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large, and ill-fitting; her skirt hung in lifeless lines from her hips to her feet, of good material but
seemingly bad design. At that time the colored "jersey," so-called, was just coming into popular
wear, and, being close-fitting, looked well on those of good form. Alas for Mamie Calligan! The
mode of the time compelled her to wear one; but she had neither the arms nor the chest
development which made this garment admirable. Her hat, by choice, was usually a pancake
affair with a long, single feather, which somehow never seemed to be in exactly the right
position, either to her hair or her face. At most times she looked a little weary; but she was not
physically weary so much as she was bored. Her life held so little of real charm; and Aileen
Butler was unquestionably the most significant element of romance in it.
Mamie's mother's very pleasant social disposition, the fact that they had a very cleanly, if poor
little home, that she could entertain them by playing on their piano, and that Mrs. Calligan took
an adoring interest in the work she did for her, made up the sum and substance of the attraction
of the Calligan home for Aileen. She went there occasionally as a relief from other things, and
because Mamie Calligan had a compatible and very understanding interest in literature.
Curiously, the books Aileen liked she liked--Jane Eyre, Kenelm Chillingly, Tricotrin, and A Bow
of Orange Ribbon. Mamie occasionally recommended to Aileen some latest effusion of this
character; and Aileen, finding her judgment good, was constrained to admire her.
In this crisis it was to the home of the Calligans that Aileen turned in thought. If her father really
was not nice to her, and she had to leave home for a time, she could go to the Calligans. They
would receive her and say nothing. They were not sufficiently well known to the other members
of the Butler family to have the latter suspect that she had gone there. She might readily
disappear into the privacy of Cherry Street and not be seen or heard of for weeks. It is an
interesting fact to contemplate that the Calligans, like the various members of the Butler family,
never suspected Aileen of the least tendency toward a wayward existence. Hence her flight
from her own family, if it ever came, would be laid more to the door of a temperamental
pettishness than anything else.
On the other hand, in so far as the Butler family as a unit was concerned, it needed Aileen more
than she needed it. It needed the light of her countenance to keep it appropriately cheerful, and
if she went away there would be a distinct gulf that would not soon be overcome.
Butler, senior, for instance, had seen his little daughter grow into radiantly beautiful
womanhood. He had seen her go to school and convent and learn to play the piano--to him a
great accomplishment. Also he had seen her manner change and become very showy and her
knowledge of life broaden, apparently, and become to him, at least, impressive. Her smart,
dogmatic views about most things were, to him, at least, well worth listening to. She knew more
about books and art than Owen or Callum, and her sense of social manners was perfect. When
she came to the table-- breakfast, luncheon, or dinner--she was to him always a charming
object to see. He had produced Aileen--he congratulated himself. He had furnished her the
money to be so fine. He would continue to do so. No second-rate upstart of a man should be
allowed to ruin her life. He proposed to take care of her always--to leave her so much money in
a legally involved way that a failure of a husband could not possibly affect her. "You're the
charming lady this evenin', I'm thinkin'," was one of his pet remarks; and also, "My, but we're
that fine!" At table almost invariably she sat beside him and looked out for him. That was what
he wanted. He had put her there beside him at his meals years before when she was a child.
Her mother, too, was inordinately fond of her, and Callum and Owen appropriately brotherly. So
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