ed by her beauty either."

They found the tea-room filled as on the other day, and Patricia, thanks
to Constance Fellows' kindness, found herself one of a gay group near
the piano, as much at home among the chattering girls as though she had
known them for weeks.

"I tell you what it is, Avis Coulter," Constance was saying to a very
plain, angular girl with large spectacles when the tea was almost over,
"we've got to show this budding genius a little friendly attention, or
she'll get homesick and mopey before the resplendent Merton returns to
coddle her. What are you going to do to liven her dragging days?"

The spectacled girl rubbed her nose thoughtfully. "I've tickets for a
concert at Carnegie Hall tomorrow afternoon," she hazarded doubtfully.

"And I have a perfectly good studio party at my cousin Emily's," said
another girl.

"And I'm going to have a spread in my room tomorrow night," volunteered
a third member of the party.

Constance Fellows nodded approval. "That sounds very well to me," she
said. "I accept for Miss P. Kendall and myself. Who's to bring the
chaperone for these festivities?"

Avis Coulter, on the score of the concert being in the afternoon,
declared that it was all stuff to think of such a thing, while Marie
Jones said that her cousin Emily was chaperone enough for an army of
buds, and Ethel Walters sniffed at the idea of a chaperone for a spread
in one's very own room, under the roof with Miss Ardsley and the
dependable Miss Tatten, the house-keeper, whom Patricia had not yet
seen.

Constance would have none of their reasoning, however, and insisted that
one of the older students at Artemis Lodge be in charge of all the
festivities shown Patricia in the interval of Miss Merton's absence.

"I am responsible for her," she said firmly, "and I am not going to
present her to Merton with the slightest social blot upon her dazzling
whiteness. Chaperoned she must and shall be, or she doesn't budge a
step."

Patricia was very much amused and surprised to see that Constance had
her way. Instead of rebelling, as she had expected, the girls gave in at
once, showing as much meekness in fulfilling the wishes of this decided
young person as though it were she and not they that was granting the
favors.

Patricia went back to her room cheered and exhilarated, and found the
brief time before the dinner hour all too short for the necessary amount
of practicing she had portioned off for herself.

Di