126
XXIV The Darkest Hour 130
XXV Among Strangers 137
XXVI The Mother's Woe 142
XXVII It Seemed Like Some Beautiful Dream 146
XXVIII More Bitter Than Death 150
XXIX As We Kiss the Dead 156
XXX A Terrible Deed 163
XXXI Lost! Lost! Lost! 168
XXXII It Was the Overflowing Drop 172
XXXIII A New Home 178
XXXIV Thrown on the World 181
XXXV Grand Company 186
XXXVI "Only to See You, My Darling" 190
XXXVII A Wonderful Discovery 193
XXXVIII Good News 201
XXXIX "For All Eternity" 205
XL Conclusion 210

DAINTY'S CRUEL RIVALS

CHAPTER I.

"A SWEET GIRL GRADUATE."

"Her eyes
Would match the southern skies
When southern skies are bluest;
Her heart
Will always, take its part
Where southern hearts are truest.

"Such youth,
With all its charms, forsooth.
Alas! too well I know it!--
Will claim
A song of love and fame
Sung by some southern poet."

"It's a perfect godsend, this invitation!" cried Olive Peyton, with
unwonted rapture in her cold voice.

"Yes, indeed!" assented her chum and cousin, Ela Craye, joyfully. "I
have wondered over and over how we were going to buy our summer clothes
and spare enough money for a trip, and here comes Aunt Judith's
invitation to her country home just in the nick of time."

"And how lucky, to think of her step-son, Lovelace Ellsworth, getting
home at last from Europe! Either you or I must capture him, Ela!" added
Olive, eagerly, her black eyes sparkling with the hope of getting a rich
husband.

But Ela Craye snapped shortly:

"We might--if only she had not invited Dainty Chase."

Olive frowned, but answered, courageously:

"Pshaw! aunt might just as well have saved her manners. Dainty can not
possibly go. She hasn't a decent thing to wear at such a grand place as
Ellsworth."