"How do you do?" said Gay, determined to do his share of the peacemaking.
"How do you do?" the group answered in one voice.
Then there was an awkward pause.
"We have come——" began Robert, "to——"
"Oh, Gay, we are so sorry!" interrupted warm-hearted Ethel.
"So am I, and ashamed, too," Gay replied, soberly. "May and I talked it over last night and we decided that although we didn't mean to we had done a lot of deceiving. It might have been worse, I suppose, still my sister went through a great deal, and here is my broken arm and all on account of our masquerading. If you can excuse me for being a fraud I'm sure I can excuse you for being mad about it when you found it out. I was ashamed very often, although I tried to think it was a lark. I am the one to ask pardon."
What generous words these seemed to the boys and girls! They had never made any real mistake; Gay was worthy of their admiration.
"Boy or girl; Gay or May, you're a brick," cried Lyman. And he voiced the sentiment of all.
"I knew if you really liked Gay it would come out all right," May said, with a bright smile.