buy a couch bed. The
davenport there is a bed too. We'll put it across that corner, and have
the couch against that wall. We'll have to keep the dressing table. We
can't avoid that. I don't know what to do with my bed. It is
three-quarter size. I selected it purposely, so that I'd have room for
two of the girls at a time if they dropped in unexpectedly. I don't like
to sell it. It matches the set."

"Why not leave it in the other room," suggested Emma. "If girl number
thirty-four never materializes then Miss Evelyn Ward can occupy the
whole bed, if she chooses."

"But suppose we do admit another girl?"

"Sufficient unto the day, etc.," shrugged Emma. "When she appears, then
let the committee take action."

"I'll buy a smaller dressing table to match the bed, if I can, and a
chiffonier. I can't quite give mine up to this newcomer. There goes the
luncheon bell. I must hurry downstairs to the kitchen to see if
everything is all right."

Grace hastened down the stairs, with her friend at her heels. Emma went
directly to the dining-room and took her place at the table laid for two
at the lower end of the room. This table belonged exclusively to her and
Grace. The dining-room at Harlowe House had been furnished after the
fashion of a pretty little tea shop at which Grace had often lunched in
New York. The walls were done in white with a faint blue and silver
stripe. The ceiling was white with a decoration of deep blue corn
flowers. The floor was covered with a thread and thrum rug in blue and
white, and instead of two long tables there were several small ones
which seated from four to six persons. In the middle of each table was a
vase of flowers, and the effect of the whole room was dainty and
homelike. Grace had spent much thought on the dining-room. The buffet,
serving tables, tables and chairs were white, and the silver, linen and
various other appointments had been carefully chosen.

"I wish the girls to feel that this room is a place where they can eat
and be merry. It is in the dining-room that they will first become
acquainted with one another," Grace had said to Mrs. Gray while they
were choosing the dining-room furniture. "I like the idea of having the
small tables. The girls can talk quietly and confidentially, if they
choose. Besides it looks so cosy and informal."

As Grace ate her luncheon that day her eyes wandered to the various
tables. She was speculating as to where she would seat Evelyn Ward.
Alrea