"I have
to kind of get on to myself, after all that's been happening to me, and
I couldn't with some nosey Jane at my heels every minute. I suppose
there will have to be someone to shine up my nails and fix my hair and
cinch my clothes on me, but that can wait till Mrs. Halstead picks one
out."

Mr. North shrank from such unfeminine candor, but he made no further
reference to a duenna, although as the journey progressed he regretted
his weakness. Willa had an inexplicable penchant for disappearing at
intervals, suddenly and without warning. Where she could get to on a
train or station platform, from under his very eyes, and what errand
prompted her were beyond his comprehension; but she eluded him with the
utmost ease and sang-froid whenever the spirit moved her, and her
matter-of-fact explanations when she returned were obviously and
designedly open to question.

He could feel himself aging beneath the strain and he heartily wished
his charge in Mrs. Halstead's capable hands. His wife had been dead so
long that the paths of feminine idiosyncrasies were an untrodden maze
to him, and his condescension turned to consternation and an awed
respect.

In spite of his anxiety, the girl proved a fascinating study. She
showed no interest in the outside world and rarely glanced from the car
window, but her naive curiosity concerning their fellow passengers and
friendly familiarity toward them kept him constantly on the qui vive.

It was only when at last their journey drew to a close that she evinced
the slightest desire for information concerning the family of which she
was to be a member.

"Mrs. Halstead is my father's cousin, isn't she?" she asked. "Has she
any children?"

"A son and daughter." Mr. North laid aside the newspaper from behind
which he had been furtively watching her. "Vernon is twenty-three, and
a friend of my boy, Winthrop. Angelica is two years his junior, a most
accomplished young woman and quite a leader in the more youthful set.
You will be able to learn a great deal from her."

Willa pondered this in silence for a minute or two.

"What does she do?" she queried, finally.

"Why--ah, she drives her own car, and goes in for all the latest fads
and diversions. I am not familiar with them myself. She sings and
dances----"

"My mother did that," Willa remarked, with a quizzical glance at him.

Mr. North reddened.

"Oh, not----not in that fashion! I mean for charity; war relief and
t