emary earned the money fairly and squarely," he argued. "She
earned it by the hardest kind of work and it seems mean to make her
feel cheap. Those women were paying for service and they got it,
and they don't think any the less of Rosemary, either, if Aunt Trudy
does moan along about 'degrading' the family. You're forever
preaching that there is no disgrace in any kind of honest work,
Hugh--"

"Oh, quit, I'm licked!" surrendered the doctor, laughing. "I won't
mention the money to Rosemary, Jack. Though when I think of that
child spending long, hot afternoons amusing cranky kids for
pay--Still, it's pluck like that that makes the backbone of our
country. What do you say if we take this money and buy her some
little personal gimcrack? Girls like things to wear, I've always
heard."

So Jack gained his point and the pretty pin was the result.

The days of vacation, "like the hairs of our heads" as Jack
observed, were numbered now and the week before school was to open,
Doctor Hugh made a flying trip to the sanatorium to see the little
mother.

"You wouldn't know her, girls!" he told the three sisters, when he
returned. "Her cheeks are actually a bit pink and though she is
still awfully thin, her eyes are clear and bright. If three months
can do her that much good, a year will set her on her feet. She says
she lives on your letters, and you mustn't let a week go past
without writing. Rosemary must be a good censor, for Mother doesn't
seem to worry about the house at all; I told her we were pulling
together famously."

"Well, we are," said Rosemary contentedly. "I wish you'd look at
Sarah, though, Hugh."

"I am looking at her," said the doctor. "She seems to have torn her
dress."

"That's the one decent dress she has," responded Rosemary severely,
"and now she hasn't a single thing to wear to school Monday."

"What does Mother do when you need clothes?" asked Doctor Hugh
helplessly. "I suppose you'll all need dresses for school, won't
you?"

"Mother has Miss Henry come and sew the first week in September,"
said Rosemary, "but Aunt Trudy says the sanatorium is expensive and
she thinks we ought to try and cut down living expenses."

"I think we can still afford some new frocks," replied her brother,
smiling. "Ask Aunt Trudy to engage Miss Henry, Rosemary, and to get
her whatever she needs to outfit you sensibly for school. You'll
have to remind me about shoes and hats and dresses, you know; an old
bachelor isn't