s for a
bazaar to Mrs. Bertram. The tickets were accompanied by a note, in which
he said that it would gratify the good Northbury folk very much if Mrs.
Bertram and the young ladies would honor the bazaar with their presence.

"Every soul in the place will be there," said Mr. Ingram. "This bazaar
is a great event to us, and its object is, I think, a worthy one. We
badly want a new organ for our church."

"Eureka!" exclaimed Mrs. Bertram when she had read this note.

"What is the matter, mother?" exclaimed Mabel.

"Only that I have found a way out of my grand difficulty," responded
their mother, tossing Mr. Ingram's note and the tickets for the bazaar
into Catherine's lap.

"Are you so delighted to go to this country bazaar, mother?" asked the
eldest daughter.

"Delighted! No, it will be a bore."

"Then why did you say Eureka! and look so pleased?"

"Because on that day I shall leave cards on the Northbury folk--not one
of them will be at home."

"Shabby," muttered Catherine. Her dark cheek flushed, she turned away.

Mabel put out her little foot and pressed it against her sister's. The
pressure signified warning.

"Then you are not going to the bazaar, mother?" she questioned.

"I don't know. I may drop in for a moment or two, quite at the close. It
would not do to offend Mr. Ingram."

"No," replied Mabel. "He is a dear, _gentlemanly_ old man."

"Don't use that expression, my love. It is my object in life that
_all_ your acquaintances in the world of men should be gentlemen.
It is unnecessary therefore to specify any one by a term which must
apply to all."

Mrs. Bertram then asked Mabel to reply to Mr. Ingram's note. The reply
was a warm acceptance, and Mr. Ingram cheered those of his parishioners
who pined for the acquaintance of the great lady, with the information
that they would certainly meet her at the bazaar.

Accordingly when the fateful day arrived the town was empty, and the
Fisherman's Hall (Northbury was a seaport), in which the bazaar was held
was packed to overflowing. Accordingly Mrs. Bertram in a neat little
brougham, which she had hired for the occasion, dropped her cards from
house to house in peace; accordingly, too, she caught the
maids-of-all-work in their undress toilets, and the humble homes looking
their least pretentious.

The bazaar was nearly at an end, when at last, accompanied by her two
plainly-dressed, but dainty looking girls, she appeared on the scene.

The Northbu