your shoulders drooped forward, and that pulls
your arms down. If you'd stand up straight and throw your shoulders back
your arms wouldn't look nearly so long."

Katherine looked at the arm and shook her head with such an air of
dejection that Gladys was overcome and flung her arms around her
passionately. "I won't say another word!" she declared. "Oh, I'm a
brute! Katherine dear, have I hurt your feelings?"

"Not at all," answered Katherine calmly. "You remember I asked you to
tell me what was the matter. I thank you for being so frank. I've
worried and worried about it, but I couldn't figure out what the matter
was and nobody ever took the trouble to tell me."

"Oh, Gladys," she went on, with such an under-current of wistfulness in
her tone that Gladys was almost moved to tears, "do you think I'll ever
be really nice looking? That I'll stop being a joke?"

"Of course you will!" said Gladys emphatically. "Do you know what I
heard papa saying to Uncle Teddy one night? He said, 'Wouldn't Katherine
be a stunning looking girl if she carried herself better and was well
dressed?' Did you hear that? He said 'stunning,' mind you. Not only
'nice looking,' but 'stunning.'"

"Did he really say that?" asked Katherine in amazement. "I didn't think
anybody cared how I looked; men least of all."

"Men notice those things a lot more than you think they do," said Gladys
with an air of worldly wisdom. "They talk about them, too, and sometimes
they can tell just what's wrong better than you can yourself.

"I think myself you would be stunning if you only took more care in
putting your clothes on. You're so bright and breezy. And you'd be so
stately if you stood straight."

"How shall I go about to acquire this majestic carriage?" asked
Katherine in the tone of a humble seeker after wisdom.

"Well," replied Gladys judicially, "you've humped over so long that
you've grown round-shouldered, and it'll take some time to correct that.
You want to go in for gym with all your might in college, and for
dancing, too. That'll teach you how to carry yourself gracefully better
than anything else."

"Thank--you," said Katherine slowly, when Gladys had finished her homily
on feminine charms, and returned thoughtfully to her _Romeo and
Juliet_.

"Mercy on us!" thought Gladys. "Whatever is going to happen? Katherine
has begun to worry about her looks!"

Katherine laid the book down after a while and stared solemnly out over
the lake.

"Y