'Elsie has come,' answered Margery in a second, nobody knew why; 'let
me hug her this minute!'

'With those fish?' laughed Polly. 'No! you'll have to wait until day
after to-morrow, and then your guess will be right. Isn't it almost
too good to be true?'

'And she is almost well,' added Bell, joyfully, slipping her arm
through Margery's and squeezing it in sheer delight. 'Mrs. Howard
says she is really and truly better. Oh, if Elsie Howard in bed is
the loveliest, dearest thing in the world, what will it be like to
have her out of it and with us in all our good times!'

'Has she always been ill since you knew her?' asked Laura.

'Yes; a terrible cold left her with weakness of the lungs, and the
doctors feared consumption, but thought that she might possibly
outgrow it entirely if she lived in a milder climate; so Mrs. Howard
left home and everybody she cared for, and brought Elsie to Santa
Barbara. Papa has taken an interest in her from the first, and as
far as we girls are concerned, it was love at first sight. You never
knew anybody like Elsie!'

'Is she pretty?'

'Pretty!' cried Polly, 'she is like an angel in a picture-book!'

'Interesting?'