"Is she nice? Do we like her?" Nina questioned.

"I'll tell you who it is, and then you'll know whether you're glad or
not," said Mollie. She had been walking backward, and in front of her
playmates, and thus she could watch their faces. She looked at them an
instant, then she said:

"It's--_Patricia Lavine_!"

The little group stood stock still, and it was quite evident that not
one of the party was delighted.

Nancy was the first to speak.

"Are you _sure_, Mollie?" she asked.

"She said so," Mollie replied. "I was running across the lawn to call
for Flossie, when I heard some one call:

"'Mollie! Mollie! Mollie Merton!'

"I turned, and there was Patricia running up the walk. You know she was
always in a rush, and she's just the same now.

"'I can't stop but a minute,' she said, 'but I've just time to tell you
that we've been hunting houses, and we're coming here to live. We've
got a house right next to the big schoolhouse, and that's nice, for I
wouldn't want to go to private school.'

"Then she ran off, just looking over her shoulder to say: