s turned simultaneously at the sound of the strange, soft
voice, to face a girl whose beauty was almost startling. She was a
trifle taller than Grace and beautifully straight and slender. Her hair
was jet black and lay on her forehead in little silky rings, while she
had the bluest eyes the girls had ever seen. Her features were small and
regular, and her skin as creamy as the petal of a magnolia. She stood
regarding the astonished girls with a fascinating little smile that was
irresistible.

"Please excuse me for breaking in upon you, but I saw you from afar, and
you looked awfully good to me." Her clear enunciation made the slang
phrase sound like the purest English. "I have just been with your
principal in her office. She told me to come here and look over the list
of subjects. Do you think me unpardonably rude?" She looked appealingly
at the four chums.

"Why, of course not," said Grace promptly, recovering in a measure from
her first surprise. "I suppose you are going to enter our school, are
you not? Let me introduce you to my friends." She named her three chums
in turn, who bowed cordially to the attractive stranger.

"My name is Grace Harlowe. Will you tell me yours?"

"My name is Eleanor Savell," replied the new-comer, "and I have just
come to Oakdale with my aunt. We have leased a quaint old house in the
suburbs called 'Heartsease.' My aunt fell quite in love with it, so
perhaps we shall stay awhile. We travel most of the time, and I get very
tired of it," she concluded with a little pout.

"'Heartsease'?" cried the girls in chorus. "Do you live at 'Heartsease'?"

"Yes," said the stranger curiously. "Is there anything peculiar about
it?"

"Oh, no," Grace hastened to reply. "The reason we are interested is
because we know the owner of the property, Mrs. Gray, very well."

"Oh, do you know her?" replied Eleanor lightly. "Isn't she a dainty,
little, old creature? She looks like a Dresden shepherdess grown old.
For an elderly woman, she really is interesting."

"We call her our fairy godmother," said Anne, "and love her so dearly
that we never think of her as being old." There had been something about
the careless words that jarred upon Anne.

"Oh, I am sure she is all that is delightful," responded Miss Savell,
quickly divining that Anne was not pleased at her remark. "I hope to
know her better."

"You are lucky to get 'Heartsease,'" said Grace. "Mrs. Gray has refused
over and over again to rent it.