“Spoken to us,—­of course not!  Why should he?” replied Katy:  “he doesn’t know us, and we don’t know him.”

“That’s nothing:  half the girls in the school bow, and speak, and carry on with young men they don’t know.  You won’t have a bit of fun if you’re so particular.”

“I don’t want that kind of fun,” replied Katy, with energy in her voice; “neither does Clover.  And I can’t imagine how the girls can behave so.  It isn’t lady-like at all.”

Katy was very fond of this word, lady-like.  She always laid great stress upon it.  It seemed in some way to be connected with Cousin Helen, and to mean every thing that was good, and graceful, and sweet.

“Dear me!  I’d no idea you were so dreadfully proper,” said Lilly, pouting.  “Mother said you were as prim and precise as your grandmother; but I didn’t suppose”—­

“How unkind!” broke in Clover, taking fire, as usual, at any affront to Katy.  “Katy prim and precise!  She isn’t a bit!  She’s twice as much fun as the rest of you girls; but it’s nice fun,—­not this horrid stuff about students.  I wish your mother wouldn’t say such things!”

“I didn’t—­she didn’t—­I don’t mean exactly that,” stammered Lilly, frightened by Clover’s indignant eyes.  “All I meant was, that Katy is dreadfully dignified for her age, and we bad girls will have to look out.  You needn’t be so mad, Clover; I’m sure it’s very nice to be proper and good, and set an example.”

“I don’t want to preach to anybody,” said Katy, coloring, “and I wasn’t thinking about examples.  But really and truly, Lilly, wouldn’t your mother, and all the girls’ mothers, be shocked if they knew about these performances here?”

“Gracious!  I should think so; ma would kill me.  I wouldn’t have her know of my goings on for all the world.”

Just then Rose pulled out a drawer, and called through to ask if Clover would please come in and help her a minute.  Lilly took advantage of her absence to say,—­

“I came on purpose to ask you to walk with me for four weeks.  Will you?”

“Thank you; but I’m engaged to Clover.”

“To Clover!  But she’s your sister; you can get off.”

“I don’t want to get off.  Clover and I like dearly to go together.”

Lilly stared.  “Well, I never heard of such a thing,” she said, “you’re really romantic.  The girls will call you ‘The Inseparables.’”

“I wouldn’t mind being inseparable from Clover,” said Katy, laughing.

Next day was Saturday.  It was nominally a holiday; but so many tasks were set for it, that it hardly seemed like one.  The girls had to practise in the gymnasium, to do their mending, and have all drawers in apple-pie order, before afternoon, when Miss Jane went through the rooms on a tour of inspection.  Saturday, also, was the day for writing home letters; so, altogether, it was about the busiest of the week.

Early in the morning Miss Jane appeared in Quaker Row with some slips of paper in her hand, one of which she left at each door.  They told the hours at which the girls were to go to the bath-house.