of his evenin’s with them, smokin’ an’ talkin’. I tell him they must be awful sick of havin’ him. Well”--Mrs. Burrell gasped, and a fine perspiration broke out on her cheeks--“where am I? I do get mixed up so lately. Oh, yes. The girls. Well, now that Carrie Cora’s all settled, the girls are just crazy to get away again. They were dreadfully disappointed in their first Winter in Washington; and they are crazy to go back there with you. Now, what do you think?” Mrs. Burrell exclaimed, her face flushing violently. “With me?” Helen said, in astonishment. Mrs. Burrell nodded. “Now, I wouldn’t ’ave heard of it if pa--well, pa knows everything--well, if pa hadn’t told me Mr. Briggs--well, that he was in some trouble about money. There, I suppose you’ll think I’m awful!” “Oh, no,” Helen protested, feeling her own face flush. “Pa just adores Mr. Briggs, an’ he’d like nothin’ better than to help him out. Well, we talked it over--you see,” Mrs. Burrell went on, twisting in her seat, “when the two girls went to the Misses Parlins’ school here, we paid a thousand dollars a piece for ’em. An’ then the extras amounted to a lot more, drivin’, and the theatre, and all that. They used to go to the theatre every week. It must have been comical to see ’em walkin’ down the aisle, two by two. Emmeline used to write to us about it. She hated it. Well, I guess pa spent most five thousand dollars on the girls that year they were here in New York. But we didn’t mind, as long as they was happy. But the trouble was they wasn’t happy. They didn’t have hardly a minute to themselves. They didn’t feel free. That’s it. Now, if they was with you, it would be different. They’d meet all the lovely people you know. That is, if you’re goin’ to go back to Washington?” Mrs. Burrell asked with swift acuteness. “Yes, I shall go back,” Helen replied, flushing. “And you’ll be in that lovely home again?” Mrs. Burrell asked, giving Helen a sharp look. “No. That has been leased already,” Helen replied, without flinching. “We shall take another house--a smaller one.” Mrs. Burrell looked embarrassed. “When pa heard the news”--Mrs. Burrell impressively lowered her voice--“about the election, I mean, he just jumped up an’ down. You know he thinks Mr. Briggs ought to be the greatest lawyer in the country at this minute. He hopes he’ll keep out of politics after he finishes this term in Congress.” Helen sighed. “But it’s hard, beginning all over again,” she said politely. “Well, pa says,” Mrs. Burrell went on with a knowing look, “that if he takes his patent-cases he’ll have enough to keep him busy for a whole year, possibly two years. Ain’t that splendid? An’ it seemed kind of like Providence, the whole thing, for us. If you only would take the girls,” Mrs. Burrell pleaded. “And what will _you_ do?” Helen asked with a smile.