oked up again.

"It was my father, my honorable good father. I am too humble to care.
But my noble father!"

She rose quickly and walked across to the window. If there were tears in
her eyes Molly should not see them. Having drawn the blind, she drew a
deep breath and came back to the bed. But Molly was doing some rapid
thinking during that brief interval. Some one had been telling Otoyo
that they had made game of her father--and that some one----

But Molly was too angry to think coherently.

"Otoyo," she began, "you know how much all the Queen's girls think of
you. You are really our property, child. If any of us felt that we had
hurt or grieved you, we would really never forgive ourselves."

"But my father, he was mock-ed. Of me it was of not much matter."

"Child, what we did was in innocent fun. It was only that we repeated
his funny English, even funnier than yours, and we have often teased you
about your adverbs, haven't we?"

"Yes," admitted Otoyo, "but this was made to be so cruel. It cut me----"
she choked.

"Who repeated it to you, Otoyo?" asked Molly with sudden calmness,
afraid to give rein to her indignation for fear of doing rash things.
"People who tell things like that are quite capable of inventing them or
at least making them much worse."

"I have given my word not to speak the name," answered Otoyo.

It was almost time for the lecture now and Molly slipped down on her
knees beside the bed and put her arms around Otoyo's waist.

"Dear little Otoyo, before I go, I want you to tell me that you have
forgiven us. None of us meant to be cruel or unkind. We are too fond of
you for that. I shall tell all the other girls what has happened and
to-night they will come in and make you an apology themselves. We will
all come. As for the girl who made the trouble, she is a wicked mischief
maker and I wish she had never come to Wellington. And now, will you say
'Molly, I forgive you?'"

"I do, I do," cried Otoyo, her face transformed with happiness. "I
should not have listened to her ugly speeches, but it was the way she
did it. She told me my father had been mock-ed and ridiculed. I was
veree unhappee."

"Never, never let her get her clutches on you again," said Molly,
opening the door.

"Never, never, never," repeated the Japanese girl.

It was a real reconciliation surprise party that took place in Otoyo's
room that evening. All the Queen's girls were there except Judy, who had
been absent for