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diff --git a/old/53213-h/53213-h.htm b/old/53213-h/53213-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index b517b43..0000000 --- a/old/53213-h/53213-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8138 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> - <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Marjorie Dean, Marvelous Manager, by Pauline Lester</title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - body { margin-left: 8%; margin-right: 10%; } - h1 { text-align: center; font-weight: normal; font-size: 1.4em; } - h2 { text-align: center; font-weight: normal; font-size: 1.2em; } - .pageno { right: 1%; font-size: x-small; background-color: inherit; color: silver; - text-indent: 0em; text-align: right; position: absolute; - border: thin solid silver; padding: .1em .2em; font-style: normal; - font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; } - p { text-indent: 0; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; text-align: justify; } - .fss { font-size: 75%; } - .sc { font-variant: small-caps; } - .xlarge { font-size: x-large; } - .xxlarge { font-size: xx-large; } - .small { font-size: small; } - .lg-container-b { text-align: center; } - @media handheld { .lg-container-b { clear: both; } } - .lg-container-r { text-align: right; } - @media handheld { .lg-container-r { clear: both; } } - .linegroup { display: inline-block; text-align: left; } - @media handheld { .linegroup { display: block; margin-left: 1.5em; } } - .linegroup .group { margin: 1em auto; } - .linegroup .line { text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em; } - div.linegroup > :first-child { margin-top: 0; } - .linegroup .in1 { padding-left: 3.5em; } - .linegroup .in3 { padding-left: 4.5em; } - div.pbb { page-break-before: always; } - hr.pb { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; margin-bottom: 1em; } - @media handheld { hr.pb { display: none; } } - .chapter { clear: both; page-break-before: always; } - .figcenter { clear: both; max-width: 100%; margin: 2em auto; text-align: center; } - div.figcenter p { text-align: center; text-indent: 0; } - .figcenter img { max-width: 100%; height: auto; } - .id001 { width:503px; } - .id002 { width:150px; } - @media handheld { .id001 { margin-left:19%; width:62%; } } - @media handheld { .id002 { margin-left:41%; width:18%; } } - .ic001 { width:100%; } - .ig001 { width:100%; } - .nf-center { text-align: center; } - .nf-center-c1 { text-align: left; margin: 1em 0; } - .c000 { margin-top: 1em; } - .c001 { page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em; } - .c002 { margin-top: 4em; } - .c003 { page-break-before:auto; margin-top: 4em; } - .c004 { margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } - .c005 { margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } - .c006 { margin-left: 5.56%; margin-right: 5.56%; margin-top: 0.5em; - margin-bottom: 0.5em; } - .c007 { margin-left: 5.56%; margin-right: 5.56%; } - .c008 { margin-left: 5.56%; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } - </style> - </head> - <body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's Marjorie Dean, Marvelous Manager, by Pauline Lester - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Marjorie Dean, Marvelous Manager - -Author: Pauline Lester - -Release Date: October 5, 2016 [EBook #53213] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARJORIE DEAN, MARVELOUS MANAGER *** - - - - -Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/frontis.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p>Leslie had posted herself behind the barrier of leafy green for the express purpose of watching the working out of a little plan of her own.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>(<i>Page <a href='#Page_120'>120</a></i>) (<i>Marjorie Dean, Marvelous Manager</i>)</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div> - <h1 class='c001'>MARJORIE DEAN<br />MARVELOUS MANAGER</h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='xlarge'><span class='sc'>By</span> PAULINE LESTER</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='sc'>Author of</span></div> - <div class='c000'>“The Marjorie Dean High School Series,” “The</div> - <div>Marjorie Dean College Series,” “The Marjorie</div> - <div>Dean Post-Graduate Series,” etc.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/title-page.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>A. L. BURT COMPANY</div> - <div class='c000'>Publishers New York</div> - <div class='c000'>Printed in U. S. A.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div>THE MARJORIE DEAN</div> - <div>POST-GRADUATE SERIES</div> - <div class='c000'>A SERIES FOR GIRLS 12 TO 18 YEARS OF AGE</div> - <div class='c000'><span class='sc'>By</span> PAULINE LESTER</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>MARJORIE DEAN, POST-GRADUATE</div> - <div class='line'>MARJORIE DEAN, MARVELOUS MANAGER</div> - <div class='line'>MARJORIE DEAN AT HAMILTON ARMS</div> - <div class='line'>MARJORIE DEAN’S ROMANCE</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Copyright, 1925</div> - <div class='c000'>By A. L. BURT COMPANY</div> - <div class='c000'>MARJORIE DEAN, MARVELOUS MANAGER</div> - <div class='c000'>Made in “U. S. A.”</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span><span class='xxlarge'>MARJORIE DEAN</span></div> - <div><span class='xxlarge'>MARVELOUS MANAGER</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER I.<br /> <br />ACROSS THE CAMPUS</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“To go, or not to go?—that is the question,” -paraphrased Marjorie Dean glancing up from the -open letter in her hand. She fixed her eyes on -Jerry Macy, her room-mate as though trying to read -what was in her chum’s mind.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Whether ’tis nobler to eat Baretti’s turk,</div> - <div class='line in1'>And circulate upon the campus drear;</div> - <div class='line in1'>Or to take luggage and be off for home</div> - <div class='line in1'>To roost four days upon the family tree.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c005'>Jerry aptly supplied.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Fine, Jeremiah. I certainly would love to -roost on the Deans’ family tree for four blessed -days.” Marjorie’s voice rang with wistfulness. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>“I’ve tried to persuade myself into believing that -it won’t make much difference to the dormitory -girls if we decide we’d best go home for Thanksgiving. -But I’m not sure.” Marjorie knitted -troubled brows. “This is the tenth,” she reflected -aloud. “Whether we go home, or whether we stay -on the campus over Thanksgiving, we’ve enough to -do beforehand to keep us hustling.” She sprang up -from her chair as though animated anew by the -mere recollection of work yet to be done.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why remind me, beautiful Bean? I’m sadly -aware of the fact. What we must do is organize -the new Travelers’ sorority and let them see the -dormitory girls through Thanksgiving. If they do -nicely,” Jerry continued in patronizing tones, “their -reward’ll be more work, and lots of it. If they -flivver—but they won’t. We old Travelers knew -how to pick out our successors. We’re safe to go -home and leave our Thanksgiving stunts to our little -Traveler sisters to carry out. Ha; great intellect!” -Jerry admiringly patted one of her own plump -shoulders. “You always do suggest such brilliant -ideas, Jeremiah,” she gushed.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“How conceited you are! Still, there’s a grain -of wisdom in your vain remarks.” Marjorie patted -Jerry’s other shoulder. “I hereby confer upon you -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>the high and noble order of the pat,” she declared -in a deep pompous voice. She accompanied her -words with several pats, each one more forceful -than the last.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“The hard and croo-il order of the whack, I’ll -say.” Jerry caught the conferring hand in time to -save herself one last thump. “Now that I’ve been -initiated into this wonderful order what happens -to me next?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ll tell you in a minute. Let me think.” Marjorie - fixed absent eyes on Jerry as she considered -the situation. “You’re to go downstairs and telephone -Kathie and Lillian to come over to dinner -at the Hall this evening. If they can’t come to dinner, -then they must come afterward. Tell them the -time has come to open the box. That will bring -them.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You bet it will,” Jerry made slangy concurrence.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Then I’ll depend on you to hunt Leila, Vera, -Ronny, Lucy and Muriel. They’re not to dare -think of another engagement.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yessum.” Jerry made a respectful, bobbing bow -to Marjorie. “Please, mum, may I ask what you’ll -be doing, mum, about the same time I’m rushing -upstairs and down?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m going over to Silverton Hall,” Marjorie returned -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>as she crossed the room to her dress closet -and reached for coat and fur cap. “I’ll see Robin, -Phil and Barbara; bring them back to dinner, if -I can. Thank fortune Barbara is at Silverton Hall -this year instead of Acasia House. I’ll be back by -five o’clock. It’s ten minutes to four now.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Then you’ll have to go some,” Jerry said skeptically. -“If you are back here with those three girls -by six o’clock I’ll give you a prize. Remember, -you can’t stay to dinner at Silverton Hall. We’ve -Kathie and Lillian to consider.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“The prize is as good as won. What are you -going to give me?” Marjorie’s inquiry was slyly -coaxing. She sidled confidently up to Jerry.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Never mind now.” Jerry waved her away. -“Come back at five o’clock and ask me.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I will. I’m going z-i-p-p across the campus. -Just like that!” Marjorie made a lightning forward -pass with one arm. “I’m going to have a -wind sail. There’s a dandy stiff wind blowing today. -Mary Raymond and I used to take our school -umbrellas when we were little girls and go out on -a windy day with them. It was a regular game. -We named it ‘wind sails.’ We’d let the wind blow -us along. Sometimes the umbrellas would turn inside -out, or the wind would whisk them away from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>us and we’d have to chase them a long way. Once -mine blew into the river, and once a big boy caught -Mary’s umbrella and ran off with it. We never -saw either of those bumbershoots again.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie paused at the door to laugh at the recollection -of childhood adventures. “Oh, Jerry,” she -changed the subject with sudden abruptness, “we’ll -have to dig up some eats for a spread. Whoever -dreamed of gathering in the Travelers without feeding them?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ll ask Leila to run us into town for eats as -soon as you come back. That’s an incentive to -hurry,” bribed Jerry.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“There are times when I can’t help appreciating -you, Jeremiah. Good-bye. I’m in <i>such</i> a hurry.” -Marjorie breezily closed the door and made a -speedy descent of the stairs.</p> - -<p class='c005'>She opened the massive front door of the Hall -with the same gusty energy, and went down the -front steps at a frisky jump. The brisk November -wind caught her none too gently, blew a fluff of -curls about her sparkling face and a brighter color -into her rosy cheeks. She paused for an instant on -the drive to inhale deeply the crisp, invigorating -November air, then she set off across the campus -at her best hiking stride.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>With the wind at her back, noisily urging her -along, she laughed enjoyingly, spread her arms wide -in lieu of sails and ran with it. Passing a little -delegation of lingering robins, strung along a tree -limb, their feathers fluffed out, their red breasts -making a bit of autumn color against the brown -limb, she whistled cheerily to them.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Naughty little fellows,” she playfully chided. -“You should have started for the land of flowers -long before now. You’ll have to hurry if you expect -to get there in time to eat Thanksgiving dinner with -your folks. I ought to take that advice to myself.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Bump! Her eyes still lingering on the flock of -birds, she collided forcefully with a girl who had -deliberately courted collision. Muriel Harding, -emerging from the library, had spied Marjorie from -the library steps. Her mischievous love of teasing -always uppermost, she had approached Marjorie -unseen, bent on surprising her.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Uh-h-h!” Muriel pretended to stagger back. -“Why don’t you look where you’re going, lady?” -she demanded gruffly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why don’t you?” The two girls faced each -other, flushed and laughing.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I did. I decided to let you know I was near -you,” confessed Muriel. “If you had been moderately -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>observing you might have averted the crash.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I doubt it.” Marjorie looked her skepticism.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“So do I,” Muriel agreed so amiably that the -pair again broke into laughter.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’d best come with me,” Marjorie invited. -“Jerry’s hunting for you, but that’ll be all right. -I’ve found you.” She went on to explain her errand -to Silverton Hall. “Forward, march,” she -concluded, taking hold of Muriel’s right arm. “Step -lively. I’ve lost at least three precious minutes exchanging -mostly impolite remarks with you.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ll hit up a pace,” Muriel slangily assured. -“I’m nothing if not obliging. It’s fortunate for -you that you met me. I am always <i>so</i> helpful.” -Her brown eyes danced roguishly. “You must -<i>know</i> that.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ve heard you say so.” Marjorie was purposely -vague. “If I had been even moderately observing -I might have noticed that you were. That is, -if you really——”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why dwell on the subject? This is the way the -wild wind goes.” She began whisking Marjorie -over the half frozen ground at a mad run. Marjorie -sturdily kept up with her. The two girls tore -across the campus toward their goal, shrieking with -laughter, bubbling over with high spirits.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>They were nearing Craig Hall, one of the campus -houses which they had to pass on their diagonal -route to Silverton Hall, when the front door -of the house opened and two young women came -out on the veranda, then descended the steps. Evidently -their ears caught the sounds of mirth emanating -from the pair of exuberant P. G.’s. Two -pairs of eyes, one pair coldly green, the other small, -black and shrewd, immediately fastened on Marjorie -and Muriel.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Look who’s here. Keep right on going,” Muriel -muttered in Marjorie’s ear. She nodded to one -of the two girls who had come from Craig Hall and -were now within a few feet of her and Marjorie. -Her nod was courteous rather than friendly. The -response she received was a stiff inclination from -Doris Monroe’s golden head.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie had obeyed Muriel’s muttered direction. -For the barest instant her clear, truthful gaze met, -impersonally, the narrowing, hostile eyes of Leslie -Cairns. She then glanced serenely away from Leslie. -She had long since ceased to regard Leslie -Cairns with personal displeasure. This in spite of -the ex-student’s treacherous attempt to frustrate -her and Robin Page’s plans in the matter of the -buying of the dormitory site.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>As for Doris Monroe, Marjorie had been rebuffed -by chilling looks on three different occasions when -she had encountered and spoken to the haughty -sophomore. She now claimed the privilege of one -repeatedly ignored, to ignore in return. She had -not given up the idea of carrying out a certain -gracious little plan she had in mind to further the -popularity of her beautiful “fairy-tale princess.” -Marjorie was too great of spirit to harbor resentment -against Doris Monroe, simply because Doris -did not like her. Instead she found herself experiencing -the anxiety of one who had suddenly encountered -a friend in a dangerous position.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER II.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>A DISQUIETING REMINDER</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“Br-r-r!” Muriel made a pretense of shivering. -“Did you notice how the Ice Queen scorned us? -And what a noted person she had with her?” She -waited until they had put a few yards between -themselves and the other pair of girls before sarcastically -launching the inquiries.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes, I saw,” Marjorie returned composedly. -“I’m sorry. I knew Leslie Cairns was living in the -town of Hamilton. This is the first time I have seen -her since last summer.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s the first time I’ve seen her since before she -left college,” Muriel replied. “She’s homelier than -ever, but that cheviot sports suit and hat she has on -are dreams. What a splendid combination—the -Hob-goblin and the Ice Queen!” Muriel’s private -pet name for Leslie Cairns had always been the -“Hob-goblin.” “Sounds like the title of a fairy -tale, doesn’t it?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Exactly.” Marjorie nodded abstractedly. She -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>had forgotten Muriel’s uncomplimentary name for -Leslie. With the return of it to memory came her -own imaginative fancy regarding Doris Monroe. -Yes, Doris was truly like an enchanted princess. -Now Leslie Cairns had suddenly appeared, bearing -fanciful resemblance to a wicked wizard. Marjorie -smiled to herself at her own absurdity of thought. -Still it made a certain impression on her which time -did not obliterate.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What are you thinking about, Marvelous Manager?” -Muriel gave her chum’s arm an emphatic -tug. The two had kept up their swinging stride and -were now nearing Silverton Hall. “Come down out -of the clouds.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Wasn’t up in them,” Marjorie smilingly denied. -“I was thinking about Miss Monroe, and——”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“And the fatal results of cultivating Leslie -Cairns,” interrupted Muriel mockingly. “Don’t -worry, Marjorie. Trust the icy Ice Queen to look -out for her own interests. Greek has met Greek. -I’ve roomed long enough with the Ice Queen to -know that she always pleases herself first. This being -Leslie Cairns’ motto, we may presently expect -to find them on the outs.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I hope so.” Marjorie was not sanguine. “I’ve -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>learned by experience, Muriel, not to under-rate -Leslie Cairns’ capacity for making trouble.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, I know she’s a star trouble maker, even if -she has never succeeded in anything she tried to -do to injure us,” Muriel readily admitted. “But -you stood so staunchly for the right, Marjorie Dean, -in all the fusses we had with her and the rest of -the Sans, things simply had to turn out O. K. at -the last.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I didn’t stand out more strongly for the right -than any of the other Travelers,” Marjorie hastily -corrected, her reply bordering on vexation.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Certainly, you did, Modest Manager,” Muriel -cheerfully contradicted. “I have all the proofs of -the case at my tongue’s end.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Keep them there,” Marjorie told her with -feigned displeasure.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, very well.” Muriel was all amiability. “I -may think of some other sweet little thing about you -later.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Readers of the “<span class='sc'>Marjorie Dean High School -Series</span>,” which comprises four volumes, and the -“<span class='sc'>Marjorie Dean College Series</span>,” also in four -volumes, are thoroughly at home with Marjorie -Dean and her many friends. “<span class='sc'>Marjorie Dean, -College Post Graduate</span>,” forms the initial volume -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>in the “<span class='sc'>Marjorie Dean Post Graduate Series</span>.” -Returned to Hamilton College as a post graduate -Marjorie took up the work she had set her heart -upon doing. Surrounded by a devoted circle of -girls who had kept pace with her in college, Marjorie -felt that her most momentous year of enterprise and -accomplishment had come.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Lack of unity at Wayland Hall had distressed -her not a little since her return to the campus. She -had dreamed rosy dreams of a unified Hamilton -which she had fondly hoped might come true that -very year. Instead, Wayland Hall, the house she -loved best of all the campus houses, and her own -roof tree, was brimming with dissention. She was -now reflecting rather dispiritedly concerning this -very thing. The encounter with Leslie Cairns and -Doris Monroe had brought it foremost to her mind.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I wonder how long Miss Monroe has known -Miss Cairns?” she now mused aloud.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Long enough to know better. There you go -again, worrying over that selfish iceberg,” Muriel -cried impatiently. “I might beneficently warn her -against the snares of the Hob-goblin, but would she -be grateful? Far from it. No, no, Muriel. Never -contemplate such folly.” Muriel answered her own -question in a prim, horrified tone.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>“I quite agree with Muriel,” Marjorie smiled -faintly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Some of the upper class girls may tell her a few -things about Leslie Cairns. They’d not forget her -and the Sans in a hurry. If you had to room with -her you’d lose your crush on her. She’s exasperating.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I can’t help admiring her. She is so beautiful,” -Marjorie made frank avowal. “I always have to -stop and remember that she isn’t amiable. There -was one thing in particular that I noticed on the -night last summer when we invited her downstairs -to Miss Remson’s spread. She was truthful. She -didn’t say she was too tired, or make any other excuses. -She said flatly that she <i>didn’t care to come -downstairs</i>. Again, afterward, when we were in -Vera’s car and met her out walking one Sunday -afternoon, we asked her to ride with us. She refused -our invitation in the same scornful way. Still it -was the <i>real</i> way she felt. A girl who wouldn’t -bother to deceive others must have principle,” Marjorie -earnestly advanced.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Hum-m. That remains to be seen.” Muriel -was not thus easily convinced. “But will I be the -one to see? At present the Ice Queen and I are -as intimate as the North and South Poles. We -don’t even study at the same table.”</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>“Poor old Muriel. Was it lonesome?” Marjorie -flung an arm across Muriel’s shoulders. They were -now turning in at the flagstone walk in front of -Silverton Hall.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes, it was,” grumbled Muriel. “But it’s my -own fault. I took that half a room to please myself. -You girls ought to appreciate me and make -a fuss over me because I refused to be separated -from the Sanfordites.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ll call a special meeting after the Travelers -go tonight and remind the Sanfordites of their -duty,” Marjorie teasingly promised as they went -up the steps of the Hall.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The blended harmony of violin and piano outside -Robin Page’s room halted the visitors before the -closed door. They had no more than willingly -paused to listen when the music stopped.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“My last A string,” mourned a voice. “I’ll have -to go clear to town for another. How provoking!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie knocked three times in quick succession -on the door, hers and Robin’s particular rap. There -was a scurry of light feet across the floor then -Robin joyfully opened the door.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What luck!” she exulted as she did a pleased -little prance around the callers. “I was coming -over to Wayland Hall directly after dinner. I’ve -such a lot of things to get off my chest.” She sighed. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>“I’m fairly stuffed with responsibility. Hello, Muriel -Harding. I haven’t seen you for as much as -two days. Where have you been keeping yourself? -I want you for a singing number I’m going to have -in our first show. We’re going to open with a revue, -you know.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“My A string just snapped,” Phyllis Moore was -ruefully informing Marjorie. “So aggravating. I -was going to put in two hours of practice this evening. -The only store in Hamilton where I can get -another string closes at five o’clock. Goodness -knows when I’ll be imbued again with such a laudable -desire to practice.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You couldn’t practice tonight if you had fifty A -strings,” Marjorie told her. “The time has come -to open the box, Phil.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, lovely!” Phyllis’ charming face lighted with -pleasure. “Away with practice.” She waved both -arms outward with a buoyant releasing gesture.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’re to come over to Wayland Hall now; you -and Robin. Where’s Barbara?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“In her room, stuck with a theme. Hope she’s -struggled through it by this time. If she hasn’t, -I’ll make her leave it; just as though it was a finished -literary triumph. I’ll go for her now.” Phil -dashed out the door and down the hall to Barbara -Severn’s room.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>She returned in an incredibly short space of time -with Barbara, the latter in outdoor attire.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Hello, Red Bird,” greeted Muriel. “Who so -gay as you?” She shook Barbara by both hands, -then turned her around so as to inspect her coat -and cap of a wonderful shade of deep crimson, the -gorgeous hue accentuated by wide collar, cuffs and -bandings of bear’s fur. “What a love of a coat -and cap!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Isn’t it, though? I am always planning to waylay -Barbara on the campus some fine dark evening -and strip her of that de luxe red coat and cap.” -Phil made threatening eyes at Barbara.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m safe. She doesn’t quite dare risk her dignity -as president of the senior class,” laughed Barbara.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Robin had already donned her wraps. It took -energetic Phil not more than a minute to snatch her -own smart coat of gray tweed from its accustomed -hanger. She pulled a black soft Tam-o’-shanter -with its huge fluffy black pom-pom down upon her -crinkling yellow-brown hair at a truly artistic angle.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Phil looks more like a wandering musician than -ever in that Tam,” was Marjorie’s admiring opinion. -The individuality of Phyllis’ clothes and the -careless, artistic grace with which the tall, supple -girl wore them were a joy to Marjorie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Down the stairs and out of the house trooped the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>five friends, bent on making as good time to Wayland -Hall as they could. Robin, Phil and Marjorie -were anxious to have a talk before dinner about the -program for the coming revue and their entertainment -plans for Thanksgiving. Muriel had decided -to go to town with Jerry and Leila in the car to -help buy the eats for the spread. Barbara was eager -to see Lucy Warner and glean from her certain biological -pointers of which she stood in need. The -group sped across the campus, reaching the Hall -at just five o’clock.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“No mail for Muriel. What’s the matter with -the population of Sanford that I don’t get any letters?” -Muriel demanded severely as she turned away -disappointedly from the Hall bulletin board.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I had no idea of your vast importance in Sanford,” -giggled Barbara. “You talk as though you -were the mayor of the town.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Not yet,” grinned Muriel. “I may be the mayoress -of Sanford some day—say in about a hundred -years from now.” She duplicated Barbara’s -giggle. “Marjorie’s the scintillating social star of -Sanford.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie said not a word as she picked several -letters from the bulletin board. Her eyes were glowing -like stars at the harvest of mail. There was a -letter from General; another from Captain; a third -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>in Mary Raymond’s neat vertical script, had come -from far-off Colorado. There was a fourth from -Constance Armitage. Fifth and last was a letter -in the sprawling childish writing of Charlie Stevens. -She and Charlie, the latter now grown into a tall -sturdy youngster of thirteen, were regular and enthusiastic -correspondents.</p> - -<p class='c005'>In the rack above her own mail she caught sight -of two letters for Jerry. One of them was in Helen -Trent’s familiar hand. The other—A swift blush -overspread Marjorie’s cheeks as she took the two -letters from the board and placed them with her -own. She knew only too well whose hand had -dashed the address across the envelope.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Immersed as she had been in college matters she -had given her old pal, Hal Macy, scant thought -since her return to Hamilton campus. Sight of his -letter to Jerry gave her pause; reminded her of -something which intruded itself upon her not quite -agreeably. Hal had not answered the latest letter -she had written him. It had really been a long -while since she had heard from him.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER III.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>LOYAL TO NO ONE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>In the dining-room at Wayland Hall that evening -plenty of curious and speculative glances were cast -at the round dozen of Hamilton’s staunchest children -as they made merry at a special table which -Miss Remson had provided for them.</p> - -<p class='c005'>From the next table to theirs the five Bertram -girls exchanged occasional laughing signals and remarks -with the distinguished little group of post -graduates, seniors and one member of the faculty, -the youngest though she happened to be. Aside -from the warm friendliness of Gussie Forbes and -her four chums there emanated from the other table -of girls a peculiarly chilling atmosphere. It hinted -of displeasure; a displeasure which stopped just -this side of hostility.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“The sophs and freshies in the house can’t see us -for a minute,” Jerry said to Leila in an undertone -as they were awaiting the serving of the dessert. -“Feel the chill. Get me?”</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>“Tell me nothing.” Leila cast a grim glance -about the dining-room. Suddenly her grimness vanished -into a characteristic flash of white teeth which -always signified her utter amusement. “It is the -Battle of Wayland Hall we shall be fighting before -spring with a number of distinguished P. G. generals -in the thick of the fray. It is the sophs who -are ready now to roar at us. The freshies here -will but echo the sophs’ roars.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Wayland Hall has been a regular hot-bed of -trouble since the soph president was elected.” Jerry -used the same guarded tones. “With Gus and the -disappointed Ice Queen under the same roof can -you wonder?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I cannot.” Leila’s shrug was eloquent. “I have -not been so completely disgusted with a set of girls -since the bad days of the Sans.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Bad days of the Sans?” Vera, seated at Leila’s -left, had caught the Irish girl’s words. She now -repeated them inquiringly. “What tales of ancient -history am I hearing?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Ancient history that is trying to repeat itself,” -Leila returned with dry sarcasm. “I have been -muttering in Jeremiah’s ear that we are not favorites -at the Hall.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s a case of top-lofty sophs and freshie-fresh -freshmen.” Vera gave a wise nod. “The traditional -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>meek and lowly freshie is rapidly becoming -an almost extinct species.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“So it would appear this year,” Jerry agreed with -an appraising survey of the long dining-room. Her -glance rested for a moment on Doris Monroe, then -traveled on to the students who sat at table with -her.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“There are the members of the trouble bureau,” -she told Leila. “Look in the direction I’m looking -and you’ll know who I mean.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I heard something about a trouble bureau.” Marjorie, -next to Jerry on Jerry’s right, bent a laughing -face forward to her room-mate. “What?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“First time I ever head you commit a Cairns-ism. -For further information about the trouble -bureau, find the Ice Queen,” Jerry directed not without -humor.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh; I understand. But I won’t look down at -her. If she happened to see us looking at her she -would probably be offended, just as Gussie Forbes -was when she noticed us eyeing her the first time -we saw her at Baretti’s. I learned a lesson then. -I don’t intend to make the same mistake again.” -Marjorie spoke with the utmost good humor. She -was not preaching to her chums, and they knew it.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Merely because you’re such an old friend of -mine, Bean, to confide in you doesn’t mean that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>I’m gossiping, I’ll say a word or two about the -trouble bureau. That tall soph with the straight -black hair, black moon eyes and pasty-white face is -the chief disturber. She seems to be directing the -Ice Queen’s campaign. Muriel says she comes to -see Miss Monroe about every half hour until the -ten-thirty bell puts the kibosh on her visits.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Unlike Marjorie, Jerry could not refrain from -voicing her disapproval of Doris Monroe and her -group of sophomore satellites living at Wayland -Hall. “The next agitator to Moon Eyes is the -pudgy, red-haired soph with the mechanical voice. -Their real names happen to be Miss Peyton and Miss -Carter, but Muriel and I have made a few changes,” -Jerry declared with a whole-hearted grin. “Ahem! -We call the pair the Prime Minister and the Phonograph. -So true to life! What?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie, Leila and Vera could not help laughing -at the names Jerry and Muriel had waggishly applied -to the two sophs. Miss Carter’s speech had -a habit of clicking itself from her lips with the mechanical -precision of a phonograph. She had a -wooden manner of carriage and walk which further -added to the impression she gave of something mechanical. As -for the name Muriel had picked for -moon-eyed Miss Peyton, Muriel herself probably -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>best understood thus far its fitness as applied to the -tall, austere looking young woman.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“The traditions of Hamilton say nothing about -the naming habit.” Leila shot a playful glance at -Jerry.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Er-r—well, it’s remembering the stranger within -our gate in a kind of way,” Jerry defended. “Now -that Muriel and I have named ’em specially we can -remember ’em so much the better.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Such ignoble sentiments from a Hamilton P. G.! -I am shocked!” Vera’s small hands went up in simulated -displeasure.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’ll get over the shock if you don’t stop to -think about it,” Jerry assured her. “You may even -learn to admire the Harding-Macy classification.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s certainly time the Travelers got together,” -Leila said, now more than half serious in her observation. -“We must protect the Hall.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I am with you in that, Leila,” Marjorie observed, -the light of sudden, unalterable purpose flaring -strongly in her eyes. “We have Miss Remson as well -as the girls here to think of. We’ve been through -a siege of a house divided against itself once here. -We must somehow not let that calamity overtake -the Hall again.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“How are we going to stop it, Marvelous Manager, -with Gentleman Gus and the Ice Queen all -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>ready to challenge each other to a duel?” quizzed -Jerry. “I don’t say it can’t be done. I have great -faith in you and your works, Bean.” She beamed -patronizingly. “I merely ask you: How is it going -to be done?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I wish I knew,” Marjorie laughingly confessed. -“The Travelers will have to find a way to teach our -freshies and sophs here to live up to the Hymn of -Hamilton. That means we’ll have to teach them -without letting them know they are being taught.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Jerry looked impishly impressed. “What a simple -pleasant task!” she exclaimed with pretended -enthusiasm. “I should say we’d better cut out dessert, -go right upstairs and plan for it. What’s dessert? -Nothing but fresh cocoanut layer-cake and -coffee gelatine slathered with whipped cream. Who -cares for any such trifles?” Jerry waved an airy -hand. She made no move to leave her chair, however.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Only you. The rest of us have no longing for -sweet stuff. But we are so kind as to keep you company -while you eat,” Leila made bland assurance.</p> - -<p class='c005'>When the dessert was served the Irish girl deftly -abstracted Jerry’s portion of cake and gelatine from -under Jerry’s eyes and before the waitress had more -than placed the dishes on the table. Up the line -went the cake and gelatine until they reached Phil, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>who sat at the head of the table. Phil welcomed -them with effusion and grew tantalizing. She gave a -dozen flimsy reasons supposed to justify her claim to -it. The table rang with laughter so spontaneous and -good-natured more than one of the freshmen at the -Hall felt a secret sympathy spring up within for the -girls whom they had heard characterized by Doris -Monroe’s most ardent supporters as “meddlers and -hypocrites” and of having shown marked favoritism.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“If we were to make half the noise they are making -Miss Remson would call us to account for it,” -sourly observed Julia Peyton to Clara Carter. “I’ve -spoken to her several times about the racket that -goes on every evening in Miss Forbes’ room and in -that Miss Dean’s room, too. It’s been worse since -Miss Harding came to the Hall.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I know it,” Miss Carter nodded an eager red -head. “Doris says she simply won’t allow Miss -Harding to carry on in her room the way she does -when she’s with her own crowd. She’s generally -to be found on the campus with some of them, -screaming and laughing. Doris met her and Miss -Dean when she was with that awfully rich Miss -Cairns this very afternoon. She said she felt so -mortified at being obliged to speak to Miss Harding. -She doesn’t speak to Miss Dean at all. She told -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>me she had good reasons for ignoring <i>her</i>, but she -preferred not to give them.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Humph.” Julia cast a jealous glance at her -companion as the two sophomores rose to leave the -table. Each girl was jealous of the condescending -friendship which Doris Monroe had chosen to give -her companion. She felt that she stood a trifle -closer to Doris than the other.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Doris was fully aware of this state of affairs. -When she had recovered from the sweetness of -her first triumph at being “rushed” she made up -her mind not to allow her soph and freshie admirers -to fail in allegiance to her banner. She soon learned -that her selfish air of indifference was one of her -greatest assets. It added individuality to her beauty. -It impressed her worshippers with a high idea of -the value of her acquaintance.</p> - -<p class='c005'>She had inherited this trait of indifference from -her mother, whose counterpart she was. She had, -as Marjorie suspected, a strong inclination to honesty, -one of her father’s finest traits. Thus she -could not have pretended an indifference she did -not feel. Since it was in her soul to be this she -accepted the benefits she received from it with secret -satisfaction. She was privately glad that she -had no desire to be impulsive and readily responsive.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>“<i>I</i> heard that the Miss Cairns you mentioned was -expelled from Hamilton College,” Julia said disagreeably. -She was desirous of over-topping -Clara’s boastful reference to “Doris” and the intimacy -it implied.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Who told you?” Clara’s tone was challenging.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ll not say who. I heard it, and it came to me -directly from someone who knew,” Julia made mysterious -response.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I—I—haven’t heard any such story as that. I -don’t believe it’s true. I’ll ask Doris. <i>She’ll</i> tell -me,” Clara ended, tossing her flame-colored head.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’re very foolish to think of asking Doris,” -disapproved Julia, her shaggy black brows drawing -together. “She’ll set you down as impertinent. -Even if she should know she wouldn’t tell <i>you</i>.” -She gave a short, sarcastic laugh.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m not afraid to ask her,” Clara doggedly persisted. -“<i>You</i> may be, but <i>I’m</i> not.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>This was the beginning of an angry discussion -between the two sophomores which lasted all the way -upstairs and for several minutes after the door of -their room was slammed behind them by Clara. So -vigorously did she slam it that the sharp sound -reached the bevy of Travelers as they came trooping -gaily upstairs. Robin was singing softly for them -an old plantation song: “Get you ready there’s a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>meetin’ here tonight,” and Phil was patting her -hands in time to it.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Bing, bang; who fired the first shot?” exclaimed -Muriel.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It did sound almost like a shot, didn’t it? I -haven’t heard such a splendid imitation of banging -a door since the Sans used to vent their outraged -feelings on the doors,” chuckled Vera.