thought, more than anything else--earthly, takes care of me--guides me
aright, and makes me proud of being Dorothy Dale!"




CHAPTER XII

AN UNPROVOKED ATTACK


The beautiful month of June was jotting down her days with sweetest
floral mottoes--each in its turn paying tribute to the Queen of Months.
Roses had come, daisies were weaving the fields into a cloth of white
and gold, the side roads of Dalton were framed with clouds of snowy
dogwood, and that "rarest of days" the perfect day in June had come. And
this was to be the picnic day for the girls of Dalton school.

Tavia was over to Dorothy's house very early. She wanted to borrow a
lunch box, and, incidentally, to hear Dorothy's opinion of the "glorious
dress" from Rochester.

"Isn't it sweet?" she began pirouetting on the board walk, at the side
door of the Dale house, while waiting for Joe to find an empty cracker
box for her lunch.

"It is pretty," agreed Dorothy, examining the dress critically. "Those
pink ribbons are so becoming to you."

"Cousin Nannie had it made for a party, so it ought to do for a picnic,"