r, and
informed her that there was every reason why she should be serious. He
told her, with some degree of bluntness, that her symptoms, while not
alarming, were not at all reassuring.

"It is always the way, Dr. Buxton," said Helen, smiling tenderly at her
aunt; "I believe you would confess to serious symptoms yourself if Aunt
Harriet insisted on it. What an extraordinary politician she would make!
My sympathy with the woman-suffrage movement is in the nature of an
investment. When we women succeed to the control of affairs, I count on
achieving distinction as Aunt Harriet's niece."

Laughing, she seized her aunt's hand. Dr. Buxton, watching her, laughed
too, and then proceeded to write out a prescription. He seemed to
hesitate a little over this; seeing which, Helen remonstrated:

"Pray, Dr. Buxton, don't humor Aunt Harriet too much in this. Save your
physic for those who are strong in body and mind. A dozen of your
pellets ought to be a year's supply." The physician wrote out his
prescription, and took his leave, laughing heartily at the amiable
confusion in which Helen's drollery had left her aunt.

It is not to be supposed, however, that Miss Eustis was simply droll.
She was unconventional at all times, and sometimes wilful--inheriting
that native strength of mind and mother wit which are generally admitted
to be a part of the equipment of the typical American woman. If she was
not the ideal young woman, at least she possessed some of the attractive
qualities that one tries--sometimes unsuccessfully--to discover in one's
dearest friends. From her infancy, until near the close of the war, she
had had the advantage of her father's companionship, so that her ideas
were womanly rather than merely feminine. She had never been permitted
to regard the world from the dormer-windows of a young ladies' seminary,
in consequence of which her views of life in general, and of mankind in
particular, were orderly and rational. Such indulgence as her father had
given her had served to strengthen her individuality rather than to
confirm her temper; and, though she had a strong and stubborn will of
her own, her tact was such that her wilfulness appeared to be the most
natural as well as the most charming thing in the world. Moreover, she
possessed in a remarkable degree that buoyancy of mind that is more
engaging than mere geniality.

Her father was no less a person than Charles Osborne Eustis, the noted
philanthropist and abol