Anne flushed. "I can't answer that question," she said, after a little pause. "It does sound rather silly for me to go on talking about the love affairs of others when I can't settle my own. Not that I love David less, but acting more," she finished almost tremulously. "I move that we go on to the next secret." "Mine is about Julia Crosby," began Nora, "and I can tell you in few words. She's engaged to a Harvard man." "Really!" exclaimed Grace delightedly. "Where did you see her, Nora? I didn't know she was at home." "She came home from the mountains yesterday. I saw her in Carlton's, that new confectioner's shop on Main Street. We had a sundae together and she told me all about it. She has known her fiance for two years. She met him at a Harvard dance. He was graduated last June from the Harvard law school. The engagement hasn't been formally announced yet. She's going to give a luncheon to announce it. She wanted me to be sure and tell you three girls. She is coming to see you soon, Grace." "I'll receive her with open arms," assured Grace. "That was a nice secret," commented Anne. "Now, Grace." "Our fairy godmother is coming to dinner to-night." "Hurrah!" cried Anne, standing up and waving her hand. "I didn't know she was within two hundred miles of Oakdale. It seems years instead of weeks since I saw her. When did she arrive in Oakdale?" "This morning. She telephoned me. In my last letter I mentioned my dinner to you girls, and said I wished she might be here too. She came home from the seashore a week earlier so as not to miss it. She didn't say not to tell you. I had been holding it back as a surprise. It served me in good stead by making me eligible to Secret Row." "Last but not least, Jessica," reminded Nora briskly. "I was going to tell you this evening when we were all together, and Reddy promised to help me, but, somehow, I'd rather tell you now, while we are together on these dear old steps where we've had so much fun." Something in Jessica's tone caused the eyes of her friends to search hers inquiringly. It carried with it unmistakable regret. It presaged parting. "Reddy and I aren't going to live in Oakdale this winter. We--we--are going--to--Chicago to live." "Oh!" Nora ejaculated, drawing her breath sharply. "Oh, Jessica!" A painful silence fell upon the row of girls, whose voices had only a moment since rung out so gayly. Nora sat staring straight ahead of her with quivering lips. Of the three girls she would miss Jessica the most sorely. Grace, too, felt that dreadful sense of loss, of which she had complained earlier in the afternoon, stealing down upon her. Anne's face wore a look of loving concern, but an expression of resignation to destiny, which was likely to lead one to the ends of the earth, lurked in her somber eyes. She had learned young to bow with the best possible grace to the inevitable. Suddenly a half-stifled sob broke the oppressive quiet.