"What shall we do first?" she whispered to Charlotte, who was looking really pretty in her red dress, though a little pale still from her recent fright.

"Let's play Twenty Questions. That breaks the ice beautifully, for we always get so excited over it."

Dorothy and Bert Ellsworth were selected as leaders and began at once to choose their supporters. They had not progressed far, however, when an exclamation from Joe, who was standing in the background, made them all turn to look at him. He was staring past Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton out into the hall, his eyes very big and round, and a broad smile on his face. Before he could speak a voice from the hall, a voice that tried very hard to be steady, said:

"Can you find a place for me on one of the sides?"

Then, and only then, Joe came to life. Leaping toward the door he seized the owner of the voice by the shoulders with a force that threatened to overbalance him.

"It's Art!" he almost shrieked, "by glory, it's Arthur. Of course you can have a place. You can be on both sides. You can own the whole party if you want to."

"Hold on, old man," said Arthur with a laugh as he started slowly into the room with Joe's arm around his shoulders. "Don't rush me too hard, for I'm not so steady on my pins as I used to be."

Almost before the words were ont of his mouth there was a general rush of boys in his direction.

"Take care of the sticks, Joe," ordered Frank; "now, Phil, gently there," and before Arthur could protest he was lifted skilfully in the arms of his chums, borne in triumphal procession across the long room, and deposited in the biggest armchair.

"What's the matter with Arthur?" piped Jack, as the boys settled themselves on the floor around the big chair, and in response a ringing chorus of boys and girls l.u.s.tily a.s.serted, "He's all right!"

Arthur held his head high and smiled bravely, but his paleness told what a struggle for self-control he was making. Quite unconsciously he looked appealingly at his mother, but saw only her back as she went quickly from the room.

Betty, who had a positive genius for sensing situations and smoothing over hard places, saw the look and came to the rescue at once. "Get up, children," she commanded with mock severity; "this is a party, and we don't sit on the floor at parties. Besides, we're going to play a game."

"Oh, we'd rather talk to Arthur," answered Bert bluntly. "You girls can play games in the library if you want to."

There was a chorus of protest from the girls, in the midst of which Frank and Joe set Bert forcibly on his feet, while Phil said paternally, "Son, son, is that the way you talk to your sister?

You're going to have plenty of chance to talk to Arthur from now on, so come along and play like a good little boy."

It was Dorothy's turn to choose, and she took what her brother called a mean advantage by immediately choosing Arthur and establishing her camp around the big chair. Bert's side went reluctantly into the library, and the game began by sending Philip and Katharine into the hall to choose what the others should guess.

In spite of the fact that what she most wanted had come to pa.s.s Ruth still felt uncomfortable, indeed almost unhappy. To be sure Arthur had come down, but would he ever forgive what she had said to him? She had been quick to see that at first he had resented her advent into the family, and it was with a secret pride that she had lately realized that they were getting to be good friends.

"Now I have spoiled all that," she thought mournfully. "He may be glad I made him come down, but I know he'll never forget the horrid things I said."

Katharine and Philip fondly hoped that they had chosen something which would puzzle their friends for some time. It was not long, however, before Charlotte, whose skilful questioning was the admiration of her own side and the despair of the other, had gradually drawn from Philip the fact that the object thought of was the right eye of the first fish Frank had caught the last time he went fishing. As Philip reluctantly a.s.sented there was a shout of joy from Bert's side, and an answering chorus of groans from the music-room.

Then Charlotte and Jack went out and tried their best to think of something almost unguessable, and at last Ruth was sent out to wait for some one from the other side who seemed to be slow in coming.

She sat down in one of the hall chairs, but started up again and would have liked to run away when she heard the familiar tap of the crutches on the polished floor. It was silly to feel so embarra.s.sed, she thought; she had meant well, at least, in what she had done, and if she had gone too far she was sorry but it couldn't be helped now. She tried to think only of the game they were playing and said brightly to Arthur as he approached:

"I hope you've thought of something hard, for I'm so stupid I can't think of a thing."

"Oh, hang the game," he answered impatiently. "See here, Ruth, it's not very easy for me to say things, but I've just been waiting for the chance to tell you that you've done something for me to-night that I shall never forget."

"Oh, but I want you to forget all those horrid things I said, and I take them all back this very minute. I think it's very fine and brave of you to come down and act just the same as ever."

Arthur looked as if the little speech pleased him, though, being a boy, of course he couldn't say so.

"It's taken three of you to reform me," he said with a little laugh.

