She ended by saying -

"You must write a story about Saratoga. And I have got just the
heroine for you."

I started, but she ignored my start.

Kendricks laughed, delighted, and asked, "Is she pretty?"

"Must a heroine be pretty?"

"She had better be. Otherwise she will have to be tremendously
clever and say all sorts of brilliant things, and that puts a great
burden on the author. If you proclaim boldly at the start that
she's a beauty, the illustrator has got to look after her, and the
author has a comparative sinecure."

Mrs. March thought a moment, and then she said: "Well, she is a
beauty. I don't want to make it too hard for you."

"When shall I see her?" Kendricks demanded, and he feigned an
amusing anxiety.

"Well, that depends upon how you behave, Mr. Kendricks. If you are
very, very good, perhaps I may let you see her this evening. We
will take you to call upon her."

"Is it possible? Do you mean business? Then she is--in society?"

"MR. Kendricks!" cried Mrs. March, with burlesque severity. "Do you