k young men to marry us. I
can add with confidence that Kittie James was the only girl who ever
did. I asked the rest afterwards, and they were deeply shocked at the
idea.

Well, anyhow, Kittie did it, and she said George was just as nice as he
could be. He told her he had "never listened to a more alluring
proposition" (she remembered just the words he used), and that she was
"a little trump"; and then he said he feared, alas! it was impossible,
as even his strong manhood could not face the prospect of the long and
dragging years that lay between. Besides, he said, his heart was already
given, and he guessed he'd better stick to Josephine, and would his
little sister help him to get her? Kittie wiped her eyes and said she
would. She had been crying. It must indeed be a bitter experience to
have one's young heart spurned! But George took her into the club-house
and gave her tea and lots of English muffins and jam, and somehow Kittie
cheered up, for she couldn't help feeling there were still some things
in life that were nice.

Of course after that she wanted dreadfully to help George, but there
didn't seem to be much she could do. Besides, she had to go right back
to school in September, and being a studious child, I need hardly add
that her entire mind was then given to her studies. When she went home
for the Christmas holidays she took Mabel Blossom with her. Mabel was
more than a year older, but Kittie looked up to her, as it is well the
young should do to us older girls. Besides, Kittie had had her
thirteenth birthday in November, and she was letting down her skirts a
little and beginning to think of putting up her hair. She said when she
remembered that she asked George to wait till she grew up it made her
blush, so you see she was developing very fast.

As I said before, she took Mabel Blossom home for Christmas, and Mr. and
Mrs. James were lovely to her, and she had a beautiful time. But
Josephine was the best of all. She was just fine. Mabel told me with her
own lips that if she hadn't seen Josephine James's name on the catalogue
as a graduate in '93, she never would have believed she was so old.
Josephine took the two girls to matinees and gave a little tea for them,
and George Morgan was as nice as she was. He was always bringing them
candy and violets, exactly as if they were young ladies, and he treated
them both with the greatest respect, and stopped calling them the kids
when he found they didn't like i