[Illustration: THE GIRLS MADE CANDIES AND COOKIES FOR EVERYBODY _Page 73_]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Juvenile Library

Girls Series

ETHEL MORTON'S HOLIDAYS

BYMABELL S. C. SMITH

THE WORLD SYNDICATE PUBLISHING CO. CLEVELAND--NEW YORK

MADE IN U. S. A. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright, 1915

PRESS OFTHE COMMERCIAL BOOKBINDING CO. Cleveland

------------------------------------------------------------------------

ETHEL MORTON'S HOLIDAYS

CHAPTER I

PREPARATIONS

The big brown automobile gave three honks as it swung around the cornerfrom Church Street. Roger Morton, raking leaves in the yard beside hishouse, threw down his rake and vaulted over the gate. 

"Good afternoon, sir, " he called to his grandfather, saluting, soldierfashion. 

"Good afternoon, son. I stopped to tell you that those pumpkins areready for you. If you'll hop in now we can go out and get them and I'llbring you back again. "

"Good enough!" exclaimed Roger. "I'll tell Mother I'm going. She mayhave some message for Grandmother, " and he vaulted back over the gateand dashed up the steps. 

In a minute he was out again and climbing into the car. 

"Where are the girls this afternoon?" inquired Mr. Emerson, as he threwin the clutch and started toward the outskirts of Rosemont where he hadland enough to allow him to do a little farming. 

"Helen and Ethel Brown have gone to the West Woods, " replied Roger, accounting for his sisters. "Somebody told them that there was a wildgrapevine there that still had yellow leaves bright enough for them touse for decorating tomorrow evening. "

"I should be afraid last night's frost would have shriveled them. Whatare Ethel Blue and Dorothy up to?" asked Mr. Emerson. 

Ethel Blue was Roger's cousin who had lived with the Mortons since herbabyhood. Dorothy Smith was also his cousin. She and her mother lived ina cottage on Church Street. 

"They must be over at Dorothy's working up schemes for tomorrow, " Rogeranswered his grandfather's question. "I haven't seen them sinceluncheon. "

"How many do you expect at your party?"

"Just two or three more besides the United Service Club. James Hancockwon't be able to come, though. His leg isn't well enough yet. "

"Pretty bad break?"

"He says it's bad enough to make him remember not to cut corners whenhe's driving a car. Any break is too bad in my humble opinion. "

"In mine, too. How many in the Club? Ten?"

"Ten; yes, sir. There'll be nine of us tomorrow evening--Helen and theEthels and Dorothy and Dicky and the two Watkinses and Margaret Hancock. She's going to spend the night with Dorothy. "

"Anybody from school?"

"George Foster, the fellow who danced the minuet so well in our show;and Dr. Edward Watkins is coming out with Tom and Della. "

"Isn't he rather old to come to a kids' party?"

"Of course he's loads older than we are--he's twenty-five--but he saidhe hadn't been to a Hallowe'en party for so long that he wanted to come, and Tom and Della said he put up such a plaintive wail that they askedif they might bring him. "

"I suspect he hasn't forgotten how to play, " chuckled GrandfatherEmerson, speeding up as they entered the long, open stretch of road thatended almost at his own door. "Any idea what you're going to do?"

"Not much. Helen and Ethel Brown are the decoration committee and I'mthe jack-o'-lantern committee, as you know, and Ethel Blue and Dorothyare thinking up things to do and we're all going to add suggestions. Ithink the girls had a note from Della this morning with an idea of somesort in it. "

"You ought to get Burns's poem. "

"On Hallowe'en?"

"We'll look it up when we get to the house. You may find some 'doings'you haven't heard of that you can revive for the occasion. "

"We decided that whatever we did do, there were certain stunts wewouldn't do. "

"Namely?"

"Swap signs and take off gates and brilliant jokes of that sort. "

"As a Service Club you couldn't very well crack jokes whose point liesin some one's discomfort, could you?"

"Those things have looked like dog mean tricks to me and not jokes atall ever since I saw an old woman at the upper end of Main Street tryingto hang her gate last year the day after Hallowe'en. "

"Too heavy for her?"

"I should say so. She couldn't do anything with it. I offered to helpher, and she said, 'You might as well, for I suppose you had the fun ofunhanging it last night'. "

"A false accusation, I suppose. "

"It happened to be that time, but I had done it before, " confessedRoger, flushing. 

"You never happened to see the result of it before. "

"That's it. I just thought of the people's surprise when they waked upin the morning and found their gates gone. I never thought at all of thereal pain and discomfort that it may have given a lot of them. "

"Your Club may be doing a good service to all Rosemont if it proves thatyoung people can have a good time without making the 'innocentbystander' pay for it. "

"We're going to prove it; to ourselves, anyway, " insisted Roger stoutly, as he leaped out of the car and took his grandfather's parcels into thehouse. 

"The pumpkins are in the barn, " Mr. Emerson called after him. "Go downthere and pick them out when you've given those bundles to yourgrandmother. "

The big yellow globes were loaded into the car--half a dozen ofthem--and Mr. Emerson drove back to the house. As he stopped at the sideporch for a last word with his wife he gave a cry of recognition. 

"Look who comes here!" he exclaimed. 

"Helen and Ethel Brown, " guessed Roger. "Don't they look like thosesoldiers we read about in 'Macbeth'--the fellows who marched alongholding boughs in their hands so that it looked as if Birnamwood hadcome to Dunsinane. "

"Roger is quoting Shakespeare about your personal appearance, " laughedMr. Emerson as he and his grandson relieved the girls of their burdens. 

They sank down on the steps of the porch and panted. 

"You're tired out, " exclaimed their grandmother. "Roger, bring out thatpitcher of lemonade you'll find in the dining-room. How far have youwalked?"

"About a thousand miles, I should say, " declared Helen. "We were boundwe'd get out-of-door decorations if they were to be had, and theyweren't to be had except by hunting. "

"You're like me--I like to use out-of-door things as late as I can;there are so many months when you have to go to the greenhouse or todraw on your house plants. "

"Ethel Blue and Dorothy have been educating the Club artistically. They've been pointing out how much color there is in the fields and thewoods even after the bright autumn colors have gone by. "

"That's quite true. Look at that meadow. "

Mrs. Emerson waved her hand at the field across the road. On it sedgeswere waving, softly brown; tufts of mouse-gray goldenrod nodded beforethe breeze; chestnut-hued cat-tails stood guard in thick ranks, and adelicate Indian Summer haze blended all into a harmony of warm, dullshades. 

"You found your grapevine, " said Roger, pouring the lemonade for hisweary sisters, and nodding toward a trail of handsome leaves, splendidlyyellow. 

"It took a hunt, though. What are you doing over here?"

"Getting the pumpkins Grandfather promised us. "

"You're just in time to have a ride home, " said Mr. Emerson. 

"You're in no hurry, Father; let the girls rest a while, " urged Mrs. Emerson. "Can't you make a jack-o'-lantern while you're waiting, Roger?"

"Yes, _ma'am_, I can turn you out a truly superior article in awonderfully short time, " bragged Roger. 

"He really does make them very well, " confirmed Helen, "but it's becausehe always has the benefit of our valuable advice. "

"Here you are to give it if I need it, " said Roger good naturedly. "We'll show Grandmother what our united efforts can do. "

So the girls leaned back comfortably against the pillars at the sides ofthe steps and Mrs. Emerson sat in an arm chair at the top of the flightand Mr. Emerson sat in the car at the foot of the steps and Roger beganhis work. 

"It'll be a wonder if I make anything but a failure with so manybosses, " he complained. 

"Keep your hand steady, old man, " teased his grandfather. "Don't letyour knife go through the side or you'll let out a crack of light whereyou don't mean to. "

"Be sure your knife doesn't slip and cut your fingers, " advised Mrs. Emerson. 

"Save me the inside, " begged Ethel Brown. "I'm going to try to make apumpkin pie. "

"Save the top for a hat, " laughed Helen. "I'll trim it with brown ribbonand set a new style at school. "

Roger dug away industriously under the spur of these remarks. 

"Is this the first year you've had a Hallowe'en party?" Mrs. Emersonasked. 

"We used to do a few little things when we were children, " Helenanswered; "but for the last few years we've been asked somewhere. "

"And with all due respect to our hosts we did a lot of the stupidest andmeanest things we ever got let in for, " declared Roger. "I was tellingGrandfather about some of them coming over. "

"So we made up our minds that we'd celebrate as a club this year, and dowhatever we wanted to. There's a lot more to a party than just theparty, " said Ethel Brown wisely. 

Her grandmother nodded. 

"You're right. The preparation is half the fun, " she agreed. "And it'sfun to have every part of it perfect--the decorations and therefreshments as well as whatever it is you do for your main amusement. "

"That's what I think, " said Helen. "I like to think that the house isgoing to be appropriately dressed for our Hallowe'en party just as muchas we ourselves. "

"Why doesn't your club give a series of holiday parties?" suggestedGrandfather. "Make each one of them a really appropriate celebration andnot just an ordinary party hung on the holiday as an excuse peg. Ibelieve you could have some interesting times and do some good, too, sothat it could honestly be brought within the scope of your Club'sactivities. "

"We seem to have made a start at it without thinking much about it, "said Roger. "The Club had a float, you know, in the Labor Dayprocession. "

"I didn't know that!" exclaimed Mrs. Emerson. 

"You were in New York for a day or two. Grandfather supplied the float!Why, we had just come back from Chautauqua a day or two before LaborDay, you know, and the first thing that happened was that a collectorcalled to get a contribution from Mother to help out the Labor Dayprocession. I was there and I said I didn't believe in taxation withoutrepresentation. He laughed and said, 'All right, come on. We'd be gladto have you in the procession'. "

"You were rather disconcerted at that, I suspect, " laughed Mrs. Emerson. 

"Yes, I was, but I hated to take back water, so I said that I belongedto a club and that I supposed he was going to have all the clubs inRosemont represented in some way. He said that was just what theywanted. They wanted every activity in the town to be shown in some shapeor other. "

"There wasn't time to call a meeting of the club, " Helen took up thestory, "so Roger and I came over and talked with Grandfather, and helent us a hay rack and we dressed it up with boughs and got thecarpenters to make some very large cut out letters--U. S. C. --two setsof them, so they could be read on both sides. They were painted whiteand stood up high among the green stuff and really looked very pretty. Everybody asked what it meant. "

"I think it helped a lot when I went about asking for gifts for theChristmas Ship, " said Roger. "Lots of people said, 'Oh, it's your clubthat had a float in the Labor Day parade'. "

"If we should work up Grandfather's idea we might have a parade of ourown another year, " said Helen. 

"Always co-operate with what already exists, if it's worthy, " advisedMr. Emerson. "Don't get up opposition affairs unless there's a goodreason for doing it. "

"As there is for our Hallowe'en party, " insisted Roger. 

"I believe you're right there. There's no reason why you should enterinto 'fool stunts' that are just 'fool stunts, ' not worth while in anyway and not even funny. "

"We'd better move on now if Grandfather is to take us over and get backin time for his own dinner, " said Roger. 

"Come, girls, can you pile in all that shrubbery without breaking it?Put the pumpkins on the bottom of the car, Roger, and the jacks on topof them. Now be careful where you put your feet. Back in half an hour, Mother, " and he started off with his laughing car load. 

CHAPTER II

HALLOWE'EN

"You're as good as gold to come out and help these youngsters enjoythemselves, " was Mrs. Morton's greeting to Edward Watkins when heappeared in the evening with Tom and Della. 

"It's they who are as good as gold to let me come, " he returned, smilingpleasantly. He was a handsome young man of about twenty-five, a doctorwhose profession, as yet, did not make serious inroads on his time. "What are these people going to make us do first, " he wondered as Rogerbegan a distribution of colored bands. 

"These are to tie your eyes with, " he explained: "Yellow, you see;Hallowe'en color. The girls insist on my explaining all their finepoints for fear they won't be appreciated, " he said to the doctor. 

"Quite right. I never should have thought about the color. "

"Mother, this is George Foster, " said Helen, welcoming a tall boy whowas not a member of the U. S. C. But who had helped at the Clubentertainment by taking part in the minuet. He shook hands with Mrs. Morton and Mrs. Smith and then submitted to having his eyes bandaged. Hewas followed by Gregory Patton, another high school lad, and to thegreat joy of everybody, James, after all, came on his crutches withMargaret. 

"Now, then, my blindfolded friends, " said Roger, "Grandfather tells methat it is the custom in Scotland where fairies and witches are veryabundant, for the ceremony that we are about to perform to open everyHallowe'en party. He has it direct from Bobby Burns. "

"Then it's right, " came a smothered voice from beneath James' bandage. 

"James is of Scottish descent and he confirms this statement, so we cango ahead and be perfectly sure that we're doing the correct thing. Ofcourse, we all want to know the future and particularly whatever we canabout the person we're going to marry, so that's what we're going to tryto find out at the very start off. "

"Take off my bandage, " cried Dicky. "I know the perthon I'm going tomarry. "

A shout of laughter greeted this assertion from the six-year-old. 

"Who is it, Dicky?" asked Helen, her arm around his shoulders. 

"I'm going to marry Mary, " he asserted stoutly. 

There was a renewed peal at this, and Roger went on with hisinstructions. 

"I'll lead you two by two to the kitchen door and then you'll go downthe flight of steps and straight ahead for anywhere from ten to twentysteps. That will land you right in the middle of what the frost has leftof the Morton garden. When you get there you'll 'pull kale'. "

"Meaning?" inquired George Foster. 

"Meaning that you'll feel about until you find a stalk of cabbage andpull it up. "

"I don't like cabbage, " complained Tom Watkins. 

"You'll like this because it will give you a lot of information. If it'slong or short or fat or thin your future husband or wife will correspondto it. "

"That's the most unromantic thing I ever heard, " exclaimed MargaretHancock. "I certainly hope my future husband won't be as fat as acabbage!"

"You can tell how great a fortune he's going to have--or she--by theamount of earth that clings to the stem. "

"Watch me pull mine so g-e-n-t-l-y that not a grain of sand slips off, "said Tom. 

"If you've got courage enough to bite the stem you can find out withperfect accuracy whether your beloved will have a sweet disposition orthe opposite. "

"In any case he'd have a disposition like a cabbage, " insisted Margaret, who did not like cabbage any more than Tom did. 

"Ready?" Roger marshalled his little army. "Two by two. Doctor and EthelBlue, Tom and Dorothy, James and Helen, George and Ethel Brown, Gregoryand Margaret. Come on, Della, " and he led the way through the kitchenwhere Mary and the cook were hugely entertained by the procession. 

With cries and stumbling they went forth into the cabbage patch, wherethey all possessed themselves of stalks which they straightway broughtin to the light of the jack-o'-lanterns to interpret. 

"My lady love will be tall and slender--not to say thin, " began Dr. Watkins. "I see no information here as to the color of her hair andeyes. Fate cruelly witholds these important facts. I regret to say thatI wooed her so vigorously that I shook off any gold-pieces she may havehad clinging about her so I can only be sure of the golden quality ofher character which I have just discovered by biting it. "

Amid general laughter they all began to read their fortunes. Tomannounced that his beloved was so thin that she was really a candidatefor the attentions of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty toAnimals, and that he couldn't find out anything about her characterbecause there wasn't enough of her to bite. 

Margaret had pulled a stalk that fulfilled all her expectations as tosize, for it was so short and fat that she could see no relation betweenit and anything human and threw it out of the window in disgust. Therest found themselves fitted out with a variety of possibilities. 

"There doesn't seem to be a real tearing beauty among them all, " sighedRoger. "That's what I'd set my heart on. "

"What do you expect from a cabbage?" demanded Margaret scornfully. 

"I want to know whether I'm going to marry a bachelor or a widower ornot marry at all, " cried Helen. "Let's try the 'three luggies' next. "

"First cabbages, then 'luggies', " said Della "What are 'luggies'?"

"'Luggies' are saucers, " explained Helen, while James brought a smalltable and Ethel Brown arranged three saucers upon it. "In one of them Iput clear water, in another one, sandy water, and nothing at all in thethird. Anybody ready to try? Come, Della. "

Della came forward briskly, but hesitated when she found that she mustbe blindfolded. 

"There isn't any trick about it?" she asked suspiciously. "I shouldn'tlike to have anything happen to that saucer of sandy water. "

"It won't touch anything but your finger tips, and perhaps not those, "Helen reassured her. "What you are to do is to dip the fingers of yourleft hand into one of these saucers. If it proves to be the one with theclear water you'll marry a bachelor; if it's the sandy one he'll be awidower, and if it's the empty one you'll be a spinster to your dyingday. "

"You have three tries, " cried Ethel Blue, "and the saucers are changedafter each trial, so you have to touch the same one twice to be sure youreally know your fate. Are you ready?"

"I'm ready, " and Della bravely though cautiously dipped the finger tipsof her left hand into the bowl of sandy water. 

A cheer greeted this result. 

"A widower, a widower, " they all cried. 

Helen changed the position of the saucers and Della made another trial. This time the Fates booked her as a spinster. 

"That's the least trouble of anything, " decided roly poly Della who tooklife carelessly. 

A third attempt proved that a widower was to be her future helpmate, forher fingers went into the sandy saucer for a second time. 

"I only hope he won't be an oldy old widower, " said Della thoughtfully. "I couldn't bear to think of marrying any one as old as Edward. "

"I'll thank you to take notice that I haven't got a foot in the gravejust yet, young woman, " retorted her brother. 

While some of the others tried their fate by the saucer method, the restendeavored to learn their future occupations by means of pouring meltedlead through the handle of a key. Roger brought in a tiny kettle of leadfrom the kitchen where Mary had heated it for them and set it down on asmall table on a tea pot stand, so that the heat should not injure thewood. Taking a large key in his left hand he dipped a spoon into thelead with his right and poured the contents slowly through the ring atthe end of the handle of the key into a bowl of cold water. The suddenchill stiffened the lead into curious shapes and from them those whowere clever at translating were to discover what the future held forthem in the way of occupation. 

"Mine looks more like a spinning wheel than anything else, " said Rogerwho had done it first so that the rest might see how it wasaccomplished. 

"Perhaps that means that you'll be a manufacturer of cloth, " suggestedMargaret. "Mine looks more like a cabbage than anything else. You don'tthink it can mean that I shall have to devote myself to that husband Ipulled out of the cabbage patch?"

"It may. Or it might mean that you'll be a gardener. Lots of women aregoing in for gardening now. By the time you're ready to start that maybe a favored occupation for girls, " said Dr. Watkins. 

"Here are several things that we can do one at a time while the rest ofus are doing something else, " said Helen. "They have to be done alone orthe spell won't work. "

"Let's hear them, " begged Gregory, while he and the others groupedthemselves about the open fire in the living room and prepared to burnnuts. 

"The first one, according to Burns, is to go alone to the kiln and put aclew of yarn in the kiln pot. "

"What does that mean translated into Rosemont language?" demanded James. 

