E-text prepared by Michael Gray (Lost_Gamer@comcast.net) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustration. See 22532-h.htm or 22532-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/5/3/22532/22532-h/22532-h.htm) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/5/3/22532/22532-h.zip) The Bluebird Books MARY LOUISE AND JOSIE O'GORMAN [Frontispiece] Josie gets a job as a maid.--Chapter XII MARY LOUISE AND JOSIE O'GORMAN by EDITH VAN DYNE Author of "Mary Louise", "Mary Louise in the Country", "Mary Louise Solves a Mystery", "Mary Louise and the Liberty Girls", "Mary Louise Adopts a Soldier", "Mary Louise at Dorfield", "Mary Louise Stands the Test" Frontispiece by Harry W. Armstrong The Reilly & Lee Co. Chicago Printed in the United States of America Copyright, 1922 by The Reilly & Britton Co. All Rights Reserved _Mary Louise and Josie O'Gorman_ CONTENTS I MARY LOUISE MAKES AN INVESTMENT II THE BOARD ELECTS NEW MEMBERS III MARY LOUISE TELLS A STORY IV JOSIE DONS A HENNA WIG V BREAKFAST FOR TWO VI A SUCCESSFUL DISGUISE VII JOSIE GETS A JOB VIII PETER REFUSES NEW PARENTS IX JOSIE GETS HER BEARINGS X AT MISS DENTON'S DINNER TABLE XI JOSIE ENGAGES AN ASSISTANT XII CHESTER HUNT'S NEW MAID XIII A NEW BROOM SWEEPS CLEAN XIV JOSIE JUMPS HER JOB XV JOSIE VISITS INDIANA XVI JOSIE GETS A RIDE XVII HUSBAND AND WIFE XVIII CHESTER HUNT CONFESSES XIX A HAPPY REUNION Mary Louise and Josie O'Gorman CHAPTER I MARY LOUISE MAKES AN INVESTMENT Mary Louise had stood the test of being rich and beloved, and envied by all the daughters of Dorfield; and then of being poor and bereft, pitied by all who had formerly envied her. Soon after the death of her grandfather, Colonel Hathaway, had come the news of her husband's shipwreck. Hope of Danny Dexter's survival was finally abandoned by his sorrowing little wife and his many friends. Colonel Hathaway's comfortable fortune had mysteriously disappeared and Mary Louise faced a future of poverty. With native pluck she arose to the occasion. In spite of her sad heart she showed a cheerful spirit. Joining forces with Josie O'Gorman and Elizabeth Wright in the quaint Higgledy-Piggledy Shop, she opened a millinery department and was soon swamped with orders for smart hats by the elite of Dorfield and old-fashioned bonnets for the ancient ladies who refused to wear hats. When Danny came back, not having gone to a watery grave after all, and the lost fortune was found, Mary Louise again stood the test of being rich and beloved. "Nothing can spoil our Mary Louise," Josie O'Gorman declared, and Irene Macfarlane smiled from her wheel chair. "That is because she is pure gold, through and through," said the lame girl as she deftly plied her needle in the cobwebby lace collar she was mending.