Six months had passed by; six months filled, for
the girl, with a varied routine which was still novel
to her. She did not even yet feel at home in the
big luxurious house, which was such a sharp contrast
to the humble little parsonage in Waiteville. Some-
how it did not seem like a home to her, with all the

86



THE YAEDSTICK MAN



complicated machinery of a city house; with all the
extensive furnishings which, it seemed to her some-
times, were too fine to be used; with the appalling
lines of stairs to be climbed; with so many servants,
each with his or her own specialty. It seemed more
like a hotel than a home, and she marveled sometimes
how these two people could choose such an abiding
place.
This was the greatest change in her attitude of
mind which had come during her time there. At first
she had been almost envious. It was all so spacious
and beautiful, and there were people to do every
little thing at one's bidding. She had thought of
her father and mother and the six remaining chil-
dren, packed away so tightly in the little box of a
house out in the suburbs ; thought of them with some-
thing that was like pity, and a sense of shame that
she should be enjoying all this splendor so near by.
Gradually, however, there had come a transforma-
tion. She had moments of homesickness nowadays.
