Then with sudden heat--"O my Child! Don't you marry till Ross can afford at least one girl for you!" Diantha put her small, strong hands behind her head and leaned back in her chair.

"We'll have to wait some time for that I fancy," she said.
"But, Mother, there is one part you like--keeping accounts! I never saw anything like the way you manage the money, and I believe you've got every bill since you were married." "Yes--I do love accounts," Mrs.Bell admitted.

"And I can keep run of things.

I've often thought your Father'd have done better if he'd let me run that end of his business." Diantha gave a fierce little laugh.

She admired her father in some ways, enjoyed him in some ways, loved him as a child does if not ill-treated; but she loved her mother with a sort of passionate pity mixed with pride; feeling always nobler power in her than had ever had a fair chance to grow.