much, either! Mr. Dalken reserved
his opinion on costs, however, and laughed in his sleeve at Baxter, for
the latter had no more need of an apartment than a cat has for two tails.
It was a whim of his to give the girls a contract, and Jack could afford
whims, so his guardian said nothing about the bills.

"Well, I must say," said Polly the day after Jack held a "house-warming"
in his newly furnished domain, "I never saw ten days go by as fast as
these did. Here we are almost on top of that sale in the country, and it
seems like yesterday that we got the announcement."

"It shows how much we really love our profession," said Eleanor, "when we
get so much pleasure out of work."

But Dodo was present at some of the conferences the two amateur
decorators held with Jack and she now remarked: "Work! did you two think
that going about in Jack's sporty car and lunching at swell dining-rooms,
or holding up a strip of gold-gauze to watch the sheen on your hand, was
hard work?"

Mrs. Fabian laughed to herself at the conversation. But Polly answered
with an experienced air: "When you have had years of study in decorating,
like Nolla and I have had, you will find that work is not altogether a
physical effort. At present, in your apprenticeship, you do more than you
saw us do in furnishing, but you'll learn, some day!"

Dodo tossed her head confidently, and remarked: "I have nothing more to
learn--if your knowledge is the acme of the understanding of your trade."

As no reply was given this statement, Mrs. Fabian hurried from the room
to laugh quietly to herself at the egotism of youth. Later when Mr. Ashby
was told the story, he said:

"When they have been at the profession for thirty years, and have
acquired all the knowledge that I have in that time, they will begin to
learn that we all know very little of harmony and perfect ideals in
decorating."

CHAPTER XII

THE PARSIPPANY VENDUE

It was a lovely late Fall day when Carl brought Mr. Dalken's car around
to the Fabian's residence to drive the girls to the Parsippany sale. Jack
Baxter was seated beside Carl and announced to the girls as they came out
with Mrs. Fabian: "I'm invited to go with you."

"Who asked you?" was the rejoinder from both girls.

"Carl did. He gets tired of chauffing for hours without rest. So I
offered to help him out."

Of course, Carl's uncomfortable flush showed that Jack was joking, but he
was a welcome addition to the small party,