"James the Scotsman asks for information! However, there's some excusefor him. Translated into Rosemont language it means that you go to thelaundry and put a ball of yarn into the wash boiler. "

"Easy so far. "

"Take an end of the ball and begin to wind the yarn into a new ball. When you come near the end you'll find that something or some one willbe holding it--"

"Roger, I'll bet!"

"You demand to know the name of your future wife and a hollow voice fromout the wash boiler will tell you her name. "

"I shan't try that one. There's too good a chance for Roger to put insome of his tricks. What's the next?"

"Take a candle and go to the Witches' Cave--that's the dining room--andstand in front of the looking glass that's on a little table in thecorner, and eat an apple. The face of your future wife or husband willappear over your shoulder. "

"I'll try that. I could stand a face that kept still, but to have anunknown creature pulling my yarn and bawling my wife's name would upsetmy nerves!"

"Here's the last one. Go into the garden just as we did to pull thekale. Over at the right hand side there's a stack of barley. It's reallycorn, but we've re-christened it for tonight. You measure it three timesround with your arms and at the end of the third round your beloved willrush into them. "

"If he proves to be my cabbage spouse you'll hear loud shrieks fromlittle Margaret!" declared that young woman. 

"Here are my nuts to burn, " said Ethel Blue, putting two chestnuts sideby side on the hearth. "One is Della and the other is Ethel Blue, " andshe tapped them in turn as she gave them their names. 

"What's this for?" asked Della, hearing her name used. 

"This is to see if you and I will always be friends. That right hand nutis you and the left hand is me--no, I. " Conscientious Ethel Blueinterrupted herself to correct her grammar. "If we burn cosily side byside we'll stay friends a long time, but if one of us jumps or burns upbefore the other, she'll be the one to break the friendship. "

"I hope I shan't be the one, " and both girls sat down on the rug towatch their namesakes closely. 

"Here are Margaret and her cabbage man, " laughed Tom. "This delicate, slender chestnut is Margaret and this big round one is Mr. Stalk of theCabbage Patch. Now we'll see how that match is going to turn out. "

Margaret laughed good naturedly with the rest and they watched this pairas well as the others. 

"Roger and I had a squabble yesterday, " admitted Ethel Brown. "Here isRoger and here is Ethel Brown. Let's see how we are going to get on inthe future. "

"Where is Roger really?" some one asked, but at that instant EthelBlue's nut and Della's caught fire and burned steadily side by sidewithout any demonstrations, and every one looking on was so absorbed intranslating the meaning of the blaze that no one pursued the question. 

That is, not until a shriek from the Witches' Cave rang through thehouse and sent them all flying to see who was in trouble. Dorothy wasfound coming out of the dining room, mirror in hand, and a strange taleon her lips. 

"If there's any truth in this Hallowe'en prophecy, " she said withtrembling voice, "my future husband will be worse than Margaret'scabbage man. The face that looked over my shoulder was exactly like ajack-o'-lantern's. "

"It was? Where's Roger?" Dr. Watkins demanded instantly, while Jameshobbled to the front door and announced that the jack had disappearedfrom the front porch. 

"Did any one ask for Roger?" demanded a cool voice, and Roger was seencoming down stairs. 

"Yes, sir, numerous people asked for Roger. How did you do it?"

"Do what? Has anything happened in my absence?"

"Not a thing has happened in your _absence_. Just tell us how youmanaged it. "

"I know, " guessed Helen. "He went outside and took the jack from theporch and carried it through the kitchen, into the dining room where itsmiled over Dorothy's shoulder, and then he went into the kitchen againand up the back stairs. Wasn't that it, Roger?"

"Young woman, you are wiser than your years, " was all that Roger wouldsay. 

While they were teasing him a shouting in the garden sent them all tothe back windows and doors. In the dim light of the young moon twofigures were seen wrestling. It was evidently a good natured struggle, for peals of laughter fell on the ears of the listeners. When one ofthem dragged the other toward the house the figures proved to be TomWatkins and George Foster. 

"I was measuring the barley stack, " explained Tom breathlessly, "andjust as I made the third round and was eagerly expecting my future brideto rush into my arms, something did rush into my arms, but I'll leave itto the opinion of the meeting whether _this_ can be my future bride!"and he held at arm's length by the coat collar the laughing, squirmingfigure of George Foster. 

It was unanimously agreed that George did not have the appearance of abride, and then they went back to the hall to bob for apples. Rogerspread a rubber blanket on the floor and drew the tub from its hidingplace in the corner where it had been waiting its turn in the games. 

While the boys were making these arrangements Dorothy and Helen werebusily trying to dispose of the two ends of the same string whichstretched from one mouth to the other with a tempting raisin tied in themiddle to encourage them to effort. It was forbidden to use the handsand tongues proved not always reliable. Now Dorothy seemed ahead, nowHelen. Finally the victory seemed about to be Helen's, when she laughedand lost several inches of string and Dorothy triumphantly devoured theprize. 

When the girls turned to see what the boys were doing, Gregory andJames were already bobbing for apples. One knelt at one side of the tuband the other at the other, and each had his eye, when it was not fullof water, fixed on one of the apples that were bouncing busily about onthe waves caused by their own motions. 

"I speak for the red one, " gasped Gregory. 

"All right! I'll go for the greening, " agreed James, and they puffed andsputtered, and were quite unable to fix their teeth in the sides of theslippery fruit until James drove his head right down to the bottom ofthe tub where he fastened upon the apple and came up dripping, buttriumphant. 

Stimulated by the applause that greeted James, Tom and Roger tossed intwo apples and began a new contest. 

"This isn't a girls' game is it?" murmured Helen as Tom won his apple bythe same means that James had used. 

"Not unless you're willing to forget your hair, " replied Dr. Watkins. 

"You can't forget it when it takes so long to dry it, " Helen answered. "I'm content to let the boys have this entirely to themselves. "

While the half drowned boys went up to Roger's room to dry their facesthe girls prepared nut boats to set sail upon the same ocean that hadfloated the apples. They had cracked English walnuts carefully so thatthe two halves fell apart neatly, and in place of the meats they hadpacked a candle end tightly into each. 

"We have the comfort of the apple even when we're defeated, " saidGregory, coming down stairs, eating the fruit that he had not been ableto capture without the use of his hands. "What have you got there?"

"Here's a boat apiece, " explained Helen. "We must each put a tiny flagof some sort on it so that we can tell which is which. "

"This way?" George asked. "I've put a pin through a scrap of corn huskand stuck it on to the end of this craft. "

"That's right. We must find something different for each one. Mine is ablack-alder berry. See how red and bright it is?"

It was not hard for each to find an emblem. 

"Watch me hoist the admiral's flag at the mainmast, " said Roger, but thematch that he set up for a mast caught fire almost as soon as thecandles were lighted in the miniature fleet. His flag fell overboard, however, and was not injured. 

"See that?" he commented. "That just proves that the flag of the U. S. A. Can never perish, " and the others greeted his words with cheers. 

It was a pretty sight--the whole fleet afloat, each bit of candleburning clearly and each little craft tossing on the waves that Dr. Watkins produced by gently tipping the tub. 

"This is also an attempt to gain some knowledge of the future, " saidHelen. "We must watch these boats and see which ones stay close togetherand which go far apart, and whether any of them are shipwrecked, andwhich ones seem to have the smoothest voyage. "

"Della's and mine are sticking together just the way our nuts did, "cried Ethel Blue, and she slipped her hand into Della's and gave it alittle squeeze. 

After the loss of its mainmast at the very beginning Roger's craft hadno more mishaps. It slid alongside of James's and together they bobbedgently across life's stormy seas. 

"It looks as if you and I were going into partnership, old man, " Jamesinterpreted their behavior. 

The other boats seemed to need no especial companionship but floated onindependently, only Gregory's coming to an untimely end from a heavywave that washed over it and capsized it. 

"I seem to hear a summons from the Witches' Cave, " murmured Helen in anawed whisper as a sound like the wind whistling through pine trees fellon their ears, resolving itself as they listened into the words, "Come!Come! Come!"

Quietly they arose and tiptoed their way toward the dining room. Theycould only enter it by penetrating the thicket of boughs that barred thedoor. As they came nearer the voice retreated--"Almost as if it weregoing into the kitchen, " whispered Margaret to Tom who happened to benext to her. The only light in the room came from a pan of alcohol andsalt burning greenly in a corner and casting an unnatural hue over theirfaces. The black cats, their eyes touched with phosphorus, glared downfrom the plate rail. 

Again the voice was heard:--"Gather, gather about the festal board. "

"We must obey the witches, " urged Helen, and they sat down in the chairswhich they found placed at the table in just the right number. Into thedim room from the kitchen came two figures dressed in long black capesand pointed red hats and bearing each a dish heaped high with cakes ofsome sort. 

"I just have to tell you what these are, " said Ethel Brown in hernatural voice as she and Ethel Blue marched around the table and placedone dish before Roger at one end and another before Helen at the other. "It's sowens. "

"Sowens? What in the world are sowens?" everybody questioned. 

"Grandfather told us that Burns says that sowens eaten with butteralways make the Hallowe'en supper, so we looked up in the CenturyDictionary how to make them and this is the result. "

"Do you think they're safe?" inquired Della. 

"There's a doctor here to take care of us if anything happens, " laughedJames. "I'm game. Give me a chance at them. "

Roger and Helen began a distribution of the cakes. 

"Sowens is--or are--good, " decided Dr. Watkins, tasting his cake slowly, and pronouncing judgment on it after due deliberation. 

"We tried them yesterday to make sure they were eatable by Americans, and we thought they were pretty good, smoking hot, with butter on them, just as Burns directed. "

"Right. They are, " agreed all the boys promptly, and the girls agreedwith them, though they were not quite so enthusiastic in theirexpression of appreciation as the boys. 

Baked apples, nuts and raisins, countless cookies of various lands andhot gingerbread made an appetizing meal. As it was coming to an endHelen rapped on the table. 

"Please let me pretend this is a club meeting for a minute or twoinstead of a party. I want to tell the people here who aren't members ofthe U. S. C. What it is we are trying to do. "

"We know, " responded George. "You're working for the Christmas Ship. Didn't I dance in your minuet?"

"We are working for the Christmas Ship, but that is only one thing thatthe Club does. "

"What do the initials mean?" asked Gregory. 

"United Service Club. You see Father is in the Navy and Uncle Richard isin the Army so we have the United Service in the family. But that isjust a family pun. The real purpose of the Club is to do some servicefor somebody whenever we can. "

"Something on the Boy Scout idea of doing a kindness every day, " noddedDr. Watkins. 

"Just now it's the Christmas Ship and after that sails we'll hunt upsomething else. Why I told you about it now is because we planned to goout in a few minutes and go up and down some of the streets, and--"

"Lift gates?" asked Gregory. 

"No, not lift gates. That's the point. We couldn't very well be aservice club and do mean things to people just for the fun of it. "

"Oh, lifting gates isn't mean. "

"Isn't it! I don't believe you'd find it enormously entertaining to huntup your gate the next day and re-hang it, would you?"

Gregory admitted that perhaps it would not. 

"So we're going out to play good fairies instead of bad ones, and if anyof you knows anybody we can do a good turn to, please speak up. "

"That's the best scheme I've heard in some time, " said Edward Watkinsadmiringly. "Let's start. I'm all impatience to be a good fairy. "

So they said "good-night" to Dicky, bundled into their coats and eachone of the boys took a jack-o'-lantern to light the way. Roger alsocarried a kit that bulged with queer shapes, and the girls each had aparcel whose contents was not explained by the president. 

"Lead the way, Roger, " she commanded as they left the house. 

"Church Street first, " he answered. 

"Church Street? I wonder if he's going to do Mother and me a good turn, "giggled Dorothy. 

It proved that he was not, for he passed the Smith cottage and went onuntil he came to the house in which lived the Misses Clark. Roger wastaking care of their furnace, together with his mother's and his AuntLouise's, in order to earn money for the expenses of the Club, and hehad discovered that these old ladies were not very happy in spite ofliving in a comfortable house and apparently having everything theyneeded. 

"These Misses Clark are lonely, " he whispered as they gathered beforethe door. "They think nobody cares for them--and nobody does much, totell the honest truth. So here's where we sing two songs for them, " andwithout waiting for any possible objections he broke into "The ChristmasShip" which they all knew, and followed it with "Sister Susie's SewingShirts for Soldiers. "

"Not very appropriate, but they'll do, " whispered Roger to Dr. Watkins, whose clear tenor supported him. Dorothy's sweet voice soared high, Tom's croak made a heavy background, and the more or less tuneful voicesof the others added a hearty body of sound. There was no response fromthe house except that a corner of an upstairs curtain was drawn asidefor an instant. 

"They probably think they won't find anything left on their front porchwhen they come down in the morning. They've had Hallowe'en visitsbefore, poor ladies, " said Gregory as they tramped away. 

The next visit was to a different part of the town. Here the girls lefttwo of their bundles which proved to contain apples and cookies. 

"I don't believe these people ever have a cent they can afford to spendon foolishness like this, " Helen explained to Dr. Watkins, "but theyaren't the sort of people you can give things to openly, so we thoughtwe'd take this opportunity, " and she smiled happily and went on behindRoger's leadership. 

This time the visit was to the Atwoods, the old couple down by thebridge. Roger had been interested in them for a long time. They were notsuffering, for a son supported them, but both were almost crippled withrheumatism and sometimes the old man found the little daily chores aboutthe house hard to do, and often the old woman longed for a littleamusement of which she was deprived because she could not go to visither friends. It was here that Roger's kit came into play. He took fromit several hatchets and distributed them to the boys. 

"We're going to chop the gentleman's kindling and stack up the woodthat's lying round here while the girls sing to the old people, " heannounced. 

So the plan was carried out. The girls gathered about the doorstep, and, led by Dorothy, sang cradle songs and folk songs and a hymn or two, while the boys toiled away behind the house. Again there was noresponse. 

"Probably they've gone to bed, " guessed Ethel Brown. 

"I imagine they're lying awake, though, " said Ethel Blue softly. 

It is an old adage that "many hands make light work, " and it is equallytrue that they turn off a lot of it, so at the end of half an hour theold peoples' wood pile was in apple pie order and the yard was in aspick and span condition. 

There were two more calls before the procession turned home and at bothhouses bundles of goodies were left for children who would not be apt tohave them. On the way back to the house the U. S. C. 's came across thetrail of a Hallowe'en party of the usual kind, and they pleasedthemselves mightily by hanging two gates which they found unhung, and byrestoring to their proper places several signs which some villagewit--"or witling, " suggested Dr. Watkins--had misplaced. 

The evening ended with the cutting of a cake in which was baked a ring. 

"The one who gets the ring in his slice will be married first, "announced Mrs. Morton, who had prepared the cake as a surprise for thosewho had been surprising others. 

They cut it with the greatest care and slowly, one after the other. Tothe delight of all Dr. Watkins's slice proved to contain the ring. 

"I rather imagine that's the most suitable arrangement the ring couldhave made, " laughed Mrs. Smith. 

"If one of these youngsters had found it, it would have meant that I'dhave to wait a long time for my turn, " he laughed back. "Wish me luck. "

CHAPTER III

MISS MERRIAM

The first fortnight of November rushed by with the final preparationsfor the sailing of the Christmas Ship filling every moment of the timeof the members of the United Service Club. When at last their threepacking cases of gifts were expressed to Brooklyn, they drew a sigh ofrelief, but when the _Jason_ actually left the pier they felt as if allpurpose had been taken out of their lives. 

This feeling did not linger with them long, however, for it was not manydays later that there appeared at the Morton's a Red Cross nurse, invalided home from Belgium, bringing with her the Belgian baby whichthey had begged their teacher, Mademoiselle Millerand, who had joinedthe French Red Cross, to send them. 

Truth to tell, the arrival of the baby was entirely unexpected. It hadcome about in this way. When the club went to bid farewell toMademoiselle Millerand on the steamer they learned that she hoped to besent to some hospital in Belgium. Ethel Blue, who had been reading agreat deal about the suffering of the women and children in Belgium, cried, "Belgium! Oh, do send us a Belgian baby!" The rest had taken upthe cry and James had had the discomfiture of being kissed by anenthusiastic French woman on the pier who was delighted with theirwarmheartedness. 

At intervals they mentioned the Belgian baby, but quite as a joke andnot at all as a possibility. So when the Red Cross nurse came with hertiny charge and told them how Mademoiselle Millerand had not been ableto resist taking their offer seriously since it meant help and perhapslife itself for this little warworn child, they were thoroughlysurprised. 

Their surprise, however, did not prevent them from rising to meet thesituation. Indeed, it would have been hard for any one to resist theappeal made by the pale little creature whose hands were too weak to domore than clutch faintly at a finger and whose eyes were too weary tosmile. 

Mrs. Morton took her to her arms and heart at once. So did all themembers of the Club and it was when they gave a cheer for "Elisabeth ofBelgium, " that she made her first attempt at laughter. Mademoiselle hadwritten that her name was Elisabeth and the nurse said that she calledherself that, but, so far as her new friends could find out, that wasthe extent of her vocabulary. "Ayleesabet, " she certainly was, but theremainder of her remarks were not only few but so uncertain that theycould not tell whether she was trying to speak Flemish or French or alanguage of her own. 

The nurse was obliged to return at once to New York, and the Mortonsfound themselves at nightfall in the position of having an unexpectedguest for whom there was no provision. Even the wardrobe of the newmember of the family was almost nothing, consisting of the garments shewas wearing and an extra gingham dress which a woman in the steerage ofthe ship had taken from her own much larger child to give to the waif. 

"Ayleesabet" ate her supper daintily, like one who has been so near theborderland of starvation that he cannot understand the uses of plenty, and then she went heavily to sleep in Ethel Blue's lap before the firein the living room. 

Aunt Louise and Dorothy came over from their cottage to join theconference. 

"It is really a considerable problem, " said Mrs. Morton thoughtfully. "These children here say they are going to attend to her clothing, andit's right they should, for she is the Club baby; but there are otherquestions that are serious. Where, for instance, is she going to sleep?"

A laugh rippled over the room as she asked the question, for thesleeping accommodations of the Morton house were regarded as a jokesince the family was so large and the house was so small that a guestalways meant a considerable process of rearrangement. 

"It isn't any laughing matter, girls. She can have Dicky's old crib, ofcourse, but where shall we put it?"

"It's perfectly clear to me, " said Mrs. Smith, responding to anappealing glance from Dorothy, "that the baby must come to us. Dorothyand I have plenty of room in the cottage, and it would be a very greathappiness to both of us--the greatest happiness that has come to mesince--since--"

She hesitated and Dorothy knew that she was thinking about the babybrother who had died years ago. 