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That may have been the first shot fired in the -Battle of Wayland Hall,” Jerry gigglingly surmised -to Leila.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Then it was wasted on us,” laughed Leila. “It -will take more than the banging of a few doors to -rouse our ire to the point of battle. Though make -no mistake: ‘The air is full of knives,’ as we say -in Ireland.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>In the room occupied by Clara Carter and Julia -Peyton the air was indeed full of verbal knives. -Both had voted for Doris Monroe for president of -the sophomore class. Both had pledged themselves, -with certain other girls at the Hall, to “boost” Doris -and “down” Augusta Forbes. Now they were -squabbling fiercely over the lovely, indifferent object -of their girl devotion. In their jealous anger -with each other they had blindly overlooked the old -saying: “In union there is strength.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER IV.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>TESTING TWO TRAVELERS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“Remember, friends and fellow Travelers, this is -a serious occasion.” Ronny, as president of the original -Five Travelers, stood facing her companions -who had disposed themselves four in a row on Jerry’s -couch-bed and on chairs in alignment with the couch.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s not very serious any of us are looking, nor -our worthy president, either,” Leila declared, throwing -Ronny a twinkling glance.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Never judge by appearances—so very reckless, -don’t you know,” Ronny rebuked, her charming face -full of mischief.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“On with the meeting. No stops allowed for repartee. -We’ve a lot to do, and a spread to eat up -afterward,” Jerry announced in her most judicial -tones.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Thank you for your delicate reminder that time -is flying, Jeremiah.” Ronny made Jerry a deep bow, -meant to convey her humble gratitude. “As I was -about to say when I was interrupted”—Ronny -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>stared hard at Leila—“we are to pass upon the -names written on slips in this box.” She held up a -small square box of ornamental brass.</p> - -<p class='c005'>During their initial railway journey to Hamilton -College more than four years previous the quintette -of Sanford chums had helped while away the long -hours on the train by banding themselves into a -private, informal club which they named the Five -Travelers’ Club. They had found interest in looking -upon themselves as five travelers about to explore -the unknown country of College.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The little association had flourished and been a -comfort to them during their freshman year. Every -now and then, as the journey through the country of -college continued they had added a member to the -group. When Commencement and the end of their -proscribed course came the still informal club had -become the Nineteen Travelers.</p> - -<p class='c005'>It had become the earnest desire of the Nineteen -Travelers to perpetuate the club as a sorority. -After much discussion it had been decided to leave -it as a parting gift to nineteen seniors. Due to the -multiplicity of duties which the original Nineteen -Travelers had pledged themselves to perform, the -organization of the new sorority was left, unfortunately, -until the last minute. By that time several -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>new-fledged seniors, eligible to membership, had departed -for their homes.</p> - -<p class='c005'>It was Ronny who had then proposed that each -Traveler should write on a slip of paper her choice -of senior to succeed her. The slips were to be placed -in a box, without having been examined, and the box -placed in Miss Remson’s care until the return the -next fall of the post graduate Travelers to Hamilton -College. To them would be intrusted the forming -of the new sorority.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I feel confident,” Ronny continued, “that the seniors -whose names are in this box are the very girls -we most wish to carry on our club. Still, in the -event that any one of you may have an objection -to a name as read out by me, I will count ten slowly -after the reading of each name. Anyone who may -make objection must say ‘no’ within the count, and -afterward frankly state her reason for so doing.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>With this preamble Ronny put a hand in the box, -drew from it a slip and solemnly read out: “Phyllis -Moore.” The laughing gleam in her gray eyes did -not accord with her solemn face. “One, two——” -she began.</p> - -<p class='c005'>A chorus of laughter drowned her voice, mingled -with cries of: “No; no, indeed! I object.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Mercy on us!” Up went Ronny’s hands. “Such -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>strenuous objections! Sh-h-h. Be calm and state -our objections, one at a time.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We can’t decide as to her qualifications for membership -until she has been put to the test,” boldly demanded -Lillian Wenderblatt.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Very well,” Ronny agreed with the utmost amiability.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Poor me.” Phil groaned audibly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I would suggest that action be suspended on the -candidate to be tested until the other names have -been passed upon. In the event that there may be -other candidates for the test they may then be put -to the ordeal together.” Marjorie made this sly proviso, -and with apparent innocence.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Other candidates!” exclaimed Barbara Severn. -“I know only one other besides Phil. Poor me!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Barbara Severn.” Ronny promptly read out her -name. Another burst of vigorous, laughing “Noes” -ascended. Barbara was also condemned to the test.</p> - -<p class='c005'>During the Nineteen Travelers’ senior year at -Hamilton they had more than once invited Phil and -Barbara to become members of the club. Both had -refused the invitation, preferring to receive their -election as a parting gift from their elder sisters. -They had been as invaluable to the Travelers, however, -as though they had been members. Now their -comrades proposed to show appreciation in their own -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>peculiar fashion. None of the seventeen other names -which Ronny read out for the august consideration -of the Travelers were challenged.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I am sure you will be pleased to hear that Miss -Mason and Jer—Miss Macy will conduct the test,” -Ronny purred to the hapless candidates.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That’s right, half call me Jeremiah. Everyone’s -only about half respectful to me,” grumbled Jerry.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, we’re de-lighted,” Barbara and Phil together -satirically responded.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“So glad. As all appear to be pleased let the test -begin,” Ronny smiled encouragingly on the candidates.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Ahem-m! Candidates rise and come forward. -Stand there; exactly in line,” Jerry dictated grandly. -“You will now listen to Miss Mason while she explains -to you the nature of the first test.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Vera came smilingly toward the two girls. “Here -is a penny for each of you,” she said generously. -“You are not to spend it for candy. No, no.” She -shook a forbidding finger at them. “You are to get -down on the floor and each shove your penny to the -door and”—she beamed beneficently on her victims—“with -your nose.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Woof-f!” Phil made a despairing gesture.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I can never do it,” giggled Barbara, “but I’ll -try.”</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>“We are waiting.” Vera sweetly indicated the -place on the rug on which the unlucky candidates -were to prostrate themselves.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Phil was first to obey. Barbara paused to watch -her and learn the way such a feat was to be performed. -It took Phil not more than a minute to -discover that creeping as a means of locomotion -would not aid her penny’s progress to the door. She -was obliged to lie flat to the floor, face downward, -and wriggle very slowly toward the goal, aiming -constant dabs at the penny with her nose.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Her gallant progress in spite of odds so entertained -Barbara she had to be reminded of her part -in the test. She proved not nearly as skillful as Phil -in the art of penny-shoving. Meanwhile the room -rang with laughter.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“The candidates will now be allowed a breathing -spell while I consult with my valued assistant and -prepare the next degree,” was Jerry’s gracious announcement -after Phil had triumphantly pushed her -penny the required distance and Barbara had shoved -hers over half way to the door.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The next degree appeared in the form of two -rows of potatoes, placed at short distances apart. At -one end of each row was a basket. Jerry handed Phil -and Barbara each a teaspoon and assigned them to -a potato row. “Start at this end. Pick up the potatoes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>on your teaspoon and carry them to the basket,” -was her next bland instruction.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That sounds easy,” sighed Barbara. “Oh, my -nose,” she tenderly rubbed it.</p> - -<p class='c005'>To balance a good-sized potato on a teaspoon and -carry it across a room is a feat which requires practice. -Phyllis and Barbara were novices at it. They -toiled patiently at the ridiculous task while the Travelers -had a hilarious time at their expense. Before -either had succeeded in placing more than two or -three potatoes in their baskets Vera called them off -the job.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We’ll have to take your will for the deed,” she -told them. “Your sense of balance seems to be -sadly lacking. Don’t be discouraged. Both of you -have splendid useful noses even if your potato -carrying was wobbly. You’ve done nobly. Now we -are going to give you a feed. I hope you won’t mind -being blindfolded for a little while. It’s quite necessary.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Nothing could please us more,” Phil assured extravagantly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Whoever heard of an initiation without the candidates -were blindfolded? Go as far as you like.” -Barbara was equally gracious.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Jerry proceeded to blindfold the two in her business-like way. -Next she motioned to Vera, who -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>brought forward two bungalow aprons. She and -Vera politely assisted Phil and Barbara into the -aprons. The pair were then led to chairs and ordered -to be seated.</p> - -<p class='c005'>From the top shelf of her dress closet Jerry took -a square pasteboard box. Opened, two immense, -shining cream puffs were revealed. Laughter greeted -the sight of them. The other Travelers recognized -the puffs as having come from a certain bakery -in the town of Hamilton where the size of the dainty -and its extra-generous cream filling had popularized -it among the Hamilton College girls.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Here, Phyllis Marie Moore; you can’t say I never -treated you. In the absence of plates, hold out both -hands.” Jerry lifted one of the huge puffs from -the box and carefully set it in Phil’s obediently outstretched -hands. She then went through the same -performance with Barbara as the recipient. “Eat -them nicely,” she admonished with wicked significance.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Eat them nicely,” mimicked Barbara. “I can’t -eat a cream puff nicely when I can see every bite I -take of it. Blindfolded—good night!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“They’re awfully good anyway,” consoled Phil. -She held the puff in one hand and went cautiously -over the humps and bumps of the big pastry shell. -She boldly attacked a corner which promised not to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>let out too copiously the fairly thin cream filling. -She did very well until she had eaten away enough -of the shell to court disaster. It would have been -hard enough to eat the puff daintily had she been -able to see it. Minus sight and a plate or paper -napkin on which to place it she soon managed to -smear her face, hands and apron liberally with -cream. She ate away desperately but there appeared -to be twice as much filling as should have been.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Barbara did far worse at puff eating than Phyllis. -Her frantic efforts to keep the cream within the -bounds of its crisp brown shell sent her companions -into shrieks of laughter. Worse still for them, Jerry -had decreed that they could not wipe either hands -or faces until she gave the word.</p> - -<p class='c005'>In the midst of the fun Marjorie obeyed a sudden -impulse to leave the room and stand in the hall outside -the door for a moment. She slipped away unnoticed, -anxious to ascertain how plainly the laughter -and talk of her companies sounded from outside. -She and Jerry had hung three heavy portieres which -Miss Remson had given them before the door leading -into the hall and before the doors of the two -dress closets. The manager had assured her that -the portieres would serve to a great extent to deaden -sounds from within the room.</p> - -<p class='c005'>She smiled her relieved satisfaction after she had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>listened intently for three or four minutes. She -could hear only faintly the sounds of conversation -mingled with laughter. She was of the opinion that -such sounds would not be disturbing to any student -on the same floor.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Watchman, tell us of the night,” hailed Jerry as -Marjorie again stepped into the room. “I know -what you’ve been doing. You’ve been listening to -how noisy we are.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Right-o, Jeremiah. And we haven’t been disgracefully -noisy, after all,” Marjorie gaily assured. -“While the girls were laughing loudest at Barbara -and Phil I stole out of here into the hall. I wanted -to find out, if I could, just how noisy we were. That -heavy curtain we hung over the door shuts the sound -in beautifully. You can only hear it faintly from -the hall.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Good work, Bean; good work.” Jerry patted -Marjorie on the back. “We’ve two more stunts to -put Phil and Barbara through yet and the crowd is -getting hilariouser and hilariouser. Listen to them -now.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>A fresh gale of mirth testified to the truth of -Jerry’s remarks. It assaulted Marjorie’s critical ears -with almost dismaying force. Reminded of what -she had just proven to her own satisfaction she grew -reassured. Since that day, early in the fall, when -<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>Doris Monroe had reported the joyful little welcome -party in Gussie Forbes’ room to Miss Remson as -disturbing to her peace Marjorie and Jerry had been -expecting the same dire fate would overtake them. -Their room was the Travelers’ headquarters as well -as a favorite haunt of the five Bertram girls. “It’s -our positive good fortune that we escaped thus far,” -Marjorie had more than once told Jerry.</p> - -<p class='c005'>In itself to have been reported to Miss Remson as -disturbers would not have troubled Marjorie and -Jerry. Understanding between them and the brisk -little manager of the Hall was complete. It was -their standing as post graduates, their college honor -which they prided themselves upon. As post graduates -they would be first to be weighed in the balance. -They ardently desired not to be found wanting -even in small things.</p> - -<p class='c005'>What Marjorie had not known when she returned -to Room 15 after her brief moment of listening in -the hall was that she had been observed. Across the -hall from Room 15 two interested sophomores had -kept diligent watch since the Travelers had come upstairs -from dinner. With their own door a few -stealthy inches ajar they had heard, or imagined they -heard, what they had been longing to hear—noise -enough from “those tiresome, interfering P.G.’s” to -warrant prompt action on their part.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER V.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>A LEADING QUESTION</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>Action came while Phil and Barbara were engaged -in removing at least a third of the creamy contents -of the puffs from faces, hands, necks and even -hair. They “cleaned up” amidst the laughter and -gay raillery of their friends.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“How much more must we endure?” demanded -Barbara as she dried her cleansed features with a -Turkish towel and began lightly powdering them at -the mirror.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, not so much,” tantalized Jerry. “There are -a few more little stunts that——” Two imperative -raps on the door sent Jerry hurrying to it. She -pushed the portiere to one side; swung open the door -to confront the tall, squarely-built sophomore whom -she had nicknamed the Prime Minister.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Good evening,” she said in level tones. Her keen -eyes were missing nothing. Her mind leaped at once -to the nature of the other girl’s intrusion, for such -it was.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>“Good evening.” Her salutation was returned -with haughty aggression. In fact every line of the -sophomore’s broad face and stiff, unyielding figure -spelled aggression. Her peculiarly round black eyes, -blacker in contrast to the unhealthy white of her -skin, resentfully searched Jerry up and down.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I wish to speak to Miss Dean at once,” she demanded. -“I know she is here.” She eyed Jerry belligerently, -as though to forestall a denial on her -part.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Of course she is here. We are entertaining our -friends.” Jerry’s matter-of-fact reply brought a dull -flush to Miss Peyton’s pale cheeks. “Will you come -in?” The concise invitation had a certain restraining -effect upon the frowning caller.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“No, I will not,” she refused, her own inflexion -rude. “Ask Miss Dean to come to the door. I wish -to speak to her, and to you.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Very well.” Jerry appeared non-committal. -“Just a moment.” She turned away from the door -and beckoned to Marjorie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie left Barbara and Phil, whom she had -been assisting in the removal of the sticky traces of -the puff test, and walked quickly to the door. In -that brief second on the way to it a flash of dismay -visited her. It drove from her eyes the light of -laughter occasioned by Phil’s and Barbara’s complaining -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>nonsense as they scrubbed faces and hands.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What is it, Jerry?” she asked as she reached her -room-mate.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Jerry opened the door wider and made room for -Marjorie in the doorway beside her. “Miss Peyton -has something she wishes to say to us.” Jerry’s -round face was enigmatic. Marjorie had but to -glance at it to read there what others might not.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Within the room the buzz of conversation had -lessened to a mere murmur. Muriel had been entertaining -her chums with a flow of her funny nonsense. -Even she had run down suddenly, seized by -the same surmise which had occurred to her companions. -Too courteous to stare boldly toward the -door, canny conjecture as to the caller’s errand temporarily -halted the will to talk.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Good evening, Miss Peyton.” Marjorie’s straight -glance into the soph’s smouldering eyes was courteously -inquiring. Ordinarily she might have followed -the greeting with a pleasantry. What she -read in Julia Peyton’s face held her silent; waiting.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I have come to speak to you and Miss Macy about -the noise you have been making this evening,” blurted -the sophomore, dropping all pretense of courtesy. -“It is not only tonight I speak of. Almost every -other night we have been annoyed by the noise in -your room. It makes study impossible. We have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>endured it without complaining, but we have had -every reason for reporting it. Tonight you and your -friends have been more annoying than usual. I decided -the time had come to let you know it.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Before she could say more Marjorie broke in -evenly with: “It is true that there is a larger party -of girls than usual in our room tonight. We have -been conducting an informal meeting of a club of -which we are members. We spoke to Miss Remson -beforehand, asking permission to hold the meeting -in our room. We——”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, <i>Miss Remson</i>!” was the contemptuous exclamation. -“She cannot be depended upon for fairness. -We understand where her sympathies lie. We -have spoken to her——” The sophomore stopped -abruptly, caught in a contradiction of her own previous -statement of not having complained.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Pardon me. I understood you to say that you -had not complained.” Jerry could not resist a lightning -opportunity to discomfit the other girl.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I should have said that we had not—that we—that -we had not reported you to President -Matthews,” amended Miss Peyton, glancing angrily -at Jerry. Aggressive from the start she was fast -losing her temper.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I cannot allow you to accuse Miss Remson of -unfairness without offering my strongest defense in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>her behalf.” Righteous indignation lent sternness -to Marjorie’s clear tones. “She is never unfair. She -is always dependable. Since you have said that you -reported us to her, I must believe you. She has not -mentioned the matter to us. That means she does -not consider us at fault.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, certainly she doesn’t,” was the sarcastic retort -accompanied by a significant shrug of the square -shoulders. “<i>That is precisely the trouble.</i>”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Please allow me to finish what I had begun to -say to you.” Marjorie made a dignified little gesture. -“On the day when Miss Monroe reported Miss -Forbes and a few of us who were in her room welcoming -her back to college, we talked things over -with Miss Remson. Since then we have been more -careful not to give offense to other students at the -Hall than at any time during our past four years at -Hamilton. Miss Remson gave us heavy portieres -to hang before the doors when we expected to entertain -a number of girls. These deaden the sound. -You can see for yourself how heavy and closely-woven -this one is.” Marjorie took hold of a fold of -the portiere. “I purposely went into the hall tonight -and closed the door after me to find out if we were -too noisy. I was surprised at the small amount of -noise that came from our room.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I am surprised to hear such statements from a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>post graduate.” Julia Peyton gave a discomfited -sarcastic laugh. “Frankly, Miss Dean, I have been -so disappointed in you. When first I came to Hamilton -I had the greatest respect for you. I regret -that I should have been obliged to change that opinion.” -Julia believed she had said something extremely -telling. “Yes; and I do not approve of the -way your post graduate friends have tried to run -Wayland Hall. It surely does not add to Miss Langly’s -credit as a member of the faculty,” she ended in -malicious triumph. She was inwardly furious at -Marjorie’s and Jerry’s quiet but determined defense -of their own conduct.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Your harsh opinion of our friends is not justified.” -Marjorie’s curt proud tones contained censure. -“Let me advise you to be careful and not repeat -such opinions on the campus. Our friends -would not suffer as a result. They are known to be -true to the traditions of Hamilton. You would -merely succeed in creating unpleasantness for yourself.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I don’t care for your advice.” Miss Peyton -blazed into sudden wrath. “You are only trying to -frighten me into not reporting you and your friends. -You meant yourself, too, but you were clever enough -not to include yourself in your remarks. I shall report -the whole affair to President Matthews; not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>later than tomorrow morning.” She whirled angrily; -started across the hall.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Wait a minute.” Something in Jerry’s tone -arrested the miffed soph’s progress. “I’d like to ask -you a question.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Well?” Miss Peyton put untold frost into the -interrogation.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why”—Jerry paused—“if you and your room-mate -were so greatly disturbed by our noise, did you -not close your door? That would have at least -helped considerably to shut out the noise.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Our door was—” began the soph furiously.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Partly open,” supplied Jerry. “I am quite sure -it was,” she continued sweetly, “because I happened -to go into the hall and saw for myself.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER VI.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>LITTLE HOPE FOR P. G.’S</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“Stung, and by the truth!” Jerry gave an exultant -skip into their room behind Marjorie and hastily -closed the door. Miss Peyton, confronted by unassailable -truth, had no defense ready. She glared -wrathfully at Jerry and Marjorie and hurriedly disappeared -into her room.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We can guess what it’s all about,” greeted Muriel -Harding. “We ought to be shocked and amazed, -Marvelous Manager, at <i>you</i> for fussing. We might -expect it of Jeremiah.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You might; you bet you might. I’d have done -all the fussing this time if Marjorie hadn’t begun -answering that trouble hunter first. Believe me Leila, -the first attack in the Battle of Wayland Hall was -made right at our door. I’m happy to announce -that the enemy was sent fleeing across the hall with -one good hot shot fired by the Travelers’ friend, -J. J. G. Macy. <i>I’m the one.</i>” Jerry proudly -thumped her chest.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>“Could you hear what we were saying?” Marjorie -glanced interestedly about the half circle of -girls, eagerly formed around her. “I know you -would try <i>not</i> to listen.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We could hear only a word now and then,” Vera -made haste to answer. “Of course it was a complaint -about us. What is the matter with these -sophs? They weren’t so obstreperous last year as -freshies?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I took Miss Peyton to the freshman hop last -year,” said Lillian Wenderblatt. “As a Traveler in -the midst of Travelers I may say she was very ungracious -to me. I accepted her rudeness as not having -been intentional; laid it to her natural manner. -Since I’ve heard her rated as the rudest student on -the campus.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Gussie Forbes says that the freshies who made -life hard for her and her pals last year are the -sophs who are trying to do it again this year,” said -Phyllis Moore.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Gussie is a wise child. And with Muriel’s celebrated -Ice Queen to add to the snarl what hope is -there for a few poor old P. G. ladies who had hoped -to live out their days in peace on the campus? Oh, -wurra, wurra!” Leila crossed her hands over her -breast, clutched her shoulders with her fingers, -thrust out her chin and rocked herself to and fro -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>with the appearance of a mourning old woman.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What a dandy old woman you make, Leila. I’m -going to cast you for an old hag part in a melodrama, -if I can find a good one. The campus is -howling for a truly lurid one with outlaws, an abducted -child, a lost heiress, an old hag and various -other nice pleasant little characters.” Robin was -always on the lookout for features. “We can ask -three dollars a seat for a zipping old ‘dramer’ and -crowd the gym.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s a good deal more pleasant to talk of shows -than fusses,” Marjorie declared, smiling at Robin’s -latest ambition. Glancing up at the wall clock she -gave a quick exclamation. “Jerry,” she cried, “we’ll -have to trot out the spread instanter!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Don’t I know it. I’ve already begun.” Jerry -made a dive toward her closet.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What about those two stunts for the candidates?” -Lucy Warner caught Jerry by an arm.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why, Luciferous, how you do like to see people -get into trouble, don’t you?” grinned Jerry.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Lucy’s grave, studious face relaxed into the wide, -utterly pleased smile which Muriel and Jerry both -enjoyed calling to it. She broke into the funny little -half giggle, half gurgle which was always productive -of laughter in others.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“The <i>idea</i>, <i>Luciferous</i>, of your calling attention -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>to poor Barbara and me after all we’ve suffered!” -Phil turned reproachful blue eyes on Lucy.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, I’m not so mean as you think me,” Lucy’s -odd greenish eyes flashed warm lights of fun. “It -was a case of either stunts or eats. It’s going to -be eats, so good night stunts.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“‘Good night stunts,’” repeated Muriel. “You -never learned them words from Prexy Matthews, -Luciferous.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I should hope not,” chuckled Lucy. “All the -slang I know I learned from you and Jeremiah. -Kindly remember that.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I wish to forget it immediately,” Muriel looked -askance at the accusation.</p> - -<p class='c005'>With the hands of the clock pointing to ten minutes -to ten Marjorie and Jerry, with Leila’s and -Vera’s help rushed the eatables for the spread to -the center table. Leila had furnished a box of Irish -sweet crackers and a case of imported ginger ale. -The ginger ale had arrived only the day before from -across the ocean. Sweet pickles, stuffed olives, -stuffed dates, salted almonds and small fancy cakes -comprised the lay-out. There had been no time to -make sandwiches.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Supplied with paper napkins and paper plates the -guests helped themselves to the spread. They formed -in an irregular group on each side of Jerry’s couch -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>which held its usual four of their number. Marjorie -and Jerry seated themselves on the floor in front -of the couch bed. Unintentionally they formed the -center of the group.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“At last you can tell us what was said at the -door,” sighed Robin. “It isn’t curious to want to -know, since we are concerned in it, too.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I wish you to know,” Marjorie reflectively bit -into a maccaroon. “I’ll try to repeat as exactly as I -can what was said. Then you’ll understand the -situation better.” She recounted the conversation -which had taken place at the door between herself -and Miss Peyton.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Report us to Prexy; the idea!” scoffed Lillian -Wenderblatt. “She is an ambitious trouble hunter. -She’ll find plenty of troubles if she carries any such -tale to him.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I should say as much!” was Vera’s indignant -cry. “Imagine a soph reporting P. G.’s and double -P. G.’s and faculty and the P. G. daughter of Professor -Wenderblatt! Not to mention Prexy’s own -indispensible private secretary! And for what? No -vestige of a reason.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“If she does report us, Prexy’s own indispensible -private secretary will take action,” threatened Lucy. -“I’d be the first person the president would ask -about it. If Miss Peyton went to see him in person -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>I’d hear of it from him afterward; I’m sure. -If she wrote him, I’d see the letter and take the -answer he dictated. I’d ask him if I might tell you -girls about it, too.” The light of devotion shone -strongly in Lucy’s face.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Who’s Prexy? We’re not in awe of him with -our Luciferous on the job,” was Ronny’s confident -declaration. “Long may she flourish.” She held -up her glass of ginger ale. The others followed her -example, careful, however, to “Drink her down” -with repressed enthusiasm.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I ought to be ashamed to face my classes tomorrow -with the sword of Miss Peyton’s disapproval -hanging over my head,” Kathie remarked in the -pleasant lull that followed the drinking of the toast -to Lucy.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“But are you?” quizzed Muriel. “I’m afraid from -your tone that you aren’t.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Your fears are well grounded,” laughed Kathie. -“The sophs and freshies at the Hall, judging from -accounts, seem to be positively childish,” she continued -in a more serious way. “They’re not snobs -as the Sans were. There’s some hope for them. I’ll -venture to say that before next June Marvelous -Manager will have managed them.” Her prediction -was one of confident affection.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Such a foolish name; and you will say it,” scolded -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>Marjorie and not quite in jest. “A fine manager -I am. I can’t even manage my own affairs. I can’t -decide whether to go home for Thanksgiving, or -stay here,” she added in self-derision.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“One thing we <i>must</i> decide before we separate,” -Ronny said with energy. “Where shall we meet -tomorrow night? Remember we shall be twenty-nine -strong. We can’t hold the meeting in one of -our rooms. We must have plenty of space for our -new Travelers. The living room down stairs isn’t -private enough. Has anyone a really brilliant suggestion. -No other kind is desired. Save your -breath.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I have. Hold the meeting in our library,” proposed -Lillian Wenderblatt. “I’ll put a sign on the -library door before dinner tomorrow night: ‘Professor -Wenderblatt: Keep Out,’ and lead Father to the -door to look at it. Then he won’t bolt into the -room with maybe two or three other professors in -the middle of our meeting.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Lillian’s proposal was received with approbation -and accepted with alacrity. Leila, Vera, Robin and -Lillian were chosen to notify the fortunate seniors of -the honor in store for them. The rest of the details -of the meeting were quickly arranged. Ten-thirty -was not far off.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Don’t imagine for a minute that you have seen -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>the last of your initiation,” Jerry informed Phil and -Barbara, a threatening gleam in her eye. “There -are still those two degrees, you know.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, forget them. We shall,” Phil made untroubled -return.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You may forget, but I—nevv-vur.” Jerry struck -an attitude.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Nor I.” Muriel dramatically tapped her chest -and glared at Phil. “’Sdeath to all quitters,” she -hissed.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, glorious for my melodrama!” admired -Robin. “You and Jeremiah shall be the villains.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I choose to be the principal, double-dyed scoundrel -of the show,” stipulated Muriel, “or else I’ll refuse -to see your play. I spurn anything and everything -but complete villainy.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Give me a better part than Muriel or I won’t act,” -balked Jerry.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m going to fly before any more actors go on -a strike,” Robin raised a protesting hand. “I must -look out for Page and Dean’s melodramer.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Only birds, insects, aviators and ‘sich’ fly,” -criticized Phil. “I simply must get back at you for -not giving me a cousinly warning of what was in -store for me tonight.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Seniors, P. G.’s and faculty will add to the flying -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>classification or lose what shreds of reputation for -integrity they have left,” laughed Kathie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“An added word of warning:—Hotfoot it lightly.” -Jerry’s forceful if inelegant injunction sent the -initiation party down the hall dutifully smothering -their easily summoned mirth. Jerry accompanied -the party to the head of the stairs. She returned -to the room, keeping an alert watch as she walked -on a certain door across the hall. This time she -noted with satisfaction that it was tightly closed.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER VII.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>JERRY SPEAKS HER MIND</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“The ten-thirty rule will have to chase itself -merrily around the campus,” Jerry made airy disposition -of that time-honored regulation as she entered -the room which Marjorie was already beginning -to set to rights. With her usual energy the -stout girl gathered up the glasses, tucking them one -inside another and setting them in a compact row -at one end of the study table.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I agree with you, Jeremiah. I have letters to -read that must be read, ten-thirty rule or no.” Marjorie -whisked an armful of crumpled paper napkins -and empty paper plates into the waste basket. -“There;” she cleared the table of crumbs; “that’ll -do for tonight. Thank goodness, all the eats were -eaten.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I can count on my fingers the times we’ve defied -old ten-thirty,” Jerry declared as she reached -in the table drawer for her two letters.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>“Ten times in four years,” Marjorie commented. -“That’s a good record.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“True, Bean, true. When we stop to consider the -past—how wonderful we are!” Jerry simpered self-appreciatively -at Marjorie as she sat down under the -drop light with her letters.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“How can I help but believe it when you say it -like that?” rallied Marjorie. “Anyway, you’re a -gem, Jeremiah. I was never more agreeably surprised -than when you turned the tables on Miss -Peyton tonight. I hadn’t noticed that their door -stood open. But you had, smart child. I had no -idea you’d been out in the hall on a tour of discovery.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I went directly after you were out there. I had -a hunch that the Ice Queen would start something. -So she did—through those two geese. They had that -room last year and didn’t appear to mind our occasional -soirees. But there’s still another and a chief -disturber—Leslie Cairns. She’s back of the Ice -Queen.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I think so, too,” Marjorie admitted with reluctance. -“I have seen them together several times. -Leslie Cairns has other friends on the campus, too. -Muriel and I saw her and Miss Monroe coming out -of Craig Hall this afternoon.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You did?” Jerry showed surprise. “I’ll investigate -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>that. I may find out something interesting. -Miss Morris, that nice senior you’ve heard me speak -of, who came to the campus last fall from Vassar, -says there are only seniors and juniors at Craig Hall -this year. Perhaps it was the Ice Queen’s friends -she and Leslie Cairns were calling upon.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That may be,” Marjorie agreed. “I wonder if -Miss Monroe likes Leslie Cairns? Perhaps she -cares more about cars and expensive clothes and -spending money than anything else. We don’t know -her, so we can’t even guess what sort of girl she is -at heart.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I know what will happen to her if she puts any -dependence in Leslie Cairns,” Jerry said grimly. -“Don’t waste your sympathy on her, Marjorie. She -isn’t worthy of it.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I don’t know why I feel so sorry about her, but -I do,” Marjorie confessed. “Whenever I see that -beautiful face of hers I forget she’s been so ungracious -to us. She’s not a namby-pamby kind of pretty -girl. She has a high, royal kind of beauty. I’ve not -given her up yet, Jeremiah. I’m going to try popularity -for her against Leslie Cairns’ money. I’m going -to put her in the first show we have. I’ll have -Robin ask her. I’ll stay in the background for -awhile.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Nil desperandum,” Jerry encouraged with an indulgent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>grin. “Mignon La Salle reformed just to -please Marvelous Manager. Why not others? Besides -there’s always the pleasant possibility that the -Hob-goblin and the Ice Queen may squabble and -part.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“So Muriel says. I mean about those two girls -disagreeing. You may make fun of me all you -please, Jerry. Just the same if we could win Miss -Monroe over to our side it would gradually put -everything straight here at the Hall. If Miss Monroe -became our friend, she would probably become -friends with the Bertram five. She’s friends already -with the other sophs and freshies here. Things which -are equal to the same thing are equal to each other, -you know. Leslie Cairns’ friendship cannot be beneficial -to her. I am sure of that. Yet to warn her -against Miss Cairns would be contemptible. Excuse -me, Jeremiah, for keeping you from your letters!” -Marjorie exclaimed in sudden contrition. -“It’ll be midnight before I’ve read all these.” She -flourished the handful of letters before Jerry’s eyes.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Go to it, or it may be morning. Why waste -precious time flaunting your letters in my face? -Why should your five to my two make you vainglorious?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Who’s vainglorious?” Marjorie made a half -threatening move up from her chair. She dropped -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>back again, laughing, as Jerry nimbly put the length -of the table between them.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Lots of people are vainglorious.” Jerry wisely -grew vague. “Don’t bother me, Bean. I hope to -read my letters in peace and quiet. Yes?