education, and I'm going to enjoy myself all I can, and leave the
wise books till I come out."

"But, Carrie, there won't be any time to read them; you'll be so
busy with parties, and beaux, and travelling, and such things. I
WOULD take Alice's advice and read up a little now; it's so nice to
know useful things, and be able to find help and comfort in good
books when trouble comes, as Ellen Montgomery and Fleda did, and
Ethel, and the other girls in Miss Yonge's stories," said Eva,
earnestly, remembering how much the efforts of those natural little
heroines had helped her in her own struggles tor self-control and
the cheerful bearing of the burden which come to all.

"I don't want to be a priggish Ellen, or a moral Fleda, and I do
detest bothering about self-improvement all the time. I know I
ought, but I'd rather wait another year or two, and enjoy my
vanities in peace just a LITTLE longer." And Carrie tucked Wanda
under the sofa pillow, as if a trifle ashamed of her society, with
Eva's innocent eyes upon her own, and Alice sadly regarding her over
the rampart of wise books, which kept growing higher as the eager
girl found more and more treasures in this richly stored library.

A little silence followed, broken only by the patter of the rain
without, the crackle of the wood fire within, and the scratch of a
busy pen from a curtained recess at the end of the long room. In the
sudden hush the girls heard it and remembered that they were not
alone.

"She must have heard every word we said!" and Carrie sat up with a
dismayed face as she spoke in a whisper.