long refectory was emblazoned on the wall: "For
whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in Heaven, the same
is my brother and sister and mother." At the other: "Bear ye one
another's burdens." The chapel contained no pulpit, but on a marble
altar stood a life-size figure of a woman clinging to the cross: and on
the walls hung paintings representing the Crucifixion, the Descent, the
Resurrection and the Mater Dolorosa; while in a niche at the extremity,
behind the altar, an Ecce Homo of carved ivory was suspended above a
gilt cross, and just beneath it glittered the motto "Faith, Hope,
Charity". Every morning and evening the band of women gathered here,
and recited the Apostles' Creed, and the Lord's Prayer; but on Sabbath
the members attended the church best suited to their individual tenets.

The infirmary was a cheerful, airy room, and here professional nurses
were trained under the guidance of visiting physicians; and in an
adjoining kitchen were taught to prepare the articles of diet usually
belonging to the regimen of sick rooms.

Widows, maidens, Catholics, Protestants, admitted from the age of
eighteen to forty, these "Umilta Sisters" were received on probation
for eighteen months; then entered upon a term of five years, subject to
renewal at will; bound by specified rules, but no irrevocable vow.
Yielding implicit obedience to the matron, elected by themselves every
four years--subject to approval and ratification by the Chapter of
Trustees, they were recognized wherever they went by the gray garb, the
white aprons, and snowy mob caps peculiar to the institution.

Fashionable women patronized and fondled the "Anchorage", for much the
same reason that led them to pamper their pugs; and since the Chapter
of Trustees consisted of men of wealth and prominence, their wives, as
magnates in le beau monde, set the seal of "style" upon articles
manufactured there, by ordering quilted satin afghans with anchors of
pansies embroidered in the centre, for their baby carriages; painted
tea gowns; favors for a "German", or fans and bonbonnieres for birthday
parties.

If children of the Brahmin caste of millionairdom were seized by the
Pariah ills of measles, or chicken-pox, or mumps, it was deemed quite
as imperatively the duty of doting parents to provide an "Anchorage"
nurse, as to secure an eminent physician, and the most costly brand of
condensed milk. In the name of sweet charity, gay gauzy-winged
butterflie