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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..59ecb78 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66779 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66779) diff --git a/old/66779-0.txt b/old/66779-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1b6f8a0..0000000 --- a/old/66779-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6066 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Strange Likeness, by Harriet Pyne -Grove - -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 -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Strange Likeness - -Author: Harriet Pyne Grove - -Release Date: November 20, 2021 [eBook #66779] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Stephen Hutcheson, MFR, Sue Clark, and the Online - Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRANGE LIKENESS *** - - - - - -The Strange Likeness - - - - -Contents - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. Act Two, Scene One. 3 - - II. Shirley Embarks Upon New Adventures. 7 - - III. Puzzling Encounters. 20 - - IV. On with the Panorama. 34 - - V. Senior Plans. 43 - - VI. The “Double Three.” 54 - - VII. The Sensation. 63 - - VIII. Shirley’s First Day. 78 - - IX. Letters. 90 - - X. When Doubles Meet. 98 - - XI. Gossip and Honors. 110 - - XII. Hallowe’en Plays. 125 - - XIII. Fleta to the Rescue. 138 - - XIV. “Much Ado.” 147 - - XV. An Accidental Meeting. 157 - - XVI. Sidney’s “Ghost.” 174 - - XVII. Sidney Makes a Discovery. 182 - - XVIII. Life Becomes Endurable. 195 - - XIX. Assurances. 294 - - XX. At Last. 216 - - XXI. In Her Father’s Home. 225 - - - - -[Illustration: Sidney passed with her head in the air and without -looking at Shirley.] - - - - - THE - STRANGE LIKENESS - - BY HARRIET PYNE GROVE - - [Illustration] - - THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING - COMPANY - - Akron, Ohio New York - - - - - Copyright MCMXXIX - THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY - - The Strange Likeness - - _Made in the United States of America_ - - - - -THE STRANGE LIKENESS - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -ACT TWO, SCENE ONE. - - -Stage dramas are accustomed to begin with Act One, Scene One; but the -little drama of living presented in this story starts with the second -act. The fact that the first act was for so long unknown to some of the -_dramatis personae_ permitted the mystery. - -“Adoring, dear?” - -A young gentleman entered the room as he spoke, smiling indulgently as -he looked at his young wife, who bent over a white crib. - -The young man was perhaps twenty-seven years of age, neat in his gray -suit, with the blue tie that matched his eyes, and carrying himself -with an air of poise and quiet assurance. Soft fair hair with a wave -that curled itself over an intelligent brow, and good, firm features -were points that were no drawback to the gentleman’s attractive -personality. Crossing the room, he put an arm around the slender figure -of his wife and with her looked down at the sleeping baby. - -“Do you blame, me, honey?” whispered the young woman, responding to -the embrace and drawing away from the crib a little as she laid a soft -finger on her husband’s lips. “Don’t wake her. Isn’t she like a lovely -little rosebud? Just look at her adorable little mouth and that wee, -dimpled hand and arm. Oh, I’m so glad that I have her! - -“And what do you think of the nursery? Auntie’s taste is wonderful, you -know, and she helped me. Why, Auntie is just crazy about the baby!” - -“I see where I am going to be entirely left out in the cold,” the young -man remarked, but he did not look worried over the situation. - -“You will soon be as silly as I am,” laughed his wife. “Now promise me! -You will never tell, will you?” - -“I have hesitated to promise, dear, because I think that no good ever -comes of not knowing the truth.” - -“But what harm could it do? She is really ours, all tight and fast, and -nobody to dispute it!” - -“Certainly. But suppose she finds out some day.” - -“She can’t, unless we tell her, and if you will promise,--” - -Two arms went around the young man’s neck and a lovely face looked up -at him. “Please, please,” she begged. “It isn’t as if there would be -anything dreadful to find out.” - -“No,--it’s just that I--well, I’m no proof against you, as you well -know! All right. I promise. I will never tell her.” - -“_Now_ you have made me perfectly happy,--as you always do. This is the -prettiest doll that I ever had to play with, and I’m going to bring her -up _very carefully_.” - -“I see that she has my hair,” teasingly continued the young man, “what -there is of it. What color are her eyes? I’ve never seen her awake but -once and then she was howling and her eyes were screwed shut.” - -“Her eyes are going to be exactly like mine. Auntie says that in all -important features she is precisely like all the prettiest babies of -our family!” - -The two young people happily looked at each other and laughed, still -softly; but the baby parted its long, dark lashes a little, turned its -head, waved a tiny hand for a moment, and with a faint sigh put its -thumb in its mouth, falling soundly asleep again as it did so. - -Silently the two, who stood by the crib with its white blankets and -dainty coverlid, waited to see if the child would waken. Then gently -the young woman drew the baby hand away from the rosebud mouth. With a -new dignity she said, “You have to do that whenever babies start to put -their thumbs in their mouths.” - -But this was back in the late autumn some seventeen years before the -next recorded scene. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -SHIRLEY EMBARKS UPON NEW ADVENTURES. - - -“Of _course_ I don’t care, Mother! Why shouldn’t you and Dad go off -and have the time of your lives? It is simply _great_! Hurrah for the -Trustees and Faculty! It is _time_ that Dad had his ‘sabbatical year,’ -or whatever you call it. With all that he has done for this university!” - -“And all that he expects to do, childie.” - -“Certainly. The museum will be full of all those mummies and things -that you will dig up over there.” - -Shirley’s mother smiled. “It would be better for you to learn more -definitely, daughter, just what your classical father is going to do -over there. I can assure you that we are not going to bring home any -mummies. I wanted to make sure, little girl, that your heart had no -soreness about this. You understand why it is not best to take you -now. When you go abroad, as I hope you may some day, you will want -a more general trip first. We have had that. And it is best not to -interrupt your education now. I confess to being a little torn between -desire to go with your father, to see your cousin in England, with the -fine opportunity for myself as well, and the regret about leaving you -behind.” - -“Seriously, Mother,” said Shirley, more earnestly than she had spoken -before, “it looks like a fine adventure to me. Of course, I’m not going -to pretend that I will not miss you. But you could give it up and come -home if anything serious should be the matter, and after all, we might -look at it this way. I am going West for the summer, a big chance for -me. Then _I’m_ going to do what I’ve longed to do, attend a girls’ -school for a year. See? _I’m_ leaving _you_ for a year!” - -“Bless you, child,--I might know that you would take it that way. What -a comfort you have always been to me! Just see to it that you are -careful not to do risky things, and I shall throw off responsibility. -Keep a diary, Shirley. I’m going to keep one, too, to bring you daily -pictures of what we shall be doing. Then there will be letters, of -course.” - -“I will write the letters, Mother, but I’m not so sure about the diary. -You know my failing. I like to have the fun, but it takes so long to -write about it, and you know that the fun makes better notes than the -serious things. My diary will be something like this: ‘January first. -Snowing. Missed breakfast. Classes all day. Theme assigned. Chose ‘Why -Go To College?’ Have to dress for dinner. Hungry. Expect letter from -Mother tomorrow.’” - -“Even an outline like that, Shirley will be better than nothing. I -should like to look over it to see what my girl has really been doing.” - -“I promise to have good lessons, Mother, not just fun, and I imagine -that they are pretty strict. Probably they will have to be. But that -is a long way off. I shall have nothing _but_ fun this summer, I hope. -Here comes Dad. Is this the distinguished professor of Epigraphy, -Paleography and Archaeology, to say nothing of--well, all the rest--who -is going to dig up Greece and Rome and Egypt this year?” - -“And is this the saucy, beautiful and only daughter of the said -professor?” queried a light-stepping, fine looking man who entered his -own living-room, letting the screen bang behind him. - -Shirley ran to meet him, hugging him rather impetuously, while he -rumpled her hair and imprinted a kiss upon her forehead. “Well, girls,” -said he, “the last old grad has gone, I believe: the last meeting of -the trustees is over. I shook hands with the president in his office -and he wished me a happy and profitable year.” With a comical side -step, the dignified professor reached for the other girl, his wife, and -drew her to him with the arm that was not around Shirley. - -“My reports of grades are long since in and I’ve answered the -university bell for classes for the last time till year after next. Can -you wonder that I am a little crazy?” - -This mild way of figuratively throwing up his hat amused Shirley, but -she was as careful of her father’s dignity as he; so she slipped out -from his arm and said, “Here comes a student up the walk, Father. Come -on, Mother. Dad has probably flunked him in something. Never mind, -Daddy, you will soon be away. I’m packing, too, and I need Mother -anyhow. ‘_In pace requiescat_,’” Shirley added, waving her hand toward -the unseeing student who was knocking on the screen, just as Shirley -and her smiling mother left the room. - -Just what point Shirley had in mind in applying the Latin expression -to the supposedly unhappy student, she did not explain, but it was -probably the only Latin phrase that occurred to her at the time. -Whatever was the lad’s errand, the professor made short work of him and -as the student began to whistle as soon as he reached the street some -responsibility must have been lifted. - -It was a little hard for Shirley that her father and mother should -leave before she could, but it could not be helped, and if Shirley had -a lump in her throat, no sign of it showed in her bright face as she -blithely waved a last goodbye to Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt, whose faces she -could see through the Pullman window as the train began to move. But -she turned away rather soberly and the young man with her without a -word took her arm to lead her back to the car which stood waiting. - -Shirley swallowed, winked a moment, then lifted smiling eyes, dark, -with curling lashes, to her tall, slim companion. “I’m all right, Dick. -There’s just that funny, all-gone feeling, you know.” - -“Yep,” returned Richard Lytton. “I’ve had it. Remember when I went to -military school? When I stood on the platform in my new uniform, just -a mere kid, you know, and saw the train disappear with my father on -board, going home without me,--O boy!” - -“You were such a little chap, weren’t you? But you seemed terribly old -to me, and I remember how impressed I was when you came home at the -Holidays wearing that uniform.” - -“Little idiot that I was!” laughed Dick, drawing Shirley out of the way -of a truck loaded with trunks. “More students going out on the next -train,” said Dick, glancing at the truck. “There’s that freshman trying -to catch your eye, Shirley.” - -Shirley looked in the direction of Dick’s nod and smiled at a plump -youth who was looking at her with interest. She waked up to her -immediate surroundings a little with her bow to the boy who was in one -of her father’s classes and whom she had met several times at her own -home. She could not know how very much interested the freshman was or -why he said to himself, “That’s only her cousin.” - -The small station of the college town was busier than usual with the -departure of students. As Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt had made their plans to -depart at the earliest moment possible, their leaving was coincident -with that of many others, though trustees had largely gone before. - -“If you begin to smite them, now, Shirley,” said Dick, “what it will be -when you actually get into college, I shudder to think.” - -“Nonsense,” said Shirley. “Perhaps I can stay two years at the other -school. They have a junior college, you know.” - -“Your father wouldn’t stand for that, Shirley. He wants you here for -your University work.” - -“I know.” - -But they had reached the car in which two ladies were sitting. One was -elderly, the other about the age of Shirley’s mother. “Well, here’s the -orphan, Mother,” said Dick cheerfully, handing Shirley into the front -seat and going around to the other door to climb into the driver’s seat -himself. - -“I would not remind her in that heartless way, Dick,” said his mother -whose smile was as cheerful as Dick’s and whose kind eyes looked -sympathetically at Shirley. - -“I don’t mind, Cousin Molly. Thank fortune, I’m not really an orphan, -and I’m going to do just what my revered Dad said to do, keep my mind -on the adventures before me. Do you think that we _can_ get off, -ourselves, day after tomorrow, Auntie?” - -Shirley addressed the older lady in this remark. - -“You will be obliged to do so, my dear. You forget that your tickets -are purchased and all the arrangements made. We may as well do the -last of your shopping now, if Dick will drive us around. I knew that -your mother could not manage all of it at the last, with all the -interruptions that she had in the professor’s affairs.” - -“Now, Auntie! don’t blame it on poor Dad.” - -“He could not help it, my dear. But I have not lived next door to you -in vain, my child, these pleasant years, and your mother trusts my -judgment. I have the list.” - -“Oh, you have planned it with her, then,” said Shirley. “Things have -been rather mixed up today, but she said to ask you about everything. -I’m almost packed, but I surely will be glad to have your help.” - -Miss Dudley was Shirley’s great aunt, her mother’s aunt. She lived -in an apartment of her own near the Harcourt home and managed to -hold the position of general adviser to her niece without any of -the disagreeable features which an interfering nature might have -introduced. But Miss Dudley had her own pursuits and a wide circle -of friends. No one knew her age, but if the Harcourts were in the -early forties, Miss Dudley, well preserved, still attractive, with -her only lightly wrinkled brow, her wide-awake brown eyes and air of -independence, must be in the sixties. She and Shirley had always been -good friends. Her tasteful rooms, her books, her curios, which the -child Shirley was trained not to touch without permission, had always -been a source of pleasure to the professor’s daughter. Many a time some -one of Miss Dudley’s friends would come in to call and note the pretty, -fair-haired child with her dark eyes, reading some book, perhaps, and -curled up in a corner of Miss Dudley’s davenport. - -The Lyttons were distant cousins, related upon the Harcourt side. It -was with them that Shirley expected to make the western trip. As they, -too, had many errands and much to do before the start, Dick deposited -Miss Dudley and Shirley in the center of town at their first shopping -point and made arrangements to meet them at a later hour, to take them -home again. Shirley quite forgot to be lonesome in the exigencies -of the moment, the importance of not forgetting any detail and the -selection of the last purchases. - -Meanwhile, upon the Pullman, Dr. Harcourt was saying to a rather sober -wife, “I need a more cheerful companion, Eleanor.” Somewhat whimsically -he looked into the now smiling eyes, very like Shirley’s. “I, too, feel -as if the plunge had taken my breath a little, but if we let ourselves -get homesick or worried at the start, what will become of us?” - -“I’m sure I don’t know. I felt like a girl again, planning my trousseau -and honeymoon,--but saying goodbye to Shirley has made me think of my -responsibilities, I suppose.” - -“Stop it, then, my dear. This is our second honeymoon. Think of the fun -that we are going to have. Remember what we decided. It is true that -things calamitous might happen, but how foolish to guide one’s life by -them.” - -“I remember, learned professor,” said Mrs. Harcourt, responding to the -pressure of the hand that reached down to take hers. “We decided that -it is entirely wise to accomplish something in this old world, not -held back by our fears, and that this year will be an opportunity to -Shirley as well as to ourselves. We’ve made fine plans for her and as -usual we pray ‘deliver us from evil.’ Really, Will, I’m a happy woman -and I trust in you and Providence just as much as ever. You don’t blame -me that I find leaving Shirley behind a little wrench, do you?” - -“Not a bit of it. But I think that it will do you both good. What did I -do with that Baedeker? The last report of our archæalogical expedition -is in it. I put it between the pages and I hope that I’ve not left it -at home!” - -“I have it in my bag, Will. I’ll find it for you in a jiffy.” - -Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt were embarking upon the steamer bound for the -English coast at about the same time that Mr. and Mrs. Lytton, their -son Dick and cousin, Shirley Harcourt left the college town for their -adventures in the West. - -“Don’t do anything a Dudley wouldn’t do,” brightly said Shirley’s -great-aunt as she embraced her for the last time. “Take good care of -my only niece, Dick, if you go off on any of those wild trails. I hope -that you will be armed for bandits.” - -“Why, Auntie,--who would think that of you? These aren’t the old days -in the West.” - -“Twentieth century bandits are the worst kind, child. Remember, Dick.” - -“Trust me, Cousin Anne. When you see us again we shall have climbed the -Rockies in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and California, so to speak. -Shirley, do they have the Rocky Mountains in California?” - -“Don’t ask embarrassing questions, Dick. We’ll look it up on the map, -for we’ll have plenty of time for that on the train. I’m going to study -geography and a lot beside this trip, Aunt Anne. Please take good care -of your dear self. I wish that you were going too.” - -“I couldn’t stand it, Shirley, not all that you are going to do. Take -her away, Dick, before I change my mind about letting her go at all!” - -This time it was not to the Lytton car but to a taxi that Dick escorted -his cousin, a taxi which ticked away in front of the Harcourt home. -Aunt Anne would lock the place finally. Shirley whisked inside, taking -her seat beside Mrs. Lytton and giving a sigh of relief as she sank -into it. - -“Tired, child?” inquired Mrs. Lytton. - -“Not so much tired as glad that the last thing is done and that we are -really off. Are we?” - -“I judge that we are. I am glad, too. There was so much to do at -our house and I had to see that Dick and your cousin Steve left no -essential article behind.” - -Both Mr. Lytton and Dick protested at this aspersion upon their ability -to look after themselves, but it was all in a joking way and Shirley -sat still and tense with the excitement of beginning such a big trip, -the longest that she had ever taken. At the station there was a group -of girls who had come to see Shirley off. Several of Dick’s friends, -too, had made it a point to be there just before the train came in. - -“The worst of it is that it is going to be so long before we see you -again,” said one high school friend of Shirley’s. “It seems a shame for -you not to graduate with the class!” - -“Yes, it does; but I’ll go into college with you anyhow, and it would -be pretty hard to be here all year without Father and Mother.” - -“I don’t blame you, Shirley,” said another girl. “If I had your chance -I’d take it in a minute. Write us all about it, won’t you?” - -“Oh, yes, Shirley,” cried the first girl. “We’ll want something about -you for our little bulletin, and if you will tell me about your trip -I’ll use it for a theme!” - -But the train whistled. Goodbyes were at last over, the goodbye that -had seemed to Shirley to stretch out endlessly ever since her father -and mother started away. From the window Shirley waved and blew kisses, -at last sinking back on the cushioned seat to find herself beside “old -Dick,” who picked up a magazine to use as a fan. - -“Come to, Shirley,” said he. “You stood all that like a Trojan. Imagine -me if the boys had treated me to all that embracing.” - -“They slapped you on the back, Dick, as _I_ should not like to be -slapped. I think I prefer the girls’ way.” - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -PUZZLING ENCOUNTERS. - - -“Thanks, Dick; I’m recovered,” laughed Shirley, waving away the -magazine. “Besides I have this little fan in my ‘under-arm’ bag. It is -rather hot today. We are not near enough to the electric fan to get any -good of it.” - -“We have a fine location, Shirley, in the very center of the car. Your -uncle Dick saw to that! I made the reservations, but I can’t vouch for -all that are ahead of us. We go from one line to another, you know.” - -Shirley did not know. With a bland indifference to detail, for all that -would be looked after by somebody, she was ready for all adventure and -surprises. “All right,” she said. “I’m perfectly content to let my -‘uncle Dick,’ with some little help from his parents, no doubt, look -after all these things, without bothering about any of them myself. -But I may as well say at the start that I am perfectly happy, grateful -to you all, and every other nice thing that I ought to be! Why, I can -hardly believe it, Dick, honestly!” - -“It’s a big chance for me, too, Shirley, and remember that you are -going to keep the account of what we see for me, too.” - -“Indeed I will, always provided that you keep the bandits away.” - -“Did I forget to promise Cousin Anne? But she was just joking, the way -she does. Say, Shirley, I’m going to see who’s on this train. I was too -busy with family affairs to see if anybody got on that I knew, and the -taxi made it anyway.” - -“Who knows? Somebody may be going as far as Chicago at least.” - -Shirley was beginning to look through her pretty new pocketbook that -held so much and was so complete inside and out. She was rather glad to -be alone for a little. Dick had settled them all comfortably, doing the -little things that a well brought up young man can do. - -Now with the male enjoyment of freedom he would stroll through the cars -at his own sweet will and Shirley dismissed her cousin’s doings, for -her own happy thoughts. Father and Mother were off and on the way to -great things. Dear Auntie, to whom she owed this trip, would really not -be lonesome, for she, too, had pleasant plans for the summer. It was -just wonderful how it had all come about. - -Professors in colleges have to plan for trips like this one, for great -sums of money do not grow on bushes in universities. Dr. Harcourt’s -resources would be strained to finance the European trip, to say -nothing of Shirley’s expenses. But Aunt Anne had been heart and soul -with the matter from the start. It would be of professional importance -for Dr. Harcourt to take the trip, join the expedition in which the -university was interested, and get material for the book on which he -was working. At once Miss Dudley told them that she would undertake the -care or plans for Shirley and it was by her advice that the decisions -were made. The Lyttons were going on this long western trip and would -be only too glad to have Shirley with them. Arrangements were made -almost a year ahead of the time for Shirley’s entrance at the girls’ -school. - -Thoughtfully Shirley drew out her little black note-book, in which she -was going to keep an account of expense as well as little notes of the -trip, to be filled in by herself or Dick when they wrote letters. She -was thinking what a fortunate girl she was. Cousin Molly had given her -the new pocketbook. Her “lovely” new blue coat and the pretty, becoming -hat Aunt Anne had selected, with her approval. Shirley’s eyes rested -on the coat hanging beside her. Here came the porter with bags for the -hats, and Shirley took off hers, fluffing out her golden locks with a -glance at the little long mirror. - -Shirley Harcourt had enjoyed very little travel, though a short trip -somewhere was not unusual in the summer vacations. But Dr. Harcourt -was hampered by a modest income and then he liked to stay around home, -working in his library at the writing, reading books which were beyond -Shirley’s comprehension, or interest. - -Mr. Lytton enjoyed far more means, though the Lyttons, too, had -responsibilities which kept them from travel. This was a trip long -planned, one which would take almost the entire summer, with the stay -that they intended in various places. - -Richard Lytton was almost twenty and entering the junior year at the -university in the fall. Shirley, who knew him as well as a sister -would know a boy, was always deeply interested in such of his doings -as he confided to her. She knew the pretty sophomore girls whom he -took to the class affairs and the coquettish freshman girl of the year -before, who was such a “peach,” but who left school at the close of -the freshman year. Shirley wondered if Dick still wrote to her; but -like a little lady, Shirley never asked questions. It was fine to have -a cousin in the university and she was glad to think that Dick would -still be in school when she entered. He could tell her such things as -she ought to know, matters which were entirely outside of her father’s -knowledge, or so she thought. - -But Shirley did not know that the professors, whose minds are supposed -to be upon the subjects they teach,--and they are, indeed,--are fully -aware of other problems connected with the social relations and the -discipline as well as the privileges of the young people in their care. -To Shirley, “Dad” was just a “dear dad,” who knew “a lot” and worked -“terribly hard” and was always having to see some student about lessons -or his private affairs, concerning which the professor was annoyingly -secretive. - -Mrs. Lytton glanced at Shirley, after Dick had disappeared, but she -saw that Shirley was fully occupied. After an approving survey of her -pocketbook’s contents, a few scribbles in the new note-book, and a -comfortable adjustment of the pillow which had been given her, Shirley -was watching the rapidly flying landscape with great interest. Dick -would be back when it was time for dinner in the dining car. Then it -would grow dark after a while, she would have the new experience of -being in a berth in a sleeper, and in the morning they would be in -Chicago. - -It must be said that Shirley, though keen about the coming thrills of -the parks and the Rockies, had anticipated perhaps most eagerly of all -seeing this huge and interesting city. It was the biggest thing in its -line that she had yet seen, for Shirley’s visit to New York was yet to -come. - -They took rooms, engaged beforehand by Mr. Lytton, in a modest but very -neat and respectable place. Part of the time with Mr. and Mrs. Lytton, -part of the time with Dick, part of the time with all three of the -Lyttons, Shirley saw Chicago. The banging cars, the conductors, some -of them, so foreign that they could scarcely pronounce intelligently -the names of the streets; the roar of the elevated trains and the fun -of finding how to take them, climbing high above the surface cars -and stepping hurriedly off the platform to the car that glided up so -quickly; the big sight-seeing ’busses,--everything was new to Shirley. - -Dick liked to go around by himself part of the time, but he also -enjoyed taking Shirley around when his parents were either tired or -preferred some other amusement than that which the young people chose. -They would drop in to hear one of the concerts at Lyon and Healy’s, or -find a popular eating place that looked attractive in between times. -They visited the Art Institute together, and the museum in Grant Park, -though that was too much for them. “We’ll have to take that by degrees, -Dick,” said Shirley. “I can’t carry so much in my feeble mind at one -time. I imagine that Mother and Father will have an awful time taking -in so much in a short visit to the foreign galleries.” - -“Best way is to pick out what you are interested in for details,” said -Dick, “and then take a casual look through at the rest. Let’s go to -Lincoln Park this afternoon.” - -“All right, and remember that I have to see the Lake every day. Oh, I -just dread going across Michigan boulevard again. I didn’t know that -there were so many machines in the world as there are in Chicago!” - -“Don’t worry. I’ll see you safely over. It’s somewhat worse than our -little town at Commencement time, isn’t it?” - -“Yes. To think that I thought that congestion!” - -Wherever they went Dick noticed that Shirley drew the eyes of people. -That, to be sure, was not so unusual, for even at home, Shirley was -considered a very pretty girl. But there was a look almost like one of -recognition that he noticed several times. Once, on the top of a ’bus, -as they stood, undecided, in the aisle because there were no two seats -together, a gentleman rose from an aisle seat, next to which another -was vacant. Smiling at Shirley and tipping his hat, he moved to where -a single seat gave him room and made it possible for Shirley and Dick -to sit together. Shirley, standing with that air of detached poise -which was natural to her, thought it only a pleasant courtesy, smiled a -little in return and took the inside seat. - -Dick glanced after the gentleman. “That chap thinks that he knows you, -Shirley,” he said. - -“Oh, no; he couldn’t,” replied Shirley, “unless he is some graduate of -our school.” - -“That might be,” Dick assented. “We meet ’em everywhere.” - -But the next encounter puzzled Shirley a little. She and Dick had -dropped into a very attractive cafeteria for lunch, on one of their -trips downtown. After they had finished their lunch Shirley moved -toward the door, standing aside, out of the way of people, while Dick -was paying for their checks. - -While Shirley stood there, interested in the scene, but not feeling a -little apart from it, a short, slim little person came hurrying past, -and stopped short upon seeing her. “Hello!” she said. “Seeing how the -_hoi polloi_ do it? I thought you had gone for the summer. Passed the -house today and it’s all shut up. Nice looking young man you are with. -Have a good time for me. Little Ollie has to earn her wages now. So -long.” - -Shirley stood smiling during this address, delivered rapidly, for the -girl seemed to be in a great hurry. There was no chance to tell her -that she must be mistaken, though Shirley’s evident surprise at being -addressed might have suggested it, Shirley thought afterward. - -Dick joined her immediately. “_Who’s_ the old friend?” he asked, -looking after the prettily dressed girl who was now mingling with the -rest of the hurrying noon crowds on the sidewalk. - -“I’m sure I don’t know, Dick, some one that thought she knew me. She -stood right in front of me and never stopped to wonder if I were the -right one. I must look a good deal like some one she knows.” - -Then Shirley repeated the girl’s speech. “She asked me if I were seeing -how the _hoi polloi_ do it; so the girl I look like can’t be in the -habit of frequenting cafeterias. And this one is a nice one, too.” - -“Well, just look out that some one doesn’t try to scrape an -acquaintance with you on the strength of your resemblance to somebody.” - -“I don’t see how that could be done, Dick.” - -The next episode, however, was very harmless and occurred the next -day. Shirley was alone, stepping out of a candy shop not far from where -they were staying. A handsome car drew up to the curb and permitted -a lad of possibly twelve years to hop out, then drove rapidly away. -The boy was well dressed, his knickers, stockings, shoes,--the whole -outfit, in the latest style for boys. He started to run across the -pavement toward one of the doors in the tall building, when he caught -sight of Shirley. - -“Oh, that’s funny,” he said. “I thought that you were out seeing the -Indians by this time. Mother said,--” but here the child broke off, for -some one called him from the door. “Goodbye,” he called back, as he -started on after his brief halt, with a touch of his cap. - -“A sweet little gentleman,” thought Shirley, who had enjoyed the -friendly little speech and looked with pleasant acknowledgment at the -lad when he spoke to her. - -“Whoever my double is, Dick,” said Shirley, after she returned to the -hotel and found Dick in the lobby, “she is due out where the Indians -are, I’ve just discovered. I hope that I run across her. No, I don’t -either. I’d rather there were just one of me!” - -“I don’t blame you, Shirley. But you will probably never see her, -especially if she has gone on West ahead of us. Besides we may not be -going to the same places at all.” - -“It is not very important, Dick. I’ll probably forget all about it.” - -Shirley was with Mrs. Lytton later in the day, when they went with a -guide through the great store of Marshall Field’s and afterward had -lunch together there and shopped. Shirley wanted to send her Aunt Anne -something from this particular store, just because Miss Dudley had -spoken of liking it so much. It must be something nice, from her own -little private fund. - -For any purchase of her own, Shirley would have sought bargains, but -for Miss Dudley she looked among many things far in advance of what she -could pay and she rather wondered that the clerks took so much pains. -It was an evident disappointment to a clerk who sold her a delicate -handkerchief that she bought nothing else, and when Mrs. Lytton asked -to see something less expensive than an article which was offered her, -the young woman behind the counter looked decidedly surprised, giving -Shirley a glance which she could scarcely interpret. But all through -the store they were treated with a little more than even the customary -courtesy. “I should almost think,” said Mrs. Lytton, “that they knew -us.” - -Shirley had not mentioned to her cousin the little encounters with -those who seemed to think that they knew Shirley, and it did not seem -worth while to comment upon it. But she did wonder if the resemblance -had anything to do with the very particular courtesy of the clerks. She -was accustomed to much the same consideration at home, for her father’s -position and personality commanded the respect of his fellow townsmen. -But the Harcourts by no means were expected to buy the most expensive -articles upon a trip to the home shops. - -The last occurrence which could be attributed to a fancied resemblance -took place at the hotel, just as they were all waiting in the lobby, -preparatory to leaving. A porter was standing by their luggage. Mr. -Lytton was paying the bill at the desk. Dick was buying a paper. Mrs. -Lytton was sitting in one of the big chairs and Shirley was standing -by her, a little back of the chair, with one hand and her pocketbook -resting on its well padded top. - -A gentleman, conservatively dressed and looking like a prosperous -Chicago business man, had previously passed them on his way from the -entrance to the desk, where he talked with one of the clerks a moment -and turned to make his way as rapidly out. Seeing Shirley, he paused a -moment, with a look of surprise. Then he left the straight path to the -door and walked briskly toward her. Mrs. Lytton, who was watching her -husband from this distance, did not see him. But Shirley saw him coming -and wondered what next. It might be some one whom she ought to know. - -In consequence, when the gentleman offered his hand, Shirley extended -hers. This might be an “old grad,” and it would never do not to -remember him. There were hosts of folks who were entertained at her -father’s table every Commencement and she could not always remember -them. - -As in the other instances, this stranger was in a hurry. Not yet had -Shirley had an opportunity to say, “You are mistaken!” Nor yet had one -mentioned the name of her “double!” - -But this was not an “old grad.” It was evident at once as the gentleman -addressed her. “Why, my dear, it is pleasant to see you in town yet. I -thought that you had gone with your father. We shall miss all of you, -though I expect to be in and out all summer. Mrs. Scott and the girls -have gone on up to Wisconsin, you know. May you have a very delightful -trip. You are looking very much better than you did when you returned -at the close of school. Goodbye, my child, I must hurry back to the -bank.” - -Tipping his hat, this kind-looking, fatherly man sped on with true -Chicago hurry. Twice Shirley had thought that she might get in a -protesting word, and got no further than an apparent stammer. For -Shirley was not supposed to interrupt older people and it would not -have been possible to stop this rapid speech without an interruption. - -Mrs. Lytton had turned, but with the confusion, inside and out, she did -not catch what was said. Mr. Lytton and Dick were joining them now, the -porter was gathering up the bags and in a moment they were in a taxi, -on their way to the station to catch their train. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -ON WITH THE PANORAMA. - - -“Who was the old codger with whom you were shaking hands, Shirley, as -I came up?” Dick inquired, as once more he went through the process -of settling everybody’s baggage and settled himself, too, down on a -Pullman seat by Shirley. - -“His name was Mr. Scott,” said Shirley demurely. At last she had one -name of some one who knew her double. “I would not say that he is very -old, and I’m sure that ‘codger’ does not describe him.” - -“Why didn’t he shake hands with Mother first?” - -“He probably did not recognize her.” - -“How did you happen to know him?” - -“I did not know him.” Shirley was enjoying this. - -“Then why on earth would you shake hands with him?” - -“Because I thought that he might be some graduate or even an important -trustee that knew Father and remembered me, though you might think -that I am flattering myself.” - -“And he turned out not to be a trustee or anybody?” - -“He was somebody, all right. He said that he supposed I had gone -with my father and that I was looking better than I did right after -school was out, and that Mrs. Scott and the girls had gone on up into -Wisconsin ‘you know.’” - -Dick threw his head back and laughed. “I saw him give a quick look back -when he saw me going toward you, Shirley. He stopped a moment, almost -as if he intended to come back; then he took out his watch and shot out -of the door.” - -“He was going to the bank,” said Shirley. “Oh, I know Mr. Scott very -well indeed!” - -“It is a good thing that we are leaving Chicago. Have you told Mother?” - -“No; I’d forget to do it, and we have been doing such interesting -things that it has not seemed very important. It’s rather mildly -interesting, though, to know that some girl, probably of a well-known -and wealthy Chicago family, looks enough like me to have me taken for -her in broad daylight, at least by persons in a hurry, or by clerks -that do not know her any too well. Perhaps I’ll write to Mr. Scott and -ask him what her name is.” - -“How would you address him, my dear cousin?” - -“Yes. That would be a difficulty. ‘Mr. Scott, Chicago, Illinois,’ might -be a bit indefinite.” - -“Well, I’ll say for you, Shirley, that you look like a million dollars -in that new rig of yours. You probably look so much more stunning than -the original that they have to stop to speak to you.” - -“Now _you_ are a cousin worth having, Dick. Thanks awfully. Next -year,--no, I can’t--the year after, when you are a senior, I’ll have -all the girls that you like best in for teas and things and invite you -over. Maybe the senior girls wouldn’t come to a party given by little -me, though.” - -“They’d be delighted to be asked to the professor’s house, even with -you out of the question, which I should not admit. Moreover, my dear -Shirley, how do you know that by that time a senior girl would be -interesting? Now the reverend seniors are often known to have the most -serious cases of their college career with sophomores, or even freshmen -girls.” - -“That is so. Good. I’ll know all the freshmen girls, perhaps, and I -know some of the sophomore girls as it is. Just pick out one that Aunt -Anne will welcome into the family!” - -“That remains to be seen, Shirley. Now, look here. Let’s plan what -we do when we get to Denver.” Dick pulled from his pocket one of -the illustrated advertisements, published by the railroad companies. -Everything else was soon forgotten in studying Colorado and its -possibilities. - -From that time on there was one delightful panorama of prairie, -irrigating ditches, rivers, mountains, with rides among the foothills -and climbs to the heights; of new birds and flowers and trees; of -unafraid wild animals in the national parks; of snowy summits; of -glaciers in Glacier Park and sure-footed horses on narrow trails. -Shirley was not afraid to go into quiet raptures over dashing mountain -streams, all the scenes so new and inspiring to her, and each new -expedition. Mrs. Lytton declared that it was “as stimulating as a cup -of coffee” to meet Shirley’s eagerness every morning. - -“Never having had a daughter, Shirley, I did not know what I had -missed, till this trip. Dick could not be spared, but I wish that we -could adopt you.” - -“I never made a good girl, did I?” queried Dick. - -“You are a fine son,” said his mother, “and that is enough for me.” - -Shirley was glad of that little speech of compliment from her cousin -Molly. Thoroughly appreciating the privilege of this trip with them, -she had tried in every way to make her cousins glad that she had come. -There were many little ways in which she could be of service, and when -they were out together, as they sometimes were without the gentlemen, -they were as jolly as two girls. Mrs. Lytton was active and strong, -taking part in all the rides upon the narrow trails as bravely as any -of them. - -One delightful experience followed another. They grew weary at times, -to be sure, and there were some narrowly averted accidents, but no -calamity occurred to mar their trip. When it was wise to let time -intervene between undertakings, they merely tarried a little longer in -some camp or hotel until they felt like resuming the onward way. They -met many friendly people at different places and with the informality -of American tourists, they joined forces for some trip, or discussed -frankly the problems of a common country. There was one group of girls, -traveling with two chaperons, who were attracted to Shirley. Their -companionship made the trip through the Yellowstone lively, for they -often found themselves upon the same ’bus. Dick, too, attached a young -man of about his own age, a student in a different university. - -But it was not until they had reached a hotel in the big and wonderful -state of Washington that Shirley saw her double. - -It happened in one of the corridors on the second floor about noon. -The Lyttons and Shirley were leaving that night. Shirley had just been -downstairs to the lobby, and as there was but one easy flight of stairs -with a landing midway, Shirley did not take the elevator, but ran up -the stairs instead. - -Between the stairway and her room were the doors to the elevator, and -as she turned from the last stair down the corridor in the direction -of her room, she saw herself, apparently, standing in front of the -elevator door. Even the hat was of the same color as her own, and a -little fluff of golden hair curled around near the place where ears -were supposed to be. The coat was not like her own, however. - -The young girl was laughing and talking in an animated fashion to two -girls who were with her. She faced Shirley, and Shirley, now surprised -and interested, took an eager step toward her. But it was quite evident -that the other girl had not seen Shirley. The elevator doors slid open -just then; the three girls stepped in and were out of sight in a moment. - -More mechanically than otherwise, Shirley went on toward the room with -something that she was bringing Mrs. Lytton. “Why, Cousin Molly, I’ve -just seen my double. It’s the queerest thing. I didn’t suppose that -two people of different families _could_ look so much alike. Oh, I -haven’t told you a word about how in Chicago people kept taking me for -some one.” Shirley paused, rather dazed by the experience. - -Mrs. Lytton looked at her rather soberly, Shirley thought. “I wonder -who it could be. Why don’t you try to find out who she is? Has she a -room on this floor?” - -“How stupid I am, Cousin Molly! Here I stand! It _would_ be rather -interesting to know who she is, perhaps.” - -Shirley flew out of the room and down the stairs. But there was no sign -of the girls in the lobby. She even went to the desk and asked rather -hesitatingly if the clerk had seen any one who looked like herself pass -just now. - -The clerk to whom she addressed the question looked at her closely. -“Yes,” he said. “A young lady enough like you to be your twin came to -the desk for a moment with another young lady, who left her key. Let me -see. The young lady’s name was Penn, Miss Penn. She and her mother just -checked out, but she came back to get something which she had forgotten -or thought that she had forgotten she said. From what was said I took -it that they were going to some other hotel in the city, here. If they -are friends of yours, or relatives, I may be able to trace them for -you.” The clerk, as he talked, noted Shirley’s hesitation. He came to -the correct conclusion that she did not know the young lady who looked -so much like her. Odd, he thought. - -“Thank you,” said Shirley. “I will ask my cousin if it is best to find -them. We are leaving in a few hours ourselves.” - -But Mrs. Lytton did not think that it would be worth while to try to -find the girls. “It would only be a matter of curiosity, perhaps, and -neither of you would care for acquaintance, since you say that it has -not made a pleasant impression to find yourself taken for some one -else. And if the girl should be some distant relative, my experience is -that unless there is something in common, looking up one’s relatives is -not very satisfactory,--though interesting, of course, and kinship does -make a bond, unless too distant. If you really want to do it, Shirley, -we can remain another day. I will let you decide the matter. We might -get into touch by this evening, I’ve no doubt, and perhaps you would -feel better satisfied.” - -“If you leave it to me, Cousin Molly, I’ll say to go right on with our -trip. For a moment, I felt like going right up to the girl and saying, -‘Look in the mirror, please,’ just for fun. But my curiosity has all -oozed out and my natural timidity, Dick, has come to the fore.” - -Dick Lytton, who was present at the discussion, laughed and asked -Shirley again if she had told his mother all the details. - -“Most of them Dick. I’ll give her the whole story while we pack up. Now -let me fold up your frocks, Cousin Molly. You know you like the way I -do it. Is it too soon to pack them?” - -“No. Better have it done before we go out. Where did you say you were -going to take us, Dick? Oh, yes. We get another and better view of the -old Pacific, Shirley. Go and find your father, please, Dick.” - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -SENIOR PLANS. - - -It was past the middle of September, but the well-kept, well-watered -and closely shorn lawns of the school still looked like velvet. A -little rolling, with concrete walks, flower beds, fine shrubbery, great -old trees with heavy foliage, close as a grove in some portions, the -large grounds contained some handsome buildings of modern make, as well -as several of stately old style no longer built. - -Most attractive of all, perhaps, was the lake front, where Lake -Michigan stretched out widely and a boathouse of a conservative style -stood by a small dock, to which were tied a number of boats. What had -probably been a bluff, of no great height, had been smoothed into a -gentle incline toward a strip of sandy beach. Out at some distance a -strong breakwater had been constructed to protect the small shipping of -this girls’ school. - -Back a little in the quiet open grove, on two of the rustic benches, -which had been drawn close together, a small group of girls in their -summer frocks talked in animated fashion. - -Any group of girls is interesting and attractive, but these girls, -representing the cream, so to speak, of girls who cared enough -for education to receive it and who had reached the senior year -successfully, might claim a second look from anybody. - -“Oh dear,” said one, “classes begin tomorrow!” - -“Hate to take up the grind, Fleta?” queried another, whose locks of a -reddish gold were gathered into a little net over the fluffed mass at -the back of her head. Irma Reed was letting her “bob” grow out. - -“Sort of,” laughed Fleta, a tall, grey-eyed girl with good features, -whose hair she declared was grey at the start, though its soft ash -color was becoming to Fleta’s fresh complexion. - -“I shall quite welcome it,” a plump, brown-haired lass contributed. “I -have had the pokiest summer that you ever imagined. It is one grand -adventure to get back to school! Mother was sick all summer, too sick -to leave town, even, and we could not get to our summer cottage at all. -Of course no help wanted to stay where there was sickness, and beside -the trained nurse I had one lone woman in the kitchen and I had to take -care of one small brother and two smaller sisters and keep them quiet -on account of Mother. - -“I was glad to do it, of course, and you may know that I learned first -aid to the injured, beside a whole kindergarten and primary course! The -only poetry that I can repeat is Mother Goose and the like. But perhaps -it paid. I’ve been up against some real things, girls; and I am _so_ -thankful that Mother is well now and that things are so I can come back -here!” - -A pair of beautiful dark eyes were watching Edith Stuart as she related -her summer’s experience. A pretty little chin lifted as Sidney Thorne -remarked, “‘All’s well that ends well,’ as the immortal Shakespeare -hath it. You have had a hard summer, Ede. But I am rather glad, too, to -get back, though I had quite as full a summer as usual of good times. -It is our last year here, girls. Can you realize it?” - -“Sidney has been East this summer girls,” a very slight, dainty girl -remarked, with a gesture of complete information. “That’s the Boston -accent she is bringing back. Yes, Sidney, I’m ‘ratheh’ glad to get -back, too, and it is ha’d to realize that indeed it is our _lawst_ -year!” The girl’s face was dimpling with mischief and she shook back -from her face hair almost as golden as Sidney’s own. - -Sidney looked a trifle taken back at this. Sidney Thorne did not like -to be made fun of and preferred to do the criticising herself if there -were any to be done; but after a moment, during which she did not know -whether she wanted to freeze up or not, she gave way to smiles instead. - -“Little sinner,” she said, “don’t you make fun of me! But you are all -wrong, though I have been with my aunt all summer and I talk more -or less like her all the time, which is _perfectly_ proper for any -Standish to do! I haven’t been East at all. I was on a big western -trip, partly by rail, partly by auto. If you are good, I will tell -you about some of the good times I had. But give me hotels and cars, -no camps except for very limited stops. I did some mountain climbing, -though, and I like the riding, though I had one terrible scare, riding -on a ‘sky-line,’ when the horse slipped and there were only inches to -slip in.” - -“Oo-ooh!” shivered Dulcina Porter. - -“Not so bad,” said Sidney, “after it is over. Think how many times you -just miss being hit when you cross a street, or your car just escapes a -collision. The great event of the trip was going up into Alaska, where -I had never been before.” - -As if in memory of cool places, Sidney drew her light scarf closer -around her shoulders. But the breeze from Lake Michigan’s waters was -blowing more strongly just now. - -“To change the subject, Sidney,” said Fleta Race, “what plans have you -for the Double Three this year, and what must we have in senior doings? -How about the elections and everything? What’s our play going to be and -how are we going to work it diplomatically with you know whom, to have -what we really want instead of working at something we’ll hate?” - -Sidney smiled a little, though she was annoyed. It was like Fleta to -blurt everything out, she thought. She dropped her eyes, playing with -the end of her gay scarf. “Why ask me, Fleta?” she asked. - -“Because you have the most influence of anybody in school, and because -you are the president of the Double Three,” Fleta replied. “I’m sure -that you have some little ideas. What’s been floating around in the -little old brain this summer while you have been climbing and sailing -and swimming and everything?” - -“Don’t push our president, Fleta,” gently said Edith, who sat next to -Sidney. She tapped Sidney’s proud little shoulder with a soft finger as -she continued. “Of course, Sidney has ideas, but let her have a chance -to work them out. If she has any plans she will tell us fast enough. -This isn’t a formal meeting anyhow. It just happened.” - -Edith’s remarks made Sidney feel in a more responsive mood. Fleta’s -compliment, too, was not unacceptable. She had no objection to an -addition to the idea, either, and said in a low tone, as if some -listening spirit might be near, “What do you think, girls,--the dean -spoke to me about Miss Gibson this morning. I was talking to her about -several things and she said, ‘By the way, Sidney, I noticed that a -number of the girls were making it hard for Miss Gibson last year. I -wish that you would use your influence among them. Your scholarship is -uniformly so high and your courtesy is always so irreproachable that I -am sure you will want to help Miss Gibson. She was new last year, you -will remember, but her knowledge and standing are such that I expect -loyalty from my girls!’ - -“Excuse my repeating a compliment to myself, girls, but I just had -to say the whole speech as she said it. Moreover, was it so much of -a compliment as trying to get me to do something? I did not tell her -that I detested Miss Gibson, of course, and it wasn’t the time to tell -her how autocratic and disagreeable Miss Gibson is. Indeed, there were -people waiting to see the dean. All that I said in reply to the dean -was, ‘Yes, Miss Irving,’ though I looked attentive, and inquiring, -at the proper places. Why should I tell the dean what I was thinking? -Most certainly none of us intend to do any thing that is not in good -form, like a few of the girls. You remember what happened in the junior -English last year that time. At the same time, I do not think that they -should have retained a teacher who is so objectionable to many of the -best girls.” - -Sidney Thorne naturally included herself and her companions among the -“best girls” of the school, as she spoke in her most dignified way, -with careful choice of words. If Sidney ever fell into the modern -carelessness of school girl speech, it was not because she had not been -trained from childhood in the best English, chiefly from having always -heard it from her parents. - -“I got a good deal out of my work with Miss Gibson last year, Sidney,” -said a girl who had not spoken during these interchanges, though she -had joined in smiles or laughter. She was not a particularly pretty -girl, but had a pleasing face, one of high intelligence. A pleasant -mouth and a firm, though not prominent chin, clear blue eyes, a nose -as straight as Sidney’s and a broad brow, such of it as could be seen, -presented a wholesome combination. Some day, when Hope Holland cared a -little more about her looks, she would make a handsome young woman, -but at present she was far more interested in other things. Today she -wore the simplest of dark blue georgette dresses over a dark slip. Not -a ring, a pin or a string of beads decorated her. Her small hands were -clasped around her knees, as her heels went back under the bench to a -cross bar there. Her silk hose were black and her shoes, while neat, -were not as new as those of the other girls. Hope could have had them, -but had not bothered. - -The rest of the girls wore light dresses, with all the pretty -accompaniments, though these were all in good taste and surely not out -of style. No girl who had been at least a year in this school was ever -seen to be over-dressed, for with the lessons from books, other lessons -were taught about the fine arts of living. Whatever their private -tastes, and it would be odd if no girl ever attended the school whose -personal ideas were different, while here the atmosphere prevailed and -had its present and often permanent influence. - -“You have never said so before, Hope,” returned Sidney. “Why didn’t you -come to the rescue last year? Have we a disciple of Miss Gibson among -the ‘Double Three?’” - -Hope laughed a little. “It takes me longer to make up my mind, Sidney, -than it does some people. I could see that Miss Gibson was making a -mistake in the way she handled some of the girls, but I got more -inspiration out of the way she reads and the interest that she gives to -all”--here Hope hesitated and Fleta inserted, “that old stuff!” - -“Yes. That’s it, Fleta. Another thing I found out, and that is that -Miss Gibson writes herself and gets it accepted, which is more to -the point, I imagine, from what my brother tells me. So I’m going to -ask her questions in class and get her to tell us things, if I get a -chance.” - -“Don’t imagine that she’d let you! She thinks that she has to pour the -course of study in and assist the process of digestion as little as -possible!” - -Hope could not help smiling at Sidney’s vehemence, but to herself -she thought that Sidney was not fair, as sometimes happened when a -prejudice seized Sidney. Hope wondered what it was this time. Did -Miss Gibson lack family, grace of manner, or was there some personal -peculiarity that offended Sidney? Miss Irving was right about Sidney’s -grades. Miss Gibson had not offended by any injustice to the one whom -Fleta called the most influential girl in school. Was that true? Very -likely. - -“Nearly time for dinner, girls,” said Sidney, looking at the little -jeweled watch which she wore. “Let’s walk to the beach for a minute. -After all, this is a dear old place. I shall hate to leave it next -spring, I suppose. One thing I want to say right now, girls, and you -must make your plans accordingly. As it is our last year together, I -want you to spend either all or at least part of the Christmas Holidays -with me. We’ll have a house party of the Double Three. I want them all -in my house, Hope, if you don’t mind, and you must come over all the -time and stay all night as much as you can.” - -Exclamations of delight at the plan were heard for the next few -minutes. “If we _should_ decide to take in any one else and make it a -Double Four, we can still have our house party, of course. It is all -fixed up with Mother.” - -Hope, who lived in the same city, rather protested at her not having -any one at her house, but she gave it up when she saw that it would -make Sidney unhappy to interfere with her plans. Hope often gave up -to the more insistent Sidney, but she was fond of Sidney and knew her -good points as well as some of her faults,--the drawbacks, either in -disposition or in perception of the facts of life, from which no one -can be entirely free. - -Together, in happy mood, the girls walked to the edge of the shore, -where the restless waves of Lake Michigan broke on the sand and -pebbles. Coming events of their senior year were discussed, for by this -time the girls were well acquainted with the customs and traditions -of their school. Events social, athletic and intellectual were talked -over, from hockey and basketball to the marvelous “Prom” in the spring, -perhaps the most delightful and exciting of all. - -Other groups of girls were drifting toward the buildings when at last -Sidney, Hope and the rest of the Double Three turned their steps in -that direction. For all of them these first days were filled with -expectation, along with the pleasure of meeting each other again -after summer days. Adventures of one kind or another were certain to -come, adventures of success or failure, adventures of friendship and -adventures of good times. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE “DOUBLE THREE.” - - -This small association of six girls, who were known as the “Double -Three,” and who so denominated themselves, had drifted into the -very informal organization on account of an accidental performance -at Hallowe’en in their junior year. They were friends, more or less -intimate then. It chanced that the Mistress of Hallowe’en celebrations, -a senior of the year before, had appointed Sidney and Hope to manage -some sort of a “stunt,” as those events are called. - -The result was an amateur one act play, portraying more or less of a -mystery. Sidney wrote most of it, or managed its production. Masks and -loose black dominoes were the costume, to which the final touch was -given by an oblong badge which represented the face of an ordinary -ivory domino, the “double three.” The domino robe had suggested the -word; the number of the girls who had been asked by Sidney and Hope to -help had suggested the badge; double three sounded so much better than -plain six, if something from the game were taken as a symbol. - -So much was said about the stunt of the “double threes” that it was -only natural for the girls to drift together more often and finally to -call themselves the Double Threes, with occasional meetings and good -times. But it must not be supposed that it was a definite or recognized -society or anything like a sorority, for sororities did not exist in -this school. - -Fleta Race, Irma Reed, Edith Stuart and Sidney Thorne occupied a suite -together. Dulcina Porter and Hope Holland shared one of the single -rooms in the dormitory. In their junior year Sidney and Hope had -roomed together; but without having any trouble, both had come to the -conclusion that it would be good to try not being together, for they -were friends when at home. Each would room with a “stranger” and Sidney -would try being in a suite. Hope privately thought that she would not -like it, for all the ways of simple school living were not what Sidney -enjoyed at home. But at that Sidney was an independent soul that wanted -to see if she could do what other girls did. She was not the only -daughter of wealthy parents among the students here. - -Previous to her sophomore year Sidney had been tutored at home, and -hard indeed she found it to make up all the loose ends of her freshman -year. Hope had attended another school until her junior year, when she -had come to join Sidney after hearing her accounts of its superior -advantages. But then, everything that Sidney did, everything that she -had, all connected with herself and her family, were considered just -right by the cool Sidney, so sure was she, so blandly superior to -mistakes or criticism. - -Hope felt a sense of relief to have no one but dainty unselfish little -Dulcie around. Yet there was a charm about the superior Sidney after -all, and Hope loved her. In the real living together, Sidney’s gentle -training made it impossible for her to be discourteous or disagreeable. -It was that unconscious assumption of superiority that Hope disliked, -though she could not have analyzed it. Sidney was “proud,” she would -have said. Money had nothing to do with it, for Sidney at least -_thought_ that she admired achievement and ability above everything. -It was quite likely that she did not even give her father credit for -having successfully managed a large business and money which he had -inherited. Practical ability is not to be despised, and it is only the -love of money that is the root of evil, or the silly ostentation that -sometimes accompanies it. - -Leaving the campus, the girls of the Double Three strolled into the -parlors, where several other girls at once ran up to Sidney, as she was -the latest arrival. - -“I looked everywhere for you, Sidney,” said one. “Where in the world -did you disappear to?” - -“Oh, the girls got hold of me after I was dressed. We had so much to -talk about that we went down in the grove to look at the lake and -stayed there, gibbering, longer than we intended. I wanted to hunt up -some more of you.” Sidney was swinging hands with this bright-eyed girl -as she spoke. - -“Hello, Thorne in the flesh,” cried another very tall girl, who looked -down upon the shorter Sidney as she spoke. “Going to beat me in -everything this year?” - -“Going to try to, Olive,” returned Sidney, whirling around to look up -at her old rival and exchange mild embraces. - -“Well, look out, that’s all,” laughed Olive, moving away with a salute. - -“Listen, Sidney,” said another miss who was trying to get to Sidney -through the group. “There is going to be a meeting of the athletic -board right after dinner in the library. Don’t you forget it and do -something else!” - -“All right, Dorothy. I’ll be there.” - -There were other girls, who did not rush to meet Sidney, and one who -joined the tall, competent looking Olive Mason, as she walked away from -Sidney’s group, made a somewhat critical remark. “I don’t see why you -should welcome Sidney Thorne so cordially, Olive. She did everything -but cheat to beat you last year.” - -“Good sportmanship, my dear,” replied Olive. “She didn’t cheat and it -is up to me to see that my work is better than hers.” - -“I think that it is, Ollie. It was just favoritism that gave her the -higher grades! Sidney Thorne is a little snob!” - -“I’d show myself pretty small, if I said that favoritism gave Sidney -the higher grades, so never mind, Barbie. Please don’t say anything -like that around where the girls can hear you. They all know that you -are such a friend of mine and they might think that I felt that way. It -wouldn’t look well, to say the least, Barbara.” - -“Don’t worry. If I express an opinion about Sidney, I’ll see that the -girls know it is my own, not yours. I’ll say this for Sidney Thorne, -that she doesn’t push herself in; but she just loves it that they put -her on all the boards and committees and make much of her.” - -“Why shouldn’t she?” asked the fair-minded Olive. “Who wouldn’t like -it? She has ideas, and is pretty and charming. I don’t say that it does -not spoil her a little, but I thought it out this summer. I was jealous -and disappointed, Barbie, but I decided to go right ahead seeing what I -can do on my own account. I imagine that every one of us can make some -place for herself if she tries!” - -Barbara Sanford looked keenly at Olive. “You’re one mighty fine girl, -Olive!” she exclaimed. “The girls know it, too!” - -“That is good of you to say, Barbie, but it would be a pity if I -hadn’t learned a few things by being in this school three years and -‘playing the game’ under our athletic director,--and isn’t it terrible, -Barbie?--she’s engaged!” - -“What! The Water Nymph going to leave us?” - -“Sh-sh! There she is. Why, she is back for part of the year anyhow, and -perhaps she will not be married before next summer.” - -“I wish it had been Miss Gibson, or the math teacher. But that is the -way it always is!” - -“Barbie the pessimist!” laughed Olive. - -After dinner Sidney was promptly on hand at the meeting of the -“athletic board,” announced also at dinner. Sidney was feeling -especially happy about everything. It was really glorious to be a -senior, with more privileges, among the “high and mighty,” so far as -age and position were concerned. Sidney knew too, that she had worked -hard in these years, to justify her parents’ faith in her and to -satisfy herself that she could. - -The meeting was a short one, however. There were no lesson hours, but -as the girls were expected to be in their rooms at a reasonable time, -Sidney ran up to her suite immediately, to help her suite-mates put -everything to rights. She was glowingly happy. “This is going to be -the greatest fun yet,” she said. “What do you think one of the girls -said to me? I won’t tell you who it was, though. She said, ‘why don’t -you and the rest of the Double Three set it up about some of these -elections? You could have things the way you want them!’” - -Dulcie and Hope had come in and were sitting on one of the single beds, -watching Fleta unpack and hang away a few last garments. Edith, mending -one of last year’s cushions too pretty to be thrown away, came in and -plumped herself down beside Hope. - -“What did you say to that?” asked Hope, watching Sidney, who was -looking critically at the arrangement of the dresser and was changing -the position of several knick-knacks. - -“I said nothing, says I,” facetiously answered Sidney, looking into -the mirror and giving her aristocratic nose a dab with the puff from -her vanity case. And it may be remarked that Sidney was also enough of -an aristocrat to powder that same nose nowhere else than in her boudoir -or some equally private place. - -“However,” she continued, “why not use a little influence if we have -it? Why be seniors for nothing?” - -“They will _say_ that we do it anyhow,” approvingly Dulcie added, -swinging her slippered feet under the bed and out again. “They did last -year; don’t you remember, Hope?” - -“Being accused of a thing and really doing it,” said Hope, “are two -very different things.” - -Sidney thought that Hope was being “snippy.” She cast a glance in -Hope’s direction and brightly asked, “Any objection, Hope?” - -“I never cared to belong to a political gang,” laughed Hope. “We see -enough of that in Chicago.” - -“Calls us a ‘gang,’ girls,” whimpered Fleta, making a comical face. - -“Time enough to worry about politics when there is any reason for it,” -comfortably said Edith Stuart. “There isn’t any objection to our having -our own ideas and working for them, especially if they are for the -good of the school and not just to get our own way. Being determined to -get her own way and run everybody is like Stella Marbury. I am pretty -sure that it was Stella who suggested that to Sidney. Own up, Sidney. -Stella wants to be one to make this a Double Four, Sidney.” - -Sidney was now sitting on a straight chair in a corner by a window. -“Does she?” she asked, with no change of countenance. - -“If it was Stella, you’ll not get Sidney to acknowledge it now,” said -Irma Reed, leaning up against the frame of the door and watching -Sidney Thorne with amused eyes. “My opinion is that the Double Three’d -better keep in the background unless we want the dean to consider us -a sorority and tell us that we simply can’t exist. We might make it a -little reading club, if we want to have it a real club. There would be -no objection to that.” - -“I wouldn’t even do that,” said Edith. “We are just congenial friends. -If anybody reaches the same intimacy with us we might be a Double Four, -perhaps. But we are not considering applications, are we, Sidney?” - -“I should think _not_!” said Sidney, with emphasis. