the Dark Ages. I never heard of such a
+thing."
+
+"I am often impressed by your ignorance of simple matters. Yesterday,
+out in the southwestern part of this very town, where I went to look
+for a seamstress, I heard again one of those bells rung lustily, and
+there was the tin can, as of old, riding majestically on the front
+seat of the wagon; but probably as a concession to modern prejudice
+the milkman was supplied with bottles, too. Come and tell me what you
+think of my rainy-day window."
+
+Marion crossed the room. "It looks cheerful," she said, "but I hardly
+think it will bring us many customers to-day. It is too bad even for
+James Mandeville."
+
+Norah had ransacked their stock for the brightest draperies, gayest
+baskets, and oddest jars, making of them a sort of barbaric medley not
+ungrateful to the eye, which she regarded with satisfaction.
+
+"Well," she said, "if we have no customers, I shall have all the more
+time to give to collars. I am sorry I could not find a seamstress. I
+did not dream there would be such a demand."
+
+"And there is probably some one who would be glad to do them if we
+only knew," said Marion. "Would it be worth while to advertise?"
+
+Not troubled with much custom, the shopkeepers were working and
+chatting in the south window that afternoon, when Miss Sarah Leigh put
+her head in at the door.
+
+"I hate to come in, I'm so wet," she said; "I'll leave my umbrella
+outside."
+
+"You need not mind," said Norah, rising. "As you see, we have a large
+rubber mat and an umbrella-stand, and this is the first time we have
+needed them."
+
+"Thank you. I had to go to the grocery, and as Aunt Sally was out of
+knitting cotton, I dropped in to get some. It is a dreadful day."
+
+Norah pushed a chair to the fire, "Sit down and have a cup of tea.
+Miss Carpenter and I are just going to have some."
+
+Miss Sarah accepted the chair. "I have no business to,--I have a
+thousand things to do; but this seems a veritable haven of rest."
+
+Susanna now entered, a model of the respectable, elderly maid,
+carrying a tray which she placed before Marion.
+
+"Another cup please, Susanna," said Marion; and while she poured the
+tea, Norah coaxed the fire into a blaze, remarking that it had fallen
+into the way of sympathizing with the weather.
+
+"Are you in the habit of treating your customers in this fashion?"
+Miss Sarah asked, accepting the cup and helping herself from the plate
+of warm tea-cakes with which Susanna returned.
+
+"This is a reward to rainy-day callers," answered Marion, smiling.
+
+"Well, you are the most astonishing people I ever came in contact
+with. I hope you don't mind my saying it," Miss Sarah spoke
+confidentially. "I don't mean in respect to tea."
+
+"Not at all," laughed Norah. "We, too, have our impressions of the
+neighborhood."
+
+"I shouldn't be surprised if you had." Miss Sarah joined in the laugh.
+"Of course it is no secret to you that the neighborhood did not very
+much want you, and the way in which you are winning us over is a
+miracle. Miss Wilbur, Charlotte, Alex, and now you have captured Mr.
+Goodman. Charlotte told me about the party. How do you do it?"
+
+"It has all come about through the merest accident," Marion explained.
+
+"Such accidents don't happen to everybody. I think you practise
+witchcraft."
+
+"James Mandeville and the birthday cake captured Giant Despair," said
+Norah, the name slipping out before she thought.
+
+"So that is what you call him! Have you named us all? It suits him,
+too; but poor man, he has had his troubles, as have some of the rest
+of us." Miss Sarah looked meditatively into the fire. "Soon after he
+built his house in the Terrace," she continued, "his daughter, an only
+child, was burned to death. It was a sad thing,--she was just
+eighteen. Then a nephew whom he adopted turned out a scamp, and now he
+has lost faith in everything."
+
+While she was speaking the shop door opened to admit Alexina and
+Charlotte, rosy and wet from a walk in the rain.
+
+"I want a spool of twist," Charlotte announced merrily.
+
+"Won't a cup of tea do? We are serving that at present," Norah asked.
+
+"How pleasant!" Alex exclaimed as they slipped off their wet
+waterproofs. "Are you always cheerful over here?"
+
+Charlotte sought Miss Carpenter's side. "I like tea," she said, the
+blue eyes showing, however, a fondness for something more than that
+innocent beverage. Just now this young lady had a profound fascination
+for her. Miss Alex and Aunt Virginia might prefer Miss Pennington,
+Miss Carpenter had her admiration.
+
+"If you need anything more in the way of cheer, I will bring forth the
+grab-bag," said Norah, as she handed Alex some tea.
+
+"That sounds interesting; do let us have it," begged Miss Sarah.
+
+"You will be disappointed," Marion put in, mischievously, while Norah
+went for the rainbow bag. "You expect amusement and get a sermon. Its
+variegated hues give symbolic expression to the truth that 'behind the
+clouds the sun is still shining.'"
+
+"You might add that its existence destroys the pleasing idea that we
+are always cheerful," Miss Pennington added, holding out the bag to
+Alex.
+
+"Am I to take something?" Alex asked; and putting her hand in, she
+drew out a card. "'If we live truly, we shall see truly,'" she read.
+"But it seems to me it ought to be the other way. If we could see
+truly, we could live truly. It is such a puzzle. Do you think this is
+true? And what does it mean to live truly?"
+
+"You are an animated problem, Alex," Miss Sarah remarked.
+
+"It is a little like something Uncle Landor said to me, that if we try
+to do right and keep our hearts pure, we will hear a voice telling us
+which way to go." Charlotte spoke shyly.
+
+Marion took her hand in a soft clasp, and Norah gave her a friendly
+smile. "Yes," she said, "that is it. I will tell you what it means to
+me. It means that if I go straight on, doing each day the thing that
+comes to me, not allowing myself to become entangled in fears for
+to-morrow, that little by little the path will be made plain to me."
+
+"I am afraid I want to _know_ where I am going. It might be such a
+waste of time," said Alex.
+
+"Its very simplicity makes it hard, but I believe it is the best way,"
+Norah answered.
+
+"Are we allowed to have only one helpful sentiment at a time?" asked
+Miss Sarah.
+
+"Certainly; one is as much as anybody can live up to at a time."
+
+"It is not for lack of moral sentiments, however," Marion added. "The
+supply is constantly renewed. They naturally gravitate to Norah."
+
+"I wish," remarked Norah, "that a seamstress capable of making stocks
+and collars would gravitate to me."
+
+"Here is one at your side." Miss Sarah leaned over to examine her
+work. "I think I could do it."
+
+"She can do anything," said Alex, waking up from a brown study. "But
+how would you find time, Miss Sarah?"
+
+"If you could do only a few, it would be a help," the shopkeepers
+cried in the same breath, and Norah began at once to explain what was
+wanted, and unfold patterns.
+
+Susanna carried away the tea things, and Alex joined Charlotte and
+Marion, who were talking about James Mandeville and Mr. Goodman.
+
+"He has won the old man's heart," Marion was saying. "They have been
+walking together several times, and James Mandeville always returns
+with a bag of what he calls _finger ladies_."
+
+Miss Sarah's voice interrupted presently. "I don't know when I have
+spent such an eventful hour. I must take my knitting cotton and go. I
+know now where to come when I have the blues."
+
+"It is worth while to give Miss Sarah a little pleasure," Alex said as
+the door closed behind her. "She is the bravest, brightest person, and
+her life is anything but easy." Then she returned to the consideration
+of the card she had drawn. "I am dreadfully puzzled over what I ought
+to do. I want to make my own living, and yet it is hard to go against
+the wishes of everybody at home. Do you really think if I just go on
+doing what comes to me that the way will open? It sounds lazy."
+
+"No, it sounds serene. If I were you, I'd try it," said Norah.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTIETH
+
+MERRY HEARTS
+
+
+Many things combined in the Terrace to proclaim the season of the
+year. Great was the seeding of raisins, shelling of nuts, and slicing
+of citron for fruit-cake and puddings,--matters these housekeepers
+were wont to attend to themselves. Neighborly consultations were held
+also, and the relative merits of last year's cakes discussed.
+
+"I really have no business making fruit-cake this season," Miss Sarah
+Leigh remarked over her grocery bill. "Everything is so expensive."
+
+"Why, Sarah Leigh, who ever heard of Christmas without fruit-cake!"
+her aunt exclaimed.
+
+"But you don't eat it, Aunt Sally."
+
+"I shall this year."
+
+Wayland ate it, if his aunt did not. He would be disappointed if she
+did not have one as usual; perhaps she could save in some other way,
+Miss Sarah thought. "After all, my saving will be a good deal like
+Mrs. Green's keeping Lent," she told Miss Virginia. "She never, under
+any circumstances, went anywhere, and she didn't have dessert except
+on Sunday, and then she seldom ate it on account of her rheumatism, so
+there really seemed to be no way to deny herself any further."
+
+Nevertheless, Miss Sarah ordered the raisins and other good things,
+and at night she sat up making collars and belts for the shop.
+
+At the shop James Mandeville lay on the floor, poring over a profusely
+illustrated copy of "'Twas the Night before Christmas," bursting forth
+tunefully, now and then, with "_Susanna_ in the highest."
+
+There was no manner of use in correcting him, he preferred his own
+versions, and stuck to them.
+
+The window of the shop presented an ever changing variety of wares,
+from posters and colored photographs to baskets, bags, and pottery,
+all unique in their way. Besides the other things, Norah had done a
+motto in black and red letters, "A merry heart doeth good like a
+medicine," and hung it in the midst.
+
+The popularity of the place increased. Susanna was often called in to
+help, and one day a society reporter, out for news, and directed there
+by Madelaine Russell, dropped in and interviewed them.
+
+An elaborate description, with mention of the charming and intelligent
+young women who had it in charge, appeared next day in one of the
+papers. Miss Sarah immediately sent a marked copy to Mrs. Millard.
+
+"We are becoming famous," laughed Norah, as she read it to Marion.
+
+"I wish it did not have to be," said Marion, discontentedly.
+
+"Ungrateful person that you are!" cried Norah.
+
+The newspaper article brought Mrs. Leigh to the shop. Heretofore her
+opposition had been consistently maintained; but now, early one
+morning, she walked in, a picture of an old lady, with a close-fitting
+bonnet over her silvery puffs, a black silk circular lined with gray
+squirrel, and an old-fashioned reticule on her arm.
+
+"I have just come to look around," she told Norah. "I have heard so
+much of this shop, and it is not in the least like anything I ever saw
+before,--and neither are you, for that matter."
+
+Then, as Norah laughed, she added, "I mean you are entirely too pretty
+for a shopkeeper. I'd like to know what you are doing it for, but of
+course you won't tell me."
+
+"Oh, yes, I will. I am doing it for a living."
+
+"Well, in my day a pretty girl like you wouldn't have had a chance to
+make her own living for long, but it is different now. I don't know
+whose fault it is."
+
+All the while she was walking about, seeing everything, admiring or
+finding fault with equal frankness. Norah, who was delighted with her
+visitor, urged her to sit down and rest a few moments.
+
+"Thank you, I believe I will. I am on my way out to my niece's to show
+her how to make a plum-pudding." She laughed a little, reminiscently,
+and Norah looked interested.
+
+"It makes me think of the time my husband was invited to dine at Dr.
+Gray's to meet a distinguished clergyman who had arrived
+unexpectedly. It was on Saturday, and when Mr. Leigh came home that
+evening he couldn't say enough about Mrs. Gray's plum-pudding. It was
+the best he ever ate, and I must get the receipt. I didn't say
+anything until next day. Mr. Leigh was mighty fond of dessert; and
+when he found there wasn't any for Sunday dinner, he looked terribly
+disappointed, and wanted to know why. 'The reason is, Mr. Leigh,' I
+said, 'because you ate it yesterday. I intended to have plum-pudding
+to-day, but as Mrs. Gray had unexpected company, I sent it over to
+her; and my own opinion is, it is more than you deserved to have had a
+taste of it.'
+
+"Maybe you think he wasn't teased. He didn't hear the last of that
+very soon. Yes, indeed, it was all true. Mrs. Gray and I were good
+friends and often helped each other out in an emergency. Well, you
+will think me a most unprofitable customer; here I have talked a blue
+streak, as Sarah says, and haven't bought a thing."
+
+"Nevertheless, I hope you will come again soon, and I wish success to
+the pudding," Norah said, following her visitor to the door.
+
+Being off the beaten track of trade, the rush at the shop was over
+before Christmas Eve, and Marion and Norah, leaving Susanna in charge,
+went down town on a lark, as Norah said, and came home loaded with
+holly and mistletoe.
+
+It was after their late dinner and Norah was putting up the last bit
+of holly, when Mammy Belle came in. "Miss Norah, honey, kin you trim a
+Chris'mus tree?" she asked.
+
+"Why, yes, I have trimmed many a one."
+
+"I done promise James Mandeville he should have one, for him an' his
+papa in the mawnin',--Marse Tom's comin' home; but look like I ain't
+got good sense, and I seed Miss Maimie do it las' year." Mammy Belle's
+tone was despairing.
+
+"Never mind, we'll do it for you. I might have thought of it, only I
+have been so busy," said Norah. "Don't you want to go, Marion?"
+
+Marion was more than ready for anything so in keeping with the night,
+and gathering up some unused holly and a box of ornaments for the
+tree, they accompanied Mammy Belie to the small house, half a block
+distant on Pleasant Street.
+
+It was a tiny place, quite simply and tastefully furnished, but
+betraying in many trifling ways the absence of the mistress. James
+Mandeville was fast asleep in his crib upstairs, where Mammy Belle
+conducted them to peep at him.
+
+"I hope Miss Maimie won't mind our doing this," Norah whispered, as
+they went down again.
+
+"I don't believe she will," Marion answered, moving about the tiny
+parlor, changing the position of a table here, a chair there, till the
+whole room had taken on a new look. The tree in the corner by the
+window bore melancholy witness to Mammy Belle's lack of ability in
+that line, but under Norah's fingers it began at once to revive.
+
+They were in the midst of the dressing, Mammy Belle looking on in
+delight, when there was a ring at the door, and of all persons, who
+should it be but Mr. Goodman with a large package under his arm!
+
+"It is a horse for that little rascal," he explained, puffing and
+embarrassed.
+
+"Come in and see our tree, Mr. Goodman," called Norah.
+
+The old man stood in the doorway. "I have been stumbling round trying
+to find this place for half an hour," he growled. "I took this thing
+to the shop, but you weren't there, and that Susan woman tried to
+direct me where to go."
+
+"Ought you to go about by yourself at night?" Marion asked. "Won't you
+come in and wait for us? We are nearly through."
+
+"And do look at this beautiful horse!" cried Norah, unwrapping a
+stately animal with flowing mane and tail. "Won't James Mandeville
+rejoice? Jack will be nowhere."
+
+"I suppose boys like horses," said the old man, accepting the chair
+Mammy Belle brought forward, and evidently not indifferent to the
+admiration his gift excited.
+
+The tree trimming went on, and presently returning to his usual
+attitude of mind, Mr. Goodman remarked that there was a sinful waste
+of money at this time of year.
+
+"That is true," said Norah, pausing to study the effect of a paper
+angel in tinsel, "but also there is the money that _might_ be spent to
+make people happy, and isn't."
+
+"Come, Norah, really, we must not stay any longer. You have done quite
+enough," Marion was saying, partly in the wish to cut off a possible
+argument, when the front door opened with a startling suddenness, and
+a young man with a bag in his hand stepped into the hall and faced the
+scene in the parlor,--the gay Christmas tree, the holly; Norah
+standing on a chair, with her laughing face over her shoulder; Marion,
+tall and stately, by the fireplace; and grim-looking Giant Despair in
+the chair of state.
+
+"Why, Marse Tom," gasped Mammy Belle, "I done spect you in de
+mawnin'."
+
+It was Marion who made the explanations,--their friendship for James
+Mandeville and Mammy Belle's difficulty with the tree, and she did it
+with a gracious charm of manner that was irresistible.
+
+Mr. Norton's boyish yet careworn face flushed. "You are very kind to
+my little boy," he said. "I wish his mother were here to thank you."
+
+"Why, Norton, is that you?" exclaimed Giant Despair, waking up. "Do
+you mean to tell me that James Mandeville is your boy? Upon my word!"
+
+"It is fortunate you know Mr. Norton, for now you can testify to our
+good intentions in invading his house, Mr. Goodman," said Norah,
+laughing.
+
+Mr. Norton was embarrassed. "I travel for Mr. Goodman's drug house,"
+he said. Clearly he was not in the habit of meeting his employer
+socially.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+"And you say they keep a shop, mammy?" This was after the guests had
+departed, and Belle had done her best to explain.
+
+"Dey is ladies, anyhow," she insisted stoutly.
+
+"That is very evident," said Mr. Norton.
+
+"Jus' you ax James Mandeville in the mawnin'," added Mammy Belle. "He
+'lows dat Miss Marion and Miss Norah done put the moon up, shore."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST
+
+THE RICH MISS CARPENTER
+
+
+Miss Virginia was writing to her sister. She had a great deal that was
+pleasant to relate, and her pen moved on smoothly. There was
+Charlotte's Christmas party which, with the assistance of Alex and
+Madelaine, had gone off successfully.
+
+Lucile Lyle had been one of the guests, for as a classmate of
+Charlotte's it seemed necessary to ask her; but this Miss Virginia did
+not mention. She did say, however, that Charlotte's interest in Lucile
+seemed to have abated. This was quite true; indeed, there was a
+growing coolness between the once devoted friends.
+
+The cause of this was a little girl, a year younger than Charlotte,
+who with her father and mother had recently come to board at the
+Leighs'. The Reeds were strangers in the city, and Miss Sarah had
+asked Charlotte to do what she could to make Helen feel at home.
+
+They had taken a fancy to each other, and Charlotte enjoyed playing
+chaperon to Helen when she was entered at Miss Barrows's school. Helen
+was a bright girl with sweet, gentle manners, inclined to look up to
+Charlotte as older and more experienced than herself; and in their
+daily walks back and forth the friendship grew. Lucile chose to be
+jealous, and something very like what in schoolgirl language is called
+a fuss, followed. They no longer wore each other's rings, and Lucile
+sang no more of beauteous eyes.
+
+Miss Virginia knew all about it, and took pleasure in mentioning to
+her sister that Charlotte's good sense had come to the rescue, and an
+intimacy was no longer to be feared. That Mrs. Millard had small
+confidence in her powers of discipline, Miss Virginia was well aware;
+but Charlotte's excellent school reports spoke for themselves.
+
+After giving various items of neighborhood interest, she paused;
+glancing up, her eye fell on the shop across the way, and immediately
+a sensation of uneasiness took possession of her. With an elbow on her
+desk she continued to gaze out of the window, thoughtfully tapping
+her cheek with her penholder. She had warned her sister that she meant
+to do as she pleased; at the same time, she had not intended to buy
+most of her Christmas gifts at the shop, and more than this, to remain
+to chat on several occasions. And yesterday Charlotte had come in with
+the announcement that Miss Carpenter was willing to show Helen and her
+how to make baskets if they would come over some evening. They were
+very eager to go. Could she refuse? The question interrupted her flow
+of thought; she put aside the letter to be finished some other time,
+and went in to see the Leighs.
+
+She found Alexina in the sitting room with Miss Sarah and her aunt.
+Old Mrs. Leigh had the quilt she was making spread out on the couch
+for admiration and suggestions. Miss Virginia, after paying tribute to
+its beauties, mentioned the basket making, and asked for advice.
+
+"Caroline insisted that they would push themselves into notice, and
+while I cannot see that they are pushing, they are certainly--"
+
+"Getting there," suggested Miss Sarah. "Do you know, Mr. Goodman has
+been in several times after the shop closed at five o'clock, to have
+Miss Norah read to him? Now, is that anything but pure kindness? I
+suppose Caroline would say they were after his money."
+
+"I had not thought of his caring to be read to as he has John; but he
+told grandfather he got tired of John's reading, and there were some
+political articles in the _Nineteenth Century_ Miss Pennington offered
+to read to him," said Alexina, who had made up her mind definitely
+that she wanted these shopkeepers for friends.
+
+"I think that Miss Norah carries a cunning bag, as Malinda used to
+say," remarked Mrs. Leigh.
+
+"They have not returned our call, Miss Virginia," said Alex.
+
+"No, and if I could do just as I pleased, I'd like to know them
+better. I'd ask them to tea." Miss Wilbur spoke as one considering
+some daring departure from the path of propriety.
+
+Miss Sarah laughed. "I wish you would," she said.
+
+When Friday night came, Miss Virginia did not see her way clear to
+oppose the basket lessons, and in consequence found herself one of a
+merry party in the shop. Alex had come over with them, and presently
+Miss Sarah ran in.
+
+Alex was in one of her bright moods, and Miss Sarah kept them laughing
+over her first experiences in paying her taxes. Miss Carpenter, as she
+separated long strands of raphia and initiated her pupils into the art
+of twisting and stitching, was almost as merry as Miss Pennington,
+whose infectious laugh, as she related James Mandeville's latest
+speeches, kept them all in a gale.
+
+Once in the course of the evening, Norah said, in reference to a
+remark of somebody's, "That reminds me of our friend the rich Miss
+Carpenter." And when the lesson was over, and Miss Virginia, beginning
+to murmur something about its being late, Charlotte suddenly
+announced, "I know a Miss Carpenter in Philadelphia."
+
+There was an odd silence for a moment until she added: "At least, I
+don't exactly know her, but I have heard a great deal about her. She
+lives across the street from my uncle, and last spring when I was
+there I used to see them take her out to drive. She had been ill, and
+I never really saw her. _She_ is rich, and I wondered if she could be
+the Miss Carpenter you spoke of, Miss Norah."
+
+It was Marion who answered the question. "She is the very one. Norah
+thinks a great deal of her, in fact,--is a little absurd about her."
+
+"Why shouldn't I be? Hasn't she done everything for us?" cried Norah,
+stoutly.
+
+"Then you have seen her," said Charlotte, delightedly. "Is she
+beautiful and--everything--as Mrs. Wellington said?" she looked at
+Marion.
+
+"Ask Miss Pennington."
+
+"I consider her handsome and charming, but Marion is a connection and
+ought to be able to tell you more than I."
+
+"I am glad you know her, for I am very much interested in her because
+of a special reason."
+
+"Charlotte, my dear," Miss Virginia spoke warningly, "it is really
+time we were going."
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+The discovery that Miss Carpenter of the shop was a relative of the
+Philadelphia Carpenters relieved Miss Virginia beyond measure. She
+sat down at once to finish her letter and convey the news to her
+sister. She was vindicated; once more her conscience was easy.
+
+The Terrace in general received the news with approval. That the
+shopkeepers were not exactly ordinary persons had been felt all along.
+Everybody had heard of Peter Carpenter. Possibly the shop was simply
+another manifestation of family eccentricities on the part of this
+cousin. It was easily settled that Miss Marion was a cousin,--probably
+a second or third cousin; for Miss Virginia knew about the family, and
+Peter Carpenter had had but one son.
+
+Mrs. Russell, who went to the shop with Alex one day, was greatly
+impressed with Marion's bearing. "Any one can see she is not an
+ordinary person," she said.
+
+"That must be because you know she is well-connected, mother," Alex
+replied. "Mrs. Millard could not see it."
+
+"I trust I am not quite so prejudiced," Mrs. Russell said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-SECOND
+
+VALENTINES
+
+
+"Undoubtedly our connection with the rich Miss Carpenter has affected
+our social position. The air is full of affability. Before we know it,
+we shall be in society." Norah looked up from her account-book to make
+this remark.
+
+"As it is all your doing, I trust you are pleased," returned Marion.
+
+"That pretty fraud, Madelaine Russell, asked me yesterday if she might
+not come with Alexina to the basket making next Friday," continued
+Norah. "Of course I had to say 'yes.' Now I think I'll ask that little
+type-writer girl I met at the mission. She is really a neighbor, for
+she boards in that tall, dreary house on the corner of Walnut and
+Pleasant streets."
+
+"Why not ask her to dinner? I should really enjoy some company."
+
+"A good idea, Marion. She looks hungry,--I don't mean for dinner, but
+for something besides work. She is from the country. What have you in
+that bag, Infinitesimal James?--some more 'finger ladies'?"
+
+James Mandeville, who had at that moment entered, nodded his head,
+speech being for obvious reasons out of the question.
+
+"Eating in the shop is against the rule, except at afternoon tea,"
+said Marion. "You must go outside, or join Susanna in the kitchen."
+
+"Did you happen to meet Mr. Goodman this morning?" asked Norah.
+
+"Yes, he buyed the finger ladies," answered James Mandeville, helping
+himself again from the bag, and then passing it around. "I am going to
+buy him a valentine," he added.
+
+"To be sure, he deserves one. We'll go down town this very afternoon
+and select it."
+
+"Goody!" said James Mandeville, and in great spirits he carried his
+cakes out of doors, and was presently busily engaged in playing
+conductor on the doorstep, calling out in stentorian tones at
+intervals, "All on a board!"
+
+Norah found the business of selecting valentines in company with a
+small boy, a lengthy one. James Mandeville's taste was exacting. At
+first the comic ones caught his eye, and he was with difficulty
+induced to consider more worthy specimens of art; then he bestowed his
+favor upon an elaborate white satin heart, a combination sachet and
+valentine, and again had to be diverted. At length his selection was
+made,--a gilt and lace affair with a border of roses and the touching
+motto, "To my own true love."
+
+On their way home they stopped in a large jewelry store where Norah
+had left her watch to be repaired, and while she waited she saw
+Wayland Leigh bending in an absorbed manner over a collection of
+fans,--delicate mother-of-pearl and lace trifles, as frail as they
+were pretty. What business had he with such expensive things? she
+wondered. It was quickly forgotten, however, in the difficulties
+involved in making headway past the show windows, James Mandeville
+wishing to exhaust the beauties of each one before moving on.
+
+[Illustration: JAMES MANDEVILLE'S TASTE WAS EXACTING.]
+
+The afternoon was nearly over when, after leaving her companion at his
+home, she entered the shop, where Marion was busy folding and putting
+away. Norah stood before the table, pulling off her gloves.
+Suddenly she stooped and picked up an envelope from the floor. "Did
+you get a letter from Dr. Baird?" she asked, as she read the address.
+
+Marion's face flushed oddly. "No," she said, "it was just an
+enclosure."
+
+"A valentine?" cried Norah; but Marion went on with her folding, and
+did not reply.
+
+Norah walked to the window and looked out through the screen of plants
+at the Terrace and the faint rosy glow that lingered in the southwest.
+She guessed what it was her friend had received, and for a moment she
+was not quite happy. Then she asked herself inwardly, but sternly,
+"Are you a selfish beast, Norah Pennington?"
+
+Presently Marlon came behind her and put an arm around her. "You don't
+mind my not showing it to you, Norah. It was only a--"
+
+Norah turned, and with a sudden motion stopped the word on her lips.
+"Child, what is friendship worth if one minds things--like that? I
+invited Miss Martin," she added.
+
+Louise Martin was a fair, fresh-looking girl, who had come from a
+country town several years before, and after a course in a business
+college had found a position as stenographer in a real estate office.
+Her gentle, refined manners had attracted Norah, who, persisting in
+the effort to make friends with her, had at length broken through the
+distant reserve with which she met all advances. The girl hesitated
+over the invitation, saying she did not often go anywhere; but Norah's
+friendly manner won the day, and promptly at half past six on Friday
+evening Susanna ushered her into the shop.
+
+Norah met her and presented her to Marion. "And now you are to come
+upstairs to take off your things, for that always seems the sociable
+way to begin," she said.
+
+Miss Martin looked about her in surprise. "When you said you kept a
+shop, I did not dream it was like this."
+
+"We pride ourselves on not keeping an ordinary shop, but a most
+unpretentious one, as you see."
+
+"And this is where you live?" Miss Martin exclaimed with a sigh of
+admiration, as she followed her guide into a very simple bedroom.
+
+"We live all over the house. This is my room, however."
+
+"It is the most beautiful place I ever saw," the girl said.
+
+Remembering the dingy boarding-house, Norah understood. "It is all
+simple and inexpensive," she said. "Miss Carpenter and I pride
+ourselves on the large amount of comfort we have achieved for a small
+amount of money. You see we have matting on the floor, with a few
+rugs; as our landlord would not do anything to the walls, we had a
+frieze made of this big-flowered paper which cost next to nothing, and
+relieves the whiteness; the white iron beds and the dressing-tables
+were not expensive, nor the draperies, which are in our line, you
+know." While she talked Norah opened the door into the next room.
+"This is Miss Carpenter's," she said. "We are just alike, except that
+she is rose colored and I am blue."
+
+There were some things Norah had not mentioned,--toilet articles such
+as Miss Martin had never seen outside of a show-case, and a silk
+dressing-gown of great daintiness that lay across a chair in Miss
+Carpenter's room.
+
+"I was surprised when you said you kept a store,--you did not look
+like it; but if this is the way you live--" Miss Martin did not
+finish her sentence as she allowed Norah to take her hat.
+
+That everything about the small domain impressed her, it was easy to
+see. The simple dinner served so deftly by Susanna, the appointments
+of the table, and by no means least, her two hostesses.
+
+Before eight o'clock the basket makers arrived, with them Madelaine,
+who made a pretty pretence of being deeply grateful to Miss Pennington
+for allowing her to come. Miss Martin watched her with serious
+admiration in her eyes. Here was a girl little younger than herself,
+whose whole business in life was to be beautiful and engaging.
+
+"I have brought my prettiest valentine to show you," Madelaine said.
+"Isn't it a dear?" and taking from its box a gauzy fan, she held it
+out for inspection.
+
+Norah, who was nearest, took it. "It is certainly pretty if not
+durable," she remarked.
+
+"I hate durable things," said its owner, with a shrug of her dainty
+shoulders. "I know it cost a great deal, for I priced one like it."
+
+"Madelaine!" expostulated her sister.
+
+"Goosie, I don't mean since this came."
+
+"And you don't know who sent it?" asked Charlotte.
+
+"Think of sending a gift like this and not getting the credit for it,"
+said Miss Sarah, viewing it from a practical standpoint.
+
+"If I knew who sent it, mamma wouldn't let me keep it,--at least Alex
+wouldn't,--so of course I do not know."
+
+It was impossible not to smile at her.
+
+"You are a fraud, Madelaine," Miss Sarah said. "I wish I had the money
+some people spend on valentines."
+
+"James Mandeville has a more practical mind than Miss Russell's
+unknown admirer; he delivered his valentines in person and demanded
+full credit," Marion observed.
+
+Norah whispered to Alex, "Please be nice to my little girl," so Alex
+took a seat beside Miss Martin and showed her how to begin a basket.
+
+"Miss Pennington says you are a stenographer. I am trying to learn,
+but I am hopelessly stupid. Do you think one can learn by one's self?"
+
+"I learned at the Business College," answered Miss Martin; and
+looking Alex up and down she added, "but you do not have to do it, do
+you? I am glad I can support myself, but there are other ways,--like
+this,--only I never dreamed of it before. In a business office
+generally you are just part of a machine." Discovering that Miss
+Wilbur, too, was listening, she came to an embarrassed pause.
+
+"What would you do if you were to become suddenly rich, Miss Sarah?"
+Madelaine asked, and everybody stopped to listen.
+
+"Lose my mind, probably," was the answer.
+
+"Riches make people so dreadfully commonplace," said Norah.
+
+"What can be more commonplace than poverty?" Alex demanded.
+
+"Well, I suppose both extremes are bad. It is, after all, the people
+who have neither poverty nor riches who have ideas and make something
+out of life."
+
+"I could get heaps out of life if I were rich," Madelaine said.
+
+"I still insist that rich people are to a considerable extent
+unoriginal and stupid. They associate with persons exactly like
+themselves, do the same things, say the same things, eat the same
+things--"
+
+"This is Miss Pennington's hobby," Marion remarked, smiling.
+
+"What would you do if you were to become rich?" Miss Virginia asked
+her.
+
+"I believe I should go on with the shop for the present," was the
+reply.
+
+"I think I should start a Settlement like the one you have told me
+about," Alex said, turning to Norah. "But then," she added, "I should
+have to learn a great deal first. You can't do anything that amounts
+to anything without learning how."
+
+Miss Sarah had been meditating, now she spoke, "I think I'd try to
+give a good time to some persons who never have any fun, to whom life
+is only a grind."
+
+"There are so many of them," added Miss Martin, timidly.
+
+"I am afraid I have always been dreadfully selfish," sighed Miss
+Virginia.
+
+"Oh, no, Virginia, you aren't that," said Miss Sarah. "Like some of
+the rest of us, you may have lived in a small circle, but within its
+bounds no one could accuse you of selfishness. Let's all promise to
+remember each other when we come into our fortunes," she added.
+
+After they had gone,--Miss Martin lingering to say with shy
+earnestness, "I have had _such_ a good time," and receiving in return
+a cordial invitation to consider herself a member of the basket
+society,--Norah joined Marion before the fire.
+
+"Do you know, Wayland Leigh gave that fan to Madelaine," she said.
+
+"Are you sure? It must have cost twenty-five or thirty dollars."
+
+"I saw him looking at them the other day. I rather suspect his aunts
+have spoiled him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-THIRD
+
+NEIGHBORS
+
+
+Late in February, after some weeks of unusually cold weather, an
+epidemic of grip developed. In the Terrace there were several victims,
+among the first the Leighs' cook; and when it came to filling her
+place, it was discovered that she was by no means the only member of
+that useful profession laid low. It was quite impossible to find a
+substitute. Miss Sarah was obliged to do her own cooking, with the
+assistance of a not very intelligent housemaid.
+
+There were ten in her family now, and it was no light task; but she
+might have proved equal to it if she had not been overworking all
+winter. Her spare moments had been given to sewing and embroidering
+for the shop, she had indulged and petted her aunt and Wayland just as
+usual, besides attending to her housekeeping in the most painstaking
+fashion; and all the while like an ominous cloud hovering over her was
+the doubt whether she would be able to make the two ends meet.
+
+Perhaps she was extravagant with the table, but during her brother's
+lifetime they had lived in an easy, lavish way, and she knew no other.
+
+It hurt Miss Sarah,--foolishly, but naturally,--that her nephew should
+have to pay board out of his small salary; and when one week he
+omitted to hand her the usual five dollars, she could not bear to ask
+him for it, although the lack of it put her to some inconvenience.
+
+To Wayland things seemed moving on easily enough at home. He had
+become almost reconciled to the boarders, who made possible the more
+elaborate table; and it seemed to him quite impossible that so small a
+sum could make any great difference. He meant to pay it in time, but
+just now he was hard up. He had made the mistake of trying to be a
+society man, to compete with those whose incomes were many times as
+large as his own. In his heart he knew the purchase of that fan for
+Madelaine was a piece of inexcusable extravagance, but he had been too
+weak to resist.
+
+Madelaine was most gracious in these days to Winston Graham, a
+pampered youth whom Wayland had despised from his babyhood, and had
+tyrannized over at school. Now the tables were turned. Years had
+improved Winston, and any lack of brilliancy was more than atoned for
+by an ample fortune, in the management of which he was showing
+unexpected shrewdness.
+
+For the moment that foolish fan had brought him a little pleasure.
+There could be no doubt Madelaine guessed the sender. Somebody was
+absurd, she said; if she were certain who sent it, she would return
+it,--and then she smiled bewitchingly over the gauzy trifle that had
+cost more than half a month's salary.
+
+Miss Sarah was in some measure to blame. She should have taken her
+nephew into her confidence. Such things as taxes and unexpected
+plumber's bills did not present themselves to his mind, and when he
+presently found himself in debt, he went so far as to wonder if she
+might not be able to help him out,--temporarily, of course.
+
+It was not till matters had grown desperate that he decided to do
+this. Wayland was not in the habit of getting into debt, and an
+insistent tailor and florist made his life miserable. With masculine
+obtuseness he chose the most unpropitious moment. Miss Sarah, after a
+hard day, had dropped into an easy-chair for a little rest after
+dinner. Wayland had forgotten the absence of the cook, and in the
+lamplight his aunt looked placid and comfortable.
+
+"Aunt Sarah," he began, "I am rather hard up just now--"
+
+"Never mind, dear, I can get along, I think. You can pay me back
+sometime when it is convenient."
+
+"Yes, I mean to,--but I have been a fool. I--I am going to turn over a
+new leaf,--not go out any more, and save up," Wayland stammered.
+
+Usually to a remark of this kind his aunt would respond with consoling
+assurance that he was young and must have a little pleasure; but
+to-night she only said with a sigh it would perhaps be better; that
+when one was poor the only peaceful thing was to accept it.
+
+"Then I suppose you couldn't lend me a little?" he faltered.
+
+"Lend?" Miss Sarah sat up very straight. "Oh, Wayland, are you in
+debt?"
+
+"Oh, well, if you can't it is all right; but you needn't jump all over
+a fellow."
+
+"I do not understand what you mean by 'jumping all over you.' I
+certainly don't feel like such gymnastics. But I want you to tell me
+honestly the state of affairs."
+
+The truth was hard to extract. Wayland was sullen, apologetic, and
+contrite by turns. At last it came out. He owed one hundred and fifty
+dollars.
+
+"I am sorry." Miss Sarah sank back in her chair. "I fear you have been
+very foolish. To go in debt seems to me not quite honest. But I am
+glad you told me. I'll try to help you; and you'll promise, won't you,
+not to do this again?"
+
+Somehow his aunt's low, controlled tone exasperated Wayland far more
+than if she had shown anger. "I guess if you knew what other fellows
+spend, you wouldn't think I was so awful. Of course I am sorry, and of
+course I don't mean to do it again," and he flung out of the room.
+
+Two days later Miss Sarah alarmed the household at the breakfast table
+by fainting, something she had never been known to do before. Simple
+restoratives proved of no avail, and Wayland rushed off to the nearest
+telephone to call a physician, almost running over Miss Pennington,
+who was starting for a morning walk.
+
+"Could I be of any help?" she asked as he hurriedly explained.
+
+"If you would," Wayland cried gratefully.
+
+Norah entered upon a scene of confusion. Old Mrs. Leigh was frightened
+out of her senses, and no one seemed able to think what to do. Knowing
+something of illness and possessing a cool head and steady hand, Norah
+took command; and when the doctor arrived, Miss Sarah was beginning to
+recover consciousness.
+
+She was ordered to bed at once; and when she ventured to expostulate
+feebly, Norah said: "Now, Miss Sarah, we can manage things for to-day.
+For once trust to your friends and don't worry. You will get well just
+so much sooner."
+
+Miss Sarah looked up in to the bright face that bent over her. "You
+are very good. Perhaps I will,--just for to-day."
+
+"She is threatened with pneumonia; she must have a nurse," the doctor
+said, outside her door.
+
+It was the beginning for Miss Sarah of a serious illness which in one
+way and another involved a number of her neighbors. Owing to the
+prevailing epidemic, it was at first impossible to get a satisfactory
+nurse, and Norah and Miss Virginia Wilbur offered their services. Miss
+Wilbur also lent her cook until Anne should be able to return, saying
+she and Charlotte could do very well with Martha.
+
+In the shop Alex took Norah's place. Norah herself suggested it with
+some hesitation, thinking Mrs. Russell might object; but this lady,
+like many others, had somewhat modified her opinion of the shop. "You
+know," she explained on more than one occasion, "those young women are
+most interesting. Miss Carpenter, indeed, has a great deal of
+elegance. Alex, with her eccentric ideas, is delighted with them, and
+was so anxious to go I could not refuse."
+
+Without the shop these would have been lonely days for Charlotte, with
+Aunt Virginia absent so much of the time, and her friend Helen one of
+the grip victims. Miss Carpenter had exerted a peculiar fascination
+over Charlotte since the evening when she had come to her rescue.
+Others might prefer Miss Pennington; Charlotte never wavered in her
+admiration for the more quiet member of the firm. On her way to school
+each morning she invariably crossed the street that she might pass the
+shop, and perhaps receive a smile from Marion.
+
+This new enthusiasm overshadowed all former ones, and Miss Carpenter
+seemed by no means indifferent to the little girl's adoration, making
+her welcome to run in and out at all times. After hours, or when
+business was dull, Charlotte would often talk to her about the
+Landors, and their Philadelphia home, and Miss Carpenter seemed quite
+ready to listen; but Charlotte's curiosity about her cousin who lived
+across the street, was never satisfied.
+
+Miss Sarah, to whom indirectly this cementing of the ties between the
+shop and its neighbors was due, called Norah to her bedside on the
+first day of her illness, and confided to her a certain railroad bond.
+
+"I am afraid it will be some time before I am able to attend to this
+myself," she said, "so I am going to ask you to see if you can sell
+it for me. I went yesterday to see about it, but they told me to hold
+on to it for a while, if possible, and I thought I could perhaps wait;
+but now I want the money. It will have to go at whatever price it will
+bring. It is too bad to ask you,--you are so good."
+
+Norah assured her she would not mind in the least, and leaving the
+patient in Miss Virginia's hands she walked thoughtfully toward home.
+She happened to know that there was considerable interest felt at
+present in the fluctuation of these bonds, for she sometimes read the
+market news to Mr. Goodman, and he had a few days before spoken of
+buying some. Was there any possible way by which she could sell Miss
+Sarah's bond without sacrificing it?
+
+At the corner she met Mr. Goodman, and at sight of him a sudden idea
+took possession of her.
+
+"Mr. Goodman, can you tell me how G. W. & S. bonds are selling
+to-day?" she asked.
+
+"Seventy-two they are asking to-day. A good thing if you want to buy.
+They are bound to go up," was the old gentleman's reply.
+
+"Could you come in and let me ask you a few questions?" said Norah.
+
+Mr. Goodman never objected to talking stocks and bonds, and therefore
+assented affably.
+
+To the very evident amusement of Alex and Marion, Norah conducted her
+companion through the shop into the next room, flashing a mischievous
+glance over her shoulder as she pushed the door to. Giving the old man
+a chair, she seated herself opposite him; and leaning forward with her
+folded arms on the table, she told him of Miss Sarah's illness and her
+need of money. "Now," she concluded, "she has one of those bonds, and
+I want to sell it for a thousand dollars."
+
+"My dear young lady, you can't do the impossible. Keep it six months
+and it may be at par."
+
+"But she can't wait. She must have the money,--at least she thinks so;
+and she is too ill to be argued with. I want to make her mind easy.
+Why couldn't--somebody--give a thousand dollars for it?" Norah's heart
+beat quickly at her own daring. "What would be lost?"
+
+"Why doesn't somebody give her three hundred dollars, you mean?"
+
+"No, that is not at all what I mean," urged Norah. "I think you said
+you were buying to sell? Now, if that bond is worth a thousand dollars
+six months from now, what would--anybody lose who gave that for it
+now? Only the interest on not quite three hundred dollars. That is, of
+course, taking for granted he expected to sell."
+
+"Upon my word!" exclaimed Mr. Goodman. "What is she talking about? I
+didn't say they would be at par in six months."
+
+"Well, say a year, then. If you'll buy the bond, I'll pay the
+interest. I'll give you my note," Norah said, laughing.
+
+"It is the most astonishing proposition I ever heard," growled the old
+man.
+
+"It is to help a neighbor out, and that is the best thing in life,
+particularly any one so brave and bright as Miss Sarah. She would
+never let us do it if she guessed, but I can tell her they are going
+up steadily. I think I can manage it." Norah beamed across the table.
+
+Whether she had won or not was difficult to tell, for Mr. Goodman rose
+suddenly, buttoned up his coat, and saying he would see her the next
+day, strode off without so much as good evening.
+
+"Norah, what made you do it?" Marion exclaimed when she heard the
+story. "Surely, it could have been arranged."
+
+"I don't know. It popped into my head when I saw him. It won't do any
+harm to get some of his rusty dollars into circulation. I almost
+believe he will do it."
+
+And she was right. Mr. Goodman gave her a check for a thousand
+dollars, and, moreover, suggested that if Miss Sarah did not need the
+whole amount at present, he could invest several hundred of it
+advantageously. And this was the kindest thing Giant Despair had done
+for many a year. As for Norah's scheme for paying him interest, he
+only laughed at that.
+
+Poor Miss Sarah was too ill to understand more than that the bond was
+sold. She was feverishly anxious till she could put the money for his
+debts into Wayland's hands. After this she grew rapidly worse, and the
+outcome began to seem doubtful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURTH
+
+WAYLAND
+
+
+Wayland blamed himself bitterly. He could not forget the touch of
+those burning fingers pressing the money into his hand. He tried to
+refuse it, but his aunt whispered: "Take it, dear. It is all right. I
+shall not be happy till you do." After this he had been sent from the
+room and not allowed to see her again.
+
+Old Mrs. Leigh, bemoaning Sarah's hard lot and accusing herself of
+selfishness, unconsciously enlightened him as to the true state of
+affairs. Wayland sincerely loved his aunt,--the only mother he had
+ever known,--and he realized with shame how unworthy had been his
+attitude toward her of late. While she had been struggling to make a
+home for him and her old aunt, thinking and spending for him till
+there was nothing left for herself, he, absorbed in his own affairs,
+had been disdainful and critical, fretted by her habit of laughing at
+things, annoyed by her style of dress.
+
+And this money. He guessed where it came from. She must have sold a
+bond left to her by a friend some years ago, which she called her
+rainy-day legacy. He fiercely promised himself he would pay it back.
+
+But in the terrible fear that she would not recover, this thought
+ceased to console him. What if he should never have the opportunity to
+tell her how sorry he was, how ashamed? The doctor looked very grave,
+the nurse and Miss Virginia shook their heads and said, "No better."
+Norah was the only one who gave him any encouragement. She bade him
+not give up yet, and devised errands to distract him from his misery,
+and make him feel that he was of some use. He hung upon her words with
+such an appealing face her heart was touched, for she guessed that
+remorse mingled with his sorrow.
+
+There came a dreadful day when even she had no hopeful word to say;
+when, hurrying home at the earliest moment, he found the house hushed
+in a terrible suspense.
+
+Miss Virginia sat with Mrs. Leigh, and they talked of Miss Sarah, and
+wiped the tears from their eyes as if she were already dead. Wayland
+could not endure it.
+
+In his longing for comfort he thought of Madelaine. Surely, she would
+be kind to him now. She was tender-hearted and sympathetic; just the
+touch of her pretty hand would help him. He had not seen her for more
+than a week.
+
+Miss Madelaine was dressing to go out, but would see him for a moment
+if he cared to wait, the servant said; and presently as he strode back
+and forth, too restless to sit down, she floated in, lovely and
+gracious as ever.
+
+"I am going to dinner at the Mays'. I am sorry I can't see you for
+more than a minute. How is Miss Sarah to-night?"
+
+"No better--worse," Wayland answered brokenly, holding fast the hand
+she offered him. Gently Madelaine drew it away, and began to put on
+her glove.
+
+"I am _so_ sorry," she said, "but you mustn't despair. I am sure she
+is going to get well."
+
+Upon Wayland's sensitive ear the words fell with a hollowness almost
+unbearable. "She does not care at all," he told himself.
+
+This was perhaps a little unjust to Madelaine. She was very full at
+that moment of the joy of living; she knew nothing by experience, of
+illness and death. She was sorry for Wayland, but the thought of the
+evening's pleasure was not for an instant dimmed by it.
+
+Wayland went blindly home again, conscious of nothing but the pain in
+his heart. At the door Norah met him with a note which she asked him
+to take to Miss Carpenter. "The doctor thinks there will be no change
+for some hours," she told him.
+
+He sat staring into the fire in the same blind way when Marion entered
+the room.
+
+"There is no haste about the answer. Won't you stay with me for a
+while?" she said. "I am alone, and I know you must be feeling the
+strain of suspense."
+
+Norah's note had said: "Do keep the poor boy and comfort him if you
+can. He does nothing but wander in and out."
+
+"Thank you, I think I must go back," he answered, lingering aimlessly
+however.
+
+Marion brought him a cup of after-dinner coffee, and he submitted and
+drank it, although he felt it must choke him; and when he had
+swallowed it, he was the better for it.
+
+Marion did not make the mistake of trying to cheer him in the face of
+this terrible anxiety, but in every possible way she showed her
+sympathy. She spoke of his aunt, of her brightness and kindness, of
+her evident attachment for him; and poor Wayland, longing to pour out
+his unhappiness to some one, forgot she was almost a stranger and came
+out with his confession. His foolishness and extravagance, his
+carelessness of his aunt's comfort. It was very boyish and perfectly
+sincere. Madelaine was not mentioned by name, but the wound showed
+plainly, and Marion guessed what he did not tell.
+
+"And now I shall never have a chance to show her how sorry I am," he
+groaned, hiding his face.
+
+"Don't say that. There is still some room for hope that you may have
+another opportunity; and even if you do not, you can yet make of
+yourself what she would wish," Marion said; adding, "If you will let
+me speak to you as if you were my younger brother, I should say that
+all the trouble has come from a natural but selfish determination to
+have what, after all, was not meant for you. I think I understand;
+and although you may not believe me, I am sure it could never have
+made you happy if you had been able to obtain it."
+
+"If you mean Madelaine," Wayland said, lifting his head, "that is all
+over."
+
+Afterward he could look back on that evening and feel that out of his
+grief he had won a friend who might never have been his under other
+circumstances. At the moment he was conscious only of the new courage
+and determination that inspired him, when after the long talk he said
+good night.
+
+With the morning new hope came. There was a chance for recovery; and
+this grew, until at length Miss Sarah began slowly to climb the hill
+toward health again.
+
+It was some time before Wayland could pour out to her his repentance,
+and then his aunt would not let him say half he wanted to say.
+
+"Why, child," she exclaimed, patting the head bowed on the arm of her
+chair, "you have done nothing to call forth all this. You have been
+thoughtless, as most young persons are; but I suspect it is my fault.
+I spoiled you. I did so want you to have what you wanted, always. I
+suppose it is foolish, but it is the way we feel about the children we
+bring up."
+
+"You shall have that bond back, or one just as good, Aunt Sarah," he
+assured her; and there was something in his face which showed he meant
+it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-FIFTH
+
+THE PRICE OF A BOND
+
+
+"Mr. Goodman, I want to understand about that bond Miss Pennington
+sold for me. I have been reading the papers, and I don't see how it
+could have brought a thousand dollars when they are only quoted at
+eighty-something." Miss Sarah was still white and weak, but she spoke
+with a touch of her old energy.
+
+Ever since she had been able to think connectedly, the matter had
+puzzled her. Norah, when appealed to, was innocence itself.
+
+"I am sure he did not lose anything, Miss Sarah," she said. "I offered
+it to him because I happened to know he had already bought some."
+
+So now she had summoned Giant Despair himself, happening to see from
+her window his clumsy figure coming up the street.
+
+"I am glad to see you better, Miss Sarah," he said, appearing rather
+ill at ease as he seated himself ponderously in a wicker chair.
+
+"Goodness! I hope it won't give way with him," thought Miss Sarah;
+then aloud she repeated her question, adding, "I have no confidence
+whatever in Miss Pennington."
+
+Giant Despair squinted at her with his best eye, as if to see just
+what she meant.
+
+"My own opinion," Miss Sarah continued, "has always been that she is a
+witch; but even then I don't understand it."
+
+Mr. Goodman smiled grimly and slapped his gloves across his knee.
+"Probably you don't know much about the ways of witches," he remarked.
+
+"I ought to know something. I can't imagine what I should have done
+without Norah. Everybody was kind,--more than kind,--but she knew how
+to take hold and manage things. I--" she hesitated a moment before she
+added, "and we didn't want them in the neighborhood!"
+
+"I guess you are right about the witch business," agreed the old man.
+
+"But the bond," urged Miss Sarah.
+
+"Well, there is nothing to be said about the bond, so far as I know.
+As a general thing women don't know much about business, but Miss
+Norah has taught me a thing or two. I haven't lost anything on your
+bond, Miss Sarah, and I expect to make before I get through."
+
+"And you are sure that she--"
+
+"She didn't lose anything, either,--if that is what you mean. That
+bond was worth to me what I paid for it, and that is all I can say on
+the subject, unless--" Giant Despair hesitated. "Years ago your
+brother saved me a good deal of money at one time and another. He was
+a good man. I have sometimes wished I had taken his advice. If you
+aren't satisfied, just remember that."
+
+There had been a time when Miss Sarah's brother, Wayland's father, had
+managed Mr. Goodman's law business; but the relations had come to a
+sudden end. The only explanation Mr. Leigh had ever made to his sister
+was that he did not care for certain of the drug company's methods.
+
+"Then all I can do is to thank you most warmly," she said as he rose.
+
+"If I have helped you, Miss Sarah, I am glad. As I say, I have not
+lost anything, and I am a useless old codger, anyhow."
+
+Miss Sarah wiped some tears away; she was far from strong yet. "I
+think it was a conspiracy between you and Miss Pennington, but I'll
+have to let it go."
+
+"I am in good company, at any rate," said Giant Despair.
+
+James Mandeville waited for Mr. Goodman at the gate, and the two
+walked away together, hand in hand, the little boy taking great pains
+to point out all obstacles in the path, chattering ceaselessly, his
+radiant face lifted constantly to the rugged one so far above him.
+Miss Sarah watched them and smiled.
+
+As for Mr. Goodman, he felt a strange sense of exhilaration,--so much
+so, that when they met an organ-grinder and a monkey (spring being now
+at hand) he contributed a dime instead of the usual five-cent piece.
+
+A week later he went to a hospital to have his eye operated on, and
+during the weeks of helplessness that followed he was the recipient of
+an amount of attention that greatly surprised him.
+
+The hospital was only a few blocks away from the Terrace, and hardly a
+day passed without a visit from some of his neighbors. Marion, Norah,
+and Alexina took turns in reading to him; and James Mandeville came
+whenever he could induce any one to bring him.
+
+In the same corridor was a man recovering from a stroke of paralysis,
+who, rolling himself back and forth in his chair, occasionally
+encountered Mr. Goodman and exchanged a few words.
+
+"I notice you have a great many friends," the stranger remarked one
+day.
+
+"I?" exclaimed Giant Despair, who looked fiercer than ever with one
+eye bandaged. "Well, I suppose I have," he admitted, and became lost
+in thought. Eight months ago probably not a soul would have done more
+than leave a card, unless it had been a member of the firm. How had it
+come about? Undoubtedly the shopkeepers had something to do with it.
+They had showed themselves friendly. Then he thought of that bond.
+Suppose he had refused Norah? Ah, he had told Miss Sarah the strict
+truth when he said he had not lost anything in that transaction. He
+really felt the impulse to do another kindness to somebody, but not
+being in practice, nothing suggested itself.
+
+An opportunity came, however. One Sunday afternoon James Mandeville
+brought his father with him to see Mr. Goodman. The child's joyous air
+of proprietorship was pretty to see.
+
+"Here's my father," he announced. "Isn't you glad he's come home?"
+Then, as the two men shook hands, he asked, leaning confidingly
+against his old friend, "Does your eye hurt, still yet?"
+
+The conversation turned naturally to business, and after a time Mr.
+Goodman suddenly said, "Norton, it has just occurred to me-- We are
+making some changes this spring, and we need an experienced man to
+look after the city trade. How would you like the place?"
+
+Mr. Norton's careworn, boyish face flushed and brightened. "It would
+mean a great deal to me now, Mr. Goodman. My wife will be at home
+soon; I was dreading the thought of having to leave. Thank you very
+much."
+
+"You needn't thank me. I am considering my own interest," the old man
+replied, with an affability that astounded himself.
+
+"I rather think Jenks is expecting the place, but he isn't married;
+he can wait," he added.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+"Miss Norah, does you reckon old Marse Goodman's gittin' religion?"
+asked Mammy Belle one day. "Looks like he's mighty soft-hearted."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-SIXTH
+
+NORAH'S ARK
+
+
+Alexina said the shop, like a little leaven, was leavening the whole
+neighborhood, and truly it seemed so. To her those two weeks of
+association with Marion had been a joy. In the congenial surroundings
+of the shop she found it easy to live in to-day, leaving the future to
+unfold as it would. Her shorthand book lay unopened; she began to feel
+the truth of Marion's assurance, "Your forte is dainty, feminine
+things, Alex, in spite of your disdain for them."
+
+In their leisure moments they had built many castles concerned with
+the future of the shop, one of these being a millinery department of
+which Alex was to have charge.
+
+Indeed, the two weeks of Miss Sarah's illness saw the beginning of
+many things. Between Miss Virginia and Norah Pennington a strong
+friendship grew up.
+
+"Miss Virginia is such a dear!" Norah said. "I adore her stilted
+little expressions, such as 'busy with my needle or pen,' instead of
+sewing or writing, and with it all she is at heart a child."
+
+"That is the point of contact between you," Marion answered, smiling.
+
+Miss Virginia was like one who had thrown off a yoke, yet she hardly
+understood her own light-heartedness. It was quite true that she had
+never outgrown her girlhood. It was only overlaid by grown-up manners,
+and unconsciously she was beginning to let the burden of convention
+slip from her shoulders and to enjoy herself as her nature prompted.
+
+Charlotte was an hourly pleasure. Miss Virginia enjoyed looking after
+her wardrobe as in the past she had enjoyed dressing her dolls. She
+listened to the schoolgirl experiences poured into her ear, with
+genuine interest. They were like two children together; but Miss
+Virginia's sweetness and sincerity, her delicate refinement, could not
+but have their influence on her impetuous little niece.
+
+One broadening influence came from those Friday evenings in the shop,
+with their basket making and pleasant talk. Miss Virginia had been
+accustomed to accept things as they were. When in her very infrequent
+visits to business offices she had encountered young women acting as
+bookkeepers and stenographers, she had looked upon them as a class
+apart. Not that she felt consciously superior, or anything but kindly,
+but simply that her life and theirs did not touch. She was actually
+surprised to find Norah's friend Louise Martin so much like other
+girls, and when Norah described the hall bedroom in the gloomy
+boarding-house, which was her only home, Miss Virginia began to wish
+and then to wonder if she could not do something to brighten a life
+that seemed so dreary.
+
+Another addition to the Friday gatherings was a Miss Jackson, a
+fellow-boarder of Miss Martin's, a public school teacher and an
+ambitious, high-spirited girl.
+
+Toward these two Miss Virginia began to show a timid friendliness so
+plainly sincere it was irresistible. She found them much more
+interesting than many of the people who belonged to her own sphere,
+and whom she was accustomed to call friends. The end of it was, she
+asked them to tea with Alex and the shopkeepers,--a tremendous
+departure, a step taken with fear and trembling. But when it was over,
+she found herself looking back on it as one of the happiest occasions
+of her life.
+
+And now the Friday evenings at the shop began to be enlarged in their
+scope. It came about quite naturally. Norah, the sunny-hearted, could
+not breathe without attracting friends; and while the basket making
+still went on, and Miss Sarah and Miss Virginia brought their
+embroidery, others dropped in for the pleasant talk.
+
+Alex induced her grandfather to go with her on one occasion, and the
+judge was clearly both bewildered and charmed. He renewed his
+acquaintance with Norah, of whom he had not ceased to speak in
+admiration, and was greatly impressed by Marion's graceful bearing.
+
+Madelaine, who enjoyed doing unexpected things, appeared upon the
+scene this same night with Winston Graham in tow. This gentleman's
+astonishment was only exceeded by his willingness to follow Madelaine
+anywhere. He professed some interest in baskets, whereupon Marion gave
+him a seat beside Miss Martin.
+
+"'The rich and the poor meet together, the Lord is the maker of them
+all,'" Miss Sarah quoted to Miss Virginia.
+
+"What do you call this place, Miss Pennington? It isn't really a
+shop--you don't sell things?" asked Mr. Graham, when, a little later,
+Norah came to the rescue.
+
+"Why, of course we do. How else could we make a living? And it has
+several names," she replied. "Has Alex told you the latest," turning
+to Judge Russell. "She saw Mammy Belle on the corner one morning,
+gazing over here with all her eyes. 'It shorely do look like a
+_Norah's Ark_, Miss Alex,' she said. And really there is no doubt
+about its resembling an ark although we had none of us thought of it;
+and while I can't claim exclusive proprietorship, I accept the honor
+of having it named for me. What do you think of it?"
+
+The old gentleman glanced about him. "It is not nearly poetic enough,
+my dear," he said.
+
+Norah laughed at this gallant speech. "You see," she went on, "we are
+simply reviving a cosey old custom of living over the shop, which
+should interest you as a lover of old things."
+
+"And also of young things--if you will pardon the expression," said
+the judge, smiling.
+
+"Why, grandfather," cried Alex, "I shall be afraid to bring you
+again."
+
+"I expect to wake some morning and find the shop has disappeared,
+leaving no trace of itself," Miss Sarah remarked.
+
+"I trust not," exclaimed Norah. "Where would we be?"
+
+"An enchanted prince would have carried you off," laughed Charlotte.
+
+"Two princes," suggested Miss Virginia.
+
+A sudden gravity fell on Norah, so noticeable that Miss Sarah said, as
+she turned away, "She seems not to like the idea of the prince."
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+The days grew long, the air soft and warm; the Terrace gardens bloomed
+again and the rich foliage of summer succeeded the delicate lace-work
+of spring. The Russell house was again a Palace Beautiful in its
+mantle of vines, and the judge sat on the rustic bench beneath the
+Ginkgo tree, his hands on his stick and a faraway look in his eyes.
+
+Every moment that could be spared from the shop found Marion and
+Norah off to the country, to return laden with fragrant trophies. The
+delicate look had gone from Marion's face, and the disfiguring glasses
+were rarely seen.
+
+One evening in May an unexpected visitor appeared in the shop. A tall,
+wiry man, past middle age, with a keen, kindly face.
+
+"Why, Dr. Baird!" cried Norah, "I was just wishing for you."
+
+"You were?" he said, shaking hands. "Anything wrong with my patient?"
+
+"Here she is, to speak for herself," said Marion, entering from the
+next room.
+
+The physician looked at her long and intently. "I give up," he said at
+length. "It has worked. You are all right, and"--turning to Norah--"I
+suppose you think you are very clever, miss. Your wild-goose scheme
+has been a success."
+
+"You shall not call it names, for it has been the happiest winter of
+my life," said Marion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVENTH
+
+AN ANNIVERSARY
+
+
+"Miss Marion, are you here? I am so glad to see you! I have something
+to show you. Where is Miss Norah?" Charlotte punctuated her breathless
+remarks with an ardent embrace.
+
+"Why, Charlotte, how rosy you look, and I believe you have grown two
+inches!" Miss Carpenter had risen to meet her, and now took the brown
+face in both her hands and smiled into the blue eyes. "It is good to
+see you again. When did you get home?"
+
+"Early this morning; and now Aunt Virginia has everything out of our
+trunks--you would think there had been ten instead of two--and she and
+Martha are putting away, so I ran," Charlotte answered gayly.
+
+It was September again. The shop, which had been closed for a month
+while its proprietors took a holiday, had reopened, but the days were
+still warm, and little was doing. This afternoon, with its shaded
+windows and its autumn decorations of goldenrod and asters, it looked
+cool and inviting.
+
+Marion, who had been reading when Charlotte entered, laid her book on
+the table and motioned to a place beside her in the window-seat. "What
+have you to show me?" she asked.
+
+"You'll never guess, so I shall have to tell you. And, oh, Miss
+Marion, I want to ask you something, but I'm afraid."
+
+"Am I so very formidable? I can't imagine what it can be. I'll promise
+not to answer if I do not like the question."
+
+"It isn't that," cried Charlotte. "It is nothing I want you to tell
+me, it is something I want you to do."
+
+"Then I am more puzzled than ever. Do let me see what you have. Is it
+a book?"
+
+For answer Charlotte slipped the outer cover from a small green and
+gold volume and put it into Marion's hand, drawing near and leaning
+against her shoulder as she did so. "It is Cousin Frank's book," she
+said. "It came while he was with us at Rocky Point. He gave me the
+very first. Isn't it a dear?"
+
+Marion turned the leaves in silence. "Love's Reason, and Other Poems,"
+the title-page said. She turned another leaf, "To One Far Away," was
+the dedication. She paused here for a moment, then went on turning the
+pages.
+
+"It is a very pretty little book," she said, in a tone that seemed to
+Charlotte less interested than the occasion called for.
+
+"I thought you'd like it, because I have talked to you so much about
+Cousin Frank. And, oh, Miss Marion, it is about Miss Carpenter I want
+to ask you." Charlotte's head was against Marion's arm, and she did
+not lift her eyes.
+
+"It was one evening when Cousin Frank and I were sitting on the sand
+in the moonlight. Some man--I forget his name, but at any rate he is a
+great critic--stopped us as we were leaving the hotel, to say
+something very nice about the poems; and I asked Cousin Frank if he
+were not pleased. He said he was glad, of course, to have it liked,
+and he valued this man's judgment; but that after all it was for the
+opinion of just one person he cared the most. I was certain it must be
+Miss Carpenter, because of the dedication,--that couldn't mean any one
+else; so I said I knew she must like it. He looked at me in such a
+funny way and asked what I meant. So I told him what I had guessed,
+and he did not seem to mind.
+
+"I asked if he had sent her a book, but he said he did not know where
+she was, and the only person who did know was away, too. Then for a
+long time he did not say anything; but after a while I slipped my hand
+in his, and told him I knew she must care,--she couldn't help
+it,--although I hadn't any idea why she had gone away without letting
+him know where she was.
+
+"He said if he were sure she did not care at all, he would give it up,
+for that would be the only manly thing; but until he was sure, he must
+hope. It was then I began to wonder if you knew where she was, Miss
+Marion. If you do, couldn't you tell her how much he cares? I don't
+see why she went away; but Cousin Frank said she had a reason,
+although he didn't think it was a good one. Could you tell her, Miss
+Marion?"
+
+"Did you ever say anything to Mr. Landor about the shop or--" Marion
+left the question unfinished.
+
+"Yes, that very evening I told him I was certain my Miss Carpenter was
+lovelier than his." Charlotte squeezed the hand she held. "He smiled,
+and asked a great many questions. But could you tell her?" Charlotte
+was nothing if not persistent.
+
+This Miss Carpenter, of whom she had grown so fond, was a quiet
+person, not given to demonstration of any sort, but Charlotte suddenly
+felt herself drawn into a close embrace, while a very gentle voice
+said in her ear: "Charlotte, you may tell him I _know_ she cares. I
+think she was right to go away--she had a reason, but--"
+
+"What is going on here?" broke in Norah's gay tones. "Why, Charlotte,
+how are you? You two look as if you had been in mischief."
+
+A moment later who should walk in but Mrs. Leigh, looking like an old
+ivory portrait, her apple-blossom face framed in silver puffs and
+white frills. "Are you at home, and ready to show your pretty things?
+Upon my word, I am glad to see the shop open again. We have missed
+you."
+
+"Thank you, dear Mrs. Leigh; we are glad to be back again," said
+Norah, greeting her cordially, while Marion pushed forward a chair
+and Charlotte brought a cushion.
+
+Mrs. Leigh adored to be waited upon; she beamed graciously on the
+three. "Thank you, my dears. This is a charming place, and I must say
+I didn't expect to see you here again."
+
+"Why not? We had no idea of not coming back," Marion said.
+
+"Oh, I have never believed it would last," Mrs. Leigh's bright eyes
+twinkled. "You are too--well, there is a mystery about you, you know."
+
+"I didn't know. How interesting!" exclaimed Norah, laughing.
+
+"Well, I suppose there is no use in talking about it. You won't tell
+me. Charlotte, when is your Aunt Caroline expected?"
+
+"They were looking for her in a day or two," Charlotte replied,
+putting on her hat as she spoke. She did not care to stay and listen
+to Mrs. Leigh just now.
+
+Marion caught her hand. "May I have the little book for a while?" she
+whispered.
+
+"I have a piece of news for you," announced the old lady, as Charlotte
+disappeared.
+
+"Madelaine Russell is engaged to Winston Graham. It is to be announced
+this week. It will be a relief to her mother to have her well married,
+and I expect she is getting what she wants."
+
+"I think it is an excellent match," remarked Norah. "Winston is not a
+bad fellow, and Madelaine couldn't be happy without money. Why, if
+there isn't Mammy Belle!" she added, looking up.
+
+In the doorway stood that dusky personage, arrayed not in her usual
+starched calico and white apron, but in her Sunday dress of black,
+with floating crępe veil.
+
+"Howdy, Miss Norah; howdy, Miss Marion. I des come to see how you all
+was gettin' on. I'se tolable, thank you, ma'am. Yes'm, James
+Mandeville's gone wid his mamma to see his grandpaw, and Marse Tom's
+the onliest one lef'."
+
+"Sit down and rest," said Marion. "Mrs. Leigh, you know Aunt Belle,
+don't you?"
+
+"Is that Belle Campbell? Of course I do. I remember you, Belle, when
+you lived at the Graingers'."
+
+"Yes'm, Miss Sally, I 'members you. Looks like you's mighty peart
+yit." Mammy Belle smoothed the front of her skirt and then folded her
+black gloved hands in her lap.
+
+"Oh, I'm not good for much any more," answered Mrs. Leigh. "But tell
+me, Belle, what made you leave the Graingers? I thought you were a
+fixture there."
+
+"Yes'm, I reckon I'd be living there yit, if 'twarn't fur ole Marse
+Andrew. He done sassed me too much, Miss Sally. Aunt Judy she say,
+'Better stay whar de pot biles hardes', Belle,' but I couldn't stan'
+ole Marse Andrew."
+
+"I had forgotten about Aunt Judy. Is she still living?" asked Mrs.
+Leigh.
+
+"Yes, ma'am, she's livin', but she is mighty porely."
+
+"Isn't she very old?"
+
+"Yes'm, Miss Sally, Aunt Judy's tolable ole. Look like she don' know
+fur shore how ole she is. You knows Marse Andrew, Miss Sally? Well,
+Aunt Judy say she war a little gal runnin' round when Marse Andrew was
+bawn, an' dey tuk her into de house dat day to wait on ole Miss, Marse
+Andrew's grandmaw, and it was corn-shuckin' time; so if you knows how
+ole Marse Andrew is, you knows how ole Aunt Judy is."
+
+These interesting reminiscences were interrupted by Alex and her
+grandfather, who stopped at the door to welcome their neighbors back,
+as the judge explained, his fine old face beaming with friendliness.
+
+"What do you think Caroline is going to say when she finds us all
+friends of the shop, Judge?" asked plain-spoken Mrs. Leigh.
+
+"I am of the opinion that even Mrs. Millard will be unable to hold out
+against it very long. You know she hasn't had our opportunities," was
+the reply. "I have some new books to show you,--or some old ones,
+rather,--Miss Norah," the judge added.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+Norah had been sitting alone in the south window for some time when
+Marion joined her.
+
+"Where have you been? and what is that small green book you are
+carrying about?" Norah asked.
+
+Marion put it into her hand; as she did so, a paper fluttered out and
+fell to the floor. Stooping for it, Norah's quick eyes read
+involuntarily,
+
+        "I love her whether she love me or no,"
+
+and something told her it was the valentine of last winter.
+
+Marion's fingers closed over it. "Charlotte brought me the book," she
+explained; "but don't try to read by this light."
+
+"I shall not read much; I want to see what it is."
+
+There was silence for some minutes; then Norah put an arm around her
+friend. "Marion, I have been thinking I'd ask Alex to be my partner
+when you go." Try as she would, there was a little break on that last
+word.
+
+"Why, Norah!"
+
+"No, let me finish. You know a shop is not the station to which you
+are called, dear. I see clearly that the fairy prince is coming, and
+there is no reason why he should not." Norah pressed her cheek against
+Marion's. "Do you realize this is the anniversary of our coming here?"
+
+"It seems to me you are very ready to give me up," said Marion.
+
+"Oh, Marion!"
+
+"Forgive me, dear, I know you aren't. That was not fair. But I don't
+know--I can't talk about it now. I feel drawn two ways, and I am
+jealous of Alex when I think of her in my place."
+
+"I don't want you to be altogether glad, but I am proud of what the
+shop has done for you. And of course I have known all along it could
+not last. We have had a good time, haven't we?"
+
+"And it is not over yet," Marion said, pressing the hand she held.
+"There is one thing that perplexes me. The time has come for
+explanations, I suppose, and the situation seems a little melodramatic
+and silly."
