"That is just the amount, I believe; will you please give me a receipt
for it?'

"You never saw madam look so surprised. She actually didn't know what to
say for a minute, but she gave her the receipt, asked a few more
questions, and had her taken to No. 10, and there she is now, this very
minute."

"Well, what was there so funny about all that?"

"Why, this: she has red hair, tucked into a black net, and looks just
like a fright, every way. She had on a brown delaine dress, without a
sign of a ruffle, or trimming of any kind, and the shabbiest hat and
shawl you ever saw. You'll laugh, too, when you see her."

Belle Burnette was an only child, and her wealthy father was pleased to
gratify her every whim. So, besides being far too elegantly dressed for
a schoolgirl, she was supplied with plenty of pocket money, and being
very generous and full of life and fun, she was the acknowledged leader
among madam's pupils.

When the tea bell rang, the new-comer was escorted to the dining-room,
and introduced to her schoolmates as Miss Fannie Comstock. She had
exchanged her brown delaine for a plain, calico dress, with a bit of
white edging about the neck.

She did look rather queer, with her small, thin, freckled face, and her
red hair brushed straight back from her face, and hidden as much as
possible under a large, black net, and but for the presence of madam,