Rap-tap-tap! It was more insistent this time, and the knob of the door turned even as Peggy called out a none too cordial “Come” that broke pathetically in the middle.
A dark-haired girl entered impetuously, a sparkle in her friendly eyes. Peggy remembered her with an inward qualm as one of the most appreciative spectators on the porch a few moments ago.
“Aren’t you folks crazy about your rooms? Have you seen the view over Paradise? It’s wonderful. I’ve been wondering who would have these. I live right across the hall—and I—I——”
Those sparkling eyes fairly danced now, and Peggy became aware of a tiny package being thrust forward by the pretty visitor.
“I saw yours was trampled, so I brought you some tooth-paste!” finished the girl, to their amazement.
She had scarcely left them, swinging mentally between indignation and bewildered gratitude, when a pair of girls came unceremoniously in upon them without knocking at all, and stood hesitating before them, arms entwined about each other and holding something half out of sight.
“I always think it’s a ghastly thing to be without powder,” one of them finally mustered the courage to say, “and I came away with two boxes. It’s rice powder, flesh tint,—I hope you like that as well as white; and I brought you some—and a chamois. Yours was muddy. I picked it up, but I parted with it again. I knew you wouldn’t possibly want it,—it couldn’t make your face anything but black.”
“And here’s a—waist.” The other was speaking now. “I thought you might be—traveling light, and—since nobody’s trunks have come, please wear this down to luncheon. It’s my best one, so I won’t deprecate it at all. I think it’s a darling, and if you’ll give it its first wearing, I’ll be only too happy.”
Katherine glanced across at Peggy and smiled. Her room-mate was wiping away the last gleam of moisture from her eyes, and the inner sunlight of her spirit was beginning to shine through the gloom.
She rose and went toward the girls, but they laid their offerings on a chair and withdrew. While Peggy was looking after them appreciatively, another stranger entered on a similar mission.