iation enough to appoint
Mrs. Barnaby herself as committee.

The motion was seconded, and carried.

"Well," said Mrs. Scott slowly, "I think in a case like this the
president herself should represent the society. Therefore, I will
undertake this duty for you."

But this called forth a storm of protest and it became so clamorous
that it was unofficially decided to draw cuts! Which was done, and in
consequence of that drawing of cuts, Mrs. Adams now sat on the front
porch of the old gray parsonage, cheered by the knowledge that every
other Lady of the Aid was envying her!

"Now, just be real sociable and tell me all about yourself, and the
others, too," urged Mrs. Adams. "I want to know all about every one of
you. Tell me everything."

"There isn't much to tell," said Prudence, smiling. "There are five of
us; I am the oldest, I am nineteen. Then comes Fairy, then the twins,
and then the baby."

"Are the twins boys, or a boy and a girl?"

"Neither," said Prudence, "they are both girls."

"More girls!" gasped Mrs. Adams. "And the baby?"

"She is a girl, too." And Prudence laughed. "In short, we are all
girls except father. He couldn't be, of course,--or I suppose he
would, for our family does seem to run to girls."

"Prudence is a very nice name for a minister's daughter," said Mrs.
Adams suggestively.

"Yes,--for some ministers' daughters," assented Prudence. "But is
sadly unsuitable for me. You see, father and mother were very
enthusiastic about the first baby who hadn't arrived. They had two
names all picked out months ahead,--Prudence and John Wesley. That's
how I happen to be Prudence. They thought, as you do, that it was an
uplifting name for a parsonage baby.--I was only three years old when
Fairy was born, but already they realized that they had made a great
mistake. So they decided to christen baby number two more
appropriately. They chose Frank and Fairy,--both light-hearted, happy,
cheerful names.--It's Fairy," Prudence smiled reflectively. "But
things went badly again. They were very unlucky with their babies.
Fairy is Prudence by nature, and I am Fairy. She is tall and a little
inclined to be fat. She is steady, and industrious, and reliable, and
sensible, and clever. In fact, she is an all-round solid and
worthwhile girl. She can do anything, and do it right, and is going to
be a college professor. It is a sad thing to think of a college
professor being called Fairy all h