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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6858-h.zip b/6858-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..deb8744 --- /dev/null +++ b/6858-h.zip diff --git a/6858-h/6858-h.htm b/6858-h/6858-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3c26970 --- /dev/null +++ b/6858-h/6858-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6323 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Grace Harlowe's Second Year At Overton College, by JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem span.i1 {display: block; margin-left: 1em;} + .poem span.i7 {display: block; margin-left: 7em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton +College, by Jessie Graham Flower + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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 + + +Title: Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton College + +Author: Jessie Graham Flower + +Release Date: January 28, 2007 [EBook #6858] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR *** + + + + +Produced by Avinash Kothare, Tom Allen, Charles Franks, +Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/soccover.jpg"><img src="images/soccover.jpg" alt=""/></a> +</div> +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + + + +<h1>Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton College</h1> + +<h3>By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M.</h3> + +<h4>PHILADELPHIA<br /> +HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY<br /> +<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1914</span></h4> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="soc1" id="soc1"></a> +<img src="images/soc1.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>The Door Was Cautiously Opened to Mrs. Elwood.</h3> + + + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. <span class="smcap">Overton Claims Her Own</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. <span class="smcap">The Unforseen</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. <span class="smcap">Mrs. Elwood to the Rescue</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. <span class="smcap">The Belated Freshman</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. <span class="smcap">The Anarchist Chooses Her Roommate</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. <span class="smcap">Elfreda Makes a Rash Promise</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. <span class="smcap">Girls and Their Ideals</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. <span class="smcap">The Invitation</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. <span class="smcap">Anticipation</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. <span class="smcap">An Offended Freshman</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. <span class="smcap">The Finger of Suspicion</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. <span class="smcap">The Summons</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. <span class="smcap">Grace Holds Court</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. <span class="smcap">Grace Makes a Resolution</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. <span class="smcap">The Quality of Mercy</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. <span class="smcap">A Disgruntled Reformer</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. <span class="smcap">Making Other Girls Happy</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. <span class="smcap">Mrs. Gray's Christmas Children</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX. <span class="smcap">Arline's Plan</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX. <span class="smcap">A Welcome Guest</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI. <span class="smcap">A Gift to Semper Fidelis</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII. <span class="smcap">Campus Confidences</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII. <span class="smcap">A Fault Confessed</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV. <span class="smcap">Conclusion</span></a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + +<p><a href="#soc1">The Door Was Cautiously Opened to Mrs. Elwood.</a></p> + +<p><a href="#soc2">"It Is My Theme."</a></p> + +<p><a href="#soc3">Each Girl Carried an Unwieldy Bundle.</a></p> + +<p><a href="#soc4">The Two Boxes Contained Elfreda's New Suit and Hat.</a></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton College</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>OVERTON CLAIMS HER OWN</h3> + + +<p>"Oh, there goes Grace Harlowe! Grace! Grace! Wait a minute!" A +curly-haired little girl hastily deposited her suit case, golf bag, two +magazines and a box of candy on the nearest bench and ran toward a +quartette of girls who had just left the train that stood puffing +noisily in front of the station at Overton.</p> + +<p>The tall, gray-eyed young woman in blue turned at the call, and, running +back, met the other half way. "Why, Arline!" she exclaimed. "I didn't +see you when I got off the train." The two girls exchanged affectionate +greetings; then Arline was passed on to Miriam Nesbit, Anne Pierson and +J. Elfreda Briggs, who, with Grace Harlowe, had come back to Overton +College to begin their second year's course of study.</p> + +<p>Those who have followed the fortunes of Grace Harlowe and her friends +through their four years of high school life are familiar with what +happened during "<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe's Plebe Year at High School</span>," +the story of her freshman year. "<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe's Sophomore Year at +High School</span>" gave a faithful account of the doings of Grace and her +three friends, Nora O'Malley, Anne Pierson and Jessica Bright, during +their sophomore days. "<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe's Junior Year at High +School</span>" and "<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe's Senior Year at High School</span>" +told of her third and fourth years in Oakdale High School and of how +completely Grace lived up to the high standard of honor she had set for +herself.</p> + +<p>After their graduation from high school the four devoted chums spent a +summer in Europe; then came the inevitable separation. Nora and Jessica +had elected to go to an eastern conservatory of music, while Anne and +Grace had chosen Overton College. Miriam Nesbit, a member of the Phi +Sigma Tau, had also decided for Overton, and what befell the three +friends as Overton College freshmen has been narrated in "<span class="smcap">Grace +Harlowe's First Year at Overton College</span>."</p> + +<p>Now September had rolled around again and the station platform of the +town of Overton was dotted with groups of students laden with suit +cases, golf bags and the paraphernalia belonging peculiarly to the +college girl. Overton College was about to claim its own. The joyous +greetings called out by happy voices testified to the fact that the next +best thing to leaving college to go home was leaving home to come back +to college.</p> + +<p>"Where is Ruth?" was Grace's first question as she surveyed Arline with +smiling, affectionate eyes.</p> + +<p>"She'll be here directly," answered Arline. "She is looking after the +trunks. She is the most indefatigable little laborer I ever saw. From +the time we began to get ready to come back to Overton she refused +positively to allow me to lift my finger. She is always hunting +something to do. She says she has acquired the work habit so strongly +that she can't break herself of it, and I believe her," finished Arline +with a sigh of resignation. "Here she comes now."</p> + +<p>An instant later the demure young woman seen approaching was surrounded +by laughing girls.</p> + +<p>"Stop working and speak to your little friends," laughed Miriam Nesbit. +"We've just heard bad reports of you."</p> + +<p>"I know what you've heard!" exclaimed Ruth, her plain little face alight +with happiness. "Arline has been grumbling. You haven't any idea what a +fault-finding person she is. She lectures me all the time."</p> + +<p>"For working," added Arline. "Ruth will have work enough and to spare +this year. Can you blame me for trying to make her take life easy for a +few days?"</p> + +<p>"Blame you?" repeated Elfreda. "I would have lectured her night and day, +and tied her up to keep her from work, if necessary."</p> + +<p>"Now you see just how much sympathy these worthy sophomores have for +you," declared Arline.</p> + +<p>"Do you know whether 19— is all here yet?" asked Anne.</p> + +<p>"I don't know a single thing more about it than do you girls," returned +Arline. "Suppose we go directly to our houses, and then meet at Vinton's +for dinner to-night. I don't yearn for a Morton House dinner. The meals +there won't be strictly up to the mark for another week yet. When the +house is full again, the standard of Morton House cooking will rise in a +day, but until then—let us thank our stars for Vinton's. Are you going +to take the automobile bus? We shall save time."</p> + +<p>"We might as well ride," replied Grace, looking inquiringly at her +friends. "My luggage is heavy and the sooner I arrive at Wayne Hall the +better pleased I shall be."</p> + +<p>"Are you to have the same rooms as last year?" asked Ruth Denton.</p> + +<p>"I suppose so, unless something unforeseen has happened."</p> + +<p>"Will there be any vacancies at your house this year?" inquired Arline.</p> + +<p>"Four, I believe," replied Anne Pierson. "Were you thinking of changing? +We'd be glad to have you with us."</p> + +<p>"I'd love to come, but Morton House is like home to me. Mrs. Kane calls +me the Morton House Mascot, and declares her house would go to rack and +ruin without me. She only says that in fun, of course."</p> + +<p>"I think you'd make an ideal mascot for the sophomore basketball team +this year," laughed Grace. "Will you accept the honor?"</p> + +<p>"With both hands," declared Arline. "Now, we had better start, or we'll +never get back to Vinton's. Ruth, you have my permission to walk with +Anne as far as your corner. It's five o'clock now. Shall we agree to +meet at Vinton's at half-past six? That will give us an hour and a half +to get the soot off our faces, and if the expressman should experience a +change of heart and deliver our trunks we might possibly appear in fresh +gowns. The possibility is very remote, however. I know, because I had to +wait four days for mine last year. It was sent to the wrong house, and +traveled gaily about the campus, stopping for a brief season at three +different houses before it landed on Morton House steps. I hung out of +the window for a whole morning watching for it. Then, when it did come, +I fairly had to fly downstairs and out on the front porch to claim it, +or they would have hustled it off again."</p> + +<p>"That's why I appointed myself chief trunk tender," said Ruth slyly. +"That trunk story is not new to me. This time your trunk will be waiting +on the front porch for you, Arline."</p> + +<p>"If it is, then I'll forgive you your other sins," retorted Arline. +"That is, if you promise to come and room with me. Isn't she provoking, +girls? I have a whole room to myself and she won't come. Father wishes +her to be with me, too."</p> + +<p>"I'd love to be with Arline," returned Ruth bravely, "but I can't afford +it, and I can't accept help from any one. I must work out my own problem +in my own way. You understand, don't you?" She looked appealingly from +one to the other of her friends, who nodded sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"She's a courageous Ruth, isn't she?" smiled Arline, patting Ruth on the +shoulder.</p> + +<p>At Ruth's corner they said good-bye to her. Then hailing a bus the five +girls climbed into it.</p> + +<p>"So far we haven't seen any of our old friends," remarked Grace as they +drove along Maple Avenue. "I suppose they haven't arrived yet. We are +here early this year."</p> + +<p>"I'd rather be early than late," rejoined Miriam. "Last year we were +late. Don't you remember? There were dozens of girls at the station when +we arrived. Arline and Ruth are the first real friends we have seen so +far. Where are Mabel Ashe and Frances Marlton, Emma Dean and Gertrude +Wells, not to mention Virginia Gaines?"</p> + +<p>"If I'm not mistaken," said Elfreda slowly, her brows drawing together +in an ominous frown, "there are two people just ahead of us whom we have +reason to remember."</p> + +<p>Almost at the moment of her declaration the girls had espied two young +women loitering along the walk ahead of them whose very backs were too +familiar to be mistaken.</p> + +<p>"It's Miss Wicks and Miss Hampton, isn't it?" asked Anne.</p> + +<p>Grace nodded. They were now too close to the young women for further +speech. A moment more and the bus containing the five girls had passed +the loitering pair. Neither side had made the slightest sign of +recognition. A sudden silence fell upon the little company in the bus.</p> + +<p>"It is too bad to begin one's sophomore year by cutting two Overton +girls, isn't it?" said Grace, in a rueful tone.</p> + +<p>"Overton girls!" sniffed Elfreda. "I consider neither Miss Wicks nor +Miss Hampton real Overton girls."</p> + +<p>"They should be by this time," reminded Miriam Nesbit mischievously. +"They have been here a year longer than we have."</p> + +<p>"Years don't count," retorted Elfreda. "It's having the true Overton +spirit that counts. You girls understand what I mean, even if Miriam +tries to pretend she doesn't."</p> + +<p>"Of course we understand, Elfreda," soothed Anne. "Miriam was merely +trying to tease you."</p> + +<p>"Don't you suppose I know that?" returned Elfreda. "I know, too, that +you don't wish me to say anything against those two girls. All right, I +won't, but I warn you, I'll keep on thinking uncomplimentary things +about them. Last June, after that ghost party, I promised Grace I would +never try to get even with Alberta Wicks and Mary Hampton, but I didn't +promise to like them, and if they attempt to interfere with me this +year, they'll be sorry."</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's the campus!" exclaimed Arline as, turning into College +Street, the long green slope, broken at intervals by magnificent old +trees, burst upon their view. "Hello, Overton Hall!" she cried, waving +her hand to that stately building. "Doesn't the campus look like green +plush, though! I love every inch of it, don't you?" She looked at her +companions and, seeing the light from her face reflected on theirs, +needed no verbal answer to her question. A moment later she signaled to +the driver to stop the bus. "I shall have to leave you here," she said. +"I'll see you at Vinton's at six-thirty."</p> + +<p>Grace handed out her luggage to her, saying: "You have so much to carry, +Arline. Shall I help you?"</p> + +<p>"Mercy, no," laughed Arline. "'Every woman her own porter,' is my +motto." Opening her suit case she stuffed the candy and magazines into +it, snapping it shut with a triumphant click. Then with it in one hand, +her golf bag in the other, she set off across the campus at a swinging +pace.</p> + +<p>"She's little, but she has plenty of independence and energy," laughed +Miriam. "Hurrah, girls, there's Wayne Hall just ahead of us."</p> + +<p>It was only a short ride from the spot where Arline had left them to +Wayne Hall. Grace sprang from the bus almost before it stopped, and ran +up the stone walk, her three friends following. Before she had time to +ring the door bell, however, the door opened and Emma Dean rushed out to +greet them. "Welcome to old Wayne," she cried, shaking hands all around. +"I heard Mrs. Elwood say this morning you would be here late this +afternoon. I've been over to Morton House, consoling a homesick cousin +who is sure she is going to hate college. I've been out since before +luncheon. Had it at Martell's with my dolorous, misanthropic relative. I +tried to get her in here, but everything was taken. We are to have four +freshmen, you know."</p> + +<p>"I knew there were four places last June, but am rather surprised that +no sophomores applied for rooms. Have you seen the new girls?"</p> + +<p>Emma shook her head. "They hadn't arrived when I left this morning. I +don't know whether they are here now or not. I'm to have one of them. +Virginia Gaines has gone to Livingstone Hall. She has a friend there. +Two of the new girls will have her room. Florence Ransom will have to +take the fourth."</p> + +<p>"Where's Mrs. Elwood?" asked Miriam.</p> + +<p>"She went over to see her sister this afternoon. She's likely to return +at any minute," answered Emma.</p> + +<p>"Do you think we ought to wait for her?" Grace asked anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Hardly," said Anne, picking up her bag, which she had deposited on the +floor.</p> + +<p>"Come on, I'll lead the way," volunteered Elfreda, starting up the +stairs.</p> + +<p>"Won't Mrs. Elwood be surprised when she comes home? She'll find us not +only here, but settled," laughed Grace.</p> + +<p>But it was Grace rather than Mrs. Elwood who was destined to receive the +surprise.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>THE UNFORESEEN</h3> + + +<p>Following Elfreda, the girls ran upstairs as fast as their weight of +bags and suit cases would permit. Miriam pushed open her door, which +stood slightly ajar, with the end of her suit case. "Any one at home?" +she inquired saucily as she stepped inside.</p> + +<p>"Looks like the same old room," remarked Elfreda. "No, it isn't, either. +We have a new chair. We needed it, too. You may sit in it occasionally, +if you're good, Miriam."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," replied Miriam. "For that gracious permission you shall +have one piece of candy out of a five-pound box I have in my trunk."</p> + +<p>"Not even that," declared Elfreda positively. "I said good-bye to candy +last July. I've lost ten pounds since I went home from school, and I'm +going to haunt the gymnasium every spare moment that I have. I hope I +shall lose ten more; then I'll be down to one hundred and forty pounds +and—" Elfreda stopped.</p> + +<p>"And what?" queried Miriam.</p> + +<p>"I can make the basketball team," finished Elfreda. "What is going on in +the hall, I wonder?" Stepping to the door she called, "What's the +matter, Grace? Can't you get into your room?"</p> + +<p>"Evidently not," laughed Grace. "It is locked. I suppose Mrs. Elwood +locked it to prevent the new girls from straying in and taking +possession."</p> + +<p>"H-m-m!" ejaculated Elfreda, walking over to the door and examining the +keyhole. "Your supposition is all wrong, Grace. The door is locked from +the inside. The key is in it."</p> + +<p>"Then what—" began Grace.</p> + +<p>"Yes, what?" quizzed Elfreda dryly.</p> + +<p>"'There was a door to which I had no key,'" quoted Miriam, as she joined +the group.</p> + +<p>"Don't tease, Miriam," returned Grace, "even through the medium of Omar +Khayyam. The key is a reality, but there is some one on the other side +of that door who doesn't belong there. Whether she is not aware that she +is a trespasser I do not know. However, we shall soon learn." Grace +rapped determinedly on one of the upper panels of the door.</p> + +<p>"I'll help you," volunteered Elfreda.</p> + +<p>"And I," agreed Anne.</p> + +<p>"My services are needed, too," said Miriam Nesbit.</p> + +<p>Four fists pounded energetically on the door. There was an exclamation, +the sound of hasty steps, the turning of a key in the lock, and the door +was flung open. Facing them stood a young woman no taller than Anne, +whose heavy eyebrows met in a straight line, and who looked ready for +battle at the first word.</p> + +<p>"Will you kindly explain the reason for this tumult?" she asked in a +freezing voice.</p> + +<p>"We were rather noisy," admitted Grace, "but we did not understand why +the door should be locked from the inside."</p> + +<p>"Is it necessary that you should know?" asked the black-browed girl +severely.</p> + +<p>Grace's clear-cut face flushed. "I think we are talking at cross +purposes," she said quietly. "The room you are using belongs to my +friend Anne Pierson and to me. During our freshman year it was ours, and +when we left here last June it was with the understanding that we should +have it again on our return to Overton."</p> + +<p>"I know nothing of any such arrangement," returned the other girl +crossly. "The room pleases me, consequently I shall retain it. Kindly +refrain from disturbing me further." With this significant remark the +door was slammed in the faces of the astonished girls. A second later +the click of the key in the lock told them that force alone could effect +an entrance to the room.</p> + +<p>"Open that door at once," stormed Elfreda, beating an angry tattoo on +the panel with her clenched fist.</p> + +<p>From the other side of the door came no sound.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Elfreda," said Grace, fighting down her anger. "Mrs. Elwood +will be here soon. There is some misunderstanding about the rooms. I am +sure of it."</p> + +<p>"See here, Grace Harlowe, you are not going to give up your room to that +beetle-browed anarchist, are you?" demanded Elfreda wrathfully.</p> + +<p>A peal of laughter went up from three young throats.</p> + +<p>"You are the funniest girl I ever knew, J. Elfreda Briggs," remarked +Miriam Nesbit between laughs. "That new girl looks exactly like an +anarchist—that is, like pictures of them I've seen in the newspapers."</p> + +<p>"That's why I thought of it, too," grinned Elfreda. "I once saw a +picture of an anarchist who blew up a public building and he might have +been this young person's brother. She looks exactly like him."</p> + +<p>"Stop talking about anarchists and talk about rooms," said Anne. "I must +find some place to put my luggage. Besides, time is flying. Remember, we +are to be at Vinton's at half-past six."</p> + +<p>"I should say time <i>was</i> flying!" exclaimed Grace, casting a hurried +glance at her watch. "It's ten minutes to six now. It will take us +fifteen minutes to walk to Vinton's. That leaves twenty-five minutes in +which to get ready."</p> + +<p>"There is no hope that the trunks will arrive in time for us to dress," +said Miriam positively. "Come into our room and we'll wash the dust from +our hands and faces and do our hair over again."</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Grace, casting a longing glance at the closed door. +"We'll have to put our bags in your room, too. I don't wish to leave +them in the hall for unwary students to stumble over."</p> + +<p>"Bring them along," returned Miriam. "No one shall accuse us of +inhospitality."</p> + +<p>"I wish Mrs. Elwood were here." Grace looked worried. "We mustn't stay +at Vinton's later than half-past seven o'clock. There are so many little +things to be attended to, as well as the important question of our +room."</p> + +<p>Arriving at Vinton's at exactly half-past six o'clock, they found Arline +Thayer and Ruth Denton waiting for them at a table on which were covers +laid for six.</p> + +<p>"We've been waiting for ages!" exclaimed Arline.</p> + +<p>"But you said half-past six, and it is only one minute past that now," +reminded Grace, showing Arline her watch.</p> + +<p>"Of course, you are on time," laughed the little girl. "I should have +explained that I'm hungry. That is why I speak in ages instead of +minutes."</p> + +<p>"Your explanation is accepted," proclaimed Elfreda, screwing her face +into a startling resemblance to a fussy instructor in freshman +trigonometry and using his exact words.</p> + +<p>The ready laughter proclaimed instant recognition of the unfortunate +professor.</p> + +<p>"You can look like any one you choose, can't you, Elfreda?" said Arline +admiringly. "I think your imitations of people are wonderful."</p> + +<p>"Nothing very startling about them," remarked the stout girl lightly. +"I'd give all my ability to make faces to be able to sing even 'America' +through once and keep on the key. I can't sing and never could. When I +was a little girl in school the teachers never would let me sing with +the rest of the children, because I led them all off the key. It was +very nice at the beginning of the term, and I sang with the other +children anywhere from once to half a dozen times, never longer than +that. I had the strongest voice in the room and whatever note I sang the +rest of the children sang. It was dreadful," finished Elfreda +reminiscently.</p> + +<p>"It must have been," agreed Miriam Nesbit. "Can you remember how you +looked when you were little, Elfreda?"</p> + +<p>"I don't have to tax my brain to remember," answered Elfreda. "Ma has +photographs of me at every age from six months up to date. To satisfy +your curiosity, however," her face hardened until it took on the stony +expression of the new student who had locked Grace out of her room, "I +will state that—"</p> + +<p>"The Anarchist! the Anarchist!" exclaimed Ruth and Miriam together.</p> + +<p>"What are you two talking about?" asked Ruth Denton.</p> + +<p>"About the Anarchist," teased Miriam. "Wait until you see her."</p> + +<p>"You have seen her," laughed Grace. "Elfreda just imitated her to +perfection." Thereupon Grace related their recent unpleasant experience +to Arline and Ruth.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do about it?" asked Arline.</p> + +<p>"We will see Mrs. Elwood as soon as we return to Wayne Hall, and ask her +to gently, but firmly, request the Anarchist to move elsewhere."</p> + +<p>"Why do you call her the Anarchist?" asked Arline.</p> + +<p>"Elfreda, please repeat your imitation," requested Miriam, her black +eyes sparkling with fun.</p> + +<p>Elfreda complied obediently.</p> + +<p>"You understand now, don't you?" laughed Grace.</p> + +<p>"I should be very stupid if I didn't," declared Arline.</p> + +<p>"Of course she's dark, with eyebrows an inch wide. You can't expect me +to give an imitation of anything like that," apologized Elfreda.</p> + +<p>"I think I should recognize her on sight," smiled Ruth Denton.</p> + +<p>"We are miles off our original subject," remarked Grace. "Elfreda hasn't +told us how she looked as a child."</p> + +<p>"All right. I'll tell you now," volunteered J. Elfreda graciously. "I +had round, staring blue eyes and a fat face. I wore my hair down my back +in curls—that is, when it was done up on curlers the night before—and +it was almost tow color. I had red cheeks and was ashamed of them, and +my stocky, square-shouldered figure was anything but sylphlike. I was +not beautiful, but I was very well satisfied with myself, and to call me +'Fatty' was to offer me deadly insult. That is about as much as I can +remember," finished the stout girl.</p> + +<p>"Really, Elfreda, while you were describing yourself I could fairly see +you," smiled Arline.</p> + +<p>"Now it's your turn," reminded Elfreda. "I imagine you were a cunning +little girl."</p> + +<p>Arline flushed at the implied compliment. "Father used to call me +'Daffydowndilly,'" she began. "My hair was much lighter than it is now, +but it has always been curly. I am afraid I used to be very vain, for I +loved to stand and smile at myself in the mirror simply because I liked +my yellow curls and was fascinated with my own smile. No one told me I +was vain, for Mother died when I was a baby, and even my governess +laughed to see me worship my own reflection. When I was twelve years +old, Father engaged a governess who was different from the others. She +was a widow and had to support herself. She was highly educated and one +of the sweetest women I have ever known. When she took charge of me I +was a vain, stupid little tyrant, but she soon made me over. She +remained with me until I entered a prep school, then an uncle whom she +had never seen died and left her some money. She's coming to Overton to +see me some day. Overton is her Alma Mater, too."</p> + +<p>"You are next, Grace," nodded Ruth.</p> + +<p>"There isn't much to tell about me," began Grace. "I was the tomboy of +Oakdale. I loved to climb trees and play baseball and marbles. I was +thin as a lath and like live wire. My face was rather thin, too, and I +remember I cried a whole afternoon because a little girl at school +called me 'saucer-eyes.' There wasn't a suspicion of curl in my hair, +and I wore it in two braids. I never thought much about myself, because +I was always too busy. I was forever falling in with suspicious looking +characters and bringing them home to be fed. Mother used to throw up her +hands in despair at the acquaintances I made. Then, too, I had a +propensity for bestowing my personal possessions on those who, in my +opinion, needed them. Mother and I were not always of the same opinion. +I wore my everyday coat to church for a whole winter as a punishment for +having given away my best one without consulting her. With me it was a +case of act first and think afterward. I don't believe I was +particularly mischievous, but I had a habit of diving into things that +kept Mother in a state of constant apprehension. Father used to laugh at +my pranks and tell Mother not to worry about me. He used to declare that +no matter into what I plunged I would land right side up with care. I +was never at the head of my classes in school, but I was never at the +foot of them. I was what one might call a happy medium. My little-girl +life was a very happy one, and full to the brim with all sorts of +pleasant happenings."</p> + +<p>"I never heard you say so much about yourself before, Grace," observed +Elfreda.</p> + +<p>"I'm usually too much interested in other people's affairs to think of +my own," laughed Grace. "I have never heard Anne say much about her +childhood, either. She must have had all sorts of interesting +experiences."</p> + +<p>"Mine was more exciting than pleasant," returned Anne. "Practically +speaking, I was brought up in the theatre and knew a great deal more +about things theatrical than I did about dolls and childish games. I was +a solemn looking little thing and wore my hair bobbed and tied up with a +ribbon. I never cried about the things that most children cry over, but +I would stand in the wings and weep by the hour over the pathetic parts +of the different plays we put on. Father was a character man in a stock +company. We lived in New York City and I used to frequently go to the +theatre with him. My father wished me to become a professional, but my +mother was opposed to it. When I was sixteen I played in a company for a +short time. Then mother and sister and I went to Oakdale to live, and +the nicest part of my life began. There I met Grace and Miriam and two +other girls who are among my dearest friends. Nothing very exciting has +ever happened to me, and even though I have appeared before the public I +haven't as much to tell as the rest of you have."</p> + +<p>"But countless things must have happened to you in the theatre," +persisted Arline, looking curiously at Anne.</p> + +<p>"Not so many as you might imagine," replied Anne. Then she said quickly, +"Miriam must have been an interesting little girl."</p> + +<p>"I was a very haughty young person," answered Miriam. "In the Oakdale +Grammar School I was known as the Princess. Do you remember that, +Grace?"</p> + +<p>Grace nodded. "Miriam used to order the girls in her room about as +though they were her subjects," she declared. "She had two long black +braids of hair and her cheeks were always pink. She was the tallest girl +in her room and the teachers used to say she was the prettiest."</p> + +<p>"I was a regular tyrant," went on Miriam. "I had a frightful temper. I +was a snob, too, and looked upon girls whose parents were poor with the +utmost contempt."</p> + +<p>"Miriam Nesbit, you can't be describing yourself!" exclaimed Arline +incredulously.</p> + +<p>"Ask Grace if I am not giving an accurate description of the Miriam +Nesbit of those days," challenged Miriam.</p> + +<p>"It isn't fair to ask me," fenced Grace. "You always invited me to your +parties."</p> + +<p>"There, you can draw your own conclusions," retorted Miriam +triumphantly. "I don't object to telling about my past shortcomings as I +have at last outgrown a few of my disagreeable traits."</p> + +<p>"Were you and Grace friends then?" asked Arline.</p> + +<p>"We played together and went to each other's houses, but we were never +very chummy," explained Grace. "We were both too headstrong and too fond +of our own way to be close friends. It was after we entered high school +that we began to find out that we liked each other, wasn't it, Miriam?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned Miriam, looking affectionately at her friend. In two +sentences Grace had effectually bridged a yawning gap in Miriam's early +high school days of which the latter was heartily ashamed.</p> + +<p>"Every one has told a tale but Ruth," declared Elfreda. "Now, Ruth, what +have you to say for yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Not much," said Ruth, shaking her head. "So far, my life has been too +gray to warrant recording. That is, up to the time I came to Overton," +she added, smiling gratefully on the little circle. "My freshman year +was a very happy one, thanks to you girls."</p> + +<p>"But when you were a child you must have had a few good times that stand +out in your memory," persisted Elfreda.</p> + +<p>Ruth's face took on a hunted expression. Her mouth set in hard lines. +"No," she said shortly. "There was nothing worth remembering. Perhaps +I'll tell you some day, but not now. Please don't think me hateful and +disobliging, but I don't wish to talk of myself."</p> + +<p>Arline Thayer eyed Ruth with displeasure. "I don't see why you should +say that, Ruth. We have all talked of ourselves," she said coldly.</p> + +<p>Ruth flushed deeply. She felt the note of censure in Arline's voice.</p> + +<p>"I think we had better go," announced Grace, consulting her watch. "It +is now half-past seven. We ought to be at Wayne Hall by eight o'clock. +You know the Herculean labor I have before me."</p> + +<p>"Herculean labor is a good name for our coming task," chuckled Anne. +"The Anarchist will make Wayne Hall resound with her vengeful cries when +she is thrust out of the room with all her possessions."</p> + +<p>Jesting light-heartedly over the coming encounter, the diners strolled +out of Vinton's and down College Street in the direction of the campus. +Arline was the first to leave them. Her good night to the four girls +from Wayne Hall was cordial in the extreme, but to Ruth she was almost +distant. A little later on they said good night to Ruth, who looked +ready to cry.</p> + +<p>"Cheer up," comforted Grace, who was walking with Ruth. "Arline will be +all right to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"I hope so," responded Ruth mournfully. "I did not mean to make her +angry, only there are some things of which I cannot speak to any one."</p> + +<p>"I understand," rejoined Grace, wondering what Ruth's secret cross was. +"Good night, Ruth."</p> + +<p>Elfreda, Miriam and Anne bade Ruth goodnight in turn.</p> + +<p>"Now, for the tug of war," declared Elfreda as they hurried up the steps +of Wayne Hall. "On to the battlefield and down with the Anarchist!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>MRS. ELWOOD TO THE RESCUE</h3> + + +<p>As Grace approached the curtained archway that divided the living-room +from the hall she could not help wishing that she might have settled the +affair without Mrs. Elwood's assistance. She was not afraid to approach +Mrs. Elwood, who was the soul of good nature, but Grace disliked the +idea of the scene that she felt sure would follow. The young woman now +occupying the room that she and Anne had re-engaged for their sophomore +year would contest their right to occupy it. Mrs. Elwood would be +obliged to set her foot down firmly. It would all be extremely +disagreeable. Grace reflected. Then the memory of the Anarchist's +glaring incivility returned, and without further hesitation Grace walked +into the living-room, followed by her companions.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Elwood, who was sitting in her favorite chair reading a magazine, +looked up absently, then, staring incredulously at the newcomers, +trotted across the room, both hands outstretched in welcome. "Why, Miss +Harlowe and Miss Nesbit, I had given you up for to-night. Here are Miss +Pierson and Miss Briggs, too. I'm so glad to see you. When did you +arrive? I thought there was no train from the north before nine +o'clock."</p> + +<p>"Didn't Miss Dean tell you we had arrived?" asked Grace, as Mrs. Elwood +shook hands in turn with each girl.</p> + +<p>"I haven't seen Miss Dean. She went out before I came home," replied +Mrs. Elwood.</p> + +<p>"Wait until we catch the faithless Emma," threatened Anne. "She promised +to be our herald. We arrived here at a little after five o'clock. We did +not stay here long, for Miss Thayer, of Morton House, invited us to +dinner at Vinton's."</p> + +<p>"How do you like the way I fixed your room this year?" asked Mrs. +Elwood.</p> + +<p>"We haven't been in it yet," answered Grace. "That is, we went only as +far as the door."</p> + +<p>"Oh, then you must see it at once," said Mrs. Elwood briskly. "I have +had it repapered. There is a new rug on the floor, too, and I have put a +new Morris chair in and taken out one of the cane-seated chairs."</p> + +<p>"No wonder the Anarchist refuses to vacate," muttered Elfreda.</p> + +<p>"What did you say, my dear?" remarked Mrs. Elwood amiably.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I was just talking nonsense," averred Elfreda solemnly.</p> + +<p>"I won't keep you girls out of your rooms any longer. I know you must be +tired from your long journey. Come upstairs at once."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Elwood had already crossed the room and was out in the hall, her +foot on the first step of the stairs. The girls exchanged glances. There +was a half smothered chuckle from Elfreda, then Grace hurried after +their good-natured landlady. "Wait a minute, Mrs. Elwood," began Grace, +"I have something to tell you before you go upstairs. This afternoon, +when we arrived, we went directly to our rooms. The door of our room was +locked, however. We knocked repeatedly, and it was at last opened by a +young woman who said the room was hers and refused to allow us to enter +it."</p> + +<p>During this brief recital Mrs. Elwood looked first amazed, then +incredulous. Her final expression was one of lively displeasure, and +with the exclamation, "I might have known it!" she marched upstairs with +the air of a grenadier, the girls filing in her wake. Pausing before the +door she listened intently. The sound of some one moving within could be +heard distinctly. Mrs. Elwood rapped sharply on the door. The footsteps +halted; after a few seconds the sound began again.</p> + +<p>"She thinks we have come back," whispered Elfreda.</p> + +<p>"So we have," smiled Grace, "with reinforcements."</p> + +<p>Her smile was reflected on the faces of her friends. Mrs. Elwood, +however, did not smile. Two red spots burned high on her cheeks, her +little blue eyes snapped. Again she knocked, this time accompanying the +action with: "Open this door, instantly. Mrs. Elwood wishes to speak +with you."</p> + +<p>"Do not imagine that you can gain entrance to this room through any such +pretense," announced a contemptuous voice from the other side of the +door. "I believe I stated that I did not wish to be disturbed."</p> + +<p>"And I state that you must open the door," commanded Mrs. Elwood. "You +are not addressing one of the students. This is Mrs. Elwood."</p> + +<p>A grating of the key in the lock followed, then the door was cautiously +opened far enough to allow a scowling head to be thrust out. The instant +the Anarchist's narrowed eyes rested on Mrs. Elwood her belligerent +manner changed. She swung the door wide, remarking in cold apology; +"Pray, pardon me, Mrs. Elwood. I believed that a number of rude, +ill-bred young women whom I had the misfortune to encounter earlier in +the day were renewing their attempts to annoy me."</p> + +<p>"There are no such young women at Wayne Hall," retorted Mrs. Elwood, who +was thoroughly angry. "The majority of the young women here were with me +last year, and not one of them answers your description. Really, Miss +Atkins, you must know that you are trespassing. This room belongs to +Miss Harlowe and Miss Pierson. It was theirs last year and they arranged +with me last June to occupy it again during their sophomore year. How +you happened to be here is more than I can say. I believe I gave you the +room at the end of the hall."</p> + +<p>"The room to which you assigned me did not meet with my approval," was +the calm reply. "I prefer this room."</p> + +<p>"You can't have it," returned Mrs. Elwood decisively.</p> + +<p>"But I insist upon remaining where I am," persisted the intruder. "If +necessary, I will allow Miss Harlowe or her roommate to occupy the other +half of the room."</p> + +<p>"I have told you that you can not have the room," exclaimed Mrs. Elwood, +eyeing her obstinate antagonist with growing disfavor. "If you do not +wish to take the room at the end of the hall, then I have nothing else +in the house to offer you. No doubt you can find board to suit you in +some other house."</p> + +<p>"I wish to stay here," returned the Anarchist stubbornly. "Let Miss +Harlowe have the room at the end of the hall."</p> + +<p>Sheer exasperation held Mrs. Elwood silent for a moment. The Anarchist +peered defiantly at her from under her bushy eyebrows. She made no move +toward vacating the room of which she had so coolly taken possession.</p> + +<p>"We'll go for our bags and suit cases, Mrs. Elwood," suggested Grace +wickedly. "We left them in Miriam's room."</p> + +<p>"Very well," returned the intrepid landlady. "Your room will be ready +for you when you return."</p> + +<p>"That is what I call a stroke of genius on your part, Grace," remarked +Miriam, as they entered her room. "Mrs. Elwood can deal with the +Anarchist more summarily without an audience."</p> + +<p>"It must be very humiliating for that Miss Atkins," mused Anne, "but +it's her own fault."</p> + +<p>"Of course it's her own fault," emphasized Elfreda. "She doesn't appear +to know when the pleasure of her company is requested elsewhere."</p> + +<p>"Shall we go now?" asked Anne, lifting her heavy suit case preparatory +to moving.</p> + +<p>"Not yet," counseled Grace. "We must give her time enough to get out of +sight before we appear."</p> + +<p>Elfreda boldly took up her station at the door and reported faithfully +the enemy's movements. After a twenty minutes' wait, the stout girl +closed the door with a bang, exclaiming triumphantly: "She's gone! She +just paraded down the hall carrying her goods and chattels. Mrs. Elwood +stalked behind carrying a hat box. She looked like an avenging angel. +Hurry up, now, and move in before the Anarchist changes her mind and +comes back to take possession all over again."</p> + +<p>Grace and Anne lost no time in taking Elfreda's advice. Five minutes +later they were back in their old room. "Stay here a while, girls," +invited Grace. Miriam and Elfreda had assisted their friends with their +luggage.</p> + +<p>"How nice your room looks," praised Miriam. "I like that wall paper. It +is so dainty. Your favorite blue, too, Grace. I wonder if Mrs. Elwood +knew that blue was your color?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose so," returned Grace. "Two-thirds of my clothes are blue, you +know. I must run downstairs and thank her for championing our cause. I +won't be gone five minutes."</p> + +<p>"We must go," declared Miriam. "We are going to begin unpacking +to-night."</p> + +<p>Running lightly down the stairs, Grace thrust her head between the +portieres that separated the living-room from the hall. Mrs. Elwood sat +reading her magazine as placidly as though nothing had happened within +the last hour to disturb her equanimity.</p> + +<p>"Thank you ever so much, Mrs. Elwood," said Grace gratefully, walking up +to the dignified matron and shyly offering her hand.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, child!" was the reply. "You have nothing for which to thank +me. You don't suppose I would allow a new boarder to infringe upon the +rights of my old girls, do you?"</p> + +<p>"No," admitted Grace. "I'm sorry that things had to happen that way," +she added regretfully.</p> + +<p>"Don't you worry about it any more, Miss Harlowe," comforted the older +woman. "It's nothing you are to blame for. You had the first right to +the room. I gave this girl Miss Gaines's old room. Her roommate is to be +a freshman, too. She hasn't arrived yet. Miss Atkins decided to pick out +her own room, I imagine. Evidently she took a fancy to yours. As soon as +you girls had gone, she gave me one awful look, gathered up her +belongings, and went to the other room without another word. I picked up +two or three things she dropped and carried them down for her. I +wouldn't be sorry if she went to some other house to board. She looks +like a trouble maker."</p> + +<p>Grace was of the same opinion, but did not say so. Always eager to +excuse other people's shortcomings, she found it hard to account for the +feeling of strong dislike that had risen within her during her first +encounter with the young woman Elfreda had laughingly named the +Anarchist. She had hoped that the four freshmen at Wayne Hall would be +girls whom it would be a pleasure to know. She had looked forward to +meeting these newcomers and to assisting them in whatever way she could +best give help. Now at least one of her castles in the air had been +built in vain.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps we may like Miss Atkins after we know her better," she said, +trying hard to keep the doubt she felt out of her voice.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Elwood shook her head. "I hope she will improve on acquaintance, +but I doubt it. It isn't my principle, my dear, to speak slightingly of +any student in my house, but I am certain that this is not the last time +I shall have to lay down the law of Wayne Hall to Miss Atkins."</p> + +<p>At this plain speaking Grace flushed but said nothing. She understood +that Mrs. Elwood's words had been spoken in confidence.</p> + +<p>"I'm so glad to see you again, Mrs. Elwood," she smiled, bent on +changing the subject.</p> + +<p>"And I to see you, my dear," was the hearty response. "I have missed my +Oakdale girls this summer."</p> + +<p>After a few moments' conversation Grace said good night and went slowly +upstairs. In spite of her satisfaction at being back at Overton she +could not repress a sigh of regret over the recent unpleasantness.</p> + +<p>"The unforeseen always happens," she reflected, pausing for a moment on +the top step. "I hope the Anarchist will 'stay put' this time." She +laughed softly at the idea of the Anarchist standing stiff and +stationary in her new room. Then the ridiculous side of the encounter +dawning on her, she sat down on the stairs and gave way to sudden silent +laughter.</p> + +<p>"What did Mrs. Elwood say?" asked Anne as Grace entered the room.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid Mrs. Elwood is not, and never will be, an admirer of the +Anarchist," said Grace. "Seriously speaking, she is half inclined to ask +her to leave Wayne Hall. She believes she will have further trouble with +her. Perhaps we should have waited. We might have tried, later, to gain +possession of our room," added Grace doubtfully.</p> + +<p>Anne shook her head. "We would be waiting still, if we had attempted to +settle matters without Mrs. Elwood."</p> + +<p>"But it seems too bad to begin one's sophomore year so unpleasantly. All +summer I had been planning how helpful I would try to be to entering +freshmen, and this is the way my splendid visions have materialized." +Grace eyed Anne rather dejectedly.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," soothed Anne. "By to-morrow this little unpleasantness +will have completely blown over. Perhaps the Anarchist," Anne smiled +over the title Elfreda had bestowed upon the disturbing freshman, "will +discover that she can make friends more quickly by being pleasant. She +may reform over night. Stranger things have happened."</p> + +<p>"But nothing of that sort will happen in her case," declared Grace. "You +said just a moment ago if it hadn't been for Mrs. Elwood we would still +be out in the hall clamoring for a room, didn't you!"</p> + +<p>"I did," smiled Anne.</p> + +<p>"That was equivalent to accusing the Anarchist of stubbornness, wasn't +it?"</p> + +<p>"It was."</p> + +<p>"Very well. If she is half as stubborn as I believe her to be, she won't +be different to-night, to-morrow or for a long time afterward."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>THE BELATED FRESHMAN</h3> + + +<p>"The first thing I shall do this morning after breakfast is to unpack," +announced Grace Harlowe with decision, as she gave her hair a last pat +preparatory to going downstairs to breakfast. "Last year I was so +excited over what studies I intended to take and meeting new girls that +I unpacked by fits and starts. It was weeks before I knew where to find +things. But I've reformed, now. I'm going to put every last article in +place before I set foot outside Wayne Hall. Do you wish the chiffonier +or the bureau this year, Anne, for your things?"</p> + +<p>"The chiffonier, I think," replied Anne, after due reflection. "I +haven't as much to stow away as you have. It will do nicely for me."</p> + +<p>"There goes the breakfast bell!" exclaimed Grace. "Come along, Anne, I'm +hungry. Besides, I'd like the same seat at the table that I had last +year."</p> + +<p>Outside their door they were joined by Miriam and Elfreda, and the four +friends stopped to talk before going downstairs.</p> + +<p>"Were you haunted by nightmares in which glowering Anarchists pranced +about?" asked Miriam, her eyes twinkling.</p> + +<p>"No," replied Grace. "I slept too soundly even to dream."</p> + +<p>"I dreamed that I went into the registrar's office to get my chapel +card," began Elfreda impressively. "When she handed it to me it was +three times larger than the others. On it in big red letters was +printed, 'The Anarchist, Her Card.' I thought I handed it back to her +and tried to explain that I wasn't an anarchist because I had neither +bushy eyebrows nor a scowl. She just sat and glared at me, saying over +and over, 'Look in your mirror, look in your mirror,' until I grew so +angry I threw the card at her. It hit her and she fell backward. That +frightened me, although it seemed so strange that a little, light piece +of pasteboard could strike with such force. I tried to lift her, but she +grew heavier and heavier. Then—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, 'then,'" interposed Miriam, "I awoke in time to save myself from +landing on the floor with a thump. Elfreda mistook me for the registrar. +She was walking in her sleep."</p> + +<p>"Of course I didn't mean to," apologized Elfreda, "You know that, don't +you, Miriam? I can't help walking in my sleep. I've done it ever since I +was a little girl."</p> + +<p>"I forgive you, but you must promise not to dream," laughed Miriam. +"Otherwise I am likely to find myself out the window or being dropped +gently downstairs while you dream gaily on, regardless of what happens +to your long-suffering roommate."</p> + +<p>As they entered the dining room several girls already seated at the +table welcomed them with joyful salutations. It was at least ten minutes +before any one settled down to breakfast. Grace observed with secret +relief that Miss Atkins was not at the table. The three freshmen who +were to fill the last available places in Wayne Hall had not yet +arrived. During breakfast a ceaseless stream of merry chatter flowed on. +Everyone wished to tell her neighbor about her vacation, of what she +intended to take during the fall term, or of how impossible it was to +get hold of her trunk. Then there was the usual amount of wondering as +to why the four freshmen hadn't appeared.</p> + +<p>"One of them is here—that is, she's in the house," remarked Elfreda +laconically.</p> + +<p>"She is!" exclaimed Emma Dean, opening her eyes. "I didn't see her +yesterday."</p> + +<p>"You were consoling your homesick cousin, so how could you know what +went on here?" reminded Grace. It had been decided that nothing should +be said regarding the events of the previous day.</p> + +<p>"So I was," said Emma. "She made me think of Longfellow's 'Rainy Day.' +She looked so 'dark and dreary.'"</p> + +<p>"What a unique comparison," chirped a wide-awake sophomore. "That will +be so appropriate for the freshman grind book."</p> + +<p>"It is our turn this year," exulted Elfreda. "I shall be on the lookout +for good material, too. I know one freshman who will be a candidate for +honors."</p> + +<p>"Who?" inquired Emma Dean curiously.</p> + +<p>Grace looked appealingly at the stout girl. A slight shake of the head +reassured her. Elfreda abandoned her intention of mentioning names, and +parried Emma's question so cleverly that the latter became interested in +something else and forgot that she had asked it.</p> + +<p>The instant she had finished her breakfast, Grace reannounced her +intention of unpacking her trunk and rose to leave the table. Anne +followed her, a curious smile on her face. The majority of the girls +rose from the table at the same time, or immediately after, and went +their various ways.</p> + +<p>"Now," declared Grace energetically, "I am going to begin my labor."</p> + +<p>"What did you say you were going to do?" asked Anne innocently.</p> + +<p>"Unpack my trunk. I—why—I—haven't any trunk to unpack!" exclaimed +Grace in bewilderment. Then catching sight of Anne's mirthful face, she +sprang forward, caught Anne by the shoulders and shook her playfully. +"Anne Pierson, you bad child, you heard me make all my plans for +unpacking, yet you wouldn't remind me that my trunk was still at the +station."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't resist keeping still and allowing you to plan," confessed +Anne. "What a joke that would be for the grind book!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, wouldn't it though?" agreed Grace sarcastically. "However, we are +not freshmen, and as my roommate I strictly forbid you to publish my +stupidity broadcast. Having the unpacking fever in my veins, I shall +console myself with unpacking my bag and suit case. I'll keep on wishing +for my trunk and perhaps it will come." Grace walked to the window. She +leaned out, peering anxiously down the road. Then, with a cry of +delight, she exclaimed: "Come here, Anne."</p> + +<p>Anne walked obediently to the window.</p> + +<p>"'Tell me, Sister Anne, do you see anything?'" quoted Grace.</p> + +<p>"You are saved, Fatima," returned Anne dramatically. "It is an express +wagon."</p> + +<p>Grace darted out of her door and down the stairs, meeting the expressman +on the veranda, her trunk on his shoulder. Anne, having notified Elfreda +and Miriam that the trunks had arrived, went downstairs to look after +hers.</p> + +<p>"Now I can carry out my plan, after all," declared Grace, with great +satisfaction. "'He who laughs last, laughs best,' you know," she added +slyly.</p> + +<p>"Before unpacking, first find your trunk," retorted Anne.</p> + +<p>"Thank goodness, we don't have to think about entrance examinations this +year," said Grace, as she knelt before her trunk, fitting the key to the +lock.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it does make considerable difference," returned Anne. "We shall +have more time to ourselves. Besides, we won't have to worry our heads +off the first week about whether we survived or perished."</p> + +<p>The sound of an automobile horn caused Grace to run to the window. "It's +the bus!" she cried. "Three strange girls are getting out of it. +Evidently our freshmen have arrived. That tall girl looks interesting. +One of them is as stout as Elfreda. The little girl is cunning. I think +I like her the best of the three. Oh dear!" she exclaimed ruefully, +hastily drawing back from the window, "she looked straight up and saw me +standing here. What will she think of me?"</p> + +<p>"You shouldn't be so curious," teased Anne.</p> + +<p>"I know it," admitted Grace. "I'm not over curious as a rule. I hope the +tall girl is to room with the Anarchist. She looks capable of keeping +her in order."</p> + +<p>"That task will, no doubt, be handed over to you," said Anne, who had +been making rapid progress in unpacking, while Grace had been occupied +in looking over the newcomers. "You'd better get your unpacking done, so +that you'll be ready for it—the task, I mean."</p> + +<p>Grace sat down before her trunk with a little impatient sigh. For the +space of an hour the two girls worked rapidly, almost in silence. Both +trunks had been emptied and the greater part of their contents stored +away when the sound of an angry, protesting voice outside the door +caused them to look at each other wonderingly.</p> + +<p>"What can have happened?" asked Anne.</p> + +<p>Even as Anne spoke a never-to-be-forgotten voice said impressively, +"What you prefer is immaterial to me, I prefer to room alone." The +emphatic closing of a door followed. There was a sound of hurrying +footsteps on the stairs, then all was still.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>THE ANARCHIST CHOOSES HER ROOMMATE</h3> + + +<p>"It's the Anarchist, of course," said Anne, turning to Grace.</p> + +<p>"I wonder who she left roomless in the hall this time," speculated +Grace. "Shall we go and see?"</p> + +<p>"Do you think we had better?" hesitated Anne.</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned Grace boldly. "To a certain extent we are responsible +for the welfare of the freshmen." Opening the door, she looked up and +down the hall. Then, with a sudden air of resolution, she walked +downstairs. On the oak seat in the hall, looking disconsolately about +her, sat the "cunning" freshman that Grace had admired. At sight of +Grace she sprang toward the sophomore with an eager, "Won't you please +tell me where I can find Mrs. Elwood?"</p> + +<p>"I believe she has gone to market," replied Grace. "She usually goes at +this time every morning. Can I help you in any way?"</p> + +<p>"No-o," replied the other girl doubtfully. "I wished to see Mrs. Elwood, +because—" Her lip quivered. A big tear rolled down her cheek. "Oh, I +hate college," she muttered in a choking voice. "I wish I hadn't come +here. I'd go back to the station and take the next train west, if I +hadn't promised my brother that I'd stay. I hate the east and everything +in it. I know I'm going to be unhappy here."</p> + +<p>With the smile that few people could resist, Grace sat down on the seat +beside the tearful little stranger. "I think I know what is troubling +you," she said gently. "I could not help overhearing Miss Atkins a few +moments ago. I also heard you running downstairs, so I came down, too, +to ask you if there was anything I could do for you."</p> + +<p>"You are very kind," faltered the stranger. "I must wait to see Mrs. +Elwood, but will you tell me your name, please?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I beg your pardon for not introducing myself," responded Grace +contritely. "I am Grace Harlowe of the sophomore class."</p> + +<p>"My name is Mildred Taylor," responded the newcomer. "I came from the +station in the bus a few minutes ago. There were two other freshmen with +me. They seem to be more fortunate than I. The maid showed us to our +rooms. I supposed, of course, that I would have to room with another +girl, but I didn't think—" she paused.</p> + +<p>"I know," sympathized Grace. "I heard what was said to you; at least a +part of it. Won't you come upstairs to our room and meet my roommate, +Miss Pierson?"</p> + +<p>"It is very thoughtful in you to take so much trouble for me," replied +the freshman gratefully.</p> + +<p>"That is part of our plan here at Overton," laughed Grace. "When I was a +lonely, bewildered freshman, several of the upper class girls made it +their business to look out for my comfort. Now it is my turn to pass +that kindness along."</p> + +<p>"What a nice way to look at things!" exclaimed Mildred Taylor. "If I +thought the rest of the girls in the college were going to be like you, +I'd be ready to love Overton."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you will love Overton," was Grace's quick reply. "You can't help +yourself."</p> + +<p>Anne received the forlorn newcomer with a sweet courtesy that quite +charmed her. "We are in the midst of our unpacking," she explained. "Our +trunks came only a little while ago. Won't you take off your hat and +coat?"</p> + +<p>"Anne, I will leave Miss Taylor in your care," declared Grace. "Please +excuse me, I'll be back directly," she nodded encouragingly to their +guest.</p> + +<p>At the door of Miriam's room Grace knocked softly, then in answer to the +impatient, "Come in," entered to find Elfreda standing in the midst of +an extended circle formed by her possessions.</p> + +<p>"Isn't this enough to discourage the most valiant heart?" she declared, +with a comprehensive sweep of her arm over the scattered contents of her +trunk. "But I am going to clear everything away. I promised Miriam that +my half of the room should be kept 'decently and in order' all year. It +is one of my sophomore obligations."</p> + +<p>Grace listened in amusement to the stout girl's earnest assertion. "I +haven't finished unpacking either," she said. "I came for advice. The +freshman who was to occupy the other half of Miss Atkins's room has +arrived, and Miss Atkins won't let her into the room. I just brought her +upstairs to my room.</p> + +<p>"Last night I talked with Mrs. Elwood. She isn't particularly anxious to +have Miss Atkins in the house. When Miss Taylor, that is the name of the +freshman who just came, tells her about what happened she will ask Miss +Atkins to leave Wayne Hall. This girl has brought with her to Overton +the worst possible spirit in which to begin her freshman year. Of +course, we don't know whether she is rich or poor, or whether her +success or failure in college means anything to any one besides herself. +We can not know under what circumstances she has been brought up. +Perhaps she has some one at home who is straining every nerve to send +her to college. Perhaps there is a father, mother, sister or brother who +has made untold sacrifices to give her a college education. Perhaps +there has been no lack of money, only a desire on the part of parents or +a guardian to get rid of her by sending her off to school. I believe we +ought to try to help this girl in spite of her rudeness to us. Will you +go with me to her room? I want to talk to her. We may find her in a +better humor than she was in last night. While Anne entertains Miss +Taylor you and I will venture into the domain of the Anarchist."</p> + +<p>"I'll go," agreed Elfreda, secretly flattered because Grace had chosen +her.</p> + +<p>Grace led the way down the hall to the end room. A sulky voice responded +to her knock, and throwing open the door the two girls stepped inside. +The belligerent freshman sat bolt upright in a Morris chair, forbidding +and implacable.</p> + +<p>"How do you do?" said Grace politely. "I hope we are not intruding."</p> + +<p>The young woman merely scowled by way of answer.</p> + +<p>"I wonder how I'd better begin," pondered Grace, looking squarely into +the hostile eyes.</p> + +<p>Elfreda stood calmly surveying the scowling girl. "You might ask us to +sit down," she observed impertinently.</p> + +<p>The young woman glanced at the stout girl with an expression of angry +amazement. Elfreda's rudeness was equal to her own.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon," she said satirically. "Won't you be seated?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, I just wanted to hear you say it," flung back Elfreda.</p> + +<p>Ignoring this retort, Miss Atkins turned to Grace. "What do you wish?" +she asked with cold precision.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to be obliged to tell you that if you do not allow Miss +Taylor to occupy her half of the room, you are likely to be asked to +leave Wayne Hall," said Grace gravely. "Mrs. Elwood was displeased over +what happened last night, and I know that when she learns of what has +happened to-day she will not overlook it. We do not wish to see you +leave Wayne Hall, and besides, the various college houses are filling +fast. You might have difficulty in securing a desirable room elsewhere."</p> + +<p>"Is there any reason why I should not occupy this room alone?"</p> + +<p>"None whatever, if you arranged for a single beforehand," interposed +Elfreda shrewdly. "If you did, I can't see why Mrs. Elwood consented to +take Miss Taylor."</p> + +<p>"I did not arrange for a single room," was the stiff response.</p> + +<p>"Then you haven't any case, have you?" queried Elfreda cheerfully. "Now, +see here. I am going to tell you a few things. You are beginning all +wrong. It is just what I did last year, and I had a pretty disagreeable +time, you may rest assured. The best thing you can do is to tell Miss +Taylor to come and claim her half of the room before anything happens to +you. If you leave Wayne Hall, sooner or later the whole college will +hear of it and it won't help you to be popular, either. It is easy +enough to do as you please regardless of whether or not it pleases +others, but you are bound to pay for the privilege. If you don't believe +me, just wait and see."</p> + +<p>A flush mounted to the defiant stranger's cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Public opinion is usually a matter of small importance to me," she +said, but her tone of lofty indifference was not convincing. "There is, +however, a certain amount of wisdom in what you have just said. I should +not care to appear ridiculous in the eyes of the really important +students at Overton. You may inform Miss Taylor that I have altered my +decision. I shall raise no further objections to her as a roommate."</p> + +<p>With a pompous gesture of dismissal this self-centered young woman rose +and walked majestically to the window. Turning her back squarely upon +Grace and Elfreda, she appeared to be deeply absorbed in watching what +went on in the street, and, divided between vexation and laughter, the +two girls left the room. Elfreda hurried back to her unpacking and Grace +to her own room.</p> + +<p>"It is all right, Miss Taylor. Your roommate is prepared to receive +you," Grace announced.</p> + +<p>"I shall be glad to have some place I can call all my own," sighed the +little girl, "but I know I shall never like her," she added resentfully.</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, you may learn to like her very much," returned Grace. +"Now I'll help you with your things." Picking up Miss Taylor's heavy +suit case, Grace escorted her to the door of the end room.</p> + +<p>"How did it happen?" greeted Anne, when five minutes later Grace +returned alone, smiling and triumphant.</p> + +<p>"Don't ask me," laughed Grace. "Ask Elfreda. She wrought the miracle."</p> + +<p>"What did she do?" asked Anne.</p> + +<p>"She won the day, or rather the half of the room, by plain speaking." +Grace recounted to Anne what had taken place in the belligerent young +woman's room. "She made more impression on the Anarchist in five minutes +than I could have made in a week," finished Grace.</p> + +<p>"Elfreda has a remarkable personality," was Anne's thoughtful answer. +"Her very frankness makes an impression where diplomacy counts for +little. However, I am not surprised that history repeated itself so +soon. I hope this is the last time we shall be obliged to thwart the +Anarchist and administer justice to the oppressed.</p> + +<p>"I don't envy Miss Taylor," said Anne. "I wish every girl in college had +as nice a roommate as I have."</p> + +<p>"Beware of flatterers," laughed Grace.</p> + +<p>"And also of Anarchists," added Anne.</p> + +<p>"But of the two," smiled Grace, "I prefer flatterers, especially if they +happen to occupy the other half of my room."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>ELFREDA MAKES A RASH PROMISE</h3> + + +<p>"How does it feel to be a senior, Mabel?" questioned Miriam Nesbit, +glancing smilingly over where Mabel Ashe, gowned smartly in white, her +brown eyes dancing with interest in what went on about her, sat eating +her dessert, and obligingly trying to answer half a dozen questions at +once.</p> + +<p>The seven other girls at the table looked expectantly at the pretty +senior, who was their hostess at a dinner given by her at Martell's that +Saturday evening.</p> + +<p>"Oh, just the same as it did last year," she replied lightly. "I feel +vastly older and a shade more responsible. To tell you the truth, I hate +to think about it. I don't know how I am ever going to get along without +Overton. I think I shall have to disguise myself and come back next year +as a freshman; then I could do the whole four years over again."</p> + +<p>"The question is, What are we going to do next year without you?" +remarked Grace mournfully.</p> + +<p>"Let us forget all about it," advised Mabel. "I refuse to have any weeps +at my dinner. You may shed your tears in private, but not here."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do when you finish college?" asked Miriam Nesbit.</p> + +<p>"You girls will laugh when I tell you," replied Mabel solemnly, "but +really and truly there is only one thing I care to do. I have warned +Father that I intend to be self-supporting, but I haven't dared to tell +him how I propose to earn my living."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do? Tell us, Mabel. We won't tell."</p> + +<p>"Frances knows already. She thinks it would be fine, don't you, +Frances?"</p> + +<p>Frances nodded emphatically.</p> + +<p>"I hope to become a newspaper woman," solemnly announced Mabel.</p> + +<p>"A newspaper woman!" cried Constance Fuller. "Why, I think that would be +dreadful!"</p> + +<p>"I don't," stoutly averred Mabel. "I'd love to be a reporter and go +poking into all sorts of places. After a while I'd be sent out to write +up murder trials and political happenings and, oh, lots of big stories." +Mabel beamed on her amazed audience.</p> + +<p>"I never would have believed it of you, but I'm sure you could do it," +predicted Leona Rowe confidently.</p> + +<p>"Good for you!" cried Mabel, leaning across the table to shake hands +with Leona. "I have one loyal supporter at least."</p> + +<p>Mabel's declaration having brought to the minds of the little company +the fact that sooner or later the choice of an after-college occupation +would be necessary, a brisk discussion began as to what each girl +intended to do. Aside from Anne, who had fully determined to stick to +her profession, and Constance, who was specializing in English, with the +intention of one day returning to Overton as an instructor, no one at +the table had a very definite idea of her future usefulness.</p> + +<p>"We seem to be a rather purposeless lot," remarked Miriam Nesbit. "The +trouble with most of us is that we are not obliged to think about +earning our own living after we leave college. We look forward to being +ornaments in our own particular social set, but nothing more. I'm not +sure, yet, what I am going to do with my education. I intend to put it +to some practical use, though."</p> + +<p>"So am I," agreed Grace. "We'll just have to keep on doing our best and +find ourselves."</p> + +<p>"I suppose that is the real purpose of going to college," said Anne +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"I think we are all growing too serious," laughed Mabel. "By the way, +Grace," she went on, "who is that curious looking little freshman with +the perpetual scowl that lives at Wayne Hall!"</p> + +<p>The four Wayne Hall girls exchanged significant glances.</p> + +<p>"Stop exchanging eye messages and tell me," ordered Mabel.</p> + +<p>"Her name is Atkins," returned Grace briefly. Then a peculiar look in +her eyes caused Mabel to say hastily, "I just wondered who she was," and +changed the subject.</p> + +<p>As they left Martell's, walking two by two, Mabel fell into step with +Grace. Slipping her arm through that of the Oakdale girl, she said in a +low tone, "Come over to see me to-morrow evening. I have something to +say to you. I almost said it before the girls; then I caught your +warning look in time. Come to dinner to-morrow night and stay all +evening. I promise faithfully to make you study."</p> + +<p>"I have a theme to do," replied Grace dubiously. "Do you think there +would be any prospect of my getting it done?"</p> + +<p>"Oceans of it," assured Mabel glibly. "I'll be as still as a mouse while +you do it. If you need a subject perhaps I can furnish the inspiration. +As long as I intend to become a newspaper woman I might as well begin to +sprout a few ideas."</p> + +<p>"All right, I'll come," laughed Grace. "Did I tell you I was taking +chemistry this year? I find it very absorbing."</p> + +<p>"I liked it, too," agreed Mabel. "I am more interested in psychology, +though I like my essay and short story work best of all. I'm going in +for interpretative reading, too. All that sort of thing will help me in +my work when I leave here."</p> + +<p>"I wish I knew what I wanted to do," sighed Grace. "I'd love to begin to +plan about it now."</p> + +<p>"It will dawn upon you suddenly some day," prophesied Mabel, "and you +will wonder why you never thought of it before."</p> + +<p>The diners strolled along together as far as the campus. There, +Constance Fuller, Mabel, Frances and Helen Burton left the quartette +from Wayne Hall.</p> + +<p>"It's early yet," said Elfreda, consulting her watch.</p> + +<p>"What time is it, Elfreda?" asked Grace.</p> + +<p>"Half-past eight," answered the stout girl. "We have plenty of time to +study. I, for one, need it. My subjects are all frightfully hard. I +tried to pick out easy ones, but did you ever notice that the schedule +is so arranged that you can't possibly pick out two easy subjects and +recite them both in the same term? One always conflicts with the other."</p> + +<p>"Long experience, crafty faculty," laughed Miriam. "They know our +weaknesses and how to deal with them."</p> + +<p>"The last time we were out to dinner in a body we talked about the past. +This time it was the future," remarked Elfreda. "That reminds me, what +has become of Arline and Ruth? I haven't seen either of them this week +except at a distance."</p> + +<p>"Arline and Ruth haven't been on friendly terms since the night of +Arline's dinner at Vinton's," Grace remarked soberly. "It isn't Ruth's +fault. She is heartbroken over the estrangement. This is the first +difference she and Arline have ever had."</p> + +<p>"Such a ridiculous thing to quarrel over," sniffed Elfreda. "I could see +that night that Arline was cross because Ruth didn't want to talk about +herself."</p> + +<p>"I hope they will be friends again before the reception," said Grace. +"It would be awkward for all of us if they are not."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear," sighed Anne, sitting down on the top step of the veranda. +"I'm too lazy to look at my books to-night." The four girls had reached +Wayne Hall and the beauty of the autumn night made them reluctant to go +into the house, where an evening of hard study awaited them. "I'd like +to stay out here for hours and look at the stars."</p> + +<p>"And have stiff neck and a cold of the fond, clinging type, to-morrow," +jeered Elfreda.