k them," said Patty.

The freshman rose uneasily. "I came," she said hesitatingly, "to find
out--that is, I understand that the girls rent their old books, and I
thought, if you wouldn't mind--"

"Mind!" said Patty, reassuringly. "We'd rent our souls for fifty cents a
semester."

"It--it was a Latin dictionary I wanted," said the freshman, "and the
girls next door said perhaps you had one."

"A beautiful one," said Patty.

"No," interrupted Priscilla; "hers is lost from O to R, and it's all
torn; but mine,"--she dived down into one of the boxes and hauled out a
chunky volume without any covers,--"while it is not so beautiful as it
was once, it is still as useful."

"Mine's annotated," said Patty, "and illustrated. I'll show you what a
superior book it is," and she began descending the ladder; but
Priscilla charged upon her and she retreated to the top again. "Why,"
she wailed to the terrified freshman, "did you not say you wanted a
dictionary before she came back? Let me give you some advice at the
beginning of your college career," she added warningly. "Never choose a
room-mate bigger than yourself. They're dangerous."

The freshman was backing precipitously toward the door, when it opened
and revealed an attractive-looking girl with fluffy reddish hair.

"Pris, you wretch, you walked off with my hammer!"

"Oh, Georgie, we need it worse than you do! Come in and help tack."

"Hello, Georgie," called Patty, from the ladder. "Isn't this room going
to be beautiful when it's finished?"

Georgie looked about. "You are more sanguine than I should be," she
laughed.

"You can't tell yet," Patty returned. "We're going to cover the
wall-paper with this red stuff, and paint the floor black, and have dark
furniture, and red hangings, and soft lights. It will look just like the
Oriental Room in the Waldorf."

"How in the world," Georgie demanded, "do you ever make them let you do
all these things? I stuck in three innocent little thumb-tacks to-day,
and Peters descended upon me bristling with wrath, and said he'd report
me if I didn't pull them out."

"We never ask," explained Patty. "It's the only way."

"You've got enough to do if you expect to get settled by Monday,"
Georgie remarked.

"_C'est vrai_," agreed Patty, descending the ladder with a sudden access
of energy; "and you've got to stay and help us. We have to get all this
furniture moved into the bedrooms and the carpet up before we even
_begin_ to pain