"Oh, Elma," she said, "Elma!" Elma knew it. She wasn’t as fat as a pumpkin after all. And every one had kept on saying that she was fatter than any pumpkin. Mabel was the only one who had told the truth. She leaned over the folded hood of the carriage and hugged her gently. "I should like to inform you Mabs, I’m as fat as a pumpkin." But Mabel hung on to the carriage with her head down. No one had told her that Elma had been so ill as this. Elma had the look of having been in a far country--why hadn’t some one told her? Miss Grace, who had been away for some weeks with Adelaide Maud and had just got back in fairly good spirits, did some of the conversing which helped Mabel to recover herself. Cuthbert and Betty came hurrying up from the wrong end of the train. "Oh, and we missed you," wailed Betty, "and I wanted to be the first." One could hug indiscriminately at Ridgetown Station. Jean was the next person to melt into tears. She had tried to tell Miss Grace how sorry she was. Cuthbert began to restore order. "You’d better take two in that carriage, crowded or not," said he. "There are boxes lying on the platform which will require a cab to themselves." "It’s our music," said Jean importantly and quite untruthfully. "It’s my new hat," said Mabel, with a return of her old dash. She had gone round the carriage seeing each occupant separately, and there seemed to be no hurry for anything, merely the pleasure of meeting again. Just then there was a whirl of wheels in the distance. A certain familiarity in the sound made four girls look at each other. Mrs. Leighton, who had no ear for wheels, stared in a surprised way at her daughters. "Well," she said, "what are we all waiting for? We must get home sometime." "Yes," asked Cuthbert lustily, "what in the wide world are we waiting for?" A high wagonette and pair of horses drove up, and turned with a fine circle into line behind them. In the wagonette sat Adelaide Maud. Adelaide Maud was dressed in blue. "That," said Elma, with a sigh of great contentment. The three girls dashed at Adelaide Maud. Elma laid her hand on Cuthbert’s. "Go and say how do you do to Adelaide Maud," said she. For a minute or two she was left with Mrs. Leighton and Miss Grace. Then Cuthbert came to her. "Get up," said he to Elma. "Get up. You’re to go with Adelaide Maud." "Who is this Adelaide Maud who interferes with every plan in connection with my family?" asked Mrs. Leighton. She had a resigned note in her voice. "Shall we ever get home," she kept asking. A voice behind them broke in. "I didn’t tell him to be impolite, Mrs. Leighton," said Adelaide Maud. "I only asked to have Elma in my carriage." Elma looked provokingly at Adelaide Maud. "I’m so sorry," said she, "but I’m driving home with Cuthbert." "It’s not true," said Cuthbert. "She’s doing nothing of the kind." "Then I shall get in here," said Adelaide Maud calmly, and proceeded to step in. Several people tried to stop her.