but always
seeking the good in things, her contagious belief in the Forest, had
stirred his manliness, making him conscious of his fretfulness, and then
ashamed. His mother, who had dreaded the long holiday, wondered at his
content. Katherine wondered a little too. The Forest of Arden made a very
nice game, and it was pleasant to have Maurice in a good humor, but she
did not quite understand the connection.

Soon after the close of school Colonel Parton took his two older boys away
on a western trip, leaving Jack with no resource but Maurice and the
girls. The two boys were great chums, and as Maurice's knee made active
sports impossible, Jack, too, gave them up for the most part.

As for Belle, her indifference to Rosalind had turned into ardent
admiration. She and Charlotte Ellis had a sharp dispute over the
new-comer. Charlotte confessed she was disappointed in her, and pronounced
her odd, all of which Belle deeply resented, the result being a decided
coolness between them.

"I am as glad as I can be Charlotte is going away this summer," she was
heard to remark.

"She can't be as glad as I am that we aren't going to be in the same
town," was Charlotte's retort when the speech was repeated to her.

The cleverness of Maurice and Rosalind was duly impressed upon the other
three when the constitution of The Arden Foresters was read, and after
careful consideration it had been copied in the blank-book, and beneath it
the members signed their names. The excitement of Commencement week being
over, a meeting was called to decide on a badge.

It had been decided that any member might call a meeting, and the method
was suggested by Belle. In each garden a spot was selected,--an althea
bush at the Partons', a corner of the hedge at the Roberts's, a cedar near
the gate at the Whittredges',--in which the summons, a tiny roll of paper
tied with grass, was to be deposited.

On the morning appointed for this meeting of The Arden Foresters, Celia
Fair, knowing nothing about it, of course, had just settled herself in the
arbor with a cushion at her back and her work-basket beside her, when
Rosalind looked in. She carried a book and a bunch of leaves, and she
seemed surprised to find the summer-house occupied. Her manner was
hesitating as, after saying good morning, she asked if Miss Fair had seen
Maurice or Belle.

"No; are you expecting them? Won't you come in and sit down while you
wait?" Celia asked, noticing the hesitati