uth about our faults. Then we have a chance to correct
them--that's what makes us so nice," she added modestly.

Harriet sat with her mouth open, too surprised to cry.

"And your clothes are awful," pursued Patty interestedly. "You ought not
to let Miss Sallie pick 'em out. Miss Sallie's nice; I like her a lot,
but she doesn't know any more than a rabbit about clothes; you can tell
that by the way she dresses herself. And then, too, you'd be a lot nicer
if you wouldn't be so stiff. If you'd just laugh the way the rest of us
do--"

"How can I laugh when I don't think things are funny? The jokes the
girls make are awfully silly--"

Speech was no longer possible, for Kid McCoy came stampeding down the
corridor with as much racket as a cavalcade of horses. She was decked in
a fur scarf and a necklace set with pearls, she wore a muff on her head,
drum-major fashion; a lace handkerchief and a carved ivory fan protruded
from the pocket of her blouse and a pink chiffon scarf floated from her
shoulders; her wrist was adorned with an Oriental bracelet and she was
lugging in her arms a silver-mounted Mexican saddle, of a type that
might be suited to the plains of Texas, but never to the respectable
country lanes adjacent to St. Ursula's.

"Bully for Guardie!" she shouted as she descended upon them. "He's a
daisy; he's a ducky; he's a lamb. Did you ever see such a perfectly
corking saddle?"

She plumped it over a chair, transformed the pink chiffon scarf into a
bridle, and proceeded to mount and canter off.

"Get up! Whoa! Hi, there! Clear the road."

Harriet jumped aside to avoid being bumped, while Patty snatched her
pink frock from the path of the runaway. They were shrieking with
laughter, even Harriet, the tearful.

"Now you see!" said Patty, suddenly interrupting her mirth. "It's
perfectly easy to laugh if you just let yourself go. Kid isn't really
funny. She's just as silly as she can be."

Kid brought her horse to a stand.

"Well I like that!"

"Excuse me for telling the truth," said Patty politely, "I'm just using
you for an illustration--Heavens! There's the bell!"

She commenced unlacing her blouse with one hand, while she pushed her
guests to the door with the other.

"Hurry and dress, and come back to button me up. It would be a very
delicate attention for us to be on time to-night. We've been late for
every meal since vacation began."

* * * * *

The girls spent Chri