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“<i>So do I</i>,” emphasized Marjorie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The chums exchanged good-humored smiles, born -of perfect understanding and settled down to the -patiently deferred reading of their letters.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Jerry read Helen’s letter first. She knew it would -be long and absorbing. Hal’s would be his usual -brief note. It was his weekly offering. Long since -Jerry had made him promise to write once a week -and had pledged herself to do the same by him. A -strong devotion lived between brother and sister -which had deepened year by year. Hal did not pretend -to understand Jerry from the standpoint of -girlhood. To him she was a good comrade; “the -squarest kid going.” Jerry was of the private belief -that she knew Hal better than he knew himself.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Her one sorrowful concern in life was the knowledge -that Marjorie “couldn’t see old Hal for a -minute.” She would have tried to further Hal’s -unflourishing cause with Marjorie, but there seemed -to be no way of accomplishment. She knew only -too well Marjorie’s utter lack of sentimental interest -in Hal; her rooted aloofness to “love” as Hal had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>hoped she might experience it. “A regular stony -heart,” Jerry had secretly characterized her.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Jerry had shrewdly divined for herself the true -state of affairs between the two. Neither had ever -spoken intimately to her of the other. Nevertheless -when Marjorie had left Severn Beach for her midsummer -journey to Hamilton during the summer -previous, Jerry had been convinced that she had -“turned Hal down.” She had wondered then, and -since, how Marjorie could fail to love her big, handsome -brother—not because he had been devoted to -her since their first meeting—but for himself.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The expression of good-natured amusement which -had visited her face during the reading of Helen’s -letter remained until she had read Hal’s note several -times. Then concern replaced it, making her round -face very solemn. She shot a covert glance at -Marjorie who was deep in Mary Raymond’s letter. -She had already devoured the contents of her -General’s and Captain’s letters. Both had been -comparatively short and loving inquiries as to -whether they might hope for her “gracious presence -at Castle Dean over Thanksgiving.” Neither superior -officer had made a point of asking her to -come home. Unselfishly, as ever, they deferred to -her judgment.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie had gulped down her rising emotions -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>as she had read and realized afresh her father’s and -mother’s breadth of spirit. She had taken up Mary’s -letter, feeling that she must go home at all events -for the holiday. Mary had the long and astonishing -confidence to impart that she had fallen in love, -was engaged to be married the following September -and that her engagement was soon to be announced -at a formal luncheon to be given for her by her -mother.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, Jerry!” Marjorie looked up brightly from -her letter. “Mary’s going to be married. I’ll tell -you all she writes about the great event while we -are getting ready for bed. I haven’t time now.” -Her hands were busy opening the letter from Constance -as she spoke. Again she dropped into silence -and the perusal of Connie’s letter. “Isn’t it too -bad?” she soon cried out. “Connie and Laurie are -not going to be in Sanford for Thanksgiving. Laurie -promised a composer friend of his to be present at -the first performance of his new opera ‘The Azure -Butterfly.’ He and Connie are going to New York.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That settles it for me. There’ll be one distinguished -mug missing on the campus. I’m going -home for Turkey Day.” Marjorie’s news concerning -Constance and Laurie had crystalized Jerry’s -wavering resolve to go to Sanford. “Poor old Hal! -A fine time he’d have with all of us away!”</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>A swift flood of crimson deepened the glow in -Marjorie’s cheeks; rose even to her white forehead. -She stared self-consciously at Jerry for an instant. -Without a word she laid down Connie’s letter and -took up the envelope addressed to her in Charlie -Stevens’ straggling hand.</p> - -<p class='c005'>First exploration of its contents and she broke into -a low amused laugh: “Do listen to this, Jerry,” -she begged.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Jerry raised her eyes from Hal’s letter, at which -she had been soberly staring. She was provoked -with herself for having mentioned Hal to Marjorie -as an object for sympathy.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Occupied with the letter from Charlie, Marjorie -did not notice Jerry’s gloomy features. Mirthfully -she read:</p> - -<p class='c006'>“<span class='sc'>Dear Marjorie</span>:</p> - -<p class='c006'>“I think your last letter to me was a dandy. I -read it twice and I was going to read it again only -I lost it. Maybe I lost it on the football ground or -in the street. But if anyone finds it they’ll see your -name on the end of it and guess that I am the right -Charlie it belongs to. Then I might get it again. -I know you won’t be mad cause I lost it. I couldn’t -help it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>“Connie is going to New York with Laurie for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>Thanksgiving. She has to go because he is her husband. -We are very sorry. I don’t mean we are -sorry because Laurie is her husband but because they -are going away. The band is coming to our house -for a party on Thanksgiving evening. I am going -to play an awful hard piece on my fiddle that Father -Stevens composed just for me. You’d better come -home and then you can come to see us that night. -I like you, Marjorie, quite a bit better than Mary -Raymond. Connie says Mary is going to be married. -I used to say when I was real little that I was -going to marry her. I don’t say it now. I didn’t -know any better then.</p> - -<p class='c006'>“I hope there will be snow and ice on Thanksgiving. -Will you go skating on the pond with me -if there is? I can skate fine and make a figure eight -and a double loop on the ice. Hal Macy took me -to the Sanford ice rink last Saturday afternoon. -He showed me how to make the figure eight. He -is a dandy fellow, only he doesn’t talk much. You -ought to see him play basket ball. He has all the -Sanford fellows beat. I like him because he always -goes around with the fellows and not the girls. -He thinks you are quite nice. I let him read your -letter before I lost it and he said I was a lucky kid. -I could write some more but I can’t think just what -to write. I will write some more some other time. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>You had better come home soon. You and me and -Hal Macy will go skating. It is all right for you -to go with him. He would just as soon go any -place with you because he has been to your house -lots of times to parties and you have been to his -house and that’s the way it is. I have to go and -practice an hour on my fiddle so good-bye Marjorie -and I send you my love. Hurry up home.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“From your best friend,</div> - <div class='line'> “<span class='sc'>Charlie Stevens</span>.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c005'>“Good for that kid!” The cry of approbation -came straight from Jerry’s heart. “Old Hal has -had a lonesome time in Sanford for the past two -years. He could have gone into business for himself -in New York after he was graduated from college, -but he knew Father needed him in his business.” -Jerry checked herself with the reminder that -Hal would not wish her to glorify him, especially -to Marjorie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Hal is splendid.” Marjorie was always first to -give Hal his due, impersonally. “I know it has been -lonesome for him in Sanford without the old crowd -and—and—he must miss you so, Jerry,” she finished -rather lamely. She meant it in all earnestness. She -understood perfectly the bond between Hal and -Jerry.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>“Not half so much as I’m sure he misses you.” -Jerry grew bold for once. “This is what he has -written me. You can see for yourself what a good -sport he is.” She did not look at Marjorie as she -read:</p> - -<p class='c006'>“<span class='sc'>Dear Jerry</span>:</p> - -<p class='c006'>“Yours of last week appreciated. You haven’t -yet said what you are going to do about Thanksgiving. -That I suppose will depend on the way matters -stand at Hamilton. If you don’t come home I -will keep Father and Mother busy looking after me -so they won’t miss you too much. Connie and -Laurie will be in New York over Thanksgiving so -I must cheer up Charlie by taking him to the football -game between the Riverside Giants and the Sanford -High team. I have been coaching the Sanford -fellows a little. It’s going to be some game. Hope -you’ll be on hand to see it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>“Just remind Marjorie that I wrote her last. Tell -her she can square herself with me by coming home -for Thanksgiving. Connie told me yesterday she -had written to Marjorie. Hard lines to have Connie -and Laurie away on the grand old day. Better try -and see what you can do for me. With love. Good -night old kid.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span class='sc'>Hal.</span>”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>“Why, I don’t owe Hal a letter!” Marjorie regarded -Jerry in surprise. “He owes me one.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“He <i>does</i>?” Jerry showed more surprise than -had Marjorie. “Well, I believe both of you. It’s -a plain case of ‘all have won.’ Meanwhile where is -that latest glowing proof of a flourishing correspondence?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Lost in the mail, perhaps,” Marjorie guessed. -She became silent for a moment. “I’m doubly sorry -about it. I shouldn’t care to have Hal think—” -Marjorie paused; looked away from Jerry’s keen -blue eyes, so like Hal’s, in confused embarrassment.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You know what to do.” Jerry kindly ignored -the embarrassed slip. “Go present him with your -regrets in person. I’ll give a hop, and invite you to -it. Won’t that be nice? Old Hal won’t care if -you are the only one invited.” She could not refrain -from a side-long glance at Marjorie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Imagine Hal and me dancing solemnly around -your big ball room together, the only guests at your -hop.” Marjorie forced a laughing tone of raillery.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Nothing would please him better,” Jerry stoutly -maintained. It was the nearest to an opinion concerning -Hal’s and Marjorie’s non-progressive love -affair that wary Jerry had ever ventured.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>TWO THINGS SHE KNEW ABOUT LOVE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>This time the blue and brown eyes met squarely. -Marjorie’s expression was a mixture of tolerance, -vexation and resignation.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I said it.” Jerry read the glance aright. “I’ll -say it for myself, too. Nothing would please <i>me</i> -better. You know the rest. It’s the first, last and -only appearance of Jeremiah as a buttinski. I knew -that someday, somehow, somewhere I’d say something -about you and Hal. ’Scuse me, Bean, ’scuse -me.” Jerry’s apology was half joking, half earnest.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why—I—why—Jerry!” Marjorie stammered. -She grew rosy from white throat to the roots of -her curly hair. Concerning Hal’s avowal of love, -her captain had been her only confidant. Even Constance -did not know the circumstances of that bright -summer afternoon which she had spent with Hal -aboard the Oriole. “Why—Jurry-miar!” She used -Danny Seabrooke’s nickname for Jerry, with a rather -tremulous laugh. “Who—I never—”</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>“Nope; of course not.” Jerry’s reply was comfortingly -positive. “Both you and Hal belong to -the high inner order of the tight-shell clam. I can -only guess how you stand with each other. I know -he loves you. Never think he told me that. I knew -it almost as soon as we first met you. It’s the same -true love, broadened and deepened, that he’s giving -you today. I wish you cared about him even one-half -as much as he cares about you. You’d be loving -him some. But I’m afraid you don’t. And -that’s flat.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“No, Jerry I don’t, and it is a relief to be able -to say it frankly to you.” Marjorie’s recent confusion -was clearing away. Her grave serenity of -tone robbed her candid confession of all harshness.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ve always hated to believe you didn’t for Hal’s -sake. I was pretty sure of it last summer at the -beach,” was Jerry’s sober answer.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m <i>never</i> going to marry, Jeremiah,” Marjorie -informed her room-mate with a kind of pessimistic -solemnity. “If I couldn’t love Hal enough to be -his wife, knowing how splendid he is, surely I -couldn’t marry any other man. Don’t think me -selfish because I put my work at Hamilton above -love. It is life to me—my highest, most complete -ideal.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Jerry surveyed her chum’s lovely, but very dignified -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>features for an instant. She was divided between -a desire to admire Marjorie’s lofty purpose -in life and shake her soundly for her deliberate repudiation -of Hal and his warm true love.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I—I’m not sorry you spoke to me of Hal. I’d -like you to know that—that we’re not betrothed—nor -never will be.” Marjorie’s voice dropped on the -last four words. “Only Captain and General know. -Not even Connie. I don’t think I have the right to -tell her. If Hal tells Laurie, he may ask Laurie to -tell Connie. I hope so.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I know old Hal wouldn’t tell me.” Jerry’s -voiced conviction was emphatic. Jerry was more -disturbed than she then realized by the “wallop” -which Marjorie had managed to “hand” old Hal -somewhere along the road of time from the date -of Connie’s wedding. She was inwardly convinced -that the “turn-down” had come at the beach.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I shall tell him that I have told you, Jerry,” -Marjorie quietly announced. “It is Hal’s privilege -to tell Laurie and your father and mother. It was -mine to tell either you or Connie as my closest girl -friend. I have chosen to tell you. You are as dear -to me as Connie; but not dearer. Only—in this you -have the first right to know.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie smiled very tenderly on Jerry. Her -plump, but not over-plump, partner in the journey -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>through the land of college sat abstractedly scribbling -on the back of one of her envelopes, head bent -low. She was not far from tears. Jerry loathed -tears when, on rare occasions, she had been what -she termed “cry-baby” enough to shed them.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Much obliged.” She now spoke gruffly to hide -her threatened flow of emotion. “I—I wish you felt -differently about Hal, Marjorie. I—I—always -looked forward to having you for my sister in that -way.” Jerry absently turned the envelope over and -continued to write on its under side.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, Jeremiah, you’re just as much my sister -now as you would be if I were—” Marjorie suddenly -checked her impulsive assurance. Her honest -nature compelled her to desist. No; it was not the -same. She knew that no declaration of sisterhood -to Jerry on her part could compare with the delight -which would be her chum’s were they to become -sisters through her marriage with Hal.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Not the same, Bean; not the same.” Jerry shook -a positive head.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I know it isn’t. I knew it almost as soon as I -said it,” Marjorie admitted rather humbly. “I love -you a lot, Jerry. Most of all because you have always -loved me and wanted me for your sister. I’m -glad you spoke to me about Hal. There’s one thing -I can do for him. Go to Sanford and help you give -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>him a jolly Thanksgiving. We owe it to him to -please him; more than we do to please the dormitory -girls. He’s the one most in need of good cheer this -Thanksgiving.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Ha-a-a-a!” Jerry sat up very straight and drew -a long relieved breath. “You’re the best little sport, -Marjorie Dean! I was afraid you might not care -to see poor old Hallelujah on account of having -turned him down.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I sha’n’t mind seeing Hal,” Marjorie said slowly, -“for truly, Jerry, in my own way I like him as -well as ever. I haven’t changed toward Hal. My -attitude toward him is purely that of friendship. -But he has changed. We’re like two persons, standing -on opposite banks of a broad river, trying to -call across to each other. Neither of us can understand -the other. I wonder why true friendship can’t -content Hal. He wonders why I can’t understand -love.” She cast an almost mournful glance toward -Jerry which Jerry did not forget for many days -afterward.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I only know two things surely about love,” Marjorie -continued after a brief silence. “One is that -I have never been in love. The other is that without -love no marriage can be happy. And now let’s -not talk of love any more, <i>ever again</i>, Jeremiah,” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>she ended in a whimsical tone which made Jerry -smile.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“All right. Anything to please you, Bean,” she -replied. She was secretly elated over Marjorie’s decision -concerning Thanksgiving. Nothing could -please Hal more she was sure. “It’s midnight, anyway. -Time we put a curb on our talk fest.” She -rose to begin preparations for sleep. She would -have liked to assure Marjorie of how glad “old -Hal” would be, but had agreed to Marjorie’s taboo.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie gathered up her handful of letters from -the table, a contented little smile showing at the corners -of her red mouth. She was glad that she and -Jerry were going home; that the momentous decision -had been made. Picking up the last envelope -left on the table she saw it was not one of hers, but -Jerry’s. A fresh flood of scarlet flew to her cheeks -as she saw scribbled across the envelope in Jerry’s -hand: “Marjorie Dean Macy.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER IX.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>MEETING HER MATCH</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“Why won’t you go to New York over Thanksgiving, -Leslie?” Doris Monroe’s accustomed indifferent -drawl quickened to longing exasperation, all -but ready to burst bounds.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Don’t choose to,” came with laconic self-will -from Leslie Cairns. She cast an insolent, inquiring -glance toward Doris who was busy driving the -white car which Leslie had named the Dazzler and -loaned Doris for her own use. The pretty sophomore’s -injured expression brought a faintly mocking -smile to Leslie’s loose-lipped mouth.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, I know you don’t choose to,” declared Doris -in a purposely weary tone. She continued to keep -her eyes steadily on the road ahead. “<i>Why</i> don’t -you choose to?” she questioned, growing more -pointed.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You ought to know without asking,” Leslie -grumbled. “You are just like Natalie Weyman, my -New York pal. You can’t remember, or be taught -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>to remember, that business is business. Nat is as -crazy to have me go to the Weyman’s New York -house for Thanksgiving as you are to have me go -with you to New York. I can’t see either of you -when I have so much at stake here.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I beg your pardon.” Doris turned politely chilling. -“I had no intention of breaking in upon yours -and Miss Weyman’s plans.” Her coolness arose -not from jealousy. Leslie’s rebuff had hurt her -pride. She had more than once suspected that Leslie’s -frequent allusions to “my pal, Nat,” were made -simply to arouse her jealousy.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Doris was too comfortably wrapped up in self -to be jealous-hearted. She had a private conviction -that a girl who might prefer the friendship of another -girl above her own was of small consequence.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Frowning, Leslie shot a second glance at Doris. -Her shrewd dark eyes read mainly in Doris’s lovely -blonde profile supreme discontent at not being able -to have her own way.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You didn’t break into anything,” Leslie gruffly -assured. “That is what you and Nat Weyman seem -possessed to try to do, though.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What do you mean, Leslie?” Doris turned offended -eyes for a brief second on her companion.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I mean you two seem determined to wreck the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>promising business career of Leslie Adoré Cairns,” -Leslie retorted with grim humor.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Adoré!” Doris exclaimed irrelevantly. “What a -darling name!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Just suits me, doesn’t it?” Leslie threw back her -head and indulged in her silent hob-goblin laugh.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“No, it doesn’t,” Doris said with amazing candor; -“but it might.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What?” For once Leslie’s pet monosyllable -burst involuntarily from her lips.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I said it might suit you,” calmly returned Doris, -“if you would try to make it suit you. You’ve loads -of personality, Leslie; the kind that would make -people like you a lot if you cared to have them like -you.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m not keen on having people like me, even if -I do happen to have a foolish middle name.” From -interest Leslie’s tone had quickly changed to one -of mild derision. “I mean I wouldn’t lift my finger -in order to stand well with a gang of girls. That’s -the way Bean made herself popular on the campus; -pretending to be so kind and helpful; setting up -goody-goody standards and poking her inquisitive -nose into a lot of things that didn’t concern her. -Then there was the Beauty contest. She won that. -It gave her a strong pull with the upper class girls. -All except the Sans.” Leslie’s displeasure against -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>Marjorie rose with the recital of past troubles. -“They <i>knew</i> the judges at the contest hadn’t played -fairly. Nat Weyman should have won the contest. -Wish you’d been a freshie that year. Bean wouldn’t -have had a look-in.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, I’m not so sure of that,” disagreed Doris, -with intent to be provoking. “Miss Dean is really -beautiful, Leslie. I’d hate to believe that she is more -beautiful than I. Sometimes I’m not sure but that -she is,” Doris gave a self-conscious, half rueful -laugh.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What ails you?” Leslie demanded darkly. “I -thought you said you had no use for Bean and her -crowd. Look where you’re going. You almost -zipped us into that limousine.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Doris’s honest, if reluctant, opinion of Marjorie -fanned the flame of Leslie’s too-ready ill humor. -She immediately vented it upon Doris’s driving.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“<i>No</i>, I did <i>not</i> almost run the car into that limousine,” -was the other girl’s flat contradiction. -“What is the use in growing peevish with me, Leslie? -You know I detest Miss Dean and that Sanford -crowd. The only one of them who appears in -the least interesting is Miss Harding. She’s a barbarian, -but she has individuality. I can’t forget she’s -on earth, you know, since I have her as a room-mate.”</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>As she spoke Doris had slowed the speed of the -car for a stop before the Lotus, the tea room where -they had decided to go for a Saturday afternoon -luncheon.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“She’s a savage; so is Macy.” Leslie invariably -referred to Muriel and Jerry as “those two savages.” -“She’s clever, too, that Muriel Harding. The Sans -would have taken up with her and Macy and Lynde -when they came to Hamilton if they hadn’t been so -crazy about Bean. Macy’s father’s a millionaire -and Lynde’s father is a multi-million man. Harding -would have got across on her nerve. All three rallied -round the Bean standard and lost out with the -Sans.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>It was on Doris’s tongue to say: “Then they were -lucky, after all, since the Sans were expelled from -college.” Instead she held her peace. She intended -to try once more to coax Leslie to re-consider her -decision not to go to New York. Such a remark -from her now about the Sans would only stir Leslie -into fresh irritation.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Doris sent a backward, lingering glance toward -the shining white car as the two girls started up the -wide cement walk to the tea room.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Don’t worry. It’ll be there when we come back,” -Leslie said with a half mollified smile. Doris’s proud -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>anxiety concerning the white car was not lost on her. -It suited Leslie to pose as a benefactor.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s such a dream,” sighed Doris. Her color -heightened; her blue eyes shone starry triumph of -the smart white roadster.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ve engaged a Thanksgiving table already at the -Colonial,” Leslie announced, tucking her arm inside -one of Doris’s. “I tried to get one at Baretti’s -but the dago is sore at me. His tables are always -engaged beforehand if I happen to want one on a -holiday.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Couldn’t we go to New York the day before -Thanksgiving and come back to Hamilton the day -after?” Doris once more pleaded. “You won’t -transact any business here on Thanksgiving Day.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That’s what you say,” Leslie made instant rejoinder. -She laughed as though she was in possession -of a rich joke. “I’ve a special business stunt -to put over here on Thanksgiving Day. Get it -straight this time, Goldie. I am <i>not</i> going to New -York.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Then I shall go there alone.” Doris stopped on -the threshold of the Lotus. She faced Leslie angrily -as she made the stubborn announcement. For an -instant the two girls fairly glared at each other.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Go on inside, for goodness sake,” Leslie roughly -requested. She had turned incensed eyes from Doris -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>in time to spy three Hamilton students coming up the -walk. Luckily their attention was focussed on the -white car. Two of them glanced back at it. It -was apparently the topic they were discussing.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I meant what I said,” Doris began haughtily the -moment they had seated themselves at a table. “You -are so very queer. You seem to forget that I know -London and Paris. What is New York to me?” -Doris snapped contemptuous fingers. “Merely another -large city.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’ll find it a handful, if you try to tackle it all -by your lonesome,” was Leslie’s satiric prediction.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I don’t need, necessarily, to go there alone. I -know two sophs who would be glad—”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Forget it,” Leslie interrupted with a gesture of -dismissal. “The three of you would have nothing -on ‘Babes in the Wood,’ or any other of those lost -nursery kids. In New York, unless you’ve been -born and brought up there, you have to know the -right sort of people, or you can’t have a good time. -I could give you a letter of introduction to Nat -Weyman, if I wanted to, but it wouldn’t do. She’d -not like you, and you’d not like her.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I fail to understand why New York should be -so—so different from London and Paris.” Doris was -still haughty, though she was somewhat impressed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>by what Leslie had just said. “I don’t wish to meet -Miss Weyman.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Use your brain,” Leslie impatiently advised. -“London and Paris are like a couple of villages to -you because you know ’em. New York would be -a howling wilderness to you. Why? Because you -don’t know it. Simmer down, Goldie. I’ll take -you to New York with me the week after Christmas. -Our town house is closed this winter but I have an -apartment in New York and a chaperon whom I’ve -taught to mind her own business. You can help -me here a good deal on Thanksgiving Day by wearing -that new costume of yours that matches the -Dazzler. I want to make a splurge at the Colonial, -for reasons of my own.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Of course I wish to help you, Leslie.” Doris -was somewhat mollified by the Christmas prospect. -She flushed hotly at Leslie’s pointed reminder concerning -her new costume and the car. Leslie had -presented her with the white fur hat and coat, an -exquisite white silk gold-embroidered gown and -slippers and hose which made up the “costume.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Then look pleasant, and listen to me,” Leslie -curtly directed, her eyes fixed on the other girl’s -rapidly clearing features. “Drive the Dazzler to -the Hamilton House for me at exactly eleven o’clock, -on Thanksgiving Day. We’ll go for a drive and stop -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>at the Colonial at two o’clock for dinner. After -dinner we’ll go for another drive. Then back to -supper at the Colonial. There’s a good movie theatre -in Hamilton. We might go to it in the evening. -You can easily run up to the campus and put the -car away before the ten-thirty bell rings.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why not go to Orchard Inn for supper instead -of the Colonial? Since there’s been so little snow the -roads are fine.” Doris made a last desperate effort -to have matters arranged partly as she wished.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Too far away from the campus. My main idea -is to be seen with you in all your glory on Gobbler -Day. I shan’t tell you why. Don’t ask me. You’ve -said you wanted to help me. Prove it by doing just -as I tell you when I ask you to do something for -me.” Leslie leaned back in her chair and surveyed -Doris with the air of a dictator. She was giving a -faithful imitation of a favorite pose of her father.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Very well.” Doris relapsed into displeased -silence. She allowed Leslie to order the luncheon -and continued mute after the waitress had left them.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Leslie pretended not to notice Doris’s frigidity. -She busied herself with the menu, hunting a dessert -to her taste. When she had selected it she cast the -card on the table with impatient force.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Don’t meet me at all Thanksgiving Day, if it -will be too much of a strain,” she sarcastically told -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>Doris. She knew that Doris was too deeply obligated -to her to make such a course of action probable.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Doris viewed her with the cold, measuring glance -which Leslie had more than once privately admired -in Goldie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I don’t mind meeting you and doing as you ask -me Thanksgiving Day, Leslie,” she said coolly. -“What I do mind is your dictatorial manner. And -sometimes you’re really insulting.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Can’t help it. That’s the way my father is, -and <i>that’s the way I’d rather be</i>. You said I could -make people like me if I tried. I wouldn’t try. I’d -rather have power; the kind that would make people -do as I said because they were afraid of me; afraid -to do anything different. That’s the kind my father -has. He’s a great financier. Of course his money -has helped him climb to where he is, but he has an -iron-strong will. His father left him a fortune, -but he’s made millions of dollars since then.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Leslie’s voice vibrated with melancholy pride as -she poured forth this praise of her father. She had -not told Doris of her estrangement from him, nor -did she purpose to tell her. She had long since arrived -at the conclusion that her father was not indifferent -to her welfare. Mrs. Gaylord had, in a -fit of confidence, admitted to Leslie that she had -been engaged by Mr. Cairns to chaperon her. Accordingly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>the two had come to amicable terms. Mrs. -Gaylord had amiably consented to go visiting among -her many friends and relatives a large share of the -time, thus leaving Leslie free to her own devices. -She had seen Leslie established in Hamilton at the -Hamilton House, had remained with her a week -and gone on to visit a friend with the usual understanding -that the receipt of a telegram from Leslie -would insure her immediate return.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I should think you’d rather be in New York in -business so that your father could help you, since -he’s such a wonderful financier.” Doris’s practical -and wholly innocent observation raised the red of -embarrassment in Leslie’s dark face.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“My father is—” Leslie fought down the confusion -into which her companion’s remark had thrown -her. “Didn’t you hear me say our town house was -closed?” she asked grumpily. “My father’s in -Europe just now. Besides, this garage business -I’m in is to be a surprise for him. When he finds -I’ve made good he’ll be ready to let me into some -of his high finance deals.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Leslie’s pet dream was re-instatement into her -father’s favor as a result of her own daring brilliancy -in business. Aside from the pleasure of -“making things hum for Bean” she thought well -of her garage project. It was the first step upward -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>in the business career she had set her heart upon.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“There’s something I want you to do for me—not -later than tomorrow,” Leslie dictated, regardless -of Doris’s protest against her dictatorial manner.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What is it?” Doris again turned her measuring -glance upon Leslie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I want you to find out whether Bean’s going off -the campus for Thanksgiving. I must know. Find -out the same about Page, too.” Leslie’s rugged -features were set with dogged purpose. Her usually -loose lips were now formed into a tight line.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m not certain I can find that out by tomorrow. -I may not be able to let you know before next -Tuesday,” Doris replied with dignity. “Miss Page’s -and Miss Dean’s friends are not mine,” she reminded -with irony.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That need make no difference. It’s important -to me to know.” Leslie tapped on the table with an -authoritative index finger in further emphasis of each -word. “You promised to help me, Goldie. Is this -the way you keep your promise? And with all I’ve -done for you!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Don’t be so silly, Leslie. I’m not in the least -afraid of you. You can’t bully me even a tiny bit. -I told you I’d help you, and I will. But you must -allow me to use my own judgment in some things. -If that doesn’t please you, take back all you’ve given -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>me. I can get along nicely without your further -help. I don’t fancy gifts that have strings attached -to them.” Doris elevated her chin to a haughty -angle.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Leslie’s face lost its tensity and registered half -a dozen varied expressions while Doris was announcing -her declaration of independence. At the last a -look of glum perplexity replaced the others. While -she had been leader of the Sans at Hamilton she had -had many altercations with her chums. She had -never taken their angry protests against her tyranny -seriously. No one of them had actually defied her -except Dulcie Vale, and she had “begun” on Dulcie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Face to face with a girl who coolly ordered her -not to be “silly,” and declined to be bound by obligation -further than she chose Leslie had received the -surprise of her life.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Let me know as soon as you can. Phone me at -the hotel and I’ll meet you.” The dessert she had -ordered, untouched, Leslie rose from her chair. She -had determined to show Doris that she was deeply -offended.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Without saying good-bye she stalked sulkily from -the tea room. On her way to the door she demanded -the check from the waitress and stopped at the desk -to pay it. She half hoped Doris would hurry after -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>her and beg her to go back. Instead Doris sat tranquilly -at the table Leslie had quitted and enjoyed -her dessert of Nesselrode pudding. For once Leslie -had met her match.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER X.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>PLANNING FOR THANKSGIVING</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“Truly, Robin, it is so selfish in me to be going -home and leaving so much for you to do.” Marjorie -surveyed Robin Page with a troubled, conscience-stricken -air indicative of her feelings.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, shucks!” exclaimed Robin blithely as she -glanced up at Marjorie from a list she was busily -compiling. “Go home to Castle Dean and forget for -four days that Hamilton is on the map. Don’t be -so conceited. We can get along beautifully without -you,” she teased. “Phil, Anna Towne, Barbara and -I are a splendiferous combination. You’ll hardly -be missed.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I don’t doubt that.” A good-humored smile -touched Marjorie’s rosy lips. “I know things will -run along on wheels. What I’m thinking of is the -amount of extra effort your splendiferous combination -will have to make. You see I’m taking with -me not only the Sanfordites but Leila, Vera and -Kathie as well. That leaves you and Lillian, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>only original Travelers to keep the new Nineteen -Travelers going and manage the different stunts.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Most of the stunts we’ve planned will manage -themselves,” was Robin’s confident assurance. “Remember -they are already planned and you did a -large share of the planning. So you see you haven’t -been so much of a quitter as you seem to think.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’re a perfect partner, Page,” Marjorie looked -heart-felt appreciation of the charming, boyish-faced -girl who had never failed her since the two -had joined forces for democracy.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Glad you like me, Dean.” Robin answered the -look with her bright, piquant smile. It amused the -two to address each other occasionally by their -family names. “Listen now while I read you the -program I’ve jotted down.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Go ahead.” Marjorie hurriedly finished strapping -the suitcase she had just packed and seated -herself in a chair to listen.</p> - -<p class='c005'>It was Wednesday morning. She and Robin had -respectively cut chemistry and philology for the purpose -of completing the Thanksgiving program to be -carried out on the campus during Marjorie’s and her -chums’ absence by Robin, with the assistance of -Barbara Severn, Phyllis Moore and Anne Towne, -leader of the dormitory girls.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Tonight we’ve left free to the students to get -<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>up their own jollifications,” Robin proceeded. “Most -of the girls in the campus houses have spreads, -dinners, etc., planned for this evening. The dormitory -girls, as you know, are going to take in -that illustrated lecture on the South Sea Islands -at the Hamilton Theatre. Tomorrow morning there -is to be a special service in chapel. I’m going to -sing a solo. So is Blanche Scott.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh,” Marjorie cried out in delight. “You never -told me Blanche Scott was coming to Hamilton. -How I’d love to see her.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’ll see her when you come back,” Robin assured. -“I’ve been keeping her coming as a surprise -for you. She’s going to be at Silverton Hall for -two or three weeks after Thanksgiving. She promised -me this visit last summer. She’s to be married -in April, you know.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I received her betrothal announcement and that -of one of my oldest Sanford chums on the same day -last summer. My Sanford chum, Irma Linton, is -to be married at Easter time. She is the girl who -I used to tell you Elaine Hunter was like,” commented -Marjorie. “Blanche and Elaine two loyal -Silvertonites now on the road to matrimony,” she -added musingly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes; and Portia Graham is a third. She won’t -care if <i>you</i> know it, Marvelous Manager. She’s engaged -<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>to a doctor. She ’fessed up in one of her -latest letters to me. But this isn’t on our regular -program.” Robin again fell to consulting the list -she had written.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Next comes the dinner at Baretti’s for the dormitory -girls. He hasn’t told us yet what it will -cost, but—”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, goodness!” Marjorie bobbed up from her -chair with the suddenness of a jack-in-the-box. “I -had so much to talk over with you I almost forgot -to show you Signor Baretti’s note. It came this -morning.” She glanced anxiously toward the wall -clock. “He wants to see us at twelve today.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I wonder why?” Robin appeared a trifle -startled. “I hope our Thanksgiving dinner arrangement -with him isn’t going to flivver.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“He won’t fail us, I’m sure. Very likely it’s the -cost of the dinner he wishes to discuss with us. -Such a funny little note.” She produced the -Italian’s letter from the top of her chiffonier and -handed it to Robin. The latter read aloud with -amused emphasis:</p> - -<p class='c006'>“<span class='sc'>Dear Miss Dean:</span></p> - -<p class='c006'>“You pleas come to my restaurant at twelva the -clock befor afernoon on Wenesda. you tell Miss -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>Page come to. I am not smart to write much. -you please come here I tell you evrythin.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Your frien,</div> - <div class='line'>“<span class='sc'>Guiseppe Baretti.