Dorothy's eyes flashed fire as she turned a swift gaze upon him.

"Now, look here, Jim Barlow, we've been fast friends for years, and I
don't want to have a falling out, but you shall not slander my
friends. And please remember, sir, that the last two words in _my_
name are connected by a hyphen, then see if you can't bridle your
tongue a while."

Dorothy, plainly displeased, turned and looked out of the car window.
But she did not see the green fields, or the cool-looking patches of
woodland that were flashing past; she was wondering if she had spoken
hastily to her boy chum, and whether he would resent her tone.

But Jim, after a moment's silence, became duly humble.

"I--I'm very sorry I said that, Dorothy," he began, slowly. "I--I'm
sure I'd forgotten the hyphen in your own name. I was just thinking
of those English girls. I'm positive that when they met you they felt
themselves far above you, and it just makes my American blood
boil--that's all!"

Dorothy turned in time to catch a suspicious moisture in Jim's eyes,
and the warm-hearted girl immediately upbraided herself for speaking
as she had.

"You're true blue, Jim! I might have known how you meant it, and that
you wouldn't willingly slander my friends. And, just to show you that
I believe in telling the truth, I'll admit that Gwendolyn was a
hateful little spitfire when I first entered the school. But finally
she grew to know that in the many attributes which contribute to our
happiness there were girls in the world just as well off as she.
Gradually she came around, until, at the end, she was one of my
warmest friends."

Dorothy went on to relate how she had saved Gwendolyn from drowning,
and how, in turn, the English girl had saved Dorothy from a terrible
slide to death down an icy incline.

"Well, that wasn't bad of her," admitted Jim. "But she couldn't very
well stand by and see you perish--anyway, you had saved her life, and
she felt duty bound to return the compliment."

"Please believe, Jim, that she did it out of the fullness of her
heart."

"Well, if you say so," the boy returned, reluctantly.

Both looked up at this juncture to find Ephraim standing in the
aisle. The eyes of the old colored man contained a look of unbounded
delight, and it was not difficult to see that his pleasure was caused
by the anticipated return, within the next few hours, to Old Bellvieu
and Mrs. Calvert.

"Well, Ephy," said Dorothy, "soon we'll see Aunt Betty