tea. A guest was present this afternoon; the eight persons who sat
down to table were as many as the little parlour could comfortably
contain. Of the sisters, next in age to Alice came Virginia, a
pretty but delicate girl of seventeen. Gertrude, Martha, and Isabel,
ranging from fourteen to ten, had no physical charm but that of
youthfulness; Isabel surpassed her eldest sister in downright
plainness of feature. The youngest, Monica, was a bonny little
maiden only just five years old, dark and bright-eyed.

The parents had omitted no care in shepherding their fold. Partly at
home, and partly in local schools, the young ladies had received
instruction suitable to their breeding, and the elder ones were
disposed to better this education by private study. The atmosphere
of the house was intellectual; books, especially the poets, lay in
every room. But it never occurred to Dr. Madden that his daughters
would do well to study with a professional object. In hours of
melancholy he had of course dreaded the risks of life, and resolved,
always with postponement, to make some practical provision for his
family; in educating them as well as circumstances allowed, he
conceived that he was doing the next best thing to saving money,
for, if a fatality befell, teaching would always be their resource.
The thought, however, of his girls having to work for money was so
utterly repulsive to him that he could never seriously dwell upon
it. A vague piety supported his courage. Providence would not deal
harshly with him and his dear ones. He enjoyed excellent health; his
practice decidedly improved. The one duty clearly before him was to
set an example of righteous life, and to develop the girls' minds--
in every proper direction. For, as to training them for any path
save those trodden by English ladies of the familiar type, he could
not have dreamt of any such thing. Dr. Madden's hopes for the race