t cry a little for the first time in that long evening.

"Rosemary, my dear child, what is the matter?" Miss Parsons bustled
in, followed by the three elderly women who were to wash the dishes.
"Are you tired out? Was the dinner too much work?"

"The soup!" choked Rosemary. "Nobody could eat it. And I took such
pains with it."

"Well, I was sorry afterward that I told you to salt it again," said
Miss Parsons regretfully. "I suppose you were nervous and added too
much. But don't let that grieve you dear. The rest of the dinner was
perfectly delicious and you should hear what people are saying about
you. I want you to come down to the gymnasium now and meet some of
the teachers."

"Miss Parsons, I didn't over-salt the soup," protested Rosemary
earnestly. "I tasted it before and added just a dash as you told me;
and then I tasted it again, and it was all right. I _know_ I didn't
put in too much salt."

"Oh, nonsense, Rosemary, you were excited, that's all," said Miss
Parsons briskly. "Any one is likely to make a mistake when she has a
good deal on her mind. Don't give it another thought, and if you
do, just remember it is a warning against the next time. I like to
think that every mistake we make keeps us from running into danger
some other time when the results might be more serious."

Rosemary followed her teacher down to the gymnasium, but she only
half heard the introductions that followed and the kind comments on
her skill in cooking. She was wondering how she could convince Miss
Parsons that she had never put all that salt into her soup.

"Why it tasted as though a whole box of salt had just been thrown
into it," said Rosemary to herself, standing near a window to watch
for Doctor Hugh and the car. "I don't care how much any one has on
her mind, no one puts a whole box of salt into a soup kettle!"

And the voices of a group of girls, going home early, floated up to
her.

"She says she didn't do it," said one of them, and Rosemary could
not identify the speaker though the tone sounded familiar. "But if
it had been good I'll bet she would have taken all the credit. They
say it was fairly briny, it was so salty!"

Rosemary flushed scarlet. It wasn't fair!

"For I didn't, I didn't, I know I didn't!" she declared, sitting
between Doctor Hugh and Jack that night as they sped home in the
car. "I'm just as sure as I can be that I didn't make a mistake--why
I tasted it afterward and it was delicious."

"Well,