heeks blazed and their hearts grew hot with
anger, and oh! the irritation of their poor unhappy legs.

"Kitty," whispered Betty eagerly, as they hurried into the house, "come
upstairs, quick; I've thought of something. It's a splendid idea!"

With the excuse that they were going to take off their hats and coats,
they rushed up to their bedroom and shut themselves in. Aunt Pike was a
little surprised at their neatness; Dan was a little hurt at being left
so soon, but Betty could not think of that then.

"Kitty," she breathed, as she closed the door and leaned against it,
"I know what we will do. We will wear our cotton stockings underneath
these horrors! They won't scratch us then, will they? And our holidays
won't be spoilt, and Aunt Pike won't know, and--don't you think it's a
perfectly splendid idea?"

"Splendid," cried Kitty enthusiastically, dropping on to the floor and
beginning to unlace her boots that very moment. "Oh, quickly let us
make haste and change them; I cannot, cannot endure this torment a
minute longer. O Betty, why didn't you think of it sooner?"
Then, holding up one of the offending gray stockings between the tips
of her fingers, "Did you--did any one ever see anything in all this
world so hideous?"

"We can do away with their itchiness, but we shall never, never be able
to hide their ugliness," said Betty ruefully. "_Nothing_ could do
that."

But the ugliness did not seem to matter so much when the irritation was
stopped; and they had such a grand time that evening, there was so
much to tell, and hear, and do, and show, that all other things were
forgotten, at least for the time.

And how lovely it was to wake in the morning and remember at once that
the holidays had come, and Dan was home; and then to wander about the
house and garden with him, looking up old haunts, and visiting Prue and
Billy and Jabez in the stables; for Aunt Pike had allowed them that much
licence on this the first day of the holidays. Then after dinner they
all went up to Dan's room to help him to unpack, and there was no end of
running backwards and forwards, looking at new treasures and old ones,
and talking incessantly until the afternoon had nearly worn away without
their realizing it.

"Um!" said Dan at last, pausing on the landing to hang over the
banisters and sniff audibly. "A--ha! methinks I smell the
soul-inspiring smell of saffron! For thirteen long, weary weeks I have
not smelt that glorious sm