Dorothy woke very early the next morning, and turned to look at Nancy, to find that Nancy was looking straight at her. They both laughed.
"I was wondering if you were awake," Nancy said.
"I turned to look at you, Nancy, to see if your eyes were open," Dorothy said. "I was going to ask you if you knew that Patricia and Arabella were spending the week at Glenmore."
"I knew it, because when I told Patricia that we were to spend the week at Vera's home, she looked, for just a second, as ifshe were provoked because she had not been invited, too. Then she hurried to say that she'd rather stay at Glenmore. That Arabella was to stay, too, and that she thought they would have a finer time than we."
"I wonder how they amused themselves," Dorothy said. "Glenmore would be so quiet with all the girls away."
"And Miss Fenler would have all the time to watch them, with none of the other pupils to care for," responded Nancy.
"Dorothy, Nancy! Come down so I can tell you something!" called Vera.
They heard Mrs. Vane say gently:
"Don't hurry them, Vera."
They were half-way down the stairs, however, and in the lower hall they saw Elf, already up, because she had shared Vera's room, and Vera had awakened her.
"Rob has told me! Rob has told me!"Vera said, dancing around Dorothy and Nancy. "Bob has told me, and I couldn't wait to tell you. He's going to take us out into the country to our summer place, and there we'll go to a little country circus! Won't that be great? He came home just in time."
"That will be great fun," said Dorothy, "and after we've seen it, we can talk it over, all the way back."
"Let's get ready now!" cried Vera.
"Why, Vera! It is only eight o'clock, and the circus begins at two, so Bob said," Elf remarked, with the thought of calming Vera, but that was not so easily done.
"But it's a two-hour ride out there. Come up to my room, Elf, and help me choose a dress," Vera replied, as she caught Elf by the hand and rushed up the stairway. How they laughed.
The morning sped on wings, and lunch was served early.
Just as they were leaving the house, the postman brought a letter for Dorothy that had been remailed from Glenmore, and she took it with her to read, if there was an opportunity.
The ride out from the city over fine roads, and along beautiful avenues, was delightful, and the jolly little party reached "Vane Villa," earlier than they had thought possible.
"Dorothy is aching to read her letter," Vera said, "so sit out here and read it, Dorothy dear," she continued, "and Rob will take Elf around to see the kennels, and I'll tag along with them, for if I stay here, I'll talk and talk so you won't know what is in your letter after all."
It was a kind thought, and a bit of tactthat careless, flighty Vera often showed.
Dorothy opened her letter, and commenced reading. After a few lines she looked up, her eyes shining.
"Nancy, come here, and listen to this.
"They are already on the homeward trip, and the first of May Mother and Aunt Charlotte will be at the Stone House, and we are to join them a week later. Already Mother has written to Mrs. Marvin, and we are to be excused for the last two weeks at Glenmore, and away we'll speed toward Merrivale and home."
"Oh, I amsoglad!" Nancy cried as she pressed Dorothy closer.
"And that isn't all," said Dorothy, "for hear this:
"I'm sure, dear, that you and Nancy will be delighted to know that, after a short stay at the Stone House, we shall go to FoamRidge for the summer. You are both so fond of the shore, and the salt air."
"I'm sure, dear, that you and Nancy will be delighted to know that, after a short stay at the Stone House, we shall go to FoamRidge for the summer. You are both so fond of the shore, and the salt air."
Nancy's eyes were bright, and there was a droll twinkle in them.
Drawing closer, Nancy whispered a rare bit of news.
"Do you mean that?" Dorothy asked. "Are yousure?"
Nancy laughed and nodded.
Drawing closer, Nancy whispered a rare bit of news.
Drawing closer, Nancy whispered a rare bit of news.—Page 186.
"Perfectly sure," she said, "for only the day before vacation Betty told me that her mother had just written to say that for a change they were to spend the summer at the shore, and she said: 'Isn't "Foam Ridge" a pretty name.' I didn't think to tell you, because I never dreamed that we would be going to the same place. I knew you'd be pleased, for you like Betty Chase as well as I do."
"Oh, I am truly glad that we shall see Betty at the shore."
"Hello!" shouted Rob. "Anybody thinking of going to the circus!"
"Yes! Yes!" they cried, and ran to join Rob and Vera and Elf.
