ntally touched upon her
sister-in-law's views of the relation between expensive boys' schools
and private tutors. Her dryly humorous version of this set her husband
off in a great mirthful roar, to which Sylvia, after a moment of
blankness, suddenly joined a burst of her own clear laughter. At the
time she had seen nothing funny in Aunt Victoria's statement, but
she was now immensely tickled to remember Aunt Victoria's Olympian
certainty of herself and her mother's grave mask of serious
consideration of the idea. Long after her father had stopped laughing,
she still went on, breaking out into delighted giggles. Her new
understanding of the satire back of her mother's quiet eyes, lent to
Aunt Victoria's golden calm the quaint touch of caricature which made
it self-deceived complacency. At the recollection she sent up rocket
after rocket of schoolgirl laughter.

Her mother, absorbed in conscientious anxiety about Sylvia's
development, and deeply disappointed by the result of the visit to the
hospital, ignored this laughter, nor did Sylvia at all guess that she
was laughing away half the spell which Aunt Victoria had cast about
her. When they went down to their supper of watery creamed potatoes,
and stewed apricots in thick saucers, she was in such good humor that
she ate this unappetizing fare with no protest.

"Now, folks," said Professor Marshall, after supper, "we have to go
home tomorrow early, so we ought to have one more fling tonight. While
I was waiting for you to come back this afternoon, I looked up what
Chicago has to offer in the way of flings, and this is what I found.
Here, Barbara," he took a tiny envelope out of his upper waistcoat
pocket, "are two tickets for the symphony orchestra. By the greatest
of luck they're giving a special concert for some charity or other, a
beautiful program; a sort of musical requiem. Sylvia mustn't miss it;
you take her. And here," he spun round to face Judith and Lawrence,
producing another slim, tiny envelope from the other upper waistcoat
pocket, "since symphony concerts are rather solid meat for milk teeth,
and since they last till way after bedtime, I have provided another
sort of entertainment; to wit: three seats for moving pictures of
the only real and authentic Cheyenne Bill's Congress of the World's
Frontiersmen. All in favor of going there with me, say 'Aye.'"

"Aye!" screamed Judith and Lawrence. Everybody laughed in pleased
excitement and everybody seemed satis