"Don't cross her!" was what Nan telegraphed. "It might prove serious!"
Jo, flustered, hardly knowing what reply to make, found herself looking straight into Miss Emma's kindly, questioning eyes.
"The favor would be to me, my dear," Miss Harrison continued. "It is a long time since I have been able to do anything for any one. If I thought I had helped to make you happy, who have done so much for me, that thought would give me a new interest in life, I think. You want to go to Laurel Hall, don't you?"
The blood rushed to Jo's face, her eyes shone.
"Want to go!" she cried. Suddenly she saw her way clear before her. "Oh, Miss Emma, you don't know how much I want to go! How wonderfully good and kind you are to me! I will never forget it! Never!"
Clinging to the eager girl, Miss Emma seemed to draw strength from the contact with glowing youth. Sitting there, sharing in the general rejoicing, she looked younger than she had looked for years.
"It would have been cruel to have refused her, Jo."
It was some time later and the chums were on their way to Jo's home to make definite plans for their departure for Laurel Hall.
In reply to Nan's observation Jo nodded.
"She had her heart set on it, and what a good heart she has! Imagine her wanting to send me away to school just because I was able to help a little yesterday. And, after all, what did I do?"