finished the sentence for her.

"Temperament, my dear; a gift of the gods! Annabel is naturally
emotional. It is her Southern heritage. When she sings she _feels_; that
is what you recognize and can't explain."

Blue Bonnet was strongly akin to Annabel in the qualities that made for
success in music and a strong affinity strengthened the friendship. They
were alike--and yet vastly different. Annabel was emotional without
being impulsive; her emotions were well concealed, veiled from the
public eye, while Blue Bonnet's rose and fell like a tide; completely
submerging her at times--often embarrassing her. Blue Bonnet was sunny
and optimistic; Annabel had a little pessimistic streak in her that was
often mistaken for contrariness, and she lacked the spontaneity that was
Blue Bonnet's chief charm. Blue Bonnet could laugh and cry in a breath.
When Annabel wept there was a deluge; it took days to get back to the
old light-heartedness.

"Let's have a game of tennis," Blue Bonnet suggested when they had
finished practising. "I've got to exercise. If I keep on gaining weight
I'll be able to wear Wee's clothes without the slightest difficulty."

Annabel, who inclined to physical laziness, scorned exercise always.

"Oh, Blue Bonnet, you know I loathe it! Get Patty--she's so expert it
makes it worth while to play. I'm no match for you."

Blue Bonnet glanced at Annabel's tiny hands and feet, and laughed.

"You weren't made for athletics, Annabel. You're put up
wrong--architecturally."

"Praise be!"

At the foot of the stairs the girls separated. Blue Bonnet was off for
her game of tennis and Annabel for a walk in the Park.

"See you later," Blue Bonnet called. "If you love me awfully you might
make me a cup of tea when I get in. I'll be ravenous! Take a look in my
shirtwaist box. I think you'll find some crackers and ginger snaps in
the right-hand corner. Good-by!"

Annabel promised, and an hour later when Blue Bonnet returned, flushed
and radiant after a stiff game with Patty, she found the kettle boiling
and a general air of domesticity reigning in her friend's comfortable
quarters. Annabel nodded from the depths of a chair and went on with
instructions to Ruth, who was changing pictures on the wall.

"Cleaning?" Blue Bonnet asked, throwing down her racket and dropping in
a heap on the couch. "Whew! I gave Patty a run to-day. What's the matter
with the Princess Louise?"

"Ruth had her between that Madonna and the P