Page:Elizabeth Jordan--Tales of the city room.djvu/184

 tried friends. She greeted the others with the brilliant smile and charm of manner to which they had all succumbed early in their acquaintance with her, and sank contentedly into a low seat near the fire. Her cheeks were flushed by her encounter with the boisterous wind outside, and a few drops of rain sparkled on her dark hair. Looking at her a little consciously, the group became aware of a change in her manner—a brightness, a sparkle, an apparent freedom from care which they had not observed before. Miss Herrick was the first to comment upon it.

"You seem very happy," she said, resting her hand affectionately on her friend's shoulder. "I hope something nice has happened to you."

Alice Bertram caught the caressing hand in her own, and held it against her cheek such an ecstatic little laugh that the others smiled in sympathy.

"I am happy," she said emphatically, "and something very nice has happened. I have won a big wager, I have proved the truth of my most cherished theory, and to-night I'm