and who said: "Are you going to town,
Marian?"

"Yes, Miss Dorothy and I are going shopping," returned Marian with
beaming face.

"I thought you must be going; you're so dressed up," returned the
child, and Marian smiled up at her companion with an air of
conscious delight. Everything was so interesting; the starting of
the train, the movements of their fellow passengers, the outlook
from the car windows, the masses of red and yellow foliage which
meant forests, the brown bare spaces which were fields, the little
isolated houses, the small villages stretching away from the
stations. There was not one moment of the journey when Marian was
not entertained by what she saw along the way.

At last they reached the city and such a noise and confusion as met
their ears, made Marian cling to Miss Dorothy. "Is it always like
this?" she asked.

"Like this? How?"

"So noisy and crowded and everybody rushing about in such a hurry."

"Yes, I think it is. We notice it more, coming from our quiet little
village. This is the car we take. We are to meet Patty at the
library. Father has to go there to look up some references, and it
seemed the best place to meet. Have you ever been there, Marian?"

"No, I never have."

"Then it will be something for you to see. A good library is a good
lesson in many directions."

But Marian's eyes were not taking in rows of books or library
appointments when they reached the reading-room. She was searching
for a dark-haired, rosy-faced, plump little girl who should answer
to the name of Patty. "I believe there she is," she whispered to
Miss Dorothy, and nodded toward a corner where sat two whom Marian
decided must be those they were looking for.

"Why, so it is," returned Miss Dorothy. "The idea of your seeing
them first. How did you know them?"

"From the photographs you showed me, and from what you told me about
them."

Patty had been on the lookout, too, and spied them at once. She
hurried forward, threw her arms around her sister and gave her a
fervent hug, then she turned to Marian. "I am so glad you could
come," she said heartily. "I was so afraid maybe you couldn't and
I did so want us to be together to-day."

"Dad is so absorbed he hasn't seen us yet," said Miss Dorothy,
making her way to the corner where her father sat. "I wonder if I
can steal up behind him and take him unawares." She had almost
reached him when he caught sight of her. Down went the book, he
jumped up and