id to himself more than once, "I've let a good bit of
precious time, and many happy hours, slip away, if I'm not mistaken, and I
don't know whether I shall ever catch up."

During their stay in the city Mr. Reeve went in quest of his old college
chum, Sydney Powell, Cicely's father, and had an interview with him that
was brief, but very much to the point.

"Go ahead, Clint, old chap, and find what is needed for the little girls,
if you can. Cicely will never go back to the Carter school, and I should
be glad to have the girls keep together. They seem fond of each other. How
would you like to run out to Montcliff to look up that school? I've had
fine reports of it from Fred Hubbard, whose daughter is a pupil there?"

And so it came to pass that directly after vacation the two girls were
escorted to Sunny Bank, as the school was called, and, after a very
satisfactory talk with its sensible principal, Mr. Reeve left them to her
care, feeling sure that this time he had not made any mistake.

Toinette and Cicely had adjoining rooms, and nothing could have been
daintier than the room appointments. From their windows they could look
out over a wide sweep of the western valley, where the sun was just
sinking behind the hills, and leaving upon the sky a glorious promise of
the day to follow.

They were still busy arranging their pretty trifles about the rooms when
the soft chime of the Chinese gong in the wide hall below announced
dinner. Thus far they had not seen any of the other girls, but as they
stepped from their rooms they were met by Miss Preston, who said, as she
slipped an arm about each waist:

"I do not forget how lonely _I_ felt when I first entered a strange
school, so let me try to make it easier for my new girls by introducing
some of my old ones; _real_ old," she added, laughingly, as she called to
two girls who were curled up on one corner of the big divan at the lower
end of the hall.

"Come here, chicks, and let me make you acquainted with Miss Reeve and
Miss Powell. These are Miss Gordon and Miss Osgood, my dears, but as we
are all sort of 'sisters, cousins and aunts' in this big home, I'll just
hint right off that their home names are Ruth and Edith, who will be glad
to welcome my Toinette and Cicely."

By this time they had reached the cheerful dining-room, and with a very
significant exchange of glances Toinette and Cicely took their seats, the
latter whispering under cover of the bustle caused by