th I am afraid I
wouldn't bother my head about helping her to have good times."

"You are frank, at least," smiled Grace.

"Seriously speaking, I am really very selfish," admitted Arline. "I
never think of doing good for unselfish reasons. I don't find any
particular interest in being nice with girls who do not appeal to me.
That sounds terribly cold-blooded, doesn't it? They say an only child is
always selfish, you know. Oh, forgive me, Grace; I forgot you were an
'only child.' Goodness knows you are not selfish."

"Yes, I am," contradicted Grace. "This is my second year at Overton and
in all the time I've been here I have thought about nothing but myself
and my friends and my good times. This afternoon when I started out to
make calls I met Miss Barlow, a little freshman who lives in a boarding
house down on Beech Street. We were going in the same direction and I
thoughtlessly asked if she were going home for Christmas. A second
afterward I was sorry. Her face fell, then she brightened a little and
said, 'No.' She and seven other girls who lived in the same house were
going to have a Christmas tree. For three days they had been busy
decorating it. They had just finished. She asked, almost timidly, if I
would like to see it. Of course I said 'Yes,' and we started for her
boarding house. It is away down at the other end of Overton, and the
most cheerless looking old barn of a house. The inside of the house is
almost as cheerless as the outside, too. They had set up their tree in
the parlor, and it was the only bright spot in the room.

"The tree was trimmed with popcorn and tinsel. There were funny little
ornaments of colored paper, too, that they had made themselves. The
presents were underneath the tree, a few forlorn looking little packages
that made me feel like crying. I couldn't truthfully say that the tree
was lovely, but I did tell Miss Barlow that I thought they had done
splendidly and that I was sorry I hadn't known her better before,
because I should have liked to help them with their tree.

"Then she said she had always wanted to know me, but I had so many
friends among the influential girls at Overton she had thought I
wouldn't care to know her. You can imagine how conscience stricken I
felt. At home I was the friend of every girl in high school, and to
think that I have been developing snobbish traits without realizing it!"

"Couldn't we do something nice for them before we go?" asked Arline
generous