ught to be married."

Mrs. Tolbridge laughed.

"Dear me, Miss Panney," said she, "it is too soon to begin thinking of a
wife for the poor fellow. He has not had time to feel himself at home."

"My motto is that it is never too soon to begin, but we won't talk about
that. Kitty, you are the worst matchmaker I ever saw."

"I think I made a pretty good match for myself," said the other.

"No, you didn't. The doctor made that, and I helped. You had nothing to
do with the preliminary work, which is really the most important."

Mrs. Tolbridge smiled. "I am sure I am very much obliged," she said.

"You ought to be. And now while we are on the subject, let me ask you:
Have you a new cook?"

"I have," replied the other, "but she is worse than the last one."

Miss Panney rose to her feet, and walked across the room.

"Kitty Tolbridge!" she exclaimed, "this is too bad. You're trifling
with the greatest treasure a woman can have on this earth--the life of a
good husband."

"But what am I to do?" asked Mrs. Tolbridge. "I have tried everywhere,
and I can get no one better."

"Everywhere," repeated Miss Panney. "You mean everywhere in Thorbury. You
oughtn't to expect to get a decent cook in this little town. You should
go to the city and get one. What you want is to keep the doctor well, no
matter what it costs. He doesn't look well, and I don't see how he can be
well, on the kind of cooking you can get in Thorbury."

Mrs. Tolbridge flushed a little.

"I am sure," she said, "that Thorbury people, for generations and
generations, have lived on Thorbury cooking, and they have been just as
healthy as any other people."

"Ah, Kitty, Kitty!" exclaimed the old lady, "you forget how things have
changed. In times gone by the ladies of the household superintended all
the cooking, and did a good deal of it besides; and they brought
something into the kitchen that seldom gets into it now, and that is
brains. A cook with a complete set of brains might be pretty hard to get,
and would cost a good deal of money. But it is your duty, Kitty, to get
as good a one as you can. If she has only a tea-cup full of brains, it
will be better than none at all. Don't mind the cost. If you have to do
it, spend more on cooking, and less on raw material."

This was all Miss Panney had to say on the subject, and shortly
she departed.

After brief stops at the post-office and one or two shops, she drove to
the abode of the Bannisters. Miss Panney