She wished with all her ardent little soul that she had not been so careless, and presently, after a serious, half-tearful study of herself in the glass, she went away to find a remedy.
In the back of the cook-book, she remembered, there was a receipt for cold cream, and in a magazine Mrs.Lee had loaned them was a whole column devoted to face bleaches and complexion restorers.

Having read each formula, she decided to try them all in turn, if the first did not prove effective.
Buttermilk and lemon juice were to be had for the taking and could be applied at night after Joyce had gone to sleep.

Half-ashamed of this desire to make herself beautiful, Mary shrank from confiding her troubles to any one.

But several nights' use of all the home remedies she could get, failed to produce the desired results.

When she anxiously examined herself in the glass, the unflattering mirror plainly showed her a little face, not one whit fairer for all its treatment.
The house-party was drawing near too rapidly to waste time on things of such slow action, and at last, in desperation, she took down the savings-bank in which, after long hoarding, she had managed to save nearly two dollars.