'Thank
you.'"

"It's no such thing. Wait till I get the paper."

After a prolonged search through the hoarded treasures of the past
three or four months, Grandmother came back to her chair by the window,
adjusted her spectacles, and began to read "The Lady Traveller by Land."

[Sidenote: A Lady's Baggage]

"'When it becomes necessary, for the sake of either business or
pleasure, for a lady to start out upon a trip alone, no matter how
short, she should make all her preparations well in advance, so that she
need not be hurried just before starting, and may embark upon her
journey with that peaceful and contented mind which is so essential to
the true enjoyment of travelling.

"'She will, of course, travel with the smallest amount of baggage
compatible with comfort, but a few small articles that should not be
overlooked will more than repay the slight trouble caused by their
transportation. Among these may be mentioned the medicine chest, in
which are a few standard household remedies for illness or accident, a
bottle of smelling-salts, another of cologne, and a roll of old linen
for bandages. While accident is not at all likely, it is just as well to
be prepared for all emergencies.

"'The lady traveller will naturally carry her own soap and towels, and
also a silk or cotton bag for her hat. She----'"

"A what for her hat?" asked Matilda, with unmistakable interest.

"'A silk or cotton bag for her hat,'" Grandmother repeated. "'To keep
the dust out.'"

[Sidenote: The Hat-Bag]

"What's the good of wearin' a hat if she's got to set with a bag over
it?"

"It doesn't say she's to wear the bag."

"Well, she's wearin' the hat, ain't she? How's she to put the bag over
the hat while she's wearin' the hat without wearin' the bag too? That's
what I'd like to know."

"Maybe it's to put her hat into when she takes it off for the night,"
Grandmother suggested, hopefully, though she was not at all sure. "A
person ain't likely to get much sleep in a hat."

"No, nor in a bag neither."

"'She should also carry her luncheon, as the meals supplied to
travellers are either poor or expensive, or both. With a small spirit
lamp she can very easily make coffee or tea for herself, or heat a
cupful of milk should she be restless in the night. Care should be
taken, however, not to set fire to the curtains surrounding the berth in
this latter emergency.'

"'The curtains surrounding the berth,'" Grandmother repeated, in a
wav