nt, you wicked,
tantalizing girl," insisted Marjorie with pretended sternness.

"I thought perhaps you might be able to guess certain things from my
letter," continued Mary. "You see, I wrote you that mother would have to
go to Colorado for the winter and----"

"You are going with her," supplemented Marjorie.

"No, that's a wild guess. I'm not going west with her. Father says I
must stay in the East and go through my sophomore year in high school."

"But you can't stay at home by yourself, Mary. Just think how dreadful
that would be for you, with your father away most of the time," reminded
Marjorie.

Mary's father was a traveling salesman for a large furniture
manufactory, and spent the greater part of his time on the road.

"That's just the point," responded Mary. "I know I can't stay at home
alone. Mother's illness and what is to become of me when father goes on
the road again is the sad part of it, but the glad part is--oh,
Marjorie, can't you guess now?" Mary caught Marjorie's hand in hers.
"We've come all the way to Sanford to see if," her voice rose high with
excitement, "there isn't a little corner in the Dean barracks that a
certain lieutenant can call her own for this year and----"

"Mary!" It was Marjorie's turn to become excited. "Do you really mean
that you wish to come to live with me and enter Sanford High? That we'll
be sophomores together?"

Mary clung to Marjorie's hand and nodded. For a moment she was too near
to tears for speech. But they were tears of happiness. Marjorie really
desired her for a best friend after all. Her sudden jealousy of
Constance Stevens vanished.

"I should say that was a _glad_ part of your mission," laughed Marjorie
happily. "I don't know what I've ever done to deserve such good fortune.
Mother will be glad, too. She loves you almost as much as she loves me."

"Oh, Mother," Marjorie leaned impulsively forward, "Mary's coming to
live with me this year while her mother is in Colorado. You'll have two
lieutenants instead of one to look after. We are going to win sophomore
honors together and be promoted to be captains next June!"

"There," declared Mr. Raymond with comical resignment, "now you have let
the cat out of the bag with a vengeance, Mary Raymond. All this time I
had been planning to ask Mrs. Dean, in my most ingratiating manner, if
she thought she might possibly make room for a certain very frisky
member of my family for a while. I had intended to proceed c