sure, it did not look like a hat when it was done, but that was all the
better. The feathers were upheld and packed softly about with bits of
paper crushed together to make a springy cushion, and the whole built out
and then covered over with paper. She reflected that girls who wore their
hair wound about their heads and covered by plain felt hats would not be
unlikely to carry large newspaper-wrapped packages through the city
streets.

She decided to go barehanded, and put the white kid gloves in the
suit-case, but she took off her beautiful rings, and hid them safely
inside her dress.

When the porter came to announce that her breakfast was waiting in the
dining-car, he looked at her almost with a start, but she answered his
look with a pleasant, "Good morning. You see I'm fixed for a damp day."

"Yes, miss," said the man deferentially. "It's a nasty day outside. I
'spect Chicago'll be mighty wet. De wind's off de lake, and de rain's
comin' from all way 'twoncet."

She sacrificed one of her precious quarters to get rid of the attentive
porter, and started off with a brisk step down the long platform to the
station. It was part of her plan to get out of the neighborhood as quickly
as possible, so she followed the stream of people who instead of going
into the waiting-room veered off to the street door and out into the
great, wet, noisy world. With the same reasoning, she followed a group of
people into a car, which presently brought her into the neighborhood of
the large stores, as she had hoped it would. It was with relief that she
recognized the name on one of the stores as being of world-wide
reputation.