"I know," answered Ruth, quickly, "something of the same kind
once happened to me, only it wasn't pride that held me back--it
was just plain stubbornness. Sometimes I am conscious of two
selves--one of me is a nice, polite person that I'm really fond
of, and the other is so contrary and so mulish that I'm actually
afraid of her. When the two come in conflict, the stubborn one
always wins. I'm sorry, but I can't help it."

"Don't you think we're all like that?" asked Miss Ainslie,
readily understanding. "I do not believe any one can have
strength of character without being stubborn. To hold one's
position in the face of obstacles, and never be tempted to yield
--to me, that seems the very foundation."

"Yes, but to be unable to yield when you know you should--that's
awful."

"Is it?" inquired Miss Ainslie, with quiet amusement.

"Ask Aunt Jane," returned Ruth, laughing. "I begin to perceive
our definite relationship."

Miss Ainslie leaned forward to put another maple log on the fire.
"Tell me more about Aunt Jane," Ruth suggested. "I'm getting to
be somebody's relative, instead of an orphan, stranded on the
shore of the world."

"She's hard to analyse," began the older woman. "I have never
been able to reconcile her firmness with her softness. She's as