e pretty hard to get one
started."

Bessie's eyes shone.

"Oh, I wish there was one!" she cried. "I know lots of the girls on the
farms there would love to do the things we do. They're nice girls, lots
of them, though they didn't like me much. You see, Jake Hoover used to
tell his maw lies about me, and she told them to her friends, and they
told their girls--and they believed them, of course. I think that was
one reason why I couldn't get along very well with the other girls."

"I think that's probably the real reason, Bessie, just as you say.
But if you go back you can make it different, I'm sure. You needn't be
afraid of Jake Hoover any more, I think, especially after what he did
at General Seeley's."

"Killing that poor pheasant? Wasn't that a mean thing for him to do?
They used to say he did some poaching, sometimes, around Hedgeville, but
then about everyone did there, I guess. But I didn't think he'd ever try
to catch such beautiful birds as the ones General Seeley had."

"I could forgive him for killing the bird much more easily than for
trying to get you blamed for doing it, Bessie. But let's change the
subject. How did you and Dolly Ransom get along?"

Bessie smiled at the recollection of the stream of questions she had had
to answer from her new roommate.

"She's great!" she said, enthusiastically. "I think we're going to be
fine friends, Miss Eleanor."

"I hope so. There isn't a bit of real harm in Dolly, but she's
mischievous and loves to tease, and I'm afraid that some time she'll go
too far and get herself into trouble without meaning to at all."

"She doesn't like her aunt, Miss Eleanor--the one she lives with now
that her father's away so much."

Miss Mercer made a wry face.

"Miss Ransom's lovely in many ways," she said, "but she doesn't
understand young girls, and she seems to think that Dolly ought to be
just as wise and staid and sober as if she were grown up. I think that
is the chief reason for Dolly's mischief. It has to have some way to
escape, and she's pretty well tied down at home. So I overlook a lot
of her tricks, when, if one of the other girls was guilty, I'd have to
speak pretty severely about it. Well, here she is now! Go off with her
if you like, Bessie."

"Oh, Miss Mercer, what do we have to do this morning?" shouted Dolly as
soon as she saw Bessie and the Guardian.

"What you like until after lunch, Dolly. Then perhaps we may want to
arrange to do something all toget