For a small circus it proved to be quite a show. There were trained dogs that were really clever, there were trained elephants, but best of all there were some handsome horses, whose riders did wonderful vaulting, tumbling, and riding, springing over hurdles, and through covered hoops.
When they left the tent the girls were delighted with the show, and Rob said it made him think of his early ambition to be a circus performer.
"Why wouldn't you like to now?" asked Vera. "If I had ever wanted to, I'd wantto now. I wouldn't change my mind. Well, I don't see why you all laugh!" she cried, looking in surprise from one to the other.
It was small wonder that they laughed. Vera rarely held one opinion for more than half a day, and had been known to have a half-dozen minds inside of an hour!
It was a jolly party that took the train for Glenmore on Saturday morning. Rob had taken them to the station, bought a a box of candy for each, and waited until the last moment to leave the train.
"If Miss Fenler has been watching Patricia this week she has been busy," said Elf, when they had settled themselves for the long ride.
"She could easily watch Arabella, she is so slow," Dorothy said.
It happened that Mrs. Marvin had told Miss Fenler to closely watch both girls who had chosen to spend the week's vacation at the school.
School without lessons would be fine, they thought.
"I think Arabella Correyville, if she were here alone, would be very little care, but Patricia Levine is as full of queer notions as any girl could be, and she plans the oddest mischief, and then drags slow little Arabella into it. Patricia never tries to help her out, and she invariably laughs if Arabella is caught.
"Arabella is so slow that she really doesn't know that Patricia rules her, while Patricia rules, and laughs at Arabella for obeying.
"I promise to watch them, and I am likely to be more closely employed than during a regular school session," Miss Fenler said in reply.
The first day passed without any especial happening, but the next day the two set out for a walk, soon after breakfast, and did not return until just before six.
"You were not here at one o'clock for lunch," Miss Fenler said. "Where were you?"
"I lunched with a friend," said Patricia, and Arabella drawled, "So did I."
"I did not know that you had friends here in town," Miss Fenler said, in surprise. They were, of course friends, and they had lunched together. What they had said had been true, but surely not honest.
Arabella stared stupidly at Miss Fenler, and Patricia imitated her stolid friend, too. It was easier to look dull than to answer more questions.
On the third day Mrs. Marvin was absolutely amazed to glance toward her window just in time to see Patricia entering the house with a cat in her arms.
Questioned as to where she obtained the cat she said that a boy gave it to her, that she didn't know his name, or where he lived.
"Where do you expect to keep it?" asked Miss Fenler, who had been sent to meet her.
"I thought I could keep her in the little shed that's next to the kitchen, and then Judy could feed her," was the answer, given as confidently as if the whole matter were settled.
Mrs. Marvin came out into the hall in time to hear what Patricia said.
"I think we can arrange to let puss remain if she is to be under Judy's care," she said, "for only yesterday she told me that the mice are becoming very bold, and theyare too wise to go into the traps that she sets."
A sound of falling pans, flat-irons, and other kitchen utensils made them start. Patricia clung to the cat, although it was making desperate efforts to get away.
"Ow-oo-o! O massy sakes! Yow-hoo!" shouted Judy as she burst the door open, and tore out into the hall.
"Dem mices'll kill me yit, I do b'liebe!" she yelled. "De windows, an' do's is shet, an' dey's prancin' on de kitchen' flo. Oh-oo!"
"Hush, Judy, hush!" Mrs. Marvin said. "We've a cat with us, and she is just in time."
"I sho' won't go nigh dat kitchen wid no cat, nor nuffin' else," Judy said, her eyes rolling in terror.
"Pooh!" cried Patricia, "I'd be glad toput her out there before I get any more scratches," and going to the end of the hall, she opened the door, and dropped puss on the floor.
In less time than it takes to tell it the cat had caught the two tiny mice, that had been far more afraid of the big colored woman, than she had been of them, and that is saying a great deal.
Patricia was never inclined to be in any way obliging. She was one of those unpleasant girls who find no joy in being kind or helpful.
Whatever she did, was done wholly for her own sake, and Judy eyed her with suspicion when she saw how promptly she took the big cat to the kitchen.
Having given the cat over to the care of Judy, Patricia raced up the stairway to her room.
Judy rolled her eyes to look after her.
"Wha' fo' she done dat?" she asked of Miss Fenler, who stood near her.
