ng hats. Why not put her skill to commercial profit? She and her
mother could very well attend to such a business, while Virginia
continued in school. If they were only fairly successful, the income
would pay expenses, carry them along and help keep their capital
intact. Dr. Everett heartily approved the plan, not only because it
might prove a source of steady income, but also because it would be
distraction for the widow and help her to forget. Mrs. Blaine somewhat
reluctantly consented, and the girls set out enthusiastically to look
for a shop.

After no end of running here and there all over New York, they found
just what they wanted in one of the cheaper and more recently
developed districts of Harlem. It was a narrow little store, with a
fair-sized show window on Broadway, and with living rooms in the rear.
Fanny declared it was just too cute for anything, and as she was the
prime mover in the enterprise, a lease was signed without further
delay, and the Blaine family took immediate possession.

At first the girls were as delighted with their new home as are
children with a new toy. It being Summer time, there was no school for
Virginia, so she was free to assist in the store. She dressed the
window and waited on the customers, and after a very busy day, which
kept her on her feet from morning till night, thought she had never
had so much fun in her life. For the nonce, books and music were
forgotten. She was a smart little saleslady, succeeding in selling one
after the other, for ten dollars, hats which had cost Fanny not more
than two. But her cooeperation was not to be for long. It was quite
decided that in the Fall she was to go to High School. This was her
mother's wish, and it had also been insisted upon by Fanny as a
condition of their taking the store. Virginia, at heart, was glad
enough to acquiesce. As they were too poor to keep a maid, she would
willingly have stayed at home and shouldered her share of the daily
toil, but an education meant a great deal to her, more than to most
girls, and she would have relinquished her schooling only with bitter
regret.

Autumn came with its cooler weather and longer evenings, and when High
School opened Virginia was sent to resume her studies, while her
sister and mother, busy in the store, exerted every effort to keep the
little household going. The younger girl felt keenly the sacrifice
they were making for her, and determined to prove worthy of it. She
began to