"It does seem the best way, " replied Mrs. Morton, "but--"

"'But me no buts', " quoted Mrs. Smith, smiling. "The baby's coming isequally sudden to all of us, only I happen to be a bit better preparedfor an unexpected guest, because I have more space. Then Dorothy hasbeen just as crazy as the other girls to have a 'Belgian baby, ' and sheshouted just as loudly as anybody at the pier--I heard her. "

"Always excepting James, " Ethel Brown reminded them and they alllaughed, remembering James and his Gallic salute. 

"Don't take her tonight, Aunt Louise, " begged Ethel Blue. "Let us haveher just one night. We can put Dicky's crib into our room between EthelBrown's bed and mine. "

It was finally decided that Elisabeth should not be taken to Dorothy'suntil the next day, but Mrs. Morton insisted on keeping her in her ownroom for the night. 

"She has such a slight hold on life that she ought to have anexperienced eye watching her for some time to come, " she said. 

All the girls assisted at the baby's going to bed ceremonies, and tallHelen felt a catch in her throat no less than Ethel Blue at sight of thewasted legs and arms and hollow chest. 

"I wonder, now, " said Aunt Louise when they had gone down stairs again, leaving Ethel Blue and Ethel Brown to sit in the next room until theirown bedtime, so that the faintest whimper might not go unheard. "Iwonder where we are going to find some one competent to take care ofthis baby. A child in such a condition needs more than ordinary care;she needs skilled care. "

"Mary might have some relatives, " Dorothy began, when Helen made arushing suggestion. 

"Why not go to the School of Mothercraft? You remember, it was atChautauqua for the summer? And it's back in New York now. I've beenmeaning to ask you or Grandmother or Aunt Louise to take me there someSaturday, only we've been so busy with the Ship we didn't have time foranything else. You remember it?" she asked anxiously, for she hadespecial reasons for wanting her mother to remember the School ofMothercraft. 

"Certainly I remember it, and I believe it will give us just what wewant now. It's a new sort of school, " she explained to Mrs. Smith. "Thestudents are young women who are studying the science and art ofhome-making. They are working out home problems in a real home in whichthere are real children. "

"Babies and all?"

"Babies and children of other sizes. I'm going to study there when Ileave college. Mother says I may, " cried Helen, delighted that herfavorite school was on the point of proving its usefulness in her ownfamily. 

"Can you get mother helpers from there?"

"You can, and they're scientifically trained young women. Many of themare college graduates who are taking this as graduate work. "

"Then I should say that the thing for us to do, " said Mrs. Smith, "wasto leave the baby in Mary's care tomorrow and go in to New York and seewhat we can find at the School of Mothercraft. Will the students bewilling to break in on their course?"

"Perhaps not, but the Director of the school is sure to know of some ofher former pupils who will be available. That was a brilliant idea ofyours, Helen, " and Helen sank back into her chair pleased at the gentlestroke of approval that went from her mother's hand to hers. 

Dorothy and Mrs. Smith were just preparing to go home when the bell rangand Dr. Hancock was announced. 

"James and Margaret came home with a wonderful tale of a foundling withbig eyes, " he said when, he had greeted everybody, "and I thought I'dbetter come over and have a look at her. I should judge she'd needpretty close watching for a long time. "

"She will, " assented Mrs. Morton, and told him of their plan to secure ahelper from the School of Mothercraft. 

"The very best thing you can do, " the doctor agreed heartily. "I'm onthe Advisory Board of the School with several other physicians and Idon't know any institution I approve of more heartily. "

"Ayleesabet" was found to be sleeping deeply, but her breathing waseven and her skin properly moist and the physician was satisfied. 

"I'll run over every day for a week or two, " he promised. "We must makethe little creature believe American air is the best tonic in theworld. "

If the U. S. C. Had had its way every member would have gone with Mrs. Morton and Mrs. Smith when they made their trip of inquiry on the nextday. As it was, they decided that it was of some importance that Helenshould go with them, and so they went at a later hour than they had atfirst intended, so that she might join them. 

"There's no recitation at the last period, " she explained, "and I canmake up the study hour in the evening. "

When the news of the baby's arrival was telephoned to Mrs. Emerson shesuggested a farther change of plan. 

"Let me go, too, " she said; "I'll call in the car for you and Louise andwe'll pick up Helen at the schoolhouse and we shall travel so fast thatit will make up for the later start. "

Everybody thought that a capital suggestion, and Mrs. Emerson arrivedhalf an hour early so that she might make the acquaintance of Elisabeth. The waif was not demonstrative but she was entirely friendly. 

"She seems to have forgotten how to play, if she ever knew, " said Mrs. Morton, "but we hope she'll learn soon. "

"She sees so many new faces it's a wonder she doesn't howl continually, "said Mary to whose kindly finger Elisabeth was clinging steadfastly asshe gazed seriously into Mrs. Emerson's smiling face. Then for thesecond time since her arrival she smiled. It was a smile that broughttears to their eyes, so faint and sad was it, but it was a smile afterall, and they all stood about, happy in her approval. 

"You two have your own children and Father and I are all alone now, "said Grandmother, wiping her eyes. "Let us have Elisabeth. We needher--and we should love her so. "

"Oh!" cried both of the younger women in tones of such disappointmentthat Mrs. Emerson saw at once that if she wanted a nursling she mustlook for another, not Elisabeth of Belgium. 

"After all, perhaps it is better for her, " she admitted. "Here she willhave the children and will grow up among young people. Are you ready?"

When they picked up Helen she had a request to make of her grandmother. 

"I telephoned about the baby to Margaret at recess, just to tell herElisabeth was well this morning, and she was awfully interested in theidea of the helper from the School of Mothercraft. She gets out ofschool earlier than we do--she'd be just home. I'm sure she wouldn'tkeep you waiting. And the house is only a step from the mainstreet--can't we take her?"

So Margaret was added to the party that sped on to the ferry. Toeverybody's surprise, when they reached the New York end of the ferryEdward Watkins signalled the chauffeur to stop. 

"Roger telephoned Tom and Della about the baby, " he explained, "andabout your coming in today and I thought perhaps I might do something tohelp. I don't want to intrude--"

"We're going to the School of Mothercraft, " said Mrs. Morton, "and we'dbe glad to have you go with us. I don't know that we shall need to callon your professional advice but if you can spare the time we'd like tohave you. "

"Unfortunately, time is the commodity I'm richest in, " smiled the youngdoctor, taking the seat beside the chauffeur. 

The ride up town was a pleasure to the girls who did not often come tothe city, and then seldom had an opportunity to ride in any automobilebut a taxi-cab. As soon as possible they swung in to Fifth Avenue, whosebrilliant shop windows and swiftly moving traffic excited them. Theywere quite thrilled when they drew up before a pretty house, nodifferent in appearance from any of its neighbors, except that anunobtrusive sign notified seekers that they had found the right place. 

"It's a school to learn home-making in, " Helen explained to Margaret ina low tone as they followed the elders up the steps, "so it ought to bein a real house and not a schoolhouse-y place. "

Margaret nodded, for they were being ushered into a cheerful receptionroom, simply but attractively furnished. In a minute they were beinggreeted by the Director who remembered meeting at Chautauqua all of themexcept Edward, and she recalled other members of his family andespecially the Watkins bull-dog, Cupid, who was a prominent figure inChautauqua life. 

Mrs. Morton explained their errand, and also the reasons that hadbrought so large a number of them to the School. 

"We're a deputation representing several families and a club, all ofwhich are interested in the baby, but I should like to have the youngwoman you select for us understand that we are going to rely on herknowledge and skill, and that she won't be called to account by acouncil of war every time she washes the baby's face. "

The Director smiled. 

"I quite understand, " she said. "I think I know just the young woman youwant. She finished her course here last May, and then she went with meto Chautauqua for the summer and helped me there with the work we did inmeasurements and in making out food schedules and so on for childrenwhose mothers brought them to us for our advice. Miss Merriam--GertrudeMerriam is her name--is taking just one course here now, and I thinkshe'll be willing to give it up and glad to undertake the care of a babythat needs such special attention as your little waif. "

The whole party followed the Director upstairs and looked over withinterest the scientifically appointed rooms. There was a kindergartenwhere those of the children in the house who were old enough, togetherwith a few from outside, were taught in the morning hours. The nurserywith its spotless white beds and furniture and its simple andappropriate pictures was as good to look at as a hospital ward, "and alot pleasanter, " said Dr. Watkins. Out of it opened a wee roof gardenand there a few of the children dressed in thick coats and warm hoodswere playing, while a sweet-faced young woman sitting on the floorseemed quite at home with them. She tried to rise as the Director'sparty came out unexpectedly on her. Her foot caught in her skirt and Dr. Watkins sprang forward to give her a helping hand. 

"This is Miss Merriam of whom I was speaking, " said the Director, introducing her. "Will you ask Miss Morgan to come out here with thechildren and will you join us in the study?" she asked. 

Miss Merriam assented and when her successor arrived the flock went inagain to see the children's dining-room and the arrangements made fordoing special cooking for such of them as needed it. 

"We try not to have elaborate equipment, " explained the Director. "Iwant my young women to be able to work with what any mother providesfor her home and not to be dependent on machines and utensils that areseldom found outside of hospitals. They are learning thoroughly thescientific side. Miss Merriam, who, I hope, will go to you, is a collegegraduate, and in college she studied biology and food values andventilation and sanitation and such matters. Since she has been here shehas reviewed all that work under the physicians who lecture here, andshe has practised first aid and made a special study of infantrequirements. You couldn't have any one better trained for what youneed. "

Dr. Watkins gave his chair to Miss Merriam when she came to join theconference, and asked Mrs. Morton by a motion of the eyebrows if heshould withdraw. When her reply was negative he sat down again. MissMerriam blushed as she faced the group but she was entirely at her ease. Mrs. Morton explained their need. 

"A Belgian baby!" she cried. "And you want me to take care of her! Why, Mrs. Morton, there's nothing in the world I should like better. The poorlittle dud! When shall I go to you?"

"Just as soon as you can, " replied Mrs. Morton. "We've left her today incharge of my little boy's old nurse, but as soon as you come we shallmove her to my sister-in-law's. "

Miss Merriam turned inquiringly to Mrs. Smith, who smiled in return. 

"Mrs. Smith has only her daughter and herself in her family so she hasmore space in her house than I have. "

"But it's just round the corner from us so we can see the baby everyday, " cried Helen. 

"I can go to Rosemont early tomorrow morning, " said Miss Merriam. "Tellme, please, how to reach there. "

She glanced at Mrs. Morton, but Dr. Watkins answered her. 

"If you'll allow me, " he said; "I have an errand in Rosemont tomorrowand I'd be very glad to show you the way. "

Miss Merriam's blue eyes rested on him questioningly. 

"I'm an 'in-law' of the Club, " he explained. "My brother and sister, Tomand Della, are devoted members of the U. S. C. And sometimes they let mejoin them. "

"The doctor's bull-dog is an 'in-law, ' too, " laughed Mrs. Smith. "Don'tyou remember him at Chautauqua?"

"The dog with the perfectly _extraordinary_ face? I do indeed rememberhim, " and the inquiring blue eyes twinkled. 

"He appeared in an entertainment that the Club gave a few weeks ago forthe Christmas Ship and I think he received more applause than any otherperformer. "

"I'm not surprised, " exclaimed Miss Merriam. "Thank you, Dr. Watkins, Ishall be glad of your help, " and Edward had a comfortable feeling thathe was accepted as a friend, though he was not quite sure whether it wason his own merits or because he had a share in the ownership of a dogwith an _extraordinary_ face. 

He did not care which it was, however, when he called the next morningand found Miss Merriam waiting for him. She was well tailored and herhandbag was all that it should be. 

"I hate messy girls with messy handbags, " he thought to himself after asweeping glance had assured him that there was nothing "messy" aboutthis Mothercraft girl. The blue eyes were serious this morning, but theyhad a laugh in them, too, when he told her of the way the Belgian babywas first called for, upon a young girl's impulse, and the reward JamesHancock had received for his cordial joining in the cry. 

"I'm going to like them all, every one of them, " Miss Merriam said inthe soft voice that was at the same time clear and firm. 

"I'm sure they'll like you, " responded Edward. 

"I hope they will. I shall try to make them. But the baby will be adelight, any way. "

At Rosemont, to Dr. Watkins's disappointment, they found GrandmotherEmerson and the automobile waiting at the station. Edward bowed hisfarewell and went off upon his errand, and Mrs. Emerson and Miss Merriamdrove to Mrs. Smith's where they found Elisabeth already installed in asunny room out of which opened another for Miss Merriam. The arrangementhad been made by Dorothy's moving into a smaller chamber over the frontdoor. 

"I don't mind it a bit, " she declared to her mother, "and please don'tsay a word about it to Miss Merriam--she might feel badly. "

So Gertrude Merriam accepted her room all unconsciously, and rejoiced inits brightness. The baby was lying before the window of her own roomwhen Gertrude entered. It moved a listless hand as she knelt beside it. 

"You little darling creature!" she exclaimed and Elisabeth gave herinfrequent smile as if she knew that woman's love and science were goingto work together for her. 

CHAPTER IV

ELISABETH MAKES FRIENDS

Under Miss Merriam's skilful care Elisabeth of Belgium slowly climbedthe hill of health. She had grown so weak that she required to betreated like a child much younger than she really was. Miss Merriam gaveher extremely nourishing food in small amounts and often; she made herrest hours as long as those of a baby of a year and her naps were alwaystaken in the open air, where she lay warmly curled up in soft rugs likea little Eskimo. At night she and her care-taker slept on an upper porchwhere she drew deep draughts of fresh air far down into the depths ofher tiny relaxed body. 

"Ayleesabet"--everybody adopted her own pronunciation--was napping inDicky's old perambulator on the porch of Dorothy's cottage one Saturdaymorning early in December. The Ethels, their coat collars turned up andrugs wrapping their knees, were keeping guard beside her. Both of themwere alternately knitting and warming their fingers. 

"When she wakes up we can roll her down the street a little way, " saidEthel Blue. 

"Did Miss Merriam say so?"

"Yes, she said we might keep her out until twelve. "

"Are the Hancocks and Watkinses coming early to the Club meeting?"

"About half past two. The afternoons are so short now that they thoughtthey'd better come early so it wouldn't be pitch black night when theygot home. "

"We ought to do some planning for Christmas this afternoon. There's alot to think about. "

"There's one Christmas gift I wish Aunt Marian would give us. "

"What's that?" asked Ethel Brown expectantly for she had great faith inthe ideas that Ethel Blue brought forth now and then. 

"Don't you think it would be nice if she would let us have a visit fromKatharine Jackson for one of our presents?"

Katharine Jackson was the daughter of an army officer stationed at FortEdward in Buffalo. Her father and Ethel Blue's father had been in thesame class at West Point and her mother had known Ethel Blue's motherwho had died when she was a tiny baby. The two Ethels had had a week-endwith Katharine the previous summer, going to Buffalo from Chautauqua forthe purpose of spending a glorious Saturday at Niagara Falls. 

"O-oh!" cried Ethel Brown, "that's one of the finest things you everthought of! Let's speak to Mother as soon as we go home and write toMrs. Jackson and Katharine this afternoon if she says 'yes'. "

"I'm almost sure she will say 'yes'. "

"So am I. If Katharine comes we can save all our Christmas festivitiesfor the time she's here so there'll be plenty to entertain her. "

"Ayleesabet is waking. Hullo, sweet lamb, " and both girls leaned overthe carriage, happy because their nursling condescended to smile on themwhen she opened her eyes. Miss Merriam brought out a cup of warm foodwhen it was reported to her that her charge had finished her nap, andwhen the luncheon was consumed with evidences of satisfaction the Ethelstook the carriage out on to the sidewalk. Elisabeth sat up, stillsleepy-eyed and rosy from her nap, and gazed about her seriously at theroad that was already becoming familiar. 

"Oh, dear, " sighed Ethel Blue under her breath, "there are the MissesClark coming out of their house. "

"I hope they aren't going to complain of Roger, " Ethel Brown said, forRoger acted as furnace man for these elderly ladies who had gained forthemselves a reputation of being ill-natured. 

"It's too late to cross the street. They look as if they were comingexpressly to speak to us. See, they haven't got their hats on. "

It did indeed look as if the little procession was being waylaid, forthe Misses Clark stood inside their gate waiting for the Ethels to comeup. 

"We saw you coming, " they said when the carriage came near enough, "andwe came out to see the baby. This is the Belgian baby?"

"Yes; this is Ayleesabet. "

"Ayleesabet? Elisabeth, I suppose. Why do you call her that?"

"That's what she calls herself, and it seems to be the only word sheremembers so we thought we'd let her hear it instead of giving her a newname. "

"Ayleesabet, " repeated the elder Miss Clark, coming through the gate. "Will you shake hands with me, Ayleesabet?"

She held out her hand to the solemn child who sat staring at her withunmoved expression. Ethel Blue hesitatingly began to explain that thebaby did not yet know how to shake hands, when to their amazementElisabeth extended a tiny mittened paw and laid it in Miss Clark's hand. 

"The dear child!" exclaimed both women, and the elder flushed warmly asif the delicate contact had touched an intimate chord. She gave themitten a pressure and held it, Elisabeth making no objection. 

"Won't you bring her in to see us once in a while?" begged the youngerMiss Clark. "We should like so much to have you. We've watched her go bywith that charming looking young woman who takes care of her. "

"Miss Merriam. She's from the School of Mothercraft, " and Ethel Brownexplained the work of the school. 

"How fortunate you were to know about the school. It would have beenanxious work for Mrs. Morton and Mrs. Smith if they had had fullresponsibility for such a feeble baby. "

"We all love Miss Merriam, " said Ethel Blue. "Say 'Gertrude, 'Elisabeth, " and Elisabeth obediently repeated "Gertrude" in her softpipe, and looked about for the owner of the name. 

"We'll bring her in to call on you, " promised the Ethels, saying"Good-bye, " and they went on feeling far more gently disposed towardtheir cross-patch neighbors than they ever had before. As for the"cross-patches, " they looked after the carriage as long as it was insight. 

When the girls returned to Dorothy's they found Edward Watkins there. 

"It's very nice of you to come out to see how the baby is gettingalong, " said Ethel Brown, going in to the living room, while Ethel Bluehelped Miss Merriam take Elisabeth out of the carriage. 

"I mean to keep an eye on her, " replied Edward gravely. 

"You don't really have to do it if it isn't convenient, you know, "returned Ethel. "Of course we appreciate it tremendously, but Dr. Hancock is nearer and he's been coming over quite regularly. "

"I shan't try to compete with Dr. Hancock, " promised Dr. Watkins; "butElisabeth is the Club baby, you know, and Tom and Della are members soas their brother I feel almost a personal interest. "

"It's lovely of you to feel so. I just didn't want you to be bothered, "explained Ethel conscientiously. 

When Miss Merriam brought the baby in he examined her carefully as onetiny hand after another was released from its mitten and one slender legafter the other emerged from the knitted trousers. 

