ar of it. Don't I wish
I were twenty so I could do some Red Cross work and get over? It seems so
perfectly futile dabbling away at one's own little petty ambitions, with
humanity needing one so."

That was quite like Jean, Kit thought, glancing over the rest of the
letter hurriedly. Cousin Roxy had given a community social, and Mr. Howard
had interested Jean considerably, especially as he told her he was bound
for France the first of November. Jean was always so easily impressed
just the first few times she met a person. It took Kit a long time to
really admit a stranger to her circle of selected ones, and she had never
quite forgiven Stanley Howard for trespassing in the berry patch, even
though it had been in the cause of science. Besides, the last year, Jean
had seemed to grow somewhat aloof from the others. Perhaps it had been her
trips away from home, or her ambition. Kit could not precisely define the
change, but it was there, and she felt that Jean troubled herself
altogether too much over things unseen. One of Kit's favorite mottoes was
from Stevenson:

"In things immaterial, Davey, be soople."

Helen's letter was all about the opening of school, and Doris' asked
questions about Delphi.

"When you write, do tell us about the things that happen there, and not
just what you think about it. I don't like descriptions in books, I like
the talk part. You know what I mean, Kit. Has Uncle Cassius got any pets
at all?"

Kit laughed over this. Bless her heart, if she could only have seen Uncle
Cassius' pets. His stuffed mummy and horned toads, the chimpanzee skull
beaming at one from a dark corner, and the Cambodian war mask from
another. It seemed as if every time she looked around the house she found
something new, and with each curio there went a story. Oddly enough, the
Dean thawed more under Kit's persuasion when she begged for the stories
than at any other time. After each meal, it was his custom to take what he
called "four draws" in his study. Kit found at these times that he was in
his best humor. Relaxed and thoughtful, he would lean back in the deep
Morris chair between the flat-topped desk and the fireplace, and smoke
leisurely. Even his pipe had come from Persia, its amber stem very slender
and beautifully curved, its bowl a marvel of carving.

Kit sat pondering over her father's and mother's letters, after putting
those of the two girls away. School would begin in another week, and she
was to ente