CHAPTER PAGE I. Almost Christmas 1 II. Going Home 10 III. “Get a Horse!” 24 IV. A Real Beauty Bath 35 V. Dorothy’s Protege 41 VI. The Night Before Christmas 52 VII. Real Ghosts 61 VIII. The Aftermath 68 IX. Just Dales 76 X. Sixty Miles an Hour 85 XI. A Hold-On in New York 100 XII. Human Freight on the Dummy 108 XIII. The Shopping Tour 118 XIV. The Dress Parade 132 XV. Tea in a Stable 138 XVI. A Startling Discovery 149 XVII. Tavia’s Resolve 162 XVIII. Dangerous Ground 170 XIX. Thick Ice and Thin 179 XX. A Thickened Plot 187 XXI. Fright and Courage 192 XXII. Captured By Two Girls 204 XXIII. Pathos and Poverty 213 XXIV. A Young Reformer 222 XXV. The Loving Cup 233 XXVI. A New Collector 242 DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY CHAPTER I ALMOST CHRISTMAS Neither books, papers nor pencils were to be seen in the confused mass of articles, piled high, if not dry, in the rooms of the pupils of Glenwood Hall, who were now packing up to leave the boarding school for the Christmas holidays. “Going home is so very different from leaving home,” remarked Dorothy Dale, as she plunged a knot of unfolded ribbons into the tray of her trunk. “I’m always ashamed to face my things when I unpack.” “Don’t,” advised Tavia. “I never look at mine until they have been scattered on the floor for a few days. Then they all look like a fire sale,” and she wound her tennis shoes inside a perfectly helpless lingerie waist. “I don’t see why we bring parasols in September to take them back in Christmas snows,” went on Dorothy. “I have a mind to give this to Betty,” and she raised the flowery canopy over her head.