ive to Mrs. Wescott's
beautiful home.

"Doesn't it look lovely with the lights all over the place?" said
Jessie.

"Yes; especially because it has looked so forsaken for the last six
months," Lucile answered. A few moments later they reached the door and
were ushered into the brilliantly lighted hall.

"Lucy, stay near me, will you?" Jessie urged in a nervous whisper. "I
don't know half these people."

"Cheer up; we're all in the same fix," whispered Phil over her shoulder.
"We four can stick together, anyway."

"You have the right idea," said Jack Turnbull, with perhaps a trifle more
emphasis than was necessary, and with a glance toward Lucile, who had
gone forward to meet her hostess.

"Oh, he always has the right idea," Jessie chaffed, with a merry glance
at Phil, and then she followed Lucile to her guardian's side.

She greeted her guardian and then looked reproachfully at Lucile.

"Here, just the minute after I ask you not to go away, you desert me,"
she said.

"Well, I didn't go very far," Lucile consoled.

Mrs. Wescott laughed. "Go up in my room and get your things off, girls,"
she directed. "You'll find Margaret and Evelyn up there. Come down as
soon as you can," she added, as they started upstairs. "I want to
introduce you all around."

"All right, we'll hurry," said Lucile, and then squeezed her friend's
hand. "Oh, Jessie, what a lark!" she whispered. "We're in for a good time
to-night."

"You have the right idea, as Jack says," answered Jessie. "Did you see
him look at you, Lucy?"

"Hush! they're right behind us," cautioned Lucile. "Hello, girls," she
cried, as she entered the room. "I don't see how you managed to get here
before us."

"Oh, that's easy," laughed Evelyn. "How lovely you look! Oh, I love your
dresses--both of them! Are they new?"

"Of course they are, or we would have seen them before," said Margaret.

"Well, we're not the only ones, anyway," said Lucile. "I know yours are
new. They're awfully pretty."

"We're all satisfied then," said Jessie, briskly. "Lucy, will you
_please_ put this pin in where it will do the most good. I never can keep
this lock of hair in place."

"You poor infant!" said Lucile. "Come here and let me fix you."

Then some strange girls came in and, after a few admonitory pats of
stubborn bows and ruffles, the girls started downstairs. They made a
pretty picture as they descended the wide staircase together, and as they
reached the last step their g