she was such a general favourite that whatever she did was passed over
with a laugh. The few who might have been inclined to criticize found it
an unpopular thing to do. The object for which she was working enlisted
every one's interest. Jack would have ground his teeth with
mortification had he known that every girl in school was interested in
his getting a bloodstone watch-fob in his Christmas stocking, and daily
discussed the means by which it was being procured.

Orders came in rapidly, and Mary spent every spare moment in cracking
pecans, and picking out the kernels so carefully that they fell from the
shells in unbroken halves. It was a tedious undertaking and even her
study hours were encroached upon. Not that she ever neglected a lesson
for the sake of the pecans, for, as she said to Elise, "I've set my
heart on taking the valedictory for Jack's sake, and of course I
couldn't sacrifice that ambition for all the watch-fobs in the
catalogue. He wouldn't want one at that price. But I've found that I can
pick out nuts and learn French verbs at the same time. If you and A.O.
will come up to the Dom. Sci. this afternoon at four thirty, and not let
any of the other girls know, I'll let you scrape the kettle and eat the
scraps that crumble from the corners when I cut the squares. But I can
not let any one in while I'm measuring and boiling. I couldn't afford to
make a mistake."

Promptly at the time set, the girls tapped for admission, for there was
no denying the drawing qualities of Mary's wares. The pun was common
property in the school.

"Elise," said A.O., pausing in her critical tasting, when they had been
at it some time. "I really believe that this is better than Huyler's hot
fudge Sun-balls. And it is lots better than the candy that Lieutenant