"That ought to reconcile me to having to work all summer," smiled Anne. "I shall be selfish and manage to have some of you girls with me all the time."
"How do you like Mr. Forest?" asked Miriam.
"Ever so much," returned Anne. "Like most successful men, he is quiet and unassuming. Mr. Southard and he did almost all the talking. I spoke when I was spoken to and did as I was bid."
"Good little Anne," jeered Miriam. "As a reward of merit we will take you shopping this afternoon."
"How would you like to go to the opera to-night?" asked Mr. Southard. "'Madame Butterfly' is to be sung."
"Better than anything else, now that I've seen 'Hamlet'!" exclaimed Grace, with shining eyes. Miriam and Anne both expressed an eager desire
to hear Puccini's exquisite opera, and Miss Southard called two of her friends on the telephone, inviting them to join the box party. The same evening gowns had to do duty for the opera as well as for "Hamlet," but this did not detract one whit from their pleasant anticipations. "The people who saw us at the theatre the other night won't see us at the opera," argued Grace. The three girls were in Grace's room holding a consultation on the subject of what to wear.
"That is if they saw us at all," laughed Miriam. "Elfreda says Oakdale isn't down on the map, you know."
"That reminds me, what excuse did you make to Miss Southard about Elfreda not coming with us, Anne?" asked Grace.
"I merely said she had changed her mind about coming."