supper while her mother went to town, it was
Polly, who did the thinking. She thought entirely too much, thought
bitterly, thought disappointedly, and finally thought resentfully, and
then alas, Polly thought deceitfully. Her mother had said: "Never let
me see you." Very well, she would be extremely careful that she was
NOT seen; but before she slept she rather thought she would find a way
to let Henry know how she was being abused, and about that plan to send
her away all the long winter to school. She rather thought Henry would
have something to say about how his "Little Beautiful" was being
treated. Here Polly looked long and searchingly in the mirror to see
if by any chance Henry was mistaken, and she discovered he was. She
stared in amazement at the pink-cheeked, shining eyed girl she saw
mirrored. She pulled her hair looser around the temples, and drew her
lips over her teeth. Surely Henry was mistaken. "Little Beautiful"
was too moderate. She would see that he said "perfectly lovely," the
next time, and he did.

CHAPTER XXIII

KATE'S HEAVENLY TIME

ONE evening Kate and Polly went to the front porch to rest until
bedtime and found a shining big new trunk sitting there, with Kate's
initials on the end, her name on the check tag, and a key in the lock.
They unbuckled the straps, turned the key, and lifted the lid. That
trunk contained underclothing, hose, shoes, two hats, a travelling
dress with half a dozen extra waists, and an afternoon and an evening
dress, all selected with especial reference to Kate's colouring, and
made one size larger than Nancy Ellen wore, which fitted Kate
perfectly. There were gloves, a parasol, and a note which read:

DEAR KATE: Here are some clothes. I am going to go North a week after
harvest. You can be spared then as well as not. Come on! Let's run
away and have one good time all by ourselves. It is my treat from
start to finish. The children can manage the farm perfectly well. Any
one of her cousins will stay with Polly, if she will be lonely. Cut
loose and come on, Kate. I am going. Of course Robert couldn't be
pried away from his precious patients; we will have to go alone; but we
do not care. We like it. Shall we start about the tenth, on the night
train, which will be cooler? NANCY ELLEN.

"We shall!" said Kate emphatically, when she finished the note. "I
haven't cut loose and had a good time since I was married; not for
eighteen years. If th