e me. I woke once to
find myself saying, "Braid it straight, Davie. Aunt Maria's awful mad."
When I slept again I thought I heard Royal Lee say, "We'll teach you to
play cards," and speared tails and horned heads seemed mixed
promiscuously with little pieces of cardboard bearing red and black
symbols and the words "I'll get you if you don't watch out" rang in my
ears. "Ugh, what awful dreams," I thought as I lay awake and listened
for sounds of activity in the house. I missed Aunt Maria's five o'clock
call. The luxury of an eight o'clock breakfast couldn't be appreciated
the first morning, as I was wide awake at five. I'll soon learn to
sleep later. There are many things I shall learn before I go back to the
farm.

This morning Virginia and I started out on a glorious adventure, looking
for a boarding place. She laughed when I called it that.

"I like the uncertainty of it," I told her. "The charm of the unknown
appeals to me. I do not know under whose roof I shall sleep to-night yet
I'm happy because I know I am going to meet new people and see new
things. Of course, if I did not have you to help me I would remember
Aunt Maria's dire tales of the evils and dangers of a big city and
should feel afraid. As it is, I feel only curious and gay. No matter
where I find a place to live it's bound to be quite different from the
farm, not better, necessarily, but different."

But my "high hopes of youth" received a jolt at the very first interview
with a boarding-house mistress. She wouldn't take young ladies who were
studying music, their practice would annoy the other boarders. I had
never thought of that!

The second quest was equally unsatisfactory. One room was vacant, a
pleasant room--at twelve dollars a week! The sum left me speechless.
Virginia had to explain that the amount was a _trifle_ more than I
expected to pay.

The third proved to be a smaller house on a narrower street. A charming
old lady led us into a sitting-room. All my life I've been accustomed to
the proverbial cleanliness of the Pennsylvania Dutch but I'm certain I
never saw a place as clean as that house. I said something like that to
its mistress and she informed me with a gentle firmness I never heard
before that she expected every guest in her house to help to keep it in
that condition. She had several rules she wanted all to obey, so that
the sunshine would not have a chance to fade the rugs and the dust from
the street could not ruin things. I