auty plainly expected a lump of sugar as a
reward for her morning call.

"How did you happen to bring the horse over?" Bab asked of the stable
boy.

"The master said I was to put the horse in the hotel stables until it
could be shipped," the boy explained.

"Oh, some one has bought Beauty!" Bab cried, in distress. "I am so sorry!
How could Dorothy Morton ever have been willing to sell her?"

Barbara noticed that Grace, Ruth and Mollie were smiling broadly. Mr.
Winthrop Latham, Aunt Sallie and Eunice had drawn near.

"Why shouldn't Dorothy Morton sell Beauty to a girl who cares more for
the horse than Dorothy does?" Ruth inquired.

Bab shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, very well!" she pouted. "If Dorothy
thinks there is any other horse in the world to compare with Beauty, she
deserves to lose her. My sweet little Beauty, good-bye!" Barbara cried.

The stable boy grinned. Everyone was smiling.

"What's the joke?" Bab asked.

"Beauty is yours, Bab!" cried Mollie.

Bab looked at Mollie indignantly. "It isn't fair to tease me, Mollie,"
she declared. "You know how much I really care."

"But Mollie is not teasing you, Bab," Ruth interrupted. "Read that tag!"

Surely enough, on a card fastened by a blue ribbon to Beauty's bridle,
Bab read her own name and her sister's.

"But we cannot accept such a gift from the Ambassador!" Bab protested,
feelingly.

"The Ambassador did not give us Beauty, Bab!" exclaimed Mollie.

But Barbara had thrown her arms around Ruth's neck. "You are just the
dearest, sweetest friend in the world, Ruth Stuart!" she cried. "And I'd
love you more than ever if I could. But Mollie and I cannot accept Beauty
from you. You have done too much for us."

"Well, Bab," laughed Ruth, "you are the most difficult person in the
world to bestow a present upon; but I am not guilty."

"Then who has given Beauty to us?" demanded Bab.

"No other person than Cousin Betty in St. Paul!" answered Mistress
Mollie. "Do you remember, Bab? Mother wrote that Cousin Betty meant to
give us a beautiful present when she came home. The present was to be a
horse, and Cousin Betty is going to give us the money to take care of it.
Mother was to buy the horse when she returned to Kingsbridge. When you
wrote of your ride on Beauty, mother wrote to Ruth to inquire if the
horse were for sale. The Ambassador and Dorothy were both willing to sell
her to us, but to no one else."

"I do not know what we have ever done to deserve