rce lines,
In some appealing
Little action
All its own.'"

"And you won't be disturbing me in the least, Sue," Blue Bonnet said,
"for I'm with you both. I want to have a little 'heart-to-heart' session
with Mr. Emerson in the morning on his compensation article. I believe
that I can do it justice now that the tea is over."

"But I must get my clock, Annabel. If it should go off at daylight, and
Wee found me missing, there'd be trouble."

"All right, trot along, Sue; but come back instantly."

Is it necessary to add that, after talking until the wee small hours of
morning, daylight found three girls peacefully slumbering, utterly
oblivious to the faithful alarm which trilled forth its summons to
unheeding ears?

It was Blue Bonnet who first opened her eyes to the broad sunlight, and
sat up with a start. It took her a full minute to get her bearings: then
she rushed to Annabel's bed and shook that young person roundly.

"Annabel! Annabel! Sue! For goodness' sake, get up! It's seven-thirty
this minute. I hear the girls now, going to breakfast. How am I ever to
get into my own room for my clothes? Oh, I never should have stayed here
last night--I knew that I shouldn't all the time."

But Sue, sitting up in Ruth's bed, rubbed her eyes vigorously and poured
oil on the troubled waters.

"Don't get so excited, Blue Bonnet. It's no killing matter to be late to
breakfast. You'll only get a mark in the 'Doomsday Book;' and thank your
lucky stars the girls _are_ going down to breakfast. When they're all
gone you can slip out easily."

"Yes--but oh, my Emerson!"

"Emerson isn't a patching to a Latin exam!"

"And the two couldn't match up with a Physics test!" Annabel groaned,
putting on her clothes with eager haste. "I have a vision of the mark
I'll get!"

She went to the door and took a sweeping glance down the hall.

"Coast's clear," she announced. "Shoo--both of you."

CHAPTER XVI

ANTICIPATIONS

Spring had come at last. In Woodford, up among the hills, the We Are
Sevens--or "Sixes," in the absence of Blue Bonnet--were celebrating its
advent with a riding party.

It was Saturday afternoon, as might be suspected from the leisurely way
the girls rode through the woods, stopping often to admire the maples
and elms and the beautiful chestnuts, just beginning to feel the thrill
of life after their long winter nap.

"Seems to me those leaves grow greener while you wait," Kitty Clark
said,