lsie is, and how thoroughly saturated with her music. She is worse
than ever this year, and talks almost entirely in musical terms.

"'How are you two going to chord?' she said, abruptly, to Susannah.
'If Sophia were a sheet of music, she would be marked on every score,
_Fortissimo_, because she is so forcible and aggressive. But you are
just the opposite; it seems to me that _Timoroso_ would just suit you.
You do not object to a nickname, I hope? Everybody has to put up with
one here.'

"Susannah blushed and managed to stammer out that she didn't mind, and
ever since then she has been 'Timoroso' to us all. You know Elsie
Gayland. She is the same old Elsie. What the Pied Piper was to
Hamelin town, she is to this school. We all still flock after her in
spite of ourselves, and no matter what she chooses to pipe for us, we
dance after her.

"She has a new fad now--palmistry. Yesterday she showed me a book on
the subject, that she studied all vacation. It is the weirdest looking
thing, bound in black, with white serpents crawling all over the
cover. It made me creep to look at it. She says that she is going to
give a 'Palmistry Evening' soon, whatever that may be, and tell our
fortunes. Timoroso has just come in and says that Elsie is waiting for
me, so with 'these few broken remarks,' and a heart full of love, I
must leave you for the present. Devotedly,

"SOPHIA."

As Olive laid down the letter and took up another, Sara exclaimed, "I
see now why sister wanted us to read them. It is something about
fortune-telling."

"The next letter is dated a week later," said Olive, beginning to read
again.

"It was so lovely of you, Helen, dearest, to write me that good long
letter in answer to the scrap I sent. I have put off answering it
until I could tell you about our palmistry evening which Elsie gave us
last night. She almost got into trouble by passing round little slips
of paper in class, on which was written:

8# XXIV. Lc.
Palmistry.

"Miss Hill caught sight of one as it was being passed to Timoroso, and
called her up to the desk. Seeing that Tim was almost ready to faint
from embarrassment, Elsie spoke up quickly: 'It's mine, Miss Hill. It
is just a reference. I had several slipped in here, between the leaves
of my algebra.'

"Of course it was a reference. You can easily tell what it referred to
when interpreted in the old way. _Eight o'clock sharp. Room 24.
Elsie.