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE SENSATION. - - -Coming as she did from a trip which had filled her mind with -impressions of breadth and beauty, Shirley Harcourt was delighted to -observe that her school environment was not to be one that was close -or confined. As she was borne around the drive to Westlake Hall, she -caught a glimpse of the lake’s shining waters and wound through the -woods of its attractive acres. - -But Shirley was tired and she wished that the summer’s travel had not -taken off the freshness of the pretty coat, in which Dick thought that -she looked “like a million dollars,” or faded a little the becoming -hat. And she had been careful, too, wearing something else on the -outdoor trips on the mountains. Her bathing cap sufficed on the -California beaches. - -It had not been possible for the trip to be planned for Shirley’s -convenience. As they came home by a southerly route, one which Shirley -thoroughly approved, nevertheless, she had found it necessary to -strike north to Chicago again. This route was comparatively so near to -home that she was tempted to go there, if only for a few hours. - -But there was the extra expense to be considered first. Then it would -be quite forlorn, after all, to go into that house and find the -strangers to whom it had been rented for the year. Miss Dudley would -not return until the first of October. With determination, then, -Shirley put aside all home-clinging thoughts and wondered why she were -not more keen about the school experience before her. She had thought -it such a wonderful plan, something that she had always wanted to -do,--that jolly life in a dormitory with other girls! - -But Shirley’s depression was chiefly physical and a natural result of -the continued delights and strain of the long summer trip. Now she -was feeling refreshed by the cool, fresh lake air, and the sight of -the school environment cheered her. No one was arriving with her, for -Shirley was late. This was another drawback, for Shirley’s habit was to -be ahead of her work, and the thought of a number of lessons in which -to catch up was not a happy one. She counted up the days which had -passed since the opening one,--only three. There would be no lessons -recited on that day, perhaps not on the next one. She would _do_ it, -anyhow, and Shirley set her lips firmly together at the thought of it. - -With rising interest, Shirley looked at the massive building with its -porches and vines, as she turned from paying the man of the taxi and -went up the steps. Her bag was light, but she took her time to ascend, -looking around at the walks and buildings seen through the trees, and -noting that there were no girls around. Glancing at her watch, she saw -that it was the dinner hour. - -Shirley rang the bell and was admitted promptly. The sensation had -arrived. The maid gave her one look, first surprised, then questioning. -“Why Miss (Shirley did not catch the name),--are you masquerading -already?” she said. - -Shirley looked surprised in her turn. “Will you show me to my room, -please, or to some one who will direct me? Or perhaps I should see the -dean first.” That, Shirley knew, would probably be impossible, if she -were at dinner. “I am Shirley Harcourt, and my arrangements were all -made for me.” “Yes, certainly,” said the maid. “The dean is at dinner, -but there is always some one in charge at the office during these first -days. I will take you there.” - -More than one curious glance the maid cast at Shirley as she showed -her to the office. It was as if she could not believe her eyes, and -Shirley, who had almost forgotten her Chicago experiences by this time, -wondered if this were not some one from Chicago, who must know her -“double.” - -“It will be possible, I think, for you to have dinner,” said the maid. -“I will be ready to see you when you are through in here. Miss Schiff, -this is Miss Shirley Harcourt, who wants to see you about the room -reserved for her.” - -The maid was enjoying this introduction, it was very evident. She was -quite a superior sort of maid, Shirley could see. Probably she was -some girl who was paying her way with this part service. Shirley was -accustomed to that in her college town. She dimly saw the neat office -with its desks and safe, its tables and chairs. Miss Schiff was looking -at her with bright amusement. “What in the world?” she asked. “Are you -joking me, Emma? But no,--” Miss Schiff was looking at the traveling -garb, the bag and the tired girlish face. - -“I am Shirley Harcourt,” firmly said Shirley. “If you will find the -list of girls and their rooms, you will see my name. I have been on a -western trip and I could not get here before.” - -“I see,” kindly said Miss Schiff. “Excuse me. I took you for some one -else at first. I will look up the matter at once. Just sit down. You -can go out to dinner with me presently.” - -“Thank you, but my head aches a little and I should like bed better -than anything else. I had a late lunch in Chicago, and then I had some -fruit and a sandwich on the local train that brought me here. Probably -they gave me the headache.” - -“Perhaps a hot drink would help you,” Miss Schiff suggested, “but that -is as you like.” - -In a few moments Shirley knew the number of her room, and the maid whom -Miss Schiff called Emma took her to a room on the second floor. It was -already occupied, Shirley saw, but there stood her pretty cedar chest, -already uncrated and ready to be unlocked for the sheets and pillow -slips which must go on that comfortable looking single bed. The big -portmanteau which had accompanied her on the western trip also stood on -one side of the large closet. - -Pretty frocks hung in the closet, all on one side. Shirley wondered -who her room-mate was to be, but her head throbbed too unpleasantly -now for her to do anything but make up her bed, take a hurried bath -and crawl thankfully under the covers. Her room-mate, of course, would -be surprised to find her there, but she couldn’t help that. - -It happened that her room-mate did not come in or think of doing -so until after the time for study hours to commence; for with the -other girls she had gone out on the campus for a while, and meantime -she heard that Shirley Harcourt had arrived. “You will find a little -surprise in your room,” said Miss Schiff to Madge Whitney, whom she met -as she went to dinner, through the flocks of girls that came from the -dining hall. - -“My room-mate’s come, has she, Miss Schiff? Why doesn’t she come to -dinner?” - -“She had a severe headache and wanted to get to bed. You might study in -the library, Madge, or with Caroline again. I will give you permission.” - -“Oh, thank you, Miss Schiff! My books are all in Cad’s room anyhow. Did -she look like a nice girl?” - -Miss Schiff laughed. “Yes, she looked _like_ a _very_ nice girl, so -much like one, in fact, that you may find her more of a surprise than -you think.” With an amused look, Miss Schiff hurried on. - -“Now what did she mean by _that_?” asked Madge of her friend Caroline -Scott. “Do you suppose that she is some precise prunes, prisms and -persimmons creature that I won’t like at all? I’ve a great mind to run -up and see!” - -“And make a great hit right at the start!” Caroline suggested. - -“That is so. If she has a headache, she may be in a warlike frame of -mind. I’ll not risk it. Poor thing! It’s bad enough to be late getting -to school, let alone having a headache ‘right at the start.’ Will you -lend me a pencil, Cad? Then I’ll not have to go to the room at all till -bedtime. Dear me,--if we only could have roomed together this year!” - -“Yes; but I am not going to let rooming with Stella Marbury spoil my -senior year. We get along all right, and she spends half her time away -from the room practicing anyhow. It would never have done not to room -with the girl from my home town.” - -“I know it, and Stella wants the ‘prestige’ of rooming with you, Cad. -Stella is one little worker for prominence!” - -Due to Madge’s meeting with Miss Schiff, Shirley’s slumbers were not -disturbed by any inrushing room-mate. She expected it, dozing uneasily -for a while, but as the medicine which she had taken for her headache -began to take effect and she felt more comfortable, she fell into a -deep slumber. - -When Madge Whitney entered, she did so quietly, though she was obliged -to put on her electric light. She tiptoed around, finding everything -that she needed, and looking curiously toward the bed in which Shirley -lay without stirring. Madge saw the shining gold of the hair that -spread over the pillow, but only a cheek and a very pretty arm and -hand that had been tossed free of the covers could be distinguished. - -A lake breeze was coming in quite coolly now from the two open windows. -Madge shut the one nearest the beds partly down, and though she did not -dare to touch her room-mate, she drew up the bathrobe that lay across -the foot of the bed and put a corner of it over the arm and shoulder, -as she had sometimes found that her mother had done for her. Then she -put out the light and undressed by only the dim light which came in -from the hall through the door set ajar for the purpose. Shirley was a -fortunate girl to have so thoughtful a room-mate waiting, though, it -must be acknowledged that Madge might not have thought of this had it -not been for considerable interest and curiosity. Some way, that hand -looked familiar. But hands were much alike! - -In the morning Shirley woke wondering where she was after a dream of -mountain climbing. But the headache was gone. A renewed Shirley sat up -in bed and looked around. Why, this was fine. Here she was at last. Why -should she worry about lessons? They would be good to her and let her -make them up as she could. She naturally looked first at the stirring -form in the other bed. The rising gong was ringing loudly. - -A flying mop of curly black hair was all that Shirley could see; but -hands were raised to rub a pair of sleepy eyes, as the girl turned over -on her back, trying to wink those same blue eyes open. - -“Good morning,” clearly and pleasantly said Shirley. “Is this the Miss -Madge Whitney with whom Miss Schiff said I was to room?” - -“It certainly is,” replied Madge, “and I suppose that you are Shirley -Harcourt.” - -“Yes,” said Shirley. - -The blue eyes came open, after a last blink, and suddenly Madge set up. -“Why, the idea! Was it you, Sidney Thorne, all the time, here in my -room in bed last night? And to think that I covered up your shoulder -and tiptoed around and put the light out and everything! What became -of the other girl? And why on earth,--?” But Madge stopped and stared -again. - -“It was good of you not to waken me,” Shirley’s musical voice -continued, “but I really am not anybody by the name of Sidney. I do -suppose that of all things I had to strike the same school as my -‘double!’” Shirley looked rather disgusted. - -“If you are not Sidney Thorne, then you certainly _have_ a double. Why, -it is the _strangest thing_! Please excuse me for having stared so. I -am so surprised!” - -“I do not blame you. There must be a strong resemblance, for I remember -in Chicago several people took me for some one, I did not know who. It -is rather enlightening, as my dad says, to know who she is,--unless I -have _two_ doubles! Wouldn’t that be terrible! I didn’t know that my -‘style of beauty’ was so common.” - -“It isn’t. Sidney lives in Chicago all right, and is very well known -there, or her father and mother are, which is the same thing. So you -found out that you had a ‘double’ when you came to Chicago?” - -“The first time. I stayed there a little while with my cousins. Then -we went on with our big western trip that has made me late coming back -to school. We got delayed toward the last. But we ought to get up, I -suppose.” - -“I should think we _should_!” cried Madge, looking at her watch, and -hopping out of bed. “There will be _some sensation_ this morning -at breakfast! Shirley, Shirley, Shirley Harcourt,” Madge repeated -reflectively. “Let me get used to it. I hope that you will not mind if -I should call you Sidney by mistake. I do see something different about -you, Shirley, but I can’t tell what it is for the life of me.” - -“Thank fortune for that!” laughed Shirley, busy pulling on her shoes -and stockings. “I’m afraid that it is going to be embarrassing all -around.” - -Madge said nothing in reply to that, for she was wondering what Sidney -would think of it. That she would not like it at all was a foregone -conclusion. How queer it was; but Madge had heard of such things. - -Hurriedly the girls dressed. Shirley was quite glad that they wore a -uniform at the school, though it occurred to her, as she slipped the -one piece blue dress over her head, that the uniform would complicate -the matter of identity. She had never thought of this possibility. -There were too many wonderful things taking her attention every day, -too many adventures planned in advance for much reflection. Letters to -Europe and to Aunt Anne had taken her spare time. That she should meet -her double at school! - -Madge slipped a friendly hand in Shirley’s arm as they went downstairs -and through confusing corridors to the big dining room. It was not as -much of an ordeal to Shirley as it might have been to some girls, for -she was accustomed to be invited with her parents to dinner at the -dormitory where the co-eds at home held forth. This was very similar, -Shirley thought. But she had determined not to say one word about her -family or the professor of whom she was so proud. This year should be -unique,--and, indeed, its opening adventures promised that it would be. - -No one paid any attention to her until after grace had been said by the -dean and the girls were all seated. “Staying with Madge, Sidney?” asked -one, unfolding her napkin and taking up her spoon for her fruit. - -“This, girls,” said Madge, without the suspicion of a smile, “is my -new room-mate, Shirley Harcourt. She got in last night. Shirley, this -is Betty Terhune.” Madge continued the introductions around the table, -at which there was no teacher, one of the senior girls occupying the -place at the head. Some of the girls gave Shirley a second look, as she -acknowledged the introductions, but most of them thought that it was a -joke. - -“Oh, what’s the point of this?” asked Betty. “I suppose you stayed all -night with Madge, Sidney. Your new room-mate is going to be pretty late -in her classes, Madge.” - -Shirley now sat quietly, eating her orange and smiling aside at Madge. -“Listen, girls,” said that young lady. “I don’t blame you for thinking -it a joke. I could scarcely believe Shirley this morning when I finally -got awake and found her there. But if you don’t believe me, look over -there at Sidney Thorne!” - -The astonished girls looked toward the table at which they were -accustomed to see Sidney Thorne. Sure enough, there she was, calmly -eating her fruit, with no idea of the surprise in store for her. -Shirley was as much interested as the rest and gave a comprehensive -look at this heretofore elusive double of hers. - -“My!” Betty exclaimed. “Even the profile is the same! Why, how could it -happen? Are you sure that you are not related?” - -“It must be very distantly, if we are. I never heard of any relatives -by that name.” Shirley felt decidedly strange. It was like a dream to -be here in this different but attractive school, so far from her mother -and father, where a girl who looked almost exactly like her, so far as -she could see, was already a pupil in the school. - -“Tell me about Sidney Thorne,” she said to Betty. “You can’t imagine -what a queer surprise it is to find a girl so like me here!” - -“I can imagine how I would feel,” sympathetically said Betty. “But if -you have to have a double, it is a good thing that she is a nice girl. -Sidney lives in Chicago, as Madge may already have told you. She hasn’t -any brothers or sisters that I ever heard of, but occasionally her -mother and father drive here to see her. They have all kinds of money -and they are very fine, cultured people,--so everybody says. Her mother -is just the prettiest thing! - -“Sidney is one of the smartest girls in school. She belongs to a little -crowd that they call the ‘Double Three,’ since a Hallowe’en stunt last -year, but they are only her most intimate friends. She’s in almost -every club there is here.” - -Immediately the thought crossed Shirley’s mind that if such were the -case she might as well pay no attention to clubs or societies, those, -at least, whose membership was elective. For some reason she felt that -no “double” would want to elect her--but then she had a second thought: -If _she_ were the one whose double came into a school, she would think -it a test of her generosity to admit her to its advantages. - -There was little time for thinking about this comparatively small -matter, for class time was not far away. Every girl had some important -thing to do next. The conversation between Madge, Shirley and Betty -whisked to the day’s program and Shirley had much to find out. Her -courses had been arranged long since. Books, the location of the class -rooms and matters of registration were now Shirley’s concern. - -As they hurried from the dining-room after breakfast, Madge asked -Shirley if she would like to meet Sidney. “Oh, no, Madge,” Shirley -replied. “I haven’t time for one thing extra, and then I think that it -would be better for her to hear about me first, if possible, rather -than to have the shock of seeing me. I caught a glimpse of her on my -trip, but she has never heard of me.” - -“It’s good of you to think of that,” returned Madge. “I think that I -like you pretty well, Shirley Harcourt.” - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -SHIRLEY’S FIRST DAY. - - -As Miss Schiff had notified the dean about the strange resemblance, -Shirley was obliged to meet no surprise on the dean’s part, or -embarrassment on her own during her first conference. She found the -dean dignified, receptive, kind in rather a reflective, serious way. -Shirley ascribed her manner partly to the fact of the resemblance, but -it was not even mentioned. Miss Irving asked her a few questions, then -directed her in regard to her immediate movements. - -Soon Shirley was armed with the cards on slips which admitted her -to classes. These, she knew, would serve also to identify her. In -consequence, she went with quiet assurance to her class rooms, -determined to show no self-consciousness if she could help it. - -In the college atmosphere, with her father one of the best loved -professors on the faculty, Shirley had been taught to think of others, -and that altruism, together with long custom in meeting teachers and -crowds of young people, helped her now. These classes were small and -held in pretty class rooms that pleased Shirley. - -Sometimes Shirley felt a little amusement over the situation, but she -thought how very annoying it must be to the other girl to have a double -appear so unexpectedly, a girl who was to live under the same roof, go -to the same meals, attend the same classes for a whole school year. But -in spite of Shirley’s kind thought of the other girl, just how annoying -it was to Sidney Thorne she could scarcely know. - -As she entered the first class, Shirley was more concerned with her -lack of preparation than with anything else. It was the class in -English. She went at once to the desk to speak to the teacher and -offer her name for enrollment. This teacher, too, must have had the -word passed to her, or must have seen her at breakfast, for she showed -no surprise and when Shirley said, “Of course, Miss Berry, I am not -prepared this morning,” she nodded pleasantly. “You may make up such -work as you have lost,” she said. - -But while Shirley was detained at the desk for this enrollment, she was -in full view of the class, which had gathered before Shirley came in. -The conference with the dean had made her almost late. - -There was a general gasp of astonishment, and a turning of heads toward -the row where Sidney Thorne sat, as if the girls found it necessary to -assure themselves of there being two. If any of them had seen Shirley -in the halls, or even noticed her in the dining room, it was most -likely that they had taken her for Sidney. That young lady was looking -at Shirley in well-bred surprise. - -It cost Sidney something to control her surprise and dismay, but -control herself she did, turning to Hope, who sat beside her, -whispering with raised eyebrows, “Who is she?” - -But the teacher was calling the class to order and the amazed Hope only -shook her head as unable to account for Shirley. - -Madge, who sat just in front of Sidney, heard the question, turned -slightly, and said out of the corner of her mouth, “my new room-mate.” - -The class was conducted as usual. Shirley, who had been directed to a -seat at the end of a row, was busy taking notes most of the time, for -Miss Berry was reviewing the main points of the previous lesson as well -as presenting the new one and calling on the different seniors for -recitation or comment. - -It could have been her own voice reciting, Shirley thought, when -Sidney Thorne was called upon, and she wondered; yet enunciation and -intonation--something was different, and Sidney was using that “Boston” -variety of pronunciation at which the girls had laughed. Shirley felt -interested and a little drawn toward her double in spite of her wishing -that it might have not been this year, and this place of all others, -when the meeting had to occur. - -Not all the seniors were present in every class. Some who were not -taking the regular college preparatory course were away from the Latin -class or from the class in mathematics. In consequence there was -usually some one to exclaim over the “new girl who looks exactly like -Sidney Thorne,” as the word went around. But Shirley paid no attention -to any slight commotion on her account. She could have recited in -Latin, but forgot to tell the Latin teacher that fact and was not -called on for a recitation. She wanted to hold up her hand several -times when questions of syntax came up. But something kept her from -doing so. She could wait. - -She was glad now that her father had made her read that first two -hundred lines of Virgil with him. How she had hated it at the time, for -her schedule was already full enough, she thought. But he had insisted. -“I am not going to have my girl floundering around with her first -experience of Latin poetry,” said he. “It is very easy, but it will -seem hard at first, and with all due respect to the teacher, whoever -it may be, I should like to show you a few things myself about scansion -and get you into the easy rhythm of it. Come, now, sing of arms and the -hero!” - -Shirley found herself thinking of her father during the recitation. -Two girls recited particularly well, though they were finding Virgil -none too easy at first, it was clear. They were Sidney Thorne and Olive -Mason. - -Nothing happened of any great annoyance to Shirley that day, though -several times she was taken for Sidney. She felt that life had really -begun and when she found that the only lessons so far in mathematics -were in the nature of a review, her worries disappeared. She was a -rapid reader. Her English would be caught up in no time. French was -easy,--nothing could make a wave of trouble roll across her peaceful -breast, she told Madge and Caroline. - -With them and Betty Terhune, after classes were over, Shirley went out -upon the campus again to wander there and in the wood and more open -grove. The girls were rather enjoying the distinction of having the new -girl in tow and being the center of so much interest among the girls. -Shirley quite forgot that her arrival was a sensation in exploring -the delights of the place. Once Caroline called her Sidney and Betty -started to do so later on, but changed. “Sid--” to Shirley. - -“Duck on the rock” was fun down in the midst of the sand and pebbles. -Then the girls had her peep through a little window into the boat-house -to see the school launch. “We call it the yacht,” said Madge, “and I -guess it is a kind of one. It was given to the school, and the big boat -house, too, was given by one of our alumnae. See,--there is room for -the smaller boats inside, too. They all go inside to stay when real -winter comes.” - -Shirley looked in. There was the pretty launch with its brass railings -and its mahogany finish. Shirley read the name, “Westlake,” and -exclaimed over the future delights which its very existence promised. -“I don’t see how I can wait for Saturday!” she cried, when Betty told -her that the seniors were to go out in it Saturday. - -Perhaps it was largely from curiosity, but that evening, both before -and after dinner, a great many of the younger girls and most of the -seniors managed in some way to meet Shirley. “Introduce me to your -room-mate, Madge,” one of the girls would say. Or Betty and Cad, as -Caroline was almost universally called, would come up with a bevy of -girls to be introduced. Shirley appreciated Madge’s convoy, and knew -that Madge wanted to keep her from the embarrassment of being alone. It -was not really necessary, for Shirley was quite able to take care of -herself; but the circumstances were unusual, to say the least. - -There was music in the parlors, with much lively conversation after the -girls had tired of being outside. They dressed for dinner, as it was -directed and their light, cool frocks were more suitable for the house -when the lake breezes blew strongly. Shirley had had an opportunity to -press her pretty orchid dress of soft silk, which looked suitable and -was becoming. She felt more at home in it than she had been able yet to -feel in the uniform, neat as it was, and comfortable. - -Shirley’s wardrobe, however, was limited. It had seemed better to do -the big things, like the trips and the year at school, even if economy -were necessary in the doing. From the catalogue Mrs. Harcourt and Miss -Dudley had found the list of garments permitted, or required. These -Shirley possessed. It was good fun to be away at school, Shirley was -thinking tonight. Suppose she did look like some one else. That would -be a nine days’ wonder. But she noticed that Sidney Thorne did not come -up to meet her. When Shirley entered the parlors with Madge, Sidney -immediately found it necessary to go to her room and begin work on her -lessons or some committee report. “Poor girl,” Shirley thought, as she -noticed Sidney’s hurried departure, “she has had a shock!” - -It was not long before Shirley herself thought that she must waste no -more time with the girls. She, too must master her lessons. Madge went -upstairs with her, but said that she would not study until regular -hours began. Leaving Shirley to her usual concentration, Madge hurried -around to Cad’s room to “indulge in a little harmless gossip,” she told -her hostess. “I’m glad that Stella isn’t in. Lucky that she practices -half the time.” - -“Yes, and the rest of the time she is with her musical chum. It is a -wonder that she does not want to room with her.” - -“How did you like my room-mate?” Madge asked Betty. - -“Very much. It’s eerie, though, to see how much she looks like Sidney. -When you are with her for a while you do seem to see that she is -different.” - -“A different personality altogether,” airily stated Caroline. “It’s -funny, though. She even walks like Sidney,--that light springy way, -awfully independent, you know, with her chin up. But Shirley seems more -interested in everything than Sidney will let herself be.” - -“Sidney thinks that it is not ‘good form’ to show surprise at anything. -It is new to Shirley, too. Then she isn’t as stand-offish as Sidney was -when she first came here. It certainly is going to be fun to watch the -differences and to tell them apart. The uniform, too, makes it worse. -If they only could dress differently!” - -“Sidney will have something on tomorrow, Betty,” said Madge, “depend -upon it, girls, that will let her friends know which is which!” - -“Yes,” replied Betty, “and poor old Sidney is thinking right now that -she would like to leave and go to some other school.” - -“Suppose she did!” cried Caroline. - -“No,” said Betty, “I think that I know Sidney well enough to say that -she will stick it out and not be driven away. She may want to go, and -hate it like everything to have some one look like her very twin, but -she will stay, for pride’s sake if for nothing else. And nobody will -know how she hates it, either.” - -“Oh, I don’t know. The Double Three will know it.” - -“She may say something at first, when she is so surprised. But nobody -will be _sure_. Maybe she will not care as much as I think she will. -But I think that it would be something of a shock to any one, and -especially to Sidney.” - -The girls agreed that having a double who wasn’t your twin would -scarcely be desirable. Still, Shirley Harcourt was a very attractive -girl. - -Other girls beside Madge and her friends were commenting that evening -upon the sensation of the day. Some of them declared that they could -see a difference in the two girls; others exclaimed that the new girl -looked _exactly_ like Sidney. - -Sidney Thorne herself was very deeply annoyed, as she said frankly, -though with reservations, to Fleta. “Yes, it will be a perfect -nuisance to be taken for some one else or have some one taken for you. -Fortunately the new senior seems to be unobjectionable so far as we can -see. On the whole, I suppose that it is not very important. I shall ask -the dean if I may not wear something which will identify me, to you -girls, at least. In time every one will recognize some difference, I -hope. We certainly can not look exactly alike and I shall adopt some -different arrangement of my hair. Wouldn’t you, Irma?” - -“That would be a good idea,” said Irma, who was quickly getting into -something more comfortable than her dinner dress. - -Sidney disappeared into her bedroom and came back with a pretty -cluster of artificial flowers taken from her coat. “There,” she said, -“I’ll wear this tomorrow. Everybody has seen me with this new bunch of -posies.” - -“You’d better wear something over your shoulders behind, too,” said -Fleta. “I’d suggest a placard, ‘This is Sidney.’” - -“Fleta!” - -“Excuse me, Sid; I was trying to be funny.” - -Sidney did not reply, but stood pulling out the flowers for a better -effect. Fleta gave a quick glance at Irma, who frowned at her; and -Edith, who also caught Fleta’s eye, shook her head, and lifted her -hands in an expression of “It’s beyond me!” - -Sidney now picked up her uniform and fastened the flowers high upon its -shoulder. “Now,” she said, “that will be seen from either direction, -Fleta. We can dismiss it all, I hope. It probably will not be very -disagreeable as soon as it gets past the stage of mixing us up. Better -not tell any of your secrets, girls, or talk about the Double Three, -until you are sure it is I. Odd,--they say that twins think it fun to -be taken for each other and like to mystify people.” - -Fleta reported this to Dulcie, when Dulcie, in bathrobe and slippers, -met her in the hall and asked her what Sidney thought of the “new girl -who is her image.” - -“She can’t like it very well,” Fleta answered, “but she is very -dignified about it.” - -“Sidney would be. I hope that she won’t make it hard for the new girl. -She could, you know.” - -“Yes; but Sidney never does mean things.” - -“Sidney is honorable, but she can let a girl alone about as well as any -one I know; and it makes a difference here, whether you are a friend of -Sidney’s or not.” - -“Yes,” thoughtfully Fleta assented. “She says now we must make sure -that it is she we are talking to, when we tell any secrets or talk -about the Double Three.” - -Dulcie laughed. “We must have a pass word, then,” she said. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -LETTERS. - - -For a few days all of Shirley’s extra time, except enough for outdoor -exercises, which she took in a general way, was spent in catching up -and in reciting her missed lessons. She would not risk putting it -off. There was much less of it than she had expected, she wrote to -the dear folks in Europe, from whom she had received the longed-for -fat letter. To them alone she repeated a few complimentary remarks -from her teachers in proof that she was “getting along all right,” as -she told her parents. All the happy details left to be told about the -trip she related as well as her impressions of the school, but not a -word did she say about finding her double in existence. Why tell it, -she thought. To Dick, however, it made the main subject and Shirley -chuckled as she started in on a letter to him. - -It was Friday night and Madge, who was preparing to go with Cad to the -library, asked what she was laughing about. “What I’m going to write -to Dick,” replied Shirley. “Dick is my cousin, who was along on this -summer trip with his father and mother. Perhaps I was the one who was -‘along,’ though. They all took care of me.” - -Madge looked interested, but hurried off, as Shirley had told her -that this was her great opportunity to catch up and write home. The -usual Friday night affairs had not begun so early in the year. Lessons -could be divided between now and Saturday, though the boat trip was in -prospect for the seniors. - -“My dear Dick,” wrote Shirley: “You will, perhaps, know what has -happened from my writing to you. Otherwise, I will frankly say, I would -not think that I had time thus early in my school career. Think of it, -Richard,--I am a senior, with all the glories of the position! And by -the way, the school is all that I had hoped to find it and more. There -are ever so many pretty fine girls here, too, from all appearances, -though I do not know many of them yet, and you are invited now to our -‘Prom’ in the spring. It will be at a week end and you can come as well -as not. Plan for it and mystify your fraternity friends accordingly. - -“You will remember, if you can spare the thoughts from your exciting -rushes and affairs of your own opening weeks, that you were laughing -at me once, right after I saw my ‘double’ on the Pacific coast. (I -hear you laugh and say--a big place to see her in). You said, ‘Don’t -worry, Shirley. I prophesy that you will see her again and find out -about her. She will probably be waiting for you at school. Notify me at -once,’--and a lot more of nonsense that we both immediately forgot. - -“But the joke of it is, Dick, that she really was ‘waiting for me’ -here. It has been a shock to both of us, and she has not come near me -to meet me yet, a whole week, or almost. I don’t blame her. Her name -is Sidney Thorne and her parents are wealthy people of Chicago, a fact -which we very well guessed at from my experience there. Looking exactly -like me, of course she is all that one could desire,--in a double. I -will tell you more anon. Tell Cousin Molly, if you like, but I am not -going to write it to Dad and Mother, or to Aunt Anne, for the simple -reason that they will think it an annoyance to me, which it isn’t, that -is, not much of one, and rather funny. And I want them to feel that my -year is almost a perfect one, since they have all done so much toward -making it so. Oh, I may change my mind, of course, for I’m so used to -telling Mother everything; but my best judgment is to wait. - -“A fine time to you. May you get all the new boys that you want for the -frat and have a marvellous time of it. And don’t have too serious a -case until after you see some of these girls!” - -Shirley laughed again as she folded her letter to Dick. For a moment -she almost regretted being away from those scenes of college life. -“Now, Auntie,” she said, choosing the most perfect sheets of her best -writing paper for her letter to Aunt Anne. - -“Dearest Great-Aunt,” began the letter. “You would be pleased to death -to see this beautiful, beautiful place. At night I can hear the waves -lapping the shore and the cool breeze comes into our windows. We have -had bright days, and you know how blue the sky and lake can be, with -the ‘bright sparkles’ on the water. The school campus, or the wood, -goes right up to the shore. Tomorrow we are to have a ride in the -school launch, which is called the Westlake. It is big and handsome. -The seniors are to go, and perhaps some others. Madge Whitney, my -room-mate, did not know and it has not been announced yet. - -“I do not know where you and Mother and Father could have found a -school that I should like so well. After the big trip, I did hate to -be penned in anywhere, in spite of always liking school more or less. -It was a habit, you know. But here, right on the lake, you get an -impression of space just about as you would on the sea-shore. The -waves aren’t as big, nor are they salty,--but it is different and -lovely. Thank you for your part in it, to begin with! - -“I have had no trouble in making up the lessons that I missed. The -teachers all helped me to start in. The dean, Miss Irving, is dignified -and not easy to become acquainted with, but deans have to be that way, -I suppose, or the girls would run all over them. You know how it is at -home. I do not know anybody real well yet, but I am not homesick. It is -just another big adventure on top of all that I had this summer. - -“My room-mate is a real dear sort of a girl. She is Madge Whitney -and has the blackest of hair and the bluest of eyes, a real Irish -combination, and one of the other girls, such a funny, nice one that -Madge calls ‘Cad’ (Caroline Scott), sometimes calls Madge ‘Irish.’ Cad -says Madge ought to have my eyes, or I ought to have Madge’s hair, -instead of being all mixed up the way we are. There will be plenty of -good times, you can see. Tomorrow we are to have a ride on the school -launch, which will be a great treat. There was nothing special on for -tonight so I thought that I must get a word in to you and ‘the folks’ -and Dick. I’ll study a little after I get this letter finished. I am -sending it home, for I think that you will be there by that time, as -nearly as I could understand your card, which was not the clearest that -you ever wrote, my dear aunt,--no disrespect intended! I’ll write as -often as I can, but it is going to be a busy life. I can see that you -were wise when you gave me that box of correspondence cards and told me -to write often if not so much at a time. But I’ll get a real letter off -every once in a while. - -“Oh, yes,--my room is on the second floor, which isn’t much of a climb -to any one used to the mountains this summer. Some of the girls are in -suites with a study room, but this, as you know, shares a bath with -girls in another single room, on the other side of it (the bathroom). -We are on the other side of the building from the lake, though we get -the breezes just the same, and we look out on trees and campus and -pretty shrubbery. But you know how it is from the pictures in the -catalogue.” - -A very little more Shirley added, then folded the letter and put it in -its envelope, sighing as she did so, for she thought of all the girls -to whom she must write at least once. Dozens of cards she had sent home -from different places, and jolly, friendly cards they were, for Shirley -could write a good message in small space when she tried. But there -would be more to tell that the girls in the senior class of the home -high school would enjoy after Shirley became better acquainted and had -a greater supply of real boarding-school lore to impart. - -Putting home, her people, and even her present surroundings, including -her “double,” out of her mind with determination, Shirley plunged into -her lessons, in which she was still absorbed when Madge came back from -the library. - -“Say, Shirley,” said Madge as she entered. “Hope Holland says that they -want you to do something on the program of the classical club that -meets next week. She said that anybody who can ‘walk away with Virgil’ -the way you do should be able to step right in on our programs. I told -her that I thought your father was a teacher or something from what you -said about his having you read some Virgil with him. Was that right?” - -“Yes, he is,” demurely Shirley replied. “Why, yes, I suppose I could do -something. What do they want?” - -“I guess they’ll let you do anything you wanted to, for the program -committee is having a time to think up things.” - -Shirley thought a moment. “I brought some of my old themes and things,” -she said, “and there is a short one on Latin poetry that might do, -since we are all studying Virgil now.” - -“Just the thing! May I run back to tell Hope that you will? She is -worrying about it. Nobody wants to do anything, and we are supposed to -have a decent program.” - -“Of course I will do it. It certainly will not be much trouble to get -up and read something that I’ve already written.” - -“Does your father teach Latin?” - -“Yes. You see why I have to get my Latin lessons, don’t you?” Shirley -was laughing, and Madge nodded brightly at her as she ran off to tell -Hope that Shirley had something on Latin poetry and that it probably -was good because her father taught Latin. - -Study hours had been over for a little while. Shirley piled up her -books, undressed and was in bed when Madge came back. That night she -dreamed that her father and mother came back from their trip across -the waters, met Sidney Thorne and thought that she was their daughter. -Sidney went off with them happily and none of them paid any attention -to Shirley’s cries, while Shirley looked down at herself and saw that -she was all wrapped up like an Egyptian mummy! - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -WHEN DOUBLES MEET. - - -General rejoicing showed in the smiling faces of the girls around -the tables Saturday morning at breakfast when it was announced that -the Westlake would leave the dock at nine o’clock for parts unknown. -Applause followed the statement from the dean, who went on to say that -it would carry the senior girls and some of the teachers, and that -lunch would be provided. - -“You will wear suitable hats and wraps, for we shall stop at one of -the towns to do such shopping as by this time you may have wished that -you had done before coming. As it is not a picnic, there is no need of -picnic garb. Lunch will be enjoyed on the Westlake. Make your wants -known to one of the teachers. You will be chaperoned in small groups -while shopping.” - -“Oh, good hunting!” cried Madge, though softly, as soon as Miss Irving -had finished. “I was unusually stupid about some of the little things -that I might have known I wanted. Will you want to shop, Shirley?” - -“I’ll _want_ to,” smiled Shirley, “but I spent too much on different -things while I was on my trip. Little Shirley will have to count the -pennies, alas. But I might buy a hankie, to remember the first trip in -the Westlake, and indulge in a sundae if they let us. Do you know where -we shall stop?” - -“Haven’t an idea. It all depends on where we go.” - -“You don’t mean it,” laughed Shirley. “Of course it will not be -Chicago?” - -“No, I think not. We’ll probably start north, but as the lake is lovely -this morning we’ll go out quite a distance and have a fine ride.” - -Shirley hesitated to put on the coat in which she had traveled. It was -still pretty, but needed cleaning very much, and pressing had only -seemed to bring out a few dingy streaks all the more. She brushed up -and wiped off the hat, and fastened down its few ornaments more tightly -in order that darker and less faded portions should not show. “Can I -have cleaning done from here, Madge?” she asked. - -“Yes, but it may be some time before you get back what you send.” - -“Then I suppose I’ll have to wear this coat as it is, till time to put -on my winter coat.” - -Madge nodded an affirmative. “Oh, it doesn’t look so bad,” she said, -not very tactfully, for there was no consolation for Shirley in that -remark. - -“No one would ever know that it was new when I started away in June,” -ruefully said Shirley, “and I tried to take care of it, too. Well, it -can’t be helped. If it weren’t for the Sunday service, I could get -along here on the campus without it. Luckily I did not catch it on -anything to tear it. It will be all right after it is cleaned, I hope, -for I shall have to wear it next spring again.” - -While Shirley might feel uncomfortable at the start, she was too -sensible to let any coat or hat spoil her enjoyment of the trip; but -she did wish that she could make herself a little less conspicuous. She -would slip into some seat and just stay there! Yet Shirley knew well -enough that there was probably no new girl in any school who came into -quicker prominence than herself. Seniors and freshmen, music students -and irregulars of any sort by this time knew “Sidney Thorne’s double” -and were enjoying the fun of trying to tell them apart by stares and -looks that tried to be unnoticeable but were often felt, or seen, by -both Sidney and Shirley. Sidney resented some of it and had told one -of the freshman girls, in a half laughing but quite decided way to “do -her staring at the new girl” not at her. - -“But Sidney,” explained the freshman, who knew Sidney in Chicago, “I -wanted to speak to you, and I had to look, to see if it were you or -Shirley Harcourt.” - -“Look at our clothes,” said Sidney. “I always wear something different, -and she doesn’t, so far. Besides, we can’t look so much alike as you -all seem to think! It is ridiculous.” - -Sidney was in much the same sort of a mood today. Of course this girl -would have to be in all the class affairs and it would not be as easy -to avoid her as it was about the hall or in classes. Well, there she -was, in that old coat and hat, and if Hope Holland was not with her, -and Ollie Mason, too! - -The sun was warm as Shirley traversed the walks of the campus between -Hope and Olive, who had joined her to talk about the classical club -program. Madge and Caroline were behind them, and Betty Terhune from a -group in front called back that they were early enough to choose their -seats. Between the tall trees, then down to the shore they briskly -walked. - -The Westlake looked prettier than ever, its deck smooth and clean, its -sides shining. None of the teachers had yet arrived, but there were two -men in charge of the boat. They saw that the girls were safely aboard -and kept a wary eye out for a possible reckless one. - -Of course the girls with whom Shirley was walking wanted to sit in the -very front seats, where Shirley would be in plain view of everybody! -But then, the front of the boat was the most desirable place and -Shirley knew that she would enjoy cutting the waves there, with the -prow, and seeing the water tossed aside. Hope was being “nice to her,” -Shirley knew, as she asked Shirley to sit in a certain spot that was a -favorite location and took a seat beside her. Shirley already knew that -Hope Holland came from Chicago and was a member of the “Double Three.” -She found Hope a very pleasant companion, but she had Madge also, on -the other side of her, and Dulcie sat beyond Hope. - -Sidney, with Fleta and Irma, was now making her way toward the prow -and girls were coming to the dock in numbers. “Nobody is going to take -Shirley Harcourt for me today,” Sidney thought, as she saw the hat and -coat and glanced with some satisfaction at her own soft sport coat, new -and trim. A gay, close little red hat confined her golden locks. A -scarf of the newest design fluttered its ends in the wind. - -Shirley, as she caught a glimpse of the red hat and the white coat, -sighed and thought much the same thing that Sidney had thought, though -with a difference. She could hear Stella Marbury’s voice exclaiming not -far away. “Sid! That must be a new coat; I’ve never seen it before. It -is certainly nifty.” - -“I’m glad that you like it,” said Sidney, drawing it a little more -closely around her and putting her hands in its pockets. “Yes, it’s -new. I got it for just such occasions as this. Thank fortune, we don’t -have to wear those uniforms off the school grounds!” - -“Why I thought that you liked the uniform idea. I’m sure I heard you -say once that it was so democratic and sensible.” - -“Probably I did,--last year. It is different now.” - -“And I know why,” replied Stella. Then Stella dropped her voice and -said something else. Hope spoke to Shirley then, asking her about her -summer’s trip, which Madge had mentioned. As Hope had been through the -western parks, both girls expressed their enthusiasm over the scenery, -the tramps and the horseback rides, and Shirley was glad not to hear -any more of Stella’s conversation. Dulcie she liked very much. “Dulce” -had a quaint touch of humor all her own at times. It was not long -before Shirley forgot her coat and hat that were not all she could -wish. She was her own interested and interesting self, friendly, but -not too talkative, and giving the other girls a chance to lead the -conversation and to be as friendly as they evidently wanted to be. She -suspected Hope of some intention in the matter, but what difference did -it make why they were with her. She would enjoy the fun. - -Cad Scott had brought her guitar, and two of the girls, Betty Terhune -and Olive Mason, had their “ukes.” Tall Olive clasped her ukelele and -beat away upon its strings with the greatest enjoyment, in the latest -popular songs or the old ones that everybody knew. Shirley heard the -school songs for the first time. They were clever and pretty, she -thought, and different from the university songs. She was glad that -she had come. It was nice girl stuff! There sailed a white schooner -with full sails under the strong wind. Gulls and other water birds flew -sometimes near them. - -Her mind a blank, as she would have said, except for present -impressions, Shirley leaned back to watch the water, the boat and -girls, and to listen, humming such tunes as she knew and singing such -new words as might be repeated in choruses. “You have a good voice, -Shirley,” said Hope. - -“Thank you,” Shirley returned. “I want to take lessons some day. My -mother sings, though her voice is of a different quality.” - -A few minutes afterward, Hope said something to Caroline, who started -some new chords. She squealed loudly above the noise of the motor, -“We’ll sing ‘Westlake Forever.’ Sidney, you take the solo.” - -“All right,” called Sidney across a few girls. The guitar twanged; and -the ukes gave a few opening strains, then were silent. Sidney began to -sing, in a rich contralto that showed a little training in the careful -enunciation of words and free tones. - -Shirley gasped and was silent. That was the reason Hope asked Sidney to -sing. She had heard Shirley’s voice and wondered. It was scarcely kind -of Hope. Yes, perhaps it was, to show Shirley the similarity in voices -and leave it to her to decide about whether she should reveal this -phase of likeness or not. - -“You can get the chorus to this, Shirley,” Madge stopped at the end of -the first chorus to say. - -“I’m thinking that I will not sing any more today,” said Shirley, -smiling. - -Madge reached over and patted her hand. “I noticed. I think that you -have had some training, too.” - -“A little from my mother, just so I’ll not sing in a way to spoil my -voice.” - -“Sidney began lessons here last year. She’s going on in Chicago when -she gets a little older. Her parents are going to give her all of that -sort of thing that she wants. So Cad says.” - -But the girls were all singing again, Sidney having refused to do -anymore solo work against wind, waves and the engine. Shirley hummed a -little. That would let Hope know that she had not minded the revelation. - -They were far out upon Lake Michigan to all appearances when -lunchtime came. But after they were all well fortified against future -contingencies by a variety of sandwiches, potato chips, pickles and -similar articles of a picnic lunch, Shirley saw that land was in sight. -They made for a port which proved to be Kenosha, on the Wisconsin -shore. There they spent a few hours, Shirley, to her surprise, in the -same group with Sidney Thorne. The girls had been assigned to certain -teachers, of whom there were a number out today. Madge said that the -ride was popular with the teachers. Two of them wanted to go to the -same shops and joined forces, hence the combination. - -Shirley naturally kept with Madge and Caroline, but when they found a -place for the inevitable sundae or soda, Shirley discovered that Hope -Holland and Sidney Thorne were sitting down at the table where she and -Madge had seated themselves. Caroline, at the last minute, had accepted -the invitation of a beckoning hand from another small table like theirs. - -Shirley did not know that Hope had dared Sidney to this but she looked -at the well-dressed girl so like herself and smiled in a friendly way, -as she acknowledged Hope’s introduction. “Miss Thorne” also spoke as -she would have done to any other girl and they all proceeded to give -their orders. It was over, and very naturally, the meeting of the -“doubles.” It could scarcely be called an adventure, and yet Shirley -had a strange feeling about it. They talked, as girls talk, of school -affairs chiefly, as they enjoyed the tempting dishes brought them. -Hope, Sidney and Madge told bright stories of former adventures for -Shirley’s benefit, but Sidney seldom looked at Shirley as she talked. -She _was_ a dear girl, Shirley thought even if she had waited so long -to say a word to her. How could it have happened? _Could_ there be any -common ancestor not so far back, or was it just one of those strange -duplications of which she had read? - -Let it go for the present, the manner of both girls said. Sidney was -her most charming self, appealing to Madge or Hope about this fact or -that fancy. She called Shirley Miss Harcourt, which set Shirley off -just a little farther than the other girls. But it was going to be -much more comfortable for both Shirley and Sidney after this, with no -efforts to avoid each other. Shirley decided that Sidney would have to -be the one to make any advances, if they became really acquainted, but -nods and smiles were possible now. - -It was nearly dinner time when the launch at last brought its load of -girls home to the school grounds. Madge took Shirley’s arm as they -walked up from the dock. “Hope said that she engineered that meeting,” -Madge told Shirley. “She said that she thought it ridiculous for Sidney -not to know you at all.” - -“I hope that she did not force Sidney Thorne into it,” said Shirley, -“not that it matters so much, but it is better.” - -“She said that she dared her to sit there with you and Sid took the -dare. I think that she enjoyed it at the last.” - -“It makes everything less noticeable now, I think,” Shirley -thoughtfully said. “After a while the girls will not think so much -about it, and I am sure that I shall not. I am glad to have met Sidney -and I think her a fine girl. What do you think of Hope? Did she mean it -kindly, do you think, when she asked Sidney to sing the solo, and was -it to show me how like our voices were?” - -“Yes to both, I think,” declared Madge. “She probably did it on an -impulse, and if she thinks that you do not understand, she will very -likely say something to you about it. By the way, you and Sidney could -have a lot of fun at the Hallowe’en masquerade if you dress alike.” - -“I’d not like to suggest it, but it _would_ be fun.” - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -GOSSIP AND HONORS. - - -Although Sidney Thorne would like to have done so, she could not very -well dismiss Shirley and all her works. Shirley was too bright in -her lessons and making too much of an impression upon both girls and -teachers. Shirley was a little more reserved than was quite natural to -her because of these unusual circumstances, but she tried not to notice -some of the little things that happened. Then that little fighting -reserve, that is in most of us, came to the rescue, not to push her -way, but to resist any influence that would quietly relegate her to -the rear, so far as lessons or ordinary activities were concerned. She -possessed the same qualities of leadership that Sidney had, though -whether they were exercised among her classmates or not did not matter -to her. Indeed, Shirley scarcely knew that she possessed it. - -Other activities followed the picnic launch ride. Shirley played -tennis, outdoor basketball and other active games, taking care not to -join a group or team in which Sidney might be playing. But there were -other girls, some of whom in the excitement of the games would call -her Sidney and perhaps not know till the game was over that they had -been playing with Shirley. Several times, when Shirley thought that -some girl was speaking more freely of something than she would have -done except before Sidney, Shirley smilingly reminded her with, “I am -Shirley, remember.” - -All this and the keen, though unobtrusive, interest which Shirley -showed in everything connected with the school’s activities made the -girls like her and trust to her sense of honor. She was fair in the -games, though she tried to win, and she had the advantage over some -of the girls in having come from a school where a spirit of real -sportsmanship was fostered. Shirley knew that and it made her less -ready to resent any lack of it in the girls with whom she played. - -But volley ball and all the other kinds of ball in the courts were -played less as it grew colder and the fun of Hallowe’en drew near. - -“Is the Double Three going to repeat the stunt of last year, Sidney?” -asked Caroline Scott, the room-mate of the girl who thought that she -and Caroline ought to make the Double Three into a Double Four. - -Caroline and Sidney had never known each other very well in Chicago, -though their fathers were associated somewhat in a business way and -their mothers were in certain club work or church activities together. -They had become better acquainted, though not intimately so, since they -came to the same school. - -“The Double Three never repeats,” laughed Sidney. “It’s the rest of you -girls that’s made a club of us anyhow. We don’t acknowledge that the -Double Three exists.” - -“I see,” said Caroline, not believing that Sidney was at all in -earnest. “Then you are going to get up your costumes each one on her -own, I suppose.” - -“I suppose so. I’ve sent to Mother for ideas, but the dean says that -she’ll not allow any expensive costumes to be sent in and if we have -any, we’ll have to make them, or use something we have. I’m very much -provoked about it.” - -“Couldn’t you have something simple made in Chicago, Sidney?” - -“Perhaps so but I’m too cross with the dean to ask about it.” - -“She has not made any announcement yet.” - -“No, but she will. I was waiting to see her, and she was telling -all this to one of the teachers who is going to have charge of the -Hallowe’en performance.” Sidney made a gesture as if the whole thing -were not very interesting to her. - -“Do you mind telling who the teacher is?” - -“Not in the least. You might know it is Miss Gibson.” - -“That is why you are so disgusted, then, I suppose. Poor Gibby has a -hard time winning you over to her side.” - -“She certainly need not try; but I am very respectful, don’t you think?” - -“In class, at least, Sidney, looking out for your grades.” This was -Fleta, who was laughing as she said this. But Sidney shrugged her -shoulders. “I am never impolite to her anywhere, for my own sake,” she -said. - -The girls were gathering in the beautiful chapel of the school before -morning worship. Hope, Fleta, Dulcie, Caroline and Madge were standing -in the aisle before passing to their regular seats. None of the -teachers had come in yet. Shirley was in her seat, but concealed from -Sidney’s view by the other girls who were in the way. Sidney continued -speaking. - -“Miss Gibson has a loyal adherent now in Shirley Harcourt, and that -must console her for the rest of us. Shirley drinks in everything Miss -Gibson says with open mouth. Madge, didn’t you say that her father is a -teacher?” - -“Yes.” - -Shirley, who had been writing up her notes from the class before the -chapel exercises, had been dimly conscious of this conversation, but on -hearing her name, she paused in the movement of her pencil and looked -toward Madge’s back. Well, let them talk. She was tired of reminding -people! - -“She is probably from some little country town and this is the biggest -place she ever saw,” continued Sidney. “I suppose her father is some -village school teacher that teaches Latin. Didn’t you say that he made -her get ahead on her Virgil?” - -“Yes,” again said Madge, wavering between her loyalty to Shirley and -her customary admiration for Sidney, attractive, influential girl, that -she was. “I don’t know anything about her family. She reads her letters -and puts them away, but she gets some from abroad.” - -“Somebody must have sold a farm,” lightly said Sidney, whose speech -indicated no spiteful feelings in intonation, but surely did not spring -from any sympathy of heart. - -Shirley set her lips together and began to write slowly again. She -was angry for the first time. Before she left this school the -girls should know who her father was and that even country school -teachers--supposing he had been one--and the people on the farms that -raised everything foolish Sidney had to eat--but Shirley made her -resentful thoughts stop racing on. How silly she was! People who had -those ideas would probably keep them. What difference did it make? - -“Well, Sid,” Fleta was saying, “you’d better be careful how you make -fun of your double. She may be related to you, you know.” - -“Not a chance of it,” said Sidney. “It’s just one of those freaks of -nature by which we happen to look alike now. We’ll probably change in -a few years, except for our coloring, and I think that my hair is a -little lighter than hers.” - -“Yes, and you are not quite so tall as Shirley, Sid,” said Fleta. “I -noticed it first when you both stood up together from the same table in -Kenosha.” - -“It would be funny if you went to the same university, wouldn’t it? -Shirley is going to college, she says.” - -“I am not sure that I shall go to college at all,” said Sidney. “It -would be fun, I suppose, but Mother wants me to be with her and it -would only mean living at home and going to the university in Chicago.” - -“I thought you were keen on your studies, Sidney,” said Caroline, in -surprise. - -“I am, some of them,” replied Sidney, “but I can have lessons on what I -like, read French and other literature at home and all that. You see, I -shall be eighteen before long, and Mother will bring me out in society -then. Why, Caroline, you and Hope will be doing the same thing!” - -“Perhaps,” said Hope. “I am thinking of going to the university, and I -can’t do both.” - -More girls had come in by this time. The dean had mounted the platform -and the teachers were in their places. The group around Sidney broke -up and Madge turned, to see Shirley busily writing in her notebook. - -“Gracious!” exclaimed Madge. “Do you suppose, Caroline, that she was -there all the time?” - -“Not likely,” replied Caroline. “I’d be so mad I couldn’t write if I -had heard Sidney talking like that about me. But Shirley is writing -away as cool as a cucumber. Shall you ask her?” - -“My, no! If she has heard and says anything about it, I’ll tell you, -but I’ll not start any trouble for Sidney, and I would hate to have -Shirley know that Sidney would speak of her in just that way. Some -way--I like Sidney--but it didn’t seem just as kind as a girl ought to -be that has everything, like Sidney.” - -“No,--it did _not_. But Sidney is proud, and Shirley Harcourt is making -too much of a success at everything to suit Sidney.” - -“I wonder,” said Madge. - -Shirley could scarcely keep her mind upon the Scripture lesson that -morning, beautiful and helpful as she had always found the passage -selected by the dean. But Shirley would scarcely have been human if -she had not been disturbed. ‘Open-mouthed,’ was she? And this was -the biggest place that she had ever seen! But she could fancy her -large-minded father laughing at it all. What would it matter to him? -Just nothing at all. Nevertheless Shirley seethed a little. Sidney -was a proud, empty-headed little minx! No, she wasn’t either; she was -smart, and Shirley _could_ have liked her so _much_! - -That last week before Hallowe’en everybody regretted having any lessons -to learn. Little groups that were getting up “stunts” had important -conferences, marked by laughter and secrecy, for mystery made the -Hallowe’en surprises all the more entertaining. Although Miss Gibson -had charge and girls were supposed to ask her about the propriety of -what they proposed to do, this was not one of the English teacher’s -frequent duties, presenting a play or a program. She appointed a -committee, however, to help her and for its chairman chose Shirley, -to that young lady’s surprise. She had intended to wear a costume for -the occasion, and the little black mask which she had worn in similar -affairs at home reposed in her box. She reported at the first meeting -of the committee without much idea of what would be required of her. - -Miss Gibson very well knew that in her enthusiasm that first year -she had made some mistakes with the girls and had antagonized some -of them unnecessarily by her manner of pushing perfectly reasonable -requirements in a dictatorial way. In Shirley she knew that she had a -girl who was thoroughly enjoying the course under her teaching and one -who was not affected by any criticism that she might hear. Naturally a -teacher chooses her most loyal supporters to help her. - -The meeting was at the close of recitation hours. Not one of the -influential Double Three was present! Caroline Scott and Betty Terhune -were the other seniors. One from each of the other classes filled -out the large committee of six. But they were supposed to assist -in decorating the immense reception room which would be used for -the celebration and in locating and suggesting the setting for the -different features. - -“Miss Harcourt,” said Miss Gibson at the beginning of the meeting, “you -are the chairman of the senior committee. You, Caroline and Betty are -to help with the senior stunt and also to have such oversight as may -be necessary over those of the other classes. It may scarcely do to -remind you that you are to keep any secrets entrusted to you, in case -of surprises. The general decorations are put into the hands of all of -you, and Shirley Harcourt may preside when I can not be present at your -meetings. I am too busy to plan the details, but they are all to be -submitted to me. That is clear, I believe. Now I will hear such ideas -as you may already have.” - -Nobody seemed to have any. Miss Gibson looked from one to another of -the committee and smiled. Then Shirley rather timidly asked if there -were any decorations that were kept from year to year. “There are -certain things that one always has for Hallowe’en, Miss Gibson, and it -would save time.” - -Miss Gibson did not know, but Caroline told Shirley that the -celebration last year was in the chapel and consisted of the one-act -play and some pantomimes given on the platform, with curtains and -home-made scenery. “Then we went to the parlors in our costumes and had -our social time.” - -“You will have to talk it over first, girls,” said Miss Gibson. “Have a -meeting by yourselves and think up everything that you know, about what -to do on Hallowe’en. I think that the dean does not want the chapel -used this year.” - -With this, Miss Gibson left the committee to its own devices and joined -another teacher, who was waiting for her just outside the door of her -classroom. - -“Well, what do you think of that!” Betty Terhune exclaimed. “The girls -last year said that Miss Gibson always wanted to do everything herself -and now look at her!” - -Shirley laughed. “Probably she has heard that criticism.” - -“Yes,” said the junior, Marie Petersen, “but she ought to have picked -out the girls that were so smart and _wanted_ to do it themselves.” - -“Let me say something, Marie,” said the sophomore, Laura Jones. - -“Speak up, if you are but a young thing,” laughed the junior. - -“Miss Gibson has confidence in us, or she wouldn’t have turned it over -to us. Let’s get up the best ever!” - -“Hear, hear!” said the freshman, a “very young child,” according to -Caroline. She was letting a boyish bob grow out and had two wisps -on either side of her head now, each tied with a piece of pink baby -ribbon. These wisps were supposed to be braids. - -Shirley looked at her freshman assistant and nearly laughed out. -“Good!” she cried. “That’s the spirit. I’m afraid, Pansy, that you -can’t be Bluebeard’s wife _this_ year.” - -“Why not?” stoutly inquired Pansy Layne. “Couldn’t I wear a wig?” - -“Yes, you could, Pansy,” laughed Shirley. “Why, do you know how to do a -Bluebeard stunt?” - -“No; but Bluebeard’s wives were hung up by their hair.” - -“Smart girl! Now let’s put our thinking caps on. I have seen plenty of -Hallowe’en parties, but I never had to get up anything like this, and -it seems scarcely fair to expect me to be chairman here, the first year -that I am in the school.” - -“I can tell you what they have had lately,” said Caroline. “You just -go along and be chairman and we’ll help. But remember that each class -is supposed to think up its own particular stunt, so we aren’t so -responsible as you would suppose. Only it makes it worse about helping -them if they are too late deciding what they’ll do. Madam Chairman, I -move that we go ahead first on decorations for the parlors and halls, -and meanwhile think up what else we can.” - -“There are limitations, too,” said Betty. “Hallowe’en has certain -emblems. Caroline, you write and ask your folks what they can get in -the way of pumpkin lanterns and other suitable Hallowe’en things for -decoration; and we ought to have some black, and red, and white paper -to cut cats and things out of, and perhaps some draperies, cheesecloth, -I suppose, in the same colors. We have some money from the classes for -this, Shirley, if we need it.” - -“It is a relief to hear that, Betty. Caroline, will you send for those -things?” - -“Yes. I’ll telegraph and they’ll be sent right out from Chicago. What -with our costumes, we won’t have much time for cutting out ‘cats and -things,’ Betty.” - -“Luckily I have my costume,” said Shirley, “and if it will give you any -ideas for anything that we could get up, I’ll show it to you. My aunt -helped Mother make it for something that we had at home. It’s hanging -now in my closet to get the wrinkles out. I’ll have to press it, too, -perhaps.” - -The girls trooped to Shirley’s room for the inspiration which looking -at a real costume might give them. Madge was there and admitted to -their councils, while Shirley brought out her costume for inspection. - -“Now that is a real one and different. Who painted that cat’s head is -an artist!” - -“It was Auntie that did that,” laughed Shirley, “but I can copy it for -anybody that wants one.” - -“We’ll keep you painting, then,” said Pansy. “I’ll perish if I can’t be -a witch or a cat.” - -“They say that girls are ‘catty,’” said Marie, “so I don’t know about -being a cat.” - -“But Shirley ought to be a witch with that tall hat and have a sort of -Cat Brigade to drill.” - -“How would the freshmen like to be kitty-cats, then?” asked Shirley. -“It would be funny, Pansy, if they would do it, and we could have a -drill and a song,----” - -“Oh, yes, with a chorus of growls and meows,” Pansy added. “If the -girls don’t want to do it for their class stunt, let’s have it extra.” - -“Everything must be submitted to Miss Gibson, you know,” said Shirley. - -Other suggestions followed. It would not be so bad to be on the -committee, the girls concluded. Meetings of the classes were to be -held at once. There was to be no putting off if their appearance -was assured for Hallowe’en, and no class wanted to be omitted on -the program of fun. When forced to it by the exigencies of time -and occasion, there is little that girls can not think up, for the -amusement of each other and usually to the entertainment of everybody -concerned. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -HALLOWE’EN PLAYS. - - -There was advantage in being on “the committee,” that of being excused -from classes the afternoon before Hallowe’en to do the decorating. -Pansy said that she wished Hallowe’en came every week and that she -might be on the committee, and she only wished that she had had more -recitations to miss than she had! - -Shirley said little, but worked hard; for she knew of at least one -critical eye, who would scan the rooms, not inclined to praise. -Drapings in orange, red, black and white, in varied combinations, -pumpkin shades for the bulbs, black backgrounds for gay posters, and -even flowers of the appropriate colors made the Hallowe’en setting. -Shirley tried not to have it too “scrappy,” but the girls told her -that it had to be more or less so. Every one had some favorite poster -that must not be left out. But Miss Gibson came in at the last, with -directions that vindicated Shirley’s ideas and saved the day. - -When the girls began to come into the rooms in their costumes and -masks, the fun began. They changed their voices, and it was almost -impossible to tell who any one was, though there were some mild shouts -of “Oh, I know who _you_ are!” But it was easy to be deceived. Shirley -wore a ghost costume until after the freshman stunt, for her witch’s -costume had to be used by the leader. Pansy’s first idea had been for -Shirley to lead the drill of the freshmen; but Shirley told her that -it would never do to have a senior in the freshman stunt. Shirley -suggested a funny variety of drill modeled after a “gym” drill, which -would be mysterious, creepy and catty, in movement and rhythm. She also -composed a song for the Cat Brigade, which was accepted by the freshmen -committee and sung with great gusto. The only difficulty was to keep -its ghostly melody from becoming known till the time to sing it. - -The pumpkin shades mellowed the light in the great room. In one corner -stood a queer booth for which the committee had been obliged to have -a janitor’s assistance. A placard warned “Danger,--Witches’ Caldron,” -and one of the senior witches stood there to keep out the curious till -after the senior stunt. - -There would have been fun enough in the mere costuming and social fun -of the occasion. Shirley, from behind her sheet and white mask, ready -to help with the stunts if necessary, enjoyed the scene. She wondered -which costume concealed Sidney, but did not see any one that looked -like her so far as she could tell. - -Madge Whitney declared that she would _never_ dress to make herself -look _hideous_. As Autumn, she wore a wreath of artificial leaves, in -the gay colors of fall, and carried a cornucopia from which trailed -grapes and their vines, over red and yellow apples. Her dress was gay -with the autumn colors. One of the sophomores came as Autumn, too, but -carried a “sheaf” of wheat and a basket of corn and fruit. - -There were ghosts galore, for every one who had neither time nor energy -to do anything else fell back on a sheet, with some slight addition. -Clown costumes, too, were popular, in all varieties. Bluebeard, Spanish -pirates, characters from history and from fiction, high and low, -challenged recognition. - -If Madge went as Autumn, Caroline had decided to go as Winter. She wore -kingly robes, white, with a frosted crown, a white beard, sparkling -with frost, purchased for the purpose, and a white wig to cover any -trace of her own locks. Some glass pendants and the artificial snow or -frost made a very realistic appearance. - -Some lords and ladies in suits which were used at the senior plays were -elegant in their carriage and speech. It was a motley company and the -little bells of the clowns tinkled as they walked. - -The teachers did not join the masked company, but sat or stood around -the room to watch the fun. - -Madge stood by Shirley when Miss Gibson clapped her hands for order and -announced that the company would be entertained by the seniors, who -were presenting the witches scene, Act four, Scene one, of Macbeth. -Neither of the girls had seen this practiced, as Miss Gibson had -consented to train them for a good presentation of it. - -“Sidney wouldn’t be in it at all,” said Madge. - -“Yes, I know,” said Shirley. “It was just as well, for it gave Olive a -chance to be Macbeth. They give it only as far as the vanishing of the -witches, Miss Gibson says, and they make the apparitions just ordinary -‘ghosts.’ Stella is one of them.” - -The curtains of the odd booth were thrown back and found to be painted -into some likeness of a cavern, suggested, at least. Even the opening -thunder was given by the roll of a drum back in the “cavern.” There was -the cauldron and something to imitate the appearance of fire under -it. The girls enjoyed the pretense of being witches with their uncanny -parts and the - - “Double, double, toil and trouble, - Fire burn and cauldron bubble.” - -All the girls spoke their lines distinctly, though Miss Gibson had -deleted some, to shorten the scene and to leave out those that were -too unpleasant for such an occasion. Olive as Macbeth made quite an -impression. She withdrew with the witches, but witches, apparitions -and Macbeth were obliged to come out again in front of the cavern to -receive further applause. - -“The rest will be anti-climax,” mourned Pansy, the kitty-cat, who had -joined Madge and Shirley. - -“The freshman fun will be the relaxation of the evening,” said Shirley, -“and how can you speak thus to the author of your beautiful verses!” - -Pansy laughed. “That is so. I had forgotten our beautiful poetry.” - -“To tell the truth, in comparison with this, our lines may fall a -little flat; but just looking at you kittens, you black cats, I should -say, will be enough. I thought that I saw two costumes like your -witch’s, Pansy, a while ago.” - -“I did, too,--I wonder whose the other is.” - -The sophomore entertainment was even more gruesome than the witches of -Macbeth. When a curtain was drawn aside at the end of the room, there, -against the white background of another curtain, which represented a -wall, hung the white faces of Bluebeard’s wives. A ghostly sophomore -read the story, briefly told, in its most exciting parts, while the -wife who entered the forbidden chamber, Bluebeard, and Sister Ann -played their parts in pantomime, with the addition of ghostly groans -from the wives who had, supposedly, been disposed of long since. This -was a little too realistic and made more than one of the audience jump -a little at first. But it was soon over. - -There was relief from spookdom when the juniors came in to give very -prettily a “Dance of the Pumpkins.” “Pumpkin” costumes and one funny -rolling movement gave the “motif.” - -But how they laughed when the freshmen came in as black cats, managed -by a rather frisky looking witch with her tall black hat, her black -robe and the broomstick on which she expected to make her exit. On the -front of the robe was the large cat’s head with its big yellow eyes, -and a whole cat was depicted on the back between the witch’s shoulders. - -First the witch led the march, while the piano crashed and two girls -who had violins tried a little hideous jazz at certain points. -Next, the witch stopped and from the side gave orders for a standing -drill with rubber mice. A few squeals from the audience at the first -appearance of the mice, swung forth by their tails, was so natural and -suggestive that the whole audience laughed and one girl called out, -“nice kitties!” - -The comical appearance made by the backs of the girls, as they wheeled -and faced away from the audience, brought more laughter. Shirley had -despaired of painting enough cats for all the freshmen in the drill, -but the bright idea occurred to her after it was decided to put cats on -their costumes, to stencil the cats. Accordingly, on the square white -patch of muslin, similar to the one upon her own costume, which the -witch wore, in stenciled patches of black, the clawing limbs and wildly -waving tail of the witch’s cat appeared. - -As a result of careful measurements, this made a line of cat pictures -funny to behold, with the black whiskers and yellow eyes added by -Shirley’s brush afterward. The cat’s head in front was striking, too, -but not so funny as the whole cat between the shoulders behind. It was -scarcely necessary to do anything “smart,” Madge declared to Shirley. -Just to look at them was enough, Madge said; and Shirley, grinning -herself at some of the evolutions, nodded assent. “Maybe that’s so,” -she whispered, as the freshmen girls made their eyes big, held out the -mice with one “claw” and scratched at them with the other. They laid -them on the floor and played with them, or took them away from each -other and “howled” in chorus, all to the music. This changed now to the -lively melody of which Shirley was the composer. - -Facing the audience and lined up in one row, the freshmen pinned the -rubber mice on their costumes by the tails as badges and stood for a -moment to get their breath while one of the teachers, who had made an -accompaniment to Shirley’s melody, played a brief prelude. - -“Mother Goose stuff,” said a low voice near Shirley. Shirley did not -turn to see what the speaker looked like, in some gay costume, she -supposed, for the voice was Sidney’s. Madge heard it, too, and nudged -Shirley, whose ghost costume, of course, could not indicate to Sidney -that the chairman of the committee was close by. “She’s jealous,” -whispered Madge, but the sarcastic little phrase spoiled what followed -for Shirley. “It _is_ silly,” she thought, “but, someway, they couldn’t -think up anything better, and we had to have _something_.” Quietly she -stood to see how the girls would sing the foolish song. - -But the rest of the audience were in the spirit of fun and “Mother -Goose stuff” was quite acceptable to them. Youthful freshmen voices -started in after a loud crash from the accompanist and a wail from the -violins. - - Oh we are the witch’s cats; - We creep and we snoop and we prowl; - We watch the brimming, boiling pot,-- - At strange approach we howl. - - Hist! St! Meow! Meow! - At strange approach we howl. - - Don’t try to catch, - For we can scratch, - Don’t lift our latch, - Or strike a match! - - Hist! St! Meow! Meow! - At strange approach we howl! - - Oh we are the Cat Brigade; - On Hallowe’en night we may ride, - And trail her broomstick in the air - Or guard her at her side. - - Hist! St! Meow! Meow! - We guard our witch’s ride! - - Beware the knell - In darkness fell - When witches spell - The fates they tell! - - Hist! St! Meow! Meow! - Beware the Cat Brigade! - -With further evolutions, at the direction of the witch, and repeating -the last lines softly, the Cat Brigade marched out followed by -applause and laughter. The freshmen had put over their little play -quite effectively and Shirley drew a long breath of relief. The last -“stunt” was over. The rest was in the hands of a sub-committee, who -had the management of the refreshments. The fun of fortune telling and -the other customary Hallowe’en features could go on without further -supervision. Shirley hurried out to get into her own costume, for the -freshman witch had another one which she wanted to wear. Like Madge, -she preferred to be beautiful rather than funny. - -Again Shirley saw the costume which was so like hers, except for the -cats, painted by some other artistic hand. The cat upon the back was -directly on the black robe and was such a funny, big yellow cat that -Shirley drew nearer to see it. But the girl who wore it was getting out -into the hall as quickly as possible through the crowd of girls, not -noticing at all the “ghost” which followed her. - -Shirley heard a shepherdess who accompanied the “Yellow Cat” witch -arguing with her in a low voice. “Why should you care, Sid?” - -“Caroline knew that they were going to do that stunt! She suggested -this to me on purpose! Perhaps I’ll come back, if I can find all of -that Turkish costume; but I’m afraid that it isn’t with that stuff that -I left here last year, and besides, I’ll have to go all through that -big box! I’m sure that I took the red sash home!” - -“That’s all right, Sid! I have----” - -Shirley heard no more, for she, too was trying to get past a group of -girls who blocked the way and wanted to hear no more. How odd it was. -How had Sidney happened to make such a costume? Perhaps it was easier, -for the robe may have been the Double Three domino of last year. But -Caroline’s suggesting it! Shirley could not understand. - -The cat costume did not return. No Turkish costume mingled with the -rest, for Shirley, returning in the cat costume, noticed particularly. -It troubled her, though she thought that she was silly indeed, to take -so much interest in a girl who cared nothing for her. The freshmen -kitty-cats, all alike, were enjoying themselves immensely and performed -amusing antics occasionally around their witch, Shirley now. She had no -fear of being discovered, for naturally enough every one supposed her -to be a freshman. - -As a prize was offered for the most striking and original costume, -the judges came to Shirley to notify her that her costume was being -favorably considered on account of the cleverly painted cats. This was -before the masks were removed. “Where is that costume like yours, with -the big yellow cat on the back?” one of the girls asked Shirley. “Did -you do them together?” - -“No,” said Shirley, changing her voice as well as she could. “I did not -know anything about it till I saw it here tonight.” - -“We’d like to see it before we decide; yet, girls, the black cat is -more appropriate to witches, and I think that this costume will take -the first prize anyway.” - -The judges hurried off. If it had not been for that last remark, it -might have been Shirley’s duty to say that she knew who the girl was -who wore the yellow cat costume, though even then it would have been -a question whether to tell or not. Shirley had a feeling that Sidney -would prefer to lose a prize rather than admit having a costume like -Shirley’s. How had it happened? she asked herself again. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -FLETA TO THE RESCUE - - -Sidney did not do anything so foolish as to remain away from the -Hallowe’en fun. However unhappy she felt over the apparent copying of -her costume, or perhaps a deliberate suggestion by Caroline, who knew -that the freshman witch would wear such a costume, she reached a better -frame of mind under the urging of Fleta, pretty in shepherdess gayety. - -The Turkish costume was one which she had used in Chicago and had -brought with her the year before. Then, the little play called for the -“Double Three” domino. “Luckily it hasn’t been worn here, Sidney,” said -Fleta, as she helped Sidney hunt through the big box and took smaller -boxes down from the top shelf of the closet. - -“But it is so terribly mussed,” wailed Sidney. “I can’t wear it at -all!” The main part of the costume was, of course, at the very bottom -of the big box which formed the window seat in their study. - -“Yes, you can, Sid! Hunt up the sash, and if you can’t find it, there’s -that red one of mine that will do. It’s in my drawer, somewhere in a -box. I’ll get my little iron and run down to the kitchen. They’ll let -me press there, under the circumstances. Wait till I get a sheet to lay -on the table, if I can’t get hold of an ironing board. Where’s the cord -to my iron? There, now!” - -A very capable shepherdess, still wearing her mask, flew down to the -kitchen, where refreshments were being prepared for a real Hallowe’en -banquet, the first one of the kind that they had ever had there. Fleta -explained that there had been a great mistake and that somebody would -miss all the fun if this costume could not be pressed and made fit to -wear. - -“If you can find a place to do it, go ahead,” was the reply to Fleta’s -explanation and request, and determined Fleta found a place where she -could attach the cord to her electric iron and press the costume well -enough. - -Sidney, who was accustomed to be waited on, thanked Fleta, however, -very sincerely. She had found the sash and some other little -accompaniments and was ready to slip right into the newly pressed -garments. It had taken scarcely half an hour from the time when she -and Fleta had left the parlors. Sidney quite enjoyed one feature of -wearing a different costume, that of deceiving her other suite-mates, -for they all dressed together. - -“Where is Sidney?” Irma inquired of Edith. - -“I don’t know. There’s Fleta. Ask her.” - -“What has become of Sidney, Fleta? I haven’t seen a thing of her since -that cat performance. Do you suppose that she hated it to have made a -costume so like that of the witch?” - -“Yes, she did, but she got over it. She’s somewhere around. I persuaded -her to come back.” - -“Oh, she did run off, then!” - -“Yes. Better let her say the first word about it.” - -“Yes, indeed. I know Sidney too well to make any uncalled for remarks!” - -Great was the surprise, when the masks came off, just before the -Supper, and Sidney was found by her suite-mates in Turkish garb. -Shirley, also, was asked many times if she had led the Cat Brigade; but -she explained as best she could, and it was all made clear when she was -announced as the winner of the first prize, and as “having the costume -which is considered the most original. It gave the idea, also, for -the freshman stunt and was worn by the freshman witch in the cleverly -performed drill. Miss Shirley is the composer of the song which they -sang.” - -The “banquet,” served early enough, it was hoped, not to upset the -young ladies, and simple enough to ward off all criticism, was funny -chiefly in its decorations, place cards and the names of dishes upon -the menu cards. It was too bad that there should be any one not able to -throw herself entirely into the enjoyment of the evening. But Shirley -was too tired, after her strenuous efforts of the day, to throw off -altogether the unpleasant impressions made by Sidney’s remarks, which -she had overheard. - -Madge noticed how quiet she was, but laid it to her being tired. As -they went into their room, after all the fun was over, Madge said, “I -hope you didn’t mind what Sidney said that time about ‘Mother Goose -stuff.’ Your song and the way the freshmen sang it nearly made me -double up laughing, and to think you won the prize makes me swell with -pride to have such a room-mate.” - -“Nonsense! I’d think you’d be ashamed of me for the style of literature -that I produced, to say nothing of that tune.” - -“It was as funny as the words, and the jazz was thrown in by the piano -and violin. The queerest thing, Shirley, was that as I looked back, out -of the corner of my eye when Sidney’s voice spoke so near us, I found -that she was wearing the witch costume, the one with the yellow cat. -You can imagine how surprised I was to see Sidney as a Turkish lady, -after masks were off.” - -“I knew that Sidney was the yellow cat witch, Madge, for I heard Fleta -talking to her when they left the room. I happened to be near her again -when I went out to change my costume. I watched to see if she would -come back, and she didn’t come for so long that I gave her up. Then I -found her later, or the costume that I imagined was the one they had -spoken about. I felt worried, for some reason.” - -“Sidney is sort of peevish about things lately, Caroline says.” - -“Perhaps it is my being here. I’m sorry; but it doesn’t seem to be -possible to help it.” - -“You are a little too bright at your lessons and too influential -yourself Shirley, to please Sidney, who is used to being the center of -things. That is my private opinion.” - -“I don’t care for any particular influence, Madge, but of course I -do care for standing well in my classes. I’ll try to keep off of -committees after this.” - -“You must do nothing of the kind. It isn’t fair.” - -“Yes, it is Madge, because all I want is to have good reports for my -father and mother and to enjoy as much of the good times with you girls -as I have time for.” - -“You are too capable, Shirley. You can’t get out of things like that.” - -The next morning Shirley, going upstairs, met Sidney coming down; but -instead of the usual courteous greeting from Sidney, she passed with -her head in the air and without looking at Shirley. Shirley frowned -thoughtfully and went on to her room. Was Sidney blaming her for the -costume affair? - -At her first opportunity, she reported the cut to Madge and asked -if she could tell Caroline to come to their room after classes at -noon. “There is no need of Sidney Thorne’s taking such an attitude -toward me,” Shirley said. “I shall go to her to-day and ask her what -the trouble is, apologize, if I have done anything, or receive her -explanation. I do not think that she is the sort of a girl who would -refuse one.” - -Shirley repeated to Madge what she had overheard and asked Madge if it -would be best to repeat it to Caroline. - -“No, Shirley,” said Madge. “Of course, you want to get at the bottom of -this, but it will only make Caroline mad to tell her what Sidney said, -when Sid was out of patience, too. We’ll just ask Caroline if she knows -how it happened that Sidney wore the witch suit.” - -Shirley agreed with Madge that this would be the best course. The less -trouble stirred up the better. But Shirley was surprised to realize how -it troubled her to have a misunderstanding with Sidney. - -Before lunch, Caroline, with her arms full of books, rushed in on -her way from class. A little tap on the door was all that announced -her arrival, and she pushed the door open without waiting for an -invitation. “Hello, Cad,” said Madge. “I waited for you, till I saw -that you were going to be too long.” - -“Yes, I thought that Miss Gibson would never let me go. Here are all -the books that I have to read for my essay on--what is it that I have -to write about?” Caroline with a look of pretended ignorance, consulted -a large sheet of paper filled with notes. - -“Never mind that,” laughed Madge. “We want to ask you how it happened -that Sidney wore the yellow cat witch costume? Do you know anything -about it? Has Hope said anything, or any of the Double Three?” - -“What makes you think that I know anything about what Sidney wore? -_Did_ she _really_ do that? That certainly is a joke on her!” Caroline -was so absorbed in the idea that she forgot to push the question why -they thought she would know about it. - -“I wonder if what I said to Hope was at the bottom of it. We girls -were talking about costumes for the party and I said that the cutest -costume I had ever seen was a witch’s costume with cats painted on -it. Remember, Madge? You had shown me Shirley’s costume, and began to -tell about the big eyes in the head in front and the big cat ready -to spring that was between the shoulders. Hope said that Sidney was -uncertain about her costume, and I started to say that the costume I -was describing had better not be copied, but some one broke in with -something so funny that we all laughed and I forgot all about what I -had said. But Sidney wore a Turkish costume when we unmasked.” - -“Yes, but that was after the Cat Brigade. She was in the senior stunt -as a witch, you remember. Don’t you remember what an impression the -yellow cat made?” - -“No, Madge,” said Shirley. “That was not Sidney. She must have done -what I did; for she wouldn’t do anything, you remember, in the Senior -stunt.” - -“That is so. I had forgotten. Some one just wore her costume to save -making another witch costume. Mercy, how mixed up everything was!” - -“All the better for a costume party, Madge,” said Caroline. “But what -is the trouble? Why do you want to know about it?” - -“Oh, just because Sidney cut Shirley this morning, and Shirley thinks -that it must have something to do with the costumes that were so much -alike.” - -“Whew! Wouldn’t Sidney _speak_ to you, Shirley? Are you sure?” - -“I met her, by myself, and I was by myself. But it is not fatal, -Caroline, and I would not pay any attention to it, except that with a -girl like Sidney there must be some reason for it. She must think that -I have done something. Please do not speak of the cut. I did not mean -to have Madge mention it.” - -“I’m perfectly safe, Shirley. I’ll speak to Hope about the costume. She -need not know how _I_ know that Sidney wore it. She does not room with -Sidney, but as a member of the Double Three she probably knew what all -of them were going to wear.” - -“I’d appreciate it, Caroline,” said Shirley. “I am going to see Sidney -to-night anyhow and ask if I have offended her, but if I had some idea -of how I have happened to do so, it would help.” - -“Yes, it would. I’ll see Hope some time this afternoon, Shirley, and -report before dinner.” Caroline ran out with her books, while Madge and -Shirley started out on their way downstairs, for it was nearly time for -the gong. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -“MUCH ADO.” - - -“Yes, Irma,” said Sidney, sitting in the study shortly after dinner. -“Considering the fact that there were about half a dozen witch costumes -last night, the decision of the judges that Shirley Harcourt’s costume -was the most original was nothing short of ridiculous. But that would -not annoy me at all. What I feel provoked about is that those girls -so evidently made it up to get me to wear the same sort of suit that -Shirley did. I couldn’t get much out of Hope, when I asked her again -about it; but she certainly told me that Caroline described a costume -that would be just the thing for me!” - -“I can scarcely believe it, Sidney. Shirley Harcourt is not that sort -of a girl; and if Caroline suggested it, I don’t see that it involves -Shirley at all.” - -“Oh, all right, Irma. But I think what I think. My, how cold it is -tonight! I wanted to go down to the lake, but there is frost in the air -and the wind is unpleasant.” - -“You must be taking cold, Sidney. I was out and did not notice it at -all.” - -A light knock came at the door of the study. Irma went to the door and -opening it, found Shirley Harcourt there. “Why, how do you do, Shirley; -come in,” Irma said. - -Soberly Shirley entered with a return of Irma’s greeting. Hesitant she -stood within the room, seeing the girl in the pretty, blue negligé, -who sat on the other side of a central table. Sidney had just had time -to turn her back before Shirley came in. “I wanted to speak to Sidney -Thorne just a moment, Irma,” Shirley continued. “I had reason to think -this morning that I had offended her and I want to ask her what is -the matter. I am very willing to apologize, if I have done anything, -without knowing it.” - -Shirley paused and looked at the shining hair, one well-shaped ear, and -a cheek fair and pink with only the natural tints of youth. But Sidney -made no move. - -Irma stood quietly. She knew that it must have taken an effort on -Shirley’s part to say that she was willing to apologize. But Sidney, -listening, thought that Shirley knew well enough. She had not yet been -addressed. She would not turn around until she was. - -Shirley looked at Irma, but Irma, puzzled and annoyed, did not know -what to do. She started to speak and then stopped, and Shirley, wishing -that she had not come, smiled at Irma as she opened the door again, -stepping outside. “It was a mistake to come, I see,” said Shirley. -“Thank you, Irma; good night.” - -Irma closed the door and without a word to Sidney went into the bedroom -which she and Edith occupied. There she moved around for some time -before coming into the study again. Taking the same chair by the table -which she had occupied before Shirley knocked, she resumed her study. -With the ringing of the gong for study hours to begin, Fleta and Edith -came in, full of life, hoping that they didn’t interrupt, but it was -most important to tell the latest news, that the “Water Nymph” was -going to be married at the Christmas Holidays. - -It was a relief to Irma when they came. She was not enjoying her silent -companion, though silence was better than speech if speech should -take up the subject of the call. But Sidney knew that for once in her -life, at least, she had been discourteous. Of that Irma very likely -disapproved. She would say nothing. It was a relief to her, as well, -when the other girls joined them. - -Shirley had found that Hope had little recollection of what she had -said to Sidney. “Why, Caroline,” she replied to Caroline’s questions, -“I was trying to help Sidney about her decision. I remembered your -describing a cute one, and I had the impression that it was one you had -seen somewhere. I knew that you were wearing something else. So I told -Sidney about the painted cats. Mercy, what have I done? I never even -thought of it that night, for we had witches in the senior stunt and I -supposed that it was Sidney’s idea, though I did hear her say that she -would not have a part in the performance.” - -“It’s just that Sidney may think Shirley had some hand in it. I only -want to let _you_ know that Shirley did not _even_ know that Madge had -_shown_ me the costume when she did.” - -“If you want me to say something to Sidney,--” Hope began. - -“Not yet, Hope, and perhaps not at all. Haven’t you heard Sidney say a -_word_?” - -“I have scarcely seen Sidney at all. I can’t quite understand,--did you -say that Sidney has been _blaming_ you girls for her having something -just like Shirley’s?” - -“Hope, you dear little goose! You are too broad-minded yourself to take -all this in. Just keep quiet about it. If we call you in as witness, -tell the truth!” - -“I certainly can do that, Cad. I wish that Sidney weren’t quite so -proud.” - -“Sid would not be herself if she were not proud. What a pity that we -can’t all be Standishes of New England!” - -“You are a sad case, Cad Scott,” laughed Hope. “Good luck to you.” - -So it came about that Shirley decided to go directly to Sidney,--with -the embarrassing results. Had she persisted, it is most likely that -Sidney would have entered into conversation with her. But Shirley’s -pride came in there. It had been hard to go to Sidney’s room. She could -not stay where she was not wanted. Thinking about it, she concluded -that it was, as Madge said, “much ado about nothing.” “Just go right -on, Shirley. If Sidney is mad about anything, you have shown that you -are ready to make it right. That is enough. If it were any other girl -than Sid you would not care. I believe that you are twins!” - -Shirley laughed. “It isn’t my way to let things go, unless I’m sure -that the other side is altogether unjust. But I can’t help myself, it -seems. We’ll drop it.” Within herself Shirley decided not to avoid -Sidney, to speak if the opportunity given, but to go right along as -usual. - -Shirley’s other school-mates were more friendly than ever after -the masked party. Without trying, Shirley was taking a position of -influence among the girls. She was consulted and sought. She joined one -or two clubs, but worked busily at her lessons, encouraged often by -the warm letters from her mother. Her father was too busy to do more -than to scribble a few lines of affection and advice upon her mother’s -letters. - -In one of Miss Dudley’s letters she asked, “Have you remembered, -Shirley, that you were born in Chicago? I don’t know that we have -thought of it in connection with your going to school so near the city. -Your father was getting another degree at Chicago University, and your -mother was with your grandmother and me in a house that we had rented -for a while in Glencoe,--a very attractive suburb,--you must stop off -and see it some time.” - -To this Shirley wrote, “If I’ve ever been told that I was born anywhere -else than at ‘home,’ I have forgotten it. I can’t say that I am pleased -to hear it particularly, though it does not matter so much where a -body was born, I guess, as who--whom she was born to! I’m certainly -glad that I belong to your family, Auntie. Can’t you come on at the -Holidays to see me?” - -But Miss Dudley could not manage it. The fact was that she was taking -every spare cent to meet the expenses for her niece, though she had -indulged in an economical summer vacation. She would not tell Shirley -this. Let Shirley think that Auntie had plenty. - -As the first term speeded to its close, Caroline had several -conferences with Hope Holland relative to Shirley, who was expecting to -spend the vacation at the school with several other pupils, for whose -benefit it would not be closed. Hope wanted Shirley at her home, but so -did Caroline, and the fact that Hope belonged to the Double Three made -it embarrassing. - -“I don’t have to go over to Sidney’s all the time,” she said. “We see -each other all the time at school and Mother and Father and the boys -will want me there. I suppose I’ll have to go to Sidney’s parties,--not -that they will not be fine, as they always are, but I don’t see why I -should not invite Shirley.” - -“If you do, Sidney will never get over it. I’ll tell you. You let _me_ -invite Shirley and have her _part_ of the time. Then when you are not -in anything with the Double Three, or entertaining them yourself, she -can be with you.” - -“If I have a party,” said Hope, with determination, “if I have a -party,” she repeated, “and Shirley is in Chicago, she will be invited. -Sidney can have a headache if she does not want to come!” - -“Well, then, may I have Shirley?” - -“Yes, on those conditions, that I have her part of the time, to stay -all night, you know.” - -“All right. We’ll not quarrel, Hope. Shirley is such a big-hearted and -broad-minded girl, like yourself, Hope, that I couldn’t be jealous of -either of you if I tried.” - -“That is because you are nice yourself, Cad, my dear.” - -All of this was not imparted to Shirley. But she knew that she was -invited by both Caroline and Hope, and after a letter of permission -from her great-aunt, Miss Dudley, she accepted her invitations very -happily. When she heard that the Double Three were having a house party -at Sidney’s, she wondered about how things would be managed; for she -“felt it in her bones” that Sidney would not invite her to her home, -and she knew that Hope was a “Double Three.” But Shirley said nothing. -That could be handled by her hostesses, she knew. She would go and have -a wonderful time. - -It had happened that Sidney’s parents had not driven to the school -that fall. It was Sidney’s second year. They were accustomed to the -separation as well as she. She spent one or two week ends in Chicago, -as well as the Thanksgiving vacation. Early in the year, also, Sidney -had asked Hope and Caroline not to speak of the strange resemblance -between Sidney and the then “new girl.” “If you write home about it, -Father and Mother will hear of it, and it will not strike them very -pleasantly I am sure,” said Sidney. And after some consideration Hope -and Caroline had promised, though Caroline had said, “We’ll not say -anything now, shall we, Hope? But if our parents ever do see Shirley -or hear about her, don’t flatter yourself, Sid, that we can muzzle our -fathers. Our mothers might hesitate to say anything, but if I know Dad, -he would be just as likely as not to mention it.” - -“I suppose he would,” said Sidney, with a look and tone that made -Caroline want to resort to “primitive measures,” she told Hope. “If we -had been about six years old, Hope,” she said, “I would have slapped -Sidney Thorne and not regretted it.” - -“Tut-tut, Caroline,” laughed Hope. “It’s a primitive society, indeed, -that can’t control its angry passions.” - -None of the girls had forgotten all this, and now Hope and Caroline -expected to enjoy the surprise of their respective families upon their -first sight of Shirley. “You will not mind, will you, Shirley, if -anybody takes you for Sidney?” Caroline asked. - -“I am used to it by this time,” said Shirley, “and _this_ time I shall -know why Chicago people, or some of them, think that they know me.” - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -AN ACCIDENTAL MEETING. - - -Long since Sidney Thorne had spoken to Shirley, for she found out that -her suspicions of an intent to embarrass her were entirely unfounded. -Her manner toward Shirley had not even been unfriendly for some time -but when she found that Shirley was going to Chicago as the guest of -Caroline, she was almost indignant. The girls knew that it would be -embarrassing for her. Why did they invite Shirley? Now, unless she -wanted to have complications arise, she could not invite Shirley to the -affairs that she wanted to have for the Double Three. Well, she would -just _leave_ Shirley out, if she did come from the same school. You did -not have to be intimate with everybody! - -Such was Sidney’s attitude. Shirley thought of it, too, and felt -rather sorry for Sidney, supposing, of course, that Sidney wanted to -be courteous, as she had always been except on that one occasion, -which had never been explained between them. But it would not affect -Shirley’s good time in the least. - -The Double Threes had gone on ahead, leaving on the first train, with -the exception of Hope Holland, who waited for Caroline and Shirley, -the three preferring to go by themselves, though it was only a tacit -understanding among them. - -How jolly it was to have no lessons and to be facing the best vacation -of the year in thrills and Christmas festivities. Shirley’s winter coat -was all that could be desired, and she was to buy a new hat in Chicago, -though the hat which she had brought, with her coat, was becoming and -still good. Sidney would have no reason to be ashamed of her double. - -Cards from Hope and Caroline had warned their families of showing too -much surprise at a remarkable resemblance between Shirley Harcourt and -Sidney Thorne. As a result, while they were almost startled, in spite -of the warning, there was to be no embarrassing moment for Shirley. - -She was to go first to Hope’s; but at the station two cars met the -girls, one from each household. Mr. Scott reached them first and was -introduced to Shirley. “I have met you once before, Mr. Scott,” said -Shirley after shaking hands. - -“Why, when, my child?” asked kindly Mr. Scott. - -“Last summer, when I was in Chicago for a few days. You came up to me -in a hotel and shook hands with me. I thought it was some graduate of -our university, till you told me that Mrs. Scott and the girls had gone -up to Wisconsin and assumed that I knew about it.” - -“Then it was you instead of Sidney!” laughed Mr. Scott. “I remember -that I was puzzled, for Sidney was supposed to have left the city some -time before.” - -But here came two youths hurrying across through the crowd to them. -“Hello, Hope. How do you do, Mr. Scott? Caroline, how you’ve grown! -Isn’t that always the thing to say to returning children?” The taller -of the two boys was shaking hands with Caroline, after this speech, and -put an arm around Hope, as he waited to be introduced to her friend. - -In a moment Shirley found herself in a handsome car, sitting behind -with Hope, while the two young men sat in front, the older one driving -skilfully through the traffic of Chicago. “Little did I think, Hope,” -said Shirley, “when I was here last summer, or even last fall on the -way to school, that at Christmastime I’d be back to visit with a dear -girl like you.” - -“I want you many more times, Shirley. I’m sorry that Madge had to go -home, but after all, it’s nice to have you to ourselves. Some way, -people get to loving you, Shirley, did you know that?” - -“No I didn’t,” laughed Shirley. “I think that it’s ‘your imagination -and a beautiful dream,’ as Auntie is fond of saying.” - -“You did not know that I had such big brothers, did you? I told them -all about you, though. I have one more, and no sisters at all.” - -Shirley looked at the two young men in front of her, used to the ways -of the city, capable, interesting. Mac, who was driving, looked not -in the least like Hope, though he had her serious look when his face -was in repose, as now. Good, clear features marked the profile that -Shirley saw. His face was rather thin and the hands on the wheel were -well-shaped. Ted, the other brother, was not as tall as Mac, but looked -as old; his eyes and the shape of his face were like Hope. - -“They look as if they were the same age, don’t they?” asked Hope. “Ted -is not quite a year older than I am, and Mac is just a year older than -Ted. We were all little together and my, how Mother ever stood our -playing and fussing I don’t know. Kenneth is fourteen, only three years -younger than I am, but he is somewhat spoiled as the ‘baby’ of the -family.” - -It was pleasant to be welcomed into the beautiful home of the Hollands. -Shirley shared Hope’s room and thought it “lovely;” but Hope said that -they were selling the house soon and would move into a suburb farther -out. - -Shirley knew little about changes in a city and these things did -not concern her. Immediately she entered upon one happy event after -another. Mac, so full of fun, yet so serious upon occasion, took a -great fancy to Shirley and saw that she missed nothing. When she went -to Caroline’s just before Christmas Day, Mac did not desert her, but -drove over, with gifts from the Hollands, while Caroline said that she -never had so much attention in her life as now from the Holland boys -and their friends. Shirley did not even know that Sidney had had a -great party for the Double Three, for Hope was over early that evening -and went to Sidney’s late, in plenty of time for this event. Caroline -sent regrets because of a previous engagement, which was an evening -with Mac and one of his friends. - -“I thought that you were like Sidney at first,” said Mac, “but I’d -never confuse you two after a good look, Shirley. Sidney is a fine girl -and she may learn a few things about people after a while; but you have -a different viewpoint and it makes you sweeter.” - -“Why, that is nice of you to say,” said the surprised Shirley, “but I -didn’t know that you were so--,” she paused for a word and Mac said, -“‘observing,’ isn’t it?” - -“No; that would be admitting that you are right.” - -“Analytical, then, or philosophical. Remember that I am going to -college!” - -“Oh, you ought to know Dick. He is in our university at home, the one -where my father teaches.” There, it was out. Shirley had changed her -mind about not speaking of her wonderful father. - -“Is your father a university professor? That explains it, then.” Mac -looked as if he would like to go on, but was not sure whether he dared -or not. - -“What it explains I don’t know,” laughed Shirley, “but so far as Dad -is concerned, he is mighty fine, even if he never has much money and -puts it into his line of work or gives it back to the college. And he’s -always doing things in one way or another for his students.” - -“That is about what I was going to say, Shirley, doing big things on -next to nothing. The reason I know anything about it is that we have a -friend like that. But who’s Dick? Her best college friend? Don’t tell -me that I have to label you ‘Taken!’” - -“I don’t know what to make of you, Mac. Ought I to be offended? You are -so funny that I can’t be. No; Dick is my cousin and I’m going to bring -him up for the Prom to meet our girls. I told him not to have too much -of a college ‘case’ till he saw them.” - -“I tell you what would be delightful to do,” said Mac. They were -sitting together on a hall seat at the Hollands, while they waited for -Hope, who had gone upstairs after her gloves which were missing. Mac -was to drive them to Caroline’s. - -“There are other young men who would be interested in being entertained -by some charming damsel other than their sisters.” Mac paused and -looked meaningly at Shirley. “Why not arrange for Dick with, say, the -sister of one of said young men, or one of her other friends?” - -“It would be possible, even if Dick came as my guest,” said Shirley, -“for me to see something of, well, any of ‘said young men.’” - -“How dearly I love my sister, only time will prove,” said Mac, rising -and taking hold of Hope on the lowest step. Hope looked suspiciously at -her brother, stopping in her descent. - -“What now, Malcolm?” she said, severely, but breaking out into her own -cheery smile as she looked at the laughing Shirley. “Such displays of -affection usually mean something, Shirley,” Hope continued, “but I’ll -do almost anything for you, Mac, for taking us around the way you are -doing.” - -“I am always willing to sacrifice myself for my only sister,” asserted -Mac, with a perfectly serious face. But Mac Holland did not keep up -his joking about the Prom or indulge in any personal remarks after -this, and Shirley liked him all the better when he was his normal self, -full of fun, to be sure, but with something better than that about -him. He saw that Shirley and his sister heard some of the holiday -entertainments that Chicago can supply, quietly taking care of them in -a gentlemanly way. - -The girls had two weeks’ vacation, which they enjoyed to the full. -After Shirley had visited with Caroline, she came back to Hope, -yielding to many urgings, for Mr. and Mrs. Holland liked Shirley. There -were only a few occasions on which Shirley met people who took her for -Sidney Thorne; but Hope repeated a remark that had been made to Mac. -“‘I did not know that you knew Sidney Thorne so well, Mac, and went -around with her so much,’ somebody said to Mac the other day, Shirley,” -said Hope. “And Mac never explained at all!” - -It was not until toward the last of her stay in Chicago that Shirley -met any one connected with Sidney. As the girls had told Sidney, they -could not muzzle their fathers. Mr. Scott, in particular, Caroline made -no attempt to caution. Why should she? Sidney might just as well let -her father and mother know about the lovely girl that looked like her. -It happened, then, that Mr. Scott said to Mr. Thorne, “Odd, Thorne, but -my daughter brought home from school a young girl who looks enough like -your daughter to be her twin.” - -“There are close resemblances sometimes, I suppose,” returned Mr. -Thorne, who was preoccupied with the bonds about which he had come to -the bank. - -“But this isn’t any ordinary close resemblance, Thorne. Did you ever -have any relatives named Harcourt?” - -“None that I ever heard of. Say Scott, I’ll drop in tomorrow to see -if you have gotten hold of what I want beside these. Regards to your -wife. Mine is happy these holidays with her daughter from school. Good -morning.” - -That very afternoon the incident occurred which brought Shirley to -the notice of Sidney’s father, a surprising experience. The Holland -chauffeur, who had little to do when the Holland boys were at home, had -taken the girls to do some shopping. It was Shirley’s last opportunity -to make such purchases as she needed before going back to school. They -had run across Caroline, who accompanied them when Shirley went to have -a dress tried on, one which she had seen before but just decided to -buy. Some alterations were to be made and when Shirley saw how Hope -looked as she sat waiting she suggested that the girls need not wait -for her. “You have a headache, Hope, I know, and I shall have to wait -a little while. Go on home, do. I can come by street car. I know right -where to go, for Mac told me one time, for fear I might get lost.” - -Caroline looked at Hope. “Yes, Hope, you are half sick; but I tell you -what we’ll do. I’ll take you home, and Hope can tell her chauffeur to -wait for Shirley. Shirley knows where the car is parked. I’d have to -leave you in a minute anyhow, because I told Mother that I’d be right -back, and she will be through her shopping by this time.” - -So it was arranged, and Hope was glad to go with Caroline. Shirley did -not have very long to wait, not as long as she had expected. Hurrying -from the store, she mistook direction and had a great hunt for the -car. At last she saw it, smooth and shining, and with a sigh of relief -she approached it, entering it without waiting for the chauffeur, whom -she saw standing at a little distance in conversation with some other -man. Shirley sank back against the cushions in relief. Her dress was a -pretty one and would be sent to her at the school. Her other packages -would be delivered at the Hollands’. What luxury this was. Could this -be Shirley, ready to say, “Home, James?” - -The chauffeur, whom Shirley had scarcely noticed before, apologized for -not being there to open the door, which Shirley had found unlocked. -“I was only a short distance away,” said the man, “but I saw a man -that--,” but the chauffeur was busy with getting his car out into the -street successfully and Shirley lost the rest. She closed her eyes and -leaned back again. They had not taken time even for some ice-cream and -she was really hungry. Ho for the good dinner waiting at the Hollands’! - -Shirley was almost ready to doze off, for traffic in Chicago disturbed -her no more, when the car stopped at a curb, to let a fine-looking man -of middle age enter. Shirley looked up with surprise. Perhaps this -was some guest,--but it was funny that Hope had not mentioned it. -The gentleman was dressed in unobtrusive but the finest of business -outfit,--clothes, tie, shoes, the heavy, handsome overcoat and the -well-fitting hat. - -He, too, leaned back as if tired. “You may go home now,” he said to the -chauffeur. - -Shirley sat up, startled. Who was this? She turned and started to say -something, but the gentleman looked at her and said, “What is the -matter, Sidney? Have you forgotten something? I see that you left your -fur coat to be fixed, but I hope that you will not take cold in that -one.” - -Shirley ceased to be startled when she heard herself addressed as -Sidney. By some mistake she had gotten into the Thorne car and this was -Mr. Thorne! She smiled and said, “I see that I have made a mistake. I -am not Sidney, Mr. Thorne, I am Shirley Harcourt. Hasn’t Sidney told -you about me?” - -“Do you mean to say that you are not Sidney? Why, Sidney, child, you -are just joking!” Mr. Thorne looked scarcely puzzled. - -“Well, I don’t know how to convince you, but poor Sidney must be -somewhere wondering what became of her car. I thought that this one -was the Holland car that was to take me home. I should have known the -chauffeur, but the boys have driven us around most of the time. I am -visiting at the Holland home, and I go to the same school that your -daughter attends.” - -Mr. Thorne was sitting forward now, looking seriously at Shirley. The -chauffeur was looking back occasionally, as much as he dared. “I seen -that she had different clothes on,” he said, and was answered only by a -sharp glance from Mr. Thorne. But the reproving look was quite wasted. - -“I was quite deceived,” said Mr. Thorne. “My friend, Mr. Scott, told -me only this morning that a young girl who resembled my daughter was -visiting his daughter from the school.” - -“Yes, sir. I visited Caroline part of the time. Caroline, Hope and I -have been together nearly all the time.” - -Mr. Thorne then directed the chauffeur to go back to the place where -he had parked the car to wait for Sidney. Meantime, he exerted himself -to put Shirley at her ease. “I do not wonder that you mistook the car. -Holland has one almost like it, perhaps exactly like it, though I never -thought about it. Tell me a little about yourself Miss Shirley. Where -do you live?” - -Under Mr. Thorne’s kindly look Shirley found herself telling as she -had told no one but the Holland family, about her home, her father and -mother, the university and her one year at the girls’ school. - -“Has it been a happy one so far?” asked Mr. Thorne kindly. He looked -at her so thoughtfully and with so much interest that Shirley felt -comforted some way. Here was one who did not resent her looking like -Sidney. - -“Not altogether,” Shirley frankly told him, “but it was all new, and -with my father and mother so far away I have been a little bit lonely -once in a while, but not very often, for there is always so much to -do.” - -“Has the close resemblance between yourself and my daughter made any -complications?” - -“A few, but nothing serious,” smiled Shirley. No one should criticise -Shirley from anything she might say here in Chicago. - -When they arrived at the place from which Shirley had started, Sidney -and her mother could be seen, coming from the entrance of the store -where Shirley had shopped. “Oh, I hope that they have not waited!” -exclaimed Shirley. - -“If they have it is not your fault.” - -“I’m afraid it is.” - -Mr. Thorne helped Shirley out and drew her with him to meet his wife -and Sidney. “I will take you to find the other car,” he said. “You must -be safely started to the right place this time.” - -It was a curious meeting. Sidney’s face was flaming, and Mrs. -Thorne’s was full of amazement. “Mother,” said Mr. Thorne, “this -is Miss Harcourt, who attends school with Sidney. I ran across her -accidentally. Have you been waiting for the car?” - -“No,” replied Mrs. Thorne, after saying a few words to Shirley and -extending her daintily gloved hand from her furs. “We have only now -finished. Sidney expected to go home alone, for I intended to join one -of the ladies for tea at the club.” - -“That accounts for Carl’s expecting only Sidney in the car, then.” - -Mr. Thorne was watching the two girls, who had pleasantly exchanged -greetings as school girls would. He gave his wife a long look, then -said that he must find the Holland car for Shirley. “I will be back in -a moment,” said he. “Come, Miss Harcourt; no telling where your car may -be parked by this time, but the chauffeur is doubtless on the lookout -for you.” - -“I am sorry, Mother,” said Sidney, as the two entered their own car, -“that I did not tell you before about Shirley Harcourt. But I thought -that it might annoy you as it annoyed me to have some one else look so -much like me.” - -“It was startling,” replied Mrs. Thorne. “It is strange, too, that -she happened to attend the same school. I am afraid that you have not -enjoyed your term. Would you prefer to go somewhere else?” - -“Perhaps,” said Sidney, “but Father will want me to get my certificate -there, I think.” - -To Mr. Thorne, when he joined them, Sidney again apologized prettily -for not having told them of Shirley. “I am wondering how you happened -to meet her, Father,” she said. - -Mr. Thorne related the circumstances and seemed to be surprised at -Sidney’s rather critical attitude, when she said that Shirley “might -have known the difference in cars and chauffeurs.” - -“It was merely a mistake, Sidney. You might almost as well say that -Carl ought not to have mistaken her for you. I found Miss Harcourt a -very charming young girl. She told me of her father when I inquired. He -is abroad on some archæalogical expedition this year. I fancy that he -is rather a big man in his line.” - -Then Mr. Thorne changed the topic and Sidney was relieved to find that -her parents did not pursue the subject of the resemblance. - -Mr. Thorne’s explanation of a delay satisfied the waiting chauffeur, -who drove home as rapidly as the traffic would permit after Shirley was -safely deposited in the car. It had not been so long after all, since -Shirley’s wait in the store had been shorter than she had expected. -Nevertheless, she found that Hope had been uneasy. - -“I believe that you are ‘psychic,’ Hope,” joked Shirley, “but my -double, that ought to be where I am concerned, if she is so like me, is -not even interested.” - -“You are mistaken, Shirley. Sidney is attracted to you, but fights it.” - -“I wonder if you are right,” mused Shirley. - -“Sidney can’t _share_ anything,--not even looks!” - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -SIDNEY’S “GHOST.” - - -About lunchtime the next day, Mrs. Holland answered the telephone to -find Mr. Thorne on the line. After some preliminary conversation, he -came to the point of his message. “I called you to inquire about Hope -and her guest. We were so interested yesterday in meeting the young -lady who looks so much like Sidney, that Mrs. Thorne and I would like -to meet her again. Sidney’s guests left yesterday and we have just seen -Sidney off; but if your girls are not going till later, could we not -have them for dinner. I seem to remember that Miss Harcourt spoke of -its being doubtful about her leaving till late to-day. Mrs. Thorne is -right here and she will speak to you when I am through.” - -“Thank you Mr. Thorne; the girls may not get off until to-morrow -morning. Hope is wretched and I am not sure whether it is too much -Christmas holiday excitement or an attack of _la grippe_ coming on. -Shirley says that she will wait to go with her, if she is able, in the -morning. They will scarcely miss anything. Oh, is this Mrs. Thorne now? -How are you, my dear? Yes, Shirley can come,--I will properly present -the invitation,--but Hope is too miserable. Wait a moment, please.” - -Mrs. Holland duly called Shirley, who said that she would be very happy -to go. Mr. Thorne, again at the telephone, said that he would call for -her on his way home. - -“Hope, what have you gotten me in for by being sick?” queried Shirley -of Hope, who was lying in bed, being plied with various remedies at -different intervals. - -“A pleasant acquaintance, I hope, that will make up for Sidney’s -snippiness! Has Caroline gone, do you know?” - -“Yes; I forgot to tell you. She telephoned early and she very likely -took the same train as Sidney. I rather dread going to Sidney’s home, -and what will she think--my being invited after she has gone?” - -“Mr. Thorne evidently wants to see you and perhaps he’d rather have Sid -out of the way, especially if he saw that she feels as she does about -it.” - -“Well, I’ll try to be a ‘good girl!’” - -“I don’t think that they will try to find out about how it went at -school. You might think up some of the mistakes to amuse them, though. -But don’t you imagine that Mr. Thorne wants to see if any relationship -can be traced between the families?” - -“Perhaps.” - -Shirley dressed for dinner early. There was no telling when Mr. -Thorne might come. She was ready to slip on coat, hat and furs when -the chauffeur rang the bell. Soon she was in the car which she had so -mistaken yesterday and in conversation with Mr. Thorne, who looked at -her in puzzled but kindly fashion. “Even your voice, Miss Shirley, is -like my daughter’s. Wearing her clothes, you might utterly deceive me -if you tried.” - -“I shall not try, Mr. Thorne; but you would find differences, if you -were with me for any length of time. Try to find them this time; I -shall not mind.” - -“What I thought, that I might find is some common ancestor who may -account for this,” smiled Mr. Thorne. “You must tell us all about your -family and I want Mrs. Thorne to hear it. Now you must tell me how you -like Chicago. Have you been up in our sky-scrapers, and have you seen -the other features that we can furnish?” - -“I did most of that last summer, when I was here. It was a better time -than the winter, though the weather has been better than usual, Mrs. -Holland says, for the ‘Windy City.’” - -It was a curious experience for Shirley. She found Sidney’s home -more beautiful and luxurious than that of the Hollands. Mrs. Thorne -was charmingly gracious, as puzzled as her husband, and even more -interested in affairs of Shirley’s family. Served by the butler at -the table, Shirley tried not to make any mistakes, for the sake of -her mother, whose household was conducted just as daintily, but by -necessity, much more simply. - -“Yes,” said Shirley, when asked about her ancestry, “my aunt, Miss -Dudley, takes a great interest in those things. She says that we -are descended from Governor Thomas Dudley, the second governor of -Massachusetts, and that ’way back we came from William the Conqueror. -That is on Mother’s side, and I think she said Harcourt was a name in -the line, too.” - -“Why, my dear,” said Mrs. Thorne to her husband, “Aunt Abby found that -the Thornes are descended from William the Conqueror through Mary -Thorne, who was the mother of Susanna Thorne; and Susanna Thorne, if I -remember correctly, was the mother of Governor Dudley.” - -Mrs. Thorne sent a maid for a certain book in the library which -contained the proper authority for her statement, together with a -paper on which Miss Standish, who was “Aunt Abby,” Shirley found, had -recorded the Standish and Thorne lines. So Sidney had been brought up -on this! - -“My aunt,” said Mrs. Thorne, “is very proud of our Standish line and -has made Sidney think more of that than of her father’s, especially as -he makes fun of it all. Here is your Dudley motto, Shirley: ‘Nec gladio -nec arcu.’ Can you translate it?” - -“Neither by sword nor by bow,” quickly said Shirley. - -“She is the daughter of a Latin professor, my dear. Well, I think that -we have discovered a common ancestry for the two girls. Do you suppose -that this style of beauty breaks out occasionally during the centuries?” - -Mr. Thorne was laughing as he spoke, but Mrs. Thorne was quite serious -when she said that it could be accounted for in no other way. “Take it -up in your club, dear,” said he. “They will settle it!” - -But after Shirley had been again safely delivered at the Holland -residence, Mr. Thorne in his car gave himself to serious reflection. -Shirley, too, was thoughtful. What a queer experience,--to be sent to -Sidney’s room, to see the fine pictures, the handsome rugs, the large -rooms, with all their tasteful furniture and fittings, and to be, in a -sense, in Sidney’s place, temporarily. They were dear people, Sidney’s -father and mother. - -“I almost played Sidney’s ghost, Hope. You don’t know how strange it -seemed to be there, in Sidney’s home, without Sidney. It was odd for -Mr. and Mrs. Thorne, too. But I can see that they wanted to know me and -everything about me. We found that the Thornes are in the same line, -’way back, as the Dudleys, my mother’s people, and Mrs. Thorne thinks -that accounts for our resemblance. But Mr. Thorne did not think so, and -joked her about having her club decide it.” - -Meanwhile Mr. Thorne was saying to his wife that he thought she more -than half believed all the stuff that her aunt, Miss Standish, had -taught Sidney. “You have made a mistake, I am afraid, my dear, to let -Sidney get those ideas. They will make her snobbish,--and perhaps -unhappy.” - -“I never have the heart to stop Auntie, and what is the harm?” - -“This resemblance, little wife, is very odd.” - -“What do you make of it?” - -“Nothing at present.” - -But Sidney’s Ghost went back to school, where busy days waited for both -girls; and Mr. Thorne was plunged into such a rush of affairs, with -some new undertakings in which he was interested, that any importance -attaching in his mind to the fact of Sidney’s having a “double,” was -at least partly erased by more immediately important matters. - -One little fear in the back of Shirley’s consciousness caused her -enough uneasiness to make her write about her latest experiences in -Chicago to her mother. It was after the second term was well started -and followed the first long letter and several cards. It was her first -reference to the resemblance. - -She gave the details of the accidental meeting and of her visit at -Sidney’s home. Then she asked the question. “Mother,” she wrote, “you -don’t suppose that I am anybody’s child but yours, do you? You haven’t -adopted me? I am your child as little Betty used to say ‘by borning?’ -I feel sure that I am, and yet this queer likeness has given me a -miserable doubt, when I let myself get foolish about it. I don’t want -to say anything to Auntie, so I write straight to you. Tell me what you -think, or know, the next time you write, please. - -“Meanwhile, I’ll not worry, for everything about school is going -wonderfully. I’ve written reams, I know; but you had to be told about -the various complications. I like Sidney, in spite of her being such a -proud piece of humanity. Several days after we came back to school she -said to me, going in to class, ‘Why didn’t you tell me that you had -been out to our house?’ I was surprised to find her behind me and I -said, ‘I’d have been glad to if there had been a suitable opportunity.’ -And Sidney flushed up at that, for she had not been near me, and the -only time I ever went to her room to speak to her she was not exactly -hospitable.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -SIDNEY MAKES A DISCOVERY. - - -More and more Shirley grew into the life of the school. Hope Holland -was her most intimate friend, though her room-mate, Madge Whitney, -continued to be a close chum. Dulcie Porter, Hope’s room-mate, was -often with Shirley after the Christmas vacation, and Hope and Dulcie, -it will be remembered, were of the famous Double Three. Caroline Scott, -Betty Terhune, and later, more in class relations, Olive Mason and her -chum, Barbara Sanford, were Shirley’s firm friends. - -Though she was invited by both Hope and Caroline to Chicago for the -spring vacation, Shirley accepted the urgent invitation of Madge and -went with her to a quiet little town on the lake shore in Michigan, -where she met Madge’s friends and had a real rest besides. This was due -largely to Madge’s sensible mother. - -Letters and cards came from Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt, but there was no -reference to Shirley’s question. From different comments Shirley knew -that they had not received that letter, though later news from her was -acknowledged. They had been at that time upon an African expedition -and had returned by a different route than that touching the point -where they had ordered their mail to follow them. In consequence, the -letter was received only just before their sailing for America, having -followed them around as letters to travelers abroad sometimes do. - -Hope, who had never cared much for clothes, blossomed out after the -vacation with some particularly pretty and tasteful frocks, chiefly -hung away, however, during the days of the uniform and the dinners when -the old frocks would do as well. But the time of the spring Prom was -appearing. - -Mac Holland had instructed his sister to arrange that he should be with -Shirley on that occasion and Hope had talked it over with Shirley. The -result was that Dick was to be one of this foursome, as Mac called it, -though Hope insisted that Shirley must introduce Dick to all the girls. -Knowing Dick, Shirley consented to this, and hoped that it would turn -out as it should. - -When Shirley saw Sidney on her return, she was shocked at Sidney’s -white, worn face. “What is the matter with Sidney Thorne?” she asked -Hope. - -“I don’t know. Mrs. Thorne is worried about her, Mother says. She -seemed to get sick all at once, but the doctor says that there is -nothing the matter with her. She does not sleep very well and is -nervous. The doctor gave her something, but Sidney says that she does -not want any medicine. I think that Sidney has changed, too. It is odd.” - -Shirley felt drawn toward the pale, quiet girl who came to classes, -recited well, but without any enthusiasm. No one but Olive now would -be a rival of Shirley’s for highest grades. These easily would be -Shirley’s though her only motive for her hard study was to please her -father by as high marks as possible, rivalry not concerning her at all. - -But Sidney Thorne had during the vacation received a shock from which -she had not been able to recover. Her pillow at home had received many -bitter tears whose traces were carefully removed when necessary. But at -night she usually cried herself into a sleep of exhaustion which left -her merely pale in the mornings and brought much concern to Mr. and -Mrs. Thorne. It would have been better if she had confided her grief to -these dear people who loved her; but she could not bring herself to do -it in the short time that she was at home. Uncomforted, therefore, she -returned to school, struggling to readjust her thoughts, and stricken -in heart. - -The girls asked her what was the matter and the Double Three said that -Sid didn’t “eat enough to keep a bird alive.” The most delicious fudge -did not tempt her. Miss Gibson, “Gibby,” the hated, found Sidney one -afternoon, strolling alone in the farther part of the grove under the -pretence of looking for wild flowers. This was one of the times of -rebellion, when it was all Sidney could do to keep back her tears. -But Miss Gibson was purposely blind to the evidences of trouble and -succeeded in interesting Sidney enough to forget herself. They sat down -on one of the benches which faced the lake while Miss Gibson, talking -away, told Sidney a little of her early struggles for an education. -“But grit carries us through anything,” cheerily Miss Gibson closed -her brief reference, “and I have such a wonderful opportunity here -that I am very happy about it.” With that she left Sidney to her own -reflections, waving to another of the teachers who was passing along -not far away. - -Sidney turned a little to watch Miss Gibson as she went away. She felt -a new sympathy. Why, Gibby probably _needed_ this position, and she -_was_ a good teacher and knew what she was about. How awful if the -girls drove her away! Well, weren’t things mixed up in this old world? -She would do what she could to keep Gibby now! Strange that it takes -a touch of misfortune to teach us what others go through. Sidney had -never known anything but having a home and protection. Helping the poor -was one thing; but to Sidney the unfortunate were a world apart. - -Grit. That was it. Thanks to Gibby for suggesting it. She had not quite -gone to pieces anyway. Sidney had not realized how much of her life -had been built upon what she knew now was not hers. Foundations were -slipping from under her. Little thoughts of pride brought a realization -that they had no root in fact. These were bitter days. But Sidney -kept up her lessons automatically, glad of their thought-compelling -frequency. - -One Saturday the Double Three and some others had gone on a picnic. -Sidney made the excuse of not feeling equal to the jaunt and remained -in her room, glad to be alone. Shirley, as it happened, was alone, too, -Madge had gone with the rest; but Shirley had work to do for Monday. -She, too, had begun the day with a headache, but that had disappeared -by noon and a box of delicious fruit had arrived from her aunt. It was -not the fruit season, but Aunt Anne had found various things, among -them some strawberries which had kept beautifully on the way. - -Shirley hastened to prepare them, but they were too ripe to keep, for -they had come from the South. She thought of the teachers, then of -Sidney. Perhaps they would tempt Sidney’s flagging appetite. While she -opened the package of confectioner’s sugar which her aunt had sent, she -considered. Should she run the risk of disturbing Sidney? Well, why -not? At the worst Sidney could only be inhospitable, and that would not -hurt Shirley in any vital way. - -With a tempting dish of the red berries sprinkled with the white sugar, -Shirley swallowed her hesitation and rapidly walked through the halls -to Sidney’s door. Lightly she rapped, thinking of the last time she had -entered. - -A faint voice said, “Come in.” Shirley opened the door, to see Sidney -through the open door from the study. She was lying on her bed, but -dressed. - -“Oh, excuse me,” said Shirley. “Were you trying to sleep? I’ll run -right away, but my aunt sent me some berries and I thought of you, for -the girls say that you have spring fever, or something and have lost -your appetite.” - -Shirley made her voice as bright as possible, as she put the attractive -dish of berries on the study table. - -“Oh, isn’t that good of you!” said Sidney, in a tone of pleased -surprise. She sat up, saying, “Wait a minute. I don’t want to -sleep,--and I have to make up for being so mean when you were here -once before.” - -Sidney had not expected to say that and Shirley showed her surprise -for a moment. “Oh, there is nothing to make up,” she said. “Aren’t -you a bit well, Sidney? Is there anything that I can do for you?” - -“Nobody can do anything; but I’m really better, a little. I just didn’t -want to go on a picnic. Oh, these are lovely! So many of the berries -that we begin to get early are not ripe. But where are yours? Haven’t -you any for yourself?” - -“Oh, yes, plenty.” - -“Do you mind going to get them, then? Come in to eat them with me. I -have some delicious cookies that Edith had sent her from home. She -_would_ give me some, and I did not want them then.” - -Shirley looked at Sidney to make sure that she really wanted her; she -hurried back to bring a dish of berries for herself and another spoon. -How odd this little lunch was, but how charming Sidney could be. No -wonder that she had been influential in the school. They sat in the -window seat together, while one by one the red berries disappeared, -and the cookies took their place among the things that were. Sidney -looked like a more sober and thinner edition of Shirley. “Wouldn’t a -snap shot of us be funny?” she asked, a smile dawning with the thought. -“Shirley,” she added more soberly, “do you suppose that we could -be--closely--related?” - -“I don’t know, Sidney, though I have thought of it, of course. What do -your parents think, Sidney,--anything at all about it?” - -“Nothing so far as they have said anything to me. But, Shirley, when -I was home on the vacation I found--” Sidney stopped and bit her -lips, while the tears came into her eyes. Shirley leaned over to take -the dish from Sidney’s hand. With hers she deposited it on the table -and returned to the seat beside Sidney. Sidney’s face was in her -handkerchief for a moment, while she tried to recover herself. The -girls had first talked about school matters, but now at last the veil -was dropped between them. - -“Let me tell you about it,” shakily said Sidney, wiping her eyes. -“Daddy was away. He has been away a great deal lately on business. -Mother wanted something out of Dad’s deposit box in the bank, something -that he sent for, and as they had arranged long ago, I could be -permitted to go to either box. So Mother sent me to the bank instead of -going herself. I could not for the life of me find anything marked as -he had written it was, though there was one envelope that _might_ be it. - -“But I thought I ought to make sure, and there was one large white -envelope that had nothing marked on the outside. I hesitated to break -it, for it was sealed, but Dad was in a great hurry for his papers, so -I tore open the envelope. And there, Shirley, was another envelope, -marked,--” Sidney broke off and wiped her lips with her handkerchief. - -“Oh, don’t tell me, Sidney, if it is so hard for you.” - -“I want you to know, and I must tell somebody!” - -Shirley waited. What dreadful thing was coming? - -“The inside envelope was marked, ‘Papers regarding the Adoption of -Sidney’!” - -Sidney stopped, while Shirley, amazed, and yet relieved, said, “Oh, -Sidney!” - -“You can imagine how I felt. No, I don’t believe that you can either. -Suppose you thought that you were your father’s and mother’s own child -and then suddenly found that--well, you didn’t know who you were!” - -Soberly Shirley nodded. “Didn’t you find out any more?” she asked. - -“No. I would not open what I was not supposed to know about; I took the -first package that I had thought might be the right one and I went -away as quickly as I could. I could scarcely believe what had happened, -and I cried all night. Then I went down again to the bank with the key -to my father’s box and some big white envelopes like the one I had -broken open. I read again what was written on the inner envelope and -I realized more than at first what it meant. Then I put it in one -of the envelopes most like the other and sealed it up again. I suppose -that I should never have known! They must have meant never to tell me. -Why, my great-aunt does not know I am _sure_, or she would never have -talked about my being a Standish, and a Thorne, and all that stuff!” -Sidney’s tone was bitter now. - -“Even Mother used to join in, but Dad never did. I’ll say that for -him. And poor Mother loves to deceive herself about anything that she -wants to be so!” Sidney was more tender now, and Shirley recalled -with some surprise how Mrs. Thorne had spoken as if Sidney’s ancestry -were theirs, or, rather, theirs hers. “I can imagine how my dear, -sentimental mother must have persuaded my father never to tell me.” - -“And then I came along,” said Shirley thoughtfully. - -“Yes, and I can see that my father has been thinking about it. He has -made several remarks to Mother that I remembered after I found the -envelope. But your coming, Shirley, had nothing to do with my finding -the facts.” Sidney was fair. Shirley was not to blame. “That was -why he wanted to have a talk with you, I suppose, Shirley,” Sidney -continued, “and Mother invited you there after I had gone on to school.” - -Shirley reached over and took Sidney’s hand, looking at it. “Sidney, -he asked all about my people, my father and mother, and I even told -him all about my ancestry, for I have a great-aunt, too, that thinks -a great deal of our family tree. Isn’t it queer? And I wrote to my -mother, Sidney, to ask her if I were really her daughter, ‘by borning’ -as my little sister that died used to say. I had a sister and a brother -that died several years ago. It may be, Sidney, that we are sisters, -twins, most likely and that neither of us belong to the families where -we are.” - -“Well, I’m sorry for you, Shirley, if that is so,” and Sidney’s hand -tightened on Shirley’s. Then Sidney’s head went down on Shirley’s -shoulder and her slight body shook with sobs. “Oh, I know that they did -not mean to be cruel, Shirley,” she said as soon as she could control -herself, “but it is so _terribly_ hard now.” - -“I do know a little, Sidney,” whispered Shirley through the golden -waves of Sidney’s pretty hair, “because of all the pangs I have when I -think about it and wonder about myself.” - -“Yes,” said Sidney, “and oh, I _do_ want so to belong to Father and -Mother!” - -“I wonder if it would not be best to tell them all about it,” Shirley -suggested. “You will want to know how it all came about.” - -“I’m not so sure,” said Sidney. “It depends on where I came from.” - -“You are sure of this, that they do not want you to leave them and that -you are legally their child. Isn’t that some consolation?” - -“A little.” - -“And they have known it all along and yet have loved you to pieces and -been so proud of you and everything.” - -Sidney brightened a little at this suggestion, but soon she sobered -again. “There is one thing, though, Shirley, I’m going to _bear_ it and -never complain to either of them. I do know what they have done for me. -I have thought of that, Shirley. But I have to wait a little. I can’t -do it now. I am glad that I have told you and it will be good to see -you occasionally. You will stand by, won’t you, and keep the other -girls from knowing what is the matter?” - -“Mercy yes!” Shirley gasped at the very idea of her telling any one. - -“I always have liked you down in my heart, Shirley, though I just -couldn’t stand it to have you look so like me.” - -“I don’t blame you,” laughed Shirley. “I didn’t exactly relish it -myself, but I thought that it would only be for a little while, and -wouldn’t spoil the fun much.” - -Sidney laughed with Shirley and then led her into her bedroom where -she drew her before the mirror. “If twins ever looked more alike than -that,” Sidney finally said, “then, as my friend Ran Roberts says, I’m a -fishworm!” - -“You are coming on, Sidney,” said Shirley. “Goodbye, Twin. If you get -lonesome, come around. I’m studying, or shall be, but ever and anon I -shall long for intermission.