one.

But it will be interesting perhaps to change about and wear the tunic of one color and the bloomers of another. It will make for variety. I have one in tartan, one in yellow, and one in white for each of you, and when I think you are getting too boisterous and masculine I have had one made in baby pink for each of you! While they are easy to wash, we don't want Martha to have too much extra work, so of course you will wear your pinafores, just as all well-bred little boys used to wear!"

So that was that! Another hope dashed! If I had to wear silly sissy tunics at least they could cover the terrible bloomers! And the colors of the tunics all such sissy girlish colors! Imagine, pale blue, pink, white and yellow for boys; not to mention tartan! One thought that had run through my mind was that while it would be awful to wear a skirt-like tunic all the time, perhaps it would do away with the more terrible badge of girlhood, the white lace-trimmed and starched pinafore. But from Aunty's words even that was not to be. There was to be no relief.

But the sudden awful imposition of tunics on smocks on fifteen year old boys or more, putting them back at once into early childhood, not to mention making them an anachronism in dress by 48

many years was not the only shock. It was shock. after shock. The tunic itself, its sissy color, the bloomers which would make any real boy blush, the imposition of a pinafore over the tunic, confirming the girlish aspect of the dress all of these things were shocks, but more were to come, as Aunty's next words warned.

"You will wear the tunic, boys, for awhile to see how they hang, but I have an idea that they will hang better with starched petticoats under them. I don't want to give Martha any more work, starching petticaots, but perhaps we shall compromise and with the clean ones in the afternoon you will wear a nice petticoat, then next morning can wear the same tunic without a petticoat to dirty it out. Then there will be a clean one for the afternoon with a petticoat. We shall put away your suits as soon as your Governess announces she is closing school for the summer vacation, and you must reconcile yourself to wearing smock-frocks all summer. They certainly look charming on you boys. An interesting thing about all your tunics, boys, is that we have lace collars and cuffs which can be attached to them and so dress you up attractively should you have to be presented to my company, as naturally you will have to be from time to time