Katharine did not seem so much at ease as she had done when she played hostess to the Ethels at Fort Edward. She was accustomed to meeting many people, but she was an only child and being plunged into a big family, all chattering at once, it seemed to her, caused her some embarrassment. In an effort not to show it she was not always happy in her remarks. "Is this your car?" she asked. "It's Grandmother Emerson's," replied Ethel Brown. "She lets us have it very often." "I don't care for a touring car in cold weather. My grandmother has a limousine." "We're glad to have a ride in any kind of car," responded Ethel Blue happily. "Roger, get out that other rug for Katharine," directed Mrs. Morton, "she's chilly." "Oh, no," demurred Katharine, now ashamed at having made a remark that seemed to reflect upon the comfort of her friends' automobile. "I'm used to a Ford, any way." "I'm afraid you don't know much about cars if you do come from an automobile city," commented Roger dryly. "This car would make about three Fords--though I don't sneeze at a Ford myself. I'd be mighty glad if we had one, wouldn't you, Mother?" Mrs. Morton shook her head at him, and he subsided, humming merrily, He took four spools and an old tin can And called it a Ford and the strange thing ran. The Ethels had not paid much attention to the conversation but nevertheless it had struck the wrong note and no one felt entirely at ease. They found themselves wondering whether their guest would find her room to her liking and they remembered uneasily that they had said "I guess she won't mind" this and that when they had left some of their belongings in the closet. The Morton's house was not large and in order to accommodate a guest the Ethels moved upstairs into a tiny room in the attic, where they were to camp for the fortnight of Katharine's stay. They had thought it great fun, and were more than willing to endure the discomfort of crowded quarters for the sake of having the long-desired visit. Now, however, Ethel Brown murmured to Ethel Blue as they went into the house, "I'm glad we had one of the beds taken upstairs; it will give her more space," and Ethel Blue replied, "I believe we can hang our dancing school dresses in the east corner of the attic if we put a sheet around them." Indeed, Ethel Blue made a point of running upstairs while Katharine was speaking to Dorothy in the living room and removing the dresses from the closet. She looked around the room with new sight. It had seemed pleasant and bright to her in the morning when she and Ethel Brown had added some last touches to the fresh muslin equipment of the bureau, but now she wished that they had had a perfectly new bureau cover, and she was sorry she had not asked Mary to give the window another cleaning although it had been washed only a few days before. "Perhaps she won't notice," she murmured hopefully, but in her heart of hearts she was pretty sure she would.