+
+"Don't think about it, then. It will work out of itself. Does it not
+seem strange when you look back to that evening when we first thought
+of the shop, that it has really been tried and proved a success?"
+
+"Indeed, it does. How miserable I was, and determined not to go
+abroad, as Dr. Baird wished, but to stay there at home. Then you
+declined to stay with me, Norah; and when I was in despair you
+proposed the wild scheme of keeping a shop. I was interested at first,
+but you don't know how often I would have given up if it had not been
+for the fear of losing you. And now, Norah, I wouldn't give a hundred
+thousand dollars for the experience."
+
+"That is a good deal of money. I ought to be very triumphant that my
+plan worked so well." Norah's tone was sad, however.
+
+After the lamps were lighted Marion became absorbed in the little
+book, bending over it with a pretty glow in her face. From the other
+side of the table Norah watched her. After a while she rose and took
+down the rainbow bag and drew out a card.
+
+        "If I make dark my countenance,
+         I shut my life to happier chance."
+
+She pondered it. "That is true," she told herself, "and there is no
+end to the beautiful things that may happen if only one is ready for
+them."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTH
+
+WHAT IT MEANT
+
+
+Charlotte walked slowly home. She wondered what Miss Marion meant.
+"Tell him I know she cares." Charlotte had often noticed that Miss
+Carpenter seemed not to be deeply interested in her Philadelphia
+cousin, and now suddenly she turned around and was apparently
+intimately acquainted with her feelings. It was a puzzle.
+
+She sat down in one of the porch chairs to think it over, making a
+pleasant picture in her white dress, with the feathery clematis for a
+background, her blue eyes serious and thoughtful, as she rocked softly
+back and forth. The old self-assertion which a year ago had shown
+itself in attitude and speech had become softened now until it was no
+more than a gentle independence.
+
+She had toned down, Cousin Francis told her, with evident approval. In
+spite of its tempestuous beginning, the year in the Terrace had in
+great measure resulted as her guardian hoped it would.
+
+Aunt Virginia's sweet refinement, Alexina's earnestness, Madelaine's
+grace,--all these had had their influence; but most potent had been
+her admiration--almost adoration--for Miss Carpenter. Charlotte had
+made pleasant friends in school, but after all her happiest hours had
+been spent in the Terrace, where a year ago life had promised to be so
+dull.
+
+Aunt Virginia joined her presently, dropping into a chair with a sigh
+of satisfaction. "It is good to be at home again, and Martha and I
+have everything put away," she said. "Where have you been?"
+
+"Over to see Miss Marion, but Mrs. Leigh came in and I didn't care to
+stay."
+
+Miss Virginia rocked briskly for some minutes, then she remarked,
+"There was something in your Aunt Caroline's last letter I did not
+understand." Taking it from the envelope she unfolded it and glanced
+down the page. "Here it is. 'I infer from certain hints you have
+dropped at different times that you have not taken my advice in regard
+to the shop--' I didn't hint, I only said--" Miss Virginia hesitated.
+She did not recall just what she had said, but she knew she had by no
+means revealed the true extent of her intimacy with the shopkeepers.
+She went on with the letter. "'I have lately received some first-hand
+information concerning these young women, who seem to have fulfilled
+my prophecy that they would lose no opportunity to ingratiate
+themselves. I fear you have been too credulous, my dear Virginia, but
+I will not enter into the matter further till I see you.'
+
+"I wonder what she means by 'first-hand information'?" said Miss
+Virginia. "I know Caroline will never feel as the rest of us do, but
+she can't know anything against them."
+
+"No, indeed," Charlotte cried. "There isn't anything about Miss
+Marion, or Miss Norah either, that is not lovely."
+
+The thought of Marion's caress returned, and with it the question
+whether she should tell Cousin Frank or not; for it occurred to her he
+might think her officious to have spoken of the matter to a stranger.
+If-- Charlotte became lost in thought again.
+
+A good many miles to the northward two gentlemen were dining together
+at the very hour when Miss Virginia and Charlotte sat on the porch and
+watched the sunset without thinking of it.
+
+"You have great reason to be pleased with the reviews of your book,
+Frank," the elder man remarked, gratified affection in the grave smile
+with which his gaze rested on his son.
+
+"Yes, for the most part the critics are kind," Francis Landor replied,
+drawing hieroglyphics in an absent manner on the cloth with the handle
+of his spoon.
+
+"But one thing is lacking," thought the father, his glance still
+resting on the bent head. "The boy must come to something with such a
+head," he had often said in his childhood; and now the belief was
+likely to be justified. The face before him was showing the strong,
+serious lines of maturity, yet he almost regretted the lost boyishness
+as he noted them.
+
+Suddenly Frank looked up. "I am thinking of going away for a week or
+so," he announced.
+
+A smile hovered about his father's lips. "May I ask in what
+direction?--To see Charlotte?"
+
+Their eyes met. "Yes, to see Charlotte," Francis answered.
+
+"When do you go?"
+
+"Sometime to-morrow."
+
+"I wish you good luck, my son."
+
+"So he, too, has guessed," thought Frank.
+
+When he was alone, he took out a letter which bore evidence of more
+than one reading. Its date showed it to be a year old.
+
+        "I am going away," the letter said, "to be gone a long
+        time,--at least a year. By then my fate ought to be
+        decided. I am trying to hope, as Dr. Baird assures me
+        I may, trying to live entirely in the present. It is
+        not easy, but how can I make any plans for the future
+        when a possible life of helplessness lies before me?
+        You are generous, and I know you will forgive if this
+        causes you pain. Forget--everything but that I am
+        always your friend,
+
+                                      "MARION CARPENTER.
+
+"I have told no one where I am going, as it seems best to make as
+complete a break as possible with my life here. Dr. Baird, of course,
+knows."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-NINTH
+
+A LETTER
+
+
+"Really, Mrs. Millard, you have treated us very shabbily. It is nearly
+a year since you left us."
+
+"Ten months, Judge Russell. You are very kind to say you have missed
+me. I had no thought of staying so long when I left, and I am
+delighted to be at home again." Mrs. Millard stood in the
+drawing-room, as composed and elegant as if she had not arrived from a
+three days' railway journey only a few hours before.
+
+It was a summer-like evening, doors and windows were open, and one
+after another of the neighbors had dropped in, until Charlotte was
+reminded of the evening a year ago when the shop was under discussion.
+She felt a little shy in Aunt Caroline's presence, although that lady
+was graciousness itself; and Wayland Leigh, who came in with his aunt,
+joined her in the corner by the library door and wanted to know what
+made her so quiet.
+
+"Quite a party, isn't it?" he said; adding, "but where are Miss Marion
+and Miss Norah?" Like Charlotte, Wayland always put Marion first.
+
+"I don't believe Aunt Caroline would want them," she replied, smiling.
+
+"To be sure, when she went away we didn't know them."
+
+That others were also thinking of the shop was evident, for Miss Sarah
+was now heard remarking, "You left us defenceless, Caroline, and we
+surrendered soon after your departure."
+
+"Yes, the shop has become a neighborhood institution," Judge Russell
+added.
+
+"I am more than surprised to hear _you_ say so, Judge Russell."
+
+"But Mr. Goodman is the most remarkable convert, Mrs. Millard," said
+Alex. "Just ask him his opinion of the shop."
+
+"I do not wish to criticise, this first evening at home," Mrs. Millard
+began graciously; "but as I have been telling Virginia, I cannot
+understand the fascination these persons seem to have exercised over
+you."
+
+"But you know they are really charming young women," ventured Mrs.
+Russell. "I objected to the shop as decidedly as any one until I found
+out about them. Their popularity is not confined to this neighborhood,
+and of course you know they are well connected."
+
+"It is about that I wish to speak," interposed Mrs. Millard. "As you
+may have heard, Miss Unadilla Carpenter, the half-sister of Peter
+Carpenter, is a friend of my oldest sister. For years they have
+corresponded; so when I heard from Virginia that these people claimed
+to be related to the Philadelphia Carpenters, I took it upon myself to
+write a letter of inquiry to Miss Unadilla. She was ill at the time
+and some months passed before she replied. A few weeks ago I received
+a letter, in a part of which you may be interested."
+
+Mrs. Millard was evidently prepared for the occasion, for she at once
+produced the paper in question.
+
+"I shall be glad to hear it, but it can't alter my opinion of our
+friends across the street," Miss Sarah said stoutly, at which remark
+Miss Virginia visibly brightened.
+
+Mrs. Millard paid no heed, but began to read. "'Of the Miss Carpenter
+of whom you write I know nothing. She is not related to us. My niece,
+May Carpenter, is my only connection of the name, as I am hers. Of my
+niece I know little at present. Two years ago she had a long illness
+which came near being fatal, since then I believe she has been abroad.
+As to the young woman in question, I repeat we have no cousins.'" Mrs.
+Millard looked around the circle in triumph.
+
+"Of course," said Miss Sarah, "there are some things difficult to
+explain; but the most difficult of all would be, how two young women
+could come into a neighborhood and make it better and happier for
+their presence, could nurse some of us when we were ill, and show
+themselves in a thousand ways helpful and kindly and companionable,
+and all with the utmost simplicity,--to explain how they could do all
+this and yet be impostors, would be harder still. The good Book says,
+'By their fruits ye shall know them,' and that is how we know the
+shopkeepers."
+
+Wayland clapped noiselessly. "Good for auntie!" he whispered to
+Charlotte.
+
+"I really don't remember Marion's saying she was a cousin of Miss
+Carpenter," said Alex. "Perhaps we jumped to the conclusion."
+
+Mrs. Millard's lips were parted to reply when an exclamation from Miss
+Virginia caused all eyes to turn toward the door. From the awed
+silence it might have been a ghost, instead of Norah Pennington in a
+white dress, who stood there.
+
+She could not but be conscious of the excitement her appearance
+aroused. Her color deepened as for a second she felt herself the
+object of the silent gaze of this roomful of people. She did not lose
+her self-possession, however, and in another moment Charlotte was at
+her side, and Miss Virginia had recovered her power of speech.
+
+"I really came in search of Alex," Norah explained, a most engaging
+impostor surely, as she smiled upon the assembly.
+
+"Do you know my sister, Miss Pennington?" Miss Virginia's
+embarrassment was painfully evident.
+
+"I believe I once met Mrs. Millard in the shop." There was a twinkle
+of mischief in Norah's demureness.
+
+Mrs. Millard bowed distantly.
+
+"I am going to settle this here and now," Miss Sarah whispered to Mrs.
+Russell as Norah crossed the room to the sofa where Alex sat. Leaning
+forward she said in a tone quite audible to everybody, "Norah, excuse
+me for asking a personal question, but did you say Miss
+Carpenter--Marion--was related to the Philadelphia Carpenters?"
+
+Norah was quick-witted. So this was what they had been talking about!
+A glance at Mrs. Millard's haughty shoulders explained. "I think I did
+say so," she replied frankly.
+
+"But Miss Unadilla says she can't be," observed Wayland in an
+undertone from behind her.
+
+Norah made her decision promptly. "Miss Unadilla would not have said
+so if she had understood. I am going to take the liberty of explaining
+what has perhaps puzzled some of you. It was I who in the beginning
+caused the mistake, and I think now the time has come to set it
+right." In the faces of her friends she saw nothing but confidence.
+
+"Some of you have perhaps already guessed that there is just one Miss
+Carpenter. Marion is Miss Unadilla's niece."
+
+"I knew it! I knew it!" Charlotte whispered in an ecstasy.
+
+Norah continued: "We had no idea of making a mystery of it; that
+simply happened. Marion was recovering from a long illness, which left
+her with a nervous affection of the eyes, so serious she felt she
+would lose her sight. She and I were school friends, and when she was
+taken ill she sent for me, and I was with her through it all. When she
+grew stronger, her physician felt she must have some radical
+change--something which would take her thoughts from herself, but
+nothing seemed the right thing. Then I thought of putting into
+execution an old plan of mine to open a shop. I coaxed her into it,
+and we set out to seek our fortune, just as if the rich Miss Carpenter
+did not exist,--or, at least, was merely our patron. We came here
+partly because the climate was mild, and also because I had been here
+before and knew about the place; and it was far enough from Miss
+Carpenter's home to make it unlikely she would be recognized. We took
+no one into our confidence except Dr. Baird, and it was generally
+understood that we were travelling somewhere for Marion's health. The
+fiction about the rich Miss Carpenter has annoyed Marion all along;
+but as it came about, I didn't see how to avoid it. It really seemed
+better that it should not be known." Norah looked at Alex, as if
+seeking her opinion.
+
+"Of course, I understand," said Alex; "go on."
+
+"There isn't anything more, except that at the outset we were
+discovered by Mr. Landor, Charlotte's guardian, and an old friend of
+Marion's. He promised to keep our secret, and also to speak a good
+word for us to Miss Virginia."
+
+"My dear, he did; and at the time I was a little surprised, but--"
+Miss Virginia hesitated.
+
+Norah interrupted her. "You have all been so good to us. If Marion
+were here, she would join me in saying it. The best part of our
+venture--and it has been a success in other ways--is the friends we
+have made."
+
+"You showed yourselves friendly and won us in spite of ourselves,"
+said Miss Sarah.
+
+"I always said there was a mystery," old Mrs. Leigh remarked. "And are
+you, too, a millionnairess, Miss Norah?"
+
+Norah spread out her hands in an odd little gesture: "I am sorry, but
+I am just a plain poor person."
+
+"Is this the end of the shop?" some one asked.
+
+"I trust not. I have no idea of giving up, unless you drive me away,"
+Norah answered.
+
+Perhaps the only person present who was greatly surprised was Mrs.
+Millard. She had planned her little scene with some care, anticipating
+just such a gathering in honor of her return. To have the title
+rôle--as it were--snatched from her in the moment of triumph was
+annoying. But whatever her faults, Mrs. Millard was a lady, and as
+such she accepted the situation. She said little, but what she said
+was graceful and to the point. The eccentricity of the whole thing
+was, it seemed to her, sufficient excuse for her attitude, which, now
+she understood, she regretted.
+
+"Did you want anything in particular of me, Norah?" Alex asked as they
+were leaving.
+
+"Yes," was the answer. "I want you to be my partner."
+
+"Norah!" Alex cried. "You know I'll be glad, glad to be; but, oh, I am
+sorry for you, if you must lose Marion."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTIETH
+
+CHANGES
+
+
+"Was I not right to come? You said a year, and that is over."
+
+"I did not expect you so soon." Marion smiled over the great bunch of
+wild sunflowers she held. Coming in a few minutes earlier she had
+found Francis Landor pacing impatiently back and forth. Something,
+perhaps it was the unexpectedness of it, made her a trifle stately.
+
+It seemed to Francis that those flaunting yellow flowers made a
+barrier between them. "It was only by chance I found you. Charlotte
+gave me a hint. How long did you intend to leave me in uncertainty?
+Was it quite fair?"
+
+"I have been in uncertainty myself; happily my fears have not been
+realized. I did what seemed best at the time, and please remember the
+year is only just over." Marion looked at him gravely from behind her
+flowery screen.
+
+"I did not mean to begin by reproaching you," he said, drawing
+nearer. "But you cannot realize what it has meant to be left in
+complete ignorance. Even now I don't understand why you are here." He
+glanced about the room.
+
+"Norah Pennington and I are living here, earning our daily
+bread--really doing it,"--she laughed a little; "and, as you see, it
+has made me over. It was Norah's plan, and you can see how we were
+obliged to keep it to ourselves, if it was to be carried out. I had to
+cut loose from everything,--the suspense about my eyes was killing me.
+Of course, looking back, it seems needless; but one cannot argue with
+nerves."
+
+She paused a moment, then continued: "There is one thing I want to
+explain at the beginning. This winter's experience has made a
+different person of me. I can never go back to the old life of a
+society woman, with perhaps a little charitable work thrown in. I want
+to come in touch with people--all sorts of people. I want to try
+experiments. I think I must have inherited some of my grandfather's
+business instincts. I haven't made any very definite plans, but I
+should like to start other shops such as this, where women who have
+some ability and the gift for making useful and beautiful things can
+find their opportunity. I shall make mistakes, and lose money perhaps,
+but I want to experiment. I want you to understand how I feel,
+before--before--" Marion's eyes shone, a lovely flush was on her face
+as she hesitated.
+
+Francis Landor took sudden possession of the yellow flowers, tossing
+them with scant courtesy on the table, and leaning forward he grasped
+her hands. "May, what has this to do with it? Does it crowd me out of
+your life? Since you were a little girl, since the days when we played
+together, you have been my help and inspiration. Do you mean this has
+come between us, or do you still care?"
+
+Tears shone in Marion's eyes; she bent her head till it touched his
+shoulder. "Francis, I do care--I have always cared; I told Charlotte
+to tell you."
+
+"You will forgive me if I am only half glad to see you, Mr. Landor,"
+was Norah's greeting a little later. "Susanna, now, is wholly
+delighted. She sees the end of what has been to her a long exile, but
+I must needs go in search of another partner."
+
+"Why not take me in as a third, Miss Norah? I believe I should like
+it."
+
+"I shouldn't," she replied, laughing. "It would end in my playing
+third fiddle, and you must know this place is _Norah's_ Ark; I am
+chief manager." She went off gayly, pausing at the door to ask, "You
+do not mind my speaking to Alex to-night, Marion?"
+
+What happened in the course of her search for Alex, we have already
+seen.
+
+The two in the shop were left undisturbed. It must have been nearly
+ten o'clock, which was considered late in the Terrace, when a voice
+was heard insisting, "I must see Miss Marion, Susanna, just for a
+minute. Is she here?" and Charlotte burst into the room.
+
+"Oh, Miss Marion, I had half guessed,--I was not quite sure. Oh, I am
+so glad!" Oblivious to the presence of any one else she threw her arms
+about Miss Carpenter, who had risen hastily as she entered.
+
+"What are you talking about, dearie?" she asked, returning the embrace
+of the excited girl.
+
+"Where is that message you were told to deliver to me, Charlotte?" Mr.
+Landor demanded.
+
+"Cousin Frank!" she cried, releasing Marion, "where did you come
+from?" Then glancing from one to the other, she added, "But you didn't
+wait for it. Oh, I am so glad!"
+
+"You are a tremendous goose, Charlotte," said Marion, but she laughed.
+In fact they all three laughed a great deal in the course of the next
+few minutes.
+
+"I have never exactly understood how you came to be so wise on this
+subject, Charlotte," Mr. Landor said, making her sit beside him.
+
+"You know you never could keep anything to yourself, Francis," Miss
+Carpenter remarked reproachfully.
+
+Charlotte looked mischievous. "The beginning of it was when I found
+those verses about the rose that was out of reach, and you were so
+provoked I thought they must mean something. Then Aunt Cora said--"
+
+"Never mind Aunt Cora," Francis said, laughing; "this will do."
+
+"I agree with you," remarked Marion.
+
+"Charlotte, Miss Virginia is standing at the door. I know she is
+distracted over your absence," said Norah, entering.
+
+"She knows I am here, but I mustn't stay," she rose regretfully.
+
+Francis accompanied her. "And so you think your Miss Carpenter is
+lovelier than mine?" he remarked, as they crossed the street.
+
+"Well, at least she is just as lovely," Charlotte answered blithely.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+The news spread quickly. The Terrace was stirred to its depths. Life
+within its quiet borders was becoming exciting. The announcement of
+Madelaine's engagement with all the splendors in prospect would have
+sufficed for one season, but even this was eclipsed by the romance of
+the shop,--so named by Mrs. Leigh.
+
+"Look like I already knowed Miss Marion was a rich lady," Aunt Belle
+was heard to declare. "Yes'm, she done carry her haid so proud-like."
+
+In the shop many a serious conference was held by Marion, Norah, and
+Alexina, and at length Miss Sarah was called in. As a result, another
+surprise was sprung upon the Terrace. The corner shop was to be given
+up--Norah could not live there alone--and a new one opened in the
+spacious drawing-rooms of the Leigh house. Here there would be room
+to expand, Norah would have a home, and Miss Sarah would be freed from
+the necessity of boarders. There were those who held moreover that by
+this arrangement the enterprise acquired a new dignity. The idea
+originated with Mrs. Millard, who, while she did not give the shop her
+full approval, from henceforth withdrew all opposition.
+
+Old Mrs. Leigh was heard to remark that she had in her life done many
+things she had not expected to do, but living over a shop was about
+the last.
+
+"I suppose you'll agree it is better than the poorhouse, or even
+boarders," said her niece.
+
+"Better? I am as proud of it as I can be," the old lady replied, and
+proud of it she seemed.
+
+Norah called her their advertising agent. Her acquaintance was
+extensive, and at church or on the street, wherever she happened to
+be, she waylaid her friends and gave them a cordial invitation to
+visit _our_ shop. On more than one occasion she constituted herself
+hostess. Recognizing from her window a familiar carriage, she would
+descend, dainty and bright-eyed, to enjoy a social chat, which would
+sometimes result in her holding a reception, for everybody enjoyed
+her merry talk, and she was quickly made the centre of an interested
+group.
+
+Miss Sarah was inclined to interfere, but Norah and Alex protested.
+They liked to have her. She was an added attraction. But all this was
+afterward.
+
+It was on the last evening, as they walked arm in arm around the
+dismantled shop, that Marion said: "I am selfish about it, but I could
+not have endured to go away and have you go on without me in this dear
+little place where we have been so happy. How wonderfully everything
+has worked out! and it was all your doing."
+
+"I don't know; I think we owe a great deal to our friend the rich Miss
+Carpenter." There was a mist in Norah's eyes, but she smiled.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Italic text is surround by _tags_ and bold is denoted by =tags=.
+
+Page 9 and Illustration, "intrenched" changed to "entrenched" to
+conform to text. (Securely entrenched behind)
+
+Page 216, "who one" changed to "one who" (the only one who gave)
+
+One instance each of type-writer and typewriter were retained.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Pleasant Street Partnership, by Mary F. Leonard
+
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+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Pleasant Street Partnership, by Mary F. Leonard.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's The Pleasant Street Partnership, by Mary F. Leonard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Pleasant Street Partnership
+       A Neighborhood Story
+
+Author: Mary F. Leonard
+
+Illustrator: Frank T. Merrill
+
+Release Date: June 26, 2007 [EBook #21944]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PLEASANT STREET PARTNERSHIP ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Garcia, Emmy and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Kentuckiana Digital Library)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<h1>The Pleasant Street Partnership</h1>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class='bbox'>
+<h2>BOOKS BY MARY F. LEONARD.</h2>
+
+<hr style="width: 25%;" />
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Mary F. Leonard Books">
+<tr><td align='left'><b>THE SPECTACLE MAN.</b> <span class="smcap">A Story of the Missing Bridge.</span> 266 pages. Cloth. $1.00.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br /><b>MR. PAT'S LITTLE GIRL.</b> <span class="smcap">A story of the Arden Foresters.</span> 322 pages. Cloth. $1.50.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br /><b>THE PLEASANT STREET PARTNERSHIP.</b> <span class="smcap">A Neighborhood Story.</span> 269 pages. Cloth.</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+</div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 313px;">
+</div>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'><a name="front" id="front"></a>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Front Matter">
+<tr><td align='left'><img src="images/ill-004.jpg" width="313" height="400" alt="A SMALL BOY . . . STOOD SURVEYING THEM WITH GREAT COMPOSURE" title="A SMALL BOY . . . STOOD SURVEYING THEM WITH GREAT COMPOSURE" />
+<br /><span class="caption">A SMALL BOY . . . STOOD SURVEYING THEM WITH GREAT COMPOSURE</span>
+</td><td align='center'><div class='bbox'>
+<h1>The Pleasant Street Partnership</h1>
+
+<h2><i>A Neighborhood Story</i></h2>
+
+<hr style="width: 25%;" />
+
+<h3>By</h3>
+
+<h2>Mary F. Leonard</h2>
+
+<div class='center'><i>Illustrated by</i></div>
+
+<h3>Frank T. Merrill</h3>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 77px;">
+<img src="images/emblem.jpg" width="77" height="75" alt="Emblem" title="Emblem" />
+</div>
+
+<div class='center'>
+W. A. WILDE COMPANY<br />
+BOSTON   &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;   CHICAGO<br />
+</div><br /></div>
+</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<i><small>Copyright, July, 1903.</small></i><br />
+<span class="smcap"><small>By W. A. Wilde Company.</small></span><br />
+<i><small>All rights reserved.</small></i><br />
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<div class='center'>
+<span class="smcap">The Pleasant Street Partnership.</span><br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p>
+<div class='center'><b>To Charlotte</b></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents">
+<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'><span class="smcap">chapter</span></td><td align='center'><span class="smcap">page</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>I.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Wave of Improvement</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>II.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">What shall we call it?</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>III.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">An Alien</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Miss Wilbur</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>V.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Shop</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">In the Eyes of the Neighborhood</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Spool of Twist</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Matter of Loyalty</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">In the Shop</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>X.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Alexina</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Last Straw</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Discovery</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Afterward</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XIV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Mrs. Millard Departs</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Giant Despair</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XVI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Charlotte</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XVII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">An Evening Call</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XVIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Adventures of a Birthday Cake</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_156">156</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XIX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Tea and Talk</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Merry Hearts</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XXI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Rich Miss Carpenter</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XXII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Valentines</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XXIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Neighbors</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XXIV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Wayland</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_215">215</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XXV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Price of a Bond</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XXVI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Norah's Ark</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_229">229</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XXVII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">An Anniversary</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_236">236</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XXVIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">What it Meant</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_248">248</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XXIX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Letter</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_253">253</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XXX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Changes</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_262">262</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2>
+
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations">
+<tr><td align='right' colspan='2'><span class="smcap">page</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"A small boy . . . stood surveying them with great composure"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'><i><a href="#front">Frontispiece</a></i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Securely <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'intrenched'">entrenched</ins> behind the lace curtain, she levelled her glass"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"She sank into a chair"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"James Mandeville's taste was exacting"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>The<br />Pleasant Street Partnership</h2>
+
+<h3>A Neighborhood Story</h3>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER FIRST</h2>
+
+<h3>A WAVE OF IMPROVEMENT</h3>
+
+
+<p>Pleasant Street was regarded by the Terrace as merely an avenue of
+approach to its own exclusive precincts. That Pleasant Street came to
+an end at the Terrace seemed to imply that nothing was to be gained by
+going farther; and if you desired a quiet, substantial
+neighborhood,&mdash;none of your showy modern houses on meagre lots, but
+spacious dwellings, standing well apart from each other on high
+ground,&mdash;you found it here.</p>
+
+<p>It could not be denied that the Terrace was rather far down town.
+Around it the busy city was closing in, with its blocks of commonplace
+houses, its schools and sanitariums, its noisy car<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> lines, until it
+seemed but a question of a few years when it would be engulfed in a
+wave of mediocrity. Fashion had long ago turned her face in another
+direction, and yet in a way the Terrace held its own. It could boast
+of some wealth, and more distinguished grandfathers were to be heard
+of within its small area than in the length and breadth of Dean
+Avenue.</p>
+
+<p>Its residents felt for each other that friendliness born of long
+association. Some of the best people of the town had built their homes
+here between thirty and forty years ago, and a comparison of
+directories would have shown a surprising proportion of the old names
+still represented.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps no one thing contributes more to a sense of dignity than long
+residence in one house, and it was natural enough that the Terrace
+should shrug its shoulders at the row of toy dwellings that sprang up
+almost magically on Pleasant Street. That this thoroughfare, so long
+given over to side yards and vacant lots, was showing a disposition to
+improve, was a matter of no concern to the Terrace until unexpectedly
+its own territory was invaded.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On the northeast corner of the Terrace and Pleasant Street there had
+long stood a cottage. In the midst of a large lot, with fine
+shade-trees around it and a beautifully kept lawn, it had never seemed
+out of place among its more pretentious neighbors; but now upon the
+death of its owner the property was divided into three lots and
+offered for sale. What this might mean was at first hardly realized,
+until one day men were discovered to be at work on the corner, digging
+a foundation.</p>
+
+<p>Upon inquiry it developed that a drug store was to be built. The
+neighborhood did not like this, but felt on the whole it might have
+been worse,&mdash;this conclusion, as Wayland Leigh pointed out later on,
+being founded on the mistaken hypothesis that all drug stores are
+pretty much alike.</p>
+
+<p>It happened that the druggist had for a brother a young and aspiring
+architect, who conceived the idea of putting up a building in keeping
+with a residence district. The result was a sloping-roofed structure
+whose shingled second story projected over the first, which was of
+concrete. It might have been a rural station, or post-office,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> or a
+seaside cottage, but a drug store it did not remotely suggest.</p>
+
+<p>The store opened on Pleasant Street; to reach the private entrance you
+must go in from the Terrace, where there was a square of lawn and a
+maple tree, relic of better days.</p>
+
+<p>The worst of it was its utter incongruousness, the best&mdash;so Alexina
+Russell said&mdash;that it invariably made you smile, and anything in this
+weary world that caused a smile was not wholly bad. Miss Sarah Leigh
+pretended to admire it, and declared she wanted to meet the architect.
+Of all things she liked originality. Mrs. Millard heard her
+disdainfully. Any departure from tradition was objectionable in her
+eyes, and she was deficient in a sense of humor. Judge Russell
+complained that now St. Mark's had taken to high-church customs, and
+the Terrace was degenerating, it was time for him to be put away in
+Spring Hill Cemetery.</p>
+
+<p>Pretty Madelaine, his granddaughter, looked longingly toward Dean
+Avenue, being divided between a desire for its new splendors and a
+complacent consciousness that it was something of a distinction in
+these days to live in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> house where your father was born. Alexina,
+her sister, treated this with scorn. She loved the shabby old house
+for other reasons.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the original intentions of the builder, fate decreed that
+this much-talked-of place was not to be a drug store after all, and
+early in the summer, before it was finished, it was advertised for
+rent.</p>
+
+<p>The plastering stage was beginning when the agent in charge one day
+appeared conducting a young woman over the premises. If the agent's
+manner revealed some slight curiosity concerning her, it was not to be
+wondered at, for it was more than probable he had never before seen so
+charming a person in the guise of a possible shopkeeper.</p>
+
+<p>Her bearing was dignified and businesslike, and if a smile hovered
+about her lips as they explored the odd little house, it did not go
+beyond the bounds of a polite interest. At length she seated herself
+on an empty nail keg in the shop, and became absorbed in thought. The
+agent leaned against the door frame and waited.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall want a few changes made if I lease<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> it," she announced
+suddenly, after some minutes of silence.</p>
+
+<p>The agent started as her eyes met his. "Oh, certainly," he replied, as
+if ready to agree without hearing what they were. On second thought he
+added that the architect was at that moment coming up the street, and
+the best plan, perhaps, would be to submit her wishes to him.</p>
+
+<p>To this she graciously assented, and he left her. When he was gone,
+the young woman's dignity relaxed. She smiled broadly; she even
+laughed. "How ever did it happen!" she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>She produced a tape-line and made measurements, then she stood with
+the tip of her tongue touching her upper lip. "I do wish Marion could
+see it," she said. "She will never believe what a fascinatingly funny
+place it is."</p>
+
+<p>She was surveying the neighborhood from the front door when the agent
+returned, accompanied by the architect.</p>
+
+<p>She wanted very little, she announced reassuringly; a fireplace in the
+shop was the chief thing.</p>
+
+<p>The agent suggested that it would be far<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> more expensive to heat the
+room with an open grate than with an anthracite base burner. Whereupon
+she explained that an open fire was part of her stock in trade, and it
+would be impossible to carry on her line of business without one.</p>
+
+<p>The agent ventured to inquire what her line was, and she answered with
+a twinkle in her eye, "Notions."</p>
+
+<p>The architect was doubtful about the fireplace, but not unwilling to
+discuss it, and they grew so friendly over the matter that the agent
+retired to the door and stared gloomily up the street.</p>
+
+<p>From the fireplace the discussion turned to other things. As a
+possible tenant, the young lady consulted the architect about the best
+color for the walls, so adroitly insinuating her own ideas as to the
+proper stain for the woodwork that they seemed his own.</p>
+
+<p>While they talked, a small boy in a gingham apron, with a sailor hat
+on the back of his curly head and a gray flannel donkey under his arm,
+wandered in and stood surveying them with great composure.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Who's going to live here?" he presently asked, his brown eyes upon
+the lady.</p>
+
+<p>She met his gaze with a smile that drew him a step nearer, but caused
+no break in his seriousness. "I am thinking of it," she said, adding,
+with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes, "if they will let me have a
+fireplace in this room. Shouldn't you want a fireplace if you were
+going to live here?"</p>
+
+<p>He nodded, "'Cause if you didn't, Santa Claus couldn't come."</p>
+
+<p>The lady turned gravely to the architect. "That is a consideration
+which had not occurred to me, but it is an important one. I shall not
+take it without the fireplace." Her manner said there was no need for
+further discussion.</p>
+
+<p>"What is your name?" she asked the small boy.</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean you haven't any?"</p>
+
+<p>Another more vigorous shake.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you have forgotten it?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I haven't."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not tell, then? I am always willing to tell mine."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What is it?" he inquired with great promptness.</p>
+
+<p>"But I don't think it is fair to ask me when you won't tell yours."</p>
+
+<p>"You said you would."</p>
+
+<p>The lady laughed. "Very well, I am Miss Pennington."</p>
+
+<p>The small boy pondered this for a moment, then announced with much
+distinctness, "My name is James Mandeville Norton."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, James, I am glad to meet you. I see you are a fair-minded
+person. Do you live in this neighborhood?"</p>
+
+<p>James Mandeville pointed in the direction of the row of toy houses on
+Pleasant Street, and said he lived over there.</p>
+
+<p>"Then if they give me a fireplace, you and I will be neighbors."</p>
+
+<p>They were standing in the door, just outside which, on the sidewalk,
+was a velocipede. This James Mandeville now mounted with gravity. He
+did not express a hope that she might come to live near him, but there
+was friendliness in the tone in which he said good-by as he rode
+away.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Good-by Infinitesimal James," replied the lady.</p>
+
+<p>"My name's James Mandeville," he called back.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of a day or two the matter of the fireplace was adjusted
+and the lease signed. Norah Pennington was the tenant's name, and her
+references all the most timorous landlord could ask.</p>
+
+<p>On the afternoon of the day on which the transaction was closed Miss
+Pennington might have been seen walking along the Terrace, gazing
+about with interested eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"What dear old houses," she said to herself. "I am sure Marion will
+like it here. This might be Doubting Castle, and there is Palace
+Beautiful, a little out of repair."</p>
+
+<p>She stood for a moment on the corner in the full blaze of the summer
+sun. The happy courage of youth seemed to radiate from her. There was
+a vitality, a sparkle in her glance, in the waves of her sunny hair,
+in her smile, as with a slight gesture that embraced the Terrace, and
+Pleasant Street, too, she said half aloud, "Good-by till September."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER SECOND</h2>
+
+<h3>WHAT SHALL WE CALL IT?</h3>
+
+
+<p>"And now what shall we call it?" Norah asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Call it?" echoed Marion.</p>
+
+<p>They sat on the rocks beside a mountain stream that filled the air
+with its delicious murmur.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, everything has to have a name. Shall it be <i>Carpenter and
+Pennington, Dry-goods?</i>"</p>
+
+<p>Marion removed the dark glasses she wore, turning a pair of serious
+eyes upon her companion. "How absurd," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"No," insisted Norah, taking the glasses and adjusting them on her own
+nose, "not at all. It is businesslike. Can't you see it?&mdash;a large
+black sign with gilt letters."</p>
+
+<p>"Give me my glasses, and don't be silly. It is not to be a dry-goods'
+store in the first place,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> and above all things let us be original. If
+such signs are customary, ours must be different."</p>
+
+<p>"Here speaks wisdom. Here the instinct of the born advertiser betrays
+itself. Let us think." Norah buried her face in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>Marion watched her with a half smile, then as an expression of
+weariness stole into her face she restored the glasses and sighed, as
+with her elbow supported on a ledge of rock she rested her chin in her
+palm and looked down on the swift running water. She was extremely
+slender, and it was easy to guess she was also tall, and that, seen at
+her best, she was a person of grace and elegance rather than beauty.</p>
+
+<p>"I have it," Norah cried presently. "<i>The Pleasant Street Shop.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"Or <i>The Neighborhood Shop</i>," Marion suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"No, let us have Pleasant Street in it. It seems a good omen that the
+street is called Pleasant."</p>
+
+<p>Marion smiled. "Have you told Dr. Baird?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. He said I should be a novelist, and confine my wild-goose
+schemes to paper."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"<i>The Notions of Norah</i> would be a taking title," laughed Marion, the
+weariness gone from her face.</p>
+
+<p>"But as I told him, 'Deeds, not Dreams,' is my motto, and I'll show
+him if it is a wild-goose scheme. I am convinced that deep down in his
+heart he was interested; and although he made no promises, I believe
+we may count on him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER THIRD</h2>
+
+<h3>AN ALIEN</h3>
+
+
+<p>With the swiftness of a small tornado, Charlotte descended the long,
+straight stairway only to sink in a heap on the broad step at the
+bottom. "Oh, dear!" she said, her chin in her hand, "Oh, <i>dear!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>A ray of sunlight falling through the side-lights of the door with
+their pattern of fleur-de-lis on a crimson ground, cast a rosy stain
+on the neutral-tinted carpet and brought to notice a few atoms of dust
+on one of the rosewood chairs that stood to attention on either side
+of the tall hat-rack. The wall against which they were ranged was done
+in varnished paper to represent oak panelling, and on it hung one or
+two steel engravings.</p>
+
+<p>"If only something were crooked!" Charlotte sighed.</p>
+
+<p>Now at Aunt Cora's nothing was straight.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> Etchings and water colors
+fought for the honors of the walls, and chased each other up the side
+of the stairway. Tables and shelves were crowded with trifles, costly
+and otherwise, the chairs were deep and cushiony, except now and then
+a gilt toy which was distinctly for show; the divans were smothered
+with gay pillows. In contrast this house in Kenton Terrace seemed
+unbearably stiff and prim.</p>
+
+<p>Why had not Uncle Landor allowed her to stay with him instead of
+sending her so far away? Perhaps, after all, he had not wanted her.
+Nobody wanted her&mdash;dreadful thought!&mdash;unless it were Aunt Cora; and
+Charlotte knew in her heart Uncle Landor was wise in deciding she was
+not to travel about with Aunt Cora any more.</p>
+
+<p>Since she had been taken away, a child of seven, her memories of this
+southern town had grown vague, and it seemed strange to hear Uncle
+Landor refer to it as her home. He also said it was the sort of a
+background she needed for the next few years, until she should be
+ready for college. After that he promised, if she still wished it, she
+might come and keep house for him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But it would be so long. How could she stand it? If only she might
+have gone to boarding-school. Why had Aunt Caroline and Aunt Virginia
+agreed to her coming? They did not like her. Nothing she did pleased
+them. Charlotte looked about for a refuge where she might fling
+herself down and cry her heart out. She rose and stole on tiptoe into
+the drawing-room.</p>
+
+<p>Here the same absolute order prevailed. She felt sure the carved
+chairs and sofas, with their covering of satin brocade, had occupied
+these same positions ever since they first appeared on the scene when
+Aunt Caroline made her d&eacute;but, more than thirty years ago. Fancy Aunt
+Caroline having a party! Aunt Virginia had described it to her, but it
+sounded unreal. Thirty years ago was too far in the past. Charlotte's
+own mother had been a little girl then.</p>
+
+<p>The buhl cabinet near the window, the inlaid chess table in the corner
+beside the white marble mantel, even the folds of the handsome lace
+curtains, seemed petrified into their present positions. For thirty
+years the mantle mirror had been reflecting the Dresden clock and
+candelabra, and the crystal pendants of the chandelier; the face<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> and
+figure that confronted Charlotte in the pier glass was, however,
+something new and alien.</p>
+
+<p>It was a brown face with blue eyes that danced with mischief or
+flashed with anger, or grew soft with entreaty beneath their black
+lashes, as occasion might demand. Her hair, too, was brown, and
+shadowed her face in a wavy mass held most objectionable by her aunts.
+That a girl barely fourteen should have decided views on the subject
+of dress, and insist upon wearing what she called a pompadour and
+having her belts extremely pointed in front, was surprising to Aunt
+Virginia, shocking to Aunt Caroline.</p>
+
+<p>As she stood facing her own image, the sound of sweeping skirts on the
+stairway sent her flying behind the half-open door.</p>
+
+<p>"What has become of Charlotte?" she heard Aunt Virginia ask.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure I don't know," responded Aunt Caroline.</p>
+
+<p>"And what is more, you don't care," added Charlotte, under her breath.</p>
+
+<p>When the door had closed behind them, she ran to the window and
+watched as they went down the walk and entered the waiting carriage.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+Two very charming ladies, an unprejudiced observer might have
+pronounced them. A little precise in their elegance, perhaps, but
+pleasant to look upon, especially Aunt Caroline, from head to foot a
+shimmer of silver gray. Aunt Caroline was Mrs. Millard, the widow of
+an army officer, and Charlotte had expected to like her best; but
+after all, Aunt Virginia, who was only Miss Wilbur, had proved the
+least objectionable.</p>
+
+<p>She was not so handsome, but seemed kinder; and when she laughed,
+Charlotte always felt a little thrill of sympathy. When Aunt Caroline
+laughed, it was in a reserved, controlled manner. Charlotte had
+arrived at the conclusion that Aunt Virginia stood in awe of her
+sister; and this might have been a bond of union if it had been
+possible to become really acquainted, but Aunt Virginia held aloof. It
+was almost as if she were afraid of Charlotte, too. Still there was
+something rather nice about her. Charlotte hardly realized how often
+she returned to this opinion.</p>
+
+<p>When they had driven away, she went to the library,&mdash;a less formidable
+apartment than the drawing-room,&mdash;and making herself comfortable in an
+arm-chair by the window, began to consider<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> what she should say to
+Cousin Francis, for she had decided that pouring out her soul in a
+letter would, after all, be more satisfactory than tears.</p>
+
+<p>She looked out across the garden to where, on the other side of
+Pleasant Street, stood the little corner shop with its gray-green
+shingles, its upper windows all aglow in the afternoon sunshine.
+Before it stood a furniture van, and Charlotte idly watched the
+unloading.</p>
+
+<p>She had made up her mind that life here was going to be hopelessly
+dull. She swung her foot listlessly, and, forgetting her letter,
+thought of Aunt Cora's home in a gay little suburb where something was
+always going on,&mdash;teas, dinners, receptions, where, although in the
+background, she had had her share of the excitement.</p>
+
+<p>At the Landors', where she sometimes spent several weeks while Aunt
+Cora, worn by her strenuous social life, went down to Atlantic City to
+recuperate, it was much quieter. And still she loved to be there. The
+elder Mr. Landor was a busy lawyer, his son Francis a literary person,
+and they lived in a tall, brown stone house in the old part of
+Philadelphia, among any number of others exactly like it. It was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
+man's house, overflowing with books and pictures, and yet showing the
+lack of a woman's presence. Charlotte was very fond of her guardian
+and his son, who petted and made much of her on the occasions of her
+visits. She was conscious, however, that Uncle Landor was not quite
+satisfied with her. He had a way of looking at her long and steadily
+through his glasses, as if he were studying her.</p>
+
+<p>Cousin Frank, perhaps because he had no responsibility in the matter,
+treated her as a comrade in a way that was flattering. She was, of
+course, an ardent admirer of his stories and verses, and upon one or
+two rare occasions had been made blissfully happy by being allowed to
+listen to one fresh from the typewriter. But most interesting of all
+had been a discovery made on her last visit in the spring. Between the
+leaves of a manuscript she had been allowed to read she found some
+verses beginning:&mdash;</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="I love her whether she love me or no">
+<tr><td align='left'>"I love her whether she love me or no,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Just as I love the roses where they blow</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">In fragrant crimson there beyond the wall."</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p>
+<div class='unindent'>There was something more about roses being sweet although out of
+reach, and teaching a lesson to his heart; but before she had quite
+grasped the idea, Francis took the paper away from her with an
+exclamation of impatience.</div>
+
+<p>"Why should Francis have minded, unless those verses meant something
+personal?" Charlotte wondered. As she thought it over, she recalled
+some remarks of Aunt Cora's about a little water-color portrait of a
+child in Uncle Landor's study.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is this?" Mrs. Brent asked one day, pausing before it.</p>
+
+<p>"That is old Peter Carpenter's granddaughter May, when she was ten
+years old. He had two portraits done of her, and liking the other
+better, gave this to me not long before he died."</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Cora said, "Ah!" and studied it with interest. "So this is <i>the</i>
+Miss Carpenter, is it? I presume Francis has a more recent likeness."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know that he has. We see very little of May in these days.
+She is a great lady." Uncle Landor spoke as one who dismisses a
+subject.</p>
+
+<p>Then one rainy afternoon Mrs. Wellington, the Landors' housekeeper,
+entertained Charlotte<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> with stories of this same young lady who, it
+turned out, lived just across the street in a house distinguished from
+the rest of the block by a garden at one side. According to Mrs.
+Wellington she was beautiful and rich, and if one more touch were
+needed to make her an irreproachable heroine, the long illness from
+which she was then beginning to recover supplied it. Watching at the
+window, Charlotte had the pleasure of seeing her carried out for a
+drive once or twice, but she never had a glimpse of her face.</p>
+
+<p>Putting two and two together, she became quite sure that this Miss
+Carpenter was the rose which was out of reach; but though she was on
+the point of it several times, she never quite dared to question
+Cousin Francis about her.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte had woven a charming romance with these slender threads,
+being at the romantic age when real life is seen beneath the
+lime-light of fairyland. Was it any wonder things seemed dull here in
+Kenton Terrace?</p>
+
+<p>These entertaining memories being for the time exhausted, her thoughts
+turned to the grievance that had sent her downstairs with such
+vehemence,&mdash;a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> thrilling, fascinating story taken from her at the most
+critically exciting point.</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot allow you to read novels when you are going to school," Aunt
+Caroline had said; adding, "and this book is not at all the sort of
+thing for a little girl."</p>
+
+<p>At the recollection Charlotte put her hand to her hair. Little girl,
+indeed! When people wished to be disagreeable, they reminded you that
+you were a little girl.</p>
+
+<p>"I have always read what I pleased," she insisted, relinquishing the
+book unwillingly.</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot understand Mrs. Brent's allowing it; but however that may
+have been, while you are with us your Aunt Virginia and I will
+exercise some supervision over what you read."</p>
+
+<p>Questions about the owner of the novel followed, and here was another
+grievance. It had been lent to Charlotte by one of her schoolmates, a
+girl with fluffy yellow hair and many rings, whom after a week's
+acquaintance,&mdash;to use her own phrase,&mdash;she simply adored. Her name was
+Lucile Lyle&mdash;in itself adorable&mdash;and the intimacy with her had
+resulted in Charlotte becoming Carlotta.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Lyle?" Aunt Virginia repeated questioningly.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you remember Maggie McKay, Virginia? This is her daughter," was
+Aunt Caroline's reply. To Charlotte she said, "To-morrow I shall give
+you this book to return, and while of course I wish you to be polite,
+I do not wish you to be intimate with this girl."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care what she says, I shall read it, and be as intimate as I
+please with Lucile," Charlotte told herself; which goes to show that
+Mr. Landor was right when he felt she needed different training.</p>
+
+<p>And now having nothing else to do, she wandered to the piano, and
+finding an old music book, turned its pages, playing snatches of
+"Monastery Bells" and "Listen to the Mocking-bird." She was putting a
+good deal of feeling into "I'm a Pilgrim, and I'm a Stranger," when a
+sound behind caused her to start.</p>
+
+<p>"You have a pretty touch, my dear," said Aunt Virginia. "We have been
+out to Marat's greenhouse, and I have brought you some roses." She
+laid them on the piano as she spoke, and slipped away before Charlotte
+could make any response.</p>
+
+<p>Was it a peace offering?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER FOURTH</h2>
+
+<h3>MISS WILBUR</h3>
+
+
+<p>Miss Wilbur was perplexed to the point of annoyance, a state of mind
+most unusual with her.</p>
+
+<p>She was by nature a serene person, quite content with her easy,
+uneventful life. The outside world she faced with a timid reserve
+which had not diminished with years and indulgence, finding her life
+in her family circle and the round of small cares, her flowers and her
+embroidery. She disliked responsibility, and except in what she
+considered matters of principle was inclined to distrust her own
+judgment. She was full of family loyalty, and had been satisfied to
+look on from her place in the background, while her more clever and
+ambitious sisters and brothers one by one passed from the home into
+the world.</p>
+
+<p>Naturally enough she had not married. She had not cared to, and had
+never given any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> one the opportunity to combat this indifference. Most
+people liked her, but she had few intimate friends, having apparently
+no desire to be singled out in any way, and yet she was warmly
+affectionate. In truth Miss Virginia was an elusive sort of person,
+sometimes allowing a glimpse of herself in all her unselfish
+sweetness, and then, presto! her reserve had taken alarm, the vision
+was gone.</p>
+
+<p>She was conventional, made so by her environment; yet her failings,
+many of them, so her sister Caroline declared, were those of an
+untrained child. She was careless,&mdash;as Charlotte had noticed, she
+sometimes forgot the fastenings of her skirt; when she wrote, she
+invariably inked her fingers; and she was constantly losing or
+breaking her glasses. She treated these matters lightly herself, but
+tried to conceal them from her sister.</p>
+
+<p>In their girlhood this sister, a few years older than she, had been
+the object of her deepest devotion. Caroline was beautiful and clever,
+and to question her opinions never entered Miss Virginia's mind. It
+puzzled and hurt her loyal heart that she could not quite get back to
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> old attitude when Caroline returned to her home a widow. She
+submitted when Caroline assumed command of the household; but after
+their father's death relieved her of the position of devoted nurse,
+Miss Virginia found life a little empty; and what made it the harder
+was that she no longer felt herself altogether in sympathy with her
+sister's opinions and methods.</p>
+
+<p>Her aspirations had never gone beyond making home pleasant for
+somebody, and now even this was taken from her. The things that most
+absorbed Mrs. Millard were of little interest to her; she began to
+feel useless and unhappy. She was a failure. Life had somehow slipped
+by unawares. She felt old at forty-eight.</p>
+
+<p>Above everything she disliked change, and the sale of the corner lot
+and the building of the shop caused her many a pang. In the midst of
+all this disquietude Mr. Landor's letter arrived.</p>
+
+<p>"I have most agreeable recollections of your home," he wrote, "and I
+realize I am asking a good deal of you, for our little niece is a
+somewhat tumultuous person. She has suffered from both over indulgence
+and neglect. She needs a different atmosphere, and much in the way of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+training that her old guardian cannot give her, so he ventures for
+Helen's sake to ask if you will take charge of her daughter for a few
+years."</p>
+
+<p>This half sister, twelve years younger than herself, had come and gone
+like some happy dream in Miss Virginia's life. She had grown up under
+the care of her grandmother, almost a stranger in her father's house,
+to which she returned in her gay young girlhood, and for the one time
+in her experience Miss Wilbur had been swept into a whirl of gayety as
+Helen's chaperon. Her charge had married early, and after a few years
+went abroad with her husband and little girl in search of health she
+was never to find.</p>
+
+<p>The thought of Helen's child aroused memories both bright and
+sorrowful, but at least here was an opportunity to be useful again. It
+would be pleasant to have a child in the house, Miss Virginia thought,
+studying the photograph of Charlotte at seven, bright-eyed and demure.</p>
+
+<p>The tall, well-grown girl had been a surprise to her aunts. Her
+assured manner and pronounced style of dress were not exactly what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
+one desired in a girl of fourteen. At sight of her Miss Virginia had
+been seized with a fit of shyness; in consequence the reins had been
+taken by Mrs. Millard, who was not shy and was, besides, a born
+manager.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia felt a sympathy for Charlotte, even while disapproving
+of her; she felt her sister to be too peremptory. In the matter of the
+novel it would have been better to allow Charlotte to finish it, with
+the understanding that it was to be the last. What could be more
+aggravating than to have to give up a story with only two-thirds of it
+read? It was an interesting story, too. Miss Virginia herself sat up
+till midnight to finish it. Some time perhaps she would tell Charlotte
+the end. Then she reminded herself that this would never do.</p>
+
+<p>It was no use talking to Caroline, and yet Mr. Landor had asked <i>her</i>
+to take charge of Charlotte, and Caroline had no right to assume
+command. Miss Virginia wished they had not agreed to take the child.</p>
+
+<p>She paced back and forth on the front porch one afternoon, thinking of
+all this and of the peaceful days of the past, feeling that dulness<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+was better than problems like these. Across Pleasant Street was the
+little shop already showing signs of habitation. As she stood idly
+with her hand on the rail, a boy came up the walk and handed her what
+at first glance she thought was a note, but it proved on investigation
+to be an announcement.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Opening Announcement">
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><span class="smcap">The Pleasant Street Shop</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><span class="smcap">will open</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><span class="smcap">Wednesday, October Second</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Dainty Turnovers&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>Pretty Draperies</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Ribbons</td><td align='left'>Bright Chintzes</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'>Baskets</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'>Pottery</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'>Needles and Pins and Other Small Matters</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'>A Specialty.</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>"How absurd!" thought Miss Virginia. "A shop of this sort in the
+Terrace!"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you heard about the new shop, Miss Virginia?" called Alexina
+Russell from the gate.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Wilbur held up the card. "I am just reading the announcement. Who
+can be starting it? and isn't it too bad?" As she spoke, she descended
+the steps and joined the young girl.</p>
+
+<p>"It is the funniest little place I ever saw," answered Alex. "I
+suppose it is not nice to have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> shops springing up in the
+neighborhood, but&mdash;sometimes I wish I were going to keep a shop."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear! I trust you will never have to do that."</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't you ever felt that you would like to be doing something?&mdash;to
+be in things&mdash;part of the real working world?" Alexina spoke with
+fervor.</p>
+
+<p>"I never wanted to keep a shop, I am sure," answered Miss Wilbur.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER FIFTH</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SHOP</h3>
+
+
+<p>James Mandeville did not forget the pretty young lady who said she was
+coming to be his neighbor if they would give her a fireplace. He had
+kept an eye on the shop all summer, and he knew there was a fireplace.</p>
+
+<p>He saw plasterers, carpenters, and painters come and go as he rode
+back and forth on his velocipede at a rate of speed altogether out of
+proportion to the effort put forth by his plump legs, bare and brown
+above his socks. From beneath the brim of his old sailor hat he looked
+on with solemn intentness. He was on excellent terms with the workmen,
+and often carried home a whole armful of treasures&mdash;odd-shaped pieces
+of wood, curly shavings, and bits of tile.</p>
+
+<p>At length all was done; the square of lawn on the Terrace side was
+sodded, and from the street in front of the shop all the d&eacute;bris was
+carried away. Surely, she would come now!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Some rainy days followed, and when the weather permitted James
+Mandeville and his velocipede to be abroad again, the place showed
+unmistakable signs of occupancy. There were muslin curtains in the
+upstairs windows, and, peeping in through the glass door of the shop,
+he saw packing-boxes. At another time a woman stood on the curbstone
+buying vegetables from a wagon, but she was far removed from the lady
+of his dreams. His heart fell.</p>
+
+<p>The door of the shop stood open the next time he passed. James
+Mandeville halted, letting one foot slip along the pavement as a
+brake. Under his left arm, pressed close to his linen blouse, was a
+tin horn. At this moment a lady came to the door and looked out. She
+was not the lady of the fireplace,&mdash;a glance told him that,&mdash;yet she
+was quite different from the one who bought vegetables. She was tall
+and dark, and wore unbecoming smoked glasses. She took no notice of
+him, but turned and went back into the shop. James Mandeville
+dismounted and followed.</p>
+
+<p>The packing-cases had been removed, and the sunshine that streamed in
+above the sheet tacked across the lower part of the west window
+lighted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> up a scene of cheerful disorder, pervading which was a
+pleasant odor of newness. With her back toward him, the lady began to
+measure off lengths of some green fabric, standing before a long
+table.</p>
+
+<p>He waited, but still she took no notice. Should he go away? He
+summoned all his courage and gave voice to the question that was
+asking itself in his own mind: "Where is she?"</p>
+
+<p>The lady turned in surprise and looked down upon him. If he could have
+expressed his feelings, he would have said she was a haughty person.
+But as she looked at him her manner changed, and she smiled as she
+asked, "What is it? I don't understand."</p>
+
+<p>James Mandeville struggled to reply, but words were hard to find. As
+he stood silent a voice behind him cried, "Why, if it isn't
+Infinitesimal James!" and there she was, with her shining hair and
+laughing eyes. He laughed, too, for very relief.</p>
+
+<p>"There's a fireplace," he announced, going to meet her. "I saw them
+make it."</p>
+
+<p>"So you knew I would come back, didn't you? Yes, it is a very nice
+fireplace, and will be all ready<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> for a visit from Santa Claus," she
+replied, shaking hands. Then quite unexpectedly she picked him up and
+set him on the table among the waves of green stuff. "Now you look
+like Triton," she said.</p>
+
+<p>James Mandeville held fast to his horn and eyed his captor doubtfully,
+as if he had a mind to escape.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you remember my name? I am Miss Norah, and I want to introduce you
+to my partner, who is almost as nice as I am. She is Miss Marion."</p>
+
+<p>The other young lady smiled. "Do you believe in blowing your own horn,
+as Miss Norah does?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>James Mandeville looked at his horn, and then at the speaker; but as
+he did not understand, he made no reply.</p>
+
+<p>"She asks foolish questions, doesn't she?" said Miss Norah. "As you
+are the first neighbor to call on us, you shall not be required to
+answer. You may help me trim the show window, if you like."</p>
+
+<p>James Mandeville wriggled out from among the green waves. "What are
+you going to keep in your store?" he asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The reply was disappointing. "Why don't you keep candy?" was the next
+question.</p>
+
+<p>"Because Miss Marion would give it all away, and we shouldn't be able
+to make a living."</p>
+
+<p>"Would you?" he asked, turning to that lady with earnest eyes.
+Clearly, she might be worth cultivating.</p>
+
+<p>She laughed and left the room for a moment, returning with something
+in her hand wrapped in silver paper. "Do you like chocolate?" she
+inquired; adding, "I don't know how it would be if I kept it; but as I
+don't keep it, of course I give it away."</p>
+
+<p>This had a puzzling sound. James Mandeville almost forgot to say thank
+you. He decided to go, feeling he could better enjoy the chocolate
+alone. He edged toward the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-by," called Miss Norah. "Come again."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," said James Mandeville, and disappeared from the scene.</p>
+
+<p>After his departure all was quiet in the shop for a time, except for
+the occasional sound of Norah's hammer as she worked in the window.
+Marion was putting things away in the cases<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> which stood against the
+wall. It was she who first spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if we shall have any customers?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is reflection upon my skill as a decorator. Do you think the
+public can resist the display which is about to dawn upon it on the
+morrow?" was Norah's reply.</p>
+
+<p>Marion left her work and sat on the window ledge. Norah wore a blue
+dress and a large white apron, and as she stood to drive a tack, the
+sunshine sparkled in her hair. She looked the incarnation of cheerful
+industry.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know that I altogether believe in show windows," Marion
+said, smiling up at her friend.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not. It is all of a piece with your haughty reserve. Let me
+remind you that after we have made a success and have a name we can
+retire into our shell and become the sought rather than the seeker,
+but at present it is needful to catch the public eye. You have imbibed
+your ideas from the rich Miss Carpenter, but <i>we</i> have our living to
+make." She drove her tack with emphasis, then sat down on the floor of
+the window. "I am not sure I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> shall not always like this way best,"
+she continued. "Think, if there were no show windows at Christmas!
+Marion, think of Christmas!"</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it a little early? There is a good deal to be done between now
+and then." Marion spoke calmly.</p>
+
+<p>Norah tossed a ball of twine at her. "I see it will be by the hardest
+work if I get any fun out of life. But to resume my train of thought
+which you interrupted&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon, you interrupted yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"Did I? Well, to resume, at any rate: my idea is that it will be much
+nicer to keep a shop which will attract both great and small, so to
+speak. To make a specialty always of nice, simple things."</p>
+
+<p>"Flannelette?" suggested Marion.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? It is a useful fabric."</p>
+
+<p>"I foresee if we enter into a discussion of this momentous question
+your window will not be finished, and I own to some curiosity as to
+how you mean to attract the great, for instance."</p>
+
+<p>Marion returned to her baskets, and there was silence again for a
+time.</p>
+
+<p>"Your idea of the bookcases was a happy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> one," she said presently,
+standing back to view her work. "These baskets have the air of a
+collection of curios behind the glass."</p>
+
+<p>"A charming touch of color against our olive walls. Confess, did you
+ever have such a good time in your life?"</p>
+
+<p>"My enthusiasm is sprouting vigorously."</p>
+
+<p>"And the fun is only just beginning. But do come here&mdash;quick, Marion!
+I want you to see Giant Despair."</p>
+
+<p>A tall, heavily built old man was passing along Pleasant Street, his
+brows drawn together in a tremendous frown. He swung a stout
+walking-stick in his right hand, as if he would have been pleased to
+lay it over somebody's shoulders. At the corner he paused and looked
+back at the shop.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you see? He shook his fist!" cried Norah.</p>
+
+<p>"Have we an enemy?" asked Marion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER SIXTH</h2>
+
+<h3>IN THE EYES OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD</h3>
+
+
+<p>Its isolation in the heart of the city had something to do, no doubt,
+with certain village-like customs that prevailed in the Terrace. The
+neighbors ran in upon one another with their needlework for a social
+afternoon. If Alexina or Madelaine Russell were going to a party,
+there was sure to be an audience of two or three waiting to see them
+after they were dressed. When the Leigh's cook, Aunt Minty, made
+jumbles, a plateful always found its way over the back fence to Miss
+Virginia Wilbur; and when the Wilburs had something particularly nice
+for dessert, some neighbor had a share of it. Judge Russell and Mr.
+Goodman played chess together and talked of old times, and on the
+whole friendliness prevailed, with only an occasional neighborly tiff,
+when perhaps some one was heard to wish that Caroline Millard would
+mind her own business. There were other occasions when Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> Millard's
+executive ability proved helpful and was warmly appreciated.</p>
+
+<p>The strenuous life had not as yet invaded the Terrace. Mrs. Millard,
+to be sure, belonged to the Woman's Club, and presided at various
+board meetings, but she was the exception.</p>
+
+<p>The Terrace had its problems. We know Miss Virginia's; but Alexina,
+not suspecting it, watching her in church on Sundays, wished she
+herself were middle-aged and had all her troublesome questions
+answered, for at forty-eight one must have solved life's problems,
+Alex thought.</p>
+
+<p>Madelaine only wanted money to gratify her taste for pretty things.
+Given plenty of money, and life would be a simple matter. And so it
+seemed to Miss Sarah Leigh, always cheery, yet always burdened with
+the doubt where next month's bread and butter were to come from, and
+with the regret that her nephew, Wayland, must work instead of going
+to college.</p>
+
+<p>Old Mr. Goodman had the money, and his great tomb of a house was full
+of valuable things, but his problem was hardest of all; for having to
+a sad degree lost his faith in men and things, he found no use for it.
+Judge Russell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> sighed for the good old days; but it was a gentle sigh,
+and soon forgotten in the companionship of his beloved books.</p>
+
+<p>If from one point of view the neighborhood characteristic was
+sociability, its attitude toward the outsider was another matter. A
+new resident must undergo a term of probation before being in any
+sense accepted. Charlotte Creston, as the Wilburs' niece, was received
+and freely discussed. She was only a child, and for that reason
+something of a novelty in the Terrace, since the Russells and Wayland
+Leigh had grown up.</p>
+
+<p>Toward the shop, which divided with Charlotte the distinction of
+latest comer, the feeling was decidedly antagonistic. It was as if
+that monster Business had suddenly reached out from his own domain,
+blocks away, and laid his hand upon their peaceful territory.</p>
+
+<p>Something like a council of war took place in the Wilburs'
+drawing-room several evenings before the opening. Charlotte, supposed
+to be studying in the library, became an interested listener, shielded
+from view by the half-drawn hangings.</p>
+
+<p>Alexina Russell was the first comer. Charlotte<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> had not yet made up
+her mind about Alex, she was so different at different times. She
+might have been almost as pretty as Madelaine, if she had fluffed her
+hair and dressed a little less plainly. Sometimes she was full of
+animation, again, as this evening, she appeared abstracted and silent.</p>
+
+<p>After Miss Sarah Leigh and her aunt arrived there was no more silence;
+it had no charms for either of these ladies. Charlotte had at first
+felt something like contempt for a person so odd as Miss Sarah, who
+wore skirts short enough to display to advantage her serviceable
+shoes, and poked her head out when she walked. But if Miss Sarah had
+no pretensions to beauty or style, her face was pleasant, her eyes
+really fine, and her smile full of kindly humor. Charlotte learned
+from Aunt Virginia that Miss Sarah had an unusual number of
+distinguished ancestors, which went to show how little appearance can
+be relied on in such matters.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Leigh suggested a bit of pretty old china of a pattern grown
+rare. Her eyes were bright, there was a hint of pink in her cheeks,
+and the silvery puffs beneath her lace cap had the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> exactness born of
+long years of training in the way they should go. When she walked, it
+was with a lightness wonderful in a woman of seventy-eight.</p>
+
+<p>Before the Leighs were fairly seated one or two others dropped in,
+until it seemed quite like a called meeting of the neighborhood. Aunt
+Caroline was in the chair which, on this occasion, happened to be
+placed where the rosy glow from a shaded lamp fell becomingly on her
+soft gray draperies. Aunt Virginia fluttered about, constantly
+interrupting conversation with footstools or sofa cushions, or
+irrelevant remarks.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Virginia is always wondering if one more cushion or some other
+chair would not make you a little more comfortable," said Alex, as
+that lady appeared after her sixth excursion to the hall, this time
+with a light shawl for Mrs. Leigh's rheumatic shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Do come and sit down, Virginia," laughed Miss Sarah; "you have no
+repose of manner."</p>
+
+<p>"It is very fortunate that so many of us happen to be together this
+evening," began Mrs. Millard, "for I think we should decide upon our
+course in regard to the shop." Her white hand,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> veiled in a fall of
+lace, made a slight motion in the direction of the corner.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you want some chocolate candy?" asked Miss Virginia, in an
+audible aside to Miss Sarah. "Charlotte and I made some this
+afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>"When we have decided the fate of the shop," the lady whispered back.</p>
+
+<p>"Seriously," continued Mrs. Millard, turning toward her sister with a
+slight frown, "should we not take some action?"</p>
+
+<p>"You are right, Caroline. In my day shops kept to their own
+territory," Mrs. Leigh responded. "I remember the colonel used to
+say&mdash;but there! I promised Sarah I wouldn't tell any stories this
+evening. She says I bore people."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Aunt Sally! you are telling the biggest kind of a one this
+minute," cried her niece.</p>
+
+<p>A good-natured warfare waged continually between these two. Mrs.
+Leigh, who was in reality the most petted and indulged of old ladies,
+pretending to live in constant fear of Miss Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"But what can we do?" Alexina was heard asking, as the skirmishers
+finally retired, Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> Leigh having the last word. "We can't exactly
+blame these persons, whoever they may be, for coming here. They could
+not know we did not want them."</p>
+
+<p>"I saw some one standing in the door of the shop this morning who
+<i>looked</i> like a lady," Miss Virginia remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you define a lady, Virginia?" her sister asked with some
+severity.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Caroline, I am not a dictionary; I wish you wouldn't ask me to
+define things," replied Miss Virginia, with a little laugh. Then with
+the manner of one who regretted this flippancy she added, "I think I
+understand the word as you do."</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me we are too often content with a surface meaning," Mrs.
+Millard continued.</p>
+
+<p>"That is true," agreed Alex. "Now, there is no reason in the world why
+these shopkeepers may not be ladies."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Millard looked at her doubtfully. "Still," she interposed,
+"ladies do not as a usual thing keep shops."</p>
+
+<p>"No; they sweep and scrub and cook, and pretend they don't,&mdash;that is
+the difference," put<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> in Miss Sarah, crossing her knees and bending
+forward with the air of one who had found a congenial theme. "I am a
+paper-hanger, a painter, and a maid-of-all-work; and this is what it
+usually means to be a lady when you are poor."</p>
+
+<p>"Teaching has always seemed to me a most suitable occupation for a
+woman," suggested Mrs. Millard.</p>
+
+<p>"The day has passed, Caroline, when just anybody can teach."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know any girl who had a better education or was more studious
+than you, Sarah," spoke up her aunt.</p>
+
+<p>"And when Brother Willie died I didn't know how to write a check or
+make the discount on a gas bill."</p>
+
+<p>"I feel as you do, Miss Sarah. It is dreadful to be so ignorant as
+women are of the simplest things," exclaimed Alexina.</p>
+
+<p>"Still, I think it is more comfortable not to have to know about them,
+don't you?" Miss Virginia asked timidly.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you people talking about?" The question came from the
+doorway, where Madelaine stood, a vision of such airiness, daintiness,
+and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> ethereal charm that nothing else seemed worth a thought. Behind
+her towered Wayland Leigh.</p>
+
+<p>"May we join the party and help decide the burning question?" he
+asked. "Don't get up, Miss Virginia; we'll find chairs."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it is the shop," said Madelaine, floating across the room to
+an ottoman beside Mrs. Millard. Madelaine, too, had an instinct for
+the effective, and nothing could have made a more charming picture.
+"Grandpa and Mr. Goodman were at it a few minutes ago. Mr Goodman
+talks about an injunction."</p>
+
+<p>"We began with the shop, but we seem to have switched off on to
+education," said Mrs. Leigh. "One never heard such talk when I was
+young. Then we had plenty of servants, and there was always some man
+to attend to business. After the war I asked our old Malinda one day
+how she liked freedom. 'Well, Miss Sally,' she said, 'I likes it, and
+I don't like it. I tell you what, Miss Sally, freedom's monstrous
+industrious.' That is what I think about these times,&mdash;'they's
+monstrous industrious.' Goodness, I have gone and told a story!"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall have to take you home before you transgress again," said her
+niece, rising.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Don't go. We haven't decided what we must do," urged Miss Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think, Mrs. Millard?" asked Madelaine, with an upward
+glance, and flattering emphasis.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Millard caressed the hand that lay on her lap as she replied, "My
+own feeling is that we should refuse our patronage&mdash;not that they are
+likely to have anything we'd care to buy&mdash;and use our influence
+against it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I for one shan't make any promises; if I need a spool of thread
+and can save a walk, I shall go over there to get it," Miss Sarah
+announced positively.</p>
+
+<p>"You might add that your patronage is not likely of itself to save the
+shop from bankruptcy," put in her nephew.</p>
+
+<p>Everybody seemed to be going. Charlotte tucked her history under her
+arm and ran upstairs. As she went to the window to draw the curtain a
+bright light shone from the shop across the street.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if you'll be sorry you came here?" said Charlotte to
+herself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER SEVENTH</h2>
+
+<h3>A SPOOL OF TWIST</h3>
+
+
+<p>The shop windows on the opening day proved most alluring to Miss
+Virginia. There were two,&mdash;one overlooking the square of lawn on the
+Terrace, the other, Pleasant Street. Between them, placed across the
+corner, was the door.</p>
+
+<p>The Terrace window was full of plants, while on the Pleasant Street
+side there was a tempting display of color. Miss Virginia hunted up
+her distance glasses, which she seldom used, in order the better to
+view it; but she failed to make out anything in particular. Her ardor
+might have suggested an arch&aelig;ologist over a cuneiform inscription, as
+she tried to decide whether a certain patch of blue and white was a
+pillow or a table-cover.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte openly stopped to view the window on her way home from
+school, and Miss Virginia, observing it, privately questioned her.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 250px;">
+<img src="images/ill-063.jpg" width="250" height="400" alt="SECURELY ENTRENCHED BEHIND THE LACE CURTAIN SHE LEVELLED HER GLASS" title="SECURELY ENTRENCHED BEHIND THE LACE CURTAIN SHE LEVELLED HER GLASS" />
+<span class="caption">SECURELY <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'INTRENCHED'">ENTRENCHED</ins> BEHIND THE LACE CURTAIN SHE LEVELLED HER GLASS</span>
+</div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You ought to go over and look in, Aunt Virginia," she said. "There
+are the prettiest baskets you ever saw."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia adored baskets.</p>
+
+<p>"And there is the dearest sofa pillow."</p>
+
+<p>She had decided on a pillow for Caroline's birthday.</p>
+
+<p>"And, Aunt Virginia, there are the cunningest little collars with
+cuffs to match," Charlotte continued with mischievous eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia grew impatient. It was out of all reason that such
+desirable things should be brought almost to her door and yet be
+beyond her reach.</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't be giving them much encouragement just to look in the
+window," observed Charlotte. "I'll tell you," she cried the next
+minute, "opera glasses!"</p>
+
+<p>"My <i>dear</i>, look at my neighbors through an opera glass?"</p>
+
+<p>"But they <i>want</i> to be looked at," insisted Charlotte, with
+unanswerable logic.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia allowed herself to be persuaded, and, securely
+entrenched behind the lace curtain, she levelled her glass. As is ever
+the case with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> one who dallies with temptation, the result was an
+increased desire to have that pillow in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>Standing absorbed in contemplation, she suddenly, without intending
+it, turned her gaze upon one of the upper windows; and as she did so
+the muslin draperies parted and a pair of merry eyes belonging to a
+pretty face looked straight into hers.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon," cried Miss Virginia, dropping her glass and
+sinking into a chair, "I shall be ashamed of this to my dying day,"
+she groaned, while Charlotte went off into fits of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>It was some time before she could be brought to realize she had not
+been seen. "Not that that makes it much better," she added contritely.
