ton home, little realizing then that the Betty
whom she already adored was her own sister.

"I am not really afraid of the Princess, you know, Mr. Dick," she
replied, laughing and using an odd, old-fashioned title that she had
once given him. "The truth is that if you were able to guess what I have
on my mind you might also disagree with me. Because in this particular
instance there is a possibility that Betty may be right in her judgment
and I in the wrong."

They had walked by this time a little distance beyond the crowded
portion of the big city. Now the houses were private residences and
boarding places. Finally they stopped before a tall yellow building,
five stories in height, with red and yellow flowers growing in a narrow
strip along its front. Before an open window on the third floor a girl
could be seen sitting with a book in her lap. But she must have become
at once aware of the presence of the young man and his companion,
because the instant that Dr. Ashton's hand touched the door knob, she
disappeared.

CHAPTER V

Changes

Dick Ashton's laughing wish that his sister Betty were a little less
pretty was not so unreasonable as you might suppose, had you seen her on
this particular late June afternoon as she ran down the narrow, ugly
hall of the German pension to greet her brother and sister.

She had on a pale blue muslin dress open at the throat with a tiny frill
of lace. Her red bronze hair had coppery tones in it as well as pure
gold and was parted a little on one side and coiled up in the simplest
fashion at the back of her head. The darkness of her lashes and the
delicate lines of her brows gave the gray of her eyes a peculiar luster
like the shine on old silk. And this afternoon her cheeks were the deep
rose color that often accompanies this especial coloring.

She put one arm around Esther, drawing her into their sitting room,
while Dick followed them. It was an odd room, a curious mixture of
German and American taste and yet not unattractive. The ceiling was
high, the furniture heavy and dark, and the walls covered with a
flowered yellow paper. But the two girls had removed the paintings of
unnatural flowers and fruits that once decorated them, and instead had
hung up framed photographs of the famous pictures that had most pleased
them in their visits to different art galleries. There was Franz Hals'
"Smiling Cavalier" gazing down at them with irresistible camaraderie in
his eyes which