gether unhealthful. I
believe the whole matter is foreordained for Allyn's good."

"It is an optimistic view of the case that wouldn't have occurred to me,
Ted. Still, we'll hope for the best."

Valiantly she took his advice and hoped for the best, while she busied
herself about the details of receiving her new charge. March was already
some days old, and it had been decided that Cicely should arrive on the
twentieth, so the time was short. In the midst of her domestic duties,
Theodora found time for some hours of writing, each day, for she had a
well-founded fear lest the new arrival might be of little help to the
cause of light literature. In the intervals, she and Billy discussed the
invasion of their hearthstone from every possible point of view; but as a
rule the ridiculous side of the situation prevailed and they had moments
of wild hilarity over the coming demands on their dignity.

"Uncle William!" Theodora observed, one day. "It suggests a scarlet
bandanna and an ivory-headed cane. She will probably embroider you some
purple slippers next Christmas too."

"No matter, so long as she doesn't undertake to choose my neckties. Never
mind, Ted; the uncertainty will soon be over. She comes, to-morrow."

"I wonder what she really is like," Theodora said slowly. "Paternal
testimony doesn't count for much, and I am beginning to be a little
alarmed at what I may have undertaken. _Independent_ and _not too badly
spoiled_ are not reassuring phrases, Billy."

"Her mother was as staid as a church, and Harry is sobriety itself, so
the girl can't have inherited much original sin from either of them.
Independent from Harry's point of view doesn't mean the same thing that
it would from yours. She probably is a mild-mannered little product of
the times."

"I don't know just what I do want," Theodora sighed. "One minute, I hope
she will be a modest violet; the next, I am in terror lest she be too
insipid. What are girls of that age like, Billy? It is years since I have
known any of them. Just now, I am in doubt whether I may not shock her
even more than she will shock me. The modern girl is a staid and decorous
creature, I suspect; not such a tomboy as I was."

Late the next afternoon they both drove to the station to meet their new
relative. In spite of herself, as the time came nearer, Theodora was
inclined to treat the whole affair as an immense joke; but her husband
had misgivings. Theodora was fitted to cope with any g