“No, marm,” Star returned, respectfully, yet not one whit abashed by the way Mrs. Richards had perverted the letter which her father had written. “I am willing to be useful—I _wish_ to be useful—I should be unhappy to be idle; but I am _very unwilling_ to be made a common drudge, with no time nor opportunity to pursue my education. You say I have nothing save my hands with which to earn my living. You are mistaken; I have _brains_, and I intend they shall serve that purpose.” “It seems to me that you are making a saucy tongue serve its purpose pretty early in the day,” retorted Mrs. Richards, an angry red leaping into her face. “I do not mean the least disrespect in what I have said, Mrs. Richards; but I cannot give up all the hopes and aspirations which my father has fostered all my life without making an effort to accomplish them. I am frank to confess,” Star continued, coloring, while her lips quivered slightly, “that from your reply to my father’s letter, I inferred that I should be received into your family as an equal, and that you would give me a mother’s care and counsel during the next three or four years of my life. Papa, I know, also understood it so, and died content, feeling that I should be well and kindly provided for.” Mrs. Richards felt very uncomfortable, for she knew that every word Star uttered was truth. She knew, too, that she was doing a mean and cowardly thing in making the bright and talented girl a servant; but she _must_ have a house-maid. If she must curtail, she must do it in this way rather than in her own or Josephine’s wardrobe. “You are very impertinent, miss, and have been reared with altogether too high notions for one in your position,” she said, angrily. “You ought to be thankful for a roof to cover your head, and anything to cover your nakedness, coming here, as you did, destitute of everything. An equal in my family, indeed! Music, painting, and drawing! What will Josephine say to that, I wonder? And who did you suppose was going to foot the bills? It won’t do you any harm to have some of this independence taken out of you, and I’ll have you understand, once for all, that you will fill Maggie Flynn’s position in this house, or none.” Star bowed her proud head coldly. She saw that she was helpless for the present, and must yield to the inevitable. “Very well,” she said, calmly. “I understand from Mrs. Blunt that Maggie Flynn was about my age; that she had six dollars a month besides her board, and two evenings out a week. I will consent to fill her place, _for the present_, upon the same conditions.” “Upon my word!” exclaimed Mrs. Richards, in a towering passion at this unexpected proposition. “I never heard anything like it in my life! You forget that you are indebted to me for the very clothes you have on at this moment.” Star could hardly repress a smile at this calculating outbreak.