Elithe’s wardrobe was naturally the first consideration and here Mrs. Hansford felt the bitterness of the poverty which precluded much of an expenditure. Anything she had herself would be sacrificed gladly that Elithe might make a respectable appearance with her relative and friends. It was years since Mrs. Hansford had been in Oak City, which had grown rapidly and must be quite a fashionable resort, if the items in the Boston Herald were to be trusted. How much of society Elithe would see she did not know. Some, of course, and she must not be in the background. She was apt to express her views rather freely, and Mr. Pennington was not ignorant of her trouble. “Nobody will care what she wears when they see her face,” he ventured to say, wishing that he had the means and the courage to offer a part of it with which to fill the gap. But he had neither, and contented himself with quietly looking on and marvelling at the faculty of poor people to make a little go a great ways. Miss Tibbs, the dressmaker in Samona, who went twice a year to Helena, and was an oracle on style, was called in, and the trousseau attacked in earnest. A blue flannel gown two years old was ripped and washed and pressed and made over for a traveling suit according to Miss Tibbs’s ideas and the fashions of six months before. Elithe thought it a wonderful achievement and trimmed her last year’s hat with a bit of ribbon to match and a red wing unearthed from a missionary box. There were two of them in the attic, with some articles which had never been used. Among them was a bathing suit of blue serge trimmed with large buttons and flat braid of a peculiar pattern. It had come from Washington two years before, together with the riding cap which Mr. Pennington in his delirium had said looked like Mignon’s. The cap Elithe had worn a great deal, and was rather proud of it, but she had often wondered what Eastern people supposed she could do with a bathing suit in the mountains of Montana. Now, however, she had use for it. To see the ocean was an anticipated delight. To bathe in it was greater, and here was a suit made ready, which Providence had certainly intended for her. It had evidently been worn but little, and must have belonged to some one taller and larger than herself. This she considered an advantage, as it left less of her person exposed. Notwithstanding its size and length, it was very becoming to her. Rob said she was a stunner and wanted Mr. Pennington to see her in it. To this Elithe objected. She guessed she should not show her arms and neck to Mr. Pennington, or any other man, and when Rob asked if she didn’t suppose any man would see them when she went bathing, she looked perplexed and troubled. “I never thought of that,” she said. “Perhaps I can’t wear it after all, but I’ll take it.”