reception that I would never go to another unless I had
something decent to wear."

"When I meet Mame in heaven," said Emma, trying to look serious, "the
very first thing she will say is, 'My robe doesn't hang as well as
yours, and my harp isn't so bright.'"

"Are you not getting a little irreverent?" said Helen gently. "There are
so many common things to jest about. Is it not better to use them as the
butt of our wit, instead of matters beyond our comprehension?"

"Yes, I suppose so, Helen," said Emma. "But, you know I never consider.
I blurt out just what I wish to say."

The half-hour bell sounded and the girls went to their rooms to make
ready to appear at the dining-table. The lower halls were yet damp
although they had been open to the air and sun since the previous
Sabbath. Doctor Weldon, not wishing to risk the health of the pupils,
had converted a class-room on the second floor into a dining-hall. Here
dinner was served informally; the students attending to their own wants,
for the servants were kept busy carrying the trays from the floor
below.

At the bringing-in of the last course, Doctor Weldon arose to make the
announcements. She asked the young ladies to attend to their packing at
once. Belva and Marshall had already brought down trunks and boxes from
the store-room. Immediately after breakfast, the following morning, each
young lady should call at the office when arrangements would be made for
her going home.

There was too much to be done after dinner to permit of any visiting.
The girls went to their rooms and began to dismantle them. Hester and
Helen had much to do, but they contrived to carry on a steady flow of
talk while they worked.

"Perhaps, we'll never be together again," said Hester, from the depths
of the closet whither she had gone in search of shoes. "You will not be
here next year. We may never meet again."

"I think we shall," said Helen. "The world is not a very large place.
You are to visit me, you know. I shall ask your Aunt Debby when I see
her."

"And you'll come to visit me. Couldn't you come this summer? You'd like
Jane Orr and Ralph. He is the nicest boy I ever knew, except Robert
Vail."

"Rob _is_ nice. Yes, I think I can come. We could have a fine time."

Hester grew eloquent about the walks, picnics and drives they could
have. Helen was accustomed to life in a mansion with a retinue of
servants. Hester knew this. She knew also that at her home, Aunt Debby
and she