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 CHAPTER 7

1. Suppose you are to specify a short-run production function for dental

services. What inputs might you include in the production function? Which
would be the variable inputs and which the fixed inputs?
A short-run production function for dental services would include dentist hours,
dental hygienist hours, dental assistant hours, receptionist hours, medical
supplies, energy use, medical equipment, and the size of the physical facility. All
inputs would be considered variable with the exception of medical equipment and
the size of physical facility.

2. In your own words, explain the law of diminishing marginal productivity.

Be sure to mention the reason this law tends to hold in the short run.
The law of diminishing marginal productivity states that as more and more of a
variable input is used in the production process, eventually a point is reached
where output begins to increase at a decreasing rate, holding all other inputs
constant. The law only holds in the short run because some inputs are assumed
fixed and represent a production constraint. In the long run, no such constraint
exists because the quantity of all inputs can be changed.

3. Explain the difference between technical efficiency and economic

efficiency.
Production theory tells us that technical efficiency is obtained when the maximum
level of output is produced for a fixed level of inputs, given the state of
technology. Economic efficiency goes one step further and considers the cost
side of production. A firm achieves economic efficiency when it chooses that
technically efficient factor input combination that minimizes cost. Relative input
prices determine the least-cost input mix.

4. Discuss the relation between the marginal and average productivity

curves and the marginal and average variable cost curves.
The marginal cost of production equals the wage rate divided by the marginal
product of the variable labor input, while average variable cost of production
equals the wage divided by the average product of the variable labor input. This
reciprocal relation means the shapes of the marginal and average variable cost
curves depend on the shapes of the marginal and average productivity curves.
Specifically, when the marginal and average productivity curves are downward
(upward) sloping, the marginal and average variable cost curves are upward
(downward) sloping respectively.

5. What does the elasticity of substitution illustrate? How is it expressed

mathematically? What two factors affect its magnitude?
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7-1
The value of the elasticity of substitution ranges from zero to infinity and
measures the degree to which two inputs can be substituted for one another in
the production process. Mathematically, it equals the percentage change in the
input ratio, divided by the percentage change in the ratio of the inputs’ marginal
productivities. Its magnitude is affected by the ease of substitution as indicated
by technical and legal considerations.

6. Explain the difference between the explicit and implicit costs of

production. Cite an example of each.
Explicit costs are direct payments to nonowners of the firm, while implicit costs
represent the opportunity cost of using resources contributed by the owners of
the firm. A payment made to a pharmaceutical company by a hospital for drugs is
an example of an explicit payment. The situation where a group of physicians
expands their medical practice into a building they already own and were renting
out to a computer firm is an example of an implicit cost. In this case, the foregone
rental income equals an implicit cost.

7. Suppose that with 400 patients per year, the SAFC, SATC and SMC of
operating a physician clinic are $10, $35, and $30 per patient, respectively.
Furthermore, suppose the physician decides to increase the annual patient
load by one more patient. Using short-run cost theory, explain the impact
of this additional patient on the SAVC and SATC. Do they increase or
decrease? Why?
The new SAVC will increase since the SMC of $30 exceeds the original SAVC of
$25, found by subtracting SAFC from SATC. The new SATC will decline since
the SMC of $30 is below the original SATC of $35.

8. What factors shift the short-run average variable and total cost curves?
Explain why these curves would shift up or down in response to changes
in these factors?
Any change in variable input prices, the quality of care, or the patient case-mix
will shift the short-run average variable and total cost curves. In addition, a
change in fixed costs will shift the total cost curve but not the short-run average
variable cost curve. For example, an increase in labor costs would cause both
curves to shift upward because the marginal cost of production would increase.
The curves would also shift upward if the medical care provider increased the
quality of care or serviced a more severe patient case-mix.

9. Suppose you were to specify a short-run total variable cost function for a
nursing home. Explain the variables you would include in the function.
What is the expected relation between a change in each of these variables
and short-run total variable costs?
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7-2
The short-run total variable cost function for a nursing home should consider the
following variables: the quantity of patient days, a measure for the quality of care
provided, patient case-mix, input prices for various types of labor inputs including
nursing labor, auxiliary labor, administrative and professional labor, and the cost
of medical supplies. The function should also include a measure for the capital
stock that considers the size of the facility and medical equipment. Any increase
in output, quality of care provided, patient case-mix severity, or input prices
should positively impact short-run total variable costs.

10. What does economies of scope mean? Provide an example.

An organization experiences economies of scope when the total cost of jointly
producing more than one product is less than the sum of the cost of producing
each item individually. For example, the total cost of jointly producing emergency
and inpatient medical services for a hospital may be less than the total cost of
producing each service individually in separate facilities.

11. Explain the reasoning behind the U shape of the long-run average total
cost curve. Why might this cost curve shift upward?
In the long run, all inputs can be altered and the U shape of a long-run average
total cost curve depends upon the existence of economies and diseconomies of
scale. Any increase in input prices will cause the curve to shift upward.
Technological change also shifts the curve upward if it is cost-enhancing.

