door opened so quickly afterwards that two girls, one on either side the
door, fell into, one another's arms.

"Dear me, it's 'The Princess' and she is no more ill than I am, though
we were told she couldn't possibly be at school to-day on account of her
ill health," the girl on the inside spoke first, recovering her breath.
"I suppose royal persons may lie abed and nurse their dispositions,
while poor ones have to keep on washing dishes. But come on into the
kitchen, Betty, we are in there to-night and I haven't yet finished my
chores."

She led the way with the candle down the shabby hall until both girls
entered the lighted room. There, with a little cry of surprise, Betty
ran over and dropped down on her knees by the side of a lounge.

The woman on the lounge was not so large as the girl, although her brown
hair showed a good deal of gray and her face looked tired and worn. She
had been holding a magazine in her hands, but evidently had not been
reading, for her eyes had turned from the girl, who stood only a few
feet away from her drying some cups and saucers, to the two others who
had just come in, without an instant's delay.

"I am quite all right, dear," she answered the newcomer, "only the
kitchen seemed so warm and cozy after the wet day and I was tired."

Betty was too familiar with the lovely, old-fashioned kitchen of her
dearest friends even to think about it, but to-night she did look about
her for a moment.

The room was the largest in the cottage; the walls were of oak so dark a