d contrivances. What is the latest? A flying
machine?"

"You guessed right the very first time," replied David. "It is just
that."

"Really?" laughed the girls, incredulously, while Anne's eyes grew large
with interest.

"Shall you fly around Oakdale in it?" asked Jessica.

"Oh, we are not building big ones yet," answered David. "These are
little fellows. Models, you know. The big ones may come later. Six of
the junior and senior fellows have been working on them all summer. We
started it in the manual training course. After we had learned to hammer
things out of silver, and do wood carving and a few other little useful
accomplishments, I suggested a flying machine to Professor Blitz and he
fell to it like a ripe peach. It was too late to do anything last spring
except talk, however. But we are almost ready now, after our labors this
summer."

"Ready for what?" demanded Grace. "If you are not going to fly
yourselves."

"For our exhibition. Why don't you come and see it at the gym. next
Friday night?"

"We can't. We aren't invited," answered Nora, tossing back her saucy
little curls.

"I'll invite you," said David. "This will admit four young ladies to the
High School gym.," he continued, taking out a card and writing on it,
"At 7.30 Thursday evening."

"Then everybody isn't invited?" demanded Jessica.

"No, not everybody," replied David. "Just a chosen few. And you must be
sure to come, too, Miss Pierson," he added, turning to Anne, who, all
this time, had been silently listening to the conversation.

"I should love to," she answered, giving him a grateful glance.

"I'll leave you here," said David, turning in at a graveled driveway
that led to the Nesbit house, a very large and ornate building standing
far back from the street in the midst of a well-kept lawn.

"I wish Miriam would take a few lessons in manners from her brother,"
murmured Grace, when they were out of hearing distance.

"He is certainly one of the nicest boys in High School," said Jessica.

"If he only played football!" said Grace, with a sigh.

"And danced," added Nora.

"I don't know how to dance, nor did I ever see a game of football," said
Anne.

"Meaning that Mr. David suits you, Miss Anne," said Grace teasingly.

"It was nice of him to ask me, too," was all Anne said in reply.

"How do you do, my dears?" said Mrs. Gray, a few moments later, when
John, the aged butler, ushered the girls into the long, old-fashioned
parlor