Miriam and Grace, while at home, had been given permission to raid the preserve closet and had brought back an assortment of jellies, preserved fruits and pickles, tucking them in every available space their trunks and suit cases contained, regardless of the risk of breaking glass.

The evening after their arrival they had picked out a number of the choicest goodies in their stock and accompanied by Anne had called on Ruth Denton.  They found her wrapped in the folds of a blue eiderdown bathrobe, Arline’s Christmas present to her.  There were slippers to go with it, she declared, proudly thrusting forth a felt-incased foot for their inspection.  A most mysterious thing had happened, however.  The night before she had gone on her vacation two large boxes had been delivered to her by a messenger.  One of them contained a beautiful navy blue cloth suit, the other a dark blue velvet hat.  On a plain card were written the words, “‘Take the goods the gods provide.’  I Wish you a Merry Christmas.”

“Have you the card?” Grace asked, after the first exclamations regarding the mysterious boxes had subsided.

Ruth opened the top drawer of her bureau and took out a card.  Then going to her wardrobe she displayed the blue suit on its hanger, then took the new hat from the shelf.  “Here they are,” she said.

The three girls praised the suit and hat so warmly that a flush of pure pleasure in her clothes rose to Ruth’s face.  Grace, however, examined the inside of the coat and the lining of the hat with the utmost care.  Every telltale mark had been removed.  Even the boxes themselves were plain.  The giver had evidently wished his or her identity to remain a mystery.  The writing on the card was not particularly distinctive.  There was only one thing of which Grace made mental note.  The s’s were unfinished and the a’s were not closed at the top.  This in itself amounted to little, and Grace decided that as far as she was concerned the mystery would have to remain unsolved.  So she said nothing about this unimportant discovery, and handed Ruth’s treasures back to her without comment.

“I thought Arline might have sent it,” declared Ruth, “but she swears solemnly she knows nothing of it, and has given me her word that she had nothing whatever to do with it.”

“You’ll find out some day if you have patience,” declared Miriam.  “Sooner or later good deeds like that are sure to come to light.”

“I wish I knew,” sighed Ruth, “but if I had known, then I couldn’t have accepted them, you see.”

“Evidently the person who sent them was aware of that,” reflected Anne.  “Therefore, it is some one who knows all about Ruth Denton’s pride.”

The flush on Ruth’s face deepened.  “I can’t help it,” she said.  “I don’t like to feel dependent on any one.”

On the way to Wayne Hall, the mysterious presents formed the main subject for discussion.

“We ought to have Elfreda’s opinion,” laughed Miriam.  “She would find a clue.  Don’t you remember what she said about Ruth’s pride the first time we took her to call on Ruth?”