</span>”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c005'>“All right, Guiseppe, we’ll be there at twelve,” -smiled Robin as she returned the letter to Marjorie. -“I’ll go over the rest of this now, in a -hurry. This will be our only chance. We’ll bump -into all our friends, once we’re out on the campus. -Any of them we don’t happen to meet there will -probably appear at the inn.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Too true, Page; too true.” Marjorie agreed -with a rueful shake of her curly head.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Phil has managed to get up a basket ball game -for Thanksgiving afternoon between two picked -teams, regardless of class. It’s to be held in the -gym, beginning at three-thirty. She has had her -hands full, making up the right sort of teams. -Gussie Forbes is going to play center on one team. -Miss Walker is to play center on the other team. -What do you think of that?” Robin cast an inquiring -look at Marjorie. She added, without -waiting for answer. “Phil had to arrange matters -so in fairness to Miss Walker. She is as fine a -player as Gus.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Phil is the goddess of fair play.” Warm admiration -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>for invincible Phil lighted Marjorie’s features. -“It will do Gussie and Miss Walker good -to be pitted against each other. Each may discover -something to admire in the other before the game -ends. It was a bold stroke; but exactly like Phil -to do it.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“She says it will turn out for the best. Here we -are stopping to talk again. Hm-m-m!” Robin importantly -cleared her throat and went on. “The -dormitory girls are going to be hostesses at a dance -in the gym on Thanksgiving night. You know all -about that, so I won’t have to stop to explain. The -rest of this list is made up of the stunts we’ve already -planned. As soon as we’ve seen Baretti I’m -going to hurry to Silverton Hall and letter a large -card of announcement to put in the main bulletin -board.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie and Robin had been planning for two -weeks a series of amusements to be given during -the holiday for the benefit of the students left on -the campus. There were to be paper chases and -outdoor gypsyings on Friday and Saturday if the -weather was fine. The Travelers, nineteen, new, -and two, original, were to divide themselves into -seven groups, three in a group, and head the various -picnickings to be held at different points of the -country surrounding Hamilton College. Campfires -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>were to be built for the purpose of roasting eggs, -potatoes and chestnuts. Bacon and marshmallows -were to be toasted over the flames on sticks, and -coffee was to be made, the favorite campfire elixir -the world over.</p> - -<p class='c005'>In case of a storm-bound Friday and Saturday -a variety of campus-house amusements would take -the place of the outdoor jaunts. Each campus house -contingent had pledged itself to get up an impromptu -entertainment on short notice, if needed, -for the amusement of its own household and that -of the off-campus students. Robin and Phil had -arranged a concert for Friday evening in the gymnasium -at which to introduce a number of talented -girls who had been shyly lingering in the background.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Saturday evening there was to be an old-fashioned -costume party in the gymnasium to which -the whole college was invited. While the weather -had been moderately cold with brisk winds and no -snow the Travelers had plans made for coasting -and skating fun should a swift freezing change accompanied -by enough snow visit the campus.</p> - -<p class='c005'>It has taken diplomatic work to enlist the campus -houses in the entertainment campaign. There was a -certain amount of ill-feeling in all of them toward -the post graduates. This was the result largely -<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>of the two sophomore factions whose idols were -respectively Doris Monroe and Augusta Forbes. -Only the double fact that they could not go home -for Thanksgiving and the inborn love of girlhood -to get up shows and “be in things” made Marjorie’s -and Robin’s plans possible. Even haughty -Doris Monroe was looking complacently forward -to playing the leading part in a sketch which no -less person than gloomy-visaged Miss Peyton had -written.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Ronny had quietly taken upon herself the furnishing -of the orchestra and a buffet collation of -sweets, fruit punch and ices for the dormitory girls’ -dance. The old-fashioned hop on Saturday evening -was a half-dollar donation party, for the benefit -of the Hamilton poor families. Phil’s own -orchestra would furnish the music. There would -be fruit lemonade only by way of refreshment. The -admission fee was to be dropped into a box with -a slitted cover as the guests entered the ball room. -The box was to be in charge of a maid of long ago.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Thus it befell that Marjorie discovered the very -opportunity for which she had been waiting. Doris -Monroe, attired in a sleeveless, high-waisted gown -of baby blue, her golden hair massed high on her -lovely head would constitute a perfect custodian of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>the precious box. After due consultation Page and -Dean decided that Lillian Wenderblatt should be -chosen to tackle the delicate task of asking the -haughty sophomore to deign to make herself useful -at the hop.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We’ve certainly done good work on that -Thanksgiving program,” Robin congratulated as -the two girls presently left Wayland Hall to make -their call upon Baretti. “The best part of it is we’ve -provided entertainment for either good weather or -bad. We’re becoming invincible. Nothing can stop -Page and Dean from ‘carrying on.’” She laughed -at her own jesting conceit.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie smiled in sympathy of Robin’s optimistic -view. “It looks to me as though it might rain -before night,” she predicted, scanning the gray -masses of clouds beginning to roll up in the west. -“I hope those clouds mean snow instead of rain. -It’s hardly cold enough for snow. Anything but a -rainy Thanksgiving! Thanks to <i>you</i>, Robin Page, -we can discount the rain on the campus, if it should -come. You’ve done a good deal more than I on -the program. And see how I’m going to leave you -in the lurch,” she added lightly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ve <i>not</i> done more on the program than you, -and your presence will hang over the campus -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>whether you’re here or not,” Robin said with positiveness. -“In time to come the Page part of the firm -of Page and Dean may be forgotten, but the Dean -part; never.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XI.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>A FRIEND INDEED</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>It was precisely noon when the partners entered -the inn. The somber beauty of the great -square room always seemed to Marjorie to be more -like a continuation of Hamilton Arms than a restaurant.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You are here on the time, Miss Dean, Miss -Page.” The friendly Italian proprietor of the inn -had been watching for them. He trotted forward, -his hand outstretched. “I write you the letter, -then I afraid mebbe you go home early thisa morn. -You don’t get it. Then think, no—you don’t go -home when you give the dorm girls the dinner.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I am going home, Signor Baretti, but Miss Page -is going to remain on the campus. Several of the -girls with whom you see us generally are going -home, too. Miss Moore and Miss Severn are to -help Miss Page with the Thanksgiving dinner for -the dormitory girls.” Marjorie smiled her regard -for the kindly little man as she made this explanation.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>“Ah, yes;” nodded the Italian. “Now you sit -down; have the lunch with me. It is ready; very -special; all for you.” He conducted them to one -of the tables and bowed them into their chairs. -“You are please have the lunch with such a nobody -Italiano?” he asked jokingly. There was, however -a touch of embarrassment in the inquiry.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The instant warm affirmative from his guests -seemed to delight him immensely. He signaled to -the Italian waitress who had been hovering near -waiting for his order. She nodded and hurried -from the room returning quickly with the soup.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Now I tell you,” he said as they began the soup. -“You know I like the dorm you build. I give this -dorm a good present someday when I see what the -dorm need much. I know you want give the college -young ladies who used live where the dorm is -the good time. I know they don’t have the mona; -not much.” He pursed his lips and shook his head -in regret of the dormitory girls’ moneyless estate. -“You are the ones to make these happa, because -you do good for these. I am this to make them -happa, too. They don’t pay for the Thanksigivin’ -dinner. You don’t pay. I give the dorm girls the -dinner. Then I am happa. It will be the fine -dinner. You do this for me. You tell the dorm -young ladies come to the dinner at one. I don’t -<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>close my restaurant, but I have only enough tables -for the dorm girls. I have already tell those freshmans, -sophmans and studen’s they can reserve the -tables only after half past two of the clock. They -come here before, they must sit on the benches an’ -watch the dorms eat.” His eyes twinkled humorously -as he sketched this dire prospect for the girls -who were pluming themselves upon having reserved -tables at Baretti’s.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie and Robin could not refrain from laughing -at his revelation. They could picture the rows -of exclusive but certain-to-be-very-hungry girls -meekly sitting watching the dormitory girls eat up -the turkey for which they were yearning. The pure -democracy of the Italian’s plan robbed them both -temporarily of ready acknowledgment of his generosity.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I don’t know what to say. I’m simply flabbergasted!” -Robin finally exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You don’t like?” The little man glanced anxiously -from one girl to the other. “I don’t un’erstan’ -that word flab—flab—.” He gave a half puzzled, -half smiling shake of the head.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Indeed we do like your plan. By flabbergasted -I mean that I am so surprised and delighted. I’ll -say the word slowly for you.” Robin pronounced -it by syllables.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>“So-o-o. I listen.” He made Robin say it over -several times. “It is a long word. I like the long -words in American.” He repeated the word until -he appeared to know it.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie had a shrewd suspicion that he had -seized upon the strange word as a means of hiding -his embarrassment at his own generosity.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What you think, Miss Dean?” He suddenly -fixed a pair of penetrating black eyes upon her. -“You like, too?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Like your plan? I should say I did.” Marjorie -bent her friendliest smile upon the devoted adherent -of the dormitory cause.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You couldn’t do anything that would bring more -happiness to the off-campus girls, Signor Baretti,” -Robin told him. “They will feel so proud and -happy to be invited by you to a private Thanksgiving -dinner. But you mustn’t forget the campus -girls. You know your restaurant is the Hamilton -girls’ favorite tea room. I simply have to put in -a good word for them, too,” she ended loyally.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes, yes; I un’erstan.’ I know what you mean,” -the Italian assured. “Oo-oo, many nice studen’s -come here, don’t go another tea shop. All the rest -of the day after half past two is for them. My -ten tables are all reserve for after the dorm dinner. -In my restaurant I can put more tables. That is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>no good. Some studen’s come here I don’t like. -They eat here same time as dorm girls maybe they -make the trouble. Miss Car-rins ask me for the -Thanksgivin’ table. I don’t give her one.” He -waved a prohibitive finger in the air. “She can start -the trouble from nothin’. You know now she lives -in the town?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes, we know it,” Marjorie’s response came in -even tones. “Her business interests keep her in -Hamilton, I believe.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Her business is too much to mind the business -of others.” A fleeting scowl passed over the Italian’s -forehead. It lingered between his brows as he said -resentfully: “Once this Miss Car-rins say about me -when she is here in this room but verra mad at -me: ‘Let the dago have his hash house. I hope it -burn down tonight.’ Never-r-r I forget that. I -feel to say to her when she come here again after -long while: ‘You don’t come here more.’ I cannot. -This is the inn; for everybody who want come -who behave quiet. But never-r-r I let her have the -special table. Naw!” The inn keeper put great -stress upon this resentful resolve.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Neither Marjorie nor Robin hardly knew what to -say. They had long since heard the story Baretti -had just told them from Vera.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I wouldn’t take anything Leslie Cairns said to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>heart, or ever let it worry me for a minute, Signor -Baretti,” Marjorie finally said in soothing tones. -She recognized the Italian’s right to comforting -words. She knew he could not forgive having -been called a “dago.” Far more humiliating it -must then be to his pride to have heard his beloved -restaurant dubbed a “hash house.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I think mebbe I don’t,” Baretti decided, his -brooding features brightening again. “Anyway I -don’t have Miss Car-rins here when are the dorm -girls here. She might act verra mean. So some -freshmans and sophmans who have the tables here -will act mean, too. Miss Car-rins don’t like those -who have no much mona. If she come here with -the pretty girl who have the proud face and the hair -of gold I don’t say nothin’. She can sty unless she -makes the fun of me. She shall no do that. It is -my hash house.” He threw back his head and -laughed. “In it I can do the way I please. So -Miss Car-rins come here someday, make the fun -of me again, I walk up to her, take her by the arm, -very quiet, and make her to walk out the door.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XII.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>PAGE MINUS DEAN</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>Thanksgiving Day dawned without the tiniest -streak of sunlight to grace it. Early in the morning -heavily overcasted clouds began emptying their -cold dispiriting torrents of rain upon a brown and -soggy earth.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Safe within the cheerful walls of Castle Dean -Marjorie’s delight in being at home was dampened -by the thought of how Robin Page and her volunteer -entertainment committee were battling against such -a dreary day. She could only hope that the steady -persistency of the Sanford downpour was not repeating -itself at Hamilton. True she and Robin -had planned their program to cover that possible -calamity. Bad weather could not fail to make it -harder for Robin, Phil and Barbara to keep things -moving with the energy and smoothness so necessary -as a means toward uniting the interests and -the sympathies of the students of the various campus -houses with those of the dormitory girls.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>While Marjorie, Leila, Vera and Jerry were -cosily ensconced in the Deans’ living room lamenting -over the bad weather, Robin Page, Phil Moore -and Barbara Severn were holding a serious consultation -of three in Robin’s room.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s after ten o’clock now Phil,” Robin was saying. -“Really, I think I’d better brave the rain, go -over to the garage and run Vera’s car into town. -Anna said yesterday that there were only two busses -running on the new bus line. There were three, -but one has been taken away to another route. -Seventy-two girls will crowd two busses. Suppose -anything should happen to either of the two? I -told Anna to get the crowd to the inn by half past -twelve. It will take longer to run out from town -in the pouring rain. We mustn’t be a minute late -at the inn.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m very well aware of that, sweet coz,” Phil -returned in her bantering fashion. “Far be it from -me to allow the gang to be late and disarrange the -well-laid plans of Guiseppe.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“If you intend to paddle out in this deluge and -play duck, count me in,” Barbara made valiant announcement.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You can’t lose me, either,” Phil decided. -“Slave, bring me my raincoat, my faithful Tam and -my goloshes! Out in the tempest I must go!” She -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>struck a dramatic posture, held it a moment, then -said disappointedly: “I fail to see anyone around -here who answers to the name of slave. I’ll have to -be it myself.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Ten minutes later the three, with raincoats buttoned -to the chin, caps drawn low, high-buckled -goloshes on their feet, the largest umbrellas they -could find over their heads, were plodding through -the rain to the garage which housed Vera’s car. -The latter had urged Robin to make use of it during -her absence. Leila’s, unfortunately, was laid up for -repairs.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Some of the dormitory girls were going to walk -to the campus today. Just imagine!” Phil said -ironically to Barbara. The two, seated in the tonneau -of the car, watched the drenched landscape -through the half-opened curtains as the machine -fled along the pike.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Wade would be more appropriate,” laughed -Barbara. “But they’ve changed their minds long -before now. Deliver me from any more walks in -this flood. I don’t envy Robin her job of chauffeur.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We’re making good time.” Phil inspected her -wrist watch with a satisfied nod. “We ought to be -at the place on Linden Avenue where the busses -make their stand by ten minutes past eleven. What -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>time are the dormitory girls to be at the stand?” -She leaned forward and called out her question in -Robin’s ear.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Half past eleven,” Robin raised her voice above -the beat of the pelting rain, but did not turn her -head.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“They’ll have to mob the corner drug store nearest -the stand. They can’t stay out on the walk with -the rain coming down in cataracts,” commented -Phil. “Anna Towne can be depended upon to have -them at the bus stand on time. Such a horrible -flivver for a holiday! I don’t dare stop to think -of it,” she grumbled.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Her guess regarding their speedy arrival at the -bus stand was an accurate one. It was precisely ten -minutes past eleven when Robin brought the car to -a stop before the drug store. The rain was still -driving down in misty sheets as the trio emerged -from the automobile and made a frantic dash across -the sidewalk to the shelter of the drug store. Immediately -afterward Anna Towne and half a dozen -of her intimate friends arrived, radiant-faced in -spite of the storm.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“This <i>is</i> a surprise,” Anna greeted. She shook -hands with the three hardy Travelers as though it -had been a long time instead of only yesterday -since she had seen them. “The rest of the crowd -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>will soon be here. I managed to telephone all of -them this morning to be at the stand at eleven-fifteen -instead of eleven-thirty. Then we’ll surely -be ready to start at exactly eleven-thirty. The bus -drivers are so disobliging. They are hired specially -to bring us to and from the campus yet they never -want to wait a second beyond a certain time for us -to assemble. They’re not supposed to carry any -passengers but us during those trips. But they do. -I say this, not by way of complaining, Robin, I object -to their unfairness. A great difference between -those Italians and Signor Baretti, isn’t there? I -think he is wonderfully kind to remember the off-campus -girls in such a generous way.” Anna’s pale, -interesting face brightened with appreciation.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Signor Baretti has true college spirit,” Robin -returned with conviction. “I can’t imagine those -two grumpy bus drivers as imbued with any such -noble quality; or that Italian, Sabani, the man -they work for. If those two kickers show any signs -of grouchiness this morning I shall read them a -Thanksgiving lecture. It won’t be the kind to feel -thankful for, either. By the way, where are they? -I ordered them to be here at eleven and stay here -until told to start for the inn.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Involuntarily the group of girls moved nearer -one of the huge plate-glass show windows to peer, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>bright-eyed, into the rain-swept street. As far as -they could see, up and down the street, there were -no signs of the large dark red busses with their -flashy yellow trimmings.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s eighteen minutes past eleven,” Phil’s tones -conveyed her consternation. “Where <i>can</i> those aggravating -busses be?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Not where they should be,” scolded Robin. “Here -comes a big crowd of the girls. The busses should -be here so that they could step directly into them. -They’ll have to come into the drug store instead. -Maybe the druggist will object to sheltering us. -There’ll be enough dripping umbrellas to flood the -store. Oh, dear what a mess! Why did it have to -go and rain on Thanksgiving Day? And where, oh, -where, are those miserable drivers and their -busses?”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>AN EMERGENCY CALL</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>Mindful of past liberal patronage of the Hamilton -College girl and with a shrewed eye to the -future the druggist himself ushered the arriving -party of merry girls into the store and obligingly -supplied a couple of large packing boxes in which -to stand the dripping umbrellas. Despite Robin’s -despairing opinion that the store would not hold the -umbrella-laden brigade they managed to crowd -into it.</p> - -<p class='c005'>By eleven-thirty the last girl had arrived at the -rendezvous. They were a cheery, light-hearted, -buoyant company regardless of their cramped quarters. -Their appreciation of Signor Baretti’s invitation -to be his guests at a Thanksgiving dinner -showed itself in their bright faces, spontaneous -laughter and gay holiday air.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s one minute past eleven-thirty, and no busses. -I’m going to find out what is the matter.” Robin -made the low-toned announcement to Phil and Barbara -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>with an air of desperation. “I’m going to -’phone Sabini’s garage where the busses are kept. -I can’t imagine what can have happened to make -them late. I wish you two would keep a sharp -lookout for them. If they should come while I -am ’phoning you can hurry back to the ’phone booth -and let me know.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Suppose they shouldn’t come. What then?” Barbara -regarded Robin with lively apprehension.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Don’t ask me.” Robin raised a hand as though -to ward off such a catastrophe. “Let’s not suppose -anything quite so harrowing,” she added in a more -hopeful tone.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Ten minutes later she emerged hastily from the -telephone booth. Her expression was one of acute -dismay. She made hurried way, in and out among -the crowded company of girls, to where Phil and -Barbara were anxiously keeping up a watch at one -of the big front windows.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“One of the busses has broken down!” she cried -excitedly. “The other bus is out somewhere. The -man at the garage who answered me doesn’t know -where. I tried to hire cars from the garage. There -are <i>none</i> to be had. How are we going to land the -dormitory girls at Baretti’s by one? And we can’t -ask Signor Baretti to serve the dinner later!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What an <i>awful</i> state of affairs!” Barbara echoed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>Robin’s consternation. “We’ll have to do something -very suddenly to offset it. What about hiring -the station taxicabs; all of them, if we can get them.” -was her quick suggestion.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We might do that,” Phil hailed the idea eagerly. -“There are five or six of them. With our car and -Lillian Wenderblatt’s we could carry the gang to -the inn at one trip. Go ahead, Robin, and ’phone -Mariani’s garage. I’ll ’phone Lillian.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’re a wonder and a comfort to my distracted -old age, Phil.” Robin showed grateful relief. -“Watch me start on the trail of those taxies. -Never mind the expense.” She darted back to the -telephone booth she had recently left. Phil followed -her; slipped into an adjoining booth and -proceeded to call Lillian Wenderblatt on the telephone.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Among the waiting company of girls a loud buzz -of dismayed conversation had now risen concerning -the non-appearance of the busses. Anna Towne, -Florence Wyatt and Marian Barth, seniors and -members of the new Travelers’ sorority, were -anxiously discussing the situation with a group of -their particular friends.</p> - -<p class='c005'>At least a third of the off-campus students who -had lived in the old houses, which had been -demolished to make place for the dormitory, now -<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>in process of building, were seniors. While they, -with the students of the lower classes, had been -familiarly termed by the Travelers among themselves -as the “dormitory girls,” they hardly hoped -to have the pleasure of living even a few weeks in -the dormitory before their graduation from college. -Far from being disappointed at this prospect they -did not stop to consider themselves but showed only -the utmost satisfaction in the good fortune which -would fall to the other two-thirds of the off-campus -contingent.</p> - -<p class='c005'>In themselves the dormitory girls were the finest -student element at Hamilton. Originally brought -together, and gradually welded into a congenial, -self-governing body by the efforts of Marjorie, -Robin and the Travelers, these earnest, capable girls -were daily living up to the Hymn to Hamilton.</p> - -<p class='c005'>As president of the senior class sunny-faced, easy-going -Phil Moore was their idol, Barbara, as her -chum and intrepid co-worker, was hardly less worshiped. -The moment Barbara left Phil to make her -way back to the window she was eagerly surrounded -and plied with concerned questions.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Don’t give up this ship, children,” she gaily -declared, raising her voice above the flood of questions -which assailed her. “Robin is ’phoning for -taxies from the station and Phil is ’phoning for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>Miss Wenderblatt and her car. We shall manage -O. K. without the busses.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Barbara’s assurances were received with jubilant -cries of acclamation from the effervescently happy -girls. While she was in the midst of them she happened -to glance toward the back of the store. Phil -was just emerging from the ’phone booth a pleased -smile on her face. She paused before the booth -which held Robin and peered in through the glass -panel. Robin was still busy ’phoning, it appeared. -Phil turned, saw Barbara looking toward her and -waved a re-assuring hand. It signified that her -part of the telephoning had been successful.</p> - -<p class='c005'>A false alarm of: “Here comes a bus!” caused a -surging of the crowd to the window. Through the -rain a large dark red milk truck had been mistaken -for one of the busses. When Barbara finally -turned away from the window it was to find Phil -and Robin beside her. Phil was no longer smiling. -Her blue eyes were full of resentment. Robin’s -face was a mixture of dismay, indignation and -perplexity.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What do you think?” she blazed forth to Barbara. -“That miserable Mariani person won’t let us -have a single taxi! He claims they are all in use -and will be the rest of the day. He was so hateful -to me. He asked me very sarcastically why we did -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>not use the busses today since we used them every -other day instead of his taxicabs.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We certainly are in a pickle. Uh-h-h.” Barbara -simulated collapse. “I’d forgotten all about -it, but someone told me long ago that those two -Italians, Mariani and Sabani have been at daggers -drawn for years. Sabani once had the station jitneys, -and all to himself. Then came Tony Mariani -with a better looking lot of cars, and ran Sabani -out. Then Sabani built a garage and ran that, but -he swore never to accommodate anyone who patronized -Mariani. The bus line belongs to Sabani. I -suppose he has registered the same vow against -Mariani.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Then we might as well count them both out,” -was Robin’s dispirited ultimatum. “Did you ever -know worse luck? To have all our plans upset because -a couple of Italianos are ready to swear a -vendetta!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“If only we could capture a truck. I’d drive it -myself,” Phil valiantly declared. “But it’s a holiday,” -she added with a hopeless shrug of her -shoulders.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That milk truck is the only one I’ve seen today,” -said Barbara mournfully.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We’ll have to deliver the guests to Baretti in -private cars,” was Robin’s undaunted decision. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>“Thus far we have two; ours, and Lillian’s is likely -to be here any minute. I’ll start at once with -seven girls. You two stay here and start Lillian’s -car back with seven more the instant she comes. -It’s twelve o’clock now. We have exactly one -hour. Phone Gussie Forbes and Calista Wilmot. -They both have cars. They will help us out. So -will Laura Mead and Norma Buchanan. I almost -forgot our new Travelers. If those four girls can -make one trip apiece, each taking seven or eight -girls to a car, Lillian and I can make a trip and a -half apiece in an hour. We simply must.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>To think was to act with Robin. She had hardly -finished sketching her plan to her chums before she -had begun to marshal seven of the dormitory girls -to the door.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Follow me,” she laughingly directed. “I’m going -to make a rapid sprint for my car. You do the -same. Never mind your umbrellas. You’ve not -time to hunt them out now. I’ll bring them to the -campus later in the car.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Across the walk she dashed, an intrepid little -leader, and opened the door of the car nearest to -her. Her followers, close at her heels, merrily -stowed themselves into the automobile. A moment -or two and Robin was in the seat and had started -the car.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>The palm-screened window of a florist’s shop -across the street afforded an excellent view of Robin -and her party of girls to an interested spectator. -Leslie Cairns had gone to the pains of donning -leather coat, knickers, rubber hood and high-laced -boots, and actually walking in the downpour from -the Hamilton House to the florist’s shop opposite -the bus stand. Her idea was not that of taking a -rainy-day constitutional. Leslie had posted herself -behind the barrier of leafy green for the express -purpose of watching the working out of a little plan -of her own.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>THE WILL AND THE WAY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>While Phil hastily telephoned Wayland Hall -and sent out her emergency call for Gussie and -Calista, Barbara busied herself with getting into -communication with Laura Mead and Norma Buchanan -of Silverton Hall. Anna Towne had been -posted to watch at the window for Lillian. The -latter arrived shortly after Robin had gone. She -quickly took on her load of passengers and whizzed -off as speedily as she had come.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Arrived at the inn with her first installment of -guests, Robin found Signor Baretti a most sympathetic -listener to the report of the calamity which -had overtaken the off-campus girls. Mindful of the -fact that the nationality of the two warring garage -proprietors was the same as Baretti’s she made her -report a strictly impersonal one.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“This is no way for Mariani an’ Sabani to do. -Verra bad,” was the little proprietor’s wrathful -criticism of his countrymen. “I know these verra -<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>well. They are the Italianos. But they are not -much good. They are too craza get the money. -Each steal the business of the other. To get mad -at the people; that is the verra bad business. The -people don’t ride, Sabani an’ Mariani get no mona.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It was very bad business for us,” Robin assured -him with a rueful smile. “I think now that we’ll -be able to bring the girls to the inn almost on time. -We can’t avoid being a little late.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You don’t speak of that. It is the all right,” -protested Baretti.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Thank you so much, Signor Baretti. But we -<i>must not</i> delay your Thanksgiving arrangements.” -Robin made a movement as though about to depart.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You listen one minute.” Up went one of the -Italian’s hands for attention. “You don’t worry -about nothin’, Miss Page. Your frien’s come pretty -soon in the cars with the dorm girls. The dinner -is a little late, I don’t care. These frien’s who have -the cars take the dorm girls to town, to the campus, -all the day when they need to go?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes, the same girls will help us if they haven’t -any special engagements for the afternoon and -evening. The dormitory girls are to see the basket -ball game in the gym this afternoon. Then they -have to go to town to get ready for a dance in -the gym this evening. After the dance they must -<span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>be taken back to town again. We don’t wish to -disappoint them if we can help it.” A worried -pucker appeared on Robin’s white forehead.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I know what I do.” Baretti treated Robin to -a brilliantly encouraging smile. She had never before -seen him look so utterly genial. “You wait—you -see.” He nodded at her mysteriously.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’ve done so much for us already,” she demurred, -answering the smile with her own charming -one.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I do more,” he promised heartily. He trotted -along at her side as she hurried to the door, repeatedly -assuring her of his help.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Robin had sprung hastily into her car and headed -it for the town of Hamilton when Lillian Wenderblatt -drove up with a second load of girls.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Hurray! Never say die!” Lillian hailed triumphantly. -“We’re here, because we’re here!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>The girls in the car took up the cry and shouted -it joyfully.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You made quick time,” Robin said to Lillian -with grateful warmth. “Gussie, Calista, Laura -Mead and Norma Buchanan have been phoned for. -Phil and Barbara are at that end of the job. Did -you meet any of our rescue motorists on the way?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes; I passed Gus and Calista not far from the -Arms. They were speeding along, splashing up the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>water like sixty. They were having a race to see -which one could keep in the lead.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Thank goodness for such glorious news!” exclaimed -Robin energetically. “Do you mind making -another trip, Lillian?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’d love to. I’ll dump my cargo of dorms, as -our friend Guiseppe likes to call ’em, instanter. -Then I’ll beat you back to town.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, no you won’t. Good-bye. I haven’t time -to say much obliged.” Robin promptly started her -car and sped away through the fine misting rain into -which the heavier downpour had at last merged.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“This is one way to spend Thanksgiving,” she -reflected, a touch of mockery in her smile, as she -sent the car ahead at the highest speed she dared -employ. “I know three Silvertonites who are going -to be away late for dinner at the Hall, too. -But it’s our traditional obligation to see the dorms -within Baretti’s hospitable gates first and consider -our own turkey dinner last. Just the same I hope -there’ll be lots of turkey left. I’m so hungry.” -Robin sighed audibly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>She forgot her hunger when she suddenly spied -Gussie and Calista coming up, a pair of highly enthusiastic, -if somewhat reckless chauffeurs, each -driving a car filled with dinner guests.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You can always rely on the Bertram Taxi Company,” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>Gussie called at top voice. She was in the -lead and radiant with the opportunity which had -fallen to her to make herself useful.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Robin rewarded Gussie with a gay salute. “Seen -the others?” she cried.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Laura and Norma? Met them just as we turned -out of Linden Avenue,” the reply floated back to -Robin’s gratified ears.</p> - -<p class='c005'>When within a short distance of the bus stand -she had the good luck to encounter Laura and Norma. -They had enthusiastically hailed the detail as -a fine opportunity to prove <i>their</i> mettle as Travelers. -They had also pressed Adeline Raymond, -another of the new Travelers, into service with her -car. Twenty-six passengers made up the jubilant -aggregation of the three cars which the trio of -Travelers had brought to the emergency.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Robin shouted and waved her encouragement of -the overflowing carloads of girls as the machines -shot past her own. She did not attempt to stop -the three willing drivers who had responded so -promptly to the call. She had not more than reached -the drug store and sprung from her car when Lillian -drove up, laughingly sounding her own praises -as a high-speed motorist.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We have met the obstacle and surmounted it,” -Phil emphasized her joyful boast with a flourish of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>the arm. She and Barbara had rushed out of the -drug store at sight of the returned pair of P. G.’s. -“Only sixteen more girls to go to the inn. Speed -up, and you can get them there by a little after one. -Then you can come back for us. I’ve ’phoned Silverton -Hall that we may be late for dinner. It will -be all right.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’re a collection of jewels, all of you.” Robin -made an affectionately inclusive gesture. “What -about Thanksgiving dinner at your house, Lillian?” -she turned to her classmate.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Not until four o’clock. I’ve barrels of time to -squander,” Lillian declared extravagantly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Come on, friends and fellow-citizens!” Robin -was now beckoning briskly to the sixteen girls of -the dormitory group who had followed Phil and -Barbara outside the store. “Please accept my profound -apologies for having to pack you in, eight -to a car. It will have to be done.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Try to regard the experience from the stoical -standpoint of a sardine,” Phil advised comfortingly, -but in a comfortless tone.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Her advice was received with a buzz of retaliating -sallies from the giggling aspirants for sardine -experience. Neither dark weather nor mishaps can -long suppress the exuberant spirit of youth. It -bubbles up like a magic spring at the first intimation -<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>of trouble ended and good fortune nigh. What -might have been a most vexatious disappointment -had been averted in the nick of time. In consequence, -Baretti’s dinner guests were in high feather -at the triumph of Robin, Phil and Barbara over -calamitous circumstances.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Robin’s heart responded to the rollicking happy -disturbance the double octette of girls were making -as they piled themselves into the two waiting cars. -She did not know what the rest of the day might -bring forth but she was greatly inspirited by Signor -Baretti’s promise to help.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I must hurry away again, Signor Baretti. I -must go back to town for Miss Moore and Miss -Severn,” Robin explained a little later to the Italian -as she saw the last of the dormitory girls ushered -high and dry into the inn. “I’ll stop here on my -return trip with the girls’ umbrellas. They’ll need -them when they are ready to go over on the campus. -I don’t believe it will ever stop raining.” Standing -in the open door of the inn she made a grimace of -mock despair.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It rain, oh, way late tonight, mebbe,” prophesied -Baretti. “I have look at the sky verra hard. -Well, it is not that much to be sad to me if I have -not many more than the dorm girls for the dinner. -After the dinner, Pedro, my man, stay here at the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>restaurant. I am the one to go to the town and see -Sabani. I know him. I speak the verra cross -words to him. He knows how I can be verra mad. -I make him send the busses to the campus after the -<i>ginnasio</i> for the dorm girls.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XV.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>AN UNEXPECTED SHOWER</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>It seemed to Robin as though the road between -Baretti’s and the town of Hamilton was never ending. -While she and Marjorie counted the odd little -inn-keeper as their friend and a sincere advocate -of the dormitory project, she was amazed at this -latest proffer of friendship. She had little doubt -as to what would be the result of his call upon Sabani, -a fat, taciturn fellow with a surly, hang-dog -manner. Among the sprinkling of Italians who -lived in or near the town of Hamilton, Guiseppe -Baretti was held in the light of an uncrowned monarch -by his humbler countrymen.