nd said I would enter at once. Dr. Sandford
said I was not fit for it, but it was on the whole the best plan. So
it was arranged, that I should just wait a day or two in New York to
get my wardrobe in order and then begin my school experience.

But my thoughts went back afterwards, more than once, to the former
conversation; and I wondered what it was about me that made Dr.
Sandford liken me to Egyptian glass.

CHAPTER IX.

SHOPPING.

It was settled that I should wait a day or two in New York to get my
wardrobe arranged, and then begin my school experience. But when we
got to New York, we found Mrs. Sandford's sister so ill as to claim
her whole time. There was none to spare for me and my wardrobe. Mrs.
Sandford said I must attend to it myself as well as I could, and the
doctor would go with me. He was off duty, he reported, and at leisure
for ladies' affairs. Mrs. Sandford told me what I would need. A warm
school dress, she said; for the days would be often cold in this
latitude until May, and even later; and schoolrooms not always warm. A
warm dress for every day was the first thing. A fine merino, Mrs.
Sandford said, would be, she thought, what my mother would choose. I
had silks which might be warm enough for other occasions. Then I must
have a thick coat or cloak. Long coats, with sleeves, were fashionable
then, she told me; the doctor would take me where I would find plenty
to choose from. And I needed a hat, or a bonnet. Unless, Mrs.
Sandford said, I chose to wear my riding-cap with the feather; that
was warm, and very pretty, and would do.

How much would it all cost? I asked. Mrs. Sandford made a rapid
calculation. The merino would be two dollars a yard, she said; the
coat might be got for thirty-five or thereabouts sufficiently good;
the hat was entirely what I chose to make it. "But you know, my dear,"
Mrs. Sandford said, "the sort of quality and style your mother likes,
and you will be guided by that."

Must I be guided by that?--I questioned with myself. Yes, I knew. I
knew very well; but I had other things to think of. I pondered. While
I was pondering, Dr. Sandford was quietly opening his pocket-book and
unfolding a roll of bills. He put a number of them into my hand.

"That will cover it all, Daisy," he said. "It is money your father has
made over to my keeping, for this and similar purposes."

"Oh, thank you!" I said, breathless; and then I counted the bills.
"Oh, thank you, Dr. Sandfo