w sit down, and I'll tell you all about it."

Betty drew forward some easy chairs for her guests, who distributed
themselves about the handsome library, in more or less artistic
confusion. Betty herself took a hard, uncompromising sort of chair, of
teakwood, wonderfully carved by some dead and forgotten Chinese artist.
The seat was of red marble, and the back was inlaid with ivory, in the
shape of a grinning face.

"Do keep yourself close against it, Betty dear," begged Grace, who sat
opposite her friend. "That Chinese face positively hypnotizes me."

"Well, I want you all to be hypnotized into quietness, long enough to
listen to me," spoke Betty, with a charmingly commanding air.

Grace Ford, obediently depositing her chocolates on the mantel, save a
few which she "sequestered" for use during the talk, had tastefully
"draped" herself on a comfortable couch. Mollie, with a mind to color
effect, had seated herself in a big chair that had a flame-colored
velvet back, against which her blue-black hair showed to advantage (like
a poster girl, Betty said), while Amy, like the quiet little mouse which
she was, had stolen off into a corner, where she was half-hidden by a
palm.

"And, now to begin at the beginning," announced Betty. "Oh, I know you
will just love it at Ocean View!" and she gave a little squeal of
delight.

"I wish we were as sure of going as you are," murmured Grace, putting
out the tip of her red tongue, to absorb a drop of chocolate from a
long, slim finger.

"Just you wait," said Betty, half-mysteriously.

And while she is preparing to plunge into the details concerning the new
summer plans, I will take just a moment to tell my new readers something
about the other books of this series, and give them an idea of the girls
themselves.

In "The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale; Or, Camping and Tramping for Fun and
Health," the originating idea of the four girls was set forth. They felt
that they were spending too much time indoors, and they decided to live
more in the glorious open. They felt that they would have better health
and more fun in doing this, and events proved that they were right, at
least in part.

As for the girls themselves, they were Grace Ford, Mollie Billette,
Betty Nelson and Amy Stonington-Blackford, or _nee_ Blackford, if you
dislike the hyphen. But that latter form of name does not indicate that
Amy was married.

In the opening story Amy's name was Stonington, the ward of John and