proposition.

"Glenwood School, in the mountains of New England! I can see the tags
on Dorothy's trunks," she replied merrily. "Nothing could be better.
And that splendid mountain air! Why, you won't know the child when she
comes home for her holiday. But I am going to write this very morning.
Or will you do it? And I will write in reply to the next. Yes, I
think that would be better. And now I am going right up to Dorothy and
tell her all about it. The child had such a headache from her
experiences yesterday that I insisted upon her lying down. Wasn't that
the most absurd thing for those children to ride to town in the police
patrol? The boys will never stop talking of it. And Tavia Travers
thinks it the joke of her life. But Dorothy is not keen on that sort
of jokes. She does not relish the curiosity which the incident has
stirred up. I could see that this morning, when those school friends
were talking it over with her."

"Dorothy is a very sensitive girl."

"All fine natures are sensitive, Allen. They neither offend nor relish
being offended. It is perfectly natural that the child should resent
such remarks as some of those I have heard passed about the patrol
ride."

"Of course they only came from children," apologized the major, "and
youngsters will have their say."

"Yes, but sometimes the 'say' of jealous young girls may go a long way.
A jealous girl is, I believe, even a more dangerous enemy than a woman
scorned, about whom so much is written and said. But I am sure Dorothy
can hold her own in spite of any girl."

Why had Mrs. White been so apprehensive about the small talk she had
overheard? What could any one say against Dorothy Dale?

That afternoon a school friend called on Dorothy and brought with her a
young girl who had been spending part of her vacation at the
MacAllister home. She was introduced as Miss Viola Green of Dunham,
and while rather a pretty girl she had something in her manner that
made Dorothy feel uncomfortable. This unaccountable dislike on
Dorothy's part was heightened when Tavia went over to the veranda where
the girls were sitting, and upon Alice introducing Tavia to her friend
the latter merely bowed stiffly, and refused to accept the hand that
Tavia had offered in greeting. This was all the more strange since
Alice was so splendid a girl herself.

But Viola Green had made a serious mistake in refusing to accept the
honest hand of Tavia Travers, althou