too sweet for words"
floated like sea-foam about her slender ankles.

No comments were made and all set forth for the hop. And was the
experiment a red letter one? Well!

CHAPTER XV

IN SPRING TERM

"Well, we all came back to earth with a thud, didn't we? But, was there
ever anything like it while it lasted," ended Natalie with a rapturous
sigh.

"And do you suppose there can ever be anything like it again?" Rosalie's
tone suggested funeral wreaths and deep mourning, but she continued to
brush her hair with Peggy's pretty ivory-handled brush, and pose before
Peggy's mirror. The girls were not supposed to dress in each other's
rooms but suppositions frequently prove fallacies in a girl's school and
these girls had vast mutual interests past and pending.

Several weeks had passed since the Christmas holidays, but the joys of
that memorable house-party were still very vivid memories and recalled
almost daily.

It was the hour before dinner. The girls were expected to be ready
promptly at six-fifteen, but dressing hour might more properly have been
termed gossiping hour, since it was more often given over to general
discussions, Stella's pretty room, or Peggy's and Polly's, proving as a
rule a rendezvous. All of the Severndale house party were assembled at
the moment, and two or three others beside, among them Isabel, Helen and
Lily Pearl.

"I hope there may be a good many times like it again," said Peggy
warmly. "It was just lovely to have you all down there and Daddy Neil
was the happiest thing I've ever seen. I wish we could have him at
Easter, but he will be far away when Easter comes."

"Shall you go home at Easter?" asked Helen, flickering hopes of an
invitation darting across her mind.

"I hardly think so. You see it is only two weeks off and the Little
Mother has not said anything about it, has she, Polly?"

"No, in her last letter she said she thought she'd come down to
Washington for Easter week and stop at the Willard, but it is not
settled yet. I'd rather be in Annapolis at Easter and go for some of our
long rides. Wasn't it fun to have Shashai and Silver Star back there
during our visit! I believe they and Tzaritza and Jess had the very time
of their young--and old--lives. And wasn't Tzaritza regal with Rhody?"

"It was the funniest thing I've ever seen," laughed Stella. "That dog
acted exactly like a royal princess entertaining a happy-go-lucky
jackie. Rhody's life on board the _Rhode I