"She isn't what you'd call really fat yet, is she?" he commented. 

"She's a porpoise compared with what she was at the beginning, " insistedEthel Blue stoutly. "Miss Merriam can tell you how many ounces she hasgained. "

"She's gained in happiness, any way, " smiled the young physician as thebaby murmured "Gertrude" and patted Gertrude's flushing cheek. 

There was a full meeting of the United Service Club when Helen called itto order at a quarter of three and informed the members that it was hightime for them to discuss what they were going to do as a club forChristmas. 

"To tell the truth, I was awfully ashamed about our forgetting to doanything for anybody on Thanksgiving. It all came out right, because our'show' for the Home went off well and the old ladies were pleased, butwe didn't originate the idea and I feel as if we ought to make up forour forgetfulness by doing something extra at Christmas. Now who has anysuggestions?"

"I'd like to know first, " asked James, the treasurer, "just how we standwith regard to Elisabeth. I know we can't afford to pay Miss Merriam'ssalary; I am afraid we've got to call on the grownups for that--but wecan do something and we must, and we ought to find out about itexactly. "

"Mrs. Emerson is paying half Miss Merriam's salary, " explained Dorothy. 

"And Aunt Louise the other half, " added Ethel Brown. 

"I wrote to Father about Elisabeth, " said Ethel Blue, "and he said he'dsend us a hundred dollars a year for her. We could put it in the bankfor her, he said, if we didn't need to use it for doctors' bills oranything else. "

"Here's my pay from the Misses Clark; they forked over this morning, "said Roger elegantly, as he in turn "forked over" a bill to James. "Madam President, may the treasurer report, please?"

"The treasurer will kindly tell us what there is at the Club'sdisposal, " directed Helen. 

"The treasurer is obliged to confess that there isn't very much, "admitted James. "The Christmas Ship just about cleaned us out, and thecost of some of the material for costumes for 'Miles Standish' nearlyused up what was left. This greenback of Roger's is the best lookingthing I've seen for some days. "

"I haven't paid my dues for December, " confessed Ethel Blue. "Here theyare. "

It proved that one or two of the others were also delinquent, but evenafter all had paid there was a very small sum in hand compared with whatthey needed. 

"There isn't any use getting gloomy over the situation, " urged Helen. "If we haven't got the money, we haven't, that's all, and we must dothe best we can without it. Mother and Aunt Louise will wait to bepaid. It isn't as if we had been extravagant and run into debt. The babycame unexpectedly and had to be made comfortable right off. We canassume that responsibility and pay up when we are able. I don't thinkthat we ought to let that interrupt any plans we have to make Christmaspleasant for anybody. "

"I believe you're right, " agreed Tom, "but I think we must limitourselves somewhat. "

"You'll be limited by the low state of the treasury, young man, " growledJames. 

"Wait and hear me. I imagine that what the president has in mind for ourChristmas work is doing something for the children in the Glen Pointorphanage. "

Helen and Margaret nodded. 

"What do you say, then, if we decide to limit our Christmas work as aclub to doing something for the orphanage and for Elisabeth? And Ishould like to suggest that no one of us gives a personal present thatcosts more than ten cents to any relative or friend. Then we can placein the club treasury whatever we had intended to spend more than that, and do the best we can with whatever amount that puts into James's handsfor the Glen Point orphans and Elisabeth. Am I clear?" and he sank backin his chair in seeming exhaustion. 

"You're very long-winded, Thomas, " pronounced Roger, patting his friendon the shoulder, "but we get your idea. I second the motion, MadamPresident. We'll give ten cent presents to our relatives and friends andput all the rest of our stupendous fortunes into giving the orphans agood time and getting some duds for Ayleesabet or paying for what shehas already. "

The motion was carried unanimously, and each one of them handed to Jamesa calculation of how much he would be able to contribute to theChristmas fund. 

"It will come pretty near being ten cent presents for the orphans, "James pronounced after some work with pencil and paper. "We can't givethem anything that the wildest imagination could call handsome. "

"There are plenty of people interested in the orphanage who givethe children clothes and all their necessities, you know, " Margaretreminded her brother. "Don't you remember when we talked this over beforewe said that what we'd do for them would be to give them somefoolishnesses--just silly things that all children enjoy and that no oneever seems to think it worth while to give to youngsters in aninstitution. "

"Will they have a tree?"

"Our church always sends a tree over there, but I must say it's a prettylean tree, " commented James. "It has pretty lights and a bag of candyapiece for the kids, and they stand around and sing carols beforethey're allowed to take a suck of the candy, and that's all there is toit. "

"The Young Ladies' Guild has an awfully good time dressing it, "testified Margaret. 

"So did I winding up Dicky's mechanical toys last Christmas, " said Rogerrather shamefacedly. "I'm afraid the poor kid didn't get much of alook-in until I got tired of them. "

"In view of these revelations, Madam President, " began Tom, "I move thatwhatever we do for the orphans shall be something that they can join inthemselves, and not just look at. Anybody got an idea?"

"Our minds have been so full of the Christmas Ship that it has squeezedeverything else out, I'm afraid, " admitted Della, with a delicate frowndrawing her eyebrows. 

"Why can't we continue to make the Christmas Ship useful somehow?"inquired Dorothy. 

"Meaning?"

"I hardly know. Perhaps we could have our presents for the children in aChristmas Ship instead of on a tree. "

"That's good. They'll have one tree anyway; this will be a novelty, andit can be made pretty. "

"Can we get enough stuff to fill a ship?"

"Depends on the size of the ship. "

"It wouldn't have to be full; just the deck could be heaped withparcels. "

"And the rigging could be lighted. "

"How can we ring in the children so they can have more of a part thansinging carols?"

"Why not make them do the work themselves--the work of distributing thegifts?"

"I know, " cried Helen. "Why not tell them about the real Christmas Shipand then tell them that they are to play that they all went over with iton its Christmas errand. We can dress up some of the boys as sailors--"

"Child, you don't realize what you're suggesting, " exclaimed Margaret. "Do you know there are twenty or twenty-five boys there? We couldn'tmake all those costumes!"

"That's true, " agreed Helen, dismayed. Her dismay soon turned tocheerfulness, however. "Why couldn't they wear an arm band markedSAILOR? They can use their imaginations to supply the rest of thecostume. "

"That would do well enough. And have another group of them markedLONGSHOREMAN. "

"We can pick out the tallest boy to represent Commander Courtney andsome of the others to be officers. "

"You're giving all the work to the boys; what can the girls do?"

"Don't let's have any of them play orphan. That would come too nearhome. They won't follow the story too far. They'll be contented todistribute the gifts to each other. "

"Here's where the girls can come in. The officers can bring the goodship into port, and the sailors can make a handsome showing along theside as she comes up to the pier, and the longshoremen can staggerashore laden with big bundles. On the shore there can be groups of girlswho will undo the large bundles and take out the small ones that theycontain. Other groups of girls can go about giving out the presents. "

"I'll bet they'll have such a good time playing the game they won'tnotice whether the presents are ten centers or fifties, " shouted Roger. "I believe we've got the right notion. "

"We must do everything up nicely so they'll have fun opening theparcels, " insisted Helen. 

"Here's where James begins pasting again. Where's my pastepot, Dorothy?"inquired James who had done wonders in making boxes to contain the giftsthat went in the real Ship. 

"Here are all your arrangements in the corner, and I'll make you somepaste right off, " said Dorothy, pointing out the corner of the atticwhere a table held cardboard and flowered paper and scissors. 

Unless there was some especial reason for a meeting elsewhere the Clubalways met in Dorothy's attic, where the afternoon sun streamed incheerfully through the low windows. There the members could leave theirunfinished work and it would not be disturbed, and the place had provedto be so great a comfort during the autumn months, that Mrs. Smith hadhad a radiator put in so that it was warm and snug for winter use. Electric lights had made it possible for them to work there occasionallyduring the evening and it was as cheerful an apartment as one would careto see, even though its furniture was made largely of boxes convertedinto useful articles by Dorothy's inventive genius. 

"Some time during Christmas week we ought to cheer up the old couple bythe bridge, " urged Roger. 

"The same people we chopped wood for?" asked Tom. 

"The Atwoods--yes. It gets on my nerves to see them sitting there sodully, every day when I pass by on my way to school. "

"We certainly won't forget them. We can do something that won't make anydemand on our treasury, so Tom won't mind our adding them to ourChristmas list. "

"I dare say we'll think of others before we go much farther. What weneed to do now is to decide on things to make for the Glen Pointers, "and the talk went off into a discussion which proved to be merely aselection from what they had learned to do while they were making uptheir parcels for the real Christmas Ship. Now, with but a short timebefore Christmas, they chose articles that could be made quickly. Thegirls also decided on the candies that each should make to fill theboxes, and they made requisition on the treasury for the materials sothat they could go to work at once upon the lasting kinds. Before theafternoon was over the attic resumed once more the busy look it had wornfor so many weeks before the sailing of the _Jason_. 

"Ethel Blue!" came a call up the attic stairs. 

Ethel Blue ran down to see what her aunt wanted, and came back beaming, two letters in her hand. 

"Here's a letter from Mrs. Jackson to Aunt Marian saying that Katharinemay come to us for a fortnight, and another one from Katharine to metelling how crazy she is to come. Isn't it fine!"

Ethel threw her arm over Ethel Brown's shoulder and pulled her into themarch that was the Mortons' expression of great pleasure: "One, two, three, back; one, two, three, back, " around the attic. 

"When is she coming?" asked Roger, who had never seen Katharine and sowas able to endure calmly the prospect of her visit. 

"Two days before Christmas--that's Wednesday in the afternoon. "

"We'll ask grandmother to let us have the car to go and get her; it's somuch more fun than the train, " proposed Ethel Brown. 

"Um, glorious. "

The attic rang with the Ethels' delight--at which they looked backafterwards with some wonder. 

CHAPTER V

THE GOOD SHIP "JASON"

The Rosemont schools closed for the holidays at noon of the Wednesdaybefore Christmas, so all the Mortons and Dorothy were free to availthemselves of Mrs. Emerson's offer of her car to bring Katharine fromHoboken. It was a pleasant custom of the family to regard any guests asbelonging not to one or another member in particular but to all of them. All felt a responsibility for the guest's happiness and all shared inany amusement that he or she might give. 

According to this custom, not the Ethels alone went to meet Katharine, but Helen and Roger and Dorothy, too. Mrs. Morton chaperoned them andDicky was added for good measure. It was a sharp day and the Rosemontgroup were rosy with cold when they reached the station and linedthemselves up on the platform just before the Buffalo train drew in. Katharine and the Jacksons' German maid, Gretchen, were among the firstto get off. 

"Gretchen is going to make a holiday visit, too, " Katharine explainedwhen she had greeted the Ethels, whom she knew, and had been introducedto the other members of the party. 

Mrs. Morton and Roger instructed Gretchen how to reach Staten Islandwhere her friends lived and then they got into the car and sped towardhome. 

Katharine did not seem so much at ease as she had done when she playedhostess to the Ethels at Fort Edward. She was accustomed to meeting manypeople, but she was an only child and being plunged into a big family, all chattering at once, it seemed to her, caused her some embarrassment. In an effort not to show it she was not always happy in her remarks. 

"Is this your car?" she asked. 

"It's Grandmother Emerson's, " replied Ethel Brown. "She lets us have itvery often. "

"I don't care for a touring car in cold weather. My grandmother has alimousine. "

"We're glad to have a ride in any kind of car, " responded Ethel Bluehappily. 

"Roger, get out that other rug for Katharine, " directed Mrs. Morton, "she's chilly. "

"Oh, no, " demurred Katharine, now ashamed at having made a remark thatseemed to reflect upon the comfort of her friends' automobile. "I'm usedto a Ford, any way. "

"I'm afraid you don't know much about cars if you do come from anautomobile city, " commented Roger dryly. "This car would make aboutthree Fords--though I don't sneeze at a Ford myself. I'd be mighty gladif we had one, wouldn't you, Mother?"

Mrs. Morton shook her head at him, and he subsided, humming merrily, He took four spools and an old tin can And called it a Ford and the strange thing ran. 

The Ethels had not paid much attention to the conversation butnevertheless it had struck the wrong note and no one felt entirely atease. They found themselves wondering whether their guest would find herroom to her liking and they remembered uneasily that they had said "Iguess she won't mind" this and that when they had left some of theirbelongings in the closet. 

The Morton's house was not large and in order to accommodate a guest theEthels moved upstairs into a tiny room in the attic, where they were tocamp for the fortnight of Katharine's stay. They had thought it greatfun, and were more than willing to endure the discomfort of crowdedquarters for the sake of having the long-desired visit. Now, however, Ethel Brown murmured to Ethel Blue as they went into the house, "I'mglad we had one of the beds taken upstairs; it will give her morespace, " and Ethel Blue replied, "I believe we can hang our dancingschool dresses in the east corner of the attic if we put a sheet aroundthem. "

Indeed, Ethel Blue made a point of running upstairs while Katharine wasspeaking to Dorothy in the living room and removing the dresses from thecloset. She looked around the room with new sight. It had seemedpleasant and bright to her in the morning when she and Ethel Brown hadadded some last touches to the fresh muslin equipment of the bureau, butnow she wished that they had had a perfectly new bureau cover, and shewas sorry she had not asked Mary to give the window another cleaningalthough it had been washed only a few days before. 

"Perhaps she won't notice, " she murmured hopefully, but in her heart ofhearts she was pretty sure she would. 

Katharine made no comment, however, beyond lifted eyebrows when shenoticed anything different from what she had been accustomed to in ahouse where there was a small family, and, in consequence, plenty ofspace. She unpacked her trunk and hung up her clothes with care andneatness which the Ethels admired. Ordinarily they would have praisedher frankly for doing well what they sometimes failed to do well, butthey had not yet recovered from the constraint that her remarks on theway home had thrown over them. It was not lessened when she mentionedthat usually Gretchen did her unpacking for her. 

"Mary would love to unpack for us, " said Ethel Brown, "but if she didthat we'd have to do some of her work, so we'd rather hang up our dudsourselves. "

Katharine was greatly interested in the Club plans for the Glen Pointorphans. She had lived in garrisons in the remote West and in or nearlarge cities, but her experience never had placed her in a comparativelysmall town like Rosemont or Glen Point where people took a friendlyinterest in each other and in community institutions. She enteredheartily into the final preparations for the imitation Christmas Shipand she and the girls forgot their mutual embarrassment in their workfor some one else. 

Roger went to Glen Point in the morning of the day before Christmas tomeet the other Club boys and build the Ship in the hall of theorphanage. They worked there for several hours and lunched with Jamesand Margaret at the Hancocks'. The rest of the Mortons and Katharinetook over the parcels in the early afternoon in the car and arrangedthem on the deck as had been planned, and then all the young peoplecame back together, for they were to have a part in the lighting of theRosemont Christmas Tree. 

The tree was a huge Norway spruce and it was set up in front of the highschool which had a lawn before it large enough to hold a goodly crowd ofobservers. The choirs of all the churches had volunteered their servicesfor the occasion. They were placed on a stand elevated above the crowdso that they could lead the singing and be heard at a distance. 

Except for murmurs of admiration and a long-drawn breath of delightthere was no sound from the throng. It was too beautiful for speech;the meaning was too laden with brotherly love and cheer for it to bemistaken. A sad-eyed girl smiled to herself and gazed with new hope inher face; a pickpocket took his hand out of his neighbor's bag that hadopened like magic under his practised touch. Babies stretched out theirarms to the glitter; grown men stared silently with unaccustomed tearswetting their eyes. The school children sang on and on, "Oh, come all yefaithful, joyful and triumphant;" then "Hark, the herald angels sing, Glory to the new-born King;" and "It came upon the midnight clear. " Thefresh young voices rang gloriously, strengthened by the more maturevoices of the choirs. 

The stars were coming out before the first person turned away, and allthrough the night watchers of the tree's resplendent glory were found bythe patrolling policeman gazing, gazing, with thoughts of peacereflected on faces that had long been unknown to peace. 

It was after six when the Emerson car whirled the U. S. C. Back to theMortons' for a dinner that had to be eaten hastily, for they were due atthe Glen Point orphanage soon after seven so that all might be in orderfor the doors to be opened to the children at half past. Helen wasalways urging punctuality as Tom was commanding promptness. 

"If we were small youngsters and had had to wait all day for ourChristmas party we'd be wild at having it delayed a minute longer thannecessary, " the President insisted, and Tom added his usual exhortation, "Run the thing along briskly; don't let it drag. You can 'put over' lotsof stupid stuff by rushing it on gayly, and a good 'stunt' may be goodfor nothing if it goes slowly. "

"Helen and Tom can't say that they 'never sing the old, old songs, ' canthey?" laughed Ethel Brown. "The Club has never done anything yet thatwe haven't heard these same sweet strains from both of them. "

"You're very likely to hear them again--my chant, any way, " declared hersister firmly. 

"It won't do us any harm, " Ethel Brown yielded good-naturedly. 

The boys had made the good ship _Jason_ with some ingenuity. The matronhad let them have a table, long and so old that the marks of boots uponit would do no harm. This was important for it was to be used as theforward deck. Because in the days of its youth it had been used in thedining room of the smaller children it was lower than an ordinary table. This made it just the right height, for the ship's rail was to riseabove it, and if it had been higher the people on the floor could nothave seen the deck comfortably. 

At the end of the table was tied the mast--a broom stick with electriclight wires strung with tiny bulbs going from its top to the deck. Thiselectrical display was a contribution from Roger who had asked hisgrandfather to give it to him for his Christmas gift and had requestedthat he might have it in time for him to lend it to the _Jason_. It wasrun by a storage battery hidden in a box that was safely bestowed underthe deck. Aft of the mainmast were two kitchen chairs placed side byside to give the craft the needed length. 

The outside of the boat was made by stretching a double length ofwar-gray cambric from the bow--two hammock stretchers fastened to theend of the table--along the deck, past the chairs and across their end. The cloth was raised a trifle above the deck by laths nailed on to theedge of the table. The name, "Jason, " in black letters, was pinned alongthe bow. 

"It isn't a striking likeness of a boat, " confessed Roger, "but anyintelligent person would be able to guess what it was meant to be. "

When the children and a few other people who had begged to be allowed tocome entered the hall they found the ship lighted and with its deckpiled high with wooden boxes and parcels of good size. The members ofthe U. S. C. Were gathered beside the ship. When all had entered Helen, as president of the Club, mounted one of the chairs which representedthe after part of the boat and told the story of the real ship _Jason_. 

"Children from all over the United States sent Christmas gifts to theEuropean children who otherwise would not have any because of the war. Tonight we are going to pretend that we are all sailing on the _Jason_to carry the gifts to Europe. We've all got to help--every one of us. First of all we want a captain. I think that boy over there near thedoor will be the captain, because he's the tallest boy I see here. "

Embarrassed but pleased the tall boy came forward and Della fastened onhis arm a band marked CAPTAIN. Following instructions he mounted thechair from which Helen descended. Two under officers were chosen in thesame way, and the Ethels raised them to the ranks of first and secondlieutenants by the simple method of fastening on suitable arm bands. 

