But Walter had at last plucked up courage enough to resent the way she
treated him, and she found that he had bought two plates of ice-cream
for Margery Burton and himself, and that they were sitting in a corner,
eating their ice-cream, and talking away as merrily as if they had known
one another all their lives!

Eleanor Mercer, who had come over to have an eye on the girls, saw the
little comedy. She was sorry for Dolly, who was sensitive, but she knew
that the lesson would be a wholesome one for the little flirt, who had
been flattered so much by the boys in the city that she had come to
believe that she could make any boy do just what she desired. So she
said nothing, even when Dolly, without a single boy to keep her in
countenance, was reduced to sitting with one or two other girls who were
in the same predicament, since there were more girls there than boys.

Walter did not even come to get her to ride home with him. Instead, he
found a place with Margery Burton, and Dolly had to climb into her wagon
alone. There she found Bessie.

"You're a mean old thing, Bessie King!" she said, half crying.




CHAPTER II

GOOD-BYE TO THE FARM


Dolly had spoken in a low tone, her sobs seeming to strangle her speech,