as the executor of his will. As
such I shall be in a position to make sure that those to whom the
management of his hospital is intrusted are people in whom you and I
would have confidence."

"Ah! That is very satisfactory. It makes everything as it should be, and
I am immensely relieved."

"Now that you have spoken," he added, meeting her eager gaze with a
propitiating look of reflective wisdom, "I will consider the
advisability of taking the further precaution of advising the testator
to name in his will the persons who shall act as the trustees of his
charity. That would clinch the matter. The selection of the individuals
would necessarily lie with Mr. Parsons, but it would seem eminently
natural and fitting that he should name you to represent your sex on
such a board. I hope it would be agreeable to you to serve?"

Selma flushed. "It would be a position which I should prize immensely.
Such a possibility had not occurred to me, though I felt that some
definite provision should be made. The responsibility would be congenial
to me and very much in my line."

"Assuredly. If you will permit me to say so, you are just the woman for
the place. We have met only a few times, Mrs. Littleton, but I am a man
who forms my conclusions of people rapidly, and it is obvious to me that
you are thoughtful, energetic, and liberal-minded--qualities which are
especially requisite for intelligent progress in semi-public work. It is
essentially desirable to enlist the co-operation of well-equipped women
to promote the national weal."

Lyons departed with an agreeable impression that he had been talking to
a woman who combined mental sagacity and enterprise with considerable
fascination of person. This capable companion of Mr. Parsons was no
coquettish or simpering beauty, no mere devotee of fashionable manners,
but a mature, well-poised character endowed with ripe intellectual and
bodily graces. Their interview suggested that she possessed initiative
and discretion in directing the course of events, and a strong sense of
moral responsibility, attributes which attracted his interest. He was
obliged to make two more visits before the execution of the will, and on
each occasion he had an opportunity to spend a half-hour alone in the
society of Selma. He found her gravely and engagingly sympathetic with
his advocacy of democratic principles; he told her of his ambition to be
elected to Congress--an ambition which he believed would be re