12. You are responsible for hiring one of two hygienists for a dental office.
The first dental hygienist has 25 years of experience. Given her record, she
is likely to satisfactorily service 16 patients per day. Her hourly wage would
be approximately $16 per hour. The other hygienist is new to the industry.
He is expected to satisfactorily service 10 patients per day at an hourly
wage of $8. Which dental hygienist would be the better hire? Why?
The less experienced hygienist is the better hire since his marginal productivity
per dollar spent equals 1.25 (10/8) whereas the marginal productivity per dollar of
the more experienced hygienist is 1.00 (16/16).

13. Santerre and Bennett (1992) estimated the short-run total variable cost
function for a sample of 55 for-profit hospitals in Texas (t-statistics are in
parentheses below the estimated coefficients).

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7-3
 ln STVC = 1.31 + 0.47ln q + 0.80ln w + 0.73ln QUALITY
(0.69) (3.31) (4.42) (2.58)
+ 0.11ln CASEMIX + 0.29ln k + 0.07ln DOC
(1.48) (3.16) (0.88)
+ Other factors

Adj. R 2 = .95
N = 55

where STVC = short-run total variable cost, q = a measure of output (total

inpatient days), w = average wage rate or price of labor, QUALITY = a
 measure of quality (number of accreditations), CASEMIX = an indicator of
patient case-mix (number of services), k = a measure of capital (beds), and
DOC = number of admitting physicians. All variables are expressed as
natural logarithms (ln), so the estimated coefficients can be interpreted as
elasticities.

A. How much of the variation in STVC is explained by the explanatory

variables? How do you know that?
Ninety-five percent of the variation is explained since the adjusted R2 equals
0.95.

B. Which of the estimated coefficients are not statistically significant?

Explain.
The estimated coefficient on ln DOC is not statistically significant since its t-value
is well below 2. The estimated parameter on ln CASEMIX is statistically
significant at the 90 percent level for a one-tailed test.

C. Does the estimated coefficient on output represent short-run economies

or diseconomies of scale? Explain.
The estimated coefficient on ln q is less than 1, so a 10 percent increase in
quantity, as measured by the number of inpatient days, results in a 4.7 percent
increase in short-run total variable costs. Thus, short-run economies are present
since a proportional increase in output causes a less than proportional increase
in costs. If the estimated coefficient on ln q was greater than 1 (equal to one), the
production process would exhibit short-run diseconomies (constant costs).

D. What are the expected signs of the coefficient estimates on w, QUALITY,

and CASEMIX? Explain.
Expected signs are all positive since cost theory suggests that all of these factors
typically lead to greater costs of production.

E. Provide an economic interpretation of the magnitude of the estimated

coefficient on w.

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7-4
The coefficient estimate implies ceteris paribus that a 10 percent increase in
wages leads to an 8 percent increase in short-run total variable costs.

F. What do the estimated coefficients on k and DOC suggest about the

amount of capital and physicians at the representative hospital?
Since the estimated coefficients on the two fixed inputs are not statistically less
than zero, they imply that the representative hospital has too many doctors and
too much capital.

14. Draw a U-shaped LATC curve. Then draw the related long-run marginal
cost (LMC) curve, keeping in mind the geometric relation between marginal
cost and average cost (see the discussion on short-run cost curves). What
is the relation between LATC and LMC when increasing returns to scale are
present? Between LATC and LMC when the production process exhibits
decreasing returns to scale? What type of returns to scale holds when LMC
equals LATC?
The LMC is less than the LATC when increasing returns to scale are present,
and the LMC is greater than the LATC when decreasing returns to scale are
present. When the LMC equals the LATC, constant returns to scale exist.

15. Describe the two limitations associated with the cost theory provided in
this chapter when it is applied to explain the behavior of medical firms.
First, a number of medical care providers are not-for-profit entities and may not
have the incentive to operate on their cost curves. Second, medical firms face an
uncertain demand for their services and may operate with a certain level of
reserve capacity in order to accommodate unanticipated increases in demand.

16. Suppose that you are interested in comparing the costs of producing
inpatient services at Saving Grace Hospital with those at ACME Hospital.
Further suppose that the two hospitals annually admit about 24,000 and
32,000 patients, respectively, at average short-run total costs per
admission of roughly $11,000 and $12,000.

A. Why may these average STC figures not represent the economic cost of
providing inpatient services at these two hospitals? Explain fully.
These figures may represent only the explicit costs and not the implicit costs of
operating the hospitals. The implicit costs reflect the opportunity costs of the
resources that are owned by the two hospitals.

