d do was never discovered for just at that moment a shrill
scream ran through the night, followed by the exclamation in a familiar
voice:

"Great Scott! My wig!"

And Ruth and Helen rushed below to find Miss Webster in a state of
collapse on one of the veranda settees and Nan standing over her, clad
in complete male attire, and fanning her frantically with a curly,
blonde wig which she wrenched by force from the trellis where it had
inadvertently caught.

"I was just leaning back and being beautiful, and it got hooked on a
wire or something, and when I went to get up it stayed there and gave
me away!" she promptly explained.

Then there was a scene.

Miss Webster wept! Nan lamented! Ruth laughed, and Helen scolded, and
no one heard a word any one else was saying.

But after a time every one grew calmer.

"O Helen! I've made such a fool of myself," cried Alice abjectly.
"How can you ever respect me again?"

"Respect you? Think of me!" sobbed Helen. "Can you ever forgive me
for knowing it all this time and letting it go on? Nan, you wretched
girl, come here this minute and beg Miss Webster's pardon. Ruth
Andrews, this is your work, Miss! See what you have done, and in your
own house, too!"

But at this time Alice surprised them all. She put a gentle hand on
Helen's arm and said quite simply, and with a touching dignity:

"Please don't ask anybody to beg my pardon. I deserved the lesson!
The girls needn't say a word. I--I--I am a goose, but I'll really try
to be better, and the kindest thing they can do is never to refer to it
again."

The rare tears sprang to Nan's eyes, and she grasped Miss Webster's
hand in a grip that hurt.

"You're downright fine!" she said, "and I'll never forget you as long
as I live."

And then she had to beat a hasty retreat to escape Mr. Andrews and his
wife, who were just driving up to the door.

But the secret leaked out, and she and Ruth were reprimanded sharply by
Mrs. Andrews who, for once in her life, turned severe and called them
sternly to account, and it was Alice Webster herself who interceded for
them, and begged that everything be forgiven and forgotten.

They were her devoted slaves after that, and Nan, whose fortnight had
been extended, at the Andrews' request, to a month, took especial
delight in fetching and carrying for her to the close of her stay, and
in every possible manner making her feel how sincerely she regarded and
respected her.

As fo