+"And, Charlotte, don't mention it to your Aunt Caroline. I think my
+ideas of propriety are as strict as hers, but I do not succeed so well
+in living up to them. I fear I am, as she says, childish."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not say anything about it, and I am sure I think you are very
+nice, Aunt Virginia," answered Charlotte, still laughing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The suspicion that Charlotte liked her better than she did Caroline
+was a secret pleasure to Miss Virginia, and she flushed prettily as
+she said, "Thank you, dear; I am far from what I should be."</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte went to take her music lesson; Mrs. Millard was attending a
+club meeting; the house was very quiet as Miss Virginia sat down to
+her embroidery. While she worked, the face so vividly imprinted on her
+memory in that moment's view continued to rise before her. She began
+to feel something like sympathy for its owner. She had not supposed it
+would be such an attractive shop. What possible harm could there be in
+going over just to look? She might even go in and explain to the
+proprietor that she had made a mistake in coming into the
+neighborhood. It would be a kindness. She could use a spool of
+buttonhole twist as an excuse. She really needed it.</p>
+
+<p>Then she saw the foolishness of all this and tried to think of
+something else. She worked another scallop, and concluded to go for a
+walk.</p>
+
+<p>When she stepped out of the gate, she turned her back upon the shop
+and walked in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> opposite direction, but a quarter of an hour later
+she might have been seen approaching it by way of Pleasant Street.</p>
+
+<p>It was a beautiful October day; there was a suggestion of autumn in
+the maples, but the air was soft as spring. As she stood before the
+door her heart beat guiltily; her own home across the way wore an
+oddly unfamiliar look.</p>
+
+<p>Being a shop one was, of course, expected to open the door and walk
+in. Miss Virginia did so, and for a bewildered moment felt she had
+made a mistake, for there was nothing in the room she entered that
+seemed to bear any relation to a shop.</p>
+
+<p>In the window, where the ferns and palms were, three persons sat, two
+young women and a small boy in socks. One of the three rose and came
+to meet her. The identity of the face with the one she had seen
+through the opera glass so recently, added to her confusion.</p>
+
+<p>"Can I show you something?"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia gazed at the speaker despairingly. "I have forgotten
+what I came for," she stammered.</p>
+
+<p>It might have been an everyday occurrence to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> have customers who had
+forgotten what they wanted, for anything the manner of the young woman
+showed. She smiled indeed, but sympathetically, saying she often
+forgot things herself; and, pushing forward a willow chair, added,
+"Won't you sit down and let me show you some of our things?"</p>
+
+<p>Not seeing her way clear to escape, Miss Virginia accepted the chair.
+There were other chairs of the same variety, some of them supplied
+with cushions; around the olive-tinted walls were low cases which
+might hold books or anything; there was a table with a lamp and
+magazines upon it, and in the corner fireplace a low fire flickered.
+The most businesslike piece of furniture was the long table upon which
+the young woman was laying out a bewitching assortment of collars and
+cuffs of a daintiness that went to the heart. Miss Virginia forgot her
+embarrassment in her pleasure at the array of pretty things.</p>
+
+<p>The small boy crossed the room, and depositing a gray flannel donkey
+on the table leaned upon Miss Virginia's chair. He was a pretty child,
+and she smiled at him as he lifted his serious brown eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Jack likes to see what you are doing, but you mustn't sell him by
+mistake, Miss Norah," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Is this your little boy?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No, James Mandeville is a neighbor and very good friend of ours.
+Aren't you, Infinitesimal James?"</p>
+
+<p>He nodded emphatically, and continued to look on with interest while
+Norah hung soft-tinted fabrics over a convenient rack, and brought out
+baskets of all colors and shapes.</p>
+
+<p>It was clearly James Mandeville's fault that Miss Wilbur was unable to
+preserve that distant manner which was the only proper attitude toward
+this objectionable shop. When he laid his plump hand on hers and
+looked up at her in silent good fellowship, she felt a thrill of
+pleasure. Could any one refuse a child's offer of friendship? Not Miss
+Virginia, certainly. She bent and touched his cheek with her lips.
+James Mandeville, moved to further demonstration, brought the donkey
+and laid him on her lap.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't show me anything more," she said, patting the donkey.
+"Everything is beautiful. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> really didn't come expecting to buy, but
+I must have one of these collars." She laid a bit of embroidery
+against her sleeve and looked down at it thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>The sunlight fell slantingly across the room, gleaming in James
+Mandeville's short curls and emphasizing all the cosiness and
+pleasantness of her surroundings. The spirit of friendliness grew
+strong in Miss Virginia. She felt in no haste to leave.</p>
+
+<p>While Norah searched for something in one of the cases, Miss Wilbur
+peeped around the chair back at the occupant of the window who was
+employing herself with knitting. She was not&mdash;so Miss Virginia
+thought&mdash;as attractive as her associate, although she could not be
+called ordinary. Meanwhile James Mandeville investigated her shopping
+bag with absorbed interest.</p>
+
+<p>The opening of the shop door interrupted her thoughts, and before she
+had time to push aside the draperies which, disposed upon the rack,
+intervened between her and the door, she heard a cool, clear voice
+announce, "I wish a spool of twist&mdash;black if you please."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia gazed wildly toward the door at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> the other end of the
+room, her first impression being that Caroline had come in search of
+her. The next moment she realized with surprise and amusement that her
+sister had come altogether on her own account and had asked for the
+very same thing she herself had thought of purchasing. Miss Virginia
+braced herself for the inevitable encounter, and when Miss Norah
+returned, thanked her for her kindness in showing so many of her
+wares, and selected one from the collars before her. The while she
+heard her sister's voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you consider this a good locality for a shop?" Mrs. Millard asked.
+"It seems to me quite otherwise, and I think it the only proper course
+to tell you that the neighborhood strongly objects to such an
+intrusion."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia felt her face grow hot.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it a little late to tell us this?" The tall young woman who had
+put down her knitting to serve the newcomer seemed not a whit abashed
+at Mrs. Millard's manner. If anything, she was the more queenly of the
+two, and might have been bestowing a favor as she handed back the
+change.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Norah's sunny face intervened, "We are very sorry if you don't want
+us," she said, "for we shall have to stay for the present. We think we
+are quite as nice as a drug store, and perhaps we shall be able to
+convince you of it before long."</p>
+
+<p>Could Caroline hold out against such winning address? What she might
+have said or done was never known, for James Mandeville, desiring to
+see what was going on, and attempting to crawl under the rack with its
+burden of fabrics, precipitated it upon himself and was lost in the
+ruins, while Miss Virginia was revealed in all her ignominy, with a
+flannel donkey in her lap, to the eyes of her relative.</p>
+
+<p>"Virginia! I am astonished!"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Wilbur rose to the occasion. "So am I, Caroline. I, too, came to
+get a spool of twist." There is good authority for the assertion that
+one may smile and be a villain, but hitherto such depths of perfidy
+had been unsuspected in Miss Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>The united efforts of the shopkeepers were required to disentangle
+James Mandeville and quiet his cries of alarm. In the struggle Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+Wilbur's bag suffered a complete upturn, and her small change was
+scattered to the four corners of the room.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Millard stood apart looking on in disdain at the confusion, when
+again the shop door opened, this time to admit Miss Sarah Leigh who
+advanced and addressed her, fumbling in her pocket-book meanwhile and
+not lifting her eyes. "I want a spool of twist," she said, producing a
+sample of blue silk. "Why, Caroline Wilbur!" and she stared in
+amazement.</p>
+
+<p>Norah who had set James Mandeville, still weeping, out of harm's way
+on the table, met Miss Sarah's bewildered gaze with a frank smile, as
+if she appreciated the joke.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you call this a shop?" Miss Sarah demanded; adding, "Well, if
+there isn't Virginia! Are Judge Russell and Mr. Goodman hiding
+somewhere? Is this a conspiracy?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll explain later," said Mrs. Millard, with dignity. "Virginia, are
+you ready?"</p>
+
+<p>As they crossed Pleasant Street together, Miss Sarah was disposed to
+make merry at Mrs. Millard's expense, but that lady's haughtiness was
+extreme. There was nothing funny in her actions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> She had gone to the
+shop with a purpose, thinking it only the part of fairness to tell
+them frankly they were not wanted in the neighborhood.</p>
+
+<p>"That is what I thought of doing," said Miss Virginia. But who can
+blame her sister for looking incredulous.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'm going again," said Miss Sarah, pausing at the gate. "It is
+an interesting place."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia agreed with her, and yet she was beginning to feel a
+little doubtful about her own behavior this afternoon. She feared she
+had not been quite dignified.</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah Leigh was never a person of very strong convictions," her
+sister remarked, as they waited at the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, I don't know, Caroline,&mdash;perhaps they are just different."</p>
+
+<p>"Really, I don't understand you, Virginia," was Mrs. Millard's
+response, nor did she manifest any desire for enlightenment.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia felt that her conduct that afternoon was embraced in her
+sister's remark, and that it would be quite hopeless to try to
+explain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER EIGHTH</h2>
+
+<h3>A MATTER OF LOYALTY</h3>
+
+
+<p>Mrs. Millard's irritation was not long in bearing fruit. On the hall
+table lay a card, and pausing on her way upstairs she examined it
+through her jewelled lorgnette. Charlotte, halfway down, leaned over
+the rail and watched her, admiring the sweep of her gown, the
+perfection of the gloved hand that held the card.</p>
+
+<p>One might object to Aunt Caroline's methods and rebel against her
+mandates, and yet not be blind to the exquisite perfection of her
+appearance and belongings. Charlotte had privately borrowed one of
+Aunt Virginia's skirts, and practised before the cheval glass, but the
+flowing lines that so much pleased her she found unattainable.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Lucile Lyle," Mrs. Millard read aloud.</p>
+
+<p>"It is for me, Aunt Caroline," said Charlotte, from above. "I have
+been walking with Miss Alex and missed her."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Which is rather fortunate than otherwise; for," Mrs. Millard tapped
+the card with her glass, "I desire you not to make a friend of this
+young lady."</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte sat down on the step. "Does that mean I am to be rude to
+her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not. There are ways of letting people know you do not care
+for their society without being rude."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see how you can do it without being unpleasant," argued
+Charlotte; "and I like Lucile."</p>
+
+<p>"That last fact has nothing to do with it. It is important at your age
+to form proper friendships. This I do not consider desirable, and I
+expect you to be guided by me."</p>
+
+<p>"What am I to do?" Charlotte persisted.</p>
+
+<p>"I see no occasion to do anything."</p>
+
+<p>"She will think it rude if I do not go to see her."</p>
+
+<p>"What she thinks is of little moment. You can say your aunt does not
+care to have you make visits while you are occupied with your
+studies."</p>
+
+<p>"But she knows I have been to see the Mays."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Well, really, Charlotte, I cannot argue the question further. I
+simply expect to be obeyed in the matter." With this final utterance
+Mrs. Millard swept past her.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte had come in from her walk in good spirits. She felt it an
+honor to be chosen as a companion by a grown young lady, and Miss Alex
+had been very entertaining as they walked about the park under the
+beech trees. In these days Charlotte's ideals were in an unstable
+state. On the one hand, she admired Lucile, longed to be Carlotta and
+the heroine of romantic adventures. On the other, she recognized a
+certain distinction in Alexina's severe style, and felt proud of her
+notice.</p>
+
+<p>This afternoon Alex's influence had been in the ascendant. She had
+shown a flattering interest in all Charlotte told about her life at
+Aunt Cora's and the Landors'. She had read some of Cousin Frank's
+stories and poems and admired them, making Charlotte proud of being
+even distantly related to him.</p>
+
+<p>"It must be splendid to do things," Alex said. "To feel that you have
+your own special work to do in the world."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I should love to write stories or paint pictures," agreed Charlotte.</p>
+
+<p>"Any sort of useful work,&mdash;work there was a demand for, and that I
+could do better, or at least as well as any one else, would satisfy
+me," said Alex.</p>
+
+<p>Alexina had gone on to give Charlotte a great deal of good advice
+about making the most of her opportunities. She listened gravely to
+the story of the borrowed novel Aunt Caroline had taken away; and
+while she acknowledged it was trying, she pointed out that it was a
+foolish story, and not worth reading.</p>
+
+<p>When Charlotte went on to describe Lucile, Alex did not seem
+impressed, only saying, "I wonder who the Lyles are; I never heard of
+them. Of course they may be nice people, but Lucile Lyle is such a
+silly name."</p>
+
+<p>"I think it is beautiful," cried Charlotte, wondering what Miss Alex
+would think of Carlotta Creston.</p>
+
+<p>"No," the young lady said, as if replying to her thought, "I prefer
+plain names. For instance, if you should turn out to be a brilliant
+beauty and all that, there is nothing inappropriate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> in your name,
+Charlotte Creston. You can glorify it; but if you are only an ordinary
+person, you are made absurd by a name you cannot live up to."</p>
+
+<p>This was a new view to take of it. Charlotte wavered, and really
+Lucile's influence was a little on the wane when the encounter with
+Aunt Caroline gave it new life. At school next day Charlotte came
+again under her spell.</p>
+
+<p>Lucile was undeniably pretty and almost as grown up in appearance as
+Miss Alex, though only fifteen. She was intensely romantic, her own
+personal experiences at this early age would have supplied several
+novels, and her manner toward Charlotte was caressing and flattering.
+Charlotte was one of the few who understood her, she said. They were
+kindred souls.</p>
+
+<p>Lucile wrote verses which seemed to Charlotte quite as good as Cousin
+Frank's, and she could sing any number of love-songs charmingly. The
+girls would gather about the piano at recess and beg her to sing. The
+favorite was one beginning:&mdash;</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Teach, oh, teach me not to love thee">
+<tr><td align='left'>"Teach, oh, teach me not to love thee!</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Turn those beauteous eyes away,"</span></td></tr>
+</table></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class='unindent'>and Lucile always bent a soulful gaze upon Charlotte when she sang it.
+Charlotte wondered if her eyes were beauteous.</div>
+
+<p>"When are you coming to see me Carlotta?" Lucile asked one day.</p>
+
+<p>They were walking home from school, and had paused on the corner where
+their ways divided.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. They don't like me to go out alone," was the answer,
+given with a flushed face.</p>
+
+<p>"But the cars bring you almost to our door. I shall be terribly hurt."</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte looked gloomy. "I can't come if they won't let me. You don't
+know. They think I am six years old."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't love me. I see it plainly." With a tragic gesture Lucile
+drew a ring from her finger and held it out. "Take it back," she said.</p>
+
+<p>In the first ardor of their friendship they had exchanged rings,
+Charlotte feeling a little mortified at the time that Lucile's was so
+much handsomer than hers, and she had kept it carefully turned in to
+avoid comment. But after all it was not giving up the ring she minded.
+Lucile's apparent distress touched her affectionate heart.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't say that!" she entreated, drawing back.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> "I do love you, and I
+will come to see you whether they let me or not." In the glow of her
+devotion she felt like a heroine in one of Lucile's favorite tales. It
+was a question of loyalty now. She had promised to be friends before
+Aunt Caroline issued her commands. So they parted with renewed vows,
+and Charlotte's assurance that she would come that very afternoon on
+her way from her music lesson, if she could escape unobserved.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte had very imperfectly learned the lesson of obedience to
+higher powers, and it was not difficult to convince herself that she
+was justified. It did seem a little underhand, this was all that
+troubled her.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Virginia, who was going down town in the carriage, offered to
+take her to her lesson; adding, "You can find your way back, I
+suppose."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think so, after so many times," Charlotte answered, feeling
+guilty.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Virginia was particularly agreeable and funny that afternoon.
+Charlotte was really becoming very fond of her. She was a merry
+companion; she liked foolish things, such as soda-water and candy, and
+was even willing to stop and watch a circus parade.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"If it is cool when you leave, be sure to put your jacket on," was her
+parting injunction.</p>
+
+<p>"And if it rains, I'll put up my umbrella," Charlotte called after
+her, saucily. At the same time she felt ashamed of what she had
+planned to do. If it had not been for the memory of Lucile's
+reproaches, she would have given it up.</p>
+
+<p>It must have been the thought of Aunt Virginia that kept the call from
+being the pleasure she had expected. Lucile was very glad to see her,
+and took her over the large, showy house, which seemed exactly suited
+to the large blond woman with a complexion of pinkish lavender, whom
+she introduced as her mother. Mrs. Lyle wore a costume of black and
+white, in broad stripes, and a wonderful, black plumed hat, which
+brought to mind Aunt Cora's poster room.</p>
+
+<p>She was most gracious, complimenting Charlotte's eyes, and asking if
+she did not find the Terrace dreadfully far down town. She also asked
+about the Russells; said Alexina was odd and Madelaine a beauty, and
+that it was a great pity the judge had not known how to keep his
+money,&mdash;all of which seemed strange to Charlotte, when she remembered
+Alex's question, "Who are the Lyles?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Lucile seemed proud of the house and told the cost of a good many
+things. She wanted to know why Charlotte's aunts did not sell their
+house in the Terrace and build out on the Avenue.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe they want to," Charlotte answered; "and I think the
+Terrace is very nice," she added, feeling Lucile was rather too
+complacent.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, they are beginning to put up stores there!" Lucile exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte had herself freely criticised the Terrace, but this did not
+keep her from resenting Lucile's remarks, and she carried away with
+her a consciousness of the friction. As she walked home, she felt a
+vague dissatisfaction with life in general, and heartily wished she
+had not gone. She could not help seeing, just a little, why Aunt
+Caroline did not care for the Lyles.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte had a strong impulse to confess, and say she was sorry for
+what she had done; but the right moment did not come. Aunt Caroline
+was out that evening and Aunt Virginia in one of her shy, elusive
+moods. She got as far as "Aunt Virginia, I want to tell you,&mdash;I did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>
+something dreadful to-day&mdash;" when a visitor was announced. Her aunt
+looked relieved.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind, my dear; if you are sorry, I have no doubt it will be all
+right," she said, rising hastily. "Go to bed early."</p>
+
+<p>How could you tell people things if they did not want to listen? At
+any rate she would not go to the Lyles' again, and she gave herself to
+her studies with a new earnestness born of repentance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER NINTH</h2>
+
+<h3>IN THE SHOP</h3>
+
+
+<p>The opposition of the neighborhood resulted in advertising the shop to
+some extent. Whoever saw the odd little place was certain to tell some
+one else; and this person and that, dropping in out of curiosity to
+look, remained to buy, if only a trifle.</p>
+
+<p>The wares were novel and attractive, the prices reasonable, and the
+shopkeepers themselves afforded food for speculation. Like their
+wares, they were unusual,&mdash;considered as shopkeepers, that is. To all
+appearances ladies, their manner of speech betrayed they were not
+Southern; yet they did not single out the letter <i>r</i> as worthy of
+peculiar emphasis,&mdash;a thing the Terrace could not tolerate.</p>
+
+<p>To those who often passed the shop, James Mandeville became a familiar
+figure; for from the first he elected to bestow upon its proprietors
+his unqualified friendship, and a day rarely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> went by without a visit
+from him. He quickly learned to adapt himself to the rule that he must
+not finger things, nor interrupt when customers were present. He
+usually brought some plaything with him,&mdash;most frequently the flannel
+donkey,&mdash;and amused himself quite happily, with an occasional appeal
+to the sympathy of his companions.</p>
+
+<p>His new friends began to look forward each day to his coming and to
+the invariable piece of news with which he entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Norah, what do you think?" he exclaimed one morning. "The moon's
+awake and it's daytime!" and drawing her to the door he pointed out
+the misty phantom in the southwestern sky, with the air of a
+discoverer.</p>
+
+<p>On another occasion, "Miss Norah, I can't stay very long to-day,
+'cause my geranium is going to bloom."</p>
+
+<p>It developed that James Mandeville's mother was ill in a sanitarium,
+his father absorbed in business, and his only guardian an old colored
+woman, known as Mammy Belle. Mammy Belle was of the type fast
+disappearing. She wore head handkerchiefs of bright colors, and her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+purple calicoes were stiff with starch and spotlessly neat. She
+possessed the peculiar dignity that accompanied a faithful,
+unquestioning acceptance of her station in life.</p>
+
+<p>Mammy had sole charge of the Norton household, and no doubt it was a
+relief to her to know that her charge had found so safe an asylum; but
+on the occasion of her first visit the shopkeepers felt they were
+being weighed in the balance. Her manner was apologetic and reserved,
+as she stood, her hands folded on her white apron.</p>
+
+<p>"'Tain't possible to keep dat chile at home," she explained. "Yes'm. I
+takes keer of him. Miss Maimie, she's in a hospital, an' dey ain't
+nobody to raise James Mandeville but his old mammy."</p>
+
+<p>"I ain't comin', mammy," declared her charge, positively.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you is comin', honey; don' you talk to mammy dat way. 'Tisn't
+pretty. Looks like it's mighty hard to raise you polite, James
+Mandeville."</p>
+
+<p>Norah delighted to talk with her, and gathered from her conversation
+that her greatest pleasure, next to a funeral, was to take James
+Mandeville<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> to white folks' church on Sunday afternoon, "to see dem
+chillen march and sing." To her enthusiasm was due the aspiration of
+her charge to be a choir boy, and he was often heard singing lustily
+versions of "Onward, Christian Soldiers," and "O Paradise," which were
+all his own.</p>
+
+<p>"Dey's ladies, store or no store," Belle was overheard remarking to
+Susanna. "I knows quality; you can't fool Belle, no'm."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>"I never in my life felt so rich," Marion said, rattling the money
+drawer.</p>
+
+<p>It was Saturday evening at the end of their first week. All was in
+order in the shop, the long table pushed back, the small one with the
+lamp brought forward, the shades drawn, the door barred, and Norah now
+rested comfortably in one of the roomy chairs with a gay pillow behind
+her head.</p>
+
+<p>"We have done very well, I think," she agreed.</p>
+
+<p>"I perceive this is one subject upon which my enthusiasm is greater
+than yours. It must be because you have made money before." Marion
+still hung over the money drawer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I don't consider that we have made anything yet; but the difference
+between us is that I expected all along to do very well, while you
+were a doubting Thomas."</p>
+
+<p>"As I always am." With surprising ease for one so tall, Marion slipped
+down on the rug at her friend's feet.</p>
+
+<p>Norah caressed the dark head against her knee. "But you are improving,
+dearest," she said, "and I'm glad, indeed, if this first week has
+encouraged you." She laughed a little as she added, "I believe I am
+just a bit more anxious to prove to our friend Miss Carpenter that in
+lending us the capital for our venture she has not done a reckless and
+unwise thing."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Norah&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I know what you are going to say. She is not worrying about the money
+and could well afford to take the risk, but with you and me it is a
+matter of principle. We must succeed and justify her confidence. So we
+won't count our chickens too soon, but lay low, like Brer Rabbit, and
+say nothin'."</p>
+
+<p>"At any rate I know what it is to have worked all the week, and to be
+tired and glad of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> Sunday. Norah, it is nonsense expecting people
+really to care for Sunday when they don't work."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you haven't tired yourself too much;" Norah bent forward till
+she could see the face on her knee. Her manner was oddly motherly; she
+seemed so much the younger and smaller of the two.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no; and sometimes I have almost forgotten&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Go on forgetting, dear. I know you need not fear, if you will only
+think so."</p>
+
+<p>"If I were only sure," Marion sighed. "And sometimes I am," she added.</p>
+
+<p>"At least I am charmed with the neighborhood," Norah went on, "If the
+haughty lady across the street continues her opposition, our success
+is assured. Her name, I have discovered, is Millard, and that dear
+Miss Virginia is her sister, of course; and there is a bright-looking
+little girl who goes in and out, and seems to belong to them.</p>
+
+<p>"And I forgot to tell you my adventure this morning. When I got off
+the car at Walnut Street, coming home, there was an old gentleman with
+some books just behind me. He had an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> armful, and as he stepped to the
+ground they slipped and fell in the dust. He was evidently lame and
+stiff with rheumatism, so I picked them up for him. He was a beautiful
+old man, with a most courtly manner; and he seemed to think as I had
+helped him, I was entitled to know about the books. We walked along
+together, and he explained they were some he had found at a
+second-hand store. One of them was a first edition of the 'Essays of
+Elia' which he thought a tremendous bargain; and it was, I'm sure.</p>
+
+<p>"We fell to discussing books, and he seemed delighted to find I was
+not absolutely ignorant and ended by inviting me in to see his
+library. He lives in the house that needs paint so badly,&mdash;where you
+have noticed that beautiful Ginkgo tree."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you accept his invitation?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I told him I had not time just then. He asked if I lived near;
+and, Marion, you should have seen his puzzled look when I said, 'On
+the corner of Pleasant Street.' 'You are visiting?&mdash;the Wilburs,
+perhaps.' he said. 'No,' I answered, 'I am one of the proprietors of
+the shop.' He was terribly shocked and disappointed, I could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> see. I
+had really made an impression. He grew a little distant, but was still
+charming, thanking me again for my kindness; however, he said no more
+about the library."</p>
+
+<p>"It is funny&mdash;" began Marion, but she did not finish her sentence, and
+they sat in silence for a while. Presently Marion took possession of
+the hand that was touching her hair so lightly, and laid her cheek
+against it. Not many people, she thought, had such a friend. One who
+had been everything in a time of need, who had given her new hope and
+courage in an hour of darkness. She felt herself unworthy, because she
+did not believe she could ever be such a help to any one.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you remember, when you were a child, Norah, how sometimes when you
+had found some delightful game that stirred your imagination, you
+would go to sleep at night with the most blissful sense of waking up
+to go on with it in the morning? I have had much the same feeling
+lately."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I am satisfied about you. 'As little children' is the key to the
+best things of life, I firmly believe. Let's read a bit of 'The Golden
+Age' before we go to bed," said Norah.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER TENTH</h2>
+
+<h3>ALEXINA</h3>
+
+
+<p>Alexina Russell longed to be of use in the world. It fretted her to
+live as they did, pensioners on her grandfather, whose fortune had
+sadly dwindled of late years. Her mother's income was barely
+sufficient to clothe the three of them, and Alex felt she ought to be
+earning her own living. That her grandfather made them more than
+welcome, and besides had an old-fashioned horror of a woman going out
+into the world as a worker, did not alter her conviction.</p>
+
+<p>She did not feel competent to teach. Delicate as a child, she had gone
+to school intermittently, and the best of her somewhat scrappy
+education had been gained in her grandfather's library; but she found
+it difficult to combat the prejudice of the whole family against any
+other method of supporting herself. Alex loved the old house,&mdash;the
+outside of which time and coal-dust had turned a uniform dingy
+gray,&mdash;and sometimes wondered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> how she could ever stand it to live
+anywhere else. There is a point where dinginess becomes picturesque;
+and the vines, undisturbed by repairs, were doing their best to hide
+all deficiencies. The grounds were ample for a city; and the tall
+Ginkgo tree which reached out its fern-like branches protectingly
+toward the timeworn mansion was only one of many other fine trees and
+shrubs. Inside, the lofty rooms and handsome furnishings of many years
+ago, some fine old portraits, and many valuable books and prints gave
+it a distinction not to be achieved by many modern houses.</p>
+
+<p>Pretty Mrs. Russell, almost as dainty and girlish as her youngest
+daughter, shed tears over Alex's oddity; and Alex, who sincerely loved
+and admired her mother, felt her burden all the greater because she
+was a disappointment. She had submitted for one winter to be taken to
+receptions and teas, and to have a dinner given in her honor, in the
+newspaper accounts of which the rare old Russell silver figured
+effectively, and on the whole she had enjoyed it. But a season of it
+was enough; her practical mind rebelled against the expense and
+uselessness of such a life. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> adopted the plainest style of dress,
+declined invitations, and privately studied shorthand.</p>
+
+<p>In the bottom of her heart Madelaine thought it just as well. Plain
+things became Alex, and it was nobody's fault but her own if she
+preferred the background. And Alex was not in the least jealous of her
+sister's popularity. She had something of the responsible feelings of
+a father or brother toward her mother and Madelaine.</p>
+
+<p>Alex's refuge was the library and the companionship of her
+grandfather, who often told her she took life too seriously.</p>
+
+<p>"You are young yet. Be happy, and things will work out of themselves."</p>
+
+<p>But Alexina did not share his gentle optimism. It seemed to her at
+once the charm and weakness of her grandfather's character. She was
+impatient; she wanted to know what was the right path for her to take,
+not to waste years in finding it.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Russell sometimes laughingly declared that Alex's most intimate
+friends were Miss Virginia Wilbur and Miss Sarah Leigh, and it was
+true she often sought their society. Miss Wilbur had made pets of the
+Russell children<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> from their babyhood, and they were both fond of her.
+There were times when Alex found her placid absorption in everyday
+matters rather soothing, at others Miss Sarah suited her mood better.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Sarah had all manner of troubles and worries, but she did not box
+them up and label them "Personal"; instead, she offered them to her
+friends dressed up in whimsical fashion for their entertainment, until
+it was difficult to consider them seriously. Old Mrs. Leigh was heard
+to say she did not know what Sarah would find to laugh about if she
+ever became prosperous.</p>
+
+<p>Alexina found shorthand depressing, and after spending an hour or more
+over it one afternoon she gave it up in despair and went over to see
+Miss Sarah. As she entered the sitting room Mrs. Millard stood talking
+to Mrs. Leigh.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose the next thing we'll be going to the Poor House," the old
+lady was remarking cheerfully, for she was not far behind her niece in
+the ability to extract pleasure from adversity. "Sarah says the Cement
+Company has passed their dividend again. I know that means we don't
+get any money."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Millard; "why, Sarah, what are you living
+on?"</p>
+
+<p>The person addressed looked up from her sewing with a grim smile. "I
+don't know&mdash;Caroline. We&mdash;are just living&mdash;<i>on</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see how you can <i>smile</i>," said Mrs. Millard, with reproachful
+emphasis. She was never guilty of making light of affliction.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, there are funny things about being poor, Caroline; but I
+suppose it takes a poor person to appreciate them." Then observing
+Alex in the door, Miss Sarah added, "Come in and cheer us up, Alex."</p>
+
+<p>"I am ashamed to say I came to be cheered," Alex said, after Mrs.
+Millard had rustled away.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, misery loves company, so just come to the kitchen with me while
+I stir up a spice cake for Wayland, and we'll swap woes and have a
+good time. I let Anne go to see her sister this afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>When the materials had been collected and Alex assigned her share of
+the task, Miss Sarah continued: "I have two things to tell you. First,
+I have made up my mind to take boarders. I was trembling in my shoes
+all the while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> Caroline was here, for fear Aunt Sally would tell her.
+She will think it a disgrace to the neighborhood; I'll be ranked with
+the shop, but I must do something. We can't sell the house, and it
+would break Aunt Sally's heart if we could, for it is all she has."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think it will hurt the neighborhood, and I hope you will
+succeed. I'm sure I should love to board with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Would you really, Alex? Doesn't the house strike you as very forlorn?
+I'll tell you what I am going to do," and Miss Sarah launched forth
+into an account of how she meant to cut the hall carpet in two and
+turn it around so the worn part would come under the stairs. "But dear
+me!" she interrupted herself to say, "how absurd to bother you with
+all this. It is your turn to say something."</p>
+
+<p>"I like to hear it. I am interested, and my worries are the same old
+ones. I do want to learn how to do something to support myself, and
+stenography is so&mdash;abominably dull. I am angry with myself for finding
+it so." Alex rested her chin in her hand, and looked at Miss Sarah
+disconsolately across the table.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I do not believe you were meant for that sort of thing," Miss Sarah
+said stoutly. "Of course I can't tell you what you <i>were</i> made for;
+but I know what I'd like to do, and that is, keep a shop such as the
+one on the corner."</p>
+
+<p>"What would Mrs. Millard say to that?" Alex asked, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"She can't say much since she was caught there herself. You needn't
+tell me curiosity had not something to do with it. But I am forgetting
+the other thing I had to tell you. I have made trouble in the Wilbur
+household."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean? How?"</p>
+
+<p>"I was never more provoked with myself. The other day I happened to be
+out on Dean Avenue, and whom should I see going into the Lyles' but
+Charlotte Creston. You know that big, showy house near the park. What
+possessed me to mention it, I don't know, but I did, one evening when
+Caroline and Virginia were here. I knew in a minute something was
+wrong. I have an idea Charlotte went without permission."</p>
+
+<p>"Who are the Lyles?" asked Alex.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Lyle was at the glove counter at Mason's years ago; she was then
+Maggie McKay, and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> vain, pretentious thing. She married a plumber
+with a romantic name, and her rise has been rapid. Now, if you and I
+could only be plumbers!"</p>
+
+<p>"I remember Charlotte mentioned a Lucile Lyle, and seemed rather
+fascinated, but I did not think she would be so silly as to go there
+against her aunt's wishes. I am afraid she is headstrong."</p>
+
+<p>"She is the sort of a child to be goaded to distraction by Caroline. I
+wish I had held my tongue. I can see Virginia is dreadfully upset
+about something."</p>
+
+<p>"I think I'll go over and talk to Charlotte," Alex said, as Miss Sarah
+shut the oven door on the spice cake. Alexina had had dreams of
+influencing Charlotte, and she felt a little annoyed that what she had
+said on the subject of this foolish friendship had made such a slight
+impression.</p>
+
+<p>"Now don't you go and make matters worse, Alex," cautioned Miss Sarah.
+"I have no doubt Caroline has harped on the matter till the child is
+desperate. I feel terribly guilty."</p>
+
+<p>"I am disappointed in her, and I mean to tell her so," Alex replied
+firmly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER ELEVENTH</h2>
+
+<h3>THE LAST STRAW</h3>
+
+
+<p>Charlotte was closing the piano after an hour's practice when Alexina
+walked in. A week had passed since the discovery of her
+disobedience,&mdash;a week of increasing unhappiness. The blow had fallen
+unexpectedly. One day at dinner she had been conscious of something
+amiss. A remark of her own met with no response; Aunt Caroline looked
+haughty, Aunt Virginia despondent. Charlotte had not, however, guessed
+the cause until she was summoned into the library and the question put
+to her by Mrs. Millard, "Did you go to the Lyles' in defiance of my
+express wishes, Charlotte?"</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes or no, if you please."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," Charlotte answered, "but&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I want no explanations. There can be none."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But, Aunt Caroline, you don't understand&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You are the one who seems not to understand," again Mrs. Millard
+interrupted. "You have deliberately disobeyed. I see you are not to be
+trusted. Hereafter, whenever you go out, you shall be provided with an
+attendant. The carriage will take you to and from school, your Aunt
+Virginia or I will accompany you to your music lesson when possible;
+at other times Martha will go."</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt Caroline, you might let me speak. I tried to tell Aunt
+Virginia&mdash;I had promised Lucile&mdash;I had to go; but I am dreadfully
+sorry, and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Charlotte, I will not have any words on the subject. You have
+deliberately disobeyed. Nothing you can say alters that." Mrs. Millard
+swept from the room, almost running down Miss Virginia, who hovered
+about the door.</p>
+
+<p>"She did try to tell, Caroline," Charlotte heard her say.</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense, what difference can that make?" was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>Not to be allowed one word in self-defence was hard. Charlotte locked
+herself in her room<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> and shed bitter tears of anger and mortification.
+That she was sorry and had tried to confess seemed to her to be very
+much to her credit, and Aunt Caroline was unreasonable as well as
+cruel. She refused to go down to supper, saying her head ached; and it
+would have been in harmony with her state of mind if she had been
+compelled to go without any, but it was sent up to her without
+comment.</p>
+
+<p>The worst was to come, however. To a high-spirited girl, used to the
+greatest freedom, the constant surveillance was unbearable. She was
+not locked up, but in all other respects she felt herself a captive.</p>
+
+<p>She was certain Aunt Virginia was sorry for her,&mdash;in an aloof and
+timid fashion she showed her friendliness; but Charlotte longed for
+some one to whom she could pour out all her unhappiness; and for this
+Aunt Virginia allowed her no opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>How long was it to last? Aunt Caroline gave no word. As the days
+passed, Charlotte began to wear a sullen, dogged look. The sight of
+Alexina brought a thrill of hope. Surely, Miss Alex would listen to
+her, and be sorry.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Charlotte, what is this I hear about you?" Alexina demanded, seating
+herself on the piano-stool.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Miss Alex, I am so unhappy." Charlotte, who was kneeling to put
+away some music in the cabinet, sank in a forlorn little heap at her
+feet. "She won't let me go anywhere by myself,&mdash;not even to school;
+and she wouldn't listen when I said I was sorry." Charlotte's tone was
+guarded, but none the less appealing.</p>
+
+<p>But Alex hardened her heart. "I suppose it is because you were
+disobedient. I must say I am disappointed in you, for it seems to me
+you were deceitful as well as disobedient."</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte sat up. Her last hope of a confidante was gone. "You have no
+right to say that. I had to go: I had promised. I was willing to be
+punished, but she has no right to treat me like a baby. I wish I had
+never come."</p>
+
+<p>"Probably your aunts wish so too," Alex observed coolly. "You are not
+reasonable, Charlotte. You have acted like a silly child and made
+yourself talked about, and you are just worrying Miss Virginia to
+death. But don't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> look at me in that way. I am sorry for you, and if
+you will be patient and accept your punishment, it will come out all
+right." Alex laid her hand on Charlotte's shoulder, but the girl
+twitched it away. Rising, she stood stony and silent. Alex's
+condemnation was the last straw.</p>
+
+<p>As she went drearily up the stairway, Charlotte's thoughts turned with
+a great longing to her guardian and the quiet house in Philadelphia.
+He did perhaps care a little for her. He had sent her here because he
+thought it best, but it had turned out a terrible mistake. She would
+write to-night and tell him so. Tell him how impossible it was to
+endure it any longer, and implore him to send her to boarding-school.</p>
+
+<p>But would he understand? It was so difficult to write things. If only
+she could be with him and Cousin Francis for half an hour and tell
+them her story, she was sure she could make them see the matter as she
+did. And now a daring thought entered her mind. Why not go to them?
+Naturally self-reliant, the thought of the long journey by herself did
+not terrify her. In the little silver purse (Aunt Cora's parting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+gift) were two gold pieces,&mdash;more than enough to buy a ticket to
+Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte's misery grew less at the picture her imagination drew of
+her aunts' consternation when her flight should be discovered.
+Probably there would be more talk; but little would she care, safe
+with Uncle Landor.</p>
+
+<p>Carried away by the excitement of the idea, she found a daily paper
+and sat down in the dainty room prepared for her with so much loving
+care by Aunt Virginia not three months ago, to study the time-table
+and lay her plans.</p>
+
+<p>There was a through train at half-past eight at night which would
+exactly suit. She could steal away after supper. It was the evening
+for Aunt Caroline's Antiquarian Society, and Aunt Virginia could be
+easily eluded.</p>
+
+<p>In stories people who ran away usually left notes. Charlotte
+considered this, and decided she would write one to Aunt Virginia. It
+took a long while and a great deal of note-paper was wasted before it
+was done, and her enthusiasm had cooled a little as she folded it.</p>
+
+<p>She carried a flushed face and an abstracted manner to the supper
+table, but her aunts were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> evidently too much interested in some
+matter they were discussing to notice her. If she had been less
+absorbed, her curiosity would have been aroused by the guarded manner
+in which they talked.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a case where duty seems to call one in opposite directions,"
+said Mrs. Millard, studying the handle of her spoon with an air of
+profound seriousness that provoked one of those occasionally profane
+suggestions from her sister.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll have to toss up a penny," remarked Miss Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>The thought of Aunt Caroline tossing a penny caused Charlotte a
+moment's diversion, and a faint smile curled about her lips as Aunt
+Virginia promptly took it all back.</p>
+
+<p>"I realize, of course, Caroline, that it is hard to decide; but,
+really, I think you can't refuse Georgiana."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall take the matter under careful consideration till to-morrow,"
+replied Mrs. Millard.</p>
+
+<p>Before they left the table Miss Sarah Leigh looked in to ask Virginia
+about a Mount Mellick stitch. Thus fortune seemed to favor Charlotte's
+plans.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to study, dear?" Aunt Virginia asked.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte flushed at the kind tone, "I am going upstairs, Aunt
+Virginia," she answered. "I am tired."</p>
+
+<p>If Aunt Virginia's kindness weakened her resolve to run away, an
+encounter with Aunt Caroline in the upper hall made it strong again.</p>
+
+<p>While the servants were at supper and Miss Virginia occupied with the
+embroidery lesson, and just as Mrs. Millard left the house by the
+front door, a slight figure in a long gray coat with a blue veil over
+her face slipped down the back stairs, bag in hand, and out of the
+side door.</p>
+
+<p>Pleasant Street was full of swaying shadows, for the wind had risen
+and the electric light on the corner swung slowly to and fro.
+Charlotte held to the gate a moment to steady herself; she seemed
+swaying, too. Not a single person was to be seen. For the first time
+in her life she was alone on the street at night. She told herself
+there was nothing to fear, but she looked wistfully at the lighted
+windows of the houses along the Terrace, and the cheerful glow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> that
+shone from the little shop across the way; but she did not think of
+going back. It was not far to the street-car, which would take her to
+the door of the station; after that all would be perfectly simple.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER TWELFTH</h2>
+
+<h3>THE DISCOVERY</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was still early when Miss Sarah rolled up her work, saying her aunt
+was not well and must not be left any longer alone.</p>
+
+<p>After she had gone Miss Virginia moved about the drawing-room, pushing
+chairs back into their places, changing by a few inches the position
+of some ornament, and rearranging the folds of the curtains. Meanwhile
+she was thinking that, in part at least, the problem that had been
+weighing upon her was about to be solved. She had not felt so cheerful
+in weeks.</p>
+
+<p>At last she was to have a chance to redeem herself and silence that
+troublesome conscience which continually reminded her she was shirking
+her duty. Her relief was not unmixed, for at times she felt convicted
+of disloyalty.</p>
+
+<p>Ever since the episode of the spool of twist Caroline had been a
+little disagreeable, though in an intangible way that hardly stood
+analysis.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> Where Charlotte was concerned, Miss Virginia considered her
+sister's severity extreme, and she had been hurt that her own protest
+and plea of extenuating circumstances should have been so scornfully
+dismissed. Now if events turned out as they promised, all would be
+well again. If only she dared give Charlotte a hint. The child looked
+pale and unhappy.</p>
+
+<p>Could there be any harm in saying to her that something was about to
+happen which would make everything right? Miss Virginia resolved to do
+it. There could be no reasonable doubt as to what Caroline's decision
+would be. She ran upstairs light-heartedly.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte's door was closed, perhaps she was already asleep. Softly
+Miss Virginia turned the knob. The room was dark, except for the
+outside electric light that threw a vivid shadow of the window-frame
+and curtain on the opposite wall. She crossed the room to lower the
+blind, and as she did so, discovered the bed was unoccupied.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 285px;">
+<img src="images/ill-113.jpg" width="285" height="400" alt="SHE SANK INTO A CHAIR." title="SHE SANK INTO A CHAIR." />
+<span class="caption">SHE SANK INTO A CHAIR.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>With nervous haste she searched for the matches. Why did she tremble
+so? It seemed an age till she found them. No, Charlotte was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> not
+there; but how absurd to be alarmed, she must be somewhere in the
+house. Mechanically Miss Virginia began to fold a ribbon that lay on
+the dressing-table. Then her eye fell on a folded paper addressed to
+herself. Scarcely able to breathe, she sank into a chair and opened
+it. It was written in a large, schoolgirl hand.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Aunt Virginia</span>: I am going away to Uncle Landor.
+I am sorry to give you so much trouble. I am going to
+ask him to send me to boarding school, because I can't
+stand it any longer. I know how to go to Philadelphia,
+and I have money enough. I did not mean to be
+deceitful, but Miss Alex said I was, and that I was
+making you miserable, so I think I ought to go.</p>
+
+<div class='right'>
+<span style="margin-right: 9em;">"Your niece,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-right: 2em;">"<span class="smcap">Charlotte Creston</span>."</span><br />
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>To Philadelphia&mdash;that child! Miss Virginia, who never travelled alone,
+was overcome with the terror of it. What could she do? Was it too late
+to stop her? Oh, for some one to help! She ran out into the hall, but
+something checked her first impulse to call the servants.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> At what
+hour did the evening train leave for the north? She hastened
+downstairs for the paper.</p>
+
+<p>"It is all my fault! all my fault!" she murmured to herself, as with
+trembling hands she searched for the railroad column. It was too late;
+the train must have left half an hour ago.</p>
+
+<p>She must consult somebody. Surely, something could be done. Opening
+the front door, she looked out into the night. A bright light shone
+from the Russells' across the way. Forgetting to close the door behind
+her, she hurried over the street and rang the bell.</p>
+
+<p>She told the servant tremblingly that she wished to speak to Miss
+Alex, who presently came to her in evident surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Miss Virginia! Is anything the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Alex, something dreadful has happened!" In her agitation it was
+not possible to say more.</p>
+
+<p>"Is any one ill?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, it is Charlotte&mdash;she has gone!"</p>
+
+<p>"Gone?" echoed Alex. "But do come in, Miss Virginia."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I can't; I left the door open. I don't want people to know. Oh, Alex,
+what shall I do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll go back with you," said Alex. "I don't understand yet what has
+happened. Where has Charlotte gone?"</p>
+
+<p>Once inside her own door, Miss Virginia thrust Charlotte's note into
+Alexina's hand. "What shall I do?" she cried. "That long journey
+alone, and it is all my fault!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't say that; I am afraid it is partly mine. I was hard on her this
+afternoon, but I didn't dream&mdash; There must be some way to stop
+her,&mdash;by telegraphing ahead, you know. I wonder&mdash; It should be done at
+once. The train left half an hour ago, you say?"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia nodded; words were beyond her.</p>
+
+<p>And now into the drawing-room, where they stood in agitated
+uncertainty, walked Miss Pennington, the shopkeeper. Her face was
+flushed, her hair a little disordered by the wind, but she was
+smiling, and somehow her presence seemed at once to relieve the
+tension.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you can help me," cried poor Miss Virginia, hardly knowing
+what she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure I can," answered the stranger,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> going to her and taking the
+trembling hands in her own firm ones. "Are you worried about
+Charlotte? If you are, I have come to tell you she is safe, and is not
+going to Philadelphia to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"You are sure? How do you know?" cried Miss Virginia, in bewilderment.</p>
+
+<p>Alex drew near in surprise. She had not at first recognized Miss
+Pennington.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you about it as quickly as I can, but you must sit down;"
+and Norah drew her to a sofa, where, sitting beside her, she explained
+that her friend, Miss Carpenter, had had occasion that night to go to
+the station with her maid, whose nephew was to pass through the city
+on his way to a western army post. In the waiting-room her attention
+had been attracted by the efforts of a man to annoy a little girl.
+Finally it became so marked, and the child seemed so alarmed, that
+Miss Carpenter interfered, and appealed to a passing official. Then,
+surprised that a girl of her appearance should be travelling alone at
+night, she questioned her; and thoroughly frightened, Charlotte had
+revealed the fact that she was running away.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Carpenter is a very decided person,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> and when she understood the
+matter, would not let her go, but instead brought her home, where we
+talked it over. I hope you won't think me very presuming when I say
+that it seemed to us if there were any way of keeping it quiet, it
+would be so much better. It was just the momentary rebellion of a
+high-spirited girl. I know she is sorry now."</p>
+
+<p>"Caroline need never know a thing about it," exclaimed Miss Virginia,
+looking at Alex.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure that would be best. I'll never speak of it," answered Alex.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I'll bring her over," said Norah, rising. "She is a good deal
+excited, so I offered to come over and pave the way."</p>
+
+<p>"You can tell her I will be as good to her&mdash;things are going to be
+very different." Tears came into Miss Virginia's eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure you are always good. I haven't the least doubt she was
+naughty, but girls are very foolish sometimes." Norah looked at Alex
+as if she might be expected to agree to this.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>A very pale, subdued Charlotte made her appearance soon after. There
+was nobody to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> receive her but Aunt Virginia, who waited at the door.</p>
+
+<p>Little was said that night. "We'll just pretend it never happened,
+dear," Aunt Virginia said tearfully, as she took her into her arms and
+kissed her. "You didn't know it, but your Aunt Caroline is going away
+for the winter," she added. "It is a secret yet, but she is going very
+soon; and I was thinking you and I would have such a good time, and
+then&mdash;" They both fell to crying over this in a manner to suggest to
+one unenlightened that a good time without Aunt Caroline would prove
+but a dreary affair.</p>
+
+<p>"I am so sorry, and I am going to be good," Charlotte whispered, when
+her aunt came to tuck her in. "And oh, Aunt Virginia, they are lovely!
+They were so good." This, of course, referred to the shopkeepers.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't thank Miss Pennington; I didn't say one word, so far as I
+remember," exclaimed Miss Wilbur, "and she was certainly kind. I shall
+have to go over and express my appreciation. Judging from her
+appearance she is a charming young woman."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER THIRTEENTH</h2>
+
+<h3>AFTERWARD</h3>
+
+
+<p>The newly built fire crackled and blazed merrily, putting to rout what
+little daylight sifted through the slats of the window-shutters. How
+pleasant to lie there safe and warm! Charlotte hugged her pillow in
+thankfulness.</p>
+
+<p>Far from being the heroine she had imagined herself, she realized she
+was only a foolish little girl. For once she felt the truth of that
+objectionable phrase. The experience of the night before had subdued
+her. She went all over it as she lay there, waiting for the rising
+bell.</p>
+
+<p>On her way to the station the persistent stare of a man who sat
+opposite in the street-car made her uneasy; and when at the station,
+after she had bought her ticket, he again appeared and attempted to
+talk to her, even following her when she changed her seat, her
+uneasiness became alarm.</p>
+
+<p>The dreadful loneliness of that great station, with its hurrying
+crowds, she would not soon forget.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> If it had been day, Charlotte was
+sure she would have been braver. In her despair Miss Carpenter came to
+her rescue. She recalled vividly how the young lady swept down upon
+her tormentor, with blazing eyes, demanding imperiously what he meant
+by annoying a little girl; and then Charlotte, clinging to the
+friendly hand held out to her, had allowed herself to be led meekly
+away. It was all over in a moment, and in a quiet corner out of the
+crowd she was replying brokenly to the questions of her rescuer.</p>
+
+<p>Why was it that under the serious gaze of those dark eyes all her
+self-confidence and determination had oozed away? Miss Carpenter's
+manner was kind, but her decision had been prompt and final. It seemed
+to Charlotte no one could have resisted her.</p>
+
+<p>"My child," she said, still holding Charlotte's hand, "you cannot take
+such a journey alone. I cannot let you. Come home with me, where we
+can talk it over. We'll find some way out of the trouble." And she
+added: "You live on the corner of Pleasant Street and the Terrace,
+don't you? I think I have seen you there. I am Miss Carpenter of the
+shop."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In a sort of bewilderment Charlotte had submitted, and escorted by
+Miss Carpenter and the elderly maid she rode back to the Terrace. And
+that half-hour in the shop, where they found Miss Pennington
+comfortably established by the fire with a book! Charlotte could still
+feel the atmosphere of sympathy and reason that enveloped her as she
+poured out her story to these strangers with all the pent-up
+unhappiness of the past week. How gently they had pointed out that
+running away would only add difficulties to the situation.</p>
+
+<p>Her face grew hot now at the thought of how silly she must have seemed
+to them. And she wished these young ladies to think well of
+her,&mdash;which, of course, they never could do.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Virginia had been good, too. A wave of warm affection surged up
+in Charlotte's heart, and with it a determination to be a comfort to
+her after this. As she dressed, she wondered if she would ever again
+be free from this dreadful feeling of shame. She hated to go down to
+breakfast, even though Aunt Caroline did not know.</p>
+
+<p>Later in the day Aunt Virginia called her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> into her room and closed
+the door. There was a pretty flush on her face as she sat erect in an
+arm-chair which, like the other furniture in the room, had been her
+grandmother's. Beside her on a table was an old Bible with yellow
+leaves, and some ancient books of devotion.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been talking to your Aunt Caroline," Miss Wilbur began.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte started.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not mean about last night. While I feel almost deceitful in
+keeping it from her, I have decided to do it. As I told you, your Aunt
+Georgiana is out of health and must go to California, and it seems
+Caroline's duty to go with her. This will leave you in my charge. You
+were really put in my charge at first, but I felt inexperienced and&mdash;"
+Miss Virginia hesitated, then continued: "What I have been thinking is
+this. I should like to try again, starting fresh and forgetting all
+that has happened. I think if you would promise always to be frank
+with me, and perhaps put up with some things that seem to you foolish
+and old-fashioned notions, that we could get along together. I loved
+your mother, and I want to love you and have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> your affection. But if
+you cannot be happy, I will write to Mr. Landor and explain&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt Virginia, I do love you. I don't want to go away. I am so sorry
+about last night!" Charlotte buried her face in her aunt's lap.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't cry, dear. It is all over, then, and we will forget it." Miss
+Virginia caressed the brown head.</p>
+
+<p>"But I am so ashamed. It hurts&mdash;I can't forget."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, dear, perhaps you had some excuse. Caroline overlooked the fact
+that you have lived an unusually independent life, and I think she did
+not just understand how you felt about Lucile. I don't mean you were
+right to go there, but&mdash; Well, from now on you are my charge, and the
+punishment is over. After this we'll try to understand and trust each
+other."</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to be good; you'll see," Charlotte whispered, her arms
+about her aunt's neck.</p>
+
+<p>She felt impatient to show Aunt Virginia she was really in earnest.
+What could she do? As she dressed for the evening an idea occurred to
+her. With many a pang she shook out her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> wavy brown hair and combed it
+resolutely back from her face. It had always taken an absurd length of
+time to arrange that drooping mass in just the proper manner, but
+Lucile had commended her skill. It was much easier to brush it back in
+a way to show how prettily it grew about her forehead, but Charlotte
+really considered herself a fright as she tied a blue ribbon on her
+long braid.</p>
+
+<p>The change gave her rather a chastened look, combined as it was with a
+timid self-consciousness when she entered the dining-room. Her aunts
+surveyed her with evident astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Charlotte," Mrs. Millard remarked, affably, "you are really a
+nice-looking little girl when you let yourself alone."</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Virginia patted her hand and said nothing, but Charlotte felt
+sure she understood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER FOURTEENTH</h2>
+
+<h3>MRS. MILLARD DEPARTS</h3>
+
+
+<p>Relieved and thankful though Miss Virginia felt, and confident, too,
+that she and Charlotte would now get on very well together, she still
+had something on her mind. The feeling that she was concealing
+something from her sister weighed upon her, but not so heavily as her
+sense of obligation to the shopkeepers. In her agitation she had
+hardly thanked Miss Pennington; and the more she considered it, the
+more remarkable their kindness and thoughtfulness appeared. Would
+Caroline call it officiousness?</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Millard had gone so far as to acknowledge the shopkeepers
+<i>seemed</i> to be persons of refinement, and their effort to make a
+living was, of course, creditable; but she feared they did not quite
+know their position. Perhaps they were from some small town, where
+social distinctions were overlooked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps they are well born, but have lost their money and have to do
+something," Miss Virginia suggested, thinking that the manners of the
+young women in question were not in the least rustic.</p>
+
+<p>Ignoring this her sister continued: "It is quite evident to my mind
+that they are pushing. Why else should they have come into a
+neighborhood like this, instead of going where they belong, among
+other shops? They evidently hope for some social recognition, and this
+is why I lay stress upon not giving them our patronage in any respect.
+I see plainly they will leave no stone unturned to ingratiate
+themselves."</p>
+
+<p>Did this account for Charlotte's rescue? Miss Virginia shivered at the
+thought. It had seemed to her the extreme of neighborly kindness. One
+thing was certain,&mdash;Miss Carpenter had not invented the occasion. Had
+she seized it in the hope of advancing her own interests? Miss
+Virginia felt this was silly.</p>
+
+<p>How friendly and helpful Miss Pennington had seemed! Could a
+commonplace, pushing young woman have so won Miss Virginia's heart?
+She lay awake at night thinking about it, wondering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> how she could
+suitably express her gratitude and at the same time preserve a distant
+dignity. In the silence and darkness all sorts of dreadful
+possibilities floated through her mind. Perhaps these harmless-looking
+young women were adventuresses, come into the neighborhood with some
+deep scheme, and the attractive shop as a blind. They might be
+burglars. One read of astonishing things done by women in these days.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia felt impatient over this new problem, and her irritation
+caused a display of unusual spirit when her sister began to give her
+parting instructions.</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better send the drawing-room curtains to Lucinda in January,"
+said that lady, thoughtfully, balancing her pencil above the pad on
+her knee. "I have made a list&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"It is quite unnecessary, Caroline," interrupted Miss Virginia; "I
+kept house for a good many years without you, and you can't expect to
+run things here while you are in California."</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me, Virginia, you use very unbecoming expressions. I have
+no desire to <i>run things;</i> I only supposed you would be glad of a few
+suggestions."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I am sure I don't wish to be rude, but I will be frank and tell you,
+Caroline, that I mean to do as I please while you are away."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Millard gazed at her in surprise. "Why, Virginia, one would
+suppose you had been a captive in chains! Very well, I wash my hands
+of it all,&mdash;only," relapsing into a tone of pathetic reproach, "you do
+such singular things at times, you know."</p>
+
+<p>She was manifestly shaken by this declaration of independence, but she
+was committed to her older sister. It was too late to change her
+plans. She ventured one parting injunction. "Pray, Virginia, do not
+patronize the shop. Let me beg of you, if you have any regard for me."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>In Mrs. Millard's sudden departure the Terrace naturally felt an
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>"So Caroline's going to leave us," Judge Russell remarked at the
+breakfast table. "We shall be free to do as we please this winter.
+I'll have that poplar set out in February."</p>
+
+<p>"Aren't you ashamed, grandfather!" laughed Madelaine. "As if you had
+not strength of mind to do as you like."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The judge smiled as he stirred his coffee. "Caroline is a forceful
+woman; and then, too, she is generally right. It may be, as she says,
+the tree will not grow, but I want to try it."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder she is willing to leave Virginia all the responsibility of
+Charlotte. She is such a headstrong child, and so northern," said Mrs.
+Russell.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, mother," expostulated Alexina, "isn't that dreadfully narrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"What harm is there in liking your own part of the country best?"
+asked her sister.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not mean any such thing," cried Alex. "I only insist that no
+locality has the monopoly of nice people."</p>
+
+<p>"But some peculiarities are northern and some are southern, and I
+don't see that it is narrow to prefer one sort above the other,"
+Madelaine persisted. "How can Mrs. Millard make up her mind to leave
+the shop?" she continued. "Miss Sarah has gone over to the enemy, and
+Alex is going."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't understand about that shop," said her grandfather, not for
+the first time, by any means. "I told you about that young lady who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+so kindly picked up my books,&mdash;a most intelligent person, and as
+pretty as&mdash;as Madelaine." This with a smile at his youngest
+granddaughter.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is another conversion," laughed Madelaine.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't understand about the shop," the judge repeated.</p>
+
+<p>"Why isn't keeping a shop just as respectable as teaching or keeping
+boarders?" asked Alex. She had in truth been strongly attracted to
+Miss Pennington that evening at Miss Wilbur's, and had a secret desire
+to see more of her.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Wayland Leigh brought the news of Mrs. Millard's proposed departure to
+his two aunts. He had it from Madelaine Russell.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you could have such a trip, Sarah," said Mrs. Leigh. "It would
+do you a world of good. As Aunt Nancy used to say, you are so thin you
+have to stand up twice to cast a shadow."</p>
+
+<p>"Caroline is going from a sense of duty, you may be sure. And what
+would my boarders do while I was skylarking in California?" her niece
+demanded. This was a mild joke, for the boarders had not as yet
+materialized.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I wish you would give up that idea, Aunt Sarah," growled Wayland.</p>
+
+<p>"You agree with Mrs. Millard, I suppose. She thinks it involves the
+whole Terrace in a downward step. But what am I to do? Caroline
+assured me she could secure the position of matron at the Children's
+Home for me, but what would you and Aunt Sally do then, poor things?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it is easy to laugh&mdash;" began Wayland.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it? Then I wish you would favor us sometimes, my dear nephew."</p>
+
+<p>"I was going to say," continued Wayland, with dignity, "that it was
+easy to make fun of Mrs. Millard, but she is my idea of an elegant
+woman."</p>
+
+<p>"Far be it from me to deny Caroline's elegance. I am often proud to
+know her. I believe there could be no emergency great enough to make
+her say 'hello!' over the telephone, and I saw her on one occasion put
+up her lorgnette when she answered a call."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Sarah," said Mrs. Leigh, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>The two ladies talked on about neighborhood affairs, but Wayland paid
+little heed, being<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> absorbed in his own thoughts. He was in an
+impatient and critical mood. What he considered his aunt's oddity
+annoyed him. He wished she would dress like other people,&mdash;meaning
+Mrs. Millard. He was twenty years old, and was working in a bank for
+fifty dollars a month, with small chance of promotion. He had wished
+to go to college,&mdash;not so much, however, as his aunt had wished it for
+him,&mdash;but now this was overshadowed by the ambition to be rich. And
+all for Madelaine. Sometimes he fiercely resolved that he <i>would</i> be
+rich; and again he lost heart at the thought that lovely, dainty
+Madelaine was certain to find another palace long before his was
+built. Her frank worldliness did not weaken his adoration, strange to
+say.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER FIFTEENTH</h2>
+
+<h3>GIANT DESPAIR</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Miss Norah, I am afraid Miss Marion is falling back." Susanna stood
+in the doorway, a tea towel in one hand, a cup in the other.</p>
+
+<p>Norah, who was putting in order certain shelves before the day's work
+began, asked, "Why do you think so, Susanna?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Miss Norah, I caught her walking around the house with her eyes
+shut, feeling her way like she was trying to get used to it." Susanna
+advanced and spoke in a whisper, "And she hasn't had a smile for
+anybody this last day or two. Haven't you noticed it?"</p>
+
+<p>"To tell the truth, I have, Susanna; but, after all, it is not
+unnatural. The excitement of getting settled and beginning work made
+her forget, and now the novelty is wearing off she has, as you say,
+slipped back. All this rain and fog is in itself depressing. Don't
+worry, Susanna.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> Hasn't everything I promised you come true up till
+now?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose so, Miss Norah," was the reluctant answer.</p>
+
+<p>"Then don't worry, and I'll let you keep shop this afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>Where the shop was concerned, Susanna was like a child; and nothing
+pleased her more than to be left in charge for an hour or so. Her own
+domain, the three bedrooms, dining room, and kitchen, she kept in
+spotless order, creating the daintiest repasts as if by magic, and
+seeming always to have time to spare.</p>
+
+<p>She went back to her dishes, and Norah worked away with a thoughtful
+frown. Presently Marion entered and dropped into a chair with a weary
+sigh. "It is a horrid day," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"There is a bit of blue in the west; by afternoon it may be pleasant,"
+Norah responded.</p>
+
+<p>When one is immersed in gloom, the sight of determined cheerfulness is
+irritating. So Marion found it.</p>
+
+<p>"The air is so heavy one can hardly breathe," she went on. "I believe
+I'll let Susanna attend to the plants; I am tired."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I have time to do it," said Norah, closing the door of the case.</p>
+
+<p>Marion rose impatiently. "You shall not touch them. If Susanna cannot
+do them, I will."</p>
+
+<p>"Susanna would cut off her hand if you asked it; but I know she has
+more than usual to do this morning, and we agreed the shop was to be
+our part. I am not in the least tired. Please, Marion!" Norah stood
+between her and the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well. I shall attend to it myself," and Marion swept by her.</p>
+
+<p>"O dear!" sighed Norah, "I feel like a tyrant; but she must not give
+up."</p>
+
+<p>Marion returned presently and began washing the palms and clipping
+away the dead leaves. She worked listlessly, her face wore an
+expression of deep melancholy.</p>
+
+<p>A diversion was created by the entrance of James Mandeville. He had
+been kept in several days by a cold, and the joy of release radiated
+from his small person.</p>
+
+<p>"Mammy says she reckons the sun's going to shine by and by, so she let
+me come," he announced.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Mammy and I are of the same opinion, then," said Norah, helping him
+off with his coat. "Can't you think of something to cheer Miss Marion?
+She is very tired of this rainy weather."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll sing her a song, that's what I'll do," James Mandeville cried
+eagerly. "You wait."</p>
+
+<p>He disappeared into the next room, where presently his voice was heard
+uplifted in "Onward, Christian Soldiers," and if the tune was a trifle
+uncertain, nothing was lacking in spirit. Through the open door he
+marched, holding the morning paper before him, and proceeding the
+length of the shop.</p>
+
+<div class='center'>
+"One in hope of <i>doctor</i>, one in <i>cherry tree</i>,"<br />
+</div>
+
+<div class='unindent'>he proclaimed lustily.</div>
+
+<p>Even Marion must smile a little at this.</p>
+
+<p>"It is beautiful," said Norah, "though I don't quite understand it. I
+seem to feel a sort of connection between the doctor and the cherry
+tree, too."</p>
+
+<p>"There's a heap more of verses," James Mandeville assured her. "Do you
+feel better?" This to Marion.</p>
+
+<p>Who could resist? She laughed as she drew him to her and kissed him.
+"I am cross this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> morning, and you are a nice boy to sing for me. I
+make life very hard for Miss Norah. Suppose you go tell her I am
+sorry."</p>
+
+<p>James Mandeville trotted off obediently to find Norah, who had left
+the room a moment before. Marion, having finished with the plants, was
+absently looking out of the window when the door opened with a jerk
+and some one bounced into the shop. Turning with a start, she
+recognized the personage Norah called Giant Despair.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?&mdash;" he began, then paused and stared about in
+bewilderment. "Where am I?" he demanded; and as Marion advanced he
+removed his hat, displaying a massive head covered with shaggy gray
+hair.</p>
+
+<p>"We call this the Pleasant Street Shop," she answered.</p>
+
+<p>"See here&mdash;I thought it was the plumber's. I am getting so blind I
+shall soon have to be led around. So you call this a shop? Does it
+belong to you? For I can tell you now you have made a mistake in
+coming here." His voice was gruff, and as he spoke he peered this way
+and that, as if to get some idea of his surroundings.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"If we can't make a success here, we will go elsewhere, but we are
+doing very well," Marion said, "The plumber is on the next block."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that now. I am not losing my mind as well as my sight."</p>
+
+<p>Something impelled Marion to say, "I am sorry about your eyes. Can't
+something be done?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sorry? How can you be sorry? Nobody knows anything about it who
+hasn't tried it."</p>
+
+<p>"I have lived in constant fear of blindness for a year." Marion seldom
+spoke of her eyes, but the sight of trouble like her own broke down
+her usual reticence.</p>
+
+<p>The old man softened. "You have? A young thing like you?" He peered at
+her in his intent way. "I guess you have grit," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Not much," she answered. "But my eyes are better, they tell me. Time
+will show. Can't something be done for yours?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, they are going to operate on the right one in the spring,
+but it is not likely to do any good; and then I shall have just half
+an eye left."</p>
+
+<p>Norah and James Mandeville now entered unobserved.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I have got to row up that plumber," Giant Despair continued, looking
+at his hat. "As I told you, I don't approve of a shop in this
+neighborhood, but I don't see anything that looks like one. Good day,"
+and with a grim smile he went out more quietly than he had entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Who would ever have expected a visit from Giant Despair?" cried
+Norah, "and he seems to have a bit of humor about him, too."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry for him. He looks as if he had no one to take care of him,
+and he is nearly blind, as you can tell," said Marion.</p>
+
+<p>When Mammy Belle came for her charge at noon, Marion asked her if she
+knew anything about old Mr. Goodman.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes'm," answered Belle, "I knows him, Miss Marion," smoothing her
+apron.</p>
+
+<p>"Does he live alone in that big house on the Terrace?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes'm, and he's mighty rich and crusty. He don't waste no pleasant
+words, and he don't waste no money. Law, Miss Marion, he's got rusty
+dollars layin' up in bank."</p>
+
+<p>"Rusty dollars?" repeated Norah.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes, honey, been layin' thar so long they's rusty. Get up offen the
+floor, James Mandeville. You won't have no skin on your knees, fust
+you knows."</p>
+
+<p>"Then will I have to be born again to get some?" inquired the small
+boy, sitting back on his heels to consider the matter.</p>
+
+<p>"Law, chile, what you talkin' 'bout? You mus' think you's
+Nickorydemus! Miss Norah's settin' there laughin' at you. Come 'long
+home with mammy."</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't there a delightful variousness about our neighborhood?" said
+Norah. "Do you see that sun? Tell me I am not a prophet!"</p>
+
+<p>"You are an angel to put up with me," sighed Marion, but her face was
+no longer gloomy.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been constructing a grab-bag, and you shall have the first
+grab;" and Norah brought out a bag made of rainbow ribbons. "This is
+outwardly symbolic of the cheer within. The principle on which it
+works is simple. Whenever I find a consoling sentiment, I write it on
+a card and drop it in, then when I am low in my mind, I take one out.
+Help yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"What an absurd person you are!" said Marion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> obediently putting her
+hand in and drawing out a card. She read:&mdash;</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Cleave ever to the sunnier side of doubt">
+<tr><td align='left'>"Cleave ever to the sunnier side of doubt,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And cling to faith."</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br />Norah looked over her shoulder. "That is good, isn't it?"</div>
+
+<p>Marion caught her hand. "You preacher," she said, adding, "I accept
+it, dear, and I'll try." The visit of Giant Despair seemed the
+culmination of Marion's depression. It was Saturday afternoon, and
+leaving Susanna in charge, they set out on an exploring expedition in
+the mood of two light-hearted children.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER SIXTEENTH</h2>
+
+<h3>CHARLOTTE</h3>
+
+
+<p>With the departure of Mrs. Millard a season of repose came to the
+Terrace. Charlotte and Miss Virginia actually found life a little tame
+after the excitement, for their neighbors were just then absorbed in
+their own affairs.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Sarah and her aunt had some new boarders on which to expend time
+and thought, and Alexina was living a life of rigid usefulness,
+studying shorthand in secret and helping with the house work, for the
+Russell mansion was large and servants not numerous. She also made
+dainty things for that radiant butterfly Madelaine. Alex was a born
+milliner, but she rather despised her gift, even while acknowledging
+its usefulness.</p>
+
+<p>The fame of the corner shop was spreading abroad till it was in a fair
+way to become fashionable. Charlotte, from her window where she
+studied, could see people passing in and out, and not infrequently a
+carriage stood before the door.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> Sometimes she would forget her lesson
+in the interest of recalling her evening visit there. How cheery and
+cosey it had looked in the lamplight! Should she ever see it again?