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -LIFE BECOMES ENDURABLE. - - -As the school year drew near its close, the girls were treated to the -strange sight of a frequent association of the “doubles.” No other -relations were disturbed. The Double Three never became a Double -Four. Interest had died out in adding to its numbers. But there was a -sympathetic understanding between Sidney Thorne and Shirley Harcourt, -not exactly to be explained. It simply existed. - -It was not to be supposed that the girls would notice it and let -it escape comment. Hope exclaimed over it. “Why, after all Sid’s -snippiness, here you are the best of friends! What happened?” - -“Oh, we had a talk once,” Shirley replied, and that was the only -explanation that she ever gave. - -“You ought to have seen yourselves, you and Shirley, Sid, down on the -beach to-day like twin mermaids!” cried Fleta after a senior beach -party. “How come?” - -“I have discovered what a fine girl Shirley is,” Sidney replied, “and -looking like her and having her look like me is rather fun now.” - -“Of all things! Did you hear that, Irma?” - -“Yes. Sid has stopped wearing anything to make her look different. I -think that she and Shirley are going to do something to fool us all!” - -“We are going to change clothes at the Prom,” soberly stated Sidney, -while the girls looked at her dubiously to see if she were in earnest -or not. But the suspicion of a smile hovered about Sidney’s mouth. - -Sidney was looking better now, though not quite like herself. But she -and Shirley were not so often mistaken for each other, as Sidney was -decidedly thinner. The way in which she had been wearing her hair, too, -since shortly after Shirley’s arrival, made it easy to distinguish -the girls unless they wore hats. Hats and coats being different, and -soon recognized among any closely associated group of girls such as a -boarding school affords, they were a good means of identification. - -But Shirley still kept close to Madge, Caroline, Hope and lately Olive. -She and Sidney merely drifted together or sought each other when there -was some idea to exchange upon the subject common to them both. Not -that they talked much about it either, for it was too sober a topic to -discuss as girls often discuss other things. “Heard from your mother -yet, Shirley?” Sidney would perhaps ask. - -“Not yet, Sidney. I wrote again, but I am mixed up about their -itinerary, for it has changed. I keep hearing from them, and I think -that they finally receive my mail, but all of it very late.” - -“Let’s go down to the shore a while. I need to be with you, Shirley.” - -Then the two, arm in arm and not saying a word, might stroll to the -shore or off into the wood. Sidney refrained from suggesting a like -unhappy fate for Shirley, yet her interest in knowing what word Shirley -would have from Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt was plain. Shirley, for her part, -never introduced a reference to Sidney’s woeful revelation, but if -Sidney spoke of it, she would try to cheer her and she advised that -Sidney tell Mr. and Mrs. Thorne, in order to know how they had come to -adopt her. Sidney at first said that she was afraid to know, but later -she was considering it. - -Shirley determined not to cross the bridge before she came to it, but -there was the awful possibility that she, too might have been adopted. -Perhaps they were two stray little twins without anybody but each -other. That consciousness and the odd feeling of kinship that she had -toward Sidney made her very sympathetic. There was nothing the matter -with Shirley’s imagination, though she tried to be sensible. Little -Betty looked a little bit like her. Her brother had had the same -combination of dark eyes and light hair. Oh, it simply could not be -that she did not belong to her father and mother! - -Nothing in Sidney’s life had been changed in the least, yet she was -like a lost child in her heart. Finally she told Shirley that she -would write about it to her father just as soon as the Prom was over. -“I don’t think that I _could_ bear any more and go through the Prom,” -she said. “I’m going to make myself have a good time. Ran Roberts is -the boy from our suburb that I like best. He is such a gentleman, too, -and I want you to meet him. Then he is bringing some of his friends -for some of the other girls who can’t ask anybody they know to come -so far, so it will be a jolly lot of guests that we have. And if Mac -comes, as Hope says, and your cousin Dick doesn’t fail you, we’ll all -see that everybody has a fine time. Remember that I want you this time, -Shirley. I suppose that I’ll always be proud, whether I have anything -to be proud of or not,--” here Sidney laughed a little and Shirley’s -eyes twinkled. “But I have learned a _few_ things these awful weeks and -one of them is to be sincere with myself and face the facts. For pity’s -sake, remind me, Shirley, if I get on my high horse again.” - -“Nothing of the sort,” firmly said Shirley. “A body has to have some -self respect and your ‘superiority complex’ mustn’t go into total -eclipse!” - -“Aren’t you comforting?” smiled Sidney, “and you ought to be telling me -what a snob I’ve been!” - -“Hush and shush, as Madge says. I made up a new saying myself the other -day, though not thinking about you.” - -“What is it?” - -“It’s a small potato that can’t grow an eye.” - -“Shirley the philosopher!” grinned Sidney. Life might be worth -_something_ after a while. And the clothes that she was to have for the -Prom and the days after it were lovely! - -Ah, that senior Prom! Beautiful lights were about the campus. Within -chandeliers sparkled or soft lights came from pretty shades over the -side lights. Girls in their prettiest frocks, fluffy or silken evening -dresses, duly inspected by the dean, though silently so, as the girls -reported to her, were met by masculine figures in correct attire. No -orchestras in Ravinia Park ever discoursed such music as that senior -Prom orchestra, engaged for the occasion, furnished to these happy boys -and girls. - -Dick Lytton arrived, full of news for Shirley and a glad sight for eyes -that rather longed for home occasionally, she told him. She was very -proud of her university lad and introduced him to all of her friends, -though Hope was first and Shirley was glad to see how pleased Dick -was with the girl for whom he had been invited, in one sense, though -Shirley would have had Dick if no one else came to the Prom. - -Sidney was true to her word that Shirley should meet her group of -friends, though Mac Holland was always in evidence wherever Shirley -was. He, too, knew Sidney well, of course, but Randall Roberts was the -favored lad with her, Shirley could see. The acquaintance between the -girls and boys from Chicago and its suburbs made a pleasant circle; yet -Shirley did not forget to see that Dick’s acquaintance was still wider. - -The girls were permitted to have calls on Saturday, also, and at Sunday -dinner, which made an exciting week end for many of them, whose friends -stayed in the nearest suburb and spent as much time at the school as -was allowed. Shirley had an opportunity for a satisfactory visit with -Dick, who had intended to leave for home on Saturday, but stayed for -Sunday dinner and a visit instead. - -“Can any mere professor in a university expect me to leave this bower -of beauty for anything so stupid as Monday’s lessons?” asked Dick, when -Hope inquired if he could stay. With Sidney’s cordial manner Dick -was pleased, but he could scarcely get over the close resemblance, -and after having met her he looked closely at Shirley every time he -came, for fear that he might make a mistake. “Shirley,” said he, when -they were alone on the campus Sunday afternoon just before he left -the grounds,--“Shirley, I can’t help wondering about this resemblance -between you and Sidney Thorne. Have you told your mother about it yet?” - -“Yes, Dick, but I have not heard from her in relation to it. I’d like -to tell you something that I know, but I can’t.” - -“Well, I’ll not be surprised to learn that Sidney is your twin. But I -suppose it can happen and has happened that people who are not related -are duplicates, so to speak. By the way, Hope Holland promised to write -to me in reply to the letter which I must, of course, write to my young -lady of the Prom.” - -“All right,” laughed Shirley, “but don’t forget who was at the bottom -of your coming. I might enjoy hearing about our school myself.” - -“Wait till I tell you of a prospective student next year. Don’t tell me -that I can’t work for my own middle west university! To be sure there -might be another attraction, but I impressed upon him the superior -advantages of a smaller school!” - -“Dick! I know whom you mean,--but it would be crazy for--.” - -“Don’t hesitate, my dear; it was Mac Holland.” - -“For Mac, then not to go on here. Think of the schools right at hand!” - -“Often it is wise to have another environment. Why did you want to go -away to school?” - -“Because Father and Mother were going away!” - -“Is this my truthful cousin?” - -“Well, I will acknowledge that I’ve always been crazy for the -experience. So, I’ve had it!” - -“Seriously, Shirley, has it been all right for you?” Dick was her -sober, brotherly cousin now, who had taken care of her on the summer -trip. - -“Yes, Dick. I have learned a great deal in several ways. There are -things that have happened that have not been just what I would have -chosen; but in the lessons and everything about the school, and in the -lovely friends that I have made,--well, I wouldn’t have missed it.” - -“I will tell Aunt Anne that, then. You have satisfied her with your -letters and cards, she said.” - -“Then tell her all about Sidney, won’t you now, Dick, since you have -seen her. Tell her all about what happened from the first and get her -interested. I will write and refer to it, but it would take so long to -write it all now.” - -“All right, Shirley. But why not wait until you come home, since you -have waited this long?” - -“Something might happen. I’d like to have Aunt Anne know about it.” - -“You are very mysterious, Shirley. I can’t imagine what could happen; -but, as you say. I don’t even see what difference it would make if -Sidney Thorne _were_ your twin.” - -“You _can’t_? Well, maybe it wouldn’t make any. I’m sorry, Dick, to see -you go. It has been like home to have you here. I shall be quite ready -to go home and stay with Aunt Anne till Father and Mother come back.” - -But Shirley did not know that she would not spend the summer with Aunt -Anne. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -ASSURANCES. - - -The excitement of the “Prom” over, Shirley Harcourt and her friends -turned their attention to the usual preparation for examinations and -the Commencement exercises not far away. Like most schools of the -sort, Westlake would have graceful outdoor pageants. Both Shirley and -Sidney were in the senior play, which was a good thing for them. There -was little time for anything but lessons, practising and constant -association with their friends. - -At last Shirley heard from her mother, relative to her question. She -did not know how anxious she had been until she felt the relief that -came with the reading. - -“Yes, dear,” wrote Mrs. Harcourt, “you are certainly my own little -girl ‘by borning.’ I am sorry that you have had this long wait for a -reply, but I hope that this thought was only a fancy and not a worry. -No, I have not received the first letter you mention. I am very much -interested in this other girl, so like you. Tell me more about her. -When and where was she born and on what date? Your father wants to -know, too. O Shirley, you have no idea what this trip means to him. In -spite of his hard work, he looks ten years younger, feels like a boy, -he says, and knows that this will mean everything professionally.” - -Shirley was almost sorry to tell Sidney that she had received word, but -Sidney herself asked her if she had received it. “I saw Madge going up -with a foreign looking letter in her hand. I wondered if you could have -received word from your mother, Shirley,” said Sidney, meeting Shirley -after dinner. - -“Yes, Sidney, and I want you to read it. Let’s go up right now. Nobody -is there.” - -The two girls ran up the stairs together. Sidney sat down in the chair -Shirley offered, afraid to ask Shirley what her mother had said. She -looked searchingly at Shirley, however, saying, “I think that it is -good news, from the way you look.” - -“Yes, Sidney,--but read the whole letter, please. It is especially -interesting. I’m crazy to see the things that they are bringing home. -At Christmas, you know, they were in the wilds and couldn’t even send -me a present. She’s bringing me an Egyptian scarab and all sorts of -things from crazy places, besides some of the regular treasures that -she will pick up this summer in Europe. They haven’t so much money, -though, because the trip has taken so much. My father will make -something, though, by writing everything up.” - -Sidney was holding the letter and listening to Shirley. “And you think -that all that sort of thing is better, don’t you?” - -“Yes,” Shirley simply replied. - -“I begin to understand about you, Shirley.” - -That was all Sidney said until after she read the letter, looking up to -smile at Shirley, however, when she came to the important statement. -Then she read on again, soberly, to the end, and handed the letter back -to Shirley. “That is a fine letter. How beautifully she writes of what -they have seen. I could wish that my real mother, if she is anywhere, -could be as interesting as that. I’m so afraid, Shirley that--oh, well, -I’ve no business to harrow you all up with my woes!” - -“You must remember that a very beautiful lady selected you and made you -her own,” Shirley suggested. - -“Yes, and I have so much that they have given me. I guess that I am a -pretty ‘small potato,’ Shirley!” - -But the suggestion of being “selected” jarred upon Sidney’s -sensitiveness. Where had her parents found her? There was one -possibility that she had not considered, and that brightened her when -she thought of it. It might be that she was related after all, a child -of some relative. - -Sidney had now come to the point where she felt that she must know. -That night she wrote to her father, telling him of her visit to the -deposit box and its results. She addressed the letter to his office, -but she said that if it was his judgment to show her mother the letter, -she was ready for her to know. “It was a great shock,” she wrote, “but -I am trying to be sensible about it. I dread and yet I want to know the -rest.” - -She sent the letter by special delivery the next morning. That -night she received a telegram from her father to the effect that he -was driving up to see her on the following day. Sidney’s heart was -comforted by the prompt response, though she could scarcely suppress -her excitement. She did not tell Shirley, could not, for some reason. -The girls in her suite knew of her telegram, but it was nothing new for -Mr. Thorne to telegraph his movements. - -It was just after lunch when Sidney saw her father’s car coming around -the drive. She had been staying near the main building except during -recitation hours and now, with several of the girls, she was out upon -the campus near by. She ran toward the drive, waving, and stood till -the car reached her. Her father was alone, driving the car himself. -How fine he was, and how kind! - -Mr. Thorne reached out from the car and took Sidney’s outstretched -hand, patting it and looking searchingly into the earnest brown eyes -that were raised to his. “So that was what was the matter, childie,” -he said. “Run in and ask permission to be carried off. We’ll get away -from the school to talk. I will drive up to let any investigating -authorities know that it is your father who wants you.” - -“Good. Shall I change to a dress?” - -“Yes. Take off your uniform and bring a coat and hat. We shall have -dinner somewhere, probably, and then I will bring you back. Will you -miss any recitations?” - -“One, but I can fix that.” - -It was on the lake shore, below a sandy bluff, with their car parked -above, that Mr. Thorne and his daughter sat down to have their talk. -The fresh air was exhilarating. There was movement in the waves and in -the flight of birds, around them and out above the waters; but there -was not a soul on the beach to overhear or distract. - -Before this they had talked about unimportant things, and Mr. Thorne -had said that he had not yet mentioned the matter to her mother. Now he -began by reminding her, as Shirley had, that all this had been known -to them and that their love for her had only grown with the years. “You -belong to us, Sidney. You are our own child by adoption and in every -way you have grown into our hearts. Your mother was wondering only the -other day how she would bear to have you grow up, come out into society -and leave her, very likely, to marry some one,--as she did herself. -‘It’s a little too near,’ she said. Now can you realize that this is -all true?” - -“I think so,” soberly Sidney replied. “Seeing you and hearing you say -these things makes me feel as I always have,--that I belong!” - -“Indeed you do, my child. I’d like to see any one take you away from -us! But I know that you are anxious to hear how it all happened. Let me -see. You were seventeen in September, weren’t you?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Then eighteen years ago or so your mother had something of a collapse -after undertaking too many things socially. In the middle of the winter -I took her to California, and when it grew warm, we went immediately -to the cottage in Wisconsin for the summer. We did not even stop in -Chicago and your mother only longed for the woods and the little lake. -We lived quietly, though I had to go back and forth. There were the -usual servants, though your mother did not want many around. No one -lived in the cottage except one quite intelligent girl who was a -nurse, on her vacation, and just the one to stay with your mother. - -“They were outdoors as much as possible and your mother began to get -her tone again, even telling me that she must go back to Chicago, to -avoid the necessity of my frequent trips. But I persuaded her to stay -through October at least, or a part of it, if I remember correctly. - -“Once this young woman who was with your mother stopped with her at -her home and there your mother found you, about two months old by that -time, they said, and unusually pretty. They tell me though that a -kiddie does not look like anything till it is about three months old. -It was a new interest, and when your mother found that your mother and -father were dead and that these good people had taken you for their -daughter’s friend, your aunt, also a nurse, she began to wonder if -she might not have the baby herself. You were like a new doll to her, -Sidney, and she was temporarily disgusted with so much society. - -“She began to visit the country home, to take pictures of the baby, to -get pretty clothes for it,--you can imagine how your mother would.” - -“Yes,” laughed Sidney, and the two who loved Mrs. Thorne so dearly -exchanged understanding glances. - -“We learned that your parents were people above reproach and as your -mother found that their name, Sampson, was one in the Standish lineage, -she let your aunt go on about the Standishes to her heart’s content. -But I think that your mother has almost forgotten about your having no -real connection with our immediate ancestry.” - -“I suppose so,” mechanically answered Sidney, stunned at the new name. - -Mr. Thorne had seen her wince, but he nerved himself to go on. It had -to be told. How much better it would have been for Sidney to have known -the truth. Yet, there had been some point, too, in Sidney’s growing up -to this lovely young womanhood as a child of the house. What would have -been the psychology of it Mr. Thorne could not decide, though he had -thought of little else since he had read Sidney’s pitiful letter. - -“But now, Sidney, I am realizing that we have known very little of -everything perhaps interesting to you in this connection. There are -several things that I recall about the arrangement that I must look -into for your sake. There was no birth certificate, for one thing. -Everything was fixed up as tight for us as could be, and all that we -cared for was that your parents should have been good people. The -chief attraction was your small self. - -“But now I am going to do a little detective work on my own account and -I shall say nothing to your mother at present. I have a fancy that it -may or may not amount to anything, and I must say, Sidney, that I was -astonished at the duplication of yourself, almost, in Shirley Harcourt. -Is she sure that she is the child of Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt?” - -“I have just read a letter from Mrs. Harcourt in answer to that very -question. She is, and she was born in Chicago. But we haven’t the same -birthdays.” - -“I am not sure that we know your birthday, Sidney. You seemed to your -mother’s aunt a little older than you were according to accounts, -though we told her nothing. She thinks you ours.” - -“If you look things up and find anything dreadful the matter, Daddy, -don’t tell me!” - -“There will be nothing dreadful. Sidney, there has always been a -quality about you that can be only accounted for by something innate. -It is not all our training and the environment of refinement. There was -something in you, my child. You were always dainty and beauty-loving -and responsive,----” - -“Can’t account for it in that way, Daddy,” interposed Sidney, as Mr. -Thorne paused. “Think how different children in the same family are. I -admired Mother and Auntie so much and was so proud of our family, that -I just grew up with the idea of being like Mother.” - -“That would support your mother’s idea that it was better for you not -to know. Well, we’ll not discuss that now. I have already written to -the people in Wisconsin and in a few days, after some pressing business -matters are disposed of, I may go there myself. I know how I should -feel in your place, Sidney. I regret beyond words that you have had -the suffering which you have had. We could not imagine why you were -suddenly so upset and ill. But I am glad to see that you have gotten -beyond that.” - -“It is partly due to Shirley, Father. She brought me some fruit when -I was so miserable and we became really acquainted. It is queer the -way we feel about each other. I know that Shirley feels as I do. It -was uncanny, I thought at first, and I did not like it at all. Really, -I have had a big lesson, I suppose, but my, what a hard one it has -been! I hadn’t the least idea that I was so proud. But you would have -laughed at what Shirley said to me about that. Shirley has a big soul -and doesn’t seem to hold anything against me no matter how silly I’ve -been. She said that my ‘superiority complex’ mustn’t go into ‘total -eclipse!’” - -“You have talked to her, then, about this?” - -“Yes. I have seen the pictures of her parents, too. Her father makes me -think of you. Once I would have said that they had ‘quite intelligent -faces,’ I suppose!” - -“Life has a great way of taking down our ‘superiority complexes,’ -Sidney, but it is just as well to keep our self-respect.” - -“That is what Shirley said. She lives almost in the university there, I -suppose, and hears faculty conversation,--perhaps as elevating as ours, -Daddy!” - -Sidney laughed as she spoke, and her father agreed that there were -opportunities for culture in other circles except their own. More -nonsense of comparisons followed, while Sidney wrote in the sand with a -stick and Mr. Thorne tossed an occasional pebble. Then he rose and held -a hand to Sidney. “Come, now,” he said. “I told your mother that I was -not going to be home until late. I want to take you far enough away to -get all the cobwebs and kinks out of your brain and then we shall stop -somewhere for the best dinner that we can find. Please try to have a -few care-free hours with an old daddy that is very fond of his child.” - -“I can do it,” gratefully cried Sidney, “but you mixed your figures -terribly when you talked about cobwebs and kinks!” - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -AT LAST. - - -For the girls of Westlake the rest of the year went on wings. Sidney -Thorne told Shirley, in one of their whirlwind conferences, that she -was living a dream most of the time, and Shirley said that she felt -that way, too. - -Sidney had the chief part in the Shakespearean play which the seniors -were giving, under a Miss Gibson whose girls were more appreciative and -loyal since Sidney had changed her attitude. Sidney’s part as heroine -was of some consolation to her injured pride, but she resolutely -refrained from any directions to others, or any remarks which could be -at all construed as self-congratulatory. “Sidney isn’t as cocky as she -used to be,” was the inelegant comment of the blunt Stella. - -There were beach parties, jaunts in the launch, rowing and even -swimming in Lake Michigan’s still chilly waters. Shirley regretted -leaving the beautiful place with its fine teachers, its fun and the -dear girls that were, some of them, to be life-long friends. “You will -be visiting Hope and Caroline and me in Chicago,” Sidney reminded her. -“I am wanting you very much this summer, though I’ve hardly had time to -think about it. We’ll just be in the Wisconsin cottage, Shirley, the -greater part of the summer; but Mother says that I may have anybody -that I want. When are your father and mother coming home?” - -“Probably not until the last thing before college opens in the fall. It -gives Father an extra three months, you see, to stay through another -summer.” - -“Then you can stay with me as well as not, and if you’d rather have -Hope and Caroline, I think that they could be induced to come, too.” - -“I shall need no other inducement than yourself, Sidney. Why, I have -never been to one of those northern cottages and it is a rare treat you -are offering me.” - -“I am glad that you think so, and I believe that I’d rather be by -ourselves part of the time, till my father finds out something, if he -can.” - -Mr. Thorne, in the meantime, was meeting various difficulties. He had -lost trace of people during all these years. Finally he put a carefully -worded advertisement in the Chicago papers, by which X offered a -considerable sum for definite information about certain matters. The -names of Mr. and Mrs. Sampson were given with their supposed former -address. - -This brought results. It was toward the end of the summer, when Shirley -was packing to go home from her long visit in Wisconsin, that Mr. -Thorne came from Chicago with success written in his face. “Oh, you -have found out!” gasped Sidney as she hurried toward him from the -wooded nook just beyond the house, where she and Shirley had swung a -hammock. Mrs. Thorne, who sat on the wide porch of the log mansion, -with its gay Indian rugs and comfortable chairs, came smilingly down -to join the others. For some time she had known of Sidney’s discovery, -but as Sidney was so self-contained and cool about it by that time, she -never did quite realize what the first shock had meant. - -“Can you stand finding out that you are not a Sampson or a Standish, -Sidney?” queried the smiling gentleman, brushing back his slightly -graying hair as he removed his hat and sought a comfortable seat on the -wide veranda. - -“Oh, don’t tease me, Daddy! It’s too serious!” - -“So it is, little girl. How shall I begin? Probably the best thing is -to dash right into it and announce that you and Shirley were little -twin babies.” - -“Oh!” said Sidney and Shirley in one low breath. “Then,--” Sidney -began, but put her hands to her face for a moment, taking them away to -put her head down on Shirley’s shoulder as she had done once before; -for Shirley was standing beside her. - -“I’m not _sorry_, Shirley,--don’t think that--” Sidney shakily began. -“But it is such a relief,--and I can’t quite stand it!” - -“Come over here to your daddy,” said Mr. Thorne, drawing Sidney, big -girl as she was, to his knee. “Now just have a little weep if you like. -I’ll tell you how it happened after a while. Yes, Mother, you will have -a rival in Mrs. Harcourt now; but some way I do not think that they -will rob us of Sidney.” - -Mr. Thorne smiled into the disturbed face of his wife. “Oh dear,” she -said, “would he, Shirley?” - -Shirley was just thinking of that herself, but she said, “My father -will do what is best for everybody. He always does.” - -“But how about your mother? Oh, your poor mother, never to have _known_ -of Sidney!” - -At that Sidney, now wiping her eyes looked at Shirley and laughed. -“I guess she had the better girl,” she said, “and here I have _two_ -mothers! Well, Twin, how about it?” - -“I’m a little stunned,” replied Shirley, “but I seem always to have -known it!” - -“You may read the letters, my dear,” said Mr. Thorne, taking a small -packet from his pocket and handing it to his wife. “I have just come -from an interview with the writer. She will see us again if necessary. - -“I think,” continued Mr. Thorne, “that I prefer to give you girls a -brief outline of what happened rather than have you in touch with this -person. She saw you girls together last winter, at the time of the -mistake about the car. From what she said, she must have been worrying -since then. I should say that ignorance and fear, with the lack of a -strong sense of honor, were at the bottom of it all. The fact that -no one by the name of Sampson had anything to do with this stopped -my search for a while. That story was all made up, though not by the -people who had our Sidney when we found her. - -“A sudden impulse made a young and inexperienced nurse pick up one of -the wee bundles of babies at a hospital and carry it a short distance -down the street to an apartment where her older sister was delirious -and calling for her baby that had died several weeks before. This -woman, who is really responsible, was perplexed and troubled at first, -but as the presence of the child seemed to have a good effect upon the -sick woman, she encouraged its being kept for a few days, though this -nurse had meant to keep it only a few hours. By the woman’s direction, -after they had discovered that the baby was one of twins, the record -was changed. As Mrs. Harcourt had not yet seen her babies and several -odd calamities, to the people who knew, had happened, the deception -was not discovered. Getting a baby back to the hospital was a risky -performance after so long. They gave it up, though the woman for whose -benefit they had stolen the child did not live. - -“So the babe was passed from one to another in that circle of friends, -until a very dear lady found her not far from this very place, and here -you are, Sidney!” - -“Yes, and fortunate I am! Were they sure of my name, Father?” - -“Oh, yes. You were correctly labeled, my dear! And the woman, whose -name I will not give you, had carefully preserved all that she knew. -But, she said during the years she had consoled herself with the -thought that you could not be better off, though that was largely for -my benefit, of course. She did not know where your parents lived, as -the address at the hospital gave only that of your Grandmother Shirley, -Mrs. Dudley, who was then living at Glencoe.” - -“Of _my_ grandmother, you mean,” said Sidney seeing something funny in -it. “Shirley, I’m a Dudley now. Write to your great-aunt about it.” - -Mrs. Thorne did not particularly relish the trend of this conversation -and rose to go into the house with her letters. “Try to be especially -good to your mother, Sidney,” Mr. Thorne suggested, in low tones, -as his wife left them. “You have kept from showing your worry so -wonderfully of late. Now she may need a little comfort.” - -Sidney, who had been sitting at her father’s feet for a little while, -held his hand a little more tightly and assented. Shirley excused -herself and slipped away, for it was not the time for claiming her twin -sister, or talking of gay girl affairs. It was fortunate, she thought, -that she should be leaving them to this readjustment. What would be the -next step? - -The next step, so far as the Thornes were concerned, was a long letter -to Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt, sent on by Shirley, who could arrive at home -only about a week before her parents. No plans could be made, if there -were any to make, before the Harcourts arrived. Sidney, however, told -Shirley to tell Hope that they were sisters. “Mother and Father say -that there is to be no secrecy about it, though we do not intend to -announce it. But we all agree that I am fortunate to have such a fine -family and that the resemblance between us would be foolish for us to -ignore it. The friends may as well understand, though no one need know -exactly how the separation happened.” - -“That should be entirely in your hands to say, I think,” Shirley -returned. “Think of the excitement that I’m going to have! You may -expect to see a wild looking college professor springing along, with a -step just like yours, up your front yard,----” - -“And they say that you and I walk just alike!” - -“Do we?” - -“Will he really look wild?” - -“That was my little joke, Sidney. You will not be ashamed of your real -father, though he does not always dress as Mr. Thorne does. How could -he?” - -Shirley rode alone to Chicago, thinking of how the future would be -managed, wondering how Sidney would feel about seeing her parents, -feeling almost that she did not want to share them with Sidney and -reproving herself for her selfish thoughts. She was glad that she had a -twin sister! She loved Sidney. That was enough. - -Mac Holland and Hope met her at the station and took her for a day’s -visit with them. It was decided that Mac was going to spend a year at -Shirley’s university. “I’ll not be saying goodbye for very long,” said -he. “Tell Dick Lytton to have the brass band at the station.” - -“I’d better not,” laughed Shirley. “He might do it.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -IN HER FATHER’S HOME. - - -Toward the middle of September, Mrs. Thorne and Sidney were sitting in -Mrs. Thorne’s luxuriously furnished sitting room upstairs, waiting. -Sidney, near the windows in front, suddenly exclaimed, “Here they are! -Oh, Mother, what shall we do now?” - -The Thorne car passed the front of the house, in the street, and went -into the drive at the side. Sidney watched and presently saw the erect -figure, that followed Mr. Thorne across the lawn with the springing -step that Shirley had mentioned. Sidney could not see his face very -well and they both disappeared near the entrance. Now the chauffeur -brought a little baggage. - -Mrs. Thorne was answering Sidney’s question. “When your father has -had Dr. Harcourt shown to his room, and he has had an opportunity to -refresh himself and dress for dinner, he will be directed to the -library, where I shall probably be by that time, with your father. -Then, after we have had a little talk, you will be sent for, and I -think that we shall let you meet Dr. Harcourt by yourself. I am sure -that _I_ do not want to be there.” - -“Mother is glad that Mrs. Harcourt did not come,” thought Sidney, and -to tell the truth she thought that her real mother had taken the proper -course. It was Sidney’s place to go to her mother, just as it was -proper for Dr. Harcourt to come at his earliest opportunity. But the -Thornes had invited them both. - -As Mrs. Thorne had said, she joined her husband in the library as -soon as she thought it advisable. Dr. Harcourt, properly conducted -by a servant, made his appearance, when he was suitably prepared for -the occasion, and met Mrs. Thorne, rather particularly gowned for -the occasion. Any details, however, were wasted on Dr. Harcourt, who -thought her a pretty, attractive, refined woman but was incapable of -being impressed with more. Indeed, the girls and faculty women of his -university were accustomed to the same sort of thing, and evening dress -was no novelty to the professor. - -The talk which had been begun by the gentlemen on their way from the -station was continued. Mr. and Mrs. Thorne were very much relieved to -note that Dr. Harcourt had no wish to upset existing arrangements at -present, if at all. “Unusual things have often a way of disposing of -themselves,” said he. “Suppose we wait to see what ideas develop. My -wife and I hope that our daughter will like us. That is the extent of -our hope at present. We are so utterly surprised, you know, in spite -of Shirley’s having written about the resemblance. It is gratifying to -know that we have another daughter, and my wife’s heart is yearning -to see her. Our home is open to her, like our hearts, but a young -girl with her home and training here, her love yours,--it must be -bewildering, indeed.” - -Mrs. Thorne was gratified to hear such sentiments and to see what a -distinguished looking gentleman the professor was. To him she suggested -that they withdraw for a little while and send his daughter to him. -“Very well,” said he. “That would probably be less embarrassing to her.” - -Sidney, too, had taken great care with her toilet. Her stylish little -frock became her, and she had a pathetic smile for her father as she -crossed the room to meet him. He rose, laying a book on the table by -him, and took several steps toward her. - -“Why,” said he, with a puzzled, half-believing look, “this is not -Shirley, by any chance?” - -“No, sir; this is Sidney.” - -Sidney had dreaded this meeting. Would her father, perhaps fold her in -his arms and weep over her? How she would hate that! But so would this -father. With kind eyes he looked down at her, holding her cold hand -that had been held out to meet his. “My dear child, to think that we -have been missing your life with us all these years. Come, sit down -by me for a few moments. As I have been telling your--parents, it is -a bewildering situation, but I assure you that neither your affection -nor a choice of homes will be forced on you. We must think out what is -best. We shall try to enter into our daughter’s life without making her -unhappy.” - -“Oh, you are like Shirley, aren’t you?” said Sidney, trying to realize -that this was her father. More than one student had been put at his -ease by the kind understanding of this professor. It was impossible -that his own daughter should not like him. - -“Am I? In what way?” - -“Thinking what is good for everybody, as she says.” - -“Habit, I suppose,” said Dr. Harcourt, with a smile. “We deal with -problems in the faculty. But this is a new one. Some good fairy has -changed one daughter into two, while we were away. Shall we not be -happy over it?” - -“Why, I believe we could be,--Father.” - -“Thank you, my child.” Dr. Harcourt seemed to be affected by Sidney’s -sweet way of addressing him. He paused for a moment. “Now, I can not -be here long. I must go back to the university to-morrow. But your -mother sends you her love and wants you to come to us, for a visit, or -to stay. She wanted to see you, but could not quite bring herself to -meet you here. Then I want to have a talk with you, either to-night -or to-morrow morning, to learn something of how you feel in regard -to this, and to know what are your ambitions;--you can guess how -interested I am in everything concerning you.” - -“Yes, sir. I am not sure that I have any big ambitions, like Shirley, -but it may do me good to think about it. I _will_ go to see my mother, -and you, and the university,--and I am glad that you understand how a -girl would feel with two fathers and two mothers. But you can scarcely -know how thankful I was after having been nearly distracted, to find -that my _real_ father is you!” - -Sidney was making a fine impression of sincerity upon her father. -After one or two more references to the chief subject of thought, -Dr. Harcourt suggested that Sidney summon Mr. and Mrs. Thorne. From -that time on, through dinner and for a large part of the evening, a -strange evening to Sidney who sat to listen, the conversation turned on -general matters, national, local, business, the university where Dr. -Harcourt taught, the results of his trip, the interests of the Thornes. -And after Sidney had gone to her room, Dr. Harcourt took pains to -express his feeling over the fact that a home of such “high ideals” had -been provided for his little unknown child, who fell into such dangers. -It was like Dr. Harcourt not even to think of the evidences of wealth -around him. - -Shirley, at home, and a sober mother of a daughter whom she had never -seen, thought of that Chicago meeting; but Shirley was too full of -her entrance as a freshman in the university to worry about Sidney. -Everything would be all right now, or soon. Of course Sidney would love -her very own parents. Didn’t she know her twin? - -Not long after Dr. Harcourt’s hurried Chicago trip, Sidney, chaperoned -by Miss Standish, visited her father and mother. Miss Standish, after -her first disappointment, had taken a great interest. She met and -heartily approved the new father, Dr. Harcourt, thinking Sidney very -fortunate in her family. She looked up the Thornes and the Harcourts and -the Dudleys again until Sidney begged for mercy at the array of names -and facts. “Never mind,” said her great-aunt, “some day you will be -interested again; and I am sure to find Miss Dudley keenly interested -and well informed about our New England families.” She noted Sidney’s -inward excitement as they drew near the pretty little college town, -and she was very much alive herself to every impression of people and -environment. Neither of them came in a critical attitude. - -Gently and affectionately Mrs. Harcourt welcomed her daughter, trying -not to disturb the poise which Sidney strove to maintain. But when it -came to the point, neither could help being somewhat shaken by all that -it had involved. It was a softer and sweeter Sidney than Shirley had -first known, who came on to the home which should always have been hers. - -A decided stir in the student circle was made by the sudden and -unheralded appearance of “Shirley Harcourt’s twin.” Dr. Harcourt longed -to put Sidney into college with Shirley, but he saw that she was not -physically as strong and after a long talk with her, he gave up the -idea for the present. - -There was plenty of fun, for Shirley’s friends flocked in at her -invitation. Sidney was admired and made much of till she told Shirley -that her head would be quite turned. She had not been unaccustomed -to admiration, but this gay yet earnest group of university girls -and boys, most of them older than herself, made a new and attractive -feature. She noted their respect toward her father and the grace with -which her mother managed the various situations. There was one maid, -who spent the day and went away at night, but the home was full of -books and things that spoke of taste and culture if not of wealth. Too -bad that such dear people could not have both, Sidney thought, and she -helped Shirley or her mother in little ways while she was there, trying -to learn. Shirley understood. - -Mac Holland had surprised Shirley by bringing Hope to the university -with him. Mac and Dick were full of fraternity affairs just now, for -Dick had engineered Mac’s pledging, “before any of the other frats got -hold of him.” - -On Saturday evening, after a big athletic rally, a roomful of young -friends were eating pine-apple ice and cake at Dr. Harcourt’s when -Shirley called Sidney’s attention to Miss Dudley and Miss Standish. -Sidney had been helping Shirley serve the guests and they were about to -offer a pretty plate each to the great-aunts. “Wait,” laughed Shirley. -“Aunt Anne is on the Dudleys.” - -The two bright-eyed, modern women were sitting together on the large -davenport under a tall lamp. Several books lay around them and they -were so absorbed in their conversation that they scarcely noticed the -chatting students around them. - -“Hear ’em?” asked Shirley again. - -“Yes,” returned Sidney. “Auntie is laying it off about the Standishes -and the Thornes. It’s all right now. The last obstacle is removed!” - -Yet it was not with the superficial phases of family and ancestry that -Miss Dudley and Miss Standish were dealing. Pleasantly they accepted -the plates from the pretty girls so strangely duplicated and continued -their conversation after the girls had left them. - -Soberly Miss Dudley followed them with her eyes. “What,” she asked, “do -you think will be the result of this discovery?” - -“I do not know,” as seriously Miss Standish made answer. “I am -impressed with Dr. Harcourt’s attitude of not forcing Sidney to a -decision and, in general, of not hurrying matters.” - -“In this whole bewildering disclosure it has been hardest for Eleanor, -I think.” - -“You mean Mrs. Harcourt, I suppose. Yes, it would be.” - -“To us it is like having two Shirleys. My first impulses are to say -that Sidney should come to her mother to stay. Eleanor wants her.” - -“You have not seen Mr. and Mrs. Thorne, and you have no idea what a -blank it would leave in their home.” - -“That is what my nephew considers, together with gratitude that his -child came into such a fortunate environment. Sidney will go back to -Chicago now, knowing and appreciating her own father and mother. Dr. -Harcourt is trusting Mr. and Mrs. Thorne to see that she is not carried -away by any merely social life. They are too broad-minded and just, he -says, to be selfish about Sidney’s relation to us. I like his opinion -that this cannot be adjusted in a moment, and that none of us must make -a tragedy out of a discovery which should be a happy one.” - -“It _is_ a happy one,” began Miss Standish, “rather than a blank about -Sidney’s origin.” But just then the two girls came bringing Mrs. -Harcourt between them from the regions of the kitchen and pantry. - -Removing a book or two from the way, they put her into the comfort of -the davenport, by Miss Dudley and Miss Standish. “Not another thing do -you do, Mother,” said Sidney, with smiling decision. “Lean back on the -cushions now and be served by your daughters! Come on, Shirley.” - -With a glance of understanding, the two girls started away, followed -immediately by Dick, Mac, and another university lad, who sprang up to -assist in the last servings. - -The somewhat weary but content faculty wife leaned back with a sigh -and a smile. “I enjoy my two daughters,” she said, “and I only wish -that this could be permanent. But we must be very wise just now. That -Shirley and Sidney know each other so well and have felt drawn to each -other is one of the happiest circumstances. I consider it providential -that they were sent to the same school.” - -“So do I,” returned Miss Standish, who might have been pardoned for -some regrets. “Happy days in the new relations are before both of them; -and the expectancy of their own adventures, in such a life as they -shall make for themselves out of their opportunities, is theirs, just -as it was before.” - -The girls themselves put problems out of their minds, after Sidney had -confided her present plans to Shirley: “I’m going back to Chicago, -Shirley,” she said, “and let my other mother do what she wants to do -about the ‘debut,’ in the winter or spring. But I’ll not disappoint -_our_ mother and father by giving up study and improvement so early. -Could you stand it, Shirley, to have _me_ come to _your_ school?” - -“It would be a pity if I couldn’t!” warmly exclaimed Shirley. - -“I think that I may come, then, next year. Luckily I did pretty well -in Latin and I want to take some courses under my very own father. I’m -_very_ proud of him. After my other mother gets used to the idea, it -will be almost like letting me go away to school as before. - -“Then I can be with _our_ mother and father, see how it goes to be a -faculty daughter along with you, and cover myself with glory to my own -dad!” - -“Noble ambition!” laughed Shirley, “the sooner the better, Sidney. Be -sure to tell him that before you go.” - -“Perhaps I will,--and that if I am going away, I am also coming back.” - - -THE END - - - - -THE STRANGE LIKENESS - -By Harriet Pyne Grove - - -Classmates in a girls’ school on the shores of Lake Michigan, Shirley -Harcourt, from an eastern state, and Sidney Thorne, whose home is in -Chicago, bear a remarkable resemblance to each other. At first they -resent the likeness, but afterwards become very good friends, and often -wonder about their lineage. At last Sidney discovers she is an adopted -child, and her foster father traces her parentage very carefully to -find she is indeed the twin sister of Shirley. - - - - -~ SAALFIELD BOOKS ~ - - -BOYS FICTION - -SUBMARINE BOYS SERIES - - _The Submarine Boys on Duty_ - _The Submarine Boys’ Trial Trip_ - _The Submarine Boys and the Middies_ - -NORTHLAND SERIES - - _Dick Kent, Fur Trader_ - _Dick Kent with the Malemute Mail_ - _Dick Kent on Special Duty_ - -BLACK RIDER SERIES - - _In the Camp of the Black Rider_ - _The Mystery at Lake Retreat_ - _Tom Blake’s Mysterious Adventure_ - - -GIRLS FICTION - -MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS SERIES - - _The Meadow-Brook Girls Across Country_ - _The Meadow-Brook Girls Afloat_ - _The Meadow-Brook Girls in the Hills_ - -LINDA CARLTON SERIES - - _Linda Carlton, Air Pilot_ - _Linda Carlton’s Ocean Flight_ - _Linda Carlton’s Island Adventure_ - -ADVENTURE GIRLS SERIES - - _The Adventure Girls at K-Bar-O_ - _The Adventure Girls in the Air_ - _The Adventure Girls at Happiness House_ - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: - -The table of Contents has been added by the transcriber. - -Punctuation has been standardised. Hyphenation and spelling have been -retained as they appear in the original publication. Changes have been -made as follows: - - Page 24 - know that the profesors _changed to_ - know that the professors - - Page 39 - the two girls stepped in _changed to_ - the three girls stepped in - - Page 46 - shivered Dulcian Porter _changed to_ - shivered Dulcina Porter - - Page 67 - to do anything by make up her bed _changed to_ - to do anything but make up her bed - - Page 83 - and its mahagony finish _changed to_ - and its mahogany finish - - Page 92 - guessed at from my expeience _changed to_ - guessed at from my experience - - Page 93 - you get an impession _changed to_ - you get an impression - - Page 94 - have had no touble _changed to_ - have had no trouble - - Page 94 - The dean, Miss Iving _changed to_ - The dean, Miss Irving - - Page 113 - Do you mind tellling who _changed to_ - Do you mind telling who - - Page 123 - How would the freshmen lika to be _changed to_ - How would the freshmen like to be - - Page 127 - did not see any one that loked like _changed to_ - did not see any one that looked like - - Page 127 - As autumn, she wore a wreath of _changed to_ - As Autumn, she wore a wreath of - - Page 134 - she peferred to be _changed to_ - she preferred to be - - Page 143 - but intead of the usual _changed to_ - but instead of the usual - - Page 146 - she probaby _changed to_ - she probably - - Page 148 - blue negligée _changed to_ - blue negligé - - Page 170 - extending her daintly gloved _changed to_ - extending her daintily gloved - - Page 172 - abroad on some archaelogical expedition _changed to_ - abroad on some archæalogical expedition - - Page 172 - than she had exepected _changed to_ - than she had expected - - Page 172 - Sidney it attracted to you _changed to_ - Sidney is attracted to you - - Page 179 - know how stange it seemed _changed to_ - know how strange it seemed - - Page 182 - Dulce Porter, Hope’s _changed to_ - Dulcie Porter, Hope’s - - Page 191 - I put it in the one of the envelopes _changed to_ - I put it in one of the envelopes - - Page 200 - thought Hope was first _changed to_ - though Hope was first - - Page 222 - so far as the Thorne’s _changed to_ - so far as the Thornes - - Page 226 - and met Mrs. Harcourt _changed to_ - and met Mrs. Thorne - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRANGE LIKENESS *** - -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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padding-right: 0em;} - .x-ebookmaker .figcenter {page-break-after: avoid;} - .x-ebookmaker .width600 {width: 100%;} - .x-ebookmaker .width500 {width: 100%;} - .x-ebookmaker .width200 {width: 12.5em;} - .x-ebookmaker .poetry-container {text-align: center; margin-left: 4em;} - .x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;} - x-ebookmaker-drop, .x-ebookmaker-drop {} - </style> - </head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Strange Likeness, by Harriet Pyne Grove</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Strange Likeness</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Harriet Pyne Grove</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November 20, 2021 [eBook #66779]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Stephen Hutcheson, MFR, Sue Clark, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRANGE LIKENESS ***</div> - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<h1>The Strange Likeness<br /></h1> -<hr class="divider2" /> -</div> - -<div class="x-ebookmaker-drop figcenter width600" id="cover2"> - <img src="images/cover2.jpg" width="600" height="726" alt="Cover" /> -</div> - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<div class="figcenter width500" id="hardcover"> - <img src="images/hardcover.jpg" width="500" height="759" alt="hard cover" /> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<h2 id="contents">Contents</h2> -<table summary=""> -<tr> -<th class="tdr allsmcap">CHAPTER</th> -<th> </th> -<th class="tdr2 allsmcap">PAGE</th> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">I.</td> -<td class="tdl">Act Two, Scene One.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#i">3</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">II.</td> -<td class="tdl">Shirley Embarks Upon New Adventures.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ii">7</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">III.</td> -<td class="tdl">Puzzling Encounters.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iii">20</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">IV.</td> -<td class="tdl">On with the Panorama.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iv">34</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">V.</td> -<td class="tdl">Senior Plans.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#v">43</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VI.</td> -<td class="tdl">The “Double Three.”</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vi">54</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VII.</td> -<td class="tdl">The Sensation.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vii">63</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VIII.</td> -<td class="tdl">Shirley’s First Day.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#viii">78</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">IX.</td> -<td class="tdl">Letters.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ix">90</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">X.</td> -<td class="tdl">When Doubles Meet.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#x">98</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XI.</td> -<td class="tdl">Gossip and Honors.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xi">110</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XII.</td> -<td class="tdl">Hallowe’en Plays.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xii">125</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIII.</td> -<td class="tdl">Fleta to the Rescue.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiii">138</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIV.</td> -<td class="tdl">“Much Ado.”</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiv">147</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XV.</td> -<td class="tdl">An Accidental Meeting.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xv">157</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XVI.</td> -<td class="tdl">Sidney’s “Ghost.”</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvi">174</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XVII.</td> -<td class="tdl">Sidney Makes a Discovery.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvii">182</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XVIII.</td> -<td class="tdl">Life Becomes Endurable.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xviii">195</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIX.</td> -<td class="tdl">Assurances.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xix">294</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XX.</td> -<td class="tdl">At Last.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xx">216</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXI.</td> -<td class="tdl">In Her Father’s Home.</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xxi">225</a></td> -</tr> -</table> -</div> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<div class="figcenter width500" id="frontispiece"> - <img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="500" height="781" alt="Frontispiece" /> - <div class="caption">Sidney passed with her head in the air and without - looking at Shirley. - </div> -</div> -</div> - - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<p class="center p180">THE<br /> -STRANGE LIKENESS</p> - -<p class="center p140"><span class="smcap">By</span> HARRIET PYNE GROVE</p> - -<div class="figcenter width200" id="title"> - <img src="images/title.png" width="200" height="215" alt="Title page" /> -</div> - -<p class="center p120">THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING -COMPANY</p> - -<p class="center">Akron, Ohio       New York</p> -</div> - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider2" /> -<p class="center">Copyright MCMXXIX<br /> -THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY</p> - -<p class="center">The Strange Likeness</p> - -<p class="center italic mt3">Made in the United States of America</p> -</div> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -</div> - -<p class="center p180">THE STRANGE LIKENESS</p> - -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop tiny" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="i">CHAPTER I.<br /> -<span>ACT TWO, SCENE ONE.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Stage</span> dramas are accustomed to begin with Act One, Scene One; but the -little drama of living presented in this story starts with the second -act. The fact that the first act was for so long unknown to some of the -<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">dramatis personae</i> permitted the mystery.</p> - -<p>“Adoring, dear?”</p> - -<p>A young gentleman entered the room as he spoke, smiling indulgently as -he looked at his young wife, who bent over a white crib.</p> - -<p>The young man was perhaps twenty-seven years of age, neat in his gray -suit, with the blue tie that matched his eyes, and carrying himself -with an air of poise and quiet assurance. Soft fair hair with a wave -that curled itself over an intelligent brow, and good, firm features -were points that were no drawback<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span> to the gentleman’s attractive -personality. Crossing the room, he put an arm around the slender figure -of his wife and with her looked down at the sleeping baby.</p> - -<p>“Do you blame, me, honey?” whispered the young woman, responding to -the embrace and drawing away from the crib a little as she laid a soft -finger on her husband’s lips. “Don’t wake her. Isn’t she like a lovely -little rosebud? Just look at her adorable little mouth and that wee, -dimpled hand and arm. Oh, I’m so glad that I have her!</p> - -<p>“And what do you think of the nursery? Auntie’s taste is wonderful, you -know, and she helped me. Why, Auntie is just crazy about the baby!”</p> - -<p>“I see where I am going to be entirely left out in the cold,” the young -man remarked, but he did not look worried over the situation.</p> - -<p>“You will soon be as silly as I am,” laughed his wife. “Now promise me! -You will never tell, will you?”</p> - -<p>“I have hesitated to promise, dear, because I think that no good ever -comes of not knowing the truth.”</p> - -<p>“But what harm could it do? She is really ours, all tight and fast, and -nobody to dispute it!”</p> - -<p>“Certainly. But suppose she finds out some day.”</p> - -<p>“She can’t, unless we tell her, and if you will promise,—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span></p> - -<p>Two arms went around the young man’s neck and a lovely face looked up -at him. “Please, please,” she begged. “It isn’t as if there would be -anything dreadful to find out.”</p> - -<p>“No,—it’s just that I—well, I’m no proof against you, as you well -know! All right. I promise. I will never tell her.”</p> - -<p>“<em>Now</em> you have made me perfectly happy,—as you always do. This -is the prettiest doll that I ever had to play with, and I’m going to -bring her up <em>very carefully</em>.”</p> - -<p>“I see that she has my hair,” teasingly continued the young man, “what -there is of it. What color are her eyes? I’ve never seen her awake but -once and then she was howling and her eyes were screwed shut.”</p> - -<p>“Her eyes are going to be exactly like mine. Auntie says that in all -important features she is precisely like all the prettiest babies of -our family!”</p> - -<p>The two young people happily looked at each other and laughed, still -softly; but the baby parted its long, dark lashes a little, turned its -head, waved a tiny hand for a moment, and with a faint sigh put its -thumb in its mouth, falling soundly asleep again as it did so.</p> - -<p>Silently the two, who stood by the crib with its white blankets and -dainty coverlid, waited to see if<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span> the child would waken. Then gently -the young woman drew the baby hand away from the rosebud mouth. With a -new dignity she said, “You have to do that whenever babies start to put -their thumbs in their mouths.”</p> - -<p>But this was back in the late autumn some seventeen years before the -next recorded scene.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="ii">CHAPTER II.<br /> -<span>SHIRLEY EMBARKS UPON NEW ADVENTURES.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi">“<span class="smcap">Of</span> <em>course</em> I don’t care, Mother! Why shouldn’t you and Dad go -off and have the time of your lives? It is simply <em>great</em>! Hurrah -for the Trustees and Faculty! It is <em>time</em> that Dad had his -‘sabbatical year,’ or whatever you call it. With all that he has done -for this university!”</p> - -<p>“And all that he expects to do, childie.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly. The museum will be full of all those mummies and things -that you will dig up over there.”</p> - -<p>Shirley’s mother smiled. “It would be better for you to learn more -definitely, daughter, just what your classical father is going to do -over there. I can assure you that we are not going to bring home any -mummies. I wanted to make sure, little girl, that your heart had no -soreness about this. You understand why it is not best to take you -now. When you go abroad, as I hope you may some day, you will want -a more general trip first. We have had that. And it is best not to -interrupt your education now. I confess to being a little torn between -desire to go<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span> with your father, to see your cousin in England, with the -fine opportunity for myself as well, and the regret about leaving you -behind.”</p> - -<p>“Seriously, Mother,” said Shirley, more earnestly than she had spoken -before, “it looks like a fine adventure to me. Of course, I’m not going -to pretend that I will not miss you. But you could give it up and come -home if anything serious should be the matter, and after all, we might -look at it this way. I am going West for the summer, a big chance for -me. Then <em>I’m</em> going to do what I’ve longed to do, attend a girls’ -school for a year. See? <em>I’m</em> leaving <em>you</em> for a year!”</p> - -<p>“Bless you, child,—I might know that you would take it that way. What -a comfort you have always been to me! Just see to it that you are -careful not to do risky things, and I shall throw off responsibility. -Keep a diary, Shirley. I’m going to keep one, too, to bring you daily -pictures of what we shall be doing. Then there will be letters, of -course.”</p> - -<p>“I will write the letters, Mother, but I’m not so sure about the diary. -You know my failing. I like to have the fun, but it takes so long to -write about it, and you know that the fun makes better notes than the -serious things. My diary will be something like this: ‘January first. -Snowing. Missed breakfast. Classes all day. Theme assigned. Chose<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span> ‘Why -Go To College?’ Have to dress for dinner. Hungry. Expect letter from -Mother tomorrow.’”</p> - -<p>“Even an outline like that, Shirley will be better than nothing. I -should like to look over it to see what my girl has really been doing.”</p> - -<p>“I promise to have good lessons, Mother, not just fun, and I imagine -that they are pretty strict. Probably they will have to be. But that -is a long way off. I shall have nothing <em>but</em> fun this summer, I -hope. Here comes Dad. Is this the distinguished professor of Epigraphy, -Paleography and Archaeology, to say nothing of—well, all the rest—who -is going to dig up Greece and Rome and Egypt this year?”</p> - -<p>“And is this the saucy, beautiful and only daughter of the said -professor?” queried a light-stepping, fine looking man who entered his -own living-room, letting the screen bang behind him.</p> - -<p>Shirley ran to meet him, hugging him rather impetuously, while he -rumpled her hair and imprinted a kiss upon her forehead. “Well, girls,” -said he, “the last old grad has gone, I believe: the last meeting of -the trustees is over. I shook hands with the president in his office -and he wished me a happy and profitable year.” With a comical side -step, the dignified professor reached for the other girl, his wife, and -drew her to him with the arm that was not around Shirley.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span></p> - -<p>“My reports of grades are long since in and I’ve answered the -university bell for classes for the last time till year after next. Can -you wonder that I am a little crazy?”</p> - -<p>This mild way of figuratively throwing up his hat amused Shirley, but -she was as careful of her father’s dignity as he; so she slipped out -from his arm and said, “Here comes a student up the walk, Father. Come -on, Mother. Dad has probably flunked him in something. Never mind, -Daddy, you will soon be away. I’m packing, too, and I need Mother -anyhow. ‘<i lang="la" xml:lang="la">In pace requiescat</i>,’” Shirley added, waving her hand -toward the unseeing student who was knocking on the screen, just as -Shirley and her smiling mother left the room.</p> - -<p>Just what point Shirley had in mind in applying the Latin expression -to the supposedly unhappy student, she did not explain, but it was -probably the only Latin phrase that occurred to her at the time. -Whatever was the lad’s errand, the professor made short work of him and -as the student began to whistle as soon as he reached the street some -responsibility must have been lifted.</p> - -<p>It was a little hard for Shirley that her father and mother should -leave before she could, but it could not be helped, and if Shirley had -a lump in her throat, no sign of it showed in her bright face as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span> she -blithely waved a last goodbye to Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt, whose faces she -could see through the Pullman window as the train began to move. But -she turned away rather soberly and the young man with her without a -word took her arm to lead her back to the car which stood waiting.</p> - -<p>Shirley swallowed, winked a moment, then lifted smiling eyes, dark, -with curling lashes, to her tall, slim companion. “I’m all right, Dick. -There’s just that funny, all-gone feeling, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Yep,” returned Richard Lytton. “I’ve had it. Remember when I went to -military school? When I stood on the platform in my new uniform, just -a mere kid, you know, and saw the train disappear with my father on -board, going home without me,—O boy!”</p> - -<p>“You were such a little chap, weren’t you? But you seemed terribly old -to me, and I remember how impressed I was when you came home at the -Holidays wearing that uniform.”</p> - -<p>“Little idiot that I was!” laughed Dick, drawing Shirley out of the way -of a truck loaded with trunks. “More students going out on the next -train,” said Dick, glancing at the truck. “There’s that freshman trying -to catch your eye, Shirley.”</p> - -<p>Shirley looked in the direction of Dick’s nod and smiled at a plump -youth who was looking at her with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span> interest. She waked up to her -immediate surroundings a little with her bow to the boy who was in one -of her father’s classes and whom she had met several times at her own -home. She could not know how very much interested the freshman was or -why he said to himself, “That’s only her cousin.”</p> - -<p>The small station of the college town was busier than usual with the -departure of students. As Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt had made their plans to -depart at the earliest moment possible, their leaving was coincident -with that of many others, though trustees had largely gone before.</p> - -<p>“If you begin to smite them, now, Shirley,” said Dick, “what it will be -when you actually get into college, I shudder to think.”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense,” said Shirley. “Perhaps I can stay two years at the other -school. They have a junior college, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Your father wouldn’t stand for that, Shirley. He wants you here for -your University work.”</p> - -<p>“I know.”</p> - -<p>But they had reached the car in which two ladies were sitting. One was -elderly, the other about the age of Shirley’s mother. “Well, here’s the -orphan, Mother,” said Dick cheerfully, handing Shirley into the front -seat and going around to the other door to climb into the driver’s seat -himself.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span></p> - -<p>“I would not remind her in that heartless way, Dick,” said his mother -whose smile was as cheerful as Dick’s and whose kind eyes looked -sympathetically at Shirley.</p> - -<p>“I don’t mind, Cousin Molly. Thank fortune, I’m not really an orphan, -and I’m going to do just what my revered Dad said to do, keep my mind -on the adventures before me. Do you think that we <em>can</em> get off, -ourselves, day after tomorrow, Auntie?”</p> - -<p>Shirley addressed the older lady in this remark.