"I don't know," growled Agnes--if a girl with such a sweet voice could be said to growl. "It must be something awful. He asked to see my tongue and then he said, 'Overworked!'" "He was perfectly correct, dear child," Ruth said. "Do give it a rest." "And we'll all rest if you do," Neale added. "You're all so smart!" cried Agnes. "And Neale O'Neil never did appreciate me. He is going to grow up to be a woman-hater--like that man Cecile Shepard told us about, who lives next door to them in Grantham." "Oh, yes--Neighbor," Ruth murmured. "I know," said Dot cheerfully. "The misogynist." "_What?_" gasped Tess, staring at her little sister who had mouthed the word so deftly. "I never, Dot! What _is_ that? It--it sounds--Why, Dot!" The astonishment of the whole family at the way in which the smallest girl had said the word had pleased Dot greatly. She quite preened and tossed her head. "Oh, Mr. Luke taught it to me," she admitted. "He said it was such a jaw-breaker that he was afraid I'd have a bad accident if I tried to say it without being told just how. It's a real nice word, I think. Much nicer than efficatacious. That's another word I've learned to say." They laughed at her then and Dot's sudden pride was quenched. Sammy was almost the only earnest student on this evening. He had met some of his boy schoolmates during the past week and he found that he desired very much to be with them in the grade they were making. "I bet I can make it if they do," he said. "Anyway, my head's just empty of studying now, so it ought to hold a lot. I'll cram it chock full of the stuff in these books and then I won't have to work so hard by and by," he added, evidently with the hope that he might obtain education by the occasional cart-load, instead of by driblets. Neale and Agnes were still "scrapping" in their own peculiar way. The beauty accused Neale again of being a harsh critic. "You never do say a good word about any of my friends," she declared. "He's wise in not doing so," laughed Ruth. "Then there will be no starting point for jealousy." "_Now_ you've said something!" declared Neale. "Humph! He wouldn't know a real sweet girl if he met one," Agnes said. "Oh, yes. I know a sweet girl," the ex-circus boy said with twinkling eyes. "Who is she!" "Carrie Mel," returned Neale quietly. "Carrie _Who_?" demanded Agnes, while the little folks, too, pricked up their ears. "And there's that very pleasant girl--Jenny Rosity," the boy said with a perfectly serious face. "And I'm sure that Ella Gant is one of the very best of girls--" Agnes giggled. "What do you mean? Who are you talking about?" asked Dot, much puzzled. "Are they friends of Aggie and Ruthie? I never heard of that Carrie-- What did you say her name was?" "The sweet girl? Oh! Carrie Mel," said Neale. "And Jenny Rosity and Ella Gant. Who are _they_?"