er mother, who was now of uncommon age. Miss Prince
became suddenly stern, but it was only a passing cloud, which
disturbed nobody.

Nan had accepted willingly the offered apologies and gayly wished her
aunt a pleasant dream, but being wide awake she gladly made use of the
quiet time to send a letter home, and to stroll down the garden
afterward. It all seemed so unlike what she had expected, yet her
former thoughts about her aunt were much more difficult to recall as
every hour went by and made the impression of actual things more
distinct. Her fancied duty to a lonely old lady who mourned over a sad
past seemed quite quixotic when she watched this brisk woman come and
go without any hindrance of age, or, now that the first meeting was
over, any appearance of former melancholy. As our friend went down the
garden she told herself that she was glad to have come; it was quite
right, and it was very pleasant, though there was no particular use in
staying there long, and after a few days she would go away. Somehow
her life seemed a great deal larger for this new experience, and she
would try to repeat the visit occasionally. She wished to get Dunport
itself by heart, but she had become so used to giving the best of
herself to her studies, that she was a little shy of the visiting and
the tea-parties and the apparently fruitless society life of which she
had already learned something. "I suppose the doctor would say it is
good for me," said Nan, somewhat grimly, "but I think it is most
satisfactory to be with the persons whose interests and purposes are
the same as one's own." The feeling of a lack of connection with the
people whom she had met made life appear somewhat blank. She had
already gained a certain degree of affection for her aunt; to say the
least she was puzzled to account for such an implacable hostility as
had lasted for years in the breast of a person so apparently friendly
and cordial in her relations with her neighbors. Our heroine was slow
to recognize in her relative the same strength of will and of
determination which made the framework of her own character,--an
iron-like firmness of structure which could not be easily shaken by
the changes or opinions of other people. Miss Prince's acquaintances
called her a very set person, and were shy of intruding into her
secret fastnesses. There were all the traits of character which are
necessary for the groundwork of an enterprising life, but Miss Prince
seemed