at that!"

"A regular sign-board!"

A few moments the two outside the door stood whispering, then one
giggled, and together they walked to the stairway and descended,
laughing all the way.

Patricia opened the door and peeped out. "It was that red-haired girl,
and the black-haired one that are always together," she reported to
Arabella.

"Now, what in the world were they laughing at?"

"Laughing at the big card, I suppose," Arabella said.

"Well, there's nothing funny about that," Patricia said, hotly. "It cost
ever so much more than the _teenty_ little cards on the other doors
did." Patricia rated everything by its cost.

"They knew that big card looked fine, and they certainly could see that
the lettering was showy," she continued; "so why did they stand outside
the door giggling?"

"How do I know?" Arabella said.

"Open the door, and we'll look at it again, and see if--"

A smart tap upon the door caused Arabella to stop in the middle of the
sentence.

"S'pose it's those same girls?" whispered Patricia. "If I thought it was
I wouldn't stir a step."

A second rap, louder, and more insistent than the first brought both
girls to their feet, and Patricia flew to open the door.

Miss Fenler glared at them through her glasses.

"Why did you not answer my first rap?" she asked.

"We didn't know it was you," said Patricia.

Ignoring the excuse, Miss Fenler continued: "I called to tell you to
remove that great card, and put a small one in its place with only your
names upon it, and in regard to your efforts to obtain work, you can not
have any such notice upon your door. Instead you must leave your names
at the office and I will see if any of the pupils will patronize you."

"I don't know what you mean!" cried Patricia, flushed and angry.

For answer Miss Fenler pointed to a line penciled on the lower edge of
the placard which read:

_Patching and mending done
at reasonable prices._

"We never wrote that!" cried Arabella, "and we don't want to be
patronized."

"The red-haired girl, and the black-haired girl that are always
together, stopped at the door and did something, and then went down
stairs laughing all the way," screamed Patricia. "'Twas one of those two
who wrote that."

"I must ask you to talk quietly," Miss Fenler said, "and as to the
writing, I'll look into that. In the meantime I'll get a small card for
you to put in place of that large one."

She left the room, and as soon as