our, tall and trim,
with friendly blue-gray eyes and a wit that had been sharpened by
adversity.

It cannot be denied that Mrs. Bassett and Marian found Harwood a
convenient reed upon which to lean. Nor was Blackford above dragging his
father's secretary (as the family called him) forth into the bazaars of
Washington Street to assist in the purchase of a baseball suit or in
satisfying other cravings of his youthful heart. Mrs. Bassett, scorning
the doctors of Fraserville, had now found a nerve specialist at the
capital who understood her troubles perfectly.

Marian, at Miss Waring's school, was supposed to be preparing for
college, though Miss Waring had no illusions on the subject. Marian made
Mrs. Owen her excuse for many absences from school: what was the use of
having a wealthy great-aunt living all alone in a comfortable house in
Delaware Street if one didn't avail one's self of the rights and
privileges conferred by such relationship? When a note from Miss Waring
to Mrs. Bassett at Fraserville conveyed the disquieting news of her
daughter's unsatisfactory progress, Mrs. Bassett went to town and dealt
severely with Marian. Mrs. Owen was grimly silent when appealed to; it
had never been her idea that Marian should be prepared for college; but
now that the girl's mother had pledged herself to the undertaking Mrs.
Owen remained a passive spectator of the struggle. Mrs. Owen was not so
dull but that she surmised what had inspired this zeal for a collegiate
training for Marian; and her heart warmed toward the dark young person
at Wellesley, such being the contrariety of her kindly soul. To Miss
Waring, a particular friend of hers and one of her admirations, Mrs.
Owen said:--

"I want you to do the best you can for Marian, now that her mother's
bitten with this idea of sending her to college. She's smart enough, I
guess?"

"Too much smartness is Marian's trouble," replied Miss Waring. "There's
nothing in the gymnasium she can't do; she's become the best French
scholar we ever had, but that's about all. She's worked hard at French
because she thinks it gives her a grand air. I can't imagine any other
reason. She's adorable and--impossible!"

"Do the best you can for her; I want her to go to college if she can."

Miss Waring had the reputation of being strict, yet Marian slipped the
cords of routine and discipline with ease. She had passed triumphantly
from the kitchen "fudge" and homemade butterscotch period of a g