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Baretti’s,” as his restaurant was familiarly -called, had been for years the favorite rendezvous -of the students of Hamilton College. Like the inn, -its silent, keen-eyed proprietor had found lasting -favor with the campus dwellers. From faculty to -freshmen the little man was known and liked. His -interest in the Travelers and their ambitious plans -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>for a free dormitory had been awakened on the -evening when Marjorie, Robin, Phil and a group -of their boon companions had, in a spirit of mischief, -serenaded him. Since that memorable evening, -when he had entertained them with a story -of his own miseries as an emigrant in New York -City, his interest in their work and accomplishment -had grown greater. The Travelers now numbered -him as one of their staunchest allies.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“At last!” Robin exclaimed half aloud as the -familiar turn into Linden Avenue appeared, only -a few rods ahead. She sent the car fleeing down -the wet avenue, bent on reaching the drug store at -the earliest moment. She had hardly begun slowing -down as the car neared the store when Phil and -Barbara issued from it and ran down to the edge -of the walk to meet her.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You made dandy time,” Phil called out. “Are -you sure you weren’t speeding?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It seemed as though I’d never reach here,” -Robin declared. “I spun the car along as fast as -I dared. I’ve come for you and the girls’ umbrellas.” -Robin hopped agilely from the car and landed -on the walk between Phil and Barbara. “We -must start back in about three minutes. We’ll be -late for dinner, but not too late. I’m famished. I -left Lillian at the inn, starving. She’s saving her -<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>appetite for Thanksgiving dinner at home, and it -won’t be served until four o’clock.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>The three promoters of happiness swung gaily -up the walk, oblivious to the drizzling rain, entered -the store and made an energetic onslaught upon -the two make-shift racks of damp umbrellas. With -the help of the proprietor and a ball of heavy twine -the umbrellas were made into several bundles and -deposited on the floor of the car. Barbara volunteered -to keep them company on the back seat of -the machine.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You may sit on the front seat, Phil. You’ve -something to tell Robin. I resign the place of honor -in favor of you. I am too considerate to join the -front seat party by sitting on you. I’m going to -roost among the bumbershoots.” Barbara climbed -in among the piles of umbrellas and settled herself -cosily on the back seat, her feet tucked under her.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Roosting among the bumbershoots,” laughed -Phil. “That sounds almost scientific; as though the -bumbershoots might be a species of rare bird, or -maybe a savage tribe. Oh, but it’s good to be on -the move again.” She straightened in the seat and -drew a deep breath of satisfaction. “Those two -hours of watchful waiting that Barbara and I put -in will last us for a long time to come. Weary -watchful waiters waitfully watching the weather. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>We weren’t the only waitful watchers, either.” -Phil’s merry tones gave place to a more forceful -accent.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What do you mean, Phil?” Robin cast a quick, -side-long glance toward her cousin.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Leslie Cairns was across the street in the florist’s -shop watching us. She was standing at the -back of the window that had the palms in it. She -had on a leather motor coat with a hood. The hood -was drawn over her head and she wore knickers and -high-laced boots. She looked more like an aviator -than a motorist. I happened to get a good view of -her. Most of the time she kept out of sight behind -the palms. I think she was there for a purpose,” -was Phil’s distrustful surmise.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, she may only have happened in the shop, -either to order flowers or to hunt shelter from the -rain,” Robin made charitable allowance. “Very -likely she has a dinner date with Miss Monroe or -one of the Acasia House girls. What possible interest -could she have in the dormitory girls? You -know what a snob she used to be. I daresay she -hasn’t changed.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“She has nerve,” grumbled Phil who had always -detested Leslie Cairns with the full strength of her -democratic soul. “If I had been expelled from -Hamilton, even unjustly, I’d never set foot on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>campus again. The idea of trying to gain a social -footing on Hamilton campus after the hateful way -she fought against everything fair, honest and ennobling!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Robin, busy guiding the car through the thin, -gray mist, nodded her sympathy of Phil’s impulsive -outburst. “Did you see her leave the florist’s shop,” -she asked.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes; just before you came back this last time. -She dodged out of the store like a streak, jumped -into a little black car she’d parked in front of the -shop, and away she drove like the wind.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Hm-m. That sounds rather suspicious. She -may have had some dark and desperate motive.” -Robin was half smiling. “More likely she simply -happened to go into the shop, saw the crowd across -the street and curiosity got the better of her.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I don’t think so,” Phil frowned and shook a -doubting head. “She had an object in view. She -isn’t half so much interested in getting ready to -build a garage on that property she snatched from -you and Marjorie as she might be. I believe she -bought it purely for spite; as an excuse to keep her -near the campus. She’s rich in her own right, and -a law unto herself. It’s the old story of idle hands -and mischief. She has no worthy object in life. -She’s the kind of person who has to have something -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>to hammer away at. So she’s settled herself near -the campus to see what she can do to tear down -what Page and Dean have built up.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Phil’s voice rang out resentfully on the last sentence. -She had felt suspicion rise within her the -instant she caught sight of Leslie Cairns. “There!” -she declared with some vehemence. “I’ve told you -plainly what I think of Leslie Cairns. You know -I’ve never said much about her before now. I don’t -mean to be a back-biter. But I think she’s more -likely to try to make mischief now than ever. She’s -vindictive. She’s shown that. She likes to blame -Marjorie, instead of herself, for the trouble she -and the Sans had that wound up their B. A. prospects -at Hamilton. I won’t forgive her for misjudging -Marjorie purposely.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I don’t blame you, old firecracker. I sympathize -with your sputters,” laughed Robin. “I’ve said -as much as you about Leslie Cairns to Marjorie. -It’s just as Marvelous Manager says. We can’t -judge her on suspicion. If she should make us -trouble, later, all we could do would be repair the -damage done and go on minding our own affairs. -No one can punish Leslie Cairns so effectively as -Leslie Cairns herself.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“True enough, wise Robin.” Phil’s sunny smile -broke from behind her briefly clouded features. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>“Let’s leave her to her own downfall,” she said -lightly, “and consider instead our Thanksgiving -thankfulnesses. I’m thankful the weather’s growing -better instead of worse, and doubly thankful we -decided to go to town and engineer the dinner movement.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Without us the girls might have had hard work -reaching the inn,” Robin asserted. “They couldn’t -have walked and look presentable after they -reached Baretti’s, and they would not have been -able to hire any cars. They’d have <i>had</i> to telephone -us, but they might have tried to help themselves -first. That would have taken time, and been -a failure in the end. By the time we had gone to -their rescue it would have been late in the afternoon.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We managed to dodge a fine flivver all around,” -observed Phil with a self-congratulatory nod.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Under Robin’s slender practiced hands the car -had been swiftly eating up the distance between -town and the inn. The cousins hardly realized -their nearness to it, so earnestly were they talking, -until the quaint low structure appeared ahead of -them, only a few rods distant, a welcome sight. -Robin slowed down with a deep breath of satisfaction.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You almost anchored our good ship Bubble in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>a mud hole, <i>mon capitaine</i>,” teased Barbara. She -scrambled from the tonneau, balanced herself on -the running board and nimbly leaped the shallow -beginning of a deep, wide roadside puddle, the -greater spread of which was in front of the car. -Barbara flapped her arms and made a triumphant -landing on wet but solid ground.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“No one is infallible,” chuckled Robin. “Thank -your stars I didn’t splash you. It’s your move, lady. -Don’t be afraid to make it,” she turned to Phil -with the gruff tone of a traffic officer. She and Phil -both rose in the seat to leave the machine. Both -beheld in the same instant a small black car coming -toward them at high speed.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Swish; splatter; splash! The forward tires of the -oncoming car struck the wide puddle with a force -that sent the muddy water of the puddle upward in -jets. In passing Robin’s car the other machine -gave a violent lurch toward it that threatened but -did not precipitate a collision. On down the road -the black car shot, spattering the mud and water -high as it whizzed out of sight around a bend.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Whew! Faugh!” Phil dashed away a splash of -soft mud that had struck her squarely on the mouth. -Face and clothing were liberally spattered with it. -Robin had been equally unfortunate. Phil suddenly -burst out laughing. “Oh, ha, ha!” she laughed. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>“My poor polka dot cousin. You’re a P. D., Robin; -instead of a P. G.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Stop laughing,” ordered Robin, herself giggling -immoderately at the disaster which had overtaken -them. “Your face looks even worse than mine. And -bouncing Bab escaped just in time. That last -bounce saved you,” she told grinning Barbara.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What did I tell you only a little while ago?” -Phil glanced up the pike in the direction in which -the devastating car had disappeared. “She saw us -before we saw her. She put on speed and did that -stunt simply to be malicious. If we’d been half a -second sooner in getting out of the car we might -have had the most wonderful mud shower bath! -She took the risk of smashing into our machine -for the pleasure of spattering us. She’s vindictive—just -as I said.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Leslie Cairns’ own variety of sport.” Barbara -now hurried to where the two victims of Leslie -Cairns’ ill nature stood wiping the thin oozy mud -from their “polka dot” faces. “You should have -seen the expression of her face as her car zipped -by ours. She looked delighted—a wicked, hateful -kind of delight. No wonder Muriel and Jerry call -her the Hob-goblin!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I crowed too soon. A mud-splashing is something -we didn’t dodge,” Phil said ruefully. “I feel -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>as though I had been swimming in the mud. Come -on, Barbara Severn, and get busy with these umbrellas. -I can order you about. You’re only a -senior. Help from P. G.’s will also be appreciated. -I’m tired and hungry and muddy. Ah, there stands -the guardian angel of Hamilton!” Phil waved a -gay hand to Signor Baretti who had just appeared -in the doorway of the inn.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The little man responded to the wave. Then he -disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared. He -returned at once with one of his olive-skinned -kitchen helpers and proceeded to busy himself with -the care of the umbrellas.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We’ll let the men carry the bumbershoots inside. -If we go in there we’ll not get away from the crowd -for awhile,” Phil predicted cannily. “Remember our -own Thanksgiving feed. Meanwhile I am starving -to death by inches.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We’re not going inside, Signor Baretti,” Robin -told the smiling “guardian angel” as the helper disappeared -with the last of the umbrellas.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I know,” the little man bobbed his head understandingly. -“I know you are in the hurry. I don’t -see you till is done in the <i>ginnasio</i> the ball game -you have tell me about. You say it is done, mebbe -five the clock. I go there. Wait for you. When -<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>I meet you I have for you the bus, the taxi—something -to ride in for the dorm girls. Now I don’t -know which these. But I find out.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>THE REASON WHY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“Oh, Marjorie Dean; dear old Marvelous Manager! -I’m <i>so</i> glad you’ve come back to the campus. -I feel like squealing for joy. I was never -before quite so glad to see anyone!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie, first off the train of her party, walked -straight into Robin Page’s welcoming, outstretched -arms. The Sanford-bound party had left the campus -under rain-threatening skies. They were returning -to find Marjorie’s first Hamilton friend -decorated with a carpet of soft cold white. On Saturday -the weather had grown colder. Sunday afternoon -had brought a mild snow storm.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Gracious; you must have missed me! This is -surely a cordial reception, Pagie dear.” Marjorie -laughed her pleasure of re-union as she warmly returned -Robin’s hearty embrace.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I have; <i>I have</i>,” Robin’s tones rose in a mild -wail. “Oh, you lucky gang,” she cried, surveying -fondly the eight returned Travelers. “I drove your -<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>car down tonight, Vera. Leila’s hasn’t come home -from the repair shop yet.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Robin kept up a lively chatter as she was passed -from one to another of the octette. Her extreme -charm of face and manner made her place in the -hearts of the little coterie of friends a very individual -one. A less sensible girl than Robin might -easily have been spoiled by the knowledge of her -peculiar power to charm.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Phil and Barbara ought to be here, too.” Robin -made a searching survey of the white, drifted platform -with her eyes. “They started out to see if -they could beg, borrow or steal a car. They wanted -to come with me, but I told them to go and hunt -a car of their own. I said: ‘When you find it you -may bring it to me,’” laughed Robin. “I knew we’d -need two cars. I didn’t care to call a station taxi. -Wait till you hear my reason for cutting out those -same taxies.” Robin’s delicate face hardened a -trifle. “It’s a very good——”</p> - -<p class='c005'>A sharp little shout of welcome broke in upon -what Robin was saying. Phil, Barbara and Gussie -Forbes suddenly appeared on the platform. Phil -and Barbara were escorting Gussie with a great -show of respect. Each had her by an arm. Both -were endeavoring to look dignified. Gussie was -frankly giggling her enjoyment of the situation.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>“Captured a soph; tallest in captivity; absolutely -primitive; untamed, probably belongs to the cave -dwellers union,” recited Phil, indicating Gussie with -an enthusiastic flourish. “She may even be a Celt.” -Phil arched significant brows at Leila.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“May she, indeed?” Leila pretended deep surprise.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You heard me say she <i>might</i> be,” Phil retorted -grandly. “Anyway, she has a car that’s not in the -repair shop. That’s more important this evening -than being a Celt.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Now where is the one who told you that?” Leila -glared about her, as if determined to hunt out the -offender.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You mustn’t be <i>too</i> personal.” Phil put her -hand to her lips. Shielding them cup-fashion she -said in a loud whisper: “Keep quiet. She mustn’t -suspect the reason we invited her.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I doubt if she ever finds out,” was Leila’s satirical -assurance.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Poor, benighted soph.” Vera turned a pitying -look on the primitive, untamed soph who returned -it with a bold wink.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“She seems to understand a few things,” Muriel -made equally sarcastic comment.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ll guarantee not to ditch the car, even if I do -have an untamed air,” chuckled Gussie. “Come on, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>Travelers. No place like home when home’s a good -place. Six to a car. Come, choose your east. Come, -choose your west.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>The Travelers obeyed the call, laughingly dividing -themselves into two groups. Robin, Marjorie, -Muriel, Phil, Lucy and Vera took possession of -Vera’s car. Leila, Jerry, Kathie, Barbara, Ronny -and Gussie fell to Gussie’s big high-powered touring -car. They were all in an uproariously merry -mood as their frequent peals of laughter went to -testify.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Phil magnanimously volunteered to forego the -delights of re-union and drive the car so that Robin -could tell the girls the campus news. Lucy elected -to ride on the front seat beside her. “Such a noble -act deserves the reward of my company. Besides, -I’ll hear the same news later. There’ll be at least -half a dozen editions of it,” she slyly prophesied.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie’s first eager question: “How did everything -go?” set Robin off on an account of the calamity -that had overtaken the dormitory girls on -Thanksgiving morning. She had just reached the -point in her narrative where she and Barbara and -Phil had piled the umbrellas belonging to the dormitory -girls into the automobile and started for the -inn when Phil brought the car up in front of Wayland -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>Hall and called out in stentorian tones: “All -out. Step lively.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ll have to tell you the rest when we are settled -again up in Marjorie’s room. This is the Tragedy -of Page minus Dean, in two acts. Wait till you -hear the sensational climax of Act One,” Robin -animatedly informed the absorbed listeners.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The brightness of reunion had been gradually -fading from Marjorie’s face as she listened to Robin -to give place to an expression of almost stern gravity. -Robin had not yet brought Leslie Cairns into -the narrative. Nevertheless her name had suddenly -leaped into Marjorie’s mind. Why Robin’s recital -of her difficulties with two warring Italian garage -owners should have reminded Marjorie of Leslie -Cairns she was momentarily at a loss to understand. -She conceived a swift, unbidden, formless -suspicion of Leslie which she instantly tried to dismiss -as unworthy. It continued to tantalize her -brain until she recalled with relief that it was the -mention of the Italians as garage owners that had -brought Leslie to the fore in her mind. Leslie herself -was a prospective garage owner.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Half an hour later when Robin had resumed her -story to her interested audience of chums Marjorie -sat, chin on hand, staring in secret bewilderment at -Robin as the latter indignantly recounted the sensational -<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>mud-spattering climax of Act One, with -Leslie Cairns as the villain. Her curious, flitting -suspicion of Leslie had not then been idle. She -felt as she might have if she had suddenly reached -up and picked her conviction of Leslie’s treachery -out of the atmosphere.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Phil insisted from the first that Leslie Cairns -had an object in view when she stood in the store -watching us from behind the palms. I tried to give -her the benefit of the doubt. Afterward, when she -<i>deliberately ran her car through that mud puddle -as hard as she could drive it, and as close to our -car as she dared</i>, I decided Phil was right,” Robin -asserted with an energetic bob of her head.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What do you think her object was, Phil? Leslie -Cairns’, I mean?” Vera voiced the curiosity of -the others. “Do you think she heard about the dinner -to the off-campus girls from her friends?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Of course. She must have. Hard to say what -her object may have been. She was probably hunting -mischief. When she couldn’t find any to do, it -put her in a worse humor than ever with us and -she vented her spite in a mud-spattering act.” Phil -accompanied her opinion with a contemptuous shrug.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That ends the first act, ladies and Gentleman -Gus,” announced Robin. “The second act has nothing -to do with Leslie Cairns. It features Guiseppe -<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>Baretti, the hero of the hour and the knightly defender -of the dormitory girls.” She accompanied -the announcement with flamboyant gestures.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Thank you for special mention.” Gussie stood -up and bowed.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’re welcome,” beamed Robin. “I couldn’t -resist including you. It sounded well.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s a poor way to do, to be calling attention to -oneself in the middle of a story,” grumbled Leila. -“My fine old Irish manners tell me that.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Ask them to tell you to practice the lost art of -silence,” Muriel blandly requested. “When you get -the information pass it on to Gentleman Gus. -Whisper it so we can’t hear it. We’re anxious to -hear the rest of Robin’s tale.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Ah, but you have an idea you are talking!” -Leila exclaimed with withering sarcasm.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“<i>Taisez-vous.</i>” Robin shook a playfully threatening -finger at the merry gabblers. “I’ll resume before -you have time to interrupt me again. After -Phil, Barbara and I got our mud shower we hustled -to Silverton Hall. We were late for dinner; -awfully late, but everybody was good to us and the -dinner was splendiferous. We started for the gym -the minute we had finished dinner. Gussie, you can -tell the crowd about the game afterward. I want -to keep to the subject of my own troubles as a promoter, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>minus a partner. It was a great game. I’ll -say that much.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Gentleman Gus is the best player I ever saw -tackle a game,” Phil praised. “That’s all. ’Scuse -me for interrupting.” She cast a comical glance at -Robin, who returned it with a reproving one, then -continued:</p> - -<p class='c005'>“When the game was over I went outside the -gym wondering if Signor Baretti really had been -able to reduce those provoking Italians to reason. -He was waiting just outside the double doors. I -know by the way he smiled that he had found some -way of helping us. He told me he had managed -to make Mariani let him have four taxies and that -he had his own large car and a smaller one he used -when making hurried business trips. I still had -Vera’s car. We had come over from Silverton Hall -in it. His big car would easily hold ten passengers, -by having the taxies make a second trip all the off-campus -girls would be taken care of.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Mariani himself was driving one of the taxies. -You should have seen the expression on his fat face! -He was so peeved at Baretti he didn’t know which -way to look!” Phil interposed, laughing at the memory -of the miffed Italian’s grouchy face.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Baretti had the machines lined up on the branch -drive east of the gym. I asked him if the men -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>could be depended to bring the girls back to the -campus after supper and come for them after the -dance. He said: ‘Yes-s, I tell again. Then sure.’” -Robin imitated the inn-keeper briefly. “He marched -up to the first, then the others, and said about six -words to each; except Mariani. He and Guiseppe -had quite an argument. I could tell by the way they -wagged their heads and shrugged their shoulders -and made gestures to go with almost every word -they said. Finally Signor Baretti came over to me -and said very proudly that it was all right; to tell -the ‘dorm’ girls to get into the machines. Just about -that time——”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We came along with our little chug wagons,” -broke in Gussie mischievously. “That’s all. Don’t -forget to give us credit.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Don’t worry. I never forget,” recklessly boasted -Robin. “Yes; Gentleman Gus, Calista, Norma -and Laura came along again with their cars and -the taxies didn’t have to make a second trip. Lillian -couldn’t come. Their dinner was so late. Besides -they were entertaining at her home in the -evening. Mariani furnished the same four taxies -out to the campus in the evening at the usual rate. -After the dance he only sent two, and the drivers -said they couldn’t come back. I was positively green -with rage. I tried to catch Mariani on the ’phone, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>but he wouldn’t answer. The girls helped out again -and we managed to land the last ‘dorm’ on her own -doorstep a little after midnight.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Did you tell Guiseppe of Mariani’s second flivver?” -Vera asked. “If you haven’t, you’d better. -He will wish to know it. He’ll think you haven’t -much confidence in him if you don’t let him know.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It was too late to bother him that night, and I -was so busy Friday and Saturday I didn’t have -time to go and see him. I intend to tell him.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Did the busses run again on Friday? Are they -running now?” were Marjorie’s questions, uttered -in quick succession.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“No, <i>sir</i>; they aren’t running yet. And Mariani -isn’t giving good service. I know of a number of -different girls who have since then ’phoned for -taxies, and have had no service. Whenever they’ve -called on the ’phone about it, no one at Mariani’s -garage has seemed to know anything,” Barbara finished -disgustedly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What did Signor Baretti say about the busses -not running? Did he find out what the trouble -was?” Again it was Marjorie who questioned.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“He hadn’t found out the reason when he came -to the gym after the game on Thursday. He said -he would, though. I know he will. He is the never-give-up -kind. When he does find out we’ll hear -<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>from him.” Robin said this with the utmost confidence.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“And now, may a poor, timid Irish woman ask -a question?” Leila had been listening to Robin, an -inscrutable smile touching her red lips. Her bright -blue eyes were alive with a cold sparkle which Jerry -had once declared looked like fire behind ice.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Do ask it.” Jerry had instantly marked the expression. -She straightened in her chair, the picture -of expectation. Leila was about to say something -startling.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That I will.” Leila flashed Jerry a knowing -smile. “What has Leslie Cairns to do with the second -act of the Tragedy of Page minus Dean?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Now you have asked a question.” Ronny’s gray -eyes gleamed shrewdly as she brought out the crisp -commendation. “When we fit an answer to that -very leading question we’ll probably know why the -busses stopped running.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>A QUEER JOKE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>Leila’s frank assumption that Leslie Cairns had -been a secret Thanksgiving Day disturber could not -fail to find lodgment in the minds of the girls gathered -in Marjorie’s room that snowy Sunday afternoon. -There was not one among them who did not -know considerable about Leslie Cairns’ underhanded -methods of trouble-making. They knew, -too, that she had oftenest directed her spite against -Marjorie. Marjorie was adored for her beauty, as -Leslie was disliked for her lack of it. Her unfair -treacherous ways made her unprepossessing features -even more ugly in their girlish eyes.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Be it said to their credit they tried not to discuss -Leslie any more personally than could be helped -under the circumstances. All of them were of the -same opinion. Leslie had not gotten over her grudge -against Marjorie. She had chosen to strike at a -time when she knew Marjorie would not be on the -campus to guard her benevolent interests.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>“She’s as relentless as an Indian,” was Jerry’s -opinion of the ex-student. “It’s a good thing for -Bean that she has me to protect her.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie did not take the indignant view of Leslie -Cairns’ further attempt to persecute her which -her comrades entertained. Still she was now more -concerned about it within herself than she had been -in her earlier campus days when Commencement -was a far-distant prospect. Now she was a promoter. -She smiled to herself whenever the word -crossed her brain. She was a promoter of democracy; -a promoter of happiness. Before she had -gone through the gate of Commencement she feared -that she had been far more interested in <i>her</i> welfare -than she had that of others. Now her work -demanded the thought of others above her personal -wishes and inclinations. It became more than ever -necessary that she should make it her business to -guard the interests of those who would benefit by -and through the efforts of Page and Dean.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Between you and me,” she said confidentially -to Jerry the next afternoon in the privacy of their -room. “I wish Leslie Cairns would go on an expedition -to Alaska, Kamchatka, Bolivia, Tasmania or -any other far away point where she’d be neither -seen nor even heard of for a long time.” Marjorie’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>tone was anything but vindictive. Her brown eyes -regarded Jerry somberly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Your wish and your tone don’t harmonize,” -criticized Jerry. “Why wish your worst enemy almost -off the face of the earth in such a mournful -tone? Which shall I believe?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Either or neither. Suit yourself,” Marjorie -stood before the mirror of her dressing table adjusting -a chic little green velvet hat to just the right -angle on her curly head. The hat placed to her -satisfaction she swung round from the mirror saying -forcefully, “It makes me weary, Jerry, even to -have to think of Leslie Cairns. She isn’t my worst -enemy. She’s her own. I wish someone could -make her understand that. But not I.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Who?” Jerry looked up in mock alarm from -the translation into French which she was in indifferent -process of making. “I hope you didn’t mean -me, Bean.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“No, not you.” Marjorie’s merry laugh was -heard. “I don’t know who. I won’t allow myself -to label Leslie Cairns as dangerous. In the past -she usually overreached herself every time she -started trouble.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You are living in the present, Bean,” Jerry -staidly corrected, “and Les, as her pals used to call -her, is living in our village, too, and right on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>job. She’s like an epidemic. No one knows how -or when she may break out. Things were whizzing -along on wheels when we went home at Thanksgiving. -Next day it rained and the busses all stopped -running. They aren’t running yet. Now we can’t -blame Les for the rain, but what about the busses?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ll answer that question when I come back from -Baretti’s. I’m sure that is what Signor Baretti -wishes to talk about.” Marjorie had that morning -received a note from the Italian asking her and -Robin to come to the restaurant at three o’clock that -afternoon. “Bye, Jeremiah. See you later. Truly -I’ll be back to dinner.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>She encountered Robin when within a few steps -of the inn looking her prettiest in a mink-trimmed -suit of brown and the smartest of mink hats.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Such magnificence!” Marjorie exclaimed. -“Why didn’t you tell me there was to be a display -of fashion on the campus this P. M.?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Didn’t know it myself until I went over to the -Hall after I left the Biology laboratory this afternoon. -There I found a big box on purpose for -Robin. I ordered this suit in New York just before -I came back to Hamilton. I had to write two -hurry-up letters to the tailor about it, but—here it -is at last.” Robin took a jaunty step or two ahead -of Marjorie better to display her new costume.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>“It’s a work of art,” Marjorie smilingly told her -with her ready graciousness. “Guiseppe won’t -realize that I’m present when you burst upon him -in all your glory.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Well—not quite so bad as that,” Robin disagreed, -chuckling. “He’ll probably say, first thing, -that if you had been here the busses wouldn’t have -stopped running.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That’ll do. I think we’re even now.” Marjorie’s -eyes were dancing. She was a lovely picture of -blooming girlhood, the dark green of her long coat -with its wide collar and bands of black fox bringing -out more fully the apple blossom tint of her rounded -cheeks.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“So, Miss Dean, you come back again. I am -glad.” Baretti had hastened from the far end of the -room to greet his callers. “You have the nice time -at home? Your father and mother, they are well?” -he asked with polite interest. “I think I never -know before two such nices ones as your father, -your mother.” The Italian had been introduced to -Mr. and Mrs. Dean during the previous June when -they had come to Hamilton to attend the Commencement -exercises.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“They are very well, thank you, Signor Baretti. -I have brought back their best wishes to you. They -especially asked me to tell you that they appreciated -<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>your message to them.” The innkeeper had sent -them a message of good will in his sincere, if broken -English.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That is good; verra good for me. When you -write the letter, perhaps you have the time say my -good wishes once more to them,” he asked, slightly -hesitant. “Now come, both of you. I have the -fine maple mousse today. My Italiano boys in the -kitchen make. None can make better than these.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We adore the maple mousse your boys make!” -Robin assured Baretti. Marjorie echoed her warm -praise of the dainty.</p> - -<p class='c005'>They obediently followed him to one of the vacant -tables and seated themselves in the chairs he pulled -out for them. He stood for a moment ceremoniously -waiting for one or the other of them to ask -him to join them.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I hope you aren’t too busy to sit down at the -table for a few minutes and tell us about the busses,” -Marjorie cordially paved the way.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What you think, Miss Page; Miss Dean?” the -little proprietor leaned earnestly forward. An -apple-cheeked Italian waitress had been sent for -the maple mousse. “Sabani send me the word he -don’t run the busses—not if I say so hundred times. -Ha, ha, ha!” Baretti threw back his head with a -derisive laugh.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>“How encouraging!” Marjorie exclaimed with -light mockery. In spite of the difficulties that had -overtaken Page and Dean she could not resist smiling -over the child-like message of defiance Sabani -had sent to Baretti.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The Italian understood her tone and said. “Now -you only make the fun of me, Miss Dean.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What does Sabani intend to do about sending -busses over the campus route?” Robin asked anxiously. -“Why has he cut the campus out? All the -answer we’ve ever received from him to those two -questions is that two of his busses are laid up for -repairs and the third is running entirely on the -Bretan Hill route.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“A-a-ah; he only makes the talk. He don’t tell -nothin’ true. Nev-ver-r Sabani tell the truth. He -say me the same he say you, Miss Page. I say him: -‘Look you; this my eye.’ Put my finger to my eye -like this. ‘I see two your busses run in town yesterday.’ -Then he is verra mad, but he tell me verra -smart: ‘Oh, yes; you see. That one bus make only -one trip to West Hamilton, then break down again.’ -I tell him I am not foolish. I know what I see. I -say: ‘What is the matter you don’t want to give the -dorm girls the service?’”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That was straight from the shoulder.” Marjorie -nodded her approbation.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>“Good for you, Signor Baretti.” Robin lightly -clapped her hands.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“He give me the verra queer look. Mebbe he is -the little scared. I speak to him verra quick—look -me so mad.” Baretti straightened in his chair and -gave an illustration of his idea of stern, offended -dignity. “Then he say he don’t know what I mean. -I tell him he will know soon, an’ he won’t like. -Then he is more scare. He say he tell me somethin’ -verra private. This is it. He don’t like take the -dorm girls to the campus in the bus for he is mad -because they ride too much in Mariani’s taxies. -Mariani is the <i>nemico</i> to him. That mean hate -verra hard. I laugh at him. I say him that is the -mos’ bigges’ lie he tell yet.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What an excuse!” Robin turned disgustedly to -Marjorie. “It’s so flimsy it hardly holds together -in the telling. The dormitory girls hardly ever -patronize the taxies on account of the expense, -Signor Baretti,” she explained to their host. “Sabani -appeared well pleased in the beginning to have -those seventy-two fares twice a day, not to mention -the extra campus traffic he received. I never trusted -that man.” Robin shook a disapproving head.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Naw.” Baretti forgot manners and indulged -in his pet “Naw” by way of expressing his contempt. -“Well, I say him, ‘Nev-ver-r you min’, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>Sabani, I know the way to do.’ I laugh and go -way from him. I think of Floroni who drive one -the busses. I know he don’t like Sabani. I go in -the street watch for him. He is drive the bus to -Breton Hill. I have to wait long time for him. I -drive my car out on the pike, wait for him there. -I say to him come to my restaurant tonight after -he make last trip. That is ten of the clock. He -say he will.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“And did he keep his word?” Marjorie asked -eagerly. Two pairs of bright eyes fixed themselves -upon the Italian. Neither girl had missed the note -of triumph which had sprung into his voice.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes, oo-h, yes,” was the instant reply. “Floroni -is my frien’. Now he is my driver for my -truck. I give him this place. He tell me he don’ -want work mor’ for Sabani, for he is no good. He -say he can’t give up the place when he has the -family to work for. Then I say him: ‘You don’t -like Sabani. You say me: Why he treat the dorm -girls so bad; don’t give them any service with the -busses?’”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Baretti made an eloquent pause as his black eyes -sent a triumphant gleam toward one then the other -of his listeners. They watched him in expectation.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Floroni say: ‘Yes, I tell you, Sabani don’t tell -me nothin’. I see an’ hear myself. Sabani get -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>plenta mona becaus’ he don’t run the busses to the -campus.’”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Plenty of money because he doesn’t run the -busses?” cried Robin her eyes widening with surprise. -“I can’t see how that——”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes-s;” the little proprietor interposed, a -trace of excitement ruffling his quick, stolid assent. -“He get that mona becaus’ Miss Car-rins give to -him. She go to his garage two days before -Thanksgiving; talk to him there. It is in the -morning verra early. Floroni and the other drivers -take out the busses. Floroni happen walk by her. -He hear her tell Sabani this: ‘What you care, an’ -I make worth the time.’ He don’t know then what -she mean. Day befor’ Thanksgiving Sabani say -him, ‘I give you holiday tomorrow; mebbe more -days. Two the busses need the repairs. I pay you -jus’ same as when you drive but you stay in the -garage. You wash the cars; do such things.’ And -so it is. He don’t like, but he need the mona’.” -The Italian spread his hands with a deprecating -gesture. “He say, Miss Car-rins make all the -trouble.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Listening to Baretti’s information concerning the -bus trouble it occurred to both Robin and Marjorie -in the same instant that they might have expected -to hear the name of Leslie Cairns as the real power -<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>of malice. Robin’s flash of surprise at Baretti’s -first accusation against Sabani instantly died out. -She knew that it was not the first time that Leslie -Cairns had bribed her way to her objectives.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Then there is no certainty as to when the busses -will begin running again,” Marjorie said, brows -contracted in a reflective little frown. “What ought -we to do, Signor Baretti?” She glanced appealingly -at the little man.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Ah, that is the way I like! I am the one to help -you. It is already done. Tomorrow you see the -busses run to the campus again with the dorm girls.” -Baretti made this promise almost gleefully.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Tomorrow!” two voices rose simultaneously.