"Right four, fours right," is then called, and the boys take their
positions. The First Sergeant faces about and salutes his Captain. When
the Captain has returned his salute, the Sergeant takes his post two
paces behind the company. Now is heard the tread of feet, and the
Captain to whose company the colors belong commands "Carry arms! Present
arms!" Then the Color-Sergeant and the body-guard march in front of the
company, and the Color-Sergeant takes his place two paces to the left of
the Third Sergeant, who is on the left guard of his company--and the
drill begins.

[Illustration: THE PUDDING STICK]

This Department is conducted in the interest of Girls and Young
Women, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on
the subject so far as possible. Correspondents should address
Editor.

Do I ever have the blues? Why, Lottie, what a question to come from a
girl of sixteen? Am I to infer that you do, at your age, with the world
a blaze of beauty, and your feet so light and your heart so young that
you ought to go skipping instead of walking, if only you dared to let
the gladness of your life overflow.

But girls _do_ have the blues, insists Gretchen, at my elbow; and she
adds that they have reasons enough: that they are not always understood,
that they have fancies and thoughts which they cannot always explain,
that, in short, girls are not always as happy as they look.

Granting that this may be true of some girls, what are they to do? As a
person not subject to these disagreeable visitations, I can speak with
the sort of authority the doctor has when he enters the room of a
patient. The doctor need not have a fever in order to prescribe for it.
In fact, he will prescribe more successfully if he be well himself. The
blues make the person suffering from their presence extremely
uncomfortable, and her discomfort in a subtle way acts upon others, so
that nobody is quite cheerful in her neighborhood. People who are "blue"
are quite often cross as well, and are unable to accept pleasantly the
ups and downs of every day. Now, when you think of it, you must admit
that it is a very humiliating experience to be cross, for cross people
are 'disagreeable, and none of us wishes to be _that_.

The best way to get rid of the blues is not to own that they have you.
Put on your hat and go for a walk. Call on a friend and take her the
piece of music you are to try together, or the book you h