l, but
they couldn't seem to hit on anything else to do, so they kept on moving
mechanically. They had arrived in the outskirts of the village by now,
and they presently found themselves face to face with a tall chimney
and a group of low buildings set in a wide enclosure--the water-works
and electric plant.

A light of hope dawned in Patty's eyes.

"I'll tell you! We'll go and ask Mr. Gilroy to take us home in his
automobile."

"Do you know him?" Conny asked dubiously. She had received so many
affronts that she was growing timid.

"Yes! I know him _intimately_. He was under foot every minute during the
Christmas vacation. We had a snow fight one day. Come on! He'll love to
run us out. It will give him an excuse to make up with Jelly."

They passed up a narrow tarred walk toward the brick building labeled
"Office." Four clerks and a typewriter girl in the outer office
interrupted their work to laugh as the two apparitions appeared in the
door. The young man nearest them whirled his chair around in order to
get a better view.

"Hello, girls!" he said with cheerful familiarity. "Where'd you spring
from?"

The typewriter, meanwhile, was making audible comments upon the
discrepancies in Patty's hosiery.

Patty's face flushed darkly under the coffee.

"We have called to see Mr. Gilroy," she said with dignity.

"This is Mr. Gilroy's busy day," the young man grinned. "Wouldn't you
rather talk to me?"

Patty drew herself up haughtily.

"Please tell Mr. Gilroy--_at once_--that we are waiting to speak to
him."

"Certainly! I _beg_ your pardon." The young man sprang to his feet with
an air of elaborate politeness. "Will you kindly give me your cards?"

"I don't happen to have a card with me to-day. Just say that two ladies
wish to speak with him."

"Ah, yes. One moment, please--Won't you be seated?"

He offered his own chair to Patty, and bringing forward another,
presented it to Conny with a Chesterfieldian bow. The clerks tittered
delightedly at this bit of comedy acting, but the Gypsies did not
condescend to think it funny. They accepted the chairs with a frigid,
"Thank you," and sat stiffly upright staring at the wastebasket in their
most distant society manner. While the deferential young man was
conveying the message to the private office of his chief, public comment
advanced from Patty's stockings to Conny's shoes. He returned presently,
and with unruffled politeness invited them please to step this wa