</p> + +<p>"How disgustingly practical you are, Elfreda!" exclaimed Miriam.</p> + +<p>"I'm only warning her," persisted Elfreda.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't seem as though we'd been back at Overton for three weeks, +does it?" asked Grace.</p> + +<p>"It seems longer than that to me," said Miriam Nesbit. "The freshman +dance happened ages ago, according to my reckoning, and nothing, +absolutely nothing, has happened since."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, it won't be long until the sophomore reception," comforted +Grace. "I never suspected that you had such a rabid craving for +excitement, Miriam."</p> + +<p>"The freshman dance was a tame affair," averred Miriam. "I think our +class was more interesting in its infancy than is this year's class."</p> + +<p>"I think so, too," agreed Grace. "Still, we don't know what genius lies +hidden in the bosoms of 19—'s freshmen."</p> + +<p>"This year we shall be the hostesses," exulted Elfreda. "Who are you +girls going to invite?"</p> + +<p>"I'll ask Miss Taylor," volunteered Anne.</p> + +<p>"I'll ask Miss Wilton," said Miriam.</p> + +<p>"That's two from Wayne Hall," counted Anne. "There are two freshmen +left."</p> + +<p>"One of us could invite that nice tall girl, Miss Evans," planned Grace. +"That leaves only one girl uninvited." She hesitated. Her three friends +read the meaning of the hesitation. Elfreda sprang loyally into the +breach.</p> + +<p>"I'll ask Miss Atkins," she declared stoutly. "You notice, don't you, +that I am not addressing her by her pet name? I'll conduct her to the +reception and back, if she'll accept my manly arm, and buy her flowers +into the bargain. So go ahead and invite Miss Evans, Grace."</p> + +<p>"J. Elfreda Briggs, you can never manage that Miss Atkins," protested +Miriam. "In the first place, she won't accept you as an escort, and if +she should happen to do so, it will be a sorry evening for you."</p> + +<p>"I'll take the risk," replied Elfreda confidently. "I managed her once +before, didn't I? You girls go ahead and invite the others. Leave Miss +Atkins to me. I'll escort her in triumph to the reception, or perish +gallantly in the attempt."</p> + +<p>"Do you really believe she will accept your invitation, Elfreda?" asked +Grace doubtfully.</p> + +<p>"I can tell you better after I have asked her," was Elfreda's flippant +retort. "I have an idea that she will feel dreadfully hurt if no one +asks her to go."</p> + +<p>"Hurt!" exclaimed three voices in unison.</p> + +<p>"Yes, hurt," repeated Elfreda. "The Anarchist isn't half so savage as +she pretends to be. That blood-thirsty manner of hers isn't real. She +puts it on to hide something else."</p> + +<p>"But what is it she wishes to hide?" asked Miriam. "Your deductions are +quite beyond us."</p> + +<p>"If I knew I'd tell you. I don't pretend to understand her, but I can +see that she isn't as fierce as she seems. Time and I will solve the +riddle, and when we do you'll be the first to hear of it."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>GIRLS AND THEIR IDEALS</h3> + + +<p>Directly after her last class the next day, Grace hurried to her room to +change her gown. She looked forward with eager pleasure to her evening +with Mabel Ashe. She was deeply attached to the pretty senior, who was +the best-liked girl in college, and Grace could not help feeling a +trifle proud of Mabel's frank enjoyment of her society. Anne, knowing +Grace was to be away, had accepted an invitation to go down to Ruth +Denton's little room, help her cook supper, and spend the evening with +her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear," sighed Grace, as she tried vainly to reach the two hooks of +her dark blue charmeuse gown that seemed only a sixteenth of an inch out +of reach, "I wish Anne were here. I can touch these two hooks with the +ends of my fingers but I can't fasten them. I'll have to ask Mabel to +hook me up when I get to Holland House." Giving up in disgust, Grace +slipped into her long, blue serge coat, carefully adjusted her new fall +hat that she had just received from home, and catching up her gloves ran +downstairs.</p> + +<p>Mabel Ashe's graceful, welcoming figure leaning over the baluster +waiting for her was the first thing that attracted her attention as she +stepped inside the hall at Holland House.</p> + +<p>"Come right up," invited Mabel. "We'll have a little while together +before dinner. Did you bring your notebook?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Grace. "Remember, you are to help me choose a subject for +my theme. You volunteered, you know."</p> + +<p>"Not until after dinner, though, if you don't mind. Sit down here and be +comfy. This is my pet chair, but I insist on letting you have it because +you are company." She gently pushed Grace into a roomy leather-covered +armchair. Seating herself opposite Grace, Mabel fixed her brown eyes +almost gravely on her. "Now, Grace," she said earnestly, "please tell me +about this Miss Atkins of Wayne Hall."</p> + +<p>"There isn't much to tell," replied Grace. "Did you ever see her?"</p> + +<p>"Once."</p> + +<p>"We had a little trouble with her our very first day back," continued +Grace. "She took possession of our room and refused to give it up. Then +when Mrs. Elwood came to our rescue, she went to the room that had been +assigned to her like a lamb. She felt anything but lamblike toward me, +you may believe, and when later Mrs. Elwood brought up her new roommate, +she refused to allow her to enter."</p> + +<p>"Refused to allow her to enter," repeated Mabel wonderingly. "What sort +of girl is she, Grace?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," answered Grace doubtfully. "She is an enigma. She speaks +the most precise English, with absolutely no trace of slang. But she +looks as though the whole world were her natural enemy. Elfreda named +her the Anarchist. I am rather ashamed to say we call her that behind +her back."</p> + +<p>Mabel smiled slightly, then asked, "What did the girl do—the one she +wouldn't room with, I mean?"</p> + +<p>"She went downstairs to wait for Mrs. Elwood. The reason I know all +about it is because I happened to hear her tell Miss Taylor, that's the +freshman's name, that she would have to go elsewhere. I knew Mrs. Elwood +was out, so I went down to see if there were anything I could do for +her, and she told me all about it. I knew Mrs. Elwood would be out of +patience with Miss Atkins and ask her to leave Wayne Hall." Grace +paused.</p> + +<p>"What happened next?" asked Mabel interestedly.</p> + +<p>"I told Miss Taylor I would try to fix things for her. I went upstairs +and plotted with Elfreda. Then she and I bearded the dragon in her den. +After I had finished telling her that it would be better to take little +Miss Taylor without further bickering, Elfreda rose to the occasion and +gave her a much-needed lecture. She is very shrewd, I think. She +evidently realized she had gone too far. She objected to Miss Taylor +because it is her nature to object to everything. When she saw that we +had taken up the cudgels in Miss Taylor's behalf, and that she was +likely to get into hot water, she decided to accept her as a roommate +without further opposition. That's the whole story."</p> + +<p>"She must be eccentric and very disagreeable," commented Mabel. "What +made you go to such pains to save her from the wrath of Mrs. Elwood?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose I felt sorry for her," confessed Grace. "She is beginning her +freshman year in the worst possible spirit. But as I said to the girls +not long ago, we do not know what lies back of her disagreeable manner. +Why are you so interested in hearing about her, Mabel?"</p> + +<p>"She is making herself the subject of considerable censure among the +juniors and seniors by snubbing the girls of her own class and calmly +announcing that she wishes to make only powerful and influential friends +in college," returned Mabel. "You know, of course, the attitude of the +old students toward freshmen. This Miss Atkins is either laboring under +the impression that she is an exception to tradition, or else she has no +sense of the fitness of things. At first, I am sorry to say, a few of +the seniors looked upon her as a joke, but the reaction has set in, and, +like Humpty Dumpty, she is going to take a great fall. When she does, +all the king's horses and all the king's men won't be of any assistance +to her in getting her back from where she tumbled. I don't believe she +realizes that she is making herself ridiculous.</p> + +<p>"I was at Vinton's last Saturday afternoon. Jessie Meredith invited +another senior and me to luncheon there. Imagine our surprise when a +prim, precise little figure marched up to our table and seated herself +as calmly as though she were the president of the senior class. There is +room for four at those tables, you know, and we had not reserved ours. +Still, there were plenty of other tables at which she might have seated +herself. It was rather embarrassing for all of us, but it was worse when +she tried to break into the conversation. She insisted on expounding her +views on whatever we discussed. We were compelled to cut short our +luncheon and flee to Martell's for our dessert. We escaped at the moment +the waitress was serving her luncheon, so she couldn't very well rise +and pursue us. If I had been alone, I might have stayed, but Jessie was +disgusted, and I was Jessie's guest."</p> + +<p>Grace had listened to Mabel's recital with troubled eyes. "I never +before knew a girl quite like Miss Atkins," she said slowly. "What is it +you wish me to do for her, Mabel?"</p> + +<p>"Wise young sophomore," laughed Mabel. "How did you guess it?"</p> + +<p>"You are not given to footless gossip," replied Grace quietly. "Besides, +I live at Wayne Hall."</p> + +<p>"Cleverer and cleverer," commented the senior, in mock admiration. "This +is my idea. I had hoped that, being in the same house with her, you +might be able to guide her gently along the beaten trail made by girls +like you. However, after what you have told me, I am afraid you are not +the one to do it."</p> + +<p>"I haven't a particle of influence with her," said Grace soberly. "You +must know that from what I have already told you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do know it," answered Mabel. "Is there any one at Wayne Hall who +would be likely to have the right kind of influence?"</p> + +<p>"No-o-o." Grace shook her head doubtfully. Then she suddenly brightened. +"There is one person who might help her. Elfreda is going to invite her +to the sophomore reception. She doesn't wish to do it, I know, although +she hasn't said so. Please don't think me conceited, but Elfreda would +do anything for me. She fancies herself under obligation to me on +account of what happened last year," Grace added in an embarrassed tone.</p> + +<p>"Grace Harlowe!" exclaimed Mabel delightedly, "I believe we have solved +our problem. J. Elfreda is the very one to make Miss Atkins wake up to +what is expected from her at Overton. Will you talk with her about it, +and ask her if she is willing to try?"</p> + +<p>"I'll tell her to-night," promised Grace. "I'm sure she'll try. She is +not afraid to tackle Miss Atkins, either, or she wouldn't have invited +her to the reception."</p> + +<p>"Then that's settled for the time being at least," declared Mabel +jubilantly. "Just in time for dinner, too. There goes the bell."</p> + +<p>After dinner more conversation followed. It was eight o'clock before +Grace remembered her theme. "What shall I write about?" she demanded. +"You promised to supply the inspiration."</p> + +<p>"So I will," returned Mabel cheerfully. "Why don't you write +about—" She paused, frowning slightly. "After all my vaunted promises +I'm not able to suggest anything on the spur of the moment," she +confessed laughingly. "Why don't you take some incident in your own life +or that of your friends and write a story about it?" she proposed after +a moment's silence.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe I could ever write a story," confessed Grace. "I think +I'll write a little discussion about girls and their ideals."</p> + +<p>"That sounds interesting," commended Mabel. "Go ahead with it. You may +sit at this table, if you like."</p> + +<p>Grace seated herself, nibbled at the end of her fountain pen +reflectively, then began to write. Mabel busied herself with her own +work. At last Grace shoved aside the closely written sheets of paper. +"It's done," she cried, in a triumphant voice. "Now we can talk."</p> + +<p>"May I read it?" asked Mabel.</p> + +<p>"Of course, if you wish to," laughed Grace. "It isn't worth the trouble, +though."</p> + +<p>Mabel picked up the theme and began to read. Grace rose, and strolling +over to the bookcase fell to examining the various bindings. Her +friend's flattering comment, "It's splendid, Grace. I had no idea you +could write so well," caused her to look up in surprise from the book +she held in her hand.</p> + +<p>"I don't think it is very remarkable," she contradicted. "It hasn't a +shred of literary style."</p> + +<p>"It's convincing," argued Mabel.</p> + +<p>"That is because I felt strongly on my subject. When it comes to +anything that lies near my heart I am always convincing. Father says I +put up the most convincing argument of any one he knows," smiled Grace. +"He always declares he is wax in my hands. I hope you will make me a +visit and meet my father and mother, Mabel," she added.</p> + +<p>"I surely will," promised Mabel. "We must correspond after I leave +college. I wish you could go home with me for one of the holiday +vacations. Can't you manage it?"</p> + +<p>"I am afraid not this year," returned Grace doubtfully. "Father and +Mother wouldn't object, but they miss me so during the year that I feel +as though my holidays belonged to them. I am an only child, you know."</p> + +<p>"So am I," returned Mabel. "I am also extremely popular with my father. +If I can tear myself away from him to make you a visit, surely you ought +to be equally public spirited."</p> + +<p>"I'll think it over," laughed Grace. "Oh, dear!" she exclaimed a moment +later, glancing at the little French clock on the chiffonier, "I must +go. It is twenty minutes to ten. How the time has slipped away."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," bowed Mabel. "Such appreciation of my society is gratifying +in the extreme. I'll invite you again."</p> + +<p>"See that you do," retorted Grace. "Have you any engagement for Saturday +afternoon? If you haven't, then suppose we have luncheon at Vinton's; +then go for a long walk. We can stay out all afternoon, stop at the tea +shop for supper and come home on the street car, or walk in, if we +choose. We might ask Frances and Anne to join us. Miriam and Elfreda are +going out for a ride. Miriam has a horse here this year. She had her +choice between a horse and a runabout and she took the horse. The moment +Elfreda found out she had one, she wrote home about it. Now she has a +riding horse, too."</p> + +<p>"I had my own pet mount, Elixir, here during my freshman and sophomore +years. The latter part of my second year I didn't take him out enough to +exercise him. So I ordered him sent home. He is a beauty. Jet black with +a three-cornered white spot in the middle of his forehead. He's an +Arabian, and Father paid an extravagant price for him. He shakes hands +and does ever so many tricks that I taught him. When you go home with +me, you shall see him."</p> + +<p>"I'd love to have a riding horse," confessed Grace, "but Father can't +afford it. I've never asked him, but I know he can't. We have no car +either."</p> + +<p>"Make me a visit and you can ride Elixir every day," bribed Mabel.</p> + +<p>"I'd love that!" exclaimed Grace fervently as she slipped into her coat +and settled her hat firmly on her fluffy hair. "Good night, Mabel. Come +and see me soon. Don't forget our Saturday walk."</p> + +<p>"I'll go to the door with you," announced Mabel. "No, I won't forget our +walk. I'll tell Frances about it to-morrow, before she has a chance to +make any other plans. She is a popular young person, and elusive in the +matter of dates."</p> + +<p>"There are others," retorted Grace, with a significant glance at her +friend.</p> + +<p>"So there are," agreed Mabel innocently.</p> + +<p>On the way home Grace wondered if there were any way in which she might +help Laura Atkins. True to her promise, she went at once to interview +Elfreda on the subject of the eccentric freshman. She found Miriam and +the stout girl busily engaged in trying to put together a puzzle that +Elfreda had unearthed in the toy department of one of the Overton stores +that afternoon. Puzzles were the delight of Elfreda's heart. But, once +put together, they immediately ceased to be of interest.</p> + +<p>"This is a wonder!" she exclaimed at sight of Grace. "It is worth +having. Neither Miriam nor I can put it together."</p> + +<p>"I have a harder one for you to tackle," smiled Grace. Then she +recounted her conversation with Mabel Ashe.</p> + +<p>"You have altogether too much faith in my powers of persuasion," +grumbled Elfreda, secretly pleased, nevertheless.</p> + +<p>"But that is much better than if we had no faith at all," reminded +Grace.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>THE INVITATION</h3> + + +<p>The next morning Grace made a startling discovery. It was directly after +breakfast that she made it. Having fifteen minutes to spare before going +to her first recitation, she decided to reread her theme. What one wrote +always read differently after one had slept over it. What seemed clever +at night might be very commonplace when read in the cold light of the +morning. Grace reached for the book in which she had placed her theme. +It was not there. Going down on her knees, she looked first under the +table, then under the chiffonier, then turned over the books on the +table, then, darting to the closet, searched the pockets of her long +coat.</p> + +<p>"Where can it be?" she cried despairingly. "I am sure I had it when I +came into the hall last night. I couldn't have lost it on my way across +the campus. I'll run down and ask Anne. Perhaps she picked it up and put +it away for me."</p> + +<p>Grace hurried downstairs as fast as her feet would carry her. To her low +inquiry in Anne's ear she received a disappointing answer. Anne, who was +just finishing her breakfast, replied that she had not even seen the +theme. She rose at once to accompany Grace upstairs. The two girls +searched in every nook and corner of the room. "I wanted to hand it in +this morning," lamented Grace. "Now I'll have to write it all over +again. I don't believe I can remember much of it, either. I'll have to +explain to Miss Duncan, too, and ask her to give me until to-morrow to +write it."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it will be found yet," comforted Anne.</p> + +<p>"No danger of it, unless I lost it in the street. Then there's only one +chance in a thousand of its turning up," declared Grace gloomily. "I +don't see how I happened to be so careless."</p> + +<p>"When must it be handed in?" questioned Anne.</p> + +<p>"This morning," answered Grace dolefully. "I'll have to rewrite it +to-night and from memory, too."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you choose another subject?" was Anne's advice.</p> + +<p>"No." Grace shook her head positively. "I can do better with the old +one. I'm not going to bother about asking if any one has found it. My +name was on it. If I made a fuss over it some one might say it was only +an excuse, that I hadn't really lost it, but just wished to gain time. I +hope Miss Duncan won't think that."</p> + +<p>"No one in this house would say so," contradicted Anne loyally.</p> + +<p>"But suppose Alberta Wicks or Mary Hampton heard of it? They might +circulate that rumor. I hate to seem so suspicious, but an ounce of +prevention, you know. I will write it over and say nothing further about +it." Having made up her mind on the subject Grace promptly dismissed it +from her thoughts.</p> + +<p>Miss Duncan did look rather suspiciously at Grace as she related her +misfortune. Grace's gray eyes met hers so fairly and truthfully, +however, that she was forced to believe the young woman's statement. She +gave the desired respite rather ungraciously and Grace took her place in +class, relieved to think she had got off so easily. That night she +rewrote the theme. It did not give her as much trouble as she had +anticipated. She laid down her fountain pen with alacrity when it was +finished and carefully blotted the last sheet. "Now I can begin to think +about the reception," she announced. "What are you going to wear, Anne?"</p> + +<p>"My new pink gown," said Anne promptly. "As long as I was extravagant +enough to indulge in a new evening dress I might as well wear it. The +sophomore reception is really the most important affair of the year, to +us, at least."</p> + +<p>"I'm delighted to have an opportunity to show off my pale blue chiffon +frock," laughed Grace. "I've been in ecstasies over it ever since it was +made. Have you seen that white gown of Elfreda's? It's perfectly +stunning. I stopped in her room for a minute last night. She was trying +it on. It's the prettiest gown she's had since she came here. Ask her to +show it to you."</p> + +<p>"I'm going over there now," said Anne. "I'll be back in a minute." It +was precisely four minutes later when Anne poked her head in Grace's +door. "Come on into Miriam's room, Grace," she called. "She has just +made chocolate. She has some lovely little cakes and sandwiches, too. +And Elfreda has something to tell us."</p> + +<p>Grace rose from her chair, lay down the notebook she had been running +through, and hastily followed Anne.</p> + +<p>"Have a cushion," laughed Miriam hospitably, throwing a fat sofa pillow +at Grace, who caught it dextrously, patted it into shape and, placing it +on the floor, sat down on it Turk fashion. Elfreda poured another cup of +chocolate, then seated herself on the floor beside Grace. "Pass Grace +the sandwiches, Anne," she ordered. "We made these ourselves. We bought +the stuff at that new delicatessen place on High Street."</p> + +<p>"They are delicious," commented Grace, between bites. "I'm hungry +to-night. I didn't like the dinner very well."</p> + +<p>"Neither did we," responded Miriam. "After dinner we went out for a walk +to see what we could find, and we brought back what you see spread +before you."</p> + +<p>"I shall pay a visit to the delicatessen shop," announced Grace. +"To-morrow night you must come to my room for a spread."</p> + +<p>"I'll come to your room with pleasure," retorted Elfreda, "but not to +eat. One spread a week is my limit. Now for my news. The Anarchist has +accepted my invitation to the reception."</p> + +<p>"Really!" exclaimed Grace. "Do tell us about it, Elfreda."</p> + +<p>"I delivered my invitation after dinner to-night," began Elfreda. "I +waited and waited, thinking some one else might invite her. I am not +yearning for the honor, you know. I went to her door and knocked. Her +roommate, Miss Taylor, opened it. The Anarchist sat over in one corner +of the room, studying like mad. By the way, I understand she is a dig +and stands high in her classes."</p> + +<p>"Is she?" asked Anne, opening her eyes. "Then that is one thing she has +in her favor. Perhaps we shall discover other good qualities in her that +we've overlooked."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," echoed Miriam dryly.</p> + +<p>"Mustn't interrupt me," drawled Elfreda. "I may become peevish and +refuse to talk."</p> + +<p>"All right," smiled Grace. "We accept the warning. Continue, my dear +Miss Briggs."</p> + +<p>Elfreda grinned cheerfully. "I inquired with deferential politeness if +Miss Atkins were busy. Then the Anarchist looked up from her book, +glared like a lion, straightened her eyebrows and said in that awful +voice she owns, 'Did you wish to speak to me?'"</p> + +<p>Elfreda unconsciously imitated the belligerent freshman. Her audience +giggled appreciatively.</p> + +<p>"I replied in my most impressive English that I did wish to do that very +thing," continued Elfreda. "Then I inquired tactfully if I was too late +with my invitation to the sophomore dance. Without giving her time to +answer I put in my application for the position of escort. +Then"—Elfreda paused, a slight flush rose to her round face, "then she +looked me in the eye and told me a deliberate untruth. She said she had +refused one invitation because she had not been interested in the +reception, but that she had changed her mind. She thanked me and said +she would be pleased to go. I bowed myself out without further ado, but +Miss Taylor gave me the queerest look as I went. Her face was as red as +fire. It was she who told me that the Anarchist had not been invited. +She was afraid I might think she hadn't told the truth, but I knew +better. Now, don't ever tell any one what I have said."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry she didn't tell the truth," said Grace disapprovingly. "Why +couldn't she say that she had not been invited?"</p> + +<p>"False pride," commented Miriam. "She evidently isn't so indifferent to +the opinion of others as she would have us believe."</p> + +<p>"She is a strange girl," mused Anne. "Perhaps she is not altogether to +blame for her odd ways."</p> + +<p>"'Odd' is a good name for them," jeered Elfreda. "I wouldn't call it +'odd,' I'd use a stronger word than that. It's contemptible. I'm sorry I +asked her to go to the reception."</p> + +<p>"Then recall your invitation and tell her your reason for doing so," +advised Miriam Nesbit bluntly. "Don't take her to the reception in that +spirit. You will make yourself and her equally unhappy."</p> + +<p>"Hear the sage lay down the law," retorted Elfreda impudently. "She's +right, though, only I won't withdraw my invitation at this late date. +I'll try to give the Anarchist the most exciting time of her young life, +but if she balks please don't blame me. You can lead an Anarchist to a +reception, you know, but you can't make her dance unless she happens to +feel like dancing. Still, I am going to do my best, and no sophomore can +do more."</p> + +<p>"That sounds like the Elfreda Briggs I heard talking last night," said +Grace, smiling her approval of the stout girl's words.</p> + +<p>"So it does," agreed Elfreda. "Hereafter I'll try to be more consistent. +As for the Anarchist, she shall reap the benefit of my vow. I hope she +knows how to dance. If she doesn't I shall have to constitute myself a +committee of one to furnish amusement for her. If on the fatal night you +see me, my arm firmly linked in that of her majesty, parading solemnly +about the gymnasium with a fixed smile, and an air of gayety that I am a +long way from feeling, don't you dare to laugh at me."</p> + +<p>"We won't laugh at you, then, even though we can't help laughing at you +now," said Grace. "We shall be only too glad to do anything we can to +help you entertain her."</p> + +<p>"I know that. Maybe you can help and maybe you can't. But if she doesn't +enjoy herself it won't be my fault."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>ANTICIPATIONS</h3> + + +<p>The day of the sophomore reception was a busy one for the members of the +sophomore class. To them, it was the event of the year, and the desire +to make this dance outshine all its predecessors was paramount in almost +every sophomore breast. Of course, there were the digs, who never +thought of festivities, but spent all their time in study. No one +counted on their help. The greater part of the class, however, was +properly enthusiastic over the music, decorations, gowns and dance +cards. Grace and Miriam, who were on the decorating committee, had spent +the greater part of their day in the gymnasium. Under the skilful +direction of the committee the big room blossomed out in strange and +gorgeous array. There were the masses of evergreen so convenient for +hiding unsightly gymnasium apparatus, which made the gymnasium a +veritable forest green. Strings of Japanese lanterns added to the +effect, while the freshmen and sophomore colors impartially wound the +gallery railing and were draped and festooned wherever there was the +slightest chance for display.</p> + +<p>The sophomores had put forth their best efforts in behalf of their +freshman sisters. When it came to sofa cushions and draperies they had +surrendered their most highly treasured possessions for the good of the +cause.</p> + +<p>"I think we may congratulate ourselves," commented Gertrude Wells as she +stood beside Miriam Nesbit, surveying their almost completed task. "Look +at my hands! I have scratched and bruised them handling those +evergreens. My dress is a sight, too," she added, pointing first to the +green stains that decorated her white linen gown, then significantly to +a three-cornered tear near the bottom of the skirt. "I don't care. It +will be out of style by next summer, at any rate."</p> + +<p>"I'm not much better off," declared Miriam. "You can't be a working +woman and keep up a bandbox appearance, you know."</p> + +<p>"I should say not," laughed Arline Thayer, who had come up in time to +hear Miriam's last remark.</p> + +<p>"Does any one know the time?" asked Grace, standing back a little to +view the effect of the bunting she had been winding about a post. "I +can't see the gym. clock from here. It is so swathed in green boughs and +decorations that its poor round face is almost hidden, and I'm really +too tired to go close enough to find out."</p> + +<p>"It's five minutes past four o'clock," informed Gertrude, glancing at +the tiny watch pinned to her waist.</p> + +<p>"Good gracious!" exclaimed Arline Thayer, "I can't stay here another +minute. I have a hundred things to do before to-night."</p> + +<p>"Where's Ruth?" asked Grace. "I haven't seen either of you lately except +at an aggravating distance."</p> + +<p>Arline's baby face hardened. "I haven't seen Ruth for over two weeks," +she said stiffly.</p> + +<p>"You haven't!" exclaimed Grace, who, stooping to tie her shoe, had not +noticed Arline's changed expression. As she straightened up her +surprised gray eyes met Arline's defiant blue ones. Like a flash she +remembered. "Then you don't know who she has invited to the reception?"</p> + +<p>"No," responded Arline shortly. "I don't know anything about it."</p> + +<p>Grace was about to say something further when, overtaken by sudden +thought, she turned her face away to hide the smile that hovered about +her lips. Meanwhile, Gertrude Wells had engaged Arline in conversation, +and Ruth's name was not mentioned again.</p> + +<p>"This is positively my last appearance this afternoon as a decorator," +declared Emma Dean. "I'm going home to beautify myself for the great +moment when I shall stand in line with my sophomore sisters to greet the +infant freshmen."</p> + +<p>"I'm going home, too, but without bursting into language," drawled J. +Elfreda Briggs. "I pounded my thumb with a hammer, scratched my nose on +an obstinate hemlock bough, and lost a bran span new pair of scissors. I +think it is high time to leave this place. I'm not on the reception +committee, 'tis true, but I have weighty matters to consider and am on +the verge of a perilous undertaking." She uttered the last words in an +all too familiar undertone, shooting a mischievous glance at her friends +which caused Grace, Anne and Miriam to laugh outright.</p> + +<p>"What are you girls laughing at?" demanded Gertrude Wells.</p> + +<p>"Elfreda is so funny," explained Grace enigmatically. Then, fearing to +offend Gertrude, she said hastily, "What she said was extremely +laughable to us, because she was imitating some one we know."</p> + +<p>The knot of girls separated soon after, going their separate ways. Anne, +Grace, Miriam, Elfreda and Emma Dean turned their faces toward Wayne +Hall.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if Ruth is going?" remarked Grace, who walked behind Anne. "I +thought we'd see her this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"I noticed how sharply Arline answered you," said Anne significantly.</p> + +<p>"Poor Ruth, I haven't a minute to spare or I'd run down there. We must +go to-morrow afternoon, Anne. We'll take Ruth to Vinton's for dinner +and, oh, Anne! let's invite Arline and make them be friends!"</p> + +<p>"Splendid!" admired Anne. "I'll take charge of Ruth and you can look out +for Arline."</p> + +<p>"If you don't hurry, you'll be ready for the reception some time +to-morrow," called Elfreda derisively. The two quickened their steps. +The three girls ahead looked back, then mischievously began running +toward Wayne Hall.</p> + +<p>"We can catch them, Anne," exulted Grace.</p> + +<p>"You mean you can," laughed Anne. "Run ahead and surprise them."</p> + +<p>Grace was off like the wind. Although the three girls ran well they were +no match for the lithe, slender young woman who ran like a hunted deer. +She soon passed her friends and running on to the hall sat down on the +steps with no apparent traces of exhaustion to wait for them.</p> + +<p>"Let me see, what track team did you say you belonged to?" quizzed +Elfreda, with open admiration. "If I could run like that I'd be happy. +Where did you learn to run?"</p> + +<p>"Back in Oakdale, where I was the prize tomboy of the school," laughed +Grace. "Have you seen to your flowers for your freshman? I ordered pink +roses for Miss Evans. Anne chose violets for Miss Taylor, didn't you, +Anne?"</p> + +<p>"I ordered violets for Miss Wilton, too," said Miriam.</p> + +<p>"I tried to get snap dragons," giggled Elfreda, "but it's rather late in +the season for them. Instead, the Anarchist will flourish a nosegay of +blood-red roses. I can't imagine her parading around the gym. bedecked +with violets."</p> + +<p>"Elfreda, you are anything but a chivalrous escort," commented Anne.</p> + +<p>"I am at least sincere," returned Elfreda, with an affected simper. "I +hope those flowers haven't loitered along the way. I must call on my +fair lady and see if she has received hers. I'm beginning to feel +excited. I'm going to eat my dinner post haste. I want to get dressed +and practice my bow before the mirror ere I enter the sacred precincts +of her majesty's boudoir. Then I shall sweep into her domicile, arrayed +in all my glory. She will be so overcome at sight of me and my splendor +that she will follow me down to the carriage like a lamb. I ask you, +ladies, after seeing me in that new white silk gown of mine, what +Anarchist could resist me?"</p> + +<p>"Of whom did Elfreda remind you just then, Grace?" asked Miriam.</p> + +<p>"Hippy," laughed Grace. "She looked exactly like him."</p> + +<p>"Never saw him," stated Elfreda laconically.</p> + +<p>"But you gave a fine imitation of him just the same!" exclaimed Grace.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>AN OFFENDED FRESHMAN</h3> + + +<p>At dinner that night excitement reigned. Every girl in the house was +going to the reception. To dispose of one's dinner and hurry to one's +room to begin the all important task of dressing was the order of +procedure, and Mrs. Elwood's flock rose from the table almost in a body +and made a concerted rush for the stairs.</p> + +<p>"She got them," Elfreda informed the others as they stopped for a moment +in the hall. "I went to the door to ask her. She even thanked me for +them."</p> + +<p>"Wonderful," smiled Miriam. "Come on now. Remember, time flies and that +your new white frock is a dream."</p> + +<p>An hour later Elfreda stood before the mirror viewing herself with great +satisfaction. "It certainly is some class," she declared. "There I go +again. I haven't used slang for a week. But circumstances alter cases, +you know. Just pretend you didn't hear it, will you? I think I'll wear +my violets at my girdle. I don't look very stout in this rig, do I? You +look like a princess, Miriam. You're a regular howling beauty in that +corn-colored frock. Where are my gloves and my cloak? Oh, here they are, +just where I put them. Now, I must go for her highness. Br—r—" Elfreda +shivered, giggled, then gathering up her cloak and gloves switched out +the door.</p> + +<p>Miriam smiled to herself as she went about gathering up her own effects, +then fastening the cluster of yellow rosebuds to the waist of her gown +she hurried out into the hall in time to encounter Grace and Anne.</p> + +<p>"We are fortunate in that our ladies live under the same roof with us," +laughed Anne.</p> + +<p>"It certainly saves carriage hire," returned Grace. "Here comes Elfreda +and Miss Atkins. What on earth is she wearing?"</p> + +<p>"I think I'll go for my freshman," said Miriam, her voice quivering +suspiciously.</p> + +<p>By the time Elfreda and the Anarchist had reached the head of the +stairs, the three girls had fled precipitately, unable to control their +mirth. Elfreda's face was set in a solemn expression that defied +laughter. As for the Anarchist herself, she might easily have posed as a +statue of vengeance. Her eyebrows were drawn into a ferocious scowl. She +walked down the stairs with the air of an Indian chief about to tomahawk +a victim. Her white silk gown, which was well cut and in keeping with +the occasion, contrasted oddly with her threatening demeanor, which was +enhanced by a feather hair ornament that stood up belligerently at one +side of her head.</p> + +<p>"If she wouldn't wear that feather thing she'd be all right," muttered +Grace in Anne's ear. "She looks like Hiawatha. She has made up her mind +to be nice with Elfreda. She's wearing her flowers. I wonder if I'd +better ask her to dance to-night. Shall you ask her, Anne?"</p> + +<p>"I think so," reflected Anne. "I can't lead very well, but perhaps she +can."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe I'll ask her," said Grace slowly. "Humiliating one's +self needlessly is just as bad as having too much pride."</p> + +<p>"Hurry," called Miriam, who was already on the stairs. "The carriages +are here."</p> + +<p>It was a ridiculously short drive to the gymnasium, but, a fine rain +having set in, carriages for one's freshmen guests were a matter of +necessity. Elfreda and her charge occupied seats in the same carriage +with Anne and Mildred Taylor, who, in a gown of pink chiffon over pink +silk, looked, according to Elfreda, "too sweet to live."</p> + +<p>"How are you getting along with Miss Atkins?" asked Grace an hour later, +running up and waylaying Elfreda, who was slowly making her way across +the gymnasium toward the corner of the room where the big punch bowl of +lemonade stood.</p> + +<p>"Don't ask me!" returned Elfreda savagely. "I managed to fill her dance +card and supposed everything was lovely. She dances fairly well. If +she'd only keep quiet, smile and dance calmly along. But, no, she must +talk!" Elfreda's round face settled into lines of disgust. "She says +such outrageously personal things to her partners. I know of three +different girls she has offended so far. What will become of her before +the evening is over?" she inquired gloomily. "She told me I was too +stout to dance well, but I didn't mind that. Stout or not, she will be +lucky to have even me to dance with at the rate she's going. Let's drown +our mortification in lemonade."</p> + +<p>"Poor Elfreda," sympathized Grace. "I wish I could help you, but, +honestly, I feel as though it would be hardly fair to myself to make +further advances in that direction."</p> + +<p>"Don't do it," advised Elfreda, quickly, handing Grace a cup of fruit +lemonade. "I'll manage to steer her through this dance. But next time +some one else may do the inviting. The two classes make a good showing, +don't they?"</p> + +<p>"Beautiful," commented Grace. "The gymnasium looks prettier than it did +last year. That sounds conceited, doesn't it?"</p> + +<p>"It's true, though," averred Elfreda stoutly. "Doesn't Miriam look +stunning to-night? I think she is the handsomest dark girl I ever saw, +don't you?"</p> + +<p>"With one exception," smiled Grace.</p> + +<p>"Show me the exception, then," challenged Elfreda.</p> + +<p>"I will some fine day," promised Grace. "She's in Italy now."</p> + +<p>"You mean the girl you speak of as Eleanor?" asked Elfreda curiously.</p> + +<p>Grace nodded. "She is one of my dearest friends and belongs to our +sorority at home. At one time she was my bitterest enemy," she continued +reminiscently. "She was so self-willed and domineering that none of us +could endure her. She entered the junior class in high school when +Miriam, Anne and I did. For a year and a half she made life miserable +for all of us, then something happened and she turned out gloriously. +I'll tell you all about it some other time."</p> + +<p>"Was she worse than the Anarchist?" asked Elfreda sceptically.</p> + +<p>"There is no comparison," replied Grace promptly. "Still, the Anarchist +may have possibilities of which we know nothing."</p> + +<p>"I wish she would give a demonstration of them to-night then," muttered +Elfreda. "I suppose I'll have to get busy and look her up. It is +dangerous to leave her to her own devices. She may have offended half +the company by this time." Elfreda strolled off in search of her +troublesome charge. Grace crossed the gymnasium, her keen eyes darting +from the floor, where groups of daintily gowned girls stood exchanging +gay badinage, and resting after the last waltz, to the chairs and divans +placed at intervals against the walls that were for the most part +unoccupied.</p> + +<p>Everyone seemed to be dancing. Grace remembered with a start that she +had seen nothing of Ruth Denton. She had waved to Arline across the room +on entering the gymnasium, and had not caught a glimpse of her since. "I +must find Ruth," she reflected, "and tell her about to-morrow. Perhaps +Anne has told her. She promised she would." Espying Mildred Taylor, +Grace remembered with sudden contrition that she had not asked the +little freshman to dance. "I suppose she hasn't a single dance left," +murmured Grace regretfully. "At any rate, I'll ask her now." Approaching +Mildred she said in her frank, straightforward fashion, "I'm so sorry I +overlooked you, Miss Taylor. I intended asking you to dance first of +all."</p> + +<p>The "cute" little freshman turned her head away from Grace's apologetic +gray eyes. "It doesn't matter," she answered in a queer, strained voice. +"My card was full long ago."</p> + +<p>"I hope you are not hurt or offended at my seeming neglect," insisted +Grace anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Not in the least," was the almost curt rejoinder. "I do not think I +shall stay much longer. I have a headache."</p> + +<p>"I'm so sorry," said Grace sympathetically. "Can I do anything for you?"</p> + +<p>Mildred Taylor did not answer. Her lip quivered and her eyes filled with +tears. She brushed them angrily away, saying with a petulance entirely +foreign to her, "Please don't trouble yourself about me."</p> + +<p>"Very well," replied Grace, in proud surprise. "Shall I tell Miss +Pierson that you are ill?"</p> + +<p>"No," muttered Mildred.</p> + +<p>Grace walked away, puzzled and self-accusing. "I hurt her feelings by +not asking her to dance," was the thought that sprang instantly to her +mind. Then she suddenly recollected that she had not yet found Ruth. A +little later she discovered her in earnest conversation with Gertrude +Wells at the extreme end of the room.</p> + +<p>"Dance this with me, Ruth," called Grace, as she neared her friend. Ruth +glanced at her card. "I have this one free," she said. A moment later +they were gliding over the smooth floor to the inspiriting strains of a +popular two step. Long before the end of the dance they stopped to rest +and talk. "I suppose we ought to devote ourselves strictly to the +freshmen," said Grace. "They all appear to be dancing, though. Where +have you been keeping yourself, Ruth?"</p> + +<p>"I've been busy," replied Ruth evasively.</p> + +<p>"Will you be too busy to have dinner with us at Vinton's to-morrow +night?" persisted Grace.</p> + +<p>"No-o-o," said Ruth slowly. "At what time?"</p> + +<p>"Half-past six," returned Grace. "We'll meet you there. I must leave you +now to look after Miss Evans. I brought her here to-night."</p> + +<p>It was late when the notes of the last waltz sounded, and still later +when the gay participants left the gymnasium in twos, threes and little +crowds trooping down the broad stone steps to where they were to take +their carriages. The rain was now falling heavily, and to walk even +across the campus was out of the question. Every public automobile and +carriage in Overton had been pressed into service, and many who had +braved the fine rain early in the evening and walked were obliged to +negotiate with the drivers for a return of their vehicles. The carriages +to Wayne Hall carried six girls instead of four, and the merry +conversation that was kept up during the short drive showed plainly that +the evening had been a success. Even the Anarchist indulged in an +occasional stiff remark with a view toward being gracious. When Elfreda +humorously bowed her to her door and wished her an elaborate good night, +an actual gleam of fun appeared in her stormy eyes, and forgetting her +dignity she replied almost cordially that she had enjoyed her evening.</p> + +<p>"I am surprised to think she did after the way she made remarks about +people," commented Elfreda to Miriam, who was busily engaged in +unhooking the stout girl's gown and listening in amusement to Elfreda's +recital. "She has as much tact as a guinea hen. You know how tactful +they are?"</p> + +<p>In the meantime Anne and Grace were discussing the night's festivity in +their own room. Grace had slipped into a kimono and stood brushing her +long hair before the mirror. Suddenly she paused, her brush suspended in +the air. "Anne," she said so abruptly that Anne looked at her in +surprise, "did you notice anything peculiar about Miss Taylor? You were +her escort, you know."</p> + +<p>"No," responded Anne, knitting her brows in an effort to remember. "I +can't say that I noticed anything."</p> + +<p>"Then I am right," decided Grace. "She is angry with me because in some +way I missed asking her to dance."</p> + +<p>"She said nothing to me," was Anne's quick reply.</p> + +<p>"She is offended, I know she is," said Grace. "I'm sorry, of course. I +didn't pass her by intentionally. I didn't know she was so sensitive. I +think I'll ask her to go to Vinton's for luncheon on Saturday."</p> + +<p>But when Grace delivered her invitation at the breakfast table the next +morning it was curtly refused. Mildred Taylor's attitude, if anything, +was a shade more hostile than it had been the night before. From her +manner, it was evident that the little freshman, whom Grace had hastened +to befriend on that first doleful morning when she found her roomless +and in tears on the big oak seat in the hall, had quite forgotten all +she owed to the girl she now appeared to be trying to avoid.</p> + +<p>Finding her efforts at friendliness repulsed, Grace proudly resolved to +make no more overtures toward the sulking freshman. She had done +everything in her power to make amends for what had been an +unintentional oversight on her part, and her self respect demanded that +she should allow the matter to drop. She decided that if, later on, +Mildred showed a disposition to be friendly, she would meet her half +way, but, until that time came, she would take no notice of her or seek +further to ascertain the cause of her grievance.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>THE FINGER OF SUSPICION</h3> + + +<p>That very morning as Grace was about to leave Miss Duncan's class room +she heard her name called in severe tones. Turning quickly, she met the +teacher's blue eyes fixed suspiciously upon her.</p> + +<p>"Did you wish to speak to me, Miss Duncan?" Grace asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Miss Duncan shortly. She continued to look steadily at +Grace without speaking.</p> + +<p>Grace waited courteously for the teacher's next words. She wondered a +little why Miss Duncan had detained her.</p> + +<p>"Miss Harlowe," began the teacher impressively, "I have always +entertained a high opinion of you as an honor girl. Your record during +your freshman year seemed to indicate plainly that you had a very clear +conception of what constitutes an Overton girl's standard of honor. +Within the past week, however, something has happened that forces me to +admit that I am deeply disappointed in you." Miss Duncan paused.</p> + +<p>Grace's expressive face paled a trifle. A look of wonder mingled with +hurt pride leaped into her gray eyes. "I don't understand you, Miss +Duncan," she said quietly. "What have I done to disappoint you?"</p> + +<p>Miss Duncan picked up a number of closely written sheets of folded paper +and handed them to Grace, who unfolded them, staring almost stupidly at +the sheet that lay on top. A wave of crimson flooded her recently pale +cheeks. "Why—what—where did you get this?" she stammered. "It is my +theme."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="soc2" id="soc2"></a> +<img src="images/soc2.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + + +<h3>"It Is My Theme."</h3> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>"You mean it is the original from which you copied yours," put in Miss +Duncan dryly. "Is that your hand-writing?"</p> + +<p>"No," replied Grace, in a puzzled tone.</p> + +<p>"Is this your writing?" questioned Miss Duncan, suddenly producing +another theme from the drawer of her desk.</p> + +<p>"Yes," was Grace's prompt answer. "I handed it in to you instead of +putting it in the collection box. You remember I told you I had lost the +first one I wrote and asked for more time."</p> + +<p>"I remember perfectly," was the significant answer. "Is this theme," +pointing to the one Grace still held, "the one you say you lost?"</p> + +<p>"The one I say I lost," repeated Grace, a glint of resentment darkening +her eyes. "What do you mean, Miss Duncan?"</p> + +<p>Her bold question caused the instructor's lips to tighten. "You have not +answered my question, Miss Harlowe," she said icily.</p> + +<p>"No, this is not my theme," answered Grace; "that is, it is not in my +hand-writing. I do not recognize the writing." Grace ceased speaking and +stared at the theme in sudden consternation. "Some one found my theme +and copied it." Her voice sank almost to a whisper. A flush of shame for +the unknown culprit dyed her cheeks anew.</p> + +<p>"It would be better, perhaps," interrupted the teacher sarcastically, +"if you admitted the truth of the affair at once, Miss Harlowe."</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to admit," responded Grace steadily, "except that I +lost my theme on the evening I wrote it. When I found it was gone I came +to you at once and asked for another day's time. That same night I +rewrote it as well as I could from memory and handed it to you the +following day."</p> + +<p>An ominous silence ensued. Then Miss Duncan said stiffly: "Miss Harlowe, +the young woman who wrote the theme you have in your hand dropped it +into the collection box of another section during the very evening you +would have me believe you were writing it. It was brought to me early +the next morning."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that it was dropped into the box the evening before?" +flung back Grace, forgetting for an instant to whom she was speaking.</p> + +<p>"Your question is hardly respectful, Miss Harlowe," returned Miss +Duncan, coldly reproving. "I will answer it, however, by saying that I +sent for the young woman and questioned her regarding the time she +placed her theme in the box, without letting her know my motive in doing +so. Her frank answer completely assured me that she was speaking the +truth. At the same time she explained that she had been late with her +theme on account of mislaying it. She had written it two days before and +placed it in her desk. Then it had mysteriously vanished and suddenly +reappeared in the same pigeonhole in her desk in which she had placed +it. She assured me that directly she found it she took it to the box. +Your theme is so suspiciously similar to hers that it is hardly possible +to believe it to be merely a coincidence. In the face of the +circumstances it looks as though you were the real offender."</p> + +<p>Grace regarded Miss Duncan with mute reproach. She could not at once +trust herself to speak.</p> + +<p>"Have you anything to say to me, Miss Harlowe?" was the stern question.</p> + +<p>"Only, that what I have previously said to you is the truth," answered +Grace, fighting down her desire to cry. Then, seized with a sudden idea, +she said in a tone of subdued excitement, "Will you allow me to look at +that theme again, Miss Duncan?"</p> + +<p>Miss Duncan picked up the theme from the desk where Grace had laid it +and handed it to her. A strip of paper had been pasted over the name in +the upper left hand corner. Grace scanned each closely written page +attentively. "This is my theme," she declared finally, "and I have +thought of a way to prove that I wrote it. I did not steal it from +another girl. I would not be so contemptible."</p> + +<p>"I shall be very glad to have conclusive proof that you did not," +commented Miss Duncan rather sarcastically. "Appearances are not in your +favor, Miss Harlowe."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry that you doubt my word, Miss Duncan," said Grace with gentle +dignity, "because I am going to prove to you how utterly wrong you have +been in suspecting me of such contemptible conduct. I wrote this theme +in the room of a member of the senior class. She read it after I had +written it. I feel sure that she can identify this as mine because when +I rewrote it I could not remember a word of the original ending which +she had particularly commended. I did the best I could with it, but it +wasn't in the least like the other," Grace ended earnestly.</p> + +<p>"Will you tell me the name of the young woman in whose room you wrote +your theme?" asked Miss Duncan, her stern face relaxing a little.</p> + +<p>"It was Miss Ashe," returned Grace frankly.</p> + +<p>Miss Duncan raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I should say you had +strong evidence in your favor, Miss Harlowe."</p> + +<p>"Will you ask Miss Ashe to come to your room after your last class +to-day, Miss Duncan?" she asked eagerly. "I should like to show her the +theme without explaining anything to her at first. I give you my word of +honor I will say nothing about it to her in the meantime." Then, +realizing that her word of honor was at present being seriously +questioned, Grace blushed painfully.</p> + +<p>Miss Duncan, understanding the blush, said less severely, "Very well, +Miss Harlowe." She scrutinized Grace's fine, sensitive face for a +moment, then added, "You may come at the same time if you wish."</p> + +<p>Grace brightened, then shook her head positively. "Please let me come to +see you to-morrow morning instead." She wished to give Miss Duncan +perfect freedom to ask Mabel any questions she might find necessary to +ask.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow morning, then," acquiesced Miss Duncan graciously.</p> + +<p>Grace turned to leave the room. At the door she hesitated, then walking +back to the desk she said almost imploringly: "Please don't punish the +other girl now, Miss Duncan. I do not know who she is, but I am sure she +must have found my theme and copied it on the spur of the moment. I +can't believe that she did it deliberately. If she did, then being found +out by you will be lesson enough for her."</p> + +<p>"I have not as yet exonerated you from this charge, Miss Harlowe," +declared Miss Duncan stiffly, her brief graciousness vanishing like +magic. "If the other girl is to blame, then she must suffer for her +fault. Until I have seen Miss Ashe I shall say nothing. After that I can +not promise."</p> + +<p>Grace bowed and left the class room, her feeling toward the unknown +plagiarist entirely one of pity. She had vindicated herself at the +expense of exposing some one else without intent to do more than assert +her own innocence, and she now wondered sadly if there were not some way +in which she might persuade Miss Duncan to change her mind.</p> + +<p>On her way from Miss Duncan's class room that morning Grace found +herself walking directly behind Emma Dean. She was sauntering across the +campus, her near-sighted eyes fixed on a small, hurrying figure just +ahead of her.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Grace," was Emma's affable salutation as she turned at the touch +of Grace's hand on her shoulder. "I was watching Miss Taylor. What a +disappointment that girl is. The first week or two after her arrival at +Wayne Hall I thought her delightful, but she has turned out to be +anything but agreeable. She barely nodded to me this morning. I believe +she is developing snobbish tendencies, which is a great mistake. Deliver +me from snobs! We have very few of them at Overton, thank goodness."</p> + +<p>But Grace could not help thinking that somewhere in the college +community lived a girl who possessed a fault far greater than that of +being a snob.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>THE SUMMONS</h3> + + +<p>The prospective dinner at Vinton's at which Ruth Denton and Arline +Thayer were to be guests of honor drove the unpleasant incident of the +morning from Grace's mind for the time being. She had determined to keep +her interview with Miss Duncan a secret from her friends. If it had +involved only herself, she might possibly have told Anne of it, but +since it concerned some one else, Grace's fine sense of honor forbade +her making even Anne her confidant in the matter. She could not help +speculating a little concerning the identity of the other girl. She had +not the remotest idea as to who she might be. Whoever she was, she could +not have realized what a dishonorable thing she had done, was Grace's +charitable reflection. She wondered what Mabel would think when Miss +Duncan asked her to identify the theme as the one Grace had written +during that evening in Holland House.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to stop thinking of it for the rest of the day," declared +Grace half aloud, as she dressed for dinner late that afternoon. She +started guiltily, glancing quickly to where Anne sat mending a tiny tear +in her white silk blouse. Anne, who was fully occupied with her mending, +made no comment. She was so used to Grace's habit of thinking aloud that +she had no idle curiosity regarding her friend's thoughts. Whatever +Grace wished her to know she would hear in due season.</p> + +<p>"Miriam and Elfreda are not going with us, you know," said Grace as they +were about to leave their room.</p> + +<p>"I didn't know it," commented Anne. "Why did they change their minds?"</p> + +<p>"Miriam thinks you and I can do more toward restoring peace without her +and Elfreda. She suspects that Ruth will satisfy Arline's curiosity and +at the same time appease her wrath by telling what she refused to tell +that other night, provided there are not too many listeners."</p> + +<p>"What a wise girl Miriam is!" exclaimed Anne admiringly. "I never +thought of that."</p> + +<p>"Nor I," admitted Grace, "until she mentioned it. Then I saw the wisdom +of it."</p> + +<p>"Where are we to meet Ruth and Arline?" asked Anne. "Suppose both of +them arrive at Vinton's before we do?"</p> + +<p>"I thought of that, too," chuckled Grace, "so Arline is to come here, +and Ruth is to wait for us at Vinton's. They can't possibly meet until +we are there to manage matters. Arline ought to be here by this time. +Shall we go downstairs and wait for her?"</p> + +<p>"There's the door bell now," said Anne. "That must be Arline."</p> + +<p>Her supposition proved correct. Just as they reached the foot of the +stairs the maid admitted the fluffy-haired little girl.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" she called merrily. "I'm strictly on time, you see."</p> + +<p>"So are we," smiled Anne. "Shall we start at once?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed," emphasized Arline. "I'm starved. I wasn't prepared in +Greek to-day, and rushed through my luncheon in order to snatch a few +minutes' study before class. I had my trouble for my pains, too. The +bell rang before it was my turn to recite. Wasn't that fortunate?"</p> + +<p>"I should say so," agreed Grace. "If it had been I, Professor Martin +would have called on me first. You were born lucky, Daffydowndilly."</p> + +<p>"I don't think so," replied Arline gloomily. "I have all kinds of +miserable, unpleasant things to bother me."</p> + +<p>Anne and Grace exchanged significant glances behind the little girl's +back. There was a chance for the success of their scheme. Arline was +evidently unhappy over her cavalier treatment of Ruth.</p> + +<p>During the short walk to Vinton's all mention of Ruth's name was tacitly +avoided. Arline chattered volubly about the reception. She had not +enjoyed herself particularly. She had taken a freshman by the name of +Violet Darby, who lived on the top floor of Morton House. She was +considered the freshman beauty.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I remember her!" exclaimed Grace. "Gertrude Wells introduced me to +her. I asked for a dance, but her card was full to overflowing. She is +beautiful. She has such wonderful golden hair, and her brown eyes are in +such striking contrast to her hair and fair complexion. She is awfully +popular, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"Yes, the Morton House girls are all rushing her. I was surprised to +think she accepted my invitation," returned Arline.</p> + +<p>"I don't think that was so very surprising," declared Grace bluntly. +"Arline Thayer is also a Morton House favorite."</p> + +<p>"Violet is the reigning favorite just at present," rejoined Arline. +"It's her fatal beauty. She is a very nice girl, though. Not a bit +snobbish or conceited. Everyone in the house likes her. You must become +better acquainted with her."</p> + +<p>"Here we are at Vinton's," announced Grace. "I ordered one of the alcove +tables reserved for us."</p> + +<p>As they made their way to the alcove a girl rose from her seat in the +shadow to greet them. It was Ruth, and as Arline caught sight of her her +baby face grew dark. "How dared you?" she asked accusingly, turning +toward Grace. "You know we are not friends. I don't wish to see her. I'm +going straight home. I suppose she planned all this. She has tried to +make up with me, but I shall never again be friends with her."</p> + +<p>"Please listen to me, Arline," began Grace, taking the angry little girl +by the arm and pulling her gently toward the alcove. Ruth had risen from +the table, a look of mingled pain and bewilderment on her face.</p> + +<p>"I didn't know Arline was to be here," she said tremulously. "Please +tell her I didn't know it." She turned appealing eyes toward Grace.</p> + +<p>"Suppose we sit down at our table and talk over this matter," suggested +Grace, in her most casual manner. Her calm gray eyes rested first on +Ruth, then traveled to Arline, who hesitated briefly, then with an angry +shrug of her shoulders seated herself in the nearest chair. Grace +motioned Anne and Ruth to their chairs, then seating herself she said +gently: "Now, children, suppose we clear up some of these doubts and +misunderstanding by holding court? I am going to be the prosecuting +attorney. Anne can be the counsel for the defense. Arline can borrow her +first, then Ruth can have her. When all the evidence is in I shall +appoint myself as judge and jury. It means a great deal of work for me, +but the law must take its course. I, therefore, summon you both into +court."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>GRACE HOLDS COURT</h3> + + +<p>In spite of her displeasure, Arline giggled faintly at Grace's impromptu +session of court. Ruth's sad little face brightened, while Anne listened +to her friend with open admiration. She could have conceived of no surer +way to settle the difference that had made them so unhappy.</p> + +<p>"You must remember," Grace said solemnly, "that there can be no dinner +until the court has disposed of its first case. This is a murder trial, +therefore the chief object of the court is to find the murderer of one +friendship, done to death in cruel fashion. I wish I had Emma Dean's +glasses to make me look more imposing. I wonder what kind of voice a +prosecuting attorney would have. Dearly beloved," went on Grace +impressively, "they don't say that in court, I know, but then I'm going +to be different from most prosecuting attorneys."</p> + +<p>"There isn't the least doubt of that," interposed Anne slyly.</p> + +<p>"Silence," commanded Grace severely. "I shall have you arrested for +contempt of court. Then there won't be any counsel for the defense. The +first witness, that's you, Arline, will please take the stand. You +needn't really move, you know. We will take a few things for granted. +Sit up straight and be as dignified as possible. Fold your hands on the +table. That's right. Now, state where and when you first met the +defendant. Ruth can be the defendant until I question her. Then you'll +have to play the part."</p> + +<p>"Over a year ago, at Morton House," stated Arline obediently.</p> + +<p>"What was your opinion of the defendant?"</p> + +<p>"I liked her better than any other girl I had ever met," confessed +Arline.</p> + +<p>"Defendant number two, what did you think of Arline Thayer?" quizzed +Grace, eyeing Ruth expectantly.</p> + +<p>"I liked her as much as she liked me," replied Ruth promptly.</p> + +<p>"When did your first disagreement occur?" probed Grace, turning from +Ruth to Arline.</p> + +<p>"Here, at this very table," returned Arline in a low tone.</p> + +<p>"Whose fault was it?" inquired Grace wickedly.</p> + +<p>"Mine!" exclaimed Ruth and Arline simultaneously.</p> + +<p>"Thank you," returned Grace soberly. "Such spontaneity on the part of +the defendants is very refreshing. It also simplifies the case and saves +the court considerable trouble. There is hope that the court will be +dismissed in time for dinner. As prosecuting attorney I will now deliver +my charge. I shall have to deliver it sitting down or attract too much +attention to the case. Gentlemen of the jury, you have heard the +evidence. You think, no doubt, that murder has been done. This is not +so. The friendship between Defendant Number One," Grace bowed to Arline, +"and Defendant Number Two," she made a second bow to Ruth, "received a +blow on the head which rendered it unconscious for some time. It had no +intention of dying, but both prisoners treated it with extreme cruelty, +not allowing it to hold up its poor crippled head. I ask you, Gentlemen +of the jury, to consider well what shall be the penalty for assaulting +and battering friendship with intent to kill. Gentlemen of the jury, are +you ready for the question?"</p> + +<p>"We are," Grace answered for the jury in a deep voice that elicited +little shrieks of laughter from her companions.</p> + +<p>"What shall be the fate of these malefactors?" demanded Grace in her +prosecuting attorney voice, after the jury had rendered a verdict of +guilty. "Be deliberate in your decision, but don't be all night about +it."</p> + +<p>"They shall be made to shake hands across the table or suffer the full +penalty of the law," stated the judge.</p> + +<p>"What is the full penalty of the law?"</p> + +<p>"No dinner," was the prompt answer.</p> + +<p>"Counsel for the defense, have you anything to say? I should have asked +you before sentence was pronounced, but it doesn't matter. The +prosecuting attorney always tries to fix things to suit himself, no +matter what any one else thinks."</p> + +<p>"The counsel for the defense is a mere blot on the landscape in this +trial," jeered Anne.</p> + +<p>"How did you guess it?" beamed the prosecuting attorney. "Prisoners, the +sentence will be executed at once. Shake hands."</p> + +<p>Ruth's hand was stretched across the table to meet Arline's.</p> + +<p>"I'm awfully sorry, Ruth," said Arline, her voice trembling slightly. "I +should never have asked you to tell what you wished to keep secret."</p> + +<p>"And I shouldn't have been so silly as to refuse to tell," declared Ruth +bravely. "I'm going to tell you now, and you mustn't stop me. I was +brought up in an orphan asylum. That's why I didn't care to tell you +about myself that evening."</p> + +<p>"You poor, precious dear!" exclaimed Arline. "How can I ever forgive +myself for being so horrid? Won't you forgive me, Ruth? I never supposed +it was anything like that. I was angry because you called me your best +friend, but wouldn't trust me. I'm so sorry. I'll never speak of it +again to you." Arline looked appealingly at Ruth, her blue eyes misty.</p> + +<p>"But I want you to think of it. I had made up my mind to tell you. Then +you passed me on the campus without speaking, and somehow I didn't dare +come near you after that."</p> + +<p>"I've been perfectly horrid, I know," admitted Arline contritely. "I've +been so used to having my own way that I try to bend everyone I know to +it."</p> + +<p>"I don't mind telling you girls about myself now. At first I was ashamed +of my poverty," confessed Ruth. "After I went to Arline's beautiful home +I hated to say anything about it to any one. Then Arline grew angry with +me. I realized afterward that I had been foolish not to tell her my +story. There isn't much to tell. I was picked up in a railroad wreck on +a westbound train when I was four years old. I can just remember getting +into the train with my mother. She was burned to death in the wreck, but +by some miracle I was saved. I knew my name, Ruth Irving Denton, my age, +and around my neck mother had tied a little packet containing some +money, a letter and a gold watch. A woman who lived near where the wreck +occurred took charge of me, and as no one came for me, in time I was +sent to a home. I lived there until I was fourteen. The matron was good +to us, and considering we were all homeless waifs we fared very well."</p> + +<p>"And the letter?" asked Grace.</p> + +<p>"It was from my father to my mother, giving all the directions for our +journey west. With it had been enclosed a money order for four hundred +dollars, which my mother had evidently cashed. I still have the letter.</p> + +<p>"Then a man and his wife took me. They were good to me and sent me to +school. I studied hard and finished high school when I was seventeen. +Then I won a scholarship of one hundred dollars a year. I was determined +to go to college, but the people with whom I lived thought differently. +So I left them a year ago last fall and came to Overton, resolving to +make my own way. They were so angry with me for leaving them they would +have nothing further to do with me. So you see I had not a friend in the +world until I met you girls."</p> + +<p>"But you have me now," comforted Arline, patting Ruth's hand. "I'll +never be so silly again. Poor little girl!"</p> + +<p>"And you have Anne and me," added Grace. "Don't forget Miriam and +Elfreda, either."</p> + +<p>"I am rich in friends now," said Ruth softly.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps your father isn't really dead, Ruth!" exclaimed Grace.</p> + +<p>"He must be," said Ruth sadly. "I have only one thing that belonged to +him, a heavy gold watch with his full name, 'Arthur Northrup Denton,' +engraved on the inside of the back case. It is a valuable watch, but I +have always declared I would starve rather than part with it."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it may help you to find him some day," suggested Grace +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know the name of the town in Nevada where he first lived?" +asked Anne.</p> + +<p>"He went to Humboldt, and from there into the mountains," replied Ruth. +"Since that time all trace of him has been lost. I never knew my own +story until on the day I became fourteen years of age. Then the matron +told me. It was at the time that I was getting ready to go to live with +the man and his wife of whom I have spoken. After that it seemed as +though the whole world changed for me. I didn't mind being poor, nor +having to work, for I had the glorious thought that perhaps my father +was still alive and that some time I should see him again. I wrote +several letters to him, sending them to Humboldt, but they always came +back to me.</p> + +<p>"After a while I gave up all hope and stopped writing. I couldn't bear +to think of having more letters come back unclaimed. I tried to forget +that I had even dreamed of seeing my father again, and began to put my +whole mind on going to college. Now I am so thankful that I persevered +and won the scholarship. There were times when I was very unhappy over +leaving the only home I had ever known, outside the orphanage. Still I +could not rid myself of the conviction that I had taken a step in the +right direction. Later, when I met you girls, I was sure of it. Even +though I didn't find my father, I found true and loyal friends who have +crowded more pleasure and happiness into one short year than I ever had +in all my life before."</p> + +<p>"I'll lend you half of my father, Ruth," offered Arline generously. "He +is almost as fond of you as he is of me. You remember he said so."</p> + +<p>"Weren't you green with jealousy when he admitted it?" teased Anne.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it," protested Arline stoutly. "I only wish Ruth were my +sister."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to be the one to find Ruth's father," mused Grace.</p> + +<p>Anne smiled. "Even college can't uproot Grace's sleuthing tendencies. +She has an absolute genius for ferreting out mysteries."</p> + +<p>"No, I haven't," contradicted Grace. "If I had—" she stopped. She had +been on the point of remarking that she would have known who had stolen +and used her theme.</p> + +<p>"If you had what?" asked Arline curiously.</p> + +<p>"If I had the genius of which Arline prattles, I'd be at the head of the +New York Detective Bureau," finished Grace. And Anne alone knew that +Grace had purposely substituted this flippant answer to conceal her real +thought.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>GRACE MAKES A RESOLUTION</h3> + + +<p>"What do you think has happened?" demanded J. Elfreda Briggs, bursting +into the room where Anne and Grace were busily making up for lost time. +They had lingered at Vinton's until after eight o'clock. Then the +thought of to-morrow with its eternal round of classes had driven them +home, reluctantly enough, to where their books awaited them. It was +almost nine o'clock before they had actually settled themselves, and +Elfreda's sudden, tempestuous entrance caused Anne to lay down her +Horace with an air of patient resignation. "We might as well begin +saying 'unprepared' now, and grow accustomed to the sound of our own +voices," she announced.</p> + +<p>"I think so, too," agreed Grace. "Well, Elfreda, why this thusness? What +has happened? Have you been elected to the Pi Beta Gamma, or did you get +an unusually large check from home?"</p> + +<p>"Catch the P. B. Gammas troubling themselves about me," scoffed Elfreda. +"As for a check, I've written for it, but so far I've seen no signs of +it. When I do lay hands on it we'll celebrate the event with feasting +and merrymaking."</p> + +<p>"Then I can't guess," sighed Grace. "You'd better tell us."</p> + +<p>"Well," began Elfreda, her eyes twinkling, "I have a dinner invitation +for to-morrow night at Martell's."</p> + +<p>"That is nothing startling," scoffed Anne. "We've just come from +Vinton's."