casual way every time she took a seat
at the table, for the beast and the bird were old acquaintances. She had
learned La Fontaine's version of the fable one time to recite at
school. To-day, with the problem in her mind of how to rid herself of an
unwelcome guest, they suddenly took on a new meaning.

"I'll do just the way the stork did," she thought, gleefully. "This
morning Girlie had everything her way, and we played little silly baby
games till I felt as flat as the dish that fox is eating out of. But she
had a beautiful time. To-morrow morning I'm going to be stork, and make
my conversation so deep she can't get her little baby mind into it at
all. I'll be awfully polite, but I'll hunt up the longest words I can
find in the dictionary, and talk about the books I've read, and she'll
have such a stupid time she won't want to come again."

The course of action once settled upon, Mary fell to work with her usual
energy. While the girls were taking their daily siesta, she dressed
early and went down into the library. If it had not been for the fear of
missing something, she would have spent much of her time in that
attractive room. Books looked down so invitingly from the many shelves.
All the June magazines lay on the library table, their pages still
uncut. Everybody had been too busy to look at them. She hesitated a
moment over the tempting array, but remembering her purpose, grimly
passed them by and opened the big dictionary.

Rob found her still poring over it, pencil and paper in hand, when he
looked into the room an hour later.

"What's up now?" he asked.

She evaded his question at first, but, afraid that he would tease her
before the girls about her thirst for knowledge and her study of the
dictionary, and that that might lead to the thwarting of her plans, she
suddenly decided to take him into her confidence.

"Well," she began, solemnly, "you know mostly I loathe dolls. Sometimes
I do dress Hazel Lee's for her, but I don't like to play with them
regularly any more as I used to,--talk for them and all that. But Girlie
Dinsmore was here this morning, and I had to do it because she is
company. She had such a good time that she said she was coming over here
every single morning while I'm here. I just can't have my lovely visit
spoiled that way. The bride is coming day after to-morrow, and she'll be
opening her presents and showing her trousseau to the girls, and I
wouldn't miss it for anything. So I've ma