a penny in her life.

"Girls are really wonderful, after all, Dad," she confided to her
father, as the two sat side by side on a big leather davenport in the
sitting room of the Allens' private suite, indulging in a confidential
talk.

It was the last night of Jane's stay in New York. The next day would
find her saying fond farewells to her father and aunt. They intended to
remain in New York for a few days after Jane's departure for Wellington
College, then make a brief tour of the larger eastern cities before
returning to the West.

"It seems queer to me now that I used to dislike them so much," Jane
continued, shaking a deprecating head at her former adverse opinion of
girls in general. "I wouldn't know what to do now without my girl
friends. I seem to be making new ones all the time, too. There's
Eleanor, for instance. I've grown ever so fond of her. I think it would
be fine to have her make me a visit next summer. She never goes anywhere
in particular. She just works hard all the time. Dorothy thinks she
can't come to Capitan until August, so I could have Eleanor there in
July."

"Invite whom you please, Janie. The more the merrier. All I want is to
see my girl happy," was the affectionate response.

"And I _am_ happy, Dad," Jane ardently assured. "You and Aunt Mary have
given me the finest Christmas I could possibly have. I'll go back to
Wellington feeling as if I owned the earth. After such a glorious
vacation as this has been, I'll have every reason in the world to be a
good pioneer. I'll re-tackle my bit of college land for all I'm worth,
and improve it as much as I can through the rest of my sophomore year.
It looks a lot better already than it did last year."

Jane spoke with the glowing enthusiasm of perfect happiness. The joy of
Christmas had temporarily driven from her mind even the vexatious memory
of Marian Seaton and her petty spite.

Quite the contrary, Christmas had not reduced Marian to any such
beatific state. She accepted it as a mere matter of course, and spent it
in Buffalo, as the guest of Maizie Gilbert. Privately, she wished it
over and done with. For once, she was impatient to return to Wellington,
there to further a certain enterprise of her own from which she expected
to gain decided results.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE LISTENER

Returned to Wellington, Jane and Judith both agreed that in spite of
their holiday fun, each had missed the other dreadfully. They had plenty
to talk