</p> - -<p>“You will be obliged to do so, my dear. You forget that your tickets -are purchased and all the arrangements made. We may as well do the -last of your shopping now, if Dick will drive us around. I knew that -your mother could not manage all of it at the last, with all the -interruptions that she had in the professor’s affairs.”</p> - -<p>“Now, Auntie! don’t blame it on poor Dad.”</p> - -<p>“He could not help it, my dear. But I have not lived next door to you -in vain, my child, these pleasant years, and your mother trusts my -judgment. I have the list.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you have planned it with her, then,” said Shirley. “Things have -been rather mixed up today, but she said to ask you about everything. -I’m<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span> almost packed, but I surely will be glad to have your help.”</p> - -<p>Miss Dudley was Shirley’s great aunt, her mother’s aunt. She lived -in an apartment of her own near the Harcourt home and managed to -hold the position of general adviser to her niece without any of -the disagreeable features which an interfering nature might have -introduced. But Miss Dudley had her own pursuits and a wide circle -of friends. No one knew her age, but if the Harcourts were in the -early forties, Miss Dudley, well preserved, still attractive, with -her only lightly wrinkled brow, her wide-awake brown eyes and air of -independence, must be in the sixties. She and Shirley had always been -good friends. Her tasteful rooms, her books, her curios, which the -child Shirley was trained not to touch without permission, had always -been a source of pleasure to the professor’s daughter. Many a time some -one of Miss Dudley’s friends would come in to call and note the pretty, -fair-haired child with her dark eyes, reading some book, perhaps, and -curled up in a corner of Miss Dudley’s davenport.</p> - -<p>The Lyttons were distant cousins, related upon the Harcourt side. It -was with them that Shirley expected to make the western trip. As they, -too, had many errands and much to do before the start,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span> Dick deposited -Miss Dudley and Shirley in the center of town at their first shopping -point and made arrangements to meet them at a later hour, to take them -home again. Shirley quite forgot to be lonesome in the exigencies -of the moment, the importance of not forgetting any detail and the -selection of the last purchases.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, upon the Pullman, Dr. Harcourt was saying to a rather sober -wife, “I need a more cheerful companion, Eleanor.” Somewhat whimsically -he looked into the now smiling eyes, very like Shirley’s. “I, too, feel -as if the plunge had taken my breath a little, but if we let ourselves -get homesick or worried at the start, what will become of us?”</p> - -<p>“I’m sure I don’t know. I felt like a girl again, planning my trousseau -and honeymoon,—but saying goodbye to Shirley has made me think of my -responsibilities, I suppose.”</p> - -<p>“Stop it, then, my dear. This is our second honeymoon. Think of the fun -that we are going to have. Remember what we decided. It is true that -things calamitous might happen, but how foolish to guide one’s life by -them.”</p> - -<p>“I remember, learned professor,” said Mrs. Harcourt, responding to the -pressure of the hand that reached down to take hers. “We decided that -it is entirely wise to accomplish something in this old<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span> world, not -held back by our fears, and that this year will be an opportunity to -Shirley as well as to ourselves. We’ve made fine plans for her and as -usual we pray ‘deliver us from evil.’ Really, Will, I’m a happy woman -and I trust in you and Providence just as much as ever. You don’t blame -me that I find leaving Shirley behind a little wrench, do you?”</p> - -<p>“Not a bit of it. But I think that it will do you both good. What did I -do with that Baedeker? The last report of our archæalogical expedition -is in it. I put it between the pages and I hope that I’ve not left it -at home!”</p> - -<p>“I have it in my bag, Will. I’ll find it for you in a jiffy.”</p> - -<p>Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt were embarking upon the steamer bound for the -English coast at about the same time that Mr. and Mrs. Lytton, their -son Dick and cousin, Shirley Harcourt left the college town for their -adventures in the West.</p> - -<p>“Don’t do anything a Dudley wouldn’t do,” brightly said Shirley’s -great-aunt as she embraced her for the last time. “Take good care of -my only niece, Dick, if you go off on any of those wild trails. I hope -that you will be armed for bandits.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Auntie,—who would think that of you? These aren’t the old days -in the West.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span></p> - -<p>“Twentieth century bandits are the worst kind, child. Remember, Dick.”</p> - -<p>“Trust me, Cousin Anne. When you see us again we shall have climbed the -Rockies in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and California, so to speak. -Shirley, do they have the Rocky Mountains in California?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t ask embarrassing questions, Dick. We’ll look it up on the map, -for we’ll have plenty of time for that on the train. I’m going to study -geography and a lot beside this trip, Aunt Anne. Please take good care -of your dear self. I wish that you were going too.”</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t stand it, Shirley, not all that you are going to do. Take -her away, Dick, before I change my mind about letting her go at all!”</p> - -<p>This time it was not to the Lytton car but to a taxi that Dick escorted -his cousin, a taxi which ticked away in front of the Harcourt home. -Aunt Anne would lock the place finally. Shirley whisked inside, taking -her seat beside Mrs. Lytton and giving a sigh of relief as she sank -into it.</p> - -<p>“Tired, child?” inquired Mrs. Lytton.</p> - -<p>“Not so much tired as glad that the last thing is done and that we are -really off. Are we?”</p> - -<p>“I judge that we are. I am glad, too. There was so much to do at -our house and I had to see that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span> Dick and your cousin Steve left no -essential article behind.”</p> - -<p>Both Mr. Lytton and Dick protested at this aspersion upon their ability -to look after themselves, but it was all in a joking way and Shirley -sat still and tense with the excitement of beginning such a big trip, -the longest that she had ever taken. At the station there was a group -of girls who had come to see Shirley off. Several of Dick’s friends, -too, had made it a point to be there just before the train came in.</p> - -<p>“The worst of it is that it is going to be so long before we see you -again,” said one high school friend of Shirley’s. “It seems a shame for -you not to graduate with the class!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, it does; but I’ll go into college with you anyhow, and it would -be pretty hard to be here all year without Father and Mother.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t blame you, Shirley,” said another girl. “If I had your chance -I’d take it in a minute. Write us all about it, won’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, Shirley,” cried the first girl. “We’ll want something about -you for our little bulletin, and if you will tell me about your trip -I’ll use it for a theme!”</p> - -<p>But the train whistled. Goodbyes were at last over, the goodbye that -had seemed to Shirley to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span> stretch out endlessly ever since her father -and mother started away. From the window Shirley waved and blew kisses, -at last sinking back on the cushioned seat to find herself beside “old -Dick,” who picked up a magazine to use as a fan.</p> - -<p>“Come to, Shirley,” said he. “You stood all that like a Trojan. Imagine -me if the boys had treated me to all that embracing.”</p> - -<p>“They slapped you on the back, Dick, as <em>I</em> should not like to be -slapped. I think I prefer the girls’ way.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="iii">CHAPTER III.<br /> -<span>PUZZLING ENCOUNTERS.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi">“<span class="smcap">Thanks</span>, Dick; I’m recovered,” laughed Shirley, waving away the -magazine. “Besides I have this little fan in my ‘under-arm’ bag. It is -rather hot today. We are not near enough to the electric fan to get any -good of it.”</p> - -<p>“We have a fine location, Shirley, in the very center of the car. Your -uncle Dick saw to that! I made the reservations, but I can’t vouch for -all that are ahead of us. We go from one line to another, you know.”</p> - -<p>Shirley did not know. With a bland indifference to detail, for all that -would be looked after by somebody, she was ready for all adventure and -surprises. “All right,” she said. “I’m perfectly content to let my -‘uncle Dick,’ with some little help from his parents, no doubt, look -after all these things, without bothering about any of them myself. -But I may as well say at the start that I am perfectly happy, grateful -to you all, and every other nice thing that I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span> ought to be! Why, I can -hardly believe it, Dick, honestly!”</p> - -<p>“It’s a big chance for me, too, Shirley, and remember that you are -going to keep the account of what we see for me, too.”</p> - -<p>“Indeed I will, always provided that you keep the bandits away.”</p> - -<p>“Did I forget to promise Cousin Anne? But she was just joking, the way -she does. Say, Shirley, I’m going to see who’s on this train. I was too -busy with family affairs to see if anybody got on that I knew, and the -taxi made it anyway.”</p> - -<p>“Who knows? Somebody may be going as far as Chicago at least.”</p> - -<p>Shirley was beginning to look through her pretty new pocketbook that -held so much and was so complete inside and out. She was rather glad to -be alone for a little. Dick had settled them all comfortably, doing the -little things that a well brought up young man can do.</p> - -<p>Now with the male enjoyment of freedom he would stroll through the cars -at his own sweet will and Shirley dismissed her cousin’s doings, for -her own happy thoughts. Father and Mother were off and on the way to -great things. Dear Auntie, to whom she owed this trip, would really not -be lonesome, for she, too, had pleasant plans for the summer.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span> It was -just wonderful how it had all come about.</p> - -<p>Professors in colleges have to plan for trips like this one, for great -sums of money do not grow on bushes in universities. Dr. Harcourt’s -resources would be strained to finance the European trip, to say -nothing of Shirley’s expenses. But Aunt Anne had been heart and soul -with the matter from the start. It would be of professional importance -for Dr. Harcourt to take the trip, join the expedition in which the -university was interested, and get material for the book on which he -was working. At once Miss Dudley told them that she would undertake the -care or plans for Shirley and it was by her advice that the decisions -were made. The Lyttons were going on this long western trip and would -be only too glad to have Shirley with them. Arrangements were made -almost a year ahead of the time for Shirley’s entrance at the girls’ -school.</p> - -<p>Thoughtfully Shirley drew out her little black note-book, in which she -was going to keep an account of expense as well as little notes of the -trip, to be filled in by herself or Dick when they wrote letters. She -was thinking what a fortunate girl she was. Cousin Molly had given her -the new pocketbook. Her “lovely” new blue coat and the pretty, becoming -hat Aunt Anne had selected, with her approval.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span> Shirley’s eyes rested -on the coat hanging beside her. Here came the porter with bags for the -hats, and Shirley took off hers, fluffing out her golden locks with a -glance at the little long mirror.</p> - -<p>Shirley Harcourt had enjoyed very little travel, though a short trip -somewhere was not unusual in the summer vacations. But Dr. Harcourt -was hampered by a modest income and then he liked to stay around home, -working in his library at the writing, reading books which were beyond -Shirley’s comprehension, or interest.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lytton enjoyed far more means, though the Lyttons, too, had -responsibilities which kept them from travel. This was a trip long -planned, one which would take almost the entire summer, with the stay -that they intended in various places.</p> - -<p>Richard Lytton was almost twenty and entering the junior year at the -university in the fall. Shirley, who knew him as well as a sister -would know a boy, was always deeply interested in such of his doings -as he confided to her. She knew the pretty sophomore girls whom he -took to the class affairs and the coquettish freshman girl of the year -before, who was such a “peach,” but who left school at the close of -the freshman year. Shirley wondered if Dick still wrote to her; but -like a little lady, Shirley never asked questions. It was fine to have -a cousin in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span> university and she was glad to think that Dick would -still be in school when she entered. He could tell her such things as -she ought to know, matters which were entirely outside of her father’s -knowledge, or so she thought.</p> - -<p>But Shirley did not know that the -<a name="professors" id="professors"></a><ins title="Original has 'profesors'">professors</ins>, whose -minds are supposed to be upon the subjects they teach,—and they are, -indeed,—are fully aware of other problems connected with the social -relations and the discipline as well as the privileges of the young -people in their care. To Shirley, “Dad” was just a “dear dad,” who knew -“a lot” and worked “terribly hard” and was always having to see some -student about lessons or his private affairs, concerning which the -professor was annoyingly secretive.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lytton glanced at Shirley, after Dick had disappeared, but she -saw that Shirley was fully occupied. After an approving survey of her -pocketbook’s contents, a few scribbles in the new note-book, and a -comfortable adjustment of the pillow which had been given her, Shirley -was watching the rapidly flying landscape with great interest. Dick -would be back when it was time for dinner in the dining car. Then it -would grow dark after a while, she would have the new experience of -being in a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span> berth in a sleeper, and in the morning they would be in -Chicago.</p> - -<p>It must be said that Shirley, though keen about the coming thrills of -the parks and the Rockies, had anticipated perhaps most eagerly of all -seeing this huge and interesting city. It was the biggest thing in its -line that she had yet seen, for Shirley’s visit to New York was yet to -come.</p> - -<p>They took rooms, engaged beforehand by Mr. Lytton, in a modest but very -neat and respectable place. Part of the time with Mr. and Mrs. Lytton, -part of the time with Dick, part of the time with all three of the -Lyttons, Shirley saw Chicago. The banging cars, the conductors, some -of them, so foreign that they could scarcely pronounce intelligently -the names of the streets; the roar of the elevated trains and the fun -of finding how to take them, climbing high above the surface cars -and stepping hurriedly off the platform to the car that glided up so -quickly; the big sight-seeing ’busses,—everything was new to Shirley.</p> - -<p>Dick liked to go around by himself part of the time, but he also -enjoyed taking Shirley around when his parents were either tired or -preferred some other amusement than that which the young people chose. -They would drop in to hear one of the concerts at Lyon and Healy’s, or -find a popular<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span> eating place that looked attractive in between times. -They visited the Art Institute together, and the museum in Grant Park, -though that was too much for them. “We’ll have to take that by degrees, -Dick,” said Shirley. “I can’t carry so much in my feeble mind at one -time. I imagine that Mother and Father will have an awful time taking -in so much in a short visit to the foreign galleries.”</p> - -<p>“Best way is to pick out what you are interested in for details,” said -Dick, “and then take a casual look through at the rest. Let’s go to -Lincoln Park this afternoon.”</p> - -<p>“All right, and remember that I have to see the Lake every day. Oh, I -just dread going across Michigan boulevard again. I didn’t know that -there were so many machines in the world as there are in Chicago!”</p> - -<p>“Don’t worry. I’ll see you safely over. It’s somewhat worse than our -little town at Commencement time, isn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. To think that I thought that congestion!”</p> - -<p>Wherever they went Dick noticed that Shirley drew the eyes of people. -That, to be sure, was not so unusual, for even at home, Shirley was -considered a very pretty girl. But there was a look almost like one of -recognition that he noticed several times. Once, on the top of a ’bus, -as they stood,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span> undecided, in the aisle because there were no two seats -together, a gentleman rose from an aisle seat, next to which another -was vacant. Smiling at Shirley and tipping his hat, he moved to where -a single seat gave him room and made it possible for Shirley and Dick -to sit together. Shirley, standing with that air of detached poise -which was natural to her, thought it only a pleasant courtesy, smiled a -little in return and took the inside seat.</p> - -<p>Dick glanced after the gentleman. “That chap thinks that he knows you, -Shirley,” he said.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no; he couldn’t,” replied Shirley, “unless he is some graduate of -our school.”</p> - -<p>“That might be,” Dick assented. “We meet ’em everywhere.”</p> - -<p>But the next encounter puzzled Shirley a little. She and Dick had -dropped into a very attractive cafeteria for lunch, on one of their -trips downtown. After they had finished their lunch Shirley moved -toward the door, standing aside, out of the way of people, while Dick -was paying for their checks.</p> - -<p>While Shirley stood there, interested in the scene, but not feeling a -little apart from it, a short, slim little person came hurrying past, -and stopped short upon seeing her. “Hello!” she said. “Seeing how the -<em>hoi polloi</em> do it? I thought you had gone for the summer. Passed -the house today and it’s all shut<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span> up. Nice looking young man you are -with. Have a good time for me. Little Ollie has to earn her wages now. -So long.”</p> - -<p>Shirley stood smiling during this address, delivered rapidly, for the -girl seemed to be in a great hurry. There was no chance to tell her -that she must be mistaken, though Shirley’s evident surprise at being -addressed might have suggested it, Shirley thought afterward.</p> - -<p>Dick joined her immediately. “<em>Who’s</em> the old friend?” he asked, -looking after the prettily dressed girl who was now mingling with the -rest of the hurrying noon crowds on the sidewalk.</p> - -<p>“I’m sure I don’t know, Dick, some one that thought she knew me. She -stood right in front of me and never stopped to wonder if I were the -right one. I must look a good deal like some one she knows.”</p> - -<p>Then Shirley repeated the girl’s speech. “She asked me if I were seeing -how the <em>hoi polloi</em> do it; so the girl I look like can’t be in -the habit of frequenting cafeterias. And this one is a nice one, too.”</p> - -<p>“Well, just look out that some one doesn’t try to scrape an -acquaintance with you on the strength of your resemblance to somebody.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see how that could be done, Dick.”</p> - -<p>The next episode, however, was very harmless<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span> and occurred the next -day. Shirley was alone, stepping out of a candy shop not far from where -they were staying. A handsome car drew up to the curb and permitted -a lad of possibly twelve years to hop out, then drove rapidly away. -The boy was well dressed, his knickers, stockings, shoes,—the whole -outfit, in the latest style for boys. He started to run across the -pavement toward one of the doors in the tall building, when he caught -sight of Shirley.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s funny,” he said. “I thought that you were out seeing the -Indians by this time. Mother said,—” but here the child broke off, for -some one called him from the door. “Goodbye,” he called back, as he -started on after his brief halt, with a touch of his cap.</p> - -<p>“A sweet little gentleman,” thought Shirley, who had enjoyed the -friendly little speech and looked with pleasant acknowledgment at the -lad when he spoke to her.</p> - -<p>“Whoever my double is, Dick,” said Shirley, after she returned to the -hotel and found Dick in the lobby, “she is due out where the Indians -are, I’ve just discovered. I hope that I run across her. No, I don’t -either. I’d rather there were just one of me!”</p> - -<p>“I don’t blame you, Shirley. But you will probably never see her, -especially if she has gone on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span> West ahead of us. Besides we may not be -going to the same places at all.”</p> - -<p>“It is not very important, Dick. I’ll probably forget all about it.”</p> - -<p>Shirley was with Mrs. Lytton later in the day, when they went with a -guide through the great store of Marshall Field’s and afterward had -lunch together there and shopped. Shirley wanted to send her Aunt Anne -something from this particular store, just because Miss Dudley had -spoken of liking it so much. It must be something nice, from her own -little private fund.</p> - -<p>For any purchase of her own, Shirley would have sought bargains, but -for Miss Dudley she looked among many things far in advance of what she -could pay and she rather wondered that the clerks took so much pains. -It was an evident disappointment to a clerk who sold her a delicate -handkerchief that she bought nothing else, and when Mrs. Lytton asked -to see something less expensive than an article which was offered her, -the young woman behind the counter looked decidedly surprised, giving -Shirley a glance which she could scarcely interpret. But all through -the store they were treated with a little more than even the customary -courtesy. “I should almost think,” said Mrs. Lytton, “that they knew -us.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span></p> - -<p>Shirley had not mentioned to her cousin the little encounters with -those who seemed to think that they knew Shirley, and it did not seem -worth while to comment upon it. But she did wonder if the resemblance -had anything to do with the very particular courtesy of the clerks. She -was accustomed to much the same consideration at home, for her father’s -position and personality commanded the respect of his fellow townsmen. -But the Harcourts by no means were expected to buy the most expensive -articles upon a trip to the home shops.</p> - -<p>The last occurrence which could be attributed to a fancied resemblance -took place at the hotel, just as they were all waiting in the lobby, -preparatory to leaving. A porter was standing by their luggage. Mr. -Lytton was paying the bill at the desk. Dick was buying a paper. Mrs. -Lytton was sitting in one of the big chairs and Shirley was standing -by her, a little back of the chair, with one hand and her pocketbook -resting on its well padded top.</p> - -<p>A gentleman, conservatively dressed and looking like a prosperous -Chicago business man, had previously passed them on his way from the -entrance to the desk, where he talked with one of the clerks a moment -and turned to make his way as rapidly out. Seeing Shirley, he paused a -moment, with a look of surprise. Then he left the straight path to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span> the -door and walked briskly toward her. Mrs. Lytton, who was watching her -husband from this distance, did not see him. But Shirley saw him coming -and wondered what next. It might be some one whom she ought to know.</p> - -<p>In consequence, when the gentleman offered his hand, Shirley extended -hers. This might be an “old grad,” and it would never do not to -remember him. There were hosts of folks who were entertained at her -father’s table every Commencement and she could not always remember -them.</p> - -<p>As in the other instances, this stranger was in a hurry. Not yet had -Shirley had an opportunity to say, “You are mistaken!” Nor yet had one -mentioned the name of her “double!”</p> - -<p>But this was not an “old grad.” It was evident at once as the gentleman -addressed her. “Why, my dear, it is pleasant to see you in town yet. I -thought that you had gone with your father. We shall miss all of you, -though I expect to be in and out all summer. Mrs. Scott and the girls -have gone on up to Wisconsin, you know. May you have a very delightful -trip. You are looking very much better than you did when you returned -at the close of school. Goodbye, my child, I must hurry back to the -bank.”</p> - -<p>Tipping his hat, this kind-looking, fatherly man<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span> sped on with true -Chicago hurry. Twice Shirley had thought that she might get in a -protesting word, and got no further than an apparent stammer. For -Shirley was not supposed to interrupt older people and it would not -have been possible to stop this rapid speech without an interruption.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lytton had turned, but with the confusion, inside and out, she did -not catch what was said. Mr. Lytton and Dick were joining them now, the -porter was gathering up the bags and in a moment they were in a taxi, -on their way to the station to catch their train.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="iv">CHAPTER IV.<br /> -<span>ON WITH THE PANORAMA.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi">“<span class="smcap">Who</span> was the old codger with whom you were shaking hands, Shirley, as -I came up?” Dick inquired, as once more he went through the process -of settling everybody’s baggage and settled himself, too, down on a -Pullman seat by Shirley.</p> - -<p>“His name was Mr. Scott,” said Shirley demurely. At last she had one -name of some one who knew her double. “I would not say that he is very -old, and I’m sure that ‘codger’ does not describe him.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t he shake hands with Mother first?”</p> - -<p>“He probably did not recognize her.”</p> - -<p>“How did you happen to know him?”</p> - -<p>“I did not know him.” Shirley was enjoying this.</p> - -<p>“Then why on earth would you shake hands with him?”</p> - -<p>“Because I thought that he might be some graduate or even an important -trustee that knew Father<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span> and remembered me, though you might think -that I am flattering myself.”</p> - -<p>“And he turned out not to be a trustee or anybody?”</p> - -<p>“He was somebody, all right. He said that he supposed I had gone -with my father and that I was looking better than I did right after -school was out, and that Mrs. Scott and the girls had gone on up into -Wisconsin ‘you know.’”</p> - -<p>Dick threw his head back and laughed. “I saw him give a quick look back -when he saw me going toward you, Shirley. He stopped a moment, almost -as if he intended to come back; then he took out his watch and shot out -of the door.”</p> - -<p>“He was going to the bank,” said Shirley. “Oh, I know Mr. Scott very -well indeed!”</p> - -<p>“It is a good thing that we are leaving Chicago. Have you told Mother?”</p> - -<p>“No; I’d forget to do it, and we have been doing such interesting -things that it has not seemed very important. It’s rather mildly -interesting, though, to know that some girl, probably of a well-known -and wealthy Chicago family, looks enough like me to have me taken for -her in broad daylight, at least by persons in a hurry, or by clerks -that do not know her any too well. Perhaps I’ll write to Mr. Scott and -ask him what her name is.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span></p> - -<p>“How would you address him, my dear cousin?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. That would be a difficulty. ‘Mr. Scott, Chicago, Illinois,’ might -be a bit indefinite.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll say for you, Shirley, that you look like a million dollars -in that new rig of yours. You probably look so much more stunning than -the original that they have to stop to speak to you.”</p> - -<p>“Now <em>you</em> are a cousin worth having, Dick. Thanks awfully. Next -year,—no, I can’t—the year after, when you are a senior, I’ll have -all the girls that you like best in for teas and things and invite you -over. Maybe the senior girls wouldn’t come to a party given by little -me, though.”</p> - -<p>“They’d be delighted to be asked to the professor’s house, even with -you out of the question, which I should not admit. Moreover, my dear -Shirley, how do you know that by that time a senior girl would be -interesting? Now the reverend seniors are often known to have the most -serious cases of their college career with sophomores, or even freshmen -girls.”</p> - -<p>“That is so. Good. I’ll know all the freshmen girls, perhaps, and I -know some of the sophomore girls as it is. Just pick out one that Aunt -Anne will welcome into the family!”</p> - -<p>“That remains to be seen, Shirley. Now, look here. Let’s plan what -we do when we get to Denver.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span> Dick pulled from his pocket one of -the illustrated advertisements, published by the railroad companies. -Everything else was soon forgotten in studying Colorado and its -possibilities.</p> - -<p>From that time on there was one delightful panorama of prairie, -irrigating ditches, rivers, mountains, with rides among the foothills -and climbs to the heights; of new birds and flowers and trees; of -unafraid wild animals in the national parks; of snowy summits; of -glaciers in Glacier Park and sure-footed horses on narrow trails. -Shirley was not afraid to go into quiet raptures over dashing mountain -streams, all the scenes so new and inspiring to her, and each new -expedition. Mrs. Lytton declared that it was “as stimulating as a cup -of coffee” to meet Shirley’s eagerness every morning.</p> - -<p>“Never having had a daughter, Shirley, I did not know what I had -missed, till this trip. Dick could not be spared, but I wish that we -could adopt you.”</p> - -<p>“I never made a good girl, did I?” queried Dick.</p> - -<p>“You are a fine son,” said his mother, “and that is enough for me.”</p> - -<p>Shirley was glad of that little speech of compliment from her cousin -Molly. Thoroughly appreciating the privilege of this trip with them, -she had tried in every way to make her cousins glad that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span> she had come. -There were many little ways in which she could be of service, and when -they were out together, as they sometimes were without the gentlemen, -they were as jolly as two girls. Mrs. Lytton was active and strong, -taking part in all the rides upon the narrow trails as bravely as any -of them.</p> - -<p>One delightful experience followed another. They grew weary at times, -to be sure, and there were some narrowly averted accidents, but no -calamity occurred to mar their trip. When it was wise to let time -intervene between undertakings, they merely tarried a little longer in -some camp or hotel until they felt like resuming the onward way. They -met many friendly people at different places and with the informality -of American tourists, they joined forces for some trip, or discussed -frankly the problems of a common country. There was one group of girls, -traveling with two chaperons, who were attracted to Shirley. Their -companionship made the trip through the Yellowstone lively, for they -often found themselves upon the same ’bus. Dick, too, attached a young -man of about his own age, a student in a different university.</p> - -<p>But it was not until they had reached a hotel in the big and wonderful -state of Washington that Shirley saw her double.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span></p> - -<p>It happened in one of the corridors on the second floor about noon. -The Lyttons and Shirley were leaving that night. Shirley had just been -downstairs to the lobby, and as there was but one easy flight of stairs -with a landing midway, Shirley did not take the elevator, but ran up -the stairs instead.</p> - -<p>Between the stairway and her room were the doors to the elevator, and -as she turned from the last stair down the corridor in the direction -of her room, she saw herself, apparently, standing in front of the -elevator door. Even the hat was of the same color as her own, and a -little fluff of golden hair curled around near the place where ears -were supposed to be. The coat was not like her own, however.</p> - -<p>The young girl was laughing and talking in an animated fashion to two -girls who were with her. She faced Shirley, and Shirley, now surprised -and interested, took an eager step toward her. But it was quite evident -that the other girl had not seen Shirley. The elevator doors slid open -just then; the <a name="three" id="three"></a><ins title="Original has 'two'">three</ins> -girls stepped in and were out of sight in a moment.</p> - -<p>More mechanically than otherwise, Shirley went on toward the room with -something that she was bringing Mrs. Lytton. “Why, Cousin Molly, I’ve -just seen my double. It’s the queerest thing. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span> didn’t suppose that -two people of different families <em>could</em> look so much alike. Oh, I -haven’t told you a word about how in Chicago people kept taking me for -some one.” Shirley paused, rather dazed by the experience.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lytton looked at her rather soberly, Shirley thought. “I wonder -who it could be. Why don’t you try to find out who she is? Has she a -room on this floor?”</p> - -<p>“How stupid I am, Cousin Molly! Here I stand! It <em>would</em> be rather -interesting to know who she is, perhaps.”</p> - -<p>Shirley flew out of the room and down the stairs. But there was no sign -of the girls in the lobby. She even went to the desk and asked rather -hesitatingly if the clerk had seen any one who looked like herself pass -just now.</p> - -<p>The clerk to whom she addressed the question looked at her closely. -“Yes,” he said. “A young lady enough like you to be your twin came to -the desk for a moment with another young lady, who left her key. Let me -see. The young lady’s name was Penn, Miss Penn. She and her mother just -checked out, but she came back to get something which she had forgotten -or thought that she had forgotten she said. From what was said I took -it that they were going to some other hotel in the city,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span> here. If they -are friends of yours, or relatives, I may be able to trace them for -you.” The clerk, as he talked, noted Shirley’s hesitation. He came to -the correct conclusion that she did not know the young lady who looked -so much like her. Odd, he thought.</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” said Shirley. “I will ask my cousin if it is best to find -them. We are leaving in a few hours ourselves.”</p> - -<p>But Mrs. Lytton did not think that it would be worth while to try to -find the girls. “It would only be a matter of curiosity, perhaps, and -neither of you would care for acquaintance, since you say that it has -not made a pleasant impression to find yourself taken for some one -else. And if the girl should be some distant relative, my experience is -that unless there is something in common, looking up one’s relatives is -not very satisfactory,—though interesting, of course, and kinship does -make a bond, unless too distant. If you really want to do it, Shirley, -we can remain another day. I will let you decide the matter. We might -get into touch by this evening, I’ve no doubt, and perhaps you would -feel better satisfied.”</p> - -<p>“If you leave it to me, Cousin Molly, I’ll say to go right on with our -trip. For a moment, I felt like going right up to the girl and saying, -‘Look<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span> in the mirror, please,’ just for fun. But my curiosity has all -oozed out and my natural timidity, Dick, has come to the fore.”</p> - -<p>Dick Lytton, who was present at the discussion, laughed and asked -Shirley again if she had told his mother all the details.</p> - -<p>“Most of them Dick. I’ll give her the whole story while we pack up. Now -let me fold up your frocks, Cousin Molly. You know you like the way I -do it. Is it too soon to pack them?”</p> - -<p>“No. Better have it done before we go out. Where did you say you were -going to take us, Dick? Oh, yes. We get another and better view of the -old Pacific, Shirley. Go and find your father, please, Dick.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="v">CHAPTER V.<br /> -<span>SENIOR PLANS.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">It</span> was past the middle of September, but the well-kept, well-watered -and closely shorn lawns of the school still looked like velvet. A -little rolling, with concrete walks, flower beds, fine shrubbery, great -old trees with heavy foliage, close as a grove in some portions, the -large grounds contained some handsome buildings of modern make, as well -as several of stately old style no longer built.</p> - -<p>Most attractive of all, perhaps, was the lake front, where Lake -Michigan stretched out widely and a boathouse of a conservative style -stood by a small dock, to which were tied a number of boats. What had -probably been a bluff, of no great height, had been smoothed into a -gentle incline toward a strip of sandy beach. Out at some distance a -strong breakwater had been constructed to protect the small shipping of -this girls’ school.</p> - -<p>Back a little in the quiet open grove, on two of the rustic benches, -which had been drawn close together,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span> a small group of girls in their -summer frocks talked in animated fashion.</p> - -<p>Any group of girls is interesting and attractive, but these girls, -representing the cream, so to speak, of girls who cared enough -for education to receive it and who had reached the senior year -successfully, might claim a second look from anybody.</p> - -<p>“Oh dear,” said one, “classes begin tomorrow!”</p> - -<p>“Hate to take up the grind, Fleta?” queried another, whose locks of a -reddish gold were gathered into a little net over the fluffed mass at -the back of her head. Irma Reed was letting her “bob” grow out.</p> - -<p>“Sort of,” laughed Fleta, a tall, grey-eyed girl with good features, -whose hair she declared was grey at the start, though its soft ash -color was becoming to Fleta’s fresh complexion.</p> - -<p>“I shall quite welcome it,” a plump, brown-haired lass contributed. “I -have had the pokiest summer that you ever imagined. It is one grand -adventure to get back to school! Mother was sick all summer, too sick -to leave town, even, and we could not get to our summer cottage at all. -Of course no help wanted to stay where there was sickness, and beside -the trained nurse I had one lone woman in the kitchen and I had to take -care of one small brother<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span> and two smaller sisters and keep them quiet -on account of Mother.</p> - -<p>“I was glad to do it, of course, and you may know that I learned first -aid to the injured, beside a whole kindergarten and primary course! -The only poetry that I can repeat is Mother Goose and the like. But -perhaps it paid. I’ve been up against some real things, girls; and I am -<em>so</em> thankful that Mother is well now and that things are so I can -come back here!”</p> - -<p>A pair of beautiful dark eyes were watching Edith Stuart as she related -her summer’s experience. A pretty little chin lifted as Sidney Thorne -remarked, “‘All’s well that ends well,’ as the immortal Shakespeare -hath it. You have had a hard summer, Ede. But I am rather glad, too, to -get back, though I had quite as full a summer as usual of good times. -It is our last year here, girls. Can you realize it?”</p> - -<p>“Sidney has been East this summer girls,” a very slight, dainty girl -remarked, with a gesture of complete information. “That’s the Boston -accent she is bringing back. Yes, Sidney, I’m ‘ratheh’ glad to get -back, too, and it is ha’d to realize that indeed it is our <em>lawst</em> -year!” The girl’s face was dimpling with mischief and she shook back -from her face hair almost as golden as Sidney’s own.</p> - -<p>Sidney looked a trifle taken back at this. Sidney<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span> Thorne did not like -to be made fun of and preferred to do the criticising herself if there -were any to be done; but after a moment, during which she did not know -whether she wanted to freeze up or not, she gave way to smiles instead.</p> - -<p>“Little sinner,” she said, “don’t you make fun of me! But you are all -wrong, though I have been with my aunt all summer and I talk more or -less like her all the time, which is <em>perfectly</em> proper for any -Standish to do! I haven’t been East at all. I was on a big western -trip, partly by rail, partly by auto. If you are good, I will tell -you about some of the good times I had. But give me hotels and cars, -no camps except for very limited stops. I did some mountain climbing, -though, and I like the riding, though I had one terrible scare, riding -on a ‘sky-line,’ when the horse slipped and there were only inches to -slip in.”</p> - -<p>“Oo-ooh!” shivered -<a name="Dulcina" id="Dulcina"></a><ins title="Original has 'Dulcian'">Dulcina</ins> -Porter.</p> - -<p>“Not so bad,” said Sidney, “after it is over. Think how many times you -just miss being hit when you cross a street, or your car just escapes a -collision. The great event of the trip was going up into Alaska, where -I had never been before.”</p> - -<p>As if in memory of cool places, Sidney drew her light scarf closer -around her shoulders. But the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span> breeze from Lake Michigan’s waters was -blowing more strongly just now.</p> - -<p>“To change the subject, Sidney,” said Fleta Race, “what plans have you -for the Double Three this year, and what must we have in senior doings? -How about the elections and everything? What’s our play going to be and -how are we going to work it diplomatically with you know whom, to have -what we really want instead of working at something we’ll hate?”</p> - -<p>Sidney smiled a little, though she was annoyed. It was like Fleta to -blurt everything out, she thought. She dropped her eyes, playing with -the end of her gay scarf. “Why ask me, Fleta?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Because you have the most influence of anybody in school, and because -you are the president of the Double Three,” Fleta replied. “I’m sure -that you have some little ideas. What’s been floating around in the -little old brain this summer while you have been climbing and sailing -and swimming and everything?”</p> - -<p>“Don’t push our president, Fleta,” gently said Edith, who sat next to -Sidney. She tapped Sidney’s proud little shoulder with a soft finger as -she continued. “Of course, Sidney has ideas, but let her have a chance -to work them out. If she has any<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span> plans she will tell us fast enough. -This isn’t a formal meeting anyhow. It just happened.”</p> - -<p>Edith’s remarks made Sidney feel in a more responsive mood. Fleta’s -compliment, too, was not unacceptable. She had no objection to an -addition to the idea, either, and said in a low tone, as if some -listening spirit might be near, “What do you think, girls,—the dean -spoke to me about Miss Gibson this morning. I was talking to her about -several things and she said, ‘By the way, Sidney, I noticed that a -number of the girls were making it hard for Miss Gibson last year. I -wish that you would use your influence among them. Your scholarship is -uniformly so high and your courtesy is always so irreproachable that I -am sure you will want to help Miss Gibson. She was new last year, you -will remember, but her knowledge and standing are such that I expect -loyalty from my girls!’</p> - -<p>“Excuse my repeating a compliment to myself, girls, but I just had -to say the whole speech as she said it. Moreover, was it so much of -a compliment as trying to get me to do something? I did not tell her -that I detested Miss Gibson, of course, and it wasn’t the time to tell -her how autocratic and disagreeable Miss Gibson is. Indeed, there were -people waiting to see the dean. All that I said in reply to the dean -was, ‘Yes, Miss Irving,’ though I looked attentive,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span> and inquiring, -at the proper places. Why should I tell the dean what I was thinking? -Most certainly none of us intend to do any thing that is not in good -form, like a few of the girls. You remember what happened in the junior -English last year that time. At the same time, I do not think that they -should have retained a teacher who is so objectionable to many of the -best girls.”</p> - -<p>Sidney Thorne naturally included herself and her companions among the -“best girls” of the school, as she spoke in her most dignified way, -with careful choice of words. If Sidney ever fell into the modern -carelessness of school girl speech, it was not because she had not been -trained from childhood in the best English, chiefly from having always -heard it from her parents.</p> - -<p>“I got a good deal out of my work with Miss Gibson last year, Sidney,” -said a girl who had not spoken during these interchanges, though she -had joined in smiles or laughter. She was not a particularly pretty -girl, but had a pleasing face, one of high intelligence. A pleasant -mouth and a firm, though not prominent chin, clear blue eyes, a nose -as straight as Sidney’s and a broad brow, such of it as could be seen, -presented a wholesome combination. Some day, when Hope Holland cared a -little more about her looks, she would make a handsome young<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span> woman, -but at present she was far more interested in other things. Today she -wore the simplest of dark blue georgette dresses over a dark slip. Not -a ring, a pin or a string of beads decorated her. Her small hands were -clasped around her knees, as her heels went back under the bench to a -cross bar there. Her silk hose were black and her shoes, while neat, -were not as new as those of the other girls. Hope could have had them, -but had not bothered.</p> - -<p>The rest of the girls wore light dresses, with all the pretty -accompaniments, though these were all in good taste and surely not out -of style. No girl who had been at least a year in this school was ever -seen to be over-dressed, for with the lessons from books, other lessons -were taught about the fine arts of living. Whatever their private -tastes, and it would be odd if no girl ever attended the school whose -personal ideas were different, while here the atmosphere prevailed and -had its present and often permanent influence.</p> - -<p>“You have never said so before, Hope,” returned Sidney. “Why didn’t you -come to the rescue last year? Have we a disciple of Miss Gibson among -the ‘Double Three?’”</p> - -<p>Hope laughed a little. “It takes me longer to make up my mind, Sidney, -than it does some people. I could see that Miss Gibson was making a -mistake<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span> in the way she handled some of the girls, but I got more -inspiration out of the way she reads and the interest that she gives to -all”—here Hope hesitated and Fleta inserted, “that old stuff!”</p> - -<p>“Yes. That’s it, Fleta. Another thing I found out, and that is that -Miss Gibson writes herself and gets it accepted, which is more to -the point, I imagine, from what my brother tells me. So I’m going to -ask her questions in class and get her to tell us things, if I get a -chance.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t imagine that she’d let you! She thinks that she has to pour the -course of study in and assist the process of digestion as little as -possible!”</p> - -<p>Hope could not help smiling at Sidney’s vehemence, but to herself -she thought that Sidney was not fair, as sometimes happened when a -prejudice seized Sidney. Hope wondered what it was this time. Did -Miss Gibson lack family, grace of manner, or was there some personal -peculiarity that offended Sidney? Miss Irving was right about Sidney’s -grades. Miss Gibson had not offended by any injustice to the one whom -Fleta called the most influential girl in school. Was that true? Very -likely.</p> - -<p>“Nearly time for dinner, girls,” said Sidney, looking at the little -jeweled watch which she wore. “Let’s walk to the beach for a minute. -After all, this is a dear old place. I shall hate to leave it next<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span> -spring, I suppose. One thing I want to say right now, girls, and you -must make your plans accordingly. As it is our last year together, I -want you to spend either all or at least part of the Christmas Holidays -with me. We’ll have a house party of the Double Three. I want them all -in my house, Hope, if you don’t mind, and you must come over all the -time and stay all night as much as you can.”</p> - -<p>Exclamations of delight at the plan were heard for the next few -minutes. “If we <em>should</em> decide to take in any one else and make -it a Double Four, we can still have our house party, of course. It is -all fixed up with Mother.”</p> - -<p>Hope, who lived in the same city, rather protested at her not having -any one at her house, but she gave it up when she saw that it would -make Sidney unhappy to interfere with her plans. Hope often gave up -to the more insistent Sidney, but she was fond of Sidney and knew her -good points as well as some of her faults,—the drawbacks, either in -disposition or in perception of the facts of life, from which no one -can be entirely free.</p> - -<p>Together, in happy mood, the girls walked to the edge of the shore, -where the restless waves of Lake Michigan broke on the sand and -pebbles. Coming events of their senior year were discussed, for by this -time the girls were well acquainted with the customs<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span> and traditions -of their school. Events social, athletic and intellectual were talked -over, from hockey and basketball to the marvelous “Prom” in the spring, -perhaps the most delightful and exciting of all.</p> - -<p>Other groups of girls were drifting toward the buildings when at last -Sidney, Hope and the rest of the Double Three turned their steps in -that direction. For all of them these first days were filled with -expectation, along with the pleasure of meeting each other again -after summer days. Adventures of one kind or another were certain to -come, adventures of success or failure, adventures of friendship and -adventures of good times.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="vi">CHAPTER VI.<br /> -<span>THE “DOUBLE THREE.”</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">This</span> small association of six girls, who were known as the “Double -Three,” and who so denominated themselves, had drifted into the -very informal organization on account of an accidental performance -at Hallowe’en in their junior year. They were friends, more or less -intimate then. It chanced that the Mistress of Hallowe’en celebrations, -a senior of the year before, had appointed Sidney and Hope to manage -some sort of a “stunt,” as those events are called.</p> - -<p>The result was an amateur one act play, portraying more or less of a -mystery. Sidney wrote most of it, or managed its production. Masks and -loose black dominoes were the costume, to which the final touch was -given by an oblong badge which represented the face of an ordinary -ivory domino, the “double three.” The domino robe had suggested the -word; the number of the girls who had been asked by Sidney and Hope to -help had suggested<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span> the badge; double three sounded so much better than -plain six, if something from the game were taken as a symbol.</p> - -<p>So much was said about the stunt of the “double threes” that it was -only natural for the girls to drift together more often and finally to -call themselves the Double Threes, with occasional meetings and good -times. But it must not be supposed that it was a definite or recognized -society or anything like a sorority, for sororities did not exist in -this school.</p> - -<p>Fleta Race, Irma Reed, Edith Stuart and Sidney Thorne occupied a suite -together. Dulcina Porter and Hope Holland shared one of the single -rooms in the dormitory. In their junior year Sidney and Hope had -roomed together; but without having any trouble, both had come to the -conclusion that it would be good to try not being together, for they -were friends when at home. Each would room with a “stranger” and Sidney -would try being in a suite. Hope privately thought that she would not -like it, for all the ways of simple school living were not what Sidney -enjoyed at home. But at that Sidney was an independent soul that wanted -to see if she could do what other girls did. She was not the only -daughter of wealthy parents among the students here.</p> - -<p>Previous to her sophomore year Sidney had been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span> tutored at home, and -hard indeed she found it to make up all the loose ends of her freshman -year. Hope had attended another school until her junior year, when she -had come to join Sidney after hearing her accounts of its superior -advantages. But then, everything that Sidney did, everything that she -had, all connected with herself and her family, were considered just -right by the cool Sidney, so sure was she, so blandly superior to -mistakes or criticism.</p> - -<p>Hope felt a sense of relief to have no one but dainty unselfish little -Dulcie around. Yet there was a charm about the superior Sidney after -all, and Hope loved her. In the real living together, Sidney’s gentle -training made it impossible for her to be discourteous or disagreeable. -It was that unconscious assumption of superiority that Hope disliked, -though she could not have analyzed it. Sidney was “proud,” she -would have said. Money had nothing to do with it, for Sidney at -least <em>thought</em> that she admired achievement and ability above -everything. It was quite likely that she did not even give her father -credit for having successfully managed a large business and money -which he had inherited. Practical ability is not to be despised, and -it is only the love of money that is the root of evil, or the silly -ostentation that sometimes accompanies it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span></p> - -<p>Leaving the campus, the girls of the Double Three strolled into the -parlors, where several other girls at once ran up to Sidney, as she was -the latest arrival.</p> - -<p>“I looked everywhere for you, Sidney,” said one. “Where in the world -did you disappear to?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, the girls got hold of me after I was dressed. We had so much to -talk about that we went down in the grove to look at the lake and -stayed there, gibbering, longer than we intended. I wanted to hunt up -some more of you.” Sidney was swinging hands with this bright-eyed girl -as she spoke.</p> - -<p>“Hello, Thorne in the flesh,” cried another very tall girl, who looked -down upon the shorter Sidney as she spoke. “Going to beat me in -everything this year?”</p> - -<p>“Going to try to, Olive,” returned Sidney, whirling around to look up -at her old rival and exchange mild embraces.</p> - -<p>“Well, look out, that’s all,” laughed Olive, moving away with a salute.</p> - -<p>“Listen, Sidney,” said another miss who was trying to get to Sidney -through the group. “There is going to be a meeting of the athletic -board right after dinner in the library. Don’t you forget it and do -something else!”</p> - -<p>“All right, Dorothy. I’ll be there.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span></p> - -<p>There were other girls, who did not rush to meet Sidney, and one who -joined the tall, competent looking Olive Mason, as she walked away from -Sidney’s group, made a somewhat critical remark. “I don’t see why you -should welcome Sidney Thorne so cordially, Olive. She did everything -but cheat to beat you last year.”</p> - -<p>“Good sportmanship, my dear,” replied Olive. “She didn’t cheat and it -is up to me to see that my work is better than hers.”</p> - -<p>“I think that it is, Ollie. It was just favoritism that gave her the -higher grades! Sidney Thorne is a little snob!”</p> - -<p>“I’d show myself pretty small, if I said that favoritism gave Sidney -the higher grades, so never mind, Barbie. Please don’t say anything -like that around where the girls can hear you. They all know that you -are such a friend of mine and they might think that I felt that way. It -wouldn’t look well, to say the least, Barbara.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t worry. If I express an opinion about Sidney, I’ll see that the -girls know it is my own, not yours. I’ll say this for Sidney Thorne, -that she doesn’t push herself in; but she just loves it that they put -her on all the boards and committees and make much of her.”</p> - -<p>“Why shouldn’t she?” asked the fair-minded<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span> Olive. “Who wouldn’t like -it? She has ideas, and is pretty and charming. I don’t say that it does -not spoil her a little, but I thought it out this summer. I was jealous -and disappointed, Barbie, but I decided to go right ahead seeing what I -can do on my own account. I imagine that every one of us can make some -place for herself if she tries!”</p> - -<p>Barbara Sanford looked keenly at Olive. “You’re one mighty fine girl, -Olive!” she exclaimed. “The girls know it, too!”</p> - -<p>“That is good of you to say, Barbie, but it would be a pity if I -hadn’t learned a few things by being in this school three years and -‘playing the game’ under our athletic director,—and isn’t it terrible, -Barbie?—she’s engaged!”</p> - -<p>“What! The Water Nymph going to leave us?”</p> - -<p>“Sh-sh! There she is. Why, she is back for part of the year anyhow, and -perhaps she will not be married before next summer.”</p> - -<p>“I wish it had been Miss Gibson, or the math teacher. But that is the -way it always is!”</p> - -<p>“Barbie the pessimist!” laughed Olive.</p> - -<p>After dinner Sidney was promptly on hand at the meeting of the -“athletic board,” announced also at dinner. Sidney was feeling -especially happy about everything. It was really glorious to be a -senior, with more privileges, among the “high and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span> mighty,” so far as -age and position were concerned. Sidney knew too, that she had worked -hard in these years, to justify her parents’ faith in her and to -satisfy herself that she could.</p> - -<p>The meeting was a short one, however. There were no lesson hours, but -as the girls were expected to be in their rooms at a reasonable time, -Sidney ran up to her suite immediately, to help her suite-mates put -everything to rights. She was glowingly happy. “This is going to be -the greatest fun yet,” she said. “What do you think one of the girls -said to me? I won’t tell you who it was, though. She said, ‘why don’t -you and the rest of the Double Three set it up about some of these -elections? You could have things the way you want them!’”</p> - -<p>Dulcie and Hope had come in and were sitting on one of the single beds, -watching Fleta unpack and hang away a few last garments. Edith, mending -one of last year’s cushions too pretty to be thrown away, came in and -plumped herself down beside Hope.</p> - -<p>“What did you say to that?” asked Hope, watching Sidney, who was -looking critically at the arrangement of the dresser and was changing -the position of several knick-knacks.</p> - -<p>“I said nothing, says I,” facetiously answered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span> Sidney, looking into -the mirror and giving her aristocratic nose a dab with the puff from -her vanity case. And it may be remarked that Sidney was also enough of -an aristocrat to powder that same nose nowhere else than in her boudoir -or some equally private place.</p> - -<p>“However,” she continued, “why not use a little influence if we have -it? Why be seniors for nothing?”</p> - -<p>“They will <em>say</em> that we do it anyhow,” approvingly Dulcie added, -swinging her slippered feet under the bed and out again. “They did last -year; don’t you remember, Hope?”</p> - -<p>“Being accused of a thing and really doing it,” said Hope, “are two -very different things.”</p> - -<p>Sidney thought that Hope was being “snippy.” She cast a glance in -Hope’s direction and brightly asked, “Any objection, Hope?”</p> - -<p>“I never cared to belong to a political gang,” laughed Hope. “We see -enough of that in Chicago.”</p> - -<p>“Calls us a ‘gang,’ girls,” whimpered Fleta, making a comical face.</p> - -<p>“Time enough to worry about politics when there is any reason for it,” -comfortably said Edith Stuart. “There isn’t any objection to our having -our own ideas and working for them, especially if<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span> they are for the -good of the school and not just to get our own way. Being determined to -get her own way and run everybody is like Stella Marbury. I am pretty -sure that it was Stella who suggested that to Sidney. Own up, Sidney. -Stella wants to be one to make this a Double Four, Sidney.”</p> - -<p>Sidney was now sitting on a straight chair in a corner by a window. -“Does she?” she asked, with no change of countenance.</p> - -<p>“If it was Stella, you’ll not get Sidney to acknowledge it now,” said -Irma Reed, leaning up against the frame of the door and watching -Sidney Thorne with amused eyes. “My opinion is that the Double Three’d -better keep in the background unless we want the dean to consider us -a sorority and tell us that we simply can’t exist. We might make it a -little reading club, if we want to have it a real club. There would be -no objection to that.”</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t even do that,” said Edith. “We are just congenial friends. -If anybody reaches the same intimacy with us we might be a Double Four, -perhaps. But we are not considering applications, are we, Sidney?”</p> - -<p>“I should think <em>not</em>!” said Sidney, with emphasis.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="vii">CHAPTER VII.<br /> -<span>THE SENSATION.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Coming</span> as she did from a trip which had filled her mind with -impressions of breadth and beauty, Shirley Harcourt was delighted to -observe that her school environment was not to be one that was close -or confined. As she was borne around the drive to Westlake Hall, she -caught a glimpse of the lake’s shining waters and wound through the -woods of its attractive acres.</p> - -<p>But Shirley was tired and she wished that the summer’s travel had not -taken off the freshness of the pretty coat, in which Dick thought that -she looked “like a million dollars,” or faded a little the becoming -hat. And she had been careful, too, wearing something else on the -outdoor trips on the mountains. Her bathing cap sufficed on the -California beaches.</p> - -<p>It had not been possible for the trip to be planned for Shirley’s -convenience. As they came home by a southerly route, one which Shirley -thoroughly approved, nevertheless, she had found it necessary to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span> -strike north to Chicago again. This route was comparatively so near to -home that she was tempted to go there, if only for a few hours.</p> - -<p>But there was the extra expense to be considered first. Then it would -be quite forlorn, after all, to go into that house and find the -strangers to whom it had been rented for the year. Miss Dudley would -not return until the first of October. With determination, then, -Shirley put aside all home-clinging thoughts and wondered why she were -not more keen about the school experience before her. She had thought -it such a wonderful plan, something that she had always wanted to -do,—that jolly life in a dormitory with other girls!</p> - -<p>But Shirley’s depression was chiefly physical and a natural result of -the continued delights and strain of the long summer trip. Now she -was feeling refreshed by the cool, fresh lake air, and the sight of -the school environment cheered her. No one was arriving with her, for -Shirley was late. This was another drawback, for Shirley’s habit was to -be ahead of her work, and the thought of a number of lessons in which -to catch up was not a happy one. She counted up the days which had -passed since the opening one,—only three. There would be no lessons -recited on that day, perhaps not on the next<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span> one. She would <em>do</em> -it, anyhow, and Shirley set her lips firmly together at the thought of -it.</p> - -<p>With rising interest, Shirley looked at the massive building with its -porches and vines, as she turned from paying the man of the taxi and -went up the steps. Her bag was light, but she took her time to ascend, -looking around at the walks and buildings seen through the trees, and -noting that there were no girls around. Glancing at her watch, she saw -that it was the dinner hour.</p> - -<p>Shirley rang the bell and was admitted promptly. The sensation had -arrived. The maid gave her one look, first surprised, then questioning. -“Why Miss (Shirley did not catch the name),—are you masquerading -already?” she said.</p> - -<p>Shirley looked surprised in her turn. “Will you show me to my room, -please, or to some one who will direct me? Or perhaps I should see the -dean first.” That, Shirley knew, would probably be impossible, if she -were at dinner. “I am Shirley Harcourt, and my arrangements were all -made for me.” “Yes, certainly,” said the maid. “The dean is at dinner, -but there is always some one in charge at the office during these first -days. I will take you there.”</p> - -<p>More than one curious glance the maid cast at Shirley as she showed -her to the office. It was as if<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span> she could not believe her eyes, and -Shirley, who had almost forgotten her Chicago experiences by this time, -wondered if this were not some one from Chicago, who must know her -“double.”</p> - -<p>“It will be possible, I think, for you to have dinner,” said the maid. -“I will be ready to see you when you are through in here. Miss Schiff, -this is Miss Shirley Harcourt, who wants to see you about the room -reserved for her.”</p> - -<p>The maid was enjoying this introduction, it was very evident. She was -quite a superior sort of maid, Shirley could see. Probably she was -some girl who was paying her way with this part service. Shirley was -accustomed to that in her college town. She dimly saw the neat office -with its desks and safe, its tables and chairs. Miss Schiff was looking -at her with bright amusement. “What in the world?” she asked. “Are you -joking me, Emma? But no,—” Miss Schiff was looking at the traveling -garb, the bag and the tired girlish face.</p> - -<p>“I am Shirley Harcourt,” firmly said Shirley. “If you will find the -list of girls and their rooms, you will see my name. I have been on a -western trip and I could not get here before.”</p> - -<p>“I see,” kindly said Miss Schiff. “Excuse me. I took you for some one -else at first. I will look up<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span> the matter at once. Just sit down. You -can go out to dinner with me presently.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, but my head aches a little and I should like bed better -than anything else. I had a late lunch in Chicago, and then I had some -fruit and a sandwich on the local train that brought me here. Probably -they gave me the headache.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps a hot drink would help you,” Miss Schiff suggested, “but that -is as you like.”</p> - -<p>In a few moments Shirley knew the number of her room, and the maid whom -Miss Schiff called Emma took her to a room on the second floor. It was -already occupied, Shirley saw, but there stood her pretty cedar chest, -already uncrated and ready to be unlocked for the sheets and pillow -slips which must go on that comfortable looking single bed. The big -portmanteau which had accompanied her on the western trip also stood on -one side of the large closet.</p> - -<p>Pretty frocks hung in the closet, all on one side. Shirley wondered -who her room-mate was to be, but her head throbbed too unpleasantly -now for her to do anything <a name="but" id="but"></a><ins title="Original has 'by'">but</ins> -make up her bed, take a hurried bath and -crawl thankfully under the covers. Her room-mate, of course, would be -surprised to find her there, but she couldn’t help that.</p> - -<p>It happened that her room-mate did not come in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span> or think of doing -so until after the time for study hours to commence; for with the -other girls she had gone out on the campus for a while, and meantime -she heard that Shirley Harcourt had arrived. “You will find a little -surprise in your room,” said Miss Schiff to Madge Whitney, whom she met -as she went to dinner, through the flocks of girls that came from the -dining hall.</p> - -<p>“My room-mate’s come, has she, Miss Schiff? Why doesn’t she come to -dinner?”</p> - -<p>“She had a severe headache and wanted to get to bed. You might study in -the library, Madge, or with Caroline again. I will give you permission.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, thank you, Miss Schiff! My books are all in Cad’s room anyhow. Did -she look like a nice girl?”</p> - -<p>Miss Schiff laughed. “Yes, she looked <em>like</em> a <em>very</em> nice -girl, so much like one, in fact, that you may find her more of a -surprise than you think.” With an amused look, Miss Schiff hurried on.</p> - -<p>“Now what did she mean by <em>that</em>?” asked Madge of her friend -Caroline Scott. “Do you suppose that she is some precise prunes, prisms -and persimmons creature that I won’t like at all? I’ve a great mind to -run up and see!”</p> - -<p>“And make a great hit right at the start!” Caroline suggested.</p> - -<p>“That is so. If she has a headache, she may be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span> in a warlike frame of -mind. I’ll not risk it. Poor thing! It’s bad enough to be late getting -to school, let alone having a headache ‘right at the start.’ Will you -lend me a pencil, Cad? Then I’ll not have to go to the room at all till -bedtime. Dear me,—if we only could have roomed together this year!”</p> - -<p>“Yes; but I am not going to let rooming with Stella Marbury spoil my -senior year. We get along all right, and she spends half her time away -from the room practicing anyhow. It would never have done not to room -with the girl from my home town.”</p> - -<p>“I know it, and Stella wants the ‘prestige’ of rooming with you, Cad. -Stella is one little worker for prominence!”</p> - -<p>Due to Madge’s meeting with Miss Schiff, Shirley’s slumbers were not -disturbed by any inrushing room-mate. She expected it, dozing uneasily -for a while, but as the medicine which she had taken for her headache -began to take effect and she felt more comfortable, she fell into a -deep slumber.</p> - -<p>When Madge Whitney entered, she did so quietly, though she was obliged -to put on her electric light. She tiptoed around, finding everything -that she needed, and looking curiously toward the bed in which Shirley -lay without stirring. Madge saw the shining gold of the hair that -spread over the pillow, but only a cheek and a very pretty arm and -hand<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span> that had been tossed free of the covers could be distinguished.</p> - -<p>A lake breeze was coming in quite coolly now from the two open windows. -Madge shut the one nearest the beds partly down, and though she did not -dare to touch her room-mate, she drew up the bathrobe that lay across -the foot of the bed and put a corner of it over the arm and shoulder, -as she had sometimes found that her mother had done for her. Then she -put out the light and undressed by only the dim light which came in -from the hall through the door set ajar for the purpose. Shirley was a -fortunate girl to have so thoughtful a room-mate waiting, though, it -must be acknowledged that Madge might not have thought of this had it -not been for considerable interest and curiosity. Some way, that hand -looked familiar. But hands were much alike!