ould be
better than she had been for years. He told the minister quietly that
it was fortunate she had been stricken as she had. The
headache-powders she had been taking constantly contained a drug that
had been slowly poisoning her. A little longer and her heart would
have been permanently affected.

Meantime, before this, while she lay unconscious, the bills had begun
to pour in. Along with the domestic science, Elsie had taken up
bookkeeping at the high school, and fortified by that knowledge and the
possession of the five hundred dollars, she summoned her courage, went
to Mr. Middleton and asked if she might take the accounts in hand this
month in Aunt Milly's place.

Pleased by her thoughtfulness, he proposed that they should do them
together. Elsie begged to be allowed to try them alone, just for once,
but he insisted upon sharing the task, though he confessed that she
would find him very rusty about such things, his wife having taken them
off his hands for so many years.

Elsie's heart sank. She knew that practically every tradesman had sent
a bill in full, and apprehended that the totals would be appalling.
She feared, too, that it would be awkward about the five hundred
dollars. But there was nothing to do but to comply with his desire.

At his bidding, she brought the collection into the study that evening.
He got out a check-book and they sat down, Elsie at the desk, and he by
the side with one of the sliding shelves drawn out.

"You and I will do better with checks, Elsie, though Aunt Milly will
have none of them," he remarked, and took up the pile of envelopes.

[Illustration: "You and I will do better with checks, Elsie, though
Aunt Milly will have none of them," he remarked.]

"We'll begin with the top one--Mason," he said. "Fill in the date and
name--James S.--and now, let's see the sum."

He drew out the bill, glanced at it, then looked sharply as if it were
hard to decipher.

"A hundred and seventy-five dollars!" he exclaimed. "Of course that
can't be. It should be a dollar and seventy-five cents, I suppose, and
yet--it's quite plain--see--one hundred seventy-five and two ciphers.
There's some mistake. I'll just put it aside and telephone in the
morning. Leave that and start another, dear. Andrew White's the
next--no middle letter."

He opened the next with the same confidence. Eighty-six dollars was
large for a milk bill. He glanced at it doubtfully. _Bill rendered_
indica