more ready to give one the benefit of a doubt. It's a great
responsibility, this raising a family, Miss Allen--and especially
twins!"




CHAPTER VI

AN ADMIRER

It must be remembered that Prudence did not live in a sheltered and
exclusive city home, where girls are rigidly withheld from all
unchaperoned intercourse with young men and old. We know how things
are managed in the "best homes" of the big cities,--girls are sheltered
from innocent open things, and, too often, indulge in really serious
amusements on the quiet. But this was the Middle West, where girls are
to be trusted. Not all girls, of course, but as a matter of fact, the
girls who need watching, seldom get enough of it to keep them out of
mischief. Out in Iowa, girls and boys are allowed to like each other,
and revel in each other's company. And it is good for both.

Prudence was not a sentimental girl. Perhaps this was partly due to
the fact that at the age when most girls are head-full of boy, Prudence
was hands-full of younger sisters! And when hands are full to
overflowing, there is small likelihood of heads being full of nonsense.
Prudence liked boys as she liked girls,--that was the end of it.
Romance was to her a closed book, and she felt no inclination to peep
between the covers. Soul-stirring had not come to her yet.