As time went on, Betty was given over to the care of her governess, and she was allowed to run wild no more in the meadows. Virginia, a pretty prim little girl, already carried her prayer book in her hands when she drove to church, and wore Swiss muslin frocks in the evenings; but Betty when she was made to hem tablecloths on sunny mornings, would weep until her needle rusted. On cloudy days she would sometimes have her ambitions to be ladylike, and once, when she had gone to a party in town and seen Virginia dancing while she sat against the wall, she had come home to throw herself upon the floor. “It's not that I care for boys, mamma,” she wailed, “for I despise them; but they oughtn't to have let me sit against the wall. And none of them asked me to dance--not even Dan.” “Why, you are nothing but a child, Betty,” said Mrs. Ambler, in dismay. “What on earth does it matter to you whether the boys notice you or not?” “It doesn't,” sobbed Betty; “but you wouldn't like to sit against the wall, mamma.” “You can make them suffer for it six years hence, daughter,” suggested the Governor, revengefully. “But suppose they don't have anything to do with me then,” cried Betty, and wept afresh. In the end, it was Uncle Bill who brought her to her feet, and, in doing so, he proved himself to be the philosopher that he was. “I tell you what, Betty,” he exclaimed, “if you get up and stop crying, I'll give you fifty cents. I reckon fifty cents will make up for any boy, eh?” Betty lay still and looked up from the floor. “I--I reckon a dol-lar m-i-g-h-t,” she gasped, and caught a sob before it burst out. “Well, you get up and I'll give you a dollar. There ain't many boys worth a dollar, I can tell you.” Betty got up and held out one hand as she wiped her eyes with the other. “I shall never speak to a boy again,” she declared, as she took the money. That was when she was thirteen, and a year later Dan went away to college. VI COLLEGE DAYS “My dear grandpa,” wrote Dan during his first weeks at college, “I think I am going to like it pretty well here after I get used to the professors. The professors are a great nuisance. They seem to forget that a fellow of seventeen isn't a baby any longer. “The Arcades are very nice, and the maples on the lawn remind me of those at Uplands, only they aren't nearly so fine. My room is rather small, but Big Abel keeps everything put away, so I manage to get along. Champe sleeps next to me, and we are always shouting through the wall for Big Abel. I tell you, he has to step lively now. “The night after we came, we went to supper at Professor Ball's. There was a Miss Ball there who had a pair of big eyes, but girls are so silly. Champe talked to her all the evening and walked out to the graveyard with her the next afternoon. I don't see why he wants to spend so much of his time with young ladies. It's because they think him good-looking, I reckon.