+Miss Pennington bowed and smiled in a friendly way when they
+occasionally met, Miss Carpenter she had not seen again.</p>
+
+<p>It occurred to Charlotte quite suddenly one day that it was something
+of a coincidence that there should be a Miss Carpenter across the
+street here, and while she was thinking about it she was called down
+to see&mdash;of all persons!&mdash;her guardian. Having business in the South,
+Mr. Landor had made it convenient to stop over a day or two.</p>
+
+<p>She was so glad to see him she came near crying, a most unusual thing
+for Charlotte, and her guardian eyed her closely as she drew him into
+the library and seated herself on an ottoman beside his chair. Miss
+Wilbur was out, and there was nothing to interrupt them.</p>
+
+<p>With her elbow on the arm of his chair, and her chin in her hand as
+she looked up at him, Charlotte at first had a dozen questions to ask
+concerning Cousin Frank and Mrs. Wellington, and Spruce Street affairs
+generally. But after a little,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> Uncle Landor began to ask the
+questions, and then came the confession.</p>
+
+<p>She unfolded the whole story, trying not to spare herself, though
+unable to conceal some resentment against Aunt Caroline. Mr. Landor
+listened in grave silence, and continued to look at her thoughtfully
+after she had finished. Charlotte's eyes fell under his scrutiny, but
+she quickly lifted them again.</p>
+
+<p>"Was I deceitful? I did not mean to be."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;but I tried to tell."</p>
+
+<p>"Things were rather against you, Charlotte. I like to see you loyal.
+Do you still think this girl the sort of friend you care to have?"</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte hung her head. "I don't know," she faltered. The truth was,
+Lucile's excess of devotion was beginning to grow tiresome. There were
+other of her schoolmates who, she could not help seeing, were more
+desirable as friends, but they now held aloof. It was hard to
+acknowledge that Aunt Caroline had been at least partly right.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Landor lifted the downcast face, and his gaze was kindly. "I
+believe you are learning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> your lesson, little girl, but it has been a
+sharp one. It is always a mistake not to be straightforward. In all
+your life I fear you have never truly learned to obey. You are fast
+growing up now, and the responsibility will rest more and more upon
+yourself. Are you going to listen to the voice that speaks in your
+heart, and obey when the conflict comes?" He laid his hand on the
+brown head. "In spite of it all, you have improved, Charlotte."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean my hair?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you done anything to your hair? I didn't know; it is very pretty
+hair. No, you have grown more gentle and womanly."</p>
+
+<p>"I am happy with Aunt Virginia. She is a dear, and I feel so ashamed
+and sorry when I think how she would have felt if I had run away.
+Uncle Landor, is it that voice you spoke of&mdash;in our hearts&mdash;that makes
+us feel so dreadfully ashamed sometimes?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose we may say it is in this instance. It is the judgment of
+the higher self upon the lower self."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Landor was a reserved and somewhat silent man, and never before
+had he talked to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> Charlotte just as he did this afternoon. Till now
+she had been only a child to be petted or reproved. To-day he gently
+pointed out her faults, showed her how from now on it rested largely
+with herself what she would make of her life; he spoke of the guiding
+voice that all may hear who listen and who keep their hearts pure and
+loving, and last of all he put into her hand a little pocket
+Testament, in which he said he had marked certain things which had
+served him as guide-posts on the way, and might help her.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte was touched and pleased, and took the book with a very
+earnest promise to read it and follow its guidance.</p>
+
+<p>After this they went on to talk of other matters. Charlotte pointed
+out the shop over the way, and gave an account of the neighborhood
+which showed such a keen appreciation of individual foibles, that her
+guardian found himself laughing heartily.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Landor, I wish you would ask Aunt Virginia to let me go to the
+shop," she said. "I liked Miss Carpenter and Miss Pennington so much,
+and they were very good to me."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Landor spent several days in town, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> before he left, Miss
+Virginia herself asked his opinion as to the proper attitude toward
+the shopkeepers.</p>
+
+<p>"They did me a great service, and in the excitement of that evening I
+cannot recall thanking Miss Pennington. I went into the shop the day
+after Caroline left, meaning to give some expression to my gratitude,
+but both the young women were out. I feel uncomfortable about it. I
+can't think as Caroline does, that they are trying to force themselves
+upon our notice. They really seem to be ladies. What would you
+advise?"</p>
+
+<p>A smile illumined Mr. Landor's usually grave countenance at Miss
+Wilbur's earnestness.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a thrifty-looking little shop," he said; "Charlotte pointed it
+out to me. And I should say, Miss Virginia, that you are perfectly
+safe in following your own instincts in the matter. To suppose their
+motives in helping Charlotte other than kindly seems to me both
+ungracious and absurd. You say they appear to be ladies. They probably
+are, but however that may be, you and Charlotte and I owe them our
+thanks."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia told Charlotte afterward that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> she was greatly relieved.
+"For Philadelphia people are not likely to go too far in a matter of
+this kind. Then, too, Mr. Landor is a man, and able to judge whether
+they could possibly be dangerous persons."</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte opened her eyes. "How could they be dangerous?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my dear, they might be burglars, come to spy out the
+neighborhood, with the shop for a blind."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Aunt Virginia!" laughed Charlotte.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure I have read of such things," the lady insisted stoutly.</p>
+
+<p>Not long after this Charlotte received a letter from Cousin Francis.</p>
+
+<p>"Father tells me you have been having your own troubles, little Char,"
+he wrote. "Well, keep up a good heart and work hard. This is what I am
+doing just now. Things have not gone my way at all, but in spite of it
+I am going to try to do something worth while this winter. I often
+wish you were here to be my admiring critic."</p>
+
+<p>A letter came from Mrs. Wellington also, relating chiefly to a package
+Aunt Cora had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> commissioned her to send, but at the end she said:
+"Perhaps you will be interested to know the Carpenter house is closed.
+Miss May has gone away&mdash;not to be home for a year, they say&mdash;so if you
+were here, you could not watch for her as you used to do."</p>
+
+<p>Was it on account of Miss Carpenter that things were not going Cousin
+Frank's way? Charlotte wondered, and began to think once more of the
+rose that was out of reach.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH</h2>
+
+<h3>AN EVENING CALL</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Alex, I am glad to see you. I was about to send Martha over for you;
+I am alone this evening. How very nice you look!"</p>
+
+<p>It was an understood thing that if Alex had no other engagement, she
+was to take supper at the Wilburs' on Fridays. She stood before Miss
+Virginia pulling off her long gloves, looking indeed unusually
+handsome in a gown of pale gray and a plumy black hat, which she had
+made herself with a sort of reluctant pleasure in its becomingness.</p>
+
+<p>"I simply had to go to the Burtons'," she explained. "Madelaine was
+receiving, and mother insisted if I never went anywhere, people would
+begin to say she pushed me into the background and showed partiality.
+There is no arguing with her when she is in that state of mind, so I
+went."</p>
+
+<p>"And enjoyed it, I am sure," said Miss Virginia.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> "I suppose I should
+have gone if Caroline had been at home, but to tell the truth, I
+forgot it. Charlotte was asked to a party,&mdash;one of her
+schoolmates,&mdash;and I was interested in seeing her dressed. I am glad
+the child is to have a little diversion; she has been as good as gold
+lately."</p>
+
+<p>"I am certain you will not have any more trouble with her; Charlotte
+is a nice child," Alex replied with a half sigh. She felt that
+Charlotte had never quite forgiven her for her severity, and that
+Madelaine without any effort or care had won the place she had meant
+to hold in the little girl's regard.</p>
+
+<p>Madelaine occasionally joined the Friday tea-party; to fascinate was
+as natural to her as to breathe, and Charlotte had been quickly won.</p>
+
+<p>"You look sweet with your hair back," Madelaine had said, loosening
+the waves about Charlotte's forehead with fairy touches. "It was too
+extreme before. We could hardly see your eyes, and they are too pretty
+to hide."</p>
+
+<p>Silly flattery, Alex thought, but she knew Charlotte would never
+return to the old way.</p>
+
+<p>As she poured the coffee, Miss Virginia told<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> Alex about Mr. Landor's
+visit and his decision in regard to the shopkeepers. "I was so
+surprised," she concluded, "for Philadelphians are so exclusive, you
+know."</p>
+
+<p>"I think he is sensible. I wish one could do the natural, simple thing
+always," sighed Alex, "without thinking of dignity or position. It
+might be much more entertaining to associate with persons whose social
+position was different from one's own."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think so, Alex? If it were done generally, there would not be
+any social positions, would there?" Miss Virginia spoke as one who
+faced a deep problem.</p>
+
+<p>"It would be heaven," answered Alex; adding, "suppose we go this
+evening."</p>
+
+<p>"Alex! will you go with me? I am so relieved."</p>
+
+<p>Later it appeared that unsuspected difficulties lurked in the
+seemingly simple matter of an evening call.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I take a card?" Miss Virginia paused on the stairway to
+inquire. "It is not quite an ordinary call, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"I should take one if I were you; and let<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> me put my name on it," Alex
+answered, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>On the porch Miss Wilbur paused again. "Shall we ask them to come to
+see us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Need we mention it at all? Let them do as they see fit."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course. You are very sensible, Alex." Miss Virginia sighed.</p>
+
+<p>At the gate there was another delay. "I am afraid your mother will not
+like it. I don't want to lead you into mischief, Alex."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Miss Virginia, I proposed going with you, and I am going whether
+you go or not," and Alex linked her arm in her friend's, and drew her
+toward the corner.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what Caroline <i>would</i> say; but then, she does not know
+the circumstances." After this remark, they crossed the street in
+silence, broken only by another sigh from Miss Virginia, as Alex
+touched the bell.</p>
+
+<p>The maid who admitted them showed some surprise, but ushered them
+toward a half-open door at the end of the small hallway, Miss Wilbur's
+card in her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll just refer the matter to the <i>rich</i> Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> Carpenter," a
+laughing voice was announcing as they entered a room, the first
+impression of which was that of a pleasant library, with its shaded
+lamps, open fire, and happy mingling of books and work; a second
+glance showed it to be simply the shop in evening dress.</p>
+
+<p>The voice belonged to Miss Pennington who now came forward with a
+cordial greeting, and presented Alex and Miss Virginia to her friend,
+Miss Carpenter. Miss Carpenter's manner was somewhat distant in
+contrast, but seen without the disfiguring glasses she usually wore,
+Alex found her unexpectedly handsome.</p>
+
+<p>"I have wanted so much to have an opportunity to thank you," Miss
+Virginia began, an evident victim to a terrible fit of shyness. "I
+came one afternoon, but you were out. You were both so kind to my
+niece," she looked at Miss Carpenter.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg you not to think of it again. It was nothing at all. I happened
+to be at the station, and seeing how frightened she was, went to her
+rescue." Miss Carpenter spoke as one who dismissed a trivial matter.</p>
+
+<p>"We were so interested in her," put in Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> Pennington. "It occurred
+to Miss Carpenter that it might be possible to avoid the trying ordeal
+of explanations, so she brought her here to talk it over."</p>
+
+<p>"Charlotte is a dear child," said Miss Virginia, "and all the trouble
+is over now." Then she added with a sudden accession of
+self-possession: "It may seem a small matter to you, Miss Carpenter,
+but perhaps you can understand it would have been a most serious and
+unhappy thing for me if the child had carried out her plan. I can't be
+thankful enough."</p>
+
+<p>"I do see it, and I am very glad that, by a happy accident, I was able
+to be of service." Miss Carpenter's manner changed, her tone was soft,
+her smile winning. Alex, who was playing the part of spectator,
+suddenly warmed to her.</p>
+
+<p>"I met your grandfather several weeks ago, Miss Russell," said Miss
+Pennington, turning to her. "He had an armful of books, and seemed to
+think I had done him a wonderful favor in picking up two he dropped in
+getting out of the car."</p>
+
+<p>"He told me," Alex answered. "He was so pleased that you appreciated
+the value of his find."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And he was so disappointed when he found I kept a shop," laughed
+Norah.</p>
+
+<p>Alex smiled and flushed. "Grandfather has old-fashioned ideas about
+women supporting themselves, and then, too, the neighborhood was
+rather opposed to having a shop built here."</p>
+
+<p>"I know," answered Miss Pennington, "but as it is here we flatter
+ourselves nothing could be less objectionable than <i>our</i> shop."</p>
+
+<p>"You are undoubtedly winning us over. It seems to me a delightful
+occupation, but I suppose it is not so easy and pleasant as it looks."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it is work, but we find it pleasant. For several years I
+taught, but to keep a store has always been my ambition since I was
+three years old, and I at last persuaded my friend to join me in an
+experiment."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't make all your lovely baskets, surely?" Alex asked, her eyes
+on the strings of raphia and an unfinished basket that lay on the
+table.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no. It is work Miss Carpenter can do at times,&mdash;her eyes allow
+very little of any sort,&mdash;but most of our stock comes from a Mothers'
+Club in a settlement in which we are both interested. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> lived there
+for a time. You can't think how much it has meant to those women. They
+bring their babies with them, and they sing while they work, and the
+babies sleep or are entertained by their surroundings. Many of the
+patterns are original, and they have developed a wonderful sense for
+color and form in some instances."</p>
+
+<p>"How interesting!" exclaimed Alex. "I don't see how you ever happened
+to come to a stupid town like this."</p>
+
+<p>"Our pottery has a history, too. It is designed and decorated by two
+young women, and it has taken very well wherever it has been
+exhibited. But I do not mean to go on talking shop all the evening,"
+and Norah paused with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I like to hear about it. It has been such a puzzle to me to know what
+I could do to support myself. There seemed to be nothing but teaching
+or stenography, and I should hate both, I am afraid."</p>
+
+<p>"If possible, do the thing you like to do, is my theory. There are a
+good many fields in these days, and still in almost any paper you can
+find a young lady who wishes to be a companion and is willing to
+travel."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Alex laughed. Miss Virginia was rising, and she reluctantly followed
+her example. "May I come again sometime?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>While Miss Wilbur and Alex were talking over their call, Charlotte
+came in in a flutter of gayety, her checks matching her rose-colored
+ribbons.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I could have gone with you," she said when she had heard of
+the visit. "Did they say anything about me?"</p>
+
+<p>"You were mentioned," her aunt replied, pinching her cheek; and
+adding, "they are certainly very pleasant young women."</p>
+
+<p>"They are charming," said Alex.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if this Miss Carpenter could be any relation to the one who
+lives across the street from Uncle Landor?" said Charlotte.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you hear what Miss Pennington was saying when we went in, Miss
+Virginia?" asked Alex.</p>
+
+<p>"It was something about the rich Miss Carpenter, wasn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>My</i> Miss Carpenter is rich," said Charlotte, and she related the
+romance, almost forgotten of late, which she had built upon Aunt
+Cora's remarks about the little portrait and upon Mrs. Wellington's
+stories.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"She is the granddaughter of Peter Carpenter," Miss Virginia said. "I
+have often heard my father speak of him. They were college mates. He
+was very rich and rather peculiar. He had a half-sister much younger
+than himself who once visited here on her way South. She and my oldest
+sister, Georgiana, were friends and used to correspond, but that was
+years and years ago. Mr. Carpenter&mdash;for some reason he was always
+called Peter&mdash;had only one child, a son, who was killed in a railroad
+disaster, probably twenty years ago. Your Miss Carpenter, Charlotte,
+must be his daughter."</p>
+
+<p>"Carpenter is a common name; there may be a number of rich Miss
+Carpenters," said Alex, "but it would be a little odd if they should
+turn out to be connected in any way."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think they cared to talk about themselves," continued Miss
+Virginia, referring to the shopkeepers. "I am sure Caroline was wrong
+when she called them pushing."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ADVENTURES OF A BIRTHDAY CAKE</h3>
+
+
+<p>In a great, handsome, dreary room sat Giant Despair. The December day
+was damp and cheerless, and the coal fire in the ugly old-fashioned
+grate beneath the elaborate marble mantel burned in a grudging,
+spiritless way. Above the uncurtained windows, with their shutters
+thrown wide upon a view of moist, bare garden, the heavy gilt cornices
+seemed to frown. Giant Despair was frowning as he searched in a
+massive black walnut secretary for a missing paper.</p>
+
+<p>Things had gone wrong to-day. His housekeeper who knew his ways was
+absent on her annual vacation, and for the carelessness and stupidity
+of the servants he could find no adequate words. In truth he had
+exhausted his vocabulary early in the day, and now was reduced to
+inarticulate growls.</p>
+
+<p>Against one of the maids in particular his anger burned. He had
+mislaid a paper brought to him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> the evening before by his business
+agent; and now that it could not be found, the luckless maid was
+accused of making way with it.</p>
+
+<p>She was a Swiss girl with a meek manner and eyes that belied it. Giant
+Despair could not see the eyes, and the manner annoyed him.</p>
+
+<p>"If you please,&mdash;did you this day order a birthday cake?"</p>
+
+<p>"What? Order what?" cried Giant Despair, turning in great rage to face
+the unfortunate maid.</p>
+
+<p>She stood her ground. "A cake,&mdash;white, with candles of pink."</p>
+
+<p>"Did I order a pink cake? What do you mean by asking such a question?
+You know I didn't." His frown was terrible.</p>
+
+<p>"Candles of pink," corrected the girl, and holding up her hand she
+counted, "One, two, three, four, five."</p>
+
+<p>"What is the woman talking about?" demanded Giant Despair.</p>
+
+<p>"De con-fectionaire man bring it. He say it vas for here. He comes not
+back."</p>
+
+<p>"Then telephone him to send for it at once. Why do you come bothering
+me about it?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"We know not who sends it."</p>
+
+<p>"Bring the thing here and let me see what you are talking about."</p>
+
+<p>The maid retired, returning presently carrying a small cake covered
+with an elaborate white icing, and further decorated, as has been
+said, with five pink candles. This she set upon the desk, and, a gleam
+of&mdash;was it malice or mischief? in her eyes, slipped away.</p>
+
+<p>"Humph!" growled Giant Despair, peering at the strange object, even
+resorting to his big magnifying glass that he might see it the better.</p>
+
+<p>An innocent, saucy little cake, it was a wonder it did not shrivel and
+disappear amid those strange surroundings, beneath that unfriendly
+gaze.</p>
+
+<p>Could this be a joke some one was playing on him? Giant Despair
+wondered. But who thought enough about him even for that?</p>
+
+<p>"Take it away," he commanded; but Annie had vanished, and so the cake
+had a chance to tell its story.</p>
+
+<p>In this gloomy, tiresome world, somebody was five years old to-day.
+Not very much of a story, but somehow it impressed Giant Despair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>
+strangely. He leaned back in his chair, his frown relaxing a trifle.</p>
+
+<p>He did not care for children; they were meddlesome and noisy. He waged
+continual warfare against certain naughty boys on Pleasant Street,
+who, divining his dislike, resorted to all sorts of teasing tricks.
+They carried off his door-mat, unhinged his gate, favored him with
+uncomplimentary valentines, and robbed his grape arbor,&mdash;each in its
+season.</p>
+
+<p>So far as this went, however, he could not be called a favorite with
+older persons. In the large drug company where he was still senior
+partner he was held responsible for the policy of extorting just as
+much work as possible for just as little pay.</p>
+
+<p>Persons of forbidding countenances are fated to be harshly judged; and
+the sins of others may have been laid at his door sometimes; but while
+his defective sight might be the cause of his frown, it remained that
+Giant Despair seldom spoke a kindly word.</p>
+
+<p>The sympathy of that young woman in the shop, into which he stumbled
+by mistake, had touched him. She <i>knew</i>. It was not pity,&mdash;that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> he
+despised,&mdash;but a sort of fellowship in misfortune, and he had seized
+upon it hungrily, even while he called himself a fool. Perhaps it was
+this slight but softening experience which made possible to-day the
+faint regret that a little child was to be disappointed about this
+cake.</p>
+
+<p>Such feelings could not find a harbor for long in that impatient
+breast. Becoming aware of sounds in the hall, Giant Despair strode
+across the room and flung open the door, intending to demand the
+instant removal of the cake. He was confronted by a small boy in a red
+coat and cap who cried excitedly, "Has you got my birfday cake?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hey? So it is yours, is it? And who are you?"</p>
+
+<p>But its owner had caught sight of it through the open door; and
+pushing past Giant Despair, he lifted up his voice in a p&aelig;an of joy.
+"It's here! it's here! it's here!" he cried, standing before the desk
+with clasped hands and uplifted eyes, like a worshipper before a
+shrine. "Somebody give it to me! It's mine!"</p>
+
+<p>"Where did that child come from?" asked Giant Despair, as he spoke
+becoming aware of the presence of some one else in the hall.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I brought him, Mr. Goodman. It is Miss Carpenter of the shop." Marion
+advanced. "It is James Mandeville Norton, a small friend of ours, to
+whom we had promised a birthday cake. He was on the watch for it and
+was quite sure he saw it carried in here, and to pacify him I ventured
+to come and inquire."</p>
+
+<p>If Giant Despair could ever be said to be affable he became so at this
+moment, to the evident astonishment of Annie, the maid. She could not
+know of the bond of sympathy that existed between this graceful young
+lady and her surly master.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, how do you do? Come in;&mdash;ridiculous mistake. Glad to find the
+owner," he stammered, offering her a chair. "Fearful weather," he
+added, poking the fire.</p>
+
+<p>"Very Novemberish," Marion agreed, declining the chair. "We won't
+trouble you further," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody <i>please</i> give me my cake. It's mine; I know it's mine."
+James Mandeville's voice betrayed anguish of soul.</p>
+
+<p>"He will let you have it, dear. Mr. Goodman doesn't want it. It was
+brought here by mistake,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> said Marion, reassuringly putting her arm
+around the child.</p>
+
+<p>That any one could see such a cake and not want it was naturally
+beyond James Mandeville's powers of belief. He stood silent, looking
+from Marion to Mr. Goodman.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you can have it. What do I want with it?" asked the old
+man, grimly.</p>
+
+<p>James Mandeville moved forward and slipped his small, soft hand into
+Giant Despair's big, hard one. "I'll tell you," he said, "you can come
+to the party, and I'll let you have a slice of it; and you can help
+blow out the candles."</p>
+
+<p>The little voice was eager, but the confiding touch of the dimpled
+hand did most execution.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be glad to have you, Mr. Goodman," Miss Carpenter said,
+laughing. "The party is to be in the shop, and very select for the
+reason that our circle of friends is limited."</p>
+
+<p>"There's going to be candy," added James Mandeville.</p>
+
+<p>Giant Despair was embarrassed. "Thank you," he said; "I have not been
+to a party for a hundred years, and I am in too bad a humor to-day."
+Then it seemed necessary to explain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> the cause,&mdash;the lost lease that
+had been burned or thrown in the ash barrel.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Carpenter stood beside a table on which lay several large
+volumes; from the leaves of one of them the edge of a folded paper was
+visible. "Could this be it?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Pshaw! I put it there myself. Confound my eyes and my memory!" cried
+the old man.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Of course Giant Despair had no idea of going to the party, yet,
+strange to relate, he went. Miss Sarah Leigh met him striding down the
+street with two long, gray flannel ears and a beady eye visible above
+a bulging overcoat pocket. She turned to look after him, and was much
+amazed to see him disappear presently within the shop.</p>
+
+<p>It was Jack, the flannel donkey, who really won the day. After the
+visitors had left, Giant Despair stumbled over him as he lay forgotten
+on the floor. The strange object was at first puzzling. He turned and
+twisted and felt it, until at length getting the right point of view
+he recognized it to be a donkey.</p>
+
+<p>A toy animal was no less out of place in that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> house than a birthday
+cake. He was going out for his daily walk; he would leave it at the
+shop door. But once at the door he was lost, for James Mandeville
+seized upon him joyfully and would not be denied.</p>
+
+<p>It was Saturday afternoon, and so a half holiday in the shop; and it
+seemed to Giant Despair, as he stumbled in looking anything but
+festive, yet unable to resist his small captor, that there were a
+great many people assembled.</p>
+
+<p>It turned out that the only guest was Charlotte Creston, who had been
+the first to discover James Mandeville bewailing the disappearance of
+his cake before Mr. Goodman's gate, some hours earlier, and after
+trying to console him had taken him back to his friends. This seemed
+to entitle her to an invitation, which she delightedly accepted. Mammy
+Belle and Susanna were there, also, to look on.</p>
+
+<p>It is certain that never before in his life had Giant Despair
+participated in a scene of such childish gayety. He was exceedingly
+gruff and awkward, but no amount of gruffness could dismay James
+Mandeville.</p>
+
+<p>The sight of Giant Despair seated at the small<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> table, personating the
+fifth guest for whom Miss Pennington assured him they had been on the
+lookout, and drinking a cup of tea in lieu of the goodies the young
+host pressed upon him, was one not soon to be forgotten. After a time
+he succumbed to the humor of it, and blew out his candle with the
+rest.</p>
+
+<p>James Mandeville did his best to be entertaining. He sang, and recited
+Mother Goose, after which he climbed on Giant Despair's knee and asked
+for a story.</p>
+
+<p>This was something Giant Despair couldn't do, but he showed the big
+seals on his watch chain, and dropped some bright new five-cent pieces
+into the chubby hand.</p>
+
+<p>The old man walked home in a somewhat dazed condition. He told himself
+roughly that he had turned fool; and yet more than once that evening,
+as he sat by his lonely fireside, he felt again the pressure of James
+Mandeville's warm little body upon his knee and heard the childish
+voice, prompted by Mammy Belle, saying, "Thank you for coming to my
+party, Mr. Goodman."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER NINETEENTH</h2>
+
+<h3>TEA AND TALK</h3>
+
+
+<p>"I used to think if ever I kept a shop there would be a bell on the
+door to jingle cheerily whenever a customer entered." Norah spoke from
+the window where she was occupied in making some changes. Outside the
+rain fell steadily, the terrace gardens had a soaked, dismal look, and
+the street was almost deserted, except for an occasional wagon.</p>
+
+<p>"If it will add to your happiness, we will have it put in; but I doubt
+if you would be able to find one that would ring cheerily,&mdash;they
+usually jangle."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose that depends somewhat on the hearer; however, we must
+confine ourselves for the present to the strict necessities of life.
+Did it ever occur to you, Marion, how the old-fashioned bell is
+passing? When I was a child, the milkmen heralded their approach with
+bells; and maids would appear with bowls and pitchers and have the
+milk measured out to them from large tin cans."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Your youth must have been in the Dark Ages. I never heard of such a
+thing."</p>
+
+<p>"I am often impressed by your ignorance of simple matters. Yesterday,
+out in the southwestern part of this very town, where I went to look
+for a seamstress, I heard again one of those bells rung lustily, and
+there was the tin can, as of old, riding majestically on the front
+seat of the wagon; but probably as a concession to modern prejudice
+the milkman was supplied with bottles, too. Come and tell me what you
+think of my rainy-day window."</p>
+
+<p>Marion crossed the room. "It looks cheerful," she said, "but I hardly
+think it will bring us many customers to-day. It is too bad even for
+James Mandeville."</p>
+
+<p>Norah had ransacked their stock for the brightest draperies, gayest
+baskets, and oddest jars, making of them a sort of barbaric medley not
+ungrateful to the eye, which she regarded with satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," she said, "if we have no customers, I shall have all the more
+time to give to collars. I am sorry I could not find a seamstress. I
+did not dream there would be such a demand."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And there is probably some one who would be glad to do them if we
+only knew," said Marion. "Would it be worth while to advertise?"</p>
+
+<p>Not troubled with much custom, the shopkeepers were working and
+chatting in the south window that afternoon, when Miss Sarah Leigh put
+her head in at the door.</p>
+
+<p>"I hate to come in, I'm so wet," she said; "I'll leave my umbrella
+outside."</p>
+
+<p>"You need not mind," said Norah, rising. "As you see, we have a large
+rubber mat and an umbrella-stand, and this is the first time we have
+needed them."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you. I had to go to the grocery, and as Aunt Sally was out of
+knitting cotton, I dropped in to get some. It is a dreadful day."</p>
+
+<p>Norah pushed a chair to the fire, "Sit down and have a cup of tea.
+Miss Carpenter and I are just going to have some."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Sarah accepted the chair. "I have no business to,&mdash;I have a
+thousand things to do; but this seems a veritable haven of rest."</p>
+
+<p>Susanna now entered, a model of the respectable, elderly maid,
+carrying a tray which she placed before Marion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Another cup please, Susanna," said Marion; and while she poured the
+tea, Norah coaxed the fire into a blaze, remarking that it had fallen
+into the way of sympathizing with the weather.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you in the habit of treating your customers in this fashion?"
+Miss Sarah asked, accepting the cup and helping herself from the plate
+of warm tea-cakes with which Susanna returned.</p>
+
+<p>"This is a reward to rainy-day callers," answered Marion, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you are the most astonishing people I ever came in contact
+with. I hope you don't mind my saying it," Miss Sarah spoke
+confidentially. "I don't mean in respect to tea."</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all," laughed Norah. "We, too, have our impressions of the
+neighborhood."</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't be surprised if you had." Miss Sarah joined in the laugh.
+"Of course it is no secret to you that the neighborhood did not very
+much want you, and the way in which you are winning us over is a
+miracle. Miss Wilbur, Charlotte, Alex, and now you have captured Mr.
+Goodman. Charlotte told me about the party. How do you do it?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It has all come about through the merest accident," Marion explained.</p>
+
+<p>"Such accidents don't happen to everybody. I think you practise
+witchcraft."</p>
+
+<p>"James Mandeville and the birthday cake captured Giant Despair," said
+Norah, the name slipping out before she thought.</p>
+
+<p>"So that is what you call him! Have you named us all? It suits him,
+too; but poor man, he has had his troubles, as have some of the rest
+of us." Miss Sarah looked meditatively into the fire. "Soon after he
+built his house in the Terrace," she continued, "his daughter, an only
+child, was burned to death. It was a sad thing,&mdash;she was just
+eighteen. Then a nephew whom he adopted turned out a scamp, and now he
+has lost faith in everything."</p>
+
+<p>While she was speaking the shop door opened to admit Alexina and
+Charlotte, rosy and wet from a walk in the rain.</p>
+
+<p>"I want a spool of twist," Charlotte announced merrily.</p>
+
+<p>"Won't a cup of tea do? We are serving that at present," Norah asked.</p>
+
+<p>"How pleasant!" Alex exclaimed as they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> slipped off their wet
+waterproofs. "Are you always cheerful over here?"</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte sought Miss Carpenter's side. "I like tea," she said, the
+blue eyes showing, however, a fondness for something more than that
+innocent beverage. Just now this young lady had a profound fascination
+for her. Miss Alex and Aunt Virginia might prefer Miss Pennington,
+Miss Carpenter had her admiration.</p>
+
+<p>"If you need anything more in the way of cheer, I will bring forth the
+grab-bag," said Norah, as she handed Alex some tea.</p>
+
+<p>"That sounds interesting; do let us have it," begged Miss Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"You will be disappointed," Marion put in, mischievously, while Norah
+went for the rainbow bag. "You expect amusement and get a sermon. Its
+variegated hues give symbolic expression to the truth that 'behind the
+clouds the sun is still shining.'"</p>
+
+<p>"You might add that its existence destroys the pleasing idea that we
+are always cheerful," Miss Pennington added, holding out the bag to
+Alex.</p>
+
+<p>"Am I to take something?" Alex asked; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> putting her hand in, she
+drew out a card. "'If we live truly, we shall see truly,'" she read.
+"But it seems to me it ought to be the other way. If we could see
+truly, we could live truly. It is such a puzzle. Do you think this is
+true? And what does it mean to live truly?"</p>
+
+<p>"You are an animated problem, Alex," Miss Sarah remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a little like something Uncle Landor said to me, that if we try
+to do right and keep our hearts pure, we will hear a voice telling us
+which way to go." Charlotte spoke shyly.</p>
+
+<p>Marion took her hand in a soft clasp, and Norah gave her a friendly
+smile. "Yes," she said, "that is it. I will tell you what it means to
+me. It means that if I go straight on, doing each day the thing that
+comes to me, not allowing myself to become entangled in fears for
+to-morrow, that little by little the path will be made plain to me."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid I want to <i>know</i> where I am going. It might be such a
+waste of time," said Alex.</p>
+
+<p>"Its very simplicity makes it hard, but I believe it is the best way,"
+Norah answered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Are we allowed to have only one helpful sentiment at a time?" asked
+Miss Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly; one is as much as anybody can live up to at a time."</p>
+
+<p>"It is not for lack of moral sentiments, however," Marion added. "The
+supply is constantly renewed. They naturally gravitate to Norah."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish," remarked Norah, "that a seamstress capable of making stocks
+and collars would gravitate to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Here is one at your side." Miss Sarah leaned over to examine her
+work. "I think I could do it."</p>
+
+<p>"She can do anything," said Alex, waking up from a brown study. "But
+how would you find time, Miss Sarah?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you could do only a few, it would be a help," the shopkeepers
+cried in the same breath, and Norah began at once to explain what was
+wanted, and unfold patterns.</p>
+
+<p>Susanna carried away the tea things, and Alex joined Charlotte and
+Marion, who were talking about James Mandeville and Mr. Goodman.</p>
+
+<p>"He has won the old man's heart," Marion was saying. "They have been
+walking together<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> several times, and James Mandeville always returns
+with a bag of what he calls <i>finger ladies</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Sarah's voice interrupted presently. "I don't know when I have
+spent such an eventful hour. I must take my knitting cotton and go. I
+know now where to come when I have the blues."</p>
+
+<p>"It is worth while to give Miss Sarah a little pleasure," Alex said as
+the door closed behind her. "She is the bravest, brightest person, and
+her life is anything but easy." Then she returned to the consideration
+of the card she had drawn. "I am dreadfully puzzled over what I ought
+to do. I want to make my own living, and yet it is hard to go against
+the wishes of everybody at home. Do you really think if I just go on
+doing what comes to me that the way will open? It sounds lazy."</p>
+
+<p>"No, it sounds serene. If I were you, I'd try it," said Norah.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER TWENTIETH</h2>
+
+<h3>MERRY HEARTS</h3>
+
+
+<p>Many things combined in the Terrace to proclaim the season of the
+year. Great was the seeding of raisins, shelling of nuts, and slicing
+of citron for fruit-cake and puddings,&mdash;matters these housekeepers
+were wont to attend to themselves. Neighborly consultations were held
+also, and the relative merits of last year's cakes discussed.</p>
+
+<p>"I really have no business making fruit-cake this season," Miss Sarah
+Leigh remarked over her grocery bill. "Everything is so expensive."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Sarah Leigh, who ever heard of Christmas without fruit-cake!"
+her aunt exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"But you don't eat it, Aunt Sally."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall this year."</p>
+
+<p>Wayland ate it, if his aunt did not. He would be disappointed if she
+did not have one as usual; perhaps she could save in some other way,
+Miss Sarah thought. "After all, my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> saving will be a good deal like
+Mrs. Green's keeping Lent," she told Miss Virginia. "She never, under
+any circumstances, went anywhere, and she didn't have dessert except
+on Sunday, and then she seldom ate it on account of her rheumatism, so
+there really seemed to be no way to deny herself any further."</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, Miss Sarah ordered the raisins and other good things,
+and at night she sat up making collars and belts for the shop.</p>
+
+<p>At the shop James Mandeville lay on the floor, poring over a profusely
+illustrated copy of "'Twas the Night before Christmas," bursting forth
+tunefully, now and then, with "<i>Susanna</i> in the highest."</p>
+
+<p>There was no manner of use in correcting him, he preferred his own
+versions, and stuck to them.</p>
+
+<p>The window of the shop presented an ever changing variety of wares,
+from posters and colored photographs to baskets, bags, and pottery,
+all unique in their way. Besides the other things, Norah had done a
+motto in black and red letters, "A merry heart doeth good like a
+medicine," and hung it in the midst.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The popularity of the place increased. Susanna was often called in to
+help, and one day a society reporter, out for news, and directed there
+by Madelaine Russell, dropped in and interviewed them.</p>
+
+<p>An elaborate description, with mention of the charming and intelligent
+young women who had it in charge, appeared next day in one of the
+papers. Miss Sarah immediately sent a marked copy to Mrs. Millard.</p>
+
+<p>"We are becoming famous," laughed Norah, as she read it to Marion.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish it did not have to be," said Marion, discontentedly.</p>
+
+<p>"Ungrateful person that you are!" cried Norah.</p>
+
+<p>The newspaper article brought Mrs. Leigh to the shop. Heretofore her
+opposition had been consistently maintained; but now, early one
+morning, she walked in, a picture of an old lady, with a close-fitting
+bonnet over her silvery puffs, a black silk circular lined with gray
+squirrel, and an old-fashioned reticule on her arm.</p>
+
+<p>"I have just come to look around," she told<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> Norah. "I have heard so
+much of this shop, and it is not in the least like anything I ever saw
+before,&mdash;and neither are you, for that matter."</p>
+
+<p>Then, as Norah laughed, she added, "I mean you are entirely too pretty
+for a shopkeeper. I'd like to know what you are doing it for, but of
+course you won't tell me."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, I will. I am doing it for a living."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, in my day a pretty girl like you wouldn't have had a chance to
+make her own living for long, but it is different now. I don't know
+whose fault it is."</p>
+
+<p>All the while she was walking about, seeing everything, admiring or
+finding fault with equal frankness. Norah, who was delighted with her
+visitor, urged her to sit down and rest a few moments.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, I believe I will. I am on my way out to my niece's to show
+her how to make a plum-pudding." She laughed a little, reminiscently,
+and Norah looked interested.</p>
+
+<p>"It makes me think of the time my husband was invited to dine at Dr.
+Gray's to meet a distinguished clergyman who had arrived
+unexpectedly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> It was on Saturday, and when Mr. Leigh came home that
+evening he couldn't say enough about Mrs. Gray's plum-pudding. It was
+the best he ever ate, and I must get the receipt. I didn't say
+anything until next day. Mr. Leigh was mighty fond of dessert; and
+when he found there wasn't any for Sunday dinner, he looked terribly
+disappointed, and wanted to know why. 'The reason is, Mr. Leigh,' I
+said, 'because you ate it yesterday. I intended to have plum-pudding
+to-day, but as Mrs. Gray had unexpected company, I sent it over to
+her; and my own opinion is, it is more than you deserved to have had a
+taste of it.'</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe you think he wasn't teased. He didn't hear the last of that
+very soon. Yes, indeed, it was all true. Mrs. Gray and I were good
+friends and often helped each other out in an emergency. Well, you
+will think me a most unprofitable customer; here I have talked a blue
+streak, as Sarah says, and haven't bought a thing."</p>
+
+<p>"Nevertheless, I hope you will come again soon, and I wish success to
+the pudding," Norah said, following her visitor to the door.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Being off the beaten track of trade, the rush at the shop was over
+before Christmas Eve, and Marion and Norah, leaving Susanna in charge,
+went down town on a lark, as Norah said, and came home loaded with
+holly and mistletoe.</p>
+
+<p>It was after their late dinner and Norah was putting up the last bit
+of holly, when Mammy Belle came in. "Miss Norah, honey, kin you trim a
+Chris'mus tree?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes, I have trimmed many a one."</p>
+
+<p>"I done promise James Mandeville he should have one, for him an' his
+papa in the mawnin',&mdash;Marse Tom's comin' home; but look like I ain't
+got good sense, and I seed Miss Maimie do it las' year." Mammy Belle's
+tone was despairing.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind, we'll do it for you. I might have thought of it, only I
+have been so busy," said Norah. "Don't you want to go, Marion?"</p>
+
+<p>Marion was more than ready for anything so in keeping with the night,
+and gathering up some unused holly and a box of ornaments for the
+tree, they accompanied Mammy Belie to the small house, half a block
+distant on Pleasant Street.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was a tiny place, quite simply and tastefully furnished, but
+betraying in many trifling ways the absence of the mistress. James
+Mandeville was fast asleep in his crib upstairs, where Mammy Belle
+conducted them to peep at him.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope Miss Maimie won't mind our doing this," Norah whispered, as
+they went down again.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe she will," Marion answered, moving about the tiny
+parlor, changing the position of a table here, a chair there, till the
+whole room had taken on a new look. The tree in the corner by the
+window bore melancholy witness to Mammy Belle's lack of ability in
+that line, but under Norah's fingers it began at once to revive.</p>
+
+<p>They were in the midst of the dressing, Mammy Belle looking on in
+delight, when there was a ring at the door, and of all persons, who
+should it be but Mr. Goodman with a large package under his arm!</p>
+
+<p>"It is a horse for that little rascal," he explained, puffing and
+embarrassed.</p>
+
+<p>"Come in and see our tree, Mr. Goodman," called Norah.</p>
+
+<p>The old man stood in the doorway. "I have been stumbling round trying
+to find this place<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> for half an hour," he growled. "I took this thing
+to the shop, but you weren't there, and that Susan woman tried to
+direct me where to go."</p>
+
+<p>"Ought you to go about by yourself at night?" Marion asked. "Won't you
+come in and wait for us? We are nearly through."</p>
+
+<p>"And do look at this beautiful horse!" cried Norah, unwrapping a
+stately animal with flowing mane and tail. "Won't James Mandeville
+rejoice? Jack will be nowhere."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose boys like horses," said the old man, accepting the chair
+Mammy Belle brought forward, and evidently not indifferent to the
+admiration his gift excited.</p>
+
+<p>The tree trimming went on, and presently returning to his usual
+attitude of mind, Mr. Goodman remarked that there was a sinful waste
+of money at this time of year.</p>
+
+<p>"That is true," said Norah, pausing to study the effect of a paper
+angel in tinsel, "but also there is the money that <i>might</i> be spent to
+make people happy, and isn't."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, Norah, really, we must not stay any longer. You have done quite
+enough," Marion was saying, partly in the wish to cut off a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> possible
+argument, when the front door opened with a startling suddenness, and
+a young man with a bag in his hand stepped into the hall and faced the
+scene in the parlor,&mdash;the gay Christmas tree, the holly; Norah
+standing on a chair, with her laughing face over her shoulder; Marion,
+tall and stately, by the fireplace; and grim-looking Giant Despair in
+the chair of state.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Marse Tom," gasped Mammy Belle, "I done spect you in de
+mawnin'."</p>
+
+<p>It was Marion who made the explanations,&mdash;their friendship for James
+Mandeville and Mammy Belle's difficulty with the tree, and she did it
+with a gracious charm of manner that was irresistible.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Norton's boyish yet careworn face flushed. "You are very kind to
+my little boy," he said. "I wish his mother were here to thank you."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Norton, is that you?" exclaimed Giant Despair, waking up. "Do
+you mean to tell me that James Mandeville is your boy? Upon my word!"</p>
+
+<p>"It is fortunate you know Mr. Norton, for now you can testify to our
+good intentions in invading his house, Mr. Goodman," said Norah,
+laughing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Norton was embarrassed. "I travel for Mr. Goodman's drug house,"
+he said. Clearly he was not in the habit of meeting his employer
+socially.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>"And you say they keep a shop, mammy?" This was after the guests had
+departed, and Belle had done her best to explain.</p>
+
+<p>"Dey is ladies, anyhow," she insisted stoutly.</p>
+
+<p>"That is very evident," said Mr. Norton.</p>
+
+<p>"Jus' you ax James Mandeville in the mawnin'," added Mammy Belle. "He
+'lows dat Miss Marion and Miss Norah done put the moon up, shore."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST</h2>
+
+<h3>THE RICH MISS CARPENTER</h3>
+
+
+<p>Miss Virginia was writing to her sister. She had a great deal that was
+pleasant to relate, and her pen moved on smoothly. There was
+Charlotte's Christmas party which, with the assistance of Alex and
+Madelaine, had gone off successfully.</p>
+
+<p>Lucile Lyle had been one of the guests, for as a classmate of
+Charlotte's it seemed necessary to ask her; but this Miss Virginia did
+not mention. She did say, however, that Charlotte's interest in Lucile
+seemed to have abated. This was quite true; indeed, there was a
+growing coolness between the once devoted friends.</p>
+
+<p>The cause of this was a little girl, a year younger than Charlotte,
+who with her father and mother had recently come to board at the
+Leighs'. The Reeds were strangers in the city, and Miss Sarah had
+asked Charlotte to do what she could to make Helen feel at home.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>They had taken a fancy to each other, and Charlotte enjoyed playing
+chaperon to Helen when she was entered at Miss Barrows's school. Helen
+was a bright girl with sweet, gentle manners, inclined to look up to
+Charlotte as older and more experienced than herself; and in their
+daily walks back and forth the friendship grew. Lucile chose to be
+jealous, and something very like what in schoolgirl language is called
+a fuss, followed. They no longer wore each other's rings, and Lucile
+sang no more of beauteous eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia knew all about it, and took pleasure in mentioning to
+her sister that Charlotte's good sense had come to the rescue, and an
+intimacy was no longer to be feared. That Mrs. Millard had small
+confidence in her powers of discipline, Miss Virginia was well aware;
+but Charlotte's excellent school reports spoke for themselves.</p>
+
+<p>After giving various items of neighborhood interest, she paused;
+glancing up, her eye fell on the shop across the way, and immediately
+a sensation of uneasiness took possession of her. With an elbow on her
+desk she continued to gaze out of the window, thoughtfully tapping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>
+her cheek with her penholder. She had warned her sister that she meant
+to do as she pleased; at the same time, she had not intended to buy
+most of her Christmas gifts at the shop, and more than this, to remain
+to chat on several occasions. And yesterday Charlotte had come in with
+the announcement that Miss Carpenter was willing to show Helen and her
+how to make baskets if they would come over some evening. They were
+very eager to go. Could she refuse? The question interrupted her flow
+of thought; she put aside the letter to be finished some other time,
+and went in to see the Leighs.</p>
+
+<p>She found Alexina in the sitting room with Miss Sarah and her aunt.
+Old Mrs. Leigh had the quilt she was making spread out on the couch
+for admiration and suggestions. Miss Virginia, after paying tribute to
+its beauties, mentioned the basket making, and asked for advice.</p>
+
+<p>"Caroline insisted that they would push themselves into notice, and
+while I cannot see that they are pushing, they are certainly&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Getting there," suggested Miss Sarah. "Do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> you know, Mr. Goodman has
+been in several times after the shop closed at five o'clock, to have
+Miss Norah read to him? Now, is that anything but pure kindness? I
+suppose Caroline would say they were after his money."</p>
+
+<p>"I had not thought of his caring to be read to as he has John; but he
+told grandfather he got tired of John's reading, and there were some
+political articles in the <i>Nineteenth Century</i> Miss Pennington offered
+to read to him," said Alexina, who had made up her mind definitely
+that she wanted these shopkeepers for friends.</p>
+
+<p>"I think that Miss Norah carries a cunning bag, as Malinda used to
+say," remarked Mrs. Leigh.</p>
+
+<p>"They have not returned our call, Miss Virginia," said Alex.</p>
+
+<p>"No, and if I could do just as I pleased, I'd like to know them
+better. I'd ask them to tea." Miss Wilbur spoke as one considering
+some daring departure from the path of propriety.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Sarah laughed. "I wish you would," she said.</p>
+
+<p>When Friday night came, Miss Virginia did not see her way clear to
+oppose the basket lessons, and in consequence found herself one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> of a
+merry party in the shop. Alex had come over with them, and presently
+Miss Sarah ran in.</p>
+
+<p>Alex was in one of her bright moods, and Miss Sarah kept them laughing
+over her first experiences in paying her taxes. Miss Carpenter, as she
+separated long strands of raphia and initiated her pupils into the art
+of twisting and stitching, was almost as merry as Miss Pennington,
+whose infectious laugh, as she related James Mandeville's latest
+speeches, kept them all in a gale.</p>
+
+<p>Once in the course of the evening, Norah said, in reference to a
+remark of somebody's, "That reminds me of our friend the rich Miss
+Carpenter." And when the lesson was over, and Miss Virginia, beginning
+to murmur something about its being late, Charlotte suddenly
+announced, "I know a Miss Carpenter in Philadelphia."</p>
+
+<p>There was an odd silence for a moment until she added: "At least, I
+don't exactly know her, but I have heard a great deal about her. She
+lives across the street from my uncle, and last spring when I was
+there I used to see them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> take her out to drive. She had been ill, and
+I never really saw her. <i>She</i> is rich, and I wondered if she could be
+the Miss Carpenter you spoke of, Miss Norah."</p>
+
+<p>It was Marion who answered the question. "She is the very one. Norah
+thinks a great deal of her, in fact,&mdash;is a little absurd about her."</p>
+
+<p>"Why shouldn't I be? Hasn't she done everything for us?" cried Norah,
+stoutly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you have seen her," said Charlotte, delightedly. "Is she
+beautiful and&mdash;everything&mdash;as Mrs. Wellington said?" she looked at
+Marion.</p>
+
+<p>"Ask Miss Pennington."</p>
+
+<p>"I consider her handsome and charming, but Marion is a connection and
+ought to be able to tell you more than I."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad you know her, for I am very much interested in her because
+of a special reason."</p>
+
+<p>"Charlotte, my dear," Miss Virginia spoke warningly, "it is really
+time we were going."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The discovery that Miss Carpenter of the shop was a relative of the
+Philadelphia Carpenters relieved Miss Virginia beyond measure. She
+sat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> down at once to finish her letter and convey the news to her
+sister. She was vindicated; once more her conscience was easy.</p>
+
+<p>The Terrace in general received the news with approval. That the
+shopkeepers were not exactly ordinary persons had been felt all along.
+Everybody had heard of Peter Carpenter. Possibly the shop was simply
+another manifestation of family eccentricities on the part of this
+cousin. It was easily settled that Miss Marion was a cousin,&mdash;probably
+a second or third cousin; for Miss Virginia knew about the family, and
+Peter Carpenter had had but one son.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Russell, who went to the shop with Alex one day, was greatly
+impressed with Marion's bearing. "Any one can see she is not an
+ordinary person," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"That must be because you know she is well-connected, mother," Alex
+replied. "Mrs. Millard could not see it."</p>
+
+<p>"I trust I am not quite so prejudiced," Mrs. Russell said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER TWENTY-SECOND</h2>
+
+<h3>VALENTINES</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Undoubtedly our connection with the rich Miss Carpenter has affected
+our social position. The air is full of affability. Before we know it,
+we shall be in society." Norah looked up from her account-book to make
+this remark.</p>
+
+<p>"As it is all your doing, I trust you are pleased," returned Marion.</p>
+
+<p>"That pretty fraud, Madelaine Russell, asked me yesterday if she might
+not come with Alexina to the basket making next Friday," continued
+Norah. "Of course I had to say 'yes.' Now I think I'll ask that little
+type-writer girl I met at the mission. She is really a neighbor, for
+she boards in that tall, dreary house on the corner of Walnut and
+Pleasant streets."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not ask her to dinner? I should really enjoy some company."</p>
+
+<p>"A good idea, Marion. She looks hungry,&mdash;I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> don't mean for dinner, but
+for something besides work. She is from the country. What have you in
+that bag, Infinitesimal James?&mdash;some more 'finger ladies'?"</p>
+
+<p>James Mandeville, who had at that moment entered, nodded his head,
+speech being for obvious reasons out of the question.</p>
+
+<p>"Eating in the shop is against the rule, except at afternoon tea,"
+said Marion. "You must go outside, or join Susanna in the kitchen."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you happen to meet Mr. Goodman this morning?" asked Norah.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he buyed the finger ladies," answered James Mandeville, helping
+himself again from the bag, and then passing it around. "I am going to
+buy him a valentine," he added.</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure, he deserves one. We'll go down town this very afternoon
+and select it."</p>
+
+<p>"Goody!" said James Mandeville, and in great spirits he carried his
+cakes out of doors, and was presently busily engaged in playing
+conductor on the doorstep, calling out in stentorian tones at
+intervals, "All on a board!"</p>
+<div class="figright" style="width: 270px;">
+<img src="images/ill-201.jpg" width="270" height="400" alt="JAMES MANDEVILLE&#39;S TASTE WAS EXACTING." title="JAMES MANDEVILLE&#39;S TASTE WAS EXACTING." />
+<span class="caption">JAMES MANDEVILLE&#39;S TASTE WAS EXACTING.</span>
+</div>
+<p>Norah found the business of selecting valentines in company with a
+small boy, a lengthy one.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> James Mandeville's taste was exacting. At
+first the comic ones caught his eye, and he was with difficulty
+induced to consider more worthy specimens of art; then he bestowed his
+favor upon an elaborate white satin heart, a combination sachet and
+valentine, and again had to be diverted. At length his selection was
+made,&mdash;a gilt and lace affair with a border of roses and the touching
+motto, "To my own true love."</p>
+
+<p>On their way home they stopped in a large jewelry store where Norah
+had left her watch to be repaired, and while she waited she saw
+Wayland Leigh bending in an absorbed manner over a collection of
+fans,&mdash;delicate mother-of-pearl and lace trifles, as frail as they
+were pretty. What business had he with such expensive things? she
+wondered. It was quickly forgotten, however, in the difficulties
+involved in making headway past the show windows, James Mandeville
+wishing to exhaust the beauties of each one before moving on.</p>
+
+
+
+<p>The afternoon was nearly over when, after leaving her companion at his
+home, she entered the shop, where Marion was busy folding and putting
+away. Norah stood before the table,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> pulling off her gloves.
+Suddenly she stooped and picked up an envelope from the floor. "Did
+you get a letter from Dr. Baird?" she asked, as she read the address.</p>
+
+<p>Marion's face flushed oddly. "No," she said, "it was just an
+enclosure."</p>
+
+<p>"A valentine?" cried Norah; but Marion went on with her folding, and
+did not reply.</p>
+
+<p>Norah walked to the window and looked out through the screen of plants
+at the Terrace and the faint rosy glow that lingered in the southwest.
+She guessed what it was her friend had received, and for a moment she
+was not quite happy. Then she asked herself inwardly, but sternly,
+"Are you a selfish beast, Norah Pennington?"</p>
+
+<p>Presently Marlon came behind her and put an arm around her. "You don't
+mind my not showing it to you, Norah. It was only a&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Norah turned, and with a sudden motion stopped the word on her lips.
+"Child, what is friendship worth if one minds things&mdash;like that? I
+invited Miss Martin," she added.</p>
+
+<p>Louise Martin was a fair, fresh-looking girl, who had come from a
+country town several years before, and after a course in a business
+college<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> had found a position as stenographer in a real estate office.
+Her gentle, refined manners had attracted Norah, who, persisting in
+the effort to make friends with her, had at length broken through the
+distant reserve with which she met all advances. The girl hesitated
+over the invitation, saying she did not often go anywhere; but Norah's
+friendly manner won the day, and promptly at half past six on Friday
+evening Susanna ushered her into the shop.</p>
+
+<p>Norah met her and presented her to Marion. "And now you are to come
+upstairs to take off your things, for that always seems the sociable
+way to begin," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Martin looked about her in surprise. "When you said you kept a
+shop, I did not dream it was like this."</p>
+
+<p>"We pride ourselves on not keeping an ordinary shop, but a most
+unpretentious one, as you see."</p>
+
+<p>"And this is where you live?" Miss Martin exclaimed with a sigh of
+admiration, as she followed her guide into a very simple bedroom.</p>
+
+<p>"We live all over the house. This is my room, however."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It is the most beautiful place I ever saw," the girl said.</p>
+
+<p>Remembering the dingy boarding-house, Norah understood. "It is all
+simple and inexpensive," she said. "Miss Carpenter and I pride
+ourselves on the large amount of comfort we have achieved for a small
+amount of money. You see we have matting on the floor, with a few
+rugs; as our landlord would not do anything to the walls, we had a
+frieze made of this big-flowered paper which cost next to nothing, and
+relieves the whiteness; the white iron beds and the dressing-tables
+were not expensive, nor the draperies, which are in our line, you
+know." While she talked Norah opened the door into the next room.
+"This is Miss Carpenter's," she said. "We are just alike, except that
+she is rose colored and I am blue."</p>
+
+<p>There were some things Norah had not mentioned,&mdash;toilet articles such
+as Miss Martin had never seen outside of a show-case, and a silk
+dressing-gown of great daintiness that lay across a chair in Miss
+Carpenter's room.</p>
+
+<p>"I was surprised when you said you kept a store,&mdash;you did not look
+like it; but if this is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> the way you live&mdash;" Miss Martin did not
+finish her sentence as she allowed Norah to take her hat.</p>
+
+<p>That everything about the small domain impressed her, it was easy to
+see. The simple dinner served so deftly by Susanna, the appointments
+of the table, and by no means least, her two hostesses.</p>
+
+<p>Before eight o'clock the basket makers arrived, with them Madelaine,
+who made a pretty pretence of being deeply grateful to Miss Pennington
+for allowing her to come. Miss Martin watched her with serious
+admiration in her eyes. Here was a girl little younger than herself,
+whose whole business in life was to be beautiful and engaging.</p>
+
+<p>"I have brought my prettiest valentine to show you," Madelaine said.
+"Isn't it a dear?" and taking from its box a gauzy fan, she held it
+out for inspection.</p>
+
+<p>Norah, who was nearest, took it. "It is certainly pretty if not
+durable," she remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"I hate durable things," said its owner, with a shrug of her dainty
+shoulders. "I know it cost a great deal, for I priced one like it."</p>
+
+<p>"Madelaine!" expostulated her sister.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Goosie, I don't mean since this came."</p>
+
+<p>"And you don't know who sent it?" asked Charlotte.</p>
+
+<p>"Think of sending a gift like this and not getting the credit for it,"
+said Miss Sarah, viewing it from a practical standpoint.</p>
+
+<p>"If I knew who sent it, mamma wouldn't let me keep it,&mdash;at least Alex
+wouldn't,&mdash;so of course I do not know."</p>
+
+<p>It was impossible not to smile at her.</p>
+
+<p>"You are a fraud, Madelaine," Miss Sarah said. "I wish I had the money
+some people spend on valentines."</p>
+
+<p>"James Mandeville has a more practical mind than Miss Russell's
+unknown admirer; he delivered his valentines in person and demanded
+full credit," Marion observed.</p>
+
+<p>Norah whispered to Alex, "Please be nice to my little girl," so Alex
+took a seat beside Miss Martin and showed her how to begin a basket.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Pennington says you are a stenographer. I am trying to learn,
+but I am hopelessly stupid. Do you think one can learn by one's self?"</p>
+
+<p>"I learned at the Business College," answered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> Miss Martin; and
+looking Alex up and down she added, "but you do not have to do it, do
+you? I am glad I can support myself, but there are other ways,&mdash;like
+this,&mdash;only I never dreamed of it before. In a business office
+generally you are just part of a machine." Discovering that Miss
+Wilbur, too, was listening, she came to an embarrassed pause.</p>
+
+<p>"What would you do if you were to become suddenly rich, Miss Sarah?"
+Madelaine asked, and everybody stopped to listen.</p>
+
+<p>"Lose my mind, probably," was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>"Riches make people so dreadfully commonplace," said Norah.</p>
+
+<p>"What can be more commonplace than poverty?" Alex demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I suppose both extremes are bad. It is, after all, the people
+who have neither poverty nor riches who have ideas and make something
+out of life."</p>
+
+<p>"I could get heaps out of life if I were rich," Madelaine said.</p>
+
+<p>"I still insist that rich people are to a considerable extent
+unoriginal and stupid. They associate with persons exactly like
+themselves,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> do the same things, say the same things, eat the same
+things&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"This is Miss Pennington's hobby," Marion remarked, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"What would you do if you were to become rich?" Miss Virginia asked
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe I should go on with the shop for the present," was the
+reply.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I should start a Settlement like the one you have told me
+about," Alex said, turning to Norah. "But then," she added, "I should
+have to learn a great deal first. You can't do anything that amounts
+to anything without learning how."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Sarah had been meditating, now she spoke, "I think I'd try to
+give a good time to some persons who never have any fun, to whom life
+is only a grind."</p>
+
+<p>"There are so many of them," added Miss Martin, timidly.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid I have always been dreadfully selfish," sighed Miss
+Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no, Virginia, you aren't that," said Miss Sarah. "Like some of
+the rest of us, you may have lived in a small circle, but within its
+bounds<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> no one could accuse you of selfishness. Let's all promise to
+remember each other when we come into our fortunes," she added.</p>
+
+<p>After they had gone,&mdash;Miss Martin lingering to say with shy
+earnestness, "I have had <i>such</i> a good time," and receiving in return
+a cordial invitation to consider herself a member of the basket
+society,&mdash;Norah joined Marion before the fire.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know, Wayland Leigh gave that fan to Madelaine," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sure? It must have cost twenty-five or thirty dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"I saw him looking at them the other day. I rather suspect his aunts
+have spoiled him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER TWENTY-THIRD</h2>
+
+<h3>NEIGHBORS</h3>
+
+
+<p>Late in February, after some weeks of unusually cold weather, an
+epidemic of grip developed. In the Terrace there were several victims,
+among the first the Leighs' cook; and when it came to filling her
+place, it was discovered that she was by no means the only member of
+that useful profession laid low. It was quite impossible to find a
+substitute. Miss Sarah was obliged to do her own cooking, with the
+assistance of a not very intelligent housemaid.</p>
+
+<p>There were ten in her family now, and it was no light task; but she
+might have proved equal to it if she had not been overworking all
+winter. Her spare moments had been given to sewing and embroidering
+for the shop, she had indulged and petted her aunt and Wayland just as
+usual, besides attending to her housekeeping in the most painstaking
+fashion; and all the while like an ominous cloud hovering over her was
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> doubt whether she would be able to make the two ends meet.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps she was extravagant with the table, but during her brother's
+lifetime they had lived in an easy, lavish way, and she knew no other.</p>
+
+<p>It hurt Miss Sarah,&mdash;foolishly, but naturally,&mdash;that her nephew should
+have to pay board out of his small salary; and when one week he
+omitted to hand her the usual five dollars, she could not bear to ask
+him for it, although the lack of it put her to some inconvenience.</p>
+
+<p>To Wayland things seemed moving on easily enough at home. He had
+become almost reconciled to the boarders, who made possible the more
+elaborate table; and it seemed to him quite impossible that so small a
+sum could make any great difference. He meant to pay it in time, but
+just now he was hard up. He had made the mistake of trying to be a
+society man, to compete with those whose incomes were many times as
+large as his own. In his heart he knew the purchase of that fan for
+Madelaine was a piece of inexcusable extravagance, but he had been too
+weak to resist.</p>
+
+<p>Madelaine was most gracious in these days<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> to Winston Graham, a
+pampered youth whom Wayland had despised from his babyhood, and had
+tyrannized over at school. Now the tables were turned. Years had
+improved Winston, and any lack of brilliancy was more than atoned for
+by an ample fortune, in the management of which he was showing
+unexpected shrewdness.</p>
+
+<p>For the moment that foolish fan had brought him a little pleasure.
+There could be no doubt Madelaine guessed the sender. Somebody was
+absurd, she said; if she were certain who sent it, she would return
+it,&mdash;and then she smiled bewitchingly over the gauzy trifle that had
+cost more than half a month's salary.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Sarah was in some measure to blame. She should have taken her
+nephew into her confidence. Such things as taxes and unexpected
+plumber's bills did not present themselves to his mind, and when he
+presently found himself in debt, he went so far as to wonder if she
+might not be able to help him out,&mdash;temporarily, of course.</p>
+
+<p>It was not till matters had grown desperate that he decided to do
+this. Wayland was not in the habit of getting into debt, and an
+insistent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> tailor and florist made his life miserable. With masculine
+obtuseness he chose the most unpropitious moment. Miss Sarah, after a
+hard day, had dropped into an easy-chair for a little rest after
+dinner. Wayland had forgotten the absence of the cook, and in the
+lamplight his aunt looked placid and comfortable.</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt Sarah," he began, "I am rather hard up just now&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind, dear, I can get along, I think. You can pay me back
+sometime when it is convenient."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I mean to,&mdash;but I have been a fool. I&mdash;I am going to turn over a
+new leaf,&mdash;not go out any more, and save up," Wayland stammered.</p>
+
+<p>Usually to a remark of this kind his aunt would respond with consoling
+assurance that he was young and must have a little pleasure; but
+to-night she only said with a sigh it would perhaps be better; that
+when one was poor the only peaceful thing was to accept it.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I suppose you couldn't lend me a little?" he faltered.</p>
+
+<p>"Lend?" Miss Sarah sat up very straight. "Oh, Wayland, are you in
+debt?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, well, if you can't it is all right; but you needn't jump all over
+a fellow."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not understand what you mean by 'jumping all over you.' I
+certainly don't feel like such gymnastics. But I want you to tell me
+honestly the state of affairs."</p>
+
+<p>The truth was hard to extract. Wayland was sullen, apologetic, and
+contrite by turns. At last it came out. He owed one hundred and fifty
+dollars.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry." Miss Sarah sank back in her chair. "I fear you have been
+very foolish. To go in debt seems to me not quite honest. But I am
+glad you told me. I'll try to help you; and you'll promise, won't you,
+not to do this again?"</p>
+
+<p>Somehow his aunt's low, controlled tone exasperated Wayland far more
+than if she had shown anger. "I guess if you knew what other fellows
+spend, you wouldn't think I was so awful. Of course I am sorry, and of
+course I don't mean to do it again," and he flung out of the room.</p>
+
+<p>Two days later Miss Sarah alarmed the household at the breakfast table
+by fainting, something<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> she had never been known to do before. Simple
+restoratives proved of no avail, and Wayland rushed off to the nearest
+telephone to call a physician, almost running over Miss Pennington,
+who was starting for a morning walk.</p>
+
+<p>"Could I be of any help?" she asked as he hurriedly explained.</p>
+
+<p>"If you would," Wayland cried gratefully.</p>
+
+<p>Norah entered upon a scene of confusion. Old Mrs. Leigh was frightened
+out of her senses, and no one seemed able to think what to do. Knowing
+something of illness and possessing a cool head and steady hand, Norah
+took command; and when the doctor arrived, Miss Sarah was beginning to
+recover consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>She was ordered to bed at once; and when she ventured to expostulate
+feebly, Norah said: "Now, Miss Sarah, we can manage things for to-day.
+For once trust to your friends and don't worry. You will get well just
+so much sooner."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Sarah looked up in to the bright face that bent over her. "You
+are very good. Perhaps I will,&mdash;just for to-day."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"She is threatened with pneumonia; she must have a nurse," the doctor
+said, outside her door.</p>
+
+<p>It was the beginning for Miss Sarah of a serious illness which in one
+way and another involved a number of her neighbors. Owing to the
+prevailing epidemic, it was at first impossible to get a satisfactory
+nurse, and Norah and Miss Virginia Wilbur offered their services. Miss
+Wilbur also lent her cook until Anne should be able to return, saying
+she and Charlotte could do very well with Martha.</p>
+
+<p>In the shop Alex took Norah's place. Norah herself suggested it with
+some hesitation, thinking Mrs. Russell might object; but this lady,
+like many others, had somewhat modified her opinion of the shop. "You
+know," she explained on more than one occasion, "those young women are
+most interesting. Miss Carpenter, indeed, has a great deal of
+elegance. Alex, with her eccentric ideas, is delighted with them, and
+was so anxious to go I could not refuse."</p>
+
+<p>Without the shop these would have been lonely days for Charlotte, with
+Aunt Virginia absent so much of the time, and her friend Helen one of
+the grip victims. Miss Carpenter had exerted a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> peculiar fascination
+over Charlotte since the evening when she had come to her rescue.
+Others might prefer Miss Pennington; Charlotte never wavered in her
+admiration for the more quiet member of the firm. On her way to school
+each morning she invariably crossed the street that she might pass the
+shop, and perhaps receive a smile from Marion.</p>
+
+<p>This new enthusiasm overshadowed all former ones, and Miss Carpenter
+seemed by no means indifferent to the little girl's adoration, making
+her welcome to run in and out at all times. After hours, or when
+business was dull, Charlotte would often talk to her about the
+Landors, and their Philadelphia home, and Miss Carpenter seemed quite
+ready to listen; but Charlotte's curiosity about her cousin who lived
+across the street, was never satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Sarah, to whom indirectly this cementing of the ties between the
+shop and its neighbors was due, called Norah to her bedside on the
+first day of her illness, and confided to her a certain railroad bond.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid it will be some time before I am able to attend to this
+myself," she said, "so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> I am going to ask you to see if you can sell
+it for me. I went yesterday to see about it, but they told me to hold
+on to it for a while, if possible, and I thought I could perhaps wait;
+but now I want the money. It will have to go at whatever price it will
+bring. It is too bad to ask you,&mdash;you are so good."</p>
+
+<p>Norah assured her she would not mind in the least, and leaving the
+patient in Miss Virginia's hands she walked thoughtfully toward home.
+She happened to know that there was considerable interest felt at
+present in the fluctuation of these bonds, for she sometimes read the
+market news to Mr. Goodman, and he had a few days before spoken of
+buying some. Was there any possible way by which she could sell Miss
+Sarah's bond without sacrificing it?</p>
+
+<p>At the corner she met Mr. Goodman, and at sight of him a sudden idea
+took possession of her.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Goodman, can you tell me how G. W. &amp; S. bonds are selling
+to-day?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Seventy-two they are asking to-day. A good thing if you want to buy.
+They are bound to go up," was the old gentleman's reply.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Could you come in and let me ask you a few questions?" said Norah.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodman never objected to talking stocks and bonds, and therefore
+assented affably.</p>
+
+<p>To the very evident amusement of Alex and Marion, Norah conducted her
+companion through the shop into the next room, flashing a mischievous
+glance over her shoulder as she pushed the door to. Giving the old man
+a chair, she seated herself opposite him; and leaning forward with her
+folded arms on the table, she told him of Miss Sarah's illness and her
+need of money. "Now," she concluded, "she has one of those bonds, and
+I want to sell it for a thousand dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear young lady, you can't do the impossible. Keep it six months
+and it may be at par."</p>
+
+<p>"But she can't wait. She must have the money,&mdash;at least she thinks so;
+and she is too ill to be argued with. I want to make her mind easy.
+Why couldn't&mdash;somebody&mdash;give a thousand dollars for it?" Norah's heart
+beat quickly at her own daring. "What would be lost?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why doesn't somebody give her three hundred dollars, you mean?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No, that is not at all what I mean," urged Norah. "I think you said
+you were buying to sell? Now, if that bond is worth a thousand dollars
+six months from now, what would&mdash;anybody lose who gave that for it
+now? Only the interest on not quite three hundred dollars. That is, of
+course, taking for granted he expected to sell."</p>
+
+<p>"Upon my word!" exclaimed Mr. Goodman. "What is she talking about? I
+didn't say they would be at par in six months."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, say a year, then. If you'll buy the bond, I'll pay the
+interest. I'll give you my note," Norah said, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"It is the most astonishing proposition I ever heard," growled the old
+man.</p>
+
+<p>"It is to help a neighbor out, and that is the best thing in life,
+particularly any one so brave and bright as Miss Sarah. She would
+never let us do it if she guessed, but I can tell her they are going
+up steadily. I think I can manage it." Norah beamed across the table.</p>
+
+<p>Whether she had won or not was difficult to tell, for Mr. Goodman rose
+suddenly, buttoned up his coat, and saying he would see her the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> next
+day, strode off without so much as good evening.</p>
+
+<p>"Norah, what made you do it?" Marion exclaimed when she heard the
+story. "Surely, it could have been arranged."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. It popped into my head when I saw him. It won't do any
+harm to get some of his rusty dollars into circulation. I almost
+believe he will do it."</p>
+
+<p>And she was right. Mr. Goodman gave her a check for a thousand
+dollars, and, moreover, suggested that if Miss Sarah did not need the
+whole amount at present, he could invest several hundred of it
+advantageously. And this was the kindest thing Giant Despair had done
+for many a year. As for Norah's scheme for paying him interest, he
+only laughed at that.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Miss Sarah was too ill to understand more than that the bond was
+sold. She was feverishly anxious till she could put the money for his
+debts into Wayland's hands. After this she grew rapidly worse, and the
+outcome began to seem doubtful.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURTH</h2>
+
+<h3>WAYLAND</h3>
+
+
+<p>Wayland blamed himself bitterly. He could not forget the touch of
+those burning fingers pressing the money into his hand. He tried to
+refuse it, but his aunt whispered: "Take it, dear. It is all right. I
+shall not be happy till you do." After this he had been sent from the
+room and not allowed to see her again.</p>
+
+<p>Old Mrs. Leigh, bemoaning Sarah's hard lot and accusing herself of
+selfishness, unconsciously enlightened him as to the true state of
+affairs. Wayland sincerely loved his aunt,&mdash;the only mother he had
+ever known,&mdash;and he realized with shame how unworthy had been his
+attitude toward her of late. While she had been struggling to make a
+home for him and her old aunt, thinking and spending for him till
+there was nothing left for herself, he, absorbed in his own affairs,
+had been disdainful and critical, fretted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> by her habit of laughing at
+things, annoyed by her style of dress.</p>
+
+<p>And this money. He guessed where it came from. She must have sold a
+bond left to her by a friend some years ago, which she called her
+rainy-day legacy. He fiercely promised himself he would pay it back.</p>
+
+<p>But in the terrible fear that she would not recover, this thought
+ceased to console him. What if he should never have the opportunity to
+tell her how sorry he was, how ashamed? The doctor looked very grave,
+the nurse and Miss Virginia shook their heads and said, "No better."