B. Suppose that these cost figures accurately reflect the economic costs of
providing inpatient services at these two hospitals and that the two
hospitals face the same average total cost curve. Draw a graphical
representation of the average total cost curve (only) and graphically show
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7-5
and verbally explain why ACME Hospital produces at a higher cost than
Saving Grace Hospital.
Saving Grace Hospital is likely producing at a level of output closer to the
minimum point on the average total cost curve (Qs) whereas ACME Hospital
produces an output level further to the right of the minimum point on the average
total cost curve (Qa).
$

ATC

0 Qs Qa Q

C. Using cost theory as presented in the text, identify and fully discuss four
other factors that might explain why ACME Hospital has higher average
costs of production than Saving Grace Hospital.
Input prices, quality of care, patient case-mix severity, and the amount of the
fixed inputs. Specifically, higher input prices, greater quality of care, a more
severe patient case-mix, and excessive fixed inputs may all individually cause
ACME’s average cost curve to be located at a higher position than Saving Grace
Hospital’s average cost curve.

D. Fully explain how the comparative analysis becomes muddled if one

considers that one (or both) of the two hospitals is not organized on a for-
profit basis.
If one of the hospitals is not organized on a for-profit basis, it may face a non-
distribution constraint (see Chapter 4) and thereby face little if any incentive to
minimize costs. Therefore, the hospital may operate at a point above the average
cost curve for a given level of output. How high above the curve the hospital
operates becomes theoretically unclear and makes difficult any comparisons
between hospitals.

17. Why may vertically integrated delivery systems lead to lower

production costs? Why may these systems lead to higher costs? Use
agency theory and transaction cost economics in your explanation.
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7-6
Agency theory and transaction cost economics argue that vertically integrated
delivery systems lead to lower production costs if the savings brought about by
lower transaction costs exceed the costs resulting from incentive problems.
Higher production costs result if the opposite is true such that incentive costs
exceed the savings resulting from lower transaction costs.

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7-7
Another random document with
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to the company as if nothing had happened; and marriages
were sometimes kept a profound secret for months. It was
not a good fashion, and brought about a good many
complicated lawsuits, but it was not considered at all
disreputable.

Mrs. Philippa's fortune was in her own right, and nobody

had a shadow of authority over her, except, perhaps, her
brother, and as she was older than he by two or three
years, she naturally did not think he had any special right to
direct her. Doctor Brown's family, though not distinguished,
was respectable. There was nothing against him personally,
and he had a comfortable private fortune besides his office
at Durham. Nevertheless Sir Julius was furiously angry, and
wrote Mrs. Deborah a most unreasonable letter—as though
she had been the one to blame.

I think Mrs. Chloe suffered the most of any one from this
very unexpected healing of Mrs. Philippa's twenty years'
heart-break. She missed her sister, whom she had really
loved despite her unkindness, and I am sure she felt it hard
that Mrs. Philippa should get a rich husband, while she
herself had none at all. It was truly pitiable to see how the
poor thing's thoughts still ran upon such things, though
every one in the house could see with half an eye that she
was not long for this world. She grew thinner and weaker
every day, and her little dry cough kept her awake in spite
of all Mrs. Deborah's bread jellies, and poppy and lettuce
syrups.

Mr. Lethbridge used to come and read to her sometimes,

but she did not like him very much, and, indeed, he was not
a cheering visitor. I used to wonder if he thought it was
good for a sick person to hear the particulars of every case
of illness and suffering in the parish.
Mrs. Philippa paid us a visit, during Lent, with her husband.
I never in all my life saw any one so pleased with being
married. She could talk of nothing else, and uttered some
speeches which made us young ones feel as if we did not
know where to look. I never was fond of seeing over-much
billing and cooing in public between even young married
folks; but I never saw a bride and bridegroom of twenty-
one so exasperatingly silly in this respect as Doctor and
Mrs. Brown. However, she was very good-natured, and
invited us all to visit her so seen as she should be settled in
her new house, which, according to her description, was
quite a palace. She was especially kind to Mrs. Chloe, and
took great pains to amuse her. She staid a whole week, and
then left her old home apparently without a single regret.

We had another visitor during Lent, namely, Mr. Cheriton. It

seems Mr. Lethbridge had business in Newcastle which
would keep him there some three weeks, and Mr. Cheriton
learning of it, arranged to exchange duties with him for that
time. Oh what a comfort it was to have him preach again!

He held service on Wednesdays and Fridays, and, as we

always went to church, we saw him tolerably often. Mrs.
Deborah invited him to make the Hall his home during his
stay, but he declined, saying that there were so many cases
of severe illness among the people—as, indeed, there were
—that he wished to be near at hand in case of a sudden
call. Mrs. Deborah admitted the validity of the excuse, but
begged him to come to dinner or supper without ceremony,
as he would always find a plate, and he did so with very
tolerable frequency. Both parties kept carefully clear of
politics, and I think Mrs. Deborah came to regard Mr.
Cheriton's whiggery as more his misfortune than his fault—
as a kind of disorder that ran in some families like gout.
Mr. Cheriton was a fine musician, as I have said, and he
brought us a great parcel of new music by the best
composers. We used to sing together a deal, which was a
great pleasure to Mrs. Chloe. Next to having a love affair of
her own, was the pleasure of watching another's.

