"Oh, Alene! You good fairy godmother! It's just like Cinderella and
her pumpkin coach!"

"But we mustn't wear glass slippers," said Laura. "You see, Alene,
when we go a-berrying we always wear our heaviest shoes and battered
bonnets and patched dresses, for the thorns tear our shoes and clothes."

Alene's face clouded.

"I'm afraid I can't find a battered dress or a patched bonnet. Will I
have to stay at home?"

"No, you goose! Just wear the plainest you have!"

CHAPTER XVII

IN THE BERRY PATCH

As if in a dream Alene heard a voice:

"It's after five o'clock, Miss Alene. You better get up if you want to
be ready by six!"

Alene sat up with a yawn. She blinked her eyes and gazed solemnly at
the rosy, smiling face of the little maid.

"I wonder why it's so much easier to get up the night before!" she
ejaculated.

Kizzie laughed as she crossed the room and raised the blinds. The lace
curtains billowed in the fresh air and the soft light of dawn stole
into the room. A pretty room it was, too, with blue and gray matting,
blue tinted walls, its white stand and dresser, and little brass bed.

With another yawn Alene slipped her feet to the white rug beside the
bed, stood up, and lifting her gown as if for a skirt dance, skipped
lightly to a willow rocker which stood invitingly before one of the
tall windows overlooking the terrace and the town.

"I'll run downstairs and get some breakfast ready, and then come back
and help you with your hair and buttons," said Kizzie.

Alene knelt down beside the chair and buried her face in its blue
cushions to say her morning prayers.

There was a time when she had first come to the Towers when to her
regular prayers she always added a sort of petition--"Please, dear
Lord, I am so lonely!"

Now her heart was filled with the beauty of the day, its promises of
joy. She had so much that for herself there was nothing more to
ask--only thanks to give, but for her friends, beginning with Mrs.
Kump, the latest, and ending with her parents, the oldest and best
beloved, she petitioned many blessings.

Only a few moments given to God, but they were a consecration for the
day!

Alene rose with a song on her lips and proceeded with her bath and
dressing. She found herself doing so many things now-a-days that a few
months before would have seemed an impossibility.

"I used to be a bigger baby than Nettie or even Lois," she reflected as
she buttoned her shoes