Elsie promptly placed herself at the bishop's side and "measured," glancing over her shoulder at him in the glass. He turned and gravely placed his hand upon her head. "I thought of writing to you at one time," said Mrs. Valentin, "but of course you cannot keep us all on your mind. We are a 'back number.'" "She thought I would have forgotten who these Valentins were," said the bishop, smiling. "No; but you cannot keep the thread of all our troubles--the sheep of the old flock and the lambs of the new. I have had a thousand minds lately about Elsie, but this was the original plan, made years ago, when we were young and sure about things. Don't you think young lives need room, Bishop? Oughtn't we to seek to widen their mental horizons?" "The horizons widen, they widen of themselves, Mrs. Valentin--very suddenly sometimes, and beyond our ken." The bishop's voice had struck a deeper note; he paused and looked at Elsie with eyes so kind and tender that the girl choked and turned away. "This war is rather a widening business, and California is getting her share. Our boys of the First, for instance,--you see I still call them _our_ boys,--what were they doing a year ago, and what are they doing now? I'll be bound half of them a year ago didn't know how 'Philippines' was spelled." Mrs. Valentin became restless. "Is that the evening paper?" she asked. The bishop glanced at the paper. "And who," said he, "is to open the gates of sunrise for our Elsie? With whom do you intend to place her in Boston?" "Oh, with Mrs. Barrington." Mrs. Valentin was watching the bishop, whose eyes still rested upon Elsie. "She is to be one of the chosen five, is she? The five wise virgins--of the East? But they are all Western virgins this year, I believe." "If you mean that they are all from the Western States, I think you are mistaken, Bishop." "Am I? Let us see. There is Elsie, and Gladys Castant, perhaps, and the daughters of my friend Mr. Laws of West Dakota"-- "Bishop!" "Of West Dakota; that makes four. And then the young lady who was on the train with you, Miss Bigelow, from Los Angeles." "Bishop! I am certain you are mistaken there. If those people are not Eastern, then I'm from West Dakota myself!" "We are all from West Dakota virtually, so far as Mecca is concerned. But Mrs. Barrington offers her young ladies those exceptional social opportunities which Western girls are supposed to need. If you want Elsie to be with Eastern girls of the East, let her go to a good Boston Latin school. Did you not go to one yourself, Mrs. Valentin?" Mrs. Valentin laughed. "That was ages ago, and I was at home. I had the environment--an education in itself. Won't you dine with us, Bishop? We shall have dinner in half an hour." "In half an hour I must be on the limited express. You seem to have made different connections."