"Wha' fo'? I axes. Dat ar young miss done bring dat cat home ter hab in her room fo' a pet. How happen her to gib it up ter Judy?"
"Nonsense, Judy. She knows, as all the pupils know, that it is a fixed rule at Glenmore, that no pupil can have a pet in her room."
"All de same, Miss Patrichymeantdat cat ter be up in her room, long o' dat arCarbalegal."
Judy never could get Arabella's name correctly. Sometimes it was "Carbale," then it was "Corbille," but never once had she managed to call it Correyville.
"Well, the cat is in the kitchen now, and you must look out for her. Keep her in fora few days until she feels that this is home, and then she will stay," Miss Fenler said, and returned to her account-books.
Thursday the two girls were in their room all day, reading, and devouring a "treat" that Patricia had smuggled in. It was much the same ménu that Patricia usually chose, without a thought as to how the different things would combine.
Who but Patricia Levine would ever think of eating ice-cream, and big green pickles at the same time?
The reason that she would have given for eating them at the same time would have been that she liked both.
They ate the papers of ice-cream first before it could melt, and then, each took a huge green pickle, and a favorite book, and settled down to read.
When the lunch hour arrived, Patriciafelt a bit "queer," while Arabella felt decidedly "queerer."
Neither cared to eat, but they dared not stay away from the dining-room, so both went down to the table, but they made only a pretense of eating.
Early in the afternoon both felt hungry. Patricia rushed to the closet, and returned with some chocolate éclaires, and a bottle of olives.
"I'll eat an éclaire," said Arabella, "but maybe I'd better not eat olives with it."
"Well, of all things!" cried Patricia. "Let me tell you what you don't know. Éclaires and olives justb'longtogether. Don't act funny, Arabella."
Arabella, always afraid of being laughed at, ate not only one éclaire, but two, and a dozen olives, as well.
During the afternoon, they ate fourcrullers, two pickled limes, two ham sandwiches, and a pound of fudge.
Patricia could eat anything, and any amount of food without any ill effect, but Arabella was really sick when the hour for dinner arrived.
When Mrs. Marvin questioned Patricia, she said that Arabella had a headache, and that she had said that she was not hungry.
Mrs. Marvin sent a waitress up to their room with some toast and tea for Arabella. Arabella barely tasted it, and the girl returned to report that Miss Arabella looked sick, and really could not eat.
The next day found her much like her usual self, and Patricia proposed a walk.
"I'll go with you in a minute," said Arabella.
"Whatareyou waiting for?" snapped Patricia. She turned, and saw that Arabella was shaking some green pills from a bottle.
"It's hard work trying to mind two people who say different things," complained Arabella. "Aunt Matilda told me to take these green pills every hour, wherever I happen to be, and Mrs. Marvin says I must not be continually taking medicine in the class-room. How can I do both?"
"Don't take it at all!" cried Patricia.
"But my health—"
"Oh, bother your health," said Patricia. "I should think you'd be sick of hearing about it."
"I am," confessed Arabella.
"Then pitch every one of those bottles out, and see what happens! No wonder the girls here call you the 'medicine-chest.' The doses you take make me sick just to see them."
Arabella looked sulky, and when Patricia started for a walk, Arabella refused to go. She was usually afraid of Patricia, and did as she directed, but when she became sulky, not even Patricia could move her, try as she might.
Arabella was standing near the window when Patricia returned, and what she saw was anything but pleasing.
At the end of a leash was a small, shaggy, yellow dog, of no especial breed!
Arabella detested dogs, and was desperately afraid of them as well.
She told herself that the dog would also be in Judy's care, and was wondering how he would get on with the cat, when she heard a loud whisper outside the door.
"Let me in, quick!" it said, and when Arabella opened the door, Patricia stumbled over the dog who had run between her feet,and the two landed on the middle of the rug in a heap.
"There! Isn't he a beauty?" Patricia asked and without waiting for an answer continued, "A man told me he was a valuable dog thatoughtto bring fifty dollars, but because he was going to leave town, he let me have him, for two dollars, and threw in the leash. Wasn't that a bargain?"
"What are you going to do with him?" Arabella asked. "Oh, take him away! I don't want him sniffing at me!"
Patricia made an outrageous face, and tugged at the leash.
"Keep him in this room until I go home, and then take him with me," she said.
"I'll not sleep in this room if that dog is kept in here!" declared Arabella.
