e out suddenly. She
jumped up, and flounced towards the door. "I shall get ready; and you'd
better make haste, or you'll be late."

"And if I find that I can't be spared as well as you?"

Joan's eyes went to Mittie, with a look of grieved appeal. That look
went home; and for a moment--only one moment--Mittie wavered. She knew
how much more this meant to Joan than it could mean to herself. She knew
that she had no right to put herself first, to snatch the joy from Joan.
But the habit of self-indulgence was too strong.

[Sidenote: "It is all Nonsense!"]

"If you choose to stay at home, I shall go without you. It is all
nonsense about 'can't'! You can go if you like."

* * * * *

Joan remained alone, thinking.

What could she say? Mittie, the spoilt younger sister, always had had
her own way, and always insisted on having it. She would insist now, and
would have it, as usual.

That Mittie would go was indeed a foregone conclusion, and Joan had
known it from the first. The question was--could she go too? Would it be
right to leave the old lady, depressed and suffering, all those
hours--just for her own pleasure, even though it meant much more than
mere pleasure?

The girls owed a great deal to Mrs. Wills. She was not rich, though she
had a comfortable little home; and when she took in the two
granddaughters, it meant a heavy pull on her purse. It meant, also,
parting with a valued companion--a paid companion--whom she had had for
years, and on whom she very much depended. This necessary step was
taken, with the understanding that the two girls would do all in their
power to supply her place. And Joan had done her best. Mittie seldom
gave any thought to the matter.

In a general way, Joan would at once have agreed that Mittie should be
the one to go, that she herself would be the one to stay behind.

But this was no ordinary case. In the summer before she had seen a good
deal of Fred Ferris. He had been at home for three months after an
accident, which, for the time, disabled him from work; and he had been
unmistakably attracted by Joan. Not only had he made many an opportunity
to see her, but his mother had taken pains to bring the two together.
She liked Joan, and made no secret of the fact. Mittie had often been
left out of these arrangements, and had resented it.

For a good while Fred Ferris had been away from home; but Joan knew that
he was likely to come soon, and she buil