ath with
fascinated eyes.

"I wonder why," she said, as she turned slowly away in response to the
urging of the girls, "nothing ever seems the same in the sunlight. The
other night when we were running along that path we were scared to death,
and now----"

"You sound as if you'd like to stay scared to death," said Laura
impatiently, for Laura had not Billie's imagination.

"I guess I don't like to be scared any more than any one else," Billie
retorted. "But I _would_ like to see that man again. I wonder----" she
paused and Vi prompted her.

"Wonder what?" she asked.

"Why," said Billie, a thoughtful little crease on her forehead, "I was
just wondering if we could find the little hut again if we tried."

"Of course we couldn't!" Laura was very decided about it. "We were lost,
weren't we? And when the man showed us the way back it was dark----"

"The only way I can see," said Vi, who often had rather funny ideas,
"would be to have one of us stand in the road and hold on to strings tied
to the other two so that if they got lost----"

"The one in the road could haul 'em back," said Laura sarcastically.
"That's a wonderful idea, Vi."

"Well, I _would_ like to see that man again," sighed Billie. "He seemed
so sad. I'm sure he was in trouble, and I'd so like to help him."

"Yes and when you offered you nearly got your head bit off," observed
Laura.

Billie's eyes twinkled.

"That's what Daddy says always happens to people who try to help," she
said. "I feel awfully sorry for him, just the same," she finished
decidedly.

Then Laura did a surprising thing. She put an arm about Billie's
shoulders and hugged her fondly.

"Billie Bradley," she said sadly, "I do believe you would feel sorry for
a snake that bit you, just because it was only a snake."

"Perhaps that's why she loves _you_," said Vi innocently, and scored a
point. Laura looked as if she wanted to be mad for a minute, but she was
not. She only laughed with the girls.

They had as good a time as they had expected to have in town that
afternoon--and that is saying something.

First they went shopping. Laura had need of a ribbon girdle. Although
they all knew that a blue one would be bought in the end, as blue was the
color that would go best with the dress with which the girdle was to be
worn, the merits and beauties of a green one and a lavender one were
discussed and comparisons made with the blue one over and over, all from
very love of the indec