"Where will you sleep?" Patricia asked, coolly. "They wouldn't let you sleep out inthe hall, and if I put the dog out there, 'The Fender' will take him."
By extreme care, Patricia managed not to do anything that would make him bark.
The little dog had slept all night, but when morning came he wanted to go out for a romp. Patricia tied him to the leg of the bed, gave him some breakfast and sat on the floor beside him to stop him if he began to bark.
Thus far he had been very quiet, only softly growling, and stopping that when Patricia held up her finger and told him he must "keep still."
"Why do we have to review?" Patricia said as Arabella took up a book.
"The idea of looking into my history to see when Virginia was settled at Jamestownwhen any oneknowsit was in fourteen ninety-two!"
"O my, Patricia! That's wrong," Arabella said, "That's when Columbus discovered America."
"Well, for goodness' sake! Couldn't he have landed in Virginia, and settled it at the same time?" demanded Patricia. She was desperately angry, but Arabella persisted.
"Don't youknow, Patricia, itcouldn'thave been settled in fourteen ninety-two?"
"Oh, don't bother me about that!" said Patricia, and Arabella, peering at her through her goggles decided that it would be wise to do no more correcting.
"I don't think Miss Fenler is fair," said Patricia, "for she marked my history paper only forty-two, and I justknowit ought to have been higher than that. And my spelling she marked only thirty-eight lastmonth, and all because I put an r in water, spelling it 'warter,' and I'm sure that's not bad."
"You put two t's in it, too," said Arabella.
"I will again if I want to," snapped Patricia.
"There's the breakfast-bell. He's sure to bark while we're down-stairs," Arabella said. She hoped that he would, so that he might be given other quarters. He looked up as the door closed, and was about to bark when he saw one of Arabella's slippers, and grabbing it, retired under the bed to chew it.
It was a rule that the maids should make the beds, and put the rooms in order while the pupils were at breakfast, and on that morning it fell to Maggie's share of the work to care for the only room now occupied.
She was a good-natured Irish girl, and she entered the room singing:
"'Now, Rory, be aisy, don't tase me no more,'Tis the—'"
"Och, murther! Murther! There's a man under the bed, an' he grabbed me by me shoe,—oh! oh!"
Down-stairs she ran, screaming all the way, declaring that there was a man up-stairs, and calling for some one brave enough to "dhrive him out."
Her terror was very real, and Marcus was called in to oust the intruder.
"It must be a sneak-thief," said Miss Fenler.
"Itama sneak-thief," said Marcus, appearing with the small dog in his arms.
"He stole a slipper, an den sneaked under der bed ter chew on it. Sure, he am a sneak-thief, but I knows a cullud gemmanwhat wants a dog, an' I guess he's 'bout the right size. Dey has a pow'ful small house, an' him an' his wife, an' seben chilluns lib in dem two rooms, so he couldn't want no bigger dog dan dis yar."
"Why nobody can give that dog away!" shrieked Patricia. "I bought him yesterday, and paid the man two dollars for him. He's mine!"
"Do you mean to tell me, Patricia, that you bought that dog and deliberately brought him here, when you knew that it was against the rules of the school?" Mrs. Marvin asked.
"You kept the cat," said Patricia.
"Because I let the cat remain, you decided that it would be safe to do practically the same thing again, did you?" Mrs. Marvin's usually kind voice sounded very cold now.
"He isn't a cat, so 'tisn't the same," Patricia said with a pout.
"We must find an owner for him, Marcus," Mrs. Marvin said.
"Iwon'tlet him go!" screamed Patricia.
"You cannot keep him here."
"Then I'll go back to my aunt's house at Merrivale, and take him with me," said Patricia.
"Do as you like about that," Mrs. Marvin said quietly, "but you must choose."
"I'vechoosed, I mean 'chosen,'" said Patricia. "I'll go right straight off, and take the dog with me."
It looked like haste and anger, but for weeks Patricia had been so far behind the others of her class, that she believed that any day Mrs. Marvin would send her home with a letter stating that she had been neglectingstudy, and must give up her place to some ambitious pupil. Patricia preferred to go of her own choice, so she rushed to her room, and began to pack her belongings.
Arabella stood watching her as if not fully realizing that she was losing her chum.
