he forsook me and
hob-nobbed openly all afternoon with that curly-haired girl, Miss
Thayer. I am terribly jealous, and there is a deadly gleam in my eye."

"Please, don't think, Anne----" began Ruth nervously, looking
distressed.

"I am past thinking," retorted Anne melodramatically. "The time for
action has come. I shall challenge my rival to a duel the first time I
see her. We will fight with----"

"Brooms," grinned Elfreda. "I once fought a duel down in our orchard
with my cousin Dick. Brooms were the chosen weapons. We certainly did
great execution with them. They were new ones and the brushy part kept
getting in our way until we happened to think of cutting it off and
fighting with the handles. After that things went more scientifically,
until Dick hit me on the nose by mistake. I wailed and shrieked and had
the nose bleed, and Ma whipped Dick and sent him home. That was about
the only duel I ever fought," concluded the stout girl reflectively,
"but if there's the slightest possibility of either of you choosing
brooms for weapons, I'll give you the benefit of my experience by
training you for the fray."

"Shall I take her at her word, Ruth?" laughed Anne.

"No, I'm not worth all that trouble," returned Ruth half shyly.

"We won't have time to escort you home, Ruth," remarked Grace, looking
at her watch. "We must leave you at this corner. Be a good child and
don't sit up all night to study. Come over Tuesday evening to dinner,
and we'll all study together."

"Thank you, I will if I don't have too much mending on hand," replied
Ruth. "Good-bye. I can't begin to tell you how much I've enjoyed being
with you."

"Don't try," advised Elfreda laconically. "We've had just as much fun as
you have."

Miriam and Grace exchanged glances. Elfreda was making rapid strides
along the road to fellowship.

"I like that girl," she announced as Ruth disappeared around the corner.
"She has lots of pluck. When we asked her to go out with us to-day she
looked at her old coat and hat, then at us. I could see that she was
ashamed of them. But she wasn't ashamed for more than five seconds. She
straightened up and looked as proud as a princess. I could see----"

"A great deal more than we did," finished Miriam. "I believe you have
eyes in the back of your head, Elfreda."

"I don't miss much," agreed Elfreda modestly. "I saw you and Grace look
at each other when I said we'd had just as much fun as Ruth," she added
slyly. "I kn