lmost any other
circumstances it would give me the greatest pleasure to know that you
were to enjoy this sleighing party with the others. If Mrs. Andrews or
Mrs. Hawes were going it would settle the question at once."

"Or if you were," suggested Nan, with a curl other lip.

Miss Blake's face paled, and for an instant she regarded Nan in a sort
of surprised, hurt silence. Then she replied, steadily: "Yes, or if I
were. But as it is Mrs. Cole, the case is entirely altered. Mrs. Cole
is scarcely more than a girl herself, and--I say this to you, Nan,
simply because I must--she has never been, to my idea, a lady-like
young woman. She has always been flippant and frivolous and
boisterous; anything but a good companion for a number of impulsive,
impressionable girls like yourself."

"Oh, pshaw!" interrupted Nan, impatiently. "There's nothing against
her at all. She's lots of fun, and a body'd be a great goose that
tried to suit all the old frumps in town. She said so herself, and
she's married and she knows."

A ghost of a smile flitted across Miss Blake's face. Nan's emphasis
reflected so directly on her own condition of unauthoritative
spinsterhood.

"If you and the other girls have no more careful a chaperone, one who
will be no more of a restraint than Mrs. Cole, I am afraid the party
will prove a rather uproarious one. And I cannot help thinking that
this is precisely the reason Mrs. Cole has been asked to attend you;
that you might not be under any restraint. I don't for a moment think
any of you girls would deliberately take advantage of your liberty, but
you are full of animal spirits, and when you get in full swing it is a
little hard, perhaps harder than you know, to rein yourselves in. I am
afraid Ruth has not been quite candid with her mother. At all events,
I am sure that if Mrs. Andrews realized the circumstances she would
think twice before letting Ruth go. It is not only that I think Mrs.
Cole will not prove a restraint; I am afraid she will intentionally
lead you on. And if she does, I am afraid your sleigh-ride will be
decidedly unconventional."

"I hope we'll have a splendid time," announced Nan, setting her jaws
with a snap of her teeth.

But the governess went on as if she had neither seen nor heard.

"It is very important, Nan, that you especially should not be
identified with anything of the sort. It might injure you in such a
way that the harm could never be repaired." She pa