Jeannette's business college hours were from nine to four. She went downtown in one of Charley's straight smart tailor suits, revamped, and a sailor with an upturned brim that gave her face a piquant look. She did not seem to care much for what she called "the fellas." Perhaps her searing experience of the automobile ride had scarred that side of her. Lottie encouraged her to bring her "boy friends" to the house, but Jeannette had not yet taken advantage of the offer. One day, soon after her induction into the Prairie Avenue household, she had turned her attention to the electric. Lottie had just come in from an errand with Mrs. Payson. Jeannette waylaid her. "Listen. If you would learn me to--huh? oh--teach me to run that thing you ride around in, I bet I could catch on quick--quickly. Then I could take your ma around Saturday mornings when I ain't at school; and evenings, and you wouldn't have to, see? Will you?" With the magic adaptability of youth she learned to drive with incredible ease. She had no nerves; a sense of the road; an eye for distances. After she had mastered the old car's idiosyncrasies she became adept at it. She had a natural mechanical sense, and after one or two encounters with the young man from the Élite Garage the electric's motive powers were noticeably improved. Often, now, it was Jeannette who drove Mrs. Payson to her buildings on the West Side, or to her appointments with contractors, plumbers, carpenters, and the like. Heretofore, on such errands, Mrs. Payson had always insisted that Lottie wait in the electric at the curb. Seated thus, Lottie would watch her mother with worried anxious eyes as she whisked in and out of store doors, alleys, and basements followed by a heavy-footed workman or contractor whose face grew more sullen and resentful each time it appeared around a corner. Mrs. Payson's voice came floating back to Lottie. "Now what's the best you'll do on that job. Remember, I'll have a good deal of work later in the year if you'll do this reasonably." Now Jeannette calmly followed Mrs. Payson in her tour of inspection. Once or twice Mrs. Payson actually consulted her about this fence or that floor or partition. The girl was good at figures, too; a natural aptitude for mathematics.