"Now we want some sailors, " cried Roger, and he selected ten other boys, who were all rapidly adorned with SAILOR bands by the U. S. C. Gifts. The ship was about as full as she could be now, with her officersstanding, one on the deck and the others on the two chairs, and thesailors manning the rail. Everybody was beginning to enjoy the game bythis time, and the faces that looked out over the gray cambric sides ofthe _Jason_ were beaming with eagerness to find out what was comingnext, while the children who had not yet been assigned to any task wereequally curious to find out how they were to help. 

"Now we're on the pier at the Bush Terminal at Brooklyn, " explained Tom. "Look out there; don't get in the way of the ropes, " and he pushed thecrowd back from the imaginary ropes, and whistled a shrill call on hisfingers. 

"See, she's moving! She's starting!" cried Ethel Blue. "Wave yourhandkerchief! Wave it!" she directed the children near her, who fellinto the spirit of the pretense and gave the Christmas Ship a noisysend-off. 

"Now we'll all turn our backs while the ship is crossing the Atlantic, "directed James. 

It required only a minute for the boat to make the crossing, and whenthe onlookers turned about after this trip of unparalleled swiftnessthey were told that now they were not Americans any longer; they wereEnglish people at Devonport gathered to watch the arrival of the _Jason_and to help unload the presents sent to the children of England andBelgium. 

"I want some longshoremen to help unload these boxes, " said Helen, "anda set of sorters and a set of distributors. Who'll volunteer aslongshoremen?"

There was a quick response, and this group exhausted all the boys. Theywere designated by arm bands each marked LONGSHOREMAN. Then she calledfor girls for the other two detachments and divided them into twosections, one marked SORTERS and the other DISTRIBUTORS. 

Under Roger's direction a chair, turned over on its face, made asloping gangplank down which the bundles could be slid. 

"Have your lieutenants place their men around the deck and on each sideof this plank, " he instructed the captain. "Then order a fewlongshoremen to go aboard and hand the bundles from one to another andslide them down the plank to the men on the pier who will take them overto the sorters. You, " he called to the girls, "you stay at that side ofthe room and open these large parcels when they are brought to you, andyou read what it says on the packages and make two piles, one of thosemarked 'Boy' and the other of those marked 'Girl'. Then there arebundles marked with the children's names. Give them out. See thateverybody has one package marked with his name and one package justmarked 'Boy' or 'Girl'. "

The Ethels had proposed this arrangement so that all the children shouldfeel that the distribution of gifts had been made by chance. The parcelsbearing the children's names were filled with candy and goodies and wereall alike. 

"Didn't I tell you they'd like foolishnesses!" she said to Helen in anundertone. "Look at those boys with jumping jacks. They love them!"

"See those youngsters with those silly twirling things Tom made, " saidDella. "He's right about the charm of those little flat objects. They'lltwirl them by the hour I really believe. "

All the gifts were of the simplest sort. There were the Danish twinsthat Ethel Blue had made for the real Ship--little worsted elvesfastened together by a cord; and rubber balls covered with crocheting tomake them softer; dolls, small and inexpensive, but each with an outfitof clothes that would take off; a stuffed kitten or two; severalbaskets, each with a roll of ribbon in it. 

"They can fit them up for work baskets afterwards, if they want to, "said Margaret, "but I'm not going to suggest sewing to these youngsterswho have to do it every day of their lives whether they want to or not. "

There were various kinds of candy in boxes covered with bright coloredand flowered paper, for James had outdone himself in developing newpasting ideas. There were cookies, too, and tiny fruit cakes. 

The faces of the Club members were as joyous as the faces of thechildren as they looked about them and saw evidences of the success oftheir plan. If they needed confirmation it was given them by the matron. 

"I've never seen them so happy, " she said. "I can't thank you enough forgiving them this pleasure. "

"It was lovely, " approved Katharine. "I'm so glad you let me help. "

It was still early when the merry party reached home, but Mrs. Mortonbundled them off to bed promptly. 

"You've all made a sacrifice to Dicky's Christmas habits, " sheexplained. "He's been in bed for hours and he's preparing to get up longbefore dawn, so we all might as well go to bed ourselves or we'll beexhausted by this time tomorrow night. "

"Hang your stocking on your outside door knob, Katharine, " cried theEthels. "We have Santa Claus trained to look there for it in thishouse. "

CHAPTER VI

CHRISTMAS DAY

Mrs. Morton's prophecy was fulfilled. It was still black night whenDicky roused from his bed and sent a "Merry Christmas" ringing throughthe house. There was no response to his first cry, but, undaunted, heuttered a second. To this there came a faint "Merry Christmas" from thetop story where the Ethels were snuggled under the roof, and anotherfrom Helen's room beside his own. Katharine said nothing and not a wordcame from Roger, though there was a sound of heavy, regular breathingthrough his door. 

"Let's put on our wrappers and go down stairs into Katharine's room, "suggested Ethel Brown. 

"It's lots too early. Let's wait a while, " replied Ethel Blue, so theylay still for another hour in spite of increasing sounds of ecstasy fromDicky. After all they decided to follow the usual family custom and taketheir stockings into the living room before breakfast instead of goingto Katharine's room. As they passed her door they knocked on it andbegged her to hurry so that they could all begin the opening at once. She said that she was up and would soon join them, but it proved to befully three quarters of an hour before she appeared. 

All the Mortons except Dicky had waited for her before opening theirbundles. 

"We thought you would excuse Dicky for not waiting; it's rather hard ona small boy to have such tantalizing parcels right before him and notattack them, " apologized Mrs. Morton. 

Katharine looked somewhat embarrassed to find that she had been thecause of so long a delay but she offered no excuse. 

"Let's all look at our stockings first, " said Ethel Brown, and everyhand dived in and brought out candy, nuts, raisins, an apple, an orange, dates and figs and candy animals. 

There were gifts among the goodies, or instructions where to find them. Roger discovered a pocket book that had been his desire for a long time, and a card that advised him to look under the desk in the library andsee what was waiting for him. He dashed off in a high state of curiosityand came back whooping, with a typewriter in his arms. 

"Aren't Grandfather and Grandmother the best ever!" he exclaimedrapturously, and he paid no further attention to his other gifts or tothose of the rest of the family while he hunted out a small table andarranged the machine for immediate action. 

Helen's chief presents were a ring with a small pearl, from hergrandmother and a set of Stevenson from her grandfather. The Ethels hadeach a tennis racquet and each a desk of a size suitable for theirbedroom. 

"They'll go one on each side of the window, " exclaimed Ethel Brown, while Ethel Blue at once began to store away in hers the supply ofstationery that came with it. 

Katharine's gifts were quite as numerous as the Mortons', for her motherhad forwarded to Mrs. Morton's care all those of suitable size that cameto Buffalo for her. She opened one after another: books, hair ribbons, apair of silk stockings for dancing school, a tiny silver watch on a longchain. Mr. And Mrs. Emerson had added to her store a racquet like theEthels'. 

More numerous than those of any of the others were Dicky's presents, andthey were varied, indeed. A velocipede was his grandfather's offeringand was received with shouts of delight. Blocks of a new sort occupiedhim when his mother stopped his travels on three wheels. A train of carsmade its way under Katharine's feet and nearly threw her down, to herintense disgust, and a pair of roller skates brought Dicky himself inher way so often that she spoke to him more sharply than he had everbeen spoken to in his life. He drew away and stared at her solemnly. 

"You're a cross girl, " he announced after a disconcerting pause, andKatharine flushed deeply at the accusation, realizing that it was notpolite to rebuke your hostess's brother and regretting her hasty speech. 

"Are you good for a long walk?" Roger asked Katharine after breakfast. 

Katharine said she was. 

"Then help me do up these things for Grandfather and Grandmother andwe'll be off, " and he threw down a handful of red paper and green ribbonand ran to get the shears. 

Roger and Helen together had given Grandfather Emerson a whole desk set, Roger hammering the metal and Helen providing and making up the pad androller blotter and ink bottle. It was a handsome set. The blotter wasgreen and the Ethels had made a string basket out of which came the endof a ball of green twine, and a set of filing envelopes, neatly arrangedin a portfolio of heavy green cardboard. 

All of the family had helped make the Chautauqua scrapbook that was Mrs. Emerson's principal gift from her grandchildren. Helen had written thestory of their summer at Chautauqua, Roger had typed it on a typewriterat school, and the others had chosen and pasted the pictures thatillustrated it. Ethel Blue had added an occasional drawing of her ownwhen their kodaks gave out or they were unable to find anything in oldmagazines that would answer their purpose, and the effect was excellent. Katharine looked it over with the greatest interest. 

"Here you are, all of you, going over from Westfield to Chautauqua inthe trolley, " she exclaimed, for she had made the same trip herself. 

"And here are the chief officers of Chautauqua Institution--BishopVincent and some of the others. "

"And here's the Spelling Match--my, that Amphitheatre is an enormousplace!"

"This is the hydro-aeroplane that we flew in, Ethel Brown and I. "

"These are different buildings on the grounds--I recognize them. This isa splendid present, " complimented Katharine. 

"It was heaps of fun making it. Did you notice this picture of Mother'sand Grandfather's class on Recognition Day? See, there's Mother herself. She happened to be in the right spot when the photographer snapped. "

"How lucky for you! It's perfect. I know Mrs. Emerson will be awfullypleased. "

"We hope she will. Are you infants ready?" and Roger swung the parcelson to his back and opened the door for the girls. 

"We're going to stop at Dorothy's, aren't we?" asked Ethel Blue. 

"Certainly we are. We want to see her presents and to give Elisabethhers and to say 'Merry Christmas' to Aunt Louise and Miss Merriam. "

"You seem very fond of Miss Merriam, " said Katharine to Ethel Brown asthey turned the corner into Church Street. 

"We are. She's splendid. She knows just what to do for Elisabeth andshe's lovely any way. "

"You act as if she belonged to the family. "

"Why shouldn't we?" asked Ethel in amazement. 

"Don't you pay her for taking care of the baby?"

"Certainly we pay her. We'd pay a doctor for taking care of her, too, only we happen to have two doctors related to the Club so they give ustheir services free. Why shouldn't we pay her?"

Ethel Brown was quite breathless. She could not entirely understandKatharine's point of view, but she seemed to be hinting that MissMerriam was serving in a menial capacity. The idea made loyal EthelBrown, who had not a snobbish bone in her body, extremely angry. Serviceshe understood--her father and her uncle and Katharine's father, too, for that matter, were serving their country and were under orders. Onekind of service might be less responsible than another kind, but thatany service that was honest and useful could be unworthy was not in hercreed. 

"No reason, of course, " replied Katharine, who saw that she had offendedEthel. "Any way, her work is more than a nursemaid's work. "

"I should say it was, " answered Ethel warmly; "she's taken severalyears' training to fit her for it. But even if she were just a nursemaidI should love her. I love Mary. She was Dicky's nurse and Mother saysshe saved him from becoming a sick, nervous child by her wisdom andcalmness. Mary's skilful, too. "

Katharine did not pursue the discussion, and Ethel Brown, when MissMerriam came into the room to wish them a "Merry Christmas, " threw herarms around her neck and kissed her. 

"You're a perfectly splendid person, " she exclaimed. 

Elisabeth was at her very best this morning. Never before had they seenher so beaming. She had a special smile for every one of them, so thateach felt that he had been singled out for favors. She shook hands withRoger, walked a few steps, clinging to the Ethels' fingers, pattedHelen's cheek, rippled all over when Dicky danced before her, and evenpermitted Katharine to take her on her lap. This was a concession onKatharine's part as well as on Elisabeth's, for Katharine was not muchinterested in a stray baby. She saw, however, that the Mortons all werein love with the little creature so she did her best to be amiabletoward her. 

"You're all so good to me, " she cried. "I love all these things thatyou've made for me with your own fingers. "

"We'd do more than that if we could, " answered Ethel Blue as they all, including Dorothy, swept out of the front door to take up their journeyto the Emersons'. 

At the Emersons' there was a renewal of greetings and "Thank yous" andlaughter, and a rehearsing of all the gifts that had been received. Mrs. Smith had sent Mrs. Emerson an unusual pair of richly decorated waxcandles which she had found at an Italian candlemaker's in New York, andMiss Merriam had sent her and Mrs. Morton each a tiny brass censer and asupply of charcoal and Japanese incense to make fragrant the house. 

"Mother gave us handkerchiefs all around, " said Roger, "and Mary bakedus each a cake and the cook made candy enough for an army. "

"You're dining at your Aunt Louise's, dear?"

"We're going right from here to carry some bundles for Mother and thento church, and then to Aunt Louise's for an early dinner. After dinnerwe are to call on the old ladies at the Home for a half hour and then wego back to a tree for Dicky--just a little shiny one; we've had all ourpresents. After supper the thing we're going to do is a secret. "

"That sounds like a program that will keep you busy while it lasts. They're not tiring you out, I hope?" Mr. Emerson asked Katharine, wholistened to Roger's list without displaying much enthusiasm. 

"I'm enjoying it all very much, " responded Katharine politely, but notin a tone that carried conviction. 

"How would it please you if the car took you back and helped you carrythose parcels for your mother?"

There was a general whoop of satisfaction. 

"Your grandmother and I are going to church, but we won't mind startingearlier than we usually do. "

"Which means right now, I should say, " said Roger, looking at his watch. 

At the Mortons' the car added Mrs. Morton and Dicky to its occupants andseveral large baskets containing Christmas dinners for people in whomthe Mortons had an interest. The young Mortons all had had a hand inpacking these baskets and in adding a touch of holly and red ribbon atthe top to give them a holiday appearance. 

"This first one is for old Mrs. Jameson, " Mrs. Morton explained to hermother. "Everything in it is already cooked because she is almost blindand cooking is harder for her than it is for most people. There is aroast chicken and the vegetables are all done and put in covered bowlspacked around with excelsior so that their heat won't be lost. "

"Like a fireless cooker. "

"The Ethels and Dorothy made enough individual fruit cakes for all ourbaskets, and we've put in hard pudding sauce so that they can be eatenas puddings instead of cakes. "

"The girls have made candies and cookies for everybody. That basket forthe Flynns has enough cookies for eight children besides the father andmother. "

"If their appetites are like Roger's there must be a good many dozencookies stowed away there. "

"You can see it's the largest of all, " laughed Mrs. Morton. 

Roger played Santa Claus at each house and his merry face and pleasantjokes brought smiles to faces that did not look happy when their ownersopened their doors. The Flynns' was the last stop and everybody in thecar laughed when all the Flynns who could walk, and that meant nine ofthem, fairly boiled out of the door to receive the visitor. Roger jumpedthe small fry and joked with the larger ones, and left them all in ahigh state of excitement. 

It was a very merry party that gathered around the Smiths' table, thelargest dinner party that Dorothy and her mother had given since theycame to Rosemont to live after they had met their unknown Mortonrelatives at Chautauqua the summer before. To Mrs. Smith it gave thegreatest happiness to see the children of her brothers sitting at hertable and to know that her sister-in-law was her very dear friend aswell as her relative by marriage. 

After dinner they all snapped costume crackers and adorned themselveswith the caps that they discovered inside them, and they set the newVictrola going and danced the butterfly dance that they had learned atChautauqua and had given at their entertainment for the Christmas Ship. Dusk was coming on when the Ethels said that they must go to the OldLadies' Home or they would have to run all the way. Grandfather Emersonoffered to whirl all of them over in the car, and they were glad toaccept the offer. 

They stopped at home to get the boxes of candy which they had prepared. It was while they were running up stairs to gather them together thatKatharine asked Ethel Blue if Mary might press a dress for her. 

"I want to wear it this evening, " she said. 

Ethel Blue gasped. Mary had not yet come back from Mrs. Smith's whereshe had served dinner for the large party and was still occupied inclearing up after it. Supper at home was yet to come. Mrs. Morton hadalways urged upon the girls to be very careful about asking to haveextra services rendered at inconvenient hours, and a more inconvenienttime than this hardly could have been selected. 

"Why, I don't know, " Ethel Blue hesitated. 

"Oh, if you don't care to have her--" replied Katharine stiffly. 

"It isn't that, " returned Ethel miserably. "Mary's always willing to dothings for us, but you see she's had a hard day and it isn't over yetand she won't have any holiday at all if she has to do this. "

"Very well, " returned Katharine in a tone that made Ethel feel that herfriend considered that she was being discourteous to her guest. "I canfind something else to wear this evening, I suppose. "

She looked so like a martyr that Ethel was most unhappy. 

"If you'll let me try it, I can use the stove in our own littlekitchen, " she offered, referring to the small room where Mrs. Mortonallowed the girls to cook so that they should not be in the way of theservants. 

"No, indeed, I could not think of letting you, " responded Katharine. 

"I don't know that I could do it. I never have pressed anythingnice--but I'd like to try if you'll trust me. "

"No, indeed, " repeated Katharine, and the girls entered the automobileeach in a state of mental discomfort, Katharine because she felt thatshe was not being treated with proper consideration, and Ethel Bluebecause she had been obliged to refuse the request of a friend andguest. The ride to the Home was uncomfortably silent. On Roger's partthe cause was turkey, but the girls were quiet for other reasons. 

The visit to the old ladies was not long. They distributed theirpackages and wished everybody a "Merry Christmas" and shook hands withtheir especial favorites and ran back to the car. 

The supper was not really a party meal. It merely served as a gatheringplace for the U. S. C. Before they went to the Christmas tree at thechurch. It also served as a background for Dick's little shining tree. This small tree had been a part of Dick's Christmas ever since he hadhad a Christmas, and to him it was quite as important as his dinner, although there never were any presents on it. 

It stood now on a small table at the side of the dining room. It waslighted by means of the storage battery and the strings of tiny electriclights that had been used for the Christmas Ship at the Glen Pointorphanage. There were all sorts of balls and tinsel wreaths and tiny, glistening cords. It glowed merrily while the supper went on, Dicky, atintervals of five minutes, calling everybody's attention to itsbeauties. There were favors at each plate, each a joke of some sort onthe person who received it. Every one held up his toy for the rest tosee and each provoked a peal of laughter. 

CHAPTER VII

NEW YEAR'S EVE

"Where is Katharine?" asked Mrs. Morton of the Ethels as Mary announcedluncheon on the day before New Year's. 

"She went over to Dorothy's. Shall I call her?"

"Give her a minute or two. She knows the luncheon hour, " repliedKatharine's hostess. 

But a minute or two and more passed and no Katharine appeared. 

"She must be lunching with Dorothy, " suggested Ethel Blue. 

