was not pleased with the many acquaintances that her daughter was
making, and would have interfered had not Mrs. Jones assured her that
the men clustered about their host's seat were some of the "best people
in town." Joe looked at them hungrily, but the man in front with his
sister did not think it necessary to include the brother or the rest of
the party in his miscellaneous introductions.

One brief bit of conversation which the mother overheard especially
troubled her.

"Not going out for a minute or two?" asked one of the men, as he was
turning away from Thomas.

"No, I don't think I 'll go out to-night. You can have my share."

The fellow gave a horse laugh and replied, "Well, you 're doing a great
piece of work, Miss Hamilton, whenever you can keep old Bill from goin'
out an' lushin' between acts. Say, you got a good thing; push it along."

The girl's mother half rose, but she resumed her seat, for the man was
going away. Her mind was not quiet again, however, until the people were
all in their seats and the curtain had gone up on the second act. At
first she was surprised at the enthusiasm over just such dancing as she
could see any day from the loafers on the street corners down home, and
then, like a good, sensible, humble woman, she came around to the idea
that it was she who had always been wrong in putting too low a value on
really worthy things. So she laughed and applauded with the rest, all
the while trying to quiet something that was tugging at her away down in
her heart.