"Maybe you're prettier -- though you were
always pretty enough. Perhaps it's your
clothes that make a difference."

"You like my new suit? I have to dress
pretty well in my business." She took off her
jacket and sat more at ease in her blouse, of
some soft, flimsy silk. She was already at
home in my place, had slipped quietly into
it, as she did into everything. She told me
her business was going well, and she had
saved a little money.

"This summer I'm going to build the house
for mother I've talked about so long. I won't
be able to pay up on it at first, but I want her
to have it before she is too old to enjoy it.
Next summer I'll take her down new furni-
ture and carpets, so she'll have something to
look forward to all winter."

I watched Lena sitting there so smooth
and sunny and well cared-for, and thought of
how she used to run barefoot over the prairie
until after the snow began to fly, and how
Crazy Mary chased her round and round the
cornfields. It seemed to me wonderful that
she should have got on so well in the world.
Certainly she had no one but herself to thank
for it.

[[302]]

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v?