</p> - -<p>In the morning Shirley woke wondering where she was after a dream of -mountain climbing. But the headache was gone. A renewed Shirley sat up -in bed and looked around. Why, this was fine. Here she was at last. Why -should she worry about lessons? They would be good to her and let her -make them up as she could. She naturally looked first at the stirring -form in the other bed. The rising gong was ringing loudly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span></p> - -<p>A flying mop of curly black hair was all that Shirley could see; but -hands were raised to rub a pair of sleepy eyes, as the girl turned over -on her back, trying to wink those same blue eyes open.</p> - -<p>“Good morning,” clearly and pleasantly said Shirley. “Is this the Miss -Madge Whitney with whom Miss Schiff said I was to room?”</p> - -<p>“It certainly is,” replied Madge, “and I suppose that you are Shirley -Harcourt.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Shirley.</p> - -<p>The blue eyes came open, after a last blink, and suddenly Madge set up. -“Why, the idea! Was it you, Sidney Thorne, all the time, here in my -room in bed last night? And to think that I covered up your shoulder -and tiptoed around and put the light out and everything! What became -of the other girl? And why on earth,—?” But Madge stopped and stared -again.</p> - -<p>“It was good of you not to waken me,” Shirley’s musical voice -continued, “but I really am not anybody by the name of Sidney. I do -suppose that of all things I had to strike the same school as my -‘double!’” Shirley looked rather disgusted.</p> - -<p>“If you are not Sidney Thorne, then you certainly <em>have</em> a double. -Why, it is the <em>strangest thing</em>! Please excuse me for having -stared so. I am so surprised!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span></p> - -<p>“I do not blame you. There must be a strong resemblance, for I remember -in Chicago several people took me for some one, I did not know who. It -is rather enlightening, as my dad says, to know who she is,—unless I -have <em>two</em> doubles! Wouldn’t that be terrible! I didn’t know that -my ‘style of beauty’ was so common.”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t. Sidney lives in Chicago all right, and is very well known -there, or her father and mother are, which is the same thing. So you -found out that you had a ‘double’ when you came to Chicago?”</p> - -<p>“The first time. I stayed there a little while with my cousins. Then -we went on with our big western trip that has made me late coming back -to school. We got delayed toward the last. But we ought to get up, I -suppose.”</p> - -<p>“I should think we <em>should</em>!” cried Madge, looking at her watch, -and hopping out of bed. “There will be <em>some sensation</em> this -morning at breakfast! Shirley, Shirley, Shirley Harcourt,” Madge -repeated reflectively. “Let me get used to it. I hope that you will -not mind if I should call you Sidney by mistake. I do see something -different about you, Shirley, but I can’t tell what it is for the life -of me.”</p> - -<p>“Thank fortune for that!” laughed Shirley, busy pulling on her shoes -and stockings. “I’m afraid that it is going to be embarrassing all -around.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span></p> - -<p>Madge said nothing in reply to that, for she was wondering what Sidney -would think of it. That she would not like it at all was a foregone -conclusion. How queer it was; but Madge had heard of such things.</p> - -<p>Hurriedly the girls dressed. Shirley was quite glad that they wore a -uniform at the school, though it occurred to her, as she slipped the -one piece blue dress over her head, that the uniform would complicate -the matter of identity. She had never thought of this possibility. -There were too many wonderful things taking her attention every day, -too many adventures planned in advance for much reflection. Letters to -Europe and to Aunt Anne had taken her spare time. That she should meet -her double at school!</p> - -<p>Madge slipped a friendly hand in Shirley’s arm as they went downstairs -and through confusing corridors to the big dining room. It was not as -much of an ordeal to Shirley as it might have been to some girls, for -she was accustomed to be invited with her parents to dinner at the -dormitory where the co-eds at home held forth. This was very similar, -Shirley thought. But she had determined not to say one word about her -family or the professor of whom she was so proud. This year should be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span> -unique,—and, indeed, its opening adventures promised that it would be.</p> - -<p>No one paid any attention to her until after grace had been said by the -dean and the girls were all seated. “Staying with Madge, Sidney?” asked -one, unfolding her napkin and taking up her spoon for her fruit.</p> - -<p>“This, girls,” said Madge, without the suspicion of a smile, “is my -new room-mate, Shirley Harcourt. She got in last night. Shirley, this -is Betty Terhune.” Madge continued the introductions around the table, -at which there was no teacher, one of the senior girls occupying the -place at the head. Some of the girls gave Shirley a second look, as she -acknowledged the introductions, but most of them thought that it was a -joke.</p> - -<p>“Oh, what’s the point of this?” asked Betty. “I suppose you stayed all -night with Madge, Sidney. Your new room-mate is going to be pretty late -in her classes, Madge.”</p> - -<p>Shirley now sat quietly, eating her orange and smiling aside at Madge. -“Listen, girls,” said that young lady. “I don’t blame you for thinking -it a joke. I could scarcely believe Shirley this morning when I finally -got awake and found her there. But if you don’t believe me, look over -there at Sidney Thorne!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span></p> - -<p>The astonished girls looked toward the table at which they were -accustomed to see Sidney Thorne. Sure enough, there she was, calmly -eating her fruit, with no idea of the surprise in store for her. -Shirley was as much interested as the rest and gave a comprehensive -look at this heretofore elusive double of hers.</p> - -<p>“My!” Betty exclaimed. “Even the profile is the same! Why, how could it -happen? Are you sure that you are not related?”</p> - -<p>“It must be very distantly, if we are. I never heard of any relatives -by that name.” Shirley felt decidedly strange. It was like a dream to -be here in this different but attractive school, so far from her mother -and father, where a girl who looked almost exactly like her, so far as -she could see, was already a pupil in the school.</p> - -<p>“Tell me about Sidney Thorne,” she said to Betty. “You can’t imagine -what a queer surprise it is to find a girl so like me here!”</p> - -<p>“I can imagine how I would feel,” sympathetically said Betty. “But if -you have to have a double, it is a good thing that she is a nice girl. -Sidney lives in Chicago, as Madge may already have told you. She hasn’t -any brothers or sisters that I ever heard of, but occasionally her -mother and father drive here to see her. They have all kinds of money<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span> -and they are very fine, cultured people,—so everybody says. Her mother -is just the prettiest thing!</p> - -<p>“Sidney is one of the smartest girls in school. She belongs to a little -crowd that they call the ‘Double Three,’ since a Hallowe’en stunt last -year, but they are only her most intimate friends. She’s in almost -every club there is here.”</p> - -<p>Immediately the thought crossed Shirley’s mind that if such were the -case she might as well pay no attention to clubs or societies, those, -at least, whose membership was elective. For some reason she felt that -no “double” would want to elect her—but then she had a second thought: -If <em>she</em> were the one whose double came into a school, she would -think it a test of her generosity to admit her to its advantages.</p> - -<p>There was little time for thinking about this comparatively small -matter, for class time was not far away. Every girl had some important -thing to do next. The conversation between Madge, Shirley and Betty -whisked to the day’s program and Shirley had much to find out. Her -courses had been arranged long since. Books, the location of the class -rooms and matters of registration were now Shirley’s concern.</p> - -<p>As they hurried from the dining-room after breakfast, Madge asked -Shirley if she would like to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span> meet Sidney. “Oh, no, Madge,” Shirley -replied. “I haven’t time for one thing extra, and then I think that it -would be better for her to hear about me first, if possible, rather -than to have the shock of seeing me. I caught a glimpse of her on my -trip, but she has never heard of me.”</p> - -<p>“It’s good of you to think of that,” returned Madge. “I think that I -like you pretty well, Shirley Harcourt.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="viii">CHAPTER VIII.<br /> -<span>SHIRLEY’S FIRST DAY.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">As</span> Miss Schiff had notified the dean about the strange resemblance, -Shirley was obliged to meet no surprise on the dean’s part, or -embarrassment on her own during her first conference. She found the -dean dignified, receptive, kind in rather a reflective, serious way. -Shirley ascribed her manner partly to the fact of the resemblance, but -it was not even mentioned. Miss Irving asked her a few questions, then -directed her in regard to her immediate movements.</p> - -<p>Soon Shirley was armed with the cards on slips which admitted her -to classes. These, she knew, would serve also to identify her. In -consequence, she went with quiet assurance to her class rooms, -determined to show no self-consciousness if she could help it.</p> - -<p>In the college atmosphere, with her father one of the best loved -professors on the faculty, Shirley had been taught to think of others, -and that altruism, together<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span> with long custom in meeting teachers and -crowds of young people, helped her now. These classes were small and -held in pretty class rooms that pleased Shirley.</p> - -<p>Sometimes Shirley felt a little amusement over the situation, but she -thought how very annoying it must be to the other girl to have a double -appear so unexpectedly, a girl who was to live under the same roof, go -to the same meals, attend the same classes for a whole school year. But -in spite of Shirley’s kind thought of the other girl, just how annoying -it was to Sidney Thorne she could scarcely know.</p> - -<p>As she entered the first class, Shirley was more concerned with her -lack of preparation than with anything else. It was the class in -English. She went at once to the desk to speak to the teacher and -offer her name for enrollment. This teacher, too, must have had the -word passed to her, or must have seen her at breakfast, for she showed -no surprise and when Shirley said, “Of course, Miss Berry, I am not -prepared this morning,” she nodded pleasantly. “You may make up such -work as you have lost,” she said.</p> - -<p>But while Shirley was detained at the desk for this enrollment, she was -in full view of the class, which had gathered before Shirley came in. -The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span> conference with the dean had made her almost late.</p> - -<p>There was a general gasp of astonishment, and a turning of heads toward -the row where Sidney Thorne sat, as if the girls found it necessary to -assure themselves of there being two. If any of them had seen Shirley -in the halls, or even noticed her in the dining room, it was most -likely that they had taken her for Sidney. That young lady was looking -at Shirley in well-bred surprise.</p> - -<p>It cost Sidney something to control her surprise and dismay, but -control herself she did, turning to Hope, who sat beside her, -whispering with raised eyebrows, “Who is she?”</p> - -<p>But the teacher was calling the class to order and the amazed Hope only -shook her head as unable to account for Shirley.</p> - -<p>Madge, who sat just in front of Sidney, heard the question, turned -slightly, and said out of the corner of her mouth, “my new room-mate.”</p> - -<p>The class was conducted as usual. Shirley, who had been directed to a -seat at the end of a row, was busy taking notes most of the time, for -Miss Berry was reviewing the main points of the previous lesson as well -as presenting the new one and calling on the different seniors for -recitation or comment.</p> - -<p>It could have been her own voice reciting, Shirley thought, when -Sidney Thorne was called upon, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span> she wondered; yet enunciation and -intonation—something was different, and Sidney was using that “Boston” -variety of pronunciation at which the girls had laughed. Shirley felt -interested and a little drawn toward her double in spite of her wishing -that it might have not been this year, and this place of all others, -when the meeting had to occur.</p> - -<p>Not all the seniors were present in every class. Some who were not -taking the regular college preparatory course were away from the Latin -class or from the class in mathematics. In consequence there was -usually some one to exclaim over the “new girl who looks exactly like -Sidney Thorne,” as the word went around. But Shirley paid no attention -to any slight commotion on her account. She could have recited in -Latin, but forgot to tell the Latin teacher that fact and was not -called on for a recitation. She wanted to hold up her hand several -times when questions of syntax came up. But something kept her from -doing so. She could wait.</p> - -<p>She was glad now that her father had made her read that first two -hundred lines of Virgil with him. How she had hated it at the time, for -her schedule was already full enough, she thought. But he had insisted. -“I am not going to have my girl floundering around with her first -experience of Latin poetry,” said he. “It is very easy, but it will -seem<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span> hard at first, and with all due respect to the teacher, whoever -it may be, I should like to show you a few things myself about scansion -and get you into the easy rhythm of it. Come, now, sing of arms and the -hero!”</p> - -<p>Shirley found herself thinking of her father during the recitation. -Two girls recited particularly well, though they were finding Virgil -none too easy at first, it was clear. They were Sidney Thorne and Olive -Mason.</p> - -<p>Nothing happened of any great annoyance to Shirley that day, though -several times she was taken for Sidney. She felt that life had really -begun and when she found that the only lessons so far in mathematics -were in the nature of a review, her worries disappeared. She was a -rapid reader. Her English would be caught up in no time. French was -easy,—nothing could make a wave of trouble roll across her peaceful -breast, she told Madge and Caroline.</p> - -<p>With them and Betty Terhune, after classes were over, Shirley went out -upon the campus again to wander there and in the wood and more open -grove. The girls were rather enjoying the distinction of having the new -girl in tow and being the center of so much interest among the girls. -Shirley quite forgot that her arrival was a sensation in exploring -the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span> delights of the place. Once Caroline called her Sidney and Betty -started to do so later on, but changed. “Sid—” to Shirley.</p> - -<p>“Duck on the rock” was fun down in the midst of the sand and pebbles. -Then the girls had her peep through a little window into the boat-house -to see the school launch. “We call it the yacht,” said Madge, “and I -guess it is a kind of one. It was given to the school, and the big boat -house, too, was given by one of our alumnae. See,—there is room for -the smaller boats inside, too. They all go inside to stay when real -winter comes.”</p> - -<p>Shirley looked in. There was the pretty launch with its brass railings -and its -<a name="mahogany" id="mahogany"></a><ins title="Original has 'mahagony'">mahogany</ins> -finish. Shirley read the name, “Westlake,” -and exclaimed over the future delights which its very existence -promised. “I don’t see how I can wait for Saturday!” she cried, when -Betty told her that the seniors were to go out in it Saturday.</p> - -<p>Perhaps it was largely from curiosity, but that evening, both before -and after dinner, a great many of the younger girls and most of the -seniors managed in some way to meet Shirley. “Introduce me to your -room-mate, Madge,” one of the girls would say. Or Betty and Cad, as -Caroline was almost universally called, would come up with a bevy of -girls to be introduced. Shirley appreciated Madge’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span> convoy, and knew -that Madge wanted to keep her from the embarrassment of being alone. It -was not really necessary, for Shirley was quite able to take care of -herself; but the circumstances were unusual, to say the least.</p> - -<p>There was music in the parlors, with much lively conversation after the -girls had tired of being outside. They dressed for dinner, as it was -directed and their light, cool frocks were more suitable for the house -when the lake breezes blew strongly. Shirley had had an opportunity to -press her pretty orchid dress of soft silk, which looked suitable and -was becoming. She felt more at home in it than she had been able yet to -feel in the uniform, neat as it was, and comfortable.</p> - -<p>Shirley’s wardrobe, however, was limited. It had seemed better to do -the big things, like the trips and the year at school, even if economy -were necessary in the doing. From the catalogue Mrs. Harcourt and Miss -Dudley had found the list of garments permitted, or required. These -Shirley possessed. It was good fun to be away at school, Shirley was -thinking tonight. Suppose she did look like some one else. That would -be a nine days’ wonder. But she noticed that Sidney Thorne did not come -up to meet her. When Shirley entered the parlors with Madge, Sidney -immediately found it necessary to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span> go to her room and begin work on her -lessons or some committee report. “Poor girl,” Shirley thought, as she -noticed Sidney’s hurried departure, “she has had a shock!”</p> - -<p>It was not long before Shirley herself thought that she must waste no -more time with the girls. She, too must master her lessons. Madge went -upstairs with her, but said that she would not study until regular -hours began. Leaving Shirley to her usual concentration, Madge hurried -around to Cad’s room to “indulge in a little harmless gossip,” she told -her hostess. “I’m glad that Stella isn’t in. Lucky that she practices -half the time.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and the rest of the time she is with her musical chum. It is a -wonder that she does not want to room with her.”</p> - -<p>“How did you like my room-mate?” Madge asked Betty.</p> - -<p>“Very much. It’s eerie, though, to see how much she looks like Sidney. -When you are with her for a while you do seem to see that she is -different.”</p> - -<p>“A different personality altogether,” airily stated Caroline. “It’s -funny, though. She even walks like Sidney,—that light springy way, -awfully independent, you know, with her chin up. But Shirley seems more -interested in everything than Sidney will let herself be.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span></p> - -<p>“Sidney thinks that it is not ‘good form’ to show surprise at anything. -It is new to Shirley, too. Then she isn’t as stand-offish as Sidney was -when she first came here. It certainly is going to be fun to watch the -differences and to tell them apart. The uniform, too, makes it worse. -If they only could dress differently!”</p> - -<p>“Sidney will have something on tomorrow, Betty,” said Madge, “depend -upon it, girls, that will let her friends know which is which!”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” replied Betty, “and poor old Sidney is thinking right now that -she would like to leave and go to some other school.”</p> - -<p>“Suppose she did!” cried Caroline.</p> - -<p>“No,” said Betty, “I think that I know Sidney well enough to say that -she will stick it out and not be driven away. She may want to go, and -hate it like everything to have some one look like her very twin, but -she will stay, for pride’s sake if for nothing else. And nobody will -know how she hates it, either.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t know. The Double Three will know it.”</p> - -<p>“She may say something at first, when she is so surprised. But nobody -will be <em>sure</em>. Maybe she will not care as much as I think she -will. But I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span> think that it would be something of a shock to any one, -and especially to Sidney.”</p> - -<p>The girls agreed that having a double who wasn’t your twin would -scarcely be desirable. Still, Shirley Harcourt was a very attractive -girl.</p> - -<p>Other girls beside Madge and her friends were commenting that evening -upon the sensation of the day. Some of them declared that they could -see a difference in the two girls; others exclaimed that the new girl -looked <em>exactly</em> like Sidney.</p> - -<p>Sidney Thorne herself was very deeply annoyed, as she said frankly, -though with reservations, to Fleta. “Yes, it will be a perfect -nuisance to be taken for some one else or have some one taken for you. -Fortunately the new senior seems to be unobjectionable so far as we can -see. On the whole, I suppose that it is not very important. I shall ask -the dean if I may not wear something which will identify me, to you -girls, at least. In time every one will recognize some difference, I -hope. We certainly can not look exactly alike and I shall adopt some -different arrangement of my hair. Wouldn’t you, Irma?”</p> - -<p>“That would be a good idea,” said Irma, who was quickly getting into -something more comfortable than her dinner dress.</p> - -<p>Sidney disappeared into her bedroom and came<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span> back with a pretty -cluster of artificial flowers taken from her coat. “There,” she said, -“I’ll wear this tomorrow. Everybody has seen me with this new bunch of -posies.”</p> - -<p>“You’d better wear something over your shoulders behind, too,” said -Fleta. “I’d suggest a placard, ‘This is Sidney.’”</p> - -<p>“Fleta!”</p> - -<p>“Excuse me, Sid; I was trying to be funny.”</p> - -<p>Sidney did not reply, but stood pulling out the flowers for a better -effect. Fleta gave a quick glance at Irma, who frowned at her; and -Edith, who also caught Fleta’s eye, shook her head, and lifted her -hands in an expression of “It’s beyond me!”</p> - -<p>Sidney now picked up her uniform and fastened the flowers high upon its -shoulder. “Now,” she said, “that will be seen from either direction, -Fleta. We can dismiss it all, I hope. It probably will not be very -disagreeable as soon as it gets past the stage of mixing us up. Better -not tell any of your secrets, girls, or talk about the Double Three, -until you are sure it is I. Odd,—they say that twins think it fun to -be taken for each other and like to mystify people.”</p> - -<p>Fleta reported this to Dulcie, when Dulcie, in bathrobe and slippers, -met her in the hall and asked<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span> her what Sidney thought of the “new girl -who is her image.”</p> - -<p>“She can’t like it very well,” Fleta answered, “but she is very -dignified about it.”</p> - -<p>“Sidney would be. I hope that she won’t make it hard for the new girl. -She could, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Yes; but Sidney never does mean things.”</p> - -<p>“Sidney is honorable, but she can let a girl alone about as well as any -one I know; and it makes a difference here, whether you are a friend of -Sidney’s or not.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” thoughtfully Fleta assented. “She says now we must make sure -that it is she we are talking to, when we tell any secrets or talk -about the Double Three.”</p> - -<p>Dulcie laughed. “We must have a pass word, then,” she said.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="ix">CHAPTER IX.<br /> -<span>LETTERS.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">For</span> a few days all of Shirley’s extra time, except enough for outdoor -exercises, which she took in a general way, was spent in catching up -and in reciting her missed lessons. She would not risk putting it -off. There was much less of it than she had expected, she wrote to -the dear folks in Europe, from whom she had received the longed-for -fat letter. To them alone she repeated a few complimentary remarks -from her teachers in proof that she was “getting along all right,” as -she told her parents. All the happy details left to be told about the -trip she related as well as her impressions of the school, but not a -word did she say about finding her double in existence. Why tell it, -she thought. To Dick, however, it made the main subject and Shirley -chuckled as she started in on a letter to him.</p> - -<p>It was Friday night and Madge, who was preparing to go with Cad to the -library, asked what she was laughing about. “What I’m going to write -to Dick,” replied Shirley. “Dick is my cousin, who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span> was along on this -summer trip with his father and mother. Perhaps I was the one who was -‘along,’ though. They all took care of me.”</p> - -<p>Madge looked interested, but hurried off, as Shirley had told her -that this was her great opportunity to catch up and write home. The -usual Friday night affairs had not begun so early in the year. Lessons -could be divided between now and Saturday, though the boat trip was in -prospect for the seniors.</p> - -<p>“My dear Dick,” wrote Shirley: “You will, perhaps, know what has -happened from my writing to you. Otherwise, I will frankly say, I would -not think that I had time thus early in my school career. Think of it, -Richard,—I am a senior, with all the glories of the position! And by -the way, the school is all that I had hoped to find it and more. There -are ever so many pretty fine girls here, too, from all appearances, -though I do not know many of them yet, and you are invited now to our -‘Prom’ in the spring. It will be at a week end and you can come as well -as not. Plan for it and mystify your fraternity friends accordingly.</p> - -<p>“You will remember, if you can spare the thoughts from your exciting -rushes and affairs of your own opening weeks, that you were laughing -at me once, right after I saw my ‘double’ on the Pacific<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span> coast. (I -hear you laugh and say—a big place to see her in). You said, ‘Don’t -worry, Shirley. I prophesy that you will see her again and find out -about her. She will probably be waiting for you at school. Notify me at -once,’—and a lot more of nonsense that we both immediately forgot.</p> - -<p>“But the joke of it is, Dick, that she really was ‘waiting for me’ -here. It has been a shock to both of us, and she has not come near -me to meet me yet, a whole week, or almost. I don’t blame her. Her -name is Sidney Thorne and her parents are wealthy people of Chicago, -a fact which we very well guessed at from my -<a name="experience" id="experience"></a><ins title="Original has 'expeience'">experience</ins> -there. Looking exactly like me, of course she is all that one could -desire,—in a double. I will tell you more anon. Tell Cousin Molly, if -you like, but I am not going to write it to Dad and Mother, or to Aunt -Anne, for the simple reason that they will think it an annoyance to me, -which it isn’t, that is, not much of one, and rather funny. And I want -them to feel that my year is almost a perfect one, since they have all -done so much toward making it so. Oh, I may change my mind, of course, -for I’m so used to telling Mother everything; but my best judgment is -to wait.</p> - -<p>“A fine time to you. May you get all the new boys that you want for the -frat and have a marvellous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span> time of it. And don’t have too serious a -case until after you see some of these girls!”</p> - -<p>Shirley laughed again as she folded her letter to Dick. For a moment -she almost regretted being away from those scenes of college life. -“Now, Auntie,” she said, choosing the most perfect sheets of her best -writing paper for her letter to Aunt Anne.</p> - -<p>“Dearest Great-Aunt,” began the letter. “You would be pleased to death -to see this beautiful, beautiful place. At night I can hear the waves -lapping the shore and the cool breeze comes into our windows. We have -had bright days, and you know how blue the sky and lake can be, with -the ‘bright sparkles’ on the water. The school campus, or the wood, -goes right up to the shore. Tomorrow we are to have a ride in the -school launch, which is called the Westlake. It is big and handsome. -The seniors are to go, and perhaps some others. Madge Whitney, my -room-mate, did not know and it has not been announced yet.</p> - -<p>“I do not know where you and Mother and Father could have found a -school that I should like so well. After the big trip, I did hate -to be penned in anywhere, in spite of always liking school more or -less. It was a habit, you know. But here, right on the lake, you get -an -<a name="impression" id="impression"></a><ins title="Original has 'impession'">impression</ins> -of space just about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span> as you would on the -sea-shore. The waves aren’t as big, nor are they salty,—but it is -different and lovely. Thank you for your part in it, to begin with!</p> - -<p>“I have had no -<a name="trouble" id="trouble"></a><ins title="Original has 'touble'">trouble</ins> -in making up the lessons that -I missed. The teachers all helped me to start in. The dean, Miss -<a name="Irving" id="Irving"></a><ins title="Original has 'Iving'">Irving</ins>, -is dignified and not easy to become acquainted with, -but deans have to be that way, I suppose, or the girls would run all -over them. You know how it is at home. I do not know anybody real well -yet, but I am not homesick. It is just another big adventure on top of -all that I had this summer.</p> - -<p>“My room-mate is a real dear sort of a girl. She is Madge Whitney -and has the blackest of hair and the bluest of eyes, a real Irish -combination, and one of the other girls, such a funny, nice one that -Madge calls ‘Cad’ (Caroline Scott), sometimes calls Madge ‘Irish.’ Cad -says Madge ought to have my eyes, or I ought to have Madge’s hair, -instead of being all mixed up the way we are. There will be plenty of -good times, you can see. Tomorrow we are to have a ride on the school -launch, which will be a great treat. There was nothing special on for -tonight so I thought that I must get a word in to you and ‘the folks’ -and Dick. I’ll study a little after I get this letter finished. I am -sending it home, for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span> I think that you will be there by that time, as -nearly as I could understand your card, which was not the clearest that -you ever wrote, my dear aunt,—no disrespect intended! I’ll write as -often as I can, but it is going to be a busy life. I can see that you -were wise when you gave me that box of correspondence cards and told me -to write often if not so much at a time. But I’ll get a real letter off -every once in a while.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes,—my room is on the second floor, which isn’t much of a climb -to any one used to the mountains this summer. Some of the girls are in -suites with a study room, but this, as you know, shares a bath with -girls in another single room, on the other side of it (the bathroom). -We are on the other side of the building from the lake, though we get -the breezes just the same, and we look out on trees and campus and -pretty shrubbery. But you know how it is from the pictures in the -catalogue.”</p> - -<p>A very little more Shirley added, then folded the letter and put it in -its envelope, sighing as she did so, for she thought of all the girls -to whom she must write at least once. Dozens of cards she had sent home -from different places, and jolly, friendly cards they were, for Shirley -could write a good message in small space when she tried. But there -would be more to tell that the girls in the senior class of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span> home -high school would enjoy after Shirley became better acquainted and had -a greater supply of real boarding-school lore to impart.</p> - -<p>Putting home, her people, and even her present surroundings, including -her “double,” out of her mind with determination, Shirley plunged into -her lessons, in which she was still absorbed when Madge came back from -the library.</p> - -<p>“Say, Shirley,” said Madge as she entered. “Hope Holland says that they -want you to do something on the program of the classical club that -meets next week. She said that anybody who can ‘walk away with Virgil’ -the way you do should be able to step right in on our programs. I told -her that I thought your father was a teacher or something from what you -said about his having you read some Virgil with him. Was that right?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, he is,” demurely Shirley replied. “Why, yes, I suppose I could do -something. What do they want?”</p> - -<p>“I guess they’ll let you do anything you wanted to, for the program -committee is having a time to think up things.”</p> - -<p>Shirley thought a moment. “I brought some of my old themes and things,” -she said, “and there is a short one on Latin poetry that might do, -since we are all studying Virgil now.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span></p> - -<p>“Just the thing! May I run back to tell Hope that you will? She is -worrying about it. Nobody wants to do anything, and we are supposed to -have a decent program.”</p> - -<p>“Of course I will do it. It certainly will not be much trouble to get -up and read something that I’ve already written.”</p> - -<p>“Does your father teach Latin?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. You see why I have to get my Latin lessons, don’t you?” Shirley -was laughing, and Madge nodded brightly at her as she ran off to tell -Hope that Shirley had something on Latin poetry and that it probably -was good because her father taught Latin.</p> - -<p>Study hours had been over for a little while. Shirley piled up her -books, undressed and was in bed when Madge came back. That night she -dreamed that her father and mother came back from their trip across -the waters, met Sidney Thorne and thought that she was their daughter. -Sidney went off with them happily and none of them paid any attention -to Shirley’s cries, while Shirley looked down at herself and saw that -she was all wrapped up like an Egyptian mummy!</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="x">CHAPTER X.<br /> -<span>WHEN DOUBLES MEET.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">General</span> rejoicing showed in the smiling faces of the girls around -the tables Saturday morning at breakfast when it was announced that -the Westlake would leave the dock at nine o’clock for parts unknown. -Applause followed the statement from the dean, who went on to say that -it would carry the senior girls and some of the teachers, and that -lunch would be provided.</p> - -<p>“You will wear suitable hats and wraps, for we shall stop at one of -the towns to do such shopping as by this time you may have wished that -you had done before coming. As it is not a picnic, there is no need of -picnic garb. Lunch will be enjoyed on the Westlake. Make your wants -known to one of the teachers. You will be chaperoned in small groups -while shopping.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, good hunting!” cried Madge, though softly, as soon as Miss Irving -had finished. “I was unusually stupid about some of the little things -that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span> I might have known I wanted. -Will you want to shop, Shirley?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll <em>want</em> to,” smiled Shirley, “but I spent too much on -different things while I was on my trip. Little Shirley will have to -count the pennies, alas. But I might buy a hankie, to remember the -first trip in the Westlake, and indulge in a sundae if they let us. Do -you know where we shall stop?”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t an idea. It all depends on where we go.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t mean it,” laughed Shirley. “Of course it will not be -Chicago?”</p> - -<p>“No, I think not. We’ll probably start north, but as the lake is lovely -this morning we’ll go out quite a distance and have a fine ride.”</p> - -<p>Shirley hesitated to put on the coat in which she had traveled. It was -still pretty, but needed cleaning very much, and pressing had only -seemed to bring out a few dingy streaks all the more. She brushed up -and wiped off the hat, and fastened down its few ornaments more tightly -in order that darker and less faded portions should not show. “Can I -have cleaning done from here, Madge?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but it may be some time before you get back what you send.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span></p> - -<p>“Then I suppose I’ll have to wear this coat as it is, till time to put -on my winter coat.”</p> - -<p>Madge nodded an affirmative. “Oh, it doesn’t look so bad,” she said, -not very tactfully, for there was no consolation for Shirley in that -remark.</p> - -<p>“No one would ever know that it was new when I started away in June,” -ruefully said Shirley, “and I tried to take care of it, too. Well, it -can’t be helped. If it weren’t for the Sunday service, I could get -along here on the campus without it. Luckily I did not catch it on -anything to tear it. It will be all right after it is cleaned, I hope, -for I shall have to wear it next spring again.”</p> - -<p>While Shirley might feel uncomfortable at the start, she was too -sensible to let any coat or hat spoil her enjoyment of the trip; but -she did wish that she could make herself a little less conspicuous. She -would slip into some seat and just stay there! Yet Shirley knew well -enough that there was probably no new girl in any school who came into -quicker prominence than herself. Seniors and freshmen, music students -and irregulars of any sort by this time knew “Sidney Thorne’s double” -and were enjoying the fun of trying to tell them apart by stares and -looks that tried to be unnoticeable but were often felt, or seen, by -both Sidney and Shirley. Sidney resented some of it and had told one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span> -of the freshman girls, in a half laughing but quite decided way to “do -her staring at the new girl” not at her.</p> - -<p>“But Sidney,” explained the freshman, who knew Sidney in Chicago, “I -wanted to speak to you, and I had to look, to see if it were you or -Shirley Harcourt.”</p> - -<p>“Look at our clothes,” said Sidney. “I always wear something different, -and she doesn’t, so far. Besides, we can’t look so much alike as you -all seem to think! It is ridiculous.”</p> - -<p>Sidney was in much the same sort of a mood today. Of course this girl -would have to be in all the class affairs and it would not be as easy -to avoid her as it was about the hall or in classes. Well, there she -was, in that old coat and hat, and if Hope Holland was not with her, -and Ollie Mason, too!</p> - -<p>The sun was warm as Shirley traversed the walks of the campus between -Hope and Olive, who had joined her to talk about the classical club -program. Madge and Caroline were behind them, and Betty Terhune from a -group in front called back that they were early enough to choose their -seats. Between the tall trees, then down to the shore they briskly -walked.</p> - -<p>The Westlake looked prettier than ever, its deck<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span> smooth and clean, its -sides shining. None of the teachers had yet arrived, but there were two -men in charge of the boat. They saw that the girls were safely aboard -and kept a wary eye out for a possible reckless one.</p> - -<p>Of course the girls with whom Shirley was walking wanted to sit in the -very front seats, where Shirley would be in plain view of everybody! -But then, the front of the boat was the most desirable place and -Shirley knew that she would enjoy cutting the waves there, with the -prow, and seeing the water tossed aside. Hope was being “nice to her,” -Shirley knew, as she asked Shirley to sit in a certain spot that was a -favorite location and took a seat beside her. Shirley already knew that -Hope Holland came from Chicago and was a member of the “Double Three.” -She found Hope a very pleasant companion, but she had Madge also, on -the other side of her, and Dulcie sat beyond Hope.</p> - -<p>Sidney, with Fleta and Irma, was now making her way toward the prow -and girls were coming to the dock in numbers. “Nobody is going to take -Shirley Harcourt for me today,” Sidney thought, as she saw the hat and -coat and glanced with some satisfaction at her own soft sport coat, new -and trim. A gay, close little red hat confined her golden<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span> locks. A -scarf of the newest design fluttered its ends in the wind.</p> - -<p>Shirley, as she caught a glimpse of the red hat and the white coat, -sighed and thought much the same thing that Sidney had thought, though -with a difference. She could hear Stella Marbury’s voice exclaiming not -far away. “Sid! That must be a new coat; I’ve never seen it before. It -is certainly nifty.”</p> - -<p>“I’m glad that you like it,” said Sidney, drawing it a little more -closely around her and putting her hands in its pockets. “Yes, it’s -new. I got it for just such occasions as this. Thank fortune, we don’t -have to wear those uniforms off the school grounds!”</p> - -<p>“Why I thought that you liked the uniform idea. I’m sure I heard you -say once that it was so democratic and sensible.”</p> - -<p>“Probably I did,—last year. It is different now.”</p> - -<p>“And I know why,” replied Stella. Then Stella dropped her voice and -said something else. Hope spoke to Shirley then, asking her about her -summer’s trip, which Madge had mentioned. As Hope had been through the -western parks, both girls expressed their enthusiasm over the scenery, -the tramps and the horseback rides, and Shirley was glad not to hear -any more of Stella’s conversation.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span> Dulcie she liked very much. “Dulce” -had a quaint touch of humor all her own at times. It was not long -before Shirley forgot her coat and hat that were not all she could -wish. She was her own interested and interesting self, friendly, but -not too talkative, and giving the other girls a chance to lead the -conversation and to be as friendly as they evidently wanted to be. She -suspected Hope of some intention in the matter, but what difference did -it make why they were with her. She would enjoy the fun.</p> - -<p>Cad Scott had brought her guitar, and two of the girls, Betty Terhune -and Olive Mason, had their “ukes.” Tall Olive clasped her ukelele and -beat away upon its strings with the greatest enjoyment, in the latest -popular songs or the old ones that everybody knew. Shirley heard the -school songs for the first time. They were clever and pretty, she -thought, and different from the university songs. She was glad that -she had come. It was nice girl stuff! There sailed a white schooner -with full sails under the strong wind. Gulls and other water birds flew -sometimes near them.</p> - -<p>Her mind a blank, as she would have said, except for present -impressions, Shirley leaned back to watch the water, the boat and -girls, and to listen, humming such tunes as she knew and singing such<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span> -new words as might be repeated in choruses. “You have a good voice, -Shirley,” said Hope.</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” Shirley returned. “I want to take lessons some day. My -mother sings, though her voice is of a different quality.”</p> - -<p>A few minutes afterward, Hope said something to Caroline, who started -some new chords. She squealed loudly above the noise of the motor, -“We’ll sing ‘Westlake Forever.’ Sidney, you take the solo.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” called Sidney across a few girls. The guitar twanged; and -the ukes gave a few opening strains, then were silent. Sidney began to -sing, in a rich contralto that showed a little training in the careful -enunciation of words and free tones.</p> - -<p>Shirley gasped and was silent. That was the reason Hope asked Sidney to -sing. She had heard Shirley’s voice and wondered. It was scarcely kind -of Hope. Yes, perhaps it was, to show Shirley the similarity in voices -and leave it to her to decide about whether she should reveal this -phase of likeness or not.</p> - -<p>“You can get the chorus to this, Shirley,” Madge stopped at the end of -the first chorus to say.</p> - -<p>“I’m thinking that I will not sing any more today,” said Shirley, -smiling.</p> - -<p>Madge reached over and patted her hand. “I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span> noticed. I think that you -have had some training, too.”</p> - -<p>“A little from my mother, just so I’ll not sing in a way to spoil my -voice.”</p> - -<p>“Sidney began lessons here last year. She’s going on in Chicago when -she gets a little older. Her parents are going to give her all of that -sort of thing that she wants. So Cad says.”</p> - -<p>But the girls were all singing again, Sidney having refused to do -anymore solo work against wind, waves and the engine. Shirley hummed a -little. That would let Hope know that she had not minded the revelation.</p> - -<p>They were far out upon Lake Michigan to all appearances when -lunchtime came. But after they were all well fortified against future -contingencies by a variety of sandwiches, potato chips, pickles and -similar articles of a picnic lunch, Shirley saw that land was in sight. -They made for a port which proved to be Kenosha, on the Wisconsin -shore. There they spent a few hours, Shirley, to her surprise, in the -same group with Sidney Thorne. The girls had been assigned to certain -teachers, of whom there were a number out today. Madge said that the -ride was popular with the teachers. Two of them wanted to go to the -same shops and joined forces, hence the combination.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span></p> - -<p>Shirley naturally kept with Madge and Caroline, but when they found a -place for the inevitable sundae or soda, Shirley discovered that Hope -Holland and Sidney Thorne were sitting down at the table where she and -Madge had seated themselves. Caroline, at the last minute, had accepted -the invitation of a beckoning hand from another small table like theirs.</p> - -<p>Shirley did not know that Hope had dared Sidney to this but she looked -at the well-dressed girl so like herself and smiled in a friendly way, -as she acknowledged Hope’s introduction. “Miss Thorne” also spoke as -she would have done to any other girl and they all proceeded to give -their orders. It was over, and very naturally, the meeting of the -“doubles.” It could scarcely be called an adventure, and yet Shirley -had a strange feeling about it. They talked, as girls talk, of school -affairs chiefly, as they enjoyed the tempting dishes brought them. -Hope, Sidney and Madge told bright stories of former adventures for -Shirley’s benefit, but Sidney seldom looked at Shirley as she talked. -She <em>was</em> a dear girl, Shirley thought even if she had waited so -long to say a word to her. How could it have happened? <em>Could</em> -there be any common ancestor not so far back, or was it just one of -those strange duplications of which she had read?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span></p> - -<p>Let it go for the present, the manner of both girls said. Sidney was -her most charming self, appealing to Madge or Hope about this fact or -that fancy. She called Shirley Miss Harcourt, which set Shirley off -just a little farther than the other girls. But it was going to be -much more comfortable for both Shirley and Sidney after this, with no -efforts to avoid each other. Shirley decided that Sidney would have to -be the one to make any advances, if they became really acquainted, but -nods and smiles were possible now.</p> - -<p>It was nearly dinner time when the launch at last brought its load of -girls home to the school grounds. Madge took Shirley’s arm as they -walked up from the dock. “Hope said that she engineered that meeting,” -Madge told Shirley. “She said that she thought it ridiculous for Sidney -not to know you at all.”</p> - -<p>“I hope that she did not force Sidney Thorne into it,” said Shirley, -“not that it matters so much, but it is better.”</p> - -<p>“She said that she dared her to sit there with you and Sid took the -dare. I think that she enjoyed it at the last.”</p> - -<p>“It makes everything less noticeable now, I think,” Shirley -thoughtfully said. “After a while the girls will not think so much -about it, and I am<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span> sure that I shall not. I am glad to have met Sidney -and I think her a fine girl. What do you think of Hope? Did she mean it -kindly, do you think, when she asked Sidney to sing the solo, and was -it to show me how like our voices were?”</p> - -<p>“Yes to both, I think,” declared Madge. “She probably did it on an -impulse, and if she thinks that you do not understand, she will very -likely say something to you about it. By the way, you and Sidney could -have a lot of fun at the Hallowe’en masquerade if you dress alike.”</p> - -<p>“I’d not like to suggest it, but it <em>would</em> be fun.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xi">CHAPTER XI.<br /> -<span>GOSSIP AND HONORS.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Although</span> Sidney Thorne would like to have done so, she could not very -well dismiss Shirley and all her works. Shirley was too bright in -her lessons and making too much of an impression upon both girls and -teachers. Shirley was a little more reserved than was quite natural to -her because of these unusual circumstances, but she tried not to notice -some of the little things that happened. Then that little fighting -reserve, that is in most of us, came to the rescue, not to push her -way, but to resist any influence that would quietly relegate her to -the rear, so far as lessons or ordinary activities were concerned. She -possessed the same qualities of leadership that Sidney had, though -whether they were exercised among her classmates or not did not matter -to her. Indeed, Shirley scarcely knew that she possessed it.</p> - -<p>Other activities followed the picnic launch ride. Shirley played -tennis, outdoor basketball and other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span> active games, taking care not to -join a group or team in which Sidney might be playing. But there were -other girls, some of whom in the excitement of the games would call -her Sidney and perhaps not know till the game was over that they had -been playing with Shirley. Several times, when Shirley thought that -some girl was speaking more freely of something than she would have -done except before Sidney, Shirley smilingly reminded her with, “I am -Shirley, remember.”</p> - -<p>All this and the keen, though unobtrusive, interest which Shirley -showed in everything connected with the school’s activities made the -girls like her and trust to her sense of honor. She was fair in the -games, though she tried to win, and she had the advantage over some -of the girls in having come from a school where a spirit of real -sportsmanship was fostered. Shirley knew that and it made her less -ready to resent any lack of it in the girls with whom she played.</p> - -<p>But volley ball and all the other kinds of ball in the courts were -played less as it grew colder and the fun of Hallowe’en drew near.</p> - -<p>“Is the Double Three going to repeat the stunt of last year, Sidney?” -asked Caroline Scott, the room-mate of the girl who thought that she -and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span> Caroline ought to make the Double Three into a Double Four.</p> - -<p>Caroline and Sidney had never known each other very well in Chicago, -though their fathers were associated somewhat in a business way and -their mothers were in certain club work or church activities together. -They had become better acquainted, though not intimately so, since they -came to the same school.</p> - -<p>“The Double Three never repeats,” laughed Sidney. “It’s the rest of you -girls that’s made a club of us anyhow. We don’t acknowledge that the -Double Three exists.”</p> - -<p>“I see,” said Caroline, not believing that Sidney was at all in -earnest. “Then you are going to get up your costumes each one on her -own, I suppose.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so. I’ve sent to Mother for ideas, but the dean says that -she’ll not allow any expensive costumes to be sent in and if we have -any, we’ll have to make them, or use something we have. I’m very much -provoked about it.”</p> - -<p>“Couldn’t you have something simple made in Chicago, Sidney?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps so but I’m too cross with the dean to ask about it.”</p> - -<p>“She has not made any announcement yet.”</p> - -<p>“No, but she will. I was waiting to see her, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span> she was telling -all this to one of the teachers who is going to have charge of the -Hallowe’en performance.” Sidney made a gesture as if the whole thing -were not very interesting to her.</p> - -<p>“Do you mind -<a name="telling" id="telling"></a><ins title="Original has 'tellling'">telling</ins> -who the teacher is?”</p> - -<p>“Not in the least. You might know it is Miss Gibson.”</p> - -<p>“That is why you are so disgusted, then, I suppose. Poor Gibby has a -hard time winning you over to her side.”</p> - -<p>“She certainly need not try; but I am very respectful, don’t you think?”</p> - -<p>“In class, at least, Sidney, looking out for your grades.” This was -Fleta, who was laughing as she said this. But Sidney shrugged her -shoulders. “I am never impolite to her anywhere, for my own sake,” she -said.</p> - -<p>The girls were gathering in the beautiful chapel of the school before -morning worship. Hope, Fleta, Dulcie, Caroline and Madge were standing -in the aisle before passing to their regular seats. None of the -teachers had come in yet. Shirley was in her seat, but concealed from -Sidney’s view by the other girls who were in the way. Sidney continued -speaking.</p> - -<p>“Miss Gibson has a loyal adherent now in Shirley Harcourt, and that -must console her for the rest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span> of us. Shirley drinks in everything Miss -Gibson says with open mouth. Madge, didn’t you say that her father is a -teacher?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>Shirley, who had been writing up her notes from the class before the -chapel exercises, had been dimly conscious of this conversation, but on -hearing her name, she paused in the movement of her pencil and looked -toward Madge’s back. Well, let them talk. She was tired of reminding -people!</p> - -<p>“She is probably from some little country town and this is the biggest -place she ever saw,” continued Sidney. “I suppose her father is some -village school teacher that teaches Latin. Didn’t you say that he made -her get ahead on her Virgil?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” again said Madge, wavering between her loyalty to Shirley and -her customary admiration for Sidney, attractive, influential girl, that -she was. “I don’t know anything about her family. She reads her letters -and puts them away, but she gets some from abroad.”</p> - -<p>“Somebody must have sold a farm,” lightly said Sidney, whose speech -indicated no spiteful feelings in intonation, but surely did not spring -from any sympathy of heart.</p> - -<p>Shirley set her lips together and began to write slowly again. She -was angry for the first time.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span> Before she left this school the -girls should know who her father was and that even country school -teachers—supposing he had been one—and the people on the farms that -raised everything foolish Sidney had to eat—but Shirley made her -resentful thoughts stop racing on. How silly she was! People who had -those ideas would probably keep them. What difference did it make?</p> - -<p>“Well, Sid,” Fleta was saying, “you’d better be careful how you make -fun of your double. She may be related to you, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Not a chance of it,” said Sidney. “It’s just one of those freaks of -nature by which we happen to look alike now. We’ll probably change in -a few years, except for our coloring, and I think that my hair is a -little lighter than hers.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and you are not quite so tall as Shirley, Sid,” said Fleta. “I -noticed it first when you both stood up together from the same table in -Kenosha.”</p> - -<p>“It would be funny if you went to the same university, wouldn’t it? -Shirley is going to college, she says.”</p> - -<p>“I am not sure that I shall go to college at all,” said Sidney. “It -would be fun, I suppose, but Mother wants me to be with her and it -would only mean living at home and going to the university in Chicago.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span></p> - -<p>“I thought you were keen on your studies, Sidney,” said Caroline, in -surprise.</p> - -<p>“I am, some of them,” replied Sidney, “but I can have lessons on what I -like, read French and other literature at home and all that. You see, I -shall be eighteen before long, and Mother will bring me out in society -then. Why, Caroline, you and Hope will be doing the same thing!”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps,” said Hope. “I am thinking of going to the university, and I -can’t do both.”</p> - -<p>More girls had come in by this time. The dean had mounted the platform -and the teachers were in their places. The group around Sidney broke -up and Madge turned, to see Shirley busily writing in her notebook.</p> - -<p>“Gracious!” exclaimed Madge. “Do you suppose, Caroline, that she was -there all the time?”</p> - -<p>“Not likely,” replied Caroline. “I’d be so mad I couldn’t write if I -had heard Sidney talking like that about me. But Shirley is writing -away as cool as a cucumber. Shall you ask her?”</p> - -<p>“My, no! If she has heard and says anything about it, I’ll tell you, -but I’ll not start any trouble for Sidney, and I would hate to have -Shirley know that Sidney would speak of her in just that way. Some -way—I like Sidney—but it didn’t<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span> seem just as kind as a girl ought to -be that has everything, like Sidney.”</p> - -<p>“No,—it did <em>not</em>. But Sidney is proud, and Shirley Harcourt is -making too much of a success at everything to suit Sidney.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder,” said Madge.</p> - -<p>Shirley could scarcely keep her mind upon the Scripture lesson that -morning, beautiful and helpful as she had always found the passage -selected by the dean. But Shirley would scarcely have been human if -she had not been disturbed. ‘Open-mouthed,’ was she? And this was -the biggest place that she had ever seen! But she could fancy her -large-minded father laughing at it all. What would it matter to him? -Just nothing at all. Nevertheless Shirley seethed a little. Sidney -was a proud, empty-headed little minx! No, she wasn’t either; she was -smart, and Shirley <em>could</em> have liked her so <em>much</em>!</p> - -<p>That last week before Hallowe’en everybody regretted having any lessons -to learn. Little groups that were getting up “stunts” had important -conferences, marked by laughter and secrecy, for mystery made the -Hallowe’en surprises all the more entertaining. Although Miss Gibson -had charge and girls were supposed to ask her about the propriety of -what they proposed to do, this was not one of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span> the English teacher’s -frequent duties, presenting a play or a program. She appointed a -committee, however, to help her and for its chairman chose Shirley, -to that young lady’s surprise. She had intended to wear a costume for -the occasion, and the little black mask which she had worn in similar -affairs at home reposed in her box. She reported at the first meeting -of the committee without much idea of what would be required of her.</p> - -<p>Miss Gibson very well knew that in her enthusiasm that first year -she had made some mistakes with the girls and had antagonized some -of them unnecessarily by her manner of pushing perfectly reasonable -requirements in a dictatorial way. In Shirley she knew that she had a -girl who was thoroughly enjoying the course under her teaching and one -who was not affected by any criticism that she might hear. Naturally a -teacher chooses her most loyal supporters to help her.</p> - -<p>The meeting was at the close of recitation hours. Not one of the -influential Double Three was present! Caroline Scott and Betty Terhune -were the other seniors. One from each of the other classes filled -out the large committee of six. But they were supposed to assist -in decorating the immense reception room which would be used for -the celebration<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span> and in locating and suggesting the setting for the -different features.</p> - -<p>“Miss Harcourt,” said Miss Gibson at the beginning of the meeting, “you -are the chairman of the senior committee. You, Caroline and Betty are -to help with the senior stunt and also to have such oversight as may -be necessary over those of the other classes. It may scarcely do to -remind you that you are to keep any secrets entrusted to you, in case -of surprises. The general decorations are put into the hands of all of -you, and Shirley Harcourt may preside when I can not be present at your -meetings. I am too busy to plan the details, but they are all to be -submitted to me. That is clear, I believe. Now I will hear such ideas -as you may already have.”</p> - -<p>Nobody seemed to have any. Miss Gibson looked from one to another of -the committee and smiled. Then Shirley rather timidly asked if there -were any decorations that were kept from year to year. “There are -certain things that one always has for Hallowe’en, Miss Gibson, and it -would save time.”</p> - -<p>Miss Gibson did not know, but Caroline told Shirley that the -celebration last year was in the chapel and consisted of the one-act -play and some pantomimes given on the platform, with curtains and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span> -home-made scenery. “Then we went to the parlors in our costumes and had -our social time.”</p> - -<p>“You will have to talk it over first, girls,” said Miss Gibson. “Have a -meeting by yourselves and think up everything that you know, about what -to do on Hallowe’en. I think that the dean does not want the chapel -used this year.”</p> - -<p>With this, Miss Gibson left the committee to its own devices and joined -another teacher, who was waiting for her just outside the door of her -classroom.</p> - -<p>“Well, what do you think of that!” Betty Terhune exclaimed. “The girls -last year said that Miss Gibson always wanted to do everything herself -and now look at her!”</p> - -<p>Shirley laughed. “Probably she has heard that criticism.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the junior, Marie Petersen, “but she ought to have picked -out the girls that were so smart and <em>wanted</em> to do it themselves.”</p> - -<p>“Let me say something, Marie,” said the sophomore, Laura Jones.</p> - -<p>“Speak up, if you are but a young thing,” laughed the junior.</p> - -<p>“Miss Gibson has confidence in us, or she wouldn’t have turned it over -to us. Let’s get up the best ever!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span></p> - -<p>“Hear, hear!” said the freshman, a “very young child,” according to -Caroline. She was letting a boyish bob grow out and had two wisps -on either side of her head now, each tied with a piece of pink baby -ribbon. These wisps were supposed to be braids.</p> - -<p>Shirley looked at her freshman assistant and nearly laughed out. -“Good!” she cried. “That’s the spirit. I’m afraid, Pansy, that you -can’t be Bluebeard’s wife <em>this</em> year.”</p> - -<p>“Why not?” stoutly inquired Pansy Layne. “Couldn’t I wear a wig?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, you could, Pansy,” laughed Shirley. “Why, do you know how to do a -Bluebeard stunt?”</p> - -<p>“No; but Bluebeard’s wives were hung up by their hair.”</p> - -<p>“Smart girl! Now let’s put our thinking caps on. I have seen plenty of -Hallowe’en parties, but I never had to get up anything like this, and -it seems scarcely fair to expect me to be chairman here, the first year -that I am in the school.”</p> - -<p>“I can tell you what they have had lately,” said Caroline. “You just -go along and be chairman and we’ll help. But remember that each class -is supposed to think up its own particular stunt, so we aren’t so -responsible as you would suppose. Only it makes it worse about helping -them if they are too<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span> late deciding what they’ll do. Madam Chairman, I -move that we go ahead first on decorations for the parlors and halls, -and meanwhile think up what else we can.”</p> - -<p>“There are limitations, too,” said Betty. “Hallowe’en has certain -emblems. Caroline, you write and ask your folks what they can get in -the way of pumpkin lanterns and other suitable Hallowe’en things for -decoration; and we ought to have some black, and red, and white paper -to cut cats and things out of, and perhaps some draperies, cheesecloth, -I suppose, in the same colors. We have some money from the classes for -this, Shirley, if we need it.”</p> - -<p>“It is a relief to hear that, Betty. Caroline, will you send for those -things?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. I’ll telegraph and they’ll be sent right out from Chicago. What -with our costumes, we won’t have much time for cutting out ‘cats and -things,’ Betty.”</p> - -<p>“Luckily I have my costume,” said Shirley, “and if it will give you any -ideas for anything that we could get up, I’ll show it to you. My aunt -helped Mother make it for something that we had at home. It’s hanging -now in my closet to get the wrinkles out. I’ll have to press it, too, -perhaps.”</p> - -<p>The girls trooped to Shirley’s room for the inspiration<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span> which looking -at a real costume might give them. Madge was there and admitted to -their councils, while Shirley brought out her costume for inspection.</p> - -<p>“Now that is a real one and different. Who painted that cat’s head is -an artist!”</p> - -<p>“It was Auntie that did that,” laughed Shirley, “but I can copy it for -anybody that wants one.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll keep you painting, then,” said Pansy. “I’ll perish if I can’t be -a witch or a cat.”</p> - -<p>“They say that girls are ‘catty,’” said Marie, “so I don’t know about -being a cat.”</p> - -<p>“But Shirley ought to be a witch with that tall hat and have a sort of -Cat Brigade to drill.”</p> - -<p>“How would the freshmen -<a name="like" id="like"></a><ins title="Original has 'lika'">like</ins> -to be kitty-cats, then?” asked -Shirley. “It would be funny, Pansy, if they would do it, and we could -have a drill and a song,——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, with a chorus of growls and meows,” Pansy added. “If the -girls don’t want to do it for their class stunt, let’s have it extra.”</p> - -<p>“Everything must be submitted to Miss Gibson, you know,” said Shirley.</p> - -<p>Other suggestions followed. It would not be so bad to be on the -committee, the girls concluded. Meetings of the classes were to be -held at once. There was to be no putting off if their appearance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span> -was assured for Hallowe’en, and no class wanted to be omitted on -the program of fun. When forced to it by the exigencies of time -and occasion, there is little that girls can not think up, for the -amusement of each other and usually to the entertainment of everybody -concerned.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xii">CHAPTER XII.<br /> -<span>HALLOWE’EN PLAYS.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">There</span> was advantage in being on “the committee,” that of being excused -from classes the afternoon before Hallowe’en to do the decorating. -Pansy said that she wished Hallowe’en came every week and that she -might be on the committee, and she only wished that she had had more -recitations to miss than she had!</p> - -<p>Shirley said little, but worked hard; for she knew of at least one -critical eye, who would scan the rooms, not inclined to praise. -Drapings in orange, red, black and white, in varied combinations, -pumpkin shades for the bulbs, black backgrounds for gay posters, and -even flowers of the appropriate colors made the Hallowe’en setting. -Shirley tried not to have it too “scrappy,” but the girls told her -that it had to be more or less so. Every one had some favorite poster -that must not be left out. But Miss Gibson came in at the last, with -directions that vindicated Shirley’s ideas and saved the day.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span></p> - -<p>When the girls began to come into the rooms in their costumes and -masks, the fun began. They changed their voices, and it was almost -impossible to tell who any one was, though there were some mild shouts -of “Oh, I know who <em>you</em> are!” But it was easy to be deceived. -Shirley wore a ghost costume until after the freshman stunt, for her -witch’s costume had to be used by the leader. Pansy’s first idea had -been for Shirley to lead the drill of the freshmen; but Shirley told -her that it would never do to have a senior in the freshman stunt. -Shirley suggested a funny variety of drill modeled after a “gym” drill, -which would be mysterious, creepy and catty, in movement and rhythm. -She also composed a song for the Cat Brigade, which was accepted by the -freshmen committee and sung with great gusto. The only difficulty was -to keep its ghostly melody from becoming known till the time to sing it.</p> - -<p>The pumpkin shades mellowed the light in the great room. In one corner -stood a queer booth for which the committee had been obliged to have -a janitor’s assistance. A placard warned “Danger,—Witches’ Caldron,” -and one of the senior witches stood there to keep out the curious till -after the senior stunt.</p> - -<p>There would have been fun enough in the mere<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span> costuming and social -fun of the occasion. Shirley, from behind her sheet and white mask, -ready to help with the stunts if necessary, enjoyed the scene. She -wondered which costume concealed Sidney, but did not see any one that -<a name="looked" id="looked"></a><ins title="Original has 'loked'">looked</ins> -like her so far as she could tell.</p> - -<p>Madge Whitney declared that she would <em>never</em> dress to make -herself look <em>hideous</em>. As <a name="Autumn" id="Autumn"></a><ins title="Original has 'autumn'">Autumn</ins>, -she wore a wreath of artificial -leaves, in the gay colors of fall, and carried a cornucopia from which -trailed grapes and their vines, over red and yellow apples. Her dress -was gay with the autumn colors. One of the sophomores came as Autumn, -too, but carried a “sheaf” of wheat and a basket of corn and fruit.</p> - -<p>There were ghosts galore, for every one who had neither time nor energy -to do anything else fell back on a sheet, with some slight addition. -Clown costumes, too, were popular, in all varieties. Bluebeard, Spanish -pirates, characters from history and from fiction, high and low, -challenged recognition.</p> - -<p>If Madge went as Autumn, Caroline had decided to go as Winter. She wore -kingly robes, white, with a frosted crown, a white beard, sparkling -with frost, purchased for the purpose, and a white wig to cover any -trace of her own locks. Some glass<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">128</span> pendants and the artificial snow or -frost made a very realistic appearance.</p> - -<p>Some lords and ladies in suits which were used at the senior plays were -elegant in their carriage and speech. It was a motley company and the -little bells of the clowns tinkled as they walked.</p> - -<p>The teachers did not join the masked company, but sat or stood around -the room to watch the fun.