Author of "The Little Colonel Series," "Big Brother," "Ole Mammy's Torment," "Joel: A Boy of Galilee," "Asa Holmes," etc. Illustrated by ETHELDRED B. BARRY [Illustration] BOSTON * L. C. PAGE & COMPANY * PUBLISHERS _Copyright, 1906_ BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY (INCORPORATED) * * * * * _Entered at Stationers' Hall, London_ * * * * * _All rights reserved_ First Impression, October, 1906 Third Impression, August, 1907 Fourth Impression, April, 1908 Fifth Impression, March, 1909 Sixth Impression, February, 1910 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. AT WARWICK HALL 1 II. AT WARE'S WIGWAM 19 III. IN BEAUTY'S QUEST 31 IV. MARY'S "PROMISED LAND" 43 V. AT "THE LOCUSTS" 58 VI. THE FOX AND THE STORK 70 VII. THE COMING OF THE BRIDE 88 VIII. AT THE BEECHES 113 IX. "SOMETHING BLUE" 136 X. "A COON HUNT" 158 XI. THE FOUR-LEAVED CLOVER 178 XII. THE WEDDING 198 XIII. DREAMS AND WARNINGS 216 XIV. A SECOND MAID OF HONOR 241 XV. THE END OF THE HOUSE-PARTY 258 XVI. THE GOLDEN LEAF OF HONOR 275 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE "LLOYD ... TOOK HER PLACE BESIDE THE HARP" (_See page 68_) _Frontispiece_ "IT NEEDED NO SECOND GLANCE TO TELL HIM WHO SHE WAS" 20 "HE WAS LEANING FORWARD IN HIS CHAIR, TALKING TO JOYCE" 66 "A TALL, ATHLETIC FIGURE IN OUTING FLANNELS" 84 "A LONG-DRAWN 'O-O-OH' GREETED THE BEAUTIFUL TABLEAU" 132 "'ALL YOU GIRLS STANDING WITH YOUR HANDS STUCK THROUGH THE BARS'" 163 "'THEY STEPPED IN AND ROWED OFF DOWN THE SHINING WATERWAY'" 171 "'ONE, TWO, THREE--_THROW_!'" 253 THE LITTLE COLONEL, MAID OF HONOR CHAPTER I. AT WARWICK HALL It was mid-afternoon by the old sun-dial that marked the hours in Warwick Hall garden; a sunny afternoon in May. The usual busy routine of school work was going on inside the great Hall, but no whisper of it disturbed the quiet of the sleepy old garden. At intervals the faint clang of the call-bell, signalling a change of classes, floated through the open windows, but no buzz of recitations reached the hedge-hidden path where Betty Lewis sat writing.