portion of her own fruit to the plate of the pouting child, bidding
her "eat something besides berries."

After a time Mrs. Lincoln thought proper to break the silence which
she had preserved, and taking up her fork said, "You have been buying
some new silver, haven't you?"

"They were a present to me from my friend, Miss Martha Selden," was
Mrs. Mason's reply.

"Possible!" said Mrs. Campbell.

"Indeed!" said Mrs. Lincoln, and again closely examining the fork, she
continued, "Aunt Martha is really getting liberal in her old age. But
then I suppose she thinks Ida is provided for, and there'll be no
particular need of her money in that quarter."

"Provided for? How?" asked Mrs. Mason, and Mrs Lincoln answered, "Why
didn't you know that Mr. Selden's orphan nephew, George Moreland, had
come over from England to live with him? He is heir to a large
fortune, and it is said that both Mr. Selden and Aunt Martha are
straining every nerve to eventually bring about a match between George
and Ida."

There was no reason why Mary should blush at the mention of George
Moreland, still she did do so, while Jenny slyly stepped upon her
toes. But her embarrassment was unobserved, for what did she, a pauper
girl, know or care about one whose future destiny, and wife too, were
even then the subject of more than one scheming mother's speculations.
Mrs. Mason smiled, and said she thought it very much like child's