d. Mrs. Van Dorn wished you to take up French;
of course you will begin with Latin. And music."

"Oh!" Helen's face was radiant then. "Music! I never dreamed of that!"

"You will not enjoy the drudgery, but that has to come first. It is an
excellent thing to be interested in what you are doing, to _love_ it,
but all studies are not equally pleasant. There are courage and
perseverance needed."

"I shall try to do my very best for Mrs. Van Dorn's sake. It was so
generous of her to send me here though I do think I should have managed
to work my way through the High School."

What a frank, honest girl she was! How little she knew about the world!
An astute person could turn her inside out and laugh at her innocence.
It was a pity to spoil it, yet it would be worse to leave her at the
mercy of a crowd of girls.

"This will be an entirely new experience for you," Mrs. Aldred began
gently. "You have had very little acquaintance with the real world, and
very little need to be on your guard. As one's sphere grows wider and
more people come into it, there is occasion for"--how should she put
it--judgment; no, that was not quite it; at this stage of a girl's life
she was not likely to have a very correct judgment; "a little caution
and reserve. Girls so often exchange confidences about their lives and
their friends, and do not always look at things just as they are.
Afterward they regret their unreserve."

Helen had been taking in every word, only she could not get the meaning
of it, except that it seemed to her confused sense akin to her thoughts
of an hour ago. She really studied the face before her, and Mrs. Aldred
felt the scrutiny. How could she make the girl understand just what she
meant? If Mrs. Van Dorn had been a little more explicit. If she were
having the girl educated solely for herself the explanation would be
easy enough.

Helen's directness solved the difficulty. There was so much ingrained
honesty about her, and yet half the time lately, it seemed to her she
had been on the very verge of deceitfulness.

"Mrs. Aldred," she began, with some hesitation, "I was thinking, this
morning, when I heard the girls talk, that my life had been so different
from theirs, and whether I had the right--" her face went scarlet
then--"I don't know as I can just explain it," in some confusion, "but
whether I _was_ on an equality with them."

She said it out bravely. Mrs. Aldred admired her courage and her
honesty.

"You c