"Dear little girl, I know that you will daily Do loving acts of kindness, and of cheer, Thus urging life to sing its song more gaily And making friendship lasting and more dear. "I felt your charm, dear child, I saw how sweetly You gave your kindness, with no thought of gain. I give you a reward, and how completely I joy in giving, words cannot explain." CHAPTER XII A SERENADE JACK TIVERTON stood in the lower hall one morning, and appeared as if waiting for some one. In his hand was a short switch that he had cut from a shrub that grew beside the driveway. Often he looked up the staircase, and then, as no one appeared, he would continue to strike at the flies that flew past the doorway. At last he heard merry voices upon the landing, and then Dorothy and Nancy came hurrying down the stairs. "Good morning!" they called, but Jack, in his eagerness to ask questions, forgot to return their greeting. "Say!" he cried, "do you know that Mrs. Paxton and Floretta left this morning before breakfast?" No, the little girls did not know that. "Well, they have. I saw them go, and I'm glad. Floretta was fun to play with, but she wasn't fair. She'd get me to do things, and then if we got caught, she'd always say I planned it," said Jack. Dorothy tried to think of something kind to say of Floretta, but she knew that what Jack said was true. Floretta truly was not in the habit of playing "fair." "Her mamma said something queer just as she was going off. She was talking to a lady, I don't know what her name is, and Mrs. Paxton said: "'Well, Dorothy Dainty has always seemed to be fond of Nancy, but now that Nancy is to have a _fortune_, shell love her a deal more than she ever did before.'" And now Dorothy spoke, her blue eyes flashing, and her cheeks flushed. "That's not true!" she cried. "That's not true! I've always loved Nancy, and always will. I'd love her if she had just nothing at all! Nothing could make any difference. I love her all I can. Nancy knows that. Every one knows that." How keenly she felt Mrs. Paxton's silly speech! She was indignant that any one should think her love for Nancy so little worth while that fortune could make it stronger. How could she love Nancy more than she had always loved her? Nancy threw her arms about her, and drew her closer. "Don't you mind, Dorothy," she said, "_I_ know how truly you love me. Mrs. Paxton didn't know, because I guess she couldn't understand it. _She_ couldn't love the way you do." Dorothy smiled through the tears that had filled her eyes. "There's no one dearer than you, Nancy," she said. Jack swung his switch at a dragon-fly that flew past the doorway. "Did you see that darning-needle?" he asked.