ng the background with
her hair); but the paper bore a conventional pattern--in the same
tone--which was so wrought with circles and letter S's that at a quick
glance the wall seemed fairly to be a-crawl. And she had hung the
bay-window with cheap lace curtains, flanked at either side by other
curtains of a heavy material and a flashy pattern.

The fireplace had suffered no less than the window. On its mantel was
the desecrating plaster statuette of a diving-girl--tinted in various
pastel shades; this between two vases of paper flowers. And above the
fireplace, against the writhing wall paper, hung a chromo entitled "The
Lorelei"--three maidens divested of apparel as completely as was the
diving-girl, but hedged about by a garish gold frame.

However, it was in the matter of furniture that Miss St. Clair had
sinned the most. This furniture consisted of one of those
perpetrations, one of those crimes against beauty and comfort, that is
known as a "set." It comprised a "settee," a "rocker," an armchair,
and a chair without arms--all overlaid with a bright green, silky
velour that fiercely fought the red wall paper and the landlady's hair.

At this hour of the morning, the room was empty, save for a bird and a
rag doll in long dresses. A sash of the bay-window was raised, and the
cheap lace curtains were blowing back before a light breeze. Against
the curtains, swinging high out of the way of the breeze, was a gilded
cage of generous size, holding a green-and-yellow canary.

The other occupant of the room was propped up carefully on the chair
without arms. To its right, hanging from the chair back, was a little
girl's well-worn coat; to its left, suspended from an elastic, was an
equally shabby hat. And the pitiful condition of doll, coat, and hat
was sharply accentuated by the background of the chair's verdant nap.

The doll's eyes were shoe buttons, of an ox-blood shade. They stared
redly at the chirping canary.

The stairs creaked, and a woman came bustling down--a youngish woman
with "rural" written in her over-long, over-full skirt, her bewreathed
straw hat, and her three-quarters coat that testified to faithful
service. Her face showed glad excitement. She pulled on cotton gloves
as she came, and glanced upward over a shoulder.

"Tottie!--Tottie!"

"Hoo-hoo!" Miss St. Clair was in a jovial mood.

"Somebody's at the front door." The velour rocker held a half-dozen
freshly wrapped packages, spoi