But Mr. Cheriton did Mrs. Chloe good in other and better
ways. He himself proposed that as she could not go to
church, he should have prayers for her benefit every
Sunday evening, after which he would read her his sermon.
He was a true "son of consolation," and knew just what to
say and what not. Whenever he spent the evening with us,
we had evening prayers, which we did not at other times,
and Mr. Cheriton usually said a few words upon the Gospel
for the day or week.

I think Mrs. Deborah, at first, looked on this practise of

preaching in a private house, as a dangerous innovation
akin to field preaching, and holding conventicles; but she
soon came to like it.

Mr. Cheriton held several long conversations with Mrs.

Chloe, and I began presently to perceive a change in her.
She left off talking about her past matrimonial chances, and
her plans for visiting "my Sister Brown," when warm
weather came. Her Bible was constantly in her hand or by
her side as she sat in her great chair or lay on the couch,
and she spent a good deal of time studying a volume of Mr.
Charles Wesley's poems, which Mr. Cheriton had brought to
Amabel.

"I don't know how it is, but they seem somehow to express
just what I want!" she said rather apologetically to Mrs.
Deborah one day. "And, you know, Sister Deborah, that Mr.
Wesley is a regularly ordained clergyman of the Church of
England."
"Do read them as much as you like, if they are any comfort
to you, Sister Chloe!" was Mrs. Deborah's reply.

I think she would even have welcomed a Roman Catholic

priest if he had brought any comfort to Chloe. I used
sometimes to wonder, by the way, how Mrs. Deborah
reconciled her hatred of popery and her almost idolatrous
loyalty to the banished Stewarts, but there were a great
many others in the same case. I do not believe there were
ever a more unreasonable and unreasoning set of people
than the English Jacobites. After all the national experience
of the faithlessness of their idols, they were just as ready to
fall down and adore them again, as though they had never
broken a pledge. They worshipped the Church of England.
Yet they were ready to set over her a man who was bound
by the most solemn obligations to overthrow her. It was
certainly a pity to see the blood and treasure that were
thrown away, and the misery and distress that were brought
about, by the unreasoning loyalty to one particular family,
which had never shown itself worthy of trust.

Mr. Cheriton went home at last promising to come again as

soon as possible, and leaving a great many well wishes
behind him. While he had been very careful not to interfere
with Mr. Lethbridge's arrangements, but on the contrary had
upheld him in every possible way, the people could not but
feel the difference between his ministrations and those of
the rector.

"Seems like as if one could talk to that gentleman and open

one's mind to him!" said Mary Thorne, a very intelligent old
woman in one of the alms houses. "He listens to one, he
does, and finds out what one means. I told him all my
trouble about the Sacrament,—" a matter on which poor old
Mary had been much exercised—"and told him how I was
afraid either to come or to stay away. Mr. Lethbridge always
said it was want of faith, and Doctor Brown would just say,
'poor soul, poor soul,' kind of pitying like, and then go home
and send me some broth or something. He was very kind,
but he didn't help me any. But 'Muster Cheriton,' he made it
all plain, and now it seems as if I could not wait for Easter
to come, that I may go to the Lord's table."

Easter came and passed very happily, and it was observed

that there were more communicants than were ever seen
before. We all went to church in the morning, except Mrs.
Chloe, who had failed a great deal of late, and now seldom
left her bedroom before noon.

In the afternoon, Mr. Lethbridge brought the feast to her,

and to old Roberts, who was growing very infirm and hardly
able to perform his duties.

Amabel and I walked out in the park, gathered a great

nosegay for Mrs. Chloe, and talked of our future as young
folks will do. Of course, I was to live with Amabel, till I had
a home of my own, and was to have the south room which
looked toward the church. I was not so light-hearted as
Amabel, for Mrs. Thorpe, who wrote to us sometimes, had
mentioned in her last letter that her nephew's ship had
never been heard from since it sailed for the Indies, and
that people were beginning to think something had
happened to her. However, I kept my troubles to myself, or
rather I tried humbly to lay them on some one better able
to bear them than I, and I listened to Amabel's plans and
discussed them with real interest and pleasure.

"Mrs. Chloe does not talk any more about the set of chairs
she was going to begin in the spring," remarked Amabel.
"She never says anything now about getting well when the
warm weather comes, but I think she seems a great deal
happier than she used."
"She has given up!" said I. "You know dear Mother Superior
used to say that there was great happiness in giving up.
Mrs. Chloe told me the other day, that you and Mr. Cheriton,
between you, had done her more good than you would ever
know."

"I am sure I am very glad to hear it!" said Amabel, her

quiet eyes shining with pleasure.

"Lucy, what have I done that I should be so happy? While

you that are so much better in every way—"

Amabel stopped short. It was the first time she had given
me a hint that she had guessed my secret.

"Don't, please, Amabel!" said I. "I hope I can bear all I am

called on to endure, but I can't bear to hear it talked about
even by you. Forgive me, dear!" For I was afraid I might
have hurt her.

"There is nothing to forgive!" said Amabel, pressing my arm

in hers. "I should feel just so."

