she live?" asked Lloyd, watching the bright face that was
making its way toward them across the crowded room.

"At Fort Sam Houston, down in San Antonio. Her father is an army officer
at that post."

There was no time for further discussion, for Gabrielle was coming
toward her with outstretched hand.

"This is Juliet's Princess, isn't it?" she asked, with a smile that
captivated Lloyd at once, flashing over the whitest of little teeth.
"You're getting all sorts of titles to-night. I heard a girl speak of
you as a mermaid in that pale sea-green gown and corals, but I've come
over here on purpose to call you the 'Little Colonel.' You don't know
how much good it does me to hear a military title once more. Out at the
fort it's all majors and captains and such things."

Then, dropping her grown-up society manner, she suddenly giggled,
turning to include Emily in the conversation.

"Oh, girls, I had the worst time getting dressed this evening that I
ever had in my life. When I unpacked my trunk yesterday, everything was
so wrinkled that there was only one dress I could wear without having it
pressed; this white one. So I laid it out, but, when I went to put it on
to-night, I found that mamma had made a mistake in packing, and put in
Lucy's skirt instead. Lucy is my older sister," she explained to Lloyd.
"We each had a dotted Swiss this summer, made exactly alike, but Lucy is
so much taller than I that her skirts trail on me. Just look how
imposing!"

She swept across the floor and back to show the effect of her trail.

"Of course there was nothing to do at that late hour but pin it up in
front and go ahead. I'm afraid every minute that I'll trip and fall all
over myself, but I do feel so dignified when I feel my train sweeping
along behind me. The pins keep falling out all around the belt, and I
can't help stepping on the hem in front. I love trains," she added,
switching hers forward with a grand air that was so childlike in its
enjoyment that Lloyd felt impelled to hug her. "It gives you such a
dressed-up, peacocky feeling."

Then she looked up in her most soulful, intense way, as if she were
asking for important information. "Do you know whether it's true or not?
_Does_ a peacock stop strutting if it happens to see its feet? My old
nurse told me that, and said that it shows that pride always goes before
a fall. I never was where they kept peacocks before I came to Warwick
Hall, and I've spent hours watching Madam