</p> + +<p>"But the rest of my news is remarkable," persisted the stout girl. "I am +invited to dine"—Elfreda paused, then finished impressively—"with the +Anarchist."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean it!" Grace looked her surprise.</p> + +<p>"Of course I mean it," retorted Elfreda. "I wouldn't say so if I didn't. +She delivered her invitation on the way over to chapel this morning. I'd +give you an imitation of the way she did it if I hadn't accepted."</p> + +<p>Grace shot a quick, approving glance toward Elfreda which the latter saw +and interpreted correctly. "I wouldn't have thought about that last +year, would I, Grace?" she asked shyly.</p> + +<p>Grace laughed rather confusedly. "How did you guess so much? The way you +stumble upon things is positively uncanny."</p> + +<p>"Observation, my dear, observation," returned Elfreda patronizingly. +"One can learn almost everything about everybody if one keeps one's eyes +open."</p> + +<p>"You seem to carry out your own theory," admitted Grace smilingly. "Have +you finished your work for to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Years ago," declared Elfreda extravagantly. "Miriam hasn't, at least +she was still studying when I left the room. I'll tell you what I'll do. +I'll make some fudge. Mrs. Elwood will let me have some milk and we have +the rest of the stuff in our room. I'll send Miriam in here. Then I can +have the whole room to myself. When it's done, I'll call you."</p> + +<p>With a joyful skip that fairly jarred the furniture in the room Elfreda +bounded through the doorway and vanished. Two minutes later Miriam +appeared, an amused look on her dark face, several books tucked under +one arm. "Driven from home," she declaimed, posing on the threshold, her +free hand appealingly extended. "Will no one help me?"</p> + +<p>"I will." Grace reached forth her hand, dragging Miriam into the room. +"Hurry through your lessons and we'll have a spread. I'm sorry you +weren't with us to-night, but Anne and I weren't sure as to just how +successfully our plan would work. Everything went smoothly, though." +Grace related briefly what had taken place at the dinner.</p> + +<p>"I am glad Ruth and Arline settled their differences," commented Miriam. +"We all knew that Arline was at fault. She is such a dear little thing, +one hesitates to say so."</p> + +<p>"She was very sweet to-night," interposed Anne. "She asked Ruth's +forgiveness and took the blame for their little coolness on her own +shoulders."</p> + +<p>"I don't wish to cause dissension in this happy band, but we really must +stop talking and study," warned Grace. "I haven't made a satisfactory +recitation this week, and I vote for reform."</p> + +<p>"All right, my dear Miss Harlowe," flung back Miriam. "'Work, for the +Night is Coming.'"</p> + +<p>"You mean going," giggled Anne.</p> + +<p>After this interchange of flippant remarks silence reigned, broken only +by the sound of turning leaves or an occasional sigh over the appalling +length of a lesson. The three girls were fully absorbed in their work +when Elfreda poked her head in the room to announce that the fudge was +made. "I've a bottle of cunning little pickles, and a box of cheese +wafers. I made some tea, too. Hurry, or it will be half-past ten before +we have time to eat a single thing."</p> + +<p>"I can't possibly finish studying my Latin to-night," sighed Miriam. +"Every day the lessons seem to get longer. Miss Arthur hasn't a spark of +compassion."</p> + +<p>"Don't stop to grumble," commanded Elfreda. "Come along."</p> + +<p>The half-past ten o'clock bell rang before the fudge was half gone. In +fact, it was after eleven before the quartette prepared for sleep. +During the evening all thought of the troublesome theme had left Grace's +mind. It was not until after she had turned out the light and gone to +bed that it came back to her with such disagreeable force that for the +time being all idea of sleep fled. For the first time since her entrance +into Overton College she had incurred the displeasure of one in +authority over her, and through no fault of her own.</p> + +<p>As Grace lay staring into the darkness the recollection of that bitter +time during her junior year at high school, when Miss Thompson had +accused her of shielding the girl who had destroyed the principal's +personal papers, came back, vivid and complete. Eleanor Savelli, now +numbered among her dearest friends and a member of the Phi Sigma Tau, +had been the transgressor, and Grace had refused to voice her +suspicions. It had all come right in the end, although Miss Thompson's +displeasure had been hard to bear.</p> + +<p>Perhaps this affair would end happily, too. Suppose the other girl had +chosen the same subject? Grace gave vent to a soft exclamation of +impatience at her own supposition. She wished she dared believe that it +were so, but common sense told her that she could not hope to deceive +herself by any such delusion.</p> + +<p>"Who could the girl be?" Grace asked herself over and over. Surely, no +one of her intimate friends. Nor any girl at Wayne Hall, either. Whoever +was guilty would be severely punished, perhaps sent home. Overton prided +itself on its honor. Its children must be above reproach at all times. +Mabel's evidence would clear her. But what of the other girl?</p> + +<p>"Whoever she is," speculated Grace, "by this time she is probably sorry +for what she did. I suppose she is frightened, too. I'm going to make +Miss Duncan let her off this once, and if I can find out who she is, I'm +going to stand by her so faithfully that she'll never again care to do a +dishonest thing as long as she lives."</p> + +<p>It was a long time before Grace fell asleep that night. Her perturbed +state of mind over the stolen theme had served to make her wakeful, and +her thoughts flitted from one subject to another, as she lay waiting for +the sleep that refused to come, always returning, however, to that of +the unlucky theme.</p> + +<p>When, at last, it came, it brought disturbing dreams, in which she +figured as the transgressor. The theme did not belong to her, but to J. +Elfreda Briggs. She had stolen it from the pocket of Elfreda's brown +serge coat, and Miss Duncan had seen her take it. During the morning +exercises in the chapel, Miss Duncan had mounted the steps of the +platform, and, standing beside Dr. Morton, had shouted forth her guilt +to the whole college, while she had endeavored to creep out of the +chapel unnoticed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>THE QUALITY OF MERCY</h3> + + +<p>The next morning Grace felt singularly dispirited as she went down to +breakfast. It had been raining, and the dreary outlook caused the gloomy +lines, "The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year," to run +through her head with maddening persistency.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Grace?" inquired Emma Dean. "That chief-mourner +expression of yours is doubly depressing on a day like this. Did you eat +too much fudge last night, or have you been conditioned in math?"</p> + +<p>"You are a wild guesser, Emma," returned Grace, smiling faintly. "My +troubles are of an entirely different nature. But how did you know we +made fudge last night, and why didn't you come in and have some?"</p> + +<p>"I never go where I am not invited," was the significant retort.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" declared Grace. "You are always welcome, and you know it. +The spread was in Miriam's room, but you know who your friends are, +don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Don't worry, I'm not offended," Emma assured Grace good-humoredly. "I +came in just before the ten-thirty bell last night and heard sounds of +revelry as I passed by."</p> + +<p>"There's plenty of fudge on our table," put in Miriam Nesbit. "Help +yourself to it whenever the spirit moves you."</p> + +<p>"Where is Mildred Taylor this morning?" asked Irene Evans, glancing +toward Mildred's vacant place.</p> + +<p>"Miss Taylor is ill this morning," answered a prim voice from the end of +the table.</p> + +<p>With one accord all eyes were turned in the direction of the voice. The +Anarchist had actually spoken at the table! It was unbelievable. What +followed was even more surprising. The Anarchist swept the table with a +defiant look, then said, with startling distinctness, "If she has not +fully recovered by to-night I shall send for a physician. In the +meantime I shall remain with her to care for her."</p> + +<p>"That is very kind in you, I am sure," ventured Emma Dean. Surprise had +tied the tongues of the others.</p> + +<p>"Not in the least," contradicted the Anarchist coldly. "As her roommate, +common humanity demands that I assume a certain amount of responsibility +for her welfare."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, of course," agreed Emma hastily. "Please let us know when we +may run in to see her. Excuse me, everybody. I must run upstairs and +study a little before going to chapel."</p> + +<p>Several freshmen followed her lead and filed decorously out the door +with preternaturally solemn faces that broke into smiles the moment the +door closed behind them.</p> + +<p>The Anarchist, however, went on eating her breakfast, quite unaware that +she had created the slightest ripple of amusement. When Elfreda rose to +leave the dining room the strange young woman rose, too, and walked +sedately out of the room in the stout girl's wake.</p> + +<p>"Elfreda has evidently made a conquest," remarked Miriam to Grace. "See +how tamely the haughty Anarchist follows at her heels."</p> + +<p>"It's astonishing, but splendid, I think," said Grace decidedly. "Isn't +it strange how much influence for good one girl can have over another? +For some reason or other Elfreda knows just how to bring the best in +Miss Atkins to the surface. Shall we run up and see Miss Taylor for a +moment?"</p> + +<p>"You go this morning, Grace," urged Miriam. "I'll stop and see her at +noon. I haven't the time just now."</p> + +<p>"I'll go with you," volunteered Anne.</p> + +<p>Grace knocked gently on the slightly opened door, then, receiving no +answer, opened it softly. She paused irresolutely on the threshold, Anne +peering over her shoulder. Laura Atkins had left the room, but Mildred +Taylor, fully dressed, sat at the window looking listlessly out. If she +heard Grace's light knock she paid no attention to it. It was not until +Grace said rather diffidently, "We heard you were ill and thought we'd +come in to see you," that the girl at the window turned toward Grace. +Her piquant little face was drawn and pale, and her eyes looked +suspiciously red. She eyed Grace almost sulkily, then said slowly, "It +was kind of you to come, but I shall be all right to-morrow." Under +Grace's serious glance her eyes fell, then, to her visitors' amazement, +she burst into tears. Grace crossed the room. Her arm slid across the +sobbing freshman's shoulders in silent sympathy. "Can't you tell me what +troubles you?" she asked softly.</p> + +<p>Mildred shook off the comforting arm with a muttered: "Let me alone. I +can't tell you, of all persons. Go away."</p> + +<p>"Why can't you tell me?" persisted Grace gently.</p> + +<p>"Because I can't. Won't you please go. I don't wish to talk to any one," +wailed Mildred.</p> + +<p>Grace walked toward the door, her eyes on the weeping girl. Anne, who +had kept strictly in the background during the little scene, stepped out +into the hall, Grace following.</p> + +<p>"That was hardly my idea of a cordial reception," was Anne's dry comment +as they entered their own room.</p> + +<p>"That young woman has something on her mind," declared Grace. "Her +illness is not physical. It is mental. Either some one has torn her +feelings to shreds or else she has done something she is ashamed of and +remorse has overtaken her."</p> + +<p>"Unless she has had bad news from home or has been conditioned," +suggested Anne.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it's either," said Grace, shaking her head. "I believe +this is something different. Of late she has been acting strangely. Ever +since the reception she has avoided me. Anne Pierson, do you see the +time? We'll be late for chapel!" gasped Grace in consternation.</p> + +<p>With one accord the two friends gathered up their wraps, putting them on +as they ran.</p> + +<p>After chapel Grace left Anne at the door of Science Hall and went on to +Overton Hall. She wished to see Miss Duncan before her first class +recited, and learn the latest developments of her case. Until chapel +exercises were over, Grace had refused to allow her mind to dwell on her +trouble, but now, as she climbed slowly up the broad stairway to Miss +Duncan's class room, the whole unhappy affair rose before her.</p> + +<p>Miss Duncan was sitting at her desk as Grace entered. She looked at her +watch, smiled frankly at Grace and said in her usual businesslike way, +"I can give you only ten minutes, Miss Harlowe."</p> + +<p>The teacher's friendly tone made Grace's heart leap. She recognized the +fact that Miss Duncan no longer looked upon her with suspicion.</p> + +<p>"Your innocence was clearly proven by Miss Ashe," said Miss Duncan in +her blunt fashion, coming at once to the point. "I recognize your claim +to the authorship of the theme. The other young woman was the real +plagiarist. It was a contemptible trick and not in keeping with Overton +standards."</p> + +<p>"What will happen to this other girl, Miss Duncan?" asked Grace +apprehensively, her eyes fixed on Miss Duncan.</p> + +<p>"What do you think she deserves?" inquired Miss Duncan quizzically.</p> + +<p>"A chance to redeem herself," was the prompt reply. "No one except you +knows who she is. I don't wish to know her identity, and I am sure Miss +Ashe doesn't. Couldn't you send for the girl and tell her that it would +be a secret between just you two. That you were willing to forget it had +happened if she were willing to start all over again and build her +college foundation fairly and squarely. It wouldn't be of any benefit to +her to place her fault before the dean. No doubt she would be dismissed, +and that dismissal might spoil her whole life."</p> + +<p>"You are an eloquent pleader, Miss Harlowe," returned Miss Duncan. "As +this is strictly an affair of one of my classes, I consider that I am at +liberty to do as I think best about placing this matter before the dean. +If I did see fit to do so I hardly think it would mean dismissal, +particularly if I took you with me to plead the cause of the offender. +Come to me this afternoon after my last class and I will give you my +answer."</p> + +<p>Grace left the class room far more cheerfully than she had entered. Her +own vindication had not impressed her half so deeply as Miss Duncan's +apparently lenient attitude toward the girl who had been false to +herself and to Overton.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>A DISGRUNTLED REFORMER</h3> + + +<p>Grace was not disappointed. Miss Duncan graciously agreed to let the +culprit off with a severe reprimand. Grace ran joyfully down the campus +to Holland House. She wished to tell Mabel Ashe the good news.</p> + +<p>"Horrid little copy-cat! She doesn't deserve it," was Mabel's +unsympathetic comment as Grace related what had passed between Miss +Duncan and herself. "You know who she is, don't you, Grace?"</p> + +<p>Grace shook her head. "I haven't the slightest idea," she said soberly. +"I can't believe it was any one at Wayne Hall. You don't suspect any +one, do you?"</p> + +<p>"No," returned Mabel. "I haven't become very well acquainted with the +freshmen this year, so far. I suppose you did right in not exposing this +girl. I don't know whether I should be quite as charitable as you. If +you hadn't had a witness who saw you write the theme, you would now be +under a cloud. What I can't forget is the fact that she went so far as +to try to make Miss Duncan believe that you really copied it. Miss +Duncan said she insisted that the theme had disappeared from her room. +Think how foolish she must have felt when Miss Duncan confronted her +with the truth yesterday afternoon and made her confess!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mabel!" Grace's distressed tone caused the pretty senior to rise +and stand in front of Grace's chair.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Gracie," she said, taking Grace's hands in hers.</p> + +<p>Grace raised her gray eyes to meet the inquiring brown ones bent on her. +"I'm so sorry," she said sadly, "but the girl who took my theme does +live in Wayne Hall."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?" asked Mabel quickly.</p> + +<p>"From what you said," returned Grace. "If she accused me of taking her +theme from her room, isn't it highly probable that her room is in Wayne +Hall? I wouldn't be likely to go into one of the campus houses to steal +a theme, would I? I must have dropped it in the hall or on the stairs +that night, and she must have come into the house directly after I did +and picked it up. I don't like to believe that one of our girls did it," +Grace concluded sorrowfully, "but I am afraid it's true."</p> + +<p>"Some day you'll stumble upon the guilty girl when you least expect to +find her," prophesied Mabel. "Now forget her, and tell me what you and +your chums are going to do over Thanksgiving. I am going to a dance on +Thanksgiving night with a Willston man. His fraternity is giving it."</p> + +<p>"I don't know any college men in this part of the world," sighed Grace +regretfully, "therefore I never have any invitations to man dances."</p> + +<p>"Wait until my cousin comes up here. He is a Columbia man and you will +like him immensely. I know a number of the Willston men, too. Why don't +you go with me to the football game Thanksgiving Day? You are not going +away, are you? It is only a four days' vacation, you know."</p> + +<p>"No, we haven't any particular place to go. Last year we spent our +Thanksgiving vacation with the Southards in New York. You knew about +that."</p> + +<p>"You lucky things," laughed Mabel. "I envy you your friendship with +Everett Southard and his sister."</p> + +<p>"Some day you must meet them," planned Grace. "They are delightful +people. Mr. Southard is appearing in Shakespearian roles in the large +cities this season, and Miss Southard is in Florida visiting friends. If +they were in New York they would insist on our going to them for the +holidays. I must run away now. It is almost dinner time and I promised +to hook up Elfreda's new gown. Miriam went over to Morton House with +Gertrude Wells, and won't return until late, and Elfreda is going to +dine with the Anarchist."</p> + +<p>"Really!" exclaimed Mabel. "Elfreda seems to be coming to the front this +year, doesn't she!"</p> + +<p>"She is turning out splendidly," said Grace warmly. "She stands high in +every one of her classes, and she is so ridiculously funny that we would +feel lost without her. She says things in the same droll way that a +young man we know in Oakdale does. But I mustn't stay another minute. +Good-bye, Mabel, I'll see you in a day or two."</p> + +<p>Grace darted across the campus and ran rapidly in the direction of Wayne +Hall. She loved to run and her fleetness of foot had served her well on +more than one occasion. Only that day she had complained to Miriam that +it had been years since she had indulged in a good run. Miriam had +laughingly accused her of still being a tomboy, and had proposed that +they take a long tramp on Saturday. "You can run up and down the road to +your heart's content when we get far enough away from Overton so that no +one will see you and think you have suddenly gone crazy," Miriam had +declared good-naturedly.</p> + +<p>Bounding up the steps two at a time, Grace reached the front door of +Wayne Hall without drawing a laboring breath. "I'm certainly in good +condition," she laughed to herself, inhaling deeply and inflating her +chest. "I hope I'll be chosen to play on the team this year." She rang a +third time before the door was opened by Emma Dean, who grumbled at her +repeated ringing and then announced that she had rung six times that +afternoon before any one had condescended to let her in. "Have you seen +Elfreda?" flung back Grace on her way upstairs.</p> + +<p>"You'd better hurry," called Emma after her. "I heard her growling to +herself as I passed her door."</p> + +<p>"I began to think you were never coming," greeted Elfreda, as Grace +burst into the room, her eyes bright and her cheeks becomingly flushed +from her recent run across the campus.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you ask some one else to hook you up?" retorted Grace +mischievously, throwing down her gloves and beginning on the top hook.</p> + +<p>"Because I wanted you to see how nice I looked in this new frock," +replied the stout girl. "If I had not stipulated that you were to +perform this extremely important service for me, you would have in all +probability absented yourself from my immediate vicinity, unmindful of +the rare exhibition of youth and beauty that was being prepared for you +in my room."</p> + +<p>"If I had closed my eyes I could have sworn it was Miss Atkins," laughed +Grace. "Even she herself couldn't fail to recognize that impersonation. +It's ridiculously funny, Elfreda, but I wish you wouldn't do it." As +Grace and Elfreda were standing with their backs directly away from the +door neither girl saw the tense little figure that stood rigid, one hand +on the door casing, listening with eyebrows drawn fiercely together. An +instant later it had vanished. Grace, after triumphantly placing the +last hook in its eye, began helping Elfreda find her handkerchief and +gloves. "Now you have everything you need," she declared, holding up the +stout girl's coat. "Do you wait here for your dinner partner or does she +call for you?"</p> + +<p>"She is coming in here for me," answered Elfreda. "I wish she would +hurry along. I haven't had even a cracker to eat since luncheon and I'm +famished."</p> + +<p>"I think I'll go if you don't mind. I'm hungry, too. I must see if Anne +has come in yet. Miss Atkins will be here in a moment. Good-bye. I hope +you will have a nice time. I am so glad she invited you."</p> + +<p>Grace crossed the hall to her own room. Anne was rearranging her hair +preparatory to going down to dinner.</p> + +<p>"I think I'll do my hair over again," decided Grace. "That run across +the campus shook most of my hairpins loose. It will be at least ten +minutes before the bell rings, so I shall have plenty of time." But her +hair proved refractory and the clang of the dinner bell found her +tucking in a last unruly lock. "I'm going on downstairs, Grace," called +Anne from the doorway.</p> + +<p>"All right," answered Grace. As she passed Elfreda's room she heard her +name uttered in a sibilant whisper. Wheeling at the sound, Grace stepped +to the stout girl's door. Elfreda drew her in and, closing the door, +said nervously: "What do you suppose has happened? I waited and waited +for the An—Miss Atkins and she didn't appear, so I went down to her +room and found the door closed. I knocked at least a dozen times, until +my knuckles ached, but not a sound came from within. Then I came back to +my room and waited. She hasn't materialized yet. I went down to her door +just now and knocked again, but, nothing doing." In her agitation +Elfreda dropped into slang.</p> + +<p>"That is strange," agreed Grace. "Do you suppose she has been taken +suddenly ill?"</p> + +<p>"Search me," declared Elfreda wearily. "She ought to be called the +Riddle. She is past solution, isn't she? I'm hungry, and if she doesn't +appear within the next five minutes I'm going to put on my old brown +serge dress and go down to dinner. I'm not used to being invited out to +dine and then deserted before I've even had a chance to look at the bill +of fare."</p> + +<p>"Never mind," comforted Grace. "I'll ask you to dinner at Martell's next +week and won't desert you either. Wait a minute. I will go down to the +dining room and see if by any chance she could be there. Then I'll come +upstairs and let you know. If she isn't there you had better change your +gown and go downstairs with me."</p> + +<p>"She isn't there," reported Grace, five minutes later. "Miss Taylor is, +but her roommate is missing."</p> + +<p>"'Parted at the altar,'" quoted Elfreda dramatically. "Will you please +unhook me?"</p> + +<p>For the second time that night Grace busied herself with the troublesome +hooks and eyes. Elfreda jerked off the new gown. Her temper was rising. +"This is what comes of cultivating freaks," she muttered, lapsing into +her old rudeness. "I might have known she'd do something. Catch me on +any more reform committees!"</p> + +<p>"The way of the reformer is hard," soothed Grace, as she picked up the +gown Elfreda had thrown in a heap on the floor, and folding it, laid it +across the foot of the stout girl's couch.</p> + +<p>Elfreda, who was reaching into the closet for her brown serge dress, +wheeled about, regarding Grace solemnly. "Too hard for me," she +declared. "Hereafter, the Anarchist can attend to her own reformation. +The Briggs Helping Hand Society has disbanded."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>MAKING OTHER GIRLS HAPPY</h3> + + +<p>The Thanksgiving holiday was welcomed with acclamation by the students +of Overton College, who, with a few exceptions, ate their Thanksgiving +dinners at their various campus houses and boarding places. During the +four days tables at Martell's and Vinton's were in demand and a +continuous succession of dinners and luncheons made serious inroads in +the monthly allowances of the hospitable entertainers.</p> + +<p>The month of December dragged discouragingly, however, and when the time +really did arrive to pack and be off for the Christmas holidays the +latent energy that suddenly developed for packing trunks and making +calls caused the faculty to sigh with regret that it had not been used +in the pursuit of knowledge.</p> + +<p>Nothing of any event had happened at Wayne Hall. Since the evening when +Elfreda had waited in vain for Laura Atkins, whose invitation to dinner +she had accepted, this peculiar young woman had offered neither apology +nor explanation for her inexplicable behavior. In fact, the next morning +she had completely ignored Elfreda, who, feeling herself to be the +aggrieved one, had made no attempt to discover what had prompted this +glaring disregard of etiquette on the part of the eccentric freshman.</p> + +<p>For a week afterward Elfreda discussed and rediscussed the mystery with +Grace, Anne and Miriam. Then she gave up in disgust and turned her +attention to basketball. She had lost considerable weight and was now a +member of the scrub team. Her greatest ambition was to make the real +team in her junior year, and with that intent she sturdily refused to +eat sweet things, took long walks and daily haunted the gymnasium, going +through the various forms of exercises she had elected to take with +commendable persistency.</p> + +<p>Grace had never sought to discover the identity of the freshman who had +stolen her theme. She felt reasonably certain that the same roof covered +them both, but she never allowed herself to reach the point of laying +the finger of suspicion on any one in particular. That she had been +vindicated of the charge was quite enough for her, but she could not +resist wondering occasionally what had prompted the deed, and whether +the other girl had turned over a new leaf.</p> + +<p>One other thing troubled Grace not a little. Mildred Taylor had become +extremely intimate with Mary Hampton and Alberta Wicks. Both young women +were frequent guests for dinner at Wayne Hall, and Mildred spent her +spare time almost entirely in their society. As the two juniors were +extremely unpopular with the Wayne Hall girls a peculiar constraint +invariably fell upon the table when either young woman was Mildred's +guest for the evening. "One has to weigh one's words before speaking +when Alberta Wicks or Mary Hampton are here," Emma Dean had declared +significantly to Irene Evans, and this seemed to be the prevalent +opinion among the students who lived at Wayne Hall.</p> + +<p>Mildred's attitude toward Grace had not changed. In manner she was more +distant than ever, and except for a slight bow when chance brought her +face to face with Grace, she gave no other evidence of having been more +than the merest acquaintance. Her dislike for her roommate had to all +appearances disappeared, and Laura Atkins was now seen occasionally in +company with Mildred and her two mischievous junior friends.</p> + +<p>Such was the situation when the longed-for Christmas vacation arrived. +Grace Harlowe's thoughts were not on her own perplexities as she walked +toward Wayne Hall after finishing her last round of calls. A new problem +had arisen, and as she swung along through the crisp winter air she was +deep in thought. It was peculiar Christmas weather. A light snow had +fallen, but through the patches of white lying softly on the campus the +grass still showed spots of green. It had been an unusually long, warm +fall, and to Grace, whose winters had been spent much farther north, the +mildness of December had seemed marvelous.</p> + +<p>"There!" she exclaimed, stopping in the middle of the walk to consult a +small leather book, and drawing a pencil through the last item, "I can +go home in peace. I have every single thing done, even to notifying the +expressman to come for my trunk."</p> + +<p>A sudden trill sounded down the street behind her. Turning her head, +Grace saw Arline Thayer bearing down upon her. "I thought I'd never make +you hear me," panted the little girl. "Ruth is going home with me after +all."</p> + +<p>"I thought she would," laughed Grace. "She assured me last night that +she wouldn't think of imposing upon you, but I know your powers of +persuasion. You have given Ruth a great deal of happiness, Arline, and I +am sure she appreciates it, too."</p> + +<p>Arline shook her curly head. "I don't deserve any credit. I am nice with +her because I like her. I am consulting my own selfish pleasure, you +see, and that doesn't count. If I didn't care for Ruth I am afraid I +wouldn't bother my head about helping her to have good times."</p> + +<p>"You are frank, at least," smiled Grace.</p> + +<p>"Seriously speaking, I am really very selfish," admitted Arline. "I +never think of doing good for unselfish reasons. I don't find any +particular interest in being nice with girls who do not appeal to me. +That sounds terribly cold-blooded, doesn't it? They say an only child is +always selfish, you know. Oh, forgive me, Grace; I forgot you were an +'only child.' Goodness knows you are not selfish."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am," contradicted Grace. "This is my second year at Overton and +in all the time I've been here I have thought about nothing but myself +and my friends and my good times. This afternoon when I started out to +make calls I met Miss Barlow, a little freshman who lives in a boarding +house down on Beech Street. We were going in the same direction and I +thoughtlessly asked if she were going home for Christmas. A second +afterward I was sorry. Her face fell, then she brightened a little and +said, 'No.' She and seven other girls who lived in the same house were +going to have a Christmas tree. For three days they had been busy +decorating it. They had just finished. She asked, almost timidly, if I +would like to see it. Of course I said 'Yes,' and we started for her +boarding house. It is away down at the other end of Overton, and the +most cheerless looking old barn of a house. The inside of the house is +almost as cheerless as the outside, too. They had set up their tree in +the parlor, and it was the only bright spot in the room.</p> + +<p>"The tree was trimmed with popcorn and tinsel. There were funny little +ornaments of colored paper, too, that they had made themselves. The +presents were underneath the tree, a few forlorn looking little packages +that made me feel like crying. I couldn't truthfully say that the tree +was lovely, but I did tell Miss Barlow that I thought they had done +splendidly and that I was sorry I hadn't known her better before, +because I should have liked to help them with their tree.</p> + +<p>"Then she said she had always wanted to know me, but I had so many +friends among the influential girls at Overton she had thought I +wouldn't care to know her. You can imagine how conscience stricken I +felt. At home I was the friend of every girl in high school, and to +think that I have been developing snobbish traits without realizing it!"</p> + +<p>"Couldn't we do something nice for them before we go?" asked Arline +generously. "It is only three o 'clock. Why not start a movement among +the girls we know and send them a box? We can make the girls contribute, +but we won't tell a soul who it's for. We will ask for money or +presents—whatever they care to give," she went on eagerly. "What do you +think of it? Do you suppose they would be offended?"</p> + +<p>"I think it is the greatest thing out!" exclaimed Grace +enthusiastically. "How can they be offended if we send the things +anonymously?"</p> + +<p>"They can't," chuckled Arline gleefully. "Now we had better separate. +I'll do Morton House, Livingstone Hall and Wellington House. You can do +Wayne Hall, Holland House and those two boarding houses on the corner +below you. A lot of freshmen and sophomores live there. I'll come over +to your house with my loot to-night, directly after dinner. Good-bye +until then."</p> + +<p>At seven o'clock that night Arline set down a heavy suit case and rang +the bell at Wayne Hall. Grace, who had been watching for her from one of +the living-room windows, hastened to open the door. "Thank goodness," +sighed the little fluffy-haired girl. "I thought I would never be able +to drag this suit case across the campus. It is crammed with things. +I've been busier than all the busy bees that ever buzzed," she continued +happily, following Grace into the living room. "You can't begin to think +how nice every one has been. About half of this stuff in the suit case +is candy. One girl at Morton House had ten boxes given her. Of course, +she couldn't eat it all, so she put in five." Arline did not volunteer +the further information that she was the "girl" and that the candy was +mostly from Willston men, with whom she was extremely popular.</p> + +<p>"Another girl gave me two pairs of gloves. She had half a dozen pairs +sent from home. She's going to New York for Christmas, so her home +presents were sent to her here. Ever so many girls who had bought +presents to take home gave me something from their store. I caught them +just as they were finishing their packing. But, best of all," added +Arline triumphantly, sinking into a chair and opening her brown suede +handbag, "I have money—fifty dollars! That will help some, won't it?" +She gave a little, gleeful chuckle.</p> + +<p>"I should say so," gasped Grace. "I didn't do quite as well, although I +have a whole table full of presents. Come on up and see them. None of us +have put in our money contribution yet."</p> + +<p>"How much have you?" asked Arline curiously.</p> + +<p>"So far only twenty-five dollars," replied Grace. "The girls in the +boarding houses are not overburdened with money. I collected half of it +from the Holland House girls. Miriam has promised me five dollars and I +will put in five. That makes thirty-five dollars. I haven't asked +Elfreda yet. She went out on a last shopping tour early this afternoon +and hasn't come home yet. I suppose she went to Vinton's for dinner. +Anne hasn't given me her money yet."</p> + +<p>"Did you ask Miss Atkins?" was Arline's sudden inquiry. She was seized +with a recollection of what transpired earlier in the fall.</p> + +<p>Grace shook her head. "I couldn't. She hasn't spoken to me since the +beginning of the term."</p> + +<p>"Shall I run up and ask her?" proposed Arline. "She is quite cordial to +me in that queer, stiff way of hers."</p> + +<p>"It is only fair to give her a chance to contribute if she wishes," said +Grace slowly. "I should say you might better ask her than leave her +out."</p> + +<p>"I'll go now, while I feel in the humor," declared Arline.</p> + +<p>"You might ask Miss Taylor, too. She is Miss Atkins's roommate. She has +been rather distant with me, so I haven't approached her on the +subject."</p> + +<p>Arline danced off on her errand with joyful little skips of +anticipation. It was not long before she returned, a pleased smile on +her baby face. "What do you think!" she whispered, gleefully. "She gave +me ten dollars! She was lovely, too, and didn't scowl at all. I wished +her a Merry Christmas, and she asked me to take luncheon or dinner with +her some time after Christmas. Miss Taylor wasn't there."</p> + +<p>Grace was on the point of replying humorously that she hoped Arline +would not share Elfreda's fate when the hour to dine came round. She +checked herself in time, however. She had no right to betray Elfreda's +confidence even to Arline. "That was generous in her," she said warmly. +"Would you like to come upstairs with me now, Arline, while I collect my +share of the contributions? Miriam and Elfreda will soon be here and I +will ask Anne for her money."</p> + +<p>Arline obediently followed Grace upstairs to her room. Grace lighted the +gas. As she did so she espied an envelope lying on the rug near the +door. Crossing to where it lay, Grace picked it up. It bore no +superscription. She turned it over, then finding it unsealed pulled back +the flap and peered into it. With an exclamation of wonder she drew +forth a crisp ten dollar bill. "Who do you suppose left it there?" she +gasped in amazement. "I thought Anne was here. She must have gone out."</p> + +<p>"Look in the envelope. Perhaps there is a card, too," suggested Arline +hopefully.</p> + +<p>Grace peered into it a second time. Close to the inner surface of the +envelope lay a tiny strip of paper. She held it up triumphantly for +Arline's inspection.</p> + +<p>"Is there any writing on it?" demanded Arline.</p> + +<p>Grace scanned the strip of paper earnestly, turned it over and found the +faint lead-pencil inscription: "From a friend."</p> + +<p>"Who can it be?" pondered Arline. "Do you recognize the hand-writing?"</p> + +<p>"No." Grace looked puzzled. "It is a welcome gift. Just think, Arline, +we have one hundred dollars. Your fifty, and Miss Atkins's ten makes +sixty, and this makes seventy. The twenty-five dollars I have and twenty +dollars more from the four of us makes one hundred and fifteen dollars. +That will mean a great deal to those girls. I only wish it were more."</p> + +<p>"If I had known sooner I would not have been so extravagant in buying my +Christmas presents," declared Arline regretfully. "There isn't time to +write Father for money. I don't like to telegraph. I've been positively +reckless with money this month. When I go home I'm going to have a talk +with Father. Oh, Grace Harlowe, I've a perfectly lovely idea," she +continued, joyfully clasping her two small hands about Grace's arm, "but +I am not going to say a word until I come back to Overton."</p> + +<p>"Then I won't ask questions," smiled Grace. "Come, now, help me with +these packages. It is eight o'clock and we haven't made a start yet. We +had better wrap the presents in two large packages. I will ask Mrs. +Elwood for some wrapping paper, and we'll bring the suit case up here."</p> + +<p>It was almost nine o'clock when Grace and Arline descended the steps of +Wayne Hall with mystery written on their faces. Each girl carried an +unwieldy bundle. In the center of Grace's bundle, securely wrapped in +fold after fold of tissue paper, was a little box. It contained one +hundred and fifteen dollars in bills. Wrapped about the bills was the +following note addressed to Esther Barlow, the freshman Grace had +encountered that afternoon: "Merry Christmas to yourself and your seven +freshmen friends. Santa Claus."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="soc3" id="soc3"></a> +<img src="images/soc3.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>Each Girl Carried an Unwieldy Bundle.</h3> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + + +<p>"How can we manage to deliver this stuff without being seen?" demanded +Arline. "My arms ache already, and we haven't walked a block."</p> + +<p>Grace set down her bundle on a convenient horse block and paused to +consider. Arline dropped hers beside it with a sigh of relief. "I know +what we can do," said Grace reflectively. "We can get Mr. Symes to go +with us. He is that old man who does errands and takes messages for ever +so many of the girls. We will go with him as far as the corner, then he +can carry the things to the door and give them to the woman who owns the +boarding house. He lives just around the corner from here. You stay here +and watch the bundles and I will see if I can find him."</p> + +<p>Grace found Mr. Symes at home and quite willing to carry out the final +detail of the Christmas plan. The old man was duly sworn to secrecy and +entered into the spirit of his errand almost as heartily as did Arline +and Grace. At the chosen corner the girls halted, repeated their final +instructions, and drawing back into the shadow, left him to deliver the +two bulky packages, his wrinkled face wreathed in smiles.</p> + +<p>He smiled even more broadly on his return to the watchers, as Grace +slipped a crisp green note into his hand and wished him a Merry +Christmas.</p> + +<p>"Now we ought to do a little celebrating on our own account," she +proposed. "Suppose we pay a visit to Vinton's. It isn't too cold for +ices."</p> + +<p>"That is just what I was thinking," agreed Arline.</p> + +<p>An hour later Arline and Grace said good-bye on the corner below Wayne +Hall. "I won't see you in the morning at the station, Grace," said +Arline regretfully. "My train leaves a whole hour later than yours. I +hope you will have a perfectly lovely Christmas. I hope eight other +girls will, too. Don't you?"</p> + +<p>"You're a dear little Daffydowndilly," smiled Grace as she kissed +Arline's upturned face. "I am sure they will, and they have you to thank +for their pleasure, though they will never know it."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>MRS. GRAY'S CHRISTMAS CHILDREN</h3> + + +<p>"If this isn't like old times, then nothing ever will be!" exclaimed +David Nesbit, beaming on Anne Pierson, who was busy pouring tea for the +"Eight Originals" in Mrs. Gray's comfortable library.</p> + +<p>"Old times!" exclaimed Hippy Wingate, accepting his teacup with a +flourish that threatened to send its contents into the lap of Nora +O'Malley, who sat beside him on the big leather davenport. "It takes me +back to the days when I had only to lift my hand and say, 'Table, +prepare thyself,' and some one of these fair damsels immediately invited +me to a banquet. Gone are the days when I waxed fat and prosperous. Now +I am thin and pale, a victim of adversity."</p> + +<p>"I think you look stouter than ever," declared Nora cruelly. "You say +you have lost ten pounds, but—" she shrugged her shoulders +significantly.</p> + +<p>"Cruel, cruel," moaned Hippy. "It is sad to see such calloused +inhumanity in one so young. Pass me the cakes, Anne, the chocolate +covered ones. They, at least, will afford me sweet consolation."</p> + +<p>"I object," interposed Reddy Brooks. "Don't give him that plate. Hand +him one or two, Anne. I like the looks of those cakes, too."</p> + +<p>"Man, do you mean to insinuate that I am not what I seem?" demanded +Hippy, glaring belligerently at Reddy.</p> + +<p>"No, I am stating plainly that you are exactly what you seem. That's why +I am looking out for my share of the cakes."</p> + +<p>"Always prompted by selfish motives," deplored Hippy. "How thankful I am +that the sweet blossom of unselfishness blooms freely in my heart. It is +true that I would eat all the cakes on that plate, but from a purely +unselfish motive."</p> + +<p>"Let's hear the motive," jeered Tom Gray.</p> + +<p>"I would eat them all," replied Hippy gently, favoring the company with +one of his famously wide smiles, "to save you, my beloved friends, from +indigestion. It is better that I should bear your suffering."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," retorted David Nesbit dryly, helping himself to the coveted +cakes and passing the plate over Hippy's head to Mrs. Gray, "I prefer to +do my own suffering."</p> + +<p>"Oh, as you like," returned Hippy airily. "I have always been fonder of +Mrs. Gray than I can say." He sidled ingratiatingly toward where Mrs. +Gray sat, her cheeks pink with the excitement of having her Christmas +children with her.</p> + +<p>From the time Grace, Miriam and Anne stepped off the train into the +waiting arms of their dear ones, their vacation had been a season of +continued rejoicing. Mrs. Gray, who, Tom gravely declared, would +celebrate her twenty-fifth birthday next April, was tireless in her +efforts to make their brief stay in Oakdale a happy one. On Christmas +night she had gathered them in and given them a dinner and a tree. She +had also given a luncheon in honor of Anne and a large party on New +Year's night. It was now the evening after New Year's and the morning +train would take the boys back to college. Grace, Miriam and Anne would +leave a day later for Overton. Nora and Jessica were to remain in +Oakdale until the following week. It seemed only natural that they +should spend their last evening together at the home of their old +friend. Outside the "Eight Originals," Miriam had been the only one +invited to this last intimate gathering.</p> + +<p>"Now, Hippy, stick to the truth," commanded Mrs. Gray, shaking her +finger at him, but handing him the plate at the same time. Hippy swooped +down upon it with a gurgle of delight.</p> + +<p>"It's the truth. I swear it," he declared, holding up one fat hand in +which he clutched a cake.</p> + +<p>"What made you give him the plate, Aunt Rose?" asked Tom reproachfully.</p> + +<p>"Bless you, child, there are plenty of cakes. Let Hippy have as many as +he can eat."</p> + +<p>"Vindicated," chuckled Hippy, between cakes, "and given full possession +besides."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't be so greedy," sniffed Nora O'Malley.</p> + +<p>"I'm so glad. I dislike greedy little girls," retorted Hippy +patronizingly.</p> + +<p>"Stop squabbling," interposed Grace. "Here we are on the eve of +separation and yet you two are bickering as energetically as when you +first caught sight of each other two weeks ago. Did you ever agree on +any subject?"</p> + +<p>"Let me see," said Hippy. "Did we, Nora?"</p> + +<p>"Never," replied Nora emphatically.</p> + +<p>"Then, let's begin now," suggested Hippy hopefully. "If you will agree +always to agree with me I will agree—"</p> + +<p>"Thank you, but I can't imagine myself as ever being so foolish," +interrupted Nora loftily.</p> + +<p>"She spoke the truth," said Hippy sadly. "We never can agree. It is +better that we should part. Will you think of me, when I am gone? That +is the burning question. Will you, won't you, can you, can't you +remember me?" He beamed sentimentally on Nora, who beamed on him in +return, at the same time making almost imperceptible signs to Grace to +capture the plate of cakes, of which Hippy was still in possession. In +his efforts to be impressive, Hippy had, for the moment, forgotten the +cakes. But he was not to be caught napping. The instant Grace made a sly +movement toward the plate it was whisked from under her fingers.</p> + +<p>"Naughty, naughty, mustn't touch!" he exclaimed, eyeing Grace +reprovingly.</p> + +<p>"Let him alone, girls, and come over here," broke in David Nesbit. "He +only does these things to make himself the center of attraction. He +wants all the attention."</p> + +<p>"Ha," jeered Hippy exultantly. "David thinks that crushing remark will +fill me with such overwhelming shame that I shall drop the cakes and +retire to a distant corner. He little knows what manner of man I am. I +will defend my rights until not a vestige of doubt remains as to who is +who in Oakdale."</p> + +<p>"There is not a vestige of doubt in my mind as to what will happen in +about ten seconds if certain people don't mend their ways," threatened +Reddy, rising from his chair, determination in his eye.</p> + +<p>"Take the cakes, Grace," entreated Hippy, hastily shoving the plate into +Grace's hand. "Nora, protect me. Don't let him get me. Please, mister, I +haven't any cakes. I gave them all to a poor, miserable beggar who—"</p> + +<p>"Here, Reddy, you may have them," broke in Grace decisively. "It is bad +enough to have an unpleasant duty thrust upon one, but to be called +names!"</p> + +<p>"I never did, never," protested Hippy. "It was a mere figure of speech. +Didn't you ever hear of one?"</p> + +<p>"Not that kind, and you can't have the cakes, again," said Jessica +firmly. "Give them to me, Grace."</p> + +<p>"Jessica always helps Reddy," grumbled Hippy. "Now, if Nora would only +stand up for me, we could manage this whole organization with one hand. +She is such a splendid fighter—"</p> + +<p>"I'll never speak to you again, Hippy Wingate," declared Nora, turning +her back on him with a final air of dismissal.</p> + +<p>"Gently, gently!" exclaimed Hippy, raising his hand in expostulation. "I +was about to say that you, Nora, are a splendid fighter"—he paused +significantly—"for the right. What can be more noble than to fight for +the right? Now, aren't you sorry you repudiated me? If you will say so +immediately I will overlook the other remark. But you must be quick. +Time and I won't wait a minute. Remember, I'm going away to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye," retorted Nora indifferently. "I'll see you again some day."</p> + +<p>"'Forsaken, forsaken, forsaken am I,'" wailed Hippy, hopelessly out of +tune.</p> + +<p>"Now, see what you've done," commented David Nesbit disgustedly.</p> + +<p>"I'm truly sorry," apologized Nora. "Hippy, if you will stop singing, +I'll forgive you and allow you to sit beside me." She patted the +davenport invitingly.</p> + +<p>"I thought you would," grinned Hippy, seating himself triumphantly +beside her. "I always gain my point by singing that song. It appeals to +people. It is so pathetic. They would give worlds to—"</p> + +<p>"Have you stop it," supplemented Tom Gray.</p> + +<p>"Yes," declared Hippy. "No, I don't mean 'yes' at all. Tom Gray is an +unfeeling monster. I refuse to say another word. I have subsided. Now, +may I have some more tea?"</p> + +<p>Anne filled the stout young man's cup and handed it to him with a smile. +"What are you going to be when you grow up, Hippy?" she asked +mischievously.</p> + +<p>"A brakeman," replied Hippy promptly. "I always did like to ride on +trains. That's why I am spending four years in college."</p> + +<p>"Don't waste your breath on him, Anne," advised Nora. "He won't tell any +one what he intends to do. I've asked him a hundred times. He knows, +too. He really isn't as foolish as he looks."</p> + +<p>"I'm going to try for a position in the Department of Forestry at +Washington after I get through college," announced Tom Gray.</p> + +<p>"I'm going into business with my father," declared Reddy.</p> + +<p>"I don't know yet what my work will be," said David Nesbit reflectively.</p> + +<p>"All you children will be famous one of these days," predicted Mrs. Gray +sagely. She had been listening delightedly to the merry voices of the +young people. To her, as well as to his young friends, Hippy was a +never-failing source of amusement.</p> + +<p>"To choose a profession is easier for boys than for girls," declared +Grace. "I haven't the slightest idea what I shall do after my college +days are over. Most boys enter college with their minds made up as to +what their future work is going to be, but very few girls decide until +the last minute."</p> + +<p>"Girls whose parents can afford to send them to college don't have to +decide, as a rule," said Nora wisely, "but almost every young man thinks +about it from the first, no matter how much money his father is worth."</p> + +<p>"That is true, my dear," nodded Mrs. Gray.</p> + +<p>"Yet I am sure my girls as well as my boys will astonish the world some +day. In fact, Anne has already proved her mettle. Nora hopes to become a +great singer, Jessica a pianiste and Grace and Miriam—"</p> + +<p>"Are still floundering helplessly, trying to discover their respective +vocations," supplemented Grace.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Mrs. Gray," smiled Miriam, "our future careers are shrouded in +mystery."</p> + +<p>"Time enough yet," said Mrs. Gray cheerily. "Going to college doesn't +necessitate adopting a profession, you know. Perhaps when your college +days are over you will find your vocation very near home."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," assented Grace doubtfully, "only I'd like to 'do noble deeds, +not dream them all day long,'" she quoted laughingly.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"'And so make life, death and the vast forever<br /></span> +<span class="i7">One grand sweet song,'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>finished Anne softly.</p> + +<p>"That is what I shall do when I am a brakeman," declared Hippy +confidently.</p> + +<p>"You mean you will make life miserable for every one who comes within a +mile of you," jeered Reddy Brooks.</p> + +<p>"Reddy, how can you thus ruthlessly belittle my tenderest hope, my +fondest ambitions? What do you know about my future career as a +brakeman? I intend to be touchingly faithful to my duty, kind and +considerate to the public. In time the world will hear of me and I shall +be honored and revered."</p> + +<p>"Which you never would be at home," put in David sarcastically.</p> + +<p>"What great man is ever appreciated in his own country?" questioned +Hippy gently.</p> + +<p>Even Reddy was obliged to smile at this retort.</p> + +<p>"Let the future take care of itself," said Tom Gray lazily. "The night +is yet young. Let us do stunts. Grace and Miriam must do their Spanish +dance for us. Then it will be Nora's and Jessica's turn. Hippy can sing, +nothing sentimental, though. David, Reddy, Hippy and I will then enact +for you a stirring drama of metropolitan life entitled 'Oakdale's Great +Mystery,' with the eminent actor, Theophilus Hippopotamus Wingate as the +'Mystery.' Let the show begin. We will have the Spanish dance first."</p> + +<p>"Come on, Miriam," laughed Grace. "We had better be obliging. Then we +shall be admitted to the rest of the performance."</p> + +<p>The impromptu "show" that followed was a repetition of the "stunts" for +which the various members of the little circle were famous and which +were always performed for Mrs. Gray's pleasure. "Oakdale's Great +Mystery," of which Hippy calmly admitted the authorship, proved to be a +ridiculous travesty on a melodrama which the boys had seen the previous +winter. Hippy as the much-vaunted Mystery, with a handkerchief mask, a +sweeping red portiere cloak, and an ultra-mysterious shuffle was +received with shrieks of laughter by the audience. The dramatic manner +in which, after a series of humorous complications, the Mystery was run +to earth and unmasked by "Deadlock Jones, the King of Detectives," was +portrayed by David with "startling realism" and elicited loud applause.</p> + +<p>"That is the funniest farce you boys have ever given," laughed Mrs. +Gray, as Hippy removed his mask with a loud sigh of relief and wiped his +perspiring forehead with it. "You will be a playwright some day, Hippy."</p> + +<p>"I'd rather be a brakeman," persisted Hippy with his Cheshire cat grin.</p> + +<p>It was half-past ten o'clock when the last good night had been said and +the young people were on their way home. As the Nesbit residence was so +near Mrs. Gray's home, Miriam was escorted to her door by a merry body +guard. At Putnam Square the little company halted for a moment before +separating, Nora, Jessica, Hippy and Reddy going in one direction, +Grace, Anne, Tom and David in the other.</p> + +<p>"Are you coming down to the train to-morrow morning to see us off?" +asked David Nesbit, his question including the four girls.</p> + +<p>"Of course," replied Grace. "Don't we always see you off on the train +whenever you go back to school before we do?"</p> + +<p>"Then we'll reserve our sad farewells until the morn," beamed Hippy.</p> + +<p>"Sad farewells!" exclaimed Nora scornfully. "I never yet saw you look +sad over saying good-bye to us. You always smile at the last minute as +though you were going to a picnic."</p> + +<p>"'Tis only to hide my sorrow, my child," returned Hippy lugubriously. +"Would'st have the whole town look upon my tears and jeer, 'cry baby'?"</p> + +<p>"That's a very good excuse," sniffed Nora.</p> + +<p>"Not an excuse," corrected Hippy, "but a cloak to hide my real +feelings."</p> + +<p>"That will do, Hippopotamus," cut in David decisively. "We don't wish to +hear the whys and wherefores of your feelings. If we stayed to listen to +them we would be here on this very spot when our train leaves to-morrow +morning."</p> + +<p>"Wait until we come back for Easter, Hippy, then if you begin the first +day you're home you'll finish before we go back to college," suggested +Grace.</p> + +<p>"That's a good idea," declared Hippy joyfully. "I shall remember it, and +look forward to the Easter vacation."</p> + +<p>"I shan't come home for Easter, then," decided Nora mercilessly.</p> + +<p>"Then I shan't look forward to anything," replied Hippy with such +earnestness that even scornful Nora forgot to retort sharply.</p> + +<p>"We all hope to be together again at Easter," said Grace, looking +affectionately from one to the other of the little group. "Remember, +every one, your good resolution about letters."</p> + +<p>"We'll talk about that in the morning," laughed Reddy, who abhorred +letter writing.</p> + +<p>"You mean you'll forget about it," said Jessica significantly.</p> + +<p>"We all have our faults," mourned Hippy. "Now, as for myself—"</p> + +<p>"Take him away, Nora," begged David.</p> + +<p>"I will," agreed Nora. "Come on, Hippy. Reddy, you and Jessica help me +tear him away from this corner."</p> + +<p>"How can you tear me away now? At the precise moment when I had begun to +enjoy myself, too?" reproached Hippy.</p> + +<p>"This is only the beginning," was Reddy's threatening answer. "We are +going to leave you stranded on the next corner. Then you can go on +enjoying yourself alone."</p> + +<p>"Try it," dared Hippy. "If you do I shall lift up my voice and tell +everyone in this block how unfeeling and hard-hearted some persons are. +I shall mention names in my most stentorian tones and the public will +rush forth from their houses to hear the truth about you. Ah, here is +the corner! Now, leave me at your peril."</p> + +<p>"His mind is wandering," said Reddy sadly. "He imagines he is still +'Oakdale's Great Mystery.' We had better lead him home. I'll take his +left arm, and Nora——"</p> + +<p>"Will take my right," interrupted Hippy. "Reddy, you may attend to your +own affairs, and keep your distance from my left arm. Jessica, please +look after Reddy. His mind is wandering. In fact, it always has +wandered. Crazy is as crazy does, you know."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we know," flung back David significantly.</p> + +<p>"Do you?" asked Hippy in apparent innocence. "I was so afraid you +didn't. To lose one's mind is a dreadful affliction, but not to know +that one is crazy is even worse. I am so relieved, David, Grace, Tom, +and all of you, that at last you know the truth concerning yourselves. +It is indeed a sad——"</p> + +<p>A moment later the loquacious Hippy was hustled down the street by three +determined young people, while the other four turned their steps in the +opposite direction.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>ARLINE'S PLAN</h3> + + +<p>"It was beautiful to be at home, but it is nice to be here, too. If it +wasn't for mid year exams, I could be happy," sighed Grace Harlowe, as +she rearranged three new sofa pillows she had brought from home, the +gifts of Oakdale friends. Grace and Anne had invited Arline Thayer and +Ruth Denton to dinner, and Miriam and Elfreda had dropped in for a brief +chat before the dinner bell rang.</p> + +<p>"We'll all survive even mid year," predicted Miriam confidently.</p> + +<p>"We had a perfectly lovely time in New York, didn't we, Arline?" asked +Ruth Denton, looking at the little curly-haired girl with fond eyes.</p> + +<p>Arline nodded. "I wish our vacation had been two weeks longer," she +remarked wistfully. "I just begin to get acquainted with Father, when it +is time to go back to college again. Have you seen many of the girls?"</p> + +<p>"Only the Morton House girls and you," answered Arline. "This is the +first call I've made outside the house. Are all the Wayne Hall girls +here?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Taylor hasn't come back yet," said Elfreda. "Do you girls happen +to know where she spent her vacation?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Grace. "I didn't see her before I left. When first she came +to Wayne Hall she seemed to like me. At the sophomore reception I hurt +her feelings, unintentionally you may be sure. I am afraid she has never +forgiven me, for since then she has avoided me."</p> + +<p>"She must have very sensitive feelings," remarked Elfreda bluntly. "What +did you do to hurt them?"</p> + +<p>"I missed asking her to dance," explained Grace. "I didn't see her until +late that evening, and when I apologized and asked to see her card she +refused, saying coldly that my forgetting to ask her to dance was of no +consequence. Since then she has hardly spoken to me."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you tell me that before?" asked Elfreda quickly. "That +accounts for certain things."</p> + +<p>"Don't be mysterious, Elfreda," put in Miriam. "Tell us what you mean by +'certain things'?"</p> + +<p>"You girls know that on several occasions before Christmas Alberta Wicks +and Mary Hampton were invited here to dinner. Who invited them? Miss +Taylor. So Alberta Wicks retaliated by taking Miss Taylor home with her +for the holidays."</p> + +<p>"Really?" asked Miriam, in surprise. "Who told you?"</p> + +<p>"They went home on the same train with Emma Dean," returned Elfreda. +"She sat two seats behind them. Has any one seen the Anarchist?"</p> + +<p>No one answered.</p> + +<p>"Why don't we change the subject and talk about something pleasant," +complained Arline Thayer.</p> + +<p>"Do you remember saying to me the night before we went home that you had +thought of a lovely plan?" reminded Grace.</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned Arline. "I am glad you reminded me of it while we are +all here. Just before I went home for my vacation the idea popped into +my head that we ought to organize some kind of society for helping these +girls who come to Overton with little or no money and who depend on the +work they find to do here to help them through college."</p> + +<p>"Like me," put in Ruth slyly.</p> + +<p>"Don't interrupt me," retorted Arline, smiling at Ruth. "When I went +home I had a talk with Father, and he has promised to give me five +hundred dollars with which to start a fund. Now, what I propose to do is +to organize a little society of our own with this same object in view. +There is one society of that kind here at Overton, but it is always so +besieged with requests for help that I don't imagine it more than keeps +its head above water. There is room for another, at any rate. I don't +see why we can't be the girls to organize it." Arline looked +questioningly about the circle of interested faces.</p> + +<p>"I think it would be splendid," said Miriam emphatically. "I know my +mother would contribute toward it."</p> + +<p>"So would Pa and Ma," declared Elfreda. "Suppose we all write home +to-night."</p> + +<p>"What do you think of it, Grace and Anne?" asked Arline. "So far neither +of you has said a word."</p> + +<p>"Neither has Ruth made any remarks," replied Anne. "Why don't you ask +her? I think she has something to say on the subject."</p> + +<p>All eyes were immediately turned on Ruth, who flushed, looked almost +distressed, then said slowly, "Could the girls who asked for help borrow +the money and return it as soon as they were able?"</p> + +<p>"Of course," responded Arline. "Don't be afraid that you are going to +have charity thrust upon you, Ruth."</p> + +<p>"That would be the only basis on which we could establish a society of +that kind," commented Miriam. "An Overton girl would hesitate to make +use of the money except as a loan."</p> + +<p>"What would we call ourselves?" asked Elfreda abruptly.</p> + +<p>"We can decide on a name later," said Arline. "The thing to decide now +is, shall we or shall we not form this society? Answer yes or no?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," was the chorus.</p> + +<p>"Don't you think," said Grace after a slight deliberation, "that it +would be nicer if we could finance this society ourselves, instead of +asking our fathers and mothers for money? It isn't any particular effort +for most of us to write home for money. How much better it would be if +we could say that we had earned the money ourselves, or saved it from +our allowances."</p> + +<p>"But what about my five hundred dollars?" questioned Arline plaintively. +"As the originator of this scheme I claim the privilege of putting in as +much capital as I please. I am going to be the exception that proves the +rule. Besides, Father has already promised me the money. Take the five +hundred dollars for the basis of our fund, then we will pledge ourselves +hereafter to earn or contribute whatever money we put into it."</p> + +<p>"What do you say to that, girls?" asked Grace.</p> + +<p>"I think Arline ought to be allowed to give the five hundred dollars if +she wishes," said Miriam. "It is her money and her plan. Besides, we +need the money!"</p> + +<p>"I think so, too," echoed Elfreda. "We might call the society the +'Arline Thayer Club.'"</p> + +<p>"If you dare—" began Arline.</p> + +<p>"Save your breath, my child, I didn't mean that seriously," drawled +Elfreda. "However, we had better begin our society here, to-night. There +are six of us. Shall we add to our number or let well enough alone?"</p> + +<p>"I'd like to have Gertrude Wells in it," said Arline. "Shall we make it +strictly a sophomore affair?"</p> + +<p>"I think it would be better," replied Grace.</p> + +<p>"Then let us ask Emma Dean, Elizabeth Wade, Marian Cummings and Elsie +Wilton," pursued Arline.</p> + +<p>"Seven, eight, nine, ten," counted Anne.</p> + +<p>"Let us make it a dozen," suggested Miriam.</p> + +<p>"Then who shall the other two members be?"</p> + +<p>"Why not ask the Emerson Twins?" suggested Arline. "They would be good +material, and they are both splendid on committees. Julia Emerson nearly +worked her head off for the sophomore reception last fall."</p> + +<p>"Very well, we will ask them," agreed Grace. "In case any one of the +girls we have named but haven't yet interviewed should not wish to +belong to our society we can propose some one else to take her place. In +the meantime you must each be thinking of a name for our little club. We +can meet in the library after the last class to-morrow afternoon, and go +from there to Vinton's to talk it over. Arline, you must tell Gertrude +Wells, Elizabeth Wade and Marian Cummings. We can easily see the +others."</p> + +<p>"The dinner bell! Thank goodness!" exclaimed Elfreda fervently. "I am +almost starved. I hope dinner will be better than last night's offering. +Everything we had to eat was warranted to fatten one."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Elfreda," consoled Arline. "Think how nice it will be when +you make the team. That will be a reward worth having."</p> + +<p>"Yes, if I make it," grumbled the stout girl.</p> + +<p>"We will go on with our new plan after dinner," said Grace. Then as an +afterthought she added: "Don't say anything about it at the table. +Suppose we keep it a secret until our society is in running order?"</p> + +<p>"Hello, children," greeted Emma Dean, as they entered the dining room +that night. "Has the board of directors been holding a meeting? I see +you are all here."</p> + +<p>Several girls already seated at the table looked up smilingly as the six +girls slipped into their places. Laura Atkins returned Arline's friendly +nod with a cold bow. She did not appear to see the others. During the +progress of the meal she said little, keeping up a pretense of +indifference as to what went on around her. Nevertheless her eyes +strayed more than once toward the end of the table where Elfreda was +entertaining the girls sitting nearest to her with a ludicrous account +of what had happened to her on her way back to Overton. Miriam +accidentally intercepted one of these straying glances. In it she +fancied she read reproach. A quick flush rose to Laura Atkins's cheeks. +Drawing down her eyebrows she scowled defiantly at Miriam, then turned +her head away, and went on with her dinner.</p> + +<p>After dinner the discussion of the proposed club was renewed with +energy. Emma Dean's innocent allusion at dinner to the meeting of the +board of directors had brought smiles to the faces of the six girls. +After they had again gathered in Grace's room, Elfreda was despatched to +Emma's room with orders to bring her to the council, no matter what her +engagements or obligations might be.</p> + +<p>"I knew something was going to happen," was Emma's calm announcement as +she followed Elfreda into the room. "To quote my esteemed friend, Miss +Briggs, 'I could see' it in your eyes at dinner. I have a theme to +write, a dressmaker to see, and four letters to answer, but, still, I am +here."</p> + +<p>"We can readily understand how deeply it must have grieved you to shun +the dressmaker, put off writing your theme, and tear yourself away from +your correspondence," sympathized Miriam Nesbit, her eyes twinkling.</p> + +<p>"Then, as long as you understand it, we won't say anything more about +it," was Emma's hasty reply. "I move that we avoid personalities and +proceed to business."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>A WELCOME GUEST</h3> + + +<p>The meeting in the library the next day, followed by a social session at +Vinton's, resulted in the enthusiastic organization of the society +proposed by Grace. As had been suggested, every girl had brought with +her a slip of paper on which was written the name she had selected for +the society. Arline collected the names and read each one in turn to the +assembled girls.</p> + +<p>"Which one do you like best?" she asked, looking from one to another of +her friends.</p> + +<p>"The first one," said Miriam Nesbit.</p> + +<p>"So do I," echoed half a dozen voices.</p> + +<p>"'Semper Fidelis,'" repeated Grace musingly. "I like the sound of that, +too. Who proposed that name?"</p> + +<p>"I did," admitted Emma Dean. "I thought it might stand for our motto as +well. It means 'always faithful,' you know. That applies to us, doesn't +it?"</p> + +<p>"Of course we shall be always faithful to our cause," declared Grace. +"All those in favor of the name Semper Fidelis, please manifest it by +holding up their right hands."</p> + +<p>Twelve right hands were raised simultaneously.</p> + +<p>"That settles it," stated Grace. "From now on we are the Semper Fidelis +girls. Let us lose no time in leaving the sacred precincts of the +library for Vinton's. We can make more noise there."</p> + +<p>After the second sundae all around had been disposed of the society +settled down to business. It was decided that the club should be a +purely social affair. Arline was chosen for president, Grace for +vice-president and Gertrude Wells as secretary and treasurer. There was +to be no special day set aside for meetings. A meeting might be called +at any time at the united request of three members. The sole object of +the club was to extend a helping hand to the young women who were making +praiseworthy efforts to put themselves through college. The foremost +duty of the society would be to ascertain the names of these girls and +offer them pecuniary assistance. Arline had written her father for the +promised check for five hundred dollars, which would be deposited in the +bank in Gertrude Wells's name as soon as it arrived.</p> + +<p>"I might as well tell you now that I wrote and asked Pa for a check in +spite of what Grace said," confessed Elfreda rather sheepishly.</p> + +<p>"I might as well confess that I mentioned the club idea to Mother," said +Miriam. "I didn't ask her for a check, but I wouldn't be astonished if +she sent one in her next letter."</p> + +<p>"You two girls are traitors to the cause," laughed Grace. "Perhaps you +will be disappointed."</p> + +<p>"I won't," asserted Elfreda boldly. "Pa might as well help us as any one +else. I told him so, too."</p> + +<p>"The important question is what can we do to earn money for our cause?" +asked Grace.</p> + +<p>"We might give a play," said Miriam Nesbit. "Anne can star in it. I +should like to have the Overton girls see her at her best."</p> + +<p>"I don't wish to be seen 'at my best,'" protested Anne. "I want the +other girls to have a chance, too. Why not give a vaudeville show? Grace +and Miriam can dance. Elfreda can give imitations. There are plenty of +things we can do. We will advertise the show in all the campus houses, +and each one of us must pledge ourselves to sell a certain number of +tickets. I think we would be allowed to use Music Hall for the show, and +if we could sell tickets enough to fill it, even comfortably, it would +mean quite a sum of money for our treasury. We might charge fifty cents +for admittance, or, if you think that is too much, we might put the +price down to twenty-five cents."</p> + +<p>"I think we had better charge fifty cents," said Elfreda shrewdly. "It +will be as easy for those who come to pay fifty cents as to pay +twenty-five. We might as well have the other quarter as Vinton's or +Martell's."</p> + +<p>"Elfreda, you are a brilliant and valuable addition to this society," +commended Arline. "I agree with you. We are likely to reap almost as +many half dollars as quarters."</p> + +<p>"We might give an act from one of Shakespeare's plays," remarked +Gertrude Wells doubtfully. "Still, I think it would be more fun to have +just stunts. Those of us who know any ought to be willing to come +forward and do them. We can ask some of the upper class girls to help. +Beatrice Alden sings; so does Frances Marlton. Mabel Ashe can do almost +any kind of fancy dancing. There is plenty of talent in college. The +junior glee club will sing for us, I am sure.</p> + +<p>"We can make it a regular vaudeville entertainment, and have posters +announcing each number. We can have two girls, costumed as pages, to +bring out and remove the posters announcing the numbers."</p> + +<p>"That's a good idea," approved Arline. "I can sing baby and little-girl +songs and dance a little. I might sing one to fill in."</p> + +<p>"You are engaged to sing one the first time you come to see me," laughed +Grace. "Here is talent of which we never dreamed. I knew you could sing, +but you never before confessed to being a real song and dance artist."</p> + +<p>"We shall have all 'headliners in our show,' as the billboard +advertisements beautifully put it," commented Miriam. "I wish Eleanor +were here, don't you, Grace? Then Anne could recite 'Enoch Arden.'"</p> + +<p>"Who is Eleanor, and why can't Anne recite 'Enoch Arden' without her?" +were Elsie Wilton's curious inquiries.