cept a present of anything sharp--a knife or scissors, or even a
pin,--because, the saying is, it cuts friendship. I've found it so,
too. I gave Clara Hayes a silver hair-pin at Christmas, and a few
weeks after we quarrelled."

"There is the fault, popping up like a Jack-in-the box!" said Miss
Irene. "But, if I remember, Clara was a new acquaintance of yours in
the holidays, and you and she were inseparable. The ardor of such
extravagant friendship soon cools. Before long you concluded you did
not like her so well as at first; then came the disagreement. But is
it not silly to say the pin had anything to do with the matter? Would
it not have been the same if you had given her a book or a picture?"

"If I'm walking in the street with a friend, I'm always careful never
to let any person or thing come between us," admitted Kate Parsons.
"It's a sure sign that you'll be disappointed--"

"Oh, it will be all right if you remember to say 'Bread and butter!'"
interrupted Anna, eagerly.

They all laughed; but Miss Irene saw by the tell-tale faces of several
that they clung to this childish practice.

"We used to do so in play when we were little girls," said Emily,
apologetically; "and I suppose it became a habit."

"The other day," Miss Graham went on, "I heard a young lady say: 'If
you are setting out upon a journey, or even a walk, and have to go back
to the house for anything, be sure you sit down before starting off
again.' It is bad luck not to do so.'"

Emily colored.

"Yes, we are very particular about that!" cried Rosemary, impulsively,
as her companions did not contradict the avowal; it was evident that
she knew what she was talking about.

The conversation turned to other subjects. Presently Anna and Rosemary
were planning an excursion to a neighboring town.

"To visit Elizabeth Harris, who was at the convent with us last year,"
explained the latter. "Suppose we go to-morrow?"

"I have an engagement with the dentist," was the doleful reply.

"Well, the day after?"

"Let me see," mused Anna. "Oh, no!" she added, hastily. "I could not
start on a journey or begin any work on a Friday; it would not be
lucky, you know!" Then she flushed and looked toward Miss Irene, who
shook her head significantly and wrote in her note-book, "Superstitious
practice No. 4."

As it was Emily's birthday, the girls had been invited to stay for
luncheon. Emily now led the way to the dining-room, where a pretty
ta