"Mother has tried her hand at it, and good old Ellen, and now you have put on the finishing touch. At least, I hope it's the finishing touch," he added soberly.

"Of course it is. You can never feel like shutting yourself up again when you see how they all want you, and how happy you make your mother and father."

"I shall be an ungrateful beast if I don't please my mother and father. You must give me a push if you see me going backward, Ruth.

What's the use of a borrowed sister if she can't help a fellow along?"

"I will, and you must help me, for boys always have very strict ideas as to how their sisters should behave," said Ruth with a mischievous twinkle. "My, but I feel better," she added with a sigh.

"You've been such an awful load on my conscience, Arthur Hamilton, that I haven't enjoyed one minute of my party. Now I'm going to have a good time."

She started toward the door of the library just as Joe's voice called from the music-room, "What under the sun are you two people taking so long about?"

Ruth flew back to Arthur in dismay. "Oh, in another second I should have walked straight back to my own side without choosing a thing,"

she gasped. "Do think of something quick."

Arthur shouted with laughter. "I'd have given anything if you had,"

he choked. "I should have liked to see your face when you came to."

"Mean boy!" she said sternly. "You can only pay up for that by thinking of something immediately, before I count five. One, two, three, four---"

"The tip of Fuzzy's tail," answered Arthur, making a useless grab for the object in question as its small proprietor disappeared up the stairs.

"All right. But they'll guess it in a minute," declared Ruth as they took their separate ways. Contrary to her expectations it proved a hard one, and they were all in gales of merriment before Betty, whose thoughts turned easily to cats, started the questioning in the right direction. Charades came next, then a game proposed by Philip, and after that supper was announced.

Ruth, who had not been let into the secret of the final arrangements, felt a thrill of delight when she saw the pretty table. A tiny Christmas tree hung with glittering ornaments, and dotted with twinkling candies was the centerpiece, while a border of delicate green vine brightened with sprigs of holly ran all around the table.

At the foot of the little tree were heaped mysterious parcels wrapped in white tissue-paper and tied with gold cord. Now Ruth knew what Arthur had been so busy over all the afternoon, for the place cards were small and very funny snapshots of the guests themselves, neatly mounted, and with the date in gold lettering.

"The mental effort of playing guessing games gives me almost an appet.i.te," said Joe pensively, as he watched with hungry eyes a platter of chicken coming his way. There was a general shout at this, for Joe was always eating, and never hesitated to proclaim that he considered the serving of the refreshments the nicest part of a party.

"You have a fairly good appet.i.te for a boy," remarked Ruth, "or for a white-haired lady either," she added demurely.

Every one laughed and Joe groaned. He had tried to keep it a dead secret that his grandmother had been highly indignant because he had borrowed her best gown without leave, and had cut off his allowance for several weeks, but it had leaked out, and the girls didn't mean he should hear the last of it.

"Never mind, old boy," said Arthur. "There's more food in sight and still more in the kitchen, so pitch in."

It was a delicious supper of chicken and creamed potatoes, crisp rolls and foamy chocolate, and Ellen's unrivaled ice-cream and cake to top off with. As they were finishing the ice-cream, Katie appeared with a tray on which reposed six pound boxes and an equal number of half pound boxes. All eyes were upon her as she gave a large box to each girl and a small box to each boy.

"Wow!" said the irrepressible Joe, lifting his box and letting it fly into the air, so great was his astonishment at finding it empty.

"Oh, here's richness!" cried Dorothy, taking off the cover of hers to disclose row upon row of tempting chocolates.

The boys with one accord uncovered their boxes, only to find them empty, and a low groan went around the table.

"I say, Betty, I always did like you," said Frank, gazing covetously at the sweets so near at hand.

"Tell them about it, Ruth," laughed Mrs. Hamilton.

Ruth tried to look very solemn as she gazed around the table. "This, boys," she said impressively, "is intended for an object-lesson, to show you how nice and kind and generous, and--and everything else that's good, girls can be when they have the slightest chance. My Uncle Jerry, who hopes soon to know you all, has sent this candy to the girls, and now it's their turn to do the next thing."

"Give me your box then, and let me fill it at once before I am tempted to keep it ail myself," groaned Charlotte, reaching for Joe's box. "And 'think shame to yourself' for your greediness in the past."

Meanwhile Mrs. Hamilton was busy with the packages placed around the little Christmas tree. From somewhere in the midst of the greenery she extracted a bunch of red and white ribbons and, holding them so that it was impossible to see to which packages they were attached, she offered them to each in turn saying, "Girls white, and boys red, please.