but he always took possession of the far end of the platform, and
was so savage when any one approached thyt even Belle was afraid of
him. His wife, for a wonder, was a slattern German, and she spoke
English very imperfectly. With her several small children she lived
in a chaotic way, keeping up a perpetual whining and fault-fnding,
half under her breath from fear of her irascible husband, that was
like a "continual dropping on a very rainy day." Every now and then,
Mrs. Wheaton said, he would suddenly emerge from his abstraction
and break out against her in a volley of harsh, guttural German
oaths that were "henough to make von's 'air riz." Therefore it very
naturally happened that Mildred had become acquainted with all the
other families before she had even spoken to Mr. or Mrs. Ulph. On
the other inmates of the mansion her influence soon began to be
felt; for almost unconsciously she exercised her rare and subtle
power of introducing a finer element into the lives of those who
were growing sordid and material. She had presented several families
with a small house-plant, and suggested that they try to develop
slips from others that she sedulously tended in her own window. In
two or three instances she aided untidy and discouraged women to
make their rooms more attractive. The fact, also, that the Jocelyns
had made their two apartments, that were little if any better than
the others, so very inviting had much weight, and there sprang up
quite an emulation among some of the simple folk in making the most
of their limited resources.

"Instead of scolding your husbands for going out and perhaps taking
a glass too much, try and keep them home by making the living-room
homelike," she had said on several occasions to complaining wives
who had paved the way by their confidential murmurings. "Have some
extra dish that they like for supper--they will spend more if they