eeing
the disappointment that shadowed Mary's face. "I've been away such a
very, very long time, that there are only a few of my girlhood friends
left. Betty's mother has been dead many years. The Little Colonel's
mother is really the only one I could expect to find unchanged. The old
seminary is burned down, strangers are in the homes I used to visit, and
I'm afraid I'd find so many changes that it would be as sad as visiting
a cemetery. And I've lived so long in the West, that I've taken root
here now. I think of it as home. I'm just as interested as Jack is in
building up the fortunes of our new state. I think he is going to be a
power in it some day. If I should live long enough, it would not
surprise me in the least to see him Governor of it some time."

She folded one little gray-gloved hand over the other so complacently as
she calmly made this announcement, that Mary laughed and shook her head
despairingly.

"Oh, mamma! mamma! You vain woman! What fine swans all your ducklings
are going to turn out to be! Jack a Governor, Holland an Admiral,
Norman a mighty man of valor (variety still undetermined), and Joyce a
celebrity in the world of art! Must I be the only Simple Simon in the
bunch? What would you really like to have me do? Now, own up, if you
could have your choice, what is your ambition for me?"

"Well," confessed Mrs. Ware, "you're such a born home-maker, that I'd
like to see you that before all else. I believe you could make a home so
much better than your neighbors, that like the creator of the proverbial
mouse-trap, you would have the world making a beaten track to your door,
even though you lived in the woods. As the old Colonel once said, you
can be an honor to your sex and one of the most interesting women of
your generation."

Although she spoke jokingly there was such a note of belief in her voice
that Mary caught her by the arm and shook it, saying playfully,
"Peacock! If _that's_ what you hope for me, then you must certainly
speed my parting. It's only in the goodly land of Lloydsboro that I can
measure up to all you expect of me. I'll try and fill the bill, but
promise me this much. When I've finally pitched my tent in Canaan and
achieved that happy home, then you'll come and share it with me. At
least," she added as Mrs. Ware nodded assent, "what time you are not
strutting through foreign salons or the Governor's mansion, or sailing
the high seas with the Admiral."

The woman behind them