etold Mrs.
Frankland's version of Florence Nightingale in the hospital, and then
she paused.

"There, Charley," she said deprecatingly, "I can't tell these things
with half the splendid effect that Mrs. Frankland did. But it made a
great impression on me. I mean to try to be more useful."

"You? I don't see how you can be any better than you are, my dear. That
kind of talk is good for other people, but it isn't meant for you."

"Don't say that; please don't. But Mrs. Frankland made a deep impression
on all the people at Mrs. Van Horne's."

"At Mrs. Van Horne's?" he asked, with curiosity mingled with surprise.

"Yes; I went with Mrs. Hilbrough."

"Whew! Has Mrs. Frankland got in there?" he said, twirling his cane
reflectively. "I hadn't heard it."

"It isn't quite fair for you to say 'got in there,' is it, Charley? Mrs.
Frankland was invited by Mrs. Van Horne to give her readings at her
house, and she thought it might do good," said Phillida, unwilling to
believe that anybody she liked could be more worldly than she was
herself.

"I did not mean to speak slightingly of Mrs. Frankland," he said; "I
suppose she is a very good woman. But I know she asked Mrs. Hilbrough to
let her read in her house. I only guessed that she must have managed
Mrs. Van Horne in some way. It is no disgrace for her to seek to give
her readings where she thinks they will do good."

"Did she ask Mrs. Hilbrough?" said Phillida.

"Mrs. Hilbrough told me so, and the Van Horne opening may have been one
of Mrs. Hilbrough's clever contrivances. _That_ woman is a perfect
general. This reading at Mrs. Van Horne's must be a piece of her fine
work."

Just why this view of the case should have pained Phillida she could
hardly have told. She liked to dwell in a region of high ideals, and she
hated the practical necessities that oblige high ideals to humble
themselves before they can be incarnated into facts. There could be no
harm in Mrs. Frankland's seeking to reach the people she wished to
address, but the notion of contrivance and management for the promotion
of a mission so lofty made that mission seem a little shop-worn and
offended Phillida's love of congruity. Then, too, she felt that to
Millard Mrs. Frankland was not so worshipful a figure as to herself, and
a painful lack of concord in thought and purpose between her lover and
herself was disclosed. The topic was changed, but the two did not get
into the same groove of thought during the