"Elizabeth!"

"Good-bye; I'm late now," she continued, in the same quiet tone, and
walked slowly down the walk.

The Professor twisted his moustache and looked into his wife's eyes
with a half frightened glance.

"Beth's a mighty queer girl," he muttered.

"She's very like her Aunt Jane," returned Mrs. De Graf, thoughtfully
gazing after her daughter. "But she's defiant and wilful enough for
all the Merricks put together. I do hope she'll decide to go to
Elmhurst."




CHAPTER II.

MOTHER AND DAUGHTER.


In the cosy chamber of an apartment located in a fashionable quarter
of New York Louise Merrick reclined upon a couch, dressed in a
dainty morning gown and propped and supported by a dozen embroidered
cushions.

Upon a taboret beside her stood a box of bonbons, the contents of