and Tom Jennings," suggested Nat. "They came home
yesterday, and likely would enjoy a fly in the Fire Bird."

"Good idea," agreed Ned. "Just run over, and do the asking. I saw Tom
cross the lawn a short time ago. He is sure to stick close to Roland."

One hour later the Fire Bird was "on the wing," and in the car were the
boys from The Cedars and their guests, two young men just home from
college for the holidays.

"Whew!" whistled the handsome Roland as soon as the party got away from
The Cedars. "What a stunner your blonde cousin is, Ned! Seems to me you
might have prepared a fellow. I almost had a spell when she came to greet
me."

Now, Ned White never relished hearing other fellows admire Dorothy. It was
a strange fact that while he knew Dorothy to be pretty he was never
prepared to hear others say so. Nat picked up the end of Roland's remark.
He knew Ned would not say anything very agreeable to it.

"But what do you think of the other?" asked Nat. "Now, I prefer the
burnished type."

"A tomboy, isn't she?" ventured Tom, referring to Tavia.

"Oh, just a good fellow," answered Nat. "Always ready for a lark, if
that's what you mean."

"Jolly! I thought so," responded Tom. "Well, I do like a girl with some go
in her, if she doesn't happen to put all the go in my direction."

"In other words," assumed Nat, "you like the tomboy type--in the
abstract."

"Guess that's it," answered Tom. "But certainly those two girls are equal
to putting you through a lively holiday. Wish we had a pair like them down
to The Elms for this spell. Gee--I just dread this Christmas stuff. Aunts
and uncles have my bedroom lined with 'secret packages' already. I went on
the 'collar button crawl' this morning, and nearly fainted when I saw the
stuff under my bed. Aunt Molly runs some kind of a charity jinks, you
know, and she has picked out my room as the safest place to hide her
trash."

"Oh, yes," remarked Ned, "I heard Dorothy say something about it
yesterday. Seems to me she said she was going to help."

"Oh, then the stuff may remain under my bed," quickly spoke Tom. "If Miss
Dorothy is interested--so am I."

"I had her first," objected Roland, joking. "I may buy a couple of rag
dolls myself. Does Miss Dorothy prefer the rag variety?"

Ned seemed all attention to the car. Occasionally he turned to speak to
Joe and Roger, but otherwise he took little part in his friends' badinage.

"Where are you bound for?" asked Tom as Ned