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes-s.” Baretti surveyed the amazed firm of -Page and Dean with his broadest, most beaming -smile. “This morning I have go to Sabani. Aa-h-h, -but we have the fight; but not with the hand.” He -doubled a fist and shook his hand. “It was the fight -talk. I scare him; make him think I know all he -say to Miss Car-rins; all she say him. Then I tell -him I will go to the mayor of Hamilton an’ tell -the mayor what he have done. The mayor will -take away his license for the bus line. ‘I make you -many troubles, for you deserve, you don’t run the -busses to the campus tomorrow.’ After while he -say he will do it. He say Miss Car-rins tell him -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>it was the joke she want play on the dorm girls. I -say him it is the poor joke, but not so bad as the -joke I will play on him if he don’ run the busses -to the campus tomorrow.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>AN EVIL INSPIRATION</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>Due to the heavy rain storm on Thanksgiving -Day, Leslie Cairns’ plans had gone considerably -“aglee.” To parade the Dazzler, the white car she -had loaned Doris, with Doris in it and clothed in -expensive white furry finery, had been an impossibility. -In consequence a very much disgruntled -Leslie Cairns had telephoned Doris that “it was all -off” and to meet her instead at the Colonial at -two o’clock.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Before the two girls had reached their Thanksgiving -dessert they had come perilously near quarreling. -Leslie was in bad humor because of the inclement -weather. She had the fierce hatred of -being disappointed common to utterly selfish persons. -The news that Doris would grace the hop -on the Saturday evening following Thanksgiving -Day and take charge at the door of the admission -fee to the frolic had not pleased Leslie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You should have known better than to take that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>job, even though it does give you a chance to show -off your looks,” she had upbraided Doris in a surly -tone. “You say you can’t endure Bean and her -crowd. Then—bing!—you whirl about and let -them make a silly of you. Page is Bean’s partner -and one of the celebrated Beanstalks. That didn’t -hinder you from being as sweet as cream to Page -and saying, ‘yes,’ in a hurry when she asked you -to be a little pet donkey and collect the fees at the -hop.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Leslie!” Doris had said in a low, furious voice, -“you shall not talk to me in that tone, or call me -a donkey. I won’t stand it. You are simply in a rage -with everything and everybody today because things -didn’t go to suit you. Besides, it was Miss Wenderblatt -not Miss Page who asked me. You are rude -and boorish.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ll say what I please. I’ve a perfect right to -express an opinion.” Leslie had flung back with -equal fury. “What you’ll have to do is to go and -tell that smug Dutch prig, Wenderblatt, that you -won’t be able to do the tax-collection stunt Saturday -night. You have another engagement. You -<i>have</i>, you know. One with <i>me</i>. We’ll go to the -Lotus to dinner and wander into that select rube -recreation palace known as the Hamilton Opera -House.”</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>“I do not intend to tell Miss Wenderblatt any -such thing,” Doris had retorted with belligerent independence. -“Just remember she is Professor -Wenderblatt’s daughter. This stunt I am to do at -the hop will boom me a lot on the campus. I have -a perfectly ducky dress to wear. Besides Miss -Peyton and Miss Barton are going to try to start a -beauty contest at the hop. There is no doubt but -that I shall win it.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Your chances <i>are</i> fair since Bean’s taken her -precious self to dear Sanford, the place where Beans -and Beanstocks grow,” Leslie had sneered.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You are so impossible today, Leslie. I sha’n’t -lower myself by quarreling with you,” had been -Doris’s ultimatum, delivered in offended haughtiness.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’d never win a prize for amiability. You’re -the most selfish proposition, Doris Monroe, that -I’ve ever met,” Leslie had retaliated.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Get acquainted with yourself,” Doris had sarcastically -advised.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The ending of their Thanksgiving dinner had -been punctuated freely with other similar pleasantries. -The two self-willed girls had left the Colonial -hardly on speaking terms. It was nearing half -past three o’clock when they had stepped outside -the tea room. The rain having stopped Doris had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>sulkily announced her intention to walk to Wayland -Hall instead of allowing Leslie to run her -there in the car. Leslie had snapped back: “Don’t -care what you do. You’re too selfish to consider -me. You know I counted on you to help me amuse -myself tonight in that dead dump of a town. Go -to the dance. I hope you have a punk evening.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“In going to the hop I’m only doing what you -asked me to do quite a while ago. You told me -then that you wanted me to make myself popular -on the campus. Well; this is the way to do it. -Think it over. You’ll find I’m right,” had been -Doris’s parting shot as she separated from her ill-humored -companion.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Determining to teach Doris a lesson, Leslie let -the rest of the week go by without holding any -communication with the sophomore. She had spent -a lonely Thanksgiving evening and blamed Doris -heavily because of it. She was also dreadfully -miffed at the partial failure of her contemptible -plot against the dormitory girls’ welfare. When -she had awakened on Thanksgiving morning, to see -violently weeping skies that promised an all-day -deluge, she had smiled contentedly. She had effectually -blocked Bean’s plans for the day. And -for a good many days to come! Such was her belief, -when, after having posted herself in the palm-screened -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>window of the florist’s shop to see that -Sabani kept his word and ran no busses, she had -frowningly witnessed the arrival of Phil, Barbara -and Robin on the scene and what followed as a -result of their timely arrival.</p> - -<p class='c005'>When Leslie had had the galling experience of -seeing the Thanksgiving part of her plot far on -the way to failure she had flung out of the florist’s -in a rage, jumped into her car and set off for the -campus without any definite reason whatever for -going there. The main point had been to keep -“rag, tag and bob-tail,” as she had ironically named -the off-campus girls, from getting to the “free -feed” at the “dago’s hash house.” She had failed -to do this. The “beggars” had managed to reach -Baretti’s in spite of the rain. They would return -to town in the same way that they had come. -Leslie felt particularly spiteful toward Robin Page. -So very spiteful that she indulged her rancor in -“splashing” Phil and Robin when the opportunity -chanced to offer itself.</p> - -<p class='c005'>On the Sunday afternoon following Thanksgiving -while the Travelers, old and new, had gathered in -Marjorie’s room in serious confab over the momentous -happenings of the Thanksgiving holiday, Leslie -Cairns had sat lazily stretched in an easy chair -in her hotel room, eyes half closed, her dark mind -<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>wholly concentrated on an idea which had just introduced -itself to her. It was an evil inspiration, -born of a group of headlines she had glanced at in -one of the Sunday papers.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I wonder why I never thought of that before,” -she had said half aloud as she dipped a hand into -a box of nut chocolates on the table beside her and -thoughtfully nibbled a cream nut. “I wish I dared -ask <i>him</i> to help me. He could do what I want done -as quickly as a wink. He couldn’t kick, either, for -he has handled more than one such stunt. I think -I’ll write him. ‘Nothing venture nothing have.’ I’ll -wait a few days until I see how the bus scheme -works out, then I’ll write. I’ve never written him -since he—since he—.” Leslie’s voice had faltered. -She had sat staring into the ruddy embers of the -open fire looking less like a malicious mischief-maker -and more like a sorrowful young woman -than ever before. There was only one person in -the world who had ever commanded Leslie’s respect -and tenderness. That one was her father.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XIX.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>A BUSY INVESTIGATOR</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>On Monday, Leslie, now elated by her newest -plan, relented and called Doris Monroe on the telephone. -While she had been ready to condemn Doris -for going to the hop, nevertheless she had a -thriving curiosity to know what had happened at -the dance.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The two girls met by appointment at the Colonial -and in a far pleasanter frame of mind than that -of the preceding Thursday.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I may go to New York,” Leslie announced, directly -they had found a table to suit their difficult -fancy and seated themselves. “I’m expecting a letter -or a telegram from”—Leslie checked herself -abruptly—“from a dear friend,” she continued. -“Even if I shouldn’t hear from this friend I may -go anyway.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“And, of course, I can’t get leave of absence -to go with you.” Doris spoke pettishly, dissatisfaction -looming large on her perfect features. “We -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>made a mistake in not going there at Thanksgiving. -You could have gone. It rained too hard for -you to attend to any business about your garage -site.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That’s all you know about it,” Leslie indulged -in one of her silent laughs. “I was very busy in -town on Thanksgiving morning. Don’t get New -Yorkitis, Goldie. We’ll go to little old N. Y. for -the Easter vacation. Maybe our house will be open -then,” she predicted hopefully. She felt signally -cheered even by the remote prospect.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Leslie had already begun the composition of a -letter to her father. She wrote, crossed out and re-wrote. -She had not yet evolved from her labor the -letter she hoped would soften her father’s unforgiving -heart.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“When will you go to New York?” Doris showed -signs of mollification. The promise of an Easter -vacation in New York with Leslie to show her the -metropolis was something to be gracious over.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Don’t know. Not for a week. Perhaps not for -two.” Leslie donned her most indifferent air. She -had volunteered as much as she thought wise to -Doris concerning her New York trip. “Tell me -about the hop,” she said craftily, switching the -subject from herself to her companion.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, it was so, so.” Doris shrugged lightly. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>“My pale blue frock was sweet. A lot of fuss was -made over me. There wasn’t a Beauty contest.” -Her face registered disappointment. “Julia Peyton -said she’d start one, but she couldn’t make it -go. The crowd was crazy to dance.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“She is a big bluff, and her pal, red-headed Miss -Carter is a stupid. Look out for both of them,” -was Leslie’s succinct criticism. She had been introduced -to the two sophs by Doris and had mentally -decided against both.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“They have been awfully sweet to me,” Doris returned -half offended. She did not enjoy having her -admirers belittled. “So were Miss Page, Miss -Moore and the rest of that new sorority. Miss Page -is charming. What a pity she throws herself away -on that horrid Sanford crowd. I was glad they -weren’t at the hop. I’d not have taken charge of -the admission fee if they had been.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You would if it had happened to suit you,” Leslie -coolly told her. Then she laughed. “Don’t -bristle and get ready to throw quills at me, Goldie. -I know you thoroughly. I must say I’m surprised -to hear you raving over Page when you know Page -and Bean are my special abomination.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You never said a word about Miss Page,” Doris -flashed back.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“She’s a Beanstalk. Wasn’t that enough to let -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>you know what I thought of her? Aren’t she and -Bean always together?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m not crazy about Miss Page,” Doris jerked -out angrily. She purposely avoided answering Leslie’s -questions.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ll say you’re not. There’s only one person -you are crazy about. That’s Doris Monroe,” Leslie -said with savage emphasis.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That’s not fair, nor true,” sputtered Doris. Unguardedly -her clear cold tones rose higher than she -knew. “I’m not crazy about myself—or anyone -else. I’d like you best of all, Leslie, if you weren’t -so awfully bullying. I won’t be bullied. That’s all -there is to it.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“So it would appear.” Leslie’s retort was grimly -sarcastic. “Sorry you had to tell the natives -about it.” She made an angry movement of the -head toward the next table below them. Around it -sat Gussie Forbes, Calista Wilmot and Flossie -Hart, placidly eating ices.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“They couldn’t hear what I said,” Doris defended, -half abashed, half sulky. “I’m sure they -couldn’t.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’re the one to worry, if they did,” shrugged -Leslie. “It can’t do one little bit of harm to me. -Forget it. What do you know about this bus trouble -the bread and cheese priggies are having? Have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>the busses really stopped running between town and -the campus? I heard they stopped on Thanksgiving -Day. I haven’t seen you since then.” Leslie made -a success of looking innocent.</p> - -<p class='c005'>She had not divulged to Doris, either before or -on Thanksgiving Day, her part in the bus trouble. -Bitter experience with the Sans had taught her the -value of keeping her own counsel. She now listened -to Doris’s vague information concerning the -non-running busses, an enigmatical smile playing -upon her lips. She was delighted to hear of the inconvenience -her scheme had caused and determined -that it should continue indefinitely. She had money. -Sabani would do as she ordered so long as plenty -of money accompanied her orders.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Those two were certainly having a fuss,” commented -Flossie Hart as the three sophomores left -the tea room, directly after Doris’s angry outburst.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m going to tell Marjorie about it.” Gussie -made the announcement with great decision.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Telling tales is a bad practice,” laughingly rebuked -Flossie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I know why you’re going to.” Calista’s quick -mind instantly jumped at a certain conclusion. “I -will, if you don’t.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m still in the dark,” mourned Flossie. “Kindly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>enlighten me. Forgive me for being so stupid. -Doesn’t that sound just like Muriel?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes, Floss. Muriel might think it was herself -talking if she happened to hear you.” Gussie favored -her room-mate with a condescending smile.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The three hurried along the street to the main -campus gate. “Race you to the Hall,” challenged -Gussie the instant they set foot on the snow-patched -brown of the campus. A playful wind, not too penetrating, -frolicked with them as they ran, blowing -added bloom into their cheeks.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Aside from the one remark Flossie had made -about Doris and Leslie Cairns nothing else had been -said. As members of the new Travelers the Bertram -girls were endeavoring to live up to one of -the basic rules of their code; never to discuss anyone -for the interest derived from the discussion. The -discussion must come as necessary to the promotion -of welfare.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I hope Marjorie’s in.” Gussie was presently -pounding vigorously on the door of 15, a chum at -each elbow.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why not leave us the door?” blandly inquired -Jerry as she opened it to the vociferous demand for -admission. “Is it really you, Gentleman Gus? I -haven’t seen you for as much as three hours. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>last occasion was at lunch.” Jerry smirked soulfully -at her callers.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Where’s Marjorie?” Gussie peered over Jerry’s -head and into the room. “We’ve a bit of special -information. You’re privileged to hear it too, Jeremiah?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“She has gone to Baretti’s. She was to meet -Robin and go there. They had an appointment with -Guiseppe. He wrote Marjorie one of his one-line -funny little notes. I think he has news for Page -and Dean.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Um-m.” Gussie looked undecided for a moment. -“We’ll come back later.” She looked first -at her chums for conformation, then at Jerry. “Let -us know when she comes, Jerry. We love you -dearly enough to hang around in your room till -Marjorie comes, but there’s a time for study, et -cetera. Only I don’t know when it will be if not -now. You may pound on my door as hard as I -pounded on yours, but no harder.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Suit yourself,” Jerry waved an affable hand. -“I can live without you. I have a letter to write. -I’d enjoy perfect quiet.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>The three sophomores went gaily down the hall. -Jerry again shut herself in her room to write -a letter which she had for some time been searching -for an excuse to write. That very morning -<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>in the corridor of Hamilton Hall she had found it. -It had come in the shape of a particularly sheer, -dainty, hand-embroidered handkerchief, bearing the -monogram L. M. W. Instantly her mind had began -to canvass among the initials of her friends for -L. M. W. Intending to place it in the students’ -“Lost and Found,” after class Jerry had tucked it -away in her hand bag and hurried to her recitation.</p> - -<p class='c005'>During class her mind continued to revert to the -initials L. M. W. Jerry thoroughly enjoyed being -baffled temporarily by a problem which she was -confident she would solve eventually. In the midst -of her cogitations she chanced to call to mind the -name of a student whose initials were surely L. M. -W. Whereupon a beatific smile paused on Jerry’s -face for a second. She promptly forgot her surroundings -to dwell triumphantly instead upon the -beauty of a certain stunt she determined to “put -over” as soon as she returned to her room. Nor -did she visit the “Lost and Found” on her way to -the Hall.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Seated at the study table Jerry eyed the dainty -handkerchief meditatively. Should she write to -L. M. W., whom she hoped was Louise M. Walker, -merely asking the sophomore if she had lost the -beautiful bit of linen, or should she fold the handkerchief -<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>inside a note she would write, asking Miss -Walker to place the article in the “Lost and Found” -should it not belong to her? Jerry considered the -problem owlishly, then wrote:</p> - -<p class='c006'>“<span class='sc'>Dear Miss Walker</span>:</p> - -<p class='c006'>“Have you lost a handkerchief? I am enclosing -one I found, in the corridor of Hamilton Hall, bearing -your initials. If it is not yours, will you kindly -place it in the ‘Lost and Found’?</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Sincerely,</div> - <div class='line'> “<span class='sc'>Geraldine Macy</span>.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c005'>“There! She’ll be an untutored savage if she ignores -my kindly little act,” Jerry decided with a -grin. “If I wrote asking her if she’d lost the handkerchief -she might ’phone me, or come here. That’s -not what I’m after. She ought to write me a line -of acknowledgment. If she should—I’ll know one -thing that I don’t know now.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XX.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>MARJORIE FINDS A SUPPORTER</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>Marjorie returned from Baretti’s full of the glorious -news of the little proprietor’s triumph over -Sabani in behalf of Page and Dean. Jerry was -equally elated and burst into one of what she had -named “Joyful Jingles to Bean.” She spouted -them on special occasions.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Thanks to our faithful dago friend</div> - <div class='line in1'>The Goblin’s schemes fell through.</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis plainly seen, oh, upright Bean</div> - <div class='line in1'>Such trouble’s not for you.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c005'>She did a fantastic polka step around Marjorie, -keeping time with her declamation.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You funny old goose!” Marjorie caught her -and wrapped both arms about her. “Yes, the Goblin’s -scheme did fall through, and, oh, rapture, the -busses will begin running again tomorrow morning! -What would we have done without Signor -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>Baretti’s help? He’s splendid in his interest in -our work here. He ranks with Miss Susanna, -Prexy and Professor Wenderblatt as our most -loyal supporters. Now I must tell you what he -did.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, save it till I go for Gus, Calista and Flossie. -Let them hear it. They’ve been looking for -you. They’ve something on their minds. So has -Jeremiah. This is another wildly eventful day.” -Jerry smiled warmly down on Marjorie who had -taken off her wraps and was now lounging in one -of the arm chairs. She reclined there, a graceful -lissome figure in her straight gown of pale jade -broadcloth, with no trimming save that of her -superb young beauty to set it off.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“All the days here are somehow wildly eventful,” -Marjorie said with a little devoted smile. -“Something remarkable seems always to be happening.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Too true,” Jerry agreed with solemnity. “But -some days are even more eventful than that. I will -mention as an example the day before we went -home for Thanksgiving.” Both girls began to -laugh. “That was some day. Muriel began it -right by tipping her cup of coffee into my lap. -Next. I fell down three steps of the stairs. Next. -I dropped a new library book in the mud. Next. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>I went to the gym to see Gentleman Gus and got -hit on the nose with the ball. Next. I couldn’t -find my suitcase in the trunk room so I had to -borrow one. Do you recall any other exciting misfortunes -of that particular day?” She turned innocently -inquiring eyes upon Marjorie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Nope. You were a martyr that day, poor old -Jeremiah.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I need your sympathy, Bean,” Jerry rejoined -brokenly. “It’s a hard world for some folks. Still -I’m glad I’ve survived.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Cheer up. Here come the Bertramites.” Marjorie’s -keen ears had caught the sound of familiar -voices. She went to the door and ushered in the -trio of sophs.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What’s the latest from Guiseppe, the defender?” -Gussie immediately clamored to know. The three -girls surrounded Marjorie while Jerry made an -equally eager fourth member of the group.</p> - -<p class='c005'>It did not take long to put them in possession -of the good news. They received it with enthusiasm, -modified to keep within the limit of noise. -Since the evening when Marjorie and Jerry had -been called to the door by Miss Peyton on the -head of being disturbers of quiet no more reports -had been made against them. Miss Peyton’s threat -that she would place the matter before President -<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>Matthews had evidently never been carried out. -Marjorie could only hope that it had not. The -president’s cordiality to her whenever they chanced -to meet assured her of his regard. Still she disliked -the idea intensely of being reported to headquarters -for anything so utterly uncontrolled and -childish.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What a strange, dreadful life for a girl to -lead!” exclaimed Calista Wilmot. She referred to -Marjorie’s account of Leslie Cairns’ part in the -bus trouble.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes, it is.” Marjorie’s reply was spoken in all -seriousness. “After Signor Baretti had told us -of what she had done Robin and I both thought we -ought not tell even you girls of it. Then we -thought of the way Phil, Barbara and the rest of -you helped break up her plot by coming out with -your cars in the storm. We decided it was only -fair to tell you the exact circumstances. The -Travelers, old and new, should be, and are, I’m -sure, trustworthy. None of them would circulate -any of the private business of the club about the -campus.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“There’s another argument just as strong as to -why Leslie Cairns’ actions shouldn’t be kept secret -from the club. She doesn’t deserve to be shielded -for what she did.” Gussie’s handsome, colorful face -<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>showed shocked disapproval. “Why, she has acted -just like a regular old politician who goes around -before election day and buys votes!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Gussie’s comparison raised a laugh in which Marjorie -joined. Long ago she and Robin had come -to that conclusion.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Well, we won’t ever say a word about her outside -the Travelers,” she said, her face sobering. -“Everything’s going nicely again. Now, children, -my tale’s told. Jerry says you have something on -your minds. Go sit on that couch, three in a row, -and spout forth your news.” Marjorie indicated -her couch bed. “If you don’t care to sit there, -why, here is our assortment of chairs.” She -grandly pointed them out.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Let Gus tell it. She began it,” declared Flossie. -The three friends had bumped themselves -down on the couch, with much interference one with -another and little bursts of laughter.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Your fairy-tale Princess and Leslie Cairns had -a fuss at the Colonial today. They were together -there when the three of us went into the place for -ices.” Gussie said in matter-of-fact tones. “Miss -Monroe was ripping mad. We heard her say that -something wasn’t true, and that she wouldn’t be -bullied. She was so angry she talked louder than -she intended. I think she knew it for all in a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>minute she dropped her voice away down. I wanted -to be the one to tell you about this, Marjorie, for -a certain reason.” Her tone was flattering to Marjorie’s -dignity.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Speak, Gentleman Gus,” laughed Marjorie, -amused by the very solemn expression of Gussie’s -face.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Just because Miss Monroe was opposed to me -at class election is no sign that I should have any -hard feeling toward her,” Gussie began. “I haven’t. -I know you think she’s going to—to—well, be more -congenial some day. She won’t be, though, if she -keeps on associating with Miss Cairns. She’ll begin -to break rules, too. First thing she knows -she’ll do something serious and be expelled from -Hamilton. I can’t forget how sweet she looked -the other night at the hop. I thought, since she -seemed to be peeved with Miss Cairns that maybe -you could think of some way to link her to Hamilton. -So she’ll like the campus better than she does -Leslie Cairns.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I have thought of a way, Gussie,” Marjorie’s -eyes sparkled. At last she had a supporter in the -cause of the difficult fairy-tale princess.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We ought to forget there is any such person,” -Calista said. “After the way she reported us for -being noisy on the day we got here. But you see -<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>what forgiving natures we have.” She gave a -whimsical little shrug and smile.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I decided to forget that she reported us,” came -from Gussie magnanimously. “She’s awfully -thorny and hard to approach. She doesn’t seem -to care much for Miss Peyton and Miss Carter. -They make great effort toward being chummy -with her.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Leila knows I’d like to have a Beauty contest; -the kind of one she got up when we were freshmen -and she and Vera were sophs,” Marjorie -told them animatedly. “If we had one—”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Good old M. M. thinks the Ice Queen would -win it. That would let M. M. out of being the -college beauty—so she innocently schemes,” translated -Jerry. “We’d still be privileged to our own -opinion, Ahem.” She coughed suggestively. Next -instant she had gone to the door in answer to a -rapping on it.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’re just in time,” she greeted, stepping back -to allow Leila to enter.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“In time for what, may I ask?” Leila’s bright -blue eyes roved speculatively about the room.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“For the Beauty contest,” returned Calista -promptly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Then I must have won it. I see no one half as -beautiful as myself here,” was Leila’s modest opinion. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>“But have you seen Vera? Midget is gone, -unless you may be hiding her away in some small -corner.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“She went to town with Phil. Robin and I met -them when we came from Baretti’s.” Marjorie -continued with a brief account of Robin’s and her -call at the inn.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Once more she has dropped her gold into the -sea,” was Leila’s thoroughly Irish comment. “It -is the same old story, Beauty. She never wins.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Bean hopes to be Bean without beauty,” Jerry -said briskly to Leila. “Can it be done?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I shall have to consult the stars.” Leila rolled -her eyes mysteriously at Marjorie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Never mind me, Leila, won’t you please help -me about the Beauty contest. You know why I -am so determined to have it. Gussie feels the same -as I do about Miss Monroe. So does Calista. I’ve -two on my side.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Count me in, Bean. Never forget your friend.” -Jerry sprang to Marjorie’s support.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“And me,” echoed Flossie Hart.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m sorry, Beauty, but I can’t help you with -the contest.” Leila pursed her lips and shook her -black head. “Now, why should you bother your -head about it?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Because I think it is the one thing to do for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>Miss Monroe. I want to do it, Leila. Why won’t -you help me?” Marjorie sent Leila a puzzled, almost -hurt glance.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why won’t I help you? Because—” Leila’s smile -burst forth from her sober face like sunlight -through a cloud—“I shall be busy managing the -Beauty contest myself.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XXI.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>NEWS FROM MISS SUSANNA</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“I’m going out to mail a letter,” Jerry told Marjorie, -when, later, the girls had gone to their own -rooms.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“How nice. You may have the pleasure of mailing -two for me,” Marjorie reached in the table -drawer for the letters. “I put them in the drawer -for safe keeping and went out without them, she -explained.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Hand them over.” Jerry took them and was -gone. She had decided to say nothing to anyone -about the letter she had written to Louise Walker -until she had seen the outcome. Like the sleuth -she had laughingly vowed to be, at the time when -Marjorie had received the letter from Louise -Walker and also the one signed “Senior sports’ -committee,” she preferred to keep matters a secret -until she had completed her case.</p> - -<p class='c005'>On the way back across the campus from the -nearest mail box she saw a mail carrier leaving the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>Hall. In going out she had noted that the bulletin -board in the hall was empty of mail. Now a flock -of letters roosted in its alphabetical, shallow pockets. -Near the top under D she plucked one for Marjorie -addressed in Miss Susanna Hamilton’s individual -hand.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’re in luck,” Jerry said as she entered the -room to find Marjorie sitting at the table, elbows -braced upon it, hands cupping her chin. A rare -old book on chemistry lay near her on the table. -It had been given her by Miss Hamilton during -her senior year at Hamilton. She had brought it -from her bookshelf to read. Instead she had fallen -into a reverie concerning the giver of the book. -Miss Susanna had told her that it was the only -copy of the work on chemistry known to be in the -United States. It had belonged to Mr. Brooke -Hamilton. Marjorie could hardly believe at times -that she was actually in possession of a book that -had belonged to the founder of Hamilton College.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why am I in luck?” Marjorie’s head was quickly -raised from her hands. “I never seem to be -much out of it, Jeremiah. I have so much more -of happiness than I deserve.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“There’s a reason.” The envelope in Jerry’s -hand dropped on the table in front of Marjorie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh-h-h!” Marjorie exultantly snatched up the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>letter. “I was just thinking of her, Jerry. I’ve -had only one letter from her since she has been -in New York. Doesn’t it seem odd to think of -Miss Susanna as being in New York? She’s been -away from the Arms almost six weeks, too.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie’s hands were already busy with the -envelope. She drew from it the folded letter, -spread it open and glanced eagerly at the headlines. -Then she read aloud to Jerry who had seated herself -on one end of the table, feet swinging free.</p> - -<p class='c006'>“<span class='sc'>My Dearest Child</span>:</p> - -<p class='c006'>“I am still in this roaring, clattering, over-populated -city they call New York. I shall be glad to -see the last of it. It has changed a good deal since -I visited it twenty years ago. This is the day of -motor vehicles, skyscrapers and crowded streets -filled with strange foreign faces. I long to be home -to that haven of peace, the Arms.</p> - -<p class='c006'>“There is no use in attempting to tell you by -letter of my stay in the metropolis. I am coming -home on Tuesday, December fourth. Will you -and Jerry come to the Arms to dinner on Wednesday -evening? I should have written you more -often, but I have been very busy by day and tired -by night. At any rate I have seen the New York -of today. But I could never grow used to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>helter-skelter, rush-and-a-bounce way of living that -appears to prevail here.</p> - -<p class='c006'>“Give my love to my girls with my fond devotion -for yourself.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span class='sc'>Susanna Craig Hamilton.</span>”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c005'>“She’ll be home tomorrow. Oh, goody!” Marjorie -sprang from her chair and essayed a little -prancing step about the room, looking like a delighted -youngster. Miss Susanna’s pet name of -“child” was particularly applicable.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“And Wednesday we’ll see her!” Jerry contributed -a few hops and skips to the dance Marjorie -had started. The two met, clasped each other and -the dance became wilder. Breathless and laughing, -they landed with a bang against the door. They -managed for a moment to keep out Ronny who was -at the door, hand on the knob, when the dancers -crashed against it.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I got in, even if you did try to hold the door -against me,” she asserted with twinkling eyes.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“My, but you are suspicious!” Jerry accused. -“That’s not the way we treat our friends. Didn’t -you know it?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Am I really your friend?” Ronny asked with -gushing sweetness.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You were, you are, but you won’t be long if -<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>you ask me any more such foolish questions.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Miss Susanna will be home tomorrow, Ronny,” -Marjorie said happily. “She sent her love to you -girls. Here’s her letter. I’m sure she’d like you -to read it.” Marjorie was still holding the letter. -She now handed it to Ronny.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Ronny took it and quickly read it. “Why did -she go to New York, I wonder, after having stayed -so long away from it?” she questioned half musingly. -“It would take an especially strong reason -to draw her away from the Arms for six weeks.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Whatever the reason may have been, we’ll probably -know it tomorrow evening,” Jerry commented. -“It wouldn’t surprise me if she’d been planning -something for the dormitory and had had to go to -New York to find just what she wanted.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We don’t wish her to do anything more for the -dormitory,” Marjorie said sturdily. “She has done -too much for us already.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Precisely my opinion. You won’t let me throw -my money around in the dormitory cause. Why -should Miss Susanna be allowed to do what I’m -not?” Ronny propounded with one of her dazzling, -patronizing smiles.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I call for a change of subject,” laughed Marjorie.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>“And my question not answered,” Ronny sighed -plaintively.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“The answer to your question is the road to argument.” -Marjorie cannily shook a finger at Veronica.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“All right. You’ve suppressed me for the time -being. Never fear. I’ll bob up again on the finance -question when you least expect it,” she made -cheerful prediction.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s a sweet, precious pet, and it sha’n’t be suppressed.” -Marjorie reached out and stroked Ronny’s -arm.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“That’s what you call Ruffle when you are trying -to coax him to jump through your arms. You -can’t hope that I’ll be much impressed by such blarney,” -Ronny pointed out with hastily assumed dignity. -“I’m going to leave you now. I came here -for a purpose, but I’ve forgotten what it was. I’ll -have to go back to our room and consult Luciferous. -Luckily, I confided in her before starting out.” -Ronny flitted from the room in her graceful, light-footed -fashion.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I wish I could see fluffy old Ruffle and squabble -with him and General for our favorite chair.” Marjorie’s -eyes grew suddenly wistful. “And, Captain! -I miss her most of all. More so this year -than I did before I was graduated.”</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>“I miss Father and Mother sometimes, but Hal -is the one I miss.” Jerry’s color heightened a little -as she mentioned her brother’s name to Marjorie. -“You know Hal and I were pally at home. Outside -the house he was always with the boys, but inside -we spent many hours together. He taught me to -box, fence, swim and ride. And during the past -two summers at the beach you’ve seen for yourself -how much we have been together.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>During the short Thanksgiving vacation in Sanford -Jerry had been faintly encouraged by Marjorie’s -warmly cordial manner to Hal. The strain -between them which her keen intuition had detected -when at the beach had vanished. As a matter of -fact, Marjorie welcomed the four days of pleasure -and happiness at home as a release from responsibility. -She wished to think of nothing but -home and its charms. She hailed Hal frankly as -her cavalier of old and treated him with all the -gay graciousness of her first acquaintance with -him.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Hal was too deeply in love with Marjorie not to -understand her. He knew that she was not behaving -toward him according to some carefully laid -plan of her own. Her overflowing gaiety was -spontaneous. She was like a blithe, lovely child, -full of the joy of living, who looked to him to be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>her playmate. So Hal made a Herculean effort -to crowd the love she did not want into his heart -and close the door upon it. He resolutely forbade -himself to think of her as other than his old-time -“girl.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Hal is the finest young man I ever met, or ever -expect to meet,” Marjorie said with an energy of -enthusiasm far removed from love. “I hope he -will find a girl who is as splendid as he is, and -marry her. I wish Hal would fall in love with -Ronny, and Ronny with Hal. They would be -worthy of each other.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie laughed as she caught the variety of -expressions struggling for place on Jerry’s round -face. “You look so funny, Jeremiah.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Can you wonder? Ronny never occurred to me -in the light of a sister-in-law.” Jerry’s variegated -expression dissolved in a broad smile. “You take -my breath. I’ll have to mention it to her when -she comes in again. Her views on the subject -might give me another shock.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Jerry Macy, if you do, I’ll—I’ll—” Marjorie -caught Jerry by her well-cushioned shoulders and -began to shake her with playful force. “Don’t you -dare, Jeremiah.” She emphasized her words with -little shakes. “Promise me you won’t.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What do you take me for?” Jerry asked reproachfully. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>“I’d never have the nerve to mention -old Hal to Ronny. No, Marvelous Match Maker, -you’ll never be able to marry Hal off so easily as -that. There are scads and oodles and slathers of -lovely girls in the world, but there’s one grand reason -why none of them will ever give me a glad -hand as a sister-in-law. Hal saw you first.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XXII.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>HOME AGAIN</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“Yes, little girls, I’m so glad to be home again! -I’ve been outdoors tramping around the estate since -early this morning. Do give me another cup of -tea, Jerry.” Miss Susanna had ordered the dinner -dessert served in the tea room with tea as an -after-dinner beverage instead of coffee.