"What a nice idea!" exclaimed Anne warmly. "I think I shall have to begin gardening, too."
"Your garden has always been in a flourishing condition from the first," laughed Grace. "The chief trouble with mine seems to be the number of strange weeds that spring up—nettles that I never planted, but that sting just as
sharply, nevertheless. It hurts me to go home with the knowledge that there are two girls here who don't like me. I know I ought not to care, for I have nothing to regret as far as my own conduct is concerned, but still I'd like to leave Overton for the summer without one shadow in my path."
"Perhaps, when certain girls come back in the fall they will be on their good behavior."
"Perhaps," repeated Grace sceptically.
The entrance into the room of Elfreda and Miriam, who had been out shopping, brought the little heart talk to an abrupt close.
"We've a new kind of cakes," exulted Miriam. "They are three stories high and each story is a different color. They have icing half an inch thick and an English walnut on top. All for the small sum of five cents, too."
"We bought a dozen," declared Elfreda, "and now I'm going out to buy ice cream. This packing business calls for plenty of refreshment to keep one's energy up to the mark. I've thought of a lovely plan to lighten my labors."
"What is it?" asked Grace. "Your plans are always startlingly original if not very practical."
"This is practical," announced the stout girl. "I'm going to give away my clothes; that is, the most of them. I found a poor woman the other