+Norah was the only <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'who one'">one who</ins> gave him any encouragement. She bade him
+not give up yet, and devised errands to distract him from his misery,
+and make him feel that he was of some use. He hung upon her words with
+such an appealing face her heart was touched, for she guessed that
+remorse mingled with his sorrow.</p>
+
+<p>There came a dreadful day when even she had no hopeful word to say;
+when, hurrying home at the earliest moment, he found the house hushed
+in a terrible suspense.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia sat with Mrs. Leigh, and they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> talked of Miss Sarah, and
+wiped the tears from their eyes as if she were already dead. Wayland
+could not endure it.</p>
+
+<p>In his longing for comfort he thought of Madelaine. Surely, she would
+be kind to him now. She was tender-hearted and sympathetic; just the
+touch of her pretty hand would help him. He had not seen her for more
+than a week.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Madelaine was dressing to go out, but would see him for a moment
+if he cared to wait, the servant said; and presently as he strode back
+and forth, too restless to sit down, she floated in, lovely and
+gracious as ever.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to dinner at the Mays'. I am sorry I can't see you for
+more than a minute. How is Miss Sarah to-night?"</p>
+
+<p>"No better&mdash;worse," Wayland answered brokenly, holding fast the hand
+she offered him. Gently Madelaine drew it away, and began to put on
+her glove.</p>
+
+<p>"I am <i>so</i> sorry," she said, "but you mustn't despair. I am sure she
+is going to get well."</p>
+
+<p>Upon Wayland's sensitive ear the words fell with a hollowness almost
+unbearable. "She does not care at all," he told himself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This was perhaps a little unjust to Madelaine. She was very full at
+that moment of the joy of living; she knew nothing by experience, of
+illness and death. She was sorry for Wayland, but the thought of the
+evening's pleasure was not for an instant dimmed by it.</p>
+
+<p>Wayland went blindly home again, conscious of nothing but the pain in
+his heart. At the door Norah met him with a note which she asked him
+to take to Miss Carpenter. "The doctor thinks there will be no change
+for some hours," she told him.</p>
+
+<p>He sat staring into the fire in the same blind way when Marion entered
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>"There is no haste about the answer. Won't you stay with me for a
+while?" she said. "I am alone, and I know you must be feeling the
+strain of suspense."</p>
+
+<p>Norah's note had said: "Do keep the poor boy and comfort him if you
+can. He does nothing but wander in and out."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, I think I must go back," he answered, lingering aimlessly
+however.</p>
+
+<p>Marion brought him a cup of after-dinner coffee, and he submitted and
+drank it, although he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> felt it must choke him; and when he had
+swallowed it, he was the better for it.</p>
+
+<p>Marion did not make the mistake of trying to cheer him in the face of
+this terrible anxiety, but in every possible way she showed her
+sympathy. She spoke of his aunt, of her brightness and kindness, of
+her evident attachment for him; and poor Wayland, longing to pour out
+his unhappiness to some one, forgot she was almost a stranger and came
+out with his confession. His foolishness and extravagance, his
+carelessness of his aunt's comfort. It was very boyish and perfectly
+sincere. Madelaine was not mentioned by name, but the wound showed
+plainly, and Marion guessed what he did not tell.</p>
+
+<p>"And now I shall never have a chance to show her how sorry I am," he
+groaned, hiding his face.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't say that. There is still some room for hope that you may have
+another opportunity; and even if you do not, you can yet make of
+yourself what she would wish," Marion said; adding, "If you will let
+me speak to you as if you were my younger brother, I should say that
+all the trouble has come from a natural but selfish determination to
+have what, after all, was not meant for you. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> think I understand;
+and although you may not believe me, I am sure it could never have
+made you happy if you had been able to obtain it."</p>
+
+<p>"If you mean Madelaine," Wayland said, lifting his head, "that is all
+over."</p>
+
+<p>Afterward he could look back on that evening and feel that out of his
+grief he had won a friend who might never have been his under other
+circumstances. At the moment he was conscious only of the new courage
+and determination that inspired him, when after the long talk he said
+good night.</p>
+
+<p>With the morning new hope came. There was a chance for recovery; and
+this grew, until at length Miss Sarah began slowly to climb the hill
+toward health again.</p>
+
+<p>It was some time before Wayland could pour out to her his repentance,
+and then his aunt would not let him say half he wanted to say.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, child," she exclaimed, patting the head bowed on the arm of her
+chair, "you have done nothing to call forth all this. You have been
+thoughtless, as most young persons are; but I suspect it is my fault.
+I spoiled you. I did so want you to have what you wanted, always. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>
+suppose it is foolish, but it is the way we feel about the children we
+bring up."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall have that bond back, or one just as good, Aunt Sarah," he
+assured her; and there was something in his face which showed he meant
+it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER TWENTY-FIFTH</h2>
+
+<h3>THE PRICE OF A BOND</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Mr. Goodman, I want to understand about that bond Miss Pennington
+sold for me. I have been reading the papers, and I don't see how it
+could have brought a thousand dollars when they are only quoted at
+eighty-something." Miss Sarah was still white and weak, but she spoke
+with a touch of her old energy.</p>
+
+<p>Ever since she had been able to think connectedly, the matter had
+puzzled her. Norah, when appealed to, was innocence itself.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure he did not lose anything, Miss Sarah," she said. "I offered
+it to him because I happened to know he had already bought some."</p>
+
+<p>So now she had summoned Giant Despair himself, happening to see from
+her window his clumsy figure coming up the street.</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad to see you better, Miss Sarah," he said, appearing rather
+ill at ease as he seated himself ponderously in a wicker chair.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Goodness! I hope it won't give way with him," thought Miss Sarah;
+then aloud she repeated her question, adding, "I have no confidence
+whatever in Miss Pennington."</p>
+
+<p>Giant Despair squinted at her with his best eye, as if to see just
+what she meant.</p>
+
+<p>"My own opinion," Miss Sarah continued, "has always been that she is a
+witch; but even then I don't understand it."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Goodman smiled grimly and slapped his gloves across his knee.
+"Probably you don't know much about the ways of witches," he remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"I ought to know something. I can't imagine what I should have done
+without Norah. Everybody was kind,&mdash;more than kind,&mdash;but she knew how
+to take hold and manage things. I&mdash;" she hesitated a moment before she
+added, "and we didn't want them in the neighborhood!"</p>
+
+<p>"I guess you are right about the witch business," agreed the old man.</p>
+
+<p>"But the bond," urged Miss Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, there is nothing to be said about the bond, so far as I know.
+As a general thing women don't know much about business, but Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>
+Norah has taught me a thing or two. I haven't lost anything on your
+bond, Miss Sarah, and I expect to make before I get through."</p>
+
+<p>"And you are sure that she&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"She didn't lose anything, either,&mdash;if that is what you mean. That
+bond was worth to me what I paid for it, and that is all I can say on
+the subject, unless&mdash;" Giant Despair hesitated. "Years ago your
+brother saved me a good deal of money at one time and another. He was
+a good man. I have sometimes wished I had taken his advice. If you
+aren't satisfied, just remember that."</p>
+
+<p>There had been a time when Miss Sarah's brother, Wayland's father, had
+managed Mr. Goodman's law business; but the relations had come to a
+sudden end. The only explanation Mr. Leigh had ever made to his sister
+was that he did not care for certain of the drug company's methods.</p>
+
+<p>"Then all I can do is to thank you most warmly," she said as he rose.</p>
+
+<p>"If I have helped you, Miss Sarah, I am glad. As I say, I have not
+lost anything, and I am a useless old codger, anyhow."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Miss Sarah wiped some tears away; she was far from strong yet. "I
+think it was a conspiracy between you and Miss Pennington, but I'll
+have to let it go."</p>
+
+<p>"I am in good company, at any rate," said Giant Despair.</p>
+
+<p>James Mandeville waited for Mr. Goodman at the gate, and the two
+walked away together, hand in hand, the little boy taking great pains
+to point out all obstacles in the path, chattering ceaselessly, his
+radiant face lifted constantly to the rugged one so far above him.
+Miss Sarah watched them and smiled.</p>
+
+<p>As for Mr. Goodman, he felt a strange sense of exhilaration,&mdash;so much
+so, that when they met an organ-grinder and a monkey (spring being now
+at hand) he contributed a dime instead of the usual five-cent piece.</p>
+
+<p>A week later he went to a hospital to have his eye operated on, and
+during the weeks of helplessness that followed he was the recipient of
+an amount of attention that greatly surprised him.</p>
+
+<p>The hospital was only a few blocks away from the Terrace, and hardly a
+day passed without a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> visit from some of his neighbors. Marion, Norah,
+and Alexina took turns in reading to him; and James Mandeville came
+whenever he could induce any one to bring him.</p>
+
+<p>In the same corridor was a man recovering from a stroke of paralysis,
+who, rolling himself back and forth in his chair, occasionally
+encountered Mr. Goodman and exchanged a few words.</p>
+
+<p>"I notice you have a great many friends," the stranger remarked one
+day.</p>
+
+<p>"I?" exclaimed Giant Despair, who looked fiercer than ever with one
+eye bandaged. "Well, I suppose I have," he admitted, and became lost
+in thought. Eight months ago probably not a soul would have done more
+than leave a card, unless it had been a member of the firm. How had it
+come about? Undoubtedly the shopkeepers had something to do with it.
+They had showed themselves friendly. Then he thought of that bond.
+Suppose he had refused Norah? Ah, he had told Miss Sarah the strict
+truth when he said he had not lost anything in that transaction. He
+really felt the impulse to do another kindness to somebody, but not
+being in practice, nothing suggested itself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>An opportunity came, however. One Sunday afternoon James Mandeville
+brought his father with him to see Mr. Goodman. The child's joyous air
+of proprietorship was pretty to see.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's my father," he announced. "Isn't you glad he's come home?"
+Then, as the two men shook hands, he asked, leaning confidingly
+against his old friend, "Does your eye hurt, still yet?"</p>
+
+<p>The conversation turned naturally to business, and after a time Mr.
+Goodman suddenly said, "Norton, it has just occurred to me&mdash; We are
+making some changes this spring, and we need an experienced man to
+look after the city trade. How would you like the place?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Norton's careworn, boyish face flushed and brightened. "It would
+mean a great deal to me now, Mr. Goodman. My wife will be at home
+soon; I was dreading the thought of having to leave. Thank you very
+much."</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't thank me. I am considering my own interest," the old man
+replied, with an affability that astounded himself.</p>
+
+<p>"I rather think Jenks is expecting the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> place, but he isn't married;
+he can wait," he added.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>"Miss Norah, does you reckon old Marse Goodman's gittin' religion?"
+asked Mammy Belle one day. "Looks like he's mighty soft-hearted."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER TWENTY-SIXTH</h2>
+
+<h3>NORAH'S ARK</h3>
+
+
+<p>Alexina said the shop, like a little leaven, was leavening the whole
+neighborhood, and truly it seemed so. To her those two weeks of
+association with Marion had been a joy. In the congenial surroundings
+of the shop she found it easy to live in to-day, leaving the future to
+unfold as it would. Her shorthand book lay unopened; she began to feel
+the truth of Marion's assurance, "Your forte is dainty, feminine
+things, Alex, in spite of your disdain for them."</p>
+
+<p>In their leisure moments they had built many castles concerned with
+the future of the shop, one of these being a millinery department of
+which Alex was to have charge.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, the two weeks of Miss Sarah's illness saw the beginning of
+many things. Between Miss Virginia and Norah Pennington a strong
+friendship grew up.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Virginia is such a dear!" Norah said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> "I adore her stilted
+little expressions, such as 'busy with my needle or pen,' instead of
+sewing or writing, and with it all she is at heart a child."</p>
+
+<p>"That is the point of contact between you," Marion answered, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia was like one who had thrown off a yoke, yet she hardly
+understood her own light-heartedness. It was quite true that she had
+never outgrown her girlhood. It was only overlaid by grown-up manners,
+and unconsciously she was beginning to let the burden of convention
+slip from her shoulders and to enjoy herself as her nature prompted.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte was an hourly pleasure. Miss Virginia enjoyed looking after
+her wardrobe as in the past she had enjoyed dressing her dolls. She
+listened to the schoolgirl experiences poured into her ear, with
+genuine interest. They were like two children together; but Miss
+Virginia's sweetness and sincerity, her delicate refinement, could not
+but have their influence on her impetuous little niece.</p>
+
+<p>One broadening influence came from those Friday evenings in the shop,
+with their basket making and pleasant talk. Miss Virginia had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> been
+accustomed to accept things as they were. When in her very infrequent
+visits to business offices she had encountered young women acting as
+bookkeepers and stenographers, she had looked upon them as a class
+apart. Not that she felt consciously superior, or anything but kindly,
+but simply that her life and theirs did not touch. She was actually
+surprised to find Norah's friend Louise Martin so much like other
+girls, and when Norah described the hall bedroom in the gloomy
+boarding-house, which was her only home, Miss Virginia began to wish
+and then to wonder if she could not do something to brighten a life
+that seemed so dreary.</p>
+
+<p>Another addition to the Friday gatherings was a Miss Jackson, a
+fellow-boarder of Miss Martin's, a public school teacher and an
+ambitious, high-spirited girl.</p>
+
+<p>Toward these two Miss Virginia began to show a timid friendliness so
+plainly sincere it was irresistible. She found them much more
+interesting than many of the people who belonged to her own sphere,
+and whom she was accustomed to call friends. The end of it was, she
+asked them to tea with Alex and the shopkeepers,&mdash;a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> tremendous
+departure, a step taken with fear and trembling. But when it was over,
+she found herself looking back on it as one of the happiest occasions
+of her life.</p>
+
+<p>And now the Friday evenings at the shop began to be enlarged in their
+scope. It came about quite naturally. Norah, the sunny-hearted, could
+not breathe without attracting friends; and while the basket making
+still went on, and Miss Sarah and Miss Virginia brought their
+embroidery, others dropped in for the pleasant talk.</p>
+
+<p>Alex induced her grandfather to go with her on one occasion, and the
+judge was clearly both bewildered and charmed. He renewed his
+acquaintance with Norah, of whom he had not ceased to speak in
+admiration, and was greatly impressed by Marion's graceful bearing.</p>
+
+<p>Madelaine, who enjoyed doing unexpected things, appeared upon the
+scene this same night with Winston Graham in tow. This gentleman's
+astonishment was only exceeded by his willingness to follow Madelaine
+anywhere. He professed some interest in baskets, whereupon Marion gave
+him a seat beside Miss Martin.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"'The rich and the poor meet together, the Lord is the maker of them
+all,'" Miss Sarah quoted to Miss Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you call this place, Miss Pennington? It isn't really a
+shop&mdash;you don't sell things?" asked Mr. Graham, when, a little later,
+Norah came to the rescue.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, of course we do. How else could we make a living? And it has
+several names," she replied. "Has Alex told you the latest," turning
+to Judge Russell. "She saw Mammy Belle on the corner one morning,
+gazing over here with all her eyes. 'It shorely do look like a
+<i>Norah's Ark</i>, Miss Alex,' she said. And really there is no doubt
+about its resembling an ark although we had none of us thought of it;
+and while I can't claim exclusive proprietorship, I accept the honor
+of having it named for me. What do you think of it?"</p>
+
+<p>The old gentleman glanced about him. "It is not nearly poetic enough,
+my dear," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Norah laughed at this gallant speech. "You see," she went on, "we are
+simply reviving a cosey old custom of living over the shop, which
+should interest you as a lover of old things."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And also of young things&mdash;if you will pardon the expression," said
+the judge, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, grandfather," cried Alex, "I shall be afraid to bring you
+again."</p>
+
+<p>"I expect to wake some morning and find the shop has disappeared,
+leaving no trace of itself," Miss Sarah remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"I trust not," exclaimed Norah. "Where would we be?"</p>
+
+<p>"An enchanted prince would have carried you off," laughed Charlotte.</p>
+
+<p>"Two princes," suggested Miss Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>A sudden gravity fell on Norah, so noticeable that Miss Sarah said, as
+she turned away, "She seems not to like the idea of the prince."</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The days grew long, the air soft and warm; the Terrace gardens bloomed
+again and the rich foliage of summer succeeded the delicate lace-work
+of spring. The Russell house was again a Palace Beautiful in its
+mantle of vines, and the judge sat on the rustic bench beneath the
+Ginkgo tree, his hands on his stick and a faraway look in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Every moment that could be spared from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> shop found Marion and
+Norah off to the country, to return laden with fragrant trophies. The
+delicate look had gone from Marion's face, and the disfiguring glasses
+were rarely seen.</p>
+
+<p>One evening in May an unexpected visitor appeared in the shop. A tall,
+wiry man, past middle age, with a keen, kindly face.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Dr. Baird!" cried Norah, "I was just wishing for you."</p>
+
+<p>"You were?" he said, shaking hands. "Anything wrong with my patient?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here she is, to speak for herself," said Marion, entering from the
+next room.</p>
+
+<p>The physician looked at her long and intently. "I give up," he said at
+length. "It has worked. You are all right, and"&mdash;turning to Norah&mdash;"I
+suppose you think you are very clever, miss. Your wild-goose scheme
+has been a success."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall not call it names, for it has been the happiest winter of
+my life," said Marion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVENTH</h2>
+
+<h3>AN ANNIVERSARY</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Miss Marion, are you here? I am so glad to see you! I have something
+to show you. Where is Miss Norah?" Charlotte punctuated her breathless
+remarks with an ardent embrace.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Charlotte, how rosy you look, and I believe you have grown two
+inches!" Miss Carpenter had risen to meet her, and now took the brown
+face in both her hands and smiled into the blue eyes. "It is good to
+see you again. When did you get home?"</p>
+
+<p>"Early this morning; and now Aunt Virginia has everything out of our
+trunks&mdash;you would think there had been ten instead of two&mdash;and she and
+Martha are putting away, so I ran," Charlotte answered gayly.</p>
+
+<p>It was September again. The shop, which had been closed for a month
+while its proprietors took a holiday, had reopened, but the days were
+still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> warm, and little was doing. This afternoon, with its shaded
+windows and its autumn decorations of goldenrod and asters, it looked
+cool and inviting.</p>
+
+<p>Marion, who had been reading when Charlotte entered, laid her book on
+the table and motioned to a place beside her in the window-seat. "What
+have you to show me?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll never guess, so I shall have to tell you. And, oh, Miss
+Marion, I want to ask you something, but I'm afraid."</p>
+
+<p>"Am I so very formidable? I can't imagine what it can be. I'll promise
+not to answer if I do not like the question."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't that," cried Charlotte. "It is nothing I want you to tell
+me, it is something I want you to do."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I am more puzzled than ever. Do let me see what you have. Is it
+a book?"</p>
+
+<p>For answer Charlotte slipped the outer cover from a small green and
+gold volume and put it into Marion's hand, drawing near and leaning
+against her shoulder as she did so. "It is Cousin Frank's book," she
+said. "It came while he was with us at Rocky Point. He gave me the
+very first. Isn't it a dear?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Marion turned the leaves in silence. "Love's Reason, and Other Poems,"
+the title-page said. She turned another leaf, "To One Far Away," was
+the dedication. She paused here for a moment, then went on turning the
+pages.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a very pretty little book," she said, in a tone that seemed to
+Charlotte less interested than the occasion called for.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought you'd like it, because I have talked to you so much about
+Cousin Frank. And, oh, Miss Marion, it is about Miss Carpenter I want
+to ask you." Charlotte's head was against Marion's arm, and she did
+not lift her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"It was one evening when Cousin Frank and I were sitting on the sand
+in the moonlight. Some man&mdash;I forget his name, but at any rate he is a
+great critic&mdash;stopped us as we were leaving the hotel, to say
+something very nice about the poems; and I asked Cousin Frank if he
+were not pleased. He said he was glad, of course, to have it liked,
+and he valued this man's judgment; but that after all it was for the
+opinion of just one person he cared the most. I was certain it must be
+Miss Carpenter, because of the dedication,&mdash;that couldn't mean any one
+else; so I said I knew she must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> like it. He looked at me in such a
+funny way and asked what I meant. So I told him what I had guessed,
+and he did not seem to mind.</p>
+
+<p>"I asked if he had sent her a book, but he said he did not know where
+she was, and the only person who did know was away, too. Then for a
+long time he did not say anything; but after a while I slipped my hand
+in his, and told him I knew she must care,&mdash;she couldn't help
+it,&mdash;although I hadn't any idea why she had gone away without letting
+him know where she was.</p>
+
+<p>"He said if he were sure she did not care at all, he would give it up,
+for that would be the only manly thing; but until he was sure, he must
+hope. It was then I began to wonder if you knew where she was, Miss
+Marion. If you do, couldn't you tell her how much he cares? I don't
+see why she went away; but Cousin Frank said she had a reason,
+although he didn't think it was a good one. Could you tell her, Miss
+Marion?"</p>
+
+<p>"Did you ever say anything to Mr. Landor about the shop or&mdash;" Marion
+left the question unfinished.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that very evening I told him I was certain my Miss Carpenter was
+lovelier than his." Charlotte squeezed the hand she held. "He smiled,
+and asked a great many questions. But could you tell her?" Charlotte
+was nothing if not persistent.</p>
+
+<p>This Miss Carpenter, of whom she had grown so fond, was a quiet
+person, not given to demonstration of any sort, but Charlotte suddenly
+felt herself drawn into a close embrace, while a very gentle voice
+said in her ear: "Charlotte, you may tell him I <i>know</i> she cares. I
+think she was right to go away&mdash;she had a reason, but&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"What is going on here?" broke in Norah's gay tones. "Why, Charlotte,
+how are you? You two look as if you had been in mischief."</p>
+
+<p>A moment later who should walk in but Mrs. Leigh, looking like an old
+ivory portrait, her apple-blossom face framed in silver puffs and
+white frills. "Are you at home, and ready to show your pretty things?
+Upon my word, I am glad to see the shop open again. We have missed
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, dear Mrs. Leigh; we are glad to be back again," said
+Norah, greeting her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> cordially, while Marion pushed forward a chair
+and Charlotte brought a cushion.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Leigh adored to be waited upon; she beamed graciously on the
+three. "Thank you, my dears. This is a charming place, and I must say
+I didn't expect to see you here again."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? We had no idea of not coming back," Marion said.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I have never believed it would last," Mrs. Leigh's bright eyes
+twinkled. "You are too&mdash;well, there is a mystery about you, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't know. How interesting!" exclaimed Norah, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I suppose there is no use in talking about it. You won't tell
+me. Charlotte, when is your Aunt Caroline expected?"</p>
+
+<p>"They were looking for her in a day or two," Charlotte replied,
+putting on her hat as she spoke. She did not care to stay and listen
+to Mrs. Leigh just now.</p>
+
+<p>Marion caught her hand. "May I have the little book for a while?" she
+whispered.</p>
+
+<p>"I have a piece of news for you," announced the old lady, as Charlotte
+disappeared.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Madelaine Russell is engaged to Winston Graham. It is to be announced
+this week. It will be a relief to her mother to have her well married,
+and I expect she is getting what she wants."</p>
+
+<p>"I think it is an excellent match," remarked Norah. "Winston is not a
+bad fellow, and Madelaine couldn't be happy without money. Why, if
+there isn't Mammy Belle!" she added, looking up.</p>
+
+<p>In the doorway stood that dusky personage, arrayed not in her usual
+starched calico and white apron, but in her Sunday dress of black,
+with floating cr&ecirc;pe veil.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy, Miss Norah; howdy, Miss Marion. I des come to see how you all
+was gettin' on. I'se tolable, thank you, ma'am. Yes'm, James
+Mandeville's gone wid his mamma to see his grandpaw, and Marse Tom's
+the onliest one lef'."</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down and rest," said Marion. "Mrs. Leigh, you know Aunt Belle,
+don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is that Belle Campbell? Of course I do. I remember you, Belle, when
+you lived at the Graingers'."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes'm, Miss Sally, I 'members you. Looks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> like you's mighty peart
+yit." Mammy Belle smoothed the front of her skirt and then folded her
+black gloved hands in her lap.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'm not good for much any more," answered Mrs. Leigh. "But tell
+me, Belle, what made you leave the Graingers? I thought you were a
+fixture there."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes'm, I reckon I'd be living there yit, if 'twarn't fur ole Marse
+Andrew. He done sassed me too much, Miss Sally. Aunt Judy she say,
+'Better stay whar de pot biles hardes', Belle,' but I couldn't stan'
+ole Marse Andrew."</p>
+
+<p>"I had forgotten about Aunt Judy. Is she still living?" asked Mrs.
+Leigh.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, ma'am, she's livin', but she is mighty porely."</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't she very old?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes'm, Miss Sally, Aunt Judy's tolable ole. Look like she don' know
+fur shore how ole she is. You knows Marse Andrew, Miss Sally? Well,
+Aunt Judy say she war a little gal runnin' round when Marse Andrew was
+bawn, an' dey tuk her into de house dat day to wait on ole Miss, Marse
+Andrew's grandmaw, and it was corn-shuckin' time; so if you knows how
+ole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> Marse Andrew is, you knows how ole Aunt Judy is."</p>
+
+<p>These interesting reminiscences were interrupted by Alex and her
+grandfather, who stopped at the door to welcome their neighbors back,
+as the judge explained, his fine old face beaming with friendliness.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think Caroline is going to say when she finds us all
+friends of the shop, Judge?" asked plain-spoken Mrs. Leigh.</p>
+
+<p>"I am of the opinion that even Mrs. Millard will be unable to hold out
+against it very long. You know she hasn't had our opportunities," was
+the reply. "I have some new books to show you,&mdash;or some old ones,
+rather,&mdash;Miss Norah," the judge added.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>Norah had been sitting alone in the south window for some time when
+Marion joined her.</p>
+
+<p>"Where have you been? and what is that small green book you are
+carrying about?" Norah asked.</p>
+
+<p>Marion put it into her hand; as she did so, a paper fluttered out and
+fell to the floor. Stooping for it, Norah's quick eyes read
+involuntarily,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+"I love her whether she love me or no,"<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>and something told her it was the valentine of last winter.</p>
+
+<p>Marion's fingers closed over it. "Charlotte brought me the book," she
+explained; "but don't try to read by this light."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not read much; I want to see what it is."</p>
+
+<p>There was silence for some minutes; then Norah put an arm around her
+friend. "Marion, I have been thinking I'd ask Alex to be my partner
+when you go." Try as she would, there was a little break on that last
+word.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Norah!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, let me finish. You know a shop is not the station to which you
+are called, dear. I see clearly that the fairy prince is coming, and
+there is no reason why he should not." Norah pressed her cheek against
+Marion's. "Do you realize this is the anniversary of our coming here?"</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me you are very ready to give me up," said Marion.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Marion!"</p>
+
+<p>"Forgive me, dear, I know you aren't. That was not fair. But I don't
+know&mdash;I can't talk<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> about it now. I feel drawn two ways, and I am
+jealous of Alex when I think of her in my place."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want you to be altogether glad, but I am proud of what the
+shop has done for you. And of course I have known all along it could
+not last. We have had a good time, haven't we?"</p>
+
+<p>"And it is not over yet," Marion said, pressing the hand she held.
+"There is one thing that perplexes me. The time has come for
+explanations, I suppose, and the situation seems a little melodramatic
+and silly."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't think about it, then. It will work out of itself. Does it not
+seem strange when you look back to that evening when we first thought
+of the shop, that it has really been tried and proved a success?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, it does. How miserable I was, and determined not to go
+abroad, as Dr. Baird wished, but to stay there at home. Then you
+declined to stay with me, Norah; and when I was in despair you
+proposed the wild scheme of keeping a shop. I was interested at first,
+but you don't know how often I would have given up if it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> had not been
+for the fear of losing you. And now, Norah, I wouldn't give a hundred
+thousand dollars for the experience."</p>
+
+<p>"That is a good deal of money. I ought to be very triumphant that my
+plan worked so well." Norah's tone was sad, however.</p>
+
+<p>After the lamps were lighted Marion became absorbed in the little
+book, bending over it with a pretty glow in her face. From the other
+side of the table Norah watched her. After a while she rose and took
+down the rainbow bag and drew out a card.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="If I make dark my countenance">
+<tr><td align='left'>"If I make dark my countenance,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">I shut my life to happier chance."</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<div class='unindent'><br />She pondered it. "That is true," she told herself, "and there is no
+end to the beautiful things that may happen if only one is ready for
+them."</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTH</h2>
+
+<h3>WHAT IT MEANT</h3>
+
+
+<p>Charlotte walked slowly home. She wondered what Miss Marion meant.
+"Tell him I know she cares." Charlotte had often noticed that Miss
+Carpenter seemed not to be deeply interested in her Philadelphia
+cousin, and now suddenly she turned around and was apparently
+intimately acquainted with her feelings. It was a puzzle.</p>
+
+<p>She sat down in one of the porch chairs to think it over, making a
+pleasant picture in her white dress, with the feathery clematis for a
+background, her blue eyes serious and thoughtful, as she rocked softly
+back and forth. The old self-assertion which a year ago had shown
+itself in attitude and speech had become softened now until it was no
+more than a gentle independence.</p>
+
+<p>She had toned down, Cousin Francis told her, with evident approval. In
+spite of its tempestuous beginning, the year in the Terrace had in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>
+great measure resulted as her guardian hoped it would.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Virginia's sweet refinement, Alexina's earnestness, Madelaine's
+grace,&mdash;all these had had their influence; but most potent had been
+her admiration&mdash;almost adoration&mdash;for Miss Carpenter. Charlotte had
+made pleasant friends in school, but after all her happiest hours had
+been spent in the Terrace, where a year ago life had promised to be so
+dull.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Virginia joined her presently, dropping into a chair with a sigh
+of satisfaction. "It is good to be at home again, and Martha and I
+have everything put away," she said. "Where have you been?"</p>
+
+<p>"Over to see Miss Marion, but Mrs. Leigh came in and I didn't care to
+stay."</p>
+
+<p>Miss Virginia rocked briskly for some minutes, then she remarked,
+"There was something in your Aunt Caroline's last letter I did not
+understand." Taking it from the envelope she unfolded it and glanced
+down the page. "Here it is. 'I infer from certain hints you have
+dropped at different times that you have not taken my advice in regard
+to the shop&mdash;' I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> didn't hint, I only said&mdash;" Miss Virginia hesitated.
+She did not recall just what she had said, but she knew she had by no
+means revealed the true extent of her intimacy with the shopkeepers.
+She went on with the letter. "'I have lately received some first-hand
+information concerning these young women, who seem to have fulfilled
+my prophecy that they would lose no opportunity to ingratiate
+themselves. I fear you have been too credulous, my dear Virginia, but
+I will not enter into the matter further till I see you.'</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder what she means by 'first-hand information'?" said Miss
+Virginia. "I know Caroline will never feel as the rest of us do, but
+she can't know anything against them."</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed," Charlotte cried. "There isn't anything about Miss
+Marion, or Miss Norah either, that is not lovely."</p>
+
+<p>The thought of Marion's caress returned, and with it the question
+whether she should tell Cousin Frank or not; for it occurred to her he
+might think her officious to have spoken of the matter to a stranger.
+If&mdash; Charlotte became lost in thought again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A good many miles to the northward two gentlemen were dining together
+at the very hour when Miss Virginia and Charlotte sat on the porch and
+watched the sunset without thinking of it.</p>
+
+<p>"You have great reason to be pleased with the reviews of your book,
+Frank," the elder man remarked, gratified affection in the grave smile
+with which his gaze rested on his son.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, for the most part the critics are kind," Francis Landor replied,
+drawing hieroglyphics in an absent manner on the cloth with the handle
+of his spoon.</p>
+
+<p>"But one thing is lacking," thought the father, his glance still
+resting on the bent head. "The boy must come to something with such a
+head," he had often said in his childhood; and now the belief was
+likely to be justified. The face before him was showing the strong,
+serious lines of maturity, yet he almost regretted the lost boyishness
+as he noted them.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Frank looked up. "I am thinking of going away for a week or
+so," he announced.</p>
+
+<p>A smile hovered about his father's lips. "May I ask in what
+direction?&mdash;To see Charlotte?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Their eyes met. "Yes, to see Charlotte," Francis answered.</p>
+
+<p>"When do you go?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sometime to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you good luck, my son."</p>
+
+<p>"So he, too, has guessed," thought Frank.</p>
+
+<p>When he was alone, he took out a letter which bore evidence of more
+than one reading. Its date showed it to be a year old.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"I am going away," the letter said, "to be gone a long
+time,&mdash;at least a year. By then my fate ought to be
+decided. I am trying to hope, as Dr. Baird assures me
+I may, trying to live entirely in the present. It is
+not easy, but how can I make any plans for the future
+when a possible life of helplessness lies before me?
+You are generous, and I know you will forgive if this
+causes you pain. Forget&mdash;everything but that I am
+always your friend,</p>
+
+<div class='right'>
+"<span class="smcap">Marion Carpenter</span>.<br />
+</div></div>
+
+<p>"I have told no one where I am going, as it seems best to make as
+complete a break as possible with my life here. Dr. Baird, of course,
+knows."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER TWENTY-NINTH</h2>
+
+<h3>A LETTER</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Really, Mrs. Millard, you have treated us very shabbily. It is nearly
+a year since you left us."</p>
+
+<p>"Ten months, Judge Russell. You are very kind to say you have missed
+me. I had no thought of staying so long when I left, and I am
+delighted to be at home again." Mrs. Millard stood in the
+drawing-room, as composed and elegant as if she had not arrived from a
+three days' railway journey only a few hours before.</p>
+
+<p>It was a summer-like evening, doors and windows were open, and one
+after another of the neighbors had dropped in, until Charlotte was
+reminded of the evening a year ago when the shop was under discussion.
+She felt a little shy in Aunt Caroline's presence, although that lady
+was graciousness itself; and Wayland Leigh, who came in with his aunt,
+joined her in the corner by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> the library door and wanted to know what
+made her so quiet.</p>
+
+<p>"Quite a party, isn't it?" he said; adding, "but where are Miss Marion
+and Miss Norah?" Like Charlotte, Wayland always put Marion first.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe Aunt Caroline would want them," she replied, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure, when she went away we didn't know them."</p>
+
+<p>That others were also thinking of the shop was evident, for Miss Sarah
+was now heard remarking, "You left us defenceless, Caroline, and we
+surrendered soon after your departure."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, the shop has become a neighborhood institution," Judge Russell
+added.</p>
+
+<p>"I am more than surprised to hear <i>you</i> say so, Judge Russell."</p>
+
+<p>"But Mr. Goodman is the most remarkable convert, Mrs. Millard," said
+Alex. "Just ask him his opinion of the shop."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not wish to criticise, this first evening at home," Mrs. Millard
+began graciously; "but as I have been telling Virginia, I cannot
+understand the fascination these persons seem to have exercised over
+you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But you know they are really charming young women," ventured Mrs.
+Russell. "I objected to the shop as decidedly as any one until I found
+out about them. Their popularity is not confined to this neighborhood,
+and of course you know they are well connected."</p>
+
+<p>"It is about that I wish to speak," interposed Mrs. Millard. "As you
+may have heard, Miss Unadilla Carpenter, the half-sister of Peter
+Carpenter, is a friend of my oldest sister. For years they have
+corresponded; so when I heard from Virginia that these people claimed
+to be related to the Philadelphia Carpenters, I took it upon myself to
+write a letter of inquiry to Miss Unadilla. She was ill at the time
+and some months passed before she replied. A few weeks ago I received
+a letter, in a part of which you may be interested."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Millard was evidently prepared for the occasion, for she at once
+produced the paper in question.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be glad to hear it, but it can't alter my opinion of our
+friends across the street," Miss Sarah said stoutly, at which remark
+Miss Virginia visibly brightened.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Millard paid no heed, but began to read. "'Of the Miss Carpenter
+of whom you write I know nothing. She is not related to us. My niece,
+May Carpenter, is my only connection of the name, as I am hers. Of my
+niece I know little at present. Two years ago she had a long illness
+which came near being fatal, since then I believe she has been abroad.
+As to the young woman in question, I repeat we have no cousins.'" Mrs.
+Millard looked around the circle in triumph.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," said Miss Sarah, "there are some things difficult to
+explain; but the most difficult of all would be, how two young women
+could come into a neighborhood and make it better and happier for
+their presence, could nurse some of us when we were ill, and show
+themselves in a thousand ways helpful and kindly and companionable,
+and all with the utmost simplicity,&mdash;to explain how they could do all
+this and yet be impostors, would be harder still. The good Book says,
+'By their fruits ye shall know them,' and that is how we know the
+shopkeepers."</p>
+
+<p>Wayland clapped noiselessly. "Good for auntie!" he whispered to
+Charlotte.</p>
+
+<p>"I really don't remember Marion's saying she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> was a cousin of Miss
+Carpenter," said Alex. "Perhaps we jumped to the conclusion."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Millard's lips were parted to reply when an exclamation from Miss
+Virginia caused all eyes to turn toward the door. From the awed
+silence it might have been a ghost, instead of Norah Pennington in a
+white dress, who stood there.</p>
+
+<p>She could not but be conscious of the excitement her appearance
+aroused. Her color deepened as for a second she felt herself the
+object of the silent gaze of this roomful of people. She did not lose
+her self-possession, however, and in another moment Charlotte was at
+her side, and Miss Virginia had recovered her power of speech.</p>
+
+<p>"I really came in search of Alex," Norah explained, a most engaging
+impostor surely, as she smiled upon the assembly.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know my sister, Miss Pennington?" Miss Virginia's
+embarrassment was painfully evident.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe I once met Mrs. Millard in the shop." There was a twinkle
+of mischief in Norah's demureness.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Millard bowed distantly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I am going to settle this here and now," Miss Sarah whispered to Mrs.
+Russell as Norah crossed the room to the sofa where Alex sat. Leaning
+forward she said in a tone quite audible to everybody, "Norah, excuse
+me for asking a personal question, but did you say Miss
+Carpenter&mdash;Marion&mdash;was related to the Philadelphia Carpenters?"</p>
+
+<p>Norah was quick-witted. So this was what they had been talking about!
+A glance at Mrs. Millard's haughty shoulders explained. "I think I did
+say so," she replied frankly.</p>
+
+<p>"But Miss Unadilla says she can't be," observed Wayland in an
+undertone from behind her.</p>
+
+<p>Norah made her decision promptly. "Miss Unadilla would not have said
+so if she had understood. I am going to take the liberty of explaining
+what has perhaps puzzled some of you. It was I who in the beginning
+caused the mistake, and I think now the time has come to set it
+right." In the faces of her friends she saw nothing but confidence.</p>
+
+<p>"Some of you have perhaps already guessed that there is just one Miss
+Carpenter. Marion is Miss Unadilla's niece."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I knew it! I knew it!" Charlotte whispered in an ecstasy.</p>
+
+<p>Norah continued: "We had no idea of making a mystery of it; that
+simply happened. Marion was recovering from a long illness, which left
+her with a nervous affection of the eyes, so serious she felt she
+would lose her sight. She and I were school friends, and when she was
+taken ill she sent for me, and I was with her through it all. When she
+grew stronger, her physician felt she must have some radical
+change&mdash;something which would take her thoughts from herself, but
+nothing seemed the right thing. Then I thought of putting into
+execution an old plan of mine to open a shop. I coaxed her into it,
+and we set out to seek our fortune, just as if the rich Miss Carpenter
+did not exist,&mdash;or, at least, was merely our patron. We came here
+partly because the climate was mild, and also because I had been here
+before and knew about the place; and it was far enough from Miss
+Carpenter's home to make it unlikely she would be recognized. We took
+no one into our confidence except Dr. Baird, and it was generally
+understood that we were travelling somewhere for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> Marion's health. The
+fiction about the rich Miss Carpenter has annoyed Marion all along;
+but as it came about, I didn't see how to avoid it. It really seemed
+better that it should not be known." Norah looked at Alex, as if
+seeking her opinion.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, I understand," said Alex; "go on."</p>
+
+<p>"There isn't anything more, except that at the outset we were
+discovered by Mr. Landor, Charlotte's guardian, and an old friend of
+Marion's. He promised to keep our secret, and also to speak a good
+word for us to Miss Virginia."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, he did; and at the time I was a little surprised, but&mdash;"
+Miss Virginia hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>Norah interrupted her. "You have all been so good to us. If Marion
+were here, she would join me in saying it. The best part of our
+venture&mdash;and it has been a success in other ways&mdash;is the friends we
+have made."</p>
+
+<p>"You showed yourselves friendly and won us in spite of ourselves,"
+said Miss Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"I always said there was a mystery," old Mrs. Leigh remarked. "And are
+you, too, a millionnairess, Miss Norah?"</p>
+
+<p>Norah spread out her hands in an odd little gesture:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> "I am sorry, but
+I am just a plain poor person."</p>
+
+<p>"Is this the end of the shop?" some one asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I trust not. I have no idea of giving up, unless you drive me away,"
+Norah answered.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the only person present who was greatly surprised was Mrs.
+Millard. She had planned her little scene with some care, anticipating
+just such a gathering in honor of her return. To have the title
+r&ocirc;le&mdash;as it were&mdash;snatched from her in the moment of triumph was
+annoying. But whatever her faults, Mrs. Millard was a lady, and as
+such she accepted the situation. She said little, but what she said
+was graceful and to the point. The eccentricity of the whole thing
+was, it seemed to her, sufficient excuse for her attitude, which, now
+she understood, she regretted.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you want anything in particular of me, Norah?" Alex asked as they
+were leaving.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," was the answer. "I want you to be my partner."</p>
+
+<p>"Norah!" Alex cried. "You know I'll be glad, glad to be; but, oh, I am
+sorry for you, if you must lose Marion."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER THIRTIETH</h2>
+
+<h3>CHANGES</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Was I not right to come? You said a year, and that is over."</p>
+
+<p>"I did not expect you so soon." Marion smiled over the great bunch of
+wild sunflowers she held. Coming in a few minutes earlier she had
+found Francis Landor pacing impatiently back and forth. Something,
+perhaps it was the unexpectedness of it, made her a trifle stately.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed to Francis that those flaunting yellow flowers made a
+barrier between them. "It was only by chance I found you. Charlotte
+gave me a hint. How long did you intend to leave me in uncertainty?
+Was it quite fair?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have been in uncertainty myself; happily my fears have not been
+realized. I did what seemed best at the time, and please remember the
+year is only just over." Marion looked at him gravely from behind her
+flowery screen.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not mean to begin by reproaching you,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> he said, drawing
+nearer. "But you cannot realize what it has meant to be left in
+complete ignorance. Even now I don't understand why you are here." He
+glanced about the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Norah Pennington and I are living here, earning our daily
+bread&mdash;really doing it,"&mdash;she laughed a little; "and, as you see, it
+has made me over. It was Norah's plan, and you can see how we were
+obliged to keep it to ourselves, if it was to be carried out. I had to
+cut loose from everything,&mdash;the suspense about my eyes was killing me.
+Of course, looking back, it seems needless; but one cannot argue with
+nerves."</p>
+
+<p>She paused a moment, then continued: "There is one thing I want to
+explain at the beginning. This winter's experience has made a
+different person of me. I can never go back to the old life of a
+society woman, with perhaps a little charitable work thrown in. I want
+to come in touch with people&mdash;all sorts of people. I want to try
+experiments. I think I must have inherited some of my grandfather's
+business instincts. I haven't made any very definite plans, but I
+should like to start other shops such as this, where women who have
+some ability and the gift for making useful and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> beautiful things can
+find their opportunity. I shall make mistakes, and lose money perhaps,
+but I want to experiment. I want you to understand how I feel,
+before&mdash;before&mdash;" Marion's eyes shone, a lovely flush was on her face
+as she hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>Francis Landor took sudden possession of the yellow flowers, tossing
+them with scant courtesy on the table, and leaning forward he grasped
+her hands. "May, what has this to do with it? Does it crowd me out of
+your life? Since you were a little girl, since the days when we played
+together, you have been my help and inspiration. Do you mean this has
+come between us, or do you still care?"</p>
+
+<p>Tears shone in Marion's eyes; she bent her head till it touched his
+shoulder. "Francis, I do care&mdash;I have always cared; I told Charlotte
+to tell you."</p>
+
+<p>"You will forgive me if I am only half glad to see you, Mr. Landor,"
+was Norah's greeting a little later. "Susanna, now, is wholly
+delighted. She sees the end of what has been to her a long exile, but
+I must needs go in search of another partner."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Why not take me in as a third, Miss Norah? I believe I should like
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't," she replied, laughing. "It would end in my playing
+third fiddle, and you must know this place is <i>Norah's</i> Ark; I am
+chief manager." She went off gayly, pausing at the door to ask, "You
+do not mind my speaking to Alex to-night, Marion?"</p>
+
+<p>What happened in the course of her search for Alex, we have already
+seen.</p>
+
+<p>The two in the shop were left undisturbed. It must have been nearly
+ten o'clock, which was considered late in the Terrace, when a voice
+was heard insisting, "I must see Miss Marion, Susanna, just for a
+minute. Is she here?" and Charlotte burst into the room.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Miss Marion, I had half guessed,&mdash;I was not quite sure. Oh, I am
+so glad!" Oblivious to the presence of any one else she threw her arms
+about Miss Carpenter, who had risen hastily as she entered.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you talking about, dearie?" she asked, returning the embrace
+of the excited girl.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is that message you were told to deliver to me, Charlotte?" Mr.
+Landor demanded.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Cousin Frank!" she cried, releasing Marion, "where did you come
+from?" Then glancing from one to the other, she added, "But you didn't
+wait for it. Oh, I am so glad!"</p>
+
+<p>"You are a tremendous goose, Charlotte," said Marion, but she laughed.
+In fact they all three laughed a great deal in the course of the next
+few minutes.</p>
+
+<p>"I have never exactly understood how you came to be so wise on this
+subject, Charlotte," Mr. Landor said, making her sit beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"You know you never could keep anything to yourself, Francis," Miss
+Carpenter remarked reproachfully.</p>
+
+<p>Charlotte looked mischievous. "The beginning of it was when I found
+those verses about the rose that was out of reach, and you were so
+provoked I thought they must mean something. Then Aunt Cora said&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind Aunt Cora," Francis said, laughing; "this will do."</p>
+
+<p>"I agree with you," remarked Marion.</p>
+
+<p>"Charlotte, Miss Virginia is standing at the door. I know she is
+distracted over your absence," said Norah, entering.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"She knows I am here, but I mustn't stay," she rose regretfully.</p>
+
+<p>Francis accompanied her. "And so you think your Miss Carpenter is
+lovelier than mine?" he remarked, as they crossed the street.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, at least she is just as lovely," Charlotte answered blithely.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>The news spread quickly. The Terrace was stirred to its depths. Life
+within its quiet borders was becoming exciting. The announcement of
+Madelaine's engagement with all the splendors in prospect would have
+sufficed for one season, but even this was eclipsed by the romance of
+the shop,&mdash;so named by Mrs. Leigh.</p>
+
+<p>"Look like I already knowed Miss Marion was a rich lady," Aunt Belle
+was heard to declare. "Yes'm, she done carry her haid so proud-like."</p>
+
+<p>In the shop many a serious conference was held by Marion, Norah, and
+Alexina, and at length Miss Sarah was called in. As a result, another
+surprise was sprung upon the Terrace. The corner shop was to be given
+up&mdash;Norah could not live there alone&mdash;and a new one opened in the
+spacious drawing-rooms of the Leigh house.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> Here there would be room
+to expand, Norah would have a home, and Miss Sarah would be freed from
+the necessity of boarders. There were those who held moreover that by
+this arrangement the enterprise acquired a new dignity. The idea
+originated with Mrs. Millard, who, while she did not give the shop her
+full approval, from henceforth withdrew all opposition.</p>
+
+<p>Old Mrs. Leigh was heard to remark that she had in her life done many
+things she had not expected to do, but living over a shop was about
+the last.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you'll agree it is better than the poorhouse, or even
+boarders," said her niece.</p>
+
+<p>"Better? I am as proud of it as I can be," the old lady replied, and
+proud of it she seemed.</p>
+
+<p>Norah called her their advertising agent. Her acquaintance was
+extensive, and at church or on the street, wherever she happened to
+be, she waylaid her friends and gave them a cordial invitation to
+visit <i>our</i> shop. On more than one occasion she constituted herself
+hostess. Recognizing from her window a familiar carriage, she would
+descend, dainty and bright-eyed, to enjoy a social chat, which would
+sometimes result in her holding a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> reception, for everybody enjoyed
+her merry talk, and she was quickly made the centre of an interested
+group.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Sarah was inclined to interfere, but Norah and Alex protested.
+They liked to have her. She was an added attraction. But all this was
+afterward.</p>
+
+<p>It was on the last evening, as they walked arm in arm around the
+dismantled shop, that Marion said: "I am selfish about it, but I could
+not have endured to go away and have you go on without me in this dear
+little place where we have been so happy. How wonderfully everything
+has worked out! and it was all your doing."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know; I think we owe a great deal to our friend the rich Miss
+Carpenter." There was a mist in Norah's eyes, but she smiled.</p>
+
+<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3>
+<p>Obvious punctuation errors repaired.</p>
+<p>One instance each of type-writer and typewriter were retained.</p>
+<p>The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text will <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
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+Project Gutenberg's The Pleasant Street Partnership, by Mary F. Leonard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Pleasant Street Partnership
+       A Neighborhood Story
+
+Author: Mary F. Leonard
+
+Illustrator: Frank T. Merrill
+
+Release Date: June 26, 2007 [EBook #21944]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PLEASANT STREET PARTNERSHIP ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Garcia, Emmy and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Kentuckiana Digital Library)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+The Pleasant Street Partnership
+
+
+
+
+BOOKS BY MARY F. LEONARD.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+        =THE SPECTACLE MAN.= A STORY OF THE MISSING
+        BRIDGE. 266 pages. Cloth. $1.00.
+
+        =MR. PAT'S LITTLE GIRL.= A STORY OF THE
+        ARDEN FORESTERS. 322 pages. Cloth. $1.50.
+
+        =THE PLEASANT STREET PARTNERSHIP.= A
+        NEIGHBORHOOD STORY. 269 pages. Cloth.
+
+[Illustration: A SMALL BOY . . . STOOD SURVEYING THEM WITH GREAT
+COMPOSURE]
+
+
+
+
+
+The
+Pleasant Street Partnership
+
+_A Neighborhood Story_
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+  By
+  Mary F. Leonard
+
+
+  _Illustrated by_
+  Frank T. Merrill
+
+[Illustration]
+
+        W. A. WILDE COMPANY
+        BOSTON      CHICAGO
+
+
+
+
+        _Copyright, July, 1903._
+        BY W. A. WILDE COMPANY.
+        _All rights reserved._
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+        THE PLEASANT STREET PARTNERSHIP.
+
+
+
+
+=To Charlotte=
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                        PAGE
+
+      I. A WAVE OF IMPROVEMENT                   11
+
+     II. WHAT SHALL WE CALL IT?                  21
+
+    III. AN ALIEN                                24
+
+     IV. MISS WILBUR                             35
+
+      V. THE SHOP                                42
+
+     VI. IN THE EYES OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD         50
+
+    VII. A SPOOL OF TWIST                        60
+
+   VIII. A MATTER OF LOYALTY                     72
+
+     IX. IN THE SHOP                             82
+
+      X. ALEXINA                                 90
+
+     XI. THE LAST STRAW                          98
+
+    XII. THE DISCOVERY                          107
+
+   XIII. AFTERWARD                              115
+
+    XIV. MRS. MILLARD DEPARTS                   121
+
+     XV. GIANT DESPAIR                          129
+
+    XVI. CHARLOTTE                              138
+
+   XVII. AN EVENING CALL                        146
+
+  XVIII. THE ADVENTURES OF A BIRTHDAY CAKE      156
+
+    XIX. TEA AND TALK                           166
+
+     XX. MERRY HEARTS                           175
+
+    XXI. THE RICH MISS CARPENTER                185
+
+    XXII. VALENTINES                            192
+
+   XXIII. NEIGHBORS                             203
+
+    XXIV. WAYLAND                               215
+
+     XXV. THE PRICE OF A BOND                   222
+
+    XXVI. NORAH'S ARK                           229
+
+   XXVII. AN ANNIVERSARY                        236
+
+  XXVIII. WHAT IT MEANT                         248
+
+    XXIX. A LETTER                              253
+
+     XXX. CHANGES                               262
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+                                                                     PAGE
+  "A small boy . . . stood surveying them with great composure"
+                                                 _Frontispiece_       17
+
+  "Securely entrenched behind the lace curtain, she levelled her
+      glass"                                                          61
+
+  "She sank into a chair"                                            109
+
+  "James Mandeville's taste was exacting"                            194
+
+
+
+
+The
+Pleasant Street Partnership
+
+=A Neighborhood Story=
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIRST
+
+A WAVE OF IMPROVEMENT
+
+
+Pleasant Street was regarded by the Terrace as merely an avenue
+of approach to its own exclusive precincts. That Pleasant Street
+came to an end at the Terrace seemed to imply that nothing was to
+be gained by going farther; and if you desired a quiet, substantial
+neighborhood,--none of your showy modern houses on meagre lots, but
+spacious dwellings, standing well apart from each other on high
+ground,--you found it here.
+
+It could not be denied that the Terrace was rather far down town.
+Around it the busy city was closing in, with its blocks of commonplace
+houses, its schools and sanitariums, its noisy car lines, until it
+seemed but a question of a few years when it would be engulfed in a
+wave of mediocrity. Fashion had long ago turned her face in another
+direction, and yet in a way the Terrace held its own. It could boast
+of some wealth, and more distinguished grandfathers were to be heard
+of within its small area than in the length and breadth of Dean
+Avenue.
+
+Its residents felt for each other that friendliness born of long
+association. Some of the best people of the town had built their homes
+here between thirty and forty years ago, and a comparison of
+directories would have shown a surprising proportion of the old names
+still represented.
+
+Perhaps no one thing contributes more to a sense of dignity than long
+residence in one house, and it was natural enough that the Terrace
+should shrug its shoulders at the row of toy dwellings that sprang up
+almost magically on Pleasant Street. That this thoroughfare, so long
+given over to side yards and vacant lots, was showing a disposition to
+improve, was a matter of no concern to the Terrace until unexpectedly
+its own territory was invaded.
+
+On the northeast corner of the Terrace and Pleasant Street there had
+long stood a cottage. In the midst of a large lot, with fine
+shade-trees around it and a beautifully kept lawn, it had never seemed
+out of place among its more pretentious neighbors; but now upon the
+death of its owner the property was divided into three lots and
+offered for sale. What this might mean was at first hardly realized,
+until one day men were discovered to be at work on the corner, digging
+a foundation.
+
+Upon inquiry it developed that a drug store was to be built. The
+neighborhood did not like this, but felt on the whole it might have
+been worse,--this conclusion, as Wayland Leigh pointed out later on,
+being founded on the mistaken hypothesis that all drug stores are
+pretty much alike.
+
+It happened that the druggist had for a brother a young and aspiring
+architect, who conceived the idea of putting up a building in keeping
+with a residence district. The result was a sloping-roofed structure
+whose shingled second story projected over the first, which was of
+concrete. It might have been a rural station, or post-office, or a
+seaside cottage, but a drug store it did not remotely suggest.
+
+The store opened on Pleasant Street; to reach the private entrance you
+must go in from the Terrace, where there was a square of lawn and a
+maple tree, relic of better days.
+
+The worst of it was its utter incongruousness, the best--so Alexina
+Russell said--that it invariably made you smile, and anything in this
+weary world that caused a smile was not wholly bad. Miss Sarah Leigh
+pretended to admire it, and declared she wanted to meet the architect.
+Of all things she liked originality. Mrs. Millard heard her
+disdainfully. Any departure from tradition was objectionable in her
+eyes, and she was deficient in a sense of humor. Judge Russell
+complained that now St. Mark's had taken to high-church customs, and
+the Terrace was degenerating, it was time for him to be put away in
+Spring Hill Cemetery.
+
+Pretty Madelaine, his granddaughter, looked longingly toward Dean
+Avenue, being divided between a desire for its new splendors and a
+complacent consciousness that it was something of a distinction in
+these days to live in the house where your father was born. Alexina,
+her sister, treated this with scorn. She loved the shabby old house
+for other reasons.
+
+In spite of the original intentions of the builder, fate decreed that
+this much-talked-of place was not to be a drug store after all, and
+early in the summer, before it was finished, it was advertised for
+rent.
+
+The plastering stage was beginning when the agent in charge one day
+appeared conducting a young woman over the premises. If the agent's
+manner revealed some slight curiosity concerning her, it was not to be
+wondered at, for it was more than probable he had never before seen so
+charming a person in the guise of a possible shopkeeper.
+
+Her bearing was dignified and businesslike, and if a smile hovered
+about her lips as they explored the odd little house, it did not go
+beyond the bounds of a polite interest. At length she seated herself
+on an empty nail keg in the shop, and became absorbed in thought. The
+agent leaned against the door frame and waited.
+
+"I shall want a few changes made if I lease it," she announced
+suddenly, after some minutes of silence.
+
+The agent started as her eyes met his. "Oh, certainly," he replied, as
+if ready to agree without hearing what they were. On second thought he
+added that the architect was at that moment coming up the street, and
+the best plan, perhaps, would be to submit her wishes to him.
+
+To this she graciously assented, and he left her. When he was gone,
+the young woman's dignity relaxed. She smiled broadly; she even
+laughed. "How ever did it happen!" she exclaimed.
+
+She produced a tape-line and made measurements, then she stood with
+the tip of her tongue touching her upper lip. "I do wish Marion could
+see it," she said. "She will never believe what a fascinatingly funny
+place it is."
+
+She was surveying the neighborhood from the front door when the agent
+returned, accompanied by the architect.
+
+She wanted very little, she announced reassuringly; a fireplace in the
+shop was the chief thing.
+
+The agent suggested that it would be far more expensive to heat the
+room with an open grate than with an anthracite base burner. Whereupon
+she explained that an open fire was part of her stock in trade, and it
+would be impossible to carry on her line of business without one.
+
+The agent ventured to inquire what her line was, and she answered with
+a twinkle in her eye, "Notions."
+
+The architect was doubtful about the fireplace, but not unwilling to
+discuss it, and they grew so friendly over the matter that the agent
+retired to the door and stared gloomily up the street.
+
+From the fireplace the discussion turned to other things. As a
+possible tenant, the young lady consulted the architect about the best
+color for the walls, so adroitly insinuating her own ideas as to the
+proper stain for the woodwork that they seemed his own.
+
+While they talked, a small boy in a gingham apron, with a sailor hat
+on the back of his curly head and a gray flannel donkey under his arm,
+wandered in and stood surveying them with great composure.
+
+"Who's going to live here?" he presently asked, his brown eyes upon
+the lady.
+
+She met his gaze with a smile that drew him a step nearer, but caused
+no break in his seriousness. "I am thinking of it," she said, adding,
+with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes, "if they will let me have a
+fireplace in this room. Shouldn't you want a fireplace if you were
+going to live here?"
+
+He nodded, "'Cause if you didn't, Santa Claus couldn't come."
+
+The lady turned gravely to the architect. "That is a consideration
+which had not occurred to me, but it is an important one. I shall not
+take it without the fireplace." Her manner said there was no need for
+further discussion.
+
+"What is your name?" she asked the small boy.
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"Do you mean you haven't any?"
+
+Another more vigorous shake.
+
+"Perhaps you have forgotten it?"
+
+"No, I haven't."
+
+"Why not tell, then? I am always willing to tell mine."
+
+"What is it?" he inquired with great promptness.
+
+"But I don't think it is fair to ask me when you won't tell yours."
+
+"You said you would."
+
+The lady laughed. "Very well, I am Miss Pennington."
+
+The small boy pondered this for a moment, then announced with much
+distinctness, "My name is James Mandeville Norton."
+
+"Well, James, I am glad to meet you. I see you are a fair-minded
+person. Do you live in this neighborhood?"
+
+James Mandeville pointed in the direction of the row of toy houses on
+Pleasant Street, and said he lived over there.
+
+"Then if they give me a fireplace, you and I will be neighbors."
+
+They were standing in the door, just outside which, on the sidewalk,
+was a velocipede. This James Mandeville now mounted with gravity. He
+did not express a hope that she might come to live near him, but there
+was friendliness in the tone in which he said good-by as he rode
+away.
+
+"Good-by Infinitesimal James," replied the lady.
+
+"My name's James Mandeville," he called back.
+
+In the course of a day or two the matter of the fireplace was adjusted
+and the lease signed. Norah Pennington was the tenant's name, and her
+references all the most timorous landlord could ask.
+
+On the afternoon of the day on which the transaction was closed Miss
+Pennington might have been seen walking along the Terrace, gazing
+about with interested eyes.
+
+"What dear old houses," she said to herself. "I am sure Marion will
+like it here. This might be Doubting Castle, and there is Palace
+Beautiful, a little out of repair."
+
+She stood for a moment on the corner in the full blaze of the summer
+sun. The happy courage of youth seemed to radiate from her. There was
+a vitality, a sparkle in her glance, in the waves of her sunny hair,
+in her smile, as with a slight gesture that embraced the Terrace, and
+Pleasant Street, too, she said half aloud, "Good-by till September."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SECOND
+
+WHAT SHALL WE CALL IT?
+
+
+"And now what shall we call it?" Norah asked.
+
+"Call it?" echoed Marion.
+
+They sat on the rocks beside a mountain stream that filled the air
+with its delicious murmur.
+
+"Certainly, everything has to have a name. Shall it be _Carpenter and
+Pennington, Dry-goods_?"
+
+Marion removed the dark glasses she wore, turning a pair of serious
+eyes upon her companion. "How absurd," she said.
+
+"No," insisted Norah, taking the glasses and adjusting them on her own
+nose, "not at all. It is businesslike. Can't you see it?--a large
+black sign with gilt letters."
+
+"Give me my glasses, and don't be silly. It is not to be a dry-goods'
+store in the first place, and above all things let us be original. If
+such signs are customary, ours must be different."
+
+"Here speaks wisdom. Here the instinct of the born advertiser betrays
+itself. Let us think." Norah buried her face in her hands.
+
+Marion watched her with a half smile, then as an expression of
+weariness stole into her face she restored the glasses and sighed, as
+with her elbow supported on a ledge of rock she rested her chin in her
+palm and looked down on the swift running water. She was extremely
+slender, and it was easy to guess she was also tall, and that, seen at
+her best, she was a person of grace and elegance rather than beauty.
+
+"I have it," Norah cried presently. "_The Pleasant Street Shop._"
+
+"Or _The Neighborhood Shop_," Marion suggested.
+
+"No, let us have Pleasant Street in it. It seems a good omen that the
+street is called Pleasant."
+
+Marion smiled. "Have you told Dr. Baird?" she asked.
+
+"Yes. He said I should be a novelist, and confine my wild-goose
+schemes to paper."
+
+"_The Notions of Norah_ would be a taking title," laughed Marion, the
+weariness gone from her face.
+
+"But as I told him, 'Deeds, not Dreams,' is my motto, and I'll show
+him if it is a wild-goose scheme. I am convinced that deep down in his
+heart he was interested; and although he made no promises, I believe
+we may count on him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRD
+
+AN ALIEN
+
+
+With the swiftness of a small tornado, Charlotte descended the long,
+straight stairway only to sink in a heap on the broad step at the
+bottom. "Oh, dear!" she said, her chin in her hand, "Oh, _dear_!"
+
+A ray of sunlight falling through the side-lights of the door with
+their pattern of fleur-de-lis on a crimson ground, cast a rosy stain
+on the neutral-tinted carpet and brought to notice a few atoms of dust
+on one of the rosewood chairs that stood to attention on either side
+of the tall hat-rack. The wall against which they were ranged was done
+in varnished paper to represent oak panelling, and on it hung one or
+two steel engravings.
+
+"If only something were crooked!" Charlotte sighed.
+
+Now at Aunt Cora's nothing was straight. Etchings and water colors
+fought for the honors of the walls, and chased each other up the side
+of the stairway. Tables and shelves were crowded with trifles, costly
+and otherwise, the chairs were deep and cushiony, except now and then
+a gilt toy which was distinctly for show; the divans were smothered
+with gay pillows. In contrast this house in Kenton Terrace seemed
+unbearably stiff and prim.
+
+Why had not Uncle Landor allowed her to stay with him instead of
+sending her so far away? Perhaps, after all, he had not wanted her.
+Nobody wanted her--dreadful thought!--unless it were Aunt Cora; and
+Charlotte knew in her heart Uncle Landor was wise in deciding she was
+not to travel about with Aunt Cora any more.
+
+Since she had been taken away, a child of seven, her memories of this
+southern town had grown vague, and it seemed strange to hear Uncle
+Landor refer to it as her home. He also said it was the sort of a
+background she needed for the next few years, until she should be
+ready for college. After that he promised, if she still wished it, she
+might come and keep house for him.
+
+But it would be so long. How could she stand it? If only she might
+have gone to boarding-school. Why had Aunt Caroline and Aunt Virginia
+agreed to her coming? They did not like her. Nothing she did pleased
+them. Charlotte looked about for a refuge where she might fling
+herself down and cry her heart out. She rose and stole on tiptoe into
+the drawing-room.
+
+Here the same absolute order prevailed. She felt sure the carved
+chairs and sofas, with their covering of satin brocade, had occupied
+these same positions ever since they first appeared on the scene when
+Aunt Caroline made her debut, more than thirty years ago. Fancy Aunt
+Caroline having a party! Aunt Virginia had described it to her, but it
+sounded unreal. Thirty years ago was too far in the past. Charlotte's
+own mother had been a little girl then.
+
+The buhl cabinet near the window, the inlaid chess table in the corner
+beside the white marble mantel, even the folds of the handsome lace
+curtains, seemed petrified into their present positions. For thirty
+years the mantle mirror had been reflecting the Dresden clock and
+candelabra, and the crystal pendants of the chandelier; the face and
+figure that confronted Charlotte in the pier glass was, however,
+something new and alien.
+
+It was a brown face with blue eyes that danced with mischief or
+flashed with anger, or grew soft with entreaty beneath their black
+lashes, as occasion might demand. Her hair, too, was brown, and
+shadowed her face in a wavy mass held most objectionable by her aunts.
+That a girl barely fourteen should have decided views on the subject
+of dress, and insist upon wearing what she called a pompadour and
+having her belts extremely pointed in front, was surprising to Aunt
+Virginia, shocking to Aunt Caroline.
+
+As she stood facing her own image, the sound of sweeping skirts on the
+stairway sent her flying behind the half-open door.
+
+"What has become of Charlotte?" she heard Aunt Virginia ask.
+
+"I am sure I don't know," responded Aunt Caroline.
+
+"And what is more, you don't care," added Charlotte, under her breath.
+
+When the door had closed behind them, she ran to the window and
+watched as they went down the walk and entered the waiting carriage.
+Two very charming ladies, an unprejudiced observer might have
+pronounced them. A little precise in their elegance, perhaps, but
+pleasant to look upon, especially Aunt Caroline, from head to foot a
+shimmer of silver gray. Aunt Caroline was Mrs. Millard, the widow of
+an army officer, and Charlotte had expected to like her best; but
+after all, Aunt Virginia, who was only Miss Wilbur, had proved the
+least objectionable.
+
+She was not so handsome, but seemed kinder; and when she laughed,
+Charlotte always felt a little thrill of sympathy. When Aunt Caroline
+laughed, it was in a reserved, controlled manner. Charlotte had
+arrived at the conclusion that Aunt Virginia stood in awe of her
+sister; and this might have been a bond of union if it had been
+possible to become really acquainted, but Aunt Virginia held aloof.
+It was almost as if she were afraid of Charlotte, too. Still there was
+something rather nice about her. Charlotte hardly realized how often
+she returned to this opinion.
+
+When they had driven away, she went to the library,--a less formidable
+apartment than the drawing-room,--and making herself comfortable in an
+arm-chair by the window, began to consider what she should say to
+Cousin Francis, for she had decided that pouring out her soul in a
+letter would, after all, be more satisfactory than tears.
+
+She looked out across the garden to where, on the other side of
+Pleasant Street, stood the little corner shop with its gray-green
+shingles, its upper windows all aglow in the afternoon sunshine.
+Before it stood a furniture van, and Charlotte idly watched the
+unloading.
+
+She had made up her mind that life here was going to be hopelessly
+dull. She swung her foot listlessly, and, forgetting her letter,
+thought of Aunt Cora's home in a gay little suburb where something was
+always going on,--teas, dinners, receptions, where, although in the
+background, she had had her share of the excitement.
+
+At the Landors', where she sometimes spent several weeks while Aunt
+Cora, worn by her strenuous social life, went down to Atlantic City to
+recuperate, it was much quieter. And still she loved to be there. The
+elder Mr. Landor was a busy lawyer, his son Francis a literary person,
+and they lived in a tall, brown stone house in the old part of
+Philadelphia, among any number of others exactly like it. It was a
+man's house, overflowing with books and pictures, and yet showing the
+lack of a woman's presence. Charlotte was very fond of her guardian
+and his son, who petted and made much of her on the occasions of her
+visits. She was conscious, however, that Uncle Landor was not quite
+satisfied with her. He had a way of looking at her long and steadily
+through his glasses, as if he were studying her.
+
+Cousin Frank, perhaps because he had no responsibility in the matter,
+treated her as a comrade in a way that was flattering. She was, of
+course, an ardent admirer of his stories and verses, and upon one or
+two rare occasions had been made blissfully happy by being allowed to
+listen to one fresh from the typewriter. But most interesting of all
+had been a discovery made on her last visit in the spring. Between the
+leaves of a manuscript she had been allowed to read she found some
+verses beginning:--
+
+        "I love her whether she love me or no,
+         Just as I love the roses where they blow
+         In fragrant crimson there beyond the wall."
+
+There was something more about roses being sweet although out of
+reach, and teaching a lesson to his heart; but before she had quite
+grasped the idea, Francis took the paper away from her with an
+exclamation of impatience.
+
+"Why should Francis have minded, unless those verses meant something
+personal?" Charlotte wondered. As she thought it over, she recalled
+some remarks of Aunt Cora's about a little water-color portrait of a
+child in Uncle Landor's study.
+
+"Who is this?" Mrs. Brent asked one day, pausing before it.
+
+"That is old Peter Carpenter's granddaughter May, when she was ten
+years old. He had two portraits done of her, and liking the other
+better, gave this to me not long before he died."
+
+Aunt Cora said, "Ah!" and studied it with interest. "So this is _the_
+Miss Carpenter, is it? I presume Francis has a more recent likeness."
+
+"I do not know that he has. We see very little of May in these days.
+She is a great lady." Uncle Landor spoke as one who dismisses a
+subject.
