of the kind,--I think we are just supposed to
live along from day to day and do what we can, and be happy, and not
say mean things about one another. But he said he considered that I
was fulfilling the noblest mission a woman could have. Now what do you
reckon he meant by that, Fairy? I've been puzzling my brain over it
for days and days. Anybody can tell I am not the sort of girl to have
a mission! Maybe he just said it to encourage me,--he's a very
encouraging sort of man. He's very nice,--oh, very nice, indeed! But
isn't it a nuisance to have him tagging along home with me, when I
might be having such a good time with you and the twins, or father?
Can a girl tell a man she prefers to go home with her family, without
hurting his feelings? Is there any way to turn a person down without
letting him know it? He's so nice I wouldn't hurt his feelings for
anything, but--it's such a bother! I'm too young for beaus, and since
I'm never going to get married it's just a waste of time."

And Fairy screamed with laughter, but told Prudence she must solve her
own love problems! And Prudence, unwilling to give offense, and
preferring self-sacrifice, endured his company until a gay young
college lad slipped in ahead of him. "First come, first served," was
the motto of heartless Prudence, and so she tripped comfortably away
with "Jimmy," laughing at his silly college stories, and never thinking
to give more than a parting smile at the solemn face she left behind.

After Jimmy came a grocery clerk named Byron Poe Smith, and after him
somebody else, and somebody else, and somebody else. And Prudence
continued to laugh, and thought it "awfully amusing, Fairy, but I keep
wondering what you and the twins are laughing about!"

But it was Fairy herself who brought a real disturbing element into the
life of Prudence. One of the lightest-minded of the many light-minded
college men, had been deeply smitten by the charms of dignified Fairy.
He walked with her, and talked with her,--this young man was a great
deal of a talker, as so pathetically many college men are! He planned
many little expeditions and entertainments for her amusement, and his
own happiness. His name was Eugene Babler.

"Oh, he talks a lot," said Fairy coolly, "but he certainly shows one a
good time, and that's the point, you know!"

She came in from college one afternoon and rattled off this little tale
to Prudence.

"A few of us were on the campus to