"Well I think," returned Mollie, her nose at an independent angle, "that
it's mighty nice--for a change."

"Yes," Grace agreed, employing her paper napkin to remedy the damage done
by a vivid spot of jelly on her skirt. "They seem to think they can
dictate to us. Imagine it! To us! Outdoor girls who have never known what
it was to take dictation from any one!"

"Except our Daddies," Betty broke in, her eyes twinkling. "I've seen even
you stand at attention, Gracie dear, when Mr. Ford spoke."

"Oh well, of course," said Grace, dismissing the interruption with a wave
of her hand. "We've got to obey our parents, till we're twenty-one
anyway."

"Then I guess we've got to go on obeying all the rest of our lives," said
Mollie, with a sigh.

They looked at her curiously.

"For who," she went on to explain reasonably, "in her right senses is
going to admit to being twenty-one?"

"To finish what I was saying," Grace continued, while Betty and Amy
chuckled and Mollie looked wide-eyed and innocent: "I, for one, will never
take dictation from any one outside the home folks--especially mere boys
our own age,"

"Well, no one asked you to," said Mollie calmly. "I really don't see what