lity, long after she had
forgotten the names of the men Bruce brought for her to dance with.

She had introduced Mr. Long to Doris and left her with him and Elinor as
she went off to dance with Bruce. "I think he'll like her," she said,
with a backward glance, and when Bruce demanded an explanation she told
him all about it.

"Do you think it a good plan?" she asked rather anxiously. Bruce's good
opinion meant much to her always.

"Fine," he replied with such heartiness that she feared he was joking. A
glance at his serious face convinced her of her mistake.

"It'll be the very place for Doris," he said, "Mrs. Jonas will be quite
devoted to her in her way, and Danny will love her at sight. Long, of
course, will have to put up with her for the sake of the others," he
added with a twinkle.

Patricia pretended not to understand, though Rosamond Merton's words
about the "next girl" came back to her. "I'm not going to have Doris
laughed about," she said warmly. "You know she's the dearest girl we
know."

"Outside the family, I believe she does stand pretty high," admitted
Bruce, with a smile down into his partner's eyes. "Small Sister Pat, may
I tell you how glad I am?" he asked in a lower tone.

Patricia thought he meant about Tancredi's verdict, and she beamed on
him. "It's too splendid, isn't it?" she exulted, and then he stared and
had to be told.

He carried her back to Elinor and there he scolded her well for ever
doubting that they would have allowed her to go on if there had not been
definite promise in her.

"Tancredi told me herself when I went to see her about you that she
would take no one, however recommended, unless they were going to make
good," he said sternly. "You unbelieving little wretch, what right had
you to make yourself miserable without telling us about it?"

Elinor drew her closer as she rose to meet Mr. Long, who had left Doris
Leighton with Constance's aunt and was coming to claim her for the next
dance.

"Never mind, Pat dear," she said with her brightest look of love. "It's
all come out splendidly and you've learned how much you really care for
it. That's something, you know."

Mr. Long nodded at Patricia as he addressed Elinor. "I am sorry to be
late for my dance," he said, with significant emphasis; "but I was
making plans with my new secretary and the time passed quickly."

Elinor did not understand that it was Doris he was speaking of and she
smiled her acquiescence and went