“Oh, that was mother’s idea,” Babbie went on. “She wanted you to come, Betty, just as much as I did; but she said that she didn’t know your father and mother, and she didn’t know how they would feel about trusting their daughter for a whole summer to a perfect stranger. And she thought it would be easier for them to refuse, for that or any other reason, if you didn’t know. Oh, I’ve just been aching to have you get that letter,” sighed Babbie rapturously.