“Why-a,” stammered Raquel, “I don’t know their names. I--” “Oh,” interrupted Marian scornfully, “so you picked them up! I suppose they do that sort of thing where you come from.” Her sarcasm flew wide of the mark, because it was a simple truth. “We don’t see any harm in thankin’ a stranger who is polite to us, an’ we let alone those who ain’t.” Raquel, furious, gathered her reins, and under a mysterious pressure of her knees, the horse sprang into a full run, and they were off and down the road in a clatter of shod hoofs before Marian could think of an answer. “Gee,” said Nancy, one of the Gerould twins, “she surely got off on the right foot! The riding master can’t even do that, throw his mount into a run from a standstill. Thought you said, Marian, that cowgirl couldn’t ride a real horse?” “Got off on the right word, too, if you ask me,” giggled Gloria, the other twin. “Who said she was dumb?” Helen Virginia Jones, a plump southern girl of fifteen, made no comment, for she was busy thinking to herself that she would cajole her mother into getting her a new riding suit of that tan deerskin cloth, with the faintest twill, and have the breeches fitting snugly at the knees just as that Daniels girl’s did. Why, it was actually the smartest thing at The Towers! Raquel might have felt happier had she heard her champions. And her habit _was_ beautiful. She had chosen the cloth because it did look like deerskin, and Anne’s tailor had done the rest. But her pleasure in the new outfit was spoiled, and all the way back she felt miserably guilty and uncomfortable at the rebuke. The day for the Fair drew near. Every one except little Emmy Martin and the eleven-year-old Geroulds was planning a booth. But no one had yet said anything to Raquel about helping. Still, she really thought they would ask her. She would not have inquired about it for anything. Girls were strange, after all, Raquel felt. If it had been a bunch of men or boys, now--well, you could step right up and ask, straight out. Anne, as usual, had shunted aside any committee work, with the easy assurance of plunging in at the last moment and doing whatever she could, whatever remained to be done, to help. “They like it,” she argued comfortably; “it’s good for them. I don’t like it. And there’s always a lot to be done at the last. They always need some one to step in at the last minute.” So she gave the Fair little thought and didn’t realize that Raquel was being left out. Two days beforehand, Raquel, dressing back of a curtain in the Gym, heard her name. “Raquel Daniels. Dress her up and take her along. I like that girl and she surely can ride.” “No,” impatiently, in Marian’s voice. “She’s such a stick. She couldn’t wear the clothes if she had ’em. No! Can’t be bothered. She wouldn’t know how to act, and the fellows simply wouldn’t have a good time with an unattractive girl. Cowgirl! What does she know of--of romance, or managing things?”