"I'm sure Dorothy would have telephoned to ask if we had any plans thatwould interfere. "

"It's twenty minutes past the hour; you'd better call and see if she'sstill there, " said Mrs. Morton, "and we may as well sit down. "

Helen was still at the telephone and the family was seated whenKatharine came in. 

"You didn't wait for me, " she remarked with apparent surprise. 

"Of course you didn't realize that the luncheon hour had struck, " Mrs. Morton apologized for her. "Helen is calling Dorothy now to inquireabout you. "

Katharine made no reply and sat down with the injured air that she wasin the habit of wearing when she thought that not sufficient deferencehad been paid her. She offered no apology or explanation and seemed tothink, if any conclusion could be drawn from her manner, that she had agrievance instead of Mrs. Morton, whose family arrangements werecontinually being upset by her guest's dilatoriness and lack ofconsideration. The visit which had been looked forward to with suchdelight was not proving successful. For themselves the Ethels did notmind occasional delays, but they knew that all such matters interferedwith the smooth running of the house, and they could not help wonderingthat Katharine should seem to think that her hostess should rearrangethe daily routine to suit her. 

The evening meal was to be supper and not dinner and it was to beespecially early because it was to be cooked entirely by the youngpeople. The Hancocks and the Watkinses were at the Mortons' by fiveo'clock. Dr. Watkins came out, too, by special invitation, but he askedif he might be permitted to pay a visit to Elisabeth while the rest werepreparing the meal, in view of the fact that he was not skilled as acook, and felt himself to be too old to learn in one lesson. He wasallowed to go with strict injunctions to be back at half past six and tobring Miss Merriam with him. 

The Ethels had planned beforehand what they were going to have forsupper and the part that each was to take in the preparations. 

When the aprons had been taken off and the guests were all seated at thetable the supper went swimmingly. The oysters were delicious, the saladsufficiently "chunky" to please Roger, the biscuits as light as afeather and the fruit m�lange as good to look at as if it was to eat. 

The table decorations hinted at the New Year that was upon them. High ina belfry made of small sticks piled on each other criss-cross hung asmall bell. Silver cords ran from it to each place so that every guestmight in turn "Ring out the old, ring in the new. " Beside the tower onone side stood the Old Year bending with the weight of his twelve-monthof experience; on the other side was the fresh New Year, too young toknow experience. Both were dolls dressed by Dorothy and Ethel Blue. 

"I move you, Madam President, " said Tom when the meal was nearly over, "that we extend a vote of thanks to the cooks for this deliciousnourishment. "

"I was just on the point of making that motion, " laughed Edward Watkins. 

"And I of seconding it, " cried Miss Merriam. "It would come moreappropriately from us. "

"You were far too slow, " retorted Tom. "I couldn't wait for you. "

"As the president was one of the cooks she ought to place some one elsein the chair to put a motion complimentary in part to herself, but asthe maker of the motion and the seconder were also cooks we're all inthe same box and I don't believe it's necessary. All in favor say'Aye'. "

A shout of "Ayes" followed. 

"Contrary minded. "

Silence. 

"Madam President. "

"Mrs. Morton has the floor. "

"I don't want to seem inhospitable, but if you're going to reach theAtwoods' on time you'd better be starting. "

There was a general scattering and a donning of outer garments. The boyspicked up the bags and the Club started for the bridge, Dr. Watkins andMiss Merriam going with them. 

When the Ethels had called on Mrs. Atwood and had asked her if the Clubmight visit her on New Year's Eve the old lady had been not onlysurprised but somewhat alarmed. She grew more cordial, however, whenEthel Brown explained it to her. 

"Would you mind our asking some of our friends?"

"Not at all. We'd be glad to do the few small things that we've plannedfor just as many people as you can get in here. "

"That isn't many, " replied Mrs. Atwood, looking about her sitting room. "But there's one of my neighbors hardly ever gets to the stores or to amovie show, and I'd love to ask her in; and there's another one is justgetting up from a sickness. "

So the room was quite filled with guests when the Club members arrived. 

"That's the boy that hung my gate for me last year the day afterHallowe'en, " whispered one old woman as Roger made his way through theroom, and several of them said, "Those are the young folks that wentround after the regular Hallowe'en party this year and put back thesigns and things the other people had pulled down. "

The audience was so much larger than the Club had expected that Helen, as president, felt called upon to make a short explanation. 

"We're very glad to see you here, " she said, "but we don't want you toexpect anything elaborate from us. We've just come to entertain ourfriends for a short time in a simple way. So please be kind to us. "

Helen was wearing a pale pink dress that was extremely becoming, and hercheeks were flushed when she realized that these people had seen orheard of their more pretentious undertakings and might be expectingsomething similar from them now. 

There was a reassuring nodding all over the room, and then the youngpeople began their performance. Edward Watkins first played on theviolin, giving some familiar airs with such spirit that toes wenttapping as he drew his bow back and forth. 

Dorothy followed him with Kipling's "I Keep Six Honest Serving Men. " Themusic was Edward German's, and Helen played the accompaniment on Mrs. Atwood's little organ. The introduction was spirited and then Dorothysang softly. 

Dicky's turn came next on the program. He was introduced as the HonoraryMember of the United Service Club, and the name of the poem that he wasto recite was given as "Russian and Turk. "

"We don't know who wrote these verses, " Helen explained. 

Dicky was helped to the top of a box which served as a stage and bobbedhis bobbed hair at the audience by way of a bow. Every S he pronouncedTH, which added to the pleasure of the hearers of the following lines:

 There was a Russian came over the sea, Just when the war was growing hot; And his name it was Tjalikavakaree-- Karindobrolikanahudarot-- Shibkadirova-- Ivarditztova Sanilik Danevik Varagobhot. 

Dicky rattled off these names and two other similar stanzas withastonishing glibness to the amazement of his hearers. His first publicappearance with the Club was undeniably a success. 

The next number on the program necessitated the disappearance behind asheet drawn across the end of the room of almost all the members of theClub. Helen, who was making the announcements, stayed outside. A lightcame into view behind the curtain and the lights in the room were putout. 

"This is the last day of the year, " began Helen when a muffled whisperhad told her that all was ready, "and everybody is eager to know what isgoing to happen next year. We all would like to know, how the war isgoing to turn out, and what is going to be the result of the troubles inMexico, and whether Rosemont will get its new park--"

She was interrupted by laughter, for Rosemont's new park was still alive subject although it never seemed to approach settlement one way orthe other. 

"What you are going to see now on the screen we call 'Prophecies. ' Thepoet Campbell said that 'Coming events cast their shadows before, ' andwe might take that line for our motto. The first prophecy is one oftrouble. It comes to almost every person at one time or another of hislife. "

Silence fell on the darkened room. On the sheet came the figure ofDicky. It was recognized by all and greeted with a round of applause. Helooked around him as if hunting for something; then seized what wasunmistakably a jam pot and began to eat from it with a spoon. His figuregrew larger and larger and faded away as he walked back toward the lightand disappeared beyond it. In his place came the figure of EdwardWatkins, and those who knew that he was a doctor and those who guessedit from his physician's bag understood that his appearance was propheticof Dicky's deliverance from the suffering caused by jam. 

The light behind the sheet was moved close to the curtain while thetable and chairs were set in place. When it went back to its proper spotthere were seen the silhouettes of a group of men sitting around thetable arguing earnestly. 

"This, " said Helen, "is the Rosemont Board of Aldermen talking about thepark. "

The argument grew excited. One man sprang to his feet and anotherthumped the table with his fist. Suddenly they all threw back theirheads and laughed, rose and left the stage arm in arm. 

"They're wondering why they never agreed before, " Helen decided. "It'sthe Spring getting into their bones; and here are some of the people whoare benefited by the park. "

The table and chairs disappeared and a bench took their place. Therefollowed a procession of folk apparently passing through the park. Aworkman, shovel and pick over his shoulder, stopped to look up at thetrees. That was James. A young man and his sweetheart--Roger and EthelBrown--strolled slowly along. Dicky rolled a hoop. Margaret, carrying ababy borrowed from the audience, sat down on a bench and put it tosleep. 

The onlookers approved highly of this prophecy which was of a state ofaffairs which they all wanted. 

"The other day, " went on Helen in her gentle voice, "I found a prophecythat was not written for this war but for another, yet it is just astrue for the great war that is devastating the homes and hearts of mentoday. It was written by Miss Bates who wrote 'America the Beautiful, 'which we all sing in school, and it is called 'The Great Twin Brethren. 'You remember that the Great Twin Brethren were Castor and Pollux. Theywere regarded as gods by the Romans. They fought for the Romans in thebattle of Lake Regillus, and the high priest said about it, according toMacaulay:

 Back comes the Chief in triumph Who, in the hour of fight, Hath seen the Great Twin Brethren In harness on his right. 

These are the divine helpers to whom Miss Bates refers in her poem. "

On the screen there came into view the shadows of Castor and Polluxdressed like Roman knights--with a corselet over a loose shirt, a shortplaited skirt, greaves to protect their legs, a helmet on the head and aspear in the hand. While Ethel Brown, who had stepped forward, read thepoem, the two figures--really Roger and Tom, who were nearly of aheight--stood motionless. As it ended they glided backward and fadedfrom view. 

 THE GREAT TWIN BRETHREN

 The battle will not cease Till once again on those white steeds ye ride O Heaven-descended Twins, Before Humanity's bewildered host. Our javelins Fly wide, And idle is our cannon's boast. Lead us, triumphant Brethren, Love and Peace. 

 A fairer Golden Fleece Our more adventurous Argo fain would seek, But save, O Sons of Jove, Your blended light go with us, vain employ It were to rove This bleak Blind waste. To unimagined joy Guide us, immortal Brethren, Love and Peace. 

These beautiful lines were read with great seriousness and theirprofound meaning went to the hearts of the hearers. Its gravity wascounterbalanced by the next prophecy which gave hope of immediatefulfilment. Across the screen passed a procession of Club members, thefirst carrying a plate full of something that proved to be doughnutswhen one was held up so that its hole was visible. The second person inthe row bore a basket heaped high with apples, the third a dish ofcookies. Then came more doughnuts, nuts and raisins, corn balls, andoranges. The lights were turned on, and the silhouettes, changed bysimple magic into laughing boys and girls, passed among the peopledistributing their eatables. Every one had a word of praise for them. The Atwoods, for whom the effort had been made, said little, but shookhands almost tearfully with each performer. 

At home they found a rousing fire and something to eat awaiting them, with Mrs. Morton smiling a cheerful welcome. They sat before the fireand cracked nuts and ate apples until the chimes rang their notice that1927 was vanishing into the past and giving way to the New Year of hopeand promise. Clasping hands they stood quite still until the chimesstopped and the slow strokes of the town clock fell on their ears. Withthe last they broke into the hymn:

 Now a new year opens, Now we newly turn To the holy Saviour, Lessons fresh to learn. 

CHAPTER VIII

KATHARINE LEAVES

Katharine ended her visit a few days later and returned to Buffalo underthe care of Gretchen. She was escorted to the train, but the farewellsof the Morton's were not intermixed with expressions of regret at herdeparture. She had not been a considerate guest and she had not seemedappreciative of efforts that had been made especially to give herpleasure. 

It was on the way to the Atwoods' on New Year's Eve. Katharine and Dellawere walking together. 

"It must be rather awful, " said Katharine, "to have a family scandalsuch as the Morton's have. "

"A family scandal!" repeated Della. "What do you mean?"

"About Dorothy. Her father was shot, you know. "

"I know. But it wasn't a scandal. It was awful for Mrs. Smith andDorothy but there was nothing scandalous about it--nothing at all. Dorothy has spoken to me about it quite frankly. "

"She has?" returned Katharine skeptically. "I shouldn't think she wouldwant to. "

"I could see that it was very painful for her; but I think she and theMortons, too, would be much more pained now if they knew that a guestwas discussing their affairs. "

Katharine dropped Della's arm and the two girls hardly spoke during theremainder of Katharine's stay. 

When weeks passed and no "bread and butter letter" came from Katharineto thank Mrs. Morton and the family, the rudeness set the capstone toher sins against hospitality. 

"Any letter from Katharine?" became a daily question from Roger when hecame in from school and when he received a negative he sometimes openedhis lips as if to say something in condemnation. 

"Take care, " his mother warned him when this happened; "because a guestmakes mistakes is no reason that her host should copy them. "

With the coming of the new year the younger people all settled down toserious work. Not only Roger but James and Tom also were to graduate inJune, and all of them wanted to do themselves credit. James was going toHarvard and later to the Harvard Medical School. Tom was booked for Yaleand then for business. 

CHAPTER IX

VALENTINE'S DAY

It was the day after Lincoln's birthday, and Saturday. Edward Watkinshad come out for his weekly visit to Elisabeth and was sitting in Mrs. Smith's living room surveying her and talking to Miss Merriam. Elisabethwas walking with a fair degree of steadiness now, and made her way aboutall the rooms of the house without assistance. She still preferred tocrawl upstairs and she could do that so fast that the person who wassupposed to watch her had to be faithful or she would disappear while aneye lingered too long on the page of an interesting book or on the faceof a friend. 

Downstairs Edward leaned forward from his chair in front of Gertrude andpicked up the ball from which she was knitting a soldier's scarf. Hepaid out the yarn to her as she needed it. 

"You're happy here, aren't you?" he asked softly. 

"Happy! I should say so! Next to having your very own home I can'timagine anything lovelier than this, with dear people and a pretty houseand a darling baby. It's beautiful. "

"You'd hate to leave it, wouldn't you?"

"Leave it? Why should I leave it? I think they like me. I think theywant me to stay. "

She looked at him piercingly, evidently disturbed at the suggestion. 

"Want you to stay! I should think they would!" ejaculated the youngphysician. "I was just wondering what inducement would make you leavethese dear people and this pretty house and this darling baby. If anyone should--"

"Hullo, " cried Ethel Brown, entering at this instant. "Do you know whereAunt Louise is?"

"She went out, " replied Miss Merriam, somewhat nervously. 

"Dorothy has gone to Della's this afternoon to help her get ready fortonight, " Ethel said. 

"She arrived before I left, " admitted Edward--a confession that drew along look from Gertrude. 

"Where's Ayleesabet?"

"Playing under the table, " answered Gertrude in cheerful ignorance thatAyleesabet had departed to more stimulating regions over the stairs. 

Ethel lifted the table cover to investigate. 

"She isn't here. "

Gertrude jumped up and the doctor followed her into the hall. EthelBrown ran into the dining room and then upstairs, with Miss Merriam inpursuit. 

It was a moment of relief for everybody when Ethel gave a shout ofdiscovery. 

"Here she is!" she called, "and O, what will Dorothy say when she comesback and sees her room!"

"What's the modern way of dealing with that situation?" Edward askedwhen Miss Merriam re-appeared with Elisabeth under one arm. 

"Do you mean ought she to be punished? Why should she? She was onlyfollowing out her instinct to learn. How could she know that that was atime and place where it would inconvenience somebody else if she did?I'm the one to be punished for letting her have the opportunity. "

"I suppose that's true. She'd never learn much if she didn'tinvestigate, would she? And, as you say, she isn't yet conscious thatshe has any especial duty toward any one else's comfort. "

"The Misses Clark are always saying 'No, no, ' to her. I should thinkshe'd think of their house as 'No, no Castle'. "

"They love her, though, " defended Ethel Brown. 

"That's why I let her go there. A baby knows when she's loved and thosetwo old ladies make her feel it even above the 'No, Nos'. "

"I went in there yesterday when I saw Elisabeth's carriage outside theirdoor, " said Ethel, "and I found the older Miss Clark sitting on thefloor clapping her hands and the baby trying to dance and sitting down, bang, every four or five steps. "

Elisabeth was in a coquettish mood and played like a kitten with Edward. 

"She is the very sweetest thing I ever saw!" exclaimed Ethel Brown. "Ido wish I could take her to Washington. "

"Take her to Washington! What on earth do you mean?" asked Miss Merriam. 

"Nothing, only I hate to go away from her for even a few days. I cameover to tell Dorothy that Grandfather Emerson is going to send us all toWashington with Mr. Wheeler's party for Washington's Birthday. Do youthink Aunt Louise will let her go?"

"I think it will depend on who are going. "

"There'll be lots of older people and teachers from our church and boththe other churches, too. "

"Any of your mother's particular friends?"

"I shouldn't be a bit surprised if Grandmother and Grandfather wentthemselves. "

"Then your mother won't have any objection. "

"That would settle the question for Dorothy, too, I should think, " saidEdward. "Are you taking outsiders along?"

"Outsiders?"

"New Yorkers. Della and Tom, for instance?"

"Oh, is there any chance of Mrs. Watkins's letting them go?"

"I'll suggest it if you think they'd be welcome. "

"I don't see why they wouldn't be. Mr. Wheeler wants to have as many aspossible because the more there are the better rates he can make withthe railroad and at the hotel. "

"Why don't you stir up the Hancock's?"

"The whole U. S. C. ? Why not? It would be just too glorious, " and Ethelproceeded to dance her butterfly dance around the room. 

"Talk it over this evening, " advised Edward, taking up his hat. 

"Going?" inquired Ethel. 

"I might as well--I mean, I must go, thank you, " responded the doctorautomatically, for she had said nothing to be thanked for. 

It was a charming table around which the Club seated itself at theWatkinses'. Mr. And Mrs. Watkins sat at the head and foot and Della andTom in the center of the sides. 

"I ran in to see the baby a minute before I left, " Ethel Blue explainedto Mrs. Watkins, "and Dr. Watkins was there and he asked me to tell youthat Aunt Louise had invited him to stay to dinner. "

"Edward is becoming a very uncertain character, like all doctors, " saidEdward's mother. 

"I think he is, " remarked Ethel Brown to Ethel Blue who sat beside her. "He was just saying 'Good-bye' to Miss Gertrude when I left, and he musthave stayed on after all. "

Everybody had contributed something to the table decorations, but no onehad seen them all assembled and they all paid themselves and each othercompliments on the prettiness of the various parts and Della and Dorothyon the effectiveness of the whole. 

In the center was a glowing centerpiece made of three scarlet paperhearts, each about eight inches high placed with the pointed ends up andthe lower corners touching so that they made a three-sided cage over theelectric light. From the top a tiny Cupid aimed his arrow at the guestsbefore him. Della and Tom had designed this warm-hearted lantern. 

Half way between the centerpiece and the plates a line of dancingfigures ran around the table linked to each other by chains made of weegolden hearts. Ethel Blue had drawn and painted these paper dolls, sothat each represented one of the Club members and they served as placecards as well as ornaments. 

"I seem to see myself in Miles Standish's armor, " said James. "Does thatmean that I'm to sit here where I can admire my warlike appearance?"

"It does, " said Della, "and I've put Priscilla next you so that for onceyou can cut out John Alden. Here's John Alden--that's you, Roger, andhere's a little Russian for you to take home to Dicky. "

"Where am I?"

"And I?"

"And I?" cried one after the other. 

