"Some pieces of mine must be missing," declared Marjorie; "there's no piece at all to go into this long, narrow curving space."
Miss Hart smiled, for she had had experience in this pastime.
"Everybody thinks pieces are lost at some stage of the work," she said; "never mind that space, Marjorie, keep on with the other parts."
"Oh!" cried Delight. "I can see part of the picture now! It's going to be a--"
"Don't tell!" interrupted Miss Hart; "after you've each done both of them, you can look at the finished pictures together. But now, keep it secret what the pictures are about."
So the work went on, and now and then a chuckle of pleasure or an exclamation of impatience would tell of the varying fortunes of the workers.
"Oh!" cried Delight. "I just touched a piece to straighten it, and I joggled the whole thing out of place!"
Then Miss Hart showed them how to take a ruler and straighten the edges,--if the edges were built; and how to crowd a corner down into a corner of the tray, and so keep the pieces in place. So engrossed were the two that Mrs. Spencer had difficulty to persuade them to come to dinner.
"Oh, Mother," cried Delight, "do wait till I find this lady's other arm. I'm sure I saw it a moment ago."
And Marjorie lingered, looking for a long triangle with a notch in the end.
But at last they set their trays carefully away, at different ends of the room, and even laid newspapers over them, so they shouldn't see each other's puzzle.
"That's the most fun of any game I ever played," said Delight, as she took her seat at the table.
"I think so too," said Midge; "are there many of them made, Miss Hart?"
"Thousands, my dear. And all, or nearly all, different."
"When we finish these," said Delight, "I'll ask my father to bring us some more. I just love to do them."
"You musn't do too many," said Miss Hart; "that stooping position is not good for little girls if kept up too long at a time."
"It did make the back of my neck ache," said Delight; "but I don't mind, it's such fun to see the picture come."
The next day lessons began. Miss Hart and Mrs. Spencer agreed that it would be better for the two little girls to have regular school hours, and Delight was glad to have Marjorie at her lessons with her.
