“And then, to the surprise of the ragged children, the pretty Alicia went over and sat on the curb in their midst, and, putting her arms about those nearest, she said, ‘Little ones, do you like stories?’ ‘What are stories?’ one small boy asked, nestling close to her. ‘I will tell you,’ Alicia replied, and soon she was repeating a fairytale that they could all understand.
“From that day Alicia was very happy. She was never lonely because she was kept so busy making others happy on the King’s Highway.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
SCHOOL-DAYS AGAIN
The long vacation was over, and on Monday morning the Sunny Seven met once more under the elm-tree in the school-yard.
“Oh, I’m so glad that school is going to begin again,” exclaimed the impulsive Betty Burd.
“Why, Betty?” Gertrude Willis laughingly inquired. “I didn’t know that you had such a thirst for knowledge.”
“Well, neither have I,” Betty confessed. “But somehow, during the vacation we all have so many things to do, we seven girls don’t see each other as often as we do in school-days. Why, just think! We haven’t been to our Secret Sanctum in ages, and we were so wild about it in the beginning.”
“I’ll tell you what!” exclaimed Adele. “Let’s go over there this afternoon and take our supper and have a good old-fashioned visit. This being the first day of school, we may not be kept in long.”
“Oh, let’s!” cried Doris Drexel, who, with her mother, had spent July and August at a seaside resort. “I’m just pining to see the meadows again. I’ve been away so long.”
“I suppose the cabin will be full of spiders,” said Rosie with a shudder.