--postmarked Turino. Heaps for you, Kitty, ditto for
Sarah, Amanda, Debby, Alec,--all Woodford must have joined in a
round-robin. Hurry and read them and then everybody swap news!"

A long silence ensued, as profound as it was rare, while each girl
pored over the precious home letters. It was Kitty who looked up
first.

"Susy didn't catch the fever,--and Ruth's all over it. And she's had
to have all her hair cut off, and she's dreadfully thin and doesn't
seem to get her strength back as she should, Father says. He thinks
she has fretted over having to miss the ranch party,--and no
wonder!--it would simply have killed me. Susy's been a regular trump
and hasn't complained a bit, but every one knows it's been a dreadful
disappointment, especially when she was perfectly well and could have
come if it hadn't been for Ruth."

"It's a downright shame!" Blue Bonnet declared.

"Father says if Ruth doesn't feel better soon she'll probably have to
stay out of school this fall," Kitty continued.

"Then I should say she hadn't suffered in vain," exclaimed Blue
Bonnet; Grandmother was deep in her letters.

"But think how mean it would be to have one of the We are Sevens out
of school. You know how you love to 'have things complete,'" Amanda
reminded her.

"Yes, but--" she began; then feeling her grandmother's eyes upon her,
failed to finish. It was odd how the girls took it for granted that
she was going back with them. And she was not at all sure, herself.

The girls had not noticed her hesitation, and were already exchanging
other bits of home news and gossip. Alec alone was silent. Blue
Bonnet, stealing a look at him saw that he had finished his letters
and was staring moodily out of the window, unmindful of all the gay
chatter about him.

"Did you get bad news, Alec?" she asked him, later that evening, as he
accompanied her to the stable to see Texas and Massachusetts.

"That depends on the way you look at it. Boyd is coming back from
Europe to take the West Point examinations--"

Blue Bonnet smothered an exclamation: she had seen that coming.

"--and Grandfather says that since the Army seems out of the question
for me, he thinks I had better hurry home and take the Harvard exams.
He seems set on it."

"And you don't want to?"

"It isn't to be thought of." Alec's mouth was very determined.

Now why, if West Point was disposed of, could he not take the next
best--or in her opinion the very best--thing that offe