folks say they took their little ones to school just to get a chance
to set and look at her while she was teaching. I know that I, myself,
have always--"

"Oh, you both make me sick--you make me talk slang, too," Dolly said,
impatiently. "I'm not good-looking--that is, nothing to brag about--
but, Miss Stella, this dress would make a scarecrow look like an
angel, and it _does_ fit. Poor Mary! I hope she won't see it on me. It
is hard enough to lose a mother without--"

"Go out on the grass and walk about," Mrs. Drake urged her. "An' let
us look at you from the window. I want to see how you look at a
distance."

"Do you think I'm crazy?" Dolly demanded, but as merrily as a child
playing a game, she lifted the skirt from the floor and lightly
tripped away. The watchers saw her go down the porch steps with the
majestic grace of a young queen and move along the graveled walk
toward the gate. At this point an unexpected thing happened. John Webb
and Mostyn had been fishing and were returning in a buggy. The banker
got out and came in at the gate just as Dolly, seeing him, was turning
to retreat into the house.

"Hold on, do, please!" Mostyn cried out.

Dolly hesitated for a moment, and then, drawing herself erect, she
stood and waited for him quite as if there was nothing unusual in what
was taking place.

"What have you been doing to yourself?" he cried, his glance bearing