arrogant
young back. Mrs. Spragg tottered meekly after her, and Mr. Spragg
lounged out into the marble hall to buy a cigar before taking the Subway
to his office.

Undine went for a ride, not because she felt particularly disposed for
the exercise, but because she wished to discipline her mother. She was
almost sure she would get her opera box, but she did not see why she
should have to struggle for her rights, and she was especially annoyed
with Mrs. Spragg for seconding her so half-heartedly. If she and her
mother did not hold together in such crises she would have twice the
work to do.

Undine hated "scenes": she was essentially peace-loving, and would have
preferred to live on terms of unbroken harmony with her parents. But
she could not help it if they were unreasonable. Ever since she could
remember there had been "fusses" about money; yet she and her mother had
always got what they wanted, apparently without lasting detriment to the
family fortunes. It was therefore natural to conclude that there were
ample funds to draw upon, and that Mr. Spragg's occasional resistances
were merely due to an imperfect understanding of what constituted the
necessities of life.

When she returned from her ride Mrs. Spragg received her as if she had
come back from the dead. It was absurd, of course; but Undine was inured
to the absurdity of parents.

"Has father telephoned?" was her first brief question.

"No, he hasn't yet."

Undine's lips tightened, but she proceeded deliberately with the removal
of her habit.

"You'd think I'd asked him to buy me the Opera House, the way
he's acting over a single box," she muttered, flinging aside her
smartly-fitting coat. Mrs. Spragg received the flying garment and
smoothed it out on the bed. Neither of the ladies could "bear" to have
their maid about when they were at their toilet, and Mrs. Spragg had
always performed these ancillary services for Undine.

"You know, Undie, father hasn't always got the money in his pocket, and
the bills have been pretty heavy lately. Father was a rich man for Apex,
but that's different from being rich in New York."

She stood before her daughter, looking down on her appealingly.

Undine, who had seated herself while she detached her stock and
waistcoat, raised her head with an impatient jerk. "Why on earth did we
ever leave Apex, then?" she exclaimed.

Mrs. Spragg's eyes usually dropped before her daughter's inclement gaze;
but on this occasion