</p> + +<p>"The 'Eleanor' we speak of is in Italy, studying music, or was the last +time we heard from her. She used to live in Oakdale and is one of our +dearest friends. She arranged music to be played during Anne's recital +of 'Enoch Arden.' They gave it at a concert at home and it was a +tremendous success."</p> + +<p>"I wish she were to be here to our show, then," said Arline plaintively. +"We would feature her. What's her other name?"</p> + +<p>"Savelli," replied Grace quickly.</p> + +<p>"Eleanor Savelli, the famous Italian pianiste," announced Arline, bowing +to an imaginary audience. "Her name is the same as that of Savelli, the +great virtuoso, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"He is her father," said Grace simply.</p> + +<p>A little murmur of astonishment went up.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if she had only come to Overton instead of going to Italy!" sighed +Elizabeth Wade. "I heard Savelli play at a concert three years ago. I +shall never forget him."</p> + +<p>"We were awfully disappointed," interposed Miriam. "Eleanor's father was +to tour America this winter, but changed his mind. There was talk of a +spring tour, but we haven't heard from Eleanor for over a month, so we +don't know whether there is any possibility of his sailing for America. +If he did come to this country, Eleanor would be sure to accompany him. +She has promised us that."</p> + +<p>"There is no use in wishing for the impossible, children," said Emma +Dean briskly, rising from the table and beginning to put on her coat. +"There is also no use in being late for dinner. In spite of this +bounteous repast," she indicated the empty sundae glasses, "I yearn for +Mrs. Elwood's simple but infinitely more satisfying fare. It's almost +six o'clock. Those that are going with me, hurry up."</p> + +<p>"We must have another meeting within the next two or three days," +declared Grace. "Can all of you girls come to our room next Friday +evening? In the meantime we will arrange a programme which will be +brought before the club for approval at our next meeting. Don't any of +you fail to be there."</p> + +<p>As the Wayne Hall girls flocked in the front door that night, Mrs. +Elwood met them with: "Miss Harlowe, there is a young lady in the living +room, waiting for you. She's been there almost an hour."</p> + +<p>"For me?" inquired Grace in surprise. "I'll go in at once."</p> + +<p>An instant later the girls heard a delighted little cry of "Eleanor, you +dear thing!" Then Grace sprang to the door, exclaiming: "Girls, girls! +come in here at once. You can never guess who is here!"</p> + +<p>At the cry of "Eleanor," Miriam and Anne, who were half way upstairs, +ran down again and into the living room. They were followed by Elfreda, +who paused on the stairs, then turned and went slowly up to her room. +"Last year I wouldn't have known enough to go on about my business," she +muttered as she walked stolidly into her room and sat down on the end of +the couch.</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later Miriam burst into the room with: "Come downstairs, +Elfreda. Don't you want to meet Eleanor? You know you have said so ever +so many times. She's very anxious to meet you."</p> + +<p>"Of course I want to meet her," returned Elfreda with a short, +embarrassed laugh. "This room is the place for me, though, until you are +ready to introduce me. Are you sure you want me to go downstairs?"</p> + +<p>"You funny girl," laughed Miriam. "Of course we want you. We have just +been telling Eleanor about you. She hasn't time to come upstairs now, +for her father is waiting for her at the 'Tourraine.' He is going back +to New York City to-night. He has a concert to-morrow. Grace, Anne and I +are going to dine with them. I'm sorry I can't take you along, but +perhaps he will come again to Overton. Eleanor is going to stay a week +longer if we can coax her to remain. She is traveling with her father. +We must hurry downstairs, for Eleanor is to meet her father at half-past +six o'clock, and it is a quarter-past now."</p> + +<p>Elfreda shook hands with Eleanor almost timidly. She was deeply +impressed with the latter's exquisite beauty.</p> + +<p>"So this is Elfreda," smiled Eleanor, patting the stout girl's hand. "I +have learned to know you through the letters my friends have written me. +I feel as though you were an old friend."</p> + +<p>"It's awfully nice in you to say so," murmured Elfreda, her eyes shining +with pleasure.</p> + +<p>"Won't you go with us to the 'Tourraine'?" asked Eleanor sweetly. "I +would like to have you meet my father."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," almost gasped Elfreda. "I'd love to meet him, but I +think—"</p> + +<p>"Never mind thinking," interrupted Eleanor, gayly. "Just hurry into your +wraps and come along. We'll wait for you."</p> + +<p>"That's sweet in you, Eleanor," said Grace in a low tone as Elfreda ran +upstairs. "She was wild to go with us. She has worshipped you ever since +we showed her your picture. She has heard your father play, too, and +considers him the greatest violinist living."</p> + +<p>"I suspected she wished to be included in the invitation," smiled +Eleanor. "I imagine I am going to like her very much."</p> + +<p>Guido Savelli had engaged a private dining room at the "Tourraine" for +his young guests. He welcomed them with true Latin enthusiasm, and to +see him seated at the head of the table one would never have suspected +him to be the moody, temperamental genius whose playing had made him +famous in two continents. When the time came to leave the hotel for the +train he was escorted to the station by an admiring bodyguard of five +young women.</p> + +<p>"Remember, you have promised to visit Overton again before you leave New +York," reminded Grace as he walked down the station platform between +Grace and Eleanor.</p> + +<p>"He will," declared Eleanor. "I shall make him come back to Overton for +me. Good-bye, Father. Take care of yourself. Remember to go for your +walk every day, won't you? He's the nicest father," she said softly as +the little group turned to leave the station after the train had gone. +"Now take me to your house and let us have an old-fashioned gossip. I +have so much to tell you, and I want to hear about Overton."</p> + +<p>A happy party gathered in Grace's room that night for an old-time talk +about Oakdale. Elfreda was the only outsider present. For her benefit +the story of the stolen class money and its timely recovery by Grace and +Eleanor, as related in "<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe's Senior Year at High +School</span>," was retold, as well as many other eventful happenings of +their high school life. At a quarter to ten o'clock the four girls +escorted Eleanor to the "Tourraine," returning just inside the half-past +ten o'clock limit.</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you think of Eleanor, Elfreda?" asked Grace, stopping for +a moment outside the room shared by Miriam and Elfreda before going to +her own.</p> + +<p>"Don't ask me," rejoined Elfreda fervently. "I can't thank you girls +enough for the good time I've had to-night. But I want to say that if +there is anything I can do for any of you, just count on J. Elfreda +Briggs to do it."</p> + +<p>"It isn't necessary for you to tell us that, Elfreda," said Anne. "We +know that you are true blue, and so does Eleanor."</p> + +<p>"Does she really like me?" asked Elfreda eagerly.</p> + +<p>"She likes you very much," interposed Grace. "She said so."</p> + +<p>"Then I'm going to give a luncheon for her to-morrow afternoon at +Vinton's," declared Elfreda with shining eyes. "I wanted to suggest it, +to-night, but I was afraid she might not care to come."</p> + +<p>"Couldn't you 'see' that she liked you?" teased Miriam.</p> + +<p>"No, I couldn't. There are lots of things I can't 'see.' One of them is +why you girls ever went to so much trouble to make me 'see.' Good +night." Casting one glance of love and loyalty toward her friends, +Elfreda vanished into her room, and wise Miriam took care not to enter +the room until the stout girl's moment of self-communion had passed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>A GIFT TO SEMPER FIDELIS</h3> + + +<p>When the news was whispered about through Overton College that the +attractive young woman who was frequently seen in company with Grace +Harlowe and her friends was the daughter of Guido Savelli, the renowned +virtuoso, it created a wide ripple of excitement among the four classes. +Curious juniors and dignified seniors grew interested, and Mabel Ashe +and Frances Marlton, who were Eleanor's sworn cavaliers, were besieged +with requests for introductions. Far from being spoiled by so much +adulation, Eleanor laughingly attributed it to her father's genius, and +flouted the idea that her own delightful personality had made her a +reigning favorite during her stay in Overton.</p> + +<p>It took Grace some time to recover from the surprise occasioned by +Eleanor's unexpected arrival. During the month in which she had received +no letter from Eleanor, Guido Savelli had reconsidered his decision not +to appear in America and instead of canceling his contract had sailed at +the eleventh hour to fulfill it, taking Eleanor with him.</p> + +<p>"You arrived just in time for our show!" exclaimed Grace gleefully to +Eleanor. The two girls sat opposite each other at the library table in +the living room at Wayne Hall, making up the programme for the +vaudeville performance which was to be held in Music Hall, on the +following Friday evening. "Oh, Eleanor, don't you think you can go home +with me for Easter? Never mind if 'Heartsease' is closed. You can have +just as much fun at our house. We have only one more week here, you +know, and your father's concert tour doesn't end for another month," +pleaded Grace.</p> + +<p>"I think I can arrange it," reflected Eleanor. "It is only that Father +misses me so. In some ways he is like an overgrown child. All great +musicians are like that, I believe."</p> + +<p>"It is a pity to take you away from him," admitted Grace, "but we would +like to have you with us. Besides, Tom Gray is going to bring Donald +Earle to Oakdale with him for the Easter. Donald will be so disappointed +if he doesn't see you, Eleanor."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to see him, too," returned Eleanor frankly. "He is one of the +nicest young men I know. Father is coming down here for our show, unless +something unforeseen happens. I shall coax him to play. I imagine he +will be willing. He will play if you ask him, Grace."</p> + +<p>"I wish we might feature him on the bulletin board," reflected Grace, +with a managerial eye to business, "but he wouldn't like that. We could +have him for a surprise, though."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what I will do," volunteered Eleanor. "I will telephone +to his hotel in New York and ask him. If he says yes, we can go ahead +and count on him to furnish Overton with a surprise."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Eleanor, could you, would you do it?" asked Grace, a note of +excitement in her voice.</p> + +<p>"I'll telephone at once," nodded Eleanor, rising. "Suppose we go over to +the 'Tourraine' to do it."</p> + +<p>Within the next hour Eleanor and Grace had talked with Guido Savelli. It +had taken very little coaxing to secure his promise to play at Overton +on Friday night, as he gave his last performance in New York on Thursday +evening, and was free until the following Monday, when he would appear +in Boston.</p> + +<p>"It seems almost providential, doesn't it?" asked Eleanor, as she hung +up the receiver. "He could not have come here at any other time."</p> + +<p>"I'm so happy over it I could hurrah," declared Grace jubilantly.</p> + +<p>"I knew Father would not refuse us," smiled Eleanor. "Now hadn't we +better hurry home and make up the rest of the programme?"</p> + +<p>By eight o'clock Friday evening every available foot of space in Music +Hall was crowded with Overton students. The front rows of the hall had +been reserved for the faculty, who were quite in sympathy with the idea +of the new club. In order to obtain permission to use this hall, Grace +had gone to the dean with the story of the organization of Semper +Fidelis and its purpose. The dean had sympathized heartily with the +movement, and had at once laid the matter before the president of the +college, who willingly gave the desired permission.</p> + +<p>As the Semper Fidelis Club was composed entirely of sophomores, twelve +young women of the sophomore class had been detailed as ushers and +ticket takers. The majority of the club members were down on the +programme, therefore these duties had been turned over to their +classmates. Grace, besides appearing in the Spanish dance with Miriam, +had taken upon herself the duties of stage manager. The two smallest +sophomores in the class, dressed as pages, had been chosen to place the +posters announcing the various numbers on the standards at each side of +the stage. These posters had been designed and painted by Beatrice Alden +and Frances Marlton, who, with Mabel Ashe, Constance Fuller and several +other public-spirited seniors, had generously offered their services. As +both Beatrice and Frances possessed considerable skill with the brush +they turned out extremely decorative posters, which were afterward sold +to various admiring students for souvenirs of the club's first +entertainment.</p> + +<p>"I am so tired," declared Grace to Eleanor as they stood at one side of +the stage while the Glee Club, composed of juniors and seniors, arranged +themselves preparatory to filing on to the stage. "Everything seems to +be going beautifully though. Not a single performer has disappointed us. +How pretty the Glee Club girls look to-night."</p> + +<p>"Lovely," agreed Eleanor. "The audience is out in its best bib and +tucker, too. Nearly every girl in the house is in evening dress."</p> + +<p>"Consider the occasion," laughed Grace. "Our show would not have +amounted to much if it had not been for you and your distinguished +father. Anne could not have recited 'Enoch Arden,' without your +accompaniment, and the crowning glory of having the great Savelli play +would have been missing. It reminds me of our concert, Eleanor," she +added softly.</p> + +<p>Eleanor's blue eyes met Grace's gray ones with ineffable tenderness. +"The concert that brought me my father," she murmured. "It seems ages +since that night, Grace. I can't realize that I have ever been away from +Father."</p> + +<p>"It does seem a long time since our senior year in high school," agreed +Grace musingly. "Good gracious, Eleanor, the Glee Club are waiting for +the signal to go on while we stand here reminiscing!" Grace hurried to +the wing where one of the pages stood patiently holding the Glee Club +poster, and signaled to the page on the opposite side. An instant later +the singers had filed on the stage for their opening song.</p> + +<p>As the show progressed the audience became more enthusiastic and +clamored loudly for encores. Elfreda's imitations provoked continuous +laughter, and dainty Arline Thayer, looking not more than seven years +old, was a delightful success from her first babyish lisp. Her song of +the goblin man who stole little children to work for him in his +underground cellar, with its catchy chorus of "Run away, you little +children," was immediately adopted by Overton, and when later it was +noised about that Ruth had written the words while Arline had composed +the music, both girls were later rushed by the Dramatic Club and made +members, an honor to which unassuming Ruth had some difficulty in +becoming accustomed.</p> + +<p>Anne's "Enoch Arden," to Eleanor's piano accompaniment, met with an +ovation. Guido Savelli had been purposely placed last on the programme. +"No one will care for anything else after he plays. The audience will +have the memory of his music to take away with them," Grace had said +wisely. Knowing the musician's horror of being lionized, Grace had +confided the secret to no one except Miriam, Anne, Mabel Ashe and +Elfreda, who, in company with her and Eleanor, had met him at the train +and dined with him at the "Tourraine." It had been arranged that at +half-past nine o'clock Anne and Elfreda should go for him and escort him +to Music Hall.</p> + +<p>At precisely ten minutes past ten o'clock he was escorted through the +side entrance to the hall by his two smiling guides, and into the little +room just off the stage that did duty for a green room. Eleanor's quick +exclamation of, "You have plenty of time, Father, there are two more +numbers before yours," caused the various performers to open their eyes, +and when Eleanor turned to those in the room, saying sweetly, "Girls, +this is my father. He is going to play for us," astonishment looked out +from every face.</p> + +<p>In order that the surprise might be complete, Grace had purposely +withheld until the last moment the posters bearing Guido Savelli's name. +When the two pages placed them up on their respective standards, a +positive sigh of astonishment went up from the audience that changed to +vociferous applause as Eleanor appeared and took her place at the piano. +A second later the great Savelli walked on the stage, violin in hand. +Eleanor, having frequently accompanied him on the piano in private, had +begged to be allowed for once to accompany him in public.</p> + +<p>As the delighted audience listened to the music of the man whose playing +had won for him the homage of two continents, they realized that they +had been granted an unusual privilege.</p> + +<p>"How did he happen to stray into Overton?" "I supposed great artists +like him never condescended to play outside of the large cities," were +the whispered comments.</p> + +<p>One stately old gentleman in particular, who had been the guest of the +president at dinner, and who sat beside him during the performance, grew +enthusiastically curious, asking all sorts of questions. Who had planned +and managed the entertainment? What was the object of the "Semper +Fidelis Club"? How long had it been in existence? Who had been on +familiar enough terms with Savelli to induce him to play at the "show"? +The president answered his questions with becoming patience, promising +to introduce him to Grace Harlowe and Arline Thayer, who, he stated, had +been responsible for the organization of the club.</p> + +<p>Later, the curious old gentleman was presented to Grace and Arline, who +answered his flow of inquiries so courteously and with such apparent +good will that he left the hall, smiling to himself as though he had +gained possession of some wonderful bit of information.</p> + +<p>The vaudeville show netted the Semper Fidelis Club two hundred dollars, +which Arline deposited in the bank the following morning.</p> + +<p>"'Every little bit helps'" chuckled Arline as she opened the bank book +and pointed to the new entry. She and Grace were on their way from the +bank.</p> + +<p>"I should say it did," returned Grace warmly. "I only wish we could +always make money as easily and pleasantly as we made that two hundred +dollars."</p> + +<p>"It was lots of fun, wasn't it?" declared Arline happily. "When we come +back next fall as juniors we can give another show and add to our fund. +We won't have time this year. We are all going home next week and after +Easter it will be too late in the year to bother with entertainments."</p> + +<p>"We might give a carnival in the gymnasium next fall," suggested Grace. +"We had a bazaar at home and made over five hundred dollars. If we gave +it early in the fall we would have as much as a thousand dollars on hand +to lend where it was needed. I imagine we can find plenty of places for +it."</p> + +<p>"We can be thinking about it through the summer," planned Arline.</p> + +<p>That night when Grace reached Wayne Hall she found a letter bearing her +address in the bulletin board at the foot of the stairs. After glancing +curiously at the superscription, Grace tore it open and read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"To <span class="smcap">Miss Grace Harlowe</span>, "Wayne Hall, "Overton.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Miss Harlowe</span>:</p> + +<p>"I am enclosing a check made payable to you, which I should like +you to accept in behalf of the Semper Fidelis Club. I am greatly +interested in your association and wish to say that at this time +each year as long as the club exists I pledge myself to contribute +the same amount of money. Trusting that the club will continue to +thrive and prosper,</p> + +<p>"Yours very truly,</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Thomas Redfield</span>."</p></div> + +<p>Grace lay down the letter and stared at the check with incredulous eyes. +It was for one thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>It took but an instant to dart down the hall to Miriam's room, where +Anne had just gone to borrow Miriam's Thesaurus.</p> + +<p>"Look, look!" cried Grace, holding the check before Anne's astonished +eyes.</p> + +<p>Miriam rose from her chair and peered over Anne's shoulder. "Three +cheers for Mr. Redfield!" she exclaimed. Three cheers for the fairy +godfather of Semper Fidelis!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>CAMPUS CONFIDENCES</h3> + + +<p>After the Easter vacation there seemed very little left of the college +year. Spring overtook the Overton girls unawares, and golf, tennis, +Saturday afternoon picnics and walking tours crowded even basketball off +their schedule. It was delightful just to stroll about the fast-greening +campus arm in arm with one's best friend under the smiling blue of an +April sky. It was ideal weather for planning for the future, but it was +anything but conducive to study.</p> + +<p>"It's a good thing we work like mad in the winter," grumbled Elfreda +Briggs, giving her Horace a vindictive little shove that sent it sliding +to the floor. "I can't remember anything now, except that the grass is +green, the sky is blue—"</p> + +<p>"Sugar is sweet, and so are you," supplemented Miriam Nesbit slyly.</p> + +<p>"That wasn't what I was going to say at all," retorted Elfreda +reprovingly.</p> + +<p>"Then I beg your pardon," returned Miriam, with mock contrition. "What +were you going to say?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing much," grinned Elfreda, "except that I was weighed to-day and +I've lost five pounds. I am down to one hundred and forty-five pounds +now. If I can lose five pounds more this summer I shall be in fine +condition for basketball next fall."</p> + +<p>"You did splendid work on the sub team this year," replied Miriam +warmly. "I am sure that you will make the regular team next fall."</p> + +<p>"The upper class girls say they have very little time for basketball," +mused Elfreda. "All kinds of other stunts crowd it out. I'm not going to +be like that, though. I love to play and I shall manage to find time for +it."</p> + +<p>"Where is Grace to-night?" asked Elfreda. "I didn't see her at dinner."</p> + +<p>"She had a dinner engagement with Mabel Ashe."</p> + +<p>"Vinton's?" asked Elfreda.</p> + +<p>Miriam nodded.</p> + +<p>"Grace is lucky," sighed Elfreda. "She is always being invited to +something or other. Her dinner partners always materialize, too," she +added ruefully.</p> + +<p>"Which is more than can be said of some of yours," laughed Miriam. +"Strange you never found out about that, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>It was Elfreda's turn to nod. "I have often thought I would go to Miss +Atkins and ask her why she left me to languish dinnerless in my room +after inviting me to eat, drink and be merry," mused Elfreda. "I hate to +go home with the mystery unsolved. I believe I will go ask her now," she +declared, with sudden energy. "I know she's alone, for the Enigma isn't +there to-night." Elfreda had recently bestowed this title upon Mildred +Taylor on account of her inexplicable attitude toward Grace.</p> + +<p>"I have been disappointed in little Miss Taylor," remarked Miriam +slowly. "I was so sure that she would prove another Arline Thayer. She +had the same fascinating little ways and at first she seemed so +genuinely frank and straightforward."</p> + +<p>"I wonder what made her change so suddenly," said Elfreda, walking to +the door, "and toward Grace, especially. She doesn't speak to Grace when +she meets her. She is an Enigma and no mistake. Now for our friend the +Anarchist. If I don't come back within a reasonable length of time you +will know that I have been annihilated."</p> + +<p>Ten minutes went by, then ten more. At the end of half an hour Miriam +wondered slightly at her roommate's continued absence. Just before time +for the dinner bell to ring, Elfreda burst into the room with: "Miriam, +will you help me to dress? I am invited to dinner and this time I am +going. The An—Miss Atkins has forgiven me, peace has been restored and +we are going out to dine, arm in arm." Elfreda pranced jubilantly about +the room, then flinging open the door of the wardrobe brought forth two +large boxes that had come by express the day before, one of them +containing her new spring hat, the other a smart suit of natural pongee.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="soc4" id="soc4"></a> +<img src="images/soc4.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>The Two Boxes Contained Elfreda's New Suit and Hat.</h3> + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + + +<p>"Stop hurrying for a minute and give me a true and faithful account of +this miracle," demanded Miriam. "I had begun to think the worst had +happened. What did you say first, and what did she say?"</p> + +<p>"The door of her room stood partly open and I knocked on it, then +marched in without an invitation," replied Elfreda. "She was so +surprised she forgot to be angry, and before she had time to remember +that she didn't like me I surprised her still further by asking her to +tell me why she had refused to speak to me for so long. Before she knew +it she had stammered something about Grace and I calling her names and +making fun of her behind her back when she had asked me in all good +faith to have dinner with her at Vinton's. She declared she had heard +us.</p> + +<p>"The instant she said that I remembered that I had mimicked her that +night while dressing and that Grace had laughed, but had said in the +same breath, that it wasn't fair. So I asked her point blank if that was +what she meant, and she said 'yes,' only she hadn't waited long enough +to hear what Grace had said about unfairness. She had come to the door +just in time to hear me mimic her, and had rushed back to her room angry +and hurt. Then I explained to her that I had a bad trick of imitating +even my friends, and that I had offended more than one person by my +thoughtlessness. I was really dreadfully sorry and asked her to forgive +me. She had half a mind not to do it, then she relented, smiled a little +and actually offered me her hand. Of course, after that I stayed a few +minutes to talk things over with her and she proposed going to dinner. +She is changed. In just what way I can't explain, except that she is +more gentle and not quite so prim. Will you look in the top drawer of +the chiffonier and see if I put my gold beads in that green box? You +know the one I mean."</p> + +<p>Miriam obediently opened the drawer and taking the beads from the box +deftly fastened them about Elfreda's neck. "Grace will be glad to hear +of this," she remarked. "May I tell her and Anne?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned Elfreda, "but please don't tell any one else." Pinning +on her new hat she hurried off to keep her long-delayed engagement with +the now thoroughly pacified Anarchist.</p> + +<p>When the dinner bell rang, Miriam suddenly remembered that of the four +friends she was the only stay-at-home that night. Anne had gone to take +supper and spend the evening with Ruth Denton. As she took her seat at +the table she noted that Emma Dean's and Mildred Taylor's places were +also vacant.</p> + +<p>"Where is everyone to-night?" asked Irene Evans, who sat opposite +Miriam.</p> + +<p>"Grace, Anne and Elfreda were all invited out this evening," answered +Miriam. "I don't know anything about Miss Dean and Miss Taylor."</p> + +<p>"Emma is spending the evening with her cousin, that other Miss Dean of +Ralston House," replied Irene. "Miss Taylor," she shrugged her shoulders +slightly, "is with Miss Wicks and Miss Hampton, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"I don't think I shall overstudy to-night," announced Miriam, a little +later, as she rose from the table. "I'm going for a walk. Want to go +with me?"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry," replied Irene regretfully, "but I've a frightfully hard +chemistry lesson ahead of me to-night."</p> + +<p>It had been an unusually balmy April and now that the moon was at the +full, the Overton girls took advantage of the fine nights to walk up and +down College Street or the campus. Sure of finding some one she knew, +Miriam slipped on her sweater, and, disdaining a hat, strolled down the +street toward the campus. Exchanging numerous greetings with students, +she wandered aimlessly across the campus toward a seat built against a +tree where she and Grace had had more than one quiet session.</p> + +<p>As she neared the seat, which was somewhat in the shadow, she gave a +little startled exclamation. A girl was crouching at the darkest end of +the seat, her face hidden in her hands. Turning away, Miriam was about +to recross the campus when the utter despondency of the girl's attitude +caused her to go back. Stopping directly in front of the bowed figure, +she said gently, "Can I help you?"</p> + +<p>The girl rose, and without answering was about to hurry away, when +Miriam, after one swift glance at her face, ran after her, exclaiming, +"Wait a moment, Miss Taylor!"</p> + +<p>Mildred Taylor stopped and eyed Miriam defiantly. Despite her expression +of bravado, she looked as though she had been crying. "What do you +want?" she asked in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"To talk with you," said Miriam boldly, stepping forward and slipping +her arm through Mildred's. "Shall we sit down here and begin? All my +friends have deserted me to-night. There were ever so many vacant places +at the dinner table. I noticed you were away, too."</p> + +<p>"I—I—have—haven't had any dinner," faltered Mildred. Then, staring +disconsolately at her companion for an instant, she dropped her head on +her arm and gave way to violent sobbing. "I am so miserable," she +wailed.</p> + +<p>Miriam sat silent, touched by Mildred's distress, yet undecided what to +do. Things were evidently going badly with the "cute" little girl. "She +has done something she is sorry for," was Miriam's reflection. After a +slight deliberation she said gently, "Is there anything you wish to tell +me, Miss Taylor?"</p> + +<p>Mildred raised her head, regarding Miriam with troubled, hopeless eyes. +Miriam took one of the little girl's hands in hers. "Do not be afraid to +tell me," she said earnestly. "I am your friend."</p> + +<p>"You wouldn't be if you knew what a miserable, contemptible coward I +am," muttered Mildred. "I can't tell you anything. Please go away." Her +head dropped to her arm again.</p> + +<p>Miriam, still holding her other hand, patted it comfortingly. "No one is +infallible, Miss Taylor. I once felt just as you do to-night. Only I am +quite sure that my fault was much graver than yours can possibly be."</p> + +<p>Mildred raised her head with a jerk. She looked at Miriam incredulously. +"I don't think <i>you</i> ever did anything very contemptible," she said +sceptically.</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you about it," replied Miriam soberly. "Then you can judge +for yourself. The person whom I wronged has long since forgiven me, but +I can never quite forgive myself or forget. It was during my first year +in high school that I began behaving very badly toward a new girl in the +freshman class, of whom I was jealous. I was the star pupil of the class +until she came, then she proved herself my equal if not my superior in +class standing, and I tried in every way to discredit her in the eyes of +her teachers and her friends. At the end of the freshman year, a sum of +money was offered as a prize to the freshman who averaged highest in her +final examinations. Feeling sure that this other girl would win it, I +managed, with the help of some one as dishonest as myself, to gain +possession of the examination questions, but before I had finished with +them, I was obliged to drop them in a hurry, to escape discovery by the +principal. By the merest chance the girl I disliked happened along just +in time to be suspected of tampering with the papers. But she had +friends who fought loyally for her and cleared her of the suspicion.</p> + +<p>"She won the prize. Nothing was ever said to me about it, but I knew +that the principal and at least four girls in school knew what I had +done. When I entered the sophomore class in the fall I felt a positive +hatred for this girl and for her friends. I did all sorts of cruel, +despicable things that year, and succeeded in dividing my class into two +factions who opposed each other at every point.</p> + +<p>"Toward the last of the year I grew tired of being so disagreeable. My +conscience began to trouble me seriously. Then, one day, the two girls I +despised did me a great service, and my enmity toward them died out +forever.</p> + +<p>"I can't begin to tell you how differently I felt after I had +acknowledged my fault and been forgiven. Those girls are my dearest +friends now. You know them, too."</p> + +<p>"You—you don't mean Miss Harlowe and Miss Pierson?" asked Mildred in a +low tone, her eyes fixed upon Miriam.</p> + +<p>Miriam nodded. "Grace and Anne are the most charitable girls I ever +knew," she said softly, "If they were not they would never have forgiven +me. Anne was the girl who won the prize. Grace was one of the friends +who stood by her. If you feel that you have done some one an injustice, +you will not be happy until you have righted matters. If the person +refuses to forgive you, you at least will have done your part."</p> + +<p>"I can't go to the—the—person and tell her," faltered Mildred. "I +should die of humiliation."</p> + +<p>"But you don't wish to go away from Overton carrying this burden with +you," persisted Miriam. "It will weigh heavily upon you when you come +back next fall—"</p> + +<p>"I'm not coming back next fall," mumbled Mildred. "I shall never again +be happy at Overton."</p> + +<p>"Brace up, and square things with the other girl, and you'll feel +differently," retorted Miriam.</p> + +<p>"If it were any one else besides Miss Harlowe," began Mildred.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am so sorry you told me her name!" exclaimed Miriam regretfully. +"Now that I know it is Grace, however, I shall redouble my advice about +going to her. You need have no fear that she will not forgive you. Grace +never holds grudges."</p> + +<p>"I can't do it," declared Mildred tremulously, "I am afraid."</p> + +<p>Miriam looked at her companion rather doubtfully. "I think Grace is the +person with whom to talk this matter over," she declared. "Suppose we go +over to Wayne Hall now? She went to dinner at Vinton's with Mabel Ashe, +but she must be at the hall by this time."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't," gasped Mildred nervously, "Yes, yes, I will if you will +come with me while I tell her."</p> + +<p>"I think it would be better for you to go to her by yourself," said +Miriam dubiously.</p> + +<p>"I can't do it," protested Mildred miserably. "Please, please come with +me."</p> + +<p>"Then, let us go now," returned Miriam decisively. "We may catch Grace +at home and alone."</p> + +<p>During the walk across the campus the two girls exchanged no words. +Mildred was trying to summon all her courage in order to make the +dreaded confession.</p> + +<p>Miriam was thinking of the day that belonged to the long ago when she +had confessed her fault, and, joining hands with Anne Pierson and Grace +Harlowe, had sworn eternal friendship. She felt only the deepest +sympathy for the unhappy little girl at her side, for having been +through a similar experience she understood clearly the struggle that +was going on in Mildred's mind.</p> + +<p>Twice the little freshman stopped short, declaring she could not and +would not go on, and each time, with infinite patience, Miriam buoyed +and restored to firmness her shaking resolution.</p> + +<p>"You do not know Grace Harlowe," Miriam said as they neared Wayne Hall, +"or you would not be afraid to go to her and tell her what you have just +told me. She is neither revengeful nor unforgiving, and I am sure that +she will be only too glad to help you begin all over again."</p> + +<p>"But not here at Overton," quavered Mildred.</p> + +<p>"You can decide that later," Miriam said kindly, as they entered the +house. But she smiled to herself, for she felt reasonably sure that +Mildred would come back to Overton for her sophomore year.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3>A FAULT CONFESSED</h3> + + +<p>Grace came home from Vinton's with the firm intention of putting in a +full evening of study. "It is only half-past eight," she exulted. "I'll +have plenty of time for everything. I suppose Anne won't be home until +the last minute's grace."</p> + +<p>As she passed through the hall to the stairs she poked her head +inquisitively into the living room. Three or four girls sat at the +library table industriously engaged in writing. Grace turned away +without disturbing them, and went quietly up the stairs. As she walked +down the hall to her own room she noticed that Miriam's room was dark.</p> + +<p>"I wonder where the girls are!" Grace exclaimed. "I didn't know they +were to be away to-night, too. Perhaps they have gone for a walk." Grace +lighted the gas in her own room and, hanging up her hat, sat down in the +Morris chair, beside the table on which lay her books piled ready for +work. "If no one bothers me for the next hour and the girls obligingly +stay away, the rest will be easy," she smiled to herself as she worked +at her French.</p> + +<p>At five minutes of ten she closed her text book on chemistry with a +triumphant bang. "Nothing left to do now but my theme and that can wait +until to-morrow night. I think I'll read until the girls come in." Grace +reached for her book, which lay on the table conveniently near her, +opened it at the place she had marked and began to read. She had not +read more than two or three pages when, through the half opened door, +came the sound of voices.</p> + +<p>Grace's gray eyes opened in surprise as Miriam Nesbit walked into the +room followed by Mildred Taylor.</p> + +<p>"I thought you would be here," greeted Miriam.</p> + +<p>Grace rose and walked toward Mildred. Without the slightest show of +hesitation she held out her hand. "I am glad to see you, Mildred. Why +haven't you come in before?" she asked frankly.</p> + +<p>Mildred looked from Miriam to Grace. "I can't tell you why!" she +exclaimed in a choked, frightened voice. "I thought I could, but I +can't." She began to cry softly.</p> + +<p>Grace sprang to her side, and, placing her arm about the little girl's +waist, said soothingly, "Don't cry, and don't tell us anything you don't +wish to tell. I am so glad you came at all. The early part of the year I +thought we were going to be friends. I am sorry I hurt your feelings on +the night of the sophomore reception. I told you so then, but I am +afraid you thought I didn't mean what I said."</p> + +<p>"It wasn't that," quavered Mildred, wiping her eyes. "It was—it was—I +had no business to take it. It was stealing!"</p> + +<p>Miriam looked sharply at Mildred's distressed face, as though trying to +gain some inkling of what was to come. Grace's expression was one of +anxious concern. Neither girl spoke.</p> + +<p>"I might as well tell you, Grace," went on Mildred in a low, shamed +voice. "I am the person who stole your theme. I found it at the foot of +the stairs. I did not look at the name written on it until I was in my +own room. I ought to have given it to you at once, but I stopped to read +it. It was so clever I wished I had written it. Themes are my weak +point, and Miss Duncan had criticised my work so severely that I was +feeling blue and discouraged. Then came the temptation to take your +theme, copy it, and hand it in as my own. You had lost it, so you would +never know what became of it. You could write another theme as easily as +you had written that. It did occur to me that you might be able to +rewrite that particular theme from memory. So I changed the title of +your theme, copied it that night and changed the ending a little and +took particular pains to hand it in early the next morning, so that if +any suspicion were aroused it would not fall on me, but on you. It was +thoroughly contemptible in me, and after I handed in the theme I felt +like a criminal. When Miss Duncan sent for me, I grew frightened and +instead of owning to what I had done I told more lies and tried to make +it appear that you were the real offender. At first she believed me, but +afterward she didn't, and made me admit that I had lied. When she told +me about promising you that she would give me another chance and that +you neither knew nor cared to know my name, I could hardly believe it. +Since that time I've never dared to speak to you. I have been so +dreadfully ashamed." Her voice broke.</p> + +<p>"Don't think about it ever again," comforted Grace. "Everyone is likely +to make mistakes. I think you have suffered enough for yours. I am sure +you would never do any such thing again."</p> + +<p>Mildred shook her head vigorously. "Never," she declared sadly.</p> + +<p>Miriam, who had listened to the little girl's confession, an inscrutable +expression on her dark face, said practically, "Was there anything +besides what you have told us that made you unhappy to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Why—why," stammered Mildred. "Yes, there was. How did you know?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't know," declared Miriam dryly. "I just wondered."</p> + +<p>"It was something that made me unhappy, yet glad, too," said Mildred, +her face flushing. "I thought I hated Grace and said horrid things about +her to two other girls I know, who are not her friends. To-night I was +with them at Martell's, and I quarreled with them about you girls. Ever +since I heard Savelli play at your entertainment I have felt differently +about everything. His music brought me to my real self and made me +realize how small and mean and contemptible I was. I discovered that it +was not you but myself I hated, and when these girls began to say things +about you, all of a sudden I found myself standing up for you as +staunchly as ever I could. Then we quarreled and I got up from the table +and almost ran out of Martell's.</p> + +<p>"I walked and walked until I was all tired out. Then I sat down on that +seat by the tree where Miriam found me. In defending you, Grace, I found +myself. I saw clearly that my college life was all wrong. The mean +things I had done stared me in the face. The theme was the worst of all. +No wonder I cried. Now that I've told you everything I am happier than I +have been since last fall. Next year I am going to start all over again +in some other college where no one knows me."</p> + +<p>"Besides yourself, there are only three who know, Miriam, Miss Duncan +and I," said Grace slowly. "When Miss Duncan sent for me about the theme +I told myself then that, although I had no desire to know the name of +the other girl, if ever I should learn her identity I would try to be +the best friend she ever had. I am ready to keep my word, Mildred, if +you are ready to come back to Overton next year and help me keep it."</p> + +<p>Mildred glanced timidly from Grace to Miriam. "I'd love to come back," +she faltered, "only I'm afraid you girls would never believe in me +again."</p> + +<p>"My friends did," reminded Miriam softly, extending her hand to Mildred. +"I believe in you now."</p> + +<p>"Of course we will believe in you," declared Grace cheerfully. "Come +back next fall and give us a chance to show you that we trust you."</p> + +<p>"I will," answered Mildred with solemn resolution, "but you shall give +me the chance to show you that your trust is not misplaced. Good night," +she put out her hand again rather uncertainly. Grace's hand went quickly +out to meet it, holding it in a warm, friendly clasp, and Mildred went +to her room a changed girl.</p> + +<p>"How did you happen to be her confessor, Miriam?" asked Grace +wonderingly, after the freshman had gone.</p> + +<p>Miriam related the evening's happenings.</p> + +<p>"I never even suspected her," said Grace. "I believed her to be angry +with me for overlooking her at the reception. I always tried not to +think of any particular girl as being guilty of taking my theme. It has +turned out beautifully, hasn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," nodded Miriam. "As a matter of fact everything generally does +turn out well in the end if one has the patience to wait."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3>CONCLUSION</h3> + + +<p>"Two more days, then good-bye to Overton," mourned Elfreda Briggs sadly.</p> + +<p>The stout girl was seated on the floor, the contents of her trunk spread +broadcast about her.</p> + +<p>"Elfreda would like to stay here and study all summer," remarked Miriam +slyly to Anne, who was watching Elfreda's movements with amused eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, I wouldn't," retorted Elfreda good-naturedly. "I am as anxious +to go home as the rest of you, but I'm sorry to leave here, too. What's +the use in explaining?" she grumbled, catching sight of her friends' +laughing faces. "You girls know what I mean, only you will tease me."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, we won't tease It any more," said Miriam soothingly.</p> + +<p>"There is only one thing you can do to convince me that you are in +earnest," stipulated Elfreda.</p> + +<p>"Name it," laughed Anne.</p> + +<p>"Invite me to a banquet, and have cakes and lemonade," was the calm +request.</p> + +<p>"I thought you were strongly opposed to sweet things," commented Anne.</p> + +<p>"Not at the sad, sorrowful end of the sophomore year," returned Elfreda, +impressively. "Besides, lemonade isn't fattening."</p> + +<p>"And it will be such splendid exercise for you to make it," added Miriam +mischievously.</p> + +<p>Elfreda looked disapprovingly at Miriam, then a broad smile illuminated +her round face. "So nice of you to think about the exercise," she beamed +affectedly. "Lead me to the lemons."</p> + +<p>Miriam rose, took Elfreda by the arm, and leading her to the closet, +pointed upward to the shelf. Elfreda grasped the paper bag with a +giggle. Then Miriam led her calmly out again, just in time to encounter +Grace, Mabel Ashe and Frances Marlton, who, in passing down the hall, +had heard voices, and could not resist stopping for a moment.</p> + +<p>"What is going on here?" asked Mabel curiously. "Why is J. Elfreda in +leading strings?"</p> + +<p>"She is taking exercise," replied Miriam gravely. "J. Elfreda, explain +to the lady."</p> + +<p>"This exercise is compulsory," grinned Elfreda. "No exercise, no +lemonade. Of course, you will stay and have some."</p> + +<p>"Of course," agreed Mabel. "I may not have a chance for a very long time +to drink lemonade again with the Wayne Hallites."</p> + +<p>"You mustn't say that," remonstrated Grace. "Remember, you are going to +visit me at Oakdale. Elfreda is going to visit Miriam. Can't you can +arrange to come, too, Frances?"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry," declared Frances, shaking her head, "but we are going to +sail for Europe within a week after I reach home. I shall have to say +good-bye in earnest on Thursday. But I'll write you, and make you a +visit some time."</p> + +<p>"How comfortingly definite. I'll see you again during the next hundred +years," jeered Mabel.</p> + +<p>"You know I don't mean that," reproached Frances.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"I do intend before the end,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">This happy couple shall meet again,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>chanted Elfreda as she peered into the lemonade pitcher.</p> + +<p>"Precisely," laughed Frances. "Did you play 'Needle's eye' when you were +a little girl, Elfreda?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and 'London Bridge' and 'King William was King James's son,' too. +I always loved to play, but was hardly ever chosen because I was so fat +and ungainly. I remember once, though, when I went to a children's party +in a pale blue silk dress that made me look like a young mountain. I +thought myself superlatively beautiful, however, and the rest of the +little girls were so impressed that I was a great social triumph, and +made up for the times when I had been passed by," concluded Elfreda +humorously.</p> + +<p>"Your adventures are worthy of recording and publishing," said Anne +lightly. "Write a book and call it 'The Astonishing Adventures of +Elfreda'."</p> + +<p>The stout girl eyed Anne reflectively, the lemon squeezer poised in one +hand. "That's a good idea," she said coolly. "I'll do it when I come +back next fall. Now I'm not going to say another word until I finish +this lemonade, so don't speak to me." When she left the room for ice +water, Mabel Ashe observed warmly, "She is a credit to 19—, isn't she?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned Grace. "They are beginning to find it out, too."</p> + +<p>"Your sophomore days have been peaceful, compared with last year," +remarked Frances Marlton. "Certain girls have kept strictly in the +background."</p> + +<p>"We have not been obliged to resort to ghost parties this year," +reminded Mabel Ashe. "It requires ghosts to lay ghosts, you know."</p> + +<p>Grace could have remarked with truth that certain ghosts had not been +laid as effectually as she desired, but wisely keeping her own counsel +she was about to essay a change of subject when the return of Elfreda +with the lemonade served her purpose.</p> + +<p>"'How can I bear to leave thee?'" quoted Mabel sentimentally, as she and +Frances reluctantly rose to go half an hour later. "I hope you feel +properly flattered. Graduates' attentions are at a premium this week. +They ought to be, too, when one stops to think that it takes four years +to reach that dizzy height of popularity. Four long years of slavish +toil, my children. Observe my careworn air, my rapidly graying locks, my +deeply-lined countenance."</p> + +<p>"Yes, observe them," grinned Elfreda. "You look younger than Anne, and +she looks like a mere chee—ild. Don't forget that you are going to send +us pictures of you in your cap and gown, will you?" she added, looking +affectionately at the two pretty seniors, whose help and kindly interest +had meant much to her individually.</p> + +<p>"We will see you to the door," laughed Grace, slipping her arm through +Mabel's.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever find the girl?" asked Mabel in a low tone. "You know the +one I mean. I have often wondered about her."</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Grace in the same guarded tones. "I can't tell even you +her name, but everything has been explained."</p> + +<p>Mabel pressed Grace's arm in silent understanding. "Good-bye," she said, +"we shall see you again before we leave Overton."</p> + +<p>"You had better come into our room and finish the lemonade," declared +Miriam, as they watched their guests go down the walk.</p> + +<p>"But I haven't begun my packing yet, and I have so many things to do and +so many girls to see that I ought not waste a minute."</p> + +<p>"Time spent with us is never wasted," reminded Elfreda significantly.</p> + +<p>"Quite true," responded Grace gaily. "I am sorry I had to be reminded. +To prove my sorrow I will help you with your packing, when I ought to be +doing my own."</p> + +<p>"Come on, then," challenged Elfreda. She ran lightly up the stairs, her +three friends at her heels.</p> + +<p>"I'll pour the lemonade while you and Grace pack," volunteered Miriam.</p> + +<p>"I choose to do nothing," said Anne lazily. "I am going to work all +summer. I need a little rest now."</p> + +<p>"You won't know where you are to be for the summer until Mr. Forest +writes, will you?" asked Miriam.</p> + +<p>"The Originals will be lonesome without you, Anne," mourned Grace. "You +must be sure to visit me. That is, unless you are too far west."</p> + +<p>"I am going to have a visitor of my own," announced Elfreda proudly. +"You can never guess who it is."</p> + +<p>"I know," laughed Anne, after a moment's reflection. "It is the +Anar—Miss Atkins, I mean."</p> + +<p>"Who told you?" demanded Elfreda. "It is true, though. She is coming to +Fairview the last two weeks in July, and I am going to give her the time +of her life. Just think, girls, she has never had any girl friends until +she came here. Her mother died when she was a baby, and a prim old aunt +kept house for them. Her father is Professor Archibald Atkins, that +Natural Scientist who went to Africa and was held captive by a tribe of +savages for two years.</p> + +<p>"Living with the heathen didn't improve him, for when he came home he +behaved so queerly that people thought him crazy. Then the aunt, who was +the professor's sister, died, and poor Laura had to live alone with her +father in a great big country house. Finally, she grew so tired of it +she asked him to send her to college. She had always had a tutor, so she +was ready for the entrance examinations, but she had never associated +with other girls and didn't know much about them. I can't feel sorry +enough for calling her names and imitating her. We had a long talk at +Martell's the other night and I am going to be her knight errant from +now on."</p> + +<p>"You found the rainbow side of your sophomore year in helping some one +else, didn't you, Elfreda?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you are talking about," rejoined Elfreda bluntly.</p> + +<p>"I know you don't," laughed Grace. "It was nothing much. Last year at +this time Anne and I were lamenting because we couldn't be freshmen all +over again, and Anne said that being a sophomore was sure to have its +rainbow side."</p> + +<p>"It has been the nicest year of my life," said Elfreda earnestly. "If +being a junior is any nicer than being a sophomore—well—you will have +to show me. There, I've ended by using slang. But I've found my rainbow +side in another way, too."</p> + +<p>"Name it," challenged Miriam mischievously.</p> + +<p>"By losing twenty pounds," announced Elfreda, with proud triumph. "I +weigh one hundred and forty pounds now, and next fall you will see me on +the team, or it won't be my fault."</p> + +<p>"I hope I shall have time for basketball," said Grace. "There will be so +many other things. Remember, girls, if during vacation you think of any +good plan for the Semper Fidelis Club to make money, make a note of it. +Just because we have money in our treasury, we mustn't become lazy. We +will find plenty of uses for every cent we can earn. There are dozens of +girls struggling through Overton who need help."</p> + +<p>"You never told us to what girls you and Arline played Santa Claus last +winter, Grace," said Elfreda reproachfully.</p> + +<p>"And I never will," laughed Grace, "and Arline won't tell, either."</p> + +<p>"I know something, too," declared Elfreda, "but I'm not as stingy as +Grace. I know who poked that envelope with the ten dollars in it under +Grace's door."</p> + +<p>"Who?" came simultaneously from the three girls.</p> + +<p>"Mildred Taylor," replied Elfreda. "I saw her do it. I was just coming +down the hall that night as she slipped it under the door and ran away. +I never told any one, because I could see she didn't want any one to +know she did it."</p> + +<p>"Elfreda always sees more than appears on the surface," commented Miriam +mischievously.</p> + +<p>"Elfreda's energy has inspired me to go to my room and begin my own +packing," declared Anne, rising.</p> + +<p>"I'll go with you," volunteered Grace. "I think Elfreda can be trusted +to finish her packing by herself."</p> + +<p>"I think I'll accomplish more, at any rate," declared Elfreda pointedly.</p> + +<p>"It is half over, Anne, dear," said Grace, almost wistfully, as they +strolled down the hall, school girl fashion, their arms about each +other's waists.</p> + +<p>"Our life at Overton, you mean?" asked Anne.</p> + +<p>Grace nodded. "I was sure I should never like college as well as high +school, but I've found it even nicer."</p> + +<p>"And we are going to like being juniors best of all," predicted Anne.</p> + +<p>How completely the truth of Anne's prediction was proven will be found +in "<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe's Third Year at Overton College</span>."</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The End</span>.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton +College, by Jessie Graham Flower + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR *** + +***** This file should be named 6858-h.htm or 6858-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/8/5/6858/ + +Produced by Avinash Kothare, Tom Allen, Charles Franks, +Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions 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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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 + + +Title: Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton College + +Author: Jessie Graham Flower + +Release Date: January 28, 2007 [EBook #6858] +[This file was first posted on February 2, 2003] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR *** + + + + +Produced by Avinash Kothare, Tom Allen, Charles Franks, +Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton College + + By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. + + + + +PHILADELPHIA +HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY +Copyright, 1914 + + + + +[Illustration: The Door Was Cautiously Opened to Mrs. Elwood.] + + + + +CONTENTS + + I. Overton Claims Her Own + + II. The Unforseen + + III. Mrs. Elwood to the Rescue + + IV. The Belated Freshman + + V. The Anarchist Chooses Her Roommate + + VI. Elfreda Makes a Rash Promise + + VII. Girls and Their Ideals + + VIII. The Invitation + + IX. Anticipation + + X. An Offended Freshman + + XI. The Finger of Suspicion + + XII. The Summons + + XIII. Grace Holds Court + + XIV. Grace Makes a Resolution + + XV. The Quality of Mercy + + XVI. A Disgruntled Reformer + + XVII. Making Other Girls Happy + + XVIII. Mrs. Gray's Christmas Children + + XIX. Arline's Plan + + XX. A Welcome Guest + + XXI. A Gift to Semper Fidelis + + XXII. Campus Confidences + + XXIII. A Fault Confessed + + XXIV. Conclusion + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +The Door Was Cautiously Opened to Mrs. Elwood. + +"It Is My Theme." + +Each Girl Carried an Unwieldy Bundle. + +The Two Boxes Contained Elfreda's New Suit and Hat. + + + + +Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton College + + + + +CHAPTER I + +OVERTON CLAIMS HER OWN + + +"Oh, there goes Grace Harlowe! Grace! Grace! Wait a minute!" A +curly-haired little girl hastily deposited her suit case, golf bag, two +magazines and a box of candy on the nearest bench and ran toward a +quartette of girls who had just left the train that stood puffing +noisily in front of the station at Overton. + +The tall, gray-eyed young woman in blue turned at the call, and, running +back, met the other half way. "Why, Arline!" she exclaimed. "I didn't +see you when I got off the train." The two girls exchanged affectionate +greetings; then Arline was passed on to Miriam Nesbit, Anne Pierson and +J. Elfreda Briggs, who, with Grace Harlowe, had come back to Overton +College to begin their second year's course of study. + +Those who have followed the fortunes of Grace Harlowe and her friends +through their four years of high school life are familiar with what +happened during "Grace Harlowe's Plebe Year at High School," +the story of her freshman year. "Grace Harlowe's Sophomore Year at +High School" gave a faithful account of the doings of Grace and her +three friends, Nora O'Malley, Anne Pierson and Jessica Bright, during +their sophomore days. "Grace Harlowe's Junior Year at High +School" and "Grace Harlowe's Senior Year at High School" +told of her third and fourth years in Oakdale High School and of how +completely Grace lived up to the high standard of honor she had set for +herself. + +After their graduation from high school the four devoted chums spent a +summer in Europe; then came the inevitable separation. Nora and Jessica +had elected to go to an eastern conservatory of music, while Anne and +Grace had chosen Overton College. Miriam Nesbit, a member of the Phi +Sigma Tau, had also decided for Overton, and what befell the three +friends as Overton College freshmen has been narrated in "Grace +Harlowe's First Year at Overton College." + +Now September had rolled around again and the station platform of the +town of Overton was dotted with groups of students laden with suit +cases, golf bags and the paraphernalia belonging peculiarly to the +college girl. Overton College was about to claim its own. The joyous +greetings called out by happy voices testified to the fact that the next +best thing to leaving college to go home was leaving home to come back +to college. + +"Where is Ruth?" was Grace's first question as she surveyed Arline with +smiling, affectionate eyes. + +"She'll be here directly," answered Arline. "She is looking after the +trunks. She is the most indefatigable little laborer I ever saw. From +the time we began to get ready to come back to Overton she refused +positively to allow me to lift my finger. She is always hunting +something to do. She says she has acquired the work habit so strongly +that she can't break herself of it, and I believe her," finished Arline +with a sigh of resignation. "Here she comes now." + +An instant later the demure young woman seen approaching was surrounded +by laughing girls. + +"Stop working and speak to your little friends," laughed Miriam Nesbit. +"We've just heard bad reports of you." + +"I know what you've heard!" exclaimed Ruth, her plain little face alight +with happiness. "Arline has been grumbling. You haven't any idea what a +fault-finding person she is. She lectures me all the time." + +"For working," added Arline. "Ruth will have work enough and to spare +this year. Can you blame me for trying to make her take life easy for a +few days?" + +"Blame you?" repeated Elfreda. "I would have lectured her night and day, +and tied her up to keep her from work, if necessary." + +"Now you see just how much sympathy these worthy sophomores have for +you," declared Arline. + +"Do you know whether 19-- is all here yet?" asked Anne. + +"I don't know a single thing more about it than do you girls," returned +Arline. "Suppose we go directly to our houses, and then meet at Vinton's +for dinner to-night. I don't yearn for a Morton House dinner. The meals +there won't be strictly up to the mark for another week yet. When the +house is full again, the standard of Morton House cooking will rise in a +day, but until then--let us thank our stars for Vinton's. Are you going +to take the automobile bus? We shall save time." + +"We might as well ride," replied Grace, looking inquiringly at her +friends. "My luggage is heavy and the sooner I arrive at Wayne Hall the +better pleased I shall be." + +"Are you to have the same rooms as last year?" asked Ruth Denton. + +"I suppose so, unless something unforeseen has happened." + +"Will there be any vacancies at your house this year?" inquired Arline. + +"Four, I believe," replied Anne Pierson. "Were you thinking of changing? +We'd be glad to have you with us." + +"I'd love to come, but Morton House is like home to me. Mrs. Kane calls +me the Morton House Mascot, and declares her house would go to rack and +ruin without me. She only says that in fun, of course." + +"I think you'd make an ideal mascot for the sophomore basketball team +this year," laughed Grace. "Will you accept the honor?" + +"With both hands," declared Arline. "Now, we had better start, or we'll +never get back to Vinton's. Ruth, you have my permission to walk with +Anne as far as your corner. It's five o'clock now. Shall we agree to +meet at Vinton's at half-past six? That will give us an hour and a half +to get the soot off our faces, and if the expressman should experience a +change of heart and deliver our trunks we might possibly appear in fresh +gowns. The possibility is very remote, however. I know, because I had to +wait four days for mine last year. It was sent to the wrong house, and +traveled gaily about the campus, stopping for a brief season at three +different houses before it landed on Morton House steps. I hung out of +the window for a whole morning watching for it. Then, when it did come, +I fairly had to fly downstairs and out on the front porch to claim it, +or they would have hustled it off again." + +"That's why I appointed myself chief trunk tender," said Ruth slyly. +"That trunk story is not new to me. This time your trunk will be waiting +on the front porch for you, Arline." + +"If it is, then I'll forgive you your other sins," retorted Arline. +"That is, if you promise to come and room with me. Isn't she provoking, +girls? I have a whole room to myself and she won't come. Father wishes +her to be with me, too." + +"I'd love to be with Arline," returned Ruth bravely, "but I can't afford +it, and I can't accept help from any one. I must work out my own problem +in my own way. You understand, don't you?" She looked appealingly from +one to the other of her friends, who nodded sympathetically. + +"She's a courageous Ruth, isn't she?" smiled Arline, patting Ruth on the +shoulder. + +At Ruth's corner they said good-bye to her. Then hailing a bus the five +girls climbed into it. + +"So far we haven't seen any of our old friends," remarked Grace as they +drove along Maple Avenue. "I suppose they haven't arrived yet. We are +here early this year." + +"I'd rather be early than late," rejoined Miriam. "Last year we were +late. Don't you remember? There were dozens of girls at the station when +we arrived. Arline and Ruth are the first real friends we have seen so +far. Where are Mabel Ashe and Frances Marlton, Emma Dean and Gertrude +Wells, not to mention Virginia Gaines?" + +"If I'm not mistaken," said Elfreda slowly, her brows drawing together +in an ominous frown, "there are two people just ahead of us whom we have +reason to remember." + +Almost at the moment of her declaration the girls had espied two young +women loitering along the walk ahead of them whose very backs were too +familiar to be mistaken. + +"It's Miss Wicks and Miss Hampton, isn't it?" asked Anne. + +Grace nodded. They were now too close to the young women for further +speech. A moment more and the bus containing the five girls had passed +the loitering pair. Neither side had made the slightest sign of +recognition. A sudden silence fell upon the little company in the bus. + +"It is too bad to begin one's sophomore year by cutting two Overton +girls, isn't it?" said Grace, in a rueful tone. + +"Overton girls!" sniffed Elfreda. "I consider neither Miss Wicks nor +Miss Hampton real Overton girls." + +"They should be by this time," reminded Miriam Nesbit mischievously. +"They have been here a year longer than we have." + +"Years don't count," retorted Elfreda. "It's having the true Overton +spirit that counts. You girls understand what I mean, even if Miriam +tries to pretend she doesn't." + +"Of course we understand, Elfreda," soothed Anne. "Miriam was merely +trying to tease you." + +"Don't you suppose I know that?" returned Elfreda. "I know, too, that +you don't wish me to say anything against those two girls. All right, I +won't, but I warn you, I'll keep on thinking uncomplimentary things +about them. Last June, after that ghost party, I promised Grace I would +never try to get even with Alberta Wicks and Mary Hampton, but I didn't +promise to like them, and if they attempt to interfere with me this +year, they'll be sorry." + +"Oh, there's the campus!" exclaimed Arline as, turning into College +Street, the long green slope, broken at intervals by magnificent old +trees, burst upon their view. "Hello, Overton Hall!" she cried, waving +her hand to that stately building. "Doesn't the campus look like green +plush, though! I love every inch of it, don't you?" She looked at her +companions and, seeing the light from her face reflected on theirs, +needed no verbal answer to her question. A moment later she signaled to +the driver to stop the bus. "I shall have to leave you here," she said. +"I'll see you at Vinton's at six-thirty." + +Grace handed out her luggage to her, saying: "You have so much to carry, +Arline. Shall I help you?" + +"Mercy, no," laughed Arline. "'Every woman her own porter,' is my +motto." Opening her suit case she stuffed the candy and magazines into +it, snapping it shut with a triumphant click. Then with it in one hand, +her golf bag in the other, she set off across the campus at a swinging +pace. + +"She's little, but she has plenty of independence and energy," laughed +Miriam. "Hurrah, girls, there's Wayne Hall just ahead of us." + +It was only a short ride from the spot where Arline had left them to +Wayne Hall. Grace sprang from the bus almost before it stopped, and ran +up the stone walk, her three friends following. Before she had time to +ring the door bell, however, the door opened and Emma Dean rushed out to +greet them. "Welcome to old Wayne," she cried, shaking hands all around. +"I heard Mrs. Elwood say this morning you would be here late this +afternoon. I've been over to Morton House, consoling a homesick cousin +who is sure she is going to hate college. I've been out since before +luncheon. Had it at Martell's with my dolorous, misanthropic relative. I +tried to get her in here, but everything was taken. We are to have four +freshmen, you know." + +"I knew there were four places last June, but am rather surprised that +no sophomores applied for rooms. Have you seen the new girls?" + +Emma shook her head. "They hadn't arrived when I left this morning. I +don't know whether they are here now or not. I'm to have one of them. +Virginia Gaines has gone to Livingstone Hall. She has a friend there. +Two of the new girls will have her room. Florence Ransom will have to +take the fourth." + +"Where's Mrs. Elwood?" asked Miriam. + +"She went over to see her sister this afternoon. She's likely to return +at any minute," answered Emma. + +"Do you think we ought to wait for her?" Grace asked anxiously. + +"Hardly," said Anne, picking up her bag, which she had deposited on the +floor. + +"Come on, I'll lead the way," volunteered Elfreda, starting up the +stairs. + +"Won't Mrs. Elwood be surprised when she comes home? She'll find us not +only here, but settled," laughed Grace. + +But it was Grace rather than Mrs. Elwood who was destined to receive the +surprise. