eart and thought to Thinkright's
influence the eagerness of her nature made her long to show him
quickly--at once--that she would not be vain, would not be selfish,
would be humble, would arrive at that state which would cause her
cousin to say of her as he had of Edna Derwent, "She does some very
good thinking."

The impulse led her to offer help to Mrs. Lem, which, being accepted,
Sylvia found herself making beds, wiping dishes, and weeding a flower
garden; and her industry so astonished herself that she wondered that
those about her could take it so calmly. Her previous life had
consisted of more or less definite yearnings for good times. These
"good times" had consisted in an occasional dance or visit to the
theatre, and had been the oases in a dull life of idleness varied only
by occasional hours when she would pick up her father's materials, and,
without permission, would work on one of his unfinished pictures, or
else make lively sketches of his friends, to his unfailing amusement.

"I wish you'd be serious over it, Sylvia," he used to say at such
times. "There isn't a bit of doubt that some day I should be able to
point to you with pride."

Upon which his daughter would be likely to respond that neither of them
belonged to the laboring class, and he could not contradict her.

While she was still very young he had perceived her talent, and from
time to time in his desultory fashion had instructed her. There were
those among his friends who endeavored to rouse his ambition for the
girl, but he had not the force to combat her hereditary objection to
work, and he always shrugged away their pleas.

"Sylvia's bound for a matrimonial port, anyway," he used to say. "With
her face she'll make that harbor fast enough. It would only be throwing
money away to start her on a career."

He had made similar speeches often in her hearing, and she recalled
them now as with clearer vision she looked out upon life and peered
wistfully into the possible vistas of her future.

When her father had seen his end approaching with swiftness, and the
realization came that his pretty child was unprepared to meet the
world, he had said a good word for his actor friend, as the most
practical and substantial admirer on Sylvia's list; and this she
remembered, too, with a great wave of gratitude for deliverance.

The Mill Farm abounded in spots which tempted one to live out of doors.
There was the tall pine with its mystical whispered s