nd such things, but they don't always make a girl happy. She needs to
be understood, and that's where parents so often fail. I don't blame
that girl for doing what she did. I have often felt like doing the
same thing myself."'

"Flo! I am astonished to hear you say such a thing."

"I know you are, but it is true, for all that. What have I to live
for, anyway? Mother keeps me tied to the house most of the time, and
doesn't want me to associate with other girls, or go to parties for
fear I might go astray. She says that home is the place for girls."

"Your mother means well, dear. She is a good woman, and believes she
is doing the best she can for you."

"I suppose she does," and the girl sighed. "But sometimes she makes me
hate goodness and all good people, so I feel like being bad just for a
change. Mother's method of goodness rubs me the wrong way. I am
afraid you wouldn't call her very good if you knew how mad she is
to-day about daddy and Eben sailing by without stopping. I pity them,
for they will have a hard time when they come home. But there's mother
calling me now. She can't bear to have me out of her sight even for a
few minutes."

As Mrs. Hampton watched the girl as she hurried down to the road, she
thought how nice it would be to have such a daughter as Flo. What a
companion she would be, and how proud she would be of her. And she
might have had one, more beautiful, perhaps, than Flo but for her own
mad deed years ago. Yet her daughter was somewhere in the world,
unknown to her even by name. The only recollection she had of her was
when the nurse had brought her to the bedside in the hospital for her
to see. But she was so weak and tired then, that she had merely
glanced at the little one. Her husband's critical financial affairs
were a great worry to her at that time, so the thought of paying the
doctor, the hospital bill, and providing for the child was most
distressing. The simple matter of exchanging the babies had been done
so quietly that she hardly realised that it had taken place. Babies,
after all, were very much alike, and when next time the nurse brought a
little bundled form to her side she could not tell it from her own. It
was only afterwards, when her strength returned, that her heart cried
out for her own flesh and blood, the one for whom she had suffered so
much. Even her husband never knew what she endured. The money had
meant a great deal to him, and he was ple