is now in mourning, and she left the
dress with me to sell for her. She is willing to let it go at a great
bargain. The little frock would just about fit your young friend. Would
she not be beautiful in it, with her pale yellow hair and her blue eyes?
Ah, the frock looks as though it had been created for her! Do you think
she would allow me to try it on her?"

"Do slip the frock on, Mollie," Harriet urged. "It will not take much
time. And I would dearly love to see you in such a gown. It is the
sweetest thing I ever saw."

Mollie shook her head. "It is not worth while for me to put it on,
Harriet. Madame must understand that I cannot possibly buy it."

"But the frock is such a bargain, Mademoiselle," the dressmaker
continued. "I will sell it to you for a mere song."

"But I haven't the song to pay for it, Madame," Mollie laughed. "Come on,
Harriet. We must be going."

"Of course you can't buy the dress, Mollie," Harriet interposed. "But
Madame will not mind your just slipping into it. Try it on, just for my
sake. I know you will look like a perfect dream."

Mollie could not refuse Harriet's request.

"Shut your eyes, Mollie, while Madame dresses you up," Harriet proposed.

Mollie shut her eyes tightly.

Madame Louise slipped on the gown. "It fits to perfection," she whispered
to Harriet. Then the dressmaker, who was really an artist in her line,
picked up Mollie's bunch of soft yellow curls and knotted them carelessly
on top of Mollie's dainty head. She twisted a piece of the pale blue
shaded chiffon into a bandeau around her gold hair.

"Now, look at yourself, Mademoiselle," she cried in triumph.

"Mollie, Mollie, you are the prettiest thing in the world!" Harriet
exclaimed.

Mollie gave a little gasp of astonishment when she beheld herself in the
mirror. Certainly she looked like Cinderella after the latter had been
touched with the fairy wand. She stood regarding herself with wide open
eyes of astonishment, and cheeks in which the rose flush deepened.

"The dress must belong to Mademoiselle! I could not have made such a fit
if I had tried," repeated the dressmaker.

"How much is the dress worth, Madame?" Harriet queried.

"Worth? It is worth one hundred and fifty dollars! But I will give the
little frock away for fifty," the dressmaker answered.

"Can't you possibly buy it, child?" Harriet pleaded with Mollie. "It is a
perfectly wonderful bargain, and you are too lovely in it. I just can't
bear to