and appeared to have made a temporary recovery.

Mrs. Krauss offered her niece a warmly affectionate welcome and many
caresses, and then, sitting on the side of the bed, asked eager
questions respecting her mother and sister, their mutual relations, and
all the family news; but made no allusion to the state of her own
health, or to the dirty and neglected condition of her establishment.

"So Karl met you himself," she said, "although he is so busy; that was
nice. He has a kind heart and I do hope you will like one another."

"Yes, I hope we shall," assented Sophy, but her conscience protested
that this hope was vain--already she disliked him.

"He looks to you to step into Fernanda's shoes; but of course I won't
have that. Fernanda had enormous wages. Oh, dear child, I can't tell
you how I miss her," and tears stood in her dark eyes. "Karl has such
odd, old-fashioned German ideas--you must not mind him--though he is
getting more German every day. He says a woman is just a hausfrau, who
must sew and cook and do whatever a man orders. She is to have no mind
of her own--and very little amusement."

"Then, Aunt Flora, one thing is certain--I shall never marry a German."

"I dare say it strikes you as strange that I should have done so; but
Karl has always been devoted to me. I suppose your mother has told you
that, when I was eighteen, I ran away to marry Charlie Bellamy, whose
regiment was under orders for Hong Kong; we were fearfully poor and
fearfully happy; then in a dog-cart accident, Charlie was killed and I
was taken up for dead. But I recovered, as you see. The Hong Kong
people were angels to me--one's own country folks always _are_, when
you are in trouble abroad. I was laid up for months. When I was
better, Karl came forward and implored me to marry him; I was almost
penniless and loathed the idea of going home, so that was how it
happened. Karl was wealthy in those days, but afterwards he lost his
money--our fortunes go up and down like a see-saw. I am afraid he is
too fond of speculating and taking huge risks; he likes to be a man or
a mouse. Just now he is not a mouse, but very, very rich. Well, my
dear, I'll leave you to have a bath and dress; we shall meet at
breakfast; it is many a day since I appeared there. Do you know I feel
as if you'd done me good already!" and with a clinging embrace she
departed.

As hours and days wore on, Mrs. Krauss became more and more charmed
with her compa