did you know I was coming on that train?" she asked the older
girl suddenly. "Jane said she was going to telegraph, but I expected to
have to hunt around to find the house."

"Oh, we just came down to every train after the telegram came. This is
the last train to-night, and we were awful scared for fear you wouldn't
come till morning, an' have to stay on the train all night. Ma says it
isn't nice for a girl to have to travel alone at night. Ma always makes
Jane and me go daytimes."

"It was just lovely of you," said Betty, wondering if she was talking
"natural" enough to please Jane.

"Did you bob you hair 'cause you had a fever?" asked Nellie enviously.

"No," said Betty, "that is, I haven't been very well, and I thought it
might be good for me," she finished, wondering how many questions like
that it was going to be hard for her to answer without telling a lie. A
lie was something that her father had made her feel would hurt him more
deeply than anything else she could do.

"I just love it," said Nellie enthusiastically. "I wanted to cut mine,
an' so did Jane, but Ma wouldn't let us. She says God gave us our hair,
an' we oughtta take care of it."

"That's true, too," said Betty. "I never thought about that. But I guess
mine will grow again after a while. I think it will be less trouble this
way. But it's very dirty with traveling. I think I'll have to wash it
before I put it on a pillow."

That had troubled Betty greatly. She didn't know how to get rid of that
hair dye before Jane's family got used to having it dark.

"Sure, you can wash it, if you ain't 'fraid of takin' cold. There's lots
of hot water. Ma thought you'd maybe want to take a bath. We've got a
big tin bath-tub out in the back shed. Ma bought it off the Joneses when
they got their porcelain one put into their house. We don't have no
runnin' water but we have an awful good well. Here's our house. I guess
Bob's got there first. See, Ma's out on the steps waitin' fer us."

The house was a square wooden affair, long wanting paint, and trimmed
with little scrollwork around the diminutive front porch. The color was
indescribable, blending well into the surroundings either day or night.
It had a cheerful, decent look, but very tiny. There was a small yard
about it with a picket fence, and a leafless lilac bush. A cheerful
barberry bush flanked the gate on either side. The front door was open
into a tiny hall and beyond the light streamed forth from a g