It was her greatest wish to appear "grown up." "Papa says that I am probably as tall now as I shall ever be, and really I'd look ridiculous with my dresses any shorter." Mrs.Sherman noticed presently, with a smile, that Eugenia seemed to have gained dignity with her added height.

There was something amusingly patronising in her manner toward the younger girls.

She answered Lloyd several times with an "Oh, no, child" that was almost grandmotherly in its tone.
"But here is somebody who has come back just as sweet and childlike as ever," thought Mrs.Sherman, twisting one of Betty's brown curls around her finger.

Then she said aloud.

"Was the trip as delightful as you dreamed it would be, my little Tusitala ?" "Oh, _yes_, godmother," sighed Betty, blissfully.