runs the theatre mixes the horrid things with the decent ones--and we
can't know beforehand which is which--it's really the safest plan to
keep away from the place altogether. I'm sure that's the position Miss
Stearne takes, and we can't blame her for it. If we do, it's an evidence
of laxness of morals in ourselves."

The girls received this statement sullenly, yet they had no logical
reply to controvert it. So Mary Louise, feeling that her explanation of
the distasteful edict was not popular with her friends, quietly rose and
sauntered to the gate, on her way home.

"Pah!" sneered Mable Westervelt, looking after the slim figure, "I'm
always suspicious of those goody-goody creatures. Mark my words, girls:
Mary Louise will fall from her pedestal some day. She isn't a bit better
than the rest of us, in spite of her angel baby ways, and I wouldn't be
surprised if she turned out to be a regular hypocrite!"




CHAPTER II

GRAN'PA JIM


Beverly is an old town and not especially progressive. It lies nearly
two miles from a railway station and has little attractiveness for
strangers. Beverly contains several beautiful old residences, however,
built generations ago and still surrounded by extensive grounds where
the trees and shrubbery are now generally overgrown and neglected.