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE UNFORESEEN + + +Following Elfreda, the girls ran upstairs as fast as their weight of +bags and suit cases would permit. Miriam pushed open her door, which +stood slightly ajar, with the end of her suit case. "Any one at home?" +she inquired saucily as she stepped inside. + +"Looks like the same old room," remarked Elfreda. "No, it isn't, either. +We have a new chair. We needed it, too. You may sit in it occasionally, +if you're good, Miriam." + +"Thank you," replied Miriam. "For that gracious permission you shall +have one piece of candy out of a five-pound box I have in my trunk." + +"Not even that," declared Elfreda positively. "I said good-bye to candy +last July. I've lost ten pounds since I went home from school, and I'm +going to haunt the gymnasium every spare moment that I have. I hope I +shall lose ten more; then I'll be down to one hundred and forty pounds +and--" Elfreda stopped. + +"And what?" queried Miriam. + +"I can make the basketball team," finished Elfreda. "What is going on in +the hall, I wonder?" Stepping to the door she called, "What's the +matter, Grace? Can't you get into your room?" + +"Evidently not," laughed Grace. "It is locked. I suppose Mrs. Elwood +locked it to prevent the new girls from straying in and taking +possession." + +"H-m-m!" ejaculated Elfreda, walking over to the door and examining the +keyhole. "Your supposition is all wrong, Grace. The door is locked from +the inside. The key is in it." + +"Then what--" began Grace. + +"Yes, what?" quizzed Elfreda dryly. + +"'There was a door to which I had no key,'" quoted Miriam, as she joined +the group. + +"Don't tease, Miriam," returned Grace, "even through the medium of Omar +Khayyam. The key is a reality, but there is some one on the other side +of that door who doesn't belong there. Whether she is not aware that she +is a trespasser I do not know. However, we shall soon learn." Grace +rapped determinedly on one of the upper panels of the door. + +"I'll help you," volunteered Elfreda. + +"And I," agreed Anne. + +"My services are needed, too," said Miriam Nesbit. + +Four fists pounded energetically on the door. There was an exclamation, +the sound of hasty steps, the turning of a key in the lock, and the door +was flung open. Facing them stood a young woman no taller than Anne, +whose heavy eyebrows met in a straight line, and who looked ready for +battle at the first word. + +"Will you kindly explain the reason for this tumult?" she asked in a +freezing voice. + +"We were rather noisy," admitted Grace, "but we did not understand why +the door should be locked from the inside." + +"Is it necessary that you should know?" asked the black-browed girl +severely. + +Grace's clear-cut face flushed. "I think we are talking at cross +purposes," she said quietly. "The room you are using belongs to my +friend Anne Pierson and to me. During our freshman year it was ours, and +when we left here last June it was with the understanding that we should +have it again on our return to Overton." + +"I know nothing of any such arrangement," returned the other girl +crossly. "The room pleases me, consequently I shall retain it. Kindly +refrain from disturbing me further." With this significant remark the +door was slammed in the faces of the astonished girls. A second later +the click of the key in the lock told them that force alone could effect +an entrance to the room. + +"Open that door at once," stormed Elfreda, beating an angry tattoo on +the panel with her clenched fist. + +From the other side of the door came no sound. + +"Never mind, Elfreda," said Grace, fighting down her anger. "Mrs. Elwood +will be here soon. There is some misunderstanding about the rooms. I am +sure of it." + +"See here, Grace Harlowe, you are not going to give up your room to that +beetle-browed anarchist, are you?" demanded Elfreda wrathfully. + +A peal of laughter went up from three young throats. + +"You are the funniest girl I ever knew, J. Elfreda Briggs," remarked +Miriam Nesbit between laughs. "That new girl looks exactly like an +anarchist--that is, like pictures of them I've seen in the newspapers." + +"That's why I thought of it, too," grinned Elfreda. "I once saw a +picture of an anarchist who blew up a public building and he might have +been this young person's brother. She looks exactly like him." + +"Stop talking about anarchists and talk about rooms," said Anne. "I must +find some place to put my luggage. Besides, time is flying. Remember, we +are to be at Vinton's at half-past six." + +"I should say time _was_ flying!" exclaimed Grace, casting a hurried +glance at her watch. "It's ten minutes to six now. It will take us +fifteen minutes to walk to Vinton's. That leaves twenty-five minutes in +which to get ready." + +"There is no hope that the trunks will arrive in time for us to dress," +said Miriam positively. "Come into our room and we'll wash the dust from +our hands and faces and do our hair over again." + +"All right," agreed Grace, casting a longing glance at the closed door. +"We'll have to put our bags in your room, too. I don't wish to leave +them in the hall for unwary students to stumble over." + +"Bring them along," returned Miriam. "No one shall accuse us of +inhospitality." + +"I wish Mrs. Elwood were here." Grace looked worried. "We mustn't stay +at Vinton's later than half-past seven o'clock. There are so many little +things to be attended to, as well as the important question of our +room." + +Arriving at Vinton's at exactly half-past six o'clock, they found Arline +Thayer and Ruth Denton waiting for them at a table on which were covers +laid for six. + +"We've been waiting for ages!" exclaimed Arline. + +"But you said half-past six, and it is only one minute past that now," +reminded Grace, showing Arline her watch. + +"Of course, you are on time," laughed the little girl. "I should have +explained that I'm hungry. That is why I speak in ages instead of +minutes." + +"Your explanation is accepted," proclaimed Elfreda, screwing her face +into a startling resemblance to a fussy instructor in freshman +trigonometry and using his exact words. + +The ready laughter proclaimed instant recognition of the unfortunate +professor. + +"You can look like any one you choose, can't you, Elfreda?" said Arline +admiringly. "I think your imitations of people are wonderful." + +"Nothing very startling about them," remarked the stout girl lightly. +"I'd give all my ability to make faces to be able to sing even 'America' +through once and keep on the key. I can't sing and never could. When I +was a little girl in school the teachers never would let me sing with +the rest of the children, because I led them all off the key. It was +very nice at the beginning of the term, and I sang with the other +children anywhere from once to half a dozen times, never longer than +that. I had the strongest voice in the room and whatever note I sang the +rest of the children sang. It was dreadful," finished Elfreda +reminiscently. + +"It must have been," agreed Miriam Nesbit. "Can you remember how you +looked when you were little, Elfreda?" + +"I don't have to tax my brain to remember," answered Elfreda. "Ma has +photographs of me at every age from six months up to date. To satisfy +your curiosity, however," her face hardened until it took on the stony +expression of the new student who had locked Grace out of her room, "I +will state that--" + +"The Anarchist! the Anarchist!" exclaimed Ruth and Miriam together. + +"What are you two talking about?" asked Ruth Denton. + +"About the Anarchist," teased Miriam. "Wait until you see her." + +"You have seen her," laughed Grace. "Elfreda just imitated her to +perfection." Thereupon Grace related their recent unpleasant experience +to Arline and Ruth. + +"What are you going to do about it?" asked Arline. + +"We will see Mrs. Elwood as soon as we return to Wayne Hall, and ask her +to gently, but firmly, request the Anarchist to move elsewhere." + +"Why do you call her the Anarchist?" asked Arline. + +"Elfreda, please repeat your imitation," requested Miriam, her black +eyes sparkling with fun. + +Elfreda complied obediently. + +"You understand now, don't you?" laughed Grace. + +"I should be very stupid if I didn't," declared Arline. + +"Of course she's dark, with eyebrows an inch wide. You can't expect me +to give an imitation of anything like that," apologized Elfreda. + +"I think I should recognize her on sight," smiled Ruth Denton. + +"We are miles off our original subject," remarked Grace. "Elfreda hasn't +told us how she looked as a child." + +"All right. I'll tell you now," volunteered J. Elfreda graciously. "I +had round, staring blue eyes and a fat face. I wore my hair down my back +in curls--that is, when it was done up on curlers the night before--and +it was almost tow color. I had red cheeks and was ashamed of them, and +my stocky, square-shouldered figure was anything but sylphlike. I was +not beautiful, but I was very well satisfied with myself, and to call me +'Fatty' was to offer me deadly insult. That is about as much as I can +remember," finished the stout girl. + +"Really, Elfreda, while you were describing yourself I could fairly see +you," smiled Arline. + +"Now it's your turn," reminded Elfreda. "I imagine you were a cunning +little girl." + +Arline flushed at the implied compliment. "Father used to call me +'Daffydowndilly,'" she began. "My hair was much lighter than it is now, +but it has always been curly. I am afraid I used to be very vain, for I +loved to stand and smile at myself in the mirror simply because I liked +my yellow curls and was fascinated with my own smile. No one told me I +was vain, for Mother died when I was a baby, and even my governess +laughed to see me worship my own reflection. When I was twelve years +old, Father engaged a governess who was different from the others. She +was a widow and had to support herself. She was highly educated and one +of the sweetest women I have ever known. When she took charge of me I +was a vain, stupid little tyrant, but she soon made me over. She +remained with me until I entered a prep school, then an uncle whom she +had never seen died and left her some money. She's coming to Overton to +see me some day. Overton is her Alma Mater, too." + +"You are next, Grace," nodded Ruth. + +"There isn't much to tell about me," began Grace. "I was the tomboy of +Oakdale. I loved to climb trees and play baseball and marbles. I was +thin as a lath and like live wire. My face was rather thin, too, and I +remember I cried a whole afternoon because a little girl at school +called me 'saucer-eyes.' There wasn't a suspicion of curl in my hair, +and I wore it in two braids. I never thought much about myself, because +I was always too busy. I was forever falling in with suspicious looking +characters and bringing them home to be fed. Mother used to throw up her +hands in despair at the acquaintances I made. Then, too, I had a +propensity for bestowing my personal possessions on those who, in my +opinion, needed them. Mother and I were not always of the same opinion. +I wore my everyday coat to church for a whole winter as a punishment for +having given away my best one without consulting her. With me it was a +case of act first and think afterward. I don't believe I was +particularly mischievous, but I had a habit of diving into things that +kept Mother in a state of constant apprehension. Father used to laugh at +my pranks and tell Mother not to worry about me. He used to declare that +no matter into what I plunged I would land right side up with care. I +was never at the head of my classes in school, but I was never at the +foot of them. I was what one might call a happy medium. My little-girl +life was a very happy one, and full to the brim with all sorts of +pleasant happenings." + +"I never heard you say so much about yourself before, Grace," observed +Elfreda. + +"I'm usually too much interested in other people's affairs to think of +my own," laughed Grace. "I have never heard Anne say much about her +childhood, either. She must have had all sorts of interesting +experiences." + +"Mine was more exciting than pleasant," returned Anne. "Practically +speaking, I was brought up in the theatre and knew a great deal more +about things theatrical than I did about dolls and childish games. I was +a solemn looking little thing and wore my hair bobbed and tied up with a +ribbon. I never cried about the things that most children cry over, but +I would stand in the wings and weep by the hour over the pathetic parts +of the different plays we put on. Father was a character man in a stock +company. We lived in New York City and I used to frequently go to the +theatre with him. My father wished me to become a professional, but my +mother was opposed to it. When I was sixteen I played in a company for a +short time. Then mother and sister and I went to Oakdale to live, and +the nicest part of my life began. There I met Grace and Miriam and two +other girls who are among my dearest friends. Nothing very exciting has +ever happened to me, and even though I have appeared before the public I +haven't as much to tell as the rest of you have." + +"But countless things must have happened to you in the theatre," +persisted Arline, looking curiously at Anne. + +"Not so many as you might imagine," replied Anne. Then she said quickly, +"Miriam must have been an interesting little girl." + +"I was a very haughty young person," answered Miriam. "In the Oakdale +Grammar School I was known as the Princess. Do you remember that, +Grace?" + +Grace nodded. "Miriam used to order the girls in her room about as +though they were her subjects," she declared. "She had two long black +braids of hair and her cheeks were always pink. She was the tallest girl +in her room and the teachers used to say she was the prettiest." + +"I was a regular tyrant," went on Miriam. "I had a frightful temper. I +was a snob, too, and looked upon girls whose parents were poor with the +utmost contempt." + +"Miriam Nesbit, you can't be describing yourself!" exclaimed Arline +incredulously. + +"Ask Grace if I am not giving an accurate description of the Miriam +Nesbit of those days," challenged Miriam. + +"It isn't fair to ask me," fenced Grace. "You always invited me to your +parties." + +"There, you can draw your own conclusions," retorted Miriam +triumphantly. "I don't object to telling about my past shortcomings as I +have at last outgrown a few of my disagreeable traits." + +"Were you and Grace friends then?" asked Arline. + +"We played together and went to each other's houses, but we were never +very chummy," explained Grace. "We were both too headstrong and too fond +of our own way to be close friends. It was after we entered high school +that we began to find out that we liked each other, wasn't it, Miriam?" + +"Yes," returned Miriam, looking affectionately at her friend. In two +sentences Grace had effectually bridged a yawning gap in Miriam's early +high school days of which the latter was heartily ashamed. + +"Every one has told a tale but Ruth," declared Elfreda. "Now, Ruth, what +have you to say for yourself?" + +"Not much," said Ruth, shaking her head. "So far, my life has been too +gray to warrant recording. That is, up to the time I came to Overton," +she added, smiling gratefully on the little circle. "My freshman year +was a very happy one, thanks to you girls." + +"But when you were a child you must have had a few good times that stand +out in your memory," persisted Elfreda. + +Ruth's face took on a hunted expression. Her mouth set in hard lines. +"No," she said shortly. "There was nothing worth remembering. Perhaps +I'll tell you some day, but not now. Please don't think me hateful and +disobliging, but I don't wish to talk of myself." + +Arline Thayer eyed Ruth with displeasure. "I don't see why you should +say that, Ruth. We have all talked of ourselves," she said coldly. + +Ruth flushed deeply. She felt the note of censure in Arline's voice. + +"I think we had better go," announced Grace, consulting her watch. "It +is now half-past seven. We ought to be at Wayne Hall by eight o'clock. +You know the Herculean labor I have before me." + +"Herculean labor is a good name for our coming task," chuckled Anne. +"The Anarchist will make Wayne Hall resound with her vengeful cries when +she is thrust out of the room with all her possessions." + +Jesting light-heartedly over the coming encounter, the diners strolled +out of Vinton's and down College Street in the direction of the campus. +Arline was the first to leave them. Her good night to the four girls +from Wayne Hall was cordial in the extreme, but to Ruth she was almost +distant. A little later on they said good night to Ruth, who looked +ready to cry. + +"Cheer up," comforted Grace, who was walking with Ruth. "Arline will be +all right to-morrow." + +"I hope so," responded Ruth mournfully. "I did not mean to make her +angry, only there are some things of which I cannot speak to any one." + +"I understand," rejoined Grace, wondering what Ruth's secret cross was. +"Good night, Ruth." + +Elfreda, Miriam and Anne bade Ruth goodnight in turn. + +"Now, for the tug of war," declared Elfreda as they hurried up the steps +of Wayne Hall. "On to the battlefield and down with the Anarchist!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MRS. ELWOOD TO THE RESCUE + + +As Grace approached the curtained archway that divided the living-room +from the hall she could not help wishing that she might have settled the +affair without Mrs. Elwood's assistance. She was not afraid to approach +Mrs. Elwood, who was the soul of good nature, but Grace disliked the +idea of the scene that she felt sure would follow. The young woman now +occupying the room that she and Anne had re-engaged for their sophomore +year would contest their right to occupy it. Mrs. Elwood would be +obliged to set her foot down firmly. It would all be extremely +disagreeable. Grace reflected. Then the memory of the Anarchist's +glaring incivility returned, and without further hesitation Grace walked +into the living-room, followed by her companions. + +Mrs. Elwood, who was sitting in her favorite chair reading a magazine, +looked up absently, then, staring incredulously at the newcomers, +trotted across the room, both hands outstretched in welcome. "Why, Miss +Harlowe and Miss Nesbit, I had given you up for to-night. Here are Miss +Pierson and Miss Briggs, too. I'm so glad to see you. When did you +arrive? I thought there was no train from the north before nine +o'clock." + +"Didn't Miss Dean tell you we had arrived?" asked Grace, as Mrs. Elwood +shook hands in turn with each girl. + +"I haven't seen Miss Dean. She went out before I came home," replied +Mrs. Elwood. + +"Wait until we catch the faithless Emma," threatened Anne. "She promised +to be our herald. We arrived here at a little after five o'clock. We did +not stay here long, for Miss Thayer, of Morton House, invited us to +dinner at Vinton's." + +"How do you like the way I fixed your room this year?" asked Mrs. +Elwood. + +"We haven't been in it yet," answered Grace. "That is, we went only as +far as the door." + +"Oh, then you must see it at once," said Mrs. Elwood briskly. "I have +had it repapered. There is a new rug on the floor, too, and I have put a +new Morris chair in and taken out one of the cane-seated chairs." + +"No wonder the Anarchist refuses to vacate," muttered Elfreda. + +"What did you say, my dear?" remarked Mrs. Elwood amiably. + +"Oh, I was just talking nonsense," averred Elfreda solemnly. + +"I won't keep you girls out of your rooms any longer. I know you must be +tired from your long journey. Come upstairs at once." + +Mrs. Elwood had already crossed the room and was out in the hall, her +foot on the first step of the stairs. The girls exchanged glances. There +was a half smothered chuckle from Elfreda, then Grace hurried after +their good-natured landlady. "Wait a minute, Mrs. Elwood," began Grace, +"I have something to tell you before you go upstairs. This afternoon, +when we arrived, we went directly to our rooms. The door of our room was +locked, however. We knocked repeatedly, and it was at last opened by a +young woman who said the room was hers and refused to allow us to enter +it." + +During this brief recital Mrs. Elwood looked first amazed, then +incredulous. Her final expression was one of lively displeasure, and +with the exclamation, "I might have known it!" she marched upstairs with +the air of a grenadier, the girls filing in her wake. Pausing before the +door she listened intently. The sound of some one moving within could be +heard distinctly. Mrs. Elwood rapped sharply on the door. The footsteps +halted; after a few seconds the sound began again. + +"She thinks we have come back," whispered Elfreda. + +"So we have," smiled Grace, "with reinforcements." + +Her smile was reflected on the faces of her friends. Mrs. Elwood, +however, did not smile. Two red spots burned high on her cheeks, her +little blue eyes snapped. Again she knocked, this time accompanying the +action with: "Open this door, instantly. Mrs. Elwood wishes to speak +with you." + +"Do not imagine that you can gain entrance to this room through any such +pretense," announced a contemptuous voice from the other side of the +door. "I believe I stated that I did not wish to be disturbed." + +"And I state that you must open the door," commanded Mrs. Elwood. "You +are not addressing one of the students. This is Mrs. Elwood." + +A grating of the key in the lock followed, then the door was cautiously +opened far enough to allow a scowling head to be thrust out. The instant +the Anarchist's narrowed eyes rested on Mrs. Elwood her belligerent +manner changed. She swung the door wide, remarking in cold apology; +"Pray, pardon me, Mrs. Elwood. I believed that a number of rude, +ill-bred young women whom I had the misfortune to encounter earlier in +the day were renewing their attempts to annoy me." + +"There are no such young women at Wayne Hall," retorted Mrs. Elwood, who +was thoroughly angry. "The majority of the young women here were with me +last year, and not one of them answers your description. Really, Miss +Atkins, you must know that you are trespassing. This room belongs to +Miss Harlowe and Miss Pierson. It was theirs last year and they arranged +with me last June to occupy it again during their sophomore year. How +you happened to be here is more than I can say. I believe I gave you the +room at the end of the hall." + +"The room to which you assigned me did not meet with my approval," was +the calm reply. "I prefer this room." + +"You can't have it," returned Mrs. Elwood decisively. + +"But I insist upon remaining where I am," persisted the intruder. "If +necessary, I will allow Miss Harlowe or her roommate to occupy the other +half of the room." + +"I have told you that you can not have the room," exclaimed Mrs. Elwood, +eyeing her obstinate antagonist with growing disfavor. "If you do not +wish to take the room at the end of the hall, then I have nothing else +in the house to offer you. No doubt you can find board to suit you in +some other house." + +"I wish to stay here," returned the Anarchist stubbornly. "Let Miss +Harlowe have the room at the end of the hall." + +Sheer exasperation held Mrs. Elwood silent for a moment. The Anarchist +peered defiantly at her from under her bushy eyebrows. She made no move +toward vacating the room of which she had so coolly taken possession. + +"We'll go for our bags and suit cases, Mrs. Elwood," suggested Grace +wickedly. "We left them in Miriam's room." + +"Very well," returned the intrepid landlady. "Your room will be ready +for you when you return." + +"That is what I call a stroke of genius on your part, Grace," remarked +Miriam, as they entered her room. "Mrs. Elwood can deal with the +Anarchist more summarily without an audience." + +"It must be very humiliating for that Miss Atkins," mused Anne, "but +it's her own fault." + +"Of course it's her own fault," emphasized Elfreda. "She doesn't appear +to know when the pleasure of her company is requested elsewhere." + +"Shall we go now?" asked Anne, lifting her heavy suit case preparatory +to moving. + +"Not yet," counseled Grace. "We must give her time enough to get out of +sight before we appear." + +Elfreda boldly took up her station at the door and reported faithfully +the enemy's movements. After a twenty minutes' wait, the stout girl +closed the door with a bang, exclaiming triumphantly: "She's gone! She +just paraded down the hall carrying her goods and chattels. Mrs. Elwood +stalked behind carrying a hat box. She looked like an avenging angel. +Hurry up, now, and move in before the Anarchist changes her mind and +comes back to take possession all over again." + +Grace and Anne lost no time in taking Elfreda's advice. Five minutes +later they were back in their old room. "Stay here a while, girls," +invited Grace. Miriam and Elfreda had assisted their friends with their +luggage. + +"How nice your room looks," praised Miriam. "I like that wall paper. It +is so dainty. Your favorite blue, too, Grace. I wonder if Mrs. Elwood +knew that blue was your color?" + +"I suppose so," returned Grace. "Two-thirds of my clothes are blue, you +know. I must run downstairs and thank her for championing our cause. I +won't be gone five minutes." + +"We must go," declared Miriam. "We are going to begin unpacking +to-night." + +Running lightly down the stairs, Grace thrust her head between the +portieres that separated the living-room from the hall. Mrs. Elwood sat +reading her magazine as placidly as though nothing had happened within +the last hour to disturb her equanimity. + +"Thank you ever so much, Mrs. Elwood," said Grace gratefully, walking up +to the dignified matron and shyly offering her hand. + +"Nonsense, child!" was the reply. "You have nothing for which to thank +me. You don't suppose I would allow a new boarder to infringe upon the +rights of my old girls, do you?" + +"No," admitted Grace. "I'm sorry that things had to happen that way," +she added regretfully. + +"Don't you worry about it any more, Miss Harlowe," comforted the older +woman. "It's nothing you are to blame for. You had the first right to +the room. I gave this girl Miss Gaines's old room. Her roommate is to be +a freshman, too. She hasn't arrived yet. Miss Atkins decided to pick out +her own room, I imagine. Evidently she took a fancy to yours. As soon as +you girls had gone, she gave me one awful look, gathered up her +belongings, and went to the other room without another word. I picked up +two or three things she dropped and carried them down for her. I +wouldn't be sorry if she went to some other house to board. She looks +like a trouble maker." + +Grace was of the same opinion, but did not say so. Always eager to +excuse other people's shortcomings, she found it hard to account for the +feeling of strong dislike that had risen within her during her first +encounter with the young woman Elfreda had laughingly named the +Anarchist. She had hoped that the four freshmen at Wayne Hall would be +girls whom it would be a pleasure to know. She had looked forward to +meeting these newcomers and to assisting them in whatever way she could +best give help. Now at least one of her castles in the air had been +built in vain. + +"Perhaps we may like Miss Atkins after we know her better," she said, +trying hard to keep the doubt she felt out of her voice. + +Mrs. Elwood shook her head. "I hope she will improve on acquaintance, +but I doubt it. It isn't my principle, my dear, to speak slightingly of +any student in my house, but I am certain that this is not the last time +I shall have to lay down the law of Wayne Hall to Miss Atkins." + +At this plain speaking Grace flushed but said nothing. She understood +that Mrs. Elwood's words had been spoken in confidence. + +"I'm so glad to see you again, Mrs. Elwood," she smiled, bent on +changing the subject. + +"And I to see you, my dear," was the hearty response. "I have missed my +Oakdale girls this summer." + +After a few moments' conversation Grace said good night and went slowly +upstairs. In spite of her satisfaction at being back at Overton she +could not repress a sigh of regret over the recent unpleasantness. + +"The unforeseen always happens," she reflected, pausing for a moment on +the top step. "I hope the Anarchist will 'stay put' this time." She +laughed softly at the idea of the Anarchist standing stiff and +stationary in her new room. Then the ridiculous side of the encounter +dawning on her, she sat down on the stairs and gave way to sudden silent +laughter. + +"What did Mrs. Elwood say?" asked Anne as Grace entered the room. + +"I am afraid Mrs. Elwood is not, and never will be, an admirer of the +Anarchist," said Grace. "Seriously speaking, she is half inclined to ask +her to leave Wayne Hall. She believes she will have further trouble with +her. Perhaps we should have waited. We might have tried, later, to gain +possession of our room," added Grace doubtfully. + +Anne shook her head. "We would be waiting still, if we had attempted to +settle matters without Mrs. Elwood." + +"But it seems too bad to begin one's sophomore year so unpleasantly. All +summer I had been planning how helpful I would try to be to entering +freshmen, and this is the way my splendid visions have materialized." +Grace eyed Anne rather dejectedly. + +"Never mind," soothed Anne. "By to-morrow this little unpleasantness +will have completely blown over. Perhaps the Anarchist," Anne smiled +over the title Elfreda had bestowed upon the disturbing freshman, "will +discover that she can make friends more quickly by being pleasant. She +may reform over night. Stranger things have happened." + +"But nothing of that sort will happen in her case," declared Grace. "You +said just a moment ago if it hadn't been for Mrs. Elwood we would still +be out in the hall clamoring for a room, didn't you!" + +"I did," smiled Anne. + +"That was equivalent to accusing the Anarchist of stubbornness, wasn't +it?" + +"It was." + +"Very well. If she is half as stubborn as I believe her to be, she won't +be different to-night, to-morrow or for a long time afterward." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE BELATED FRESHMAN + + +"The first thing I shall do this morning after breakfast is to unpack," +announced Grace Harlowe with decision, as she gave her hair a last pat +preparatory to going downstairs to breakfast. "Last year I was so +excited over what studies I intended to take and meeting new girls that +I unpacked by fits and starts. It was weeks before I knew where to find +things. But I've reformed, now. I'm going to put every last article in +place before I set foot outside Wayne Hall. Do you wish the chiffonier +or the bureau this year, Anne, for your things?" + +"The chiffonier, I think," replied Anne, after due reflection. "I +haven't as much to stow away as you have. It will do nicely for me." + +"There goes the breakfast bell!" exclaimed Grace. "Come along, Anne, I'm +hungry. Besides, I'd like the same seat at the table that I had last +year." + +Outside their door they were joined by Miriam and Elfreda, and the four +friends stopped to talk before going downstairs. + +"Were you haunted by nightmares in which glowering Anarchists pranced +about?" asked Miriam, her eyes twinkling. + +"No," replied Grace. "I slept too soundly even to dream." + +"I dreamed that I went into the registrar's office to get my chapel +card," began Elfreda impressively. "When she handed it to me it was +three times larger than the others. On it in big red letters was +printed, 'The Anarchist, Her Card.' I thought I handed it back to her +and tried to explain that I wasn't an anarchist because I had neither +bushy eyebrows nor a scowl. She just sat and glared at me, saying over +and over, 'Look in your mirror, look in your mirror,' until I grew so +angry I threw the card at her. It hit her and she fell backward. That +frightened me, although it seemed so strange that a little, light piece +of pasteboard could strike with such force. I tried to lift her, but she +grew heavier and heavier. Then--" + +"Yes, 'then,'" interposed Miriam, "I awoke in time to save myself from +landing on the floor with a thump. Elfreda mistook me for the registrar. +She was walking in her sleep." + +"Of course I didn't mean to," apologized Elfreda, "You know that, don't +you, Miriam? I can't help walking in my sleep. I've done it ever since I +was a little girl." + +"I forgive you, but you must promise not to dream," laughed Miriam. +"Otherwise I am likely to find myself out the window or being dropped +gently downstairs while you dream gaily on, regardless of what happens +to your long-suffering roommate." + +As they entered the dining room several girls already seated at the +table welcomed them with joyful salutations. It was at least ten minutes +before any one settled down to breakfast. Grace observed with secret +relief that Miss Atkins was not at the table. The three freshmen who +were to fill the last available places in Wayne Hall had not yet +arrived. During breakfast a ceaseless stream of merry chatter flowed on. +Everyone wished to tell her neighbor about her vacation, of what she +intended to take during the fall term, or of how impossible it was to +get hold of her trunk. Then there was the usual amount of wondering as +to why the four freshmen hadn't appeared. + +"One of them is here--that is, she's in the house," remarked Elfreda +laconically. + +"She is!" exclaimed Emma Dean, opening her eyes. "I didn't see her +yesterday." + +"You were consoling your homesick cousin, so how could you know what +went on here?" reminded Grace. It had been decided that nothing should +be said regarding the events of the previous day. + +"So I was," said Emma. "She made me think of Longfellow's 'Rainy Day.' +She looked so 'dark and dreary.'" + +"What a unique comparison," chirped a wide-awake sophomore. "That will +be so appropriate for the freshman grind book." + +"It is our turn this year," exulted Elfreda. "I shall be on the lookout +for good material, too. I know one freshman who will be a candidate for +honors." + +"Who?" inquired Emma Dean curiously. + +Grace looked appealingly at the stout girl. A slight shake of the head +reassured her. Elfreda abandoned her intention of mentioning names, and +parried Emma's question so cleverly that the latter became interested in +something else and forgot that she had asked it. + +The instant she had finished her breakfast, Grace reannounced her +intention of unpacking her trunk and rose to leave the table. Anne +followed her, a curious smile on her face. The majority of the girls +rose from the table at the same time, or immediately after, and went +their various ways. + +"Now," declared Grace energetically, "I am going to begin my labor." + +"What did you say you were going to do?" asked Anne innocently. + +"Unpack my trunk. I--why--I--haven't any trunk to unpack!" exclaimed +Grace in bewilderment. Then catching sight of Anne's mirthful face, she +sprang forward, caught Anne by the shoulders and shook her playfully. +"Anne Pierson, you bad child, you heard me make all my plans for +unpacking, yet you wouldn't remind me that my trunk was still at the +station." + +"I couldn't resist keeping still and allowing you to plan," confessed +Anne. "What a joke that would be for the grind book!" + +"Yes, wouldn't it though?" agreed Grace sarcastically. "However, we are +not freshmen, and as my roommate I strictly forbid you to publish my +stupidity broadcast. Having the unpacking fever in my veins, I shall +console myself with unpacking my bag and suit case. I'll keep on wishing +for my trunk and perhaps it will come." Grace walked to the window. She +leaned out, peering anxiously down the road. Then, with a cry of +delight, she exclaimed: "Come here, Anne." + +Anne walked obediently to the window. + +"'Tell me, Sister Anne, do you see anything?'" quoted Grace. + +"You are saved, Fatima," returned Anne dramatically. "It is an express +wagon." + +Grace darted out of her door and down the stairs, meeting the expressman +on the veranda, her trunk on his shoulder. Anne, having notified Elfreda +and Miriam that the trunks had arrived, went downstairs to look after +hers. + +"Now I can carry out my plan, after all," declared Grace, with great +satisfaction. "'He who laughs last, laughs best,' you know," she added +slyly. + +"Before unpacking, first find your trunk," retorted Anne. + +"Thank goodness, we don't have to think about entrance examinations this +year," said Grace, as she knelt before her trunk, fitting the key to the +lock. + +"Yes, it does make considerable difference," returned Anne. "We shall +have more time to ourselves. Besides, we won't have to worry our heads +off the first week about whether we survived or perished." + +The sound of an automobile horn caused Grace to run to the window. "It's +the bus!" she cried. "Three strange girls are getting out of it. +Evidently our freshmen have arrived. That tall girl looks interesting. +One of them is as stout as Elfreda. The little girl is cunning. I think +I like her the best of the three. Oh dear!" she exclaimed ruefully, +hastily drawing back from the window, "she looked straight up and saw me +standing here. What will she think of me?" + +"You shouldn't be so curious," teased Anne. + +"I know it," admitted Grace. "I'm not over curious as a rule. I hope the +tall girl is to room with the Anarchist. She looks capable of keeping +her in order." + +"That task will, no doubt, be handed over to you," said Anne, who had +been making rapid progress in unpacking, while Grace had been occupied +in looking over the newcomers. "You'd better get your unpacking done, so +that you'll be ready for it--the task, I mean." + +Grace sat down before her trunk with a little impatient sigh. For the +space of an hour the two girls worked rapidly, almost in silence. Both +trunks had been emptied and the greater part of their contents stored +away when the sound of an angry, protesting voice outside the door +caused them to look at each other wonderingly. + +"What can have happened?" asked Anne. + +Even as Anne spoke a never-to-be-forgotten voice said impressively, +"What you prefer is immaterial to me, I prefer to room alone." The +emphatic closing of a door followed. There was a sound of hurrying +footsteps on the stairs, then all was still. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE ANARCHIST CHOOSES HER ROOMMATE + + +"It's the Anarchist, of course," said Anne, turning to Grace. + +"I wonder who she left roomless in the hall this time," speculated +Grace. "Shall we go and see?" + +"Do you think we had better?" hesitated Anne. + +"Yes," returned Grace boldly. "To a certain extent we are responsible +for the welfare of the freshmen." Opening the door, she looked up and +down the hall. Then, with a sudden air of resolution, she walked +downstairs. On the oak seat in the hall, looking disconsolately about +her, sat the "cunning" freshman that Grace had admired. At sight of +Grace she sprang toward the sophomore with an eager, "Won't you please +tell me where I can find Mrs. Elwood?" + +"I believe she has gone to market," replied Grace. "She usually goes at +this time every morning. Can I help you in any way?" + +"No-o," replied the other girl doubtfully. "I wished to see Mrs. Elwood, +because--" Her lip quivered. A big tear rolled down her cheek. "Oh, I +hate college," she muttered in a choking voice. "I wish I hadn't come +here. I'd go back to the station and take the next train west, if I +hadn't promised my brother that I'd stay. I hate the east and everything +in it. I know I'm going to be unhappy here." + +With the smile that few people could resist, Grace sat down on the seat +beside the tearful little stranger. "I think I know what is troubling +you," she said gently. "I could not help overhearing Miss Atkins a few +moments ago. I also heard you running downstairs, so I came down, too, +to ask you if there was anything I could do for you." + +"You are very kind," faltered the stranger. "I must wait to see Mrs. +Elwood, but will you tell me your name, please?" + +"Oh, I beg your pardon for not introducing myself," responded Grace +contritely. "I am Grace Harlowe of the sophomore class." + +"My name is Mildred Taylor," responded the newcomer. "I came from the +station in the bus a few minutes ago. There were two other freshmen with +me. They seem to be more fortunate than I. The maid showed us to our +rooms. I supposed, of course, that I would have to room with another +girl, but I didn't think--" she paused. + +"I know," sympathized Grace. "I heard what was said to you; at least a +part of it. Won't you come upstairs to our room and meet my roommate, +Miss Pierson?" + +"It is very thoughtful in you to take so much trouble for me," replied +the freshman gratefully. + +"That is part of our plan here at Overton," laughed Grace. "When I was a +lonely, bewildered freshman, several of the upper class girls made it +their business to look out for my comfort. Now it is my turn to pass +that kindness along." + +"What a nice way to look at things!" exclaimed Mildred Taylor. "If I +thought the rest of the girls in the college were going to be like you, +I'd be ready to love Overton." + +"Oh, you will love Overton," was Grace's quick reply. "You can't help +yourself." + +Anne received the forlorn newcomer with a sweet courtesy that quite +charmed her. "We are in the midst of our unpacking," she explained. "Our +trunks came only a little while ago. Won't you take off your hat and +coat?" + +"Anne, I will leave Miss Taylor in your care," declared Grace. "Please +excuse me, I'll be back directly," she nodded encouragingly to their +guest. + +At the door of Miriam's room Grace knocked softly, then in answer to the +impatient, "Come in," entered to find Elfreda standing in the midst of +an extended circle formed by her possessions. + +"Isn't this enough to discourage the most valiant heart?" she declared, +with a comprehensive sweep of her arm over the scattered contents of her +trunk. "But I am going to clear everything away. I promised Miriam that +my half of the room should be kept 'decently and in order' all year. It +is one of my sophomore obligations." + +Grace listened in amusement to the stout girl's earnest assertion. "I +haven't finished unpacking either," she said. "I came for advice. The +freshman who was to occupy the other half of Miss Atkins's room has +arrived, and Miss Atkins won't let her into the room. I just brought her +upstairs to my room. + +"Last night I talked with Mrs. Elwood. She isn't particularly anxious to +have Miss Atkins in the house. When Miss Taylor, that is the name of the +freshman who just came, tells her about what happened she will ask Miss +Atkins to leave Wayne Hall. This girl has brought with her to Overton +the worst possible spirit in which to begin her freshman year. Of +course, we don't know whether she is rich or poor, or whether her +success or failure in college means anything to any one besides herself. +We can not know under what circumstances she has been brought up. +Perhaps she has some one at home who is straining every nerve to send +her to college. Perhaps there is a father, mother, sister or brother who +has made untold sacrifices to give her a college education. Perhaps +there has been no lack of money, only a desire on the part of parents or +a guardian to get rid of her by sending her off to school. I believe we +ought to try to help this girl in spite of her rudeness to us. Will you +go with me to her room? I want to talk to her. We may find her in a +better humor than she was in last night. While Anne entertains Miss +Taylor you and I will venture into the domain of the Anarchist." + +"I'll go," agreed Elfreda, secretly flattered because Grace had chosen +her. + +Grace led the way down the hall to the end room. A sulky voice responded +to her knock, and throwing open the door the two girls stepped inside. +The belligerent freshman sat bolt upright in a Morris chair, forbidding +and implacable. + +"How do you do?" said Grace politely. "I hope we are not intruding." + +The young woman merely scowled by way of answer. + +"I wonder how I'd better begin," pondered Grace, looking squarely into +the hostile eyes. + +Elfreda stood calmly surveying the scowling girl. "You might ask us to +sit down," she observed impertinently. + +The young woman glanced at the stout girl with an expression of angry +amazement. Elfreda's rudeness was equal to her own. + +"I beg your pardon," she said satirically. "Won't you be seated?" + +"Oh, no, I just wanted to hear you say it," flung back Elfreda. + +Ignoring this retort, Miss Atkins turned to Grace. "What do you wish?" +she asked with cold precision. + +"I am sorry to be obliged to tell you that if you do not allow Miss +Taylor to occupy her half of the room, you are likely to be asked to +leave Wayne Hall," said Grace gravely. "Mrs. Elwood was displeased over +what happened last night, and I know that when she learns of what has +happened to-day she will not overlook it. We do not wish to see you +leave Wayne Hall, and besides, the various college houses are filling +fast. You might have difficulty in securing a desirable room elsewhere." + +"Is there any reason why I should not occupy this room alone?" + +"None whatever, if you arranged for a single beforehand," interposed +Elfreda shrewdly. "If you did, I can't see why Mrs. Elwood consented to +take Miss Taylor." + +"I did not arrange for a single room," was the stiff response. + +"Then you haven't any case, have you?" queried Elfreda cheerfully. "Now, +see here. I am going to tell you a few things. You are beginning all +wrong. It is just what I did last year, and I had a pretty disagreeable +time, you may rest assured. The best thing you can do is to tell Miss +Taylor to come and claim her half of the room before anything happens to +you. If you leave Wayne Hall, sooner or later the whole college will +hear of it and it won't help you to be popular, either. It is easy +enough to do as you please regardless of whether or not it pleases +others, but you are bound to pay for the privilege. If you don't believe +me, just wait and see." + +A flush mounted to the defiant stranger's cheeks. + +"Public opinion is usually a matter of small importance to me," she +said, but her tone of lofty indifference was not convincing. "There is, +however, a certain amount of wisdom in what you have just said. I should +not care to appear ridiculous in the eyes of the really important +students at Overton. You may inform Miss Taylor that I have altered my +decision. I shall raise no further objections to her as a roommate." + +With a pompous gesture of dismissal this self-centered young woman rose +and walked majestically to the window. Turning her back squarely upon +Grace and Elfreda, she appeared to be deeply absorbed in watching what +went on in the street, and, divided between vexation and laughter, the +two girls left the room. Elfreda hurried back to her unpacking and Grace +to her own room. + +"It is all right, Miss Taylor. Your roommate is prepared to receive +you," Grace announced. + +"I shall be glad to have some place I can call all my own," sighed the +little girl, "but I know I shall never like her," she added resentfully. + +"On the contrary, you may learn to like her very much," returned Grace. +"Now I'll help you with your things." Picking up Miss Taylor's heavy +suit case, Grace escorted her to the door of the end room. + +"How did it happen?" greeted Anne, when five minutes later Grace +returned alone, smiling and triumphant. + +"Don't ask me," laughed Grace. "Ask Elfreda. She wrought the miracle." + +"What did she do?" asked Anne. + +"She won the day, or rather the half of the room, by plain speaking." +Grace recounted to Anne what had taken place in the belligerent young +woman's room. "She made more impression on the Anarchist in five minutes +than I could have made in a week," finished Grace. + +"Elfreda has a remarkable personality," was Anne's thoughtful answer. +"Her very frankness makes an impression where diplomacy counts for +little. However, I am not surprised that history repeated itself so +soon. I hope this is the last time we shall be obliged to thwart the +Anarchist and administer justice to the oppressed. + +"I don't envy Miss Taylor," said Anne. "I wish every girl in college had +as nice a roommate as I have." + +"Beware of flatterers," laughed Grace. + +"And also of Anarchists," added Anne. + +"But of the two," smiled Grace, "I prefer flatterers, especially if they +happen to occupy the other half of my room." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ELFREDA MAKES A RASH PROMISE + + +"How does it feel to be a senior, Mabel?" questioned Miriam Nesbit, +glancing smilingly over where Mabel Ashe, gowned smartly in white, her +brown eyes dancing with interest in what went on about her, sat eating +her dessert, and obligingly trying to answer half a dozen questions at +once. + +The seven other girls at the table looked expectantly at the pretty +senior, who was their hostess at a dinner given by her at Martell's that +Saturday evening. + +"Oh, just the same as it did last year," she replied lightly. "I feel +vastly older and a shade more responsible. To tell you the truth, I hate +to think about it. I don't know how I am ever going to get along without +Overton. I think I shall have to disguise myself and come back next year +as a freshman; then I could do the whole four years over again." + +"The question is, What are we going to do next year without you?" +remarked Grace mournfully. + +"Let us forget all about it," advised Mabel. "I refuse to have any weeps +at my dinner. You may shed your tears in private, but not here." + +"What are you going to do when you finish college?" asked Miriam Nesbit. + +"You girls will laugh when I tell you," replied Mabel solemnly, "but +really and truly there is only one thing I care to do. I have warned +Father that I intend to be self-supporting, but I haven't dared to tell +him how I propose to earn my living." + +"What are you going to do? Tell us, Mabel. We won't tell." + +"Frances knows already. She thinks it would be fine, don't you, +Frances?" + +Frances nodded emphatically. + +"I hope to become a newspaper woman," solemnly announced Mabel. + +"A newspaper woman!" cried Constance Fuller. "Why, I think that would be +dreadful!" + +"I don't," stoutly averred Mabel. "I'd love to be a reporter and go +poking into all sorts of places. After a while I'd be sent out to write +up murder trials and political happenings and, oh, lots of big stories." +Mabel beamed on her amazed audience. + +"I never would have believed it of you, but I'm sure you could do it," +predicted Leona Rowe confidently. + +"Good for you!" cried Mabel, leaning across the table to shake hands +with Leona. "I have one loyal supporter at least." + +Mabel's declaration having brought to the minds of the little company +the fact that sooner or later the choice of an after-college occupation +would be necessary, a brisk discussion began as to what each girl +intended to do. Aside from Anne, who had fully determined to stick to +her profession, and Constance, who was specializing in English, with the +intention of one day returning to Overton as an instructor, no one at +the table had a very definite idea of her future usefulness. + +"We seem to be a rather purposeless lot," remarked Miriam Nesbit. "The +trouble with most of us is that we are not obliged to think about +earning our own living after we leave college. We look forward to being +ornaments in our own particular social set, but nothing more. I'm not +sure, yet, what I am going to do with my education. I intend to put it +to some practical use, though." + +"So am I," agreed Grace. "We'll just have to keep on doing our best and +find ourselves." + +"I suppose that is the real purpose of going to college," said Anne +thoughtfully. + +"I think we are all growing too serious," laughed Mabel. "By the way, +Grace," she went on, "who is that curious looking little freshman with +the perpetual scowl that lives at Wayne Hall!" + +The four Wayne Hall girls exchanged significant glances. + +"Stop exchanging eye messages and tell me," ordered Mabel. + +"Her name is Atkins," returned Grace briefly. Then a peculiar look in +her eyes caused Mabel to say hastily, "I just wondered who she was," and +changed the subject. + +As they left Martell's, walking two by two, Mabel fell into step with +Grace. Slipping her arm through that of the Oakdale girl, she said in a +low tone, "Come over to see me to-morrow evening. I have something to +say to you. I almost said it before the girls; then I caught your +warning look in time. Come to dinner to-morrow night and stay all +evening. I promise faithfully to make you study." + +"I have a theme to do," replied Grace dubiously. "Do you think there +would be any prospect of my getting it done?" + +"Oceans of it," assured Mabel glibly. "I'll be as still as a mouse while +you do it. If you need a subject perhaps I can furnish the inspiration. +As long as I intend to become a newspaper woman I might as well begin to +sprout a few ideas." + +"All right, I'll come," laughed Grace. "Did I tell you I was taking +chemistry this year? I find it very absorbing." + +"I liked it, too," agreed Mabel. "I am more interested in psychology, +though I like my essay and short story work best of all. I'm going in +for interpretative reading, too. All that sort of thing will help me in +my work when I leave here." + +"I wish I knew what I wanted to do," sighed Grace. "I'd love to begin to +plan about it now." + +"It will dawn upon you suddenly some day," prophesied Mabel, "and you +will wonder why you never thought of it before." + +The diners strolled along together as far as the campus. There, +Constance Fuller, Mabel, Frances and Helen Burton left the quartette +from Wayne Hall. + +"It's early yet," said Elfreda, consulting her watch. + +"What time is it, Elfreda?" asked Grace. + +"Half-past eight," answered the stout girl. "We have plenty of time to +study. I, for one, need it. My subjects are all frightfully hard. I +tried to pick out easy ones, but did you ever notice that the schedule +is so arranged that you can't possibly pick out two easy subjects and +recite them both in the same term? One always conflicts with the other." + +"Long experience, crafty faculty," laughed Miriam. "They know our +weaknesses and how to deal with them." + +"The last time we were out to dinner in a body we talked about the past. +This time it was the future," remarked Elfreda. "That reminds me, what +has become of Arline and Ruth? I haven't seen either of them this week +except at a distance." + +"Arline and Ruth haven't been on friendly terms since the night of +Arline's dinner at Vinton's," Grace remarked soberly. "It isn't Ruth's +fault. She is heartbroken over the estrangement. This is the first +difference she and Arline have ever had." + +"Such a ridiculous thing to quarrel over," sniffed Elfreda. "I could see +that night that Arline was cross because Ruth didn't want to talk about +herself." + +"I hope they will be friends again before the reception," said Grace. +"It would be awkward for all of us if they are not." + +"Oh, dear," sighed Anne, sitting down on the top step of the veranda. +"I'm too lazy to look at my books to-night." The four girls had reached +Wayne Hall and the beauty of the autumn night made them reluctant to go +into the house, where an evening of hard study awaited them. "I'd like +to stay out here for hours and look at the stars." + +"And have stiff neck and a cold of the fond, clinging type, to-morrow," +jeered Elfreda. + +"How disgustingly practical you are, Elfreda!" exclaimed Miriam. + +"I'm only warning her," persisted Elfreda. + +"It doesn't seem as though we'd been back at Overton for three weeks, +does it?" asked Grace. + +"It seems longer than that to me," said Miriam Nesbit. "The freshman +dance happened ages ago, according to my reckoning, and nothing, +absolutely nothing, has happened since." + +"Never mind, it won't be long until the sophomore reception," comforted +Grace. "I never suspected that you had such a rabid craving for +excitement, Miriam." + +"The freshman dance was a tame affair," averred Miriam. "I think our +class was more interesting in its infancy than is this year's class." + +"I think so, too," agreed Grace. "Still, we don't know what genius lies +hidden in the bosoms of 19--'s freshmen." + +"This year we shall be the hostesses," exulted Elfreda. "Who are you +girls going to invite?" + +"I'll ask Miss Taylor," volunteered Anne. + +"I'll ask Miss Wilton," said Miriam. + +"That's two from Wayne Hall," counted Anne. "There are two freshmen +left." + +"One of us could invite that nice tall girl, Miss Evans," planned Grace. +"That leaves only one girl uninvited." She hesitated. Her three friends +read the meaning of the hesitation. Elfreda sprang loyally into the +breach. + +"I'll ask Miss Atkins," she declared stoutly. "You notice, don't you, +that I am not addressing her by her pet name? I'll conduct her to the +reception and back, if she'll accept my manly arm, and buy her flowers +into the bargain. So go ahead and invite Miss Evans, Grace." + +"J. Elfreda Briggs, you can never manage that Miss Atkins," protested +Miriam. "In the first place, she won't accept you as an escort, and if +she should happen to do so, it will be a sorry evening for you." + +"I'll take the risk," replied Elfreda confidently. "I managed her once +before, didn't I? You girls go ahead and invite the others. Leave Miss +Atkins to me. I'll escort her in triumph to the reception, or perish +gallantly in the attempt." + +"Do you really believe she will accept your invitation, Elfreda?" asked +Grace doubtfully. + +"I can tell you better after I have asked her," was Elfreda's flippant +retort. "I have an idea that she will feel dreadfully hurt if no one +asks her to go." + +"Hurt!" exclaimed three voices in unison. + +"Yes, hurt," repeated Elfreda. "The Anarchist isn't half so savage as +she pretends to be. That blood-thirsty manner of hers isn't real. She +puts it on to hide something else." + +"But what is it she wishes to hide?" asked Miriam. "Your deductions are +quite beyond us." + +"If I knew I'd tell you. I don't pretend to understand her, but I can +see that she isn't as fierce as she seems. Time and I will solve the +riddle, and when we do you'll be the first to hear of it." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +GIRLS AND THEIR IDEALS + + +Directly after her last class the next day, Grace hurried to her room to +change her gown. She looked forward with eager pleasure to her evening +with Mabel Ashe. She was deeply attached to the pretty senior, who was +the best-liked girl in college, and Grace could not help feeling a +trifle proud of Mabel's frank enjoyment of her society. Anne, knowing +Grace was to be away, had accepted an invitation to go down to Ruth +Denton's little room, help her cook supper, and spend the evening with +her. + +"Oh, dear," sighed Grace, as she tried vainly to reach the two hooks of +her dark blue charmeuse gown that seemed only a sixteenth of an inch out +of reach, "I wish Anne were here. I can touch these two hooks with the +ends of my fingers but I can't fasten them. I'll have to ask Mabel to +hook me up when I get to Holland House." Giving up in disgust, Grace +slipped into her long, blue serge coat, carefully adjusted her new fall +hat that she had just received from home, and catching up her gloves ran +downstairs. + +Mabel Ashe's graceful, welcoming figure leaning over the baluster +waiting for her was the first thing that attracted her attention as she +stepped inside the hall at Holland House. + +"Come right up," invited Mabel. "We'll have a little while together +before dinner. Did you bring your notebook?" + +"Yes," replied Grace. "Remember, you are to help me choose a subject for +my theme. You volunteered, you know." + +"Not until after dinner, though, if you don't mind. Sit down here and be +comfy. This is my pet chair, but I insist on letting you have it because +you are company." She gently pushed Grace into a roomy leather-covered +armchair. Seating herself opposite Grace, Mabel fixed her brown eyes +almost gravely on her. "Now, Grace," she said earnestly, "please tell me +about this Miss Atkins of Wayne Hall." + +"There isn't much to tell," replied Grace. "Did you ever see her?" + +"Once." + +"We had a little trouble with her our very first day back," continued +Grace. "She took possession of our room and refused to give it up. Then +when Mrs. Elwood came to our rescue, she went to the room that had been +assigned to her like a lamb. She felt anything but lamblike toward me, +you may believe, and when later Mrs. Elwood brought up her new roommate, +she refused to allow her to enter." + +"Refused to allow her to enter," repeated Mabel wonderingly. "What sort +of girl is she, Grace?" + +"I don't know," answered Grace doubtfully. "She is an enigma. She speaks +the most precise English, with absolutely no trace of slang. But she +looks as though the whole world were her natural enemy. Elfreda named +her the Anarchist. I am rather ashamed to say we call her that behind +her back." + +Mabel smiled slightly, then asked, "What did the girl do--the one she +wouldn't room with, I mean?" + +"She went downstairs to wait for Mrs. Elwood. The reason I know all +about it is because I happened to hear her tell Miss Taylor, that's the +freshman's name, that she would have to go elsewhere. I knew Mrs. Elwood +was out, so I went down to see if there were anything I could do for +her, and she told me all about it. I knew Mrs. Elwood would be out of +patience with Miss Atkins and ask her to leave Wayne Hall." Grace +paused. + +"What happened next?" asked Mabel interestedly. + +"I told Miss Taylor I would try to fix things for her. I went upstairs +and plotted with Elfreda. Then she and I bearded the dragon in her den. +After I had finished telling her that it would be better to take little +Miss Taylor without further bickering, Elfreda rose to the occasion and +gave her a much-needed lecture. She is very shrewd, I think. She +evidently realized she had gone too far. She objected to Miss Taylor +because it is her nature to object to everything. When she saw that we +had taken up the cudgels in Miss Taylor's behalf, and that she was +likely to get into hot water, she decided to accept her as a roommate +without further opposition. That's the whole story." + +"She must be eccentric and very disagreeable," commented Mabel. "What +made you go to such pains to save her from the wrath of Mrs. Elwood?" + +"I suppose I felt sorry for her," confessed Grace. "She is beginning her +freshman year in the worst possible spirit. But as I said to the girls +not long ago, we do not know what lies back of her disagreeable manner. +Why are you so interested in hearing about her, Mabel?" + +"She is making herself the subject of considerable censure among the +juniors and seniors by snubbing the girls of her own class and calmly +announcing that she wishes to make only powerful and influential friends +in college," returned Mabel. "You know, of course, the attitude of the +old students toward freshmen. This Miss Atkins is either laboring under +the impression that she is an exception to tradition, or else she has no +sense of the fitness of things. At first, I am sorry to say, a few of +the seniors looked upon her as a joke, but the reaction has set in, and, +like Humpty Dumpty, she is going to take a great fall. When she does, +all the king's horses and all the king's men won't be of any assistance +to her in getting her back from where she tumbled. I don't believe she +realizes that she is making herself ridiculous. + +"I was at Vinton's last Saturday afternoon. Jessie Meredith invited +another senior and me to luncheon there. Imagine our surprise when a +prim, precise little figure marched up to our table and seated herself +as calmly as though she were the president of the senior class. There is +room for four at those tables, you know, and we had not reserved ours. +Still, there were plenty of other tables at which she might have seated +herself. It was rather embarrassing for all of us, but it was worse when +she tried to break into the conversation. She insisted on expounding her +views on whatever we discussed. We were compelled to cut short our +luncheon and flee to Martell's for our dessert. We escaped at the moment +the waitress was serving her luncheon, so she couldn't very well rise +and pursue us. If I had been alone, I might have stayed, but Jessie was +disgusted, and I was Jessie's guest." + +Grace had listened to Mabel's recital with troubled eyes. "I never +before knew a girl quite like Miss Atkins," she said slowly. "What is it +you wish me to do for her, Mabel?" + +"Wise young sophomore," laughed Mabel. "How did you guess it?" + +"You are not given to footless gossip," replied Grace quietly. "Besides, +I live at Wayne Hall." + +"Cleverer and cleverer," commented the senior, in mock admiration. "This +is my idea. I had hoped that, being in the same house with her, you +might be able to guide her gently along the beaten trail made by girls +like you. However, after what you have told me, I am afraid you are not +the one to do it." + +"I haven't a particle of influence with her," said Grace soberly. "You +must know that from what I have already told you." + +"Yes, I do know it," answered Mabel. "Is there any one at Wayne Hall who +would be likely to have the right kind of influence?" + +"No-o-o." Grace shook her head doubtfully. Then she suddenly brightened. +"There is one person who might help her. Elfreda is going to invite her +to the sophomore reception. She doesn't wish to do it, I know, although +she hasn't said so. Please don't think me conceited, but Elfreda would +do anything for me. She fancies herself under obligation to me on +account of what happened last year," Grace added in an embarrassed tone. + +"Grace Harlowe!" exclaimed Mabel delightedly, "I believe we have solved +our problem. J. Elfreda is the very one to make Miss Atkins wake up to +what is expected from her at Overton. Will you talk with her about it, +and ask her if she is willing to try?" + +"I'll tell her to-night," promised Grace. "I'm sure she'll try. She is +not afraid to tackle Miss Atkins, either, or she wouldn't have invited +her to the reception." + +"Then that's settled for the time being at least," declared Mabel +jubilantly. "Just in time for dinner, too. There goes the bell." + +After dinner more conversation followed. It was eight o'clock before +Grace remembered her theme. "What shall I write about?" she demanded. +"You promised to supply the inspiration." + +"So I will," returned Mabel cheerfully. "Why don't you write +about--" She paused, frowning slightly. "After all my vaunted promises +I'm not able to suggest anything on the spur of the moment," she +confessed laughingly. "Why don't you take some incident in your own life +or that of your friends and write a story about it?" she proposed after +a moment's silence. + +"I don't believe I could ever write a story," confessed Grace. "I think +I'll write a little discussion about girls and their ideals." + +"That sounds interesting," commended Mabel. "Go ahead with it. You may +sit at this table, if you like." + +Grace seated herself, nibbled at the end of her fountain pen +reflectively, then began to write. Mabel busied herself with her own +work. At last Grace shoved aside the closely written sheets of paper. +"It's done," she cried, in a triumphant voice. "Now we can talk." + +"May I read it?" asked Mabel. + +"Of course, if you wish to," laughed Grace. "It isn't worth the trouble, +though." + +Mabel picked up the theme and began to read. Grace rose, and strolling +over to the bookcase fell to examining the various bindings. Her +friend's flattering comment, "It's splendid, Grace. I had no idea you +could write so well," caused her to look up in surprise from the book +she held in her hand. + +"I don't think it is very remarkable," she contradicted. "It hasn't a +shred of literary style." + +"It's convincing," argued Mabel. + +"That is because I felt strongly on my subject. When it comes to +anything that lies near my heart I am always convincing. Father says I +put up the most convincing argument of any one he knows," smiled Grace. +"He always declares he is wax in my hands. I hope you will make me a +visit and meet my father and mother, Mabel," she added. + +"I surely will," promised Mabel. "We must correspond after I leave +college. I wish you could go home with me for one of the holiday +vacations. Can't you manage it?" + +"I am afraid not this year," returned Grace doubtfully. "Father and +Mother wouldn't object, but they miss me so during the year that I feel +as though my holidays belonged to them. I am an only child, you know." + +"So am I," returned Mabel. "I am also extremely popular with my father. +If I can tear myself away from him to make you a visit, surely you ought +to be equally public spirited." + +"I'll think it over," laughed Grace. "Oh, dear!" she exclaimed a moment +later, glancing at the little French clock on the chiffonier, "I must +go. It is twenty minutes to ten. How the time has slipped away." + +"Thank you," bowed Mabel. "Such appreciation of my society is gratifying +in the extreme. I'll invite you again." + +"See that you do," retorted Grace. "Have you any engagement for Saturday +afternoon? If you haven't, then suppose we have luncheon at Vinton's; +then go for a long walk. We can stay out all afternoon, stop at the tea +shop for supper and come home on the street car, or walk in, if we +choose. We might ask Frances and Anne to join us. Miriam and Elfreda are +going out for a ride. Miriam has a horse here this year. She had her +choice between a horse and a runabout and she took the horse. The moment +Elfreda found out she had one, she wrote home about it. Now she has a +riding horse, too." + +"I had my own pet mount, Elixir, here during my freshman and sophomore +years. The latter part of my second year I didn't take him out enough to +exercise him. So I ordered him sent home. He is a beauty. Jet black with +a three-cornered white spot in the middle of his forehead. He's an +Arabian, and Father paid an extravagant price for him. He shakes hands +and does ever so many tricks that I taught him. When you go home with +me, you shall see him." + +"I'd love to have a riding horse," confessed Grace, "but Father can't +afford it. I've never asked him, but I know he can't. We have no car +either." + +"Make me a visit and you can ride Elixir every day," bribed Mabel. + +"I'd love that!" exclaimed Grace fervently as she slipped into her coat +and settled her hat firmly on her fluffy hair. "Good night, Mabel. Come +and see me soon. Don't forget our Saturday walk." + +"I'll go to the door with you," announced Mabel. "No, I won't forget our +walk. I'll tell Frances about it to-morrow, before she has a chance to +make any other plans. She is a popular young person, and elusive in the +matter of dates." + +"There are others," retorted Grace, with a significant glance at her +friend. + +"So there are," agreed Mabel innocently. + +On the way home Grace wondered if there were any way in which she might +help Laura Atkins. True to her promise, she went at once to interview +Elfreda on the subject of the eccentric freshman. She found Miriam and +the stout girl busily engaged in trying to put together a puzzle that +Elfreda had unearthed in the toy department of one of the Overton stores +that afternoon. Puzzles were the delight of Elfreda's heart. But, once +put together, they immediately ceased to be of interest. + +"This is a wonder!" she exclaimed at sight of Grace. "It is worth +having. Neither Miriam nor I can put it together." + +"I have a harder one for you to tackle," smiled Grace. Then she +recounted her conversation with Mabel Ashe. + +"You have altogether too much faith in my powers of persuasion," +grumbled Elfreda, secretly pleased, nevertheless. + +"But that is much better than if we had no faith at all," reminded +Grace. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE INVITATION + + +The next morning Grace made a startling discovery. It was directly after +breakfast that she made it. Having fifteen minutes to spare before going +to her first recitation, she decided to reread her theme. What one wrote +always read differently after one had slept over it. What seemed clever +at night might be very commonplace when read in the cold light of the +morning. Grace reached for the book in which she had placed her theme. +It was not there. Going down on her knees, she looked first under the +table, then under the chiffonier, then turned over the books on the +table, then, darting to the closet, searched the pockets of her long +coat. + +"Where can it be?" she cried despairingly. "I am sure I had it when I +came into the hall last night. I couldn't have lost it on my way across +the campus. I'll run down and ask Anne. Perhaps she picked it up and put +it away for me." + +Grace hurried downstairs as fast as her feet would carry her. To her low +inquiry in Anne's ear she received a disappointing answer. Anne, who was +just finishing her breakfast, replied that she had not even seen the +theme. She rose at once to accompany Grace upstairs. The two girls +searched in every nook and corner of the room. "I wanted to hand it in +this morning," lamented Grace. "Now I'll have to write it all over +again. I don't believe I can remember much of it, either. I'll have to +explain to Miss Duncan, too, and ask her to give me until to-morrow to +write it." + +"Perhaps it will be found yet," comforted Anne. + +"No danger of it, unless I lost it in the street. Then there's only one +chance in a thousand of its turning up," declared Grace gloomily. "I +don't see how I happened to be so careless." + +"When must it be handed in?" questioned Anne. + +"This morning," answered Grace dolefully. "I'll have to rewrite it +to-night and from memory, too." + +"Why don't you choose another subject?" was Anne's advice. + +"No." Grace shook her head positively. "I can do better with the old +one. I'm not going to bother about asking if any one has found it. My +name was on it. If I made a fuss over it some one might say it was only +an excuse, that I hadn't really lost it, but just wished to gain time. I +hope Miss Duncan won't think that." + +"No one in this house would say so," contradicted Anne loyally. + +"But suppose Alberta Wicks or Mary Hampton heard of it? They might +circulate that rumor. I hate to seem so suspicious, but an ounce of +prevention, you know. I will write it over and say nothing further about +it." Having made up her mind on the subject Grace promptly dismissed it +from her thoughts. + +Miss Duncan did look rather suspiciously at Grace as she related her +misfortune. Grace's gray eyes met hers so fairly and truthfully, +however, that she was forced to believe the young woman's statement. She +gave the desired respite rather ungraciously and Grace took her place in +class, relieved to think she had got off so easily. That night she +rewrote the theme. It did not give her as much trouble as she had +anticipated. She laid down her fountain pen with alacrity when it was +finished and carefully blotted the last sheet. "Now I can begin to think +about the reception," she announced. "What are you going to wear, Anne?" + +"My new pink gown," said Anne promptly. "As long as I was extravagant +enough to indulge in a new evening dress I might as well wear it. The +sophomore reception is really the most important affair of the year, to +us, at least." + +"I'm delighted to have an opportunity to show off my pale blue chiffon +frock," laughed Grace. "I've been in ecstasies over it ever since it was +made. Have you seen that white gown of Elfreda's? It's perfectly +stunning. I stopped in her room for a minute last night. She was trying +it on. It's the prettiest gown she's had since she came here. Ask her to +show it to you." + +"I'm going over there now," said Anne. "I'll be back in a minute." It +was precisely four minutes later when Anne poked her head in Grace's +door. "Come on into Miriam's room, Grace," she called. "She has just +made chocolate. She has some lovely little cakes and sandwiches, too. +And Elfreda has something to tell us." + +Grace rose from her chair, lay down the notebook she had been running +through, and hastily followed Anne. + +"Have a cushion," laughed Miriam hospitably, throwing a fat sofa pillow +at Grace, who caught it dextrously, patted it into shape and, placing it +on the floor, sat down on it Turk fashion. Elfreda poured another cup of +chocolate, then seated herself on the floor beside Grace. "Pass Grace +the sandwiches, Anne," she ordered. "We made these ourselves. We bought +the stuff at that new delicatessen place on High Street." + +"They are delicious," commented Grace, between bites. "I'm hungry +to-night. I didn't like the dinner very well." + +"Neither did we," responded Miriam. "After dinner we went out for a walk +to see what we could find, and we brought back what you see spread +before you." + +"I shall pay a visit to the delicatessen shop," announced Grace. +"To-morrow night you must come to my room for a spread." + +"I'll come to your room with pleasure," retorted Elfreda, "but not to +eat. One spread a week is my limit. Now for my news. The Anarchist has +accepted my invitation to the reception." + +"Really!" exclaimed Grace. "Do tell us about it, Elfreda." + +"I delivered my invitation after dinner to-night," began Elfreda. "I +waited and waited, thinking some one else might invite her. I am not +yearning for the honor, you know. I went to her door and knocked. Her +roommate, Miss Taylor, opened it. The Anarchist sat over in one corner +of the room, studying like mad. By the way, I understand she is a dig +and stands high in her classes." + +"Is she?" asked Anne, opening her eyes. "Then that is one thing she has +in her favor. Perhaps we shall discover other good qualities in her that +we've overlooked." + +"Perhaps," echoed Miriam dryly. + +"Mustn't interrupt me," drawled Elfreda. "I may become peevish and +refuse to talk." + +"All right," smiled Grace. "We accept the warning. Continue, my dear +Miss Briggs." + +Elfreda grinned cheerfully. "I inquired with deferential politeness if +Miss Atkins were busy. Then the Anarchist looked up from her book, +glared like a lion, straightened her eyebrows and said in that awful +voice she owns, 'Did you wish to speak to me?'" + +Elfreda unconsciously imitated the belligerent freshman. Her audience +giggled appreciatively. + +"I replied in my most impressive English that I did wish to do that very +thing," continued Elfreda. "Then I inquired tactfully if I was too late +with my invitation to the sophomore dance. Without giving her time to +answer I put in my application for the position of escort. +Then"--Elfreda paused, a slight flush rose to her round face, "then she +looked me in the eye and told me a deliberate untruth. She said she had +refused one invitation because she had not been interested in the +reception, but that she had changed her mind. She thanked me and said +she would be pleased to go. I bowed myself out without further ado, but +Miss Taylor gave me the queerest look as I went. Her face was as red as +fire. It was she who told me that the Anarchist had not been invited. +She was afraid I might think she hadn't told the truth, but I knew +better. Now, don't ever tell any one what I have said." + +"I'm sorry she didn't tell the truth," said Grace disapprovingly. "Why +couldn't she say that she had not been invited?" + +"False pride," commented Miriam. "She evidently isn't so indifferent to +the opinion of others as she would have us believe." + +"She is a strange girl," mused Anne. "Perhaps she is not altogether to +blame for her odd ways." + +"'Odd' is a good name for them," jeered Elfreda. "I wouldn't call it +'odd,' I'd use a stronger word than that. It's contemptible. I'm sorry I +asked her to go to the reception." + +"Then recall your invitation and tell her your reason for doing so," +advised Miriam Nesbit bluntly. "Don't take her to the reception in that +spirit. You will make yourself and her equally unhappy." + +"Hear the sage lay down the law," retorted Elfreda impudently. "She's +right, though, only I won't withdraw my invitation at this late date. +I'll try to give the Anarchist the most exciting time of her young life, +but if she balks please don't blame me. You can lead an Anarchist to a +reception, you know, but you can't make her dance unless she happens to +feel like dancing. Still, I am going to do my best, and no sophomore can +do more." + +"That sounds like the Elfreda Briggs I heard talking last night," said +Grace, smiling her approval of the stout girl's words. + +"So it does," agreed Elfreda. "Hereafter I'll try to be more consistent. +As for the Anarchist, she shall reap the benefit of my vow. I hope she +knows how to dance. If she doesn't I shall have to constitute myself a +committee of one to furnish amusement for her. If on the fatal night you +see me, my arm firmly linked in that of her majesty, parading solemnly +about the gymnasium with a fixed smile, and an air of gayety that I am a +long way from feeling, don't you dare to laugh at me." + +"We won't laugh at you, then, even though we can't help laughing at you +now," said Grace. "We shall be only too glad to do anything we can to +help you entertain her." + +"I know that. Maybe you can help and maybe you can't. But if she doesn't +enjoy herself it won't be my fault." