urse I am taking
but few clothes with me, as a matter of fact, I have all I shall require
in my suitcase downstairs. But later there will be many things necessary
for our housekeeping in France of which you may not have thought."

CHAPTER II

EXPLANATIONS

"Bettina, who on earth is Miss Patricia Lord? A more formidable lady I
never imagined!"

Sitting before a fire in their bedroom, which they had chosen to share
so as to be able to talk for as long a time as they wished before
retiring, were the two Sunrise Camp Fire girls, Bettina Graham and Vera
Lagerloff. Both girls had changed conspicuously in manner and appearance
since the summer before when they had been in camp together "Behind the
Lines" in southern California. However, there comes a day in every
girl's life when with entire suddenness she seems to understand and
accept the revelation of her womanhood.

To Bettina Graham had been given an added social experience. During the
past few months, without being formally introduced into society,
nevertheless she had been assisting her mother in receiving in their
home in Washington. In spite of the fact that there had been but little
entertaining on a large scale because of the war, Bettina had gone to
occasional dinners and small dances, and on account of her father's
prominence and her mother's popularity, had shared in the best
opportunities. Moreover, Washington had never been so crowded with
interesting men and women, and yet scarcely a day passed when Bettina
did not whisper to herself that nothing could make her enjoy a
conventional society existence. It was only because of the universal
absorption in the war at the present time that society had become more
endurable. But to continue the life indefinitely demanded an impossible
sacrifice.

One afternoon in late fall Bettina and her father, Senator Graham, in an
hour of mutual confidence, imparted the information to each other that
they regarded themselves as social failures.

"You see, Bettina, my dear, I was not to the manner born in this social
game and had no one to teach me until I married your mother," Senator
Graham announced with a certain embarrassment. "Indeed, I never had
entered a drawing-room until I was a grown man and then had not the
faintest idea how the confounded thing should be done. You don't think
you could have inherited a social awkwardness from me?"

Then, fearing to have wounded his daughter's feelings Senator Graham