k, and I never dance with
anybody the second time if I don't like the way he does it the first
time. And everybody was real nice and dignified to-night, Cloudy. The
boys are all shy and bashful, anyway; only I couldn't forget what you
had said about not liking to have me do it; and it made everything
seem so--so--well, not nice; and I just felt uncomfortable; and one
dance I sent the boy for a glass of water for me, and I just sat it
out; and, when Allison saw me, he came over, and said, 'Let's beat
it!' and so I slipped up to the dressing-room, and got my cloak, and
we just ran away without telling anybody. Wasn't that perfectly
dreadful? But I'll call the girl up after a while, and tell her we had
to come home and we didn't want to spoil their fun telling them so."

They sat for an hour talking before the fire, the young people telling
her all about their experiences of the last few days, and letting her
into their lives again with the old sweet relation. Then they drifted
back again to the subject of dancing.

"I don't give a whoop whether I dance or not, Cloudy," said Allison.
"I never did care much about it, and I don't see having my sister
dance with some fellows, either. Only it does cut you out of lots of
fun, and you get in bad with everybody if you don't do it. I expected
we'd have to have dances here at the house, too, sometimes; but, if
you don't like it, we won't; and that's all there is to it."

"Well, dear, that's beautiful of you. Of course I couldn't allow you
to let me upset your life and spoil all your pleasure; but I'm
wondering if we couldn't try an experiment. It seems to me there ought
to be things that people would enjoy as much as dancing, and why
couldn't we find enough of them to fill up the evenings and make them
forget about the dancing?"

"There'll be some that won't come, of course," said Leslie; "but we
should worry! They won't be the kind we'll like, anyway. Jane Bristol
doesn't dance. She told me so yesterday. She said her mother never
did, and brought her up to feel that she didn't want to, either."

"She's some girl," said Allison irrelevantly. "She entered the
sophomore class with credits she got for studying in the summer school
and some night-work. Did you know that, kid? I was in the office when
she came in for her card, and I heard the profs talking about her and
saying she had some bean. Those chumps in the village will find out
some day that the girl they despised is worth