</p> - -<p>Madge stood by Shirley when Miss Gibson clapped her hands for order and -announced that the company would be entertained by the seniors, who -were presenting the witches scene, Act four, Scene one, of Macbeth. -Neither of the girls had seen this practiced, as Miss Gibson had -consented to train them for a good presentation of it.</p> - -<p>“Sidney wouldn’t be in it at all,” said Madge.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I know,” said Shirley. “It was just as well, for it gave Olive a -chance to be Macbeth. They give it only as far as the vanishing of the -witches, Miss Gibson says, and they make the apparitions just ordinary -‘ghosts.’ Stella is one of them.”</p> - -<p>The curtains of the odd booth were thrown back and found to be painted -into some likeness of a cavern, suggested, at least. Even the opening -thunder was given by the roll of a drum back in the “cavern.” There was -the cauldron and something<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">129</span> to imitate the appearance of fire under -it. The girls enjoyed the pretense of being witches with their uncanny -parts and the</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="verse"> - <div class="line outdent">“Double, double, toil and trouble,</div> - <div class="line indent0">Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>All the girls spoke their lines distinctly, though Miss Gibson had -deleted some, to shorten the scene and to leave out those that were -too unpleasant for such an occasion. Olive as Macbeth made quite an -impression. She withdrew with the witches, but witches, apparitions -and Macbeth were obliged to come out again in front of the cavern to -receive further applause.</p> - -<p>“The rest will be anti-climax,” mourned Pansy, the kitty-cat, who had -joined Madge and Shirley.</p> - -<p>“The freshman fun will be the relaxation of the evening,” said Shirley, -“and how can you speak thus to the author of your beautiful verses!”</p> - -<p>Pansy laughed. “That is so. I had forgotten our beautiful poetry.”</p> - -<p>“To tell the truth, in comparison with this, our lines may fall a -little flat; but just looking at you kittens, you black cats, I should -say, will be enough. I thought that I saw two costumes like your -witch’s, Pansy, a while ago.”</p> - -<p>“I did, too,—I wonder whose the other is.”</p> - -<p>The sophomore entertainment was even more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">130</span> gruesome than the witches of -Macbeth. When a curtain was drawn aside at the end of the room, there, -against the white background of another curtain, which represented a -wall, hung the white faces of Bluebeard’s wives. A ghostly sophomore -read the story, briefly told, in its most exciting parts, while the -wife who entered the forbidden chamber, Bluebeard, and Sister Ann -played their parts in pantomime, with the addition of ghostly groans -from the wives who had, supposedly, been disposed of long since. This -was a little too realistic and made more than one of the audience jump -a little at first. But it was soon over.</p> - -<p>There was relief from spookdom when the juniors came in to give very -prettily a “Dance of the Pumpkins.” “Pumpkin” costumes and one funny -rolling movement gave the “motif.”</p> - -<p>But how they laughed when the freshmen came in as black cats, managed -by a rather frisky looking witch with her tall black hat, her black -robe and the broomstick on which she expected to make her exit. On the -front of the robe was the large cat’s head with its big yellow eyes, -and a whole cat was depicted on the back between the witch’s shoulders.</p> - -<p>First the witch led the march, while the piano crashed and two girls -who had violins tried a little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">131</span> hideous jazz at certain points. -Next, the witch stopped and from the side gave orders for a standing -drill with rubber mice. A few squeals from the audience at the first -appearance of the mice, swung forth by their tails, was so natural and -suggestive that the whole audience laughed and one girl called out, -“nice kitties!”</p> - -<p>The comical appearance made by the backs of the girls, as they wheeled -and faced away from the audience, brought more laughter. Shirley had -despaired of painting enough cats for all the freshmen in the drill, -but the bright idea occurred to her after it was decided to put cats on -their costumes, to stencil the cats. Accordingly, on the square white -patch of muslin, similar to the one upon her own costume, which the -witch wore, in stenciled patches of black, the clawing limbs and wildly -waving tail of the witch’s cat appeared.</p> - -<p>As a result of careful measurements, this made a line of cat pictures -funny to behold, with the black whiskers and yellow eyes added by -Shirley’s brush afterward. The cat’s head in front was striking, too, -but not so funny as the whole cat between the shoulders behind. It was -scarcely necessary to do anything “smart,” Madge declared to Shirley. -Just to look at them was enough, Madge said; and Shirley, grinning -herself at some of the evolutions,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">132</span> nodded assent. “Maybe that’s so,” -she whispered, as the freshmen girls made their eyes big, held out the -mice with one “claw” and scratched at them with the other. They laid -them on the floor and played with them, or took them away from each -other and “howled” in chorus, all to the music. This changed now to the -lively melody of which Shirley was the composer.</p> - -<p>Facing the audience and lined up in one row, the freshmen pinned the -rubber mice on their costumes by the tails as badges and stood for a -moment to get their breath while one of the teachers, who had made an -accompaniment to Shirley’s melody, played a brief prelude.</p> - -<p>“Mother Goose stuff,” said a low voice near Shirley. Shirley did -not turn to see what the speaker looked like, in some gay costume, -she supposed, for the voice was Sidney’s. Madge heard it, too, and -nudged Shirley, whose ghost costume, of course, could not indicate -to Sidney that the chairman of the committee was close by. “She’s -jealous,” whispered Madge, but the sarcastic little phrase spoiled -what followed for Shirley. “It <em>is</em> silly,” she thought, “but, -someway, they couldn’t think up anything better, and we had to have -<em>something</em>.” Quietly she stood to see how the girls would sing -the foolish song.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</span></p> - -<p>But the rest of the audience were in the spirit of fun and “Mother -Goose stuff” was quite acceptable to them. Youthful freshmen voices -started in after a loud crash from the accompanist and a wail from the -violins.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="verse"> - <div class="line indent0">Oh we are the witch’s cats;</div> - <div class="line indent2">We creep and we snoop and we prowl;</div> - <div class="line indent0">We watch the brimming, boiling pot,—</div> - <div class="line indent2">At strange approach we howl.</div> - </div> - <div class="verse"> - <div class="line indent2">Hist! St! Meow! Meow!</div> - <div class="line indent0">At strange approach we howl.</div> - </div> - <div class="verse"> - <div class="line indent4">Don’t try to catch,</div> - <div class="line indent4">For we can scratch,</div> - <div class="line indent4">Don’t lift our latch,</div> - <div class="line indent4">Or strike a match!</div> - </div> - <div class="verse"> - <div class="line indent2">Hist! St! Meow! Meow!</div> - <div class="line indent0">At strange approach we howl!</div> - </div> - <div class="verse"> - <div class="line indent0">Oh we are the Cat Brigade;</div> - <div class="line indent2">On Hallowe’en night we may ride,</div> - <div class="line indent0">And trail her broomstick in the air</div> - <div class="line indent2">Or guard her at her side.</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</span> - </div> - <div class="verse"> - <div class="line indent2">Hist! St! Meow! Meow!</div> - <div class="line indent0">We guard our witch’s ride!</div> - </div> - <div class="verse"> - <div class="line indent4">Beware the knell</div> - <div class="line indent4">In darkness fell</div> - <div class="line indent4">When witches spell</div> - <div class="line indent4">The fates they tell!</div> - </div> - <div class="verse"> - <div class="line indent2">Hist! St! Meow! Meow!</div> - <div class="line indent0">Beware the Cat Brigade!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>With further evolutions, at the direction of the witch, and repeating -the last lines softly, the Cat Brigade marched out followed by -applause and laughter. The freshmen had put over their little play -quite effectively and Shirley drew a long breath of relief. The last -“stunt” was over. The rest was in the hands of a sub-committee, who -had the management of the refreshments. The fun of fortune telling and -the other customary Hallowe’en features could go on without further -supervision. Shirley hurried out to get into her own costume, for the -freshman witch had another one which she wanted to wear. Like Madge, -she -<a name="preferred" id="preferred"></a><ins title="Original has 'peferred'">preferred</ins> -to be beautiful rather than funny.</p> - -<p>Again Shirley saw the costume which was so like hers, except for the -cats, painted by some other artistic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</span> hand. The cat upon the back was -directly on the black robe and was such a funny, big yellow cat that -Shirley drew nearer to see it. But the girl who wore it was getting out -into the hall as quickly as possible through the crowd of girls, not -noticing at all the “ghost” which followed her.</p> - -<p>Shirley heard a shepherdess who accompanied the “Yellow Cat” witch -arguing with her in a low voice. “Why should you care, Sid?”</p> - -<p>“Caroline knew that they were going to do that stunt! She suggested -this to me on purpose! Perhaps I’ll come back, if I can find all of -that Turkish costume; but I’m afraid that it isn’t with that stuff that -I left here last year, and besides, I’ll have to go all through that -big box! I’m sure that I took the red sash home!”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right, Sid! I have——”</p> - -<p>Shirley heard no more, for she, too was trying to get past a group of -girls who blocked the way and wanted to hear no more. How odd it was. -How had Sidney happened to make such a costume? Perhaps it was easier, -for the robe may have been the Double Three domino of last year. But -Caroline’s suggesting it! Shirley could not understand.</p> - -<p>The cat costume did not return. No Turkish costume mingled with the -rest, for Shirley, returning<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</span> in the cat costume, noticed particularly. -It troubled her, though she thought that she was silly indeed, to take -so much interest in a girl who cared nothing for her. The freshmen -kitty-cats, all alike, were enjoying themselves immensely and performed -amusing antics occasionally around their witch, Shirley now. She had no -fear of being discovered, for naturally enough every one supposed her -to be a freshman.</p> - -<p>As a prize was offered for the most striking and original costume, -the judges came to Shirley to notify her that her costume was being -favorably considered on account of the cleverly painted cats. This was -before the masks were removed. “Where is that costume like yours, with -the big yellow cat on the back?” one of the girls asked Shirley. “Did -you do them together?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Shirley, changing her voice as well as she could. “I did not -know anything about it till I saw it here tonight.”</p> - -<p>“We’d like to see it before we decide; yet, girls, the black cat is -more appropriate to witches, and I think that this costume will take -the first prize anyway.”</p> - -<p>The judges hurried off. If it had not been for that last remark, it -might have been Shirley’s duty to say that she knew who the girl was -who wore<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</span> the yellow cat costume, though even then it would have been -a question whether to tell or not. Shirley had a feeling that Sidney -would prefer to lose a prize rather than admit having a costume like -Shirley’s. How had it happened? she asked herself again.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xiii">CHAPTER XIII.<br /> -<span>FLETA TO THE RESCUE</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Sidney</span> did not do anything so foolish as to remain away from the -Hallowe’en fun. However unhappy she felt over the apparent copying of -her costume, or perhaps a deliberate suggestion by Caroline, who knew -that the freshman witch would wear such a costume, she reached a better -frame of mind under the urging of Fleta, pretty in shepherdess gayety.</p> - -<p>The Turkish costume was one which she had used in Chicago and had -brought with her the year before. Then, the little play called for the -“Double Three” domino. “Luckily it hasn’t been worn here, Sidney,” said -Fleta, as she helped Sidney hunt through the big box and took smaller -boxes down from the top shelf of the closet.</p> - -<p>“But it is so terribly mussed,” wailed Sidney. “I can’t wear it at -all!” The main part of the costume was, of course, at the very bottom -of the big box which formed the window seat in their study.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</span></p> - -<p>“Yes, you can, Sid! Hunt up the sash, and if you can’t find it, there’s -that red one of mine that will do. It’s in my drawer, somewhere in a -box. I’ll get my little iron and run down to the kitchen. They’ll let -me press there, under the circumstances. Wait till I get a sheet to lay -on the table, if I can’t get hold of an ironing board. Where’s the cord -to my iron? There, now!”</p> - -<p>A very capable shepherdess, still wearing her mask, flew down to the -kitchen, where refreshments were being prepared for a real Hallowe’en -banquet, the first one of the kind that they had ever had there. Fleta -explained that there had been a great mistake and that somebody would -miss all the fun if this costume could not be pressed and made fit to -wear.</p> - -<p>“If you can find a place to do it, go ahead,” was the reply to Fleta’s -explanation and request, and determined Fleta found a place where she -could attach the cord to her electric iron and press the costume well -enough.</p> - -<p>Sidney, who was accustomed to be waited on, thanked Fleta, however, -very sincerely. She had found the sash and some other little -accompaniments and was ready to slip right into the newly pressed -garments. It had taken scarcely half an hour from the time when she -and Fleta had left the parlors.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</span> Sidney quite enjoyed one feature of -wearing a different costume, that of deceiving her other suite-mates, -for they all dressed together.</p> - -<p>“Where is Sidney?” Irma inquired of Edith.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. There’s Fleta. Ask her.”</p> - -<p>“What has become of Sidney, Fleta? I haven’t seen a thing of her since -that cat performance. Do you suppose that she hated it to have made a -costume so like that of the witch?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, she did, but she got over it. She’s somewhere around. I persuaded -her to come back.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, she did run off, then!”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Better let her say the first word about it.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, indeed. I know Sidney too well to make any uncalled for remarks!”</p> - -<p>Great was the surprise, when the masks came off, just before the -Supper, and Sidney was found by her suite-mates in Turkish garb. -Shirley, also, was asked many times if she had led the Cat Brigade; but -she explained as best she could, and it was all made clear when she was -announced as the winner of the first prize, and as “having the costume -which is considered the most original. It gave the idea, also, for -the freshman stunt and was worn by the freshman witch in the cleverly -performed drill. Miss Shirley is the composer of the song which they -sang.”</p> - -<p>The “banquet,” served early enough, it was hoped,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</span> not to upset the -young ladies, and simple enough to ward off all criticism, was funny -chiefly in its decorations, place cards and the names of dishes upon -the menu cards. It was too bad that there should be any one not able to -throw herself entirely into the enjoyment of the evening. But Shirley -was too tired, after her strenuous efforts of the day, to throw off -altogether the unpleasant impressions made by Sidney’s remarks, which -she had overheard.</p> - -<p>Madge noticed how quiet she was, but laid it to her being tired. As -they went into their room, after all the fun was over, Madge said, “I -hope you didn’t mind what Sidney said that time about ‘Mother Goose -stuff.’ Your song and the way the freshmen sang it nearly made me -double up laughing, and to think you won the prize makes me swell with -pride to have such a room-mate.”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense! I’d think you’d be ashamed of me for the style of literature -that I produced, to say nothing of that tune.”</p> - -<p>“It was as funny as the words, and the jazz was thrown in by the piano -and violin. The queerest thing, Shirley, was that as I looked back, out -of the corner of my eye when Sidney’s voice spoke so near us, I found -that she was wearing the witch costume, the one with the yellow cat. -You can imagine how<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</span> surprised I was to see Sidney as a Turkish lady, -after masks were off.”</p> - -<p>“I knew that Sidney was the yellow cat witch, Madge, for I heard Fleta -talking to her when they left the room. I happened to be near her again -when I went out to change my costume. I watched to see if she would -come back, and she didn’t come for so long that I gave her up. Then I -found her later, or the costume that I imagined was the one they had -spoken about. I felt worried, for some reason.”</p> - -<p>“Sidney is sort of peevish about things lately, Caroline says.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it is my being here. I’m sorry; but it doesn’t seem to be -possible to help it.”</p> - -<p>“You are a little too bright at your lessons and too influential -yourself Shirley, to please Sidney, who is used to being the center of -things. That is my private opinion.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care for any particular influence, Madge, but of course I -do care for standing well in my classes. I’ll try to keep off of -committees after this.”</p> - -<p>“You must do nothing of the kind. It isn’t fair.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, it is Madge, because all I want is to have good reports for my -father and mother and to enjoy as much of the good times with you girls -as I have time for.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</span></p> - -<p>“You are too capable, Shirley. You can’t get out of things like that.”</p> - -<p>The next morning Shirley, going upstairs, met Sidney coming down; but -<a name="instead" id="instead"></a><ins title="Original has 'intead'">instead</ins> -of the usual courteous greeting from Sidney, she -passed with her head in the air and without looking at Shirley. Shirley -frowned thoughtfully and went on to her room. Was Sidney blaming her -for the costume affair?</p> - -<p>At her first opportunity, she reported the cut to Madge and asked -if she could tell Caroline to come to their room after classes at -noon. “There is no need of Sidney Thorne’s taking such an attitude -toward me,” Shirley said. “I shall go to her to-day and ask her what -the trouble is, apologize, if I have done anything, or receive her -explanation. I do not think that she is the sort of a girl who would -refuse one.”</p> - -<p>Shirley repeated to Madge what she had overheard and asked Madge if it -would be best to repeat it to Caroline.</p> - -<p>“No, Shirley,” said Madge. “Of course, you want to get at the bottom of -this, but it will only make Caroline mad to tell her what Sidney said, -when Sid was out of patience, too. We’ll just ask Caroline if she knows -how it happened that Sidney wore the witch suit.”</p> - -<p>Shirley agreed with Madge that this would be the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</span> best course. The less -trouble stirred up the better. But Shirley was surprised to realize how -it troubled her to have a misunderstanding with Sidney.</p> - -<p>Before lunch, Caroline, with her arms full of books, rushed in on -her way from class. A little tap on the door was all that announced -her arrival, and she pushed the door open without waiting for an -invitation. “Hello, Cad,” said Madge. “I waited for you, till I saw -that you were going to be too long.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I thought that Miss Gibson would never let me go. Here are all -the books that I have to read for my essay on—what is it that I have -to write about?” Caroline with a look of pretended ignorance, consulted -a large sheet of paper filled with notes.</p> - -<p>“Never mind that,” laughed Madge. “We want to ask you how it happened -that Sidney wore the yellow cat witch costume? Do you know anything -about it? Has Hope said anything, or any of the Double Three?”</p> - -<p>“What makes you think that I know anything about what Sidney wore? -<em>Did</em> she <em>really</em> do that? That certainly is a joke on -her!” Caroline was so absorbed in the idea that she forgot to push the -question why they thought she would know about it.</p> - -<p>“I wonder if what I said to Hope was at the bottom of it. We girls -were talking about costumes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</span> for the party and I said that the cutest -costume I had ever seen was a witch’s costume with cats painted on -it. Remember, Madge? You had shown me Shirley’s costume, and began to -tell about the big eyes in the head in front and the big cat ready -to spring that was between the shoulders. Hope said that Sidney was -uncertain about her costume, and I started to say that the costume I -was describing had better not be copied, but some one broke in with -something so funny that we all laughed and I forgot all about what I -had said. But Sidney wore a Turkish costume when we unmasked.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but that was after the Cat Brigade. She was in the senior stunt -as a witch, you remember. Don’t you remember what an impression the -yellow cat made?”</p> - -<p>“No, Madge,” said Shirley. “That was not Sidney. She must have done -what I did; for she wouldn’t do anything, you remember, in the Senior -stunt.”</p> - -<p>“That is so. I had forgotten. Some one just wore her costume to save -making another witch costume. Mercy, how mixed up everything was!”</p> - -<p>“All the better for a costume party, Madge,” said Caroline. “But what -is the trouble? Why do you want to know about it?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, just because Sidney cut Shirley this morning, and Shirley thinks -that it must have something<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">146</span> to do with the costumes that were so much -alike.”</p> - -<p>“Whew! Wouldn’t Sidney <em>speak</em> to you, Shirley? Are you sure?”</p> - -<p>“I met her, by myself, and I was by myself. But it is not fatal, -Caroline, and I would not pay any attention to it, except that with a -girl like Sidney there must be some reason for it. She must think that -I have done something. Please do not speak of the cut. I did not mean -to have Madge mention it.”</p> - -<p>“I’m perfectly safe, Shirley. I’ll speak to Hope about the costume. -She need not know how <em>I</em> know that Sidney wore it. She does -not room with Sidney, but as a member of the Double Three she -<a name="probably" id="probably"></a><ins title="Original has 'probaby'">probably</ins> -knew what all of them were going to wear.”</p> - -<p>“I’d appreciate it, Caroline,” said Shirley. “I am going to see Sidney -to-night anyhow and ask if I have offended her, but if I had some idea -of how I have happened to do so, it would help.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, it would. I’ll see Hope some time this afternoon, Shirley, and -report before dinner.” Caroline ran out with her books, while Madge and -Shirley started out on their way downstairs, for it was nearly time for -the gong.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">147</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xiv">CHAPTER XIV.<br /> -<span>“MUCH ADO.”</span></h2> - -<p class="noi">“<span class="smcap">Yes</span>, Irma,” said Sidney, sitting in the study shortly after dinner. -“Considering the fact that there were about half a dozen witch costumes -last night, the decision of the judges that Shirley Harcourt’s costume -was the most original was nothing short of ridiculous. But that would -not annoy me at all. What I feel provoked about is that those girls -so evidently made it up to get me to wear the same sort of suit that -Shirley did. I couldn’t get much out of Hope, when I asked her again -about it; but she certainly told me that Caroline described a costume -that would be just the thing for me!”</p> - -<p>“I can scarcely believe it, Sidney. Shirley Harcourt is not that sort -of a girl; and if Caroline suggested it, I don’t see that it involves -Shirley at all.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, all right, Irma. But I think what I think. My, how cold it is -tonight! I wanted to go down to the lake, but there is frost in the air -and the wind is unpleasant.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">148</span></p> - -<p>“You must be taking cold, Sidney. I was out and did not notice it at -all.”</p> - -<p>A light knock came at the door of the study. Irma went to the door and -opening it, found Shirley Harcourt there. “Why, how do you do, Shirley; -come in,” Irma said.</p> - -<p>Soberly Shirley entered with a return of Irma’s greeting. Hesitant -she stood within the room, seeing the girl in the pretty, blue -<a name="neglige" id="neglige"></a><ins title="Original has 'negligée'">negligé</ins>, -who sat on the other side of a central table. -Sidney had just had time to turn her back before Shirley came in. -“I wanted to speak to Sidney Thorne just a moment, Irma,” Shirley -continued. “I had reason to think this morning that I had offended -her and I want to ask her what is the matter. I am very willing to -apologize, if I have done anything, without knowing it.”</p> - -<p>Shirley paused and looked at the shining hair, one well-shaped ear, and -a cheek fair and pink with only the natural tints of youth. But Sidney -made no move.</p> - -<p>Irma stood quietly. She knew that it must have taken an effort on -Shirley’s part to say that she was willing to apologize. But Sidney, -listening, thought that Shirley knew well enough. She had not yet been -addressed. She would not turn around until she was.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">149</span></p> - -<p>Shirley looked at Irma, but Irma, puzzled and annoyed, did not know -what to do. She started to speak and then stopped, and Shirley, wishing -that she had not come, smiled at Irma as she opened the door again, -stepping outside. “It was a mistake to come, I see,” said Shirley. -“Thank you, Irma; good night.”</p> - -<p>Irma closed the door and without a word to Sidney went into the bedroom -which she and Edith occupied. There she moved around for some time -before coming into the study again. Taking the same chair by the table -which she had occupied before Shirley knocked, she resumed her study. -With the ringing of the gong for study hours to begin, Fleta and Edith -came in, full of life, hoping that they didn’t interrupt, but it was -most important to tell the latest news, that the “Water Nymph” was -going to be married at the Christmas Holidays.</p> - -<p>It was a relief to Irma when they came. She was not enjoying her silent -companion, though silence was better than speech if speech should -take up the subject of the call. But Sidney knew that for once in her -life, at least, she had been discourteous. Of that Irma very likely -disapproved. She would say nothing. It was a relief to her, as well, -when the other girls joined them.</p> - -<p>Shirley had found that Hope had little recollection<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">150</span> of what she had -said to Sidney. “Why, Caroline,” she replied to Caroline’s questions, -“I was trying to help Sidney about her decision. I remembered your -describing a cute one, and I had the impression that it was one you had -seen somewhere. I knew that you were wearing something else. So I told -Sidney about the painted cats. Mercy, what have I done? I never even -thought of it that night, for we had witches in the senior stunt and I -supposed that it was Sidney’s idea, though I did hear her say that she -would not have a part in the performance.”</p> - -<p>“It’s just that Sidney may think Shirley had some hand in it. I only -want to let <em>you</em> know that Shirley did not <em>even</em> know that -Madge had <em>shown</em> me the costume when she did.”</p> - -<p>“If you want me to say something to Sidney,—” Hope began.</p> - -<p>“Not yet, Hope, and perhaps not at all. Haven’t you heard Sidney say a -<em>word</em>?”</p> - -<p>“I have scarcely seen Sidney at all. I can’t quite understand,—did -you say that Sidney has been <em>blaming</em> you girls for her having -something just like Shirley’s?”</p> - -<p>“Hope, you dear little goose! You are too broad-minded yourself to take -all this in. Just keep quiet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">151</span> about it. If we call you in as witness, -tell the truth!”</p> - -<p>“I certainly can do that, Cad. I wish that Sidney weren’t quite so -proud.”</p> - -<p>“Sid would not be herself if she were not proud. What a pity that we -can’t all be Standishes of New England!”</p> - -<p>“You are a sad case, Cad Scott,” laughed Hope. “Good luck to you.”</p> - -<p>So it came about that Shirley decided to go directly to Sidney,—with -the embarrassing results. Had she persisted, it is most likely that -Sidney would have entered into conversation with her. But Shirley’s -pride came in there. It had been hard to go to Sidney’s room. She could -not stay where she was not wanted. Thinking about it, she concluded -that it was, as Madge said, “much ado about nothing.” “Just go right -on, Shirley. If Sidney is mad about anything, you have shown that you -are ready to make it right. That is enough. If it were any other girl -than Sid you would not care. I believe that you are twins!”</p> - -<p>Shirley laughed. “It isn’t my way to let things go, unless I’m sure -that the other side is altogether unjust. But I can’t help myself, it -seems. We’ll drop it.” Within herself Shirley decided not to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">152</span> avoid -Sidney, to speak if the opportunity given, but to go right along as -usual.</p> - -<p>Shirley’s other school-mates were more friendly than ever after -the masked party. Without trying, Shirley was taking a position of -influence among the girls. She was consulted and sought. She joined one -or two clubs, but worked busily at her lessons, encouraged often by -the warm letters from her mother. Her father was too busy to do more -than to scribble a few lines of affection and advice upon her mother’s -letters.</p> - -<p>In one of Miss Dudley’s letters she asked, “Have you remembered, -Shirley, that you were born in Chicago? I don’t know that we have -thought of it in connection with your going to school so near the city. -Your father was getting another degree at Chicago University, and your -mother was with your grandmother and me in a house that we had rented -for a while in Glencoe,—a very attractive suburb,—you must stop off -and see it some time.”</p> - -<p>To this Shirley wrote, “If I’ve ever been told that I was born anywhere -else than at ‘home,’ I have forgotten it. I can’t say that I am pleased -to hear it particularly, though it does not matter so much where a -body was born, I guess, as who—whom she was born to! I’m certainly -glad that I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">153</span> belong to your family, Auntie. Can’t you come on at the -Holidays to see me?”</p> - -<p>But Miss Dudley could not manage it. The fact was that she was taking -every spare cent to meet the expenses for her niece, though she had -indulged in an economical summer vacation. She would not tell Shirley -this. Let Shirley think that Auntie had plenty.</p> - -<p>As the first term speeded to its close, Caroline had several -conferences with Hope Holland relative to Shirley, who was expecting to -spend the vacation at the school with several other pupils, for whose -benefit it would not be closed. Hope wanted Shirley at her home, but so -did Caroline, and the fact that Hope belonged to the Double Three made -it embarrassing.</p> - -<p>“I don’t have to go over to Sidney’s all the time,” she said. “We see -each other all the time at school and Mother and Father and the boys -will want me there. I suppose I’ll have to go to Sidney’s parties,—not -that they will not be fine, as they always are, but I don’t see why I -should not invite Shirley.”</p> - -<p>“If you do, Sidney will never get over it. I’ll tell you. You let -<em>me</em> invite Shirley and have her <em>part</em> of the time. Then -when you are not in anything<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">154</span> with the Double Three, or entertaining -them yourself, she can be with you.”</p> - -<p>“If I have a party,” said Hope, with determination, “if I have a -party,” she repeated, “and Shirley is in Chicago, she will be invited. -Sidney can have a headache if she does not want to come!”</p> - -<p>“Well, then, may I have Shirley?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, on those conditions, that I have her part of the time, to stay -all night, you know.”</p> - -<p>“All right. We’ll not quarrel, Hope. Shirley is such a big-hearted and -broad-minded girl, like yourself, Hope, that I couldn’t be jealous of -either of you if I tried.”</p> - -<p>“That is because you are nice yourself, Cad, my dear.”</p> - -<p>All of this was not imparted to Shirley. But she knew that she was -invited by both Caroline and Hope, and after a letter of permission -from her great-aunt, Miss Dudley, she accepted her invitations very -happily. When she heard that the Double Three were having a house party -at Sidney’s, she wondered about how things would be managed; for she -“felt it in her bones” that Sidney would not invite her to her home, -and she knew that Hope was a “Double Three.” But Shirley said nothing. -That could be handled by her hostesses, she knew. She would go and have -a wonderful time.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">155</span></p> - -<p>It had happened that Sidney’s parents had not driven to the school -that fall. It was Sidney’s second year. They were accustomed to the -separation as well as she. She spent one or two week ends in Chicago, -as well as the Thanksgiving vacation. Early in the year, also, Sidney -had asked Hope and Caroline not to speak of the strange resemblance -between Sidney and the then “new girl.” “If you write home about it, -Father and Mother will hear of it, and it will not strike them very -pleasantly I am sure,” said Sidney. And after some consideration Hope -and Caroline had promised, though Caroline had said, “We’ll not say -anything now, shall we, Hope? But if our parents ever do see Shirley -or hear about her, don’t flatter yourself, Sid, that we can muzzle our -fathers. Our mothers might hesitate to say anything, but if I know Dad, -he would be just as likely as not to mention it.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose he would,” said Sidney, with a look and tone that made -Caroline want to resort to “primitive measures,” she told Hope. “If we -had been about six years old, Hope,” she said, “I would have slapped -Sidney Thorne and not regretted it.”</p> - -<p>“Tut-tut, Caroline,” laughed Hope. “It’s a primitive society, indeed, -that can’t control its angry passions.”</p> - -<p>None of the girls had forgotten all this, and now<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">156</span> Hope and Caroline -expected to enjoy the surprise of their respective families upon their -first sight of Shirley. “You will not mind, will you, Shirley, if -anybody takes you for Sidney?” Caroline asked.</p> - -<p>“I am used to it by this time,” said Shirley, “and <em>this</em> time I -shall know why Chicago people, or some of them, think that they know -me.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">157</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xv">CHAPTER XV.<br /> -<span>AN ACCIDENTAL MEETING.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Long</span> since Sidney Thorne had spoken to Shirley, for she found out that -her suspicions of an intent to embarrass her were entirely unfounded. -Her manner toward Shirley had not even been unfriendly for some time -but when she found that Shirley was going to Chicago as the guest of -Caroline, she was almost indignant. The girls knew that it would be -embarrassing for her. Why did they invite Shirley? Now, unless she -wanted to have complications arise, she could not invite Shirley to the -affairs that she wanted to have for the Double Three. Well, she would -just <em>leave</em> Shirley out, if she did come from the same school. -You did not have to be intimate with everybody!</p> - -<p>Such was Sidney’s attitude. Shirley thought of it, too, and felt -rather sorry for Sidney, supposing, of course, that Sidney wanted to -be courteous, as she had always been except on that one occasion, -which had never been explained between them. But it would not affect -Shirley’s good time in the least.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">158</span></p> - -<p>The Double Threes had gone on ahead, leaving on the first train, with -the exception of Hope Holland, who waited for Caroline and Shirley, -the three preferring to go by themselves, though it was only a tacit -understanding among them.</p> - -<p>How jolly it was to have no lessons and to be facing the best vacation -of the year in thrills and Christmas festivities. Shirley’s winter coat -was all that could be desired, and she was to buy a new hat in Chicago, -though the hat which she had brought, with her coat, was becoming and -still good. Sidney would have no reason to be ashamed of her double.</p> - -<p>Cards from Hope and Caroline had warned their families of showing too -much surprise at a remarkable resemblance between Shirley Harcourt and -Sidney Thorne. As a result, while they were almost startled, in spite -of the warning, there was to be no embarrassing moment for Shirley.</p> - -<p>She was to go first to Hope’s; but at the station two cars met the -girls, one from each household. Mr. Scott reached them first and was -introduced to Shirley. “I have met you once before, Mr. Scott,” said -Shirley after shaking hands.</p> - -<p>“Why, when, my child?” asked kindly Mr. Scott.</p> - -<p>“Last summer, when I was in Chicago for a few days. You came up to me -in a hotel and shook<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">159</span> hands with me. I thought it was some graduate of -our university, till you told me that Mrs. Scott and the girls had gone -up to Wisconsin and assumed that I knew about it.”</p> - -<p>“Then it was you instead of Sidney!” laughed Mr. Scott. “I remember -that I was puzzled, for Sidney was supposed to have left the city some -time before.”</p> - -<p>But here came two youths hurrying across through the crowd to them. -“Hello, Hope. How do you do, Mr. Scott? Caroline, how you’ve grown! -Isn’t that always the thing to say to returning children?” The taller -of the two boys was shaking hands with Caroline, after this speech, and -put an arm around Hope, as he waited to be introduced to her friend.</p> - -<p>In a moment Shirley found herself in a handsome car, sitting behind -with Hope, while the two young men sat in front, the older one driving -skilfully through the traffic of Chicago. “Little did I think, Hope,” -said Shirley, “when I was here last summer, or even last fall on the -way to school, that at Christmastime I’d be back to visit with a dear -girl like you.”</p> - -<p>“I want you many more times, Shirley. I’m sorry that Madge had to go -home, but after all, it’s nice to have you to ourselves. Some way, -people<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">160</span> get to loving you, Shirley, did you know that?”</p> - -<p>“No I didn’t,” laughed Shirley. “I think that it’s ‘your imagination -and a beautiful dream,’ as Auntie is fond of saying.”</p> - -<p>“You did not know that I had such big brothers, did you? I told them -all about you, though. I have one more, and no sisters at all.”</p> - -<p>Shirley looked at the two young men in front of her, used to the ways -of the city, capable, interesting. Mac, who was driving, looked not -in the least like Hope, though he had her serious look when his face -was in repose, as now. Good, clear features marked the profile that -Shirley saw. His face was rather thin and the hands on the wheel were -well-shaped. Ted, the other brother, was not as tall as Mac, but looked -as old; his eyes and the shape of his face were like Hope.</p> - -<p>“They look as if they were the same age, don’t they?” asked Hope. “Ted -is not quite a year older than I am, and Mac is just a year older than -Ted. We were all little together and my, how Mother ever stood our -playing and fussing I don’t know. Kenneth is fourteen, only three years -younger than I am, but he is somewhat spoiled as the ‘baby’ of the -family.”</p> - -<p>It was pleasant to be welcomed into the beautiful home of the Hollands. -Shirley shared Hope’s room<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">161</span> and thought it “lovely;” but Hope said that -they were selling the house soon and would move into a suburb farther -out.</p> - -<p>Shirley knew little about changes in a city and these things did -not concern her. Immediately she entered upon one happy event after -another. Mac, so full of fun, yet so serious upon occasion, took a -great fancy to Shirley and saw that she missed nothing. When she went -to Caroline’s just before Christmas Day, Mac did not desert her, but -drove over, with gifts from the Hollands, while Caroline said that she -never had so much attention in her life as now from the Holland boys -and their friends. Shirley did not even know that Sidney had had a -great party for the Double Three, for Hope was over early that evening -and went to Sidney’s late, in plenty of time for this event. Caroline -sent regrets because of a previous engagement, which was an evening -with Mac and one of his friends.</p> - -<p>“I thought that you were like Sidney at first,” said Mac, “but I’d -never confuse you two after a good look, Shirley. Sidney is a fine girl -and she may learn a few things about people after a while; but you have -a different viewpoint and it makes you sweeter.”</p> - -<p>“Why, that is nice of you to say,” said the surprised<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">162</span> Shirley, “but I -didn’t know that you were so—,” she paused for a word and Mac said, -“‘observing,’ isn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“No; that would be admitting that you are right.”</p> - -<p>“Analytical, then, or philosophical. Remember that I am going to -college!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you ought to know Dick. He is in our university at home, the one -where my father teaches.” There, it was out. Shirley had changed her -mind about not speaking of her wonderful father.</p> - -<p>“Is your father a university professor? That explains it, then.” Mac -looked as if he would like to go on, but was not sure whether he dared -or not.</p> - -<p>“What it explains I don’t know,” laughed Shirley, “but so far as Dad -is concerned, he is mighty fine, even if he never has much money and -puts it into his line of work or gives it back to the college. And he’s -always doing things in one way or another for his students.”</p> - -<p>“That is about what I was going to say, Shirley, doing big things on -next to nothing. The reason I know anything about it is that we have a -friend like that. But who’s Dick? Her best college friend? Don’t tell -me that I have to label you ‘Taken!’”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know what to make of you, Mac. Ought I to be offended? You are -so funny that I can’t be. No; Dick is my cousin and I’m going to bring -him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">163</span> up for the Prom to meet our girls. I told him not to have too much -of a college ‘case’ till he saw them.”</p> - -<p>“I tell you what would be delightful to do,” said Mac. They were -sitting together on a hall seat at the Hollands, while they waited for -Hope, who had gone upstairs after her gloves which were missing. Mac -was to drive them to Caroline’s.</p> - -<p>“There are other young men who would be interested in being entertained -by some charming damsel other than their sisters.” Mac paused and -looked meaningly at Shirley. “Why not arrange for Dick with, say, the -sister of one of said young men, or one of her other friends?”</p> - -<p>“It would be possible, even if Dick came as my guest,” said Shirley, -“for me to see something of, well, any of ‘said young men.’”</p> - -<p>“How dearly I love my sister, only time will prove,” said Mac, rising -and taking hold of Hope on the lowest step. Hope looked suspiciously at -her brother, stopping in her descent.</p> - -<p>“What now, Malcolm?” she said, severely, but breaking out into her own -cheery smile as she looked at the laughing Shirley. “Such displays of -affection usually mean something, Shirley,” Hope continued, “but I’ll -do almost anything for you, Mac, for taking us around the way you are -doing.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">164</span></p> - -<p>“I am always willing to sacrifice myself for my only sister,” asserted -Mac, with a perfectly serious face. But Mac Holland did not keep up -his joking about the Prom or indulge in any personal remarks after -this, and Shirley liked him all the better when he was his normal self, -full of fun, to be sure, but with something better than that about -him. He saw that Shirley and his sister heard some of the holiday -entertainments that Chicago can supply, quietly taking care of them in -a gentlemanly way.</p> - -<p>The girls had two weeks’ vacation, which they enjoyed to the full. -After Shirley had visited with Caroline, she came back to Hope, -yielding to many urgings, for Mr. and Mrs. Holland liked Shirley. There -were only a few occasions on which Shirley met people who took her for -Sidney Thorne; but Hope repeated a remark that had been made to Mac. -“‘I did not know that you knew Sidney Thorne so well, Mac, and went -around with her so much,’ somebody said to Mac the other day, Shirley,” -said Hope. “And Mac never explained at all!”</p> - -<p>It was not until toward the last of her stay in Chicago that Shirley -met any one connected with Sidney. As the girls had told Sidney, they -could not muzzle their fathers. Mr. Scott, in particular, Caroline made -no attempt to caution. Why should she? Sidney might just as well let -her father and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">165</span> mother know about the lovely girl that looked like her. -It happened, then, that Mr. Scott said to Mr. Thorne, “Odd, Thorne, but -my daughter brought home from school a young girl who looks enough like -your daughter to be her twin.”</p> - -<p>“There are close resemblances sometimes, I suppose,” returned Mr. -Thorne, who was preoccupied with the bonds about which he had come to -the bank.</p> - -<p>“But this isn’t any ordinary close resemblance, Thorne. Did you ever -have any relatives named Harcourt?”</p> - -<p>“None that I ever heard of. Say Scott, I’ll drop in tomorrow to see -if you have gotten hold of what I want beside these. Regards to your -wife. Mine is happy these holidays with her daughter from school. Good -morning.”</p> - -<p>That very afternoon the incident occurred which brought Shirley to -the notice of Sidney’s father, a surprising experience. The Holland -chauffeur, who had little to do when the Holland boys were at home, had -taken the girls to do some shopping. It was Shirley’s last opportunity -to make such purchases as she needed before going back to school. They -had run across Caroline, who accompanied them when Shirley went to have -a dress tried on, one which she had seen before but just decided to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">166</span> -buy. Some alterations were to be made and when Shirley saw how Hope -looked as she sat waiting she suggested that the girls need not wait -for her. “You have a headache, Hope, I know, and I shall have to wait -a little while. Go on home, do. I can come by street car. I know right -where to go, for Mac told me one time, for fear I might get lost.”</p> - -<p>Caroline looked at Hope. “Yes, Hope, you are half sick; but I tell you -what we’ll do. I’ll take you home, and Hope can tell her chauffeur to -wait for Shirley. Shirley knows where the car is parked. I’d have to -leave you in a minute anyhow, because I told Mother that I’d be right -back, and she will be through her shopping by this time.”</p> - -<p>So it was arranged, and Hope was glad to go with Caroline. Shirley did -not have very long to wait, not as long as she had expected. Hurrying -from the store, she mistook direction and had a great hunt for the -car. At last she saw it, smooth and shining, and with a sigh of relief -she approached it, entering it without waiting for the chauffeur, whom -she saw standing at a little distance in conversation with some other -man. Shirley sank back against the cushions in relief. Her dress was a -pretty one and would be sent to her at the school. Her other packages -would be delivered at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">167</span> the Hollands’. What luxury this was. Could this -be Shirley, ready to say, “Home, James?”</p> - -<p>The chauffeur, whom Shirley had scarcely noticed before, apologized for -not being there to open the door, which Shirley had found unlocked. -“I was only a short distance away,” said the man, “but I saw a man -that—,” but the chauffeur was busy with getting his car out into the -street successfully and Shirley lost the rest. She closed her eyes and -leaned back again. They had not taken time even for some ice-cream and -she was really hungry. Ho for the good dinner waiting at the Hollands’!</p> - -<p>Shirley was almost ready to doze off, for traffic in Chicago disturbed -her no more, when the car stopped at a curb, to let a fine-looking man -of middle age enter. Shirley looked up with surprise. Perhaps this -was some guest,—but it was funny that Hope had not mentioned it. -The gentleman was dressed in unobtrusive but the finest of business -outfit,—clothes, tie, shoes, the heavy, handsome overcoat and the -well-fitting hat.</p> - -<p>He, too, leaned back as if tired. “You may go home now,” he said to the -chauffeur.</p> - -<p>Shirley sat up, startled. Who was this? She turned and started to say -something, but the gentleman looked at her and said, “What is the -matter, Sidney? Have you forgotten something? I see that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">168</span> you left your -fur coat to be fixed, but I hope that you will not take cold in that -one.”</p> - -<p>Shirley ceased to be startled when she heard herself addressed as -Sidney. By some mistake she had gotten into the Thorne car and this was -Mr. Thorne! She smiled and said, “I see that I have made a mistake. I -am not Sidney, Mr. Thorne, I am Shirley Harcourt. Hasn’t Sidney told -you about me?”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean to say that you are not Sidney? Why, Sidney, child, you -are just joking!” Mr. Thorne looked scarcely puzzled.</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t know how to convince you, but poor Sidney must be -somewhere wondering what became of her car. I thought that this one -was the Holland car that was to take me home. I should have known the -chauffeur, but the boys have driven us around most of the time. I am -visiting at the Holland home, and I go to the same school that your -daughter attends.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Thorne was sitting forward now, looking seriously at Shirley. The -chauffeur was looking back occasionally, as much as he dared. “I seen -that she had different clothes on,” he said, and was answered only by a -sharp glance from Mr. Thorne. But the reproving look was quite wasted.</p> - -<p>“I was quite deceived,” said Mr. Thorne. “My<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">169</span> friend, Mr. Scott, told -me only this morning that a young girl who resembled my daughter was -visiting his daughter from the school.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir. I visited Caroline part of the time. Caroline, Hope and I -have been together nearly all the time.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Thorne then directed the chauffeur to go back to the place where -he had parked the car to wait for Sidney. Meantime, he exerted himself -to put Shirley at her ease. “I do not wonder that you mistook the car. -Holland has one almost like it, perhaps exactly like it, though I never -thought about it. Tell me a little about yourself Miss Shirley. Where -do you live?”</p> - -<p>Under Mr. Thorne’s kindly look Shirley found herself telling as she -had told no one but the Holland family, about her home, her father and -mother, the university and her one year at the girls’ school.</p> - -<p>“Has it been a happy one so far?” asked Mr. Thorne kindly. He looked -at her so thoughtfully and with so much interest that Shirley felt -comforted some way. Here was one who did not resent her looking like -Sidney.</p> - -<p>“Not altogether,” Shirley frankly told him, “but it was all new, and -with my father and mother so far away I have been a little bit lonely -once in a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">170</span> while, but not very often, for there is always so much to -do.”</p> - -<p>“Has the close resemblance between yourself and my daughter made any -complications?”</p> - -<p>“A few, but nothing serious,” smiled Shirley. No one should criticise -Shirley from anything she might say here in Chicago.</p> - -<p>When they arrived at the place from which Shirley had started, Sidney -and her mother could be seen, coming from the entrance of the store -where Shirley had shopped. “Oh, I hope that they have not waited!” -exclaimed Shirley.</p> - -<p>“If they have it is not your fault.”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid it is.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Thorne helped Shirley out and drew her with him to meet his wife -and Sidney. “I will take you to find the other car,” he said. “You must -be safely started to the right place this time.”</p> - -<p>It was a curious meeting. Sidney’s face was flaming, and Mrs. -Thorne’s was full of amazement. “Mother,” said Mr. Thorne, “this -is Miss Harcourt, who attends school with Sidney. I ran across her -accidentally. Have you been waiting for the car?”</p> - -<p>“No,” replied Mrs. Thorne, after saying a few words to Shirley and -extending her -<a name="daintily" id="daintily"></a><ins title="Original has 'daintly'">daintily</ins> -gloved hand from her furs. “We have -only now finished.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">171</span> Sidney expected to go home alone, for I intended to -join one of the ladies for tea at the club.”</p> - -<p>“That accounts for Carl’s expecting only Sidney in the car, then.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Thorne was watching the two girls, who had pleasantly exchanged -greetings as school girls would. He gave his wife a long look, then -said that he must find the Holland car for Shirley. “I will be back in -a moment,” said he. “Come, Miss Harcourt; no telling where your car may -be parked by this time, but the chauffeur is doubtless on the lookout -for you.”</p> - -<p>“I am sorry, Mother,” said Sidney, as the two entered their own car, -“that I did not tell you before about Shirley Harcourt. But I thought -that it might annoy you as it annoyed me to have some one else look so -much like me.”</p> - -<p>“It was startling,” replied Mrs. Thorne. “It is strange, too, that -she happened to attend the same school. I am afraid that you have not -enjoyed your term. Would you prefer to go somewhere else?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps,” said Sidney, “but Father will want me to get my certificate -there, I think.”</p> - -<p>To Mr. Thorne, when he joined them, Sidney again apologized prettily -for not having told them of Shirley. “I am wondering how you happened -to meet her, Father,” she said.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">172</span></p> - -<p>Mr. Thorne related the circumstances and seemed to be surprised at -Sidney’s rather critical attitude, when she said that Shirley “might -have known the difference in cars and chauffeurs.”</p> - -<p>“It was merely a mistake, Sidney. You might almost as well say that -Carl ought not to have mistaken her for you. I found Miss Harcourt a -very charming young girl. She told me of her father when I inquired. He -is abroad on some -<a name="archaelogical" id="archaelogical"></a><ins title="Original has 'archaelogical'">archæalogical</ins> -expedition this year. -I fancy that he is rather a big man in his line.”</p> - -<p>Then Mr. Thorne changed the topic and Sidney was relieved to find that -her parents did not pursue the subject of the resemblance.</p> - -<p>Mr. Thorne’s explanation of a delay satisfied the waiting chauffeur, -who drove home as rapidly as the traffic would permit after Shirley -was safely deposited in the car. It had not been so long after all, -since Shirley’s wait in the store had been shorter than she had -<a name="expected" id="expected"></a><ins title="Original has 'exepected'">expected</ins>. -Nevertheless, she found that Hope had been -uneasy.</p> - -<p>“I believe that you are ‘psychic,’ Hope,” joked Shirley, “but my -double, that ought to be where I am concerned, if she is so like me, is -not even interested.”</p> - -<p>“You are mistaken, Shirley. Sidney -<a name="is" id="is"></a><ins title="Original has 'it'">is</ins> -attracted to you, but fights it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">173</span></p> - -<p>“I wonder if you are right,” mused Shirley.</p> - -<p>“Sidney can’t <em>share</em> anything,—not even looks!”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">174</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xvi">CHAPTER XVI.<br /> -<span>SIDNEY’S “GHOST.”</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">About</span> lunchtime the next day, Mrs. Holland answered the telephone to -find Mr. Thorne on the line. After some preliminary conversation, he -came to the point of his message. “I called you to inquire about Hope -and her guest. We were so interested yesterday in meeting the young -lady who looks so much like Sidney, that Mrs. Thorne and I would like -to meet her again. Sidney’s guests left yesterday and we have just seen -Sidney off; but if your girls are not going till later, could we not -have them for dinner. I seem to remember that Miss Harcourt spoke of -its being doubtful about her leaving till late to-day. Mrs. Thorne is -right here and she will speak to you when I am through.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you Mr. Thorne; the girls may not get off until to-morrow -morning. Hope is wretched and I am not sure whether it is too much -Christmas holiday excitement or an attack of <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">la grippe</i> coming -on.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">175</span> Shirley says that she will wait to go with her, if she is able, in -the morning. They will scarcely miss anything. Oh, is this Mrs. Thorne -now? How are you, my dear? Yes, Shirley can come,—I will properly -present the invitation,—but Hope is too miserable. Wait a moment, -please.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Holland duly called Shirley, who said that she would be very happy -to go. Mr. Thorne, again at the telephone, said that he would call for -her on his way home.</p> - -<p>“Hope, what have you gotten me in for by being sick?” queried Shirley -of Hope, who was lying in bed, being plied with various remedies at -different intervals.</p> - -<p>“A pleasant acquaintance, I hope, that will make up for Sidney’s -snippiness! Has Caroline gone, do you know?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; I forgot to tell you. She telephoned early and she very likely -took the same train as Sidney. I rather dread going to Sidney’s home, -and what will she think—my being invited after she has gone?”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Thorne evidently wants to see you and perhaps he’d rather have Sid -out of the way, especially if he saw that she feels as she does about -it.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll try to be a ‘good girl!’”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think that they will try to find out about how it went at -school. You might think up some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">176</span> of the mistakes to amuse them, though. -But don’t you imagine that Mr. Thorne wants to see if any relationship -can be traced between the families?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps.”</p> - -<p>Shirley dressed for dinner early. There was no telling when Mr. -Thorne might come. She was ready to slip on coat, hat and furs when -the chauffeur rang the bell. Soon she was in the car which she had so -mistaken yesterday and in conversation with Mr. Thorne, who looked at -her in puzzled but kindly fashion. “Even your voice, Miss Shirley, is -like my daughter’s. Wearing her clothes, you might utterly deceive me -if you tried.”</p> - -<p>“I shall not try, Mr. Thorne; but you would find differences, if you -were with me for any length of time. Try to find them this time; I -shall not mind.”</p> - -<p>“What I thought, that I might find is some common ancestor who may -account for this,” smiled Mr. Thorne. “You must tell us all about your -family and I want Mrs. Thorne to hear it. Now you must tell me how you -like Chicago. Have you been up in our sky-scrapers, and have you seen -the other features that we can furnish?”</p> - -<p>“I did most of that last summer, when I was here. It was a better time -than the winter, though the weather has been better than usual, Mrs. -Holland says, for the ‘Windy City.’”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">177</span></p> - -<p>It was a curious experience for Shirley. She found Sidney’s home -more beautiful and luxurious than that of the Hollands. Mrs. Thorne -was charmingly gracious, as puzzled as her husband, and even more -interested in affairs of Shirley’s family. Served by the butler at -the table, Shirley tried not to make any mistakes, for the sake of -her mother, whose household was conducted just as daintily, but by -necessity, much more simply.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Shirley, when asked about her ancestry, “my aunt, Miss -Dudley, takes a great interest in those things. She says that we -are descended from Governor Thomas Dudley, the second governor of -Massachusetts, and that ’way back we came from William the Conqueror. -That is on Mother’s side, and I think she said Harcourt was a name in -the line, too.”</p> - -<p>“Why, my dear,” said Mrs. Thorne to her husband, “Aunt Abby found that -the Thornes are descended from William the Conqueror through Mary -Thorne, who was the mother of Susanna Thorne; and Susanna Thorne, if I -remember correctly, was the mother of Governor Dudley.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Thorne sent a maid for a certain book in the library which -contained the proper authority for her statement, together with a -paper on which Miss Standish, who was “Aunt Abby,” Shirley found, had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">178</span> -recorded the Standish and Thorne lines. So Sidney had been brought up -on this!</p> - -<p>“My aunt,” said Mrs. Thorne, “is very proud of our Standish line and -has made Sidney think more of that than of her father’s, especially as -he makes fun of it all. Here is your Dudley motto, Shirley: ‘Nec gladio -nec arcu.’ Can you translate it?”</p> - -<p>“Neither by sword nor by bow,” quickly said Shirley.</p> - -<p>“She is the daughter of a Latin professor, my dear. Well, I think that -we have discovered a common ancestry for the two girls. Do you suppose -that this style of beauty breaks out occasionally during the centuries?”</p> - -<p>Mr. Thorne was laughing as he spoke, but Mrs. Thorne was quite serious -when she said that it could be accounted for in no other way. “Take it -up in your club, dear,” said he. “They will settle it!”</p> - -<p>But after Shirley had been again safely delivered at the Holland -residence, Mr. Thorne in his car gave himself to serious reflection. -Shirley, too, was thoughtful. What a queer experience,—to be sent to -Sidney’s room, to see the fine pictures, the handsome rugs, the large -rooms, with all their tasteful furniture and fittings, and to be, in a -sense, in Sidney’s place, temporarily. They were dear people, Sidney’s -father and mother.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">179</span></p> - -<p>“I almost played Sidney’s ghost, Hope. You don’t know how -<a name="strange" id="strange"></a><ins title="Original has 'stange'">strange</ins> -it seemed to be there, in Sidney’s home, without -Sidney. It was odd for Mr. and Mrs. Thorne, too. But I can see that -they wanted to know me and everything about me. We found that the -Thornes are in the same line, ’way back, as the Dudleys, my mother’s -people, and Mrs. Thorne thinks that accounts for our resemblance. But -Mr. Thorne did not think so, and joked her about having her club decide -it.”</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Mr. Thorne was saying to his wife that he thought she more -than half believed all the stuff that her aunt, Miss Standish, had -taught Sidney. “You have made a mistake, I am afraid, my dear, to let -Sidney get those ideas. They will make her snobbish,—and perhaps -unhappy.”</p> - -<p>“I never have the heart to stop Auntie, and what is the harm?”</p> - -<p>“This resemblance, little wife, is very odd.”</p> - -<p>“What do you make of it?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing at present.”</p> - -<p>But Sidney’s Ghost went back to school, where busy days waited for both -girls; and Mr. Thorne was plunged into such a rush of affairs, with -some new undertakings in which he was interested, that any importance -attaching in his mind to the fact of Sidney’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">180</span> having a “double,” was -at least partly erased by more immediately important matters.</p> - -<p>One little fear in the back of Shirley’s consciousness caused her -enough uneasiness to make her write about her latest experiences in -Chicago to her mother. It was after the second term was well started -and followed the first long letter and several cards. It was her first -reference to the resemblance.</p> - -<p>She gave the details of the accidental meeting and of her visit at -Sidney’s home. Then she asked the question. “Mother,” she wrote, “you -don’t suppose that I am anybody’s child but yours, do you? You haven’t -adopted me? I am your child as little Betty used to say ‘by borning?’ -I feel sure that I am, and yet this queer likeness has given me a -miserable doubt, when I let myself get foolish about it. I don’t want -to say anything to Auntie, so I write straight to you. Tell me what you -think, or know, the next time you write, please.</p> - -<p>“Meanwhile, I’ll not worry, for everything about school is going -wonderfully. I’ve written reams, I know; but you had to be told about -the various complications. I like Sidney, in spite of her being such a -proud piece of humanity. Several days after we came back to school she -said to me, going in to class, ‘Why didn’t you tell me that you had -been out to our house?’ I was surprised to find her behind me<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">181</span> and I -said, ‘I’d have been glad to if there had been a suitable opportunity.’ -And Sidney flushed up at that, for she had not been near me, and the -only time I ever went to her room to speak to her she was not exactly -hospitable.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">182</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xvii">CHAPTER XVII.<br /> -<span>SIDNEY MAKES A DISCOVERY.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">More</span> and more Shirley grew into the life of the school. Hope Holland -was her most intimate friend, though her room-mate, Madge Whitney, -continued to be a close chum. -<a name="Dulcie" id="Dulcie"></a><ins title="Original has 'Dulce'">Dulcie</ins> -Porter, Hope’s room-mate, -was often with Shirley after the Christmas vacation, and Hope and -Dulcie, it will be remembered, were of the famous Double Three. -Caroline Scott, Betty Terhune, and later, more in class relations, -Olive Mason and her chum, Barbara Sanford, were Shirley’s firm friends.</p> - -<p>Though she was invited by both Hope and Caroline to Chicago for the -spring vacation, Shirley accepted the urgent invitation of Madge and -went with her to a quiet little town on the lake shore in Michigan, -where she met Madge’s friends and had a real rest besides. This was due -largely to Madge’s sensible mother.</p> - -<p>Letters and cards came from Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt, but there was no -reference to Shirley’s question. From different comments Shirley knew -that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">183</span> they had not received that letter, though later news from her was -acknowledged. They had been at that time upon an African expedition -and had returned by a different route than that touching the point -where they had ordered their mail to follow them. In consequence, the -letter was received only just before their sailing for America, having -followed them around as letters to travelers abroad sometimes do.</p> - -<p>Hope, who had never cared much for clothes, blossomed out after the -vacation with some particularly pretty and tasteful frocks, chiefly -hung away, however, during the days of the uniform and the dinners when -the old frocks would do as well. But the time of the spring Prom was -appearing.</p> - -<p>Mac Holland had instructed his sister to arrange that he should be with -Shirley on that occasion and Hope had talked it over with Shirley. The -result was that Dick was to be one of this foursome, as Mac called it, -though Hope insisted that Shirley must introduce Dick to all the girls. -Knowing Dick, Shirley consented to this, and hoped that it would turn -out as it should.</p> - -<p>When Shirley saw Sidney on her return, she was shocked at Sidney’s -white, worn face. “What is the matter with Sidney Thorne?” she asked -Hope.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. Mrs. Thorne is worried about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">184</span> her, Mother says. She -seemed to get sick all at once, but the doctor says that there is -nothing the matter with her. She does not sleep very well and is -nervous. The doctor gave her something, but Sidney says that she does -not want any medicine. I think that Sidney has changed, too. It is odd.”</p> - -<p>Shirley felt drawn toward the pale, quiet girl who came to classes, -recited well, but without any enthusiasm. No one but Olive now would -be a rival of Shirley’s for highest grades. These easily would be -Shirley’s though her only motive for her hard study was to please her -father by as high marks as possible, rivalry not concerning her at all.</p> - -<p>But Sidney Thorne had during the vacation received a shock from which -she had not been able to recover. Her pillow at home had received many -bitter tears whose traces were carefully removed when necessary. But at -night she usually cried herself into a sleep of exhaustion which left -her merely pale in the mornings and brought much concern to Mr. and -Mrs. Thorne. It would have been better if she had confided her grief to -these dear people who loved her; but she could not bring herself to do -it in the short time that she was at home. Uncomforted, therefore, she -returned to school, struggling to readjust her thoughts, and stricken -in heart.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">185</span></p> - -<p>The girls asked her what was the matter and the Double Three said that -Sid didn’t “eat enough to keep a bird alive.” The most delicious fudge -did not tempt her. Miss Gibson, “Gibby,” the hated, found Sidney one -afternoon, strolling alone in the farther part of the grove under the -pretence of looking for wild flowers. This was one of the times of -rebellion, when it was all Sidney could do to keep back her tears. -But Miss Gibson was purposely blind to the evidences of trouble and -succeeded in interesting Sidney enough to forget herself. They sat down -on one of the benches which faced the lake while Miss Gibson, talking -away, told Sidney a little of her early struggles for an education. -“But grit carries us through anything,” cheerily Miss Gibson closed -her brief reference, “and I have such a wonderful opportunity here -that I am very happy about it.” With that she left Sidney to her own -reflections, waving to another of the teachers who was passing along -not far away.