st excellent judges of what was
appropriate for the worthy furnishing of a stately mansion.

Their youth and middle life had been spent near Boston, in a fine old
house which had been the home of their ancestors, and where they had
been familiar with wealth, distinguished society, and noble hospitality.
But when they had been left the sole representatives of their family,
and when misfortune after misfortune had come down upon them and swept
away their estates and nearly all of their income, they had retired to
the little town of Plainton where they happened to own a house.

There, with nothing saved from the wreck of their prosperity but their
family traditions, and some of the old furniture and pictures, they had
settled down to spend in quiet the rest of their lives.

For two weeks our party remained in New York, living at one of the best
hotels, but spending nearly all their time in shops and streets.

Mrs. Cliff was rapidly becoming a different woman from the old Mrs.
Cliff of Plainton. At the time she stepped inside of the addition to her
house the change had begun, and now it showed itself more and more each
day. She had seen more beautiful things in Paris, but there she looked
upon them with but little thought of purchasing. In New York whatever
she saw and desired she made her own.

The difference between a mere possessor of wealth and one who uses it
became very apparent to her. Not until now had she really known what it
was to be a rich woman. Not only did this consciousness of power swell
her veins with a proud delight, but it warmed and invigorated all her
better impulses. She had always been of a generous disposition, but now
she felt an intense good-will toward her fellow-beings, and wished that
other people could be as happy as she was.

She thought of Mrs. Ferguson and remembered what she had said about her
daughters. To be sure, Mrs. Ferguson was always trying to get people to
do things for her, and Mrs. Cliff did not fancy that class of women,
but now her wealth-warmed soul inclined her to overlook this prejudice,
and she said to herself that when she got home she would make
arrangements for those two girls to go to a good school; and, more than
that, she would see to it that Mr. Ferguson was moved. It seemed to her
just then that it would be a very cheerful thing to make other people
happy.

The taste and artistic judgment of the elder Miss Thorpedyke, which had
been dormant for years, simply