"Can't you guess? This is the Muse of History, " pointing to awhite-robed figure holding a scroll. 

"Helen, of course, " they all shouted. "And isn't this Hallowe'en witchEthel Brown?"

"It really looks like her!"

"And what do you guess about this songstress?"

"Dorothy, and the young lady knitting is Della. "

"Right. "

"I hate to think that that's my face looking out of that cabbage, "protested Margaret, "but Ethel Blue has a wonderful ability to catchlikenesses. "

"That's you, Mrs. Stalk of the Cabbage Patch, just as clearly as if itwere your photograph. "

"One of these two is mine and the other is for Edward, " guessed Tom. "AmI one of the Great Twin Brethren and is Edward's the Pied Piper?"

"Right again. And this is Ayleesabet herself, and the Guardian Angel isMiss Merriam. "

"She _is_ an angel, isn't she!" exclaimed Della. "Look at these dozensof tiny hearts. Ethel Brown cut out those and James made them into thechains. "

"Paste, paste, " groaned James melodramatically. "My future calling isthat of bill-poster. "

Everything that could be was pink at the dinner. The soup was tomatobisque, the fish was salmon, the roast was beef, rare, the salad, tomatojelly, the dessert, strawberry ice cream, and with it small cakesheart-shaped and covered with pink icing. 

In the drawing room a Cupid whirling on a card pointed with his arrow toa number, and the person who took from Mrs. Watkins's hand the envelopemarked with the number indicated was instructed where to look for hisvalentine. Helen found hers inside of the piano. The Ethels turned updiagonal corners of the rug in the northwest corner of the library anddiscovered two flat packages. Margaret sought out a small bundle tied tothe electrolier on the right hand side of the hall. So it went. 

Each of them had prepared a valentine for every other member of theClub, so each had nine, for Dicky had sent his in to be distributed withthe rest. Each had made all his nine of the same sort though not allalike. James, for instance, had made prettily decorated boxes and filledthem with candy. Tom, who had a knack at cutting paper, had cut lacydesigns out of lily white barred paper which he mounted on coloredcardboard, and out of thin colored sheets whose patterns were throwninto relief by a background of white. Ethel Blue had drawn comicalCupids, each performing an acrobatic act. Ethel Brown had bakedheart-shaped cookies and tied them into pretty boxes with pink ribbon. Dorothy's knowledge of basket making led her to experiment with somelittle heart-shaped trays, useful for countless purposes. She made themof different materials and they proved successful. Della stencilledhearts on to handkerchiefs, decorating some with a border of heartstouching, some with a corner wreath of interlaced hearts, the boys' witha single corner heart large enough for an initial. Each one wasdifferent. 

Roger's contributions were heart-shaped watch charms of copper, eachwith a raised initial and mounted on a stray of colored leather andfurnished with a bar and snapper of gun metal. Margaret's littleheart-shaped pincushions were suitable for boys and girls alike. Some ofthem were small, for the pocket or the handbag; others were larger andwere meant to be placed on the bureau. They were of varied colors, thegirls' being of silk to match the colors of their rooms and the boys ofdarker hues. 

Dicky's offerings were woven paper book marks made like Roger's blottercorners and intended to keep the place in a book by slipping over thecorner of the leaf. Helen, who had been learning from Dorothy how tomodel in clay, had attempted paper weights. The family cat had served asa model, and each was a cat in a different position. Some were moresuccessful than others, but, as Roger said, "You'd recognize them ascats. "

When the search was over and every one had admired his own and hisneighbor's valentines, Ethel Brown recited Hood's sonnet, "For the 14thof February, " and Ethel Blue read part of Lamb's essay, "Valentine'sDay, " and they all felt that Saint Valentine's star was setting and thatof the Father of his Country was rising resplendent. 

CHAPTER X

ST. PATRICK'S DAY AND THE FIRST OF APRIL

The Misses Clark had borrowed Elisabeth for the afternoon. It wasbecoming a custom with them, and as Miss Merriam insisted that herlittle charge should have her naps out of doors with unbrokenregularity, the old ladies found themselves almost every day sitting, rug-enwrapped, on Mrs. Smith's veranda or their own while the baby dozedluxuriously in her carriage. Elisabeth grew pink in the fresh air and ifher self-appointed attendants did not do likewise they at least foundthemselves benefiting by the unaccustomed treatment. 

In early March a brother came to visit them. He was a dignified elderlyman, "just like the sisters before Elisabeth made them human, " Rogerdeclared, "except that he has whiskers a foot long. " At first he paid noattention to the child, though the story of its escape from Belgiuminterested him. But no one resisted Elisabeth long and it was not manydays before Mr. Clark was holding his book with one hand and playingball with the other. 

On this particular day Mrs. Smith and Miss Merriam had both needed to goto New York, and the Misses Clark had seized the opportunity to have anunusually long call from Ayleesabet. They had sat on their veranda withher while she napped; but when she came in, fresh and wide awake, theirolder eyes were growing sleepy from the cold and they went upstairs forforty winks, leaving their nursling in charge of their brother. 

Ayleesabet was goodness itself. She sat on the floor and rolled a ballto her elderly playmate, chuckling when it struck the edge of a rug andwent out of its course so that he had to plunge after it. She walkedaround the edge of the same rug, evidently regarding it as an island tobe explored, Crusoe fashion. Her explorations were thorough. If she hadbeen old enough to know what mines were one would have thought that shewas playing miner, for she lay on her back, pushed up the rug and rolledunder it. 

"Upon my word, " ejaculated Mr. Clark, adjusting his spectacles andexamining the hump made by the baby's round little Belgian body. "Uponmy word, that doesn't seem the thing for her to do. "

But Elisabeth seemed entirely contented and made no response to the oldgentleman's cluckings and other blandishments. 

"Come out, " he whispered in beguiling tones. "Come out and play. "

No answer. 

"Come and play horsey. Don't you want to climb up? That's it. Up shegoes! Steady now. Hold tight. "

As he started on a slow tour of the room on all fours his rider lurchedunsteadily. 

"Take hold of my collar, " cried the aged war-horse. 

Ayleesabet fell forward, her arms went around his neck and her handsburied themselves in his whiskers. With a chirrup of delight she rightedherself, a bridle-rein of hair in each hand. On went the charger, hisspeed increasing from a walk to an amble. Louder and louder laughedElisabeth. Steed and rider were in that perfect accord wherein man seemsakin to the Centaur. 

At the height of the race the drawing room door opened and in walkedEthel Blue and Ethel Brown Morton. The horse stopped suddenly and wipedhis forehead with one of his forefeet, but maintained his horizontalposition in order not to throw his rider. Elisabeth's equilibrium wassomewhat disturbed by the abrupt cessation of her charger's advance butshe kept a firm hold on her bridle and restored herself. 

"Go, go, " she chortled, thumping the prostrate form of Mr. Clark withher slippered feet and smiling with excusable vanity at the newarrivals. 

The Ethels stood side by side so stricken with amazement and amusementthat for an instant it seemed that apoplexy would overtake them. Thanksto their natural politeness they did not laugh, though they agreed laterthat it had been the hardest struggle of their lives not to do so. 

"We've come to take Ayleesabet home, " they said. "It's awfully good ofyou to entertain her so long. "

They lifted the protesting equestrian to the floor and put on her outergarments while the late steed resumed an upright position and dusted hisknees. 

"A very good child, " he observed. "A very intelligent child. She doesMiss Merriam great credit. "

"She's growing splendidly, " replied Ethel Brown. 

"Too bad she can't continue under her care. Too bad. "

"Can't continue under her care!" repeated the Ethels in unison. "Whycan't she? What do you mean?"

"Why, on account of Miss Merriam's leaving. Of course you know. I hope Ihaven't betrayed any confidence. "

"Miss Merriam's leaving!" exclaimed the Ethels as one girl. 

"We don't know anything about it!"

"Where is she going?"

"When is she going?"

The questions poured thick and fast and Mr. Clark seemed distinctlytaken aback by the excitement he had created. 

"Why, Dr. Watkins said that he thought she wasn't going to stay withElisabeth much longer. That's what I understood him to say. I don'tthink I'm mistaken, " and the old gentleman passed his hand nervouslyover the top of his head. 

"That's perfectly terrible if it's really so, " declared Ethel Blue, whowas an especial admirer of Gertrude Merriam's and a devout believer inher ability to turn Elisabeth from a skeleton into a robust littlemaiden. 

"We must find out at once, " and Ethel Brown put Elisabeth into her coatwith a speed that so disregarded all orderly procedure as to bring afrown to the young Belgian's brow. 

The two girls talked about the news in low, horrified tones on the wayback to Dorothy's, and down they sat, prepared not only to amuseElisabeth but to amuse her until the return of Miss Merriam, no matterhow late that proved to be. 

It seemed an eternity but it was only half past five when she and Mrs. Smith came back. The Ethels sat before the fire in the sitting room likejudges on the bench. They made their accusation promptly. Gertrude satdown as if her knees were unable to support her. Her blue eyes staredamazedly from one to the other. 

"Mr. Clark says I am going away? That Dr. Watkins said he thought I wasgoing away?"

Her complete wonderment proved her not guilty. 

"But I'm not going away! I haven't any idea of going away--unless youwant me to, " and she turned appealingly to Mrs. Smith. 

"My dear child, of course we don't want you to, " and Mrs. Smith bent andkissed her. "We love you dearly and we like your work. I can't thinkwhat Mr. Clark could have meant--or Dr. Watkins--"

"It was Edward Watkins who told Mr. Clark, " repeated Ethel Brown. 

Gertrude sat stupefied. 

"Unless the wish were father to the thought, " ended Mrs. Smith softly. 

"Unless he wanted it to be true?" translated Gertrude inquiringly. "Unless--Oh!"

A blush burned its way from her chin to her brow and lost itself in thesoft hair that swept back from her temples. 

"He wanted it to be true, and he said he thought it was going to happen. Well, he's altogether too sure! It's humiliating, " and she threw up herchin and walked firmly out of the room, for the first time forgettingElisabeth. 

"What does she mean?" Ethel Blue asked her aunt. 

"Why is she humiliated?" asked Ethel Brown. 

"What is she going to do?" was Dorothy's question. 

"I don't know, " Mrs. Smith replied to Dorothy. "We'd better not botherher. Don't tease her with questions. "

The girls obeyed, but they talked the matter over a great deal amongthemselves and they would have asked Edward Watkins about it the firsttime they saw him except that their Aunt Louise guessed their plan andforestalled it by telling them that any mention of the matter would bean intrusion upon other people's affairs which would be whollyunwarranted. 

The first time they saw Edward was the next day, when the RosemontCharitable Society gave a bazaar for the benefit of its treasury, depleted by the demands upon it of an uncommonly hard winter. The seatswere all taken out of the high school hall and the big room became thescene of a Donnybrook Fair on St. Patrick's Day. Of course the U. S. C. Had been called on to help; it had made a name for itself and outsiderslooked to it for ideas and assistance. 

In fact, the idea of the fair was Ethel Brown's. She heard her mothertalking with one of the Directors of the R. C. S. One afternoon aboutthe unending need for money and suggested the Irish program as apossible means of making some. 

"The child is right, " fat Mrs. Anderson promptly agreed. "Rosemont neverhad anything of the sort. "

"It wouldn't be harder to get up than any other kind of fair, " said Mrs. Morton. 

"And St. Patrick's Day will be here so soon that it's a good excuse forhurrying it. "

So it had been hurried, and the day after the strange encounter with Mr. Clark and the disturbing conversation with Miss Merriam the scholasticAmerican precincts of the high school were converted into an Irish fairground. Every one who had anything to do with the tables or the conductof the bazaar was dressed in an Irish peasant costume, the girls withshort, full skirts with plain white shirt waists showing beneath asleeveless jacket of dark cloth. Heavy low shoes and thick stockingswould have been the appropriate wear for the feet, but all the girlsrebelled. 

"This footgear was meant for the earth floor of a cabin and not for asteam-heated room, " declared Helen. "I'll wear green stockings, but thinones, and my own slippers, even if they aren't suitable. "

The boys were less inconvenienced by their garb, which included, to besure, heavy shoes and long stockings, but also tight knee breeches and, instead of jackets, waistcoats with sleeves. 

Every one in Rosemont who had any green furnishings lent them for theoccasion. Mrs. Anderson robbed her library of a huge green rug to placebefore the stationery booth over whose writing paper and greenplace-cards and novelties, all in green boxes, she presided robustly. 

Mrs. Morton, with Helen and Margaret to assist her, ruled over a tableshaped like a shamrock and laden with articles carved from bog oak, andwith china animals and photographs of Ireland and of Irish colleens. 

Dorothy told fortunes in the lower part of Blarney Castle, built ofcanvas but sufficiently realistic, in a corner of the hall. On top Tomwas ready to hold over the battlements by the heels any one who was"game" for the adventure of kissing the Blarney Stone. 

In the restaurant, which was a corner of the hall shut off by screenscovered with green paper, Mrs. Anderson superintended the serving ofsupper by her assistants--Ethel Blue and Della and some of theirfriends. They offered a hearty meal of Irish stew, or of cold ham andpotato salad, followed by pistachio ice cream and small cakes coveredwith frosting of a delicate green. At one side Ethel Brown controlledthe "Murphy Table" and sold huge hot baked Irish potatoes and paperplates of potato salad and crisp potato "chips" ready to be taken home. Before the evening was many minutes old she had so many orders set asideon the shelves that held books in the hall's ordinary state that she hadto replenish her stock. 

James acted as cashier for the whole room. Roger, armed with ashillelagh, ran around for every one until the time came for him tomount the stage and show what he knew about an Irish jig. Under thecoaching of George Foster's sister, he and his sisters had learned it insuch an incredibly short time that they were none too sure of theirsteps, but they managed to get through it without discredit tothemselves or their teacher. 

Then Mrs. Smith played the accompaniments for a set of familiar Irishsongs--"The Harp that once through Tara's Halls, " "Erin go Bragh, ""Kathleen Mavourneen, " "The Wearing of the Green. " Dorothy led thechoruses, the whole U. S. C. , including Dicky, sang their best, andEdward Watkins's tenor rose so pleadingly in "Kathleen Mavourneen" thatMrs. Smith was touched. 

"I'm going home now, " she said to him, "to stay with the baby so thatGertrude can come to the bazaar. You may go with me if you like. "

Edward did like. He glowed with eagerness. He hardly could carry on anintelligent conversation with Mrs. Smith, so eager was he to test thepossibilities of the walk back when he should be escorting Miss Merriam. 

When they entered the house and he saw her reading before the fire hisheart came into his throat, so demure she looked and so lovely. 

"I've come home, dear, so that you can go, " explained Mrs. Smith. "Dr. Watkins will take you back. "

Gertrude had given Mrs. Smith's escort one startled glance as theyentered. 

"Thank you very much indeed, " she answered. "You are always sothoughtful. But I'm not going out again tonight. It's quite out of thequestion; please don't urge me, " and she left the room without a look atthe disappointed face of the young doctor. 

"Now, what does that mean?" he inquired in amazement. 

"You ought to know. "

"I don't know. Do you?"

"I think I do. "

"Won't you tell me?"

"If you think over any conversations you have had recently about MissMerriam perhaps it will come to you. "

"And you won't tell me?"

"I may be a wrong interpreter. At any rate I'm not an interferer. Youraffairs are your own. "

"That's a very slender hint you've given me, but I'll do my best withit. "

His best was of small avail. Miss Merriam would not see him when hecalled, did not go anywhere where she would be likely to meet him, bowedto him so coldly when she passed him one day going into the house, thathe actually did not have the courage to stop her, but rang the bell andasked for Mrs. Smith. 

The Ethels and Dorothy felt that the part of courtesy was to preserve acivil silence, but they were consumed with curiosity to know just whatwas going on. Certainly Miss Gertrude was not happy, for she oftenlooked as if she had been weeping, and certainly Dr. Watkins waswretched, for Tom and Della quite immediately reported him as being "sosolemn you can't do anything with him. " Indeed, at the April Fool partywhich the Hancocks gave to the U. S. C. , he indulged in an outburst thatstartled them all. 

Margaret and James had asked him because the Club had formed the habitof doing so when they were undertaking anything special. The Ethels werequite right when they guessed that he accepted the invitation because hehoped to see Miss Merriam there. She did not go, offering as an excusethat Ayleesabet needed her. 

The April Fool party might have been named the Party of Surprises. Therewere no practical jokes;--"a joke of the hand is a joke of the vulgar"had been trained into all of them from their earliest days;--but therewere countless surprises. The opening of a candy box disclosed a toypuppy; a toy cat was filled not with the desired candy but with popcorn. The candy was handed about in the brass coal scuttle, beautifullypolished and lined with paraffin paper. Each guest received a present. Astring of jet beads proved to be small black seeds, and a necklace ofgreen jade resolved itself on inspection into a collar of green stringbeans strung by one end so that they lay at length like a verdantfringe. 

The early evening was spent in the dining-room--no one knew why. Whensupper was served in the library it became evident that it was just apart of the program to have everything topsy turvy. It was evident, too, that a raid had been made on Dr. Hancock's supplies, for the lemonadewas served in test tubes and the Charlotte Russe in pill boxes. 

It was after supper when Edward Watkins had grown sure that Miss Merriamsurely was not coming that he indulged in a burst of sarcasm. After aconsultation with Margaret he drew the curtains across the door leadinginto the hall. 

"Are you ready?" he called to Margaret. 

"Yes, " came in reply. 

"Then here, my friends, you see the portrait of the original AprilFool. "

He swept back the porti�re and the laughing group, silenced by theenergy of his announcement, saw Edward himself reflected in a mirrorthat Margaret had set up on a chair. They all laughed, but it was uneasylaughter, and Tom tried to reassure his brother by clapping him on theshoulder and exclaiming, "You do yourself an injustice, old man, youreally do, " with a touch of earnestness in it. 

CHAPTER XI

APRIL 19 AND 23

Ethel Blue took no part in the historical program that Helen put on thestage of the Glen Point Orphanage on April 19th, "Patriots' Day, " whenMassachusetts folk celebrated the Revolutionary battle of Concord andLexington. The reason was that she was just getting over a cold that hadcome upon her at the very time when the others were making ready for theperformance, and had made her feel so wretched that she could do nothingoutside of her school work. This was how it happened that she wassitting at the rear of the room when Edward Watkins came in, lookedsearchingly over the audience and then slipped into a chair beside her. 

"Miss Merriam not here?" he murmured under cover of a duet that Dorothyand Della were playing on the piano. 

"No. "

"Do you know why she won't speak to me?"

Ethel Blue fairly trembled. What was she to say? She had been warned notto interfere in other people's affairs. Yet she did not know how toanswer without telling the truth. So she said:

"I know how it began--her getting mad with you. I don't understand why. "

"How did it begin?"

Ethel Blue looked about wildly. Dorothy and Della were thumping awayvigorously. There was no possibility for escape. 