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yours truly.” Jerry refilled the thin priceless -cup, it belonged to the famous Chinese tea set, and -offered it to Miss Susanna.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It has seemed so strange without you, Miss Susanna.” -Marjorie bent affectionate eyes on the upright -little figure in black silk. “Not to see you -for six weeks during the college year is a long -time now.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“So it is; so it is,” nodded the old lady. “I had -no intention of leaving the Arms for that shrieking -demon of noise, New York. The last time you had -tea with me, Marjorie, was just before Hallowe’en. -I was thinking then about having a Hallowe’en -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>frolic for you girls. Then Jonas brought me a -letter from an old friend of mine who lives in New -York. In the letter he mentioned something so interesting -that it set me to thinking hard. The upshot -of it was I told Jonas I intended to go to New -York. He nearly collapsed with amazement.” Miss -Susanna chuckled at the recollection of Jonas’s unbelieving -surprise. “When I went on to tell him -why I was going he was as much pleased with my -plan as I was.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Miss Hamilton paused. Her alert dark eyes were -dancing with some secret of her own which gave -promise of being signally amusing. Jerry and Marjorie -knew the signs. Miss Susanna was on the -verge of imparting to them something in the nature -of a pleasant surprise. Jerry’s surmise of the -afternoon that the last of the Hamiltons had gone -to New York in the interests of the dormitory -flashed into the minds of both girls.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“The odd feature of the whole affair is, Jonas -has been elected to go to New York, now that I’ve -returned to the Arms.” Miss Susanna’s gleeful, -child-like chuckle was heard. “Poor Jonas. He -looked so horrified when I informed him of what -I had in store for him.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Shall we inquire what it’s all about?” Jerry -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>flashed Marjorie the pretense of a bewildered -glance.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s the only way we’ll ever find out,” sighed -Marjorie in an exaggeratedly hopeless tone. “Unless -we pounce upon Jonas in the hall and bully -him into telling us.” She turned the merest fraction -of a glance on Miss Hamilton as she proposed -this violent means of obtaining information.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“A good plan,” heartily approved Jerry. “I’ll -improve upon it. I suggest that we rush him, or -anyone else around here who may happen to know -something we don’t, but would like to know. Let’s -begin now.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Come on.” Marjorie rose and brandished two -bare, smooth, dimpled arms threateningly in Miss -Susanna’s direction. Jerry followed suit, even -more menacing of gesture. Her ridiculous, desperado -thrust of chin, the slow, determined advance -of the pair upon the little, bright-eyed figure in the -chair further added to the astonishment of Jonas -as he suddenly appeared in the tea room to refill -the tea-pot.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I guess I got here just in time,” he slyly declared, -his mouth drawing into a humorous pucker -as he picked up the tea-pot to refill it with fresh -tea.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“In time to land yourself in difficulties; not to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>save me,” Miss Susanna told him between chuckles. -“We’re both threatened with attack, Jonas, unless -we stand and deliver our great secret.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Miss Susanna had thrown herself into the spirit -of the bit of by-play with the merry zest of a child. -Since she had known Marjorie and the light-hearted, -fun-loving coterie of Hamilton girls she -had appeared to grow younger and younger. That -particular, congenial galaxy of youth Miss Susanna -had taken to her heart as a charm against crabbed -old age.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Maybe we’d better not make any resistance, -Miss Susanna,” Jonas advised with a timid air. -It reduced the two desperadoes to a state of giggles -which utterly broke up their threatening aspect.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Maybe we hadn’t,” the old lady agreed with -brisk amusement. “You sit down at the table with -us and have a cup of tea, Jonas. There’s safety in -numbers.” She graciously waved Jonas into the one -vacant chair of the four around the table. Had he -been her elder brother instead of her major-domo -of many years she could not have treated him with -more kindly affection.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s mean in me to tease you children,” she said, -flashing her guests one of her bright smiles. “Forgive -me. I’m really going to tell you all about it -now.”</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>“The past is forgot,” Jerry moaned ungrammatically.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Thank you,” Miss Susanna responded gratefully. -“I was hoping it might be. Now for the -tale of my adventures in New York. My lawyer, -who was young when I was, left Hamilton many -years ago and established himself in New York. -His name is Richard Henry Garrett. He never -married. During our younger days we lost track -of each other. Later we met again and after Uncle -Brooke’s death I engaged him to attend to the -legalities of the estate. Uncle Brooke’s lawyer -died shortly after my great uncle’s decease.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Since the laying of the dormitory corner stone -last fall,” Miss Susanna continued, “I have often -wondered what I could give the girls who are to -live there that would be of use and benefit to all. -When the dormitory is completed I shall carry out -a certain wish of Uncle Brooke’s of which at present -I prefer not to speak. What I was anxious to do -was something personal for the girls’ welfare. In -the midst of my quandary I received my old friend -Richard’s letter. I had not finished reading it when -the very idea I was seeking came to me. Let me -read you the paragraph of his letter which furnished -my inspiration.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Miss Susanna drew from an ornamental ruffled -<span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>silk pocket of her skirt the folded sheets of a letter. -She unfolded them; hunted them for the desired -paragraph. She quickly found it and read in her -brisk tones:</p> - -<p class='c005'>“‘Since you used to be greatly interested in old -and rare books you will remember the Ellerton’s -fine private library which I once took you to see -when you were in New York. It is to be sold soon, -at auction, as a whole. The elder Ellertons have -died and the heirs to the Ellerton estate prefer to -convert the library into cash. It appears to be the -chief aim of the rising generation to convert everything -of beauty and worth, which has a monetary -value, into dollars, regardless of tradition. So that -splendid monument to learning, Steven Ellerton’s -library, will come under the auctioneer’s hammer -next month.’”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m sure the Ellerton library <i>couldn’t</i> be finer -than the Hamilton Arms’ library,” Marjorie said -in loyal defense of the remarkable collection of -volumes gathered together by Brooke Hamilton.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It is not as complete, if I remember rightly,” -Miss Susanna said, looking pleased at Marjorie’s -staunch opinion. “Uncle Brooke has some rare -Chinese and Japanese books and a collection of -Spanish incunabula which I know the Ellerton -library lacks, as well as a good many other rare -<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>and curious books of which he possessed the only -known copies.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Miss Susanna’s face broke into a little, amused -smile as she glanced from one to the other of the -two girls.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You girls must surely understand by this time -what my inspiration was. You both look a trifle -bewildered. Can’t you add two and two, children?” -she asked playfully. “You ought to know -the result.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“But it’s such an overwhelming result, Miss Susanna!” -Marjorie drew a long breath. “Two, -which stands for the dormitory girls, plus, two, -which stands for the Ellerton library make—” -Marjorie paused. She gazed at Miss Hamilton, her -eyes bright as stars. “It’s too wonderful even to -think about;—until I grow more used to the idea. -It’s too great a gift, Miss Susanna, after all you’ve -already done for the dormitory project.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Nonsense. Nothing is too great for me to give, -provided I have it to give, and feel like giving it,” -declared the old lady brusquely. “I like the idea -of the dormitory having its own library. I have -only one request to make concerning it. I’d like -to have the library named the Brooke Hamilton -Dormitory Library.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Just as though we <i>could</i> give it another name!” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>Marjorie exclaimed with fond fervor. “I’d say it -ought to be named for you but I know you would -rather use Mr. Brooke’s name.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Of course I should.” Miss Hamilton gave an -emphatic little nod of the head. “I shouldn’t like -the ‘Susanna Hamilton Dormitory Library,’ as a -name. Should you, child?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes; I should,” Marjorie disagreed with affectionate -frankness. Jerry echoed the opinion.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’re a couple of nice children. I appreciate -your loyal approval,” Miss Susanna told them. Her -tones took on an odd grimness as she added: “My -name shall not appear in connection with a Hamilton -College movement, however worthy it may be. -In the case of his name, there’s a difference. He -had the right to hope that his name might be perpetuated -in the college his genius and benevolence -raised up.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“‘The college his genius and benevolence raised -up,’” Marjorie meditatively repeated. “How beautiful -that would be in a biography of Mr. Brooke -Hamilton.” She flushed, but looked bravely at -Miss Susanna. She had, in thus speaking, obeyed -an irresistible impulse.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Answering color signals displayed themselves in -the old lady’s cheeks. A frown sprang to her brows. -It disappeared almost instantly. Her alert dark -<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>eyes grew tender. “It was a fortunate day for -Hamilton when a certain curly-haired little girl -first set foot on the campus. Why not call the -new dormitory the Marjorie Dean Dormitory? -The dream dormitory that Marjorie Dean’s unselfish -work made a reality. That’s what Uncle -Brooke would say if he were here.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“How I love you for saying that, Miss Susanna, -about Mr. Brooke Hamilton!” Marjorie cried happily. -“But I think Robin has done more hard work -than I to make the dormitory a reality. It should -be named for her.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“<i>Don’t you ever believe it</i>, Miss Susanna.” Jerry -laid emphasis on each word. “Marvelous Manager -began it. Robin is a close second, though. The -‘dorm’ ought to be called the Page and Dean Dormitory. -Sounds something like a business directory, -but it tells the story. And the great beauty -of it is this:—it includes both distinguished promoters.” -Jerry directed a refulgent smile at Marjorie, -who promptly made a saucy mouth at her.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“The Page and Dean Dormitory,” repeated Miss -Susanna with a humorous glance at Jerry. “I rather -like the sound of the combination. You’re right -about it, Jerry. When one has two such retiring -persons to deal with as Marjorie and Robin it becomes -necessary to drag them both to the front. So -<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>be it. Now for Uncle Brooke’s study and our library -catalogues. Only a limited number of them -were issued. I wish you had been with me at the -auction. There was some very brisk bidding at -first. There were perhaps a dozen wealthy New -York men interested in the auction. Richard Garrett -represented me. I had nothing to do but keep -quiet and listen to the bidding.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Miss Hamilton continued to relate in her abrupt, -lively way the interesting circumstances of the auction -as they left the Chinese room and stepped into -the lift which Jonas manipulated for them.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Send Selma to clear away the tea things, Jonas,” -she ordered as she stepped from the tiny elevator. -“Then come to the study. You must go over the -catalogues with us. Nothing like familiarizing -yourself with the books you are going to pack.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Jonas disappeared with alacrity. He returned -as speedily to the study, an utterly pleased smile -decorating his placid, old face. He was immensely -proud of being invited to make a fourth member -of the group in the study.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The four friends sat at the massive, claw-legged -library table and were soon deep in exploring the -copies of the auction catalogue with which Miss -Hamilton had supplied them. They read by -snatches, browsing avidly here and there among -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>the descriptive pages; exclaiming exultantly over -one rare book or another which they discovered -listed there.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m positively dizzy with pride and vanity over -the dormitory’s wonder of a present!” Marjorie’s -eyes gleamed like stars. There was a wealth of -feeling in her gratefully gay utterance. Presently, -she allowed the catalogue to drop from her hands -to the table. She sat gazing at the erect little figure -on the opposite side of the table with boundless -affection. “I’m sure <i>you</i> must love the dream dormitory -that you helped make a reality as dearly as -we Travelers do,” she said fervently.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We’ll say I have nothing against it,” Miss Susanna -said dryly. “Why should I? It’s not on the -campus.” She cast a defiant glance about her. “But -we’ll not go into that subject. Back to our library. -Having acquired it, the next thing to do is to get -it here.” The independent donor declined to hear -of her own generosity. “You’d best start for New -York in the morning, Jonas,” was her next terse -remark.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What train, Miss Susanna?” Jonas inquired imperturbably.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“An early morning train. One that will bring -you into New York, it ought to be called New -<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>Pandemonium Let Loose, while daylight lasts,” the -old lady pithily replied.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Jerry and Marjorie were both smiling openly at -the sudden imperative order Miss Susanna had -launched at Jonas, and its tranquil reception.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes, Jonas, for goodness sake don’t get lost in -the wilds of New York after dark,” Jerry warned -with a chuckle. “I hope you know who’s who, -what’s what and where’s where in the metropolis.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I don’t; but I suppose I’ll have to learn.” Jonas -echoed the chuckle. His highly cheerful expression -evidenced the coming detail as being quite to his -taste. “New York’s not much like it was when I -was a young man and Mr. Brooke took me there -with him once for a trip.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Two pairs of bright eyes were turned on Jonas -with an expression which bordered on reverence. -It was something to marvel at—that this stately -old man with his crown of thick, snowy hair had -been the chosen traveling companion of Brooke -Hamilton on a trip to New York. Miss Susanna -watched them understandingly, experiencing a secret -happiness in the unconscious girlish tribute offered -her distinguished kinsman.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It won’t take Jonas long to find his bearings,” -she confidently predicted. “With the help of two -or three workmen he can pack the library in short -<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>order. It will have to be stored at the Arms when -it arrives, until the dormitory is completed. Jonas -will see to having it shipped to the Arms by motor -van. That will save time and extra handling. I -want it here and off my mind before Christmas. -I have received an invitation from a dear friend to -spend Christmas with her and her family. I am -thinking of accepting it.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Miss Susanna peered mysteriously over her -glasses at Marjorie and Jerry. She did not offer -to divulge the name of the friend. Jonas raised a -hand to his mouth as though to brush away a smile -that flickered briefly upon his lips.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Truly, Miss Susanna?” Marjorie cried out her -pleasure of the announcement. Each year since -she had come to know the old lady well she had -invited her to spend the Christmas holidays at -Castle Dean. On each occasion Miss Susanna had -flatly refused to leave the Arms over the holidays, -declaring that she would not consider the idea of -passing Christmas Day away from her ancestral -home.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes, truly. You won’t need to worry this -Christmas about my being lonely, child. I’m going -back on my vow of years’ standing. I’ve found -something stronger even than my love for the -Arms. I’ve found the love of friends.” There was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>exultant triumph in Miss Hamilton’s forceful -speech.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m so glad,” Marjorie assured with hearty -sincerity. Her cheery smile further conveyed her -unenvious spirit at the news. She could only be -glad because Miss Susanna had found such a boon. -She surmised that through the friendly offices of -Richard Garrett Miss Hamilton had come in touch -again with the woman friend of whom she had just -spoken. They had of course met in New York.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Did you meet your friend in New York, Miss -Susanna?” Jerry’s surprised curiosity got the better -of her. “I don’t mean to be an old curiosity -shop,” she instantly apologized, half laughing. “I -scented an interesting story. I thought you might -have met a girl chum whom you hadn’t seen for -years and years.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“No, Jerry; I did not meet my friend in New -York.” Miss Susanna tried vainly to keep a sober -face. The battery of bright, wondering eyes turned -upon her proved too much for her. She laughed; -a high, joyful little laugh in which Jonas’ deeper -notes of amusement mingled. “I first met my -friend on the road to the Arms; not such a long -while ago,” she said with tender pride. “The interesting -story of our friendship began with a -broken basket handle and a young girl’s gracious -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>courtesy toward a crusty old woman. I was very -fortunate in meeting her. She turned out to be a -royal young person who lived in a castle in the -far country of Sanford. Since I’ve known her she’s -often invited me to spend Christmas at Castle Dean. -I’ve stayed at the Arms when I might have been -happy in the royal palace of the King and Queen -of Dean. I—”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Miss Susanna!” Marjorie and Jerry were now -on their feet with a concerted jubilant shriek.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Wait a second.” Miss Hamilton briefly warded -off the impending, tumultuous embrace of two energetic -pairs of arms. “One more remark; then you -may hug me hard. Like all the rest of the world, -I hope to be happy at Christmas time. I know I -shall be—at Castle Dean.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XXIII.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>A SIGNIFICANT DISCOVERY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“No, Beauty, I haven’t gone back on my word. -How can you harbor such suspicions against a fine -old Irish gentleman like myself? Such a regard -as I have for you, yet you will doubt me.” Leila -Harper rolled reproachfully sentimental eyes at -Marjorie. “Since it is a Beauty contest you demand, -your Celtic friend will rise to the occasion.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I wish you’d rise soon then.” Marjorie met -Leila’s effusive promise with a coaxing smile.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Name the day and the hour.” Leila gave vent -to a resigned groan, quite at variance with her fulsome -mood of the moment before.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“There you go. One minute you blow hot; the -next cold.” Marjorie shook an arraigning finger -before Leila’s face. “I’m going to take you at your -word and name the day and hour. The day will -be next Friday. The hour, eight P.M. The place, -the gym, the promoters of the contest—” Marjorie -<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>paused with a dubious, questioning look toward -Leila.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Aye, Beauty; there’s the rub!” Leila exclaimed. -“The contest ought to be pulled off by either the -sophs or freshies. We P. G.’s are beyond such -trifling vanities. So some would be pleased to say -we should be. Now we come to the reason why of -things. I’m wisely in favor of letting the sophs -perpetrate the beauty walk.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“My own opinion,” Marjorie concurred. “How -would you turn it over to them and still manage -it, Leila. I mean the details. Only <i>you</i> know how -to manage a Beauty contest like the one you got -up long ago.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m going to be the power behind the throne -and manage the contest through the Bertram girls,” -Leila made shrewd declaration. “They are popular -sophs. Besides they will do as I tell them. They’ll -not spoil my fine arrangements.” Leila favored -Marjorie with a whimsical grin. “Let me warn -you, beforehand, Beauty. It will be dangerous for -you to attend the contest.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Your warning is wasted. I shall sit in the -gallery and watch the Beauty parade. Not because -I imagine for a minute that I—that I—” -Marjorie stammered, growing suddenly rosy with -confusion.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>“That you would certainly win it if you appeared -on the gym floor,” Leila finished with mischievous -affability. “No fair decorating the gallery, Beauty. -It’s a most important part you must play on the -floor.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“No, designing villain. You dragged me into -one Beauty contest; but never again.” She wagged -a decisive head at Leila who merely continued to -beam on her.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“This time I have a fine plan for you,” Leila -continued, unabashed. “You are to be one of the -judges. I’ll paint lines of age on your lovely -face; give you a snow-white frizzy wig and a shapeless -brown bag of a gown to wear. Even your -captain could not pick you out as a Dean. Now -tell me, am I not your devoted Irish friend?” she -demanded ingratiatingly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You’re a jewel, Leila Greatheart.” Marjorie’s -face grew radiant. “The very thing I’ll like best. -I’d forgotten all about the judges. Their were three -of them at the other contest. It seems ages since -that night, doesn’t it?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Leila nodded. “Happy ages,” she said, a soft -light shining from her bright blue eyes. “And you -were not pleased with me that night, Beauty, for -putting you in your rightful place on the campus.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“No, I wasn’t,” Marjorie replied with smiling -<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>candor. “I recall that I was almost angry with -you. I thought you did it merely to nettle the -Sans. I thought you were very clever, but I wasn’t -sure whether or not I truly liked you.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Ah, but I have won dozens of golden opinions -from you, Beauty, since then. I will tell you something -quite remarkable about myself. I am never -disliked by a person who likes me.” Leila made -the statement with due impressiveness.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ll tell you something else. You’re an affable -old fake, and I’ve been here just one-half hour longer -than I intended to be.” Marjorie rose from -the chair she had been occupying in Leila’s and -Vera’s room. “I needed that half hour for a bout -with a terrific bit of old French poetry. Now it’s -gone—the hour, I mean. I wish the poetry was nil, -too! And I’ve not opened my book! It’s almost -dinner time, and after dinner we’re due at Silverton -Hall to help Robin rehearse that house play. -You hadn’t forgotten about it, had you?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I never forget anything I happen to remember,” -was the re-assuring response.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Then keep on remembering the Beauty contest,” -begged Marjorie laughing. “This is Monday. I -wish you <i>could</i> arrange it for Friday night. I’m -so anxious for Miss Monroe to win it. It will -strengthen her position on the campus.” Her lovely -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>face grew suddenly serious. “You know so well -the way I feel about her, Leila. I’d love to have -her free herself from Leslie Cairns’ influence; to -help her raise up a pride in herself that will place -her above doing the contemptible things the Sans -used to do.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>As she talked Marjorie’s voice took on a wistful -earnestness which Leila found irresistible. She did -not share Marjorie’s views concerning Doris Monroe. -Nevertheless, Marjorie’s appeal to Leila for -help in the difficult conquest of the more difficult -sophomore was in itself sufficient cause for co-operation -on Leila’s part.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Watch the bulletin board tomorrow, and have -no fears,” was Leila’s parting advice as Marjorie -reached the door. “We shall meet again,” she added -portentously.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“In about ten minutes; at dinner. And in my -room, after dinner; and after that, on the campus; -and still after that, at Silverton Hall,” flung back -Marjorie over a shoulder as she went out the door. -She ran lightly down the hall to her room, inspirited -by Leila’s promise. She swung open the door -with a gay little fling and entered to find Jerry deep -in the perusal of a letter.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m going to be one of the judges at the Beauty -contest,” she breezily informed Jerry. “I forgot to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>ask Leila who she’d picked for the other two -judges.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s a good thing for the Ice Queen that you -are going to wear a disguise; efface your face from -the college map for the time being,” Jerry commented, -eyes still on her letter. “No judge rig-out -for Jeremiah, I shall appear in all my fatal beauty. -But I don’t expect to get a fair deal,” Jerry sighed -loudly. “When is the momentous Beauty gathering -to grace the gym?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Friday evening at eight.” Marjorie went on -to recount hers and Leila’s recent conversation.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You old politician. You’ve everything fixed -for your candidate,” Jerry humorously accused. -“What <i>has</i> become of the traditions of Hamilton? -Shocking!”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“They’re <i>right in the foreground</i>, <span class='fss'>AS ALWAYS</span>,” -retorted Marjorie. “I’m neither old, nor a politician. -<i>Nothing</i> has been fixed for my candidate. -Yes; I’ll admit I have one,” she declared in answer -to Jerry’s comically questioning glance. “Just the -same, she can only succeed on her own merits. Giving -her a chance to do that isn’t pulling strings for -her.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I get you, Bean. I humbly apologize for any -dark suspicions I may have entertained against you. -You are a Bean of rare pulchritude, enterprise and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>integrity. You are not the only enterprising person -on the campus, though. I hate to speak of myself, -but—er-her-r, ahem!” Jerry loudly cleared her -throat. “I’m a credit to the noble profession of the -sleuth.” Her tone of raillery held an undernote of -triumph. Her round face wore a victorious expression -which Marjorie did not miss.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“What is it, Jeremiah? You’re brim full of -something interesting. I know you’re aching to -tell me. Do go ahead.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s about those two letters,” Jerry began abruptly. -“I mean the two that were sent to you in -the fall when the sophs were warring among themselves, -and Gentleman Gus drew the class presidency.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I haven’t forgotten them,” Marjorie said dryly. -“You said you’d find out all about them. Have -you?” She gazed interestedly at Jerry. “Now I -begin to understand why you were praising yourself,” -she tacked on, with a teasing smile. “You’ll -have just time to tell me before the dinner gong -sounds. Go to it.” She dropped easily down upon -her couch bed, eyes still intent on Jerry.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You know, and so do I, that the sports committee -letter was a fake. We decided that first -thing. Well, I’ve not discovered who wrote it. -I’m still suspicious of three different sets of girls -<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>on the campus. But I haven’t a shred of proof -against any of them. Being an honorable sleuth -I don’t prowl ignobly about the campus after my -quarry. I set legitimate traps for ’em. I deduce -in a scientific and marvelous manner. My methods -are above reproach, but they take time.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“So do your remarks,” Marjorie impolitely reminded. -“The gong’s going to ring very, very -soon.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, is it? So glad you told me. My, but you -are rude at times. This is one of ’em. Back to -my subject. I never believed that Miss Walker -wrote the letter to you signed with her name. I -made up my mind to find out whether the handwriting -was hers, but I failed to capture a specimen -of her penmanship. I tried a half a dozen nice, -lady-like little schemes. Not one worked. One day -luck was with Jeremiah. I picked up a fine and -fussy handkerchief, monogrammed, L.M.W.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>With one eye on the clock Jerry hurriedly recounted -the writing of the note to Louise Walker -and the subsequent mailing of it and the handkerchief -to the sophomore.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Here’s the answer. Found it in the bulletin -board this P. M. Look at it. Next cast your eyes -over this piece of bunk.” Jerry laid two unfolded -letters on the study table for Marjorie to examine.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>Marjorie obediently left the couch where she had -cosily disposed her slim length. She reached Jerry’s -side with one lithe bounce. Hastily she picked up -the letter Jerry indicated. Then she read:</p> - -<p class='c006'>“<span class='sc'>Dear Miss Macy</span>:</p> - -<p class='c006'>“How fortunate for me that you should have -found my pet handkerchief! I bought it in Europe -last summer of one of those wonderful Belgian lace -makers. I prize it highly on account of the beauty -of the embroidery. Consequently I rarely carry it. -Broke my rule for once and lost it. I had no idea -where. It is my good luck, and quite remarkable, -I think, that you should have guessed the initials -on it to be mine. Thank you for your courtesy. -Assuring you of my appreciation,</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Yours very sincerely,</div> - <div class='line'> “<span class='sc'>Louise May Walker</span>.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c005'>As she finished reading Miss Walker’s impersonally -friendly note of thanks Marjorie s eyes immediately -sought the other letter. It was the hateful -letter she had received directly after the sophomore -election from Miss Walker. She had read if -enough times to know it by heart.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why, Jerry!” she cried, letting the two letters -flutter from her hand to the table. “She—Miss -<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>Walker—never wrote that miserably mean letter to -me! It’s not written in the same hand as the note -she wrote you about the handkerchief. We feel -quite positive she wrote that note. So she couldn’t -have written the other.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Of course she didn’t write it,” Jerry asserted. -“I’ve been keeping an explorative P. G. eye on her -since the basket ball season began. She has some -fine traits, Marjorie.” Jerry nodded her head in -sober confirmation of her opinion.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m glad she didn’t write this.” Marjorie -touched the condemnatory letter with the tip of a -finger. She picked up both letters again and proceeded -to a critical examination of the handwriting -of each.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I couldn’t be sure she had not until I had seen -her handwriting. I hadn’t the least excuse for writing -her, and I didn’t care to ask the girls to do it. -I’d begun to harbor dark thoughts of waylaying -her on the campus in the misty twilight and appropriating -her note-book. She had a twice-a-week -late trig period at Hamilton Hall. Then I found -the handkerchief in the main corridor. Maybe Jeremiah -wasn’t pleased with herself!” Jerry gave an -elated little spin around on one heel. “I wrote her -and enclosed the hankey, and this is the reward of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>honesty plus great forethought.” Jerry significantly -tapped her forehead.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m glad,” Marjorie said again; “glad you are -a great detective, Jeremiah.” She smiled indulgently -at Jerry. “But gladder still that Miss Walker -never wrote that spiteful letter. I’m gladdest of all -that it is more despicable even than if it were anonymous. -It’s a forgery. A person so unprincipled -as to commit such a forgery is too unprincipled to -be dangerous.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Pearls of truth and wisdom, Bean. I get you, -and agree with you,” Jerry returned the smile. “I -hate to say it, but I know only one person who -could qualify under that head—Leslie Hob-goblin -Cairns.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XXIV.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>HELPING THE GOOD WORK ALONG</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>The warning, brazen voice of the dinner gong, -which Miss Remson rang but once before each meal, -broke in upon Jerry’s pertinent surmise. It was a -signal which called for postponing further conjecture -in the matter.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ve thought of Leslie Cairns more than once, -Jerry, in connection with both those letters,” Marjorie -confessed as Jerry took the letters Marjorie -had carefully examined, folded them and tucked -them into a small leather portfolio. “Perhaps it’s -been unfair in me to judge her by past performances.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“How could one help it? Come along, self-accusing -Bean. I’m hungry enough to eat all the -dinner on our table, and give the rest of you not a -scrap. We’ll continue our amazing careers as private -investigators tonight after the ten-thirty bell -is heard in the land and a grateful hush has settled -down on Room 15.”</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>During the busy, merry evening spent with -Robin, Phil and the cast of Silverton Hall payers, -Marjorie had neither inclination nor opportunity to -consider the guilt or non-guilt of Leslie Cairns. As -stage manager Leila Harper combined more than -usual efficiency with a drollness of speech and manner -which kept the amateur thespians in a constant -gale of giggles.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Remember your cues and lines, or you’ll be -walking into the middle scenes where you’re neither -expected nor wanted,” she warned her flock.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The play, a two-act comedy entitled “The House -Party,” was a bright, snappy little production written -by Eileen Potter, a promising Silverton Hall -sophomore. Phil had advocated the first production -of it as a house play. The sophomore class -would be the guests of the Silverton Hall sophs on -the eventful evening. The living room was to be -turned into a theatre. Phil had enlisted Robin’s, -Marjorie’s and Leila’s services in rehearsing it.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Her plan, into which Robin, Marjorie and Leila -gladly entered, had a triple motive. She was anxious -that Eileen’s talent should be recognized on -the campus. She was determined that the unharmonious -sophomore class should be brought into -harmony. She intended to hammer away at this -plan until she accomplished that harmony. Last of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>all, she liked giving house plays. Phil had a soul -even more bent on democracy than was that of Marjorie, -if such a condition could be. Robin often -said to her: “Truly, Phil, if you had lived in the -days of ’76 you would have managed somehow to -annex your name to the Declaration of Independence.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>After the rehearsal the hard-working actors, managers -and prompters were treated to frozen custard -and sponge cake by Barbara Severn. She declared -Leila to be a slave-driver and that the custard and -cake were needed by the cast as nourishment.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“If I am a slave-driver, why is it you are offering -me custard and cake?” Leila demanded, as Barbara -presented her with a plate of the frozen sweet.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Merely because you have worked harder than -your slaves. You are what I should call a unique -slave-driver,” Barbara sweetly explained.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“And you have far more good sense than you -sometimes appear to have,” Leila complimented. -Whereupon the two beamed at each other and shook -hands.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Don’t fail to be here for another rehearsal -Thursday night and the dress rehearsal on Saturday -night,” were Leila’s parting words to the cast, -delivered in the middle of the front walk to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>actor group who had followed her out on the veranda.</p> - -<p class='c005'>She started across the campus in the pale winter -moonlight with Marjorie and Jerry, grumbling in -pretended displeasure at the amount of things she -had to do during the next few days.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Don’t say a word!” Marjorie exclaimed. “Two -more rehearsals this week, the Beauty contest on -Friday night, Muriel’s birthday’s next Monday. -Saturday afternoon we have to go into town to buy -presents. Monday afternoon we’ll have to go over -to Baretti’s to trim the birthday table. Sunday I -have to write letters, study and do a dozen and one -small things. I can say now I have nothing special -on hand after Monday, but long before then I’ll -have a new lot of stunts planned for the rest of next -week.” Her tone grew more despairing with each -enumeration.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You have so much trouble, Beauty, I’ll say nothing -of my own,” was Leila’s commiserating return, -delivered with an unsympathetic grin. “I am like -an Irish fish out of water without Midget. That -much I will say.” Vera had gone to New York -for a few days’ visit with her father before he sailed -on an all-winter cruise on the Mediterranean.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>“I never saw an Irish fish. How does an Irish -fish look?” Jerry critically demanded.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Like me. Did you not just hear me say it?” -Leila retorted.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I must go to the Arms to see Miss Susanna this -week,” Marjorie observed irrelevantly. No one appeared -to be interested in her announcement. Jerry -and Leila were conducting a laughing argument -which had to do with Irish and non-Irish fishes.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I love to talk to myself,” she made plaintive -complaint when Jerry and Leila finally paused for -breath.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“And I had far rather talk to you, Beauty, than -to some P. G.’s I know,” Leila assured with deep -meaning.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You may talk to <i>me</i>, Bean,” Jerry graciously -permitted. “I am appreciative.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>During the remainder of the short hike across -the campus Marjorie became the laughing, but unimpressed, -recipient of flattering attention.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Jerry,” she burst out abruptly, soon after the -two girls were in their own room, “it isn’t enough -for us to say to each other that we are glad Miss -Walker didn’t write that letter. It is not fair to -her not to tell her the whole thing. Do you think -it is?”</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>Jerry cocked her head to one side and considered. -“Nope,” she answered after due deliberation. “I -suppose she ought to be informed that she is not -the villain we took her to be. It may take marvelous -managing by Marvelous Manager to tell her the -awful truth without rousing her ire. According to -Gentleman Gus she is anything but a lamb-like person -when she isn’t pleased.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Would you be willing to go with me to see her?” -Marjorie asked, her brown eyes meditatively fixed -on Jerry. “You are as——”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Deep in the mud as you are in the mire,” supplied -Jerry humorously.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Something like that,” Marjorie agreed with a -smile. “The letter was sent to me in the first place, -but the credit of the discovery that Miss Walker -didn’t write it belongs to you.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’m not likely to pick any bouquets in such a -briar patch,” shrugged Jerry. “Don’t want em. -More likely she’ll get wrathful at us when she finds, -we have kept the forged letter so long without going -to her and having matters out. But Jeremiah -is not afraid. Let us hope she behaves like the letter -she really wrote.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>In the act of removing one of her slippers, Jerry -took it by the strap. Waving it jauntily she -launched into a Bean jingle.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>“Upon the haughty soph we’ll call</div> - <div class='line in3'>To clear her tarnished name;</div> - <div class='line in1'>For we have seen, O, noble Bean,</div> - <div class='line in3'>That she was not to blame.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c005'>“That was an inspired jingle, Jeremiah,” Marjorie -approved, her face singularly sunny. “Miss -Walker is not to blame. Since we know she isn’t, -we should be, if we didn’t hurry to tell her so.”</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XXV.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>“NEARER TO THE HEART’S DESIRE.”