She was not quite so dull as she appeared. She was sorry to have Patricia go, and she was not at all sure that she would like her room all to herself. At the same time she was comforting herself with the thought that there would be no one to make her eat things that she ate for the sake of peace and that nearly always made her ill, or to drag her into mischief that she, herself would never have thought of. When Patricia's trunk was strapped to the back of the carriage, and she stood on the porch, her suit-case in one hand, her other hand holding the dog's leash, she turned to Arabella.
"Well, aren't you going to say something, now I'm ready to start?" she asked.
"Do'no' what to say," drawled Arabella.
Arabella had spoken the truth, which, however, was not complimentary, and Patricia was offended.
Arabella, looking after her tried to decide just how she felt. She would miss Patricia, because at times she was a lively chum, but she was quick to take offense, and Arabella was always doing something that displeased her.
Then, too, Arabella had a very small allowance, while Patricia spent money with a free hand, and always "shared" with Arabella. But what joy was there in eating the oddly chosen "treats"?
Arabella decided that as there was but a short time before the closing of school, it was, perhaps, the best thing that could havehappened, that Patricia had decided to go back to Merrivale. It seemed strange that she should prefer to be with her aunt in Merrivale, rather than with her mother, at their home in New York, but those who knew were not surprised.
Mrs. Levine was as strange in some respects, as her little daughter was in others. If Patricia enjoyed being away from home, Mrs. Levine, flighty, and weak-willed, was glad to be free from the care of Patricia.
The aunt was very glad of the money paid for Patricia's board, so every one concerned seemed satisfied.
Surely Patricia was having but little training, but who was there to complain?
Being away from home had one decided advantage, Patricia thought.
She could ask for money when she needed clothing, and when she received it she couldmake her own choice of hats, coats, or dresses, and what a lively choice it was!
She had rightly earned the title of the "Human Rainbow."
She had heard the name, and she liked it. She thought that it implied that her costumes were gay, rather than dull colored.
Mrs. Marvin breathed a sigh of relief when Patricia had actually left Glenmore, and Miss Fenler remarked that Arabella was really too slow to get into mischief, now that she had no one to assist her.
The ride had been a long one, and the car had been hot after the early morning. Vera complained that she was fairly roasted, while Elf declared that she had breathed smoke from the open windows until she believed that she would smell smoke for a week. Dorothy and Nancy made little fuss abouteither smoke or heat, bearing the discomforts of the trip patiently, and laughing when Vera fumed.
"Well, I know, if I were a man," said Vera, "I could make some kind of an engine that would go like lightning, and have neither smoke nor cinders. I told Rob that, and he said, 'Oh, don't let it stop you because you're not a man. Just go ahead, Pussy Weather-vane, and plan it. The companies won't refuse to use it because it wasn't invented by a man!'
"Now, isn't that just like a boy? What time do I have to do things like that? Doesn't he know that I have lessons, and all sorts of things that hinder me?"
"Why do you girls laugh at everything I say, just as Rob does?" she concluded, looking in surprise, from one merry face to the other.
"Oh, but Vera, you are funny when you sputter," said Elf.
"I s'pose I am," agreed Vera, "and I don't much care. I'm sure I'd rather make you laugh, than make you look sober."
"Look! Look!" cried Dorothy.
"We're almost to Glenmore!"
"Not yet," said Vera.
"Oh, but Dorothy is right," said Nancy, "for look there where the river glistens in the sun."
"And see that big Club House right over there," Dorothy said, pointing toward a handsome building of which the town of Glenmore was justly proud.
"But it doesn't seem quite like—"
Vera's remark was interrupted by the trainman, who opened the door and shouted, "Glenmore! Glenmore!"
"I guess it did look like it," Vera said, asshe sprang out on the platform, followed by her three laughing companions. Marcus was waiting for them.
"Yo'-all git in, an' we'll git dar as quick as we kin. Mis' Marvin, she say all the other pupils is arriv, an' she hopes you fo' will be some prompt."
"We came as soon as the train would bring us," said Elf.
"But dat train am an hour later dan de time-table say."
"Do you believe that?" Elf asked of the others, as they rode along.
"They must have changed the time-table," Nancy said.
Marcus turned his head to shout:
"No, miss, no. Nobody doesn't neber chane nuffin' in Glenmore!"
Mrs. Marvin was on the porch, as the carriage turned in at the gateway, and shestepped forward to greet them as they sprang out on the walk.
