fire--it was as much my fault as yours," and with that he picked up a
pile of cushions, and went to arrange a place for her at the head of
the table.

Amelia ate steadily through the menu. She was not overawed by Perkins,
nor was her attention distracted by the laughter and fun of the others.
It was not until the ice-cream was served--pink and luscious, with a
wreath of rosy strawberries encircling each plate--that she spoke.

"Well," she said, "I don't know's I mind now about those fish being
burned," with which oracular remark, she helped herself to two slices
of cake, and ate up her ice in silence.

Nannie May was thirteen and looked about eleven. She was red-haired
and fiery-tempered, and she loved Anne with all the strength of her
loyal heart. As yet she did not like Judy. It was all very well to
look like a princess, but that was no reason why one should be as stiff
as a poker. She hoped Anne would not love Judy better than she did
her, and she noted jealously the rapt attention with which Anne
observed the newcomer and listened to all she said.

Judy was telling the episode of the ice-box. She told it well, and in
spite of herself Nannie had to laugh.

"When I went in there were salads to right of me, cold tongue to the
left of me, and roast chicken in front of me," said Judy, gesticulating
dramatically, "and I was so hungry that it seemed too good to be true
that Perkins should have provided all of those things. And just then
the door slammed and my match went out--and there I was in the cold and
the dark--and I just screamed for Anne."