We walked home without any more words, and I shut

myself up alone awhile. Comfort came to me by and by, and
when Mrs. Chloe remarked, as I kissed her good-night, that
this had been a happy day, I was glad to be able to agree
with her.

The next day but one, as Amabel and I were returning from
the village school, we were astonished to meet Mr. Cheriton.
His face was pale, his dress disordered, and his jaded horse
showed how fast he had travelled. It was just at the
entrance of the avenue, and one of the grooms being at
hand, Mr. Cheriton gave him the horse, with a charge to be
careful of him, as he had made a hasty journey.
"We were not looking for you!" said Amabel. "What has
brought you in such a hurry?" Then turning pale as Mr.
Cheriton did not answer, "Walter, what is it! You have ill
news. What does it mean?"

"That is what you must tell me!" said Mr. Cheriton, in a

hoarse voice, not a bit like his own. "I received this letter
yesterday. Read it both of you."

He put it into Amabel's hand, as he spoke, and I looked

over her shoulder. It was a very short and ungracious letter
from Sir Julius, saying that he had heard reports injurious
to Mr. Cheriton's character, and having learned from the
best authority, that these reports were even less than the
truth, he forbade him to entertain any hopes of his
daughter, or even to see her more.

"An enemy hath done this!" was Amabel's first word.

"Yes, but who? I did not know that I had one. I know some
idle tales were told about me at one time, but I thought
they had all died out long ago. Amabel, you will not—"

"Don't ask Amabel to pledge herself to anything just this

moment!" I interrupted. "Let us go straight to Mrs.
Deborah."

"You are right, Lucy!" said Mr. Cheriton. "I hardly know what
I am doing. Let us go to Mrs. Deborah, as you say."

"Mrs. Deborah is in her own sitting-room, reading her

letters!" said Richard, in answer to my inquiries. "An
express has come from Sir Julius, with great news."

I do not know that I have any Scotch blood, but I certainly

do have at times an odd kind of second sight. The moment
Richard spoke, I knew it all.
We found Mrs. Deborah sitting in her little room, half office,
half parlor. She had an open letter before her, but she was
not reading it. She was pale, and her black brows seemed
almost to hide her eyes. She hardly seemed at first to
understand who we were, and asked somewhat fiercely
what we meant by coming to disturb her.

"We wanted help!" said Amabel. "Aunt, can you explain

that?" Handing her the letter as she spoke.

Mrs. Deborah glanced through it.

"Too well!" said she. "I also have had a letter which explains
it all. Child, your father is married again, and to Lady
Throckmorton."

CHAPTER XX.

VISITORS.

"THAT is it!" said Mr. Cheriton, striking his hand on the

table, while Amabel and I stood as if dumb. "She told me
when I would not come to her card parties on Sunday, that
she would send me a bull's head. * And to think of the
hours that I have wasted, and worse than wasted in that
woman's house—dishonoring my Master's livery. It is a
judgment upon me, but this child—what has she done?"

* Alluding to the old Scottish and Northumbrian custom

of placing a bull's head before guests, whose death was
determined on.

"Hush, Walter, do not speak rashly, nor talk of judgments!"

said Amabel, speaking quite calmly, though she was pale as
death. "We will not talk of judgments, but of chastenings."

"Of persecutions, rather!" I added. "Blessed are they who

are persecuted for righteousness' sake! If you had kept on
flattering her, she would not have been your enemy."

"If I had never begun it, she could not have found occasion
against me!" returned Mr. Cheriton. "My sin hath found me
out."

"Hush!" said Mrs. Deborah, raising her hand. "You young

people think you have all to bear. Is it nothing to me to
have that woman come into my place,—knowing her as I
do? To see my only brother besotted with a—Oh me, oh me!
How shall I ever tell Chloe?"

And Mrs. Deborah broke down in a burst of bitter weeping,

dreadful to see in one usually so self-restrained. We were all
about her in a moment. She clasped Amabel in her arms,
and laying her head on her shoulder as she knelt on the
floor, she sobbed bitterly.

As for me, I was too fiercely angry to cry. Mr. Cheriton, who
had in some degree regained his self-control, at the sight of
Mrs. Deborah's distress, now spoke in his deep voice—

"Let us pray!"

I shall never forget that prayer, nor how it sustained and

comforted us all. We knelt in silence for some moments,
and then Mrs. Deborah rose—

"Children, we must consider what is to be done!" said she.

"It is evident that my brother has been set against Mr.
Cheriton, by somebody interested in preventing this
marriage. Be quiet while I read you his letter, or that part of
it which relates to you."

We listened accordingly. The letter was a repetition, for the

most part, of what Sir Julius had written to Mr. Cheriton,
only that it entered more into particulars, accusing Mr.
Cheriton of low intrigues, and conduct unbecoming a
gentleman, and concluded by saying—

"I will never give my daughter to a canting Methodist. Let

Mr. Cheriton give up his irregular practices—his field
preaching and class-meetings, let him apologize to my wife
for his affronts to her, and show by his conduct that he
regrets them, and I may possibly be induced to overlook
the natural irregularities of a young man. I say possibly, for
I may have other and higher views for my daughter."

