truly declare that they had spoken their minds as freely to Mrs.
Saunders as they had to anybody.

As the time drew near Mrs. Burton begged to be allowed to ask Mr.
Ludlow about a boarding-place for Cornelia; and to this Cornelia
consented on condition that he should be strictly prohibited from
taking any more trouble than simply writing the address on a piece of
paper. When Mrs. Burton brought it she confessed that Mr. Ludlow seemed
to have so far exceeded his instructions as to have inquired the price
of board in a single room.

"I'm afraid, Nelie, it's more than you expected. But everything _is_
very dear in New York, and Mr. Ludlow thought it was cheap. There's no
fire in the room, even at that, but if you leave the door open when
you're out, it heats nicely from the hall. It's over the door, four
flights up; it's what they call a side room."

"How much is it, Mrs. Burton?" Cornelia asked, steadily; but she held
her breath till the answer came.

"It's seven dollars a week."

"Well, the land!" said Mrs. Saunders, for all comment on the
extortionate figure.

For a moment Cornelia did not say anything. Then she quietly remarked,
"I can be home all the sooner," and she took the paper which Ludlow had
written the address on; she noticed that it smelt of tobacco smoke.

"He said you could easily find your way from the Grand Central Depot by
the street cars; it's almost straight. He's written down on the back
which cars you take. You give your check to the baggage expressman that
comes aboard the train before you get in, and then you don't have the
least trouble. He says there are several girl art-students in the same
house, and you'll soon feel at home. He says if you feel the least
timid about getting in alone, he'll come with a lady friend of his, to
meet you, and she'll take you to your boarding-house."

Mrs. Burton escaped with rather more than her life from the
transmission of this offer. Cornelia even said, "I'm very much obliged
to him, I'm sure. But I shouldn't wish to trouble him, thank you. I
won't feel the least timid."

But her mother followed Mrs. Burton out to the gate, as usual. "I
guess," Mrs. Saunders explained, "she hated to have him make so much
to-do about it. What makes him want to bring a lady friend to meet her?
Somebody he's engaged to?"

"Well, that's what I wondered, at first," said Mrs. Burton. "But then
when I came to think how very different the customs are in New York, I
came to