She has taken to society as a duck takes to water. She has a
natural aptitude for pleasing and being pleased; consequently she has
plenty of partners. My wife says that, considering the dear child was
all legs and arms three years ago, we have every reason to congratulate
ourselves that she has turned out such a pleasant-looking girl, and
that her red hair is decidedly ornamental. I call her handsome, but
Josephine declares that I make myself ridiculous by the assertion, and
that it is very rare that a girl who has not really a ray of beauty to
commend her becomes such a thorough-going favorite in her first season.

"She constantly reminds me of you, and that is enough for me," I
remarked, tenderly, on one occasion.

"You make me boil when you say that, Fred. I was really a very pretty
girl, if I do say it; whereas Josie, the sweet soul, only just escapes
being homely. Her smile and her hair save her, so that she passes.
But it is a libel to compare her with what I was at her age. We must
look facts in the face, dear."

"People tell me every day that she is the living image of her mother,"
I answered humbly.

"People are idiots. They know you will believe it because you are a
man. They don't dare tell me anything of the sort. No, Fred, we must
build all our hopes of beauty on Winona."

"Ah!" I remarked, with an intonation of pride; "even her mother will
not be able to pick a flaw in _her_."

"She is a very handsome girl, but----"

Josephine stopped short, and I could see that her lip was trembling
with emotion.

"There is no 'but,'" I protested. "Whatever Josie may be, Winona is a
raving beauty."

"Oh, yes, Fred, I am perfectly satisfied with her looks. That makes it
all the harder. I'm on tenterhooks lest she is going to be queer."

"Queer?" I inquired, with agitation, dreading some disclosure of mental
derangement.

"Odd--not like other people. It would break my heart, Fred. She is
seventeen, and she doesn't take the slightest interest in coming out.
You remember I had her appear for an hour at Josie's party, and that
she was surrounded by young men from the moment she entered the room
until I sent her to bed? Most girls would have been in danger of
having their heads turned. Winona was bored."

"She will get over that as soon as she is a year older. She is shy."

"She is not shy. If she were shy I should think nothing of it. She
declares that society is all nonsense, and that she