"He is much too young and inexperienced to marry," they would say when the matter was broached by wily mammas who hoped to settle their daughters. And so he did seem to be. Time had no power to age Jeffry Tucker. He was in reality very young to be the father of these great girls, as the romance of his life had occurred when he was only twenty, still in college, and the little wife had died after only a year of happiness. In rearing his girls he had had only one rule to go by: they must conduct themselves like gentlemen on all occasions. "I don't know what ladylike rules are but I do know what is expected of a gentleman, and if my girls come up to that standard I am sure they will pass muster," he had declared. As a rule the twins did pass muster. They were perfectly honorable and upright and the mischief they got into was never anything to be ashamed of--only something to be gotten out of, never too serious to tell their father all about. The fact that they were to stay longer than the week-end was greeted with joy by the Carters. Page had already made herself popular, too. Douglas was soon informed by her mother that she had given up the trip to the White, so some of the load was lifted from the poor girl's heart. There was much more talk, however, of the proposed debut and Helen upheld her mother in thinking that since Douglas was not going to college she must come out. "But, Helen, the money for a debut! And if we go into our house and turn out the desirable tenants, where are we to get an income to exist on?" "Oh, always money, money! It can be gotten, and mother says our credit is as good as the U. S. mint. She has often heard father say so." "Of course it was as good, but now that father is no longer able to earn money it would not be quite square to presume on that credit when we have no way of paying the bills." Douglas would go over and over the same argument and Helen would still not be convinced. "Are we to spend the rest of our lives digging and delving for gold and then not use the money? How does our bank account stand now?" "I don't know, but it is not so large that we could make a debut on it," smiled Douglas. "But we could make a start and then earn some more." "But why spend it on me when I don't want to go into society?" "Why, for mother's sake, goose. She has set her heart on it and you know we have always let her do whatever she wanted to. It would make father miserable to think mother wanted something and could not have it." "Yes, I know! He mustn't know she wants it and can't have it." "But she must have it. She is planning all the time for your being a great belle." "Dr. Wright said that father----" but Helen flounced off, refusing to hear what Dr. Wright said. She had overcome all of her antipathy for that young physician and in fact liked him rather more than anyone of her acquaintance of the male persuasion, but she still resented any tendency on his part to dictate to her.