of you have."

"But countless things must have happened to you in the theatre,"
persisted Arline, looking curiously at Anne.

"Not so many as you might imagine," replied Anne. Then she said quickly,
"Miriam must have been an interesting little girl."

"I was a very haughty young person," answered Miriam. "In the Oakdale
Grammar School I was known as the Princess. Do you remember that,
Grace?"

Grace nodded. "Miriam used to order the girls in her room about as
though they were her subjects," she declared. "She had two long black
braids of hair and her cheeks were always pink. She was the tallest girl
in her room and the teachers used to say she was the prettiest."

"I was a regular tyrant," went on Miriam. "I had a frightful temper. I
was a snob, too, and looked upon girls whose parents were poor with the
utmost contempt."

"Miriam Nesbit, you can't be describing yourself!" exclaimed Arline
incredulously.

"Ask Grace if I am not giving an accurate description of the Miriam
Nesbit of those days," challenged Miriam.

"It isn't fair to ask me," fenced Grace. "You always invited me to your
parties."

"There, you can draw your own conclusions," retorted Miriam
triumphantly. "I don't object to telling about my past shortcomings as I
have at last outgrown a few of my disagreeable traits."

"Were you and Grace friends then?" asked Arline.

"We played together and went to each other's houses, but we were never
very chummy," explained Grace. "We were both too headstrong and too fond
of our own way to be close friends. It was after we entered high school
that we began to find out that we liked each other, wasn't it, Miriam?"

"Yes," returned Miriam, looking affectionately at her friend. In two
sentences Grace had effectually bridged a yawning gap in Miriam's early
high school days of which the latter was heartily ashamed.

"Every one has told a tale but Ruth," declared Elfreda. "Now, Ruth, what
have you to say for yourself?"

"Not much," said Ruth, shaking her head. "So far, my life has been too
gray to warrant recording. That is, up to the time I came to Overton,"
she added, smiling gratefully on the little circle. "My freshman year
was a very happy one, thanks to you girls."

"But when you were a child you must have had a few good times that stand
out in your memory," persisted Elfreda.

Ruth's face took on a hunted expression. Her mouth set in hard lines.
"No," she said shortly. "There was nothing worth remem