if you didn't over-salt it, who did?" asked Jack practically.

"I don't know," admitted Rosemary. "I could cry when I think of it."

"I wouldn't do that," said her brother, turning in at their
driveway. "How about making us a chicken pie for Sunday dinner,
Rosemary, and asking Jack over to sample it?"

"I'll make it," agreed Rosemary, "but just the same I want to know
who salted my soup."

CHAPTER XVIII

SHIRLEY IN MISCHIEF

The chicken pie was a wonderful success, so Doctor Hugh and Jack
assured Rosemary at the Sunday dinner, but the mystery of the
over-salted soup seemed destined to remain unsolved. Miss Parsons
never mentioned it again and Rosemary herself might have forgotten
it more readily except for several ill-natured references by Fannie
Mears whenever the Institute dinner was spoken of. Fannie and
Rosemary did not get along very well together and this was, in one
way, odd, because Fannie and Nina Edmonds were apparently most
congenial. They usually ate their lunches together, but Rosemary
chose to be with Sarah and Shirley and their corner table was
usually crowded with younger girls who adored Rosemary openly.

The brief Thanksgiving holidays--with no school from Thursday to
Monday--brought the Willis family a more sincere appreciation of
their blessings than ever before. A short note from the little
mother lay beside each plate on Thanksgiving Day morning, and Winnie
kept one hand on hers tucked in her apron pocket even when she
served the golden brown waffles. When Aunt Trudy asked who would go
to church with her, Doctor Hugh answered for them all.

"We'll please Mother," he said simply, and after the service he
packed the three girls into the little roadster and carried them off
for a long cold ride that gave them famous appetites for Winnie's
dinner.

Doctor Hugh's practice was growing to include a wide radius of
countryside and the "young doctor" was gaining a name as one never
"too busy" to answer a country call. Doctor Jordan had prolonged his
vacation till late in October and then had returned to Eastshore
just long enough to sell his practice, office and instruments to his
young colleague and set off on a leisurely trip to California, a
luxury well earned after years of sacrificing service. Doctor Hugh
still retained the Jordan office, while seeing an increasing number
of patients at his home within fixed hours.

His office had a great attraction for Shirley, and Rosemary had
di