"I was beginning to wonder what had detained you, when I was delighted to see the carriage coming around the bend of the road. You are just in time to go to your rooms and 'freshen up' a bit before dinner, and— Why, Arabella Correyville! What does this mean?"
A drenched and bedraggled figure was mounting the steps. Her hair, and garments were dripping, she had lost her goggles, and without them her eyes had a frightened stare.
"I didn't mean to look like this," she said, "but I lost the key to my room. I'd locked the door when I went out, and I wanted to study some before dinner. I climbed up onto the edge of that hogshead that the workmen had left right beside the trellisthat runs up by my window. I meant to get in at my window, but I fell and got into a hogshead of dirty water. 'Twasn't very pleasant," she drawled.
One might have thought, from the manner in which she said it that most people would have enjoyed the "ducking"!
Mrs. Marvin looked discouraged. This was the girl thatcould notget into a scrape, now that she had no one to drag her in!
"Miss Fenler, will you assist Arabella in making herself presentable before six? It is after five-thirty now."
Miss Fenler looked anything but pleased, but she dared not refuse. Arabella seemed quieter than ever when she came down the stairway, her wet garments exchanged for dry ones, and her straight hair primly braided, thanks to Miss Fenler.
Doubtless she had not recovered from hersurprise when she found herself in the hogshead. It always required time for Arabella to recover from any new idea, or unusual happening.
The other girls were giving the four who had just returned a gay welcome, and Dorothy slipped her arm around Betty Chase, and told her the fine news that during the summer they were both to be at Foam Ridge.
"Oh, Dorothy!" cried Betty, her dark eyes shining, "I was delighted when mother wrote that we were going there, just because I so love to be at the shore, and now to think that you and Nancy are to spend the summer there,—oh, it is such a dear surprise."
"But listen, every one!" cried Valerie Dare. "That's all very fine for Betty, but the other bit of news isn't quite so nice. Dorothy Dainty and Nancy Ferris are to leave Glenmore two weeks earlier than therest of us. Say! Do you think we'll miss them?"
"Oh, Dorothy Dainty! Why do you go so soon?"
"And take Nancy with you, too! Say, do you have to?"
"Can't you stay longer?"
These and many more were the queries called forth by Valerie's statement.
It was small comfort for them to listen when Dorothy explained.
The fact remained, that they did not want to have her leave before school closed. She had endeared herself to her classmates, and to many others whom she met at socials, and after school sessions. Nancy shared her popularity, and both prized the loving friendship that had made their stay at Glenmore so pleasant.
"We're glad to think that to-night we shall be at home at the Stone House, and that we'll be with Mother and Aunt Charlotte again, and we're really sorry to say 'good-by' to Glenmore and the pleasant friends that we have found here," Dorothy said, as she stood on the porch with Nancy, waiting for Marcus, who was to take them to the station.
"That's just the way we feel," said Nancy. "Glad and sorry at the same time."
"Well, let me tell you,Idon't feel two ways at once," cried Vera. "I feel just one way. I'm justfearfullysorry!"
Mrs. Marvin had bidden them "good-by," after having expressed her approval of their work as pupils, and her regret that they must leave too early to have a part in the program at the final exhibition. On the train that they were to take, there was no stop long enough to obtain anything to eat, so Judy had put up a tempting lunch of sandwiches, cake, and fruit.
Betty and Valerie had a box of chocolates for each, and Ida Mayo, now wholly recovered, came in at the gate just in time to offer each a lovely rose from a cluster that she carried.
Arabella came slowly out to join the group on the porch, and seeing Ida Mayo offering her roses, she decided not to be outdone.
"Here, wait 'til I find something," she said, thrusting her hand deep into her pocket. After a moment's search she produced two bottles of pills, one pink and the other green.
"Take 'em with you," she said, offering one to Dorothy, and the other to Nancy. "One is for a 'tired feeling,' and the other is for feeling too good. I've forgotten which is which, but if you take them both, you're sure to feel all right during the long car-ride."
There were stifled giggles, for surely bottles of medicine were curious gifts to offer, and the group of girls thought it the drollest thing that Arabella had yet done.
For only a second did Dorothy hesitate. She did not, of course, want to accept the funny gift, but she saw Arabella's cheek flush, as little Lina Danford laughed softly, and she did the kindest thing that she could have done.
"Thank you," she said, gently, then to theothers she added: "Arabella is eager to have us both feel fine when we reach Merrivale."
