, as they promised to do."

"And did she get up all that ugliness for a quarter of a dollar?"
inquired Quincy.

"Oh! that wasn't the reason at all," replied Rosa; "I've always paid her
promptly and in advance. She was mad because I was going away. If she
lets the room right off she will get double rent this coming week, for
it so happened my week ended last night."

"Lodging-house keepers," said Quincy, "seem to be a class by themselves,
and to have peculiar financial and moral codes. Here we are at the
station," he added, as the carriage came to a stop.

As Quincy handed Rosa from the carriage, his observant eye noticed that
the hand placed in his was small and well-gloved, while the equally
small feet were encased in a pair of dainty boots. "She is true to her
French origin," he soliloquized, as they entered the
station,--"well-booted, well-gloved. I am glad she is a lady."

The train was soon on its way to Eastborough. It was an accommodation,
and Quincy had plenty of time to point out the objects of interest on
the way. Rosa was not a lover of the country. She acknowledged this to
Quincy, saying that she was born and educated in the country, but that
she preferred paved streets and brick sidewalks to green lanes and dusty
roads.

Alice had not waited for Quincy's return to broach the matter of the
gift of the Putnam house to Ezekiel and Huldy. She had simply asked
Quincy, so as to assure herself that there was no legal objection or
reason why she should not make the transfer.

After breakfast the next morning she told her uncle that she wished to
have a talk with him in the parlor, and when they were alone together,
she stated her intentions to him, as she had to Quincy. The old
gentleman approved of her plan, only suggesting that it should be a
swap; that is, that Ezekiel should deed the house in which they were, in
which, in fact, she owned a half-interest, to her, so she would be sure
of a home in case she lost part of her money, or all of it, or wished to
live in the country.

Most opportunely, Ezekiel and Huldy came over that morning to make a
call, and the matter was soon under discussion in family conclave.

Ezekiel at first objected strenuously to the gift. He would buy the
house, he said, and pay so much a year on it, but both Alice and Uncle
Ike protested that it was foolish for a young couple to start in life
with such a heavy debt hanging over them.

The only circumstance that led him to chan