t school.

"And who are these two girls in front of us?" asked Julia. "Isn't the
dark-haired one a beauty? Evidently the young man with her thinks so,
too."

Then Mrs. King's face grew quiet as she said,

"Those are two girls of whom we are very fond here, but I am so sorry to
see Jessie doing as she is. No, Julia, she is not pretty. She has painted
her face and all her natural beauty is hidden. Usually she is very
attractive. Her friend's face is sweet and clean. Evidently she does not
care to attract attention to herself by the use of paint and rouge. She
believes in being true to her best self even though she is not in the
height of style. When you have lived longer, you will know, dear, the
truth of what I say."

Poor Julia. Her face burned like fire. Mrs. King had said "My friend
Julia," yet she, too, had paint on her face--not red like the girl in
front, to be sure, but it was there. Why had no one told her before? All
the girls did it and she thought it was the thing to do. Then there came
to her an impulse to ask Mrs. King about it, so she said frankly,

"Mrs. King, I have some paint on my face, too, but I put it on because I
was coming out with you. I thought you would like to have me look my very
best."

"Indeed I do, girlie," said Mrs. King, putting her hand on the hand of the
girl opposite her. "Indeed I do want you to look your best. I have liked
you ever since I came to Hillcrest to live and it has hurt me to see you
trying to do as all the other girls did. I have wished so often that you
would be a leader in doing the finer things and help others to see what
real beauty is and how to get it. Real beauty is not put on from the
outside; it grows from within."

Julia looked at Mrs. King's sweet, loving face very hard for a minute and
then said,

"I have liked you, too, and I have watched you go back and forth, wishing
I could be like you. Will you show me how? Mother has tried but I thought
she did not know. No one else has ever tried to tell me about your kind of
beauty."

So they made the compact. Then they sat and watched for well-dressed
women; for women in whose faces there was strength of character and
purpose; for girls whose very manner showed they were ladies; for men who
honored the girls in whose company they were. Such fun as it was! Julia
never knew the time to go so fast. It was so plain now that clothes did
not necessarily make the lady. She was almost sorry when it came time to
go