CHAPTER II.
"There he comes!" and Hope ran forward out of the little garden to meet her father, as he came down the street, while her mother turned from the door where she had been waiting and watching with Hope, and went back into the tiny dining-room to put a few finishing-touches to the supper-table. Mr. Benham nodded as he caught sight of Hope. Then he called out,—
"How's business?"
"Two dollars more!"
"Well, well, you'll be a big capitalist soon at this rate, and grind the poor."
"Poor engineers like John Benham!" and Hope laughed gleefully at their joint joke.
"Yes, poor engineers like John Benham, who have extravagant daughters who want to buy violins. But, Hope, you mustn't get your thoughts so fixed on this violin business that you can't think of anything else. Your school, you know, begins next week."
"Yes, I know. I sha'n't neglect that. I wouldn't get marked down for anything."
"You're going to learn to be a teacher, you know; keep that in mind."
"I do; I do. Oh, father dear, don't worry about the music! 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,' you said the other day. Now, music is my play. Some of the girls in my classes go to dancing-school, and do lots of things to amuse themselves. They don't seem to neglect their lessons, and why should I, with just this one thing outside, that I like to do?"