Billy was the baby "B," as Loraine was the acknowledged queen. They all
favored Billy and took care of her. Was it a rainy morning? Somebody got
Billy's rubbers, somebody else her umbrella! Was the child paler than
usual? She must have the softest chair and be babied. Poor little
toiler-Billy, created to have a mother and a home, to sit always in soft
chairs and be taken care of! Yet without them all she was making a
splendid struggle for independence, with the best of them, and they were
conscious of a certain element of heroism in her toiling that none of
the rest of them laid claim to in their own. The other B.'s were proud
of Billy.

T.O. was as small and thin as Billy, but no one thought of taking care
of T.O. or babying her. Instead, T.O.--the Talentless One--took care of
them all. She had always been a toiler, always been alone, and to the
rest it was comparatively a new experience. T.O., as she herself said,
was able to give them all "points."

While tired Billy slept to-night, the Grand Plan discussion was taken up
again and entertained with new enthusiasm. It was now a definite Plan,
since they had voted unanimously to adopt it--it was no longer merely
a unanimous wish, to be bandied about longingly. It remained only to
choose a brave soul to go forth and find for it a "local habitation."

"When Billy wakes up, we'll draw lots," Loraine decided gently. "The one
who gets the longest slip _will go_--but mercy! I hope I sha'n't be
the one! Girls, there really ought to be one to--er--oversee the drawing
of the lots--"

"Hear! Hear!" from T.O.