that we don't want anything
from _him_. I wonder what Mildred would say to us--wouldn't she be
shocked, though?"

Inside the little house, Alma banged the door behind her, while Nancy
shouted gaily to her mother up-stairs.

"Well, well, well, what is all this noise for?" inquired a calm,
masculine voice from the sitting-room. The two girls stopped still,
thunderstruck; for the voice, unfamiliar in its genial accents, was
nevertheless unmistakably the voice of Mr. Prescott! Alma stared at
Nancy, Nancy stared back at Alma, neither of them knowing whether to
stay where they were or to go forward.

"I shan't bite," remarked Mr. Prescott, mildly. Nancy boldly advanced,
being on more familiar terms with the "Ogre" than the frankly terrified
Alma, and to Alma's amazement he proceeded to kiss them both, and then,
as if embarrassed, cleared his throat, and said "How-do-you-do" in a
dry, formal tone.

In a few moments Mrs. Prescott came downstairs. She looked older and
sadder than she had the last time he had seen her, and, because she had
denied herself any new clothes since she had lost the money, she now
wore an old gown which she had had for years. It was not a pose with
her, for she no longer pitied herself, or bemoaned her limited means,
but rather a sincere half-childlike desire to punish herself for
having, as she believed, deprived her daughters of what she considered
the best things in life. Nevertheless, her natural instinct for
daintiness had asserted itself in the little touches of lace at the
neck and wrists--and she looked pretty and dignified as she greeted Mr.
Prescott.

It was not long before the first feeling of constraint wore off. As
Alma said afterwards, it was impossible to believe that they had been
laughing and chatting with the "Ogre" "just as if he were a nice old
man." He called Mrs. Prescott "Lallie," and paid her two compliments.
He gave them a very long discourse on the value of a scientific
education for everybody, and from that veered off into a heated tirade
against the uselessness of modern education, anyway.

"Am I to understand that you two young ladies are--earning money?"
inquired Mr. Prescott. Amusement, chagrin, curiosity, and admiration
were mingled in his changing expressions.

"Indeed we are," replied Alma, quite beaming with self-satisfaction.
"_Ever_ so much. Of course, Nancy makes more than I, now--Nance is
much cleverer than I, but Nancy's work is more the intel