"He is very good!" said Mr. Cheriton, with a look on his face
and a tone of bitterness in his voice, which I never
witnessed or heard before. "If I will give up preaching to the
poor and seeking the lost, that is to say, if I will give up the
work I am doing for the Lord, he will possibly overlook what
I am said to have done for the devil. As to Lady
Throckmorton, as I have never affronted her, I owe her no
apology. What say you, Amabel? Shall I give up my
preaching to the colliers and ballast men, for your sake?"
"Never!" said Amabel firmly. "I would rather never see you
more in this world, than that you should swerve one hair's
breadth from your duty for my sake."

"Besides, it would be only a chance!" said I. "Do you not

see, that Sir Julius says he may have other and higher
views for his daughter?"

"Let us say no more at present, my children!" said Mrs.

Deborah. "But take time to think. Mr. Cheriton, you are
much in need of refreshment. Lucy, will you order
something? Amabel, my love, you had better retire to your
room and compose your spirits. We will talk of this matter
again."

But a sad interval was to pass before the matter was again
discussed. We had not yet separated, when Jenny came in
all haste to say, that Mrs. Chloe had fallen into a fainting-fit,
and her woman could not bring her to, with all she could do.

"It was just that grinning fool Richard!" said Jenny in great
wrath. "He must come in with a basket of sticks, for Mrs.
Chloe wanted a bright fire, and what must he do, but
congratulate her on the happy news as he called it, and
when Mrs. Chloe asked what it meant, he said master was
married to Lady Throckmorton, and poor Mrs. Chloe, she
just gave one mournful cry and sunk back like one dead."

All these particulars were given to us, for Mrs. Deborah had
hurried to her sister. Poor Mrs. Chloe came out of her
fainting-fit, only to have a dreadful bleeding from her lungs.
An express was sent in all haste for the doctor, and another
for Mrs. Philippa—Mrs. Brown, I should say. The doctor did
not arrive till night, and then gave no hopes. Mrs. Chloe
survived about a week, and then passed quietly away, in
the comfort of a reasonable, religious, and holy hope. I
suppose she could not have lived long at any rate; but there
is no doubt that the news of her brother's marriage to a
woman whom she disliked, and with the best of reasons,
hastened her end. She gave Mrs. Deborah written directions
as to the disposition of her affairs, and said that she had
made her will, which was in the hands of Mr. Thirlwall, the
family lawyer and man of business at Newcastle. I had
supposed as much, knowing that he had paid her several
visits during the winter.

An express had been sent to Sir Julius, as soon as Mrs.

Chloe's case had been pronounced hopeless, and he arrived
in time for the funeral without his wife, who he said was
unfit for such a hasty journey.

I am not apt to take impressions at first sight. But when I

do, though I may sometimes change them for awhile, I am
very apt to return to them. My first sight of Sir Julius'
picture, led me to think him a vain man, at once weak and
obstinate. I have never seen cause to change my opinion.

Sir Julius greeted his sister with a great show of cordiality,

but withal, much as if he had been an impudent lad caught
robbing an orchard and determined to brave it out. He was
very gracious to Amabel, and more condescending to me
than I thought there was any call for, seeing that my family
was as good as his own or better, and that he had all these
years been pocketing the rents from my poor father's little
estate of Black Lees. (So I had learned from Mrs. Chloe,
though forgot to mention it in the right place.) However, I
was determined to bear everything for Amabel's sake.

He could not well find fault with the arrangements for the
funeral, seeing that Mrs. Chloe had ordered them all
herself; but he frowned at the needless expense, as he
called it, of giving new frieze coats to the poor men in the
alm-houses, and new gray gowns to the old women; and
swore roundly, when he heard that Mrs. Chloe had ordered
Mr. Cheriton to officiate at her funeral, "that he would not
have the canting Methodist enter his house."

"There will be no occasion for him to do so, since he will

meet my poor sister's corpse at the church-yard!" replied
Mrs. Deborah calmly. "Let me advise you, brother, to swear
no rash oaths. There has been harm enough done that way
in this family."

Sir Julius was silent, and made no more objection to Mr.

Cheriton. I could not but see how Mrs. Deborah put him
down, whenever they were together.

We had another very unexpected guest at the funeral.

Notice of Mrs. Chloe's death had been sent to an aunt of
Mrs. Deborah's who had married one of the Scots of
Eskdale, and was called Lady Thornyhaugh, after the name
of the estate, as the custom is in Scotland concerning
landed proprietors. She was a widow of many years
standing, and was about eighty-five years old, though no
one would have taken her to be seventy. She arrived on
horseback riding behind a trusty man-servant, and attended
by her bower-woman, as she called her, as old, upright, and
active as herself.

