itude of new
happinesses.

There was nothing, she found, too small, too unimportant to claim
Caroline's interest. Caroline wished to know everything, and soon
Maggie disclosed to her many things that she had told to no other human
being in her life before. It could not honestly be said that Caroline
had many wise comments to make on Maggie's experiences. Her attitude
was one of surprised excitement. She was amazed by the most ordinary
incidents and conversations. She found Maggie's life quite incredible.

"You must stop me, Maggie, if I hurt your feelings. But really! ...
Why, if poor father had treated me like that I'd have gone straight out
of the house and never come back. I would indeed ... Well, here you are
now, dear, and we must just see each other as often as ever we can!"

They made a strange contrast, Maggie so plain in her black dress with
her hair that always looked as though it had been cut short like a
boy's, her strong rough movements, and Caroline, so neat and shining
and entirely feminine that her only business in the world seemed to be
to fascinate, beguile and bewilder the opposite sex. Whatever the aunts
may have thought of this new friendship, they said nothing. Caroline
had her way with them as with every one else. Maggie wondered often as
to Aunt Anne's, real thoughts. But Aunt Anne only smiled her dim cold
smile, gave her cold hand into the girl's warm one and said, "Good
afternoon, Caroline. I hope your father and mother are well." "They're
dears, you know," Caroline said to Maggie; "I do admire your Aunt Anne;
she keeps to herself so. I wish I could keep to myself, but I never was
able to. Poor mother used to say when I was quite little, 'You'll only
make yourself cheap, Carrie, if you go on like that. Don't make
yourself cheap, dear.' But what I say is, one's only young once and the
people who don't want one needn't have one."

Nevertheless there were, even in these very early days, directions into
which Maggie did not follow her new friend. Young as she was in many
things, in some ways she was very old indeed. She had been trained in
another school from Caroline; she felt from the very first that upon
certain questions her lovely friend was inexperienced, foolish and
dangerously reckless. On the question of "men," for instance, Maggie,
with clear knowledge of her father and her uncle, refused to follow
Caroline's light and easy excursions. Caroline was disappointed; she
had a great deal t