to whom they were indebted until later. But young Chester Agnew
defeated this. He instructed half-a-dozen of his friends, and as the
final strains were coming to a close, these boys laid hold of the wall
of palms and pulled it to pieces. The musicians, laughing and
protesting, were shown to the entire company.

A great murmur of surprise was followed by a burst of applause and
laughter, in the midst of which Doctor and Mrs. Agnew hurried to the
front, followed by their daughters, who had already discovered the
truth, but had been warned by their brother to keep quiet about it.

"My dear friends!" exclaimed the head-master. "Is it possible that it is
you who have filled the gap so successfully? Well, really, what shall we
say to such kindness?"

"Mrs. Churchill--Doctor Churchill--Miss Birch--all of you," Mrs Agnew
was saying, in her surprise, "what a very lovely thing to do! It has
been too kind of you. We appreciate it more than we can tell you. You
must come out at once and have some supper."

"The evening would have been spoiled without you!" cried Jessica Agnew,
and Isabel said the same thing. Chester was loud in his praises, and
indeed, the orchestra received an ovation which quite overwhelmed it. It
went out to supper presently, escorted by at least twenty young people.

"Here, come and sit by me, Lucy," invited Just, in good humour at the
success of his plan. "You can keep handing me food as I consume it. I
never was so starved in my life. Well, have you had a good time? Sorry I
had to desert you, but I've no doubt the others introduced you round and
saw that you weren't neglected."

"I think Chester Agnew is one of the handsomest boys I ever met,"
whispered Lucy. "Hasn't he the loveliest eyes? He was just devoted to
me."

Just turned, his mouth full of chicken _pate_, and regarded her with
interest. "Yes, his eyes are wonders," he agreed, his own twinkling.
"Full of soul, and all that, you mean? Yes, they are, though I never
noticed it till you pointed it out."

Lucy looked at him suspiciously.

"He liked my dress," she went on.

"Did, eh? Ches must be coming on. Never knew him to notice a girl's
dress before."

"I saw him looking at it,"--Lucy's tone was impressive--"and asked if he
liked pink. He said it was his favourite colour."

"H'm! I must take lessons of Ches."

"He looked at me so much I was awfully embarrassed," said Lucy, under
her breath, with drooping eyes.

Just favoured her with