"
"My mother made the boxes herself," Flora explained proudly. "I wanted
to give you girls something, and I'm awfully glad you like them." Then
Flora stood up quickly.
"Girls! I dressed up in Mother's hat and skirt, that night at the
plantation. It wasn't Lady Caroline."
She spoke very rapidly as if she wished to finish as quickly as
possible. It was not easy to think of Flora Hayes as being ashamed, but
Sylvia felt quite sure that Flora felt sorry that she had attempted to
deceive her friends.
"I knew it all the time," said Grace slowly, "and I told Sylvia it was
you; didn't I, Sylvia?"
"Yes," said Sylvia, "and we knew you were sure to tell us about it,
Flora. But you did look just like the picture of Lady Caroline."
Flora sat down. It had been so much easier to confess than she had
expected. Neither Grace nor Sylvia had seemed resentful or surprised.
"You didn't tell me that you knew," she said, a little accusingly.
"Oh, well, we couldn't do that, Flora. You see we were your guests,"
Grace explained.
"And we knew you were sure to tell us," Sylvia added.
Flora was silent for a moment. She was thinking that both her friends
had been rather fine about the whole affair. They had not run screaming
from their room on the appearance of the "ghost," and alarmed the house,
and so brought discovery and punishment and shame upon her; neither had
they resented her not confessing.
"Well, I do think you two girls are the nicest girls in this town," she
declared, "and I am mighty proud that you are my friends.
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