"You needn't go on _my_ account," said Miss Blossom. "It's pleasant to have you here--still, I'm not afraid to stay alone. You must always do just as you like about staying, you know; I shouldn't like to think that I was driving you out of this dear little house, for it was nice of you to let me come. I think I was very fortunate in finding a room so near Mrs. Baker's."
"Thank you," said Jean, "but we always have to be home before dark unless we have permission to stay any place."
"I _have_ to go," confided Mabel, "because I was so excited that I forgot to eat my supper."
"So did I," said Marjory, frankly, "and I'm just as hungry as a bear."
"Everybody come home with me," said Jean. "We always have dinner later than you do and the things can't be _very_ cold."
"Did you sleep well, Miss Blossom?" asked Bettie, shyly waylaying the lodger who was on her way to breakfast.
"Ye-es," said Miss Blossom, smiling brightly, "though in spite of your warning and all my care, the bottom dropped out of my bed and landed the mattress on the floor. But no harm was done. As soon as I discovered that I was not falling down an elevator shaft, I went to sleep again. I think if I had a few nails and some little blocks of wood I could fix those slats so they'd stay in better; you see they're not quite long enough for the bed."
"I'll find some for you," said Bettie. "You'll find them on the parlor table when you get back."
Before the week was over, the girls had discovered that their new friend was in every way a most delightful person. She proved surprisingly skillful with hammer and nails, and besides mending the bed she soon had several of the chairs quite firm on their legs.
"Why," cried Bettie one day as she delightedly inspected an old black walnut rocker that had always collapsed at the slightest touch, "this old chair is almost strong enough to _walk_! I'm so glad you've made so many of them safe, because, when Mrs. Bartholomew Crane comes to see us, she's always afraid to sit down. She's such a nice neighbor that we'd like to make her comfortable."
"We do have the loveliest friends," said Jean, with a contented sigh. "It's hard to tell which is the nicest one."
"But the dearest _two_," exclaimed Marjory, discriminating nicely, "are Mr. Black and Mrs. Crane--except you, of course, Miss Blossom."