nce, when Milly
and I, with Bessie Sandford, who was also a distant relation of Miss
Craven's, had taken her in hand, and by dint of a little teasing, and
much persistence and coaxing, had induced her to submit herself to our
dictation in the matter of dress. But she could not, quite yet,
reconcile herself to our requirements; at least, not without a little
flutter and protest against such innovations as we insisted
upon,--against tied-back skirts, hair a little more in the fashion than
she had been accustomed to wear hers, and collars and fichus of a more
modern date:

Hearing, the dear soul, that certain of our circle of girls were
anxious to attain some practical knowledge of cooking, and to attach to
the acquisition of that knowledge such "fun" as we might, she had
offered, when applied to for certain of her receipts, to instruct the
class which we were desirous of forming. The offer was eagerly seized
upon, and so it came to pass that she had been installed as teacher and
director of the mysteries in which we were about to dabble.

Miss Craven,--"cousin Serena," as we always called her--had been one of
the warmest advocates of Milly's cause, when that young woman was
intent on taking upon herself the charge of Bill and Jim; and, had
Milly not been allowed to do so, I think that she would have undertaken
it herself. She was continually making little gifts to these boys, not
always, it is true, just adapted to their needs or to their fancies;
but they had the grace, rough as their antecedents had been, to
appreciate the kindness which prompted them; and their room in the
stable was decked with many a little bit of ornamentation bestowed by
her. For one of her pet theories was, that one could educate the masses
to a refining love of art, if one only kept such elevating influences
constantly before them.

The first meeting of the cooking-class was held at our house. Most of
the girls were content to try their hands on this occasion on some
simple dish; but I--more ambitious, and also for excellent reasons of
my own--had determined to provide a certain delicate and highly
flavored cream. In order that there might be no failure in this, and
that I might, by an unqualified success, retrieve my reputation, I
surreptitiously sought in advance two or three private lessons from
Miss Craven. These she was only too ready to give; and after practising
at home, closely following her directions, and assisted by old Thomas,
who