I recall with amusement that the highest compliment she
ever paid me in public involved her in a tangle from which, later, only
her quick wit extricated her. We were lecturing in an especially pious
town which I shall call B----, and just before I went on the platform
Miss Anthony remarked, peacefully:

"These people have always claimed that I am irreligious. They will not
accept the fact that I am a Quaker--or, rather, they seem to think a
Quaker is an infidel. I am glad you are a Methodist, for now they cannot
claim that we are not orthodox."

She was still enveloped in the comfort of this reflection when she
introduced me to our audience, and to impress my qualifications upon my
hearers she made her introduction in these words:

"It is a pleasure to introduce Miss Shaw, who is a Methodist minister.
And she is not only orthodox of the orthodox, but she is also my right
bower!"

There was a gasp from the pious audience, and then a roar of laughter
from irreverent men, in which, I must confess, I light-heartedly joined.
For once in her life Miss Anthony lost her presence of mind; she did not
know how to meet the situation, for she had no idea what had caused the
laughter. It bubbled forth again and again during the evening, and
each time Miss Anthony received the demonstration with the same air of
puzzled surprise. When we had returned to our hotel rooms I explained
the matter to her. I do not remember now where I had acquired my own
sinful knowledge, but that night I faced "Aunt Susan" from the pedestal
of a sophisticated worldling.

"Don't you know what a right bower is?" I demanded, sternly.

"Of course I do," insisted "Aunt Susan." "It's a right-hand man--the
kind one can't do without."

"It is a card," I told her, firmly--"a leading card in a game called
euchre."

"Aunt Susan" was dazed. "I didn't know it had anything to do with
cards," she mused, mournfully. "What must they think of me?"

What they thought became quite evident. The newspapers made countless
jokes at our expense, and there were significant smiles on the faces in
the audience that awaited us the next night. When Miss Anthony walked
upon the platform she at once proceeded to clear herself of the tacit
charge against her.

"When I came to your town," she began, cheerfully, "I had been warned
that you were a very religious lot of people. I wanted to impress upon
you the fact that Miss Shaw and I are religious, too. But I admit that
when I