r person in a gray suit?" he continued. "Wears spectacles
and----"

"'"Crimps," interrupted Jess. "Yes, she's the one, though she hasn't
any this morning. You see, at school she always was a little--well,
formidable, and we----"

"'"I see," said the man again. "Well, since I know she's around here,
I may as well wait. I told her to be at our office just outside the
station at ten o'clock, and it's nearly that now. You see," he
explained, "she's been in Athens for six months, and she's very
anxious to conduct a small party back there--lecture on the ancient
civilization and all that sort of thing, you know. Perhaps, since she
was your teacher, you'll be able to tell me how she'd do. She hasn't
had time to get recommendations for just this sort of work, you
see."

"'"How--how long would she be gone?" ventured Jess.

"'"Well," explained the Thomas Cook man, "if she did well, we'd
probably keep her on the force. We're always looking for folks like
that--to take parties--especially to Athens or Egypt. They're rare!
This might be a life job."

"'"I'd be willing to recommend her!" said Jess, a little too
promptly, I thought.

"'"I think," said Anne, "it depends a good deal on the party she's
going to take."

"'"It certainly does," I agreed.

"'"Well," said the man again, "it's an easy party. There's a
professor who's nearly eighty, and who's wanted all his life to go to
Athens; and a minister who's trying to discover the exact spot where
Paul preached to the Athenians; and a couple of teachers who are
something like Miss Green, I think--about that type, you know.
They're terribly interested in the temples on the Acropolis."

"'"Miss Green then is certainly the woman for you, sir," I announced,
feeling like an Employment Bureau. "She's steeped in the Ancient
World! She dotes on Rameses and the Pharaohs and the Tarquins and
Solon; and she knows more about every one of them than she knows
about--us, for instance."

"'"I see," said the man.

"'"The only reason we hesitated for a moment," added Anne, "was
because we thought the party might be composed of young people, and,
you see, Miss Green has never specialized to any great extent
in--in--young life!"

"'"I understand perfectly," said our benefactor. "I guess I'll run
along, young ladies. She might be in my office. Get your tickets from
the man in the red cap at the largest windo