h girls affectionately.
"I have a plan to talk over with you, but I can't say anything about it
now. I must consult mother first. You'll like it, I'm sure."

"Of course we shall," responded Grace. "Good night, Miriam, and pleasant
dreams."

"They are the nicest girls in Oakdale, and I shall try hard to be like
them," thought Miriam, as she closed the door. "David is right. It
certainly pays to be square."

CHAPTER XXIII

GRACE MEETS A DISTINGUISHED CHARACTER

June had come, bringing with it the trials and tribulations of final
examinations. The days grew long and sunny. Roses nodded from every bush,
but the pupils of Oakdale's two High Schools were far too busy to think
about the beauty of the weather. Golf, tennis, baseball and other outdoor
sports were sternly put aside, and the usual season of "cramming" set in.
Young faces wore an almost tragic expression, and back lessons were
reviewed with desperate zeal.

Grace Harlowe had crammed as assiduously as the rest, for a day or two.
She was particularly shaky on her geometry. She went over her theorems
until she came to triangles, then she threw the book down in disgust.
"What's the use of cramming?" she said to herself. "If I keep on I won't
even be able to remember that 'the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle
is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.' I'm in a
muddle over these triangles now. I'll find the girls and get them to go to
the woods with me. I really ought to collect a few more botany
specimens."

Grace's specimens were a source of keen delight to her girlish heart. She
didn't care so much about pressing and mounting them. It was the joy she
experienced in being in the woods that, to her, made botany the most
fascinating of studies. She poked into secluded spots unearthing rare
specimens. Her collection was already overflowing; still she could never
resist adding just a few more.

She was doomed to disappointment as far as Nora and Jessica were
concerned. Both girls mournfully shook their heads when invited to
specimen-hunting, declaring regretfully they were obliged to study. Anne
was at Mrs. Gray's attending to the old lady's correspondence. This had
been her regular task since the beginning of the freshman year, and she
never failed to perform it.

"Oh, dear, I wish examinations and school were over," Grace sighed
impatiently. "I can't go to the woods alone, and I can't get any one to go
with me. I suppose I'll hav