r to ask you something."

"Well, let it be something very easy, Grace dear. My brain isn't capable
of taking in very much this morning."

"It's about Will," went on Grace, thoughtfully selecting a chocolate
from a bag. "Are you sure you won't have some?" she asked.

"What, of Will? No, thank you!"

"Silly, of course not. I mean this candy. It's delicious! Just fresh
and----"

"Cloying," interrupted Betty. "You haven't a lime drop, have you?"

"Ugh! The horrid, sour things, no! But about Will. Did you know he had a
secret Betty?"

"A secret? Mercy, no! Is it about some----"

"I don't believe it's a girl. If it is, Will acts the funniest of anyone
I ever saw. He has a lot of books and papers he's studying over."

"It might be her--letters--or--her picture that he puts in a book so no
one will see----"

"It isn't that!" declared Grace with conviction. "Oh, this is a nougat!"
she exclaimed in rapture, as her white teeth bit into a particularly
delicious candy.

"Hopeless!" sighed Betty, folding a skirt neatly.

"I mean he hasn't any girl's picture, or anything like that," went on
Grace. "I found one of the books where he had laid it down. It is some
sort of Government report. I thought you might know."

"Why?" asked Betty, quickly. "I'm not in his confidence."

"I know, but you see, Will and Allen being so chummy, and Allen being so
fond of you----"

"Grace Ford!" broke in Betty. "You shouldn't say such things!" and she
blushed crimson.

"Why not?" demanded Grace, coolly. "There's no one here but us, and we
know it. I thought perhaps Will had told Allen, and Allen might have
hinted to you."

"Not a word, Grace, dear. I didn't even know Will had a secret."

"Well, he has, and he won't tell me. But I'll find out. He's up to
something. I only hope he doesn't run away again, or do something
foolish."

"Will doesn't mean anything," declared Betty. "He is just high-spirited;
that's all. What sort of a secret did it seem to be, if it wasn't
about--girls?" and Betty laughed.

"Oh, I'm sure it isn't about girls," Grace went on, seriously enough.
"At least it isn't any girl in our set, and Will doesn't know any
others. And if it is some one in our set, they're all nice girls, so it
won't really matter--after we get used to it."

"Oh, dear!" laughed Betty. "You speak as though he were engaged!"

"Oh, I know he isn't," declared Grace. "But he _is_ such a tease. But if
you don't know, you don't, Betty. And n