George took a quick inventory of their purchases, then laughed. "Bess, it's a good thing we got you to leave that last department store or you wouldn't have had enough money left to buy your ticket home," she stated bluntly. "You should practice self-control, the way I do."

"Self-control!" Bess retorted. "I suppose you call a new hat, two dresses, three pairs of stockings, and a handbag self-control!"

George mustered a smile and decided to drop the subject.

Nancy leaned her head back against the cushion, and as she relaxed, studied the faces of the nearby passengers. She thought that the thin, sweet-looking girl who occupied the seat just opposite looked very tired, worried, and even ill. Nancy judged the girl to be her own age.

"Why are you so quiet, Nancy?" Bess demanded suddenly.

"Just resting," Nancy returned.

She did not tell her friends that she had become interested in the nearby passenger, for George and Bess often teased her about her habit of scrutinizing strange faces. However, it was Nancy's lively interest in people that was largely responsible for involving her in unusual adventures, and she was always on the alert for a new mystery.

Bess eyed her perfume package longingly and finally ripped off the paper. "I can't stand it any longer." She sighed. "I must try some of this delicious-smelling stuff!" She opened the bottle and dabbed a couple of drops behind each ear.

Then she offered it to George. "Try some. It's really lovely-makes me think I'm in the mystic Orient."

George could not keep from making a face. "No thank you!" she replied firmly. "It's not my type!"

Nancy and Bess laughed. Then Bess offered some to Nancy, who accepted willingly. Bess again took out the stopper and was leaning over to put some perfume on Nancy when the train lurched and jogged her arm.

"Oh!" Bess cried in horror. The perfume sprayed over Nancy, as the bottle fell to the floor.