Then Mrs. Rose said, "Here's Dolly Fayre. You tell her about it, Mr.
Forbes."

"Oh, let me tell her," cried Bernice.

"No," said Mr. Rose, "let her hear it first from your father. You
girls can chatter afterward."

So Mr. Forbes spoke. "My dear child," he said to Dolly, "my Bernice is
invited to spend a week with her uncle, in New York City. She is
privileged to ask you two girls to accompany her if you care to."

Dolly listened, without quite grasping the idea. She was slow of
thought, though far from stupid. And this was such a sudden and
startling suggestion that she couldn't quite take it in.

"Go to New York, for a week. Oh, I couldn't. I have to go to school."

Mrs. Rose smiled. "That's just the trouble, Dolly. Dot has to go to
school, too,--at least, she ought to. Bernice, likewise. But this
invitation is so delightful and so unusual, that I'm thinking you
three girls ought to take advantage of it. The question is, what will
your parents say?"

"Oh, they'll never let me go!" exclaimed Dolly, decidedly. "They don't
want anything to interfere with my lessons."

"No, and we feel the same way about Dotty. But an exceptional case
must be considered in an exceptional manner. I think your people might
be persuaded if we go about it in the right way."