</p> - -<p>Sidney turned a little to watch Miss Gibson as she went away. She felt -a new sympathy. Why, Gibby probably <em>needed</em> this position, and -she <em>was</em> a good teacher and knew what she was about. How awful -if the girls drove her away! Well, weren’t things mixed up in this old -world? She would do what she could to keep Gibby now! Strange that it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">186</span> -takes a touch of misfortune to teach us what others go through. Sidney -had never known anything but having a home and protection. Helping the -poor was one thing; but to Sidney the unfortunate were a world apart.</p> - -<p>Grit. That was it. Thanks to Gibby for suggesting it. She had not quite -gone to pieces anyway. Sidney had not realized how much of her life -had been built upon what she knew now was not hers. Foundations were -slipping from under her. Little thoughts of pride brought a realization -that they had no root in fact. These were bitter days. But Sidney -kept up her lessons automatically, glad of their thought-compelling -frequency.</p> - -<p>One Saturday the Double Three and some others had gone on a picnic. -Sidney made the excuse of not feeling equal to the jaunt and remained -in her room, glad to be alone. Shirley, as it happened, was alone, too, -Madge had gone with the rest; but Shirley had work to do for Monday. -She, too, had begun the day with a headache, but that had disappeared -by noon and a box of delicious fruit had arrived from her aunt. It was -not the fruit season, but Aunt Anne had found various things, among -them some strawberries which had kept beautifully on the way.</p> - -<p>Shirley hastened to prepare them, but they were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">187</span> too ripe to keep, for -they had come from the South. She thought of the teachers, then of -Sidney. Perhaps they would tempt Sidney’s flagging appetite. While she -opened the package of confectioner’s sugar which her aunt had sent, she -considered. Should she run the risk of disturbing Sidney? Well, why -not? At the worst Sidney could only be inhospitable, and that would not -hurt Shirley in any vital way.</p> - -<p>With a tempting dish of the red berries sprinkled with the white sugar, -Shirley swallowed her hesitation and rapidly walked through the halls -to Sidney’s door. Lightly she rapped, thinking of the last time she had -entered.</p> - -<p>A faint voice said, “Come in.” Shirley opened the door, to see Sidney -through the open door from the study. She was lying on her bed, but -dressed.</p> - -<p>“Oh, excuse me,” said Shirley. “Were you trying to sleep? I’ll run -right away, but my aunt sent me some berries and I thought of you, for -the girls say that you have spring fever, or something and have lost -your appetite.”</p> - -<p>Shirley made her voice as bright as possible, as she put the attractive -dish of berries on the study table.</p> - -<p>“Oh, isn’t that good of you!” said Sidney, in a tone of pleased -surprise. She sat up, saying, “Wait<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">188</span> a minute. I don’t want to -sleep,—and I have to make up for being so mean when you were here once -before.”</p> - -<p>Sidney had not expected to say that and Shirley showed her surprise for -a moment. “Oh, there is nothing to make up,” she said. “Aren’t you a -bit well, Sidney? Is there anything that I can do for you?”</p> - -<p>“Nobody can do anything; but I’m really better, a little. I just didn’t -want to go on a picnic. Oh, these are lovely! So many of the berries -that we begin to get early are not ripe. But where are yours? Haven’t -you any for yourself?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, plenty.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mind going to get them, then? Come in to eat them with me. I -have some delicious cookies that Edith had sent her from home. She -<em>would</em> give me some, and I did not want them then.”</p> - -<p>Shirley looked at Sidney to make sure that she really wanted her; she -hurried back to bring a dish of berries for herself and another spoon. -How odd this little lunch was, but how charming Sidney could be. No -wonder that she had been influential in the school. They sat in the -window seat together, while one by one the red berries disappeared, -and the cookies took their place among the things that were. Sidney -looked like a more sober and thinner<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">189</span> edition of Shirley. “Wouldn’t a -snap shot of us be funny?” she asked, a smile dawning with the thought. -“Shirley,” she added more soberly, “do you suppose that we could -be—closely—related?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, Sidney, though I have thought of it, of course. What do -your parents think, Sidney,—anything at all about it?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing so far as they have said anything to me. But, Shirley, when -I was home on the vacation I found—” Sidney stopped and bit her -lips, while the tears came into her eyes. Shirley leaned over to take -the dish from Sidney’s hand. With hers she deposited it on the table -and returned to the seat beside Sidney. Sidney’s face was in her -handkerchief for a moment, while she tried to recover herself. The -girls had first talked about school matters, but now at last the veil -was dropped between them.</p> - -<p>“Let me tell you about it,” shakily said Sidney, wiping her eyes. -“Daddy was away. He has been away a great deal lately on business. -Mother wanted something out of Dad’s deposit box in the bank, something -that he sent for, and as they had arranged long ago, I could be -permitted to go to either box. So Mother sent me to the bank instead of -going herself. I could not for the life of me find anything<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">190</span> marked as -he had written it was, though there was one envelope that <em>might</em> -be it.</p> - -<p>“But I thought I ought to make sure, and there was one large white -envelope that had nothing marked on the outside. I hesitated to break -it, for it was sealed, but Dad was in a great hurry for his papers, so -I tore open the envelope. And there, Shirley, was another envelope, -marked,—” Sidney broke off and wiped her lips with her handkerchief.</p> - -<p>“Oh, don’t tell me, Sidney, if it is so hard for you.”</p> - -<p>“I want you to know, and I must tell somebody!”</p> - -<p>Shirley waited. What dreadful thing was coming?</p> - -<p>“The inside envelope was marked, ‘Papers regarding the Adoption of -Sidney’!”</p> - -<p>Sidney stopped, while Shirley, amazed, and yet relieved, said, “Oh, -Sidney!”</p> - -<p>“You can imagine how I felt. No, I don’t believe that you can either. -Suppose you thought that you were your father’s and mother’s own child -and then suddenly found that—well, you didn’t know who you were!”</p> - -<p>Soberly Shirley nodded. “Didn’t you find out any more?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“No. I would not open what I was not supposed to know about; I took the -first package that I had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">191</span> thought might be the right one and I went -away as quickly as I could. I could scarcely believe what had happened, -and I cried all night. Then I went down again to the bank with the key -to my father’s box and some big white envelopes like the one I had -broken open. I read again what was written on the inner envelope and -I realized more than at first what it meant. Then I put it in -<a name="one" id="one"></a><ins title="Original has 'the one'">one</ins> -of the envelopes most like the other and sealed it up again. I suppose -that I should never have known! They must have meant never to tell me. -Why, my great-aunt does not know I am <em>sure</em>, or she would never -have talked about my being a Standish, and a Thorne, and all that -stuff!” Sidney’s tone was bitter now.</p> - -<p>“Even Mother used to join in, but Dad never did. I’ll say that for -him. And poor Mother loves to deceive herself about anything that she -wants to be so!” Sidney was more tender now, and Shirley recalled -with some surprise how Mrs. Thorne had spoken as if Sidney’s ancestry -were theirs, or, rather, theirs hers. “I can imagine how my dear, -sentimental mother must have persuaded my father never to tell me.”</p> - -<p>“And then I came along,” said Shirley thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and I can see that my father has been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">192</span> thinking about it. He has -made several remarks to Mother that I remembered after I found the -envelope. But your coming, Shirley, had nothing to do with my finding -the facts.” Sidney was fair. Shirley was not to blame. “That was -why he wanted to have a talk with you, I suppose, Shirley,” Sidney -continued, “and Mother invited you there after I had gone on to school.”</p> - -<p>Shirley reached over and took Sidney’s hand, looking at it. “Sidney, -he asked all about my people, my father and mother, and I even told -him all about my ancestry, for I have a great-aunt, too, that thinks -a great deal of our family tree. Isn’t it queer? And I wrote to my -mother, Sidney, to ask her if I were really her daughter, ‘by borning’ -as my little sister that died used to say. I had a sister and a brother -that died several years ago. It may be, Sidney, that we are sisters, -twins, most likely and that neither of us belong to the families where -we are.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’m sorry for you, Shirley, if that is so,” and Sidney’s hand -tightened on Shirley’s. Then Sidney’s head went down on Shirley’s -shoulder and her slight body shook with sobs. “Oh, I know that they did -not mean to be cruel, Shirley,” she said as soon as she could control -herself, “but it is so <em>terribly</em> hard now.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">193</span></p> - -<p>“I do know a little, Sidney,” whispered Shirley through the golden -waves of Sidney’s pretty hair, “because of all the pangs I have when I -think about it and wonder about myself.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Sidney, “and oh, I <em>do</em> want so to belong to Father -and Mother!”</p> - -<p>“I wonder if it would not be best to tell them all about it,” Shirley -suggested. “You will want to know how it all came about.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not so sure,” said Sidney. “It depends on where I came from.”</p> - -<p>“You are sure of this, that they do not want you to leave them and that -you are legally their child. Isn’t that some consolation?”</p> - -<p>“A little.”</p> - -<p>“And they have known it all along and yet have loved you to pieces and -been so proud of you and everything.”</p> - -<p>Sidney brightened a little at this suggestion, but soon she sobered -again. “There is one thing, though, Shirley, I’m going to <em>bear</em> -it and never complain to either of them. I do know what they have done -for me. I have thought of that, Shirley. But I have to wait a little. I -can’t do it now. I am glad that I have told you and it will be good to -see you occasionally. You will stand by, won’t you,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">194</span> and keep the other -girls from knowing what is the matter?”</p> - -<p>“Mercy yes!” Shirley gasped at the very idea of her telling any one.</p> - -<p>“I always have liked you down in my heart, Shirley, though I just -couldn’t stand it to have you look so like me.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t blame you,” laughed Shirley. “I didn’t exactly relish it -myself, but I thought that it would only be for a little while, and -wouldn’t spoil the fun much.”</p> - -<p>Sidney laughed with Shirley and then led her into her bedroom where -she drew her before the mirror. “If twins ever looked more alike than -that,” Sidney finally said, “then, as my friend Ran Roberts says, I’m a -fishworm!”</p> - -<p>“You are coming on, Sidney,” said Shirley. “Goodbye, Twin. If you get -lonesome, come around. I’m studying, or shall be, but ever and anon I -shall long for intermission.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">195</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xviii">CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> -<span>LIFE BECOMES ENDURABLE.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">As</span> the school year drew near its close, the girls were treated to the -strange sight of a frequent association of the “doubles.” No other -relations were disturbed. The Double Three never became a Double -Four. Interest had died out in adding to its numbers. But there was a -sympathetic understanding between Sidney Thorne and Shirley Harcourt, -not exactly to be explained. It simply existed.</p> - -<p>It was not to be supposed that the girls would notice it and let -it escape comment. Hope exclaimed over it. “Why, after all Sid’s -snippiness, here you are the best of friends! What happened?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we had a talk once,” Shirley replied, and that was the only -explanation that she ever gave.</p> - -<p>“You ought to have seen yourselves, you and Shirley, Sid, down on the -beach to-day like twin mermaids!” cried Fleta after a senior beach -party. “How come?”</p> - -<p>“I have discovered what a fine girl Shirley is,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">196</span> Sidney replied, “and -looking like her and having her look like me is rather fun now.”</p> - -<p>“Of all things! Did you hear that, Irma?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Sid has stopped wearing anything to make her look different. I -think that she and Shirley are going to do something to fool us all!”</p> - -<p>“We are going to change clothes at the Prom,” soberly stated Sidney, -while the girls looked at her dubiously to see if she were in earnest -or not. But the suspicion of a smile hovered about Sidney’s mouth.</p> - -<p>Sidney was looking better now, though not quite like herself. But she -and Shirley were not so often mistaken for each other, as Sidney was -decidedly thinner. The way in which she had been wearing her hair, too, -since shortly after Shirley’s arrival, made it easy to distinguish -the girls unless they wore hats. Hats and coats being different, and -soon recognized among any closely associated group of girls such as a -boarding school affords, they were a good means of identification.</p> - -<p>But Shirley still kept close to Madge, Caroline, Hope and lately Olive. -She and Sidney merely drifted together or sought each other when there -was some idea to exchange upon the subject common to them both. Not -that they talked much about it either, for it was too sober a topic to -discuss as girls often<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">197</span> discuss other things. “Heard from your mother -yet, Shirley?” Sidney would perhaps ask.</p> - -<p>“Not yet, Sidney. I wrote again, but I am mixed up about their -itinerary, for it has changed. I keep hearing from them, and I think -that they finally receive my mail, but all of it very late.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s go down to the shore a while. I need to be with you, Shirley.”</p> - -<p>Then the two, arm in arm and not saying a word, might stroll to the -shore or off into the wood. Sidney refrained from suggesting a like -unhappy fate for Shirley, yet her interest in knowing what word Shirley -would have from Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt was plain. Shirley, for her part, -never introduced a reference to Sidney’s woeful revelation, but if -Sidney spoke of it, she would try to cheer her and she advised that -Sidney tell Mr. and Mrs. Thorne, in order to know how they had come to -adopt her. Sidney at first said that she was afraid to know, but later -she was considering it.</p> - -<p>Shirley determined not to cross the bridge before she came to it, but -there was the awful possibility that she, too might have been adopted. -Perhaps they were two stray little twins without anybody but each -other. That consciousness and the odd feeling of kinship that she had -toward Sidney made her very sympathetic. There was nothing the matter -with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">198</span> Shirley’s imagination, though she tried to be sensible. Little -Betty looked a little bit like her. Her brother had had the same -combination of dark eyes and light hair. Oh, it simply could not be -that she did not belong to her father and mother!</p> - -<p>Nothing in Sidney’s life had been changed in the least, yet she was -like a lost child in her heart. Finally she told Shirley that she would -write about it to her father just as soon as the Prom was over. “I -don’t think that I <em>could</em> bear any more and go through the Prom,” -she said. “I’m going to make myself have a good time. Ran Roberts is -the boy from our suburb that I like best. He is such a gentleman, too, -and I want you to meet him. Then he is bringing some of his friends for -some of the other girls who can’t ask anybody they know to come so far, -so it will be a jolly lot of guests that we have. And if Mac comes, as -Hope says, and your cousin Dick doesn’t fail you, we’ll all see that -everybody has a fine time. Remember that I want you this time, Shirley. -I suppose that I’ll always be proud, whether I have anything to be -proud of or not,—” here Sidney laughed a little and Shirley’s eyes -twinkled. “But I have learned a <em>few</em> things these awful weeks and -one of them is to be sincere with myself and face the facts. For pity’s -sake, remind me, Shirley, if I get on my high horse again.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">199</span></p> - -<p>“Nothing of the sort,” firmly said Shirley. “A body has to have some -self respect and your ‘superiority complex’ mustn’t go into total -eclipse!”</p> - -<p>“Aren’t you comforting?” smiled Sidney, “and you ought to be telling me -what a snob I’ve been!”</p> - -<p>“Hush and shush, as Madge says. I made up a new saying myself the other -day, though not thinking about you.”</p> - -<p>“What is it?”</p> - -<p>“It’s a small potato that can’t grow an eye.”</p> - -<p>“Shirley the philosopher!” grinned Sidney. Life might be worth -<em>something</em> after a while. And the clothes that she was to have -for the Prom and the days after it were lovely!</p> - -<p>Ah, that senior Prom! Beautiful lights were about the campus. Within -chandeliers sparkled or soft lights came from pretty shades over the -side lights. Girls in their prettiest frocks, fluffy or silken evening -dresses, duly inspected by the dean, though silently so, as the girls -reported to her, were met by masculine figures in correct attire. No -orchestras in Ravinia Park ever discoursed such music as that senior -Prom orchestra, engaged for the occasion, furnished to these happy boys -and girls.</p> - -<p>Dick Lytton arrived, full of news for Shirley and a glad sight for eyes -that rather longed for home occasionally, she told him. She was very -proud of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">200</span> her university lad and introduced him to all of her friends, -<a name="though" id="though"></a><ins title="Original has 'thought'">though</ins> -Hope was first and Shirley was glad to see how pleased Dick -was with the girl for whom he had been invited, in one sense, though -Shirley would have had Dick if no one else came to the Prom.</p> - -<p>Sidney was true to her word that Shirley should meet her group of -friends, though Mac Holland was always in evidence wherever Shirley -was. He, too, knew Sidney well, of course, but Randall Roberts was the -favored lad with her, Shirley could see. The acquaintance between the -girls and boys from Chicago and its suburbs made a pleasant circle; yet -Shirley did not forget to see that Dick’s acquaintance was still wider.</p> - -<p>The girls were permitted to have calls on Saturday, also, and at Sunday -dinner, which made an exciting week end for many of them, whose friends -stayed in the nearest suburb and spent as much time at the school as -was allowed. Shirley had an opportunity for a satisfactory visit with -Dick, who had intended to leave for home on Saturday, but stayed for -Sunday dinner and a visit instead.</p> - -<p>“Can any mere professor in a university expect me to leave this bower -of beauty for anything so stupid as Monday’s lessons?” asked Dick, when -Hope inquired if he could stay. With Sidney’s cordial<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">201</span> manner Dick -was pleased, but he could scarcely get over the close resemblance, -and after having met her he looked closely at Shirley every time he -came, for fear that he might make a mistake. “Shirley,” said he, when -they were alone on the campus Sunday afternoon just before he left -the grounds,—“Shirley, I can’t help wondering about this resemblance -between you and Sidney Thorne. Have you told your mother about it yet?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Dick, but I have not heard from her in relation to it. I’d like -to tell you something that I know, but I can’t.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ll not be surprised to learn that Sidney is your twin. But I -suppose it can happen and has happened that people who are not related -are duplicates, so to speak. By the way, Hope Holland promised to write -to me in reply to the letter which I must, of course, write to my young -lady of the Prom.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” laughed Shirley, “but don’t forget who was at the bottom -of your coming. I might enjoy hearing about our school myself.”</p> - -<p>“Wait till I tell you of a prospective student next year. Don’t tell me -that I can’t work for my own middle west university! To be sure there -might be another attraction, but I impressed upon him the superior -advantages of a smaller school!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">202</span></p> - -<p>“Dick! I know whom you mean,—but it would be crazy for—.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t hesitate, my dear; it was Mac Holland.”</p> - -<p>“For Mac, then not to go on here. Think of the schools right at hand!”</p> - -<p>“Often it is wise to have another environment. Why did you want to go -away to school?”</p> - -<p>“Because Father and Mother were going away!”</p> - -<p>“Is this my truthful cousin?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I will acknowledge that I’ve always been crazy for the -experience. So, I’ve had it!”</p> - -<p>“Seriously, Shirley, has it been all right for you?” Dick was her -sober, brotherly cousin now, who had taken care of her on the summer -trip.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Dick. I have learned a great deal in several ways. There are -things that have happened that have not been just what I would have -chosen; but in the lessons and everything about the school, and in the -lovely friends that I have made,—well, I wouldn’t have missed it.”</p> - -<p>“I will tell Aunt Anne that, then. You have satisfied her with your -letters and cards, she said.”</p> - -<p>“Then tell her all about Sidney, won’t you now, Dick, since you have -seen her. Tell her all about what happened from the first and get her -interested. I will write and refer to it, but it would take so long to -write it all now.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">203</span></p> - -<p>“All right, Shirley. But why not wait until you come home, since you -have waited this long?”</p> - -<p>“Something might happen. I’d like to have Aunt Anne know about it.”</p> - -<p>“You are very mysterious, Shirley. I can’t imagine what could happen; -but, as you say. I don’t even see what difference it would make if -Sidney Thorne <em>were</em> your twin.”</p> - -<p>“You <em>can’t</em>? Well, maybe it wouldn’t make any. I’m sorry, Dick, -to see you go. It has been like home to have you here. I shall be quite -ready to go home and stay with Aunt Anne till Father and Mother come -back.”</p> - -<p>But Shirley did not know that she would not spend the summer with Aunt -Anne.</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">204</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xix">CHAPTER XIX.<br /> -<span>ASSURANCES.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">The</span> excitement of the “Prom” over, Shirley Harcourt and her friends -turned their attention to the usual preparation for examinations and -the Commencement exercises not far away. Like most schools of the -sort, Westlake would have graceful outdoor pageants. Both Shirley and -Sidney were in the senior play, which was a good thing for them. There -was little time for anything but lessons, practising and constant -association with their friends.</p> - -<p>At last Shirley heard from her mother, relative to her question. She -did not know how anxious she had been until she felt the relief that -came with the reading.</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear,” wrote Mrs. Harcourt, “you are certainly my own little -girl ‘by borning.’ I am sorry that you have had this long wait for a -reply, but I hope that this thought was only a fancy and not a worry. -No, I have not received the first letter you mention. I am very much -interested in this other girl, so like you. Tell me more about her. -When<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">205</span> and where was she born and on what date? Your father wants to -know, too. O Shirley, you have no idea what this trip means to him. In -spite of his hard work, he looks ten years younger, feels like a boy, -he says, and knows that this will mean everything professionally.”</p> - -<p>Shirley was almost sorry to tell Sidney that she had received word, but -Sidney herself asked her if she had received it. “I saw Madge going up -with a foreign looking letter in her hand. I wondered if you could have -received word from your mother, Shirley,” said Sidney, meeting Shirley -after dinner.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Sidney, and I want you to read it. Let’s go up right now. Nobody -is there.”</p> - -<p>The two girls ran up the stairs together. Sidney sat down in the chair -Shirley offered, afraid to ask Shirley what her mother had said. She -looked searchingly at Shirley, however, saying, “I think that it is -good news, from the way you look.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Sidney,—but read the whole letter, please. It is especially -interesting. I’m crazy to see the things that they are bringing home. -At Christmas, you know, they were in the wilds and couldn’t even send -me a present. She’s bringing me an Egyptian scarab and all sorts of -things from crazy places, besides some of the regular treasures that -she will pick up this summer in Europe. They haven’t so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">206</span> much money, -though, because the trip has taken so much. My father will make -something, though, by writing everything up.”</p> - -<p>Sidney was holding the letter and listening to Shirley. “And you think -that all that sort of thing is better, don’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” Shirley simply replied.</p> - -<p>“I begin to understand about you, Shirley.”</p> - -<p>That was all Sidney said until after she read the letter, looking up to -smile at Shirley, however, when she came to the important statement. -Then she read on again, soberly, to the end, and handed the letter back -to Shirley. “That is a fine letter. How beautifully she writes of what -they have seen. I could wish that my real mother, if she is anywhere, -could be as interesting as that. I’m so afraid, Shirley that—oh, well, -I’ve no business to harrow you all up with my woes!”</p> - -<p>“You must remember that a very beautiful lady selected you and made you -her own,” Shirley suggested.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and I have so much that they have given me. I guess that I am a -pretty ‘small potato,’ Shirley!”</p> - -<p>But the suggestion of being “selected” jarred upon Sidney’s -sensitiveness. Where had her parents found her? There was one -possibility that she had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">207</span> not considered, and that brightened her when -she thought of it. It might be that she was related after all, a child -of some relative.</p> - -<p>Sidney had now come to the point where she felt that she must know. -That night she wrote to her father, telling him of her visit to the -deposit box and its results. She addressed the letter to his office, -but she said that if it was his judgment to show her mother the letter, -she was ready for her to know. “It was a great shock,” she wrote, “but -I am trying to be sensible about it. I dread and yet I want to know the -rest.”</p> - -<p>She sent the letter by special delivery the next morning. That -night she received a telegram from her father to the effect that he -was driving up to see her on the following day. Sidney’s heart was -comforted by the prompt response, though she could scarcely suppress -her excitement. She did not tell Shirley, could not, for some reason. -The girls in her suite knew of her telegram, but it was nothing new for -Mr. Thorne to telegraph his movements.</p> - -<p>It was just after lunch when Sidney saw her father’s car coming around -the drive. She had been staying near the main building except during -recitation hours and now, with several of the girls, she was out upon -the campus near by. She ran toward the drive, waving, and stood till -the car<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">208</span> reached her. Her father was alone, driving the car himself. -How fine he was, and how kind!</p> - -<p>Mr. Thorne reached out from the car and took Sidney’s outstretched -hand, patting it and looking searchingly into the earnest brown eyes -that were raised to his. “So that was what was the matter, childie,” -he said. “Run in and ask permission to be carried off. We’ll get away -from the school to talk. I will drive up to let any investigating -authorities know that it is your father who wants you.”</p> - -<p>“Good. Shall I change to a dress?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Take off your uniform and bring a coat and hat. We shall have -dinner somewhere, probably, and then I will bring you back. Will you -miss any recitations?”</p> - -<p>“One, but I can fix that.”</p> - -<p>It was on the lake shore, below a sandy bluff, with their car parked -above, that Mr. Thorne and his daughter sat down to have their talk. -The fresh air was exhilarating. There was movement in the waves and in -the flight of birds, around them and out above the waters; but there -was not a soul on the beach to overhear or distract.</p> - -<p>Before this they had talked about unimportant things, and Mr. Thorne -had said that he had not yet mentioned the matter to her mother. Now he -began by reminding her, as Shirley had, that all this had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">209</span> been known -to them and that their love for her had only grown with the years. “You -belong to us, Sidney. You are our own child by adoption and in every -way you have grown into our hearts. Your mother was wondering only the -other day how she would bear to have you grow up, come out into society -and leave her, very likely, to marry some one,—as she did herself. -‘It’s a little too near,’ she said. Now can you realize that this is -all true?”</p> - -<p>“I think so,” soberly Sidney replied. “Seeing you and hearing you say -these things makes me feel as I always have,—that I belong!”</p> - -<p>“Indeed you do, my child. I’d like to see any one take you away from -us! But I know that you are anxious to hear how it all happened. Let me -see. You were seventeen in September, weren’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Then eighteen years ago or so your mother had something of a collapse -after undertaking too many things socially. In the middle of the winter -I took her to California, and when it grew warm, we went immediately -to the cottage in Wisconsin for the summer. We did not even stop in -Chicago and your mother only longed for the woods and the little lake. -We lived quietly, though I had to go back and forth. There were the -usual servants, though your mother did not want many around. No one -lived<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">210</span> in the cottage except one quite intelligent girl who was a -nurse, on her vacation, and just the one to stay with your mother.</p> - -<p>“They were outdoors as much as possible and your mother began to get -her tone again, even telling me that she must go back to Chicago, to -avoid the necessity of my frequent trips. But I persuaded her to stay -through October at least, or a part of it, if I remember correctly.</p> - -<p>“Once this young woman who was with your mother stopped with her at -her home and there your mother found you, about two months old by that -time, they said, and unusually pretty. They tell me though that a -kiddie does not look like anything till it is about three months old. -It was a new interest, and when your mother found that your mother and -father were dead and that these good people had taken you for their -daughter’s friend, your aunt, also a nurse, she began to wonder if -she might not have the baby herself. You were like a new doll to her, -Sidney, and she was temporarily disgusted with so much society.</p> - -<p>“She began to visit the country home, to take pictures of the baby, to -get pretty clothes for it,—you can imagine how your mother would.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” laughed Sidney, and the two who loved<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">211</span> Mrs. Thorne so dearly -exchanged understanding glances.</p> - -<p>“We learned that your parents were people above reproach and as your -mother found that their name, Sampson, was one in the Standish lineage, -she let your aunt go on about the Standishes to her heart’s content. -But I think that your mother has almost forgotten about your having no -real connection with our immediate ancestry.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose so,” mechanically answered Sidney, stunned at the new name.</p> - -<p>Mr. Thorne had seen her wince, but he nerved himself to go on. It had -to be told. How much better it would have been for Sidney to have known -the truth. Yet, there had been some point, too, in Sidney’s growing up -to this lovely young womanhood as a child of the house. What would have -been the psychology of it Mr. Thorne could not decide, though he had -thought of little else since he had read Sidney’s pitiful letter.</p> - -<p>“But now, Sidney, I am realizing that we have known very little of -everything perhaps interesting to you in this connection. There are -several things that I recall about the arrangement that I must look -into for your sake. There was no birth certificate, for one thing. -Everything was fixed up as tight for us as could be, and all that we -cared for was that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">212</span> your parents should have been good people. The -chief attraction was your small self.</p> - -<p>“But now I am going to do a little detective work on my own account and -I shall say nothing to your mother at present. I have a fancy that it -may or may not amount to anything, and I must say, Sidney, that I was -astonished at the duplication of yourself, almost, in Shirley Harcourt. -Is she sure that she is the child of Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt?”</p> - -<p>“I have just read a letter from Mrs. Harcourt in answer to that very -question. She is, and she was born in Chicago. But we haven’t the same -birthdays.”</p> - -<p>“I am not sure that we know your birthday, Sidney. You seemed to your -mother’s aunt a little older than you were according to accounts, -though we told her nothing. She thinks you ours.”</p> - -<p>“If you look things up and find anything dreadful the matter, Daddy, -don’t tell me!”</p> - -<p>“There will be nothing dreadful. Sidney, there has always been a -quality about you that can be only accounted for by something innate. -It is not all our training and the environment of refinement. There was -something in you, my child. You were always dainty and beauty-loving -and responsive,——”</p> - -<p>“Can’t account for it in that way, Daddy,” interposed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">213</span> Sidney, as Mr. -Thorne paused. “Think how different children in the same family are. I -admired Mother and Auntie so much and was so proud of our family, that -I just grew up with the idea of being like Mother.”</p> - -<p>“That would support your mother’s idea that it was better for you not -to know. Well, we’ll not discuss that now. I have already written to -the people in Wisconsin and in a few days, after some pressing business -matters are disposed of, I may go there myself. I know how I should -feel in your place, Sidney. I regret beyond words that you have had -the suffering which you have had. We could not imagine why you were -suddenly so upset and ill. But I am glad to see that you have gotten -beyond that.”</p> - -<p>“It is partly due to Shirley, Father. She brought me some fruit when -I was so miserable and we became really acquainted. It is queer the -way we feel about each other. I know that Shirley feels as I do. It -was uncanny, I thought at first, and I did not like it at all. Really, -I have had a big lesson, I suppose, but my, what a hard one it has -been! I hadn’t the least idea that I was so proud. But you would have -laughed at what Shirley said to me about that. Shirley has a big soul -and doesn’t seem to hold anything against me no matter how silly I’ve -been. She said<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">214</span> that my ‘superiority complex’ mustn’t go into ‘total -eclipse!’”</p> - -<p>“You have talked to her, then, about this?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. I have seen the pictures of her parents, too. Her father makes me -think of you. Once I would have said that they had ‘quite intelligent -faces,’ I suppose!”</p> - -<p>“Life has a great way of taking down our ‘superiority complexes,’ -Sidney, but it is just as well to keep our self-respect.”</p> - -<p>“That is what Shirley said. She lives almost in the university there, I -suppose, and hears faculty conversation,—perhaps as elevating as ours, -Daddy!”</p> - -<p>Sidney laughed as she spoke, and her father agreed that there were -opportunities for culture in other circles except their own. More -nonsense of comparisons followed, while Sidney wrote in the sand with a -stick and Mr. Thorne tossed an occasional pebble. Then he rose and held -a hand to Sidney. “Come, now,” he said. “I told your mother that I was -not going to be home until late. I want to take you far enough away to -get all the cobwebs and kinks out of your brain and then we shall stop -somewhere for the best dinner that we can find. Please try to have a -few care-free hours with an old daddy that is very fond of his child.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">215</span></p> - -<p>“I can do it,” gratefully cried Sidney, “but you mixed your figures -terribly when you talked about cobwebs and kinks!”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">216</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xx">CHAPTER XX.<br /> -<span>AT LAST.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">For</span> the girls of Westlake the rest of the year went on wings. Sidney -Thorne told Shirley, in one of their whirlwind conferences, that she -was living a dream most of the time, and Shirley said that she felt -that way, too.</p> - -<p>Sidney had the chief part in the Shakespearean play which the seniors -were giving, under a Miss Gibson whose girls were more appreciative and -loyal since Sidney had changed her attitude. Sidney’s part as heroine -was of some consolation to her injured pride, but she resolutely -refrained from any directions to others, or any remarks which could be -at all construed as self-congratulatory. “Sidney isn’t as cocky as she -used to be,” was the inelegant comment of the blunt Stella.</p> - -<p>There were beach parties, jaunts in the launch, rowing and even -swimming in Lake Michigan’s still chilly waters. Shirley regretted -leaving the beautiful place with its fine teachers, its fun and the -dear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">217</span> girls that were, some of them, to be life-long friends. “You will -be visiting Hope and Caroline and me in Chicago,” Sidney reminded her. -“I am wanting you very much this summer, though I’ve hardly had time to -think about it. We’ll just be in the Wisconsin cottage, Shirley, the -greater part of the summer; but Mother says that I may have anybody -that I want. When are your father and mother coming home?”</p> - -<p>“Probably not until the last thing before college opens in the fall. It -gives Father an extra three months, you see, to stay through another -summer.”</p> - -<p>“Then you can stay with me as well as not, and if you’d rather have -Hope and Caroline, I think that they could be induced to come, too.”</p> - -<p>“I shall need no other inducement than yourself, Sidney. Why, I have -never been to one of those northern cottages and it is a rare treat you -are offering me.”</p> - -<p>“I am glad that you think so, and I believe that I’d rather be by -ourselves part of the time, till my father finds out something, if he -can.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Thorne, in the meantime, was meeting various difficulties. He had -lost trace of people during all these years. Finally he put a carefully -worded advertisement in the Chicago papers, by which X offered a -considerable sum for definite information<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">218</span> about certain matters. The -names of Mr. and Mrs. Sampson were given with their supposed former -address.</p> - -<p>This brought results. It was toward the end of the summer, when Shirley -was packing to go home from her long visit in Wisconsin, that Mr. -Thorne came from Chicago with success written in his face. “Oh, you -have found out!” gasped Sidney as she hurried toward him from the -wooded nook just beyond the house, where she and Shirley had swung a -hammock. Mrs. Thorne, who sat on the wide porch of the log mansion, -with its gay Indian rugs and comfortable chairs, came smilingly down -to join the others. For some time she had known of Sidney’s discovery, -but as Sidney was so self-contained and cool about it by that time, she -never did quite realize what the first shock had meant.</p> - -<p>“Can you stand finding out that you are not a Sampson or a Standish, -Sidney?” queried the smiling gentleman, brushing back his slightly -graying hair as he removed his hat and sought a comfortable seat on the -wide veranda.</p> - -<p>“Oh, don’t tease me, Daddy! It’s too serious!”</p> - -<p>“So it is, little girl. How shall I begin? Probably the best thing is -to dash right into it and announce that you and Shirley were little -twin babies.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” said Sidney and Shirley in one low breath.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">219</span> “Then,—” Sidney -began, but put her hands to her face for a moment, taking them away to -put her head down on Shirley’s shoulder as she had done once before; -for Shirley was standing beside her.</p> - -<p>“I’m not <em>sorry</em>, Shirley,—don’t think that—” Sidney shakily -began. “But it is such a relief,—and I can’t quite stand it!”</p> - -<p>“Come over here to your daddy,” said Mr. Thorne, drawing Sidney, big -girl as she was, to his knee. “Now just have a little weep if you like. -I’ll tell you how it happened after a while. Yes, Mother, you will have -a rival in Mrs. Harcourt now; but some way I do not think that they -will rob us of Sidney.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Thorne smiled into the disturbed face of his wife. “Oh dear,” she -said, “would he, Shirley?”</p> - -<p>Shirley was just thinking of that herself, but she said, “My father -will do what is best for everybody. He always does.”</p> - -<p>“But how about your mother? Oh, your poor mother, never to have -<em>known</em> of Sidney!”</p> - -<p>At that Sidney, now wiping her eyes looked at Shirley and laughed. “I -guess she had the better girl,” she said, “and here I have <em>two</em> -mothers! Well, Twin, how about it?”</p> - -<p>“I’m a little stunned,” replied Shirley, “but I seem always to have -known it!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">220</span></p> - -<p>“You may read the letters, my dear,” said Mr. Thorne, taking a small -packet from his pocket and handing it to his wife. “I have just come -from an interview with the writer. She will see us again if necessary.</p> - -<p>“I think,” continued Mr. Thorne, “that I prefer to give you girls a -brief outline of what happened rather than have you in touch with this -person. She saw you girls together last winter, at the time of the -mistake about the car. From what she said, she must have been worrying -since then. I should say that ignorance and fear, with the lack of a -strong sense of honor, were at the bottom of it all. The fact that -no one by the name of Sampson had anything to do with this stopped -my search for a while. That story was all made up, though not by the -people who had our Sidney when we found her.</p> - -<p>“A sudden impulse made a young and inexperienced nurse pick up one of -the wee bundles of babies at a hospital and carry it a short distance -down the street to an apartment where her older sister was delirious -and calling for her baby that had died several weeks before. This -woman, who is really responsible, was perplexed and troubled at first, -but as the presence of the child seemed to have a good effect upon the -sick woman, she encouraged its being kept for a few days, though this -nurse had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">221</span> meant to keep it only a few hours. By the woman’s direction, -after they had discovered that the baby was one of twins, the record -was changed. As Mrs. Harcourt had not yet seen her babies and several -odd calamities, to the people who knew, had happened, the deception -was not discovered. Getting a baby back to the hospital was a risky -performance after so long. They gave it up, though the woman for whose -benefit they had stolen the child did not live.</p> - -<p>“So the babe was passed from one to another in that circle of friends, -until a very dear lady found her not far from this very place, and here -you are, Sidney!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, and fortunate I am! Were they sure of my name, Father?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes. You were correctly labeled, my dear! And the woman, whose -name I will not give you, had carefully preserved all that she knew. -But, she said during the years she had consoled herself with the -thought that you could not be better off, though that was largely for -my benefit, of course. She did not know where your parents lived, as -the address at the hospital gave only that of your Grandmother Shirley, -Mrs. Dudley, who was then living at Glencoe.”</p> - -<p>“Of <em>my</em> grandmother, you mean,” said Sidney<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">222</span> seeing something -funny in it. “Shirley, I’m a Dudley now. Write to your great-aunt about -it.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Thorne did not particularly relish the trend of this conversation -and rose to go into the house with her letters. “Try to be especially -good to your mother, Sidney,” Mr. Thorne suggested, in low tones, -as his wife left them. “You have kept from showing your worry so -wonderfully of late. Now she may need a little comfort.”</p> - -<p>Sidney, who had been sitting at her father’s feet for a little while, -held his hand a little more tightly and assented. Shirley excused -herself and slipped away, for it was not the time for claiming her twin -sister, or talking of gay girl affairs. It was fortunate, she thought, -that she should be leaving them to this readjustment. What would be the -next step?</p> - -<p>The next step, so far as the -<a name="Thornes" id="Thornes"></a><ins title="Original has 'Thorne’s'">Thornes</ins> -were concerned, was a long letter -to Dr. and Mrs. Harcourt, sent on by Shirley, who could arrive at home -only about a week before her parents. No plans could be made, if there -were any to make, before the Harcourts arrived. Sidney, however, told -Shirley to tell Hope that they were sisters. “Mother and Father say -that there is to be no secrecy about it, though we do not intend to -announce it. But we all agree that I am fortunate to have such a fine -family and that the resemblance between us would be foolish<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">223</span> for us to -ignore it. The friends may as well understand, though no one need know -exactly how the separation happened.”</p> - -<p>“That should be entirely in your hands to say, I think,” Shirley -returned. “Think of the excitement that I’m going to have! You may -expect to see a wild looking college professor springing along, with a -step just like yours, up your front yard,——”</p> - -<p>“And they say that you and I walk just alike!”</p> - -<p>“Do we?”</p> - -<p>“Will he really look wild?”</p> - -<p>“That was my little joke, Sidney. You will not be ashamed of your real -father, though he does not always dress as Mr. Thorne does. How could -he?”</p> - -<p>Shirley rode alone to Chicago, thinking of how the future would be -managed, wondering how Sidney would feel about seeing her parents, -feeling almost that she did not want to share them with Sidney and -reproving herself for her selfish thoughts. She was glad that she had a -twin sister! She loved Sidney. That was enough.</p> - -<p>Mac Holland and Hope met her at the station and took her for a day’s -visit with them. It was decided that Mac was going to spend a year at -Shirley’s university. “I’ll not be saying goodbye for very long,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">224</span> said -he. “Tell Dick Lytton to have the brass band at the station.”</p> - -<p>“I’d better not,” laughed Shirley. “He might do it.”</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">225</span> -</div> - -<h2 id="xxi">CHAPTER XXI.<br /> -<span>IN HER FATHER’S HOME.</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Toward</span> the middle of September, Mrs. Thorne and Sidney were sitting in -Mrs. Thorne’s luxuriously furnished sitting room upstairs, waiting. -Sidney, near the windows in front, suddenly exclaimed, “Here they are! -Oh, Mother, what shall we do now?”</p> - -<p>The Thorne car passed the front of the house, in the street, and went -into the drive at the side. Sidney watched and presently saw the erect -figure, that followed Mr. Thorne across the lawn with the springing -step that Shirley had mentioned. Sidney could not see his face very -well and they both disappeared near the entrance. Now the chauffeur -brought a little baggage.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Thorne was answering Sidney’s question. “When your father has -had Dr. Harcourt shown to his room, and he has had an opportunity to -refresh himself and dress for dinner, he will be directed to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">226</span> the -library, where I shall probably be by that time, with your father. -Then, after we have had a little talk, you will be sent for, and I -think that we shall let you meet Dr. Harcourt by yourself. I am sure -that <em>I</em> do not want to be there.”</p> - -<p>“Mother is glad that Mrs. Harcourt did not come,” thought Sidney, and -to tell the truth she thought that her real mother had taken the proper -course. It was Sidney’s place to go to her mother, just as it was -proper for Dr. Harcourt to come at his earliest opportunity. But the -Thornes had invited them both.</p> - -<p>As Mrs. Thorne had said, she joined her husband in the library as -soon as she thought it advisable. Dr. Harcourt, properly conducted -by a servant, made his appearance, when he was suitably prepared for -the occasion, and met Mrs. -<a name="Thorne" id="Thorne"></a><ins title="Original has 'Harcourt'">Thorne</ins>, -rather particularly gowned for -the occasion. Any details, however, were wasted on Dr. Harcourt, who -thought her a pretty, attractive, refined woman but was incapable of -being impressed with more. Indeed, the girls and faculty women of his -university were accustomed to the same sort of thing, and evening dress -was no novelty to the professor.</p> - -<p>The talk which had been begun by the gentlemen on their way from the -station was continued. Mr. and Mrs. Thorne were very much relieved to -note<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">227</span> that Dr. Harcourt had no wish to upset existing arrangements at -present, if at all. “Unusual things have often a way of disposing of -themselves,” said he. “Suppose we wait to see what ideas develop. My -wife and I hope that our daughter will like us. That is the extent of -our hope at present. We are so utterly surprised, you know, in spite -of Shirley’s having written about the resemblance. It is gratifying to -know that we have another daughter, and my wife’s heart is yearning -to see her. Our home is open to her, like our hearts, but a young -girl with her home and training here, her love yours,—it must be -bewildering, indeed.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Thorne was gratified to hear such sentiments and to see what a -distinguished looking gentleman the professor was. To him she suggested -that they withdraw for a little while and send his daughter to him. -“Very well,” said he. “That would probably be less embarrassing to her.”</p> - -<p>Sidney, too, had taken great care with her toilet. Her stylish little -frock became her, and she had a pathetic smile for her father as she -crossed the room to meet him. He rose, laying a book on the table by -him, and took several steps toward her.</p> - -<p>“Why,” said he, with a puzzled, half-believing look, “this is not -Shirley, by any chance?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir; this is Sidney.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">228</span></p> - -<p>Sidney had dreaded this meeting. Would her father, perhaps fold her in -his arms and weep over her? How she would hate that! But so would this -father. With kind eyes he looked down at her, holding her cold hand -that had been held out to meet his. “My dear child, to think that we -have been missing your life with us all these years. Come, sit down -by me for a few moments. As I have been telling your—parents, it is -a bewildering situation, but I assure you that neither your affection -nor a choice of homes will be forced on you. We must think out what is -best. We shall try to enter into our daughter’s life without making her -unhappy.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you are like Shirley, aren’t you?” said Sidney, trying to realize -that this was her father. More than one student had been put at his -ease by the kind understanding of this professor. It was impossible -that his own daughter should not like him.</p> - -<p>“Am I? In what way?”</p> - -<p>“Thinking what is good for everybody, as she says.”</p> - -<p>“Habit, I suppose,” said Dr. Harcourt, with a smile. “We deal with -problems in the faculty. But this is a new one. Some good fairy has -changed one daughter into two, while we were away. Shall we not be -happy over it?”</p> - -<p>“Why, I believe we could be,—Father.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">229</span></p> - -<p>“Thank you, my child.” Dr. Harcourt seemed to be affected by Sidney’s -sweet way of addressing him. He paused for a moment. “Now, I can not -be here long. I must go back to the university to-morrow. But your -mother sends you her love and wants you to come to us, for a visit, or -to stay. She wanted to see you, but could not quite bring herself to -meet you here. Then I want to have a talk with you, either to-night -or to-morrow morning, to learn something of how you feel in regard -to this, and to know what are your ambitions;—you can guess how -interested I am in everything concerning you.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir. I am not sure that I have any big ambitions, like Shirley, -but it may do me good to think about it. I <em>will</em> go to see my -mother, and you, and the university,—and I am glad that you understand -how a girl would feel with two fathers and two mothers. But you can -scarcely know how thankful I was after having been nearly distracted, -to find that my <em>real</em> father is you!”</p> - -<p>Sidney was making a fine impression of sincerity upon her father. -After one or two more references to the chief subject of thought, -Dr. Harcourt suggested that Sidney summon Mr. and Mrs. Thorne. From -that time on, through dinner and for a large part of the evening, a -strange evening to Sidney who sat to listen, the conversation turned on -general<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">230</span> matters, national, local, business, the university where Dr. -Harcourt taught, the results of his trip, the interests of the Thornes. -And after Sidney had gone to her room, Dr. Harcourt took pains to -express his feeling over the fact that a home of such “high ideals” had -been provided for his little unknown child, who fell into such dangers. -It was like Dr. Harcourt not even to think of the evidences of wealth -around him.</p> - -<p>Shirley, at home, and a sober mother of a daughter whom she had never -seen, thought of that Chicago meeting; but Shirley was too full of -her entrance as a freshman in the university to worry about Sidney. -Everything would be all right now, or soon. Of course Sidney would love -her very own parents. Didn’t she know her twin?</p> - -<p>Not long after Dr. Harcourt’s hurried Chicago trip, Sidney, chaperoned -by Miss Standish, visited her father and mother. Miss Standish, after -her first disappointment, had taken a great interest. She met and -heartily approved the new father, Dr. Harcourt, thinking Sidney very -fortunate in her family. She looked up the Thornes and the Harcourts and -the Dudleys again until Sidney begged for mercy at the array of names -and facts. “Never mind,” said her great-aunt, “some day you will be -interested again; and I am sure to find Miss Dudley keenly interested<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">231</span> -and well informed about our New England families.” She noted Sidney’s -inward excitement as they drew near the pretty little college town, -and she was very much alive herself to every impression of people and -environment. Neither of them came in a critical attitude.</p> - -<p>Gently and affectionately Mrs. Harcourt welcomed her daughter, trying -not to disturb the poise which Sidney strove to maintain. But when it -came to the point, neither could help being somewhat shaken by all that -it had involved. It was a softer and sweeter Sidney than Shirley had -first known, who came on to the home which should always have been hers.</p> - -<p>A decided stir in the student circle was made by the sudden and -unheralded appearance of “Shirley Harcourt’s twin.” Dr. Harcourt longed -to put Sidney into college with Shirley, but he saw that she was not -physically as strong and after a long talk with her, he gave up the -idea for the present.</p> - -<p>There was plenty of fun, for Shirley’s friends flocked in at her -invitation. Sidney was admired and made much of till she told Shirley -that her head would be quite turned. She had not been unaccustomed -to admiration, but this gay yet earnest group of university girls -and boys, most of them older than herself, made a new and attractive -feature. She noted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">232</span> their respect toward her father and the grace with -which her mother managed the various situations. There was one maid, -who spent the day and went away at night, but the home was full of -books and things that spoke of taste and culture if not of wealth. Too -bad that such dear people could not have both, Sidney thought, and she -helped Shirley or her mother in little ways while she was there, trying -to learn. Shirley understood.</p> - -<p>Mac Holland had surprised Shirley by bringing Hope to the university -with him. Mac and Dick were full of fraternity affairs just now, for -Dick had engineered Mac’s pledging, “before any of the other frats got -hold of him.”</p> - -<p>On Saturday evening, after a big athletic rally, a roomful of young -friends were eating pine-apple ice and cake at Dr. Harcourt’s when -Shirley called Sidney’s attention to Miss Dudley and Miss Standish. -Sidney had been helping Shirley serve the guests and they were about to -offer a pretty plate each to the great-aunts. “Wait,” laughed Shirley. -“Aunt Anne is on the Dudleys.”</p> - -<p>The two bright-eyed, modern women were sitting together on the large -davenport under a tall lamp. Several books lay around them and they -were so absorbed in their conversation that they scarcely noticed the -chatting students around them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">233</span></p> - -<p>“Hear ’em?” asked Shirley again.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” returned Sidney. “Auntie is laying it off about the Standishes -and the Thornes. It’s all right now. The last obstacle is removed!”</p> - -<p>Yet it was not with the superficial phases of family and ancestry that -Miss Dudley and Miss Standish were dealing. Pleasantly they accepted -the plates from the pretty girls so strangely duplicated and continued -their conversation after the girls had left them.</p> - -<p>Soberly Miss Dudley followed them with her eyes. “What,” she asked, “do -you think will be the result of this discovery?”</p> - -<p>“I do not know,” as seriously Miss Standish made answer. “I am -impressed with Dr. Harcourt’s attitude of not forcing Sidney to a -decision and, in general, of not hurrying matters.”</p> - -<p>“In this whole bewildering disclosure it has been hardest for Eleanor, -I think.”</p> - -<p>“You mean Mrs. Harcourt, I suppose. Yes, it would be.”</p> - -<p>“To us it is like having two Shirleys. My first impulses are to say -that Sidney should come to her mother to stay. Eleanor wants her.”</p> - -<p>“You have not seen Mr. and Mrs. Thorne, and you have no idea what a -blank it would leave in their home.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">234</span></p> - -<p>“That is what my nephew considers, together with gratitude that his -child came into such a fortunate environment. Sidney will go back to -Chicago now, knowing and appreciating her own father and mother. Dr. -Harcourt is trusting Mr. and Mrs. Thorne to see that she is not carried -away by any merely social life. They are too broad-minded and just, he -says, to be selfish about Sidney’s relation to us. I like his opinion -that this cannot be adjusted in a moment, and that none of us must make -a tragedy out of a discovery which should be a happy one.”</p> - -<p>“It <em>is</em> a happy one,” began Miss Standish, “rather than a blank -about Sidney’s origin.” But just then the two girls came bringing Mrs. -Harcourt between them from the regions of the kitchen and pantry.</p> - -<p>Removing a book or two from the way, they put her into the comfort of -the davenport, by Miss Dudley and Miss Standish. “Not another thing do -you do, Mother,” said Sidney, with smiling decision. “Lean back on the -cushions now and be served by your daughters! Come on, Shirley.”</p> - -<p>With a glance of understanding, the two girls started away, followed -immediately by Dick, Mac, and another university lad, who sprang up to -assist in the last servings.</p> - -<p>The somewhat weary but content faculty wife<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">235</span> leaned back with a sigh -and a smile. “I enjoy my two daughters,” she said, “and I only wish -that this could be permanent. But we must be very wise just now. That -Shirley and Sidney know each other so well and have felt drawn to each -other is one of the happiest circumstances. I consider it providential -that they were sent to the same school.”</p> - -<p>“So do I,” returned Miss Standish, who might have been pardoned for -some regrets. “Happy days in the new relations are before both of them; -and the expectancy of their own adventures, in such a life as they -shall make for themselves out of their opportunities, is theirs, just -as it was before.”</p> - -<p>The girls themselves put problems out of their minds, after Sidney had -confided her present plans to Shirley: “I’m going back to Chicago, -Shirley,” she said, “and let my other mother do what she wants to do -about the ‘debut,’ in the winter or spring. But I’ll not disappoint -<em>our</em> mother and father by giving up study and improvement -so early. Could you stand it, Shirley, to have <em>me</em> come to -<em>your</em> school?”</p> - -<p>“It would be a pity if I couldn’t!” warmly exclaimed Shirley.</p> - -<p>“I think that I may come, then, next year. Luckily I did pretty well -in Latin and I want to take some courses under my very own father. I’m -<em>very</em> proud<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">236</span> of him. After my other mother gets used to the idea, -it will be almost like letting me go away to school as before.</p> - -<p>“Then I can be with <em>our</em> mother and father, see how it goes to be -a faculty daughter along with you, and cover myself with glory to my -own dad!”</p> - -<p>“Noble ambition!” laughed Shirley, “the sooner the better, Sidney. Be -sure to tell him that before you go.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I will,—and that if I am going away, I am also coming back.”</p> - - -<p class="center mt3">THE END</p> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> -<p class="center p180">THE STRANGE LIKENESS</p> - -<p class="center p140">By Harriet Pyne Grove</p> - -<p class="noi">Classmates in a girls’ school on the shores of Lake Michigan, Shirley -Harcourt, from an eastern state, and Sidney Thorne, whose home is in -Chicago, bear a remarkable resemblance to each other. At first they -resent the likeness, but afterwards become very good friends, and often -wonder about their lineage. At last Sidney discovers she is an adopted -child, and her foster father traces her parentage very carefully to -find she is indeed the twin sister of Shirley.</p> - - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider2" /> -<p class="center p140"><span class="smcap">~ Saalfield Books ~</span></p> -</div> - -<p class="center p140">BOYS FICTION</p> - -<p class="center">SUBMARINE BOYS SERIES</p> - -<div class="book-container"> -<ul class="books"> -<li><cite>The Submarine Boys on Duty</cite></li> -<li><cite>The Submarine Boys’ Trial Trip</cite></li> -<li><cite>The Submarine Boys and the Middies</cite></li> -</ul> -</div> - -<p class="center">NORTHLAND SERIES</p> - -<div class="book-container"> -<ul class="books"> -<li><cite>Dick Kent, Fur Trader</cite></li> -<li><cite>Dick Kent with the Malemute Mail</cite></li> -<li><cite>Dick Kent on Special Duty</cite></li> -</ul> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="center">BLACK RIDER SERIES</p> - -<div class="book-container"> -<ul class="books"> -<li><cite>In the Camp of the Black Rider</cite></li> -<li><cite>The Mystery at Lake Retreat</cite></li> -<li><cite>Tom Blake’s Mysterious Adventure</cite></li> -</ul> -</div> - -<p class="center p140">GIRLS FICTION</p> - -<p class="center">MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS SERIES</p> - -<div class="book-container"> -<ul class="books"> -<li><cite>The Meadow-Brook Girls Across Country</cite></li> -<li><cite>The Meadow-Brook Girls Afloat</cite></li> -<li><cite>The Meadow-Brook Girls in the Hills</cite></li> -</ul> -</div> - -<p class="center">LINDA CARLTON SERIES</p> - -<div class="book-container"> -<ul class="books"> -<li><cite>Linda Carlton, Air Pilot</cite></li> -<li><cite>Linda Carlton’s Ocean Flight</cite></li> -<li><cite>Linda Carlton’s Island Adventure</cite></li> -</ul> -</div> - -<p class="center">ADVENTURE GIRLS SERIES</p> - -<div class="book-container"> -<ul class="books"> -<li><cite>The Adventure Girls at K-Bar-O</cite></li> -<li><cite>The Adventure Girls in the Air</cite></li> -<li><cite>The Adventure Girls at Happiness House</cite></li> -</ul> -</div> - - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="x-ebookmaker-drop divider" /> - -<div class="tn"> -<p class="center">Transcriber’s Note:</p> - -<p class="noi">The table of Contents has been added by the transcriber.</p> - -<p class="noi">Punctuation has been standardised. Hyphenation and spelling have been -retained as they appear in the original publication. Changes have been -made as follows:</p> - -<ul> -<li>Page 24<br /> -know that the profesors <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -know that the <a href="#professors">professors</a></li> - -<li>Page 39<br /> -the two girls stepped in <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -the <a href="#three">three</a> girls stepped in</li> - -<li>Page 46<br /> -shivered Dulcian Porter <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -shivered <a href="#Dulcina">Dulcina</a> Porter</li> - -<li>Page 67<br /> -to do anything by make up her bed <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -to do anything <a href="#but">but</a> make up her bed</li> - -<li>Page 83<br /> -and its mahagony finish <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -and its <a href="#mahogany">mahogany</a> finish</li> - -<li>Page 92<br /> -guessed at from my expeience <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -guessed at from my <a href="#experience">experience</a></li> - -<li>Page 93<br /> -you get an impession <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -you get an <a href="#impression">impression</a></li> - -<li>Page 94<br /> -have had no touble <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -have had no <a href="#trouble">trouble</a></li> - -<li>Page 94<br /> -The dean, Miss Iving <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -The dean, Miss <a href="#Irving">Irving</a></li> - -<li>Page 113<br /> -Do you mind tellling who <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -Do you mind <a href="#telling">telling</a> who</li> - -<li>Page 123<br /> -How would the freshmen lika to be <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -How would the freshmen <a href="#like">like</a> to be</li> - -<li>Page 127<br /> -did not see any one that loked like <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -did not see any one that <a href="#looked">looked</a> like</li> - -<li>Page 127<br /> -As autumn, she wore a wreath of <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -As <a href="#Autumn">Autumn</a>, she wore a wreath of</li> - -<li>Page 134<br /> -she peferred to be <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -she <a href="#preferred">preferred</a> to be</li> - -<li>Page 143<br /> -but intead of the usual <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -but <a href="#instead">instead</a> of the usual</li> - -<li>Page 146<br /> -she probaby <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -she <a href="#probably">probably</a></li> - -<li>Page 148<br /> -blue negligée <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -blue <a href="#neglige">negligé</a></li> - -<li>Page 170<br /> -extending her daintly gloved <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -extending her <a href="#daintily">daintily</a> gloved</li> - -<li>Page 172<br /> -abroad on some archaelogical expedition <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -abroad on some <a href="#archaelogical">archæalogical</a> expedition</li> - -<li>Page 172<br /> -than she had exepected <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -than she had <a href="#expected">expected</a></li> - -<li>Page 172<br /> -Sidney it attracted to you <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -Sidney <a href="#is">is</a> attracted to you</li> - -<li>Page 179<br /> -know how stange it seemed <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -know how <a href="#strange">strange</a> it seemed</li> - -<li>Page 182<br /> -Dulce Porter, Hope’s <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -<a href="#Dulcie">Dulcie</a> Porter, Hope’s</li> - -<li>Page 191<br /> -I put it in the one of the envelopes <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -I put it <a href="#one">in one</a> of the envelopes</li> - -<li>Page 200<br /> -thought Hope was first <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -<a href="#though">though</a> Hope was first</li> - -<li>Page 222<br /> -so far as the Thorne’s <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -so far as the <a href="#Thornes">Thornes</a></li> - -<li>Page 226<br /> -and met Mrs. Harcourt <span class="italic">changed to</span><br /> -and met Mrs. <a href="#Thorne">Thorne</a></li> -</ul> -</div></div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STRANGE LIKENESS ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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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