al for a Hallow E'en frolic and--"

But she got no further. Rosalie Breeze, sans ceremony, made one wild
leap from her chair and rushed toward the platform. Miss Sturgis made a
peremptory motion and stepped toward her, but Mrs. Vincent raised her
hand. The next second Rosalie had flung herself bodily into Mrs.
Vincent's arms, crying:

"Oh, if every schoolmarm was just exactly like _you_ I'd never, never do
one single bad thing to plague 'em and I'll let you use me for your
doormat if you want to!"

A less self-contained woman would have been staggered by the sudden
onslaught and felt her rule and dignity jeopardized. Mrs. Vincent was of
different fibre. She gathered the little madcap into her arms for one
second, then taking the witch-like face in both hands kissed each
flushed cheek as she said:

"I sometimes think you claim kinship with the pixies,--you are half a
witch. So you accept the bargain? Good! Have all the fun you wish but
don't burn the house down."

By this time the whole school had gathered around her, asking questions
forty to the minute.

Mrs. Vincent looked like a fly-away girl herself in her sympathetic
excitement, for her soft, curly chestnut hair had somewhat escaped its
combs and pins, and her cheeks were as rosy as the girls. Mrs. Vincent
was only forty, and now looked about half her age.

Polly and Peggy crowded close to her, Natalie shared her arms with
Rosalie, quiet, undemonstrative Marjorie's face glowed with affection,
while even Juno condescended to unbend, and Lily Pearl and Helen gave
vent to their emotions by embracing each other. Stella, tall, stately
and such a contrast to the others, beamed upon the group.

But Isabel put the finishing stroke by remarking with, a most superior
smile:

"O Mrs. Vincent, what a perfect darling you are! Don't you perfectly
dote on her girls? _I_ fell in love with her years ago when I first met
her and I've simply worshiped at her shrine ever since."

"Rats!" broke out Rosalie, and Mrs. Vincent had just about all she could
manage for a moment. Her emotions were sadly at odds. Polly's laugh
saved the day and deflected Isabel's scorn.

"I really do not see what is amusing you, Miss Howland; I am sure I am
only expressing the sentiments of my better poised schoolmates."

"Oh, we all agree with you--every single one of us--though we are
choosing different ways of showing it, you see. If Peggy and I had been
down home we'd probably have given the