arly call, she yet could not satisfy that
curiosity. When she had told Betty that she would be around in five
minutes she had fully meant to make that promise good. But--she had
forgotten the twins!

Upon entering the room where she had locked them while she talked to
Betty, she found a sight that fairly took her breath away.

Unfortunately, some one had left an open bottle of ink on the table. One
of the twins, deciding to play "savages," had pounced upon the ink
bottle as a means of making the play more realistic!

"Oh, Dodo! Oh, Paul! How could you be so naughty?" moaned Mollie,
sinking to the floor, while the tears of exasperation rolled down her
face.

"Paul did it," accused Dodo, waving a pudgy, ink-stained little fist in
the direction of her brother. "He said, 'let's use this ink and play
we're savagers----'"

It was upon this scene that Mollie's little French-American mother, Mrs.
Billette, came a moment later.

"Oh! Oh!" she cried, raising her hands in the French gesture all French
people know so well. "What is this? Mollie, have you gone quite mad?"

Whereupon Mollie shook the tears of woe from her eyes and explained to
her mother just what had happened.

"And I was in such a hurry to get to Betty's," she finished dismally. "I
just know she has something exciting to tell us. And now I don't suppose
I will get there for hours."

"Oh yes, you will," said Mrs. Billette, with the delicious, almost
imperceptible, accent she had. "The ink has not yet dried, and luckily
there is not much about the room. Run along, dear. I fully realize," she
added, with the smile that made Mollie adore her, "that this, with you,
is a very important occasion."

"And you are the most precious mother in the world!" cried Mollie,
flinging young arms about her mother and giving her a joyful hug. "I
might have known you would understand." And before the words were fairly
out of her mouth she was flying up the stairs.

When she reached Betty's house at last, out of breath but happy, she
found that Grace and Amy were there before her. She found them all,
including Betty, up in Betty's room, a pretty place done in ivory and
blue, awaiting her coming as patiently as they could.

"Betty wouldn't tell us a thing until you came," was the greeting Grace
flung at her.

"So don't be surprised if you aren't very popular around here," laughed
Betty, sitting very straight in her wicker chair, feet stretched out and
crossed in front of