The soft laughter ceased, and Ida Mayo said to a girl who stood near her: "Isn't that just like Dorothy Dainty! She doesn't want those pills any more than you or I would, but she won't let Arabella feel hurt."
"She is dear, and sweet," was the whispered reply, "and so is Nancy."
At last Marcus arrived, and as they rode along the avenue, they waved their handkerchiefs to the group on the porch until they turned the corner, and were out of sight.
The long car-ride was much like any all-day ride. Rather pleasant at first, a bit tedious on the last hour, but oh, the joy of the home-coming!
Mrs. Dainty had felt the first separation from Dorothy keenly, and she could notschool herself to be calm when for the first time in months she would see her sweet face again, so she sent the limousine over to the station, and with a desperate effort at patience, waited at home for the sound of its return.
Aunt Charlotte was more calm, but so long had Nancy been under her care that she seemed like a little daughter, and now, with Mrs. Dainty she sat waiting, and each smiled when she caught the other watching the clock.
Of course the train was late in arriving at Merrivale, and Mrs. Dainty was just beginning to be anxious when the limousine whirled up the driveway, and stopped. John opened the door, and in an instant Dorothy found herself held close in loving arms.
"Dorothy, my darling, I can never beparted from you again. If it is a question of travel, I will not go unless you go with me, and if it is education, then you must have private tutors at home."
"Oh, yes, yes!" agreed Dorothy.
"At first the newness amused me, but the last half of the time grew harder and harder to bear. I knew you needed the rest and change and I did my best. When I found that you had come home two weeks earlier, I could hardly wait till this morning to start."
"We've tried to be cheerful for each other," Nancy said, looking out from her shelter in Aunt Charlotte's arms, "but oh, how good it is to be at home!"
Mollie Merton, and Flossie Barnet had waved to them as they turned in at the great gate, and Uncle Harry had swung his cap gayly, and looked the genuine pleasure that he felt at seeing them again.
"Let's go over to see Dorothy and Nancy," Flossie said, but Uncle Harry laid his hand gently on her arm.
"Not just now, Flossie dear," he said. "My little niece is truly glad to see them, but I think there will be things to talk over, and they have been apart for months, so they should have this evening uninterrupted by any friends."
"I guess that's so," said Flossie, "but it's hard to wait until to-morrow to tell them how glad we are to see them."
"I love dat Dorothy girl,myself," said Uncle Harry's small daughter, "and I love dat Nancy girl, too. Dat Dorothy girl always has candy for me, and dat Nancy girl makes hats for my dolly."
Uncle Harry swung the tiny girl up to a seat on his shoulder, and his blue eyes twinkled as he looked into the little, eager face.
"Don't you love them when they aren't giving you something?" he asked.
"Oh, yes!" said the little maid, "but I love themharderwhen they do."
"Then you'll love me 'harder' than you do now if I give you a ride up to the house?" he asked.
"Oh, yes, yes!" she cried, and she laughed gayly as she rode in triumph up the driveway, and into the house.
The evening was spent in the big living-room, with a small fire blazing in the fireplace. It had been warm and sunny all day, but when evening came, an east wind had risen, and the happy little party was glad to sit cosily in doors. Dorothy and Nancy listened entranced while Mrs. Dainty and Aunt Charlotte told of their travels. They had been south, they had been west, and they had brought home beautiful souvenirsof every place at which they had stayed.
Then Dorothy and Nancy told of the life at Glenmore, of the new friends that they had met, and of Arabella and Patricia.
It was a happy evening.
Mr. Dainty had found it impossible to reach home until a week later, but he had written a longer letter than usual, and had sent one especially to Dorothy, and it seemed almost as if he were really talking to her as she read it.
Bright and early next morning Mollie and Flossie raced over to the Stone House, and the four chattered so fast, that the old gardener at work near the fountain, took off his hat, and for a moment stood listening. He was not near enough to know what they were saying, but he heard their happy voices, now talking, now laughing, and he spoke his thoughts.
"Hear that now, hear that! An' will any man tell me that a garding is a reel garding widout the sound o' merry voices? Sure, it's been so still here the past few weeks that I begun ter talk ter meself, just ter break the stillness, but it didn't do the trick, fer me voice ain't what yo calls 'moosicle.' Oh, hear them now! It does me good, so it does."
