With Mr. Jerry's fountain pen she wrote carefully: "Mr. Owner of the Washington."
Then she folded the letter smoothly and dropped a kiss on it before she put it in the envelope.
"Just for friendliness," she said when she met Mr. Jerry's eyes and she blushed. Even her ears turned into pink roses.
He caught her in his arms and hugged her.
"Mary Rose," he said and his voice was not quite clear, "you're absolutely the friendliest soul I know!"
"That's what I try to be, Mr. Jerry." Her arm slipped up about his neck. "Daddy said I was to be friendly and the friendlier I was the easier it would be."
CHAPTER XXI
Mary Rose loved her school. It was too delightful to be with children again and she made new friends rapidly. After supper she liked to run up to the third floor and tell Miss Thorley and Miss Carter what a wonderful day she had had and they always seemed glad to hear. She often found Mr. Strahan there and generally there were grapes or pears or peaches or candy to nibble while she told her tale.
Mr. Strahan had written a lot of stories out of Mary Rose's experiences and he grinned with delight as he heard her talk of school. He saw her as a mine of human interest tales.