it."

"Girls always need their fathers," came the quick reply. "But Carol does
not need you particularly. There's only one of them who will require
especial attention."

"That's what Prudence says."

"Yes, just one--not Carol."

"Not Carol!" He looked at her in astonishment. "Why, Fairy and Lark
are--different. They're all right. They don't need attention."

"No. It's the other one."

"The other one! That's all."

"There's Connie."

"Connie?"

"Yes."

"Connie?"

"Yes."

"You don't mean Connie."

Aunt Grace smiled.

"Why, Grace, you're--you're off. Excuse me for saying it, but--you're
crazy. Connie--why, Connie has never been any trouble in her life.
Connie!"

"You've never had any friction with Connie, she's always been right so
far. One of these days she's pretty likely to be wrong, and Connie
doesn't yield very easily."

"But Connie's so sober and straight, and--"

"That's the kind."

"She's so conscientious."

"Yes, conscientious."

"She's--look here, Grace, there's nothing the matter with Connie."

"Of course not, William. That isn't what I mean. But you ought to be
getting very, very close to Connie right now, for one of these days
she's going to need a lot of that extra companionship Prudence told you
about. Connie wants to know everything. She wants to see everything.
None of the other girls ever yearned for city life. Connie does. She
says when she is through school she's going to the city."

"What city?"

"Any city."

"What for?"

"For experience."

Mr. Starr looked about him helplessly. "There's experience right here,"
he protested feebly. "Lots of it. Entirely too much of it."

"Well, that's Connie. She wants to know, to see, to feel. She wants to
live. Get close to her, get chummy. She may not need it, and then again
she may. She's very young yet."

"All right, I will. It is well I have some one to steer me along the
proper road." He looked regretfully out of the window. "I ought to be
able to see these things for myself, but the girls seem perfectly all
right to me. They always have. I suppose it's because they're mine."

Aunt Grace looked at him affectionately. "It's because they're the
finest girls on earth," she declared. "That's why. But we want to be
ready to help them if they need it, just because they are so fine. They
will every one be splendid, if we give them the right kind of a chance."

He sat silent a moment. "I've always wanted one of them to marry a