"And where are you going to get the cost of your living up in Town?" asked the wise young man, who knew how London could dissolve the money in one's pocket. "Oh, she's all right there," said the eldest sister bitterly. "I know what she's thinking about. She's going to draw that money that grandmama left her--that fifty pounds. I guessed she'd spend that on herself one of these days." "And who else was it left to?" asked Sally. "Yes, my dear child," said her mother; "we know it was left to you, of course; but since we came away from Cailsham"--her mouth pursed; she admirably conveyed the effort of controlling her emotions--the lump in the throat, the hasty swallowing and the blinking eyes--"since we left Cailsham, I'd sometimes hoped--" "Of course you had, mater," said the young man sympathetically. "But I'm going to relieve you of all responsibility," said Sally. "I'm no longer going to be an expense to you, and I'm going to do it with my own money--the money I was given and the money I make. I can't see what right you have to think me selfish--all of you--as I know you do. I'm no more selfish than you who expect me to spend the money on you; in fact, I'm less selfish. It's my money." This, in a word, is the spirit, the attitude of mind that is entering into the mental composition of women. They are becoming conscious of their personality. That phrase may be cryptic; without consideration it may convey but little; yet it sums up the whole movement, is the very moon itself to the turning tide. The woman who once becomes conscious of her own personality is in a fair way towards her own enfranchisement. Away go the fettering conventions of home life, the chains of social hypocrisy are flung aside. She rides out into the open air like the bird from the shattered cage, and if man, the marksman, does not bring her to earth before her fluttering wings are fully spread, then she is off--up into the deep, blue zenith of liberty! "I'm no more selfish than you who expect me to spend the money on you; in fact, I'm less selfish. It's my money." In that definite assertion, Sally first expressed the realization of her own personality. The girl of twenty years ago would have sacrificed her little dowry upon the family altar without a word; she would, without complaint, have allowed it to be spent upon her brother's education. But now we are dealing with modernity, and out of the quiet country lanes, from the sacred hearth of the peaceful home-circles, this army of women are rising. Who has taught them? No one knows. Who has inspired them with the vitality of action? No one can say. The spirit of the hive is at work within them; already they are swarming in obedience to the silent command. Pick out a hundred girls as they go to work in the city, and ask them why they are toiling from one day to another. They will all--or ninety-nine of them--give you the same answer-- "I didn't want to stay at home. I prefer to be independent."