"Mr. Clark told us--Ethel Brown and me--that you said you thought MissMerriam was going away soon. We were wild, because we love her so--"

There was a strange mumble from the Doctor. 

--"and she's so splendid with Ayleesabet. We asked her the minute wesaw her if she was going away. She said she hadn't any idea of it andshe asked us how we came to think so, and we told her what Mr. Clark hadsaid. "

"Great Scott! What did she say then?"

"Oh, Miss Gertrude and Aunt Louise said, 'why should Edward have saidsuch a thing?' And Aunt Louise said, 'unless he wanted it to be true'. "

"Ah, your Aunt Louise is a woman of intelligence!"

Edward smiled, though somewhat miserably. Ethel Blue was warming to hersubject. 

"Miss Gertrude said you were too sure and it was humiliating, and shewent up stairs and she's never been the same since then. I don't knowwhy it was humiliating, but she was angry right through. "

"I've noticed that, " said Edward reminiscently. "Now let me see justwhat she meant. She was told that I said I thought she was going awaysoon. 'Thought' or 'hoped'?"

"'Thought. ' Did you say it?"

"And your Aunt Louise said that I must have wanted it to be true, " wenton Edward slowly, unheeding Ethel Blue's question. "And Gertrude--MissMerriam said I was too sure and that it was humiliating. Is thatstraight?"

"Yes. Did you say it?"

Ethel Blue was beginning to think that if she was giving so muchinformation she ought to be given a little in return. 

"Do you know what I think about it?" asked Edward, again ignoringEthel's question. "I don't wonder a bit that she was as mad as hops. Anygirl would have been. "

"Why?"

"Do you really want me to tell you? Well, " continued Edward in her ear, "I dare say you've guessed that I'm in love with Miss Merriam. "

Ethel drew a deep breath and stared open-mouthed at Dr. Watkins, whonodded at her gravely. 

"I love her very much, and one day she was especially kind to me and Iwent walking down the street like a peacock and plumped right on to Mr. Clark. We walked along together and he said something about MissMerriam, and I was jackass enough to say that I hoped--not _thought_, Ethel Blue, but _hoped_; do you see the difference?"

Ethel Blue nodded. 

"I _hoped_ that before long she would leave Rosemont. Don't you see, Ethel Blue? I said it out of the fullness of my heart because I hopedthat before long she would marry me and go away. "

Ethel gasped again. 

"I was riding such a high horse that I hardly knew what I said, but Ican see that when that was repeated to her with 'thought' instead of'hoped' it looked as if I was mighty sure she was going to have me, andI hadn't even asked her. Yes, any girl would be indignant, wouldn'tshe?"

Edward scanned Ethel's face, hoping to find some comfort there, butthere was none. Ethel's discomfiture and bewilderment had passed and shewas putting an unusually acute mind on the situation. She understoodperfectly that it looked to Miss Gertrude as if Dr. Watkins had made sosure that she returned his affection that he had gone about talking ofit to strangers even before he had told her of his own love. 

"I don't wonder that she felt humiliated, " was Ethel's verdict. 

The program on the stage was going on swiftly. Helen had made thehistorical introduction, telling the circumstances that led to theaffair of April 19th. Tom had recited "Paul Revere's Ride. "

It was while the whole Club was singing some quaint Revolutionary songsand winding up with "Yankee Doodle" that Dr. Watkins made his appeal toEthel Blue. 

"She won't listen to a word from me, " he said. "She won't let me speak toher. Do you think you could find a chance to tell her how it was? It wasbad enough but it wasn't as bad as she thinks. Will you tell her I'dlike to apologize before I go to Oklahoma?"

"Oklahoma!"

"A friend of Dr. Hancock's is settled in a flourishing town there. Hehas a bigger practice than he can attend to, and he sent East for Dr. Hancock to find him an assistant. He has offered the chance to me. "

"But it's so far away!"

"I hesitated a long while on that account. You see I didn't know whetherMiss Merriam would care for the West. "

"Weren't you taking a good deal for granted?"

"You're finding me guilty just as she has. But of course a man has tothink about what he has to offer a wife. I suppose you think I'm queerto talk about this with you, " he broke off his story to say, "but Ihaven't said a word about it to any one and it has been driving me wildso it's a great relief if you'll let me talk. "

Ethel nodded. 

"You see, my practice in New York is so small it's ridiculous. You can'task a girl to marry you when you aren't making enough money to supporteven yourself. But suppose I should go to Oklahoma where I shall soonmake a good living, and then come back and ask her, and find out thatshe hates the West. Don't you see that I'm not all to blame?"

"Perhaps she wouldn't like you enough to marry you no matter where youlived, " suggested Ethel. 

Edward heaved a sigh that seemed to come from his very boots and leanedback weakly in his chair. 

"There's a certain brutal frankness about you, Ethel Blue, that I neversuspected. "

"I thought you were thinking about all sides of the question, " Etheldefended herself. 

"Um, yes. I suppose I must admit that there is that possibility. Any wayif you'll try to get her to let me talk to her I'll be grateful to youevermore, " and Edward got up and strolled away to compliment theparticipants in the program, leaving Ethel Blue more excited than shehad ever been in her life, even just before she went up in an aeroplane, because she was touching the edges of an adventure in real life. 

It was embarrassing to broach the subject to Miss Merriam. She wassweetness itself, but she was dignified to a degree that forbade anyencroachment upon her private affairs, and twice when Ethel Blue's lipswere actually parted to plead in Edward's behalf her courage failed her. 

"Mr. Clark is deaf, " said Ethel Blue abruptly. "Edward Watkins didn'tsay he 'thought' you were going away; he said he 'hoped' you were goingaway. "

"Oh!" exclaimed Miss Gertrude, turning a startled face toward Ethel. 

"He hoped so because he loves you and he wants to ask you to marry himbut he can't until he has a good practice, and he doesn't know whetheryou would like Oklahoma. "

"Whether I'd like Oklahoma!" repeated Gertrude slowly. 

"He wants to explain it all to you but you won't let him speak to you. He's had a good practice offered him in Oklahoma, but he won't go if youdon't like Oklahoma; he'll try to work up a practice here, but it willtake such a long time. "

"Ethel Blue, do you really know what you're talking about?"

"Yes, Miss Gertrude, " replied Ethel, blushing uncomfortably, but keepingon with determination. "Please don't think I'm awful, 'butting in' likethis. Dr. Watkins asked me to ask you to let him see you. He tried along time without telling any one; he told me when he couldn't think ofanything else to do. He didn't really know why you were mad until I toldhim; he just knew you wouldn't see him when he called. "

Miss Gertrude's eyes were on her fragile pink work as Ethel Blueblundered on. 

"What shall I tell him?" she said, breaking the silence. 

"You may tell him, " said Gertrude slowly, "that I have a school friendin Oklahoma who tells me that Oklahoma is a very good place to live. "

Ethel Blue clapped her hands noiselessly. 

"But tell him, also, " Gertrude went on, her blue eyes stern, "that Ishall be too busy to see him before he goes. "

"Oh, Miss Gertrude!" ejaculated Ethel, disappointed. "I don't quite knowwhether you care or not. "

"Neither do I, " replied Gertrude, and she leaned over and kissed EthelBlue with lips that smiled sadly. 

CHAPTER XII

WEST POINT

Ethel Blue gave Gertrude Merriam's message to Edward Watkins who was asmuch puzzled by it as she had been. 

"What does she mean?" he asked. "Does she care for me or doesn't she?"

"She doesn't know herself. I asked her. "

Edward whistled a long, soft whistle. 

"Aren't girls the queerest things ever made!" he ejaculated in wonder. 

"I don't think it's queer, " defended Ethel. "First, it was all guessworkwith her because you never had told her that you cared. And then she wasangry at your having talked _about_ her when you hadn't talked _to_ her. Her feelings were hurt badly. And now she doesn't know what she doesfeel. "

"She isn't strong against Oklahoma, anyway. I guess I'll accept thatoffer. "

Ethel Blue nodded. 

"I want to tell you one thing more before you go, " she said. "I haven'ttold any one a word about this, even Ethel Brown. It's the first thingin all my life I haven't told Ethel Brown. "

"I suspect it's been pretty hard for you not to. You know I appreciateit. If things work out as I hope, it will be you who have helped memost, " and he shook hands with her very seriously. "There's one thingmore I wish you'd do for me, " he pleaded. 

Ethel Blue nodded assent. 

"If I can. "

"I know you Club people will be hanging May baskets on May Day morning. Will you hang this one on Miss Gertrude's door--the door of her room, sothat there won't be any mistake about her getting it?"

"Certainly I will. "

"It's just a little note to say 'good-bye. ' See, you can read it. "

"I don't want to, " responded Ethel Blue stoutly, though it was hard tolet good manners prevail over a desire to see the inside of the veryfirst letter she had ever seen the outside of to know as the writing ofa lover to his lass. 

"You'd better tell your Aunt Marian that I've told you all this, " hewent on. "I shouldn't want her to think that I was asking you to dosomething underhand. "

"She wouldn't think it of you. She likes you. "

"Tell her about it all, nevertheless. I insist. "

Ethel felt relieved. It had seemed queer to be doing something that noone knew about. 

"Thank you, " she said. 

The May basket was duly hung, and Miss Gertrude's eyes wore the tracesof tears all the rest of the day, but Ethel Blue was not to learn for along time what was in the note. 

May passed swiftly. All the boys were so busy studying that they couldgive but little time to Club meetings and there was nothing done beyondthe making of some plans for the summer and the taking of a few longwalks. The Ethels and Dorothy and Della were doing their best to make asuperlative record, also. With Helen and Margaret life went more easily, for graduation days were yet two years off with them. 

CHAPTER XIII

GRADUATION AND FOURTH OF JULY

With the coming of June thoughts of graduation filled the minds of allthe prospective graduates. The boys were able to get through theirexaminations quite early in the month, and as they all did better thanthey expected the last days of the month were days of joy to them. Thegirls had to wait longer to have the weight removed from their minds, but they, too, passed their examinations well enough to earn specialcongratulation from the principals of their respective schools. 

The graduation exercises of the Rosemont graded schools were held in thehall of the high school and all the schools were represented there. TheEthels and Dorothy all sang in the choruses, and each one of them had apart in the program. Ethel Brown described the character of NorthernFrance and Belgium, the land in which the war was being carried on. Although no mention of the war was allowed every one listened to thisunusual geography lesson with extreme interest. Ethel Blue recited apoem on "Peace" and Dorothy sang a group of folk songs of differentcountries. It was all very simple and unpretentious, and they were onlythree out of a dozen or more who tried to give pleasure to the assembledparents and guardians. 

Roger's graduation was more formal. A speaker came out from New York, aman of affairs who had an interest in education and who liked to say aword of encouragement to young people about to step from one stage oftheir education into another. 

"Of course education never ends as long as you live, " Roger saidthoughtfully to Ethel Brown, "but there is a big feeling of jump whenyou go from one school to another, and you can't deny it. "

"I don't want to deny it, " retorted Ethel Brown. "I'm all full ofexcitement at the idea of going into the high school next autumn. "

The graduating class of the high school was going to inaugurate a planfor the decoration of the high school hall. They were to have a bannerwhich was to be used at all the functions, connected with graduation andin after years was to be carried by any of the alumni who came back forthe occasion of the graduation and alumni dinner. During the year thisbanner and those which should follow it were to be stacked in the hall, their handsome faces encouraging the scholars who should see them everyday by the thought that their school was a place in which every one whohad passed through was interested. The power of a body of interestedalumni is a force worth having by any school. 

The graduating class found the idea of the banner most attractive, butwhen it came to the making they were aghast at the expense. A committeeexamined the prices at places in New York where such decorations weremade and returned horrified. 

It was then that the Ethels offered to do their best to help out theClass of 1915. 

"We'll do what we can, and I know Helen and Margaret and Della will helpus, " they said and fell to work. 

Ethel Blue drew the design and submitted it to the class and to theprincipal of the school. With a few alterations they approved it. Thegirls had seen many banners at Chautauqua and they had talked with theladies who had made the banner of their mother's class, so that theywere not entirely ignorant of the work they were laying out forthemselves. Nevertheless, they profited by the experience of others anddid not have to try too many experiments themselves. 

They had learned, for instance, that they must secure their silk from aprofessional banner-making firm, for the silk of the department storewas neither wide enough nor of a quality to endure the hard wear that abanner must endure. From this same banner house they bought linen canvasto serve as interlining for both the front and the back of the banner. 

Several tricks that were of great help to them they had jotted down whenthey discussed banner making at Chautauqua and now they were more thanever glad that they had the notebook habit. 

The front of their banner was to be white and to bear the letters "R. H. S. " for Rosemont High School, and below it "1915. " They remembered thatin padding the lettering they must make it stand high in order to lookeffective, but they must never work it tight or it would draw. Anotherpoint worth recalling was that while the banner was still in theembroidery frame and was held taut they should put flour paste on theback of the embroidery to replace the pressing which was not possiblewith letters raised so high. 

When it came to putting the banner together they found that their workwas not easy or near its end. They cut the canvas interlining just likethe outside, and then turned back the edge of the canvas. This was toprevent the roughness cutting through the silk when that should beturned over the canvas. Back and front were stitched and the edgespressed separately, and then they were laid back to back and werestitched together. The row of machine stitching was covered by gimp. 

A heavy curtain pole tipped with a gilt ball served as a standard andwas much cheaper than the pole offered by the professionals. The crossbar, tipped at each end by gilt balls, was fastened to the pole by abrass clamp. The banner itself was held evenly by being laced on to thecrossbar. 

The cord had been hard to find in the correct shade and the girls hadbeen forced to buy white and have it dyed. A handsome though worn pairof curtain tassels which they found in Grandmother Emerson's attic hadbeen re-covered with finer cord of the same color. The entire effect washarmonious and the work was so shipshape as to call forth the admirationof Mr. Wheeler and all the teachers who had a private view on the daywhen it was finished. The girls were mightily proud of theirachievement. 

"It has been one of the toughest jobs I ever undertook, " declared EthelBrown, "but I'm glad to do it for Roger and for the school. "

With the graduation past all Rosemont, young and old, gave theirattention to preparing for a safe and sane Fourth of July. Of course theU. S. C. Were as eager as any not only to share in the fun but to helpin the work. 

One piece of information was prominently advertised; it was a method ofrendering children's garments fire-proof. "If garments are dipped in asolution of ammonium phosphate in the proportion of one pound to agallon of cold water, they are made fire-proof, " read a leaflet that washanded in at every house in the town. "Ammonium phosphate costs but 25cents a pound, " it went on. "A family wash can be rendered fire-proof atan expense of 15 cents a week. "

The U. S. C. Boys handed out hundreds of these folders when they wentabout among the business men and arranged for contributions for thecelebration. The girls took charge of the patriotic tableaux that wereto be given on the steps of the high school, with the onlookersgathered on the green where the Christmas tree and the Maypole hadstood. 

"We must have large groups, " said Helen. "In the first place theRosemonters must be getting tired of seeing us time after time, and inthe next place this is a community affair and the more people there arein it the more interested the townspeople will be. "

The selection of the people who would be suitable and the inviting ofthem to take part required many visits and much explanation, but the U. S. C. Had learned to be thorough and there was no neglect, no leaving ofmatters until the last minute in the hope that "it will come out right. "

"It seems funny not to be waked up at an unearthly hour by a fierceracket, " commented Roger on the morning of the Fourth. "I'm not quitesure that I like it. "

"That's because you've always helped make the racket. As you grow olderyou'll be more and more glad every year that there isn't anything torouse you to an earlier breakfast on Fourth of July morning. "

The family ate the morning meal in peace and then prepared for theprocession that was to gather in the square. This procession was to bedifferent from the Labor Day procession, which was one advertising thetrades and occupations of Rosemont. Today was a day for history, and thefloats were to represent episodes in the town's history. Roger was to bean Indian, George Foster one of the early Swedish settlers, and GregoryPatton a Revolutionary soldier. None of the girls were to be on thefloats. The procession was to be given over to the men and boys. 

It was long and as each float had been carefully arranged and thefigures strikingly posed the whole effect was one that gave greatpleasure to all who saw it. 

A community luncheon followed on the green. Tables were set on thegrass, and the girls from every part of town unpacked baskets and laidcloths and waited on the guests who came to this new form of picnicquite as if they never had ceased to do these agreeable neighborly acts. 

The girls had tired feet after all their running around, but they restedfor an hour and were fresh again when it was time for the tableaux asthe sun was sinking. 

The high school was approached by a wide flight of steps and on theseHelen posed her scenes. The people below sat on the grass in the frontrows and stood at the back. The floats of the morning had been scenes oflocal history. These were scenes from the life of Washington. Washington, the young surveyor, strode into the woods with hiscompanions and his Indian attendants. Washington becamecommander-in-chief of the Continental army. Washington crossed theDelaware--and the U. S. C. Boys were glad that they had built the_Jason_ at the Glen Point orphanage and did not have to study out theentire construction anew. Washington and Lafayette and Steuben shookhands in token of eternal friendship. Washington reviewed his troopsunder an elm at Cambridge. Washington suffered with his ragged men atValley Forge. Then Cornwallis surrendered, and last of all, the greatgeneral bade farewell to his officers and retired to the private lifefrom which he was soon to be summoned to take the presidential chair. 

There were a hundred people in the various pictures, but the winter'sexperiences had taught the Club so much that they found no trouble inmanaging the whole affair. Each person had been made responsible forfurnishing his costumes, a sketch of which had been made for him byEthel Blue, and every one was appropriately dressed. 

"This is another success for you young people, " exclaimed Mr. Wheeler, shaking hands with them all. "I always know where to go when I wanthelp. "

Ethel Blue walked home with Miss Merriam, who was wheeling Elisabeth. She seemed much gayer than she had been for a long time. 

Ethel kissed her as well as her sleepy little charge as she went intothe house to put on a warmer dress before she should go out in theevening to see the community fireworks. 

"You and Elisabeth are my helpers, " she whispered gratefully. "You makeeverybody happy--except, perhaps--"

Ethel hesitated, for Gertrude had never mentioned Edward to her since heleft for Oklahoma. 

"Do you want to know what was in my May basket?"

Ethel clasped her hands. 

"Oh, yes!"

Gertrude took out of her cardcase a tattered bit of paper. It read:"When you know that you really like Oklahoma and all the people there, please telegraph me. Good-bye. "

"I telegraphed this morning, " she said, almost shyly. "I said 'Oklahomainterests me'. "

"Here comes the telegraph boy down the street now, " cried Ethel. 

Gertrude took the yellow envelope from him, and, before she opened it, signed the book painstakingly. When she had read the message she handedit to Ethel Blue. 

"I start for Rosemont on the tenth to investigate the truth of therumor. "

Gertrude bubbled joyously. 

"Oh!" exclaimed Ethel Blue softly. "That means you're engaged!"