"I can't explain it to you--but it's just as I've said," responded
the Story Girl.

"Well, it's a very queer thing," retorted Felicity.

"The name in the books in the room was Alice--and Miss Reade's
name is Alice," marvelled Cecily. "Did he know her before she
came here?"

"Mrs. Griggs says that room has been locked for ten years. Ten
years ago Miss Reade was just a little girl of ten. SHE couldn't
be the Alice of the books," argued Felicity.

"I wonder if she'll wear the blue silk dress," said Sara Ray.

"And what will she do about the picture, if it isn't hers?" added Cecily.

"The picture couldn't be hers, or Mrs. Griggs would have known her
for the same when she came to Carlisle," said Felix.

"I'm going to stop wondering about it," exclaimed Felicity
crossly, aggravated by the amused smile with which the Story Girl
was listening to the various speculations. "I think Sara is just
as mean as mean when she won't tell us."

"I can't," repeated the Story Girl patiently.

"You said one time you had an idea who 'Alice' was," I said. "Was
your idea anything like the truth?"