iss Sallie
listened to her with respect. "I would like to bet a great big box of
candy that Mrs. Latham sees Eunice and her Indian grandmother before they
are many weeks older. The Lathams have some connection with little
Eunice, though goodness knows I can't guess what it is."

Mollie had nothing more to say. She was in the motor car now. Her tears
could flow freely.

Miss Sallie pretended, for a few moments, not to see that Mollie was
crying. A breach in social etiquette was a sore offense to Miss Stuart.
But after a little while she put her arm around the little girl and gave
her a gentle squeeze.

"I will forgive you, this time, dear," she murmured, "but I never want
you, Mollie, to be rude to a grown person again. And I don't think, my
dear, it is a good idea to have a suspicious nature."

"I didn't mean to be rude," Mollie sighed, putting her head against Miss
Stuart's arm. "I was only trying not to tell Mrs. Latham what she wanted
to know." Because it was now dark, and Mollie could not see her face,
Miss Sallie smiled.

CHAPTER XVII

A VISIT TO EUNICE

"O girls, I have had the most splendiferous time!" cried Bab, bounding
into the hotel sitting room. She wore Ruth's tan colored riding habit and
a little brown derby. Her curls were drawn up in a knot at the back of
her head. Her brown eyes were sparkling. She pranced into the room, as
though she were still on horseback.

"Miss Sallie, I never knew what horseback riding could mean until to-day.
Dorothy Morton has lent me a perfect dream of a horse. Its name is
Beauty. It is black and slim and has a white star on its nose. My, don't
I wish it were mine! Well, Beauty and I took our hurdles to-day, at the
Ambassador's farm, as though we had been jumping together all our lives.
See, here!" Barbara vaulted lightly over a low stool, and stood in the
center of the room, brandishing her riding crop.

"Barbara Thurston!" Mollie exclaimed.

"Good gracious!" protested Bab. "I didn't dream we had a visitor. I am so
sorry! I have been practising for the hurdle jumping next week," Bab
ended tamely.

A stout man, with iron gray hair and a kindly expression, smiled at
Barbara.

"Oh, don't mind my presence," he said. "I have a daughter of my own who
is fond of horseback riding."

"Barbara," explained Miss Stuart, "this is Doctor Lewis. He has been good
enough to come over from the hospital to tell us about Eunice."

Barbara noticed that Ruth, Grace and Mo