e was sometimes forced
to plead fatigue.

Miss Betsey left nothing undone. She journeyed to the top of the
Monument, she made a solemn pilgrimage to Alexandria. She was never too
tired to go to the Capitol, and her little black-robed figure and large
black bonnet soon became familiar objects in the visitors' gallery,
while she listened carefully to all the speeches, thrilling or dull as
they chanced to be. When the latter was the case, as frequently
happened, Miss Trinkett waxed warm with indignation at the lack of
attention paid to the prosy old member by his inconsiderate colleagues.

"Look!" she would whisper to Cynthia; "they are actually reading and
writing and talking quite load to each other while that poor old
gentleman is speaking; and some have gone out. How shocking!"

And she would lean forward again in an attitude of renewed attention,
and listen to the reasons for or against some very unimportant project.

At Mount Vernon, Miss Trinkett's joy and patriotism knew no bounds. She
bought little hatchets by the score, and herself drew up the bucket from
the General's own well. She was even guilty of breaking off a twig in
Mrs. Washington's garden, notwithstanding the signs which informed her
that she was doing it under penalty of the law.

"I just couldn't help it," she said afterwards to her nieces, in
apologetic tones. "To think of that labyrinth and that box-border being
Martha Washington's own, and me with the same thing in my garden at
home! It made me fairly thrill to think of Martha and me having the same
tastes in common. I knew she'd have let me take it if she'd been here,
for I always heard she was real kind-hearted, if she _was_ dignified, so
I just did it."

But the most exciting day of all was when they visited the Dead-letter
Office. Miss Trinkett, interested as she had always been in the mail
service, was much impressed. She sat upstairs for hours, and gazed over
the railing at the rows of men who were opening and examining thousands
of missent letters. She could only be torn away by the entreaties of
Cynthia, who begged her to come see the collection of curiosities which
had found their way to this vast receptacle.

At the first glass case Miss Betsey stood appalled.

[Illustration: "CYNTHIA FRANKLIN," SHE EXCLAIMED, "LOOK THERE!"]

"Cynthia Franklin," she exclaimed, "look there!"

Cynthia looked. There was every conceivable thing in the place, from a
beehive to a baby's rattle.

"D