Polly knew in her heart that her mother spoke the truth, but she never dreamed what it cost that mother to speak cheerily as she did about her only girl's going--in fact, almost persuading her to go. For that wise mother had heard the yearnings in Polly's voice the day she spoke so daringly of all her ambitions and of her future. And she understood that this transitory spell of regret was merely the contagion of Mr. Brewster's woe-be-gone thoughts and behavior. "I'll get after Sam, and that good and plenty!" thought Mrs. Brewster to herself, as she watched Polly with keen understanding. "Poll, your mother says Anne is to get every last dud you need in the swellest shops in New York. Because you and I will have plenty of money for our future, and we must dress up to our station. Your mother said our success in business would be influenced, to a great extent, by our careful consideration of apparel. She is right." "But, mother, you said to me, one time, that clothes should never occupy a woman's mind," Polly said, wonderingly. "I was right in saying so. I do not believe in having anything so perishable as dress occupying anybody's mind. But that does not mean that you should become careless of your appearance nor wear cheap and vulgar apparel. I always felt that an individual expresses his own position in life by the clothes he selects and wears. It is generally a key to one's character. You will find that any one who has slip-shod apparel, is careless in everything else in life, and one who dons gaudy attire--cheap and destructible--will soon show you how small a nature he has. The same with well-selected refined apparel; one garbed in the best, no matter how many seasons they may have to wear the articles, will prove reliable and conscientious in other ways. "Oh, I never dreamed this would end up in a sermon!" Mrs. Brewster suddenly laughed, and then she whisked from the room. The new arrivals came at sun-down, and every one was eager to welcome Tom's father, and his friend Dr. Evans. Both men were made to feel at home, and as the dinner had been kept waiting for the past half-hour, Sary lost no time in shouting for every one to "setdown." Smiles on every face, was the rule at that meal, and no one dreamed that Mrs. Brewster had given her spouse the worst "Dressing down" he had had since they were married. He laughingly referred to it later on, and confessed that now he knew where Polly got her "woman's rights" idea, so unexpectedly betrayed the day she stood up for herself. CHAPTER XVI POLLY AND ELEANOR START OUT "Now let us hear all about those two strangers from New York?" Mr. Brewster reminded his new guests, as they strolled away from the table. "Well, it was as much a shock for us to find that they had been here and were now at a hospital in Denver, as it was for you to learn who they were," replied the doctor.