to help Aunt Susan get supper under way before she changed her
dress, she was morally sure Miss Nason would appear in a gown fit for a
state dinner. But when she was dressed and went out on the porch where
her guests were, she found Miss Blanch attired in a white muslin, severe
in its simplicity. It was a pleasant surprise, and then the matter of
dress no longer troubled her, for at no time during their stay did Alice
feel any reason to consider herself poorly clad in comparison. Of the
conversation that evening, so little was said that is pertinent to this
narrative that only a few utterances deserve space. Alice had the happy
faculty of finding out what subjects her guests were most interested in
and kept them talking upon them. Blanch gave an interesting description
of her life at the Maplewood; who were there, what gowns the ladies
wore; the hops, drives, tennis, croquet, and whist games; and when that
topic was exhausted Alice turned to Frank and said, "Now tell us about
your trip."

"There is not much to tell," he answered in a disappointed tone. "The
fact is my yachting-trip was a failure from start to finish. I hoped to
induce mother and the girls to go, and to coax you to join us, but that
plan failed. Then I made up a party of fellows and started. Two of them
played banjos, and that, with singing, fishing, and cards, I thought
would make a good time. I had a two weeks' trip all mapped out, no end
of stores on board, and anticipated lots of fun; but it didn't
materialize. The second day Bert got left on the island, and we didn't
find him until the next day. In the meantime he had found a pretty girl
and acted as if he had become smitten with her. Then we ran to Bar
Harbor, and the rest of the boys found some girls they knew, and decided
at once that a gander cruise had lost its charms; so I threw up my
hands, and you know the rest. I turned the 'Gypsy' over to Bert, and for
all I know or care he is using her to entertain his island fairy. I hope
so, anyhow. But I've got the merry ha-ha on him all right, and if he
ever rings the changes on a certain subject, he'll hear it, too." What
that certain subject was Alice did not see fit to ask, but joined with
Blanch in a good laugh at Frank's dolorous description of his trip and
its Waterloo at the hands of a few girls.

"It seems you can't get along without us much despised creatures,"
observed Blanch, "and if you had come to Bethlehem in the first place
you would h