tier than she might have turned out but for
me. But it's all right now. We must have a nice dinner for her. She is
very fond of good things, and as she never gives them to herself, she
will enjoy ours all the more."

"She'll think that I am rich, when I am as poor as a church mouse," said
Mrs. Hopkins. "But I suppose you have done everything for the best, Tom,
and I must go around to the butcher's for a little addition to the
dinner."

Mrs. Hopkins left the house, and Tom sank into a chair by his sister.

"It's golloptious for me," he said. "She's taking no end of a fancy to
me. See this egg? She gave it to me for my supper. Mother shall have it.
Mother is looking very white about the gills; a new-laid egg that she
hasn't to pay for will nourish her up like anything."

"So it will," said Susy. "We'll boil it and say nothing about it, and
just pop it on her plate when she's having her supper. All the same,
Tom, I wish you hadn't asked old Aunt Church here. She is such a queer
old body; and the neighbors sometimes drop in on Sundays. And I have
asked Miss Kathleen O'Hara to come in to-morrow, and she has promised
to."

"What?" said Tom. "That grand beauty of a young lady, the pride of the
school? Why, everybody is talking about her. At the boys' school they've
caught sight of her, and there isn't a boy that hasn't fallen in love
with her. They all slink behind the wall, and bob up as she comes by.
You don't mean that _she's_ coming here?"

"Yes; why not? She's very fond of me."

"But she's no end of a howler. They say she's worth her weight in gold,
and that her father is a sort of king in Ireland. Why should she take up
with a little girl like you?"

"Well, Tom, some people like me, although you think but little of your
sister. Kathleen is very fond of me. I invited her to have tea with us
to-morrow, and she is coming."

"My word!" said Tom. "To think that I shall be sitting at the same table
with her! I'll be able to make my own terms now with John Short and
Harry Reid and the rest of the chaps. Why, Susy, you must be a genius,
and I thought you weren't much of a sort."

"I am better than you think; and she is fond of me."

"And you really and truly call her by her Christian name?"

"Of course I do."

Susy longed to tell Tom about the wonderful society; but its strictest
rule was that it was never to be spoken about to outsiders. Susy, as a
member of the Cabinet, must certainly be one of the last to brea