as she turned from the window and
began patiently to separate Bess from her belongings and stow the
articles away in the wire basket overhead. "I always have a funny
feeling as if I were leaving half of me behind every time I say good-bye
to Momsey and Papa Sherwood."

"I should think you would be used to it by this time," said Bess, as
she removed her hat and fluffed out her pretty curls. "We certainly
can't complain of having to stay too much in one place."

"I should say not!" exclaimed Nan, as she thought of how many wonderful
things had happened since that day when she had started out for the
great north woods with Uncle Henry. "But, oh, Bess," she added, turning
happy eyes upon her chum, "we never went on quite such a wonderful
journey as this--not even when we went to Rose Ranch."

"It all comes of having such nice friends," replied Bess, taking out a
tiny hand mirror and regarding the tip of her nose critically. "And
friends with money," she added significantly.

"Bess! How you talk!" cried the girl from Tillbury, turning a shocked
gaze upon her friend. For Nan Sherwood never failed to be shocked at
Elizabeth's very evident love of money and what it could buy. "If it
were only money we cared for we might have made friends with Linda
Riggs, I suppose. I heard her say something about going to Europe next
summer, and I shouldn't wonder if she would take Cora Courtney and one
or two more of her satellites with her. Perhaps if we had been very
good, she might have asked us."

"Well, it would have been fun," said Bess, wickedly enjoying the shocked
look that deepened on Nan's face. "Cheer up, Nan," she added with one
of her sudden changes of mood. "You know very well how I hate Linda.
However," she continued, "I suppose we really ought to be grateful to
her now."

"Grateful?" repeated Nan wonderingly.

"For damaging the heating plant up at school, silly," explained Bess,
"and giving us a chance to go to Florida."

CHAPTER XV

WE'RE OFF!

Nan could not help laughing at this speech of her chum's, and she turned
her chair about to face Bess. Nan did not like riding backward in a
train very much herself, but as Bess had declared she "simply couldn't
stand it," it was unselfish Nan, as usual, who did the unpleasant thing.

But, the chair turned, as she sank down into its luxurious depth she
looked across gravely at her friend.

"I don't see why you say that Linda did that awful thing up at school,"