"You can talk it, can you? Let me hear," and Miss Davis addressed a
question to her in French.

In answer to it Hetty poured forth a perfect flood of French, spoken
with a pretty accent and grammatically correct. In truth she spoke like
a little Frenchwoman, and completely surprised her listeners. She had
been asked some question about walking in the Champs Elysees and now
gave a vivid description of the scene there on a fine morning, the
people who frequented it, their dress, their manners, their
conversation.

Miss Davis put down the multiplication table which she had been turning
over and stared at the little Frenchwoman chattering and gesticulating
before her.

"There, my dear," she said presently, "that will do; I see you can make
use of your tongue. Take this book now and study quietly for half an
hour."

Hetty felt that she had had her little triumph at last. Neither Phyllis
nor Nell could speak French like that. She took the table-book
obediently and sat down with it, while Phyllis made an effort to get
over the shock of surprise given her by Hetty's clever exhibition, and
proceeded to attend to Miss Davis's correction of her French exercise.

That afternoon Hetty was dressed in a holland frock of Nell's, which,
though Nell was a year older, was not too large for her, and joined
heartily in a game of lawn tennis. Her little success of the morning,
when she had surprised her companions and their governess by her