“Ah! a plan?  I wait on your pleasure!” The Colonel bowed with mock gravity.

“Thank you!” chuckled Polly.  “Perhaps you won’t when you know about it.  But I want to see Lone Star first—­oh, he’s just as beautiful as he ever was!” She patted the neck of the handsome creature and stroked his nose.

The horse whinnied at the attention and eyed her with seeming delight.

“I believe he remembers me, and I haven’t spoken to him for—­oh, how long is it?”

“My memory cannot extend so far.”  Colonel Gresham was evidently in a whimsical humor this afternoon.

Lone Star was made happy with more caresses and a full measure of oats, and then the Colonel and Polly walked slowly up to the house.

“When Polly unfolded her plan in regard to the Home ladies Colonel Gresham’s face lighted with interest.

“You can have two of my cars,” he said, “on one condition—­no, two—­that I may drive the big one and that you will sit on the front seat beside me.”

“Oh, it won’t be a bit hard for me to say yes to that!” Polly smiled.  “I should like it!  Let me see, five and four are nine, and four makes thirteen—­why, they can all go—­or all that are well enough!  Won’t that be lovely!”

“‘Lovelicious,’ I think!” The Colonel looked demurely down at Polly.

“How much I used to say that!” Polly laughed.  “Well, I truly think this will be—­three cars!  Won’t they be surprised!  But we must squeeze in Leonora and David somewhere!  Probably the ladies wouldn’t all care to go, anyway.  You are so good to let them have the cars—­I never thought of two—­or that you could go with us!  I can’t thank you half enough!”

Before Polly went home a ride was arranged for the next morning, and her heart skipped joyfully all the long way, thinking how happy Miss Nita and the rest would be.

Directly after luncheon she ran over to the Home.

“You look glad about something,” Miss Sterling told her.

“You will be when you know,” chuckled Polly.  “What do you think!—­you’re going to ride with Colonel Gresham to-morrow morning!”

“With Colonel Gresham!  He hasn’t invited me!” Miss Sterling’s knitting dropped into her lap.

“I have—­or I’m going to!  Oh, it will be lovely!” Polly’s brown eyes shone.  “Colonel Gresham is going to let us have his two biggest cars, and he will drive the seven-passenger one.  Then father says we may have ours with Evan to drive, and we’re going to take as many of the ladies as we can and have a beautiful ride!  What do you think of that?”

“It’s overwhelming!  Catch me if I drop!” The gray-blue eyes were dancing.

Polly squeezed her ecstatically.  “I want you in the car with me, and now let’s see how many can go and which ones to ask.”

It was a pleasant task, though really a little puzzling, for there were sixteen ladies of the Home, and only ten or eleven were to be counted among the weaklings.  Nobody must be offended and nobody must feel hurt.  So with David and Leonora, it was a hard matter, after all, to decide on the invitation list.  Miss Sterling, however, was a wonderful assistant.  Polly was sure she could never have disposed things so happily if it had not been for her wise Miss Nita.