p from a spirited
chase of the last elusive chocolate, red of face and fierce of eye. "Some
time I'll come to the end of my patience, and then, Mollie Billette, you'd
better look out."

"My!" chuckled Betty, "isn't she fierce? Never mind, honey, Roy will give
you another box, if you ask him very prettily."

"Goodness, if he can't do it without being asked," retorted Grace crossly,
"he can keep his old candies."

"If I thought you meant that, I'd say you ought to be ashamed of
yourself," put in Amy, with unaccustomed spirit, as Mollie threw in the
clutch and the big car started off again. "Anybody that had been as good
to you as Roy has been--"

"Well, I don't know that you've been particularly neglected," retorted
Grace, meaningly, while Amy reddened. "I never thought that Will could be
such a perfect Romeo."

"Oh, dear," murmured Betty protestingly. "Can't we have just one good
time, without bringing the boys into it?"

"Now, see who's talking," chuckled Mollie delightedly, changing into high
and driving with wild, care-free recklessness along the smooth road. "Oh,
Betty darling, much as I love you, there do come times when you make me
laugh."

"Well, it's good to know I'm bringing happiness into some dark life,"
retorted Betty good-naturedly. "At least I have not lived in vain."

"And they were just mad," Mollie continued, as though talking to herself,
"when they found we were going off this afternoon without them."

"Yes, and isn't it funny?" agreed Grace lazily. "They think they're so
important."

"Well, they are," announced Amy suddenly, and even Mollie turned an amazed
eye upon her.

"I think they're the most important people in the world," Amy continued
stoutly. "I guess if we were going to give up our lives for somebody else
we might think we were important, too."

"Oh, I didn't mean that way," Mollie returned, her eyes once more turning
to the ribbon of road ahead while the girls' bright faces sobered
thoughtfully. "Because when it comes to a thing like giving up their
lives--well, I think they're the bravest--" Her voice broke, and in an
effort to hide her emotion she nearly sent the car over the side of the
road and into a six-foot ditch.

"Brave," repeated Betty, turning her eyes to the far horizon to hide the
mist that suddenly gathered in them. "I don't think that's any word for
our boys at all--"

"They don't seem to realize what they're going into," Amy broke in
eagerly. "Or, if they d