on, the
girls arrived at the station.

"Of course she'll be pleased," cried Alma Lane. "She can't help it. I
can hear her laugh and clap her hands now, when she sees us--and hears
us!"

"So can I," echoed Bertha. "And how her eyes will dance! I love to see
Genevieve's eyes dance."

"So do I," chorused the others, fervently.

Sunbridge was a quiet little town in southern New Hampshire near the
state line. It had wide, tree-shaded streets, and green-shuttered white
houses set far back in spacious lawns. The station at this hour was even
quieter than the town, and there were few curious eyes to question the
meaning of the unusual appearance of five laughing, excited young girls,
all dressed alike, and all showing flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes.

At one minute before three o'clock, a tall, good-looking youth drove up
in a smart trap, and was hailed with shouts of mingled joy and relief.

"Oh, Harold, we were just sure you were going to be late," cried
Cordelia.

"Late? Not I--to-day!" laughed the boy. Then, with genuine admiration:
"Say, that is pretty slick, girls. I'll take off my hat to the Happy
Hexagons to-day all right!" he finished, with an elaborate flourish.

"Thank you," twittered Tilly, saucily. "Now don't you wish you had
joined us? But then--_you_ couldn't have worn a white frock!"

A prolonged bell-clanging and the rumble of an approaching train
prevented Harold's reply, and sent the girls into a flutter of
excitement. A moment later they stood in line, waiting, breathless with
suspense.

They made a wonderfully pretty picture. Each girl was in white, even to
her shoes and stockings. Around each waist was a sash of a handsome
shade of blue. The same color showed at the throat and on the hair.

Quietly they watched the train roll into the station, and still quietly
they stood until a tall, slender girl with merry brown eyes and soft
fluffy brown hair appeared at a car door and tripped lightly down the
steps to the platform. They waited only till she ran toward them; then
in gleeful chorus they chanted:

"Texas, Texas, Tex--Tex--Texas!
Texas, Texas, Rah! Rah! Rah!
GENEVIEVE!"

What happened next was a surprise. Genevieve did not laugh, nor cry out,
nor clap her hands. Her eyes did not dance. She stopped and fumbled with
the fastening of her suit-case. The next minute the train drew out of
the station, and the girls were left alone in their corner. Genevieve
lo