There were piles of handsome dress goods upon the counter at _Harney’s_ that afternoon, and _Harney_ was anxious to sell. It was not often that he favored a customer with his own personal services, and ’Lina felt proportionably flattered when he came forward and asked what he could show her. “Of course, a dress for the party—he had sold at least a dozen that day, but fortunately he still had the most, elegant pattern of all, and he knew it would exactly suit her complexion and style. There would be nothing like it at the party, unless she wore it, as he hoped she would, for he knew how admirably she would become it, and he’d had her in his mind all the time.” ’Lina was easily flattered, while the silk was beautiful, and as she thought how well the soft tinted rose with its single white velvety leaf, standing out so full and rich, would become her dark hair and eyes, an intense desire came over her to possess it. But ten dollars was all she had, and turning away from the tempting silk she answered faintly, that “it was superb, but she could not afford it, besides, she had not the money to-day.” “Not the slightest consequence,” was Harney’s quick rejoinder, as he thought of Hugh’s already heavy bill, and alas, thought of Rocket too! “Not the slightest consequence. Your brother’s credit is good, and I’m sure he’ll be proud to see you in it. I should, were _I_ your brother.” ’Lina blushed, while the wish to possess the silk grew every moment stronger. “If it were _only fifty dollars_, it would not seem so bad,” she thought. Hugh could manage it some way, and Mr. Harney was so good natured; he could wait a year, she knew. But the making would cost ten dollars more, for that was the price Miss Allis charged, to say nothing of the trimmings. “No, I can’t,” she said, quite decidedly at last, asking for the lace with which she at first intended renovating her old pink silk. “She must see Miss Allis first to know how much she wanted,” and she tripped over to Frankfort’s fashionable dressmaker, whom she found surrounded with dresses for the party.