st I really work out these odious sums, when I am
thinking all the time of poor Nancy?"

"I shall never keep my head if this sort of thing goes on for long,"
thought Verena as she bent over her page of English history. "Oh, dear!
that midnight picnic, and Nancy's face, and the dancing in the glades of
the Forest. It would have been fun. If there is one thing more than
another that I love, it is dancing. I think I could dance for ever."

Verena could not keep her pretty little feet still. They moved restlessly
under her chair. Pauline saw the movement, and a wave of sympathy flashed
between the sisters. Pauline's eyes spoke volumes as they encountered the
soft brown ones of pretty Verena.

But an hour--even the longest--is quickly over. Five o'clock struck, and
quick to the minute each girl sprang to her feet. Books were put away,
and they all streamed out into the open air. Now they could talk as much
as they liked. How their tongues wagged! They flew at each other in their
delight and embraced violently. Never before, too, had they been so
hungry for tea; and certainly never before had they seen such a
delightful and tempting meal as that which was now laid for them on the
lawn. The new parlor-maid had brought it out and placed it on various
little tables. A silver teapot reposed on a silver tray; the cups and
saucers were of fine china; the teaspoons were old, thin, and bright as a
looking-glass. The table-linen was also snowy white; but what the girls
far more appreciated were the piles of fruit, the quantities of cakes,
the stacks of sandwiches, and the great plates of bread-and-butter that
waited for them on the festive board.

"Well!" said Briar. "Did you ever? It looks just like a party, or a
birthday treat, or something of that sort. I will say there are some nice
things about Aunt Sophia. This is certainly better than squatting on the
ground with a basket of gooseberries and a hunch of bread."

"I liked the gooseberries," said Pauline, "but, as you say, Briar, this
is nice. Ah! here comes the aunt."

Miss Tredgold sailed into view. She took her seat opposite the hissing
urn and began to pour out cups of tea.

"For a week," she said, "I take this place. At the end of that time
Verena occupies my throne."

"Oh, I couldn't!" said Verena.

"Why in the world not, Renny? You aren't quite a goose."

"Don't use those expressions, Pauline; they are distinctly vulgar," said
Miss Tredgold.

"Bother!" said Pau