"I do need you. Three is such a stupid number. You will enjoy Dr. Leaver
and he will enjoy you. Come, my dear girl, don't spend any more time
remonstrating, but do your hair and put on this simple frock, which I'm
confident will just suit you. You're a bit taller, I know, but the dress
is long for me, and will be quite the right length for you. Sit down here
at my dressing-table, and let me help you dry that beautiful hair. I've
often longed to see it all unconfined, and now I'm going to have the
chance."

As she spoke she slipped on a loose protecting garment above her lilac
daintiness, and waved an inviting hand to her guest, smiling so coaxingly
that Miss Mathewson yielded without another word of protest. When the
hairpins came out, and the mass of fair hair fell upon the shoulders,
Ellen exclaimed with hearty admiration:

"I knew it was wonderful hair, but I didn't dream there was such a
wealth. My dear, why do you wear it in such a tight fashion, as if you
wanted everybody to think there wasn't much of it? Do let me try dressing
it for you in a way I know, which it seems to me would just suit your
face. Have you always worn it coiled on top of your head, and shall you
feel very strange and uncomfortable if I arrange it lower?"

"Do it as you like, Mrs. Burns, since you will be so kind. But don't
expect me not to feel strange, wearing your clothes and staying to
dinner. Do you realize how far from society I've lived, all these years
that I've been nursing for Dr. Burns?"

"I know you are a lady, and that is quite enough. And our simple dinner
isn't 'society,' it's home. Now, please keep quite still, and don't
distract my mind, while I lay these smooth strands in place. I want every