r knees in the midst of the
puddle, and with widespread skirts, commenced frantically searching for
an imaginary stick-pin.
"Is it necessary for you to block up the entire hall?" was Miss Lord's
only comment as she passed.
The rug was happily reversible, and by the simple process of turning it
over, Patty satisfactorily cleaned up the mess. The other two girls were
generous, and shared their supply: so in the end she obtained her honey.
For three wakeful nights they stuck to the poultice--though perhaps it
would be more accurate to say that the poultice stuck to them. In spite
of many washings in hot water, their faces became noticeably scaly.
Miss Sallie, who represented St. Ursula's board of health, met Patty
Wyatt in the hall one morning. She took her by the chin and turned her
to the light. Patty squirmed embarrassedly.
"My dear child! What is the matter with your face?"
"I--I don't know--exactly. It seems sort of--of--dandruffy."
"I should think it did! What have you been eating?"
"Only what I get at meals," said Patty, relievedly telling the truth.
"There's something the matter with your blood," diagnosed Miss Sallie.
"What you need is a tonic. I shall prescribe boneset tea for you."
"Oh, Miss Sallie!" Patty earnestly remonstrated. "I don't need it,
_really_. I'm sure I'll be all right." She had tried boneset tea before;
it was the bitterest brew that was ever concocted.
When Miss Sallie met Mae Van Arsdale suffering from the same complaint,
and later still, Rosalie Patton, she commenced to be perturbed. The
apple trees under her care at the farm had been afflicted that spring
with San Jose scale, but she had hardly expected the disease to spread
to the school girls. That afternoon she superintended an infusion of
boneset, of gigantic proportions, and at bedtime a reluctant school
formed in line and filed past Miss Sallie, who, ladle in hand, presided
over the punch bowl. Each received a flowing cupful and drank it with
what grace she might, until Patty's turn came. She disposed of hers in a
blue china umbrella holder which stood in the hall behind Miss Sallie's
back. The remainder of the line successfully followed her lead.
Miss Sallie watched her little charges closely for the next few days;
and sure enough, the scales disappeared. (The Associated Sirens had
discarded poultices.) She was more than ever convinced of the efficacy
of boneset.
Shortly after the founding of the society, Mae
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