gerly jumping to
details, "and make her lose that twenty pounds. That's what the Dowager
meant when she said she wanted her less material."

"We'll have her thin in no time," Patty nodded energetically. "And we'll
give Mae Mertelle a dose of bubbling girlishness."

"And Keren," interposed Priscilla, "we'll teach her to become frivolous
and neglect her lessons."

"But we won't just confine ourselves to those three," said Conny. "The
Dowager said to make our influence felt over the whole school."

"Oh, yes!" Patty agreed, rising to enthusiasm as she called the school
roll. "Kid McCoy uses too much slang. We'll teach her manners. Rosalie
doesn't like to study. We'll pour her _full_ of algebra and Latin.
Harriet Gladden's a jelly fish, Mary Deskam's an awful little liar,
Evalina Smith's a silly goose, Nancy Lee's a telltale--"

"When you stop to think about it, there's something the matter with
everybody," said Conny.

"Except us," amended Priscilla.

"Y--yes," Patty agreed in thoughtful retrospection, "I can't think of a
thing the matter with us--I don't wonder they chose us to head the
reform!"

Conny slid to her feet, a bundle of energy.

"Come on! We'll join our little playmates and begin the good
work--Hooray for the great Reform Party!"

They scrambled out of the open window, in a fashion foreign to the
dictates of Thursday evening manner class. Crowds of girls in blue middy
blouses were gathered in groups about the recreation ground. The three
paused to reconnoiter.

"There's Irene, still chewing." Conny nodded toward a comfortable bench
set in the shade by the tennis courts.

"Let's have a circus," Patty proposed. "We'll make Irene and Mae
Mertelle roll hoops around the oval. That will kill 'em both with one
stone--Irene will get thin, and Mae Mertelle girlish."

Hoop-rolling was a speciality of St. Ursula's. The gymnasium instructor
believed in teaching girls to run. Eleven times around the oval
constituted a mile, and a mile of hoop-rolling freed one for the day
from dumb-bells and Indian clubs. The three dived into the cellar, and
returned with hoops as tall as themselves. Patty assumed command of the
campaign and issued her orders.

"Conny, you take a walk with Keren and shock her as much as possible; we
must break her of being precise. And Pris, you take charge of Mae
Mertelle. Don't let her put on any grown-up airs. If she tells you she's
been proposed to twice, tell her you've been proposed