e is Mabel! She usually waits for
you."

"Mabel is--" began Jessica. Then she stopped, her eyes filling with
wonder, almost alarm. "Girls," she cried, her voice rising to an excited
scream. "I know who that woman resembles! She looks like Mabel Allison."

CHAPTER II

WHAT THE DAY BROUGHT FORTH

For a second the three girls fairly gasped at Jessica's discovery. Grace
was the first to speak.

"You have hit the nail on the head, Jessica. That's why her face seemed
so familiar. The resemblance is striking."

The four girls glanced from one to another, the same thought in mind.
Perhaps the mystery of Mabel Allison's parentage was to be solved at
last.

Those who have read "Grace Harlowe's Junior Year at High
School" will recall how the Phi Sigma Tau became interested in
Mabel Allison, a young girl taken from an orphanage by Miss Brant, a
woman devoid of either gentleness or sympathy, who treated her young
charge with great cruelty.

It will be remembered that through the efforts of Grace and Jessica,
aided by Jessica's father, Miss Brant was forced to give Mabel up, and
she became a member of the Bright household, and the especial protegee
of the Phi Sigma Tau.

Grace and her friends had always believed Mabel to be a child of good
family. She had been picked up in the streets of New York when a baby,
and taken to the police station, where she had been held for some time,
but on remaining unclaimed, had been sent to an orphanage outside New
York City, where she had spent her life until she had been brought to
Oakdale by Miss Brant.

Although Mabel had been in the Bright household but a few months,
Jessica, who was motherless, had become deeply attached to her, while
Jessica's father was equally fond of the young girl.

She had spent her vacation with the Phi Sigma Tau, who were the guests
of Judge Putnam, a prominent Oakdale citizen, and his sister at their
camp in the Adirondacks. The judge had conceived a great affection for
her, and on hearing her story had offered to adopt her.

This proved a cross to Jessica, who was torn between her desire to keep
Mabel with her, and the feeling that the opportunity was too great for
Mabel to refuse. Mabel had left the decision to Jessica, and the judge
was still awaiting his answer.

"I might have known something would happen to take her away," almost
wailed Jessica. "First, the judge, and now--"

"Don't be a goose, Jessica," said Nora stoutly, "and don't jum