"No use weeping till we hear that something has happened," she said, as she turned on the radio. "I'd stake a good-sized bet on Linda and Lou! Haven't they always come through with flying colors?"
"If they're still _flying_ colors, or anything else, they're all right," remarked Jim Valier, lazily stretching his legs out toward the blazing fire. But, lazy though he always appeared, he was ready to help Dot in her valiant effort to be cheerful.
"They'll be home yet—in time for the New Tear's Eve party!" she asserted, with conviction. "I'm not going to lose faith."
"I'm not either," added Kitty Clavering, who was usually so timid, but who had a deep admiration for Linda Carlton. "I think Linda is one of the cleverest girls I ever met."
Everybody agreed with her, and somehow they all suddenly felt optimistic. The bridge tables were brought out, the couples began to play and dance in the intervals when they were "dummies." Everybody seemed happy again—everybody except Ralph Clavering. Off in a corner he was smoking a cigarette in doleful silence.
Dot, who still felt the responsibility for the atmosphere of the party, went over to cheer him up.
"What's the matter, Ralph?" she asked half teasingly, half sympathetically.
"Nothing," he muttered, with a frown that plainly said, "let me alone!"
"I know, though," persisted Dot, seating herself beside him. "You haven't any partner for the New Year's Eve dance!"
"Well, I'm not asking you," he replied, rudely.