he club to her
intense delight. After Agnes and Celia had been to see her they were so
enthusiastic that all the girls in the club by twos and threes paid her
visits, and she came to know them every one.

CHAPTER XII

THE FLOWER PLAY

As the time approached for the flower play to be given attention there
was considerable anxiety on the part of those who had taken it in hand.
Ben declared that while he could do the main part of the work all right,
he must have help of the girls in certain directions. "I'm no good at
all when it comes to dialogue," he told them. "I can do the mechanical
part, get the thing into shape for the stage, give you the general plot
and all that, but you'll have to do the dialogue."

"Oh, but Ben," said Agnes, "suppose we can't."

"Then it will have to fall through."

The girls looked very sober over this; they realized that Ben was giving
them more than they had any right to expect, and they could not ask him
to give his studies second place. "Well," said Agnes rather dolefully,
"we'll have to do the best we can."

"Angels can do no more," returned Ben, "and since you are so near to
that class of beings you ought to be able to do something pretty fine."

The compliment had the effect of bringing a smile to Agnes's face and so
the matter rested for that day. However, it was a subject which could
not be allowed to rest for very long as the time was fast approaching
when the parts must be given out for the girls to study. "And there will
have to be ever so many rehearsals," said Agnes woefully to Celia as
they were talking it over together on the Conways' porch.

"We don't seem to make a bit of headway," said Celia. "What we have
written sounds so silly and flat. I'm afraid it will never be the kind
of thing we hoped for."

"Ben has a lovely little plot and all the ideas he has given us about
the scenes and the dressing of the characters and the funny situations
are mighty good," returned Agnes, "it does seem as if between us all we
ought to be able to do the rest when we have eighteen regular members in
the club and two honorary ones."

Edna who was sitting on the top step listening attentively to all this,
looked up. "Why don't you ask Miss Eloise to help you? She would love
to, and she tells such beautiful, beautiful stories, you know."

"That is a brilliant idea," returned Agnes, "but she says she can never
write them, she can only tell them."

"But couldn't she tell what