Cliff had been a very kind friend to Miss Cushing.
She had loaned her money, and assisted her in various ways, and since
her return to Plainton she had put a great deal of work into Miss
Cushing's hands. Dress after dress for Willy Croup had been made, and
material for others was still lying in the house; and Mrs. Cliff herself
had ordered so much work, that at this moment Miss Cushing had two girls
upstairs sewing diligently upon it.

Having experienced all this kindness, Miss Cushing felt that if Mrs.
Cliff left any of her money to her friends, she would certainly remember
her, and that right handsomely. If anybody spoke to Mrs. Cliff upon the
subject, she would insist, and she thought she had a right to insist,
that her name should be brought in prominently.

Mrs. Ferguson had also well-defined opinions upon the subject. She had
two daughters who were more than half grown, had learned all that they
could be taught in Plainton, and she was very anxious to send them away
to school, where their natural talents could be properly cultivated. She
felt that she owed a deep and solemn duty to these girls, and she had
already talked to Mrs. Cliff about them.

The latter had taken a great deal of interest in the matter, and
although she had not said she would help Mrs. Ferguson to properly
educate these girls, for she had not asked her help, she had taken so
much interest in the matter that their mother had great hopes. And if
this widow without any children felt inclined to assist the children of
others during her life, how much more willing would she be likely to be
to appropriate a portion of what she left behind her to such an object!

Mrs. Wells and Mrs. Archibald had solid claims upon Mrs. Cliff. It was
known that shortly after the death of her husband, when she found it
difficult to make collections and was very much in need of money for
immediate expenses, they had each made loans to her. It is true that
even before she started for South America she had repaid these loans
with full legal interest. But the two matrons could not forget that they
had been kind to her, nor did they believe that Mrs. Cliff had forgotten
what they had done, for the presents she had brought them from France
were generally considered as being more beautiful and more valuable than
those given to anybody else,--except the Thorpedykes and the Perleys.
This indicated a very gratifying gratitude upon which the two ladies,
each for herself, had e