arch Mrs. Northrup began to clean house and took a bad cold, and a
month later was buried. Quite a sum of ready money came to Joe, and he
built on a parlor room, a new wide porch, papered and painted, and Jenny
felt not a little elated at her good luck. She had been steadily at work
preparing for her new home, improving evenings and odd hours, for she
was an industrious girl, and she declared Mrs. Northrup's old things
would be a "disgrace to the folks on the ridge." These were the poorest
and most inelegant people at the Center, and had somehow herded
together.

"Yes, that will be a good thing for Helen," said Aunt Jane. "She's old
enough to do something to earn her way. And you'll want everything new
this winter, you've grown so. And if you have had any idee of High
Schools and that folderol, you may just get it out of your head at once.
If you'd a fortune it would be more to the purpose, but a girl----"

"It would be too far for her to walk," said Uncle Jason, warding off a
reference to her father as he saw tears in Helen's eyes. "Mother, this
is a tip-top potpie. You do beat the Dutch!"

"And I never went to school a day after I was twelve. I've kept a house
and helped save and had six children of my own and Helen, and none of
'em have gone in rags. And there's Kate Weston, who's secretary of
something over to North Hope, and who paints on chiny, and see what a
house she keeps!"

"You can have lots of learning, and if it isn't of the right sort it
won't do you much good," said Jenny sententiously. "There's a girl in
the factory who was at boarding school two years. She's twenty and she
never earns over four dollars a week, and if I didn't know more than she
does--well I'd go in a convent!"

Some other topics came up, and after dinner Sam went to milk, the hired
man to care for the stock, Aunt Jane took the big rocking chair and
settled herself to a few winks of sleep, as was her custom, and the
walk of to-day had fatigued her more than usual. Helen and 'Reely
cleared the table. Jenny sat down to the sewing machine and hemmed yards
of ruffling for her various purposes. Then Helen put Fan and little Tom
to bed, and sat a while out on the porch, thinking, strangely sore at
heart.

She had not considered the subject seriously. It had been an ardent
desire to go on studying. She had just reached the place where knowledge
was fascinating to a girl of her temperament. Mr. Warfield had roused
the best in her and she