</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>Due to the numerous details Marjorie had on -hand, on Saturday afternoon, Marjorie and Jerry -still found themselves facing the call upon Miss -Walker. They deplored the fact to each other as -they made ready to go to town with Leila, Ronny, -Lucy and Katherine Langly to shop for Muriel’s -approaching birthday. Muriel had been left out of -the shopping party. As a consequence she had -made dire threats to disappear on her birthday and -“spoil everything.” Jerry declared that no one was -foolish enough to believe she would.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I never realized how much work you put into -that first Beauty contest, Leila Greatheart, until I -saw the working out of this last one,” Marjorie confided -to Leila on the way to town that afternoon. -She was occupying her usual place beside Leila on -the front seat. “I felt so differently about the one -last night. I had a chance to hide away. I was so -glad not to be in it, and on parade. It was darling -<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>in you to give me the judges’ last speech in the contest. -And didn’t my fairy-tale princess look beautiful -when she came forward to receive the guerdon? -Those wonderful long-stemmed pink roses -went so well with that crystal-beaded white frock -she wore.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It was a dream of a dress,” Leila nodded. “At -last we have a new Beauty on the campus. Only -I am glad I was not one of the judges. I should -never have displaced you for her. She is still too -much the Ice Queen to be to my taste.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You are the loyalest of loyal old dears,” Marjorie’s -hand came to rest for a moment on Leila’s -shoulder. “I know you went strictly against your -inclinations; just to please me. Someday you’ll see -that there was method in my madness. The enchantment -will be broken and the freed princess -will yet prove herself a credit to Hamilton.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I doubt if I shall be here to see it,” Leila made -skeptical reply. “You are feeling most optimistic -because you have succeeded in wishing your beauty -reputation onto someone else.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie merely smiled. “I’m a venerable P. G. -now. I’m beyond such vain frivolousness.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I see no signs of it,” Leila told her discouragingly. -“I am sorry now that I hid you on the -judges’ stand.”</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>“Too late,” Marjorie’s merry little laugh rippled -out. Her mood was decidedly optimistic as a result -of the successful way in which clever Leila had -carried on the Beauty contest.</p> - -<p class='c005'>As the president of the sophs, Augusta Forbes -had signed the notice of the coming contest which -Leila had first posted on the main bulletin board. -This fact had appeared to point to the sophs as the -promoters of the Beauty contest. Privately directed -by Leila, Gussie had next called a class meeting -for the express purpose of arousing sophomore -interest and had tactfully suggested that the contest -should be held under sophomore auspices.</p> - -<p class='c005'>While the sophs were still divided into two factions, -as a result of the fall elections, basket ball -had done something to mitigate their wrath against -one another. It seemed the irony of fate that Louise -Walker and Augusta Forbes, rival centers and unfriendly -classmates, should have each admired the -other’s basket ball prowess. Such, however, was -the situation between them. More, they were hovering -on the verge of friendly acquaintance.</p> - -<p class='c005'>This marvel Marjorie had already faintly divined -by a curious mental process of deduction which had -developed within as a result of long-patient working -and waiting. She also saw signs which pointed -to a re-united sophomore class in the not far distant -<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>future. Her conviction was borne out in this -respect by the eager good-will with which the sophs -boosted the Beauty walk beforehand and confidently -paraded themselves around the gym for the -judges’ inspection on the fateful night.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The girls of the other three classes were no less -anxious to take part in it. Even the dormitory -girls made an extra trip from town so as to be in -the fun. Of the old Travelers only Ronny and -Muriel competed. Vera had not yet returned to -Hamilton. As manager Leila had a good excuse -for staying out of it. Jerry demanded also to be -a judge. She gave Leila such a strenuous sample -of the strength and volume of her tones that Leila -promptly accepted her. The senior class furnished -the third judge; a stentorian-voiced senior who -often acted as referee at basket ball games, and -had developed amazing lung power as a result.</p> - -<p class='c005'>While the Forbes faction of the sophs was supposedly -hostile of attitude toward Doris Monroe, -its members had agreed among themselves that, as -a possible winner of the Beauty contest, she was -“the sophs’ best bet.” In consequence they suddenly -began exhibiting toward her a new friendliness -which warmed with the near approach of the contest. -This put Doris on her mettle as nothing else -could have done. She had been saving the crystal-beaded -<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>frock for what she might deem a really -great occasion. She now felt the occasion had arrived. -Her one disturbing thought was that Marjorie -Dean would undoubtedly enter the contest. -She resolved that she must, yes, she would completely -outshine her.</p> - -<p class='c005'>When the much-heralded contest was finally over -and Doris stood triumphant in front of the judges’ -stand, the light gleaming on her wavy golden hair, -her strange green eyes dark with excitement, her -white, graceful arms laden with the long-stemmed -pink roses, she might have been posing as lovely -summer in her early rose-decked beauty. The faint, -fascinating smile that came and went on her red -lips gave no clue to what was going on in her mind. -Her slow, occasional careless glances about the gymnasium -were motivated by the distinct secret purpose -of locating Marjorie. Nor did she learn until -long afterward that the clear, vibrant voice of the -judge who spoke the final charge to Beautye -brighte, reverence in its intonation, was that of the -girl she affected to despise. Having enjoyed the -contest incognito Marjorie had disappeared during -the first congratulatory rush toward Doris.</p> - -<p class='c005'>She found remembrance of last night’s contest -lingering persistently in her mind as she and her -chums essayed the round of the shops. None of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>the party knew what they wished to buy for Muriel. -They were in a wondrous merry mood and had difficulty -in settling down to a selection of gifts. As -they trooped, chattering, out of the town’s one art -store with arms full of birthday bundles a familiar -white car shot past them down the street, disappearing -into a side street. The occupants of the -white car were Doris Monroe and Leslie Cairns.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie gave a kind of disappointed gulp as -she glimpsed the stunning white car and its passengers. -It was the first time she had either seen -or heard of these two as having been together since -before Thanksgiving. Augusta Forbes and her two -chums had later confidentially reported to Marjorie -the occasion at the Colonial when Leslie and Doris -had quarreled. Marjorie had hoped then that the -breach between the two girls might widen. Robin’s -assurance that Doris had been “perfectly sweet” to -her at the old-fashioned hop was a hopeful sign. -Freed from Leslie’s pernicious influence, Doris’s -college future was likely to be rosy.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Now it appeared that Doris was not estranged, -perhaps did not desire to be free from Leslie. Marjorie -felt chagrin and disappointment take hold of -her. She half concluded that her chums were correct -in holding the opinion that further effort to -win over the ungracious and ungrateful sophomore -<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>would be a useless expense of time and spirit. -Should she, now that through her private effort -Doris had been acclaimed the college beauty, allow -Doris to continue her college journey without further -solicitude on her part? Her generous soul instantly -rebelled against the thought. She had the -principle to consider in the peculiar task she had -whimsically set for herself. So far as she knew -the work of moulding beautiful Doris Monroe -“nearer to the heart’s desire” had only begun.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XXVI.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>SUNSHINE FROM SHADOW</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>“Look here!” Jerry, who had gone with Leila to -the garage to put away the car, bounced into the -room flourishing two letters.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why, <i>where</i> did they come from? There wasn’t -a sign of mail in our divisions when I came upstairs. -That was not more than half an hour ago. Besides -that was the last mail.” Marjorie’s eyes had opened -to their widest extent at sight of the letters.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Ah-h-h! There’s a reason; and it took yours -truly to find it.” Jerry gave a self-appreciative -crow. “Here’s your letter.” She tendered one of -the two to Marjorie. She made no effort to open -the other.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie’s color heightened as she glanced at the -writing on the envelope. “It’s from Hal. You -know that. Something unusual must be happening -in Sanford. This is the second letter I’ve had from -him within a week.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“When you open it kindly gaze at the post-mark,” -Jerry directed with a knowing smile.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>“Why, Jerry!” Marjorie had already obeyed the -direction. “November third! Where did it come -from? This is another mysterious mystery.” She -read Hal’s brief letter, a puzzled frown knotting -her forehead. “<i>This</i> is the letter Hal thought I did -not answer. I had to explain to him when I went -home that I had not received it. Well, of all surprises.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“The end of them is not yet. Here’s another belated -missive. I thought I’d let you get over the -shock of the first before handing you another jolt.”’</p> - -<p class='c005'>“So kind in you, Jeremiah.” Marjorie’s gratitude -was of a very casual order. “You mean you wanted -to be teasing. This is from Miss Susanna,” she announced -after a hasty inspection. “It was”—again -her voice achieved astonished height—“mailed <i>last -Monday</i>. The time has come, Jeremiah for you to -prove your worth as a great investigator and throw -light upon this mystery.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It was that <i>treacherous, deceiving old bulletin -board</i>,” emphasized Jerry, then giggled. “D is on -the top row, you know. The back piece of the board -gapes away from the face of it a little, just at the -D section. One of the maids must have tucked Hal’s -letter into the wrong place and there it stayed. Another -of the maids must have done the same thing -recently. I found both letters there. I was peeking -<span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>and peering disconsolately at that empty D space -when through a tiny crack at the back of it I saw a -bit of white. I went fishing with a hat pin and finally -got hold of a corner of Miss Susanna’s letter. Pretty -soon I had fished up both of them. What I’m wondering -is this. Did anyone cache them for spite? -I trust not.” Jerry put on a look of virtuous horror. -“I mean I wouldn’t be surprised if someone had.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Suspicious old Jeremiah.” Marjorie raised a -reproving finger at her chum. Her ready smile contradicted -intent to reprove. “Miss Susanna wants -to see me. In this note she asked me to dinner at -the Arms on last Wednesday evening. Here it is -the Saturday after! What must she think of me. -I’ll hurry downstairs this instant and telephone her.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie darted from the room and took the stairs -at what she used at home to call a gallop. She -blessed telephone service with all her heart as she -quickly got Jonas on the wire and asked him to call -Miss Susanna to the telephone. It was not a long -conversation she presently exchanged with the mistress -of Hamilton Arms. Miss Susanna was not fond -of talking on the telephone. But it was a most happy -little talk. Marjorie turned from the ’phone wondering -a little why Miss Susanna had laid stress on -inviting her alone of the Travelers to dinner at the -Arms the next evening. The mistress of the Arms -<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>had not said she wished to be alone with Marjorie, -but she had intimated it vaguely.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Turning mechanically toward the stairs Marjorie -crashed squarely against a young woman who had -just descended the last step. Both girls apologized -first; took stock of each other afterward. Marjorie -drew a quick breath. She was facing Louise Walker. -Obeying an impulse she cried out:</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, Miss Walker, I have been trying to see you -for several days. Would you be willing to come -upstairs to Miss Macy’s and my room? We have -something to show you which is important to you.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I—certainly I will come.” Miss Walker’s intonation -was remarkably gentle and friendly. “Will -you lead the way? I am not often at Wayland Hall -and know very little about it.” She motioned Marjorie -to precede her up the stairs. “I had been calling -on a sophomore, Miss Vinton.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“She is such a clever girl,” Marjorie said admiringly. -“We have had many interesting talks -about chemistry experiments we have made.” Her -winsome smile drew an answering smile from Miss -Walker. The sophomore was wondering if Marjorie -had heard any of the cutting remarks she had -made about her and Robin Page, early in the fall, -when Page and Dean had championed the cause of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>Augusta Forbes. She was astonished now to find -Marjorie so friendly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“For goodness sake!” In the act of nibbling a -large three-cornered piece of peanut brittle Jerry -let it fall to the rug at sight of Marjorie and her -visitor. She bent to retrieve it, took an unintentional -step forward and planted one foot firmly upon it. -Such a disaster called for mirth which was quick -in coming. Marjorie merrily seated the guest and -offered her peanut brittle from a box. Jerry loudly -mourned the loss of “the biggest, best bit of brittle -in the brittle box,” as she gathered up the sticky -fragments of it from the rug. She made short -work of the task. She was eager to join the pair of -girls on the other side of the room.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Marjorie kept the conversation centered upon impersonal -topics until Jerry completed the trio. Then -she began in her candid fashion: “Miss Walker, we -hope you will not feel, after you have heard what I -am going to tell you, that we have not been fair to -you in not having told you before. Will you please -bring the letters, Jerry?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Jerry complied with alacrity. Meanwhile Marjorie -had gone steadily on with the account of the -receipt of the first letter, bearing Miss Walker’s -signature. The latter sat listening in genuine mystification. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>She stared in bewilderment at the outrageous -letter which Jerry placed in her hand.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why, this is dreadful!” she cried as she read it, -her fair skin flooding with indignant red. “That’s -not my writing! Why didn’t you come to me and -ask me about it?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“How could I?” Marjorie said rather sadly. She -had expected the question. “You see, I didn’t know -your handwriting. I didn’t know— Please let us -not talk about that part of it. We were so glad -when Jerry received the letter from you about the -handkerchief. Then we <i>knew</i> you had not written -that hateful letter.” She pointed the tip of a scornful -finger at the forgery. “Since things have worked -out so well, let’s be thankful, and friends.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’d love to be,” Louise answered with sincerity. -“First you must forgive me for being so disagreeable -last fall. I’ve been sorry for quite a while, -but there seemed no opportunity to tell you so. I -understand Miss Forbes now, too. I like her, but -I’m afraid she doesn’t like me; nor never will.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Go and call on her very soon. She’d be so -pleased. I’m sure she would. She admires your -basket ball playing.” This affably from Jerry who -was far more favorable impressed with the sophomore -that she had expected to be.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“There’s one thing I believe I ought to tell you to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>clear my slate,” Miss Walker said presently in a half -hesitating tone. “It’s about Miss Peyton and Miss -Carter. I mention them frankly because I intend to -tell them that I have seen you, and of our talk.” -Her voice strengthened into one of resolution. “May -I ask you? Has Professor Matthews ever reprimanded -you and Miss Macy for being unduly noisy -in your room?” She stared anxiously at Marjorie.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Why, <i>no</i>.” Marjorie cast an enigmatical glance -at Jerry. Then the two laughed. “Please pardon -us for laughing,” she apologized. “Last fall Miss -Peyton threatened to report us to President Matthews. -About two weeks later a letter came to me -in the president’s hand. It really took courage to -open it. Oh-h-h,” she drew a soft laughing breath, -“it was an invitation to dinner at his home to meet -one of his nieces who had come from the west to -visit the Matthews. Jerry and I thought then that -perhaps Miss Peyton had decided against reporting -us to him.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I wish she had, but she didn’t. I advised her -against such petty spite,” Louise declared disgustedly. -“I am glad President Matthews ignored the report. -She made it in person. She told me as much, -but she would not tell me what he said to her in the -matter. I suspect Prexy was very unsympathetic.” -Louise’s gray, long-lashed eyes sparkled with quiet -<span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>humor. “Anyway, I’m free from that worry. I -wanted to tell you that as much as you wanted to -tell me about the letter.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Frank confession from caller and guests banished -the strain which had marked the beginning of the -interview. Presently Louise had been invited to remain -at the Hall to dinner and afterward hob-nob -with the chums in Ronny’s and Lucy’s room where -a newly-arrived fruit cake sent Lucy by her mother -was to be the center of attraction at a jollification.</p> - -<p class='c005'>The three girls were making rapid strides toward -friendship when a knock at the door revealed Gussie -Forbes and Calista Wilmot as demanding the -hospitality of Room 15. It was the satisfying climax -to a mutual admiration society which had sprung -up between Louise and Gussie on the very field of -battle. It was a case of when “soph meets soph.” -The two distinguished centers found so much in -common to talk about they blissfully forgot Marjorie, -Jerry and Calista for the time being, greatly -to the delight of these three.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Shortly before Louise Walker went to her own -campus house she said to Marjorie in a low tone: -“Will you come with me now to your room. My -wraps are there. I will bring them in here, but I -wish to say something very quietly to you.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“We’re going into my room for a minute or so, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>gang,” Marjorie called to the others as she and the -sophomore went out the door.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“It’s about Miss Monroe I wish to speak,” began -Louise hurriedly. “Could you—do you know what -ought to be done to keep her away from that Miss -Cairns? The freshies seem to admire them as a -stunning combination, plus the white car. But the -sophs are decidedly against Miss Cairns. A good -many stories about her dishonorable ways while she -was a student at Hamilton have drifted down to us -from friends and older sisters who have been graduated -from here. We have been told that she was -expelled from Hamilton, together with a crowd of -her chums. She was here when you entered college, -was she not?” Louise asked earnestly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“She was a sophomore when we were freshies. -She was expelled from Hamilton at the end of her -junior year,” Marjorie said evenly. “I know of a -great many things she has done that she should not -have done, yet she is somewhat like another girl I -know whose mother died when she was a baby and -who grew up believing she must always have her -own way. The girl I mention suddenly faced about -and made herself over. Perhaps Leslie Cairns will -do the same. I think it would be far better if Miss -Monroe had nothing whatever to do with her. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>trouble is—no one but Miss Monroe can decide that. -All we can do is to help her by our good will.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I understand. You mean if Miss Monroe has -enough interests to keep her occupied and happy on -the campus she won’t turn to Miss Cairns for entertainment.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes,” Marjorie returned. “We Travelers have -been watching over her. She is not only beautiful. -Her room-mate is Muriel Harding, you know. Muriel -says she is brilliant in her subjects. She can draw, -paint, play the piano and knows a good deal about -outdoor sports. We can’t afford to have such good -material go to waste, can we?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“No, we can’t.” Louise’s hand reached for Marjorie’s. -The two looked into each other’s eyes and -made a wordless compact which had to do with the -deliverance of the enchanted princess from the power -of the wicked wizard.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span> - <h2 class='c003'>CHAPTER XXVII.<br /> <br /><span class='small'>MARVELOUS MANAGER</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c004'>While the discussion concerning herself was going -on between Marjorie and Louise Walker, the -enchanted princess and the wicked wizard were -amicably eating dinner at the Colonial. Leslie was -listening with acute attention to Doris’s unemotional -account of the Beauty contest related in the drawling -English diction which she had used since childhood.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You think you’re it, don’t you, Goldie?” she said -with a slow grin when Doris had finished her recital.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes; why shouldn’t I?” countered Doris, unruffled -by the slangy question. She was very desirous -of going to New York with Leslie for the Christmas -holidays. She had no intention of quarreling -with her and thus defeating her own ends.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I’ve no objection,” Leslie amiably assured her. -“You haven’t told me where Bean was, though. Certainly -she wasn’t in the gym or <i>you’d</i> never have -got away with the prize. She must have purposely -effaced herself. She has it put all over every other -<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>girl I ever saw when it comes to Beauty. I hate -the ground she walks on, yet Bean is beautiful -Bean. Don’t let it worry you, though.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>Doris smiled rather condescendingly at Leslie. -“You know it doesn’t worry me, Leslie. You are -absurd. No, Miss Dean was not at the contest. -Some of her friends were, but she was no where -to be seen. Don’t you think the contest itself is very -quaint? Miss Harper is really immensely clever.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Next to Bean, I hate <i>her</i>.” Leslie’s face lowered. -“Don’t mention her to me ever. Since Bean handed -over the college beautyship to you, make the most of -it. You’d better give a dinner to some of the sophs -who belong to the best families. They’re the ones -who count in college. They can either make you -or break you.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I—I haven’t decided just what I’d best do after -Christmas to keep up my reputation as the college -beauty.” Doris experienced a sudden violent dislike -for Leslie. She wished she had never seen her. -She wished she had not promised to go to New York -with her. She had had a taste of real girl happiness, -spontaneous and free from the plotting and -planning which seemed ever to attend Leslie’s movements. -Once again she was hearing the quaint adjuration -to Beautye “to say a prayer of thankfulness -at even for the gifte of Beautye by the grace of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>God.” Once again that clear, resonant voice rang -in her ears. Though her new, unbidden mood soon -left her, it would come again. The leaven had begun -to work.</p> - -<p class='c005'>On the way up the main drive to Wayland Hall -the following afternoon she came face to face with -Marjorie. She bowed with less coolness than was -her wont. “Good afternoon, Miss Monroe,” Marjorie -said sedately, looking neither smiling nor serious. -She was on her way to Hamilton Arms to -spend the rest of the afternoon and evening with -Miss Susanna.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Doris had a faint impression of having known -someone else whose voice was like Marjorie’s. She -could not recall any such person. She grudgingly -admitted to herself that Leslie’s rude appraisal of -Marjorie’s good looks was not without foundation. -Doris was fundamentally sound of judgment and -honest enough not to deceive herself.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You and I are going to have one of our old-fashioned -heart to heart talks this afternoon,” greeted -Miss Susanna as she folded Marjorie in her arms -and kissed her on the forehead and both cheeks. -“We’re going to have a light tea now and dinner at -seven. Tea will be in the study. I’m going to ask -you to help me this afternoon go over some of -Uncle Brooke’s papers. I’d like to arrange them in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>chronological order. A nice sort of hostess I am, -to invite you here to dine and then make you work -for your dinner,” chuckled the old lady.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You know there is nothing I’d rather do. You -are a fraud.” Marjorie swooped down on her, arms -flying, mouth open, fingers curved into claws. It -was her favorite mode of onslaught upon her general -when at home. Miss Susanna squealed, dodged and -giggled as the avenging bogie bore down upon her. -A merry tussle ensued in which Miss Susanna held -her own.</p> - -<p class='c005'>It was not until they had settled down at the -study table with the tea spread out upon it that they -behaved with anything but hilarity.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I never treated you to such a tussle before.” -Marjorie declared blithely as she reached for the -cup of tea Miss Susanna held out to her. “Those -are General’s and my favorite tactics at home. Oh, -wait until we get you there. We’ll have some grand -family frolics at Castle Dean.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I am looking forward to them with all my heart. -This will be the first Christmas I have spent away -from the Arms since <i>he</i> died. I am sure -he would wish me to go with you.” Miss -Hamilton regarded Marjorie with deep solemnity. -“Now tell me about the girls. What have you all -<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>been busy doing?” She switched the subject from -herself with characteristic abruptness.</p> - -<p class='c005'>During the light meal Marjorie kept strictly to -the subject of her friends’ and her doings on the -campus. Miss Susanna listened to the lively recital -with apparent pleasure. Now and then Marjorie -would catch the old lady’s eyes resting upon her -with an expression of brooding tenderness which -she had never before seen in them.</p> - -<p class='c005'>When Miss Susanna had rung for Jonas to come -for the tea service she straightened in her chair with -a nervous kind of energy that Marjorie had learned -to construe as a sign that the last of the Hamilton’s -was about to make an important disclosure. It was -an entirely different attitude from that which she -invariably adopted in giving a surprise. Without a -word she rose, and, walking to one end of the study -turned the key in a tall narrow mahogany cabinet -which Marjorie had not seen before in the study.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“These are the most precious things in the world -to me, Marjorie,” Miss Susanna said as she turned -a brass key that stood in the lock. “Come here, -child. Hold out your arms.” She swung open the -door of the cabinet, revealing shelf upon shelf of -papers. They were, for the most part, letters without -envelopes, and documents. “This is his story, -in his own hand,” she continued musingly. She -<span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>carefully lifted the pile of papers from the top shelf -and placed it upon Marjorie’s arms. The amazed -lieutenant’s arms were steady, but her heart was -thumping wildly.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Miss Susanna,” she managed to gasp, “truly—are -you going to <i>allow me to look at them</i>?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Truly, I am.” There was a tiny catch in Miss -Susanna’s crisp voice. “No one has touched them -since I partially collated them and put them here -years ago. Bring them over to the table and lay -them upon it. I have something to say to you, -Marjorie Dean. I’ve been wondering for a week -just how I’d like to say it to you. Well, the simplest -way is best. I’ve decided to give his story to -the world. I’ve selected my biographer. I can only -hope that the one I wish to write the biography will -not be too modest to accept my offer. The person -I have in mind will probably declare that—”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“If you feel you have chosen the right person, -then you must have,” Marjorie interrupted. “Oh, -pardon me, Miss Susanna. I couldn’t wait to say -what I felt. You will have to <i>make</i> the one you -have chosen see matters as you do.” Marjorie’s -mind was already made up. Since Miss Susanna -had actually decided to permit Brooke Hamilton’s -biography to be written she must be encouraged and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>supported in her decision. There must be no refusal -of any sort to discourage her.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes, I am sure I have chosen the right person.” -Again Marjorie caught the divinely tender look in -her friend’s eyes. “You have always seen matters -about him much as I have, Marvelous Manager. -That is the reason I have chosen <i>you</i> to give a faithful -presentation of <i>him</i> to the world.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Miss Su-u-san-na. I—” With a little inarticulate -murmur Marjorie’s curly head went down on -the table, her face hidden in the curve of her arm. -She did not raise it when she felt a hand rest lightly -upon her curls. Silence reigned in the study, a -calm, stately silence over which Brooke Hamilton -himself seemed to preside. The impression of him -was borne to the two who had united to keep his -memory green. Afterward Miss Susanna and Marjorie -both happily admitted to having had the -same impression of his immediate presence in the -study.</p> - -<p class='c005'>Presently, when the great emotional strain upon -both women had lessened, they commenced an eager -discussion of plans concerning the best way of writing -Brooke Hamilton’s biography.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“You fell into your own trap, young lady. You -can’t back out,” Miss Susanna told Marjorie with -apparent relish.</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>“I don’t wish to back out; <i>never; never</i>,” was the -fervent assertion. “It’s the greatest good fortune -that has ever happened to me. I should like to drop -chemistry, French, the dormitory, welfare—” Marjorie -lightly waved away her enumeration of duties. -“But I can’t.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“I wish you and Jerry would come and live at -the Arms while you are in process of writing the -biography. Perhaps you may be able to manage it, -in the spring. You and I are to go to President -Matthews with the news tomorrow. I have already -written him that we would call at his Hamilton Hall -office tomorrow afternoon at two o’clock. I have a -curiosity to walk across the campus. When we go -to Castle Dean for Christmas we will perfect all our -plans. Shall we tell our girls now or wait until -after the holidays?”</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Oh, please let us tell them soon,” pleaded Marjorie. -“It will be the most wonderful Christmas -present for the old Travelers. ‘Peace on earth; good -will toward men.’” Marjorie hummed under her -breath. Her eyes luminous, she rose, went over to -Miss Susanna. Standing behind her chair she -dropped her arms over the old lady’s shoulders. It -was the special caress she loved to give her captain.</p> - -<p class='c005'>“Yes, ‘Peace on earth; good will toward men,’” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>Miss Susanna repeated, her small face bright with -love. “And the reason I can say it is because I -had the supreme good fortune to fall into the hands -of Marvelous Manager.”</p> - -<p class='c005'>How Marjorie spent the remainder of her college -post graduate year between Hamilton College and -Hamilton Arms will be found in: “<span class='sc'>Marjorie Dean -at Hamilton Arms</span>.”</p> - -<p class='c005'><span class='sc'>The End.</span></p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Transcriber’s note:</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>All instances of ‘Sandford’ have been changed to ‘Sanford.’</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 14, opening double quote inserted before ‘Marjorie,’ “and the “Marjorie Dean College”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 16, ‘is’ struck following ‘She’s,’ “She’s exasperating”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 22, opening double quote inserted before ‘Feel,’ ““Feel the chill”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 23, ‘Leida’ changed to ‘Leila,’ “Leila cast a grim”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 35, ‘promply’ changed to ‘promptly,’ “Ronny promptly read out”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 50, closing double quote struck following ‘might,’ “you might. I’d”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 50, opening double quote struck before ‘I’m,’ “J. J. G. Macy. I’m the one”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 51, ‘Phillys’ changed to ‘Phyllis,’ “said Phyllis Moore”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 51, ‘two’ changed to ‘to,’ “herself to and fro”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 52, double quotes changed to single quotes surrounding ‘dramer,’ “old ‘dramer’ and”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 57, ‘Deans’’ changed to ‘Dean’s,’ “and Dean’s melodramer”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 61, full stop changed to comma following ‘Vassar,’ “fall from Vassar, says”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 61, ‘Carins’ changed to ‘Cairns,’ “against Leslie Cairns’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 68, ‘you’ changed to ‘your,’ “From your best friend”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 70, ‘Jerrry’ changed to ‘Jerry,’ “Jerry showed more surprise”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 77, opening single quote changed to opening double quote before ‘You,’ ““You ought to know”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 84, comma inserted after ‘directed,’ “curtly directed, her eyes”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 85, ‘relasped’ changed to ‘relapsed,’ “Doris relapsed into”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 86, ‘melancholly’ changed to ‘melancholy,’ “with melancholy pride as”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 92, apostrophe inserted after ‘chums,’ “and her chums’ absence”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 93, closing double quote struck after ‘Oh,’ “Oh, Marjorie cried out”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 93, opening double quote struck before ‘How,’ “How I’d love to”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 93, ‘beeen’ changed to ‘been,’ “been keeping her coming”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 93, ‘bethrothal’ changed to ‘betrothal,’ “her betrothal announcement”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 94, closing double quote inserted after ‘morning,’ “this morning.” She glanced”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 95, comma struck following ‘in,’ “now, in a hurry”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 95, closing double quote inserted after ‘inn,’ “at the inn.””</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 96, ‘it’ changed to ‘in,’ “a dance in the gym”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 99, quotes regularized around ‘carrying on,’ “from ‘carrying on.’” She”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 103, opening double quote inserted before ‘I,’ ““I don’t un’erstan’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 104, opening double quote struck before ‘I,’ “I simply have to”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 108, closing double quote inserted after ‘in,’ “count me in,” Barbara”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 113, full stop inserted after ‘XIII,’ “CHAPTER XIII.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 116, ‘taxis’ changed to ‘taxies,’ “taxies from the station”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 119, opening single quote struck before ‘Thus,’ ““Thus far we have”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 119, ‘marshall’ changed to ‘marshal,’ “begun to marshal seven”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 121, full stop changed to comma following ‘guests,’ “of guests, Robin found”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 123, opening double quote inserted before ‘Yes,’ ““Yes; I passed Gus”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 126, question mark changed to exclamation point following ‘citizens,’ “friends and fellow-citizens!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 127, ‘themslves’ changed to ‘themselves,’ “piled themselves into the”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 131, ‘Thankgiving’ changed to ‘Thanksgiving,’ “for Thanksgiving dinner”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 135, opening double quote inserted before ‘Let’s,’ ““Let’s leave her to”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 136, ‘beginnning’ changed to ‘beginning,’ “beginning of a deep”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 138, opening double quote inserted before ‘Remember,’ ““Remember our own”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 145, ‘acompanied’ changed to ‘accompanied,’ “accompanied her opinion with”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 146, ‘promotor’ changed to ‘promoter,’ “troubles as a promoter”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 148, ‘boastted’ changed to ‘boasted,’ “recklessly boasted Robin”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 155, full stop inserted after ‘graciousness,’ “with her ready graciousness.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 157, opening double quote changed to opening single quote before ‘Oh,’ “‘Oh, yes; you see”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 157, closing double quote changed to closing single quote after ‘again,’ “break down again.’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 158, ‘Singor’ changed to ‘Signor,’ “expense, Signor Baretti”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 160, closing single quote inserted after ‘campus,’ “busses to the campus.’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 160, opening double quote struck before ‘a,’ “interposed, a trace of”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 167, ‘Thansksgiving’ changed to ‘Thanksgiving,’ “seeing the Thanksgiving part”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 180, ‘suits case’ changed to ‘suitcase,’ “find my suitcase”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 181, ‘Cairn’s’ changed to ‘Cairns’,’ “of Leslie Cairns’ part”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 191, ‘squestioned’ changed to ‘questioned,’ “she questioned half”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 200, ‘year’ changed to ‘years,’ “Hamilton many years ago”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 205, closing double quote inserted after ‘bidding,’ “to the bidding.””</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 207, opening double quote inserted before ‘I,’ ““I hope you know”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 210, ‘tumultous’ changed to ‘tumultuous,’ “impending, tumultuous embrace”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 217, closing double quote struck after ‘Jeremiah,’ “Jeremiah? You’re brim”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 217, opening double quote struck before ‘I,’ “interesting. I know”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 218, ‘monogramed’ changed to ‘monogrammed,’ “fussy handkerchief, monogrammed”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 218, ‘subequent’ changed to ‘subsequent,’ “and the subsequent mailing”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 222, full stop inserted after ‘performances,’ “by past performances.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 226, comma changed to full stop following ‘retorted,’ “Leila retorted.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 229, opening single quote changed to opening double quote before ‘NEARER,’ ““NEARER TO THE”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 230, ‘sceptical’ changed to ‘skeptical,’ “made skeptical reply”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 230, closing double quote inserted after ‘stand,’ “on the judges’ stand.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 237, opening double quote inserted before ‘You,’ ““You mean you wanted”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 238, opening double quote inserted before ‘I,’ ““I mean I wouldn’t”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 239, ‘decended’ changed to ‘descended,’ “just descended the last”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 241, closing double quote inserted after ‘letter,’ “that hateful letter.””</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 246, ‘roommate’ changed to ‘room-mate,’ “Her room-mate is Muriel”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 251, full stop changed to comma following ‘you,’ “to say to you, Marjorie”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 253, opening double quote inserted before ‘It’s,’ ““It’s the greatest”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 253, closing double quote inserted after ‘men,’ “will toward men.’””</p> - -<p class='c008'>Page 254, ‘Majorie’ changed to ‘Marjorie,’ “Marjorie Dean at Hamilton Arms.”</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Marjorie Dean, Marvelous Manager, by Pauline Lester - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARJORIE DEAN, MARVELOUS MANAGER *** - -***** This file should be named 53213-h.htm or 53213-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/2/1/53213/ - -Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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