ntly
watched the beauteous moonlight picture before her.

"I should like to go into the great world," she said at last, as if that
fascinated her, "and wear beautiful dresses and see those others wear,
and hear that wonderful woman you told about play the violin, and watch
them throw flowers at her. I should like to be one with the rest just
for a little while, and then come back."

"If you did that you would never come back," he answered, "or if you did
you would be miserable ever after."

"I should have to," she said, as another side of the question presented
itself to her, "if I couldn't earn my living there."

"You would have to, surely," he answered slowly, thinking of some phases
of city existence, but allowing no hint of them to escape him. "It is
foolish to dream of these things, little girl," he continued, "for they
are impossible. Even if you had the means to join the great throng of
city revellers, you would, with your disposition, be wounded deep on all
sides. The women would say spiteful things about you, and scratch you
every way they could, as is their nature; and the men would fill your
ears with subtle flattery, and each one spread before you the most
insidious net ever woven by mortal brain. No, little sister, be content
where you are, and if you are lonely, go to the cave and listen to the
whisper of the fairies. They will never stab you to the heart, as the
worldly women will. You are like a wild rose now, and as sweet and
innocent. You say what you think and mean what you say. Your heart is
tender and true and your thoughts pure and simple. You deceive no one,
and would not, if you could."

"But might I not learn to play as the wonderful woman did," she asked
stoutly, "and could I not earn my own living if I did? I need not know,
nor care, what these spiteful women said about me, need I?"

Winn looked at her in surprise.

"And so this is the bee that has crept into the heart of my wild rose,
is it?" he said. "You thirst for fame and the laurel wreath, do you,
Mona? I thought I had come to know you well, little one," he continued
tenderly, "but this surprises me. Do you know what it means, and that to
win the world's applause you must study your art for years, and step by
step win your way up the ladder, and that already ahead of you are
hundreds who will miss no chance to push you backwards? And who will pay
for all the cost of tuition and training you must go through, Mona?"

"Uncle Jess w