"Why, Harriet, are you getting more clothes?" Ruth exclaimed. "You are
like 'Miss Flora McFlimsey, of Madison Square, who never had anything
good enough to wear.'"

"I am no such thing, Ruth Stuart," returned her cousin, a little
peevishly. "You don't understand. Does she, Barbara? Ruth has so much
money she simply cannot realize what it means to try to make a good
appearance on a small allowance, especially here in Washington where one
goes out so much."

"I was only joking, Harriet," Ruth apologized as she and Barbara
obediently followed their hostess upstairs. Bab, however, secretly
wondered how she and Mollie were to manage in Washington, with their
simple wardrobes, if their young hostess thought that clothes were the
all-important thing in Washington society.

Harriet Hamlin was twenty years of age, but she seemed much older to Bab
and Ruth. In the first place, Harriet was an entirely different type of
girl. She had been mistress of her father's house in Washington since she
was sixteen. She had received her father's guests and entertained his
friends; and at eighteen she had made her début into Washington society,
and had taken her position as one of the women of the Cabinet. Harriet's
mother, Ruth's aunt, had died a few months before Mr. Hamlin had received
his appointment as Assistant Secretary of State. Since that time Harriet
had borne the responsibilities of a grown woman, and being an only child
she had to a certain extent done as she pleased, although she was
secretly afraid of her cold, dignified father.

Mr. William Hamlin was one of the ablest men in Washington. He was a
quiet, stern, reserved man, and although he was proud of his daughter, of