"Have you been all over Europe," I asked--"in all the different
countries?"

She hesitated a moment. "Everywhere that there's a pension. Mamma
is devoted to pensions. We have lived, at one time or another, in
every pension in Europe."

"Well, I should think you had seen about enough," said Miss Ruck.

"It's a delightful way of seeing Europe," Aurora rejoined, with her
brilliant smile. "You may imagine how it has attached me to the
different countries. I have such charming souvenirs! There is a
pension awaiting us now at Dresden,--eight francs a day, without
wine. That's rather dear. Mamma means to make them give us wine.
Mamma is a great authority on pensions; she is known, that way, all
over Europe. Last winter we were in Italy, and she discovered one at
Piacenza,--four francs a day. We made economies."

"Your mother doesn't seem to mingle much," observed Miss Ruck,
glancing through the window at the scholastic attitude of Mrs.
Church.

"No, she doesn't mingle, except in the native society. Though she
lives in pensions, she detests them."

"Why does she live in them, then?" asked Miss Sophy, rather
resentfully.

"Oh, because we are so poor; it's the cheapest way to live. We have
tried having a cook, but the cook always steals. Mamma used to set