nwholesome experience was put away in the past at last.

Howard Letchworth had been most thoughtful about the matter in the
village, and had managed so that the tragic had been taken out of the
story that had started to roll about, and Leslie could go around and
not feel that all eyes were upon her wondering about her escapade.
Gradually the remembrance of it died out of her thoughts, although the
wholesome lesson she had learned never faded.

More and more popular in the college grew the gatherings down at
Cloudy Villa. Sometimes Leslie brought home three or four girls for
Friday and Saturday, not often any on Sunday, unless it was Jane; for
Sundays were their very own day for the little family, and they
dreaded any who might seem like intruders.

"It is our time when we catch up in our loving for all the week,"
Leslie explained with a quaint smile to one girl who broadly hinted
that she would not mind being asked for over Sunday. "And, besides,
you mightn't like the way we keep Sunday. Everybody who comes has
to go to church and Christian Endeavor with us, and enjoy our
Bible-reading, singing hour around the fire; and I didn't think you
would."

"Well, I like your nerve!" answered the girl; but she sat studying
Leslie afterwards with a thoughtful gaze, and began to wonder
whether, after all, a Sunday spent in that way might not be really
interesting.

"She's a kind of a nut, isn't she?" she remarked to another friend of
Leslie's.

"She's a pretty nice kind of a nut, then, Esther," was the response.
"If that's a nut, we better grow a whole tree of them. I'm going down
there all I can. I like 'em!"

Julia Cloud seemed to have a fertile brain for all kinds of lovely
ways to while away a holiday. As the cold weather came on, winter
picnics became the glory of the hour. Long walks with heavy shoes and
warm sweaters and mittens were inaugurated. A kettle of hot soup
straight from the fire, wrapped in a blanket and carried in a big
basket, was a feature of the lunch. When the party reached a
camping-spot, a fire would be built and the soup-kettle hung over an
improvised crane to put on its finishing touches, while the rest of
the eatables were set forth in paper plates, each portion neatly
wrapped in waxed paper ready for easy handling. Sometimes big mince
pies came along, and were stood on edge near the fire to get thawed
out. Bean soup, corned-beef sandwiches, and hot mince pie made a
hearty meal for people who h