There was news, and a plenty of it to tell, and when Dorothy and Nancy had told the happenings at Glenmore, Mollie and Flossie took their turn, and related all the Merrivale news.
"You know Sidney Merrington used to be so lazy last winter that he didn't get on at all at school," said Flossie. "Arithmetic was all that really vexed him, but because he had low marking for that, he wouldn't try hard to do anything else.
"Well,Molliepromised to help him, (you needn't bother to poke me, Mollie, for Iwilltell) and she did help him every day, and after a while he began to help himself, and last week his average on the exam. was ninety-three. Wasn't that fine? He never would have got that ifMolliehadn't helped him."
"Mollie, you were dear," said Dorothy.
"And Tess Haughton is ever so much nicer than she was,"Molliesaid, "for she doesn't do anything now that seems,—why not quite true. That doesn't sound just as I mean it. I know how to say it now. I mean that she isn't sly. She is a good playmate, and a good friend."
"Oh, that's fine!" Dorothy and Nancy cried, as if with one voice.
"There's another fine thing to tell," said Flossie. "Reginald Dean, with the help ofhis big dog saved a little boy from drowning. Reginald saw him fall from the bridge, and he never stopped to think that he isn't very big himself, but jumped right in, and was doing his best to save him, when all at once his strength gave out, and he called for help. He never dreamed that his dog had followed him, until with a splash he jumped into the water close beside him, grabbed his clothes, and dragged the two boys out."
"Wasn't that great?" said Dorothy, her hands tightly clasped, her eyes shining. "Reginald has the new bicycle that he so wanted. His father gave it to him, because he had been brave enough to forget danger, and rush to aid the other boy," said Mollie, "and the dog is wearing a new collar with a brass plate on it, engraved, 'I'm a Life-Saver.'"
"Katie Dean said she was almost surethat she saw Patricia Levine yesterday," said Flossie, "but I said I thought she must still be away at school. Do you know where she is now?"
"She might have seen her, for she left Glenmore before we did," Dorothy said, and she was just in the midst of telling how Patricia had brought the big cat home, and next had appeared with a little dog, when Mollie said:
"Here she comes now. Why, she has a dog with her!"
"That's the one," said Nancy, "and she has him on a leash now, just as she did at Glenmore. I wonder if her aunt likes him. He tears and chews everything he can get hold of."
"Hello!" called Patricia, as soon as she saw them, then, "My! What did you and Nancy get sent home for?"
"We weren't sent home," Nancy said, indignantly.
"Now, Nancy Ferris, Glenmore doesn't close until next week, and here are you two at home."
"That is no sign that we were sent," said Dorothy. "Mother sent for us."
"Oh, was that it?" Patricia said saucily, and then turning toMollieshe asked:
"How do you like my dog? He isn't a pretty dog, but he knows everything, and healwaysminds. My friends think it is just wonderful the way he minds me. I taught him to. Stop!" she cried. "Stop, I tell you. I won't let you chew the edge of my skirt. Will you stop? Oh, well I don't care if you do chew it. It's an old dress, anyway."
She saw that he would not stop.
"I've named him Diogenes. I don't know who Diogenes was, but I liked the name and he's such a hand to dodge, I thought I'd call him 'Dodgy' for short. Well, I'm sure I don't see why you look so amused.Ithink I've chosen a grand name for him. Come on, Dodgy!" but the small dog lay down.
"Well, well, how you do act! Come on! Up the street! Come!"
The dog got up, yawned, and then, taking a good hold on the leash, he snatched it from Patricia's hand, and made off with it, as fast as he could scamper, Patricia after him at top speed.
"He minded me that time," she turned to say, then resumed her chase.
The next few days were filled withpreparation for the trip to Foam Ridge, and Dorothy and Nancy could think of little else.
Both had felt the constraint at Glenmore which was really necessary at so large a school.
The freedom from study, with its fixed hours would be refreshing.
There would be fine surf at Foam Ridge, and the two had "tried on" their new bathing-suits at least a dozen times. They had studied the elaborate booklet that showed in colors, the beauty-spots of the place, and Dorothy had received a letter from Betty Chase, saying that in a short time she would be there to join them in their sports.
They were wondering what new friends they would make during the summer. Betty, they knew, would be a lively companion.
Of the gay summer at the shore, of the fun and frolic, of the unexpected things that happened, one may read in