I fell in love with her at once, and she was kind enough to
take equally to me. Her presence was a great comfort to us
all, and especially to Mrs. Deborah. She was a beautiful old
lady, with silvery white hair which would curl in spite of her,
eyes the exact counterpart of Amabel's, and a perfectly
refined and ladylike manner. She spoke with a very strong
Scotch accent, but we had learned Scotch enough from
Elsie, not to mind that.
The funeral was celebrated, and then came the reading of
the will, at which all the family were present. It seemed
that Mrs. Chloe was much richer than either of her sisters,
since beside her share of her mother's fortune, which was
not inconsiderable, she had inherited some five thousand
pounds from a god-mother, for whom she was named.

This fortune, after a legacy of five hundred pounds apiece to

her brother and Mrs. Brown, and the same to myself; was
equally divided between Mrs. Deborah and Amabel. Mrs.
Deborah's portion was also to be divided between Amabel
and me after her death. Remembrances were left to Doctor
Brown and Mr. Lethbridge, to the doctor and lawyer, and to
each of the servants—even to the little girl who weeded the
flower-beds.

I think, Mrs. Philippa—I shall never learn to write Mrs.

Brown—was disappointed a little, but if so she was too
proud to show it. Indeed, I must say that no one could have
behaved better than she did throughout the whole affair. I
should say that Mrs. Chloe left "my Sister Brown" all her
ornaments, of which she had a great many, and a fine
cupboard of blue china which she had been collecting all her
life, and which Mrs. Philippa had always coveted.

Sir Julius, on the contrary, did not try to hide his vexation.
It was plain that he had always counted on Mrs. Chloe's
leaving all her money to himself, and I was wicked enough
to be glad to see him disappointed. He swore roundly at Mr.
Thirlwall for allowing Mrs. Chloe to make such an absurd
will, and for not letting him know about it in time to have it
altered.

The old gentleman took snuff, and answered quietly that it

was not his place to betray the secrets of his clients, but
that if Sir Julius was dissatisfied, he was quite welcome to
employ any other lawyer he pleased; whereat Sir Julius
drew in his horns, if I may be allowed the expression, and
began to stammer some sort of apology.

"I am astonished at you, brother, I am, indeed!" said Mrs.

Brown, with a great deal of real dignity. "My Sister Chloe
had a right to dispose of her property as she pleased, and I
for one am quite satisfied with the arrangement. Doctor
Brown, are you not satisfied with my sister's disposition of
her estate?"

"Certainly, my dear, certainly," replied the doctor; "and I

should have been satisfied if the good lady had not left us a
penny."

In which, I doubt not, he spoke the truth, for he was

already rich, and love of money was not one of his faults.

Sir Julius stayed at home about a week, and went away in a

much better humor than that he had brought with him. He
was very proud of Amabel's beauty and accomplishments,
and disarmed by her submission to his will. He had a long
talk with Mr. Cheriton, and at last, of his own accord, he
promised to put no force upon Amabel's inclinations for the
present, though he insisted that the young people should
neither see each other nor correspond till he gave them
permission, and this they both promised.

"I would not have the lass build too much on her father's
present mood," said the old lady from Thornyhaugh, as we
two sat together in the little south room the evening after
Sir Julius had departed. "I should not speak so of my nevoy
belike, but he aye minds me of what was said of King James
the Sixth by ane wha keened him weel. 'Do you ken a
jackanape?' said he. 'If you hold Jocko by the chain you can
make him bite me, but if I hold him by the chain I can make
him bite you.'"

"That is just what I think, madam," said I. (As we were

alone together I thought I might have the comfort of
speaking my mind for once.) "I know Lady Throckmorton—
Lady Leighton, I mean—a little, and from what I have seen
of them both, I do not believe Sir Julius is likely to make
any stand against her."

"Aye, and what do you know of her, my lass?"

In answer I gave her an account of our visit to Lady

Throckmorton.

"Just like her!" was the comment. "What's bred in the bone
stays long in the blood. I keened her mother before her, and
she was just such another. A fine guardian, truly, to set over
his daughter. Aweel, Lucy Corbet, I am no Papist nor favorer
of Papists, or of them that would bring them back on this
land, but, saving their religion, I would wish you and my
niece were safe back yonder in your convent. Poor children!
This world is a hard place for motherless lassies."

She stroked my head as I sat on a low seat to which she

had called me beside her, and I kissed her beautiful
withered hand, and felt comforted by her sympathy.

"What I most fear, if I may venture to say so, madam—" I

began, and then stopped.

"Say what is in your mind, bairn," said the old lady, "I shall
never repeat a word."

"What I fear for Amabel then is, that Lady Throckmorton—I

mean Lady Leighton—will try to marry her up to some of
the men who are always hanging about her—to Lord
Bulmer, for instance. Do you think, madam, that in that
case Amabel would be bound to obey?"

The old lady meditated for a moment before she spoke.

"No, bairn, I would not say so. If my nephew forbids his

daughter to marry this minister—what is his name?"

"Mr. Cheriton."

