ent about both girls, since Karl and Miss
Lyndesay took them in hand. For a few days I really feared that the
adjustment might be too much for them. But Karl worked some magic spell
over Frieda, and Miss Lyndesay charmed Hannah. I must go over to
Brookmeadow this very week, and pay my respects to that remarkable
woman."

"Some mothers would be jealous of such an outside influence," suggested
Mr. Eldred, glancing fondly at his pretty little wife.

"Then they are very unwise," declared that lady decisively. "I remember
my own girlhood well enough to know that there were certain crises
through which my mother could not help me as well as an outsider, simply
because she was my mother. I'm not in the least afraid that any one
could be dearer to Hannah than I am, and she is such a bundle of
contradictions, of sweet impulses and rebelliousness, that I'm heartily
glad of all the help I can get in bringing her up. There's my car. Do
try to come home to luncheon. I'll be missing my lively children and
their German-English patois!"

The two girls on the train had settled themselves cosily with the aid of
a porter rendered over-zealous by Mr. Eldred's generosity, and were
watching the flying scenery and the other passengers with interest.
Frieda was not eager to arrive at her journey's end. She already missed
Karl and the friendly Eldreds, who had seemed nearer her own parents
than any one else in this strange country could. The prospect before her
was not wholly pleasant. Hannah had spent so much energy in singing the
praises of Dexter College, Alice Prescott and Catherine Smith, that
Frieda's desire to see them was distinctly modified by a jealous feeling
that such perfections must be somewhat tiresome. She was much more
interested in watching a bride and groom across the aisle, and in making
comments on American trains, some of which, according to her compact
with Karl, she kept to herself, meaning to unburden her mind in the
first letter she should write him. Others of a favorable sort she made
aloud to Hannah, who received them graciously, on behalf of the nation.
The day wore away not unpleasantly, but when the gas was lighted and the
bride frankly rested her head upon the bridegroom's shoulder, a mighty
homesickness swept over Frieda. She could barely choke down her food in
the dining-car, and hated a waiter for watching her with a white-toothed
smile. The porter was making up berths when they returned and the
proceeding