ha
was satisfied, wondered if all the girls were "seeking beauty" as
earnestly as Hinpoha was. She envied Hinpoha the homecoming of her
mother from the bottom of her heart. This feeling was particularly
strong one afternoon as she sat in the school room after the close of
school, looking over some English papers. It was the anniversary of the
death of her mother and she sat recalling little incidents of her
childhood before this best of chums had been taken away. As she sat
there half dreaming she heard voices in the hall before her door.

"Have you heard the latest?" asked one voice.

"No," said the second voice, "what is it?"

"Why, the _Francona_ has gone down," answered the first voice. "Struck a
mine in the ocean."

At the word "Francona" Nyoda started up. That was the boat Hinpoha's
parents were coming on! She hurried out into the hall after the two
teachers. "What did you say about the _Francona_?" she asked. They
handed her the "extra" they had been reading and she saw with her own
eyes the account of the disaster. The list of "saved" was pitifully
small, and Hinpoha's parents were not among them. Soon she came to the
notation, "Among the lost are Mr. and Mrs. Adam Bradford, prominent
Cleveland lawyer and his wife. Mr. Bradford was the son of the late
Judge Bradford and a well-known man about town." Of what little avail is
"prominence" when calamity stretches out her cruel hands! "Well known"
and obscure gave up their lives together and found a grave side by side.

"You look like a ghost, Miss Kent," said one of the teachers. "Any
friends of yours on board?"

"Dorothy Bradford's mother and father," answered Nyoda, "one of the
pupils here at school."

Leaving her work unfinished, she hastened to Hinpoha's house. The news
had just been learned there. Aunt Grace had fainted and was being
revived with salts. Hinpoha flung herself on Nyoda and clung to her like
a drowning person. Between neighbors and friends coming to sympathize
and reporters from the newspapers seeking interviews the house was a
pandemonium. Nyoda saw that Hinpoha would never quiet down in those
surroundings and took her away to her own apartment. Of all the friends
who offered consolation Nyoda was the one to whom Hinpoha turned for
comfort. Here the brilliant young college woman and the simple girl were
on a level, for they shared a common experience, and each could
comprehend the other's sorrow.

Poor Hinpoha! She had need of all the c