ects of
charity, seldom see what is at their feet.

It was so difficult to find Stralsund that by the time Letty's wandering
finger had paused upon it Susie could only give one glance of horror at
its position, and hurry away with Anna to dress. Anna, too, would have
preferred it to be farther south, in the Black Forest, or some other
romantic region, where it would have amused her to go occasionally, at
least, for a few weeks in the summer. But there it was, as far north as
it could be, in a part of the world she had hardly heard of, except in
connection with dogs.

It did not, however, matter where it was. Uncle Joachim had merely
recommended and not enjoined. It would be rather extraordinary for her
to go there and set up housekeeping alone. She need not go; she was
almost sure she would not go. Anyhow there was no necessity to decide at
once. The money was what she wanted, and she could spend it where she
chose. Let Uncle Joachim's inspector, of whom he wrote in such praise,
go on getting forty thousand marks a year out of the place, and she
would be perfectly content.

She ran upstairs to put on her prettiest dress, and to have her hair
done in the curls and waves she had so long eschewed. Should she not
make herself as charming as possible for this charming world, where
everybody was so good and kind, and add her measure of beauty and
kindness to the rest? She beamed on Letty as she passed her on the
stairs, climbing slowly up with her big atlas, and took it from her and
would carry it herself; she beamed on Miss Leech, who was watching for
her pupil at the schoolroom door; she beamed on her maid, she beamed on
her own reflection in the glass, which indeed at that moment was that of
a very beautiful young woman. Oh happy, happy world! What should she do
with so much money? She, who had never had a penny in her life, thought
it an enormous, an inexhaustible sum. One thing was certain--it was all
to be spent in doing good; she would help as many people with it as she
possibly could, and never, never, never let them feel that they were
under obligations. Did she not know, after fifteen years of dependence
on Susie, what it was like to be under obligations? And what was more
cruelly sad and crushing and deadening than dependence? She did not yet
know what sort of people she would help, or in what way she would help,
but oh, she was going to make heaps of people happy forever! While
Hilton was curling her hair, she