+
+Then one rainy afternoon Mrs. Wellington, the Landors' housekeeper,
+entertained Charlotte with stories of this same young lady who, it
+turned out, lived just across the street in a house distinguished from
+the rest of the block by a garden at one side. According to Mrs.
+Wellington she was beautiful and rich, and if one more touch were
+needed to make her an irreproachable heroine, the long illness from
+which she was then beginning to recover supplied it. Watching at the
+window, Charlotte had the pleasure of seeing her carried out for a
+drive once or twice, but she never had a glimpse of her face.
+
+Putting two and two together, she became quite sure that this Miss
+Carpenter was the rose which was out of reach; but though she was on
+the point of it several times, she never quite dared to question
+Cousin Francis about her.
+
+Charlotte had woven a charming romance with these slender threads,
+being at the romantic age when real life is seen beneath the
+lime-light of fairyland. Was it any wonder things seemed dull here in
+Kenton Terrace?
+
+These entertaining memories being for the time exhausted, her thoughts
+turned to the grievance that had sent her downstairs with such
+vehemence,--a thrilling, fascinating story taken from her at the most
+critically exciting point.
+
+"I cannot allow you to read novels when you are going to school," Aunt
+Caroline had said; adding, "and this book is not at all the sort of
+thing for a little girl."
+
+At the recollection Charlotte put her hand to her hair. Little girl,
+indeed! When people wished to be disagreeable, they reminded you that
+you were a little girl.
+
+"I have always read what I pleased," she insisted, relinquishing the
+book unwillingly.
+
+"I cannot understand Mrs. Brent's allowing it; but however that may
+have been, while you are with us your Aunt Virginia and I will
+exercise some supervision over what you read."
+
+Questions about the owner of the novel followed, and here was another
+grievance. It had been lent to Charlotte by one of her schoolmates, a
+girl with fluffy yellow hair and many rings, whom after a week's
+acquaintance,--to use her own phrase,--she simply adored. Her name was
+Lucile Lyle--in itself adorable--and the intimacy with her had
+resulted in Charlotte becoming Carlotta.
+
+"Lyle?" Aunt Virginia repeated questioningly.
+
+"Don't you remember Maggie McKay, Virginia? This is her daughter," was
+Aunt Caroline's reply. To Charlotte she said, "To-morrow I shall give
+you this book to return, and while of course I wish you to be polite,
+I do not wish you to be intimate with this girl."
+
+"I don't care what she says, I shall read it, and be as intimate as I
+please with Lucile," Charlotte told herself; which goes to show that
+Mr. Landor was right when he felt she needed different training.
+
+And now having nothing else to do, she wandered to the piano, and
+finding an old music book, turned its pages, playing snatches of
+"Monastery Bells" and "Listen to the Mocking-bird." She was putting a
+good deal of feeling into "I'm a Pilgrim, and I'm a Stranger," when a
+sound behind caused her to start.
+
+"You have a pretty touch, my dear," said Aunt Virginia. "We have been
+out to Marat's greenhouse, and I have brought you some roses." She
+laid them on the piano as she spoke, and slipped away before Charlotte
+could make any response.
+
+Was it a peace offering?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTH
+
+MISS WILBUR
+
+
+Miss Wilbur was perplexed to the point of annoyance, a state of mind
+most unusual with her.
+
+She was by nature a serene person, quite content with her easy,
+uneventful life. The outside world she faced with a timid reserve
+which had not diminished with years and indulgence, finding her life
+in her family circle and the round of small cares, her flowers and her
+embroidery. She disliked responsibility, and except in what she
+considered matters of principle was inclined to distrust her own
+judgment. She was full of family loyalty, and had been satisfied to
+look on from her place in the background, while her more clever and
+ambitious sisters and brothers one by one passed from the home into
+the world.
+
+Naturally enough she had not married. She had not cared to, and had
+never given any one the opportunity to combat this indifference. Most
+people liked her, but she had few intimate friends, having apparently
+no desire to be singled out in any way, and yet she was warmly
+affectionate. In truth Miss Virginia was an elusive sort of person,
+sometimes allowing a glimpse of herself in all her unselfish
+sweetness, and then, presto! her reserve had taken alarm, the vision
+was gone.
+
+She was conventional, made so by her environment; yet her failings,
+many of them, so her sister Caroline declared, were those of an
+untrained child. She was careless,--as Charlotte had noticed, she
+sometimes forgot the fastenings of her skirt; when she wrote, she
+invariably inked her fingers; and she was constantly losing or
+breaking her glasses. She treated these matters lightly herself, but
+tried to conceal them from her sister.
+
+In their girlhood this sister, a few years older than she, had been
+the object of her deepest devotion. Caroline was beautiful and clever,
+and to question her opinions never entered Miss Virginia's mind. It
+puzzled and hurt her loyal heart that she could not quite get back to
+the old attitude when Caroline returned to her home a widow. She
+submitted when Caroline assumed command of the household; but after
+their father's death relieved her of the position of devoted nurse,
+Miss Virginia found life a little empty; and what made it the harder
+was that she no longer felt herself altogether in sympathy with her
+sister's opinions and methods.
+
+Her aspirations had never gone beyond making home pleasant for
+somebody, and now even this was taken from her. The things that most
+absorbed Mrs. Millard were of little interest to her; she began to
+feel useless and unhappy. She was a failure. Life had somehow slipped
+by unawares. She felt old at forty-eight.
+
+Above everything she disliked change, and the sale of the corner lot
+and the building of the shop caused her many a pang. In the midst of
+all this disquietude Mr. Landor's letter arrived.
+
+"I have most agreeable recollections of your home," he wrote, "and I
+realize I am asking a good deal of you, for our little niece is a
+somewhat tumultuous person. She has suffered from both over indulgence
+and neglect. She needs a different atmosphere, and much in the way of
+training that her old guardian cannot give her, so he ventures for
+Helen's sake to ask if you will take charge of her daughter for a few
+years."
+
+This half sister, twelve years younger than herself, had come and gone
+like some happy dream in Miss Virginia's life. She had grown up under
+the care of her grandmother, almost a stranger in her father's house,
+to which she returned in her gay young girlhood, and for the one time
+in her experience Miss Wilbur had been swept into a whirl of gayety as
+Helen's chaperon. Her charge had married early, and after a few years
+went abroad with her husband and little girl in search of health she
+was never to find.
+
+The thought of Helen's child aroused memories both bright and
+sorrowful, but at least here was an opportunity to be useful again. It
+would be pleasant to have a child in the house, Miss Virginia thought,
+studying the photograph of Charlotte at seven, bright-eyed and demure.
+
+The tall, well-grown girl had been a surprise to her aunts. Her
+assured manner and pronounced style of dress were not exactly what
+one desired in a girl of fourteen. At sight of her Miss Virginia had
+been seized with a fit of shyness; in consequence the reins had been
+taken by Mrs. Millard, who was not shy and was, besides, a born
+manager.
+
+Miss Virginia felt a sympathy for Charlotte, even while disapproving
+of her; she felt her sister to be too peremptory. In the matter of the
+novel it would have been better to allow Charlotte to finish it, with
+the understanding that it was to be the last. What could be more
+aggravating than to have to give up a story with only two-thirds of it
+read? It was an interesting story, too. Miss Virginia herself sat up
+till midnight to finish it. Some time perhaps she would tell Charlotte
+the end. Then she reminded herself that this would never do.
+
+It was no use talking to Caroline, and yet Mr. Landor had asked _her_
+to take charge of Charlotte, and Caroline had no right to assume
+command. Miss Virginia wished they had not agreed to take the child.
+
+She paced back and forth on the front porch one afternoon, thinking of
+all this and of the peaceful days of the past, feeling that dulness
+was better than problems like these. Across Pleasant Street was the
+little shop already showing signs of habitation. As she stood idly
+with her hand on the rail, a boy came up the walk and handed her what
+at first glance she thought was a note, but it proved on investigation
+to be an announcement.
+
+               THE PLEASANT STREET SHOP
+                      WILL OPEN
+               WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER SECOND
+
+        Dainty Turnovers     Pretty Draperies
+        Ribbons              Bright Chintzes
+                      Baskets
+                      Pottery
+        Needles and Pins and Other Small Matters
+                    A Specialty.
+
+"How absurd!" thought Miss Virginia. "A shop of this sort in the
+Terrace!"
+
+"Have you heard about the new shop, Miss Virginia?" called Alexina
+Russell from the gate.
+
+Miss Wilbur held up the card. "I am just reading the announcement. Who
+can be starting it? and isn't it too bad?" As she spoke, she descended
+the steps and joined the young girl.
+
+"It is the funniest little place I ever saw," answered Alex. "I
+suppose it is not nice to have shops springing up in the
+neighborhood, but--sometimes I wish I were going to keep a shop."
+
+"My dear! I trust you will never have to do that."
+
+"Haven't you ever felt that you would like to be doing something?--to
+be in things--part of the real working world?" Alexina spoke with
+fervor.
+
+"I never wanted to keep a shop, I am sure," answered Miss Wilbur.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTH
+
+THE SHOP
+
+
+James Mandeville did not forget the pretty young lady who said she was
+coming to be his neighbor if they would give her a fireplace. He had
+kept an eye on the shop all summer, and he knew there was a fireplace.
+
+He saw plasterers, carpenters, and painters come and go as he rode
+back and forth on his velocipede at a rate of speed altogether out of
+proportion to the effort put forth by his plump legs, bare and brown
+above his socks. From beneath the brim of his old sailor hat he looked
+on with solemn intentness. He was on excellent terms with the workmen,
+and often carried home a whole armful of treasures--odd-shaped pieces
+of wood, curly shavings, and bits of tile.
+
+At length all was done; the square of lawn on the Terrace side was
+sodded, and from the street in front of the shop all the debris was
+carried away. Surely, she would come now!
+
+Some rainy days followed, and when the weather permitted James
+Mandeville and his velocipede to be abroad again, the place showed
+unmistakable signs of occupancy. There were muslin curtains in the
+upstairs windows, and, peeping in through the glass door of the shop,
+he saw packing-boxes. At another time a woman stood on the curbstone
+buying vegetables from a wagon, but she was far removed from the lady
+of his dreams. His heart fell.
+
+The door of the shop stood open the next time he passed. James
+Mandeville halted, letting one foot slip along the pavement as a
+brake. Under his left arm, pressed close to his linen blouse, was a
+tin horn. At this moment a lady came to the door and looked out. She
+was not the lady of the fireplace,--a glance told him that,--yet she
+was quite different from the one who bought vegetables. She was tall
+and dark, and wore unbecoming smoked glasses. She took no notice of
+him, but turned and went back into the shop. James Mandeville
+dismounted and followed.
+
+The packing-cases had been removed, and the sunshine that streamed in
+above the sheet tacked across the lower part of the west window
+lighted up a scene of cheerful disorder, pervading which was a
+pleasant odor of newness. With her back toward him, the lady began to
+measure off lengths of some green fabric, standing before a long
+table.
+
+He waited, but still she took no notice. Should he go away? He
+summoned all his courage and gave voice to the question that was
+asking itself in his own mind: "Where is she?"
+
+The lady turned in surprise and looked down upon him. If he could have
+expressed his feelings, he would have said she was a haughty person.
+But as she looked at him her manner changed, and she smiled as she
+asked, "What is it? I don't understand."
+
+James Mandeville struggled to reply, but words were hard to find. As
+he stood silent a voice behind him cried, "Why, if it isn't
+Infinitesimal James!" and there she was, with her shining hair and
+laughing eyes. He laughed, too, for very relief.
+
+"There's a fireplace," he announced, going to meet her. "I saw them
+make it."
+
+"So you knew I would come back, didn't you? Yes, it is a very nice
+fireplace, and will be all ready for a visit from Santa Claus," she
+replied, shaking hands. Then quite unexpectedly she picked him up and
+set him on the table among the waves of green stuff. "Now you look
+like Triton," she said.
+
+James Mandeville held fast to his horn and eyed his captor doubtfully,
+as if he had a mind to escape.
+
+"Do you remember my name? I am Miss Norah, and I want to introduce you
+to my partner, who is almost as nice as I am. She is Miss Marion."
+
+The other young lady smiled. "Do you believe in blowing your own horn,
+as Miss Norah does?" she asked.
+
+James Mandeville looked at his horn, and then at the speaker; but as
+he did not understand, he made no reply.
+
+"She asks foolish questions, doesn't she?" said Miss Norah. "As you
+are the first neighbor to call on us, you shall not be required to
+answer. You may help me trim the show window, if you like."
+
+James Mandeville wriggled out from among the green waves. "What are
+you going to keep in your store?" he asked.
+
+The reply was disappointing. "Why don't you keep candy?" was the next
+question.
+
+"Because Miss Marion would give it all away, and we shouldn't be able
+to make a living."
+
+"Would you?" he asked, turning to that lady with earnest eyes.
+Clearly, she might be worth cultivating.
+
+She laughed and left the room for a moment, returning with something
+in her hand wrapped in silver paper. "Do you like chocolate?" she
+inquired; adding, "I don't know how it would be if I kept it; but as I
+don't keep it, of course I give it away."
+
+This had a puzzling sound. James Mandeville almost forgot to say thank
+you. He decided to go, feeling he could better enjoy the chocolate
+alone. He edged toward the door.
+
+"Good-by," called Miss Norah. "Come again."
+
+"All right," said James Mandeville, and disappeared from the scene.
+
+After his departure all was quiet in the shop for a time, except for
+the occasional sound of Norah's hammer as she worked in the window.
+Marion was putting things away in the cases which stood against the
+wall. It was she who first spoke.
+
+"I wonder if we shall have any customers?"
+
+"That is reflection upon my skill as a decorator. Do you think the
+public can resist the display which is about to dawn upon it on the
+morrow?" was Norah's reply.
+
+Marion left her work and sat on the window ledge. Norah wore a blue
+dress and a large white apron, and as she stood to drive a tack, the
+sunshine sparkled in her hair. She looked the incarnation of cheerful
+industry.
+
+"I do not know that I altogether believe in show windows," Marion
+said, smiling up at her friend.
+
+"Of course not. It is all of a piece with your haughty reserve. Let me
+remind you that after we have made a success and have a name we can
+retire into our shell and become the sought rather than the seeker,
+but at present it is needful to catch the public eye. You have imbibed
+your ideas from the rich Miss Carpenter, but _we_ have our living to
+make." She drove her tack with emphasis, then sat down on the floor of
+the window. "I am not sure I shall not always like this way best,"
+she continued. "Think, if there were no show windows at Christmas!
+Marion, think of Christmas!"
+
+"Isn't it a little early? There is a good deal to be done between now
+and then." Marion spoke calmly.
+
+Norah tossed a ball of twine at her. "I see it will be by the hardest
+work if I get any fun out of life. But to resume my train of thought
+which you interrupted--"
+
+"I beg your pardon, you interrupted yourself."
+
+"Did I? Well, to resume, at any rate: my idea is that it will be much
+nicer to keep a shop which will attract both great and small, so to
+speak. To make a specialty always of nice, simple things."
+
+"Flannelette?" suggested Marion.
+
+"Why not? It is a useful fabric."
+
+"I foresee if we enter into a discussion of this momentous question
+your window will not be finished, and I own to some curiosity as to
+how you mean to attract the great, for instance."
+
+Marion returned to her baskets, and there was silence again for a
+time.
+
+"Your idea of the bookcases was a happy one," she said presently,
+standing back to view her work. "These baskets have the air of a
+collection of curios behind the glass."
+
+"A charming touch of color against our olive walls. Confess, did you
+ever have such a good time in your life?"
+
+"My enthusiasm is sprouting vigorously."
+
+"And the fun is only just beginning. But do come here--quick, Marion!
+I want you to see Giant Despair."
+
+A tall, heavily built old man was passing along Pleasant Street, his
+brows drawn together in a tremendous frown. He swung a stout
+walking-stick in his right hand, as if he would have been pleased to
+lay it over somebody's shoulders. At the corner he paused and looked
+back at the shop.
+
+"Did you see? He shook his fist!" cried Norah.
+
+"Have we an enemy?" asked Marion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTH
+
+IN THE EYES OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD
+
+
+Its isolation in the heart of the city had something to do, no doubt,
+with certain village-like customs that prevailed in the Terrace. The
+neighbors ran in upon one another with their needlework for a social
+afternoon. If Alexina or Madelaine Russell were going to a party,
+there was sure to be an audience of two or three waiting to see them
+after they were dressed. When the Leigh's cook, Aunt Minty, made
+jumbles, a plateful always found its way over the back fence to Miss
+Virginia Wilbur; and when the Wilburs had something particularly nice
+for dessert, some neighbor had a share of it. Judge Russell and Mr.
+Goodman played chess together and talked of old times, and on the
+whole friendliness prevailed, with only an occasional neighborly tiff,
+when perhaps some one was heard to wish that Caroline Millard would
+mind her own business. There were other occasions when Mrs. Millard's
+executive ability proved helpful and was warmly appreciated.
+
+The strenuous life had not as yet invaded the Terrace. Mrs. Millard,
+to be sure, belonged to the Woman's Club, and presided at various
+board meetings, but she was the exception.
+
+The Terrace had its problems. We know Miss Virginia's; but Alexina,
+not suspecting it, watching her in church on Sundays, wished she
+herself were middle-aged and had all her troublesome questions
+answered, for at forty-eight one must have solved life's problems,
+Alex thought.
+
+Madelaine only wanted money to gratify her taste for pretty things.
+Given plenty of money, and life would be a simple matter. And so it
+seemed to Miss Sarah Leigh, always cheery, yet always burdened with
+the doubt where next month's bread and butter were to come from, and
+with the regret that her nephew, Wayland, must work instead of going
+to college.
+
+Old Mr. Goodman had the money, and his great tomb of a house was full
+of valuable things, but his problem was hardest of all; for having to
+a sad degree lost his faith in men and things, he found no use for it.
+Judge Russell sighed for the good old days; but it was a gentle sigh,
+and soon forgotten in the companionship of his beloved books.
+
+If from one point of view the neighborhood characteristic was
+sociability, its attitude toward the outsider was another matter. A
+new resident must undergo a term of probation before being in any
+sense accepted. Charlotte Creston, as the Wilburs' niece, was received
+and freely discussed. She was only a child, and for that reason
+something of a novelty in the Terrace, since the Russells and Wayland
+Leigh had grown up.
+
+Toward the shop, which divided with Charlotte the distinction of
+latest comer, the feeling was decidedly antagonistic. It was as if
+that monster Business had suddenly reached out from his own domain,
+blocks away, and laid his hand upon their peaceful territory.
+
+Something like a council of war took place in the Wilburs'
+drawing-room several evenings before the opening. Charlotte, supposed
+to be studying in the library, became an interested listener, shielded
+from view by the half-drawn hangings.
+
+Alexina Russell was the first comer. Charlotte had not yet made up
+her mind about Alex, she was so different at different times. She
+might have been almost as pretty as Madelaine, if she had fluffed her
+hair and dressed a little less plainly. Sometimes she was full of
+animation, again, as this evening, she appeared abstracted and silent.
+
+After Miss Sarah Leigh and her aunt arrived there was no more silence;
+it had no charms for either of these ladies. Charlotte had at first
+felt something like contempt for a person so odd as Miss Sarah, who
+wore skirts short enough to display to advantage her serviceable
+shoes, and poked her head out when she walked. But if Miss Sarah had
+no pretensions to beauty or style, her face was pleasant, her eyes
+really fine, and her smile full of kindly humor. Charlotte learned
+from Aunt Virginia that Miss Sarah had an unusual number of
+distinguished ancestors, which went to show how little appearance can
+be relied on in such matters.
+
+Mrs. Leigh suggested a bit of pretty old china of a pattern grown
+rare. Her eyes were bright, there was a hint of pink in her cheeks,
+and the silvery puffs beneath her lace cap had the exactness born of
+long years of training in the way they should go. When she walked, it
+was with a lightness wonderful in a woman of seventy-eight.
+
+Before the Leighs were fairly seated one or two others dropped in,
+until it seemed quite like a called meeting of the neighborhood. Aunt
+Caroline was in the chair which, on this occasion, happened to be
+placed where the rosy glow from a shaded lamp fell becomingly on her
+soft gray draperies. Aunt Virginia fluttered about, constantly
+interrupting conversation with footstools or sofa cushions, or
+irrelevant remarks.
+
+"Miss Virginia is always wondering if one more cushion or some other
+chair would not make you a little more comfortable," said Alex, as
+that lady appeared after her sixth excursion to the hall, this time
+with a light shawl for Mrs. Leigh's rheumatic shoulder.
+
+"Do come and sit down, Virginia," laughed Miss Sarah; "you have no
+repose of manner."
+
+"It is very fortunate that so many of us happen to be together this
+evening," began Mrs. Millard, "for I think we should decide upon our
+course in regard to the shop." Her white hand, veiled in a fall of
+lace, made a slight motion in the direction of the corner.
+
+"Don't you want some chocolate candy?" asked Miss Virginia, in an
+audible aside to Miss Sarah. "Charlotte and I made some this
+afternoon."
+
+"When we have decided the fate of the shop," the lady whispered back.
+
+"Seriously," continued Mrs. Millard, turning toward her sister with a
+slight frown, "should we not take some action?"
+
+"You are right, Caroline. In my day shops kept to their own
+territory," Mrs. Leigh responded. "I remember the colonel used to
+say--but there! I promised Sarah I wouldn't tell any stories this
+evening. She says I bore people."
+
+"Why, Aunt Sally! you are telling the biggest kind of a one this
+minute," cried her niece.
+
+A good-natured warfare waged continually between these two. Mrs.
+Leigh, who was in reality the most petted and indulged of old ladies,
+pretending to live in constant fear of Miss Sarah.
+
+"But what can we do?" Alexina was heard asking, as the skirmishers
+finally retired, Mrs. Leigh having the last word. "We can't exactly
+blame these persons, whoever they may be, for coming here. They could
+not know we did not want them."
+
+"I saw some one standing in the door of the shop this morning who
+_looked_ like a lady," Miss Virginia remarked.
+
+"How do you define a lady, Virginia?" her sister asked with some
+severity.
+
+"Why, Caroline, I am not a dictionary; I wish you wouldn't ask me to
+define things," replied Miss Virginia, with a little laugh. Then with
+the manner of one who regretted this flippancy she added, "I think I
+understand the word as you do."
+
+"It seems to me we are too often content with a surface meaning," Mrs.
+Millard continued.
+
+"That is true," agreed Alex. "Now, there is no reason in the world why
+these shopkeepers may not be ladies."
+
+Mrs. Millard looked at her doubtfully. "Still," she interposed,
+"ladies do not as a usual thing keep shops."
+
+"No; they sweep and scrub and cook, and pretend they don't,--that is
+the difference," put in Miss Sarah, crossing her knees and bending
+forward with the air of one who had found a congenial theme. "I am a
+paper-hanger, a painter, and a maid-of-all-work; and this is what it
+usually means to be a lady when you are poor."
+
+"Teaching has always seemed to me a most suitable occupation for a
+woman," suggested Mrs. Millard.
+
+"The day has passed, Caroline, when just anybody can teach."
+
+"I don't know any girl who had a better education or was more studious
+than you, Sarah," spoke up her aunt.
+
+"And when Brother Willie died I didn't know how to write a check or
+make the discount on a gas bill."
+
+"I feel as you do, Miss Sarah. It is dreadful to be so ignorant as
+women are of the simplest things," exclaimed Alexina.
+
+"Still, I think it is more comfortable not to have to know about them,
+don't you?" Miss Virginia asked timidly.
+
+"What are you people talking about?" The question came from the
+doorway, where Madelaine stood, a vision of such airiness, daintiness,
+and ethereal charm that nothing else seemed worth a thought. Behind
+her towered Wayland Leigh.
+
+"May we join the party and help decide the burning question?" he
+asked. "Don't get up, Miss Virginia; we'll find chairs."
+
+"I know it is the shop," said Madelaine, floating across the room to
+an ottoman beside Mrs. Millard. Madelaine, too, had an instinct for
+the effective, and nothing could have made a more charming picture.
+"Grandpa and Mr. Goodman were at it a few minutes ago. Mr Goodman
+talks about an injunction."
+
+"We began with the shop, but we seem to have switched off on to
+education," said Mrs. Leigh. "One never heard such talk when I was
+young. Then we had plenty of servants, and there was always some man
+to attend to business. After the war I asked our old Malinda one day
+how she liked freedom. 'Well, Miss Sally,' she said, 'I likes it, and
+I don't like it. I tell you what, Miss Sally, freedom's monstrous
+industrious.' That is what I think about these times,--'they's
+monstrous industrious.' Goodness, I have gone and told a story!"
+
+"I shall have to take you home before you transgress again," said her
+niece, rising.
+
+"Don't go. We haven't decided what we must do," urged Miss Virginia.
+
+"What do you think, Mrs. Millard?" asked Madelaine, with an upward
+glance, and flattering emphasis.
+
+Mrs. Millard caressed the hand that lay on her lap as she replied, "My
+own feeling is that we should refuse our patronage--not that they are
+likely to have anything we'd care to buy--and use our influence
+against it."
+
+"Well, I for one shan't make any promises; if I need a spool of thread
+and can save a walk, I shall go over there to get it," Miss Sarah
+announced positively.
+
+"You might add that your patronage is not likely of itself to save the
+shop from bankruptcy," put in her nephew.
+
+Everybody seemed to be going. Charlotte tucked her history under her
+arm and ran upstairs. As she went to the window to draw the curtain a
+bright light shone from the shop across the street.
+
+"I wonder if you'll be sorry you came here?" said Charlotte to
+herself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTH
+
+A SPOOL OF TWIST
+
+
+The shop windows on the opening day proved most alluring to Miss
+Virginia. There were two,--one overlooking the square of lawn on the
+Terrace, the other, Pleasant Street. Between them, placed across the
+corner, was the door.
+
+The Terrace window was full of plants, while on the Pleasant Street
+side there was a tempting display of color. Miss Virginia hunted up
+her distance glasses, which she seldom used, in order the better to
+view it; but she failed to make out anything in particular. Her ardor
+might have suggested an archaeologist over a cuneiform inscription, as
+she tried to decide whether a certain patch of blue and white was a
+pillow or a table-cover.
+
+Charlotte openly stopped to view the window on her way home from
+school, and Miss Virginia, observing it, privately questioned her.
+
+[Illustration: SECURELY ENTRENCHED BEHIND THE LACE CURTAIN SHE
+LEVELLED HER GLASS]
+
+"You ought to go over and look in, Aunt Virginia," she said. "There
+are the prettiest baskets you ever saw."
+
+Miss Virginia adored baskets.
+
+"And there is the dearest sofa pillow."
+
+She had decided on a pillow for Caroline's birthday.
+
+"And, Aunt Virginia, there are the cunningest little collars with
+cuffs to match," Charlotte continued with mischievous eyes.
+
+Miss Virginia grew impatient. It was out of all reason that such
+desirable things should be brought almost to her door and yet be
+beyond her reach.
+
+"It wouldn't be giving them much encouragement just to look in the
+window," observed Charlotte. "I'll tell you," she cried the next
+minute, "opera glasses!"
+
+"My _dear_, look at my neighbors through an opera glass?"
+
+"But they _want_ to be looked at," insisted Charlotte, with
+unanswerable logic.
+
+Miss Virginia allowed herself to be persuaded, and, securely
+entrenched behind the lace curtain, she levelled her glass. As is ever
+the case with one who dallies with temptation, the result was an
+increased desire to have that pillow in her hands.
+
+Standing absorbed in contemplation, she suddenly, without intending
+it, turned her gaze upon one of the upper windows; and as she did so
+the muslin draperies parted and a pair of merry eyes belonging to a
+pretty face looked straight into hers.
+
+"I beg your pardon," cried Miss Virginia, dropping her glass and
+sinking into a chair, "I shall be ashamed of this to my dying day,"
+she groaned, while Charlotte went off into fits of laughter.
+
+It was some time before she could be brought to realize she had not
+been seen. "Not that that makes it much better," she added contritely.
+"And, Charlotte, don't mention it to your Aunt Caroline. I think my
+ideas of propriety are as strict as hers, but I do not succeed so well
+in living up to them. I fear I am, as she says, childish."
+
+"I shall not say anything about it, and I am sure I think you are very
+nice, Aunt Virginia," answered Charlotte, still laughing.
+
+The suspicion that Charlotte liked her better than she did Caroline
+was a secret pleasure to Miss Virginia, and she flushed prettily as
+she said, "Thank you, dear; I am far from what I should be."
+
+Charlotte went to take her music lesson; Mrs. Millard was attending a
+club meeting; the house was very quiet as Miss Virginia sat down to
+her embroidery. While she worked, the face so vividly imprinted on her
+memory in that moment's view continued to rise before her. She began
+to feel something like sympathy for its owner. She had not supposed it
+would be such an attractive shop. What possible harm could there be in
+going over just to look? She might even go in and explain to the
+proprietor that she had made a mistake in coming into the
+neighborhood. It would be a kindness. She could use a spool of
+buttonhole twist as an excuse. She really needed it.
+
+Then she saw the foolishness of all this and tried to think of
+something else. She worked another scallop, and concluded to go for a
+walk.
+
+When she stepped out of the gate, she turned her back upon the shop
+and walked in the opposite direction, but a quarter of an hour later
+she might have been seen approaching it by way of Pleasant Street.
+
+It was a beautiful October day; there was a suggestion of autumn in
+the maples, but the air was soft as spring. As she stood before the
+door her heart beat guiltily; her own home across the way wore an
+oddly unfamiliar look.
+
+Being a shop one was, of course, expected to open the door and walk
+in. Miss Virginia did so, and for a bewildered moment felt she had
+made a mistake, for there was nothing in the room she entered that
+seemed to bear any relation to a shop.
+
+In the window, where the ferns and palms were, three persons sat, two
+young women and a small boy in socks. One of the three rose and came
+to meet her. The identity of the face with the one she had seen
+through the opera glass so recently, added to her confusion.
+
+"Can I show you something?"
+
+Miss Virginia gazed at the speaker despairingly. "I have forgotten
+what I came for," she stammered.
+
+It might have been an everyday occurrence to have customers who had
+forgotten what they wanted, for anything the manner of the young woman
+showed. She smiled indeed, but sympathetically, saying she often
+forgot things herself; and, pushing forward a willow chair, added,
+"Won't you sit down and let me show you some of our things?"
+
+Not seeing her way clear to escape, Miss Virginia accepted the chair.
+There were other chairs of the same variety, some of them supplied
+with cushions; around the olive-tinted walls were low cases which
+might hold books or anything; there was a table with a lamp and
+magazines upon it, and in the corner fireplace a low fire flickered.
+The most businesslike piece of furniture was the long table upon which
+the young woman was laying out a bewitching assortment of collars and
+cuffs of a daintiness that went to the heart. Miss Virginia forgot her
+embarrassment in her pleasure at the array of pretty things.
+
+The small boy crossed the room, and depositing a gray flannel donkey
+on the table leaned upon Miss Virginia's chair. He was a pretty child,
+and she smiled at him as he lifted his serious brown eyes.
+
+"Jack likes to see what you are doing, but you mustn't sell him by
+mistake, Miss Norah," he said.
+
+"Is this your little boy?" she asked.
+
+"No, James Mandeville is a neighbor and very good friend of ours.
+Aren't you, Infinitesimal James?"
+
+He nodded emphatically, and continued to look on with interest while
+Norah hung soft-tinted fabrics over a convenient rack, and brought out
+baskets of all colors and shapes.
+
+It was clearly James Mandeville's fault that Miss Wilbur was unable to
+preserve that distant manner which was the only proper attitude toward
+this objectionable shop. When he laid his plump hand on hers and
+looked up at her in silent good fellowship, she felt a thrill of
+pleasure. Could any one refuse a child's offer of friendship? Not Miss
+Virginia, certainly. She bent and touched his cheek with her lips.
+James Mandeville, moved to further demonstration, brought the donkey
+and laid him on her lap.
+
+"Don't show me anything more," she said, patting the donkey.
+"Everything is beautiful. I really didn't come expecting to buy, but
+I must have one of these collars." She laid a bit of embroidery
+against her sleeve and looked down at it thoughtfully.
+
+The sunlight fell slantingly across the room, gleaming in James
+Mandeville's short curls and emphasizing all the cosiness and
+pleasantness of her surroundings. The spirit of friendliness grew
+strong in Miss Virginia. She felt in no haste to leave.
+
+While Norah searched for something in one of the cases, Miss Wilbur
+peeped around the chair back at the occupant of the window who was
+employing herself with knitting. She was not--so Miss Virginia
+thought--as attractive as her associate, although she could not be
+called ordinary. Meanwhile James Mandeville investigated her shopping
+bag with absorbed interest.
+
+The opening of the shop door interrupted her thoughts, and before she
+had time to push aside the draperies which, disposed upon the rack,
+intervened between her and the door, she heard a cool, clear voice
+announce, "I wish a spool of twist--black if you please."
+
+Miss Virginia gazed wildly toward the door at the other end of the
+room, her first impression being that Caroline had come in search of
+her. The next moment she realized with surprise and amusement that her
+sister had come altogether on her own account and had asked for the
+very same thing she herself had thought of purchasing. Miss Virginia
+braced herself for the inevitable encounter, and when Miss Norah
+returned, thanked her for her kindness in showing so many of her
+wares, and selected one from the collars before her. The while she
+heard her sister's voice.
+
+"Do you consider this a good locality for a shop?" Mrs. Millard asked.
+"It seems to me quite otherwise, and I think it the only proper course
+to tell you that the neighborhood strongly objects to such an
+intrusion."
+
+Miss Virginia felt her face grow hot.
+
+"Isn't it a little late to tell us this?" The tall young woman who had
+put down her knitting to serve the newcomer seemed not a whit abashed
+at Mrs. Millard's manner. If anything, she was the more queenly of the
+two, and might have been bestowing a favor as she handed back the
+change.
+
+Norah's sunny face intervened, "We are very sorry if you don't want
+us," she said, "for we shall have to stay for the present. We think we
+are quite as nice as a drug store, and perhaps we shall be able to
+convince you of it before long."
+
+Could Caroline hold out against such winning address? What she might
+have said or done was never known, for James Mandeville, desiring to
+see what was going on, and attempting to crawl under the rack with its
+burden of fabrics, precipitated it upon himself and was lost in the
+ruins, while Miss Virginia was revealed in all her ignominy, with a
+flannel donkey in her lap, to the eyes of her relative.
+
+"Virginia! I am astonished!"
+
+Miss Wilbur rose to the occasion. "So am I, Caroline. I, too, came to
+get a spool of twist." There is good authority for the assertion that
+one may smile and be a villain, but hitherto such depths of perfidy
+had been unsuspected in Miss Virginia.
+
+The united efforts of the shopkeepers were required to disentangle
+James Mandeville and quiet his cries of alarm. In the struggle Miss
+Wilbur's bag suffered a complete upturn, and her small change was
+scattered to the four corners of the room.
+
+Mrs. Millard stood apart looking on in disdain at the confusion, when
+again the shop door opened, this time to admit Miss Sarah Leigh who
+advanced and addressed her, fumbling in her pocket-book meanwhile and
+not lifting her eyes. "I want a spool of twist," she said, producing a
+sample of blue silk. "Why, Caroline Wilbur!" and she stared in
+amazement.
+
+Norah who had set James Mandeville, still weeping, out of harm's way
+on the table, met Miss Sarah's bewildered gaze with a frank smile, as
+if she appreciated the joke.
+
+"Do you call this a shop?" Miss Sarah demanded; adding, "Well, if
+there isn't Virginia! Are Judge Russell and Mr. Goodman hiding
+somewhere? Is this a conspiracy?"
+
+"I'll explain later," said Mrs. Millard, with dignity. "Virginia, are
+you ready?"
+
+As they crossed Pleasant Street together, Miss Sarah was disposed to
+make merry at Mrs. Millard's expense, but that lady's haughtiness was
+extreme. There was nothing funny in her actions. She had gone to the
+shop with a purpose, thinking it only the part of fairness to tell
+them frankly they were not wanted in the neighborhood.
+
+"That is what I thought of doing," said Miss Virginia. But who can
+blame her sister for looking incredulous.
+
+"Well, I'm going again," said Miss Sarah, pausing at the gate. "It is
+an interesting place."
+
+Miss Virginia agreed with her, and yet she was beginning to feel a
+little doubtful about her own behavior this afternoon. She feared she
+had not been quite dignified.
+
+"Sarah Leigh was never a person of very strong convictions," her
+sister remarked, as they waited at the door.
+
+"Why, I don't know, Caroline,--perhaps they are just different."
+
+"Really, I don't understand you, Virginia," was Mrs. Millard's
+response, nor did she manifest any desire for enlightenment.
+
+Miss Virginia felt that her conduct that afternoon was embraced in her
+sister's remark, and that it would be quite hopeless to try to
+explain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTH
+
+A MATTER OF LOYALTY
+
+
+Mrs. Millard's irritation was not long in bearing fruit. On the hall
+table lay a card, and pausing on her way upstairs she examined it
+through her jewelled lorgnette. Charlotte, halfway down, leaned over
+the rail and watched her, admiring the sweep of her gown, the
+perfection of the gloved hand that held the card.
+
+One might object to Aunt Caroline's methods and rebel against her
+mandates, and yet not be blind to the exquisite perfection of her
+appearance and belongings. Charlotte had privately borrowed one of
+Aunt Virginia's skirts, and practised before the cheval glass, but the
+flowing lines that so much pleased her she found unattainable.
+
+"Miss Lucile Lyle," Mrs. Millard read aloud.
+
+"It is for me, Aunt Caroline," said Charlotte, from above. "I have
+been walking with Miss Alex and missed her."
+
+"Which is rather fortunate than otherwise; for," Mrs. Millard tapped
+the card with her glass, "I desire you not to make a friend of this
+young lady."
+
+Charlotte sat down on the step. "Does that mean I am to be rude to
+her?"
+
+"Certainly not. There are ways of letting people know you do not care
+for their society without being rude."
+
+"I don't see how you can do it without being unpleasant," argued
+Charlotte; "and I like Lucile."
+
+"That last fact has nothing to do with it. It is important at your age
+to form proper friendships. This I do not consider desirable, and I
+expect you to be guided by me."
+
+"What am I to do?" Charlotte persisted.
+
+"I see no occasion to do anything."
+
+"She will think it rude if I do not go to see her."
+
+"What she thinks is of little moment. You can say your aunt does not
+care to have you make visits while you are occupied with your
+studies."
+
+"But she knows I have been to see the Mays."
+
+"Well, really, Charlotte, I cannot argue the question further. I
+simply expect to be obeyed in the matter." With this final utterance
+Mrs. Millard swept past her.
+
+Charlotte had come in from her walk in good spirits. She felt it an
+honor to be chosen as a companion by a grown young lady, and Miss Alex
+had been very entertaining as they walked about the park under the
+beech trees. In these days Charlotte's ideals were in an unstable
+state. On the one hand, she admired Lucile, longed to be Carlotta and
+the heroine of romantic adventures. On the other, she recognized a
+certain distinction in Alexina's severe style, and felt proud of her
+notice.
+
+This afternoon Alex's influence had been in the ascendant. She had
+shown a flattering interest in all Charlotte told about her life at
+Aunt Cora's and the Landors'. She had read some of Cousin Frank's
+stories and poems and admired them, making Charlotte proud of being
+even distantly related to him.
+
+"It must be splendid to do things," Alex said. "To feel that you have
+your own special work to do in the world."
+
+"I should love to write stories or paint pictures," agreed Charlotte.
+
+"Any sort of useful work,--work there was a demand for, and that I
+could do better, or at least as well as any one else, would satisfy
+me," said Alex.
+
+Alexina had gone on to give Charlotte a great deal of good advice
+about making the most of her opportunities. She listened gravely to
+the story of the borrowed novel Aunt Caroline had taken away; and
+while she acknowledged it was trying, she pointed out that it was a
+foolish story, and not worth reading.
+
+When Charlotte went on to describe Lucile, Alex did not seem
+impressed, only saying, "I wonder who the Lyles are; I never heard of
+them. Of course they may be nice people, but Lucile Lyle is such a
+silly name."
+
+"I think it is beautiful," cried Charlotte, wondering what Miss Alex
+would think of Carlotta Creston.
+
+"No," the young lady said, as if replying to her thought, "I prefer
+plain names. For instance, if you should turn out to be a brilliant
+beauty and all that, there is nothing inappropriate in your name,
+Charlotte Creston. You can glorify it; but if you are only an ordinary
+person, you are made absurd by a name you cannot live up to."
+
+This was a new view to take of it. Charlotte wavered, and really
+Lucile's influence was a little on the wane when the encounter with
+Aunt Caroline gave it new life. At school next day Charlotte came
+again under her spell.
+
+Lucile was undeniably pretty and almost as grown up in appearance as
+Miss Alex, though only fifteen. She was intensely romantic, her own
+personal experiences at this early age would have supplied several
+novels, and her manner toward Charlotte was caressing and flattering.
+Charlotte was one of the few who understood her, she said. They were
+kindred souls.
+
+Lucile wrote verses which seemed to Charlotte quite as good as Cousin
+Frank's, and she could sing any number of love-songs charmingly. The
+girls would gather about the piano at recess and beg her to sing. The
+favorite was one beginning:--
+
+        "Teach, oh, teach me not to love thee!
+         Turn those beauteous eyes away,"
+
+and Lucile always bent a soulful gaze upon Charlotte when she sang it.
+Charlotte wondered if her eyes were beauteous.
+
+"When are you coming to see me Carlotta?" Lucile asked one day.
+
+They were walking home from school, and had paused on the corner where
+their ways divided.
+
+"I don't know. They don't like me to go out alone," was the answer,
+given with a flushed face.
+
+"But the cars bring you almost to our door. I shall be terribly hurt."
+
+Charlotte looked gloomy. "I can't come if they won't let me. You don't
+know. They think I am six years old."
+
+"You don't love me. I see it plainly." With a tragic gesture Lucile
+drew a ring from her finger and held it out. "Take it back," she said.
+
+In the first ardor of their friendship they had exchanged rings,
+Charlotte feeling a little mortified at the time that Lucile's was so
+much handsomer than hers, and she had kept it carefully turned in to
+avoid comment. But after all it was not giving up the ring she minded.
+Lucile's apparent distress touched her affectionate heart.
+
+"Don't say that!" she entreated, drawing back. "I do love you, and I
+will come to see you whether they let me or not." In the glow of her
+devotion she felt like a heroine in one of Lucile's favorite tales. It
+was a question of loyalty now. She had promised to be friends before
+Aunt Caroline issued her commands. So they parted with renewed vows,
+and Charlotte's assurance that she would come that very afternoon on
+her way from her music lesson, if she could escape unobserved.
+
+Charlotte had very imperfectly learned the lesson of obedience to
+higher powers, and it was not difficult to convince herself that she
+was justified. It did seem a little underhand, this was all that
+troubled her.
+
+Aunt Virginia, who was going down town in the carriage, offered to
+take her to her lesson; adding, "You can find your way back, I
+suppose."
+
+"I should think so, after so many times," Charlotte answered, feeling
+guilty.
+
+Aunt Virginia was particularly agreeable and funny that afternoon.
+Charlotte was really becoming very fond of her. She was a merry
+companion; she liked foolish things, such as soda-water and candy, and
+was even willing to stop and watch a circus parade.
+
+"If it is cool when you leave, be sure to put your jacket on," was her
+parting injunction.
+
+"And if it rains, I'll put up my umbrella," Charlotte called after
+her, saucily. At the same time she felt ashamed of what she had
+planned to do. If it had not been for the memory of Lucile's
+reproaches, she would have given it up.
+
+It must have been the thought of Aunt Virginia that kept the call from
+being the pleasure she had expected. Lucile was very glad to see her,
+and took her over the large, showy house, which seemed exactly suited
+to the large blond woman with a complexion of pinkish lavender, whom
+she introduced as her mother. Mrs. Lyle wore a costume of black and
+white, in broad stripes, and a wonderful, black plumed hat, which
+brought to mind Aunt Cora's poster room.
+
+She was most gracious, complimenting Charlotte's eyes, and asking if
+she did not find the Terrace dreadfully far down town. She also asked
+about the Russells; said Alexina was odd and Madelaine a beauty, and
+that it was a great pity the judge had not known how to keep his
+money,--all of which seemed strange to Charlotte, when she remembered
+Alex's question, "Who are the Lyles?"
+
+Lucile seemed proud of the house and told the cost of a good many
+things. She wanted to know why Charlotte's aunts did not sell their
+house in the Terrace and build out on the Avenue.
+
+"I don't believe they want to," Charlotte answered; "and I think the
+Terrace is very nice," she added, feeling Lucile was rather too
+complacent.
+
+"Why, they are beginning to put up stores there!" Lucile exclaimed.
+
+Charlotte had herself freely criticised the Terrace, but this did not
+keep her from resenting Lucile's remarks, and she carried away with
+her a consciousness of the friction. As she walked home, she felt a
+vague dissatisfaction with life in general, and heartily wished she
+had not gone. She could not help seeing, just a little, why Aunt
+Caroline did not care for the Lyles.
+
+Charlotte had a strong impulse to confess, and say she was sorry for
+what she had done; but the right moment did not come. Aunt Caroline
+was out that evening and Aunt Virginia in one of her shy, elusive
+moods. She got as far as "Aunt Virginia, I want to tell you,--I did
+something dreadful to-day--" when a visitor was announced. Her aunt
+looked relieved.
+
+"Never mind, my dear; if you are sorry, I have no doubt it will be all
+right," she said, rising hastily. "Go to bed early."
+
+How could you tell people things if they did not want to listen? At
+any rate she would not go to the Lyles' again, and she gave herself to
+her studies with a new earnestness born of repentance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINTH
+
+IN THE SHOP
+
+
+The opposition of the neighborhood resulted in advertising the shop to
+some extent. Whoever saw the odd little place was certain to tell some
+one else; and this person and that, dropping in out of curiosity to
+look, remained to buy, if only a trifle.
+
+The wares were novel and attractive, the prices reasonable, and the
+shopkeepers themselves afforded food for speculation. Like their
+wares, they were unusual,--considered as shopkeepers, that is. To all
+appearances ladies, their manner of speech betrayed they were not
+Southern; yet they did not single out the letter _r_ as worthy of
+peculiar emphasis,--a thing the Terrace could not tolerate.
+
+To those who often passed the shop, James Mandeville became a familiar
+figure; for from the first he elected to bestow upon its proprietors
+his unqualified friendship, and a day rarely went by without a visit
+from him. He quickly learned to adapt himself to the rule that he must
+not finger things, nor interrupt when customers were present. He
+usually brought some plaything with him,--most frequently the flannel
+donkey,--and amused himself quite happily, with an occasional appeal
+to the sympathy of his companions.
+
+His new friends began to look forward each day to his coming and to
+the invariable piece of news with which he entered.
+
+"Miss Norah, what do you think?" he exclaimed one morning. "The moon's
+awake and it's daytime!" and drawing her to the door he pointed out
+the misty phantom in the southwestern sky, with the air of a
+discoverer.
+
+On another occasion, "Miss Norah, I can't stay very long to-day,
+'cause my geranium is going to bloom."
+
+It developed that James Mandeville's mother was ill in a sanitarium,
+his father absorbed in business, and his only guardian an old colored
+woman, known as Mammy Belle. Mammy Belle was of the type fast
+disappearing. She wore head handkerchiefs of bright colors, and her
+purple calicoes were stiff with starch and spotlessly neat. She
+possessed the peculiar dignity that accompanied a faithful,
+unquestioning acceptance of her station in life.
+
+Mammy had sole charge of the Norton household, and no doubt it was a
+relief to her to know that her charge had found so safe an asylum; but
+on the occasion of her first visit the shopkeepers felt they were
+being weighed in the balance. Her manner was apologetic and reserved,
+as she stood, her hands folded on her white apron.
+
+"'Tain't possible to keep dat chile at home," she explained. "Yes'm. I
+takes keer of him. Miss Maimie, she's in a hospital, an' dey ain't
+nobody to raise James Mandeville but his old mammy."
+
+"I ain't comin', mammy," declared her charge, positively.
+
+"Yes, you is comin', honey; don' you talk to mammy dat way. 'Tisn't
+pretty. Looks like it's mighty hard to raise you polite, James
+Mandeville."
+
+Norah delighted to talk with her, and gathered from her conversation
+that her greatest pleasure, next to a funeral, was to take James
+Mandeville to white folks' church on Sunday afternoon, "to see dem
+chillen march and sing." To her enthusiasm was due the aspiration of
+her charge to be a choir boy, and he was often heard singing lustily
+versions of "Onward, Christian Soldiers," and "O Paradise," which were
+all his own.
+
+"Dey's ladies, store or no store," Belle was overheard remarking to
+Susanna. "I knows quality; you can't fool Belle, no'm."
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+"I never in my life felt so rich," Marion said, rattling the money
+drawer.
+
+It was Saturday evening at the end of their first week. All was in
+order in the shop, the long table pushed back, the small one with the
+lamp brought forward, the shades drawn, the door barred, and Norah now
+rested comfortably in one of the roomy chairs with a gay pillow behind
+her head.
+
+"We have done very well, I think," she agreed.
+
+"I perceive this is one subject upon which my enthusiasm is greater
+than yours. It must be because you have made money before." Marion
+still hung over the money drawer.
+
+"I don't consider that we have made anything yet; but the difference
+between us is that I expected all along to do very well, while you
+were a doubting Thomas."
+
+"As I always am." With surprising ease for one so tall, Marion slipped
+down on the rug at her friend's feet.
+
+Norah caressed the dark head against her knee. "But you are improving,
+dearest," she said, "and I'm glad, indeed, if this first week has
+encouraged you." She laughed a little as she added, "I believe I am
+just a bit more anxious to prove to our friend Miss Carpenter that in
+lending us the capital for our venture she has not done a reckless and
+unwise thing."
+
+"But, Norah--"
+
+"I know what you are going to say. She is not worrying about the money
+and could well afford to take the risk, but with you and me it is a
+matter of principle. We must succeed and justify her confidence. So we
+won't count our chickens too soon, but lay low, like Brer Rabbit, and
+say nothin'."
+
+"At any rate I know what it is to have worked all the week, and to be
+tired and glad of Sunday. Norah, it is nonsense expecting people
+really to care for Sunday when they don't work."
+
+"I hope you haven't tired yourself too much;" Norah bent forward till
+she could see the face on her knee. Her manner was oddly motherly; she
+seemed so much the younger and smaller of the two.
+
+"Oh, no; and sometimes I have almost forgotten--"
+
+"Go on forgetting, dear. I know you need not fear, if you will only
+think so."
+
+"If I were only sure," Marion sighed. "And sometimes I am," she added.
+
+"At least I am charmed with the neighborhood," Norah went on, "If the
+haughty lady across the street continues her opposition, our success
+is assured. Her name, I have discovered, is Millard, and that dear
+Miss Virginia is her sister, of course; and there is a bright-looking
+little girl who goes in and out, and seems to belong to them.
+
+"And I forgot to tell you my adventure this morning. When I got off
+the car at Walnut Street, coming home, there was an old gentleman with
+some books just behind me. He had an armful, and as he stepped to the
+ground they slipped and fell in the dust. He was evidently lame and
+stiff with rheumatism, so I picked them up for him. He was a beautiful
+old man, with a most courtly manner; and he seemed to think as I had
+helped him, I was entitled to know about the books. We walked along
+together, and he explained they were some he had found at a
+second-hand store. One of them was a first edition of the 'Essays of
+Elia' which he thought a tremendous bargain; and it was, I'm sure.
+
+"We fell to discussing books, and he seemed delighted to find I was
+not absolutely ignorant and ended by inviting me in to see his
+library. He lives in the house that needs paint so badly,--where you
+have noticed that beautiful Ginkgo tree."
+
+"Did you accept his invitation?"
+
+"No, I told him I had not time just then. He asked if I lived near;
+and, Marion, you should have seen his puzzled look when I said, 'On
+the corner of Pleasant Street.' 'You are visiting?--the Wilburs,
+perhaps.' he said. 'No,' I answered, 'I am one of the proprietors of
+the shop.' He was terribly shocked and disappointed, I could see. I
+had really made an impression. He grew a little distant, but was still
+charming, thanking me again for my kindness; however, he said no more
+about the library."
+
+"It is funny--" began Marion, but she did not finish her sentence, and
+they sat in silence for a while. Presently Marion took possession of
+the hand that was touching her hair so lightly, and laid her cheek
+against it. Not many people, she thought, had such a friend. One who
+had been everything in a time of need, who had given her new hope and
+courage in an hour of darkness. She felt herself unworthy, because she
+did not believe she could ever be such a help to any one.
+
+"Do you remember, when you were a child, Norah, how sometimes when you
+had found some delightful game that stirred your imagination, you
+would go to sleep at night with the most blissful sense of waking up
+to go on with it in the morning? I have had much the same feeling
+lately."
+
+"Then I am satisfied about you. 'As little children' is the key to the
+best things of life, I firmly believe. Let's read a bit of 'The Golden
+Age' before we go to bed," said Norah.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TENTH
+
+ALEXINA
+
+
+Alexina Russell longed to be of use in the world. It fretted her to
+live as they did, pensioners on her grandfather, whose fortune had
+sadly dwindled of late years. Her mother's income was barely
+sufficient to clothe the three of them, and Alex felt she ought to be
+earning her own living. That her grandfather made them more than
+welcome, and besides had an old-fashioned horror of a woman going out
+into the world as a worker, did not alter her conviction.
+
+She did not feel competent to teach. Delicate as a child, she had gone
+to school intermittently, and the best of her somewhat scrappy
+education had been gained in her grandfather's library; but she found
+it difficult to combat the prejudice of the whole family against any
+other method of supporting herself. Alex loved the old house,--the
+outside of which time and coal-dust had turned a uniform dingy
+gray,--and sometimes wondered how she could ever stand it to live
+anywhere else. There is a point where dinginess becomes picturesque;
+and the vines, undisturbed by repairs, were doing their best to hide
+all deficiencies. The grounds were ample for a city; and the tall
+Ginkgo tree which reached out its fern-like branches protectingly
+toward the timeworn mansion was only one of many other fine trees and
+shrubs. Inside, the lofty rooms and handsome furnishings of many years
+ago, some fine old portraits, and many valuable books and prints gave
+it a distinction not to be achieved by many modern houses.
+
+Pretty Mrs. Russell, almost as dainty and girlish as her youngest
+daughter, shed tears over Alex's oddity; and Alex, who sincerely loved
+and admired her mother, felt her burden all the greater because she
+was a disappointment. She had submitted for one winter to be taken to
+receptions and teas, and to have a dinner given in her honor, in the
+newspaper accounts of which the rare old Russell silver figured
+effectively, and on the whole she had enjoyed it. But a season of it
+was enough; her practical mind rebelled against the expense and
+uselessness of such a life. She adopted the plainest style of dress,
+declined invitations, and privately studied shorthand.
+
+In the bottom of her heart Madelaine thought it just as well. Plain
+things became Alex, and it was nobody's fault but her own if she
+preferred the background. And Alex was not in the least jealous of her
+sister's popularity. She had something of the responsible feelings of
+a father or brother toward her mother and Madelaine.
+
+Alex's refuge was the library and the companionship of her
+grandfather, who often told her she took life too seriously.
+
+"You are young yet. Be happy, and things will work out of themselves."
+
+But Alexina did not share his gentle optimism. It seemed to her at
+once the charm and weakness of her grandfather's character. She was
+impatient; she wanted to know what was the right path for her to take,
+not to waste years in finding it.
+
+Mrs. Russell sometimes laughingly declared that Alex's most intimate
+friends were Miss Virginia Wilbur and Miss Sarah Leigh, and it was
+true she often sought their society. Miss Wilbur had made pets of the
+Russell children from their babyhood, and they were both fond of her.
+There were times when Alex found her placid absorption in everyday
+matters rather soothing, at others Miss Sarah suited her mood better.
+
+Miss Sarah had all manner of troubles and worries, but she did not box
+them up and label them "Personal"; instead, she offered them to her
+friends dressed up in whimsical fashion for their entertainment, until
+it was difficult to consider them seriously. Old Mrs. Leigh was heard
+to say she did not know what Sarah would find to laugh about if she
+ever became prosperous.
+
+Alexina found shorthand depressing, and after spending an hour or more
+over it one afternoon she gave it up in despair and went over to see
+Miss Sarah. As she entered the sitting room Mrs. Millard stood talking
+to Mrs. Leigh.
+
+"I suppose the next thing we'll be going to the Poor House," the old
+lady was remarking cheerfully, for she was not far behind her niece in
+the ability to extract pleasure from adversity. "Sarah says the Cement
+Company has passed their dividend again. I know that means we don't
+get any money."
+
+"Dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Millard; "why, Sarah, what are you living
+on?"
+
+The person addressed looked up from her sewing with a grim smile. "I
+don't know--Caroline. We--are just living--_on_."
+
+"I don't see how you can _smile_," said Mrs. Millard, with reproachful
+emphasis. She was never guilty of making light of affliction.
+
+"Well, there are funny things about being poor, Caroline; but I
+suppose it takes a poor person to appreciate them." Then observing
+Alex in the door, Miss Sarah added, "Come in and cheer us up, Alex."
+
+"I am ashamed to say I came to be cheered," Alex said, after Mrs.
+Millard had rustled away.
+
+"Well, misery loves company, so just come to the kitchen with me while
+I stir up a spice cake for Wayland, and we'll swap woes and have a
+good time. I let Anne go to see her sister this afternoon."
+
+When the materials had been collected and Alex assigned her share of
+the task, Miss Sarah continued: "I have two things to tell you. First,
+I have made up my mind to take boarders. I was trembling in my shoes
+all the while Caroline was here, for fear Aunt Sally would tell her.
+She will think it a disgrace to the neighborhood; I'll be ranked with
+the shop, but I must do something. We can't sell the house, and it
+would break Aunt Sally's heart if we could, for it is all she has."
+
+"I don't think it will hurt the neighborhood, and I hope you will
+succeed. I'm sure I should love to board with you."
+
+"Would you really, Alex? Doesn't the house strike you as very forlorn?
+I'll tell you what I am going to do," and Miss Sarah launched forth
+into an account of how she meant to cut the hall carpet in two and
+turn it around so the worn part would come under the stairs. "But dear
+me!" she interrupted herself to say, "how absurd to bother you with
+all this. It is your turn to say something."
+
+"I like to hear it. I am interested, and my worries are the same old
+ones. I do want to learn how to do something to support myself, and
+stenography is so--abominably dull. I am angry with myself for finding
+it so." Alex rested her chin in her hand, and looked at Miss Sarah
+disconsolately across the table.
+
+"I do not believe you were meant for that sort of thing," Miss Sarah
+said stoutly. "Of course I can't tell you what you _were_ made for;
+but I know what I'd like to do, and that is, keep a shop such as the
+one on the corner."
+
+"What would Mrs. Millard say to that?" Alex asked, laughing.
+
+"She can't say much since she was caught there herself. You needn't
+tell me curiosity had not something to do with it. But I am forgetting
+the other thing I had to tell you. I have made trouble in the Wilbur
+household."
+
+"What do you mean? How?"
+
+"I was never more provoked with myself. The other day I happened to be
+out on Dean Avenue, and whom should I see going into the Lyles' but
+Charlotte Creston. You know that big, showy house near the park. What
+possessed me to mention it, I don't know, but I did, one evening when
+Caroline and Virginia were here. I knew in a minute something was
+wrong. I have an idea Charlotte went without permission."
+
+"Who are the Lyles?" asked Alex.
+
+"Mrs. Lyle was at the glove counter at Mason's years ago; she was then
+Maggie McKay, and a vain, pretentious thing. She married a plumber
+with a romantic name, and her rise has been rapid. Now, if you and I
+could only be plumbers!"
+
+"I remember Charlotte mentioned a Lucile Lyle, and seemed rather
+fascinated, but I did not think she would be so silly as to go there
+against her aunt's wishes. I am afraid she is headstrong."
+
+"She is the sort of a child to be goaded to distraction by Caroline. I
+wish I had held my tongue. I can see Virginia is dreadfully upset
+about something."
+
+"I think I'll go over and talk to Charlotte," Alex said, as Miss Sarah
+shut the oven door on the spice cake. Alexina had had dreams of
+influencing Charlotte, and she felt a little annoyed that what she had
+said on the subject of this foolish friendship had made such a slight
+impression.
+
+"Now don't you go and make matters worse, Alex," cautioned Miss Sarah.
+"I have no doubt Caroline has harped on the matter till the child is
+desperate. I feel terribly guilty."
+
+"I am disappointed in her, and I mean to tell her so," Alex replied
+firmly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVENTH
+
+THE LAST STRAW
+
+
+Charlotte was closing the piano after an hour's practice when Alexina
+walked in. A week had passed since the discovery of her
+disobedience,--a week of increasing unhappiness. The blow had fallen
+unexpectedly. One day at dinner she had been conscious of something
+amiss. A remark of her own met with no response; Aunt Caroline looked
+haughty, Aunt Virginia despondent. Charlotte had not, however, guessed
+the cause until she was summoned into the library and the question put
+to her by Mrs. Millard, "Did you go to the Lyles' in defiance of my
+express wishes, Charlotte?"
+
+"I--"
+
+"Yes or no, if you please."
+
+"Yes," Charlotte answered, "but--"
+
+"I want no explanations. There can be none."
+
+"But, Aunt Caroline, you don't understand--"
+
+"You are the one who seems not to understand," again Mrs. Millard
+interrupted. "You have deliberately disobeyed. I see you are not to be
+trusted. Hereafter, whenever you go out, you shall be provided with an
+attendant. The carriage will take you to and from school, your Aunt
+Virginia or I will accompany you to your music lesson when possible;
+at other times Martha will go."
+
+"Aunt Caroline, you might let me speak. I tried to tell Aunt
+Virginia--I had promised Lucile--I had to go; but I am dreadfully
+sorry, and--"
+
+"Charlotte, I will not have any words on the subject. You have
+deliberately disobeyed. Nothing you can say alters that." Mrs. Millard
+swept from the room, almost running down Miss Virginia, who hovered
+about the door.
+
+"She did try to tell, Caroline," Charlotte heard her say.
+
+"Nonsense, what difference can that make?" was the reply.
+
+Not to be allowed one word in self-defence was hard. Charlotte locked
+herself in her room and shed bitter tears of anger and mortification.
+That she was sorry and had tried to confess seemed to her to be very
+much to her credit, and Aunt Caroline was unreasonable as well as
+cruel. She refused to go down to supper, saying her head ached; and it
+would have been in harmony with her state of mind if she had been
+compelled to go without any, but it was sent up to her without
+comment.
+
+The worst was to come, however. To a high-spirited girl, used to the
+greatest freedom, the constant surveillance was unbearable. She was
+not locked up, but in all other respects she felt herself a captive.
+
+She was certain Aunt Virginia was sorry for her,--in an aloof and
+timid fashion she showed her friendliness; but Charlotte longed for
+some one to whom she could pour out all her unhappiness; and for this
+Aunt Virginia allowed her no opportunity.
+
+How long was it to last? Aunt Caroline gave no word. As the days
+passed, Charlotte began to wear a sullen, dogged look. The sight of
+Alexina brought a thrill of hope. Surely, Miss Alex would listen to
+her, and be sorry.
+
+"Charlotte, what is this I hear about you?" Alexina demanded, seating
+herself on the piano-stool.
+
+"Oh, Miss Alex, I am so unhappy." Charlotte, who was kneeling to put
+away some music in the cabinet, sank in a forlorn little heap at her
+feet. "She won't let me go anywhere by myself,--not even to school;
+and she wouldn't listen when I said I was sorry." Charlotte's tone was
+guarded, but none the less appealing.
+
+But Alex hardened her heart. "I suppose it is because you were
+disobedient. I must say I am disappointed in you, for it seems to me
+you were deceitful as well as disobedient."
+
+Charlotte sat up. Her last hope of a confidante was gone. "You have no
+right to say that. I had to go: I had promised. I was willing to be
+punished, but she has no right to treat me like a baby. I wish I had
+never come."
+
+"Probably your aunts wish so too," Alex observed coolly. "You are not
+reasonable, Charlotte. You have acted like a silly child and made
+yourself talked about, and you are just worrying Miss Virginia to
+death. But don't look at me in that way. I am sorry for you, and if
+you will be patient and accept your punishment, it will come out all
+right." Alex laid her hand on Charlotte's shoulder, but the girl
+twitched it away. Rising, she stood stony and silent. Alex's
+condemnation was the last straw.
+
+As she went drearily up the stairway, Charlotte's thoughts turned with
+a great longing to her guardian and the quiet house in Philadelphia.
+He did perhaps care a little for her. He had sent her here because he
+thought it best, but it had turned out a terrible mistake. She would
+write to-night and tell him so. Tell him how impossible it was to
+endure it any longer, and implore him to send her to boarding-school.
+
+But would he understand? It was so difficult to write things. If only
+she could be with him and Cousin Francis for half an hour and tell
+them her story, she was sure she could make them see the matter as she
+did. And now a daring thought entered her mind. Why not go to them?
+Naturally self-reliant, the thought of the long journey by herself did
+not terrify her. In the little silver purse (Aunt Cora's parting
+gift) were two gold pieces,--more than enough to buy a ticket to
+Philadelphia.
+
+Charlotte's misery grew less at the picture her imagination drew of
+her aunts' consternation when her flight should be discovered.
+Probably there would be more talk; but little would she care, safe
+with Uncle Landor.
+
+Carried away by the excitement of the idea, she found a daily paper
+and sat down in the dainty room prepared for her with so much loving
+care by Aunt Virginia not three months ago, to study the time-table
+and lay her plans.
+
+There was a through train at half-past eight at night which would
+exactly suit. She could steal away after supper. It was the evening
+for Aunt Caroline's Antiquarian Society, and Aunt Virginia could be
+easily eluded.
+
+In stories people who ran away usually left notes. Charlotte
+considered this, and decided she would write one to Aunt Virginia. It
+took a long while and a great deal of note-paper was wasted before it
+was done, and her enthusiasm had cooled a little as she folded it.
+
+She carried a flushed face and an abstracted manner to the supper
+table, but her aunts were evidently too much interested in some
+matter they were discussing to notice her. If she had been less
+absorbed, her curiosity would have been aroused by the guarded manner
+in which they talked.
+
+"It is a case where duty seems to call one in opposite directions,"
+said Mrs. Millard, studying the handle of her spoon with an air of
+profound seriousness that provoked one of those occasionally profane
+suggestions from her sister.
+
+"You'll have to toss up a penny," remarked Miss Virginia.
+
+The thought of Aunt Caroline tossing a penny caused Charlotte a
+moment's diversion, and a faint smile curled about her lips as Aunt
+Virginia promptly took it all back.
+
+"I realize, of course, Caroline, that it is hard to decide; but,
+really, I think you can't refuse Georgiana."
+
+"I shall take the matter under careful consideration till to-morrow,"
+replied Mrs. Millard.
+
+Before they left the table Miss Sarah Leigh looked in to ask Virginia
+about a Mount Mellick stitch. Thus fortune seemed to favor Charlotte's
+plans.
+
+"Are you going to study, dear?" Aunt Virginia asked.
+
+Charlotte flushed at the kind tone, "I am going upstairs, Aunt
+Virginia," she answered. "I am tired."
+
+If Aunt Virginia's kindness weakened her resolve to run away, an
+encounter with Aunt Caroline in the upper hall made it strong again.
+
+While the servants were at supper and Miss Virginia occupied with the
+embroidery lesson, and just as Mrs. Millard left the house by the
+front door, a slight figure in a long gray coat with a blue veil over
+her face slipped down the back stairs, bag in hand, and out of the
+side door.
+
+Pleasant Street was full of swaying shadows, for the wind had risen
+and the electric light on the corner swung slowly to and fro.
+Charlotte held to the gate a moment to steady herself; she seemed
+swaying, too. Not a single person was to be seen. For the first time
+in her life she was alone on the street at night. She told herself
+there was nothing to fear, but she looked wistfully at the lighted
+windows of the houses along the Terrace, and the cheerful glow that
+shone from the little shop across the way; but she did not think of
+going back. It was not far to the street-car, which would take her to
+the door of the station; after that all would be perfectly simple.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELFTH
+
+THE DISCOVERY
+
+
+It was still early when Miss Sarah rolled up her work, saying her aunt
+was not well and must not be left any longer alone.
+
+After she had gone Miss Virginia moved about the drawing-room, pushing
+chairs back into their places, changing by a few inches the position
+of some ornament, and rearranging the folds of the curtains. Meanwhile
+she was thinking that, in part at least, the problem that had been
+weighing upon her was about to be solved. She had not felt so cheerful
+in weeks.
+
+At last she was to have a chance to redeem herself and silence that
+troublesome conscience which continually reminded her she was shirking
+her duty. Her relief was not unmixed, for at times she felt convicted
+of disloyalty.
+
+Ever since the episode of the spool of twist Caroline had been a
+little disagreeable, though in an intangible way that hardly stood
+analysis. Where Charlotte was concerned, Miss Virginia considered her
+sister's severity extreme, and she had been hurt that her own protest
+and plea of extenuating circumstances should have been so scornfully
+dismissed. Now if events turned out as they promised, all would be
+well again. If only she dared give Charlotte a hint. The child looked
+pale and unhappy.
+
+Could there be any harm in saying to her that something was about to
+happen which would make everything right? Miss Virginia resolved to do
+it. There could be no reasonable doubt as to what Caroline's decision
+would be. She ran upstairs light-heartedly.
+
+Charlotte's door was closed, perhaps she was already asleep. Softly
+Miss Virginia turned the knob. The room was dark, except for the
+outside electric light that threw a vivid shadow of the window-frame
+and curtain on the opposite wall. She crossed the room to lower the
+blind, and as she did so, discovered the bed was unoccupied.
+
+[Illustration: SHE SANK INTO A CHAIR.]
+
+With nervous haste she searched for the matches. Why did she tremble
+so? It seemed an age till she found them. No, Charlotte was not
+there; but how absurd to be alarmed, she must be somewhere in the
+house. Mechanically Miss Virginia began to fold a ribbon that lay on
+the dressing-table. Then her eye fell on a folded paper addressed to
+herself. Scarcely able to breathe, she sank into a chair and opened
+it. It was written in a large, schoolgirl hand.
+
+        "DEAR AUNT VIRGINIA: I am going away to Uncle Landor.
+        I am sorry to give you so much trouble. I am going to
+        ask him to send me to boarding school, because I can't
+        stand it any longer. I know how to go to Philadelphia,
+        and I have money enough. I did not mean to be
+        deceitful, but Miss Alex said I was, and that I was
+        making you miserable, so I think I ought to go.
+
+                            "Your niece,
+                                    "CHARLOTTE CRESTON."
+
+To Philadelphia--that child! Miss Virginia, who never travelled alone,
+was overcome with the terror of it. What could she do? Was it too late
+to stop her? Oh, for some one to help! She ran out into the hall, but
+something checked her first impulse to call the servants. At what
+hour did the evening train leave for the north? She hastened
+downstairs for the paper.
+
+"It is all my fault! all my fault!" she murmured to herself, as with
+trembling hands she searched for the railroad column. It was too late;
+the train must have left half an hour ago.
+
+She must consult somebody. Surely, something could be done. Opening
+the front door, she looked out into the night. A bright light shone
+from the Russells' across the way. Forgetting to close the door behind
+her, she hurried over the street and rang the bell.
+
+She told the servant tremblingly that she wished to speak to Miss
+Alex, who presently came to her in evident surprise.
+
+"Why, Miss Virginia! Is anything the matter?"
+
+"Oh, Alex, something dreadful has happened!" In her agitation it was
+not possible to say more.
+
+"Is any one ill?"
+
+"No, it is Charlotte--she has gone!"
+
+"Gone?" echoed Alex. "But do come in, Miss Virginia."
+
+"I can't; I left the door open. I don't want people to know. Oh, Alex,
+what shall I do?"
+
+"I'll go back with you," said Alex. "I don't understand yet what has
+happened. Where has Charlotte gone?"
+
+Once inside her own door, Miss Virginia thrust Charlotte's note into
+Alexina's hand. "What shall I do?" she cried. "That long journey
+alone, and it is all my fault!"
