ed to wait for the reception.

CHAPTER XIII

GETTING INTO SOCIETY AND OUT

At last the day of Estella's coming-out--the day Elizabeth was to meet
her fairy god-mother once more--arrived. When the Vision was finally
tucked away into his crib for his afternoon nap, and the leisurely
young lady warned again and again to watch him carefully, Elizabeth
dressed in the required white gown with the blue ribbons, and, with
Annie looking very sweet and youthful in John Coulson's favorite shade
of dove-gray, set off down the shady streets towards the Raymond home.

It was a hot, still afternoon, one of those days that seem left over
from August which so often descend upon the coolness of October. The
long rows of maples that bordered the street hung their scarlet banners
motionless in the sultry air. The sky, a hazy warm blue, seemed much
nearer the earth than usual. Away down at the end of each leafy avenue
Lake Cheemaun lay like a silver mirror. As they crossed a dusty street
on the hilltop, Elizabeth could see a little crimson and golden island
reflected perfectly in the glassy depths. Another street gave a
picture of a yellow elm, with an oriole's empty nest depending from a
drooping branch. It hung over the roadway, making a golden curtain
through which gleamed the blue and silver.

Elizabeth sighed happily, and, as was her habit, fell into the mood of
the day, listless, languorous. She strolled along, all unmindful of
the dust on her new slippers, and of Estella's reception, until her
sister recalled her to the business of the afternoon by declaring that
they must hurry, for they were already late.

"It's fortunate I wasn't asked to play cards, or we'd have to be there
sharp at four."

"I suppose Stella 'll turn it into a garden-party, won't she?" murmured
Elizabeth, gazing far down the street at a motionless sail on the
silver mirror--standing like a painted ship on a painted lake. "It's
so lovely out of doors."

"A garden-party, oh, no! That's dreadfully old-fashioned," said Annie
solemnly. "No one in Cheemaun would dare to give one now. This is to
be a Bridge--partially, but Mrs. Raymond is asking a great many other
people who are old-fashioned like me, and won't play, so they are to
come late and remain in the drawing-room while the players sit in the
library."

"It's like dividing the sheep from the goats," said Elizabeth
frivolously. "Aren't you sorry just to be a sheep, Ann? It's so
old