"Mother wrote that a gentleman friend—our minister, Mr. Lord—will be in Philadelphia in the course of three or four weeks, spend a few days there, then go back to Pleasant Plains, and that he has kindly offered to take charge of me. Mother and father think I should embrace the opportunity by all means, as it may be a long time before another as good will offer."
"And doubtless they are right, though I wish it had not come so soon."
"So soon, uncle?" Mildred returned brightly. "Do you forget that I have been with you for nearly a year?"
"A year is a very short time at my age," he answered with a smile.
But they were at the door of the breakfast-room, and the topic was dropped for the present, as by mutual consent.
[CHAPTER II.]
"O my good lord, the world is but a word;
Were it all yours, to give it in a breath,
How quickly were it gone."
Shakespeare.
The end of the week found the Dinsmores and Mildred in Philadelphia, very busy with sight-seeing and shopping. Each one of the party was to be furnished with a suitable outfit for fall and the coming winter, and Mildred had a long list of commissions from her mother.