+
+"Don't say that; I am afraid it is partly mine. I was hard on her this
+afternoon, but I didn't dream-- There must be some way to stop
+her,--by telegraphing ahead, you know. I wonder-- It should be done at
+once. The train left half an hour ago, you say?"
+
+Miss Virginia nodded; words were beyond her.
+
+And now into the drawing-room, where they stood in agitated
+uncertainty, walked Miss Pennington, the shopkeeper. Her face was
+flushed, her hair a little disordered by the wind, but she was
+smiling, and somehow her presence seemed at once to relieve the
+tension.
+
+"Perhaps you can help me," cried poor Miss Virginia, hardly knowing
+what she said.
+
+"I am sure I can," answered the stranger, going to her and taking the
+trembling hands in her own firm ones. "Are you worried about
+Charlotte? If you are, I have come to tell you she is safe, and is not
+going to Philadelphia to-night."
+
+"You are sure? How do you know?" cried Miss Virginia, in bewilderment.
+
+Alex drew near in surprise. She had not at first recognized Miss
+Pennington.
+
+"I'll tell you about it as quickly as I can, but you must sit down;"
+and Norah drew her to a sofa, where, sitting beside her, she explained
+that her friend, Miss Carpenter, had had occasion that night to go to
+the station with her maid, whose nephew was to pass through the city
+on his way to a western army post. In the waiting-room her attention
+had been attracted by the efforts of a man to annoy a little girl.
+Finally it became so marked, and the child seemed so alarmed, that
+Miss Carpenter interfered, and appealed to a passing official. Then,
+surprised that a girl of her appearance should be travelling alone at
+night, she questioned her; and thoroughly frightened, Charlotte had
+revealed the fact that she was running away.
+
+"Miss Carpenter is a very decided person, and when she understood the
+matter, would not let her go, but instead brought her home, where we
+talked it over. I hope you won't think me very presuming when I say
+that it seemed to us if there were any way of keeping it quiet, it
+would be so much better. It was just the momentary rebellion of a
+high-spirited girl. I know she is sorry now."
+
+"Caroline need never know a thing about it," exclaimed Miss Virginia,
+looking at Alex.
+
+"I am sure that would be best. I'll never speak of it," answered Alex.
+
+"Then I'll bring her over," said Norah, rising. "She is a good deal
+excited, so I offered to come over and pave the way."
+
+"You can tell her I will be as good to her--things are going to be
+very different." Tears came into Miss Virginia's eyes.
+
+"I am sure you are always good. I haven't the least doubt she was
+naughty, but girls are very foolish sometimes." Norah looked at Alex
+as if she might be expected to agree to this.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+A very pale, subdued Charlotte made her appearance soon after. There
+was nobody to receive her but Aunt Virginia, who waited at the door.
+
+Little was said that night. "We'll just pretend it never happened,
+dear," Aunt Virginia said tearfully, as she took her into her arms and
+kissed her. "You didn't know it, but your Aunt Caroline is going away
+for the winter," she added. "It is a secret yet, but she is going very
+soon; and I was thinking you and I would have such a good time, and
+then--" They both fell to crying over this in a manner to suggest to
+one unenlightened that a good time without Aunt Caroline would prove
+but a dreary affair.
+
+"I am so sorry, and I am going to be good," Charlotte whispered, when
+her aunt came to tuck her in. "And oh, Aunt Virginia, they are lovely!
+They were so good." This, of course, referred to the shopkeepers.
+
+"I didn't thank Miss Pennington; I didn't say one word, so far as I
+remember," exclaimed Miss Wilbur, "and she was certainly kind. I shall
+have to go over and express my appreciation. Judging from her
+appearance she is a charming young woman."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEENTH
+
+AFTERWARD
+
+
+The newly built fire crackled and blazed merrily, putting to rout what
+little daylight sifted through the slats of the window-shutters. How
+pleasant to lie there safe and warm! Charlotte hugged her pillow in
+thankfulness.
+
+Far from being the heroine she had imagined herself, she realized she
+was only a foolish little girl. For once she felt the truth of that
+objectionable phrase. The experience of the night before had subdued
+her. She went all over it as she lay there, waiting for the rising
+bell.
+
+On her way to the station the persistent stare of a man who sat
+opposite in the street-car made her uneasy; and when at the station,
+after she had bought her ticket, he again appeared and attempted to
+talk to her, even following her when she changed her seat, her
+uneasiness became alarm.
+
+The dreadful loneliness of that great station, with its hurrying
+crowds, she would not soon forget. If it had been day, Charlotte was
+sure she would have been braver. In her despair Miss Carpenter came to
+her rescue. She recalled vividly how the young lady swept down upon
+her tormentor, with blazing eyes, demanding imperiously what he meant
+by annoying a little girl; and then Charlotte, clinging to the
+friendly hand held out to her, had allowed herself to be led meekly
+away. It was all over in a moment, and in a quiet corner out of the
+crowd she was replying brokenly to the questions of her rescuer.
+
+Why was it that under the serious gaze of those dark eyes all her
+self-confidence and determination had oozed away? Miss Carpenter's
+manner was kind, but her decision had been prompt and final. It seemed
+to Charlotte no one could have resisted her.
+
+"My child," she said, still holding Charlotte's hand, "you cannot take
+such a journey alone. I cannot let you. Come home with me, where we
+can talk it over. We'll find some way out of the trouble." And she
+added: "You live on the corner of Pleasant Street and the Terrace,
+don't you? I think I have seen you there. I am Miss Carpenter of the
+shop."
+
+In a sort of bewilderment Charlotte had submitted, and escorted by
+Miss Carpenter and the elderly maid she rode back to the Terrace. And
+that half-hour in the shop, where they found Miss Pennington
+comfortably established by the fire with a book! Charlotte could still
+feel the atmosphere of sympathy and reason that enveloped her as she
+poured out her story to these strangers with all the pent-up
+unhappiness of the past week. How gently they had pointed out that
+running away would only add difficulties to the situation.
+
+Her face grew hot now at the thought of how silly she must have seemed
+to them. And she wished these young ladies to think well of
+her,--which, of course, they never could do.
+
+Aunt Virginia had been good, too. A wave of warm affection surged up
+in Charlotte's heart, and with it a determination to be a comfort to
+her after this. As she dressed, she wondered if she would ever again
+be free from this dreadful feeling of shame. She hated to go down to
+breakfast, even though Aunt Caroline did not know.
+
+Later in the day Aunt Virginia called her into her room and closed
+the door. There was a pretty flush on her face as she sat erect in an
+arm-chair which, like the other furniture in the room, had been her
+grandmother's. Beside her on a table was an old Bible with yellow
+leaves, and some ancient books of devotion.
+
+"I have been talking to your Aunt Caroline," Miss Wilbur began.
+
+Charlotte started.
+
+"I do not mean about last night. While I feel almost deceitful in
+keeping it from her, I have decided to do it. As I told you, your Aunt
+Georgiana is out of health and must go to California, and it seems
+Caroline's duty to go with her. This will leave you in my charge. You
+were really put in my charge at first, but I felt inexperienced and--"
+Miss Virginia hesitated, then continued: "What I have been thinking is
+this. I should like to try again, starting fresh and forgetting all
+that has happened. I think if you would promise always to be frank
+with me, and perhaps put up with some things that seem to you foolish
+and old-fashioned notions, that we could get along together. I loved
+your mother, and I want to love you and have your affection. But if
+you cannot be happy, I will write to Mr. Landor and explain--"
+
+"Aunt Virginia, I do love you. I don't want to go away. I am so sorry
+about last night!" Charlotte buried her face in her aunt's lap.
+
+"Don't cry, dear. It is all over, then, and we will forget it." Miss
+Virginia caressed the brown head.
+
+"But I am so ashamed. It hurts--I can't forget."
+
+"Well, dear, perhaps you had some excuse. Caroline overlooked the fact
+that you have lived an unusually independent life, and I think she did
+not just understand how you felt about Lucile. I don't mean you were
+right to go there, but-- Well, from now on you are my charge, and the
+punishment is over. After this we'll try to understand and trust each
+other."
+
+"I am going to be good; you'll see," Charlotte whispered, her arms
+about her aunt's neck.
+
+She felt impatient to show Aunt Virginia she was really in earnest.
+What could she do? As she dressed for the evening an idea occurred to
+her. With many a pang she shook out her wavy brown hair and combed it
+resolutely back from her face. It had always taken an absurd length of
+time to arrange that drooping mass in just the proper manner, but
+Lucile had commended her skill. It was much easier to brush it back in
+a way to show how prettily it grew about her forehead, but Charlotte
+really considered herself a fright as she tied a blue ribbon on her
+long braid.
+
+The change gave her rather a chastened look, combined as it was with a
+timid self-consciousness when she entered the dining-room. Her aunts
+surveyed her with evident astonishment.
+
+"Well, Charlotte," Mrs. Millard remarked, affably, "you are really a
+nice-looking little girl when you let yourself alone."
+
+Aunt Virginia patted her hand and said nothing, but Charlotte felt
+sure she understood.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEENTH
+
+MRS. MILLARD DEPARTS
+
+
+Relieved and thankful though Miss Virginia felt, and confident, too,
+that she and Charlotte would now get on very well together, she still
+had something on her mind. The feeling that she was concealing
+something from her sister weighed upon her, but not so heavily as her
+sense of obligation to the shopkeepers. In her agitation she had
+hardly thanked Miss Pennington; and the more she considered it, the
+more remarkable their kindness and thoughtfulness appeared. Would
+Caroline call it officiousness?
+
+Mrs. Millard had gone so far as to acknowledge the shopkeepers
+_seemed_ to be persons of refinement, and their effort to make a
+living was, of course, creditable; but she feared they did not quite
+know their position. Perhaps they were from some small town, where
+social distinctions were overlooked.
+
+"Perhaps they are well born, but have lost their money and have to do
+something," Miss Virginia suggested, thinking that the manners of the
+young women in question were not in the least rustic.
+
+Ignoring this her sister continued: "It is quite evident to my mind
+that they are pushing. Why else should they have come into a
+neighborhood like this, instead of going where they belong, among
+other shops? They evidently hope for some social recognition, and this
+is why I lay stress upon not giving them our patronage in any respect.
+I see plainly they will leave no stone unturned to ingratiate
+themselves."
+
+Did this account for Charlotte's rescue? Miss Virginia shivered at the
+thought. It had seemed to her the extreme of neighborly kindness. One
+thing was certain,--Miss Carpenter had not invented the occasion. Had
+she seized it in the hope of advancing her own interests? Miss
+Virginia felt this was silly.
+
+How friendly and helpful Miss Pennington had seemed! Could a
+commonplace, pushing young woman have so won Miss Virginia's heart?
+She lay awake at night thinking about it, wondering how she could
+suitably express her gratitude and at the same time preserve a distant
+dignity. In the silence and darkness all sorts of dreadful
+possibilities floated through her mind. Perhaps these harmless-looking
+young women were adventuresses, come into the neighborhood with some
+deep scheme, and the attractive shop as a blind. They might be
+burglars. One read of astonishing things done by women in these days.
+
+Miss Virginia felt impatient over this new problem, and her irritation
+caused a display of unusual spirit when her sister began to give her
+parting instructions.
+
+"You'd better send the drawing-room curtains to Lucinda in January,"
+said that lady, thoughtfully, balancing her pencil above the pad on
+her knee. "I have made a list--"
+
+"It is quite unnecessary, Caroline," interrupted Miss Virginia; "I
+kept house for a good many years without you, and you can't expect to
+run things here while you are in California."
+
+"It seems to me, Virginia, you use very unbecoming expressions. I have
+no desire to _run things_; I only supposed you would be glad of a few
+suggestions."
+
+"I am sure I don't wish to be rude, but I will be frank and tell you,
+Caroline, that I mean to do as I please while you are away."
+
+Mrs. Millard gazed at her in surprise. "Why, Virginia, one would
+suppose you had been a captive in chains! Very well, I wash my hands
+of it all,--only," relapsing into a tone of pathetic reproach, "you do
+such singular things at times, you know."
+
+She was manifestly shaken by this declaration of independence, but she
+was committed to her older sister. It was too late to change her
+plans. She ventured one parting injunction. "Pray, Virginia, do not
+patronize the shop. Let me beg of you, if you have any regard for me."
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+In Mrs. Millard's sudden departure the Terrace naturally felt an
+interest.
+
+"So Caroline's going to leave us," Judge Russell remarked at the
+breakfast table. "We shall be free to do as we please this winter.
+I'll have that poplar set out in February."
+
+"Aren't you ashamed, grandfather!" laughed Madelaine. "As if you had
+not strength of mind to do as you like."
+
+The judge smiled as he stirred his coffee. "Caroline is a forceful
+woman; and then, too, she is generally right. It may be, as she says,
+the tree will not grow, but I want to try it."
+
+"I wonder she is willing to leave Virginia all the responsibility of
+Charlotte. She is such a headstrong child, and so northern," said Mrs.
+Russell.
+
+"Now, mother," expostulated Alexina, "isn't that dreadfully narrow?"
+
+"What harm is there in liking your own part of the country best?"
+asked her sister.
+
+"I did not mean any such thing," cried Alex. "I only insist that no
+locality has the monopoly of nice people."
+
+"But some peculiarities are northern and some are southern, and I
+don't see that it is narrow to prefer one sort above the other,"
+Madelaine persisted. "How can Mrs. Millard make up her mind to leave
+the shop?" she continued. "Miss Sarah has gone over to the enemy, and
+Alex is going."
+
+"I don't understand about that shop," said her grandfather, not for
+the first time, by any means. "I told you about that young lady who
+so kindly picked up my books,--a most intelligent person, and as
+pretty as--as Madelaine." This with a smile at his youngest
+granddaughter.
+
+"Here is another conversion," laughed Madelaine.
+
+"I can't understand about the shop," the judge repeated.
+
+"Why isn't keeping a shop just as respectable as teaching or keeping
+boarders?" asked Alex. She had in truth been strongly attracted to
+Miss Pennington that evening at Miss Wilbur's, and had a secret desire
+to see more of her.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+Wayland Leigh brought the news of Mrs. Millard's proposed departure to
+his two aunts. He had it from Madelaine Russell.
+
+"I wish you could have such a trip, Sarah," said Mrs. Leigh. "It would
+do you a world of good. As Aunt Nancy used to say, you are so thin you
+have to stand up twice to cast a shadow."
+
+"Caroline is going from a sense of duty, you may be sure. And what
+would my boarders do while I was skylarking in California?" her niece
+demanded. This was a mild joke, for the boarders had not as yet
+materialized.
+
+"I wish you would give up that idea, Aunt Sarah," growled Wayland.
+
+"You agree with Mrs. Millard, I suppose. She thinks it involves the
+whole Terrace in a downward step. But what am I to do? Caroline
+assured me she could secure the position of matron at the Children's
+Home for me, but what would you and Aunt Sally do then, poor things?"
+
+"Oh, it is easy to laugh--" began Wayland.
+
+"Is it? Then I wish you would favor us sometimes, my dear nephew."
+
+"I was going to say," continued Wayland, with dignity, "that it was
+easy to make fun of Mrs. Millard, but she is my idea of an elegant
+woman."
+
+"Far be it from me to deny Caroline's elegance. I am often proud to
+know her. I believe there could be no emergency great enough to make
+her say 'hello!' over the telephone, and I saw her on one occasion put
+up her lorgnette when she answered a call."
+
+"Now, Sarah," said Mrs. Leigh, laughing.
+
+The two ladies talked on about neighborhood affairs, but Wayland paid
+little heed, being absorbed in his own thoughts. He was in an
+impatient and critical mood. What he considered his aunt's oddity
+annoyed him. He wished she would dress like other people,--meaning
+Mrs. Millard. He was twenty years old, and was working in a bank for
+fifty dollars a month, with small chance of promotion. He had wished
+to go to college,--not so much, however, as his aunt had wished it for
+him,--but now this was overshadowed by the ambition to be rich. And
+all for Madelaine. Sometimes he fiercely resolved that he _would_ be
+rich; and again he lost heart at the thought that lovely, dainty
+Madelaine was certain to find another palace long before his was
+built. Her frank worldliness did not weaken his adoration, strange to
+say.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEENTH
+
+GIANT DESPAIR
+
+
+"Miss Norah, I am afraid Miss Marion is falling back." Susanna stood
+in the doorway, a tea towel in one hand, a cup in the other.
+
+Norah, who was putting in order certain shelves before the day's work
+began, asked, "Why do you think so, Susanna?"
+
+"Well, Miss Norah, I caught her walking around the house with her eyes
+shut, feeling her way like she was trying to get used to it." Susanna
+advanced and spoke in a whisper, "And she hasn't had a smile for
+anybody this last day or two. Haven't you noticed it?"
+
+"To tell the truth, I have, Susanna; but, after all, it is not
+unnatural. The excitement of getting settled and beginning work made
+her forget, and now the novelty is wearing off she has, as you say,
+slipped back. All this rain and fog is in itself depressing. Don't
+worry, Susanna. Hasn't everything I promised you come true up till
+now?"
+
+"I suppose so, Miss Norah," was the reluctant answer.
+
+"Then don't worry, and I'll let you keep shop this afternoon."
+
+Where the shop was concerned, Susanna was like a child; and nothing
+pleased her more than to be left in charge for an hour or so. Her own
+domain, the three bedrooms, dining room, and kitchen, she kept in
+spotless order, creating the daintiest repasts as if by magic, and
+seeming always to have time to spare.
+
+She went back to her dishes, and Norah worked away with a thoughtful
+frown. Presently Marion entered and dropped into a chair with a weary
+sigh. "It is a horrid day," she said.
+
+"There is a bit of blue in the west; by afternoon it may be pleasant,"
+Norah responded.
+
+When one is immersed in gloom, the sight of determined cheerfulness is
+irritating. So Marion found it.
+
+"The air is so heavy one can hardly breathe," she went on. "I believe
+I'll let Susanna attend to the plants; I am tired."
+
+"I have time to do it," said Norah, closing the door of the case.
+
+Marion rose impatiently. "You shall not touch them. If Susanna cannot
+do them, I will."
+
+"Susanna would cut off her hand if you asked it; but I know she has
+more than usual to do this morning, and we agreed the shop was to be
+our part. I am not in the least tired. Please, Marion!" Norah stood
+between her and the door.
+
+"Very well. I shall attend to it myself," and Marion swept by her.
+
+"O dear!" sighed Norah, "I feel like a tyrant; but she must not give
+up."
+
+Marion returned presently and began washing the palms and clipping
+away the dead leaves. She worked listlessly, her face wore an
+expression of deep melancholy.
+
+A diversion was created by the entrance of James Mandeville. He had
+been kept in several days by a cold, and the joy of release radiated
+from his small person.
+
+"Mammy says she reckons the sun's going to shine by and by, so she let
+me come," he announced.
+
+"Mammy and I are of the same opinion, then," said Norah, helping him
+off with his coat. "Can't you think of something to cheer Miss Marion?
+She is very tired of this rainy weather."
+
+"I'll sing her a song, that's what I'll do," James Mandeville cried
+eagerly. "You wait."
+
+He disappeared into the next room, where presently his voice was heard
+uplifted in "Onward, Christian Soldiers," and if the tune was a trifle
+uncertain, nothing was lacking in spirit. Through the open door he
+marched, holding the morning paper before him, and proceeding the
+length of the shop.
+
+        "One in hope of _doctor_, one in _cherry tree_,"
+
+he proclaimed lustily.
+
+Even Marion must smile a little at this.
+
+"It is beautiful," said Norah, "though I don't quite understand it. I
+seem to feel a sort of connection between the doctor and the cherry
+tree, too."
+
+"There's a heap more of verses," James Mandeville assured her. "Do you
+feel better?" This to Marion.
+
+Who could resist? She laughed as she drew him to her and kissed him.
+"I am cross this morning, and you are a nice boy to sing for me. I
+make life very hard for Miss Norah. Suppose you go tell her I am
+sorry."
+
+James Mandeville trotted off obediently to find Norah, who had left
+the room a moment before. Marion, having finished with the plants, was
+absently looking out of the window when the door opened with a jerk
+and some one bounced into the shop. Turning with a start, she
+recognized the personage Norah called Giant Despair.
+
+"What do you mean?--" he began, then paused and stared about in
+bewilderment. "Where am I?" he demanded; and as Marion advanced he
+removed his hat, displaying a massive head covered with shaggy gray
+hair.
+
+"We call this the Pleasant Street Shop," she answered.
+
+"See here--I thought it was the plumber's. I am getting so blind I
+shall soon have to be led around. So you call this a shop? Does it
+belong to you? For I can tell you now you have made a mistake in
+coming here." His voice was gruff, and as he spoke he peered this way
+and that, as if to get some idea of his surroundings.
+
+"If we can't make a success here, we will go elsewhere, but we are
+doing very well," Marion said, "The plumber is on the next block."
+
+"I know that now. I am not losing my mind as well as my sight."
+
+Something impelled Marion to say, "I am sorry about your eyes. Can't
+something be done?"
+
+"Sorry? How can you be sorry? Nobody knows anything about it who
+hasn't tried it."
+
+"I have lived in constant fear of blindness for a year." Marion seldom
+spoke of her eyes, but the sight of trouble like her own broke down
+her usual reticence.
+
+The old man softened. "You have? A young thing like you?" He peered at
+her in his intent way. "I guess you have grit," he said.
+
+"Not much," she answered. "But my eyes are better, they tell me. Time
+will show. Can't something be done for yours?"
+
+"Oh, yes, they are going to operate on the right one in the spring,
+but it is not likely to do any good; and then I shall have just half
+an eye left."
+
+Norah and James Mandeville now entered unobserved.
+
+"I have got to row up that plumber," Giant Despair continued, looking
+at his hat. "As I told you, I don't approve of a shop in this
+neighborhood, but I don't see anything that looks like one. Good day,"
+and with a grim smile he went out more quietly than he had entered.
+
+"Who would ever have expected a visit from Giant Despair?" cried
+Norah, "and he seems to have a bit of humor about him, too."
+
+"I am sorry for him. He looks as if he had no one to take care of him,
+and he is nearly blind, as you can tell," said Marion.
+
+When Mammy Belle came for her charge at noon, Marion asked her if she
+knew anything about old Mr. Goodman.
+
+"Yes'm," answered Belle, "I knows him, Miss Marion," smoothing her
+apron.
+
+"Does he live alone in that big house on the Terrace?"
+
+"Yes'm, and he's mighty rich and crusty. He don't waste no pleasant
+words, and he don't waste no money. Law, Miss Marion, he's got rusty
+dollars layin' up in bank."
+
+"Rusty dollars?" repeated Norah.
+
+"Yes, honey, been layin' thar so long they's rusty. Get up offen the
+floor, James Mandeville. You won't have no skin on your knees, fust
+you knows."
+
+"Then will I have to be born again to get some?" inquired the small
+boy, sitting back on his heels to consider the matter.
+
+"Law, chile, what you talkin' 'bout? You mus' think you's
+Nickorydemus! Miss Norah's settin' there laughin' at you. Come 'long
+home with mammy."
+
+"Isn't there a delightful variousness about our neighborhood?" said
+Norah. "Do you see that sun? Tell me I am not a prophet!"
+
+"You are an angel to put up with me," sighed Marion, but her face was
+no longer gloomy.
+
+"I have been constructing a grab-bag, and you shall have the first
+grab;" and Norah brought out a bag made of rainbow ribbons. "This is
+outwardly symbolic of the cheer within. The principle on which it
+works is simple. Whenever I find a consoling sentiment, I write it on
+a card and drop it in, then when I am low in my mind, I take one out.
+Help yourself."
+
+"What an absurd person you are!" said Marion, obediently putting her
+hand in and drawing out a card. She read:--
+
+        "Cleave ever to the sunnier side of doubt,
+         And cling to faith."
+
+Norah looked over her shoulder. "That is good, isn't it?"
+
+Marion caught her hand. "You preacher," she said, adding, "I accept
+it, dear, and I'll try." The visit of Giant Despair seemed the
+culmination of Marion's depression. It was Saturday afternoon, and
+leaving Susanna in charge, they set out on an exploring expedition in
+the mood of two light-hearted children.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEENTH
+
+CHARLOTTE
+
+
+With the departure of Mrs. Millard a season of repose came to the
+Terrace. Charlotte and Miss Virginia actually found life a little tame
+after the excitement, for their neighbors were just then absorbed in
+their own affairs.
+
+Miss Sarah and her aunt had some new boarders on which to expend time
+and thought, and Alexina was living a life of rigid usefulness,
+studying shorthand in secret and helping with the house work, for the
+Russell mansion was large and servants not numerous. She also made
+dainty things for that radiant butterfly Madelaine. Alex was a born
+milliner, but she rather despised her gift, even while acknowledging
+its usefulness.
+
+The fame of the corner shop was spreading abroad till it was in a fair
+way to become fashionable. Charlotte, from her window where she
+studied, could see people passing in and out, and not infrequently a
+carriage stood before the door. Sometimes she would forget her lesson
+in the interest of recalling her evening visit there. How cheery and
+cosey it had looked in the lamplight! Should she ever see it again?
+Miss Pennington bowed and smiled in a friendly way when they
+occasionally met, Miss Carpenter she had not seen again.
+
+It occurred to Charlotte quite suddenly one day that it was something
+of a coincidence that there should be a Miss Carpenter across the
+street here, and while she was thinking about it she was called down
+to see--of all persons!--her guardian. Having business in the South,
+Mr. Landor had made it convenient to stop over a day or two.
+
+She was so glad to see him she came near crying, a most unusual thing
+for Charlotte, and her guardian eyed her closely as she drew him into
+the library and seated herself on an ottoman beside his chair. Miss
+Wilbur was out, and there was nothing to interrupt them.
+
+With her elbow on the arm of his chair, and her chin in her hand as
+she looked up at him, Charlotte at first had a dozen questions to ask
+concerning Cousin Frank and Mrs. Wellington, and Spruce Street affairs
+generally. But after a little, Uncle Landor began to ask the
+questions, and then came the confession.
+
+She unfolded the whole story, trying not to spare herself, though
+unable to conceal some resentment against Aunt Caroline. Mr. Landor
+listened in grave silence, and continued to look at her thoughtfully
+after she had finished. Charlotte's eyes fell under his scrutiny, but
+she quickly lifted them again.
+
+"Was I deceitful? I did not mean to be."
+
+"What do you think yourself?"
+
+"I--but I tried to tell."
+
+"Things were rather against you, Charlotte. I like to see you loyal.
+Do you still think this girl the sort of friend you care to have?"
+
+Charlotte hung her head. "I don't know," she faltered. The truth was,
+Lucile's excess of devotion was beginning to grow tiresome. There were
+other of her schoolmates who, she could not help seeing, were more
+desirable as friends, but they now held aloof. It was hard to
+acknowledge that Aunt Caroline had been at least partly right.
+
+Mr. Landor lifted the downcast face, and his gaze was kindly. "I
+believe you are learning your lesson, little girl, but it has been a
+sharp one. It is always a mistake not to be straightforward. In all
+your life I fear you have never truly learned to obey. You are fast
+growing up now, and the responsibility will rest more and more upon
+yourself. Are you going to listen to the voice that speaks in your
+heart, and obey when the conflict comes?" He laid his hand on the
+brown head. "In spite of it all, you have improved, Charlotte."
+
+"Do you mean my hair?"
+
+"Have you done anything to your hair? I didn't know; it is very pretty
+hair. No, you have grown more gentle and womanly."
+
+"I am happy with Aunt Virginia. She is a dear, and I feel so ashamed
+and sorry when I think how she would have felt if I had run away.
+Uncle Landor, is it that voice you spoke of--in our hearts--that makes
+us feel so dreadfully ashamed sometimes?"
+
+"I suppose we may say it is in this instance. It is the judgment of
+the higher self upon the lower self."
+
+Mr. Landor was a reserved and somewhat silent man, and never before
+had he talked to Charlotte just as he did this afternoon. Till now
+she had been only a child to be petted or reproved. To-day he gently
+pointed out her faults, showed her how from now on it rested largely
+with herself what she would make of her life; he spoke of the guiding
+voice that all may hear who listen and who keep their hearts pure and
+loving, and last of all he put into her hand a little pocket
+Testament, in which he said he had marked certain things which had
+served him as guide-posts on the way, and might help her.
+
+Charlotte was touched and pleased, and took the book with a very
+earnest promise to read it and follow its guidance.
+
+After this they went on to talk of other matters. Charlotte pointed
+out the shop over the way, and gave an account of the neighborhood
+which showed such a keen appreciation of individual foibles, that her
+guardian found himself laughing heartily.
+
+"Uncle Landor, I wish you would ask Aunt Virginia to let me go to the
+shop," she said. "I liked Miss Carpenter and Miss Pennington so much,
+and they were very good to me."
+
+Mr. Landor spent several days in town, and before he left, Miss
+Virginia herself asked his opinion as to the proper attitude toward
+the shopkeepers.
+
+"They did me a great service, and in the excitement of that evening I
+cannot recall thanking Miss Pennington. I went into the shop the day
+after Caroline left, meaning to give some expression to my gratitude,
+but both the young women were out. I feel uncomfortable about it. I
+can't think as Caroline does, that they are trying to force themselves
+upon our notice. They really seem to be ladies. What would you
+advise?"
+
+A smile illumined Mr. Landor's usually grave countenance at Miss
+Wilbur's earnestness.
+
+"It is a thrifty-looking little shop," he said; "Charlotte pointed it
+out to me. And I should say, Miss Virginia, that you are perfectly
+safe in following your own instincts in the matter. To suppose their
+motives in helping Charlotte other than kindly seems to me both
+ungracious and absurd. You say they appear to be ladies. They probably
+are, but however that may be, you and Charlotte and I owe them our
+thanks."
+
+Miss Virginia told Charlotte afterward that she was greatly relieved.
+"For Philadelphia people are not likely to go too far in a matter of
+this kind. Then, too, Mr. Landor is a man, and able to judge whether
+they could possibly be dangerous persons."
+
+Charlotte opened her eyes. "How could they be dangerous?"
+
+"Well, my dear, they might be burglars, come to spy out the
+neighborhood, with the shop for a blind."
+
+"Oh, Aunt Virginia!" laughed Charlotte.
+
+"I am sure I have read of such things," the lady insisted stoutly.
+
+Not long after this Charlotte received a letter from Cousin Francis.
+
+"Father tells me you have been having your own troubles, little Char,"
+he wrote. "Well, keep up a good heart and work hard. This is what I am
+doing just now. Things have not gone my way at all, but in spite of it
+I am going to try to do something worth while this winter. I often
+wish you were here to be my admiring critic."
+
+A letter came from Mrs. Wellington also, relating chiefly to a package
+Aunt Cora had commissioned her to send, but at the end she said:
+"Perhaps you will be interested to know the Carpenter house is closed.
+Miss May has gone away--not to be home for a year, they say--so if you
+were here, you could not watch for her as you used to do."
+
+Was it on account of Miss Carpenter that things were not going Cousin
+Frank's way? Charlotte wondered, and began to think once more of the
+rose that was out of reach.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH
+
+AN EVENING CALL
+
+
+"Alex, I am glad to see you. I was about to send Martha over for you;
+I am alone this evening. How very nice you look!"
+
+It was an understood thing that if Alex had no other engagement, she
+was to take supper at the Wilburs' on Fridays. She stood before Miss
+Virginia pulling off her long gloves, looking indeed unusually
+handsome in a gown of pale gray and a plumy black hat, which she had
+made herself with a sort of reluctant pleasure in its becomingness.
+
+"I simply had to go to the Burtons'," she explained. "Madelaine was
+receiving, and mother insisted if I never went anywhere, people would
+begin to say she pushed me into the background and showed partiality.
+There is no arguing with her when she is in that state of mind, so I
+went."
+
+"And enjoyed it, I am sure," said Miss Virginia. "I suppose I
+should have gone if Caroline had been at home, but to tell the
+truth, I forgot it. Charlotte was asked to a party,--one of her
+schoolmates,--and I was interested in seeing her dressed. I am
+glad the child is to have a little diversion; she has been as good
+as gold lately."
+
+"I am certain you will not have any more trouble with her; Charlotte
+is a nice child," Alex replied with a half sigh. She felt that
+Charlotte had never quite forgiven her for her severity, and that
+Madelaine without any effort or care had won the place she had meant
+to hold in the little girl's regard.
+
+Madelaine occasionally joined the Friday tea-party; to fascinate was
+as natural to her as to breathe, and Charlotte had been quickly won.
+
+"You look sweet with your hair back," Madelaine had said, loosening
+the waves about Charlotte's forehead with fairy touches. "It was too
+extreme before. We could hardly see your eyes, and they are too pretty
+to hide."
+
+Silly flattery, Alex thought, but she knew Charlotte would never
+return to the old way.
+
+As she poured the coffee, Miss Virginia told Alex about Mr. Landor's
+visit and his decision in regard to the shopkeepers. "I was so
+surprised," she concluded, "for Philadelphians are so exclusive, you
+know."
+
+"I think he is sensible. I wish one could do the natural, simple thing
+always," sighed Alex, "without thinking of dignity or position. It
+might be much more entertaining to associate with persons whose social
+position was different from one's own."
+
+"Do you think so, Alex? If it were done generally, there would not be
+any social positions, would there?" Miss Virginia spoke as one who
+faced a deep problem.
+
+"It would be heaven," answered Alex; adding, "suppose we go this
+evening."
+
+"Alex! will you go with me? I am so relieved."
+
+Later it appeared that unsuspected difficulties lurked in the
+seemingly simple matter of an evening call.
+
+"Shall I take a card?" Miss Virginia paused on the stairway to
+inquire. "It is not quite an ordinary call, you know."
+
+"I should take one if I were you; and let me put my name on it," Alex
+answered, laughing.
+
+On the porch Miss Wilbur paused again. "Shall we ask them to come to
+see us?"
+
+"Need we mention it at all? Let them do as they see fit."
+
+"Of course. You are very sensible, Alex." Miss Virginia sighed.
+
+At the gate there was another delay. "I am afraid your mother will not
+like it. I don't want to lead you into mischief, Alex."
+
+"Now, Miss Virginia, I proposed going with you, and I am going whether
+you go or not," and Alex linked her arm in her friend's, and drew her
+toward the corner.
+
+"I don't know what Caroline _would_ say; but then, she does not know
+the circumstances." After this remark, they crossed the street in
+silence, broken only by another sigh from Miss Virginia, as Alex
+touched the bell.
+
+The maid who admitted them showed some surprise, but ushered them
+toward a half-open door at the end of the small hallway, Miss Wilbur's
+card in her hand.
+
+"We'll just refer the matter to the _rich_ Miss Carpenter," a
+laughing voice was announcing as they entered a room, the first
+impression of which was that of a pleasant library, with its shaded
+lamps, open fire, and happy mingling of books and work; a second
+glance showed it to be simply the shop in evening dress.
+
+The voice belonged to Miss Pennington who now came forward with a
+cordial greeting, and presented Alex and Miss Virginia to her friend,
+Miss Carpenter. Miss Carpenter's manner was somewhat distant in
+contrast, but seen without the disfiguring glasses she usually wore,
+Alex found her unexpectedly handsome.
+
+"I have wanted so much to have an opportunity to thank you," Miss
+Virginia began, an evident victim to a terrible fit of shyness. "I
+came one afternoon, but you were out. You were both so kind to my
+niece," she looked at Miss Carpenter.
+
+"I beg you not to think of it again. It was nothing at all. I happened
+to be at the station, and seeing how frightened she was, went to her
+rescue." Miss Carpenter spoke as one who dismissed a trivial matter.
+
+"We were so interested in her," put in Miss Pennington. "It occurred
+to Miss Carpenter that it might be possible to avoid the trying ordeal
+of explanations, so she brought her here to talk it over."
+
+"Charlotte is a dear child," said Miss Virginia, "and all the trouble
+is over now." Then she added with a sudden accession of
+self-possession: "It may seem a small matter to you, Miss Carpenter,
+but perhaps you can understand it would have been a most serious and
+unhappy thing for me if the child had carried out her plan. I can't be
+thankful enough."
+
+"I do see it, and I am very glad that, by a happy accident, I was able
+to be of service." Miss Carpenter's manner changed, her tone was soft,
+her smile winning. Alex, who was playing the part of spectator,
+suddenly warmed to her.
+
+"I met your grandfather several weeks ago, Miss Russell," said Miss
+Pennington, turning to her. "He had an armful of books, and seemed to
+think I had done him a wonderful favor in picking up two he dropped in
+getting out of the car."
+
+"He told me," Alex answered. "He was so pleased that you appreciated
+the value of his find."
+
+"And he was so disappointed when he found I kept a shop," laughed
+Norah.
+
+Alex smiled and flushed. "Grandfather has old-fashioned ideas about
+women supporting themselves, and then, too, the neighborhood was
+rather opposed to having a shop built here."
+
+"I know," answered Miss Pennington, "but as it is here we flatter
+ourselves nothing could be less objectionable than _our_ shop."
+
+"You are undoubtedly winning us over. It seems to me a delightful
+occupation, but I suppose it is not so easy and pleasant as it looks."
+
+"Of course it is work, but we find it pleasant. For several years I
+taught, but to keep a store has always been my ambition since I was
+three years old, and I at last persuaded my friend to join me in an
+experiment."
+
+"You don't make all your lovely baskets, surely?" Alex asked, her eyes
+on the strings of raphia and an unfinished basket that lay on the
+table.
+
+"Oh, no. It is work Miss Carpenter can do at times,--her eyes allow
+very little of any sort,--but most of our stock comes from a Mothers'
+Club in a settlement in which we are both interested. I lived there
+for a time. You can't think how much it has meant to those women. They
+bring their babies with them, and they sing while they work, and the
+babies sleep or are entertained by their surroundings. Many of the
+patterns are original, and they have developed a wonderful sense for
+color and form in some instances."
+
+"How interesting!" exclaimed Alex. "I don't see how you ever happened
+to come to a stupid town like this."
+
+"Our pottery has a history, too. It is designed and decorated by two
+young women, and it has taken very well wherever it has been
+exhibited. But I do not mean to go on talking shop all the evening,"
+and Norah paused with a smile.
+
+"I like to hear about it. It has been such a puzzle to me to know what
+I could do to support myself. There seemed to be nothing but teaching
+or stenography, and I should hate both, I am afraid."
+
+"If possible, do the thing you like to do, is my theory. There are a
+good many fields in these days, and still in almost any paper you can
+find a young lady who wishes to be a companion and is willing to
+travel."
+
+Alex laughed. Miss Virginia was rising, and she reluctantly followed
+her example. "May I come again sometime?" she asked.
+
+While Miss Wilbur and Alex were talking over their call, Charlotte
+came in in a flutter of gayety, her checks matching her rose-colored
+ribbons.
+
+"I wish I could have gone with you," she said when she had heard of
+the visit. "Did they say anything about me?"
+
+"You were mentioned," her aunt replied, pinching her cheek; and
+adding, "they are certainly very pleasant young women."
+
+"They are charming," said Alex.
+
+"I wonder if this Miss Carpenter could be any relation to the one who
+lives across the street from Uncle Landor?" said Charlotte.
+
+"Did you hear what Miss Pennington was saying when we went in, Miss
+Virginia?" asked Alex.
+
+"It was something about the rich Miss Carpenter, wasn't it?"
+
+"_My_ Miss Carpenter is rich," said Charlotte, and she related the
+romance, almost forgotten of late, which she had built upon Aunt
+Cora's remarks about the little portrait and upon Mrs. Wellington's
+stories.
+
+"She is the granddaughter of Peter Carpenter," Miss Virginia said. "I
+have often heard my father speak of him. They were college mates. He
+was very rich and rather peculiar. He had a half-sister much younger
+than himself who once visited here on her way South. She and my oldest
+sister, Georgiana, were friends and used to correspond, but that was
+years and years ago. Mr. Carpenter--for some reason he was always
+called Peter--had only one child, a son, who was killed in a railroad
+disaster, probably twenty years ago. Your Miss Carpenter, Charlotte,
+must be his daughter."
+
+"Carpenter is a common name; there may be a number of rich Miss
+Carpenters," said Alex, "but it would be a little odd if they should
+turn out to be connected in any way."
+
+"I don't think they cared to talk about themselves," continued Miss
+Virginia, referring to the shopkeepers. "I am sure Caroline was wrong
+when she called them pushing."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH
+
+THE ADVENTURES OF A BIRTHDAY CAKE
+
+
+In a great, handsome, dreary room sat Giant Despair. The December day
+was damp and cheerless, and the coal fire in the ugly old-fashioned
+grate beneath the elaborate marble mantel burned in a grudging,
+spiritless way. Above the uncurtained windows, with their shutters
+thrown wide upon a view of moist, bare garden, the heavy gilt cornices
+seemed to frown. Giant Despair was frowning as he searched in a
+massive black walnut secretary for a missing paper.
+
+Things had gone wrong to-day. His housekeeper who knew his ways was
+absent on her annual vacation, and for the carelessness and stupidity
+of the servants he could find no adequate words. In truth he had
+exhausted his vocabulary early in the day, and now was reduced to
+inarticulate growls.
+
+Against one of the maids in particular his anger burned. He had
+mislaid a paper brought to him the evening before by his business
+agent; and now that it could not be found, the luckless maid was
+accused of making way with it.
+
+She was a Swiss girl with a meek manner and eyes that belied it. Giant
+Despair could not see the eyes, and the manner annoyed him.
+
+"If you please,--did you this day order a birthday cake?"
+
+"What? Order what?" cried Giant Despair, turning in great rage to face
+the unfortunate maid.
+
+She stood her ground. "A cake,--white, with candles of pink."
+
+"Did I order a pink cake? What do you mean by asking such a question?
+You know I didn't." His frown was terrible.
+
+"Candles of pink," corrected the girl, and holding up her hand she
+counted, "One, two, three, four, five."
+
+"What is the woman talking about?" demanded Giant Despair.
+
+"De con-fectionaire man bring it. He say it vas for here. He comes not
+back."
+
+"Then telephone him to send for it at once. Why do you come bothering
+me about it?"
+
+"We know not who sends it."
+
+"Bring the thing here and let me see what you are talking about."
+
+The maid retired, returning presently carrying a small cake covered
+with an elaborate white icing, and further decorated, as has been
+said, with five pink candles. This she set upon the desk, and, a gleam
+of--was it malice or mischief? in her eyes, slipped away.
+
+"Humph!" growled Giant Despair, peering at the strange object, even
+resorting to his big magnifying glass that he might see it the better.
+
+An innocent, saucy little cake, it was a wonder it did not shrivel and
+disappear amid those strange surroundings, beneath that unfriendly
+gaze.
+
+Could this be a joke some one was playing on him? Giant Despair
+wondered. But who thought enough about him even for that?
+
+"Take it away," he commanded; but Annie had vanished, and so the cake
+had a chance to tell its story.
+
+In this gloomy, tiresome world, somebody was five years old to-day.
+Not very much of a story, but somehow it impressed Giant Despair
+strangely. He leaned back in his chair, his frown relaxing a trifle.
+
+He did not care for children; they were meddlesome and noisy. He waged
+continual warfare against certain naughty boys on Pleasant Street,
+who, divining his dislike, resorted to all sorts of teasing tricks.
+They carried off his door-mat, unhinged his gate, favored him with
+uncomplimentary valentines, and robbed his grape arbor,--each in its
+season.
+
+So far as this went, however, he could not be called a favorite with
+older persons. In the large drug company where he was still senior
+partner he was held responsible for the policy of extorting just as
+much work as possible for just as little pay.
+
+Persons of forbidding countenances are fated to be harshly judged; and
+the sins of others may have been laid at his door sometimes; but while
+his defective sight might be the cause of his frown, it remained that
+Giant Despair seldom spoke a kindly word.
+
+The sympathy of that young woman in the shop, into which he stumbled
+by mistake, had touched him. She _knew_. It was not pity,--that he
+despised,--but a sort of fellowship in misfortune, and he had seized
+upon it hungrily, even while he called himself a fool. Perhaps it was
+this slight but softening experience which made possible to-day the
+faint regret that a little child was to be disappointed about this
+cake.
+
+Such feelings could not find a harbor for long in that impatient
+breast. Becoming aware of sounds in the hall, Giant Despair strode
+across the room and flung open the door, intending to demand the
+instant removal of the cake. He was confronted by a small boy in a red
+coat and cap who cried excitedly, "Has you got my birfday cake?"
+
+"Hey? So it is yours, is it? And who are you?"
+
+But its owner had caught sight of it through the open door; and
+pushing past Giant Despair, he lifted up his voice in a paean of joy.
+"It's here! it's here! it's here!" he cried, standing before the desk
+with clasped hands and uplifted eyes, like a worshipper before a
+shrine. "Somebody give it to me! It's mine!"
+
+"Where did that child come from?" asked Giant Despair, as he spoke
+becoming aware of the presence of some one else in the hall.
+
+"I brought him, Mr. Goodman. It is Miss Carpenter of the shop." Marion
+advanced. "It is James Mandeville Norton, a small friend of ours, to
+whom we had promised a birthday cake. He was on the watch for it and
+was quite sure he saw it carried in here, and to pacify him I ventured
+to come and inquire."
+
+If Giant Despair could ever be said to be affable he became so at this
+moment, to the evident astonishment of Annie, the maid. She could not
+know of the bond of sympathy that existed between this graceful young
+lady and her surly master.
+
+"Why, how do you do? Come in;--ridiculous mistake. Glad to find the
+owner," he stammered, offering her a chair. "Fearful weather," he
+added, poking the fire.
+
+"Very Novemberish," Marion agreed, declining the chair. "We won't
+trouble you further," she said.
+
+"Somebody _please_ give me my cake. It's mine; I know it's mine."
+James Mandeville's voice betrayed anguish of soul.
+
+"He will let you have it, dear. Mr. Goodman doesn't want it. It was
+brought here by mistake," said Marion, reassuringly putting her arm
+around the child.
+
+That any one could see such a cake and not want it was naturally
+beyond James Mandeville's powers of belief. He stood silent, looking
+from Marion to Mr. Goodman.
+
+"Of course you can have it. What do I want with it?" asked the old
+man, grimly.
+
+James Mandeville moved forward and slipped his small, soft hand into
+Giant Despair's big, hard one. "I'll tell you," he said, "you can come
+to the party, and I'll let you have a slice of it; and you can help
+blow out the candles."
+
+The little voice was eager, but the confiding touch of the dimpled
+hand did most execution.
+
+"We shall be glad to have you, Mr. Goodman," Miss Carpenter said,
+laughing. "The party is to be in the shop, and very select for the
+reason that our circle of friends is limited."
+
+"There's going to be candy," added James Mandeville.
+
+Giant Despair was embarrassed. "Thank you," he said; "I have not been
+to a party for a hundred years, and I am in too bad a humor to-day."
+Then it seemed necessary to explain the cause,--the lost lease that
+had been burned or thrown in the ash barrel.
+
+Miss Carpenter stood beside a table on which lay several large
+volumes; from the leaves of one of them the edge of a folded paper was
+visible. "Could this be it?" she asked.
+
+"Pshaw! I put it there myself. Confound my eyes and my memory!" cried
+the old man.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+Of course Giant Despair had no idea of going to the party, yet,
+strange to relate, he went. Miss Sarah Leigh met him striding down the
+street with two long, gray flannel ears and a beady eye visible above
+a bulging overcoat pocket. She turned to look after him, and was much
+amazed to see him disappear presently within the shop.
+
+It was Jack, the flannel donkey, who really won the day. After the
+visitors had left, Giant Despair stumbled over him as he lay forgotten
+on the floor. The strange object was at first puzzling. He turned and
+twisted and felt it, until at length getting the right point of view
+he recognized it to be a donkey.
+
+A toy animal was no less out of place in that house than a birthday
+cake. He was going out for his daily walk; he would leave it at the
+shop door. But once at the door he was lost, for James Mandeville
+seized upon him joyfully and would not be denied.
+
+It was Saturday afternoon, and so a half holiday in the shop; and it
+seemed to Giant Despair, as he stumbled in looking anything but
+festive, yet unable to resist his small captor, that there were a
+great many people assembled.
+
+It turned out that the only guest was Charlotte Creston, who had been
+the first to discover James Mandeville bewailing the disappearance of
+his cake before Mr. Goodman's gate, some hours earlier, and after
+trying to console him had taken him back to his friends. This seemed
+to entitle her to an invitation, which she delightedly accepted. Mammy
+Belle and Susanna were there, also, to look on.
+
+It is certain that never before in his life had Giant Despair
+participated in a scene of such childish gayety. He was exceedingly
+gruff and awkward, but no amount of gruffness could dismay James
+Mandeville.
+
+The sight of Giant Despair seated at the small table, personating the
+fifth guest for whom Miss Pennington assured him they had been on the
+lookout, and drinking a cup of tea in lieu of the goodies the young
+host pressed upon him, was one not soon to be forgotten. After a time
+he succumbed to the humor of it, and blew out his candle with the
+rest.
+
+James Mandeville did his best to be entertaining. He sang, and recited
+Mother Goose, after which he climbed on Giant Despair's knee and asked
+for a story.
+
+This was something Giant Despair couldn't do, but he showed the big
+seals on his watch chain, and dropped some bright new five-cent pieces
+into the chubby hand.
+
+The old man walked home in a somewhat dazed condition. He told himself
+roughly that he had turned fool; and yet more than once that evening,
+as he sat by his lonely fireside, he felt again the pressure of James
+Mandeville's warm little body upon his knee and heard the childish
+voice, prompted by Mammy Belle, saying, "Thank you for coming to my
+party, Mr. Goodman."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEENTH
+
+TEA AND TALK
+
+
+"I used to think if ever I kept a shop there would be a bell on the
+door to jingle cheerily whenever a customer entered." Norah spoke from
+the window where she was occupied in making some changes. Outside the
+rain fell steadily, the terrace gardens had a soaked, dismal look, and
+the street was almost deserted, except for an occasional wagon.
+
+"If it will add to your happiness, we will have it put in; but I doubt
+if you would be able to find one that would ring cheerily,--they
+usually jangle."
+
+"I suppose that depends somewhat on the hearer; however, we must
+confine ourselves for the present to the strict necessities of life.
+Did it ever occur to you, Marion, how the old-fashioned bell is
+passing? When I was a child, the milkmen heralded their approach with
+bells; and maids would appear with bowls and pitchers and have the
+milk measured out to them from large tin cans."
+
+"Your youth must have been in the Dark Ages. I never heard of such a
+thing."
+
+"I am often impressed by your ignorance of simple matters. Yesterday,
+out in the southwestern part of this very town, where I went to look
+for a seamstress, I heard again one of those bells rung lustily, and
+there was the tin can, as of old, riding majestically on the front
+seat of the wagon; but probably as a concession to modern prejudice
+the milkman was supplied with bottles, too. Come and tell me what you
+think of my rainy-day window."
+
+Marion crossed the room. "It looks cheerful," she said, "but I hardly
+think it will bring us many customers to-day. It is too bad even for
+James Mandeville."
+
+Norah had ransacked their stock for the brightest draperies, gayest
+baskets, and oddest jars, making of them a sort of barbaric medley not
+ungrateful to the eye, which she regarded with satisfaction.
+
+"Well," she said, "if we have no customers, I shall have all the more
+time to give to collars. I am sorry I could not find a seamstress. I
+did not dream there would be such a demand."
+
+"And there is probably some one who would be glad to do them if we
+only knew," said Marion. "Would it be worth while to advertise?"
+
+Not troubled with much custom, the shopkeepers were working and
+chatting in the south window that afternoon, when Miss Sarah Leigh put
+her head in at the door.
+
+"I hate to come in, I'm so wet," she said; "I'll leave my umbrella
+outside."
+
+"You need not mind," said Norah, rising. "As you see, we have a large
+rubber mat and an umbrella-stand, and this is the first time we have
+needed them."
+
+"Thank you. I had to go to the grocery, and as Aunt Sally was out of
+knitting cotton, I dropped in to get some. It is a dreadful day."
+
+Norah pushed a chair to the fire, "Sit down and have a cup of tea.
+Miss Carpenter and I are just going to have some."
+
+Miss Sarah accepted the chair. "I have no business to,--I have a
+thousand things to do; but this seems a veritable haven of rest."
+
+Susanna now entered, a model of the respectable, elderly maid,
+carrying a tray which she placed before Marion.
+
+"Another cup please, Susanna," said Marion; and while she poured the
+tea, Norah coaxed the fire into a blaze, remarking that it had fallen
+into the way of sympathizing with the weather.
+
+"Are you in the habit of treating your customers in this fashion?"
+Miss Sarah asked, accepting the cup and helping herself from the plate
+of warm tea-cakes with which Susanna returned.
+
+"This is a reward to rainy-day callers," answered Marion, smiling.
+
+"Well, you are the most astonishing people I ever came in contact
+with. I hope you don't mind my saying it," Miss Sarah spoke
+confidentially. "I don't mean in respect to tea."
+
+"Not at all," laughed Norah. "We, too, have our impressions of the
+neighborhood."
+
+"I shouldn't be surprised if you had." Miss Sarah joined in the laugh.
+"Of course it is no secret to you that the neighborhood did not very
+much want you, and the way in which you are winning us over is a
+miracle. Miss Wilbur, Charlotte, Alex, and now you have captured Mr.
+Goodman. Charlotte told me about the party. How do you do it?"
+
+"It has all come about through the merest accident," Marion explained.
+
+"Such accidents don't happen to everybody. I think you practise
+witchcraft."
+
+"James Mandeville and the birthday cake captured Giant Despair," said
+Norah, the name slipping out before she thought.
+
+"So that is what you call him! Have you named us all? It suits him,
+too; but poor man, he has had his troubles, as have some of the rest
+of us." Miss Sarah looked meditatively into the fire. "Soon after he
+built his house in the Terrace," she continued, "his daughter, an only
+child, was burned to death. It was a sad thing,--she was just
+eighteen. Then a nephew whom he adopted turned out a scamp, and now he
+has lost faith in everything."
+
+While she was speaking the shop door opened to admit Alexina and
+Charlotte, rosy and wet from a walk in the rain.
+
+"I want a spool of twist," Charlotte announced merrily.
+
+"Won't a cup of tea do? We are serving that at present," Norah asked.
+
+"How pleasant!" Alex exclaimed as they slipped off their wet
+waterproofs. "Are you always cheerful over here?"
+
+Charlotte sought Miss Carpenter's side. "I like tea," she said, the
+blue eyes showing, however, a fondness for something more than that
+innocent beverage. Just now this young lady had a profound fascination
+for her. Miss Alex and Aunt Virginia might prefer Miss Pennington,
+Miss Carpenter had her admiration.
+
+"If you need anything more in the way of cheer, I will bring forth the
+grab-bag," said Norah, as she handed Alex some tea.
+
+"That sounds interesting; do let us have it," begged Miss Sarah.
+
+"You will be disappointed," Marion put in, mischievously, while Norah
+went for the rainbow bag. "You expect amusement and get a sermon. Its
+variegated hues give symbolic expression to the truth that 'behind the
+clouds the sun is still shining.'"
+
+"You might add that its existence destroys the pleasing idea that we
+are always cheerful," Miss Pennington added, holding out the bag to
+Alex.
+
+"Am I to take something?" Alex asked; and putting her hand in, she
+drew out a card. "'If we live truly, we shall see truly,'" she read.
+"But it seems to me it ought to be the other way. If we could see
+truly, we could live truly. It is such a puzzle. Do you think this is
+true? And what does it mean to live truly?"
+
+"You are an animated problem, Alex," Miss Sarah remarked.
+
+"It is a little like something Uncle Landor said to me, that if we try
+to do right and keep our hearts pure, we will hear a voice telling us
+which way to go." Charlotte spoke shyly.
+
+Marion took her hand in a soft clasp, and Norah gave her a friendly
+smile. "Yes," she said, "that is it. I will tell you what it means to
+me. It means that if I go straight on, doing each day the thing that
+comes to me, not allowing myself to become entangled in fears for
+to-morrow, that little by little the path will be made plain to me."
+
+"I am afraid I want to _know_ where I am going. It might be such a
+waste of time," said Alex.
+
+"Its very simplicity makes it hard, but I believe it is the best way,"
+Norah answered.
+
+"Are we allowed to have only one helpful sentiment at a time?" asked
+Miss Sarah.
+
+"Certainly; one is as much as anybody can live up to at a time."
+
+"It is not for lack of moral sentiments, however," Marion added. "The
+supply is constantly renewed. They naturally gravitate to Norah."
+
+"I wish," remarked Norah, "that a seamstress capable of making stocks
+and collars would gravitate to me."
+
+"Here is one at your side." Miss Sarah leaned over to examine her
+work. "I think I could do it."
+
+"She can do anything," said Alex, waking up from a brown study. "But
+how would you find time, Miss Sarah?"
+
+"If you could do only a few, it would be a help," the shopkeepers
+cried in the same breath, and Norah began at once to explain what was
+wanted, and unfold patterns.
+
+Susanna carried away the tea things, and Alex joined Charlotte and
+Marion, who were talking about James Mandeville and Mr. Goodman.
+
+"He has won the old man's heart," Marion was saying. "They have been
+walking together several times, and James Mandeville always returns
+with a bag of what he calls _finger ladies_."
+
+Miss Sarah's voice interrupted presently. "I don't know when I have
+spent such an eventful hour. I must take my knitting cotton and go. I
+know now where to come when I have the blues."
+
+"It is worth while to give Miss Sarah a little pleasure," Alex said as
+the door closed behind her. "She is the bravest, brightest person, and
+her life is anything but easy." Then she returned to the consideration
+of the card she had drawn. "I am dreadfully puzzled over what I ought
+to do. I want to make my own living, and yet it is hard to go against
+the wishes of everybody at home. Do you really think if I just go on
+doing what comes to me that the way will open? It sounds lazy."
+
+"No, it sounds serene. If I were you, I'd try it," said Norah.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTIETH
+
+MERRY HEARTS
+
+
+Many things combined in the Terrace to proclaim the season of the
+year. Great was the seeding of raisins, shelling of nuts, and slicing
+of citron for fruit-cake and puddings,--matters these housekeepers
+were wont to attend to themselves. Neighborly consultations were held
+also, and the relative merits of last year's cakes discussed.
+
+"I really have no business making fruit-cake this season," Miss Sarah
+Leigh remarked over her grocery bill. "Everything is so expensive."
+
+"Why, Sarah Leigh, who ever heard of Christmas without fruit-cake!"
+her aunt exclaimed.
+
+"But you don't eat it, Aunt Sally."
+
+"I shall this year."
+
+Wayland ate it, if his aunt did not. He would be disappointed if she
+did not have one as usual; perhaps she could save in some other way,
+Miss Sarah thought. "After all, my saving will be a good deal like
+Mrs. Green's keeping Lent," she told Miss Virginia. "She never, under
+any circumstances, went anywhere, and she didn't have dessert except
+on Sunday, and then she seldom ate it on account of her rheumatism, so
+there really seemed to be no way to deny herself any further."
+
+Nevertheless, Miss Sarah ordered the raisins and other good things,
+and at night she sat up making collars and belts for the shop.
+
+At the shop James Mandeville lay on the floor, poring over a profusely
+illustrated copy of "'Twas the Night before Christmas," bursting forth
+tunefully, now and then, with "_Susanna_ in the highest."
+
+There was no manner of use in correcting him, he preferred his own
+versions, and stuck to them.
+
+The window of the shop presented an ever changing variety of wares,
+from posters and colored photographs to baskets, bags, and pottery,
+all unique in their way. Besides the other things, Norah had done a
+motto in black and red letters, "A merry heart doeth good like a
+medicine," and hung it in the midst.
+
+The popularity of the place increased. Susanna was often called in to
+help, and one day a society reporter, out for news, and directed there
+by Madelaine Russell, dropped in and interviewed them.
+
+An elaborate description, with mention of the charming and intelligent
+young women who had it in charge, appeared next day in one of the
+papers. Miss Sarah immediately sent a marked copy to Mrs. Millard.
+
+"We are becoming famous," laughed Norah, as she read it to Marion.
+
+"I wish it did not have to be," said Marion, discontentedly.
+
+"Ungrateful person that you are!" cried Norah.
+
+The newspaper article brought Mrs. Leigh to the shop. Heretofore her
+opposition had been consistently maintained; but now, early one
+morning, she walked in, a picture of an old lady, with a close-fitting
+bonnet over her silvery puffs, a black silk circular lined with gray
+squirrel, and an old-fashioned reticule on her arm.
+
+"I have just come to look around," she told Norah. "I have heard so
+much of this shop, and it is not in the least like anything I ever saw
+before,--and neither are you, for that matter."
+
+Then, as Norah laughed, she added, "I mean you are entirely too pretty
+for a shopkeeper. I'd like to know what you are doing it for, but of
+course you won't tell me."
+
+"Oh, yes, I will. I am doing it for a living."
+
+"Well, in my day a pretty girl like you wouldn't have had a chance to
+make her own living for long, but it is different now. I don't know
+whose fault it is."
+
+All the while she was walking about, seeing everything, admiring or
+finding fault with equal frankness. Norah, who was delighted with her
+visitor, urged her to sit down and rest a few moments.
+
+"Thank you, I believe I will. I am on my way out to my niece's to show
+her how to make a plum-pudding." She laughed a little, reminiscently,
+and Norah looked interested.
+
+"It makes me think of the time my husband was invited to dine at Dr.
+Gray's to meet a distinguished clergyman who had arrived
+unexpectedly. It was on Saturday, and when Mr. Leigh came home that
+evening he couldn't say enough about Mrs. Gray's plum-pudding. It was
+the best he ever ate, and I must get the receipt. I didn't say
+anything until next day. Mr. Leigh was mighty fond of dessert; and
+when he found there wasn't any for Sunday dinner, he looked terribly
+disappointed, and wanted to know why. 'The reason is, Mr. Leigh,' I
+said, 'because you ate it yesterday. I intended to have plum-pudding
+to-day, but as Mrs. Gray had unexpected company, I sent it over to
+her; and my own opinion is, it is more than you deserved to have had a
+taste of it.'
+
+"Maybe you think he wasn't teased. He didn't hear the last of that
+very soon. Yes, indeed, it was all true. Mrs. Gray and I were good
+friends and often helped each other out in an emergency. Well, you
+will think me a most unprofitable customer; here I have talked a blue
+streak, as Sarah says, and haven't bought a thing."
+
+"Nevertheless, I hope you will come again soon, and I wish success to
+the pudding," Norah said, following her visitor to the door.
+
+Being off the beaten track of trade, the rush at the shop was over
+before Christmas Eve, and Marion and Norah, leaving Susanna in charge,
+went down town on a lark, as Norah said, and came home loaded with
+holly and mistletoe.
+
+It was after their late dinner and Norah was putting up the last bit
+of holly, when Mammy Belle came in. "Miss Norah, honey, kin you trim a
+Chris'mus tree?" she asked.
+
+"Why, yes, I have trimmed many a one."
+
+"I done promise James Mandeville he should have one, for him an' his
+papa in the mawnin',--Marse Tom's comin' home; but look like I ain't
+got good sense, and I seed Miss Maimie do it las' year." Mammy Belle's
+tone was despairing.
+
+"Never mind, we'll do it for you. I might have thought of it, only I
+have been so busy," said Norah. "Don't you want to go, Marion?"
+
+Marion was more than ready for anything so in keeping with the night,
+and gathering up some unused holly and a box of ornaments for the
+tree, they accompanied Mammy Belie to the small house, half a block
+distant on Pleasant Street.
+
+It was a tiny place, quite simply and tastefully furnished, but
+betraying in many trifling ways the absence of the mistress. James
+Mandeville was fast asleep in his crib upstairs, where Mammy Belle
+conducted them to peep at him.
+
+"I hope Miss Maimie won't mind our doing this," Norah whispered, as
+they went down again.
+
+"I don't believe she will," Marion answered, moving about the tiny
+parlor, changing the position of a table here, a chair there, till the
+whole room had taken on a new look. The tree in the corner by the
+window bore melancholy witness to Mammy Belle's lack of ability in
+that line, but under Norah's fingers it began at once to revive.
+
+They were in the midst of the dressing, Mammy Belle looking on in
+delight, when there was a ring at the door, and of all persons, who
+should it be but Mr. Goodman with a large package under his arm!
+
+"It is a horse for that little rascal," he explained, puffing and
+embarrassed.
+
+"Come in and see our tree, Mr. Goodman," called Norah.
+
+The old man stood in the doorway. "I have been stumbling round trying
+to find this place for half an hour," he growled. "I took this thing
+to the shop, but you weren't there, and that Susan woman tried to
+direct me where to go."
+
+"Ought you to go about by yourself at night?" Marion asked. "Won't you
+come in and wait for us? We are nearly through."
+
+"And do look at this beautiful horse!" cried Norah, unwrapping a
+stately animal with flowing mane and tail. "Won't James Mandeville
+rejoice? Jack will be nowhere."
+
+"I suppose boys like horses," said the old man, accepting the chair
+Mammy Belle brought forward, and evidently not indifferent to the
+admiration his gift excited.
+
+The tree trimming went on, and presently returning to his usual
+attitude of mind, Mr. Goodman remarked that there was a sinful waste
+of money at this time of year.
+
+"That is true," said Norah, pausing to study the effect of a paper
+angel in tinsel, "but also there is the money that _might_ be spent to
+make people happy, and isn't."
+
+"Come, Norah, really, we must not stay any longer. You have done quite
+enough," Marion was saying, partly in the wish to cut off a possible
+argument, when the front door opened with a startling suddenness, and
+a young man with a bag in his hand stepped into the hall and faced the
+scene in the parlor,--the gay Christmas tree, the holly; Norah
+standing on a chair, with her laughing face over her shoulder; Marion,
+tall and stately, by the fireplace; and grim-looking Giant Despair in
+the chair of state.
+
+"Why, Marse Tom," gasped Mammy Belle, "I done spect you in de
+mawnin'."
+
+It was Marion who made the explanations,--their friendship for James
+Mandeville and Mammy Belle's difficulty with the tree, and she did it
+with a gracious charm of manner that was irresistible.
+
+Mr. Norton's boyish yet careworn face flushed. "You are very kind to
+my little boy," he said. "I wish his mother were here to thank you."
+
+"Why, Norton, is that you?" exclaimed Giant Despair, waking up. "Do
+you mean to tell me that James Mandeville is your boy? Upon my word!"
+
+"It is fortunate you know Mr. Norton, for now you can testify to our
+good intentions in invading his house, Mr. Goodman," said Norah,
+laughing.
+
+Mr. Norton was embarrassed. "I travel for Mr. Goodman's drug house,"
+he said. Clearly he was not in the habit of meeting his employer
+socially.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+"And you say they keep a shop, mammy?" This was after the guests had
+departed, and Belle had done her best to explain.
+
+"Dey is ladies, anyhow," she insisted stoutly.
+
+"That is very evident," said Mr. Norton.
+
+"Jus' you ax James Mandeville in the mawnin'," added Mammy Belle. "He
+'lows dat Miss Marion and Miss Norah done put the moon up, shore."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST
+
+THE RICH MISS CARPENTER
+
+
+Miss Virginia was writing to her sister. She had a great deal that was
+pleasant to relate, and her pen moved on smoothly. There was
+Charlotte's Christmas party which, with the assistance of Alex and
+Madelaine, had gone off successfully.
+
+Lucile Lyle had been one of the guests, for as a classmate of
+Charlotte's it seemed necessary to ask her; but this Miss Virginia did
+not mention. She did say, however, that Charlotte's interest in Lucile
+seemed to have abated. This was quite true; indeed, there was a
+growing coolness between the once devoted friends.
+
+The cause of this was a little girl, a year younger than Charlotte,
+who with her father and mother had recently come to board at the
+Leighs'. The Reeds were strangers in the city, and Miss Sarah had
+asked Charlotte to do what she could to make Helen feel at home.
+
+They had taken a fancy to each other, and Charlotte enjoyed playing
+chaperon to Helen when she was entered at Miss Barrows's school. Helen
+was a bright girl with sweet, gentle manners, inclined to look up to
+Charlotte as older and more experienced than herself; and in their
+daily walks back and forth the friendship grew. Lucile chose to be
+jealous, and something very like what in schoolgirl language is called
+a fuss, followed. They no longer wore each other's rings, and Lucile
+sang no more of beauteous eyes.
+
+Miss Virginia knew all about it, and took pleasure in mentioning to
+her sister that Charlotte's good sense had come to the rescue, and an
+intimacy was no longer to be feared. That Mrs. Millard had small
+confidence in her powers of discipline, Miss Virginia was well aware;
+but Charlotte's excellent school reports spoke for themselves.
+
+After giving various items of neighborhood interest, she paused;
+glancing up, her eye fell on the shop across the way, and immediately
+a sensation of uneasiness took possession of her. With an elbow on her
+desk she continued to gaze out of the window, thoughtfully tapping
+her cheek with her penholder. She had warned her sister that she meant
+to do as she pleased; at the same time, she had not intended to buy
+most of her Christmas gifts at the shop, and more than this, to remain
+to chat on several occasions. And yesterday Charlotte had come in with
+the announcement that Miss Carpenter was willing to show Helen and her
+how to make baskets if they would come over some evening. They were
+very eager to go. Could she refuse? The question interrupted her flow
+of thought; she put aside the letter to be finished some other time,
+and went in to see the Leighs.
+
+She found Alexina in the sitting room with Miss Sarah and her aunt.
+Old Mrs. Leigh had the quilt she was making spread out on the couch
+for admiration and suggestions. Miss Virginia, after paying tribute to
+its beauties, mentioned the basket making, and asked for advice.
+
+"Caroline insisted that they would push themselves into notice, and
+while I cannot see that they are pushing, they are certainly--"
+
+"Getting there," suggested Miss Sarah. "Do you know, Mr. Goodman has
+been in several times after the shop closed at five o'clock, to have
+Miss Norah read to him? Now, is that anything but pure kindness? I
+suppose Caroline would say they were after his money."
+
+"I had not thought of his caring to be read to as he has John; but he
+told grandfather he got tired of John's reading, and there were some
+political articles in the _Nineteenth Century_ Miss Pennington offered
+to read to him," said Alexina, who had made up her mind definitely
+that she wanted these shopkeepers for friends.
+
+"I think that Miss Norah carries a cunning bag, as Malinda used to
+say," remarked Mrs. Leigh.
+
+"They have not returned our call, Miss Virginia," said Alex.
+
+"No, and if I could do just as I pleased, I'd like to know them
+better. I'd ask them to tea." Miss Wilbur spoke as one considering
+some daring departure from the path of propriety.
+
+Miss Sarah laughed. "I wish you would," she said.
+
+When Friday night came, Miss Virginia did not see her way clear to
+oppose the basket lessons, and in consequence found herself one of a
+merry party in the shop. Alex had come over with them, and presently
+Miss Sarah ran in.
+
+Alex was in one of her bright moods, and Miss Sarah kept them laughing
+over her first experiences in paying her taxes. Miss Carpenter, as she
+separated long strands of raphia and initiated her pupils into the art
+of twisting and stitching, was almost as merry as Miss Pennington,
+whose infectious laugh, as she related James Mandeville's latest
+speeches, kept them all in a gale.
+
+Once in the course of the evening, Norah said, in reference to a
+remark of somebody's, "That reminds me of our friend the rich Miss
+Carpenter." And when the lesson was over, and Miss Virginia, beginning
+to murmur something about its being late, Charlotte suddenly
+announced, "I know a Miss Carpenter in Philadelphia."
+
+There was an odd silence for a moment until she added: "At least, I
+don't exactly know her, but I have heard a great deal about her. She
+lives across the street from my uncle, and last spring when I was
+there I used to see them take her out to drive. She had been ill, and
+I never really saw her. _She_ is rich, and I wondered if she could be
+the Miss Carpenter you spoke of, Miss Norah."
+
+It was Marion who answered the question. "She is the very one. Norah
+thinks a great deal of her, in fact,--is a little absurd about her."
+
+"Why shouldn't I be? Hasn't she done everything for us?" cried Norah,
+stoutly.
