“There’s Dorothy now,” announced Cologne, as the latter turned into the path.
“Yes, and there’s Tavia,” followed Ned, showing keen pleasure as the late absent one made her appearance on the lawn.
“Now we will have a chance to study her complex—” lisped Nita with rather a malicious tone.
“Suit you better to study your complex—verbs,” snapped Ned, while Tavia and Dorothy came up at that moment.
Profuse greetings were showered upon Tavia, for the girls were well pleased to have her back with them, and it must be admitted that every eye which turned toward her came back in an unanimous vote “beautiful.” Even Nita did not dare cast a dissenting glance—she could not, for indeed Tavia had improved wonderfully, as we have seen, under the “grooming.”
Her hazel eyes shown brighter than ever in her clear peach-blow skin, her hair was not now “too near red” as Nita had been in the habit of declaring, but a true chestnut brown, and as “glossy as her new tan shoes,” whispered Ned to Cologne.
Tavia wore her brown gingham dress, and much to the surprise of her companions, had “her neck turned in.”
“What happened to your collar?” asked Dick, with a merry twinkle in her eyes.
“I happened to it,” answered Tavia promptly. “No sense in having one’s neck all marked up from collars—going about advertising capital punishment.”
“Behold the new woman! We will make her president of our peace conference. But of course we would not expect her to settle her own ‘squabs’ with Nita. We will have a committee of subs, for that department of the work,” said Cologne as she made room for Dorothy at her side, being anxious to get a private word with her. Tavia found a place between Ned and Dick, and soon the others were at least pretending to be at their books, realizing that too much time had already been wasted on outside matters.