or him when he gets out of college if he
manages to graduate in good odor with the faculty," and Cecile laughed.

"But if Luke should suggest such a thing as marrying--even if the girl
were the nicest girl in the world--Neighbor would not listen to it. He
would cut their friendship in a moment, I know," added the girl
seriously. "And his help may be of great value to Luke later on."

If Cecile had some reason for telling the older Corner House girls and
Mrs. MacCall this story she did not point the moral of it by as much as
a word or a look. They were quickly upon another topic of conversation.
But perhaps what she had said had taken deep root in the heart of one,
at least, of her audience.

CHAPTER IX

EVERYTHING AT SIXES AND SEVENS

Things sometimes begin to go wrong the very moment one wakes up in the
morning.

Then there is the coming down to breakfast with a teeny, weeny twist in
one's temper that makes some unfeeling person say:

"I guess you got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning."

Now, of course, that is silly. There can be no wrong side to a bed--that
is, to get out of. Getting up has nothing to do with it. Things are just
wrong and that is all there is to it.

Fortunately this state of mind seldom lasted all day with any of the
four Corner House girls; nor did they often begin the day in such a
humor.

But there are exceptions to every rule, they say. And this Wednesday
most certainly was the day when matters were "at sixes and sevens" for
Dorothy Kenway.

It would not be at all surprising if the trouble started the evening
before when she learned that she had inadvertently named her new baby No
Smoking. That certainly was cause for despair as well as making one feel
horribly ridiculous.

Of course, Ruth in her kind way, had tried to make the smallest Corner
House girl forget it; but Dot remembered it very clearly when morning
came and she got up.

Then, she could not find the slippers she had worn the day before; and
if Mrs. MacCall saw her with her best ones on, there would be something
said about it--Dot knew that.

Then, Tess seemed suddenly very distant to her. She had something on her
mind and carried herself with her very "grown-upest" air with Dot. The
latter, on this morning particularly, hated to admit that Tess was more
than a very few days older than herself.

Tess went off on this business that made her so haughty, all by herself,
right after breakfast. When