"Aye, Mr. Cheriton. If my nevoy forbids his daughter to

marry this man, though there be naught against him,
doubtless his daughter is bound to obey her father, at least
till she is of age. Children are to obey their parents in the
Lord. But no parent has the right to make his child perjure
herself by promising to love and honor a man whom she
hates and despises, or to promise to love one man while her
heart is another's. That such matches have sometimes
turned out well to appearance is but saying that sin is
sometimes overruled for good. Nay, I am as earnest as any
one for obedience to parents, but if a father bids his child to
bow down before an idol, she is not bound to obey."

We both started as Amabel came forward to the fire and

spoke, for we had not heard her enter.

"I think you are quite right, aunt," said she. "If my father
requires me to give up Mr. Cheriton I will do so, at least till I
am of age, but nothing shall ever make me marry any one
else, while he lives—nothing!"

She spoke without excitement, but with the calm resolute

air I knew so well.

"You are right, niece!" said Leddy Thornyhaugh. "So long as

you hold that resolution, nobody can make you marry. But if
you should ever, either of you, be driven to straits and need
a friend, come to me at Thornyhaugh and you shall find
one, if I am alive."

The good lady went away next day much regretted by us

all. Elsie would fain have returned with her foster-sister, for
such she was, but after some private conversation, she
decided to remain.

Doctor and Mrs. Brown also took their departure, Mrs.

Philippa—there it goes again—had made herself very
agreeable during her stay. She seemed wonderfully well-
pleased with her new state of life, and I suppose happiness
agreed with her. She gave us all pressing invitations to
come and visit her, and was very affectionate to Mrs.
Deborah at parting. I believe she did really in some degree
begin to appreciate her sister's forbearance toward her
through all those weary years. As for her husband, he was
always pleasant when he was pleased, and some people are
not even that. He was just the husband for Mrs. Philippa for
he was too easy-going to mind her little tempers, while he
could be firm enough when once he set his foot down.

As soon as our company had departed, Mrs. Deborah set on

foot a great house-cleaning and renovating. Sir Julius had
intimated his intention to return to Highbeck Hall in the
course of the summer with his wife and a party of friends,
and Mrs. Deborah was determined to leave all in order for
him. I say to leave advisedly, for nothing could shake her
determination to depart from Highbeck Hall before Lady
Leighton entered it.

"I will never see that woman in my honored mother's

place!" she said. "If my brother had chosen to marry a
sober respectable person like his second wife, though she
had been even a grocer's daughter, I should have nothing to
say; but I will never sleep under the same roof with that
woman."

Amabel and I found in this cleaning and moving process

some diversion at least. It was quite wonderful to me to see
what hoards of curious things had accumulated in the
house. Such heaps of old finery—silks and satins and laces
—such odds and ends of gold and silver, and old-fashioned
ornaments and what not. In turning out a chest of drawers
one day, we came cross an old needlecase of gold with blue
and white enamel, and seeing how much I admired it, Mrs.
Deborah gave it to me. Carelessly enough I laid it on the
top of a tall cabinet which stood in our bedroom, but when I
went to look for it, it had disappeared.

"What can have become of it?" said I to Amabel. "I am sure

I laid it here this morning."

"You should have put it carefully away in your work-bag,

and then it would have been safe!" remarked Amabel,
seeing an occasion which indeed she seldom wanted in my
case, for a little homily on tidiness. "Perhaps it has rolled
down behind the cabinet."

"I can see it!" said I peeping into the very narrow space
between the cabinet and the wall. "But I cannot reach it. Let
us try to move the cabinet out a little, Amabel."

To our agreeable surprise, the apparently heavy cabinet

moved with a good deal of squeaking and creaking indeed
but with tolerable ease, upon rollers concealed in the gilt
griffin's claws which formed its feet. I recovered my
needlecase and then began admiring the freshness and
beauty of the hanging behind the cabinet.

"It is of a different pattern from the rest!" remarked

Amabel. "It is like that in the little withdrawing-room down
stairs."

"It is not fastened to the wall, either," said I.

I raised the long strip of hanging as I spoke, and to my

surprise—to my alarm I might almost say—I discovered a
bolted door behind it.

"See here, Amabel!" said I. "This door opens into the ghost
room! Are you not afraid?"

"No, I don't know that I am!" replied Amabel. "There is a

good substantial bolt, as you see, and as for the ghost I
believe that sort of gentry do not need doors for their
entrance and exit."

"Would you dare open it?" said I. "I have a curiosity to see
how a room looks into which no one has set foot for two
hundred years and more."

"Well, look then! What harm can it do! And yet after all I
would let it alone, I think!" said Amabel. "Perhaps Mrs.
Deborah would not like it."

At that moment Amabel was called down stairs to attend to

some matter or other. I looked at the bolted door and my
curiosity grew stronger. I could not think of any harm it
would do to take a peep, and I wanted to see what a
ghost's room looked like. So I pushed back the bolt and
opened the door with less difficulty than I expected, rather
dreading all the time, lest I should see the poor wolf-lady's
green fiery eyes glaring at me through the darkness.

However, I saw nothing of the kind. The door opened into a

kind of closet or press, and that into a common-place
looking room enough, with a bed hung with dark faded red
stuff, and other furniture of the same sort. The windows