+
+"Then you have seen her," said Charlotte, delightedly. "Is she
+beautiful and--everything--as Mrs. Wellington said?" she looked at
+Marion.
+
+"Ask Miss Pennington."
+
+"I consider her handsome and charming, but Marion is a connection and
+ought to be able to tell you more than I."
+
+"I am glad you know her, for I am very much interested in her because
+of a special reason."
+
+"Charlotte, my dear," Miss Virginia spoke warningly, "it is really
+time we were going."
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+The discovery that Miss Carpenter of the shop was a relative of the
+Philadelphia Carpenters relieved Miss Virginia beyond measure. She
+sat down at once to finish her letter and convey the news to her
+sister. She was vindicated; once more her conscience was easy.
+
+The Terrace in general received the news with approval. That the
+shopkeepers were not exactly ordinary persons had been felt all along.
+Everybody had heard of Peter Carpenter. Possibly the shop was simply
+another manifestation of family eccentricities on the part of this
+cousin. It was easily settled that Miss Marion was a cousin,--probably
+a second or third cousin; for Miss Virginia knew about the family, and
+Peter Carpenter had had but one son.
+
+Mrs. Russell, who went to the shop with Alex one day, was greatly
+impressed with Marion's bearing. "Any one can see she is not an
+ordinary person," she said.
+
+"That must be because you know she is well-connected, mother," Alex
+replied. "Mrs. Millard could not see it."
+
+"I trust I am not quite so prejudiced," Mrs. Russell said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-SECOND
+
+VALENTINES
+
+
+"Undoubtedly our connection with the rich Miss Carpenter has affected
+our social position. The air is full of affability. Before we know it,
+we shall be in society." Norah looked up from her account-book to make
+this remark.
+
+"As it is all your doing, I trust you are pleased," returned Marion.
+
+"That pretty fraud, Madelaine Russell, asked me yesterday if she might
+not come with Alexina to the basket making next Friday," continued
+Norah. "Of course I had to say 'yes.' Now I think I'll ask that little
+type-writer girl I met at the mission. She is really a neighbor, for
+she boards in that tall, dreary house on the corner of Walnut and
+Pleasant streets."
+
+"Why not ask her to dinner? I should really enjoy some company."
+
+"A good idea, Marion. She looks hungry,--I don't mean for dinner, but
+for something besides work. She is from the country. What have you in
+that bag, Infinitesimal James?--some more 'finger ladies'?"
+
+James Mandeville, who had at that moment entered, nodded his head,
+speech being for obvious reasons out of the question.
+
+"Eating in the shop is against the rule, except at afternoon tea,"
+said Marion. "You must go outside, or join Susanna in the kitchen."
+
+"Did you happen to meet Mr. Goodman this morning?" asked Norah.
+
+"Yes, he buyed the finger ladies," answered James Mandeville, helping
+himself again from the bag, and then passing it around. "I am going to
+buy him a valentine," he added.
+
+"To be sure, he deserves one. We'll go down town this very afternoon
+and select it."
+
+"Goody!" said James Mandeville, and in great spirits he carried his
+cakes out of doors, and was presently busily engaged in playing
+conductor on the doorstep, calling out in stentorian tones at
+intervals, "All on a board!"
+
+Norah found the business of selecting valentines in company with a
+small boy, a lengthy one. James Mandeville's taste was exacting. At
+first the comic ones caught his eye, and he was with difficulty
+induced to consider more worthy specimens of art; then he bestowed his
+favor upon an elaborate white satin heart, a combination sachet and
+valentine, and again had to be diverted. At length his selection was
+made,--a gilt and lace affair with a border of roses and the touching
+motto, "To my own true love."
+
+On their way home they stopped in a large jewelry store where Norah
+had left her watch to be repaired, and while she waited she saw
+Wayland Leigh bending in an absorbed manner over a collection of
+fans,--delicate mother-of-pearl and lace trifles, as frail as they
+were pretty. What business had he with such expensive things? she
+wondered. It was quickly forgotten, however, in the difficulties
+involved in making headway past the show windows, James Mandeville
+wishing to exhaust the beauties of each one before moving on.
+
+[Illustration: JAMES MANDEVILLE'S TASTE WAS EXACTING.]
+
+The afternoon was nearly over when, after leaving her companion at his
+home, she entered the shop, where Marion was busy folding and putting
+away. Norah stood before the table, pulling off her gloves.
+Suddenly she stooped and picked up an envelope from the floor. "Did
+you get a letter from Dr. Baird?" she asked, as she read the address.
+
+Marion's face flushed oddly. "No," she said, "it was just an
+enclosure."
+
+"A valentine?" cried Norah; but Marion went on with her folding, and
+did not reply.
+
+Norah walked to the window and looked out through the screen of plants
+at the Terrace and the faint rosy glow that lingered in the southwest.
+She guessed what it was her friend had received, and for a moment she
+was not quite happy. Then she asked herself inwardly, but sternly,
+"Are you a selfish beast, Norah Pennington?"
+
+Presently Marlon came behind her and put an arm around her. "You don't
+mind my not showing it to you, Norah. It was only a--"
+
+Norah turned, and with a sudden motion stopped the word on her lips.
+"Child, what is friendship worth if one minds things--like that? I
+invited Miss Martin," she added.
+
+Louise Martin was a fair, fresh-looking girl, who had come from a
+country town several years before, and after a course in a business
+college had found a position as stenographer in a real estate office.
+Her gentle, refined manners had attracted Norah, who, persisting in
+the effort to make friends with her, had at length broken through the
+distant reserve with which she met all advances. The girl hesitated
+over the invitation, saying she did not often go anywhere; but Norah's
+friendly manner won the day, and promptly at half past six on Friday
+evening Susanna ushered her into the shop.
+
+Norah met her and presented her to Marion. "And now you are to come
+upstairs to take off your things, for that always seems the sociable
+way to begin," she said.
+
+Miss Martin looked about her in surprise. "When you said you kept a
+shop, I did not dream it was like this."
+
+"We pride ourselves on not keeping an ordinary shop, but a most
+unpretentious one, as you see."
+
+"And this is where you live?" Miss Martin exclaimed with a sigh of
+admiration, as she followed her guide into a very simple bedroom.
+
+"We live all over the house. This is my room, however."
+
+"It is the most beautiful place I ever saw," the girl said.
+
+Remembering the dingy boarding-house, Norah understood. "It is all
+simple and inexpensive," she said. "Miss Carpenter and I pride
+ourselves on the large amount of comfort we have achieved for a small
+amount of money. You see we have matting on the floor, with a few
+rugs; as our landlord would not do anything to the walls, we had a
+frieze made of this big-flowered paper which cost next to nothing, and
+relieves the whiteness; the white iron beds and the dressing-tables
+were not expensive, nor the draperies, which are in our line, you
+know." While she talked Norah opened the door into the next room.
+"This is Miss Carpenter's," she said. "We are just alike, except that
+she is rose colored and I am blue."
+
+There were some things Norah had not mentioned,--toilet articles such
+as Miss Martin had never seen outside of a show-case, and a silk
+dressing-gown of great daintiness that lay across a chair in Miss
+Carpenter's room.
+
+"I was surprised when you said you kept a store,--you did not look
+like it; but if this is the way you live--" Miss Martin did not
+finish her sentence as she allowed Norah to take her hat.
+
+That everything about the small domain impressed her, it was easy to
+see. The simple dinner served so deftly by Susanna, the appointments
+of the table, and by no means least, her two hostesses.
+
+Before eight o'clock the basket makers arrived, with them Madelaine,
+who made a pretty pretence of being deeply grateful to Miss Pennington
+for allowing her to come. Miss Martin watched her with serious
+admiration in her eyes. Here was a girl little younger than herself,
+whose whole business in life was to be beautiful and engaging.
+
+"I have brought my prettiest valentine to show you," Madelaine said.
+"Isn't it a dear?" and taking from its box a gauzy fan, she held it
+out for inspection.
+
+Norah, who was nearest, took it. "It is certainly pretty if not
+durable," she remarked.
+
+"I hate durable things," said its owner, with a shrug of her dainty
+shoulders. "I know it cost a great deal, for I priced one like it."
+
+"Madelaine!" expostulated her sister.
+
+"Goosie, I don't mean since this came."
+
+"And you don't know who sent it?" asked Charlotte.
+
+"Think of sending a gift like this and not getting the credit for it,"
+said Miss Sarah, viewing it from a practical standpoint.
+
+"If I knew who sent it, mamma wouldn't let me keep it,--at least Alex
+wouldn't,--so of course I do not know."
+
+It was impossible not to smile at her.
+
+"You are a fraud, Madelaine," Miss Sarah said. "I wish I had the money
+some people spend on valentines."
+
+"James Mandeville has a more practical mind than Miss Russell's
+unknown admirer; he delivered his valentines in person and demanded
+full credit," Marion observed.
+
+Norah whispered to Alex, "Please be nice to my little girl," so Alex
+took a seat beside Miss Martin and showed her how to begin a basket.
+
+"Miss Pennington says you are a stenographer. I am trying to learn,
+but I am hopelessly stupid. Do you think one can learn by one's self?"
+
+"I learned at the Business College," answered Miss Martin; and
+looking Alex up and down she added, "but you do not have to do it, do
+you? I am glad I can support myself, but there are other ways,--like
+this,--only I never dreamed of it before. In a business office
+generally you are just part of a machine." Discovering that Miss
+Wilbur, too, was listening, she came to an embarrassed pause.
+
+"What would you do if you were to become suddenly rich, Miss Sarah?"
+Madelaine asked, and everybody stopped to listen.
+
+"Lose my mind, probably," was the answer.
+
+"Riches make people so dreadfully commonplace," said Norah.
+
+"What can be more commonplace than poverty?" Alex demanded.
+
+"Well, I suppose both extremes are bad. It is, after all, the people
+who have neither poverty nor riches who have ideas and make something
+out of life."
+
+"I could get heaps out of life if I were rich," Madelaine said.
+
+"I still insist that rich people are to a considerable extent
+unoriginal and stupid. They associate with persons exactly like
+themselves, do the same things, say the same things, eat the same
+things--"
+
+"This is Miss Pennington's hobby," Marion remarked, smiling.
+
+"What would you do if you were to become rich?" Miss Virginia asked
+her.
+
+"I believe I should go on with the shop for the present," was the
+reply.
+
+"I think I should start a Settlement like the one you have told me
+about," Alex said, turning to Norah. "But then," she added, "I should
+have to learn a great deal first. You can't do anything that amounts
+to anything without learning how."
+
+Miss Sarah had been meditating, now she spoke, "I think I'd try to
+give a good time to some persons who never have any fun, to whom life
+is only a grind."
+
+"There are so many of them," added Miss Martin, timidly.
+
+"I am afraid I have always been dreadfully selfish," sighed Miss
+Virginia.
+
+"Oh, no, Virginia, you aren't that," said Miss Sarah. "Like some of
+the rest of us, you may have lived in a small circle, but within its
+bounds no one could accuse you of selfishness. Let's all promise to
+remember each other when we come into our fortunes," she added.
+
+After they had gone,--Miss Martin lingering to say with shy
+earnestness, "I have had _such_ a good time," and receiving in return
+a cordial invitation to consider herself a member of the basket
+society,--Norah joined Marion before the fire.
+
+"Do you know, Wayland Leigh gave that fan to Madelaine," she said.
+
+"Are you sure? It must have cost twenty-five or thirty dollars."
+
+"I saw him looking at them the other day. I rather suspect his aunts
+have spoiled him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-THIRD
+
+NEIGHBORS
+
+
+Late in February, after some weeks of unusually cold weather, an
+epidemic of grip developed. In the Terrace there were several victims,
+among the first the Leighs' cook; and when it came to filling her
+place, it was discovered that she was by no means the only member of
+that useful profession laid low. It was quite impossible to find a
+substitute. Miss Sarah was obliged to do her own cooking, with the
+assistance of a not very intelligent housemaid.
+
+There were ten in her family now, and it was no light task; but she
+might have proved equal to it if she had not been overworking all
+winter. Her spare moments had been given to sewing and embroidering
+for the shop, she had indulged and petted her aunt and Wayland just as
+usual, besides attending to her housekeeping in the most painstaking
+fashion; and all the while like an ominous cloud hovering over her was
+the doubt whether she would be able to make the two ends meet.
+
+Perhaps she was extravagant with the table, but during her brother's
+lifetime they had lived in an easy, lavish way, and she knew no other.
+
+It hurt Miss Sarah,--foolishly, but naturally,--that her nephew should
+have to pay board out of his small salary; and when one week he
+omitted to hand her the usual five dollars, she could not bear to ask
+him for it, although the lack of it put her to some inconvenience.
+
+To Wayland things seemed moving on easily enough at home. He had
+become almost reconciled to the boarders, who made possible the more
+elaborate table; and it seemed to him quite impossible that so small a
+sum could make any great difference. He meant to pay it in time, but
+just now he was hard up. He had made the mistake of trying to be a
+society man, to compete with those whose incomes were many times as
+large as his own. In his heart he knew the purchase of that fan for
+Madelaine was a piece of inexcusable extravagance, but he had been too
+weak to resist.
+
+Madelaine was most gracious in these days to Winston Graham, a
+pampered youth whom Wayland had despised from his babyhood, and had
+tyrannized over at school. Now the tables were turned. Years had
+improved Winston, and any lack of brilliancy was more than atoned for
+by an ample fortune, in the management of which he was showing
+unexpected shrewdness.
+
+For the moment that foolish fan had brought him a little pleasure.
+There could be no doubt Madelaine guessed the sender. Somebody was
+absurd, she said; if she were certain who sent it, she would return
+it,--and then she smiled bewitchingly over the gauzy trifle that had
+cost more than half a month's salary.
+
+Miss Sarah was in some measure to blame. She should have taken her
+nephew into her confidence. Such things as taxes and unexpected
+plumber's bills did not present themselves to his mind, and when he
+presently found himself in debt, he went so far as to wonder if she
+might not be able to help him out,--temporarily, of course.
+
+It was not till matters had grown desperate that he decided to do
+this. Wayland was not in the habit of getting into debt, and an
+insistent tailor and florist made his life miserable. With masculine
+obtuseness he chose the most unpropitious moment. Miss Sarah, after a
+hard day, had dropped into an easy-chair for a little rest after
+dinner. Wayland had forgotten the absence of the cook, and in the
+lamplight his aunt looked placid and comfortable.
+
+"Aunt Sarah," he began, "I am rather hard up just now--"
+
+"Never mind, dear, I can get along, I think. You can pay me back
+sometime when it is convenient."
+
+"Yes, I mean to,--but I have been a fool. I--I am going to turn over a
+new leaf,--not go out any more, and save up," Wayland stammered.
+
+Usually to a remark of this kind his aunt would respond with consoling
+assurance that he was young and must have a little pleasure; but
+to-night she only said with a sigh it would perhaps be better; that
+when one was poor the only peaceful thing was to accept it.
+
+"Then I suppose you couldn't lend me a little?" he faltered.
+
+"Lend?" Miss Sarah sat up very straight. "Oh, Wayland, are you in
+debt?"
+
+"Oh, well, if you can't it is all right; but you needn't jump all over
+a fellow."
+
+"I do not understand what you mean by 'jumping all over you.' I
+certainly don't feel like such gymnastics. But I want you to tell me
+honestly the state of affairs."
+
+The truth was hard to extract. Wayland was sullen, apologetic, and
+contrite by turns. At last it came out. He owed one hundred and fifty
+dollars.
+
+"I am sorry." Miss Sarah sank back in her chair. "I fear you have been
+very foolish. To go in debt seems to me not quite honest. But I am
+glad you told me. I'll try to help you; and you'll promise, won't you,
+not to do this again?"
+
+Somehow his aunt's low, controlled tone exasperated Wayland far more
+than if she had shown anger. "I guess if you knew what other fellows
+spend, you wouldn't think I was so awful. Of course I am sorry, and of
+course I don't mean to do it again," and he flung out of the room.
+
+Two days later Miss Sarah alarmed the household at the breakfast table
+by fainting, something she had never been known to do before. Simple
+restoratives proved of no avail, and Wayland rushed off to the nearest
+telephone to call a physician, almost running over Miss Pennington,
+who was starting for a morning walk.
+
+"Could I be of any help?" she asked as he hurriedly explained.
+
+"If you would," Wayland cried gratefully.
+
+Norah entered upon a scene of confusion. Old Mrs. Leigh was frightened
+out of her senses, and no one seemed able to think what to do. Knowing
+something of illness and possessing a cool head and steady hand, Norah
+took command; and when the doctor arrived, Miss Sarah was beginning to
+recover consciousness.
+
+She was ordered to bed at once; and when she ventured to expostulate
+feebly, Norah said: "Now, Miss Sarah, we can manage things for to-day.
+For once trust to your friends and don't worry. You will get well just
+so much sooner."
+
+Miss Sarah looked up in to the bright face that bent over her. "You
+are very good. Perhaps I will,--just for to-day."
+
+"She is threatened with pneumonia; she must have a nurse," the doctor
+said, outside her door.
+
+It was the beginning for Miss Sarah of a serious illness which in one
+way and another involved a number of her neighbors. Owing to the
+prevailing epidemic, it was at first impossible to get a satisfactory
+nurse, and Norah and Miss Virginia Wilbur offered their services. Miss
+Wilbur also lent her cook until Anne should be able to return, saying
+she and Charlotte could do very well with Martha.
+
+In the shop Alex took Norah's place. Norah herself suggested it with
+some hesitation, thinking Mrs. Russell might object; but this lady,
+like many others, had somewhat modified her opinion of the shop. "You
+know," she explained on more than one occasion, "those young women are
+most interesting. Miss Carpenter, indeed, has a great deal of
+elegance. Alex, with her eccentric ideas, is delighted with them, and
+was so anxious to go I could not refuse."
+
+Without the shop these would have been lonely days for Charlotte, with
+Aunt Virginia absent so much of the time, and her friend Helen one of
+the grip victims. Miss Carpenter had exerted a peculiar fascination
+over Charlotte since the evening when she had come to her rescue.
+Others might prefer Miss Pennington; Charlotte never wavered in her
+admiration for the more quiet member of the firm. On her way to school
+each morning she invariably crossed the street that she might pass the
+shop, and perhaps receive a smile from Marion.
+
+This new enthusiasm overshadowed all former ones, and Miss Carpenter
+seemed by no means indifferent to the little girl's adoration, making
+her welcome to run in and out at all times. After hours, or when
+business was dull, Charlotte would often talk to her about the
+Landors, and their Philadelphia home, and Miss Carpenter seemed quite
+ready to listen; but Charlotte's curiosity about her cousin who lived
+across the street, was never satisfied.
+
+Miss Sarah, to whom indirectly this cementing of the ties between the
+shop and its neighbors was due, called Norah to her bedside on the
+first day of her illness, and confided to her a certain railroad bond.
+
+"I am afraid it will be some time before I am able to attend to this
+myself," she said, "so I am going to ask you to see if you can sell
+it for me. I went yesterday to see about it, but they told me to hold
+on to it for a while, if possible, and I thought I could perhaps wait;
+but now I want the money. It will have to go at whatever price it will
+bring. It is too bad to ask you,--you are so good."
+
+Norah assured her she would not mind in the least, and leaving the
+patient in Miss Virginia's hands she walked thoughtfully toward home.
+She happened to know that there was considerable interest felt at
+present in the fluctuation of these bonds, for she sometimes read the
+market news to Mr. Goodman, and he had a few days before spoken of
+buying some. Was there any possible way by which she could sell Miss
+Sarah's bond without sacrificing it?
+
+At the corner she met Mr. Goodman, and at sight of him a sudden idea
+took possession of her.
+
+"Mr. Goodman, can you tell me how G. W. & S. bonds are selling
+to-day?" she asked.
+
+"Seventy-two they are asking to-day. A good thing if you want to buy.
+They are bound to go up," was the old gentleman's reply.
+
+"Could you come in and let me ask you a few questions?" said Norah.
+
+Mr. Goodman never objected to talking stocks and bonds, and therefore
+assented affably.
+
+To the very evident amusement of Alex and Marion, Norah conducted her
+companion through the shop into the next room, flashing a mischievous
+glance over her shoulder as she pushed the door to. Giving the old man
+a chair, she seated herself opposite him; and leaning forward with her
+folded arms on the table, she told him of Miss Sarah's illness and her
+need of money. "Now," she concluded, "she has one of those bonds, and
+I want to sell it for a thousand dollars."
+
+"My dear young lady, you can't do the impossible. Keep it six months
+and it may be at par."
+
+"But she can't wait. She must have the money,--at least she thinks so;
+and she is too ill to be argued with. I want to make her mind easy.
+Why couldn't--somebody--give a thousand dollars for it?" Norah's heart
+beat quickly at her own daring. "What would be lost?"
+
+"Why doesn't somebody give her three hundred dollars, you mean?"
+
+"No, that is not at all what I mean," urged Norah. "I think you said
+you were buying to sell? Now, if that bond is worth a thousand dollars
+six months from now, what would--anybody lose who gave that for it
+now? Only the interest on not quite three hundred dollars. That is, of
+course, taking for granted he expected to sell."
+
+"Upon my word!" exclaimed Mr. Goodman. "What is she talking about? I
+didn't say they would be at par in six months."
+
+"Well, say a year, then. If you'll buy the bond, I'll pay the
+interest. I'll give you my note," Norah said, laughing.
+
+"It is the most astonishing proposition I ever heard," growled the old
+man.
+
+"It is to help a neighbor out, and that is the best thing in life,
+particularly any one so brave and bright as Miss Sarah. She would
+never let us do it if she guessed, but I can tell her they are going
+up steadily. I think I can manage it." Norah beamed across the table.
+
+Whether she had won or not was difficult to tell, for Mr. Goodman rose
+suddenly, buttoned up his coat, and saying he would see her the next
+day, strode off without so much as good evening.
+
+"Norah, what made you do it?" Marion exclaimed when she heard the
+story. "Surely, it could have been arranged."
+
+"I don't know. It popped into my head when I saw him. It won't do any
+harm to get some of his rusty dollars into circulation. I almost
+believe he will do it."
+
+And she was right. Mr. Goodman gave her a check for a thousand
+dollars, and, moreover, suggested that if Miss Sarah did not need the
+whole amount at present, he could invest several hundred of it
+advantageously. And this was the kindest thing Giant Despair had done
+for many a year. As for Norah's scheme for paying him interest, he
+only laughed at that.
+
+Poor Miss Sarah was too ill to understand more than that the bond was
+sold. She was feverishly anxious till she could put the money for his
+debts into Wayland's hands. After this she grew rapidly worse, and the
+outcome began to seem doubtful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURTH
+
+WAYLAND
+
+
+Wayland blamed himself bitterly. He could not forget the touch of
+those burning fingers pressing the money into his hand. He tried to
+refuse it, but his aunt whispered: "Take it, dear. It is all right. I
+shall not be happy till you do." After this he had been sent from the
+room and not allowed to see her again.
+
+Old Mrs. Leigh, bemoaning Sarah's hard lot and accusing herself of
+selfishness, unconsciously enlightened him as to the true state of
+affairs. Wayland sincerely loved his aunt,--the only mother he had
+ever known,--and he realized with shame how unworthy had been his
+attitude toward her of late. While she had been struggling to make a
+home for him and her old aunt, thinking and spending for him till
+there was nothing left for herself, he, absorbed in his own affairs,
+had been disdainful and critical, fretted by her habit of laughing at
+things, annoyed by her style of dress.
+
+And this money. He guessed where it came from. She must have sold a
+bond left to her by a friend some years ago, which she called her
+rainy-day legacy. He fiercely promised himself he would pay it back.
+
+But in the terrible fear that she would not recover, this thought
+ceased to console him. What if he should never have the opportunity to
+tell her how sorry he was, how ashamed? The doctor looked very grave,
+the nurse and Miss Virginia shook their heads and said, "No better."
+Norah was the only one who gave him any encouragement. She bade him
+not give up yet, and devised errands to distract him from his misery,
+and make him feel that he was of some use. He hung upon her words with
+such an appealing face her heart was touched, for she guessed that
+remorse mingled with his sorrow.
+
+There came a dreadful day when even she had no hopeful word to say;
+when, hurrying home at the earliest moment, he found the house hushed
+in a terrible suspense.
+
+Miss Virginia sat with Mrs. Leigh, and they talked of Miss Sarah, and
+wiped the tears from their eyes as if she were already dead. Wayland
+could not endure it.
+
+In his longing for comfort he thought of Madelaine. Surely, she would
+be kind to him now. She was tender-hearted and sympathetic; just the
+touch of her pretty hand would help him. He had not seen her for more
+than a week.
+
+Miss Madelaine was dressing to go out, but would see him for a moment
+if he cared to wait, the servant said; and presently as he strode back
+and forth, too restless to sit down, she floated in, lovely and
+gracious as ever.
+
+"I am going to dinner at the Mays'. I am sorry I can't see you for
+more than a minute. How is Miss Sarah to-night?"
+
+"No better--worse," Wayland answered brokenly, holding fast the hand
+she offered him. Gently Madelaine drew it away, and began to put on
+her glove.
+
+"I am _so_ sorry," she said, "but you mustn't despair. I am sure she
+is going to get well."
+
+Upon Wayland's sensitive ear the words fell with a hollowness almost
+unbearable. "She does not care at all," he told himself.
+
+This was perhaps a little unjust to Madelaine. She was very full at
+that moment of the joy of living; she knew nothing by experience, of
+illness and death. She was sorry for Wayland, but the thought of the
+evening's pleasure was not for an instant dimmed by it.
+
+Wayland went blindly home again, conscious of nothing but the pain in
+his heart. At the door Norah met him with a note which she asked him
+to take to Miss Carpenter. "The doctor thinks there will be no change
+for some hours," she told him.
+
+He sat staring into the fire in the same blind way when Marion entered
+the room.
+
+"There is no haste about the answer. Won't you stay with me for a
+while?" she said. "I am alone, and I know you must be feeling the
+strain of suspense."
+
+Norah's note had said: "Do keep the poor boy and comfort him if you
+can. He does nothing but wander in and out."
+
+"Thank you, I think I must go back," he answered, lingering aimlessly
+however.
+
+Marion brought him a cup of after-dinner coffee, and he submitted and
+drank it, although he felt it must choke him; and when he had
+swallowed it, he was the better for it.
+
+Marion did not make the mistake of trying to cheer him in the face of
+this terrible anxiety, but in every possible way she showed her
+sympathy. She spoke of his aunt, of her brightness and kindness, of
+her evident attachment for him; and poor Wayland, longing to pour out
+his unhappiness to some one, forgot she was almost a stranger and came
+out with his confession. His foolishness and extravagance, his
+carelessness of his aunt's comfort. It was very boyish and perfectly
+sincere. Madelaine was not mentioned by name, but the wound showed
+plainly, and Marion guessed what he did not tell.
+
+"And now I shall never have a chance to show her how sorry I am," he
+groaned, hiding his face.
+
+"Don't say that. There is still some room for hope that you may have
+another opportunity; and even if you do not, you can yet make of
+yourself what she would wish," Marion said; adding, "If you will let
+me speak to you as if you were my younger brother, I should say that
+all the trouble has come from a natural but selfish determination to
+have what, after all, was not meant for you. I think I understand;
+and although you may not believe me, I am sure it could never have
+made you happy if you had been able to obtain it."
+
+"If you mean Madelaine," Wayland said, lifting his head, "that is all
+over."
+
+Afterward he could look back on that evening and feel that out of his
+grief he had won a friend who might never have been his under other
+circumstances. At the moment he was conscious only of the new courage
+and determination that inspired him, when after the long talk he said
+good night.
+
+With the morning new hope came. There was a chance for recovery; and
+this grew, until at length Miss Sarah began slowly to climb the hill
+toward health again.
+
+It was some time before Wayland could pour out to her his repentance,
+and then his aunt would not let him say half he wanted to say.
+
+"Why, child," she exclaimed, patting the head bowed on the arm of her
+chair, "you have done nothing to call forth all this. You have been
+thoughtless, as most young persons are; but I suspect it is my fault.
+I spoiled you. I did so want you to have what you wanted, always. I
+suppose it is foolish, but it is the way we feel about the children we
+bring up."
+
+"You shall have that bond back, or one just as good, Aunt Sarah," he
+assured her; and there was something in his face which showed he meant
+it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-FIFTH
+
+THE PRICE OF A BOND
+
+
+"Mr. Goodman, I want to understand about that bond Miss Pennington
+sold for me. I have been reading the papers, and I don't see how it
+could have brought a thousand dollars when they are only quoted at
+eighty-something." Miss Sarah was still white and weak, but she spoke
+with a touch of her old energy.
+
+Ever since she had been able to think connectedly, the matter had
+puzzled her. Norah, when appealed to, was innocence itself.
+
+"I am sure he did not lose anything, Miss Sarah," she said. "I offered
+it to him because I happened to know he had already bought some."
+
+So now she had summoned Giant Despair himself, happening to see from
+her window his clumsy figure coming up the street.
+
+"I am glad to see you better, Miss Sarah," he said, appearing rather
+ill at ease as he seated himself ponderously in a wicker chair.
+
+"Goodness! I hope it won't give way with him," thought Miss Sarah;
+then aloud she repeated her question, adding, "I have no confidence
+whatever in Miss Pennington."
+
+Giant Despair squinted at her with his best eye, as if to see just
+what she meant.
+
+"My own opinion," Miss Sarah continued, "has always been that she is a
+witch; but even then I don't understand it."
+
+Mr. Goodman smiled grimly and slapped his gloves across his knee.
+"Probably you don't know much about the ways of witches," he remarked.
+
+"I ought to know something. I can't imagine what I should have done
+without Norah. Everybody was kind,--more than kind,--but she knew how
+to take hold and manage things. I--" she hesitated a moment before she
+added, "and we didn't want them in the neighborhood!"
+
+"I guess you are right about the witch business," agreed the old man.
+
+"But the bond," urged Miss Sarah.
+
+"Well, there is nothing to be said about the bond, so far as I know.
+As a general thing women don't know much about business, but Miss
+Norah has taught me a thing or two. I haven't lost anything on your
+bond, Miss Sarah, and I expect to make before I get through."
+
+"And you are sure that she--"
+
+"She didn't lose anything, either,--if that is what you mean. That
+bond was worth to me what I paid for it, and that is all I can say on
+the subject, unless--" Giant Despair hesitated. "Years ago your
+brother saved me a good deal of money at one time and another. He was
+a good man. I have sometimes wished I had taken his advice. If you
+aren't satisfied, just remember that."
+
+There had been a time when Miss Sarah's brother, Wayland's father, had
+managed Mr. Goodman's law business; but the relations had come to a
+sudden end. The only explanation Mr. Leigh had ever made to his sister
+was that he did not care for certain of the drug company's methods.
+
+"Then all I can do is to thank you most warmly," she said as he rose.
+
+"If I have helped you, Miss Sarah, I am glad. As I say, I have not
+lost anything, and I am a useless old codger, anyhow."
+
+Miss Sarah wiped some tears away; she was far from strong yet. "I
+think it was a conspiracy between you and Miss Pennington, but I'll
+have to let it go."
+
+"I am in good company, at any rate," said Giant Despair.
+
+James Mandeville waited for Mr. Goodman at the gate, and the two
+walked away together, hand in hand, the little boy taking great pains
+to point out all obstacles in the path, chattering ceaselessly, his
+radiant face lifted constantly to the rugged one so far above him.
+Miss Sarah watched them and smiled.
+
+As for Mr. Goodman, he felt a strange sense of exhilaration,--so much
+so, that when they met an organ-grinder and a monkey (spring being now
+at hand) he contributed a dime instead of the usual five-cent piece.
+
+A week later he went to a hospital to have his eye operated on, and
+during the weeks of helplessness that followed he was the recipient of
+an amount of attention that greatly surprised him.
+
+The hospital was only a few blocks away from the Terrace, and hardly a
+day passed without a visit from some of his neighbors. Marion, Norah,
+and Alexina took turns in reading to him; and James Mandeville came
+whenever he could induce any one to bring him.
+
+In the same corridor was a man recovering from a stroke of paralysis,
+who, rolling himself back and forth in his chair, occasionally
+encountered Mr. Goodman and exchanged a few words.
+
+"I notice you have a great many friends," the stranger remarked one
+day.
+
+"I?" exclaimed Giant Despair, who looked fiercer than ever with one
+eye bandaged. "Well, I suppose I have," he admitted, and became lost
+in thought. Eight months ago probably not a soul would have done more
+than leave a card, unless it had been a member of the firm. How had it
+come about? Undoubtedly the shopkeepers had something to do with it.
+They had showed themselves friendly. Then he thought of that bond.
+Suppose he had refused Norah? Ah, he had told Miss Sarah the strict
+truth when he said he had not lost anything in that transaction. He
+really felt the impulse to do another kindness to somebody, but not
+being in practice, nothing suggested itself.
+
+An opportunity came, however. One Sunday afternoon James Mandeville
+brought his father with him to see Mr. Goodman. The child's joyous air
+of proprietorship was pretty to see.
+
+"Here's my father," he announced. "Isn't you glad he's come home?"
+Then, as the two men shook hands, he asked, leaning confidingly
+against his old friend, "Does your eye hurt, still yet?"
+
+The conversation turned naturally to business, and after a time Mr.
+Goodman suddenly said, "Norton, it has just occurred to me-- We are
+making some changes this spring, and we need an experienced man to
+look after the city trade. How would you like the place?"
+
+Mr. Norton's careworn, boyish face flushed and brightened. "It would
+mean a great deal to me now, Mr. Goodman. My wife will be at home
+soon; I was dreading the thought of having to leave. Thank you very
+much."
+
+"You needn't thank me. I am considering my own interest," the old man
+replied, with an affability that astounded himself.
+
+"I rather think Jenks is expecting the place, but he isn't married;
+he can wait," he added.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+"Miss Norah, does you reckon old Marse Goodman's gittin' religion?"
+asked Mammy Belle one day. "Looks like he's mighty soft-hearted."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-SIXTH
+
+NORAH'S ARK
+
+
+Alexina said the shop, like a little leaven, was leavening the whole
+neighborhood, and truly it seemed so. To her those two weeks of
+association with Marion had been a joy. In the congenial surroundings
+of the shop she found it easy to live in to-day, leaving the future to
+unfold as it would. Her shorthand book lay unopened; she began to feel
+the truth of Marion's assurance, "Your forte is dainty, feminine
+things, Alex, in spite of your disdain for them."
+
+In their leisure moments they had built many castles concerned with
+the future of the shop, one of these being a millinery department of
+which Alex was to have charge.
+
+Indeed, the two weeks of Miss Sarah's illness saw the beginning of
+many things. Between Miss Virginia and Norah Pennington a strong
+friendship grew up.
+
+"Miss Virginia is such a dear!" Norah said. "I adore her stilted
+little expressions, such as 'busy with my needle or pen,' instead of
+sewing or writing, and with it all she is at heart a child."
+
+"That is the point of contact between you," Marion answered, smiling.
+
+Miss Virginia was like one who had thrown off a yoke, yet she hardly
+understood her own light-heartedness. It was quite true that she had
+never outgrown her girlhood. It was only overlaid by grown-up manners,
+and unconsciously she was beginning to let the burden of convention
+slip from her shoulders and to enjoy herself as her nature prompted.
+
+Charlotte was an hourly pleasure. Miss Virginia enjoyed looking after
+her wardrobe as in the past she had enjoyed dressing her dolls. She
+listened to the schoolgirl experiences poured into her ear, with
+genuine interest. They were like two children together; but Miss
+Virginia's sweetness and sincerity, her delicate refinement, could not
+but have their influence on her impetuous little niece.
+
+One broadening influence came from those Friday evenings in the shop,
+with their basket making and pleasant talk. Miss Virginia had been
+accustomed to accept things as they were. When in her very infrequent
+visits to business offices she had encountered young women acting as
+bookkeepers and stenographers, she had looked upon them as a class
+apart. Not that she felt consciously superior, or anything but kindly,
+but simply that her life and theirs did not touch. She was actually
+surprised to find Norah's friend Louise Martin so much like other
+girls, and when Norah described the hall bedroom in the gloomy
+boarding-house, which was her only home, Miss Virginia began to wish
+and then to wonder if she could not do something to brighten a life
+that seemed so dreary.
+
+Another addition to the Friday gatherings was a Miss Jackson, a
+fellow-boarder of Miss Martin's, a public school teacher and an
+ambitious, high-spirited girl.
+
+Toward these two Miss Virginia began to show a timid friendliness so
+plainly sincere it was irresistible. She found them much more
+interesting than many of the people who belonged to her own sphere,
+and whom she was accustomed to call friends. The end of it was, she
+asked them to tea with Alex and the shopkeepers,--a tremendous
+departure, a step taken with fear and trembling. But when it was over,
+she found herself looking back on it as one of the happiest occasions
+of her life.
+
+And now the Friday evenings at the shop began to be enlarged in their
+scope. It came about quite naturally. Norah, the sunny-hearted, could
+not breathe without attracting friends; and while the basket making
+still went on, and Miss Sarah and Miss Virginia brought their
+embroidery, others dropped in for the pleasant talk.
+
+Alex induced her grandfather to go with her on one occasion, and the
+judge was clearly both bewildered and charmed. He renewed his
+acquaintance with Norah, of whom he had not ceased to speak in
+admiration, and was greatly impressed by Marion's graceful bearing.
+
+Madelaine, who enjoyed doing unexpected things, appeared upon the
+scene this same night with Winston Graham in tow. This gentleman's
+astonishment was only exceeded by his willingness to follow Madelaine
+anywhere. He professed some interest in baskets, whereupon Marion gave
+him a seat beside Miss Martin.
+
+"'The rich and the poor meet together, the Lord is the maker of them
+all,'" Miss Sarah quoted to Miss Virginia.
+
+"What do you call this place, Miss Pennington? It isn't really a
+shop--you don't sell things?" asked Mr. Graham, when, a little later,
+Norah came to the rescue.
+
+"Why, of course we do. How else could we make a living? And it has
+several names," she replied. "Has Alex told you the latest," turning
+to Judge Russell. "She saw Mammy Belle on the corner one morning,
+gazing over here with all her eyes. 'It shorely do look like a
+_Norah's Ark_, Miss Alex,' she said. And really there is no doubt
+about its resembling an ark although we had none of us thought of it;
+and while I can't claim exclusive proprietorship, I accept the honor
+of having it named for me. What do you think of it?"
+
+The old gentleman glanced about him. "It is not nearly poetic enough,
+my dear," he said.
+
+Norah laughed at this gallant speech. "You see," she went on, "we are
+simply reviving a cosey old custom of living over the shop, which
+should interest you as a lover of old things."
+
+"And also of young things--if you will pardon the expression," said
+the judge, smiling.
+
+"Why, grandfather," cried Alex, "I shall be afraid to bring you
+again."
+
+"I expect to wake some morning and find the shop has disappeared,
+leaving no trace of itself," Miss Sarah remarked.
+
+"I trust not," exclaimed Norah. "Where would we be?"
+
+"An enchanted prince would have carried you off," laughed Charlotte.
+
+"Two princes," suggested Miss Virginia.
+
+A sudden gravity fell on Norah, so noticeable that Miss Sarah said, as
+she turned away, "She seems not to like the idea of the prince."
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+The days grew long, the air soft and warm; the Terrace gardens bloomed
+again and the rich foliage of summer succeeded the delicate lace-work
+of spring. The Russell house was again a Palace Beautiful in its
+mantle of vines, and the judge sat on the rustic bench beneath the
+Ginkgo tree, his hands on his stick and a faraway look in his eyes.
+
+Every moment that could be spared from the shop found Marion and
+Norah off to the country, to return laden with fragrant trophies. The
+delicate look had gone from Marion's face, and the disfiguring glasses
+were rarely seen.
+
+One evening in May an unexpected visitor appeared in the shop. A tall,
+wiry man, past middle age, with a keen, kindly face.
+
+"Why, Dr. Baird!" cried Norah, "I was just wishing for you."
+
+"You were?" he said, shaking hands. "Anything wrong with my patient?"
+
+"Here she is, to speak for herself," said Marion, entering from the
+next room.
+
+The physician looked at her long and intently. "I give up," he said at
+length. "It has worked. You are all right, and"--turning to Norah--"I
+suppose you think you are very clever, miss. Your wild-goose scheme
+has been a success."
+
+"You shall not call it names, for it has been the happiest winter of
+my life," said Marion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVENTH
+
+AN ANNIVERSARY
+
+
+"Miss Marion, are you here? I am so glad to see you! I have something
+to show you. Where is Miss Norah?" Charlotte punctuated her breathless
+remarks with an ardent embrace.
+
+"Why, Charlotte, how rosy you look, and I believe you have grown two
+inches!" Miss Carpenter had risen to meet her, and now took the brown
+face in both her hands and smiled into the blue eyes. "It is good to
+see you again. When did you get home?"
+
+"Early this morning; and now Aunt Virginia has everything out of our
+trunks--you would think there had been ten instead of two--and she and
+Martha are putting away, so I ran," Charlotte answered gayly.
+
+It was September again. The shop, which had been closed for a month
+while its proprietors took a holiday, had reopened, but the days were
+still warm, and little was doing. This afternoon, with its shaded
+windows and its autumn decorations of goldenrod and asters, it looked
+cool and inviting.
+
+Marion, who had been reading when Charlotte entered, laid her book on
+the table and motioned to a place beside her in the window-seat. "What
+have you to show me?" she asked.
+
+"You'll never guess, so I shall have to tell you. And, oh, Miss
+Marion, I want to ask you something, but I'm afraid."
+
+"Am I so very formidable? I can't imagine what it can be. I'll promise
+not to answer if I do not like the question."
+
+"It isn't that," cried Charlotte. "It is nothing I want you to tell
+me, it is something I want you to do."
+
+"Then I am more puzzled than ever. Do let me see what you have. Is it
+a book?"
+
+For answer Charlotte slipped the outer cover from a small green and
+gold volume and put it into Marion's hand, drawing near and leaning
+against her shoulder as she did so. "It is Cousin Frank's book," she
+said. "It came while he was with us at Rocky Point. He gave me the
+very first. Isn't it a dear?"
+
+Marion turned the leaves in silence. "Love's Reason, and Other Poems,"
+the title-page said. She turned another leaf, "To One Far Away," was
+the dedication. She paused here for a moment, then went on turning the
+pages.
+
+"It is a very pretty little book," she said, in a tone that seemed to
+Charlotte less interested than the occasion called for.
+
+"I thought you'd like it, because I have talked to you so much about
+Cousin Frank. And, oh, Miss Marion, it is about Miss Carpenter I want
+to ask you." Charlotte's head was against Marion's arm, and she did
+not lift her eyes.
+
+"It was one evening when Cousin Frank and I were sitting on the sand
+in the moonlight. Some man--I forget his name, but at any rate he is a
+great critic--stopped us as we were leaving the hotel, to say
+something very nice about the poems; and I asked Cousin Frank if he
+were not pleased. He said he was glad, of course, to have it liked,
+and he valued this man's judgment; but that after all it was for the
+opinion of just one person he cared the most. I was certain it must be
+Miss Carpenter, because of the dedication,--that couldn't mean any one
+else; so I said I knew she must like it. He looked at me in such a
+funny way and asked what I meant. So I told him what I had guessed,
+and he did not seem to mind.
+
+"I asked if he had sent her a book, but he said he did not know where
+she was, and the only person who did know was away, too. Then for a
+long time he did not say anything; but after a while I slipped my hand
+in his, and told him I knew she must care,--she couldn't help
+it,--although I hadn't any idea why she had gone away without letting
+him know where she was.
+
+"He said if he were sure she did not care at all, he would give it up,
+for that would be the only manly thing; but until he was sure, he must
+hope. It was then I began to wonder if you knew where she was, Miss
+Marion. If you do, couldn't you tell her how much he cares? I don't
+see why she went away; but Cousin Frank said she had a reason,
+although he didn't think it was a good one. Could you tell her, Miss
+Marion?"
+
+"Did you ever say anything to Mr. Landor about the shop or--" Marion
+left the question unfinished.
+
+"Yes, that very evening I told him I was certain my Miss Carpenter was
+lovelier than his." Charlotte squeezed the hand she held. "He smiled,
+and asked a great many questions. But could you tell her?" Charlotte
+was nothing if not persistent.
+
+This Miss Carpenter, of whom she had grown so fond, was a quiet
+person, not given to demonstration of any sort, but Charlotte suddenly
+felt herself drawn into a close embrace, while a very gentle voice
+said in her ear: "Charlotte, you may tell him I _know_ she cares. I
+think she was right to go away--she had a reason, but--"
+
+"What is going on here?" broke in Norah's gay tones. "Why, Charlotte,
+how are you? You two look as if you had been in mischief."
+
+A moment later who should walk in but Mrs. Leigh, looking like an old
+ivory portrait, her apple-blossom face framed in silver puffs and
+white frills. "Are you at home, and ready to show your pretty things?
+Upon my word, I am glad to see the shop open again. We have missed
+you."
+
+"Thank you, dear Mrs. Leigh; we are glad to be back again," said
+Norah, greeting her cordially, while Marion pushed forward a chair
+and Charlotte brought a cushion.
+
+Mrs. Leigh adored to be waited upon; she beamed graciously on the
+three. "Thank you, my dears. This is a charming place, and I must say
+I didn't expect to see you here again."
+
+"Why not? We had no idea of not coming back," Marion said.
+
+"Oh, I have never believed it would last," Mrs. Leigh's bright eyes
+twinkled. "You are too--well, there is a mystery about you, you know."
+
+"I didn't know. How interesting!" exclaimed Norah, laughing.
+
+"Well, I suppose there is no use in talking about it. You won't tell
+me. Charlotte, when is your Aunt Caroline expected?"
+
+"They were looking for her in a day or two," Charlotte replied,
+putting on her hat as she spoke. She did not care to stay and listen
+to Mrs. Leigh just now.
+
+Marion caught her hand. "May I have the little book for a while?" she
+whispered.
+
+"I have a piece of news for you," announced the old lady, as Charlotte
+disappeared.
+
+"Madelaine Russell is engaged to Winston Graham. It is to be announced
+this week. It will be a relief to her mother to have her well married,
+and I expect she is getting what she wants."
+
+"I think it is an excellent match," remarked Norah. "Winston is not a
+bad fellow, and Madelaine couldn't be happy without money. Why, if
+there isn't Mammy Belle!" she added, looking up.
+
+In the doorway stood that dusky personage, arrayed not in her usual
+starched calico and white apron, but in her Sunday dress of black,
+with floating crepe veil.
+
+"Howdy, Miss Norah; howdy, Miss Marion. I des come to see how you all
+was gettin' on. I'se tolable, thank you, ma'am. Yes'm, James
+Mandeville's gone wid his mamma to see his grandpaw, and Marse Tom's
+the onliest one lef'."
+
+"Sit down and rest," said Marion. "Mrs. Leigh, you know Aunt Belle,
+don't you?"
+
+"Is that Belle Campbell? Of course I do. I remember you, Belle, when
+you lived at the Graingers'."
+
+"Yes'm, Miss Sally, I 'members you. Looks like you's mighty peart
+yit." Mammy Belle smoothed the front of her skirt and then folded her
+black gloved hands in her lap.
+
+"Oh, I'm not good for much any more," answered Mrs. Leigh. "But tell
+me, Belle, what made you leave the Graingers? I thought you were a
+fixture there."
+
+"Yes'm, I reckon I'd be living there yit, if 'twarn't fur ole Marse
+Andrew. He done sassed me too much, Miss Sally. Aunt Judy she say,
+'Better stay whar de pot biles hardes', Belle,' but I couldn't stan'
+ole Marse Andrew."
+
+"I had forgotten about Aunt Judy. Is she still living?" asked Mrs.
+Leigh.
+
+"Yes, ma'am, she's livin', but she is mighty porely."
+
+"Isn't she very old?"
+
+"Yes'm, Miss Sally, Aunt Judy's tolable ole. Look like she don' know
+fur shore how ole she is. You knows Marse Andrew, Miss Sally? Well,
+Aunt Judy say she war a little gal runnin' round when Marse Andrew was
+bawn, an' dey tuk her into de house dat day to wait on ole Miss, Marse
+Andrew's grandmaw, and it was corn-shuckin' time; so if you knows how
+ole Marse Andrew is, you knows how ole Aunt Judy is."
+
+These interesting reminiscences were interrupted by Alex and her
+grandfather, who stopped at the door to welcome their neighbors back,
+as the judge explained, his fine old face beaming with friendliness.
+
+"What do you think Caroline is going to say when she finds us all
+friends of the shop, Judge?" asked plain-spoken Mrs. Leigh.
+
+"I am of the opinion that even Mrs. Millard will be unable to hold out
+against it very long. You know she hasn't had our opportunities," was
+the reply. "I have some new books to show you,--or some old ones,
+rather,--Miss Norah," the judge added.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+Norah had been sitting alone in the south window for some time when
+Marion joined her.
+
+"Where have you been? and what is that small green book you are
+carrying about?" Norah asked.
+
+Marion put it into her hand; as she did so, a paper fluttered out and
+fell to the floor. Stooping for it, Norah's quick eyes read
+involuntarily,
+
+        "I love her whether she love me or no,"
+
+and something told her it was the valentine of last winter.
+
+Marion's fingers closed over it. "Charlotte brought me the book," she
+explained; "but don't try to read by this light."
+
+"I shall not read much; I want to see what it is."
+
+There was silence for some minutes; then Norah put an arm around her
+friend. "Marion, I have been thinking I'd ask Alex to be my partner
+when you go." Try as she would, there was a little break on that last
+word.
+
+"Why, Norah!"
+
+"No, let me finish. You know a shop is not the station to which you
+are called, dear. I see clearly that the fairy prince is coming, and
+there is no reason why he should not." Norah pressed her cheek against
+Marion's. "Do you realize this is the anniversary of our coming here?"
+
+"It seems to me you are very ready to give me up," said Marion.
+
+"Oh, Marion!"
+
+"Forgive me, dear, I know you aren't. That was not fair. But I don't
+know--I can't talk about it now. I feel drawn two ways, and I am
+jealous of Alex when I think of her in my place."
+
+"I don't want you to be altogether glad, but I am proud of what the
+shop has done for you. And of course I have known all along it could
+not last. We have had a good time, haven't we?"
+
+"And it is not over yet," Marion said, pressing the hand she held.
+"There is one thing that perplexes me. The time has come for
+explanations, I suppose, and the situation seems a little melodramatic
+and silly."
+
+"Don't think about it, then. It will work out of itself. Does it not
+seem strange when you look back to that evening when we first thought
+of the shop, that it has really been tried and proved a success?"
+
+"Indeed, it does. How miserable I was, and determined not to go
+abroad, as Dr. Baird wished, but to stay there at home. Then you
+declined to stay with me, Norah; and when I was in despair you
+proposed the wild scheme of keeping a shop. I was interested at first,
+but you don't know how often I would have given up if it had not been
+for the fear of losing you. And now, Norah, I wouldn't give a hundred
+thousand dollars for the experience."
+
+"That is a good deal of money. I ought to be very triumphant that my
+plan worked so well." Norah's tone was sad, however.
+
+After the lamps were lighted Marion became absorbed in the little
+book, bending over it with a pretty glow in her face. From the other
+side of the table Norah watched her. After a while she rose and took
+down the rainbow bag and drew out a card.
+
+        "If I make dark my countenance,
+         I shut my life to happier chance."
+
+She pondered it. "That is true," she told herself, "and there is no
+end to the beautiful things that may happen if only one is ready for
+them."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTH
+
+WHAT IT MEANT
+
+
+Charlotte walked slowly home. She wondered what Miss Marion meant.
+"Tell him I know she cares." Charlotte had often noticed that Miss
+Carpenter seemed not to be deeply interested in her Philadelphia
+cousin, and now suddenly she turned around and was apparently
+intimately acquainted with her feelings. It was a puzzle.
+
+She sat down in one of the porch chairs to think it over, making a
+pleasant picture in her white dress, with the feathery clematis for a
+background, her blue eyes serious and thoughtful, as she rocked softly
+back and forth. The old self-assertion which a year ago had shown
+itself in attitude and speech had become softened now until it was no
+more than a gentle independence.
+
+She had toned down, Cousin Francis told her, with evident approval. In
+spite of its tempestuous beginning, the year in the Terrace had in
+great measure resulted as her guardian hoped it would.
+
+Aunt Virginia's sweet refinement, Alexina's earnestness, Madelaine's
+grace,--all these had had their influence; but most potent had been
+her admiration--almost adoration--for Miss Carpenter. Charlotte had
+made pleasant friends in school, but after all her happiest hours had
+been spent in the Terrace, where a year ago life had promised to be so
+dull.
+
+Aunt Virginia joined her presently, dropping into a chair with a sigh
+of satisfaction. "It is good to be at home again, and Martha and I
+have everything put away," she said. "Where have you been?"
+
+"Over to see Miss Marion, but Mrs. Leigh came in and I didn't care to
+stay."
+
+Miss Virginia rocked briskly for some minutes, then she remarked,
+"There was something in your Aunt Caroline's last letter I did not
+understand." Taking it from the envelope she unfolded it and glanced
+down the page. "Here it is. 'I infer from certain hints you have
+dropped at different times that you have not taken my advice in regard
+to the shop--' I didn't hint, I only said--" Miss Virginia hesitated.
+She did not recall just what she had said, but she knew she had by no
+means revealed the true extent of her intimacy with the shopkeepers.
+She went on with the letter. "'I have lately received some first-hand
+information concerning these young women, who seem to have fulfilled
+my prophecy that they would lose no opportunity to ingratiate
+themselves. I fear you have been too credulous, my dear Virginia, but
+I will not enter into the matter further till I see you.'
+
+"I wonder what she means by 'first-hand information'?" said Miss
+Virginia. "I know Caroline will never feel as the rest of us do, but
+she can't know anything against them."
+
+"No, indeed," Charlotte cried. "There isn't anything about Miss
+Marion, or Miss Norah either, that is not lovely."
+
+The thought of Marion's caress returned, and with it the question
+whether she should tell Cousin Frank or not; for it occurred to her he
+might think her officious to have spoken of the matter to a stranger.
+If-- Charlotte became lost in thought again.
+
+A good many miles to the northward two gentlemen were dining together
+at the very hour when Miss Virginia and Charlotte sat on the porch and
+watched the sunset without thinking of it.
+
+"You have great reason to be pleased with the reviews of your book,
+Frank," the elder man remarked, gratified affection in the grave smile
+with which his gaze rested on his son.
+
+"Yes, for the most part the critics are kind," Francis Landor replied,
+drawing hieroglyphics in an absent manner on the cloth with the handle
+of his spoon.
+
+"But one thing is lacking," thought the father, his glance still
+resting on the bent head. "The boy must come to something with such a
+head," he had often said in his childhood; and now the belief was
+likely to be justified. The face before him was showing the strong,
+serious lines of maturity, yet he almost regretted the lost boyishness
+as he noted them.
+
+Suddenly Frank looked up. "I am thinking of going away for a week or
+so," he announced.
+
+A smile hovered about his father's lips. "May I ask in what
+direction?--To see Charlotte?"
+
+Their eyes met. "Yes, to see Charlotte," Francis answered.
+
+"When do you go?"
+
+"Sometime to-morrow."
+
+"I wish you good luck, my son."
+
+"So he, too, has guessed," thought Frank.
+
+When he was alone, he took out a letter which bore evidence of more
+than one reading. Its date showed it to be a year old.
+
+        "I am going away," the letter said, "to be gone a long
+        time,--at least a year. By then my fate ought to be
+        decided. I am trying to hope, as Dr. Baird assures me
+        I may, trying to live entirely in the present. It is
+        not easy, but how can I make any plans for the future
+        when a possible life of helplessness lies before me?
+        You are generous, and I know you will forgive if this
+        causes you pain. Forget--everything but that I am
+        always your friend,
+
+                                      "MARION CARPENTER.
+
+"I have told no one where I am going, as it seems best to make as
+complete a break as possible with my life here. Dr. Baird, of course,
+knows."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-NINTH
+
+A LETTER
+
+
+"Really, Mrs. Millard, you have treated us very shabbily. It is nearly
+a year since you left us."
+
+"Ten months, Judge Russell. You are very kind to say you have missed
+me. I had no thought of staying so long when I left, and I am
+delighted to be at home again." Mrs. Millard stood in the
+drawing-room, as composed and elegant as if she had not arrived from a
+three days' railway journey only a few hours before.
+
+It was a summer-like evening, doors and windows were open, and one
+after another of the neighbors had dropped in, until Charlotte was
+reminded of the evening a year ago when the shop was under discussion.
+She felt a little shy in Aunt Caroline's presence, although that lady
+was graciousness itself; and Wayland Leigh, who came in with his aunt,
+joined her in the corner by the library door and wanted to know what
+made her so quiet.
+
+"Quite a party, isn't it?" he said; adding, "but where are Miss Marion
+and Miss Norah?" Like Charlotte, Wayland always put Marion first.
+
+"I don't believe Aunt Caroline would want them," she replied, smiling.
+
+"To be sure, when she went away we didn't know them."
+
+That others were also thinking of the shop was evident, for Miss Sarah
+was now heard remarking, "You left us defenceless, Caroline, and we
+surrendered soon after your departure."
+
+"Yes, the shop has become a neighborhood institution," Judge Russell
+added.
+
+"I am more than surprised to hear _you_ say so, Judge Russell."
+
+"But Mr. Goodman is the most remarkable convert, Mrs. Millard," said
+Alex. "Just ask him his opinion of the shop."
+
+"I do not wish to criticise, this first evening at home," Mrs. Millard
+began graciously; "but as I have been telling Virginia, I cannot
+understand the fascination these persons seem to have exercised over
+you."
+
+"But you know they are really charming young women," ventured Mrs.
+Russell. "I objected to the shop as decidedly as any one until I found
+out about them. Their popularity is not confined to this neighborhood,
+and of course you know they are well connected."
+
+"It is about that I wish to speak," interposed Mrs. Millard. "As you
+may have heard, Miss Unadilla Carpenter, the half-sister of Peter
+Carpenter, is a friend of my oldest sister. For years they have
+corresponded; so when I heard from Virginia that these people claimed
+to be related to the Philadelphia Carpenters, I took it upon myself to
+write a letter of inquiry to Miss Unadilla. She was ill at the time
+and some months passed before she replied. A few weeks ago I received
+a letter, in a part of which you may be interested."
+
+Mrs. Millard was evidently prepared for the occasion, for she at once
+produced the paper in question.
+
+"I shall be glad to hear it, but it can't alter my opinion of our
+friends across the street," Miss Sarah said stoutly, at which remark
+Miss Virginia visibly brightened.
+
+Mrs. Millard paid no heed, but began to read. "'Of the Miss Carpenter
+of whom you write I know nothing. She is not related to us. My niece,
+May Carpenter, is my only connection of the name, as I am hers. Of my
+niece I know little at present. Two years ago she had a long illness
+which came near being fatal, since then I believe she has been abroad.
+As to the young woman in question, I repeat we have no cousins.'" Mrs.
+Millard looked around the circle in triumph.
+
+"Of course," said Miss Sarah, "there are some things difficult to
+explain; but the most difficult of all would be, how two young women
+could come into a neighborhood and make it better and happier for
+their presence, could nurse some of us when we were ill, and show
+themselves in a thousand ways helpful and kindly and companionable,
+and all with the utmost simplicity,--to explain how they could do all
+this and yet be impostors, would be harder still. The good Book says,
+'By their fruits ye shall know them,' and that is how we know the
+shopkeepers."
+
+Wayland clapped noiselessly. "Good for auntie!" he whispered to
+Charlotte.
+
+"I really don't remember Marion's saying she was a cousin of Miss
+Carpenter," said Alex. "Perhaps we jumped to the conclusion."
+
+Mrs. Millard's lips were parted to reply when an exclamation from Miss
+Virginia caused all eyes to turn toward the door. From the awed
+silence it might have been a ghost, instead of Norah Pennington in a
+white dress, who stood there.
+
+She could not but be conscious of the excitement her appearance
+aroused. Her color deepened as for a second she felt herself the
+object of the silent gaze of this roomful of people. She did not lose
+her self-possession, however, and in another moment Charlotte was at
+her side, and Miss Virginia had recovered her power of speech.
+
+"I really came in search of Alex," Norah explained, a most engaging
+impostor surely, as she smiled upon the assembly.
+
+"Do you know my sister, Miss Pennington?" Miss Virginia's
+embarrassment was painfully evident.
+
+"I believe I once met Mrs. Millard in the shop." There was a twinkle
+of mischief in Norah's demureness.
+
+Mrs. Millard bowed distantly.
+
+"I am going to settle this here and now," Miss Sarah whispered to Mrs.
+Russell as Norah crossed the room to the sofa where Alex sat. Leaning
+forward she said in a tone quite audible to everybody, "Norah, excuse
+me for asking a personal question, but did you say Miss
+Carpenter--Marion--was related to the Philadelphia Carpenters?"
+
+Norah was quick-witted. So this was what they had been talking about!
+A glance at Mrs. Millard's haughty shoulders explained. "I think I did
+say so," she replied frankly.
+
+"But Miss Unadilla says she can't be," observed Wayland in an
+undertone from behind her.
+
+Norah made her decision promptly. "Miss Unadilla would not have said
+so if she had understood. I am going to take the liberty of explaining
+what has perhaps puzzled some of you. It was I who in the beginning
+caused the mistake, and I think now the time has come to set it
+right." In the faces of her friends she saw nothing but confidence.
+
+"Some of you have perhaps already guessed that there is just one Miss
+Carpenter. Marion is Miss Unadilla's niece."
+
+"I knew it! I knew it!" Charlotte whispered in an ecstasy.
+
+Norah continued: "We had no idea of making a mystery of it; that
+simply happened. Marion was recovering from a long illness, which left
+her with a nervous affection of the eyes, so serious she felt she
+would lose her sight. She and I were school friends, and when she was
+taken ill she sent for me, and I was with her through it all. When she
+grew stronger, her physician felt she must have some radical
+change--something which would take her thoughts from herself, but
+nothing seemed the right thing. Then I thought of putting into
+execution an old plan of mine to open a shop. I coaxed her into it,
+and we set out to seek our fortune, just as if the rich Miss Carpenter
+did not exist,--or, at least, was merely our patron. We came here
+partly because the climate was mild, and also because I had been here
+before and knew about the place; and it was far enough from Miss
+Carpenter's home to make it unlikely she would be recognized. We took
+no one into our confidence except Dr. Baird, and it was generally
+understood that we were travelling somewhere for Marion's health. The
+fiction about the rich Miss Carpenter has annoyed Marion all along;
+but as it came about, I didn't see how to avoid it. It really seemed
+better that it should not be known." Norah looked at Alex, as if
+seeking her opinion.
+
+"Of course, I understand," said Alex; "go on."
+
+"There isn't anything more, except that at the outset we were
+discovered by Mr. Landor, Charlotte's guardian, and an old friend of
+Marion's. He promised to keep our secret, and also to speak a good
+word for us to Miss Virginia."
+
+"My dear, he did; and at the time I was a little surprised, but--"
+Miss Virginia hesitated.
+
+Norah interrupted her. "You have all been so good to us. If Marion
+were here, she would join me in saying it. The best part of our
+venture--and it has been a success in other ways--is the friends we
+have made."
+
+"You showed yourselves friendly and won us in spite of ourselves,"
+said Miss Sarah.
+
+"I always said there was a mystery," old Mrs. Leigh remarked. "And are
+you, too, a millionnairess, Miss Norah?"
+
+Norah spread out her hands in an odd little gesture: "I am sorry, but
+I am just a plain poor person."
+
+"Is this the end of the shop?" some one asked.
+
+"I trust not. I have no idea of giving up, unless you drive me away,"
+Norah answered.
+
+Perhaps the only person present who was greatly surprised was Mrs.
+Millard. She had planned her little scene with some care, anticipating
+just such a gathering in honor of her return. To have the title
+role--as it were--snatched from her in the moment of triumph was
+annoying. But whatever her faults, Mrs. Millard was a lady, and as
+such she accepted the situation. She said little, but what she said
+was graceful and to the point. The eccentricity of the whole thing
+was, it seemed to her, sufficient excuse for her attitude, which, now
+she understood, she regretted.
+
+"Did you want anything in particular of me, Norah?" Alex asked as they
+were leaving.
+
+"Yes," was the answer. "I want you to be my partner."
+
+"Norah!" Alex cried. "You know I'll be glad, glad to be; but, oh, I am
+sorry for you, if you must lose Marion."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTIETH
+
+CHANGES
+
+
+"Was I not right to come? You said a year, and that is over."
+
+"I did not expect you so soon." Marion smiled over the great bunch of
+wild sunflowers she held. Coming in a few minutes earlier she had
+found Francis Landor pacing impatiently back and forth. Something,
+perhaps it was the unexpectedness of it, made her a trifle stately.
+
+It seemed to Francis that those flaunting yellow flowers made a
+barrier between them. "It was only by chance I found you. Charlotte
+gave me a hint. How long did you intend to leave me in uncertainty?
+Was it quite fair?"
+
+"I have been in uncertainty myself; happily my fears have not been
+realized. I did what seemed best at the time, and please remember the
+year is only just over." Marion looked at him gravely from behind her
+flowery screen.
+
+"I did not mean to begin by reproaching you," he said, drawing
+nearer. "But you cannot realize what it has meant to be left in
+complete ignorance. Even now I don't understand why you are here." He
+glanced about the room.
+
+"Norah Pennington and I are living here, earning our daily
+bread--really doing it,"--she laughed a little; "and, as you see, it
+has made me over. It was Norah's plan, and you can see how we were
+obliged to keep it to ourselves, if it was to be carried out. I had to
+cut loose from everything,--the suspense about my eyes was killing me.
+Of course, looking back, it seems needless; but one cannot argue with
+nerves."
+
+She paused a moment, then continued: "There is one thing I want to
+explain at the beginning. This winter's experience has made a
+different person of me. I can never go back to the old life of a
+society woman, with perhaps a little charitable work thrown in. I want
+to come in touch with people--all sorts of people. I want to try
+experiments. I think I must have inherited some of my grandfather's
+business instincts. I haven't made any very definite plans, but I
+should like to start other shops such as this, where women who have
+some ability and the gift for making useful and beautiful things can
+find their opportunity. I shall make mistakes, and lose money perhaps,
+but I want to experiment. I want you to understand how I feel,
+before--before--" Marion's eyes shone, a lovely flush was on her face
+as she hesitated.
+
+Francis Landor took sudden possession of the yellow flowers, tossing
+them with scant courtesy on the table, and leaning forward he grasped
+her hands. "May, what has this to do with it? Does it crowd me out of
+your life? Since you were a little girl, since the days when we played
+together, you have been my help and inspiration. Do you mean this has
+come between us, or do you still care?"
+
+Tears shone in Marion's eyes; she bent her head till it touched his
+shoulder. "Francis, I do care--I have always cared; I told Charlotte
+to tell you."
+
+"You will forgive me if I am only half glad to see you, Mr. Landor,"
+was Norah's greeting a little later. "Susanna, now, is wholly
+delighted. She sees the end of what has been to her a long exile, but
+I must needs go in search of another partner."
+
+"Why not take me in as a third, Miss Norah? I believe I should like
+it."
+
+"I shouldn't," she replied, laughing. "It would end in my playing
+third fiddle, and you must know this place is _Norah's_ Ark; I am
+chief manager." She went off gayly, pausing at the door to ask, "You
+do not mind my speaking to Alex to-night, Marion?"
+
+What happened in the course of her search for Alex, we have already
+seen.
+
+The two in the shop were left undisturbed. It must have been nearly
+ten o'clock, which was considered late in the Terrace, when a voice
+was heard insisting, "I must see Miss Marion, Susanna, just for a
+minute. Is she here?" and Charlotte burst into the room.
+
+"Oh, Miss Marion, I had half guessed,--I was not quite sure. Oh, I am
+so glad!" Oblivious to the presence of any one else she threw her arms
+about Miss Carpenter, who had risen hastily as she entered.
+
+"What are you talking about, dearie?" she asked, returning the embrace
+of the excited girl.
+
+"Where is that message you were told to deliver to me, Charlotte?" Mr.
+Landor demanded.
+
+"Cousin Frank!" she cried, releasing Marion, "where did you come
+from?" Then glancing from one to the other, she added, "But you didn't
+wait for it. Oh, I am so glad!"
+
+"You are a tremendous goose, Charlotte," said Marion, but she laughed.
+In fact they all three laughed a great deal in the course of the next
+few minutes.
+
+"I have never exactly understood how you came to be so wise on this
+subject, Charlotte," Mr. Landor said, making her sit beside him.
+
+"You know you never could keep anything to yourself, Francis," Miss
+Carpenter remarked reproachfully.
+
+Charlotte looked mischievous. "The beginning of it was when I found
+those verses about the rose that was out of reach, and you were so
+provoked I thought they must mean something. Then Aunt Cora said--"
+
+"Never mind Aunt Cora," Francis said, laughing; "this will do."
+
+"I agree with you," remarked Marion.
+
+"Charlotte, Miss Virginia is standing at the door. I know she is
+distracted over your absence," said Norah, entering.
+
+"She knows I am here, but I mustn't stay," she rose regretfully.
+
+Francis accompanied her. "And so you think your Miss Carpenter is
+lovelier than mine?" he remarked, as they crossed the street.
+
+"Well, at least she is just as lovely," Charlotte answered blithely.
+
+       *        *       *       *       *
+
+The news spread quickly. The Terrace was stirred to its depths. Life
+within its quiet borders was becoming exciting. The announcement of
+Madelaine's engagement with all the splendors in prospect would have
+sufficed for one season, but even this was eclipsed by the romance of
+the shop,--so named by Mrs. Leigh.
+
+"Look like I already knowed Miss Marion was a rich lady," Aunt Belle
+was heard to declare. "Yes'm, she done carry her haid so proud-like."
+
+In the shop many a serious conference was held by Marion, Norah, and
+Alexina, and at length Miss Sarah was called in. As a result, another
+surprise was sprung upon the Terrace. The corner shop was to be given
+up--Norah could not live there alone--and a new one opened in the
+spacious drawing-rooms of the Leigh house. Here there would be room
+to expand, Norah would have a home, and Miss Sarah would be freed from
+the necessity of boarders. There were those who held moreover that by
+this arrangement the enterprise acquired a new dignity. The idea
+originated with Mrs. Millard, who, while she did not give the shop her
+full approval, from henceforth withdrew all opposition.
+
+Old Mrs. Leigh was heard to remark that she had in her life done many
+things she had not expected to do, but living over a shop was about
+the last.
+
+"I suppose you'll agree it is better than the poorhouse, or even
+boarders," said her niece.
+
+"Better? I am as proud of it as I can be," the old lady replied, and
+proud of it she seemed.
+
+Norah called her their advertising agent. Her acquaintance was
+extensive, and at church or on the street, wherever she happened to
+be, she waylaid her friends and gave them a cordial invitation to
+visit _our_ shop. On more than one occasion she constituted herself
+hostess. Recognizing from her window a familiar carriage, she would
+descend, dainty and bright-eyed, to enjoy a social chat, which would
+sometimes result in her holding a reception, for everybody enjoyed
+her merry talk, and she was quickly made the centre of an interested
+group.
+
+Miss Sarah was inclined to interfere, but Norah and Alex protested.
+They liked to have her. She was an added attraction. But all this was
+afterward.
+
+It was on the last evening, as they walked arm in arm around the
+dismantled shop, that Marion said: "I am selfish about it, but I could
+not have endured to go away and have you go on without me in this dear
+little place where we have been so happy. How wonderfully everything
+has worked out! and it was all your doing."
+
+"I don't know; I think we owe a great deal to our friend the rich Miss
+Carpenter." There was a mist in Norah's eyes, but she smiled.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Italic text is surround by _tags_ and bold is denoted by =tags=.
+
+Page 9 and Illustration, "intrenched" changed to "entrenched" to
+conform to text. (Securely entrenched behind)
+
+Page 216, "who one" changed to "one who" (the only one who gave)
+
+One instance each of type-writer and typewriter were retained.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Pleasant Street Partnership, by Mary F. Leonard
+
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