one, and wondering which she should wear at the garden party. Deciding
at last upon a simple white muslin, which, although two years old, was
still in fashion, and very becoming, she arranged her wavy hair in a
fluffy mass at the back of her head, brushed her bangs into short, soft
curls upon her forehead, pinned a cluster of roses on the bosom of her
dress, and was ready for the party.

'Tell Harold, if he is not too tired, I want him very much to come for
me,' she said, to Mrs. Crawford, and then about five o'clock started for
Grassy Spring, where she found the guests all assembled in the pleasant,
shady grounds, which surrounded the house.

Tom was there in his character of a fine city dandy, and the moment he
saw Jerry, he hastened to meet her, greeting her with perfect
self-possession, as if nothing had happened.

'You are late,' he said, going up to her. 'We are waiting for you to
complete our eight hand croquet, and I claim you as my partner.'

'I c-c call that mean, T-t-tom. I was g-g-going to ask J-jerrie to
pl-play with m-me,' little Billy said, hopping around them, while Dick's
face showed that he, too, would like the pleasure of playing with
Jerrie, who was known to be an expert and seldom missed a ball.

Naturally, however, Marian Raymond, as a stranger, would fall to him,
and they were soon paired off, Dick and Marian, Tom and Jerrie, Nina and
Billy, Fred Raymond and Ann Eliza, who wore diamonds enough for a full
dress party, and whose red hair was piled on the top of her head so
loosely that the ends of it stuck out here and there like the streamers
on a boat on gala days. This careless style of dressing her hair, Ann
Eliza affected, thinking it gave individuality to her appearance; and it
certainly did attract general observation, her hair was so red and
bushy. Dick had stumbled and stammered dreadfully when confessing to his
sister that he had invited the Peterkins, while Nina had drawn a long
breath of dismay as she thought of presenting Ann Eliza and Billy to
Marian Raymond, with her culture and aristocratic ideas. Then she burst
into a laugh and said, with her usual sweetness:

'Never mind, Dickie. You could not do otherwise. I'll prepare Marian,
and the Peterkins will really enjoy it.'

So Marian, who, with all her accomplishments and foreign air, was a
kind-hearted, sensible girl, was prepared, and received the Peterkins
very graciously, and seemed really pleased with Billy, whose big, kind