indeed in this story, namely Miss Harriet Beach, but for whose
invitation Winona would never have attended Seaton High School at all.
Aunt Harriet was what is generally known as "a character," that is to
say, she was possessed of a strong personality, and was decidedly
eccentric. Though her age verged on sixty she preserved the energy of
her thirties, and prided herself upon her physical fitness. She was
tall, with a high color, keen brown eyes, a large nose, a determined
mouth, and iron gray hair. In her youth she must have been handsome, and
even now her erect figure and dark, well-marked eyebrows gave her a
certain air of distinction. She was a most thoroughly capable woman,
reliable, and strongly philanthropic: not in a sentimental way, however;
she disapproved of indiscriminate almsgiving, and would have considered
it a crime to bestow a penny on a beggar without making a proper
investigation of his case. She was a tower of strength to most of the
charitable institutions in the city, a terror to the professional
pauper, but a real friend to the deserving. Her time was much occupied
with committees, secretarial duties, district visiting, workhouse
inspection and other public interests. She was apt indeed to have more
than her share of civic business; her reputation for absolute
reliability caused people to get into the habit of saying "Oh, go to
Miss Beach!" on every occasion, and as she invariably proved the willing
horse, she justified the proverb and received the work in increased
proportions.

Like most people, Aunt Harriet had her faults. She was apt to be a
trifle overbearing and domineering, she lacked patience with others'
weaknesses, and was too doctrinaire in her views. She tried very hard to
push the world along, but she forgot sometimes that "the mills of God
grind slowly," and that it is only after much waiting and many days that
the bread cast upon the waters returns to us. She prided herself on her