aps, she
had better first dress a doll, but Beth would not listen to such a
thing.

Mrs. Davenport, therefore, bought the material and a pattern, and gave
them to Beth. She offered to cut out the dress, but Beth thought that
this would not be honorable nor fair. She must do it all by herself.
Mrs. Davenport admired the spirit, and encouraged it in her, although
she feared she might make a failure.

Beth, however, had one great quality of success,--perseverance. She
would never give up anything in which she was interested, until she had
succeeded. For the next three days, she could not be enticed from her
work.

"Beth, please, come with me," begged Harvey, who came quite regularly
to persuade her from her undertaking. But she was deaf to all
persuasion. Julia had no better success, and it ended by Beth
infecting Julia with the sewing fever. Julia brought material for a
dress over to the Davenports' and went to work on it. She sewed
faithfully for an hour or two, and then jumped up in disgust.

"Oh, botheration, Beth; I can't get the horrid thing right, and I'm not
going to try."

"Let me help you, Julia. Maybe we'll get prizes."

"Oh, bother prizes. Let's quit."

"No, I'm going to finish this dress. Please stay and sew with me."

"If I do, what will you do for me?"

"Anything you want me to."

"All right then, I'll stay, but when you've finished, you have to go up
in a tree with me and spend the night. We'll be like the captive
princess."

They had just finished a fairy tale of a princess confined in a tower
which she never left during many years. The tower was well provisioned
so that she did not starve.

"It'll be great fun," continued Julia. "We'll take plenty of food up
with us. I'm so glad you promised to go."

"May I tell mamma about it?"

"No."

"Then I won't go. I know mamma wouldn't like it, Julia, and it's wrong
to worry her."

"And it's downright wicked to break one's word. You aren't going to be
wicked, are you?"

Beth looked worried. "Please don't ask me to play princess, Julia."

"But you just have to, Beth; that's all there is about it."

This was Julia's ultimatum. She persisted in remaining with Beth until
the dress was finished, although, she, herself, did comparatively
little sewing. She even stayed nights at the Davenports for fear Beth
would betray her secret.

Beth worked so steadily that Mrs. Davenport feared that she would make
herself sick, and was