sed to you," Leslie
patronizingly conceded. "Excuse me for losing my temper and telling you
the plain truth about yourself."

Natalie's color rose. She hated Leslie's patronizing insolence more than
she hated her open vituperation. She would have liked to say that she
was amazed to learn that Leslie ever told the plain truth about
anything. Prudence warned her to let the quarrel drop.

"I accept your apology, Leslie," she said with great sweetness, entirely
ignoring the sting of Leslie's remarks.

"What?" Leslie stared. A faint snicker arose from two or three of the
other girls. "You seem to have recovered your wits again, Nat," she said
with elaborate carelessness. "We are quits, I guess, for the present."

"Thank goodness!" This from Joan Myers. "Now that peace has been
restored, perhaps you will condescend to tell us what you started out
to say, Leslie."

"De-lighted." Leslie bowed ironically. "To jump into the middle of the
subject at once, I asked you seven Sans to this party tonight for a
purpose. We eight girls are the founders of the Sans. I told all the
other Sans that I wasn't going to ask them here tonight, and not to get
their backs humped about it. I promised 'em a big party at the Ivy
Saturday night. There is a private dining room there with a long table
that will seat the whole eighteen of us. I don't know whether they liked
it or not, and I don't care. It was up to us to talk things over and let
them into it afterward."

"Some of the girls had other engagements anyway," put in Joan Myers. "I
know Anne Dawson and Loretta Kelly were invited to a senior blow-out at
Alston Terrace."

"Well, that's neither here nor there," retorted Leslie somewhat rudely.
It did not please her to learn that any of the Sans had received more
attention from the seniors than herself. Thus far she had not been the
recipient of an invitation to dine from a senior. She was still inwardly
sore at the lack of attention they had met with on their arrival at
Hamilton station.

"I don't think it is a very good policy for we eight founders of the
Sans to keep to ourselves too much," deprecated Dulcie Vale, regardless
of Leslie's views on the subject. "The whole eighteen of us will have to
stick together and work hard if we expect to keep the upper hand of
things here at Hamilton."

"Oh, forget it," ordered Leslie brusquely. "Your trouble is easy to
explain. You are sore because I didn't invite Eleanor, your pal, to this
dinne