om, and,
peeping through the crack of the kitchen door, they beheld a rather
flustered-looking Miss Ashwell trying to guess the first parcel.

Helen shooed them off, declaring they had no manners at all, and that
they had better see that they were ready for their own party.

Judith and Nancy were indignant at the implication that they were not
well prepared for the morrow, but just before "Lights out" bell sounded,
Judith asked Sally May to let her see the rhyme for the Canterbury bells
tag.

"Why--I thought you and Nancy were doing it. I heard you trying to get a
rhyme for 'Susan.'"

"Well, we couldn't," said Judith weakly; "I thought you had one written
already."

"We'll have to get up at six o'clock, every one of us," declared Nancy;
"put a pencil and paper beside your bed; each of us has got to have a
rhyme and then we'll choose the best."

There was much yawning and stifled groaning next morning, but Nancy was
firm and refused to retire to her own cubicle until she had seen each
member of the crew provided with pencil and paper.

The fires of poetic genius burned low at such an early morning hour, but
they knew, as well as Nancy did, that there would be no time after
breakfast. So after much frowning and biting of pencils, five verses
were written, and handed to Catherine to choose the best.

It was an exciting afternoon. There was a Senior cricket match being
played and the Fifth-Formers were loath to lose one minute of that.
Judith and Nancy were especially keen to watch Catherine's play. They
would dash over to the match for ten minutes, and then race off to
squeeze lemons, or see if the cakes had come, and then back again to the
match.

Josephine and Joyce had made a huge bouquet of tea-roses interspersed
with samples of the trees and shrubs and flowers which were to be
planted in the "White Cottage" garden. Day girls had been requested to
bring samples of cherry trees and gooseberry bushes and such things as
were not to be found at York Hill. It was a somewhat curious-looking
bouquet, however, for to each spray was attached a little wooden tag
bearing the donor's name, and a bit of paper with the accompanying
rhyme.

Miss Ashwell looked adorably pretty, they all agreed, when she and Miss
Meredith joined them in the latter's garden after the cricket match. The
guests were escorted to the wicker chairs under the trees and the girls
seated themselves on rugs.

There was a moment's pause. Miss Ashwe