ut she turned impatiently away--perhaps not before she had
allowed this passing vision to impress the mind of her devoted
adherent--and said, "Come along, or that dreadful man will be out on
the veranda again."

"But, if you dislike him so, why did you accept the invitation to meet
him here at luncheon?" said the curious Milly.

"I didn't accept; the Mother Superior did for me, because he's the
Mayor of San Francisco visiting your uncle, and she's always anxious to
placate the powers that be. And I thought he might have some
information that I could get out of him. And it was better than being
in the convent all day. And I thought I could stand HIM if you were
here."

Milly gratefully accepted this doubtful proof of affection by squeezing
her companion's arm. "And you didn't get any information, dear?"

"Of course not! The idiot knows only the old tradition of his
office--that I was a mysterious Trust left in Mayor Hammersley's hands.
He actually informed me that 'Buena' meant 'Good'; that it was likely
the name of the captain of some whaler, that put into San Francisco in
the early days, whose child I was, and that, if I chose to call myself
'Miss Good,' he would allow it, and get a bill passed in the
Legislature to legalize it. Think of it, my dear! 'Miss Good,' like
one of Mrs. Barbauld's stories, or a moral governess in the 'Primary
Reader.'"

"'Miss Good,'" repeated Milly, innocently. "Yes, you might put an e at
the end--G-double-o-d-e. There are Goodes in Philadelphia. And then
you won't have to sacrifice that sweet pretty 'Yerba,' that's so
stylish and musical, for you'd still be 'Yerba Good.' But," she added,
as Yerba made an impatient gesture, "why do you worry yourself about
THAT? You wouldn't keep your own name long, whatever it was. An
heiress like you, dear,--lovely and accomplished,--would have the best
names as well as the best men in America to choose from."

"Now please don't repeat that idiot's words. That's what HE says;
that's what they ALL say!" returned Yerba, pettishly. "One would
really think it was necessary for me to get married to become anybody
at all, or have any standing whatever. And, whatever you do, don't go
talking of me as if I were named after a vegetable. 'Yerba Buena' is
the name of an island in the bay just off San Francisco. I'm named
after that."

"But I don't see the difference, dear. The island was named after the
vine that grows on it."

"YOU don't se