"It sounds all right to me," said Mrs. Bennett.
"I _had_ thought of that Painesville place," said Mrs. Mapes, "but Hiltonburg is certainly nearer home--though any place is far enough from Northern Michigan."
"Of course there's no place like Boston," said Aunty Jane, who had been born in the East, "but Marjory _could_ get home from this Hiltonburg place for her Christmas vacation."
"I haven't any particular choice," said Mrs. Tucker. "Anything that meets with Mr. Black's approval will be all right for Bettie."
"Then," said Mrs. Slater, "we'd better write at once to Doctor Rhodes. He may not have room."
Doctor Rhodes replied very promptly. There _was_ room and he would be very glad indeed to enroll five new pupils from Lakeville. The mothers and Aunty Jane were glad to have the matter settled. It did not occur to any of them, least of all to Mrs. Slater, that charming Ruth Belding was no longer a very young woman and that considerable time had elapsed since she had been graduated from Hiltonburg.
The five girls had spent a wonderful summer camping in the woods with Mr. Black and his good old sister, Mrs. Crane. On their return, all the dressmakers in the village had been kept busy for a bewildering fortnight outfitting the lively youngsters with suitable garments for school. From a mountain of catalogues, the busy parents selected and studied long lists of articles needed by prospective pupils at various schools. Then they bought trunks and filled them. Jean, Mabel, Marjory and Henrietta began to prattle of clothes.
"My silk stockings have come," said Henrietta. "Two pairs for very best and Grandmother has sent to New York for my hat."
"I have my first silk petticoat," said Jean. "Mother ordered it from Chicago."
"I have two new middy blouses from Detroit," confided Mabel. "The Chicago ones were not big enough."
"Aunty Jane sent to Boston for my coat," said Marjory. "It's all lined with satin."
"Say, Bettie," demanded Mabel, "how's _your_ trunk coming?"
"It isn't," returned Bettie, soberly. "The baby has been sick and Mother hasn't been able to do a thing. I've darned two pairs of stockings and taken the hem out of an old petticoat--and that's all. I'm--I'm getting worried."
Suddenly Bettie's lip quivered and Jean noticed it. Now, Jean was thoughtful beyond her years and she knew that the Tuckers had very little money to spend for clothes. When she reached home, still wondering where Bettie's wardrobe was to come from, she found her mother entertaining Mr. Black's stout middle-aged sister, Mrs. Crane.