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ANTICIPATIONS + + +The day of the sophomore reception was a busy one for the members of the +sophomore class. To them, it was the event of the year, and the desire +to make this dance outshine all its predecessors was paramount in almost +every sophomore breast. Of course, there were the digs, who never +thought of festivities, but spent all their time in study. No one +counted on their help. The greater part of the class, however, was +properly enthusiastic over the music, decorations, gowns and dance +cards. Grace and Miriam, who were on the decorating committee, had spent +the greater part of their day in the gymnasium. Under the skilful +direction of the committee the big room blossomed out in strange and +gorgeous array. There were the masses of evergreen so convenient for +hiding unsightly gymnasium apparatus, which made the gymnasium a +veritable forest green. Strings of Japanese lanterns added to the +effect, while the freshmen and sophomore colors impartially wound the +gallery railing and were draped and festooned wherever there was the +slightest chance for display. + +The sophomores had put forth their best efforts in behalf of their +freshman sisters. When it came to sofa cushions and draperies they had +surrendered their most highly treasured possessions for the good of the +cause. + +"I think we may congratulate ourselves," commented Gertrude Wells as she +stood beside Miriam Nesbit, surveying their almost completed task. "Look +at my hands! I have scratched and bruised them handling those +evergreens. My dress is a sight, too," she added, pointing first to the +green stains that decorated her white linen gown, then significantly to +a three-cornered tear near the bottom of the skirt. "I don't care. It +will be out of style by next summer, at any rate." + +"I'm not much better off," declared Miriam. "You can't be a working +woman and keep up a bandbox appearance, you know." + +"I should say not," laughed Arline Thayer, who had come up in time to +hear Miriam's last remark. + +"Does any one know the time?" asked Grace, standing back a little to +view the effect of the bunting she had been winding about a post. "I +can't see the gym. clock from here. It is so swathed in green boughs and +decorations that its poor round face is almost hidden, and I'm really +too tired to go close enough to find out." + +"It's five minutes past four o'clock," informed Gertrude, glancing at +the tiny watch pinned to her waist. + +"Good gracious!" exclaimed Arline Thayer, "I can't stay here another +minute. I have a hundred things to do before to-night." + +"Where's Ruth?" asked Grace. "I haven't seen either of you lately except +at an aggravating distance." + +Arline's baby face hardened. "I haven't seen Ruth for over two weeks," +she said stiffly. + +"You haven't!" exclaimed Grace, who, stooping to tie her shoe, had not +noticed Arline's changed expression. As she straightened up her +surprised gray eyes met Arline's defiant blue ones. Like a flash she +remembered. "Then you don't know who she has invited to the reception?" + +"No," responded Arline shortly. "I don't know anything about it." + +Grace was about to say something further when, overtaken by sudden +thought, she turned her face away to hide the smile that hovered about +her lips. Meanwhile, Gertrude Wells had engaged Arline in conversation, +and Ruth's name was not mentioned again. + +"This is positively my last appearance this afternoon as a decorator," +declared Emma Dean. "I'm going home to beautify myself for the great +moment when I shall stand in line with my sophomore sisters to greet the +infant freshmen." + +"I'm going home, too, but without bursting into language," drawled J. +Elfreda Briggs. "I pounded my thumb with a hammer, scratched my nose on +an obstinate hemlock bough, and lost a bran span new pair of scissors. I +think it is high time to leave this place. I'm not on the reception +committee, 'tis true, but I have weighty matters to consider and am on +the verge of a perilous undertaking." She uttered the last words in an +all too familiar undertone, shooting a mischievous glance at her friends +which caused Grace, Anne and Miriam to laugh outright. + +"What are you girls laughing at?" demanded Gertrude Wells. + +"Elfreda is so funny," explained Grace enigmatically. Then, fearing to +offend Gertrude, she said hastily, "What she said was extremely +laughable to us, because she was imitating some one we know." + +The knot of girls separated soon after, going their separate ways. Anne, +Grace, Miriam, Elfreda and Emma Dean turned their faces toward Wayne +Hall. + +"I wonder if Ruth is going?" remarked Grace, who walked behind Anne. "I +thought we'd see her this afternoon." + +"I noticed how sharply Arline answered you," said Anne significantly. + +"Poor Ruth, I haven't a minute to spare or I'd run down there. We must +go to-morrow afternoon, Anne. We'll take Ruth to Vinton's for dinner +and, oh, Anne! let's invite Arline and make them be friends!" + +"Splendid!" admired Anne. "I'll take charge of Ruth and you can look out +for Arline." + +"If you don't hurry, you'll be ready for the reception some time +to-morrow," called Elfreda derisively. The two quickened their steps. +The three girls ahead looked back, then mischievously began running +toward Wayne Hall. + +"We can catch them, Anne," exulted Grace. + +"You mean you can," laughed Anne. "Run ahead and surprise them." + +Grace was off like the wind. Although the three girls ran well they were +no match for the lithe, slender young woman who ran like a hunted deer. +She soon passed her friends and running on to the hall sat down on the +steps with no apparent traces of exhaustion to wait for them. + +"Let me see, what track team did you say you belonged to?" quizzed +Elfreda, with open admiration. "If I could run like that I'd be happy. +Where did you learn to run?" + +"Back in Oakdale, where I was the prize tomboy of the school," laughed +Grace. "Have you seen to your flowers for your freshman? I ordered pink +roses for Miss Evans. Anne chose violets for Miss Taylor, didn't you, +Anne?" + +"I ordered violets for Miss Wilton, too," said Miriam. + +"I tried to get snap dragons," giggled Elfreda, "but it's rather late in +the season for them. Instead, the Anarchist will flourish a nosegay of +blood-red roses. I can't imagine her parading around the gym. bedecked +with violets." + +"Elfreda, you are anything but a chivalrous escort," commented Anne. + +"I am at least sincere," returned Elfreda, with an affected simper. "I +hope those flowers haven't loitered along the way. I must call on my +fair lady and see if she has received hers. I'm beginning to feel +excited. I'm going to eat my dinner post haste. I want to get dressed +and practice my bow before the mirror ere I enter the sacred precincts +of her majesty's boudoir. Then I shall sweep into her domicile, arrayed +in all my glory. She will be so overcome at sight of me and my splendor +that she will follow me down to the carriage like a lamb. I ask you, +ladies, after seeing me in that new white silk gown of mine, what +Anarchist could resist me?" + +"Of whom did Elfreda remind you just then, Grace?" asked Miriam. + +"Hippy," laughed Grace. "She looked exactly like him." + +"Never saw him," stated Elfreda laconically. + +"But you gave a fine imitation of him just the same!" exclaimed Grace. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN OFFENDED FRESHMAN + + +At dinner that night excitement reigned. Every girl in the house was +going to the reception. To dispose of one's dinner and hurry to one's +room to begin the all important task of dressing was the order of +procedure, and Mrs. Elwood's flock rose from the table almost in a body +and made a concerted rush for the stairs. + +"She got them," Elfreda informed the others as they stopped for a moment +in the hall. "I went to the door to ask her. She even thanked me for +them." + +"Wonderful," smiled Miriam. "Come on now. Remember, time flies and that +your new white frock is a dream." + +An hour later Elfreda stood before the mirror viewing herself with great +satisfaction. "It certainly is some class," she declared. "There I go +again. I haven't used slang for a week. But circumstances alter cases, +you know. Just pretend you didn't hear it, will you? I think I'll wear +my violets at my girdle. I don't look very stout in this rig, do I? You +look like a princess, Miriam. You're a regular howling beauty in that +corn-colored frock. Where are my gloves and my cloak? Oh, here they are, +just where I put them. Now, I must go for her highness. Br--r--" Elfreda +shivered, giggled, then gathering up her cloak and gloves switched out +the door. + +Miriam smiled to herself as she went about gathering up her own effects, +then fastening the cluster of yellow rosebuds to the waist of her gown +she hurried out into the hall in time to encounter Grace and Anne. + +"We are fortunate in that our ladies live under the same roof with us," +laughed Anne. + +"It certainly saves carriage hire," returned Grace. "Here comes Elfreda +and Miss Atkins. What on earth is she wearing?" + +"I think I'll go for my freshman," said Miriam, her voice quivering +suspiciously. + +By the time Elfreda and the Anarchist had reached the head of the +stairs, the three girls had fled precipitately, unable to control their +mirth. Elfreda's face was set in a solemn expression that defied +laughter. As for the Anarchist herself, she might easily have posed as a +statue of vengeance. Her eyebrows were drawn into a ferocious scowl. She +walked down the stairs with the air of an Indian chief about to tomahawk +a victim. Her white silk gown, which was well cut and in keeping with +the occasion, contrasted oddly with her threatening demeanor, which was +enhanced by a feather hair ornament that stood up belligerently at one +side of her head. + +"If she wouldn't wear that feather thing she'd be all right," muttered +Grace in Anne's ear. "She looks like Hiawatha. She has made up her mind +to be nice with Elfreda. She's wearing her flowers. I wonder if I'd +better ask her to dance to-night. Shall you ask her, Anne?" + +"I think so," reflected Anne. "I can't lead very well, but perhaps she +can." + +"I don't believe I'll ask her," said Grace slowly. "Humiliating one's +self needlessly is just as bad as having too much pride." + +"Hurry," called Miriam, who was already on the stairs. "The carriages +are here." + +It was a ridiculously short drive to the gymnasium, but, a fine rain +having set in, carriages for one's freshmen guests were a matter of +necessity. Elfreda and her charge occupied seats in the same carriage +with Anne and Mildred Taylor, who, in a gown of pink chiffon over pink +silk, looked, according to Elfreda, "too sweet to live." + +"How are you getting along with Miss Atkins?" asked Grace an hour later, +running up and waylaying Elfreda, who was slowly making her way across +the gymnasium toward the corner of the room where the big punch bowl of +lemonade stood. + +"Don't ask me!" returned Elfreda savagely. "I managed to fill her dance +card and supposed everything was lovely. She dances fairly well. If +she'd only keep quiet, smile and dance calmly along. But, no, she must +talk!" Elfreda's round face settled into lines of disgust. "She says +such outrageously personal things to her partners. I know of three +different girls she has offended so far. What will become of her before +the evening is over?" she inquired gloomily. "She told me I was too +stout to dance well, but I didn't mind that. Stout or not, she will be +lucky to have even me to dance with at the rate she's going. Let's drown +our mortification in lemonade." + +"Poor Elfreda," sympathized Grace. "I wish I could help you, but, +honestly, I feel as though it would be hardly fair to myself to make +further advances in that direction." + +"Don't do it," advised Elfreda, quickly, handing Grace a cup of fruit +lemonade. "I'll manage to steer her through this dance. But next time +some one else may do the inviting. The two classes make a good showing, +don't they?" + +"Beautiful," commented Grace. "The gymnasium looks prettier than it did +last year. That sounds conceited, doesn't it?" + +"It's true, though," averred Elfreda stoutly. "Doesn't Miriam look +stunning to-night? I think she is the handsomest dark girl I ever saw, +don't you?" + +"With one exception," smiled Grace. + +"Show me the exception, then," challenged Elfreda. + +"I will some fine day," promised Grace. "She's in Italy now." + +"You mean the girl you speak of as Eleanor?" asked Elfreda curiously. + +Grace nodded. "She is one of my dearest friends and belongs to our +sorority at home. At one time she was my bitterest enemy," she continued +reminiscently. "She was so self-willed and domineering that none of us +could endure her. She entered the junior class in high school when +Miriam, Anne and I did. For a year and a half she made life miserable +for all of us, then something happened and she turned out gloriously. +I'll tell you all about it some other time." + +"Was she worse than the Anarchist?" asked Elfreda sceptically. + +"There is no comparison," replied Grace promptly. "Still, the Anarchist +may have possibilities of which we know nothing." + +"I wish she would give a demonstration of them to-night then," muttered +Elfreda. "I suppose I'll have to get busy and look her up. It is +dangerous to leave her to her own devices. She may have offended half +the company by this time." Elfreda strolled off in search of her +troublesome charge. Grace crossed the gymnasium, her keen eyes darting +from the floor, where groups of daintily gowned girls stood exchanging +gay badinage, and resting after the last waltz, to the chairs and divans +placed at intervals against the walls that were for the most part +unoccupied. + +Everyone seemed to be dancing. Grace remembered with a start that she +had seen nothing of Ruth Denton. She had waved to Arline across the room +on entering the gymnasium, and had not caught a glimpse of her since. "I +must find Ruth," she reflected, "and tell her about to-morrow. Perhaps +Anne has told her. She promised she would." Espying Mildred Taylor, +Grace remembered with sudden contrition that she had not asked the +little freshman to dance. "I suppose she hasn't a single dance left," +murmured Grace regretfully. "At any rate, I'll ask her now." Approaching +Mildred she said in her frank, straightforward fashion, "I'm so sorry I +overlooked you, Miss Taylor. I intended asking you to dance first of +all." + +The "cute" little freshman turned her head away from Grace's apologetic +gray eyes. "It doesn't matter," she answered in a queer, strained voice. +"My card was full long ago." + +"I hope you are not hurt or offended at my seeming neglect," insisted +Grace anxiously. + +"Not in the least," was the almost curt rejoinder. "I do not think I +shall stay much longer. I have a headache." + +"I'm so sorry," said Grace sympathetically. "Can I do anything for you?" + +Mildred Taylor did not answer. Her lip quivered and her eyes filled with +tears. She brushed them angrily away, saying with a petulance entirely +foreign to her, "Please don't trouble yourself about me." + +"Very well," replied Grace, in proud surprise. "Shall I tell Miss +Pierson that you are ill?" + +"No," muttered Mildred. + +Grace walked away, puzzled and self-accusing. "I hurt her feelings by +not asking her to dance," was the thought that sprang instantly to her +mind. Then she suddenly recollected that she had not yet found Ruth. A +little later she discovered her in earnest conversation with Gertrude +Wells at the extreme end of the room. + +"Dance this with me, Ruth," called Grace, as she neared her friend. Ruth +glanced at her card. "I have this one free," she said. A moment later +they were gliding over the smooth floor to the inspiriting strains of a +popular two step. Long before the end of the dance they stopped to rest +and talk. "I suppose we ought to devote ourselves strictly to the +freshmen," said Grace. "They all appear to be dancing, though. Where +have you been keeping yourself, Ruth?" + +"I've been busy," replied Ruth evasively. + +"Will you be too busy to have dinner with us at Vinton's to-morrow +night?" persisted Grace. + +"No-o-o," said Ruth slowly. "At what time?" + +"Half-past six," returned Grace. "We'll meet you there. I must leave you +now to look after Miss Evans. I brought her here to-night." + +It was late when the notes of the last waltz sounded, and still later +when the gay participants left the gymnasium in twos, threes and little +crowds trooping down the broad stone steps to where they were to take +their carriages. The rain was now falling heavily, and to walk even +across the campus was out of the question. Every public automobile and +carriage in Overton had been pressed into service, and many who had +braved the fine rain early in the evening and walked were obliged to +negotiate with the drivers for a return of their vehicles. The carriages +to Wayne Hall carried six girls instead of four, and the merry +conversation that was kept up during the short drive showed plainly that +the evening had been a success. Even the Anarchist indulged in an +occasional stiff remark with a view toward being gracious. When Elfreda +humorously bowed her to her door and wished her an elaborate good night, +an actual gleam of fun appeared in her stormy eyes, and forgetting her +dignity she replied almost cordially that she had enjoyed her evening. + +"I am surprised to think she did after the way she made remarks about +people," commented Elfreda to Miriam, who was busily engaged in +unhooking the stout girl's gown and listening in amusement to Elfreda's +recital. "She has as much tact as a guinea hen. You know how tactful +they are?" + +In the meantime Anne and Grace were discussing the night's festivity in +their own room. Grace had slipped into a kimono and stood brushing her +long hair before the mirror. Suddenly she paused, her brush suspended in +the air. "Anne," she said so abruptly that Anne looked at her in +surprise, "did you notice anything peculiar about Miss Taylor? You were +her escort, you know." + +"No," responded Anne, knitting her brows in an effort to remember. "I +can't say that I noticed anything." + +"Then I am right," decided Grace. "She is angry with me because in some +way I missed asking her to dance." + +"She said nothing to me," was Anne's quick reply. + +"She is offended, I know she is," said Grace. "I'm sorry, of course. I +didn't pass her by intentionally. I didn't know she was so sensitive. I +think I'll ask her to go to Vinton's for luncheon on Saturday." + +But when Grace delivered her invitation at the breakfast table the next +morning it was curtly refused. Mildred Taylor's attitude, if anything, +was a shade more hostile than it had been the night before. From her +manner, it was evident that the little freshman, whom Grace had hastened +to befriend on that first doleful morning when she found her roomless +and in tears on the big oak seat in the hall, had quite forgotten all +she owed to the girl she now appeared to be trying to avoid. + +Finding her efforts at friendliness repulsed, Grace proudly resolved to +make no more overtures toward the sulking freshman. She had done +everything in her power to make amends for what had been an +unintentional oversight on her part, and her self respect demanded that +she should allow the matter to drop. She decided that if, later on, +Mildred showed a disposition to be friendly, she would meet her half +way, but, until that time came, she would take no notice of her or seek +further to ascertain the cause of her grievance. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE FINGER OF SUSPICION + + +That very morning as Grace was about to leave Miss Duncan's class room +she heard her name called in severe tones. Turning quickly, she met the +teacher's blue eyes fixed suspiciously upon her. + +"Did you wish to speak to me, Miss Duncan?" Grace asked. + +"Yes," answered Miss Duncan shortly. She continued to look steadily at +Grace without speaking. + +Grace waited courteously for the teacher's next words. She wondered a +little why Miss Duncan had detained her. + +"Miss Harlowe," began the teacher impressively, "I have always +entertained a high opinion of you as an honor girl. Your record during +your freshman year seemed to indicate plainly that you had a very clear +conception of what constitutes an Overton girl's standard of honor. +Within the past week, however, something has happened that forces me to +admit that I am deeply disappointed in you." Miss Duncan paused. + +Grace's expressive face paled a trifle. A look of wonder mingled with +hurt pride leaped into her gray eyes. "I don't understand you, Miss +Duncan," she said quietly. "What have I done to disappoint you?" + +Miss Duncan picked up a number of closely written sheets of folded paper +and handed them to Grace, who unfolded them, staring almost stupidly at +the sheet that lay on top. A wave of crimson flooded her recently pale +cheeks. "Why--what--where did you get this?" she stammered. "It is my +theme." + +[Illustration: "It Is My Theme."] + +"You mean it is the original from which you copied yours," put in Miss +Duncan dryly. "Is that your hand-writing?" + +"No," replied Grace, in a puzzled tone. + +"Is this your writing?" questioned Miss Duncan, suddenly producing +another theme from the drawer of her desk. + +"Yes," was Grace's prompt answer. "I handed it in to you instead of +putting it in the collection box. You remember I told you I had lost the +first one I wrote and asked for more time." + +"I remember perfectly," was the significant answer. "Is this theme," +pointing to the one Grace still held, "the one you say you lost?" + +"The one I say I lost," repeated Grace, a glint of resentment darkening +her eyes. "What do you mean, Miss Duncan?" + +Her bold question caused the instructor's lips to tighten. "You have not +answered my question, Miss Harlowe," she said icily. + +"No, this is not my theme," answered Grace; "that is, it is not in my +hand-writing. I do not recognize the writing." Grace ceased speaking and +stared at the theme in sudden consternation. "Some one found my theme +and copied it." Her voice sank almost to a whisper. A flush of shame for +the unknown culprit dyed her cheeks anew. + +"It would be better, perhaps," interrupted the teacher sarcastically, +"if you admitted the truth of the affair at once, Miss Harlowe." + +"There is nothing to admit," responded Grace steadily, "except that I +lost my theme on the evening I wrote it. When I found it was gone I came +to you at once and asked for another day's time. That same night I +rewrote it as well as I could from memory and handed it to you the +following day." + +An ominous silence ensued. Then Miss Duncan said stiffly: "Miss Harlowe, +the young woman who wrote the theme you have in your hand dropped it +into the collection box of another section during the very evening you +would have me believe you were writing it. It was brought to me early +the next morning." + +"How do you know that it was dropped into the box the evening before?" +flung back Grace, forgetting for an instant to whom she was speaking. + +"Your question is hardly respectful, Miss Harlowe," returned Miss +Duncan, coldly reproving. "I will answer it, however, by saying that I +sent for the young woman and questioned her regarding the time she +placed her theme in the box, without letting her know my motive in doing +so. Her frank answer completely assured me that she was speaking the +truth. At the same time she explained that she had been late with her +theme on account of mislaying it. She had written it two days before and +placed it in her desk. Then it had mysteriously vanished and suddenly +reappeared in the same pigeonhole in her desk in which she had placed +it. She assured me that directly she found it she took it to the box. +Your theme is so suspiciously similar to hers that it is hardly possible +to believe it to be merely a coincidence. In the face of the +circumstances it looks as though you were the real offender." + +Grace regarded Miss Duncan with mute reproach. She could not at once +trust herself to speak. + +"Have you anything to say to me, Miss Harlowe?" was the stern question. + +"Only, that what I have previously said to you is the truth," answered +Grace, fighting down her desire to cry. Then, seized with a sudden idea, +she said in a tone of subdued excitement, "Will you allow me to look at +that theme again, Miss Duncan?" + +Miss Duncan picked up the theme from the desk where Grace had laid it +and handed it to her. A strip of paper had been pasted over the name in +the upper left hand corner. Grace scanned each closely written page +attentively. "This is my theme," she declared finally, "and I have +thought of a way to prove that I wrote it. I did not steal it from +another girl. I would not be so contemptible." + +"I shall be very glad to have conclusive proof that you did not," +commented Miss Duncan rather sarcastically. "Appearances are not in your +favor, Miss Harlowe." + +"I am sorry that you doubt my word, Miss Duncan," said Grace with gentle +dignity, "because I am going to prove to you how utterly wrong you have +been in suspecting me of such contemptible conduct. I wrote this theme +in the room of a member of the senior class. She read it after I had +written it. I feel sure that she can identify this as mine because when +I rewrote it I could not remember a word of the original ending which +she had particularly commended. I did the best I could with it, but it +wasn't in the least like the other," Grace ended earnestly. + +"Will you tell me the name of the young woman in whose room you wrote +your theme?" asked Miss Duncan, her stern face relaxing a little. + +"It was Miss Ashe," returned Grace frankly. + +Miss Duncan raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I should say you had +strong evidence in your favor, Miss Harlowe." + +"Will you ask Miss Ashe to come to your room after your last class +to-day, Miss Duncan?" she asked eagerly. "I should like to show her the +theme without explaining anything to her at first. I give you my word of +honor I will say nothing about it to her in the meantime." Then, +realizing that her word of honor was at present being seriously +questioned, Grace blushed painfully. + +Miss Duncan, understanding the blush, said less severely, "Very well, +Miss Harlowe." She scrutinized Grace's fine, sensitive face for a +moment, then added, "You may come at the same time if you wish." + +Grace brightened, then shook her head positively. "Please let me come to +see you to-morrow morning instead." She wished to give Miss Duncan +perfect freedom to ask Mabel any questions she might find necessary to +ask. + +"To-morrow morning, then," acquiesced Miss Duncan graciously. + +Grace turned to leave the room. At the door she hesitated, then walking +back to the desk she said almost imploringly: "Please don't punish the +other girl now, Miss Duncan. I do not know who she is, but I am sure she +must have found my theme and copied it on the spur of the moment. I +can't believe that she did it deliberately. If she did, then being found +out by you will be lesson enough for her." + +"I have not as yet exonerated you from this charge, Miss Harlowe," +declared Miss Duncan stiffly, her brief graciousness vanishing like +magic. "If the other girl is to blame, then she must suffer for her +fault. Until I have seen Miss Ashe I shall say nothing. After that I can +not promise." + +Grace bowed and left the class room, her feeling toward the unknown +plagiarist entirely one of pity. She had vindicated herself at the +expense of exposing some one else without intent to do more than assert +her own innocence, and she now wondered sadly if there were not some way +in which she might persuade Miss Duncan to change her mind. + +On her way from Miss Duncan's class room that morning Grace found +herself walking directly behind Emma Dean. She was sauntering across the +campus, her near-sighted eyes fixed on a small, hurrying figure just +ahead of her. + +"Hello, Grace," was Emma's affable salutation as she turned at the touch +of Grace's hand on her shoulder. "I was watching Miss Taylor. What a +disappointment that girl is. The first week or two after her arrival at +Wayne Hall I thought her delightful, but she has turned out to be +anything but agreeable. She barely nodded to me this morning. I believe +she is developing snobbish tendencies, which is a great mistake. Deliver +me from snobs! We have very few of them at Overton, thank goodness." + +But Grace could not help thinking that somewhere in the college +community lived a girl who possessed a fault far greater than that of +being a snob. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SUMMONS + + +The prospective dinner at Vinton's at which Ruth Denton and Arline +Thayer were to be guests of honor drove the unpleasant incident of the +morning from Grace's mind for the time being. She had determined to keep +her interview with Miss Duncan a secret from her friends. If it had +involved only herself, she might possibly have told Anne of it, but +since it concerned some one else, Grace's fine sense of honor forbade +her making even Anne her confidant in the matter. She could not help +speculating a little concerning the identity of the other girl. She had +not the remotest idea as to who she might be. Whoever she was, she could +not have realized what a dishonorable thing she had done, was Grace's +charitable reflection. She wondered what Mabel would think when Miss +Duncan asked her to identify the theme as the one Grace had written +during that evening in Holland House. + +"I'm going to stop thinking of it for the rest of the day," declared +Grace half aloud, as she dressed for dinner late that afternoon. She +started guiltily, glancing quickly to where Anne sat mending a tiny tear +in her white silk blouse. Anne, who was fully occupied with her mending, +made no comment. She was so used to Grace's habit of thinking aloud that +she had no idle curiosity regarding her friend's thoughts. Whatever +Grace wished her to know she would hear in due season. + +"Miriam and Elfreda are not going with us, you know," said Grace as they +were about to leave their room. + +"I didn't know it," commented Anne. "Why did they change their minds?" + +"Miriam thinks you and I can do more toward restoring peace without her +and Elfreda. She suspects that Ruth will satisfy Arline's curiosity and +at the same time appease her wrath by telling what she refused to tell +that other night, provided there are not too many listeners." + +"What a wise girl Miriam is!" exclaimed Anne admiringly. "I never +thought of that." + +"Nor I," admitted Grace, "until she mentioned it. Then I saw the wisdom +of it." + +"Where are we to meet Ruth and Arline?" asked Anne. "Suppose both of +them arrive at Vinton's before we do?" + +"I thought of that, too," chuckled Grace, "so Arline is to come here, +and Ruth is to wait for us at Vinton's. They can't possibly meet until +we are there to manage matters. Arline ought to be here by this time. +Shall we go downstairs and wait for her?" + +"There's the door bell now," said Anne. "That must be Arline." + +Her supposition proved correct. Just as they reached the foot of the +stairs the maid admitted the fluffy-haired little girl. + +"Hello!" she called merrily. "I'm strictly on time, you see." + +"So are we," smiled Anne. "Shall we start at once?" + +"Yes, indeed," emphasized Arline. "I'm starved. I wasn't prepared in +Greek to-day, and rushed through my luncheon in order to snatch a few +minutes' study before class. I had my trouble for my pains, too. The +bell rang before it was my turn to recite. Wasn't that fortunate?" + +"I should say so," agreed Grace. "If it had been I, Professor Martin +would have called on me first. You were born lucky, Daffydowndilly." + +"I don't think so," replied Arline gloomily. "I have all kinds of +miserable, unpleasant things to bother me." + +Anne and Grace exchanged significant glances behind the little girl's +back. There was a chance for the success of their scheme. Arline was +evidently unhappy over her cavalier treatment of Ruth. + +During the short walk to Vinton's all mention of Ruth's name was tacitly +avoided. Arline chattered volubly about the reception. She had not +enjoyed herself particularly. She had taken a freshman by the name of +Violet Darby, who lived on the top floor of Morton House. She was +considered the freshman beauty. + +"Oh, I remember her!" exclaimed Grace. "Gertrude Wells introduced me to +her. I asked for a dance, but her card was full to overflowing. She is +beautiful. She has such wonderful golden hair, and her brown eyes are in +such striking contrast to her hair and fair complexion. She is awfully +popular, I suppose." + +"Yes, the Morton House girls are all rushing her. I was surprised to +think she accepted my invitation," returned Arline. + +"I don't think that was so very surprising," declared Grace bluntly. +"Arline Thayer is also a Morton House favorite." + +"Violet is the reigning favorite just at present," rejoined Arline. +"It's her fatal beauty. She is a very nice girl, though. Not a bit +snobbish or conceited. Everyone in the house likes her. You must become +better acquainted with her." + +"Here we are at Vinton's," announced Grace. "I ordered one of the alcove +tables reserved for us." + +As they made their way to the alcove a girl rose from her seat in the +shadow to greet them. It was Ruth, and as Arline caught sight of her her +baby face grew dark. "How dared you?" she asked accusingly, turning +toward Grace. "You know we are not friends. I don't wish to see her. I'm +going straight home. I suppose she planned all this. She has tried to +make up with me, but I shall never again be friends with her." + +"Please listen to me, Arline," began Grace, taking the angry little girl +by the arm and pulling her gently toward the alcove. Ruth had risen from +the table, a look of mingled pain and bewilderment on her face. + +"I didn't know Arline was to be here," she said tremulously. "Please +tell her I didn't know it." She turned appealing eyes toward Grace. + +"Suppose we sit down at our table and talk over this matter," suggested +Grace, in her most casual manner. Her calm gray eyes rested first on +Ruth, then traveled to Arline, who hesitated briefly, then with an angry +shrug of her shoulders seated herself in the nearest chair. Grace +motioned Anne and Ruth to their chairs, then seating herself she said +gently: "Now, children, suppose we clear up some of these doubts and +misunderstanding by holding court? I am going to be the prosecuting +attorney. Anne can be the counsel for the defense. Arline can borrow her +first, then Ruth can have her. When all the evidence is in I shall +appoint myself as judge and jury. It means a great deal of work for me, +but the law must take its course. I, therefore, summon you both into +court." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +GRACE HOLDS COURT + + +In spite of her displeasure, Arline giggled faintly at Grace's impromptu +session of court. Ruth's sad little face brightened, while Anne listened +to her friend with open admiration. She could have conceived of no surer +way to settle the difference that had made them so unhappy. + +"You must remember," Grace said solemnly, "that there can be no dinner +until the court has disposed of its first case. This is a murder trial, +therefore the chief object of the court is to find the murderer of one +friendship, done to death in cruel fashion. I wish I had Emma Dean's +glasses to make me look more imposing. I wonder what kind of voice a +prosecuting attorney would have. Dearly beloved," went on Grace +impressively, "they don't say that in court, I know, but then I'm going +to be different from most prosecuting attorneys." + +"There isn't the least doubt of that," interposed Anne slyly. + +"Silence," commanded Grace severely. "I shall have you arrested for +contempt of court. Then there won't be any counsel for the defense. The +first witness, that's you, Arline, will please take the stand. You +needn't really move, you know. We will take a few things for granted. +Sit up straight and be as dignified as possible. Fold your hands on the +table. That's right. Now, state where and when you first met the +defendant. Ruth can be the defendant until I question her. Then you'll +have to play the part." + +"Over a year ago, at Morton House," stated Arline obediently. + +"What was your opinion of the defendant?" + +"I liked her better than any other girl I had ever met," confessed +Arline. + +"Defendant number two, what did you think of Arline Thayer?" quizzed +Grace, eyeing Ruth expectantly. + +"I liked her as much as she liked me," replied Ruth promptly. + +"When did your first disagreement occur?" probed Grace, turning from +Ruth to Arline. + +"Here, at this very table," returned Arline in a low tone. + +"Whose fault was it?" inquired Grace wickedly. + +"Mine!" exclaimed Ruth and Arline simultaneously. + +"Thank you," returned Grace soberly. "Such spontaneity on the part of +the defendants is very refreshing. It also simplifies the case and saves +the court considerable trouble. There is hope that the court will be +dismissed in time for dinner. As prosecuting attorney I will now deliver +my charge. I shall have to deliver it sitting down or attract too much +attention to the case. Gentlemen of the jury, you have heard the +evidence. You think, no doubt, that murder has been done. This is not +so. The friendship between Defendant Number One," Grace bowed to Arline, +"and Defendant Number Two," she made a second bow to Ruth, "received a +blow on the head which rendered it unconscious for some time. It had no +intention of dying, but both prisoners treated it with extreme cruelty, +not allowing it to hold up its poor crippled head. I ask you, Gentlemen +of the jury, to consider well what shall be the penalty for assaulting +and battering friendship with intent to kill. Gentlemen of the jury, are +you ready for the question?" + +"We are," Grace answered for the jury in a deep voice that elicited +little shrieks of laughter from her companions. + +"What shall be the fate of these malefactors?" demanded Grace in her +prosecuting attorney voice, after the jury had rendered a verdict of +guilty. "Be deliberate in your decision, but don't be all night about +it." + +"They shall be made to shake hands across the table or suffer the full +penalty of the law," stated the judge. + +"What is the full penalty of the law?" + +"No dinner," was the prompt answer. + +"Counsel for the defense, have you anything to say? I should have asked +you before sentence was pronounced, but it doesn't matter. The +prosecuting attorney always tries to fix things to suit himself, no +matter what any one else thinks." + +"The counsel for the defense is a mere blot on the landscape in this +trial," jeered Anne. + +"How did you guess it?" beamed the prosecuting attorney. "Prisoners, the +sentence will be executed at once. Shake hands." + +Ruth's hand was stretched across the table to meet Arline's. + +"I'm awfully sorry, Ruth," said Arline, her voice trembling slightly. "I +should never have asked you to tell what you wished to keep secret." + +"And I shouldn't have been so silly as to refuse to tell," declared Ruth +bravely. "I'm going to tell you now, and you mustn't stop me. I was +brought up in an orphan asylum. That's why I didn't care to tell you +about myself that evening." + +"You poor, precious dear!" exclaimed Arline. "How can I ever forgive +myself for being so horrid? Won't you forgive me, Ruth? I never supposed +it was anything like that. I was angry because you called me your best +friend, but wouldn't trust me. I'm so sorry. I'll never speak of it +again to you." Arline looked appealingly at Ruth, her blue eyes misty. + +"But I want you to think of it. I had made up my mind to tell you. Then +you passed me on the campus without speaking, and somehow I didn't dare +come near you after that." + +"I've been perfectly horrid, I know," admitted Arline contritely. "I've +been so used to having my own way that I try to bend everyone I know to +it." + +"I don't mind telling you girls about myself now. At first I was ashamed +of my poverty," confessed Ruth. "After I went to Arline's beautiful home +I hated to say anything about it to any one. Then Arline grew angry with +me. I realized afterward that I had been foolish not to tell her my +story. There isn't much to tell. I was picked up in a railroad wreck on +a westbound train when I was four years old. I can just remember getting +into the train with my mother. She was burned to death in the wreck, but +by some miracle I was saved. I knew my name, Ruth Irving Denton, my age, +and around my neck mother had tied a little packet containing some +money, a letter and a gold watch. A woman who lived near where the wreck +occurred took charge of me, and as no one came for me, in time I was +sent to a home. I lived there until I was fourteen. The matron was good +to us, and considering we were all homeless waifs we fared very well." + +"And the letter?" asked Grace. + +"It was from my father to my mother, giving all the directions for our +journey west. With it had been enclosed a money order for four hundred +dollars, which my mother had evidently cashed. I still have the letter. + +"Then a man and his wife took me. They were good to me and sent me to +school. I studied hard and finished high school when I was seventeen. +Then I won a scholarship of one hundred dollars a year. I was determined +to go to college, but the people with whom I lived thought differently. +So I left them a year ago last fall and came to Overton, resolving to +make my own way. They were so angry with me for leaving them they would +have nothing further to do with me. So you see I had not a friend in the +world until I met you girls." + +"But you have me now," comforted Arline, patting Ruth's hand. "I'll +never be so silly again. Poor little girl!" + +"And you have Anne and me," added Grace. "Don't forget Miriam and +Elfreda, either." + +"I am rich in friends now," said Ruth softly. + +"Perhaps your father isn't really dead, Ruth!" exclaimed Grace. + +"He must be," said Ruth sadly. "I have only one thing that belonged to +him, a heavy gold watch with his full name, 'Arthur Northrup Denton,' +engraved on the inside of the back case. It is a valuable watch, but I +have always declared I would starve rather than part with it." + +"Perhaps it may help you to find him some day," suggested Grace +thoughtfully. + +"Don't you know the name of the town in Nevada where he first lived?" +asked Anne. + +"He went to Humboldt, and from there into the mountains," replied Ruth. +"Since that time all trace of him has been lost. I never knew my own +story until on the day I became fourteen years of age. Then the matron +told me. It was at the time that I was getting ready to go to live with +the man and his wife of whom I have spoken. After that it seemed as +though the whole world changed for me. I didn't mind being poor, nor +having to work, for I had the glorious thought that perhaps my father +was still alive and that some time I should see him again. I wrote +several letters to him, sending them to Humboldt, but they always came +back to me. + +"After a while I gave up all hope and stopped writing. I couldn't bear +to think of having more letters come back unclaimed. I tried to forget +that I had even dreamed of seeing my father again, and began to put my +whole mind on going to college. Now I am so thankful that I persevered +and won the scholarship. There were times when I was very unhappy over +leaving the only home I had ever known, outside the orphanage. Still I +could not rid myself of the conviction that I had taken a step in the +right direction. Later, when I met you girls, I was sure of it. Even +though I didn't find my father, I found true and loyal friends who have +crowded more pleasure and happiness into one short year than I ever had +in all my life before." + +"I'll lend you half of my father, Ruth," offered Arline generously. "He +is almost as fond of you as he is of me. You remember he said so." + +"Weren't you green with jealousy when he admitted it?" teased Anne. + +"Not a bit of it," protested Arline stoutly. "I only wish Ruth were my +sister." + +"I'd like to be the one to find Ruth's father," mused Grace. + +Anne smiled. "Even college can't uproot Grace's sleuthing tendencies. +She has an absolute genius for ferreting out mysteries." + +"No, I haven't," contradicted Grace. "If I had--" she stopped. She had +been on the point of remarking that she would have known who had stolen +and used her theme. + +"If you had what?" asked Arline curiously. + +"If I had the genius of which Arline prattles, I'd be at the head of the +New York Detective Bureau," finished Grace. And Anne alone knew that +Grace had purposely substituted this flippant answer to conceal her real +thought. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +GRACE MAKES A RESOLUTION + + +"What do you think has happened?" demanded J. Elfreda Briggs, bursting +into the room where Anne and Grace were busily making up for lost time. +They had lingered at Vinton's until after eight o'clock. Then the +thought of to-morrow with its eternal round of classes had driven them +home, reluctantly enough, to where their books awaited them. It was +almost nine o'clock before they had actually settled themselves, and +Elfreda's sudden, tempestuous entrance caused Anne to lay down her +Horace with an air of patient resignation. "We might as well begin +saying 'unprepared' now, and grow accustomed to the sound of our own +voices," she announced. + +"I think so, too," agreed Grace. "Well, Elfreda, why this thusness? What +has happened? Have you been elected to the Pi Beta Gamma, or did you get +an unusually large check from home?" + +"Catch the P. B. Gammas troubling themselves about me," scoffed Elfreda. +"As for a check, I've written for it, but so far I've seen no signs of +it. When I do lay hands on it we'll celebrate the event with feasting +and merrymaking." + +"Then I can't guess," sighed Grace. "You'd better tell us." + +"Well," began Elfreda, her eyes twinkling, "I have a dinner invitation +for to-morrow night at Martell's." + +"That is nothing startling," scoffed Anne. "We've just come from +Vinton's." + +"But the rest of my news is remarkable," persisted the stout girl. "I am +invited to dine"--Elfreda paused, then finished impressively--"with the +Anarchist." + +"You don't mean it!" Grace looked her surprise. + +"Of course I mean it," retorted Elfreda. "I wouldn't say so if I didn't. +She delivered her invitation on the way over to chapel this morning. I'd +give you an imitation of the way she did it if I hadn't accepted." + +Grace shot a quick, approving glance toward Elfreda which the latter saw +and interpreted correctly. "I wouldn't have thought about that last +year, would I, Grace?" she asked shyly. + +Grace laughed rather confusedly. "How did you guess so much? The way you +stumble upon things is positively uncanny." + +"Observation, my dear, observation," returned Elfreda patronizingly. +"One can learn almost everything about everybody if one keeps one's eyes +open." + +"You seem to carry out your own theory," admitted Grace smilingly. "Have +you finished your work for to-night?" + +"Years ago," declared Elfreda extravagantly. "Miriam hasn't, at least +she was still studying when I left the room. I'll tell you what I'll do. +I'll make some fudge. Mrs. Elwood will let me have some milk and we have +the rest of the stuff in our room. I'll send Miriam in here. Then I can +have the whole room to myself. When it's done, I'll call you." + +With a joyful skip that fairly jarred the furniture in the room Elfreda +bounded through the doorway and vanished. Two minutes later Miriam +appeared, an amused look on her dark face, several books tucked under +one arm. "Driven from home," she declaimed, posing on the threshold, her +free hand appealingly extended. "Will no one help me?" + +"I will." Grace reached forth her hand, dragging Miriam into the room. +"Hurry through your lessons and we'll have a spread. I'm sorry you +weren't with us to-night, but Anne and I weren't sure as to just how +successfully our plan would work. Everything went smoothly, though." +Grace related briefly what had taken place at the dinner. + +"I am glad Ruth and Arline settled their differences," commented Miriam. +"We all knew that Arline was at fault. She is such a dear little thing, +one hesitates to say so." + +"She was very sweet to-night," interposed Anne. "She asked Ruth's +forgiveness and took the blame for their little coolness on her own +shoulders." + +"I don't wish to cause dissension in this happy band, but we really must +stop talking and study," warned Grace. "I haven't made a satisfactory +recitation this week, and I vote for reform." + +"All right, my dear Miss Harlowe," flung back Miriam. "'Work, for the +Night is Coming.'" + +"You mean going," giggled Anne. + +After this interchange of flippant remarks silence reigned, broken only +by the sound of turning leaves or an occasional sigh over the appalling +length of a lesson. The three girls were fully absorbed in their work +when Elfreda poked her head in the room to announce that the fudge was +made. "I've a bottle of cunning little pickles, and a box of cheese +wafers. I made some tea, too. Hurry, or it will be half-past ten before +we have time to eat a single thing." + +"I can't possibly finish studying my Latin to-night," sighed Miriam. +"Every day the lessons seem to get longer. Miss Arthur hasn't a spark of +compassion." + +"Don't stop to grumble," commanded Elfreda. "Come along." + +The half-past ten o'clock bell rang before the fudge was half gone. In +fact, it was after eleven before the quartette prepared for sleep. +During the evening all thought of the troublesome theme had left Grace's +mind. It was not until after she had turned out the light and gone to +bed that it came back to her with such disagreeable force that for the +time being all idea of sleep fled. For the first time since her entrance +into Overton College she had incurred the displeasure of one in +authority over her, and through no fault of her own. + +As Grace lay staring into the darkness the recollection of that bitter +time during her junior year at high school, when Miss Thompson had +accused her of shielding the girl who had destroyed the principal's +personal papers, came back, vivid and complete. Eleanor Savelli, now +numbered among her dearest friends and a member of the Phi Sigma Tau, +had been the transgressor, and Grace had refused to voice her +suspicions. It had all come right in the end, although Miss Thompson's +displeasure had been hard to bear. + +Perhaps this affair would end happily, too. Suppose the other girl had +chosen the same subject? Grace gave vent to a soft exclamation of +impatience at her own supposition. She wished she dared believe that it +were so, but common sense told her that she could not hope to deceive +herself by any such delusion. + +"Who could the girl be?" Grace asked herself over and over. Surely, no +one of her intimate friends. Nor any girl at Wayne Hall, either. Whoever +was guilty would be severely punished, perhaps sent home. Overton prided +itself on its honor. Its children must be above reproach at all times. +Mabel's evidence would clear her. But what of the other girl? + +"Whoever she is," speculated Grace, "by this time she is probably sorry +for what she did. I suppose she is frightened, too. I'm going to make +Miss Duncan let her off this once, and if I can find out who she is, I'm +going to stand by her so faithfully that she'll never again care to do a +dishonest thing as long as she lives." + +It was a long time before Grace fell asleep that night. Her perturbed +state of mind over the stolen theme had served to make her wakeful, and +her thoughts flitted from one subject to another, as she lay waiting for +the sleep that refused to come, always returning, however, to that of +the unlucky theme. + +When, at last, it came, it brought disturbing dreams, in which she +figured as the transgressor. The theme did not belong to her, but to J. +Elfreda Briggs. She had stolen it from the pocket of Elfreda's brown +serge coat, and Miss Duncan had seen her take it. During the morning +exercises in the chapel, Miss Duncan had mounted the steps of the +platform, and, standing beside Dr. Morton, had shouted forth her guilt +to the whole college, while she had endeavored to creep out of the +chapel unnoticed. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE QUALITY OF MERCY + + +The next morning Grace felt singularly dispirited as she went down to +breakfast. It had been raining, and the dreary outlook caused the gloomy +lines, "The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year," to run +through her head with maddening persistency. + +"What's the matter, Grace?" inquired Emma Dean. "That chief-mourner +expression of yours is doubly depressing on a day like this. Did you eat +too much fudge last night, or have you been conditioned in math?" + +"You are a wild guesser, Emma," returned Grace, smiling faintly. "My +troubles are of an entirely different nature. But how did you know we +made fudge last night, and why didn't you come in and have some?" + +"I never go where I am not invited," was the significant retort. + +"Nonsense!" declared Grace. "You are always welcome, and you know it. +The spread was in Miriam's room, but you know who your friends are, +don't you?" + +"Don't worry, I'm not offended," Emma assured Grace good-humoredly. "I +came in just before the ten-thirty bell last night and heard sounds of +revelry as I passed by." + +"There's plenty of fudge on our table," put in Miriam Nesbit. "Help +yourself to it whenever the spirit moves you." + +"Where is Mildred Taylor this morning?" asked Irene Evans, glancing +toward Mildred's vacant place. + +"Miss Taylor is ill this morning," answered a prim voice from the end of +the table. + +With one accord all eyes were turned in the direction of the voice. The +Anarchist had actually spoken at the table! It was unbelievable. What +followed was even more surprising. The Anarchist swept the table with a +defiant look, then said, with startling distinctness, "If she has not +fully recovered by to-night I shall send for a physician. In the +meantime I shall remain with her to care for her." + +"That is very kind in you, I am sure," ventured Emma Dean. Surprise had +tied the tongues of the others. + +"Not in the least," contradicted the Anarchist coldly. "As her roommate, +common humanity demands that I assume a certain amount of responsibility +for her welfare." + +"Oh, yes, of course," agreed Emma hastily. "Please let us know when we +may run in to see her. Excuse me, everybody. I must run upstairs and +study a little before going to chapel." + +Several freshmen followed her lead and filed decorously out the door +with preternaturally solemn faces that broke into smiles the moment the +door closed behind them. + +The Anarchist, however, went on eating her breakfast, quite unaware that +she had created the slightest ripple of amusement. When Elfreda rose to +leave the dining room the strange young woman rose, too, and walked +sedately out of the room in the stout girl's wake. + +"Elfreda has evidently made a conquest," remarked Miriam to Grace. "See +how tamely the haughty Anarchist follows at her heels." + +"It's astonishing, but splendid, I think," said Grace decidedly. "Isn't +it strange how much influence for good one girl can have over another? +For some reason or other Elfreda knows just how to bring the best in +Miss Atkins to the surface. Shall we run up and see Miss Taylor for a +moment?" + +"You go this morning, Grace," urged Miriam. "I'll stop and see her at +noon. I haven't the time just now." + +"I'll go with you," volunteered Anne. + +Grace knocked gently on the slightly opened door, then, receiving no +answer, opened it softly. She paused irresolutely on the threshold, Anne +peering over her shoulder. Laura Atkins had left the room, but Mildred +Taylor, fully dressed, sat at the window looking listlessly out. If she +heard Grace's light knock she paid no attention to it. It was not until +Grace said rather diffidently, "We heard you were ill and thought we'd +come in to see you," that the girl at the window turned toward Grace. +Her piquant little face was drawn and pale, and her eyes looked +suspiciously red. She eyed Grace almost sulkily, then said slowly, "It +was kind of you to come, but I shall be all right to-morrow." Under +Grace's serious glance her eyes fell, then, to her visitors' amazement, +she burst into tears. Grace crossed the room. Her arm slid across the +sobbing freshman's shoulders in silent sympathy. "Can't you tell me what +troubles you?" she asked softly. + +Mildred shook off the comforting arm with a muttered: "Let me alone. I +can't tell you, of all persons. Go away." + +"Why can't you tell me?" persisted Grace gently. + +"Because I can't. Won't you please go. I don't wish to talk to any one," +wailed Mildred. + +Grace walked toward the door, her eyes on the weeping girl. Anne, who +had kept strictly in the background during the little scene, stepped out +into the hall, Grace following. + +"That was hardly my idea of a cordial reception," was Anne's dry comment +as they entered their own room. + +"That young woman has something on her mind," declared Grace. "Her +illness is not physical. It is mental. Either some one has torn her +feelings to shreds or else she has done something she is ashamed of and +remorse has overtaken her." + +"Unless she has had bad news from home or has been conditioned," +suggested Anne. + +"I don't believe it's either," said Grace, shaking her head. "I believe +this is something different. Of late she has been acting strangely. Ever +since the reception she has avoided me. Anne Pierson, do you see the +time? We'll be late for chapel!" gasped Grace in consternation. + +With one accord the two friends gathered up their wraps, putting them on +as they ran. + +After chapel Grace left Anne at the door of Science Hall and went on to +Overton Hall. She wished to see Miss Duncan before her first class +recited, and learn the latest developments of her case. Until chapel +exercises were over, Grace had refused to allow her mind to dwell on her +trouble, but now, as she climbed slowly up the broad stairway to Miss +Duncan's class room, the whole unhappy affair rose before her. + +Miss Duncan was sitting at her desk as Grace entered. She looked at her +watch, smiled frankly at Grace and said in her usual businesslike way, +"I can give you only ten minutes, Miss Harlowe." + +The teacher's friendly tone made Grace's heart leap. She recognized the +fact that Miss Duncan no longer looked upon her with suspicion. + +"Your innocence was clearly proven by Miss Ashe," said Miss Duncan in +her blunt fashion, coming at once to the point. "I recognize your claim +to the authorship of the theme. The other young woman was the real +plagiarist. It was a contemptible trick and not in keeping with Overton +standards." + +"What will happen to this other girl, Miss Duncan?" asked Grace +apprehensively, her eyes fixed on Miss Duncan. + +"What do you think she deserves?" inquired Miss Duncan quizzically. + +"A chance to redeem herself," was the prompt reply. "No one except you +knows who she is. I don't wish to know her identity, and I am sure Miss +Ashe doesn't. Couldn't you send for the girl and tell her that it would +be a secret between just you two. That you were willing to forget it had +happened if she were willing to start all over again and build her +college foundation fairly and squarely. It wouldn't be of any benefit to +her to place her fault before the dean. No doubt she would be dismissed, +and that dismissal might spoil her whole life." + +"You are an eloquent pleader, Miss Harlowe," returned Miss Duncan. "As +this is strictly an affair of one of my classes, I consider that I am at +liberty to do as I think best about placing this matter before the dean. +If I did see fit to do so I hardly think it would mean dismissal, +particularly if I took you with me to plead the cause of the offender. +Come to me this afternoon after my last class and I will give you my +answer." + +Grace left the class room far more cheerfully than she had entered. Her +own vindication had not impressed her half so deeply as Miss Duncan's +apparently lenient attitude toward the girl who had been false to +herself and to Overton. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A DISGRUNTLED REFORMER + + +Grace was not disappointed. Miss Duncan graciously agreed to let the +culprit off with a severe reprimand. Grace ran joyfully down the campus +to Holland House. She wished to tell Mabel Ashe the good news. + +"Horrid little copy-cat! She doesn't deserve it," was Mabel's +unsympathetic comment as Grace related what had passed between Miss +Duncan and herself. "You know who she is, don't you, Grace?" + +Grace shook her head. "I haven't the slightest idea," she said soberly. +"I can't believe it was any one at Wayne Hall. You don't suspect any +one, do you?" + +"No," returned Mabel. "I haven't become very well acquainted with the +freshmen this year, so far. I suppose you did right in not exposing this +girl. I don't know whether I should be quite as charitable as you. If +you hadn't had a witness who saw you write the theme, you would now be +under a cloud. What I can't forget is the fact that she went so far as +to try to make Miss Duncan believe that you really copied it. Miss +Duncan said she insisted that the theme had disappeared from her room. +Think how foolish she must have felt when Miss Duncan confronted her +with the truth yesterday afternoon and made her confess!" + +"Oh, Mabel!" Grace's distressed tone caused the pretty senior to rise +and stand in front of Grace's chair. + +"What's the matter, Gracie," she said, taking Grace's hands in hers. + +Grace raised her gray eyes to meet the inquiring brown ones bent on her. +"I'm so sorry," she said sadly, "but the girl who took my theme does +live in Wayne Hall." + +"How do you know?" asked Mabel quickly. + +"From what you said," returned Grace. "If she accused me of taking her +theme from her room, isn't it highly probable that her room is in Wayne +Hall? I wouldn't be likely to go into one of the campus houses to steal +a theme, would I? I must have dropped it in the hall or on the stairs +that night, and she must have come into the house directly after I did +and picked it up. I don't like to believe that one of our girls did it," +Grace concluded sorrowfully, "but I am afraid it's true." + +"Some day you'll stumble upon the guilty girl when you least expect to +find her," prophesied Mabel. "Now forget her, and tell me what you and +your chums are going to do over Thanksgiving. I am going to a dance on +Thanksgiving night with a Willston man. His fraternity is giving it." + +"I don't know any college men in this part of the world," sighed Grace +regretfully, "therefore I never have any invitations to man dances." + +"Wait until my cousin comes up here. He is a Columbia man and you will +like him immensely. I know a number of the Willston men, too. Why don't +you go with me to the football game Thanksgiving Day? You are not going +away, are you? It is only a four days' vacation, you know." + +"No, we haven't any particular place to go. Last year we spent our +Thanksgiving vacation with the Southards in New York. You knew about +that." + +"You lucky things," laughed Mabel. "I envy you your friendship with +Everett Southard and his sister." + +"Some day you must meet them," planned Grace. "They are delightful +people. Mr. Southard is appearing in Shakespearian roles in the large +cities this season, and Miss Southard is in Florida visiting friends. If +they were in New York they would insist on our going to them for the +holidays. I must run away now. It is almost dinner time and I promised +to hook up Elfreda's new gown. Miriam went over to Morton House with +Gertrude Wells, and won't return until late, and Elfreda is going to +dine with the Anarchist." + +"Really!" exclaimed Mabel. "Elfreda seems to be coming to the front this +year, doesn't she!" + +"She is turning out splendidly," said Grace warmly. "She stands high in +every one of her classes, and she is so ridiculously funny that we would +feel lost without her. She says things in the same droll way that a +young man we know in Oakdale does. But I mustn't stay another minute. +Good-bye, Mabel, I'll see you in a day or two." + +Grace darted across the campus and ran rapidly in the direction of Wayne +Hall. She loved to run and her fleetness of foot had served her well on +more than one occasion. Only that day she had complained to Miriam that +it had been years since she had indulged in a good run. Miriam had +laughingly accused her of still being a tomboy, and had proposed that +they take a long tramp on Saturday. "You can run up and down the road to +your heart's content when we get far enough away from Overton so that no +one will see you and think you have suddenly gone crazy," Miriam had +declared good-naturedly. + +Bounding up the steps two at a time, Grace reached the front door of +Wayne Hall without drawing a laboring breath. "I'm certainly in good +condition," she laughed to herself, inhaling deeply and inflating her +chest. "I hope I'll be chosen to play on the team this year." She rang a +third time before the door was opened by Emma Dean, who grumbled at her +repeated ringing and then announced that she had rung six times that +afternoon before any one had condescended to let her in. "Have you seen +Elfreda?" flung back Grace on her way upstairs. + +"You'd better hurry," called Emma after her. "I heard her growling to +herself as I passed her door." + +"I began to think you were never coming," greeted Elfreda, as Grace +burst into the room, her eyes bright and her cheeks becomingly flushed +from her recent run across the campus. + +"Why didn't you ask some one else to hook you up?" retorted Grace +mischievously, throwing down her gloves and beginning on the top hook. + +"Because I wanted you to see how nice I looked in this new frock," +replied the stout girl. "If I had not stipulated that you were to +perform this extremely important service for me, you would have in all +probability absented yourself from my immediate vicinity, unmindful of +the rare exhibition of youth and beauty that was being prepared for you +in my room." + +"If I had closed my eyes I could have sworn it was Miss Atkins," laughed +Grace. "Even she herself couldn't fail to recognize that impersonation. +It's ridiculously funny, Elfreda, but I wish you wouldn't do it." As +Grace and Elfreda were standing with their backs directly away from the +door neither girl saw the tense little figure that stood rigid, one hand +on the door casing, listening with eyebrows drawn fiercely together. An +instant later it had vanished. Grace, after triumphantly placing the +last hook in its eye, began helping Elfreda find her handkerchief and +gloves. "Now you have everything you need," she declared, holding up the +stout girl's coat. "Do you wait here for your dinner partner or does she +call for you?" + +"She is coming in here for me," answered Elfreda. "I wish she would +hurry along. I haven't had even a cracker to eat since luncheon and I'm +famished." + +"I think I'll go if you don't mind. I'm hungry, too. I must see if Anne +has come in yet. Miss Atkins will be here in a moment. Good-bye. I hope +you will have a nice time. I am so glad she invited you." + +Grace crossed the hall to her own room. Anne was rearranging her hair +preparatory to going down to dinner. + +"I think I'll do my hair over again," decided Grace. "That run across +the campus shook most of my hairpins loose. It will be at least ten +minutes before the bell rings, so I shall have plenty of time." But her +hair proved refractory and the clang of the dinner bell found her +tucking in a last unruly lock. "I'm going on downstairs, Grace," called +Anne from the doorway. + +"All right," answered Grace. As she passed Elfreda's room she heard her +name uttered in a sibilant whisper. Wheeling at the sound, Grace stepped +to the stout girl's door. Elfreda drew her in and, closing the door, +said nervously: "What do you suppose has happened? I waited and waited +for the An--Miss Atkins and she didn't appear, so I went down to her +room and found the door closed. I knocked at least a dozen times, until +my knuckles ached, but not a sound came from within. Then I came back to +my room and waited. She hasn't materialized yet. I went down to her door +just now and knocked again, but, nothing doing." In her agitation +Elfreda dropped into slang. + +"That is strange," agreed Grace. "Do you suppose she has been taken +suddenly ill?" + +"Search me," declared Elfreda wearily. "She ought to be called the +Riddle. She is past solution, isn't she? I'm hungry, and if she doesn't +appear within the next five minutes I'm going to put on my old brown +serge dress and go down to dinner. I'm not used to being invited out to +dine and then deserted before I've even had a chance to look at the bill +of fare." + +"Never mind," comforted Grace. "I'll ask you to dinner at Martell's next +week and won't desert you either. Wait a minute. I will go down to the +dining room and see if by any chance she could be there. Then I'll come +upstairs and let you know. If she isn't there you had better change your +gown and go downstairs with me." + +"She isn't there," reported Grace, five minutes later. "Miss Taylor is, +but her roommate is missing." + +"'Parted at the altar,'" quoted Elfreda dramatically. "Will you please +unhook me?" + +For the second time that night Grace busied herself with the troublesome +hooks and eyes. Elfreda jerked off the new gown. Her temper was rising. +"This is what comes of cultivating freaks," she muttered, lapsing into +her old rudeness. "I might have known she'd do something. Catch me on +any more reform committees!" + +"The way of the reformer is hard," soothed Grace, as she picked up the +gown Elfreda had thrown in a heap on the floor, and folding it, laid it +across the foot of the stout girl's couch. + +Elfreda, who was reaching into the closet for her brown serge dress, +wheeled about, regarding Grace solemnly. "Too hard for me," she +declared. "Hereafter, the Anarchist can attend to her own reformation. +The Briggs Helping Hand Society has disbanded." