, and to get used to the strangeness which had partly
worn away, but has come on again while we dreamed and forgot all about
it.

Candace experienced this when she woke in the little blue room the
morning after her arrival in Newport. She had gone to bed, by Mrs.
Gray's advice, when their long talk about manners and customs was ended,
and without going downstairs again.

"You are very tired, I can see," said Cousin Kate. "A long night's sleep
will freshen you, and the world will look differently and a great deal
pleasanter to-morrow."

Candace was glad to follow this counsel. She _was_ tired, and she felt
shy of Mr. Gray and the girls, and would rather put off meeting them
again, she thought, till the morning. Ten hours of unbroken sleep rested
her thoroughly, but she woke with a feeling of puzzled surprise at her
surroundings, and for a few moments could not gather up her thoughts or
quite recollect where she was. Then it all came back to her, and she was
again conscious of the uncomfortable sensations of the night before.

She lay a little while thinking about it, and half wishing that she need
not get up at all but just burrow under the blanket and hide herself,
like a mouse or rabbit in his downy hole, till everybody had forgotten
her blunders, and till she herself could forget them. But she said to
herself bravely: "I won't be foolish. Cousin Kate is just lovely; she's
promised to help me, and I'm sure she will. I will try not to mind the
others; but, oh dear! I wish I were not so afraid of the girls."

She jumped out of bed resolutely and began to dress, taking her time
about it, and stealing many glances out of the open window; for she knew
it must be early, and as yet there were no sounds of life about the
house. After her hair was curled, she stood for some time at the door of
the closet, debating what dress she should put on.

The choice was limited. There were only a brown plaided gingham, a blue
calico, and a thick white cambric to choose from. The latter seemed to
her almost too nice to be worn in the morning. It was the first white
dress she had ever been allowed to have, and Aunt Myra had said a good
deal about the difficulty of getting it done up; so it seemed to Candace
rather a sacred garment, which should be reserved for special state
occasions.

After hesitating awhile she put on the brown gingham. It had a little
ruffle basted round the neck. Candace tried the effect of a large blue
bow, and