"Marian Janeway! How I wish I could see you, to know if you have
really changed!" cried Mrs. Hammond in the heartiest and most
cheerful voice imaginable. It was easy to see from whom Rhoda had
got her voice.

"I've grown fat--I can tell you that," sighed the Chicago woman.
"And you--why, you are still as graceful as you were when you were
a girl."

"Flatterer!" exclaimed Rhoda's mother, laughing. Then she seized
upon Nan who chanced to come up the steps directly behind Mrs.
Janeway.

"Who is this?" she cried. "Wait!" Her fingers ran quickly but
lightly over Nan's countenance. She even felt her ears, and the
hair where it fluffed over her brow, and traced the line of her
well marked eyebrows. "Why!" she added with decision, "this is Nan
Sherwood that I have heard so much about."

"Oh, Mrs. Hammond," gasped the girl, "how did you know?"

She looked up into the shining face of the blind woman and could
scarcely believe that she was so afflicted. Mrs. Hammond's laugh
was deep-throated and hearty, like Rhoda's own.

"I know you, my dear, because Rhoda has told me so much about you.
She has explained your character, I see, very truthfully. Your
features bear out all she has said. You see, my dear, I am a
witch!" and she kissed Nan warmly.