stay away from a dingy,
dreary office, and preferred the society of his partner to all the
Mollie Farrells in the world! He liked her, of course--she could not
pretend to doubt that; but just as a grown man might care for an amusing
child who served to while away an idle hour, but who was not worth the
trouble of a serious thought.

"He thinks I am shallow," thought Mollie sorrowfully, and then suddenly
inverted the sentence. "Am I shallow?" she asked herself, with an
uneasy doubt creeping over her self-complacency. "I expect I am, for I
am content with the surface of things, and like to laugh better than to
think. But I'm twenty; I don't want to be treated as a child all my
life. It's horrid of him to talk of sacrifices!"

Thoughts fly quickly, but, even so, the pause was long enough to be
unusual. Jack looked inquiringly at the thoughtful face, and said
smilingly--

"Why, Miss Mollie, you look quite sober! I never saw you so serious
before. Is that because I said that your sister was preferred before
you?"

That aroused Mollie to a flash of indignation.

"No, indeed; I am not so mean. I'd almost sooner Ruth had things than
myself, for I'd have all the fun and none of the trouble. Besides, she
wants it more than I do, and would be a hundred times more disappointed
to do without. And then you must not blame Uncle Bernard too much. He
had a good reason for saying what he did. I deserved it.--You will
never guess what I did."

Jack looked amused and curious.

"Nothing very dreadful, I feel sure. You are too hard on yourself, Miss
Mollie."

"I asked him for heaps of money to buy heaps of new clothes--"

Jack's whistle of amazement was too involuntary to be controlled. He
tried his best to retrieve himself by an expression of unconcern, but
the pretence was so apparent that Mollie laughed at the sight, albeit a
trifle ruefully.

"Do you mean to tell me seriously that you asked Mr Farrell for money?"

"Yes, I did. I asked him on Wednesday. It seemed the only thing to do,
as he wants us to entertain his friends, and go out whenever we are
asked, and we hadn't enough clothes to go in. Ruth wouldn't ask, so I
had to do it. We have no evening-dresses in the world except those
black things that you see every night, and we can't live in them for
three months like a man in his dress suit."

"They are very pretty dresses. I am sure you always look charming."

"Oh, don't feel bound to be flatterin