e.

"She ought to realize that we're not dying to see her when we don't come
to the train," said Belle.

"I--don't--know," mused their father.

"Now, Pa!" cried Flossie. "You know very well you don't want that girl
here."

"No," he admitted. "But--Ahem!--we have certain duties----"

"Bother duties!" said Hortense.

"Ahem! She is your mother's sister's child," spoke Mr. Starkweather,
heavily. "She is a young and unprotected female----"

"Seems to me," said Belle, crossly, "the relationship is far enough
removed for us to ignore it. Mother's sister, Aunt Mary, is dead."

"True--true. Ahem!" said her father.

"And isn't it true that this man, Morrell, whom she married, left New York
under a cloud?"

"O--oh!" cried Hortense. "So he did."

"What did he do?" Flossie asked, bluntly.

"Embezzled; didn't he, Pa?" asked Belle.

"That's enough!" cried Flossie, tossing her head. "We certainly don't want
a convict's daughter in the house."

"Hush, Flossie!" said her father, with sudden sternness. "Prince Morrell
was never a convict."

"No," sneered Hortense. "He ran away. He didn't get that far."

"Ahem! Daughters, we have no right to talk in this way--even in fun----"

"Well, I don't care," cried Belle, impatiently. "Whether she's a
criminal's child or not; I don't want her. None of us wants her. Why,
then, should we have her?"

"But where will she go?" demanded Mr. Starkweather, almost desperately.

"What do we care?" cried Flossie, callously. "She can be sent back; can't
she?"

"I tell you what it is," said Belle, getting up and speaking with
determination. "We don't want Helen Morrell here. We will not meet her at
the train. We will not send any reply to this message from her. And if she
has the effrontery to come here to the house after our ignoring her in
this way, we'll send her back where she came from just as soon as it can
be done. What do you say, girls?"

"Fine!" from Hortense and Flossie.

But their father said "Ahem!" and still looked troubled.

CHAPTER VI

ACROSS THE CONTINENT

It was not as though Helen Morrell had never been in a train before. Eight
times she had gone back and forth to Denver, and she had always ridden in
the best style. So sleepers, chair cars, private compartments, and
observation coaches were no novelty to her.

She had discussed the matter with her friend, the Elberon station agent,
and had bought her ticket through to New York, with a berth section to