Ruth had been very much surprised to find that her friends at school seemed to think that she had achieved something by having her sketches in a Sunday newspaper. What she had thought would make her lose caste among them had in reality given her distinction, but it had had another effect also. If she was a caricaturist she could also be a painter, they reasoned, and less frankly than Dorothy, Nels Zord had expressed the opinion that she would never be a great painter. “Better be a successful cartoonist than an unsuccessful painter,” he had said. She had made no protest until now and Dorothy looked at her in amazement. “Don’t be angry. I didn’t mean anything, only it’s always a pity when any one has a real talent and then insists on some other method of expression. Of course you may be a great painter. As you say, I’m not a critic and besides you haven’t been studying long. Only the painting is all a gamble and the sketches are a success right now if you care to go on with them.” “So are your fashions if you care to go on with them,” said Ruth, still hurt. “Speaking of fashions, let me see the frock I’m to wear,” said Dorothy, changing the subject with more abruptness than skill. “They’re in my other room,” said Ruth. “You can have anything you want except what I’m going to wear myself.” Then followed two hours of dressing and redressing. There were only two gowns to choose from, but Dorothy had to try both of them many times, rearranging her bobbed hair each time, and finally deciding on the blue one because “it makes my eyes so lovely and Nels is crazy about that blue.” She was so interested in her own appearance that she forgot to ask questions about the friends with whom Ruth lived and long before Nels called for them, Ruth knew that Gloria would have gone out for she was dining with the Peyton-Russells. Mrs. Peyton-Russell had been a chorus girl who after she married John Peyton-Russell had the good taste to remember that Gloria Mayfield had befriended her, the result being that Gloria was often invited to dinner parties at their place in town and had a standing invitation to whatever country place happened to be housing the Peyton-Russells, all invitations that Gloria often accepted, though she complained that Angela Peyton-Russell took her new position far more seriously than she had ever taken her profession. She was almost painfully respectable and correct. She dressed more plainly than a grand duchess, and having no children, was making strenuous efforts to break into public work. One of the most amusing of her activities, at least to Gloria, was in connection with a drama uplift movement.