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[Illustration: She truly did well in this performance. (Page 252)
_Frontispiece_]




    THE
    CORNER HOUSE GIRLS
    IN A PLAY

    HOW THEY REHEARSED
    HOW THEY ACTED
    AND WHAT THE PLAY BROUGHT IN

    BY
    GRACE BROOKS HILL
    AUTHOR OF "THE CORNER HOUSE GIRLS," "THE CORNER
    HOUSE GIRLS AT SCHOOL," ETC.

    _ILLUSTRATED BY
    R. EMMETT OWEN_

    NEW YORK
    BARSE & HOPKINS
    PUBLISHERS




    BOOKS FOR GIRLS

    The Corner House Girls Series
    By Grace Brooks Hill

    _12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume,
    75 cents, postpaid._

    THE CORNER HOUSE GIRLS
    THE CORNER HOUSE GIRLS AT SCHOOL
    THE CORNER HOUSE GIRLS UNDER CANVAS
    THE CORNER HOUSE GIRLS IN A PLAY
    THE CORNER HOUSE GIRLS' ODD FIND
    THE CORNER HOUSE GIRLS ON A TOUR

    (_Other volumes in preparation_)

    BARSE & HOPKINS

    PUBLISHERS      NEW YORK

    Copyright, 1916,
    by
    Barse & Hopkins

    _The Corner House Girls in a Play_

    VAIL-BALLOU COMPANY
    BINGHAMTON AND NEW YORK




CONTENTS


    CHAPTER                                                 PAGE

        I THE SOVEREIGNS OF ENGLAND                            9

       II THE LADY IN THE GRAY CLOAK                          18

      III BILLY BUMPS' BANQUET                                27

       IV THE BASKET BALL TEAM IN TROUBLE                     42

        V THE STONE IN THE POOL                               57

       VI JUST OUT OF REACH                                   66

      VII THE CORE OF THE APPLE                               75

     VIII LYCURGUS BILLET'S EAGLE BAIT                        84

       IX BOB BUCKHAM TAKES A HAND                           101

        X SOMETHING ABOUT OLD TIMES                          112

       XI THE STRAWBERRY MARK                                122

      XII TEA WITH MRS. ELAND                                134

     XIII NEALE SUFFERS A SHORTENING PROCESS                 145

      XIV THE FIRST REHEARSAL                                156

       XV THE HALLOWE'EN PARTY                               167

      XVI THE FIVE-DOLLAR GOLD PIECE                         175

     XVII THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER                              184

    XVIII MISS PEPPERILL AND THE GRAY LADY                   193

      XIX A THANKSGIVING SKATING PARTY                       198

       XX NEALE'S ENDLESS CHAIN                              206

      XXI THE CORNER HOUSE THANKSGIVING                      212

     XXII CLOUDS AND SUNSHINE                                217

    XXIII SWIFTWING, THE HUMMINGBIRD                         228

     XXIV THE FINAL REHEARSAL                                240

      XXV A GREAT SUCCESS                                    247




ILLUSTRATIONS


                                                            PAGE

    She truly did well in this performance        _Frontispiece_

    At the moment the eagle dropped with spread talons,
    the big dog leaped                                       103

    They saw two huge pumpkin lanterns grinning a
    welcome from the gateposts                               173

    The scaffolding pulled apart slowly, falling forward
    through the drop                                         238




THE CORNER HOUSE GIRLS IN A PLAY

CHAPTER I

THE SOVEREIGNS OF ENGLAND


"I never can learn them in the wide, wide world! I just know I never
can, Dot!"

"Dear me! I'm dreadfully sorry for you, Tess," responded Dorothy
Kenway--only nobody ever called her by her full name, for she really was
too small to achieve the dignity of anything longer than "Dot."

"I'm dreadfully sorry for you, Tess," she repeated, hugging the
Alice-doll a little closer and wrapping the lace "throw" carefully about
the shoulders of her favorite child. The Alice-doll had never enjoyed
robust health since her awful experience of more than a year before,
when she had been buried alive.

Of course, Dot had not got as far in school as the sovereigns of
England. She had not as yet heard very much about the history of her own
country. She knew, of course, that Columbus discovered it, the Pilgrims
settled it,