rolonged cheer. The girls cried a little, because they couldn't help
it. Jim suddenly looked ten years younger and what he whispered to
Cousin Ruth, no one ever knew, but she blushed and shook her head.

"Do let's dance or do something, quick!" Jean exclaimed, "or I simply
can't bear it." She ran over to the piano. But at this moment sleigh
bells sounded outside and a pair of horses could be heard stamping on
the frozen ground. Then another sleigh followed and the wide hall of
Rainbow Lodge was quickly crowded with Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, Harry
Pryor, Laura, who for once looked friendly, and all the neighbors of the
ranch girls for miles around.

"Villagers all, this frosty tide,
Let your doors swing open wide,
Though wind may follow and snow beside,
Yet draw us in by your fire to bide."

Harry Pryor sang the first verse of the old Christmas carol alone.
Before he had finished Jean was playing the air softly on the piano and
all the guests joined in the second verse.

"Here we stand in the snow and the sleet,
Blowing fingers and stamping feet,
Come from far away, you to greet,
You by the fire and we in the street,
Bidding you joy in the morning."

"How did you know, Aunt Sallie? How could you have come to congratulate
us at just the right moment?" Jack inquired with a puzzled frown, as she
helped Mrs. Simpson out of her wraps. "We only found it about a minute
before."

"Found what?" Mrs. Simpson demanded curiously. But the next instant she
put her comfortable arms about Jack and hugged her with all her might.

"Of course we didn't know you had found your deed to Rainbow Ranch,
child," Aunt Sallie exclaimed. "We came over because we were afraid you
might not be happy this Christmas. We wanted you to know that we all
meant to stand by you. I don't think there is anything in this State
that we have a better right to be proud of than our ranch girls," and
Aunt Sallie choked a little with mixed emotions.

Jack laughed gaily. "You are a dear, Aunt Sallie," she answered
gratefully. "I don't know why you should be proud of us. But anyhow, it
is lots of fun to be a Ranch Girl."

The Ranch Girls Series.

The story of the four Ranch Girls is plainly just beginning. Girls so
entirely unlike in temperament and ideals, as Jack, Jean, Olive and
Frieda, cannot fail to lead lives that will develop in interest. In the
seco