“Now,” she said, tying the blinds together with a knot of ribbon in imitation of Rose Red’s, “when we get a bunch of wild flowers for my vase, we shall be all right.”

A tap at the door.  Rose entered.

“Are you done?” she asked; “may I come in and see?”

“Oh, this is pretty!” she exclaimed, looking about:  “how you can tell in one minute what sort of a girl one is, just by looking at her room!  I should know you had been neat and dainty and housekeepery all your days.  And you would see in a minute that I’m a Madge Wildfire, and that Ellen Gray is a saint, and Sally Satterlee a scatterbrain, and Lilly Page an affected little hum—­ oh, I forgot, she is your cousin, isn’t she?  How dreadfully rude of me!” dimpling at Clover, who couldn’t help dimpling back again.

“Oh, my!” she went on, “a wash-stand, I declare!  Where did you get it?”

“Papa bought it,” explained Katy:  “he asked Mrs. Florence’s permission.”

“How bright of him!  I shall just write to my father to ask for permission too.”  Which she did; and the result was that it set the fashion of wash-stands, and so many papas wrote to “ask permission,” that Mrs. Florence found it necessary to give up the lavatory system, and provide wash-stands for the whole house.  Katy’s request had been the opening wedge.  I do not think this fact made her more popular with the principals.

“By the way, where is Lilly?” asked Katy; “I haven’t seen her to-day.”

“Do you want to know?  I can tell you.  She’s sitting on the edge of one chair, with her feet on the rung of another chair, and her head on the shoulder of her room-mate (who is dying to get away and arrange her drawers); and she’s crying”—­

“How do you know?  Have you been up to see her?”

“Oh!  I haven’t seen her.  It isn’t necessary.  I saw her last term, and the term before.  She always spends the first day at school in that way.  I’ll take you up, if you’d like to examine for yourselves.”

Katy and Clover, much amused, followed as she led the way upstairs.  Sure enough, Lilly was sitting exactly as Rose had predicted.  Her face was swollen from crying.  When she saw the girls, her sobs redoubled.

“Oh! isn’t it dreadful?” she demanded.  “I shall die, I know I shall.  Oh! why did pa make me come?”

“Now, Lilly, don’t be an idiot,” said the unsympathizing Rose.  Then she sat down and proceeded to make a series of the most grotesque faces, winking her eyes and twinkling her fingers round the head of “Niobe,” as she called Lilly, till the other girls were in fits of laughter, and Niobe, though she shrugged her shoulders pettishly and said, “Don’t be so ridiculous, Rose Red,” was forced to give way.  First she smiled, then a laugh was heard; afterward she announced that she felt better.

“That’s right, Niobe,” said Rose.  “Wash your face now, and get ready for tea, for the bell is just going to ring.  As for you, Annie, you might as well put your drawers in order,” with a wicked wink.  Annie hurried away with a laugh, which she tried in vain to hide.