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +MAKING OTHER GIRLS HAPPY + + +The Thanksgiving holiday was welcomed with acclamation by the students +of Overton College, who, with a few exceptions, ate their Thanksgiving +dinners at their various campus houses and boarding places. During the +four days tables at Martell's and Vinton's were in demand and a +continuous succession of dinners and luncheons made serious inroads in +the monthly allowances of the hospitable entertainers. + +The month of December dragged discouragingly, however, and when the time +really did arrive to pack and be off for the Christmas holidays the +latent energy that suddenly developed for packing trunks and making +calls caused the faculty to sigh with regret that it had not been used +in the pursuit of knowledge. + +Nothing of any event had happened at Wayne Hall. Since the evening when +Elfreda had waited in vain for Laura Atkins, whose invitation to dinner +she had accepted, this peculiar young woman had offered neither apology +nor explanation for her inexplicable behavior. In fact, the next morning +she had completely ignored Elfreda, who, feeling herself to be the +aggrieved one, had made no attempt to discover what had prompted this +glaring disregard of etiquette on the part of the eccentric freshman. + +For a week afterward Elfreda discussed and rediscussed the mystery with +Grace, Anne and Miriam. Then she gave up in disgust and turned her +attention to basketball. She had lost considerable weight and was now a +member of the scrub team. Her greatest ambition was to make the real +team in her junior year, and with that intent she sturdily refused to +eat sweet things, took long walks and daily haunted the gymnasium, going +through the various forms of exercises she had elected to take with +commendable persistency. + +Grace had never sought to discover the identity of the freshman who had +stolen her theme. She felt reasonably certain that the same roof covered +them both, but she never allowed herself to reach the point of laying +the finger of suspicion on any one in particular. That she had been +vindicated of the charge was quite enough for her, but she could not +resist wondering occasionally what had prompted the deed, and whether +the other girl had turned over a new leaf. + +One other thing troubled Grace not a little. Mildred Taylor had become +extremely intimate with Mary Hampton and Alberta Wicks. Both young women +were frequent guests for dinner at Wayne Hall, and Mildred spent her +spare time almost entirely in their society. As the two juniors were +extremely unpopular with the Wayne Hall girls a peculiar constraint +invariably fell upon the table when either young woman was Mildred's +guest for the evening. "One has to weigh one's words before speaking +when Alberta Wicks or Mary Hampton are here," Emma Dean had declared +significantly to Irene Evans, and this seemed to be the prevalent +opinion among the students who lived at Wayne Hall. + +Mildred's attitude toward Grace had not changed. In manner she was more +distant than ever, and except for a slight bow when chance brought her +face to face with Grace, she gave no other evidence of having been more +than the merest acquaintance. Her dislike for her roommate had to all +appearances disappeared, and Laura Atkins was now seen occasionally in +company with Mildred and her two mischievous junior friends. + +Such was the situation when the longed-for Christmas vacation arrived. +Grace Harlowe's thoughts were not on her own perplexities as she walked +toward Wayne Hall after finishing her last round of calls. A new problem +had arisen, and as she swung along through the crisp winter air she was +deep in thought. It was peculiar Christmas weather. A light snow had +fallen, but through the patches of white lying softly on the campus the +grass still showed spots of green. It had been an unusually long, warm +fall, and to Grace, whose winters had been spent much farther north, the +mildness of December had seemed marvelous. + +"There!" she exclaimed, stopping in the middle of the walk to consult a +small leather book, and drawing a pencil through the last item, "I can +go home in peace. I have every single thing done, even to notifying the +expressman to come for my trunk." + +A sudden trill sounded down the street behind her. Turning her head, +Grace saw Arline Thayer bearing down upon her. "I thought I'd never make +you hear me," panted the little girl. "Ruth is going home with me after +all." + +"I thought she would," laughed Grace. "She assured me last night that +she wouldn't think of imposing upon you, but I know your powers of +persuasion. You have given Ruth a great deal of happiness, Arline, and I +am sure she appreciates it, too." + +Arline shook her curly head. "I don't deserve any credit. I am nice with +her because I like her. I am consulting my own selfish pleasure, you +see, and that doesn't count. If I didn't care for Ruth I am afraid I +wouldn't bother my head about helping her to have good times." + +"You are frank, at least," smiled Grace. + +"Seriously speaking, I am really very selfish," admitted Arline. "I +never think of doing good for unselfish reasons. I don't find any +particular interest in being nice with girls who do not appeal to me. +That sounds terribly cold-blooded, doesn't it? They say an only child is +always selfish, you know. Oh, forgive me, Grace; I forgot you were an +'only child.' Goodness knows you are not selfish." + +"Yes, I am," contradicted Grace. "This is my second year at Overton and +in all the time I've been here I have thought about nothing but myself +and my friends and my good times. This afternoon when I started out to +make calls I met Miss Barlow, a little freshman who lives in a boarding +house down on Beech Street. We were going in the same direction and I +thoughtlessly asked if she were going home for Christmas. A second +afterward I was sorry. Her face fell, then she brightened a little and +said, 'No.' She and seven other girls who lived in the same house were +going to have a Christmas tree. For three days they had been busy +decorating it. They had just finished. She asked, almost timidly, if I +would like to see it. Of course I said 'Yes,' and we started for her +boarding house. It is away down at the other end of Overton, and the +most cheerless looking old barn of a house. The inside of the house is +almost as cheerless as the outside, too. They had set up their tree in +the parlor, and it was the only bright spot in the room. + +"The tree was trimmed with popcorn and tinsel. There were funny little +ornaments of colored paper, too, that they had made themselves. The +presents were underneath the tree, a few forlorn looking little packages +that made me feel like crying. I couldn't truthfully say that the tree +was lovely, but I did tell Miss Barlow that I thought they had done +splendidly and that I was sorry I hadn't known her better before, +because I should have liked to help them with their tree. + +"Then she said she had always wanted to know me, but I had so many +friends among the influential girls at Overton she had thought I +wouldn't care to know her. You can imagine how conscience stricken I +felt. At home I was the friend of every girl in high school, and to +think that I have been developing snobbish traits without realizing it!" + +"Couldn't we do something nice for them before we go?" asked Arline +generously. "It is only three o 'clock. Why not start a movement among +the girls we know and send them a box? We can make the girls contribute, +but we won't tell a soul who it's for. We will ask for money or +presents--whatever they care to give," she went on eagerly. "What do you +think of it? Do you suppose they would be offended?" + +"I think it is the greatest thing out!" exclaimed Grace +enthusiastically. "How can they be offended if we send the things +anonymously?" + +"They can't," chuckled Arline gleefully. "Now we had better separate. +I'll do Morton House, Livingstone Hall and Wellington House. You can do +Wayne Hall, Holland House and those two boarding houses on the corner +below you. A lot of freshmen and sophomores live there. I'll come over +to your house with my loot to-night, directly after dinner. Good-bye +until then." + +At seven o'clock that night Arline set down a heavy suit case and rang +the bell at Wayne Hall. Grace, who had been watching for her from one of +the living-room windows, hastened to open the door. "Thank goodness," +sighed the little fluffy-haired girl. "I thought I would never be able +to drag this suit case across the campus. It is crammed with things. +I've been busier than all the busy bees that ever buzzed," she continued +happily, following Grace into the living room. "You can't begin to think +how nice every one has been. About half of this stuff in the suit case +is candy. One girl at Morton House had ten boxes given her. Of course, +she couldn't eat it all, so she put in five." Arline did not volunteer +the further information that she was the "girl" and that the candy was +mostly from Willston men, with whom she was extremely popular. + +"Another girl gave me two pairs of gloves. She had half a dozen pairs +sent from home. She's going to New York for Christmas, so her home +presents were sent to her here. Ever so many girls who had bought +presents to take home gave me something from their store. I caught them +just as they were finishing their packing. But, best of all," added +Arline triumphantly, sinking into a chair and opening her brown suede +handbag, "I have money--fifty dollars! That will help some, won't it?" +She gave a little, gleeful chuckle. + +"I should say so," gasped Grace. "I didn't do quite as well, although I +have a whole table full of presents. Come on up and see them. None of us +have put in our money contribution yet." + +"How much have you?" asked Arline curiously. + +"So far only twenty-five dollars," replied Grace. "The girls in the +boarding houses are not overburdened with money. I collected half of it +from the Holland House girls. Miriam has promised me five dollars and I +will put in five. That makes thirty-five dollars. I haven't asked +Elfreda yet. She went out on a last shopping tour early this afternoon +and hasn't come home yet. I suppose she went to Vinton's for dinner. +Anne hasn't given me her money yet." + +"Did you ask Miss Atkins?" was Arline's sudden inquiry. She was seized +with a recollection of what transpired earlier in the fall. + +Grace shook her head. "I couldn't. She hasn't spoken to me since the +beginning of the term." + +"Shall I run up and ask her?" proposed Arline. "She is quite cordial to +me in that queer, stiff way of hers." + +"It is only fair to give her a chance to contribute if she wishes," said +Grace slowly. "I should say you might better ask her than leave her +out." + +"I'll go now, while I feel in the humor," declared Arline. + +"You might ask Miss Taylor, too. She is Miss Atkins's roommate. She has +been rather distant with me, so I haven't approached her on the +subject." + +Arline danced off on her errand with joyful little skips of +anticipation. It was not long before she returned, a pleased smile on +her baby face. "What do you think!" she whispered, gleefully. "She gave +me ten dollars! She was lovely, too, and didn't scowl at all. I wished +her a Merry Christmas, and she asked me to take luncheon or dinner with +her some time after Christmas. Miss Taylor wasn't there." + +Grace was on the point of replying humorously that she hoped Arline +would not share Elfreda's fate when the hour to dine came round. She +checked herself in time, however. She had no right to betray Elfreda's +confidence even to Arline. "That was generous in her," she said warmly. +"Would you like to come upstairs with me now, Arline, while I collect my +share of the contributions? Miriam and Elfreda will soon be here and I +will ask Anne for her money." + +Arline obediently followed Grace upstairs to her room. Grace lighted the +gas. As she did so she espied an envelope lying on the rug near the +door. Crossing to where it lay, Grace picked it up. It bore no +superscription. She turned it over, then finding it unsealed pulled back +the flap and peered into it. With an exclamation of wonder she drew +forth a crisp ten dollar bill. "Who do you suppose left it there?" she +gasped in amazement. "I thought Anne was here. She must have gone out." + +"Look in the envelope. Perhaps there is a card, too," suggested Arline +hopefully. + +Grace peered into it a second time. Close to the inner surface of the +envelope lay a tiny strip of paper. She held it up triumphantly for +Arline's inspection. + +"Is there any writing on it?" demanded Arline. + +Grace scanned the strip of paper earnestly, turned it over and found the +faint lead-pencil inscription: "From a friend." + +"Who can it be?" pondered Arline. "Do you recognize the hand-writing?" + +"No." Grace looked puzzled. "It is a welcome gift. Just think, Arline, +we have one hundred dollars. Your fifty, and Miss Atkins's ten makes +sixty, and this makes seventy. The twenty-five dollars I have and twenty +dollars more from the four of us makes one hundred and fifteen dollars. +That will mean a great deal to those girls. I only wish it were more." + +"If I had known sooner I would not have been so extravagant in buying my +Christmas presents," declared Arline regretfully. "There isn't time to +write Father for money. I don't like to telegraph. I've been positively +reckless with money this month. When I go home I'm going to have a talk +with Father. Oh, Grace Harlowe, I've a perfectly lovely idea," she +continued, joyfully clasping her two small hands about Grace's arm, "but +I am not going to say a word until I come back to Overton." + +"Then I won't ask questions," smiled Grace. "Come, now, help me with +these packages. It is eight o'clock and we haven't made a start yet. We +had better wrap the presents in two large packages. I will ask Mrs. +Elwood for some wrapping paper, and we'll bring the suit case up here." + +It was almost nine o'clock when Grace and Arline descended the steps of +Wayne Hall with mystery written on their faces. Each girl carried an +unwieldy bundle. In the center of Grace's bundle, securely wrapped in +fold after fold of tissue paper, was a little box. It contained one +hundred and fifteen dollars in bills. Wrapped about the bills was the +following note addressed to Esther Barlow, the freshman Grace had +encountered that afternoon: "Merry Christmas to yourself and your seven +freshmen friends. Santa Claus." + +[Illustration: Each Girl Carried an Unwieldy Bundle.] + +"How can we manage to deliver this stuff without being seen?" demanded +Arline. "My arms ache already, and we haven't walked a block." + +Grace set down her bundle on a convenient horse block and paused to +consider. Arline dropped hers beside it with a sigh of relief. "I know +what we can do," said Grace reflectively. "We can get Mr. Symes to go +with us. He is that old man who does errands and takes messages for ever +so many of the girls. We will go with him as far as the corner, then he +can carry the things to the door and give them to the woman who owns the +boarding house. He lives just around the corner from here. You stay here +and watch the bundles and I will see if I can find him." + +Grace found Mr. Symes at home and quite willing to carry out the final +detail of the Christmas plan. The old man was duly sworn to secrecy and +entered into the spirit of his errand almost as heartily as did Arline +and Grace. At the chosen corner the girls halted, repeated their final +instructions, and drawing back into the shadow, left him to deliver the +two bulky packages, his wrinkled face wreathed in smiles. + +He smiled even more broadly on his return to the watchers, as Grace +slipped a crisp green note into his hand and wished him a Merry +Christmas. + +"Now we ought to do a little celebrating on our own account," she +proposed. "Suppose we pay a visit to Vinton's. It isn't too cold for +ices." + +"That is just what I was thinking," agreed Arline. + +An hour later Arline and Grace said good-bye on the corner below Wayne +Hall. "I won't see you in the morning at the station, Grace," said +Arline regretfully. "My train leaves a whole hour later than yours. I +hope you will have a perfectly lovely Christmas. I hope eight other +girls will, too. Don't you?" + +"You're a dear little Daffydowndilly," smiled Grace as she kissed +Arline's upturned face. "I am sure they will, and they have you to thank +for their pleasure, though they will never know it." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +MRS. GRAY'S CHRISTMAS CHILDREN + + +"If this isn't like old times, then nothing ever will be!" exclaimed +David Nesbit, beaming on Anne Pierson, who was busy pouring tea for the +"Eight Originals" in Mrs. Gray's comfortable library. + +"Old times!" exclaimed Hippy Wingate, accepting his teacup with a +flourish that threatened to send its contents into the lap of Nora +O'Malley, who sat beside him on the big leather davenport. "It takes me +back to the days when I had only to lift my hand and say, 'Table, +prepare thyself,' and some one of these fair damsels immediately invited +me to a banquet. Gone are the days when I waxed fat and prosperous. Now +I am thin and pale, a victim of adversity." + +"I think you look stouter than ever," declared Nora cruelly. "You say +you have lost ten pounds, but--" she shrugged her shoulders +significantly. + +"Cruel, cruel," moaned Hippy. "It is sad to see such calloused +inhumanity in one so young. Pass me the cakes, Anne, the chocolate +covered ones. They, at least, will afford me sweet consolation." + +"I object," interposed Reddy Brooks. "Don't give him that plate. Hand +him one or two, Anne. I like the looks of those cakes, too." + +"Man, do you mean to insinuate that I am not what I seem?" demanded +Hippy, glaring belligerently at Reddy. + +"No, I am stating plainly that you are exactly what you seem. That's why +I am looking out for my share of the cakes." + +"Always prompted by selfish motives," deplored Hippy. "How thankful I am +that the sweet blossom of unselfishness blooms freely in my heart. It is +true that I would eat all the cakes on that plate, but from a purely +unselfish motive." + +"Let's hear the motive," jeered Tom Gray. + +"I would eat them all," replied Hippy gently, favoring the company with +one of his famously wide smiles, "to save you, my beloved friends, from +indigestion. It is better that I should bear your suffering." + +"Thank you," retorted David Nesbit dryly, helping himself to the coveted +cakes and passing the plate over Hippy's head to Mrs. Gray, "I prefer to +do my own suffering." + +"Oh, as you like," returned Hippy airily. "I have always been fonder of +Mrs. Gray than I can say." He sidled ingratiatingly toward where Mrs. +Gray sat, her cheeks pink with the excitement of having her Christmas +children with her. + +From the time Grace, Miriam and Anne stepped off the train into the +waiting arms of their dear ones, their vacation had been a season of +continued rejoicing. Mrs. Gray, who, Tom gravely declared, would +celebrate her twenty-fifth birthday next April, was tireless in her +efforts to make their brief stay in Oakdale a happy one. On Christmas +night she had gathered them in and given them a dinner and a tree. She +had also given a luncheon in honor of Anne and a large party on New +Year's night. It was now the evening after New Year's and the morning +train would take the boys back to college. Grace, Miriam and Anne would +leave a day later for Overton. Nora and Jessica were to remain in +Oakdale until the following week. It seemed only natural that they +should spend their last evening together at the home of their old +friend. Outside the "Eight Originals," Miriam had been the only one +invited to this last intimate gathering. + +"Now, Hippy, stick to the truth," commanded Mrs. Gray, shaking her +finger at him, but handing him the plate at the same time. Hippy swooped +down upon it with a gurgle of delight. + +"It's the truth. I swear it," he declared, holding up one fat hand in +which he clutched a cake. + +"What made you give him the plate, Aunt Rose?" asked Tom reproachfully. + +"Bless you, child, there are plenty of cakes. Let Hippy have as many as +he can eat." + +"Vindicated," chuckled Hippy, between cakes, "and given full possession +besides." + +"I wouldn't be so greedy," sniffed Nora O'Malley. + +"I'm so glad. I dislike greedy little girls," retorted Hippy +patronizingly. + +"Stop squabbling," interposed Grace. "Here we are on the eve of +separation and yet you two are bickering as energetically as when you +first caught sight of each other two weeks ago. Did you ever agree on +any subject?" + +"Let me see," said Hippy. "Did we, Nora?" + +"Never," replied Nora emphatically. + +"Then, let's begin now," suggested Hippy hopefully. "If you will agree +always to agree with me I will agree--" + +"Thank you, but I can't imagine myself as ever being so foolish," +interrupted Nora loftily. + +"She spoke the truth," said Hippy sadly. "We never can agree. It is +better that we should part. Will you think of me, when I am gone? That +is the burning question. Will you, won't you, can you, can't you +remember me?" He beamed sentimentally on Nora, who beamed on him in +return, at the same time making almost imperceptible signs to Grace to +capture the plate of cakes, of which Hippy was still in possession. In +his efforts to be impressive, Hippy had, for the moment, forgotten the +cakes. But he was not to be caught napping. The instant Grace made a sly +movement toward the plate it was whisked from under her fingers. + +"Naughty, naughty, mustn't touch!" he exclaimed, eyeing Grace +reprovingly. + +"Let him alone, girls, and come over here," broke in David Nesbit. "He +only does these things to make himself the center of attraction. He +wants all the attention." + +"Ha," jeered Hippy exultantly. "David thinks that crushing remark will +fill me with such overwhelming shame that I shall drop the cakes and +retire to a distant corner. He little knows what manner of man I am. I +will defend my rights until not a vestige of doubt remains as to who is +who in Oakdale." + +"There is not a vestige of doubt in my mind as to what will happen in +about ten seconds if certain people don't mend their ways," threatened +Reddy, rising from his chair, determination in his eye. + +"Take the cakes, Grace," entreated Hippy, hastily shoving the plate into +Grace's hand. "Nora, protect me. Don't let him get me. Please, mister, I +haven't any cakes. I gave them all to a poor, miserable beggar who--" + +"Here, Reddy, you may have them," broke in Grace decisively. "It is bad +enough to have an unpleasant duty thrust upon one, but to be called +names!" + +"I never did, never," protested Hippy. "It was a mere figure of speech. +Didn't you ever hear of one?" + +"Not that kind, and you can't have the cakes, again," said Jessica +firmly. "Give them to me, Grace." + +"Jessica always helps Reddy," grumbled Hippy. "Now, if Nora would only +stand up for me, we could manage this whole organization with one hand. +She is such a splendid fighter--" + +"I'll never speak to you again, Hippy Wingate," declared Nora, turning +her back on him with a final air of dismissal. + +"Gently, gently!" exclaimed Hippy, raising his hand in expostulation. "I +was about to say that you, Nora, are a splendid fighter"--he paused +significantly--"for the right. What can be more noble than to fight for +the right? Now, aren't you sorry you repudiated me? If you will say so +immediately I will overlook the other remark. But you must be quick. +Time and I won't wait a minute. Remember, I'm going away to-morrow." + +"Good-bye," retorted Nora indifferently. "I'll see you again some day." + +"'Forsaken, forsaken, forsaken am I,'" wailed Hippy, hopelessly out of +tune. + +"Now, see what you've done," commented David Nesbit disgustedly. + +"I'm truly sorry," apologized Nora. "Hippy, if you will stop singing, +I'll forgive you and allow you to sit beside me." She patted the +davenport invitingly. + +"I thought you would," grinned Hippy, seating himself triumphantly +beside her. "I always gain my point by singing that song. It appeals to +people. It is so pathetic. They would give worlds to--" + +"Have you stop it," supplemented Tom Gray. + +"Yes," declared Hippy. "No, I don't mean 'yes' at all. Tom Gray is an +unfeeling monster. I refuse to say another word. I have subsided. Now, +may I have some more tea?" + +Anne filled the stout young man's cup and handed it to him with a smile. +"What are you going to be when you grow up, Hippy?" she asked +mischievously. + +"A brakeman," replied Hippy promptly. "I always did like to ride on +trains. That's why I am spending four years in college." + +"Don't waste your breath on him, Anne," advised Nora. "He won't tell any +one what he intends to do. I've asked him a hundred times. He knows, +too. He really isn't as foolish as he looks." + +"I'm going to try for a position in the Department of Forestry at +Washington after I get through college," announced Tom Gray. + +"I'm going into business with my father," declared Reddy. + +"I don't know yet what my work will be," said David Nesbit reflectively. + +"All you children will be famous one of these days," predicted Mrs. Gray +sagely. She had been listening delightedly to the merry voices of the +young people. To her, as well as to his young friends, Hippy was a +never-failing source of amusement. + +"To choose a profession is easier for boys than for girls," declared +Grace. "I haven't the slightest idea what I shall do after my college +days are over. Most boys enter college with their minds made up as to +what their future work is going to be, but very few girls decide until +the last minute." + +"Girls whose parents can afford to send them to college don't have to +decide, as a rule," said Nora wisely, "but almost every young man thinks +about it from the first, no matter how much money his father is worth." + +"That is true, my dear," nodded Mrs. Gray. + +"Yet I am sure my girls as well as my boys will astonish the world some +day. In fact, Anne has already proved her mettle. Nora hopes to become a +great singer, Jessica a pianiste and Grace and Miriam--" + +"Are still floundering helplessly, trying to discover their respective +vocations," supplemented Grace. + +"Yes, Mrs. Gray," smiled Miriam, "our future careers are shrouded in +mystery." + +"Time enough yet," said Mrs. Gray cheerily. "Going to college doesn't +necessitate adopting a profession, you know. Perhaps when your college +days are over you will find your vocation very near home." + +"Perhaps," assented Grace doubtfully, "only I'd like to 'do noble deeds, +not dream them all day long,'" she quoted laughingly. + + "'And so make life, death and the vast forever + One grand sweet song,'" + +finished Anne softly. + +"That is what I shall do when I am a brakeman," declared Hippy +confidently. + +"You mean you will make life miserable for every one who comes within a +mile of you," jeered Reddy Brooks. + +"Reddy, how can you thus ruthlessly belittle my tenderest hope, my +fondest ambitions? What do you know about my future career as a +brakeman? I intend to be touchingly faithful to my duty, kind and +considerate to the public. In time the world will hear of me and I shall +be honored and revered." + +"Which you never would be at home," put in David sarcastically. + +"What great man is ever appreciated in his own country?" questioned +Hippy gently. + +Even Reddy was obliged to smile at this retort. + +"Let the future take care of itself," said Tom Gray lazily. "The night +is yet young. Let us do stunts. Grace and Miriam must do their Spanish +dance for us. Then it will be Nora's and Jessica's turn. Hippy can sing, +nothing sentimental, though. David, Reddy, Hippy and I will then enact +for you a stirring drama of metropolitan life entitled 'Oakdale's Great +Mystery,' with the eminent actor, Theophilus Hippopotamus Wingate as the +'Mystery.' Let the show begin. We will have the Spanish dance first." + +"Come on, Miriam," laughed Grace. "We had better be obliging. Then we +shall be admitted to the rest of the performance." + +The impromptu "show" that followed was a repetition of the "stunts" for +which the various members of the little circle were famous and which +were always performed for Mrs. Gray's pleasure. "Oakdale's Great +Mystery," of which Hippy calmly admitted the authorship, proved to be a +ridiculous travesty on a melodrama which the boys had seen the previous +winter. Hippy as the much-vaunted Mystery, with a handkerchief mask, a +sweeping red portiere cloak, and an ultra-mysterious shuffle was +received with shrieks of laughter by the audience. The dramatic manner +in which, after a series of humorous complications, the Mystery was run +to earth and unmasked by "Deadlock Jones, the King of Detectives," was +portrayed by David with "startling realism" and elicited loud applause. + +"That is the funniest farce you boys have ever given," laughed Mrs. +Gray, as Hippy removed his mask with a loud sigh of relief and wiped his +perspiring forehead with it. "You will be a playwright some day, Hippy." + +"I'd rather be a brakeman," persisted Hippy with his Cheshire cat grin. + +It was half-past ten o'clock when the last good night had been said and +the young people were on their way home. As the Nesbit residence was so +near Mrs. Gray's home, Miriam was escorted to her door by a merry body +guard. At Putnam Square the little company halted for a moment before +separating, Nora, Jessica, Hippy and Reddy going in one direction, +Grace, Anne, Tom and David in the other. + +"Are you coming down to the train to-morrow morning to see us off?" +asked David Nesbit, his question including the four girls. + +"Of course," replied Grace. "Don't we always see you off on the train +whenever you go back to school before we do?" + +"Then we'll reserve our sad farewells until the morn," beamed Hippy. + +"Sad farewells!" exclaimed Nora scornfully. "I never yet saw you look +sad over saying good-bye to us. You always smile at the last minute as +though you were going to a picnic." + +"'Tis only to hide my sorrow, my child," returned Hippy lugubriously. +"Would'st have the whole town look upon my tears and jeer, 'cry baby'?" + +"That's a very good excuse," sniffed Nora. + +"Not an excuse," corrected Hippy, "but a cloak to hide my real +feelings." + +"That will do, Hippopotamus," cut in David decisively. "We don't wish to +hear the whys and wherefores of your feelings. If we stayed to listen to +them we would be here on this very spot when our train leaves to-morrow +morning." + +"Wait until we come back for Easter, Hippy, then if you begin the first +day you're home you'll finish before we go back to college," suggested +Grace. + +"That's a good idea," declared Hippy joyfully. "I shall remember it, and +look forward to the Easter vacation." + +"I shan't come home for Easter, then," decided Nora mercilessly. + +"Then I shan't look forward to anything," replied Hippy with such +earnestness that even scornful Nora forgot to retort sharply. + +"We all hope to be together again at Easter," said Grace, looking +affectionately from one to the other of the little group. "Remember, +every one, your good resolution about letters." + +"We'll talk about that in the morning," laughed Reddy, who abhorred +letter writing. + +"You mean you'll forget about it," said Jessica significantly. + +"We all have our faults," mourned Hippy. "Now, as for myself--" + +"Take him away, Nora," begged David. + +"I will," agreed Nora. "Come on, Hippy. Reddy, you and Jessica help me +tear him away from this corner." + +"How can you tear me away now? At the precise moment when I had begun to +enjoy myself, too?" reproached Hippy. + +"This is only the beginning," was Reddy's threatening answer. "We are +going to leave you stranded on the next corner. Then you can go on +enjoying yourself alone." + +"Try it," dared Hippy. "If you do I shall lift up my voice and tell +everyone in this block how unfeeling and hard-hearted some persons are. +I shall mention names in my most stentorian tones and the public will +rush forth from their houses to hear the truth about you. Ah, here is +the corner! Now, leave me at your peril." + +"His mind is wandering," said Reddy sadly. "He imagines he is still +'Oakdale's Great Mystery.' We had better lead him home. I'll take his +left arm, and Nora----" + +"Will take my right," interrupted Hippy. "Reddy, you may attend to your +own affairs, and keep your distance from my left arm. Jessica, please +look after Reddy. His mind is wandering. In fact, it always has +wandered. Crazy is as crazy does, you know." + +"Yes, we know," flung back David significantly. + +"Do you?" asked Hippy in apparent innocence. "I was so afraid you +didn't. To lose one's mind is a dreadful affliction, but not to know +that one is crazy is even worse. I am so relieved, David, Grace, Tom, +and all of you, that at last you know the truth concerning yourselves. +It is indeed a sad----" + +A moment later the loquacious Hippy was hustled down the street by three +determined young people, while the other four turned their steps in the +opposite direction. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +ARLINE'S PLAN + + +"It was beautiful to be at home, but it is nice to be here, too. If it +wasn't for mid year exams, I could be happy," sighed Grace Harlowe, as +she rearranged three new sofa pillows she had brought from home, the +gifts of Oakdale friends. Grace and Anne had invited Arline Thayer and +Ruth Denton to dinner, and Miriam and Elfreda had dropped in for a brief +chat before the dinner bell rang. + +"We'll all survive even mid year," predicted Miriam confidently. + +"We had a perfectly lovely time in New York, didn't we, Arline?" asked +Ruth Denton, looking at the little curly-haired girl with fond eyes. + +Arline nodded. "I wish our vacation had been two weeks longer," she +remarked wistfully. "I just begin to get acquainted with Father, when it +is time to go back to college again. Have you seen many of the girls?" + +"Only the Morton House girls and you," answered Arline. "This is the +first call I've made outside the house. Are all the Wayne Hall girls +here?" + +"Miss Taylor hasn't come back yet," said Elfreda. "Do you girls happen +to know where she spent her vacation?" + +"No," said Grace. "I didn't see her before I left. When first she came +to Wayne Hall she seemed to like me. At the sophomore reception I hurt +her feelings, unintentionally you may be sure. I am afraid she has never +forgiven me, for since then she has avoided me." + +"She must have very sensitive feelings," remarked Elfreda bluntly. "What +did you do to hurt them?" + +"I missed asking her to dance," explained Grace. "I didn't see her until +late that evening, and when I apologized and asked to see her card she +refused, saying coldly that my forgetting to ask her to dance was of no +consequence. Since then she has hardly spoken to me." + +"Why didn't you tell me that before?" asked Elfreda quickly. "That +accounts for certain things." + +"Don't be mysterious, Elfreda," put in Miriam. "Tell us what you mean by +'certain things'?" + +"You girls know that on several occasions before Christmas Alberta Wicks +and Mary Hampton were invited here to dinner. Who invited them? Miss +Taylor. So Alberta Wicks retaliated by taking Miss Taylor home with her +for the holidays." + +"Really?" asked Miriam, in surprise. "Who told you?" + +"They went home on the same train with Emma Dean," returned Elfreda. +"She sat two seats behind them. Has any one seen the Anarchist?" + +No one answered. + +"Why don't we change the subject and talk about something pleasant," +complained Arline Thayer. + +"Do you remember saying to me the night before we went home that you had +thought of a lovely plan?" reminded Grace. + +"Yes," returned Arline. "I am glad you reminded me of it while we are +all here. Just before I went home for my vacation the idea popped into +my head that we ought to organize some kind of society for helping these +girls who come to Overton with little or no money and who depend on the +work they find to do here to help them through college." + +"Like me," put in Ruth slyly. + +"Don't interrupt me," retorted Arline, smiling at Ruth. "When I went +home I had a talk with Father, and he has promised to give me five +hundred dollars with which to start a fund. Now, what I propose to do is +to organize a little society of our own with this same object in view. +There is one society of that kind here at Overton, but it is always so +besieged with requests for help that I don't imagine it more than keeps +its head above water. There is room for another, at any rate. I don't +see why we can't be the girls to organize it." Arline looked +questioningly about the circle of interested faces. + +"I think it would be splendid," said Miriam emphatically. "I know my +mother would contribute toward it." + +"So would Pa and Ma," declared Elfreda. "Suppose we all write home +to-night." + +"What do you think of it, Grace and Anne?" asked Arline. "So far neither +of you has said a word." + +"Neither has Ruth made any remarks," replied Anne. "Why don't you ask +her? I think she has something to say on the subject." + +All eyes were immediately turned on Ruth, who flushed, looked almost +distressed, then said slowly, "Could the girls who asked for help borrow +the money and return it as soon as they were able?" + +"Of course," responded Arline. "Don't be afraid that you are going to +have charity thrust upon you, Ruth." + +"That would be the only basis on which we could establish a society of +that kind," commented Miriam. "An Overton girl would hesitate to make +use of the money except as a loan." + +"What would we call ourselves?" asked Elfreda abruptly. + +"We can decide on a name later," said Arline. "The thing to decide now +is, shall we or shall we not form this society? Answer yes or no?" + +"Yes," was the chorus. + +"Don't you think," said Grace after a slight deliberation, "that it +would be nicer if we could finance this society ourselves, instead of +asking our fathers and mothers for money? It isn't any particular effort +for most of us to write home for money. How much better it would be if +we could say that we had earned the money ourselves, or saved it from +our allowances." + +"But what about my five hundred dollars?" questioned Arline plaintively. +"As the originator of this scheme I claim the privilege of putting in as +much capital as I please. I am going to be the exception that proves the +rule. Besides, Father has already promised me the money. Take the five +hundred dollars for the basis of our fund, then we will pledge ourselves +hereafter to earn or contribute whatever money we put into it." + +"What do you say to that, girls?" asked Grace. + +"I think Arline ought to be allowed to give the five hundred dollars if +she wishes," said Miriam. "It is her money and her plan. Besides, we +need the money!" + +"I think so, too," echoed Elfreda. "We might call the society the +'Arline Thayer Club.'" + +"If you dare--" began Arline. + +"Save your breath, my child, I didn't mean that seriously," drawled +Elfreda. "However, we had better begin our society here, to-night. There +are six of us. Shall we add to our number or let well enough alone?" + +"I'd like to have Gertrude Wells in it," said Arline. "Shall we make it +strictly a sophomore affair?" + +"I think it would be better," replied Grace. + +"Then let us ask Emma Dean, Elizabeth Wade, Marian Cummings and Elsie +Wilton," pursued Arline. + +"Seven, eight, nine, ten," counted Anne. + +"Let us make it a dozen," suggested Miriam. + +"Then who shall the other two members be?" + +"Why not ask the Emerson Twins?" suggested Arline. "They would be good +material, and they are both splendid on committees. Julia Emerson nearly +worked her head off for the sophomore reception last fall." + +"Very well, we will ask them," agreed Grace. "In case any one of the +girls we have named but haven't yet interviewed should not wish to +belong to our society we can propose some one else to take her place. In +the meantime you must each be thinking of a name for our little club. We +can meet in the library after the last class to-morrow afternoon, and go +from there to Vinton's to talk it over. Arline, you must tell Gertrude +Wells, Elizabeth Wade and Marian Cummings. We can easily see the +others." + +"The dinner bell! Thank goodness!" exclaimed Elfreda fervently. "I am +almost starved. I hope dinner will be better than last night's offering. +Everything we had to eat was warranted to fatten one." + +"Never mind, Elfreda," consoled Arline. "Think how nice it will be when +you make the team. That will be a reward worth having." + +"Yes, if I make it," grumbled the stout girl. + +"We will go on with our new plan after dinner," said Grace. Then as an +afterthought she added: "Don't say anything about it at the table. +Suppose we keep it a secret until our society is in running order?" + +"Hello, children," greeted Emma Dean, as they entered the dining room +that night. "Has the board of directors been holding a meeting? I see +you are all here." + +Several girls already seated at the table looked up smilingly as the six +girls slipped into their places. Laura Atkins returned Arline's friendly +nod with a cold bow. She did not appear to see the others. During the +progress of the meal she said little, keeping up a pretense of +indifference as to what went on around her. Nevertheless her eyes +strayed more than once toward the end of the table where Elfreda was +entertaining the girls sitting nearest to her with a ludicrous account +of what had happened to her on her way back to Overton. Miriam +accidentally intercepted one of these straying glances. In it she +fancied she read reproach. A quick flush rose to Laura Atkins's cheeks. +Drawing down her eyebrows she scowled defiantly at Miriam, then turned +her head away, and went on with her dinner. + +After dinner the discussion of the proposed club was renewed with +energy. Emma Dean's innocent allusion at dinner to the meeting of the +board of directors had brought smiles to the faces of the six girls. +After they had again gathered in Grace's room, Elfreda was despatched to +Emma's room with orders to bring her to the council, no matter what her +engagements or obligations might be. + +"I knew something was going to happen," was Emma's calm announcement as +she followed Elfreda into the room. "To quote my esteemed friend, Miss +Briggs, 'I could see' it in your eyes at dinner. I have a theme to +write, a dressmaker to see, and four letters to answer, but, still, I am +here." + +"We can readily understand how deeply it must have grieved you to shun +the dressmaker, put off writing your theme, and tear yourself away from +your correspondence," sympathized Miriam Nesbit, her eyes twinkling. + +"Then, as long as you understand it, we won't say anything more about +it," was Emma's hasty reply. "I move that we avoid personalities and +proceed to business." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A WELCOME GUEST + + +The meeting in the library the next day, followed by a social session at +Vinton's, resulted in the enthusiastic organization of the society +proposed by Grace. As had been suggested, every girl had brought with +her a slip of paper on which was written the name she had selected for +the society. Arline collected the names and read each one in turn to the +assembled girls. + +"Which one do you like best?" she asked, looking from one to another of +her friends. + +"The first one," said Miriam Nesbit. + +"So do I," echoed half a dozen voices. + +"'Semper Fidelis,'" repeated Grace musingly. "I like the sound of that, +too. Who proposed that name?" + +"I did," admitted Emma Dean. "I thought it might stand for our motto as +well. It means 'always faithful,' you know. That applies to us, doesn't +it?" + +"Of course we shall be always faithful to our cause," declared Grace. +"All those in favor of the name Semper Fidelis, please manifest it by +holding up their right hands." + +Twelve right hands were raised simultaneously. + +"That settles it," stated Grace. "From now on we are the Semper Fidelis +girls. Let us lose no time in leaving the sacred precincts of the +library for Vinton's. We can make more noise there." + +After the second sundae all around had been disposed of the society +settled down to business. It was decided that the club should be a +purely social affair. Arline was chosen for president, Grace for +vice-president and Gertrude Wells as secretary and treasurer. There was +to be no special day set aside for meetings. A meeting might be called +at any time at the united request of three members. The sole object of +the club was to extend a helping hand to the young women who were making +praiseworthy efforts to put themselves through college. The foremost +duty of the society would be to ascertain the names of these girls and +offer them pecuniary assistance. Arline had written her father for the +promised check for five hundred dollars, which would be deposited in the +bank in Gertrude Wells's name as soon as it arrived. + +"I might as well tell you now that I wrote and asked Pa for a check in +spite of what Grace said," confessed Elfreda rather sheepishly. + +"I might as well confess that I mentioned the club idea to Mother," said +Miriam. "I didn't ask her for a check, but I wouldn't be astonished if +she sent one in her next letter." + +"You two girls are traitors to the cause," laughed Grace. "Perhaps you +will be disappointed." + +"I won't," asserted Elfreda boldly. "Pa might as well help us as any one +else. I told him so, too." + +"The important question is what can we do to earn money for our cause?" +asked Grace. + +"We might give a play," said Miriam Nesbit. "Anne can star in it. I +should like to have the Overton girls see her at her best." + +"I don't wish to be seen 'at my best,'" protested Anne. "I want the +other girls to have a chance, too. Why not give a vaudeville show? Grace +and Miriam can dance. Elfreda can give imitations. There are plenty of +things we can do. We will advertise the show in all the campus houses, +and each one of us must pledge ourselves to sell a certain number of +tickets. I think we would be allowed to use Music Hall for the show, and +if we could sell tickets enough to fill it, even comfortably, it would +mean quite a sum of money for our treasury. We might charge fifty cents +for admittance, or, if you think that is too much, we might put the +price down to twenty-five cents." + +"I think we had better charge fifty cents," said Elfreda shrewdly. "It +will be as easy for those who come to pay fifty cents as to pay +twenty-five. We might as well have the other quarter as Vinton's or +Martell's." + +"Elfreda, you are a brilliant and valuable addition to this society," +commended Arline. "I agree with you. We are likely to reap almost as +many half dollars as quarters." + +"We might give an act from one of Shakespeare's plays," remarked +Gertrude Wells doubtfully. "Still, I think it would be more fun to have +just stunts. Those of us who know any ought to be willing to come +forward and do them. We can ask some of the upper class girls to help. +Beatrice Alden sings; so does Frances Marlton. Mabel Ashe can do almost +any kind of fancy dancing. There is plenty of talent in college. The +junior glee club will sing for us, I am sure. + +"We can make it a regular vaudeville entertainment, and have posters +announcing each number. We can have two girls, costumed as pages, to +bring out and remove the posters announcing the numbers." + +"That's a good idea," approved Arline. "I can sing baby and little-girl +songs and dance a little. I might sing one to fill in." + +"You are engaged to sing one the first time you come to see me," laughed +Grace. "Here is talent of which we never dreamed. I knew you could sing, +but you never before confessed to being a real song and dance artist." + +"We shall have all 'headliners in our show,' as the billboard +advertisements beautifully put it," commented Miriam. "I wish Eleanor +were here, don't you, Grace? Then Anne could recite 'Enoch Arden.'" + +"Who is Eleanor, and why can't Anne recite 'Enoch Arden' without her?" +were Elsie Wilton's curious inquiries. + +"The 'Eleanor' we speak of is in Italy, studying music, or was the last +time we heard from her. She used to live in Oakdale and is one of our +dearest friends. She arranged music to be played during Anne's recital +of 'Enoch Arden.' They gave it at a concert at home and it was a +tremendous success." + +"I wish she were to be here to our show, then," said Arline plaintively. +"We would feature her. What's her other name?" + +"Savelli," replied Grace quickly. + +"Eleanor Savelli, the famous Italian pianiste," announced Arline, bowing +to an imaginary audience. "Her name is the same as that of Savelli, the +great virtuoso, isn't it?" + +"He is her father," said Grace simply. + +A little murmur of astonishment went up. + +"Oh, if she had only come to Overton instead of going to Italy!" sighed +Elizabeth Wade. "I heard Savelli play at a concert three years ago. I +shall never forget him." + +"We were awfully disappointed," interposed Miriam. "Eleanor's father was +to tour America this winter, but changed his mind. There was talk of a +spring tour, but we haven't heard from Eleanor for over a month, so we +don't know whether there is any possibility of his sailing for America. +If he did come to this country, Eleanor would be sure to accompany him. +She has promised us that." + +"There is no use in wishing for the impossible, children," said Emma +Dean briskly, rising from the table and beginning to put on her coat. +"There is also no use in being late for dinner. In spite of this +bounteous repast," she indicated the empty sundae glasses, "I yearn for +Mrs. Elwood's simple but infinitely more satisfying fare. It's almost +six o'clock. Those that are going with me, hurry up." + +"We must have another meeting within the next two or three days," +declared Grace. "Can all of you girls come to our room next Friday +evening? In the meantime we will arrange a programme which will be +brought before the club for approval at our next meeting. Don't any of +you fail to be there." + +As the Wayne Hall girls flocked in the front door that night, Mrs. +Elwood met them with: "Miss Harlowe, there is a young lady in the living +room, waiting for you. She's been there almost an hour." + +"For me?" inquired Grace in surprise. "I'll go in at once." + +An instant later the girls heard a delighted little cry of "Eleanor, you +dear thing!" Then Grace sprang to the door, exclaiming: "Girls, girls! +come in here at once. You can never guess who is here!" + +At the cry of "Eleanor," Miriam and Anne, who were half way upstairs, +ran down again and into the living room. They were followed by Elfreda, +who paused on the stairs, then turned and went slowly up to her room. +"Last year I wouldn't have known enough to go on about my business," she +muttered as she walked stolidly into her room and sat down on the end of +the couch. + +Ten minutes later Miriam burst into the room with: "Come downstairs, +Elfreda. Don't you want to meet Eleanor? You know you have said so ever +so many times. She's very anxious to meet you." + +"Of course I want to meet her," returned Elfreda with a short, +embarrassed laugh. "This room is the place for me, though, until you are +ready to introduce me. Are you sure you want me to go downstairs?" + +"You funny girl," laughed Miriam. "Of course we want you. We have just +been telling Eleanor about you. She hasn't time to come upstairs now, +for her father is waiting for her at the 'Tourraine.' He is going back +to New York City to-night. He has a concert to-morrow. Grace, Anne and I +are going to dine with them. I'm sorry I can't take you along, but +perhaps he will come again to Overton. Eleanor is going to stay a week +longer if we can coax her to remain. She is traveling with her father. +We must hurry downstairs, for Eleanor is to meet her father at half-past +six o'clock, and it is a quarter-past now." + +Elfreda shook hands with Eleanor almost timidly. She was deeply +impressed with the latter's exquisite beauty. + +"So this is Elfreda," smiled Eleanor, patting the stout girl's hand. "I +have learned to know you through the letters my friends have written me. +I feel as though you were an old friend." + +"It's awfully nice in you to say so," murmured Elfreda, her eyes shining +with pleasure. + +"Won't you go with us to the 'Tourraine'?" asked Eleanor sweetly. "I +would like to have you meet my father." + +"Thank you," almost gasped Elfreda. "I'd love to meet him, but I +think--" + +"Never mind thinking," interrupted Eleanor, gayly. "Just hurry into your +wraps and come along. We'll wait for you." + +"That's sweet in you, Eleanor," said Grace in a low tone as Elfreda ran +upstairs. "She was wild to go with us. She has worshipped you ever since +we showed her your picture. She has heard your father play, too, and +considers him the greatest violinist living." + +"I suspected she wished to be included in the invitation," smiled +Eleanor. "I imagine I am going to like her very much." + +Guido Savelli had engaged a private dining room at the "Tourraine" for +his young guests. He welcomed them with true Latin enthusiasm, and to +see him seated at the head of the table one would never have suspected +him to be the moody, temperamental genius whose playing had made him +famous in two continents. When the time came to leave the hotel for the +train he was escorted to the station by an admiring bodyguard of five +young women. + +"Remember, you have promised to visit Overton again before you leave New +York," reminded Grace as he walked down the station platform between +Grace and Eleanor. + +"He will," declared Eleanor. "I shall make him come back to Overton for +me. Good-bye, Father. Take care of yourself. Remember to go for your +walk every day, won't you? He's the nicest father," she said softly as +the little group turned to leave the station after the train had gone. +"Now take me to your house and let us have an old-fashioned gossip. I +have so much to tell you, and I want to hear about Overton." + +A happy party gathered in Grace's room that night for an old-time talk +about Oakdale. Elfreda was the only outsider present. For her benefit +the story of the stolen class money and its timely recovery by Grace and +Eleanor, as related in "Grace Harlowe's Senior Year at High +School," was retold, as well as many other eventful happenings of +their high school life. At a quarter to ten o'clock the four girls +escorted Eleanor to the "Tourraine," returning just inside the half-past +ten o'clock limit. + +"Well, what do you think of Eleanor, Elfreda?" asked Grace, stopping for +a moment outside the room shared by Miriam and Elfreda before going to +her own. + +"Don't ask me," rejoined Elfreda fervently. "I can't thank you girls +enough for the good time I've had to-night. But I want to say that if +there is anything I can do for any of you, just count on J. Elfreda +Briggs to do it." + +"It isn't necessary for you to tell us that, Elfreda," said Anne. "We +know that you are true blue, and so does Eleanor." + +"Does she really like me?" asked Elfreda eagerly. + +"She likes you very much," interposed Grace. "She said so." + +"Then I'm going to give a luncheon for her to-morrow afternoon at +Vinton's," declared Elfreda with shining eyes. "I wanted to suggest it, +to-night, but I was afraid she might not care to come." + +"Couldn't you 'see' that she liked you?" teased Miriam. + +"No, I couldn't. There are lots of things I can't 'see.' One of them is +why you girls ever went to so much trouble to make me 'see.' Good +night." Casting one glance of love and loyalty toward her friends, +Elfreda vanished into her room, and wise Miriam took care not to enter +the room until the stout girl's moment of self-communion had passed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A GIFT TO SEMPER FIDELIS + + +When the news was whispered about through Overton College that the +attractive young woman who was frequently seen in company with Grace +Harlowe and her friends was the daughter of Guido Savelli, the renowned +virtuoso, it created a wide ripple of excitement among the four classes. +Curious juniors and dignified seniors grew interested, and Mabel Ashe +and Frances Marlton, who were Eleanor's sworn cavaliers, were besieged +with requests for introductions. Far from being spoiled by so much +adulation, Eleanor laughingly attributed it to her father's genius, and +flouted the idea that her own delightful personality had made her a +reigning favorite during her stay in Overton. + +It took Grace some time to recover from the surprise occasioned by +Eleanor's unexpected arrival. During the month in which she had received +no letter from Eleanor, Guido Savelli had reconsidered his decision not +to appear in America and instead of canceling his contract had sailed at +the eleventh hour to fulfill it, taking Eleanor with him. + +"You arrived just in time for our show!" exclaimed Grace gleefully to +Eleanor. The two girls sat opposite each other at the library table in +the living room at Wayne Hall, making up the programme for the +vaudeville performance which was to be held in Music Hall, on the +following Friday evening. "Oh, Eleanor, don't you think you can go home +with me for Easter? Never mind if 'Heartsease' is closed. You can have +just as much fun at our house. We have only one more week here, you +know, and your father's concert tour doesn't end for another month," +pleaded Grace. + +"I think I can arrange it," reflected Eleanor. "It is only that Father +misses me so. In some ways he is like an overgrown child. All great +musicians are like that, I believe." + +"It is a pity to take you away from him," admitted Grace, "but we would +like to have you with us. Besides, Tom Gray is going to bring Donald +Earle to Oakdale with him for the Easter. Donald will be so disappointed +if he doesn't see you, Eleanor." + +"I'd like to see him, too," returned Eleanor frankly. "He is one of the +nicest young men I know. Father is coming down here for our show, unless +something unforeseen happens. I shall coax him to play. I imagine he +will be willing. He will play if you ask him, Grace." + +"I wish we might feature him on the bulletin board," reflected Grace, +with a managerial eye to business, "but he wouldn't like that. We could +have him for a surprise, though." + +"I'll tell you what I will do," volunteered Eleanor. "I will telephone +to his hotel in New York and ask him. If he says yes, we can go ahead +and count on him to furnish Overton with a surprise." + +"Oh, Eleanor, could you, would you do it?" asked Grace, a note of +excitement in her voice. + +"I'll telephone at once," nodded Eleanor, rising. "Suppose we go over to +the 'Tourraine' to do it." + +Within the next hour Eleanor and Grace had talked with Guido Savelli. It +had taken very little coaxing to secure his promise to play at Overton +on Friday night, as he gave his last performance in New York on Thursday +evening, and was free until the following Monday, when he would appear +in Boston. + +"It seems almost providential, doesn't it?" asked Eleanor, as she hung +up the receiver. "He could not have come here at any other time." + +"I'm so happy over it I could hurrah," declared Grace jubilantly. + +"I knew Father would not refuse us," smiled Eleanor. "Now hadn't we +better hurry home and make up the rest of the programme?" + +By eight o'clock Friday evening every available foot of space in Music +Hall was crowded with Overton students. The front rows of the hall had +been reserved for the faculty, who were quite in sympathy with the idea +of the new club. In order to obtain permission to use this hall, Grace +had gone to the dean with the story of the organization of Semper +Fidelis and its purpose. The dean had sympathized heartily with the +movement, and had at once laid the matter before the president of the +college, who willingly gave the desired permission. + +As the Semper Fidelis Club was composed entirely of sophomores, twelve +young women of the sophomore class had been detailed as ushers and +ticket takers. The majority of the club members were down on the +programme, therefore these duties had been turned over to their +classmates. Grace, besides appearing in the Spanish dance with Miriam, +had taken upon herself the duties of stage manager. The two smallest +sophomores in the class, dressed as pages, had been chosen to place the +posters announcing the various numbers on the standards at each side of +the stage. These posters had been designed and painted by Beatrice Alden +and Frances Marlton, who, with Mabel Ashe, Constance Fuller and several +other public-spirited seniors, had generously offered their services. As +both Beatrice and Frances possessed considerable skill with the brush +they turned out extremely decorative posters, which were afterward sold +to various admiring students for souvenirs of the club's first +entertainment. + +"I am so tired," declared Grace to Eleanor as they stood at one side of +the stage while the Glee Club, composed of juniors and seniors, arranged +themselves preparatory to filing on to the stage. "Everything seems to +be going beautifully though. Not a single performer has disappointed us. +How pretty the Glee Club girls look to-night." + +"Lovely," agreed Eleanor. "The audience is out in its best bib and +tucker, too. Nearly every girl in the house is in evening dress." + +"Consider the occasion," laughed Grace. "Our show would not have +amounted to much if it had not been for you and your distinguished +father. Anne could not have recited 'Enoch Arden,' without your +accompaniment, and the crowning glory of having the great Savelli play +would have been missing. It reminds me of our concert, Eleanor," she +added softly. + +Eleanor's blue eyes met Grace's gray ones with ineffable tenderness. +"The concert that brought me my father," she murmured. "It seems ages +since that night, Grace. I can't realize that I have ever been away from +Father." + +"It does seem a long time since our senior year in high school," agreed +Grace musingly. "Good gracious, Eleanor, the Glee Club are waiting for +the signal to go on while we stand here reminiscing!" Grace hurried to +the wing where one of the pages stood patiently holding the Glee Club +poster, and signaled to the page on the opposite side. An instant later +the singers had filed on the stage for their opening song. + +As the show progressed the audience became more enthusiastic and +clamored loudly for encores. Elfreda's imitations provoked continuous +laughter, and dainty Arline Thayer, looking not more than seven years +old, was a delightful success from her first babyish lisp. Her song of +the goblin man who stole little children to work for him in his +underground cellar, with its catchy chorus of "Run away, you little +children," was immediately adopted by Overton, and when later it was +noised about that Ruth had written the words while Arline had composed +the music, both girls were later rushed by the Dramatic Club and made +members, an honor to which unassuming Ruth had some difficulty in +becoming accustomed. + +Anne's "Enoch Arden," to Eleanor's piano accompaniment, met with an +ovation. Guido Savelli had been purposely placed last on the programme. +"No one will care for anything else after he plays. The audience will +have the memory of his music to take away with them," Grace had said +wisely. Knowing the musician's horror of being lionized, Grace had +confided the secret to no one except Miriam, Anne, Mabel Ashe and +Elfreda, who, in company with her and Eleanor, had met him at the train +and dined with him at the "Tourraine." It had been arranged that at +half-past nine o'clock Anne and Elfreda should go for him and escort him +to Music Hall. + +At precisely ten minutes past ten o'clock he was escorted through the +side entrance to the hall by his two smiling guides, and into the little +room just off the stage that did duty for a green room. Eleanor's quick +exclamation of, "You have plenty of time, Father, there are two more +numbers before yours," caused the various performers to open their eyes, +and when Eleanor turned to those in the room, saying sweetly, "Girls, +this is my father. He is going to play for us," astonishment looked out +from every face. + +In order that the surprise might be complete, Grace had purposely +withheld until the last moment the posters bearing Guido Savelli's name. +When the two pages placed them up on their respective standards, a +positive sigh of astonishment went up from the audience that changed to +vociferous applause as Eleanor appeared and took her place at the piano. +A second later the great Savelli walked on the stage, violin in hand. +Eleanor, having frequently accompanied him on the piano in private, had +begged to be allowed for once to accompany him in public. + +As the delighted audience listened to the music of the man whose playing +had won for him the homage of two continents, they realized that they +had been granted an unusual privilege. + +"How did he happen to stray into Overton?" "I supposed great artists +like him never condescended to play outside of the large cities," were +the whispered comments. + +One stately old gentleman in particular, who had been the guest of the +president at dinner, and who sat beside him during the performance, grew +enthusiastically curious, asking all sorts of questions. Who had planned +and managed the entertainment? What was the object of the "Semper +Fidelis Club"? How long had it been in existence? Who had been on +familiar enough terms with Savelli to induce him to play at the "show"? +The president answered his questions with becoming patience, promising +to introduce him to Grace Harlowe and Arline Thayer, who, he stated, had +been responsible for the organization of the club. + +Later, the curious old gentleman was presented to Grace and Arline, who +answered his flow of inquiries so courteously and with such apparent +good will that he left the hall, smiling to himself as though he had +gained possession of some wonderful bit of information. + +The vaudeville show netted the Semper Fidelis Club two hundred dollars, +which Arline deposited in the bank the following morning. + +"'Every little bit helps'" chuckled Arline as she opened the bank book +and pointed to the new entry. She and Grace were on their way from the +bank. + +"I should say it did," returned Grace warmly. "I only wish we could +always make money as easily and pleasantly as we made that two hundred +dollars." + +"It was lots of fun, wasn't it?" declared Arline happily. "When we come +back next fall as juniors we can give another show and add to our fund. +We won't have time this year. We are all going home next week and after +Easter it will be too late in the year to bother with entertainments." + +"We might give a carnival in the gymnasium next fall," suggested Grace. +"We had a bazaar at home and made over five hundred dollars. If we gave +it early in the fall we would have as much as a thousand dollars on hand +to lend where it was needed. I imagine we can find plenty of places for +it." + +"We can be thinking about it through the summer," planned Arline. + +That night when Grace reached Wayne Hall she found a letter bearing her +address in the bulletin board at the foot of the stairs. After glancing +curiously at the superscription, Grace tore it open and read: + + "To MISS GRACE HARLOWE, + "Wayne Hall, + "Overton. + + "MY DEAR MISS HARLOWE: + + "I am enclosing a check made payable to you, which I should like + you to accept in behalf of the Semper Fidelis Club. I am greatly + interested in your association and wish to say that at this time + each year as long as the club exists I pledge myself to contribute + the same amount of money. Trusting that the club will continue to + thrive and prosper, + + "Yours very truly, + + "THOMAS REDFIELD." + +Grace lay down the letter and stared at the check with incredulous eyes. +It was for one thousand dollars. + +It took but an instant to dart down the hall to Miriam's room, where +Anne had just gone to borrow Miriam's Thesaurus. + +"Look, look!" cried Grace, holding the check before Anne's astonished +eyes. + +Miriam rose from her chair and peered over Anne's shoulder. "Three +cheers for Mr. Redfield!" she exclaimed. Three cheers for the fairy +godfather of Semper Fidelis! + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +CAMPUS CONFIDENCES + + +After the Easter vacation there seemed very little left of the college +year. Spring overtook the Overton girls unawares, and golf, tennis, +Saturday afternoon picnics and walking tours crowded even basketball off +their schedule. It was delightful just to stroll about the fast-greening +campus arm in arm with one's best friend under the smiling blue of an +April sky. It was ideal weather for planning for the future, but it was +anything but conducive to study. + +"It's a good thing we work like mad in the winter," grumbled Elfreda +Briggs, giving her Horace a vindictive little shove that sent it sliding +to the floor. "I can't remember anything now, except that the grass is +green, the sky is blue--" + +"Sugar is sweet, and so are you," supplemented Miriam Nesbit slyly. + +"That wasn't what I was going to say at all," retorted Elfreda +reprovingly. + +"Then I beg your pardon," returned Miriam, with mock contrition. "What +were you going to say?" + +"Nothing much," grinned Elfreda, "except that I was weighed to-day and +I've lost five pounds. I am down to one hundred and forty-five pounds +now. If I can lose five pounds more this summer I shall be in fine +condition for basketball next fall." + +"You did splendid work on the sub team this year," replied Miriam +warmly. "I am sure that you will make the regular team next fall." + +"The upper class girls say they have very little time for basketball," +mused Elfreda. "All kinds of other stunts crowd it out. I'm not going to +be like that, though. I love to play and I shall manage to find time for +it." + +"Where is Grace to-night?" asked Elfreda. "I didn't see her at dinner." + +"She had a dinner engagement with Mabel Ashe." + +"Vinton's?" asked Elfreda. + +Miriam nodded. + +"Grace is lucky," sighed Elfreda. "She is always being invited to +something or other. Her dinner partners always materialize, too," she +added ruefully. + +"Which is more than can be said of some of yours," laughed Miriam. +"Strange you never found out about that, isn't it?" + +It was Elfreda's turn to nod. "I have often thought I would go to Miss +Atkins and ask her why she left me to languish dinnerless in my room +after inviting me to eat, drink and be merry," mused Elfreda. "I hate to +go home with the mystery unsolved. I believe I will go ask her now," she +declared, with sudden energy. "I know she's alone, for the Enigma isn't +there to-night." Elfreda had recently bestowed this title upon Mildred +Taylor on account of her inexplicable attitude toward Grace. + +"I have been disappointed in little Miss Taylor," remarked Miriam +slowly. "I was so sure that she would prove another Arline Thayer. She +had the same fascinating little ways and at first she seemed so +genuinely frank and straightforward." + +"I wonder what made her change so suddenly," said Elfreda, walking to +the door, "and toward Grace, especially. She doesn't speak to Grace when +she meets her. She is an Enigma and no mistake. Now for our friend the +Anarchist. If I don't come back within a reasonable length of time you +will know that I have been annihilated." + +Ten minutes went by, then ten more. At the end of half an hour Miriam +wondered slightly at her roommate's continued absence. Just before time +for the dinner bell to ring, Elfreda burst into the room with: "Miriam, +will you help me to dress? I am invited to dinner and this time I am +going. The An--Miss Atkins has forgiven me, peace has been restored and +we are going out to dine, arm in arm." Elfreda pranced jubilantly about +the room, then flinging open the door of the wardrobe brought forth two +large boxes that had come by express the day before, one of them +containing her new spring hat, the other a smart suit of natural pongee. + +[Illustration: The Two Boxes Contained Elfreda's New Suit and Hat.] + +"Stop hurrying for a minute and give me a true and faithful account of +this miracle," demanded Miriam. "I had begun to think the worst had +happened. What did you say first, and what did she say?" + +"The door of her room stood partly open and I knocked on it, then +marched in without an invitation," replied Elfreda. "She was so +surprised she forgot to be angry, and before she had time to remember +that she didn't like me I surprised her still further by asking her to +tell me why she had refused to speak to me for so long. Before she knew +it she had stammered something about Grace and I calling her names and +making fun of her behind her back when she had asked me in all good +faith to have dinner with her at Vinton's. She declared she had heard +us. + +"The instant she said that I remembered that I had mimicked her that +night while dressing and that Grace had laughed, but had said in the +same breath, that it wasn't fair. So I asked her point blank if that was +what she meant, and she said 'yes,' only she hadn't waited long enough +to hear what Grace had said about unfairness. She had come to the door +just in time to hear me mimic her, and had rushed back to her room angry +and hurt. Then I explained to her that I had a bad trick of imitating +even my friends, and that I had offended more than one person by my +thoughtlessness. I was really dreadfully sorry and asked her to forgive +me. She had half a mind not to do it, then she relented, smiled a little +and actually offered me her hand. Of course, after that I stayed a few +minutes to talk things over with her and she proposed going to dinner. +She is changed. In just what way I can't explain, except that she is +more gentle and not quite so prim. Will you look in the top drawer of +the chiffonier and see if I put my gold beads in that green box? You +know the one I mean." + +Miriam obediently opened the drawer and taking the beads from the box +deftly fastened them about Elfreda's neck. "Grace will be glad to hear +of this," she remarked. "May I tell her and Anne?" + +"Yes," returned Elfreda, "but please don't tell any one else." Pinning +on her new hat she hurried off to keep her long-delayed engagement with +the now thoroughly pacified Anarchist. + +When the dinner bell rang, Miriam suddenly remembered that of the four +friends she was the only stay-at-home that night. Anne had gone to take +supper and spend the evening with Ruth Denton. As she took her seat at +the table she noted that Emma Dean's and Mildred Taylor's places were +also vacant. + +"Where is everyone to-night?" asked Irene Evans, who sat opposite +Miriam. + +"Grace, Anne and Elfreda were all invited out this evening," answered +Miriam. "I don't know anything about Miss Dean and Miss Taylor." + +"Emma is spending the evening with her cousin, that other Miss Dean of +Ralston House," replied Irene. "Miss Taylor," she shrugged her shoulders +slightly, "is with Miss Wicks and Miss Hampton, I suppose." + +"I don't think I shall overstudy to-night," announced Miriam, a little +later, as she rose from the table. "I'm going for a walk. Want to go +with me?" + +"I'm sorry," replied Irene regretfully, "but I've a frightfully hard +chemistry lesson ahead of me to-night." + +It had been an unusually balmy April and now that the moon was at the +full, the Overton girls took advantage of the fine nights to walk up and +down College Street or the campus. Sure of finding some one she knew, +Miriam slipped on her sweater, and, disdaining a hat, strolled down the +street toward the campus. Exchanging numerous greetings with students, +she wandered aimlessly across the campus toward a seat built against a +tree where she and Grace had had more than one quiet session. + +As she neared the seat, which was somewhat in the shadow, she gave a +little startled exclamation. A girl was crouching at the darkest end of +the seat, her face hidden in her hands. Turning away, Miriam was about +to recross the campus when the utter despondency of the girl's attitude +caused her to go back. Stopping directly in front of the bowed figure, +she said gently, "Can I help you?" + +The girl rose, and without answering was about to hurry away, when +Miriam, after one swift glance at her face, ran after her, exclaiming, +"Wait a moment, Miss Taylor!" + +Mildred Taylor stopped and eyed Miriam defiantly. Despite her expression +of bravado, she looked as though she had been crying. "What do you +want?" she asked in a low voice. + +"To talk with you," said Miriam boldly, stepping forward and slipping +her arm through Mildred's. "Shall we sit down here and begin? All my +friends have deserted me to-night. There were ever so many vacant places +at the dinner table. I noticed you were away, too." + +"I--I--have--haven't had any dinner," faltered Mildred. Then, staring +disconsolately at her companion for an instant, she dropped her head on +her arm and gave way to violent sobbing. "I am so miserable," she +wailed. + +Miriam sat silent, touched by Mildred's distress, yet undecided what to +do. Things were evidently going badly with the "cute" little girl. "She +has done something she is sorry for," was Miriam's reflection. After a +slight deliberation she said gently, "Is there anything you wish to tell +me, Miss Taylor?" + +Mildred raised her head, regarding Miriam with troubled, hopeless eyes. +Miriam took one of the little girl's hands in hers. "Do not be afraid to +tell me," she said earnestly. "I am your friend." + +"You wouldn't be if you knew what a miserable, contemptible coward I +am," muttered Mildred. "I can't tell you anything. Please go away." Her +head dropped to her arm again. + +Miriam, still holding her other hand, patted it comfortingly. "No one is +infallible, Miss Taylor. I once felt just as you do to-night. Only I am +quite sure that my fault was much graver than yours can possibly be." + +Mildred raised her head with a jerk. She looked at Miriam incredulously. +"I don't think _you_ ever did anything very contemptible," she said +sceptically. + +"Let me tell you about it," replied Miriam soberly. "Then you can judge +for yourself. The person whom I wronged has long since forgiven me, but +I can never quite forgive myself or forget. It was during my first year +in high school that I began behaving very badly toward a new girl in the +freshman class, of whom I was jealous. I was the star pupil of the class +until she came, then she proved herself my equal if not my superior in +class standing, and I tried in every way to discredit her in the eyes of +her teachers and her friends. At the end of the freshman year, a sum of +money was offered as a prize to the freshman who averaged highest in her +final examinations. Feeling sure that this other girl would win it, I +managed, with the help of some one as dishonest as myself, to gain +possession of the examination questions, but before I had finished with +them, I was obliged to drop them in a hurry, to escape discovery by the +principal. By the merest chance the girl I disliked happened along just +in time to be suspected of tampering with the papers. But she had +friends who fought loyally for her and cleared her of the suspicion. + +"She won the prize. Nothing was ever said to me about it, but I knew +that the principal and at least four girls in school knew what I had +done. When I entered the sophomore class in the fall I felt a positive +hatred for this girl and for her friends. I did all sorts of cruel, +despicable things that year, and succeeded in dividing my class into two +factions who opposed each other at every point. + +"Toward the last of the year I grew tired of being so disagreeable. My +conscience began to trouble me seriously. Then, one day, the two girls I +despised did me a great service, and my enmity toward them died out +forever. + +"I can't begin to tell you how differently I felt after I had +acknowledged my fault and been forgiven. Those girls are my dearest +friends now. You know them, too." + +"You--you don't mean Miss Harlowe and Miss Pierson?" asked Mildred in a +low tone, her eyes fixed upon Miriam. + +Miriam nodded. "Grace and Anne are the most charitable girls I ever +knew," she said softly, "If they were not they would never have forgiven +me. Anne was the girl who won the prize. Grace was one of the friends +who stood by her. If you feel that you have done some one an injustice, +you will not be happy until you have righted matters. If the person +refuses to forgive you, you at least will have done your part." + +"I can't go to the--the--person and tell her," faltered Mildred. "I +should die of humiliation." + +"But you don't wish to go away from Overton carrying this burden with +you," persisted Miriam. "It will weigh heavily upon you when you come +back next fall--" + +"I'm not coming back next fall," mumbled Mildred. "I shall never again +be happy at Overton." + +"Brace up, and square things with the other girl, and you'll feel +differently," retorted Miriam. + +"If it were any one else besides Miss Harlowe," began Mildred. + +"Oh, I am so sorry you told me her name!" exclaimed Miriam regretfully. +"Now that I know it is Grace, however, I shall redouble my advice about +going to her. You need have no fear that she will not forgive you. Grace +never holds grudges." + +"I can't do it," declared Mildred tremulously, "I am afraid." + +Miriam looked at her companion rather doubtfully. "I think Grace is the +person with whom to talk this matter over," she declared. "Suppose we go +over to Wayne Hall now? She went to dinner at Vinton's with Mabel Ashe, +but she must be at the hall by this time." + +"Oh, I can't," gasped Mildred nervously, "Yes, yes, I will if you will +come with me while I tell her." + +"I think it would be better for you to go to her by yourself," said +Miriam dubiously. + +"I can't do it," protested Mildred miserably. "Please, please come with +me." + +"Then, let us go now," returned Miriam decisively. "We may catch Grace +at home and alone." + +During the walk across the campus the two girls exchanged no words. +Mildred was trying to summon all her courage in order to make the +dreaded confession. + +Miriam was thinking of the day that belonged to the long ago when she +had confessed her fault, and, joining hands with Anne Pierson and Grace +Harlowe, had sworn eternal friendship. She felt only the deepest +sympathy for the unhappy little girl at her side, for having been +through a similar experience she understood clearly the struggle that +was going on in Mildred's mind. + +Twice the little freshman stopped short, declaring she could not and +would not go on, and each time, with infinite patience, Miriam buoyed +and restored to firmness her shaking resolution. + +"You do not know Grace Harlowe," Miriam said as they neared Wayne Hall, +"or you would not be afraid to go to her and tell her what you have just +told me. She is neither revengeful nor unforgiving, and I am sure that +she will be only too glad to help you begin all over again." + +"But not here at Overton," quavered Mildred. + +"You can decide that later," Miriam said kindly, as they entered the +house. But she smiled to herself, for she felt reasonably sure that +Mildred would come back to Overton for her sophomore year. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +A FAULT CONFESSED + + +Grace came home from Vinton's with the firm intention of putting in a +full evening of study. "It is only half-past eight," she exulted. "I'll +have plenty of time for everything. I suppose Anne won't be home until +the last minute's grace." + +As she passed through the hall to the stairs she poked her head +inquisitively into the living room. Three or four girls sat at the +library table industriously engaged in writing. Grace turned away +without disturbing them, and went quietly up the stairs. As she walked +down the hall to her own room she noticed that Miriam's room was dark. + +"I wonder where the girls are!" Grace exclaimed. "I didn't know they +were to be away to-night, too. Perhaps they have gone for a walk." Grace +lighted the gas in her own room and, hanging up her hat, sat down in the +Morris chair, beside the table on which lay her books piled ready for +work. "If no one bothers me for the next hour and the girls obligingly +stay away, the rest will be easy," she smiled to herself as she worked +at her French. + +At five minutes of ten she closed her text book on chemistry with a +triumphant bang. "Nothing left to do now but my theme and that can wait +until to-morrow night. I think I'll read until the girls come in." Grace +reached for her book, which lay on the table conveniently near her, +opened it at the place she had marked and began to read. She had not +read more than two or three pages when, through the half opened door, +came the sound of voices. + +Grace's gray eyes opened in surprise as Miriam Nesbit walked into the +room followed by Mildred Taylor. + +"I thought you would be here," greeted Miriam. + +Grace rose and walked toward Mildred. Without the slightest show of +hesitation she held out her hand. "I am glad to see you, Mildred. Why +haven't you come in before?" she asked frankly. + +Mildred looked from Miriam to Grace. "I can't tell you why!" she +exclaimed in a choked, frightened voice. "I thought I could, but I +can't." She began to cry softly. + +Grace sprang to her side, and, placing her arm about the little girl's +waist, said soothingly, "Don't cry, and don't tell us anything you don't +wish to tell. I am so glad you came at all. The early part of the year I +thought we were going to be friends. I am sorry I hurt your feelings on +the night of the sophomore reception. I told you so then, but I am +afraid you thought I didn't mean what I said." + +"It wasn't that," quavered Mildred, wiping her eyes. "It was--it was--I +had no business to take it. It was stealing!" + +Miriam looked sharply at Mildred's distressed face, as though trying to +gain some inkling of what was to come. Grace's expression was one of +anxious concern. Neither girl spoke. + +"I might as well tell you, Grace," went on Mildred in a low, shamed +voice. "I am the person who stole your theme. I found it at the foot of +the stairs. I did not look at the name written on it until I was in my +own room. I ought to have given it to you at once, but I stopped to read +it. It was so clever I wished I had written it. Themes are my weak +point, and Miss Duncan had criticised my work so severely that I was +feeling blue and discouraged. Then came the temptation to take your +theme, copy it, and hand it in as my own. You had lost it, so you would +never know what became of it. You could write another theme as easily as +you had written that. It did occur to me that you might be able to +rewrite that particular theme from memory. So I changed the title of +your theme, copied it that night and changed the ending a little and +took particular pains to hand it in early the next morning, so that if +any suspicion were aroused it would not fall on me, but on you. It was +thoroughly contemptible in me, and after I handed in the theme I felt +like a criminal. When Miss Duncan sent for me, I grew frightened and +instead of owning to what I had done I told more lies and tried to make +it appear that you were the real offender. At first she believed me, but +afterward she didn't, and made me admit that I had lied. When she told +me about promising you that she would give me another chance and that +you neither knew nor cared to know my name, I could hardly believe it. +Since that time I've never dared to speak to you. I have been so +dreadfully ashamed." Her voice broke. + +"Don't think about it ever again," comforted Grace. "Everyone is likely +to make mistakes. I think you have suffered enough for yours. I am sure +you would never do any such thing again." + +Mildred shook her head vigorously. "Never," she declared sadly. + +Miriam, who had listened to the little girl's confession, an inscrutable +expression on her dark face, said practically, "Was there anything +besides what you have told us that made you unhappy to-night?" + +"Why--why," stammered Mildred. "Yes, there was. How did you know?" + +"I didn't know," declared Miriam dryly. "I just wondered." + +"It was something that made me unhappy, yet glad, too," said Mildred, +her face flushing. "I thought I hated Grace and said horrid things about +her to two other girls I know, who are not her friends. To-night I was +with them at Martell's, and I quarreled with them about you girls. Ever +since I heard Savelli play at your entertainment I have felt differently +about everything. His music brought me to my real self and made me +realize how small and mean and contemptible I was. I discovered that it +was not you but myself I hated, and when these girls began to say things +about you, all of a sudden I found myself standing up for you as +staunchly as ever I could. Then we quarreled and I got up from the table +and almost ran out of Martell's. + +"I walked and walked until I was all tired out. Then I sat down on that +seat by the tree where Miriam found me. In defending you, Grace, I found +myself. I saw clearly that my college life was all wrong. The mean +things I had done stared me in the face. The theme was the worst of all. +No wonder I cried. Now that I've told you everything I am happier than I +have been since last fall. Next year I am going to start all over again +in some other college where no one knows me." + +"Besides yourself, there are only three who know, Miriam, Miss Duncan +and I," said Grace slowly. "When Miss Duncan sent for me about the theme +I told myself then that, although I had no desire to know the name of +the other girl, if ever I should learn her identity I would try to be +the best friend she ever had. I am ready to keep my word, Mildred, if +you are ready to come back to Overton next year and help me keep it." + +Mildred glanced timidly from Grace to Miriam. "I'd love to come back," +she faltered, "only I'm afraid you girls would never believe in me +again." + +"My friends did," reminded Miriam softly, extending her hand to Mildred. +"I believe in you now." + +"Of course we will believe in you," declared Grace cheerfully. "Come +back next fall and give us a chance to show you that we trust you." + +"I will," answered Mildred with solemn resolution, "but you shall give +me the chance to show you that your trust is not misplaced. Good night," +she put out her hand again rather uncertainly. Grace's hand went quickly +out to meet it, holding it in a warm, friendly clasp, and Mildred went +to her room a changed girl. + +"How did you happen to be her confessor, Miriam?" asked Grace +wonderingly, after the freshman had gone. + +Miriam related the evening's happenings. + +"I never even suspected her," said Grace. "I believed her to be angry +with me for overlooking her at the reception. I always tried not to +think of any particular girl as being guilty of taking my theme. It has +turned out beautifully, hasn't it?" + +"Yes," nodded Miriam. "As a matter of fact everything generally does +turn out well in the end if one has the patience to wait." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + +"Two more days, then good-bye to Overton," mourned Elfreda Briggs sadly. + +The stout girl was seated on the floor, the contents of her trunk spread +broadcast about her. + +"Elfreda would like to stay here and study all summer," remarked Miriam +slyly to Anne, who was watching Elfreda's movements with amused eyes. + +"Oh, no, I wouldn't," retorted Elfreda good-naturedly. "I am as anxious +to go home as the rest of you, but I'm sorry to leave here, too. What's +the use in explaining?" she grumbled, catching sight of her friends' +laughing faces. "You girls know what I mean, only you will tease me." + +"Never mind, we won't tease It any more," said Miriam soothingly. + +"There is only one thing you can do to convince me that you are in +earnest," stipulated Elfreda. + +"Name it," laughed Anne. + +"Invite me to a banquet, and have cakes and lemonade," was the calm +request. + +"I thought you were strongly opposed to sweet things," commented Anne. + +"Not at the sad, sorrowful end of the sophomore year," returned Elfreda, +impressively. "Besides, lemonade isn't fattening." + +"And it will be such splendid exercise for you to make it," added Miriam +mischievously. + +Elfreda looked disapprovingly at Miriam, then a broad smile illuminated +her round face. "So nice of you to think about the exercise," she beamed +affectedly. "Lead me to the lemons." + +Miriam rose, took Elfreda by the arm, and leading her to the closet, +pointed upward to the shelf. Elfreda grasped the paper bag with a +giggle. Then Miriam led her calmly out again, just in time to encounter +Grace, Mabel Ashe and Frances Marlton, who, in passing down the hall, +had heard voices, and could not resist stopping for a moment. + +"What is going on here?" asked Mabel curiously. "Why is J. Elfreda in +leading strings?" + +"She is taking exercise," replied Miriam gravely. "J. Elfreda, explain +to the lady." + +"This exercise is compulsory," grinned Elfreda. "No exercise, no +lemonade. Of course, you will stay and have some." + +"Of course," agreed Mabel. "I may not have a chance for a very long time +to drink lemonade again with the Wayne Hallites." + +"You mustn't say that," remonstrated Grace. "Remember, you are going to +visit me at Oakdale. Elfreda is going to visit Miriam. Can't you can +arrange to come, too, Frances?" + +"I'm sorry," declared Frances, shaking her head, "but we are going to +sail for Europe within a week after I reach home. I shall have to say +good-bye in earnest on Thursday. But I'll write you, and make you a +visit some time." + +"How comfortingly definite. I'll see you again during the next hundred +years," jeered Mabel. + +"You know I don't mean that," reproached Frances. + + "I do intend before the end, + This happy couple shall meet again," + +chanted Elfreda as she peered into the lemonade pitcher. + +"Precisely," laughed Frances. "Did you play 'Needle's eye' when you were +a little girl, Elfreda?" + +"Yes, and 'London Bridge' and 'King William was King James's son,' too. +I always loved to play, but was hardly ever chosen because I was so fat +and ungainly. I remember once, though, when I went to a children's party +in a pale blue silk dress that made me look like a young mountain. I +thought myself superlatively beautiful, however, and the rest of the +little girls were so impressed that I was a great social triumph, and +made up for the times when I had been passed by," concluded Elfreda +humorously. + +"Your adventures are worthy of recording and publishing," said Anne +lightly. "Write a book and call it 'The Astonishing Adventures of +Elfreda'." + +The stout girl eyed Anne reflectively, the lemon squeezer poised in one +hand. "That's a good idea," she said coolly. "I'll do it when I come +back next fall. Now I'm not going to say another word until I finish +this lemonade, so don't speak to me." When she left the room for ice +water, Mabel Ashe observed warmly, "She is a credit to 19--, isn't she?" + +"Yes," returned Grace. "They are beginning to find it out, too." + +"Your sophomore days have been peaceful, compared with last year," +remarked Frances Marlton. "Certain girls have kept strictly in the +background." + +"We have not been obliged to resort to ghost parties this year," +reminded Mabel Ashe. "It requires ghosts to lay ghosts, you know." + +Grace could have remarked with truth that certain ghosts had not been +laid as effectually as she desired, but wisely keeping her own counsel +she was about to essay a change of subject when the return of Elfreda +with the lemonade served her purpose. + +"'How can I bear to leave thee?'" quoted Mabel sentimentally, as she and +Frances reluctantly rose to go half an hour later. "I hope you feel +properly flattered. Graduates' attentions are at a premium this week. +They ought to be, too, when one stops to think that it takes four years +to reach that dizzy height of popularity. Four long years of slavish +toil, my children. Observe my careworn air, my rapidly graying locks, my +deeply-lined countenance." + +"Yes, observe them," grinned Elfreda. "You look younger than Anne, and +she looks like a mere chee--ild. Don't forget that you are going to send +us pictures of you in your cap and gown, will you?" she added, looking +affectionately at the two pretty seniors, whose help and kindly interest +had meant much to her individually. + +"We will see you to the door," laughed Grace, slipping her arm through +Mabel's. + +"Did you ever find the girl?" asked Mabel in a low tone. "You know the +one I mean. I have often wondered about her." + +"Yes," replied Grace in the same guarded tones. "I can't tell even you +her name, but everything has been explained." + +Mabel pressed Grace's arm in silent understanding. "Good-bye," she said, +"we shall see you again before we leave Overton." + +"You had better come into our room and finish the lemonade," declared +Miriam, as they watched their guests go down the walk. + +"But I haven't begun my packing yet, and I have so many things to do and +so many girls to see that I ought not waste a minute." + +"Time spent with us is never wasted," reminded Elfreda significantly. + +"Quite true," responded Grace gaily. "I am sorry I had to be reminded. +To prove my sorrow I will help you with your packing, when I ought to be +doing my own." + +"Come on, then," challenged Elfreda. She ran lightly up the stairs, her +three friends at her heels. + +"I'll pour the lemonade while you and Grace pack," volunteered Miriam. + +"I choose to do nothing," said Anne lazily. "I am going to work all +summer. I need a little rest now." + +"You won't know where you are to be for the summer until Mr. Forest +writes, will you?" asked Miriam. + +"The Originals will be lonesome without you, Anne," mourned Grace. "You +must be sure to visit me. That is, unless you are too far west." + +"I am going to have a visitor of my own," announced Elfreda proudly. +"You can never guess who it is." + +"I know," laughed Anne, after a moment's reflection. "It is the +Anar--Miss Atkins, I mean." + +"Who told you?" demanded Elfreda. "It is true, though. She is coming to +Fairview the last two weeks in July, and I am going to give her the time +of her life. Just think, girls, she has never had any girl friends until +she came here. Her mother died when she was a baby, and a prim old aunt +kept house for them. Her father is Professor Archibald Atkins, that +Natural Scientist who went to Africa and was held captive by a tribe of +savages for two years. + +"Living with the heathen didn't improve him, for when he came home he +behaved so queerly that people thought him crazy. Then the aunt, who was +the professor's sister, died, and poor Laura had to live alone with her +father in a great big country house. Finally, she grew so tired of it +she asked him to send her to college. She had always had a tutor, so she +was ready for the entrance examinations, but she had never associated +with other girls and didn't know much about them. I can't feel sorry +enough for calling her names and imitating her. We had a long talk at +Martell's the other night and I am going to be her knight errant from +now on." + +"You found the rainbow side of your sophomore year in helping some one +else, didn't you, Elfreda?" + +"I don't know what you are talking about," rejoined Elfreda bluntly. + +"I know you don't," laughed Grace. "It was nothing much. Last year at +this time Anne and I were lamenting because we couldn't be freshmen all +over again, and Anne said that being a sophomore was sure to have its +rainbow side." + +"It has been the nicest year of my life," said Elfreda earnestly. "If +being a junior is any nicer than being a sophomore--well--you will have +to show me. There, I've ended by using slang. But I've found my rainbow +side in another way, too." + +"Name it," challenged Miriam mischievously. + +"By losing twenty pounds," announced Elfreda, with proud triumph. "I +weigh one hundred and forty pounds now, and next fall you will see me on +the team, or it won't be my fault." + +"I hope I shall have time for basketball," said Grace. "There will be so +many other things. Remember, girls, if during vacation you think of any +good plan for the Semper Fidelis Club to make money, make a note of it. +Just because we have money in our treasury, we mustn't become lazy. We +will find plenty of uses for every cent we can earn. There are dozens of +girls struggling through Overton who need help." + +"You never told us to what girls you and Arline played Santa Claus last +winter, Grace," said Elfreda reproachfully. + +"And I never will," laughed Grace, "and Arline won't tell, either." + +"I know something, too," declared Elfreda, "but I'm not as stingy as +Grace. I know who poked that envelope with the ten dollars in it under +Grace's door." + +"Who?" came simultaneously from the three girls. + +"Mildred Taylor," replied Elfreda. "I saw her do it. I was just coming +down the hall that night as she slipped it under the door and ran away. +I never told any one, because I could see she didn't want any one to +know she did it." + +"Elfreda always sees more than appears on the surface," commented Miriam +mischievously. + +"Elfreda's energy has inspired me to go to my room and begin my own +packing," declared Anne, rising. + +"I'll go with you," volunteered Grace. "I think Elfreda can be trusted +to finish her packing by herself." + +"I think I'll accomplish more, at any rate," declared Elfreda pointedly. + +"It is half over, Anne, dear," said Grace, almost wistfully, as they +strolled down the hall, school girl fashion, their arms about each +other's waists. + +"Our life at Overton, you mean?" asked Anne. + +Grace nodded. "I was sure I should never like college as well as high +school, but I've found it even nicer." + +"And we are going to like being juniors best of all," predicted Anne. + +How completely the truth of Anne's prediction was proven will be found +in "Grace Harlowe's Third Year at Overton College." + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton +College, by Jessie Graham Flower + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR *** + +***** This file should be named 6858.txt or 6858.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/8/5/6858/ + +Produced by Avinash Kothare, Tom Allen, Charles Franks, +Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions 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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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton College + +Author: Jessie Graham Flower + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6858] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 2, 2003] +[Date last updated: November 4, 2004] + + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR *** + + + + +Produced by Avinash Kothare, Tom Allen, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR + +AT + +OVERTON COLLEGE + +By + +JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER. + + I. OVERTON CLAIMS HER OWN. + II. THE UNFORESEEN. + III. MRS. ELWOOD TO THE RESCUE. + IV. THE BELATED FRESHMAN. + V. THE ANARCHIST CHOOSES HER ROOMMATE. + VI. ELFREDA MAKES A RASH PROMISE. + VII. GIRLS AND THEIR IDEALS. + VIII. THE INVITATION. + IX. ANTICIPATION. + X. AN OFFENDED FRESHMAN. + XI. THE FINGER OF SUSPICION. + XII. THE SUMMONS. + XIII. GRACE HOLDS COURT. + XIV. GRACE MAKES A RESOLUTION. + XV. THE QUALITY OF MERCY. + XVI. A DISGRUNTLED REFORMER. + XVII. MAKING OTHER GIRLS HAPPY. + XVIII. MRS. GRAY'S CHRISTMAS CHILDREN. + XIX. ARLINE'S PLAN. + XX. A WELCOME GUEST. + XXI. A GIFT TO SEMPER FIDELIS. + XXII. CAMPUS CONFIDENCES. + XXIII. A FAULT CONFESSED. + XXIV. CONCLUSION. + + + + +GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR + +AT OVERTON COLLEGE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +OVERTON CLAIMS HER OWN + + +"Oh, there goes Grace Harlowe! Grace! Grace! Wait a minute!" A +curly-haired little girl hastily deposited her suit case, golf bag, two +magazines and a box of candy on the nearest bench and ran toward a +quartette of girls who had just left the train that stood puffing +noisily in front of the station at Overton. + +The tall, gray-eyed young woman in blue turned at the call, and, +running back, met the other half way. "Why, Arline!" she exclaimed. +"I didn't see you when I got off the train." The two girls exchanged +affectionate greetings; then Arline was passed on to Miriam Nesbit, +Anne Pierson and J. Elfreda Briggs, who, with Grace Harlowe, had come +back to Overton College to begin their second year's course of study. + +Those who have followed the fortunes of Grace Harlowe and her +friends through their four years of high school life are familiar +with what happened during "GRACE HARLOWE'S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH +SCHOOL," the story of her freshman year. "GRACE HARLOWE'S SOPHOMORE +YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL" gave a faithful account of the doings of Grace +and her three friends, Nora O'Malley, Anne Pierson and Jessica +Bright, during their sophomore days. "GRACE HARLOWE'S JUNIOR YEAR AT +HIGH SCHOOL" and "GRACE HARLOWE'S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL" told +of her third and fourth years in Oakdale High School and of how +completely Grace lived up to the high standard of honor she had set +for herself. + +After their graduation from high school the four devoted chums spent +a summer in Europe; then came the inevitable separation. Nora and +Jessica had elected to go to an eastern conservatory of music, while +Anne and Grace had chosen Overton College. Miriam Nesbit, a member +of the Phi Sigma Tau, had also decided for Overton, and what befell +the three friends as Overton College freshmen has been narrated in +"GRACE HARLOWE'S FIRST YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE." + +Now September had rolled around again and the station platform of +the town of Overton was dotted with groups of students laden with +suit cases, golf bags and the paraphernalia belonging peculiarly to +the college girl. Overton College was about to claim its own. The +joyous greetings called out by happy voices testified to the fact +that the next best thing to leaving college to go home was leaving +home to come back to college. + +"Where is Ruth?" was Grace's first question as she surveyed Arline +with smiling, affectionate eyes. + +"She'll be here directly," answered Arline. "She is looking after +the trunks. She is the most indefatigable little laborer I ever saw. +From the time we began to get ready to come back to Overton she +refused positively to allow me to lift my finger. She is always +hunting something to do. She says she has acquired the work habit so +strongly that she can't break herself of it, and I believe her," +finished Arline with a sigh of resignation. "Here she comes now." + +An instant later the demure young woman seen approaching was +surrounded by laughing girls. + +"Stop working and speak to your little friends," laughed Miriam +Nesbit. "We've just heard bad reports of you." + +"I know what you've heard!" exclaimed Ruth, her plain little face +alight with happiness. "Arline has been grumbling. You haven't any +idea what a fault-finding person she is. She lectures me all the time." + +"For working," added Arline. "Ruth will have work enough and to +spare this year. Can you blame me for trying to make her take life +easy for a few days?" + +"Blame you?" repeated Elfreda. "I would have lectured her night and +day, and tied her up to keep her from work, if necessary." + +"Now you see just how much sympathy these worthy sophomores have for +you," declared Arline. + +"Do you know whether 19-- is all here yet?" asked Anne. + +"I don't know a single thing more about it than do you girls," +returned Arline. "Suppose we go directly to our houses, and then meet +at Vinton's for dinner tonight. I don't yearn for a Morton House +dinner. The meals there won't be strictly up to the mark for another +week yet. When the house is full again, the standard of Morton House +cooking will rise in a day, but until then--let us thank our stars +for Vinton's. Are you going to take the automobile bus? We shall save +time." + +"We might as well ride," replied Grace, looking inquiringly at her +friends. "My luggage is heavy and the sooner I arrive at Wayne Hall +the better pleased I shall be." + +"Are you to have the same rooms as last year?" asked Ruth Denton. + +"I suppose so, unless something unforeseen has happened." + +"Will there be any vacancies at your house this year?" inquired +Arline. + +"Four, I believe," replied Anne Pierson. "Were you thinking of +changing? We'd be glad to have you with us." + +"I'd love to come, but Morton House is like home to me. Mrs. Kane +calls me the Morton House Mascot, and declares her house would go to +rack and ruin without me. She only says that in fun, of course." + +"I think you'd make an ideal mascot for the sophomore basketball +team this year," laughed Grace. "Will you accept the honor?" + +"With both hands," declared Arline. "Now, we had better start, or +we'll never get back to Vinton's. Ruth, you have my permission to +walk with Anne as far as your corner. It's five o'clock now. Shall +we agree to meet at Vinton's at half-past six? That will give us an +hour and a half to get the soot off our faces, and if the expressman +should experience a change of heart and deliver our trunks we might +possibly appear in fresh gowns. The possibility is very remote, +however. I know, because I had to wait four days for mine last year. +It was sent to the wrong house, and traveled gaily about the campus, +stopping for a brief season at three different houses before it +landed on Morton House steps. I hung out of the window for a whole +morning watching for it. Then, when it did come, I fairly had to fly +downstairs and out on the front porch to claim it, or they would have +hustled it off again." + +"That's why I appointed myself chief trunk tender," said Ruth slyly. +"That trunk story is not new to me. This time your trunk will be +waiting on the front porch for you, Arline." + +"If it is, then I'll forgive you your other sins," retorted Arline. +"That is, if you promise to come and room with me. Isn't she +provoking, girls? I have a whole room to myself and she won't come. +Father wishes her to be with me, too." + +"I'd love to be with Arline," returned Ruth bravely, "but I can't +afford it, and I can't accept help from any one. I must work out my +own problem in my own way. You understand, don't you?" She looked +appealingly from one to the other of her friends, who nodded +sympathetically. + +"She's a courageous Ruth, isn't she?" smiled Arline, patting Ruth on +the shoulder. + +At Ruth's corner they said good-bye to her. Then hailing a bus the +five girls climbed into it. + +"So far we haven't seen any of our old friends," remarked Grace as +they drove along Maple Avenue. "I suppose they haven't arrived yet. +We are here early this year." + +"I'd rather be early than late," rejoined Miriam. "Last year we were +late. Don't you remember? There were dozens of girls at the station +when we arrived. Arline and Ruth are the first real friends we have +seen so far. Where are Mabel Ashe and Frances Marlton, Emma Dean and +Gertrude Wells, not to mention Virginia Gaines?" + +"If I'm not mistaken," said Elfreda slowly, her brows drawing +together in an ominous frown, "there are two people just ahead of us +whom we have reason to remember." + +Almost at the moment of her declaration the girls had espied two +young women loitering along the walk ahead of them whose very backs +were too familiar to be mistaken. + +"It's Miss Wicks and Miss Hampton, isn't it?" asked Anne. + +Grace nodded. They were now too close to the young women for further +speech. A moment more and the bus containing the five girls had +passed the loitering pair. Neither side had made the slightest sign +of recognition. A sudden silence fell upon the little company in the +bus. + +"It is too bad to begin one's sophomore year by cutting two Overton +girls, isn't it?" said Grace, in a rueful tone. + +"Overton girls!" sniffed Elfreda. "I consider neither Miss Wicks nor +Miss Hampton real Overton girls." + +"They should be by this time," reminded Miriam Nesbit mischievously. +"They have been here a year longer than we have." + +"Years don't count," retorted Elfreda. "It's having the true Overton +spirit that counts. You girls understand what I mean, even if Miriam +tries to pretend she doesn't." + +"Of course we understand, Elfreda," soothed Anne. "Miriam was merely +trying to tease you." + +"Don't you suppose I know that?" returned Elfreda. "I know, too, +that you don't wish me to say anything against those two girls. All +right, I won't, but I warn you, I'll keep on thinking uncomplimentary +things about them. Last June, after that ghost party, I promised +Grace I would never try to get even with Alberta Wicks and Mary +Hampton, but I didn't promise to like them, and if they attempt to +interfere with me this year, they'll be sorry." + +"Oh, there's the campus!" exclaimed Arline as, turning into College +Street, the long green slope, broken at intervals by magnificent old +trees, burst upon their view. "Hello, Overton Hall!" she cried, +waving her hand to that stately building. "Doesn't the campus look +like green plush, though! I love every inch of it, don't you?" She +looked at her companions and, seeing the light from her face +reflected on theirs, needed no verbal answer to her question. A +moment later she signaled to the driver to stop the bus. "I shall +have to leave you here," she said. "I'll see you at Vinton's at +six-thirty." + +Grace handed out her luggage to her, saying: "You have so much to +carry, Arline. Shall I help you?" + +"Mercy, no," laughed Arline. "'Every woman her own porter,' is my +motto." Opening her suit case she stuffed the candy and magazines +into it, snapping it shut with a triumphant click. Then with it in +one hand, her golf bag in the other, she set off across the campus +at a swinging pace. + +"She's little, but she has plenty of independence and energy," +laughed Miriam. "Hurrah, girls, there's Wayne Hall just ahead of us." + +It was only a short ride from the spot where Arline had left them to +Wayne Hall. Grace sprang from the bus almost before it stopped, and +ran up the stone walk, her three friends following. Before she had +time to ring the door bell, however, the door opened and Emma Dean +rushed out to greet them. "Welcome to old Wayne," she cried, shaking +hands all around. "I heard Mrs. Elwood say this morning you would be +here late this afternoon. I've been over to Morton House, consoling +a homesick cousin who is sure she is going to hate college. I've been +out since before luncheon. Had it at Martell's with my dolorous, +misanthropic relative. I tried to get her in here, but everything was +taken. We are to have four freshmen, you know." + +"I knew there were four places last June, but am rather surprised +that no sophomores applied for rooms. Have you seen the new girls?" + +Emma shook her head. "They hadn't arrived when I left this morning. +I don't know whether they are here now or not. I'm to have one of +them. Virginia Gaines has gone to Livingstone Hall. She has a friend +there. Two of the new girls will have her room. Florence Ransom will +have to take the fourth." + +"Where's Mrs. Elwood?" asked Miriam. + +"She went over to see her sister this afternoon. She's likely to +return at any minute," answered Emma. + +"Do you think we ought to wait for her?" Grace asked anxiously. + +"Hardly," said Anne, picking up her bag, which she had deposited on +the floor. + +"Come on, I'll lead the way," volunteered Elfreda, starting up the +stairs. + +"Won't Mrs. Elwood be surprised when she comes home? She'll find us +not only here, but settled," laughed Grace. + +But it was Grace rather than Mrs. Elwood who was destined to receive +the surprise. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE UNFORESEEN + + +Following Elfreda, the girls ran upstairs as fast as their weight of +bags and suit cases would permit. Miriam pushed open her door, which +stood slightly ajar, with the end of her suit case. "Any one at +home?" she inquired saucily as she stepped inside. + +"Looks like the same old room," remarked Elfreda. "No, it isn't, +either. We have a new chair. We needed it, too. You may sit in it +occasionally, if you're good, Miriam." + +"Thank you," replied Miriam. "For that gracious permission you shall +have one piece of candy out of a five-pound box I have in my trunk." + +"Not even that," declared Elfreda positively. "I said good-bye to +candy last July. I've lost ten pounds since I went home from school, +and I'm going to haunt the gymnasium every spare moment that I have. +I hope I shall lose ten more; then I'll be down to one hundred and +forty pounds and--" Elfreda stopped. + +"And what?" queried Miriam. + +"I can make the basketball team," finished Elfreda. "What is going +on in the hall, I wonder?" Stepping to the door she called, "What's +the matter, Grace? Can't you get into your room?" + +"Evidently not," laughed Grace. "It is locked. I suppose Mrs. Elwood +locked it to prevent the new girls from straying in and taking +possession." + +"H-m-m!" ejaculated Elfreda, walking over to the door and examining +the keyhole. "Your supposition is all wrong, Grace. The door is +locked from the inside. The key is in it." + +"Then what--" began Grace. + +"Yes, what?" quizzed Elfreda dryly. + +"'There was a door to which I had no key,'" quoted Miriam, as she +joined the group. + +"Don't tease, Miriam," returned Grace, "even through the medium of +Omar Khayyam. The key is a reality, but there is some one on the +other side of that door who doesn't belong there. Whether she is not +aware that she is a trespasser I do not know. However, we shall soon +learn." Grace rapped determinedly on one of the upper panels of the +door. + +"I'll help you," volunteered Elfreda. + +"And I," agreed Anne. + +"My services are needed, too," said Miriam Nesbit. + +Four fists pounded energetically on the door. There was an +exclamation, the sound of hasty steps, the turning of a key in the +lock, and the door was flung open. Facing them stood a young woman +no taller than Anne, whose heavy eyebrows met in a straight line, and +who looked ready for battle at the first word. + +"Will you kindly explain the reason for this tumult?" she asked in +a freezing voice. + +"We were rather noisy," admitted Grace, "but we did not understand +why the door should be locked from the inside." + +"Is it necessary that you should know?" asked the black-browed girl +severely. + +Grace's clear-cut face flushed. "I think we are talking at cross +purposes," she said quietly. "The room you are using belongs to my +friend Anne Pierson and to me. During our freshman year it was ours, +and when we left here last June it was with the understanding that +we should have it again on our return to Overton." + +"I know nothing of any such arrangement," returned the other girl +crossly. "The room pleases me, consequently I shall retain it. Kindly +refrain from disturbing me further." With this significant remark the +door was slammed in the faces of the astonished girls. A second later +the click of the key in the lock told them that force alone could +effect an entrance to the room. + +"Open that door at once," stormed Elfreda, beating an angry tattoo +on the panel with her clenched fist. + +From the other side of the door came no sound. + +"Never mind, Elfreda," said Grace, fighting down her anger. "Mrs. +Elwood will be here soon. There is some misunderstanding about the +rooms. I am sure of it." + +"See here, Grace Harlowe, you are not going to give up your room to +that beetle-browed anarchist, are you?" demanded Elfreda wrathfully. + +A peal of laughter went up from three young throats. + +"You are the funniest girl I ever knew, J. Elfreda Briggs," remarked +Miriam Nesbit between laughs. "That new girl looks exactly like an +anarchist--that is, like pictures of them I've seen in the newspapers." + +"That's why I thought of it, too," grinned Elfreda. "I once saw a +picture of an anarchist who blew up a public building and he might +have been this young person's brother. She looks exactly like him." + +"Stop talking about anarchists and talk about rooms," said Anne. "I +must find some place to put my luggage. Besides, time is flying. +Remember, we are to be at Vinton's at half-past six." + +"I should say time _was_ flying!" exclaimed Grace, casting a hurried +glance at her watch. "It's ten minutes to six now. It will take us +fifteen minutes to walk to Vinton's. That leaves twenty-five minutes +in which to get ready." + +"There is no hope that the trunks will arrive in time for us to +dress," said Miriam positively. "Come into our room and we'll wash +the dust from our hands and faces and do our hair over again." + +"All right," agreed Grace, casting a longing glance at the closed +door. "We'll have to put our bags in your room, too. I don't wish to +leave them in the hall for unwary students to stumble over." + +"Bring them along," returned Miriam. "No one shall accuse us of +inhospitality." + +"I wish Mrs. Elwood were here." Grace looked worried. "We mustn't +stay at Vinton's later than half-past seven o'clock. There are so +many little things to be attended to, as well as the important +question of our room." + +Arriving at Vinton's at exactly half-past six o'clock, they found +Arline Thayer and Ruth Denton waiting for them at a table on which +were covers laid for six. + +"We've been waiting for ages!" exclaimed Arline. + +"But you said half-past six, and it is only one minute past that +now," reminded Grace, showing Arline her watch. + +"Of course, you are on time," laughed the little girl. "I should +have explained that I'm hungry. That is why I speak in ages instead +of minutes." + +"Your explanation is accepted," proclaimed Elfreda, screwing her +face into a startling resemblance to a fussy instructor in freshman +trigonometry and using his exact words. + +The ready laughter proclaimed instant recognition of the unfortunate +professor. + +"You can look like any one you choose, can't you, Elfreda?" said +Arline admiringly. "I think your imitations of people are wonderful." + +"Nothing very startling about them," remarked the stout girl +lightly. "I'd give all my ability to make faces to be able to sing +even 'America' through once and keep on the key. I can't sing and +never could. When I was a little girl in school the teachers never +would let me sing with the rest of the children, because I led them +all off the key. It was very nice at the beginning of the term, and +I sang with the other children anywhere from once to half a dozen +times, never longer than that. I had the strongest voice in the room +and whatever note I sang the rest of the children sang. It was +dreadful," finished Elfreda reminiscently. + +"It must have been," agreed Miriam Nesbit. "Can you remember how you +looked when you were little, Elfreda?" + +"I don't have to tax my brain to remember," answered Elfreda. "Ma +has photographs of me at every age from six months up to date. To +satisfy your curiosity, however," her face hardened until it took on +the stony expression of the new student who had locked Grace out of +her room, "I will state that--" + +"The Anarchist! the Anarchist!" exclaimed Ruth and Miriam together. + +"What are you two talking about?" asked Ruth Denton. + +"About the Anarchist," teased Miriam. "Wait until you see her." + +"You have seen her," laughed Grace. "Elfreda just imitated her to +perfection." Thereupon Grace related their recent unpleasant +experience to Arline and Ruth. + +"What are you going to do about it?" asked Arline. + +"We will see Mrs. Elwood as soon as we return to Wayne Hall, and ask +her to gently, but firmly, request the Anarchist to move elsewhere." + +"Why do you call her the Anarchist?" asked Arline. + +"Elfreda, please repeat your imitation," requested Miriam, her black +eyes sparkling with fun. + +Elfreda complied obediently. + +"You understand now, don't you?" laughed Grace. + +"I should be very stupid if I didn't," declared Arline. + +"Of course she's dark, with eyebrows an inch wide. You can't expect +me to give an imitation of anything like that," apologized Elfreda. + +"I think I should recognize her on sight," smiled Ruth Denton. + +"We are miles off our original subject," remarked Grace. "Elfreda +hasn't told us how she looked as a child." + +"All right. I'll tell you now," volunteered J. Elfreda graciously. +"I had round, staring blue eyes and a fat face. I wore my hair down +my back in curls--that is, when it was done up on curlers the night +before--and it was almost tow color. I had red cheeks and was ashamed +of them, and my stocky, square-shouldered figure was anything but +sylphlike. I was not beautiful, but I was very well satisfied with +myself, and to call me 'Fatty' was to offer me deadly insult. That +is about as much as I can remember," finished the stout girl. + +"Really, Elfreda, while you were describing yourself I could fairly +see you," smiled Arline. + +"Now it's your turn," reminded Elfreda. "I imagine you were a +cunning little girl." + +Arline flushed at the implied compliment. "Father used to call me +'Daffydowndilly,'" she began. "My hair was much lighter than it is +now, but it has always been curly. I am afraid I used to be very +vain, for I loved to stand and smile at myself in the mirror simply +because I liked my yellow curls and was fascinated with my own smile. +No one told me I was vain, for Mother died when I was a baby, and +even my governess laughed to see me worship my own reflection. When +I was twelve years old, Father engaged a governess who was different +from the others. She was a widow and had to support herself. She was +highly educated and one of the sweetest women I have ever known. When +she took charge of me I was a vain, stupid little tyrant, but she +soon made me over. She remained with me until I entered a prep +school, then an uncle whom she had never seen died and left her some +money. She's coming to Overton to see me some day. Overton is her +Alma Mater, too." + +"You are next, Grace," nodded Ruth. + +"There isn't much to tell about me," began Grace. "I was the tomboy +of Oakdale. I loved to climb trees and play baseball and marbles. I +was thin as a lath and like live wire. My face was rather thin, too, +and I remember I cried a whole afternoon because a little girl at +school called me 'saucer-eyes.' There wasn't a suspicion of curl in +my hair, and I wore it in two braids. I never thought much about +myself, because I was always too busy. I was forever falling in with +suspicious looking characters and bringing them home to be fed. +Mother used to throw up her hands in despair at the acquaintances I +made. Then, too, I had a propensity for bestowing my personal +possessions on those who, in my opinion, needed them. Mother and I +were not always of the same opinion. I wore my everyday coat to +church for a whole winter as a punishment for having given away my +best one without consulting her. With me it was a case of act first +and think afterward. I don't believe I was particularly mischievous, +but I had a habit of diving into things that kept Mother in a state +of constant apprehension. Father used to laugh at my pranks and tell +Mother not to worry about me. He used to declare that no matter into +what I plunged I would land right side up with care. I was never at +the head of my classes in school, but I was never at the foot of +them. I was what one might call a happy medium. My little-girl life +was a very happy one, and full to the brim with all sorts of pleasant +happenings." + +"I never heard you say so much about yourself before, Grace," +observed Elfreda. + +"I'm usually too much interested in other people's affairs to think +of my own," laughed Grace. "I have never heard Anne say much about +her childhood, either. She must have had all sorts of interesting +experiences." + +"Mine was more exciting than pleasant," returned Anne. "Practically +speaking, I was brought up in the theatre and knew a great deal more +about things theatrical than I did about dolls and childish games. +I was a solemn looking little thing and wore my hair bobbed and tied +up with a ribbon. I never cried about the things that most children +cry over, but I would stand in the wings and weep by the hour over +the pathetic parts of the different plays we put on. Father was a +character man in a stock company. We lived in New York City and I +used to frequently go to the theatre with him. My father wished me +to become a professional, but my mother was opposed to it. When I was +sixteen I played in a company for a short time. Then mother and +sister and I went to Oakdale to live, and the nicest part of my life +began. There I met Grace and Miriam and two other girls who are among +my dearest friends. Nothing very exciting has ever happened to me, +and even though I have appeared before the public I haven't as much +to tell as the rest of you have." + +"But countless things must have happened to you in the theatre," +persisted Arline, looking curiously at Anne. + +"Not so many as you might imagine," replied Anne. Then she said +quickly, "Miriam must have been an interesting little girl." + +"I was a very haughty young person," answered Miriam. "In the +Oakdale Grammar School I was known as the Princess. Do you remember +that, Grace?" + +Grace nodded. "Miriam used to order the girls in her room about as +though they were her subjects," she declared. "She had two long black +braids of hair and her cheeks were always pink. She was the tallest +girl in her room and the teachers used to say she was the prettiest." + +"I was a regular tyrant," went on Miriam. "I had a frightful temper. +I was a snob, too, and looked upon girls whose parents were poor with +the utmost contempt." + +"Miriam Nesbit, you can't be describing yourself!" exclaimed Arline +incredulously. + +"Ask Grace if I am not giving an accurate description of the Miriam +Nesbit of those days," challenged Miriam. + +"It isn't fair to ask me," fenced Grace. "You always invited me to +your parties." + +"There, you can draw your own conclusions," retorted Miriam +triumphantly. "I don't object to telling about my past shortcomings +as I have at last outgrown a few of my disagreeable traits." + +"Were you and Grace friends then?" asked Arline. + +"We played together and went to each other's houses, but we were +never very chummy," explained Grace. "We were both too headstrong and +too fond of our own way to be close friends. It was after we entered +high school that we began to find out that we liked each other, +wasn't it, Miriam?" + +"Yes," returned Miriam, looking affectionately at her friend. In two +sentences Grace had effectually bridged a yawning gap in Miriam's +early high school days of which the latter was heartily ashamed. + +"Every one has told a tale but Ruth," declared Elfreda. "Now, Ruth, +what have you to say for yourself?" + +"Not much," said Ruth, shaking her head. "So far, my life has been +too gray to warrant recording. That is, up to the time I came to +Overton," she added, smiling gratefully on the little circle. "My +freshman year was a very happy one, thanks to you girls." + +"But when you were a child you must have had a few good times that +stand out in your memory," persisted Elfreda. + +Ruth's face took on a hunted expression. Her mouth set in hard +lines. "No," she said shortly. "There was nothing worth remembering. +Perhaps I'll tell you some day, but not now. Please don't think me +hateful and disobliging, but I don't wish to talk of myself." + +Arline Thayer eyed Ruth with displeasure. "I don't see why you +should say that, Ruth. We have all talked of ourselves," she said +coldly. + +Ruth flushed deeply. She felt the note of censure in Arline's voice. + +"I think we had better go," announced Grace, consulting her watch. +"It is now half-past seven. We ought to be at Wayne Hall by eight +o'clock. You know the Herculean labor I have before me." + +"Herculean labor is a good name for our coming task," chuckled Anne. +"The Anarchist will make Wayne Hall resound with her vengeful cries +when she is thrust out of the room with all her possessions." + +Jesting light-heartedly over the coming encounter, the diners +strolled out of Vinton's and down College Street in the direction of +the campus. Arline was the first to leave them. Her good night to the +four girls from Wayne Hall was cordial in the extreme, but to Ruth +she was almost distant. A little later on they said good night to +Ruth, who looked ready to cry. + +"Cheer up," comforted Grace, who was walking with Ruth. "Arline will +be all right to-morrow." + +"I hope so," responded Ruth mournfully. "I did not mean to make her +angry, only there are some things of which I cannot speak to any one." + +"I understand," rejoined Grace, wondering what Ruth's secret cross +was. "Good night, Ruth." + +Elfreda, Miriam and Anne bade Ruth goodnight in turn. + +"Now, for the tug of war," declared Elfreda as they hurried up the +steps of Wayne Hall. "On to the battlefield and down with the +Anarchist!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MRS. ELWOOD TO THE RESCUE + + +As Grace approached the curtained archway that divided the living-room +from the hall she could not help wishing that she might have settled +the affair without Mrs. Elwood's assistance. She was not afraid to +approach Mrs. Elwood, who was the soul of good nature, but Grace +disliked the idea of the scene that she felt sure would follow. The +young woman now occupying the room that she and Anne had +re-engaged for their sophomore year would contest their right to occupy +it. Mrs. Elwood would be obliged to set her foot down firmly. It +would all be extremely disagreeable. Grace reflected. Then the memory +of the Anarchist's glaring incivility returned, and without further +hesitation Grace walked into the living-room, followed by her +companions. + +Mrs. Elwood, who was sitting in her favorite chair reading a +magazine, looked up absently, then, staring incredulously at the +newcomers, trotted across the room, both hands outstretched in +welcome. "Why, Miss Harlowe and Miss Nesbit, I had given you up for +to-night. Here are Miss Pierson and Miss Briggs, too. I'm so glad to +see you. When did you arrive? I thought there was no train from the +north before nine o'clock." + +"Didn't Miss Dean tell you we had arrived?" asked Grace, as Mrs. +Elwood shook hands in turn with each girl. + +"I haven't seen Miss Dean. She went out before I came home," replied +Mrs. Elwood. + +"Wait until we catch the faithless Emma," threatened Anne. "She +promised to be our herald. We arrived here at a little after five +o'clock. We did not stay here long, for Miss Thayer, of Morton House, +invited us to dinner at Vinton's." + +"How do you like the way I fixed your room this year?" asked Mrs. +Elwood. + +"We haven't been in it yet," answered Grace. "That is, we went only +as far as the door." + +"Oh, then you must see it at once," said Mrs. Elwood briskly. "I +have had it repapered. There is a new rug on the floor, too, and I +have put a new Morris chair in and taken out one of the cane-seated +chairs." + +"No wonder the Anarchist refuses to vacate," muttered Elfreda. + +"What did you say, my dear?" remarked Mrs. Elwood amiably. + +"Oh, I was just talking nonsense," averred Elfreda solemnly. + +"I won't keep you girls out of your rooms any longer. I know you +must be tired from your long journey. Come upstairs at once." + +Mrs. Elwood had already crossed the room and was out in the hall, +her foot on the first step of the stairs. The girls exchanged +glances. There was a half smothered chuckle from Elfreda, then Grace +hurried after their good-natured landlady. "Wait a minute, Mrs. +Elwood," began Grace, "I have something to tell you before you go +upstairs. This afternoon, when we arrived, we went directly to our +rooms. The door of our room was locked, however. We knocked +repeatedly, and it was at last opened by a young woman who said the +room was hers and refused to allow us to enter it." + +During this brief recital Mrs. Elwood looked first amazed, then +incredulous. Her final expression was one of lively displeasure, and +with the exclamation, "I might have known it!" she marched upstairs +with the air of a grenadier, the girls filing in her wake. Pausing +before the door she listened intently. The sound of some one moving +within could be heard distinctly. Mrs. Elwood rapped sharply on the +door. The footsteps halted; after a few seconds the sound began again. + +"She thinks we have come back," whispered Elfreda. + +"So we have," smiled Grace, "with reinforcements." + +Her smile was reflected on the faces of her friends. Mrs. Elwood, +however, did not smile. Two red spots burned high on her cheeks, her +little blue eyes snapped. Again she knocked, this time accompanying +the action with: "Open this door, instantly. Mrs. Elwood wishes to +speak with you." + +"Do not imagine that you can gain entrance to this room through any +such pretense," announced a contemptuous voice from the other side +of the door. "I believe I stated that I did not wish to be disturbed." + +"And I state that you must open the door," commanded Mrs. Elwood. +"You are not addressing one of the students. This is Mrs. Elwood." + +A grating of the key in the lock followed, then the door was +cautiously opened far enough to allow a scowling head to be thrust +out. The instant the Anarchist's narrowed eyes rested on Mrs. Elwood +her belligerent manner changed. She swung the door wide, remarking +in cold apology; "Pray, pardon me, Mrs. Elwood. I believed that a number +of rude, ill-bred young women whom I had the misfortune to encounter +earlier in the day were renewing their attempts to annoy me." + +"There are no such young women at Wayne Hall," retorted Mrs. Elwood, +who was thoroughly angry. "The majority of the young women here were +with me last year, and not one of them answers your description. +Really, Miss Atkins, you must know that you are trespassing. This +room belongs to Miss Harlowe and Miss Pierson. It was theirs last +year and they arranged with me last June to occupy it again during +their sophomore year. How you happened to be here is more than I can +say. I believe I gave you the room at the end of the hall." + +"The room to which you assigned me did not meet with my approval," +was the calm reply. "I prefer this room." + +"You can't have it," returned Mrs. Elwood decisively. + +"But I insist upon remaining where I am," persisted the intruder. +"If necessary, I will allow Miss Harlowe or her roommate to occupy +the other half of the room." + +"I have told you that you can not have the room," exclaimed Mrs. +Elwood, eyeing her obstinate antagonist with growing disfavor. "If +you do not wish to take the room at the end of the hall, then I have +nothing else in the house to offer you. No doubt you can find board +to suit you in some other house." + +"I wish to stay here," returned the Anarchist stubbornly. "Let Miss +Harlowe have the room at the end of the hall." + +Sheer exasperation held Mrs. Elwood silent for a moment. The +Anarchist peered defiantly at her from under her bushy eyebrows. She +made no move toward vacating the room of which she had so coolly +taken possession. + +"We'll go for our bags and suit cases, Mrs. Elwood," suggested Grace +wickedly. "We left them in Miriam's room." + +"Very well," returned the intrepid landlady. "Your room will be +ready for you when you return." + +"That is what I call a stroke of genius on your part, Grace," +remarked Miriam, as they entered her room. "Mrs. Elwood can deal with +the Anarchist more summarily without an audience." + +"It must be very humiliating for that Miss Atkins," mused Anne, "but +it's her own fault." + +"Of course it's her own fault," emphasized Elfreda. "She doesn't +appear to know when the pleasure of her company is requested +elsewhere." + +"Shall we go now?" asked Anne, lifting her heavy suit case +preparatory to moving. + +"Not yet," counseled Grace. "We must give her time enough to get out +of sight before we appear." + +Elfreda boldly took up her station at the door and reported +faithfully the enemy's movements. After a twenty minutes' wait, the +stout girl closed the door with a bang, exclaiming triumphantly: +"She's gone! She just paraded down the hall carrying her goods and +chattels. Mrs. Elwood stalked behind carrying a hat box. She looked +like an avenging angel. Hurry up, now, and move in before the +Anarchist changes her mind and comes back to take possession all over +again." + +Grace and Anne lost no time in taking Elfreda's advice. Five minutes +later they were back in their old room. "Stay here a while, girls," +invited Grace. Miriam and Elfreda had assisted their friends with +their luggage. + +"How nice your room looks," praised Miriam. "I like that wall paper. +It is so dainty. Your favorite blue, too, Grace. I wonder if Mrs. +Elwood knew that blue was your color?" + +"I suppose so," returned Grace. "Two-thirds of my clothes are blue, +you know. I must run downstairs and thank her for championing our +cause. I won't be gone five minutes." + +"We must go," declared Miriam. "We are going to begin unpacking to-night." + +Running lightly down the stairs, Grace thrust her head between the +portieres that separated the living-room from the hall. Mrs. Elwood +sat reading her magazine as placidly as though nothing had happened +within the last hour to disturb her equanimity. + +"Thank you ever so much, Mrs. Elwood," said Grace gratefully, +walking up to the dignified matron and shyly offering her hand. + +"Nonsense, child!" was the reply. "You have nothing for which to +thank me. You don't suppose I would allow a new boarder to infringe +upon the rights of my old girls, do you?" + +"No," admitted Grace. "I'm sorry that things had to happen that +way," she added regretfully. + +"Don't you worry about it any more, Miss Harlowe," comforted the +older woman. "It's nothing you are to blame for. You had the first +right to the room. I gave this girl Miss Gaines's old room. Her +roommate is to be a freshman, too. She hasn't arrived yet. Miss +Atkins decided to pick out her own room, I imagine. Evidently she +took a fancy to yours. As soon as you girls had gone, she gave me one +awful look, gathered up her belongings, and went to the other room +without another word. I picked up two or three things she dropped and +carried them down for her. I wouldn't be sorry if she went to some +other house to board. She looks like a trouble maker." + +Grace was of the same opinion, but did not say so. Always eager to +excuse other people's shortcomings, she found it hard to account for +the feeling of strong dislike that had risen within her during her +first encounter with the young woman Elfreda had laughingly named the +Anarchist. She had hoped that the four freshmen at Wayne Hall would +be girls whom it would be a pleasure to know. She had looked forward +to meeting these newcomers and to assisting them in whatever way she +could best give help. Now at least one of her castles in the air had +been built in vain. + +"Perhaps we may like Miss Atkins after we know her better," she +said, trying hard to keep the doubt she felt out of her voice. + +Mrs. Elwood shook her head. "I hope she will improve on +acquaintance, but I doubt it. It isn't my principle, my dear, to +speak slightingly of any student in my house, but I am certain that +this is not the last time I shall have to lay down the law of Wayne +Hall to Miss Atkins." + +At this plain speaking Grace flushed but said nothing. She +understood that Mrs. Elwood's words had been spoken in confidence. + +"I'm so glad to see you again, Mrs. Elwood," she smiled, bent on +changing the subject. + +"And I to see you, my dear," was the hearty response. "I have missed +my Oakdale girls this summer." + +After a few moments' conversation Grace said good night and went +slowly upstairs. In spite of her satisfaction at being back at +Overton she could not repress a sigh of regret over the recent +unpleasantness. + +"The unforeseen always happens," she reflected, pausing for a moment +on the top step. "I hope the Anarchist will 'stay put' this time." +She laughed softly at the idea of the Anarchist standing stiff and +stationary in her new room. Then the ridiculous side of the encounter +dawning on her, she sat down on the stairs and gave way to sudden +silent laughter. + +"What did Mrs. Elwood say?" asked Anne as Grace entered the room. + +"I am afraid Mrs. Elwood is not, and never will be, an admirer of +the Anarchist," said Grace. "Seriously speaking, she is half inclined +to ask her to leave Wayne Hall. She believes she will have further +trouble with her. Perhaps we should have waited. We might have tried, +later, to gain possession of our room," added Grace doubtfully. + +Anne shook her head. "We would be waiting still, if we had attempted +to settle matters without Mrs. Elwood." + +"But it seems too bad to begin one's sophomore year so unpleasantly. +All summer I had been planning how helpful I would try to be to +entering freshmen, and this is the way my splendid visions have +materialized." Grace eyed Anne rather dejectedly. + +"Never mind," soothed Anne. "By to-morrow this little unpleasantness +will have completely blown over. Perhaps the Anarchist," Anne smiled +over the title Elfreda had bestowed upon the disturbing freshman, +"will discover that she can make friends more quickly by being +pleasant. She may reform over night. Stranger things have happened." + +"But nothing of that sort will happen in her case," declared Grace. +"You said just a moment ago if it hadn't been for Mrs. Elwood we +would still be out in the hall clamoring for a room, didn't you!" + +"I did," smiled Anne. + +"That was equivalent to accusing the Anarchist of stubbornness, +wasn't it?" + +"It was." + +"Very well. If she is half as stubborn as I believe her to be, she +won't be different to-night, to-morrow or for a long time afterward." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE BELATED FRESHMAN + + +"The first thing I shall do this morning after breakfast is to +unpack," announced Grace Harlowe with decision, as she gave her hair +a last pat preparatory to going downstairs to breakfast. "Last year +I was so excited over what studies I intended to take and meeting new +girls that I unpacked by fits and starts. It was weeks before I knew +where to find things. But I've reformed, now. I'm going to put every +last article in place before I set foot outside Wayne Hall. Do you +wish the chiffonier or the bureau this year, Anne, for your things?" + +"The chiffonier, I think," replied Anne, after due reflection. "I +haven't as much to stow away as you have. It will do nicely for me." + +"There goes the breakfast bell!" exclaimed Grace. "Come along, Anne, +I'm hungry. Besides, I'd like the same seat at the table that I had +last year." + +Outside their door they were joined by Miriam and Elfreda, and the +four friends stopped to talk before going downstairs. + +"Were you haunted by nightmares in which glowering Anarchists +pranced about?" asked Miriam, her eyes twinkling. + +"No," replied Grace. "I slept too soundly even to dream." + +"I dreamed that I went into the registrar's office to get my chapel +card," began Elfreda impressively. "When she handed it to me it was +three times larger than the others. On it in big red letters was +printed, 'The Anarchist, Her Card.' I thought I handed it back to her +and tried to explain that I wasn't an anarchist because I had neither +bushy eyebrows nor a scowl. She just sat and glared at me, saying +over and over, 'Look in your mirror, look in your mirror,' until I +grew so angry I threw the card at her. It hit her and she fell +backward. That frightened me, although it seemed so strange that a +little, light piece of pasteboard could strike with such force. I +tried to lift her, but she grew heavier and heavier. Then--" + +"Yes, 'then,'" interposed Miriam, "I awoke in time to save myself +from landing on the floor with a thump. Elfreda mistook me for the +registrar. She was walking in her sleep." + +"Of course I didn't mean to," apologized Elfreda, "You know that, +don't you, Miriam? I can't help walking in my sleep. I've done it +ever since I was a little girl." + +"I forgive you, but you must promise not to dream," laughed Miriam. +"Otherwise I am likely to find myself out the window or being dropped +gently downstairs while you dream gaily on, regardless of what +happens to your long-suffering roommate." + +As they entered the dining room several girls already seated at the +table welcomed them with joyful salutations. It was at least ten +minutes before any one settled down to breakfast. Grace observed with +secret relief that Miss Atkins was not at the table. The three +freshmen who were to fill the last available places in Wayne Hall had +not yet arrived. During breakfast a ceaseless stream of merry chatter +flowed on. Everyone wished to tell her neighbor about her vacation, +of what she intended to take during the fall term, or of how +impossible it was to get hold of her trunk. Then there was the usual +amount of wondering as to why the four freshmen hadn't appeared. + +"One of them is here--that is, she's in the house," remarked Elfreda +laconically. + +"She is!" exclaimed Emma Dean, opening her eyes. "I didn't see her +yesterday." + +"You were consoling your homesick cousin, so how could you know what +went on here?" reminded Grace. It had been decided that nothing +should be said regarding the events of the previous day. + +"So I was," said Emma. "She made me think of Longfellow's 'Rainy +Day.' She looked so 'dark and dreary.'" + +"What a unique comparison," chirped a wide-awake sophomore. "That +will be so appropriate for the freshman grind book." + +"It is our turn this year," exulted Elfreda. "I shall be on the +lookout for good material, too. I know one freshman who will be a +candidate for honors." + +"Who?" inquired Emma Dean curiously. + +Grace looked appealingly at the stout girl. A slight shake of the +head reassured her. Elfreda abandoned her intention of mentioning +names, and parried Emma's question so cleverly that the latter became +interested in something else and forgot that she had asked it. + +The instant she had finished her breakfast, Grace reannounced her +intention of unpacking her trunk and rose to leave the table. Anne +followed her, a curious smile on her face. The majority of the girls +rose from the table at the same time, or immediately after, and went +their various ways. + +"Now," declared Grace energetically, "I am going to begin my labor." + +"What did you say you were going to do?" asked Anne innocently. + +"Unpack my trunk. I--why--I--haven't any trunk to unpack!" exclaimed +Grace in bewilderment. Then catching sight of Anne's mirthful face, +she sprang forward, caught Anne by the shoulders and shook her +playfully. "Anne Pierson, you bad child, you heard me make all my +plans for unpacking, yet you wouldn't remind me that my trunk was +still at the station." + +"I couldn't resist keeping still and allowing you to plan," +confessed Anne. "What a joke that would be for the grind book!" + +"Yes, wouldn't it though?" agreed Grace sarcastically. "However, we +are not freshmen, and as my roommate I strictly forbid you to publish +my stupidity broadcast. Having the unpacking fever in my veins, I +shall console myself with unpacking my bag and suit case. I'll keep +on wishing for my trunk and perhaps it will come." Grace walked to +the window. She leaned out, peering anxiously down the road. Then, +with a cry of delight, she exclaimed: "Come here, Anne." + +Anne walked obediently to the window. + +"'Tell me, Sister Anne, do you see anything?'" quoted Grace. + +"You are saved, Fatima," returned Anne dramatically. "It is an +express wagon." + +Grace darted out of her door and down the stairs, meeting the +expressman on the veranda, her trunk on his shoulder. Anne, having +notified Elfreda and Miriam that the trunks had arrived, went +downstairs to look after hers. + +"Now I can carry out my plan, after all," declared Grace, with great +satisfaction. "'He who laughs last, laughs best,' you know," she +added slyly. + +"Before unpacking, first find your trunk," retorted Anne. + +"Thank goodness, we don't have to think about entrance examinations +this year," said Grace, as she knelt before her trunk, fitting the +key to the lock. + +"Yes, it does make considerable difference," returned Anne. "We +shall have more time to ourselves. Besides, we won't have to worry +our heads off the first week about whether we survived or perished." + +The sound of an automobile horn caused Grace to run to the window. +"It's the bus!" she cried. "Three strange girls are getting out of +it. Evidently our freshmen have arrived. That tall girl looks +interesting. One of them is as stout as Elfreda. The little girl is +cunning. I think I like her the best of the three. Oh dear!" she +exclaimed ruefully, hastily drawing back from the window, "she looked +straight up and saw me standing here. What will she think of me?" + +"You shouldn't be so curious," teased Anne. + +"I know it," admitted Grace. "I'm not over curious as a rule. I hope +the tall girl is to room with the Anarchist. She looks capable of +keeping her in order." + +"That task will, no doubt, be handed over to you," said Anne, who +had been making rapid progress in unpacking, while Grace had been +occupied in looking over the newcomers. "You'd better get your +unpacking done, so that you'll be ready for it--the task, I mean." + +Grace sat down before her trunk with a little impatient sigh. For +the space of an hour the two girls worked rapidly, almost in silence. +Both trunks had been emptied and the greater part of their contents +stored away when the sound of an angry, protesting voice outside the +door caused them to look at each other wonderingly. + +"What can have happened?" asked Anne. + +Even as Anne spoke a never-to-be-forgotten voice said impressively, +"What you prefer is immaterial to me, I prefer to room alone." The +emphatic closing of a door followed. There was a sound of hurrying +footsteps on the stairs, then all was still. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE ANARCHIST CHOOSES HER ROOMMATE + + +"It's the Anarchist, of course," said Anne, turning to Grace. + +"I wonder who she left roomless in the hall this time," speculated +Grace. "Shall we go and see?" + +"Do you think we had better?" hesitated Anne. + +"Yes," returned Grace boldly. "To a certain extent we are +responsible for the welfare of the freshmen." Opening the door, she +looked up and down the hall. Then, with a sudden air of resolution, +she walked downstairs. On the oak seat in the hall, looking +disconsolately about her, sat the "cunning" freshman that Grace had +admired. At sight of Grace she sprang toward the sophomore with an +eager, "Won't you please tell me where I can find Mrs. Elwood?" + +"I believe she has gone to market," replied Grace. "She usually goes +at this time every morning. Can I help you in any way?" + +"No-o," replied the other girl doubtfully. "I wished to see Mrs. +Elwood, because--" Her lip quivered. A big tear rolled down her +cheek. "Oh, I hate college," she muttered in a choking voice. "I wish +I hadn't come here. I'd go back to the station and take the next +train west, if I hadn't promised my brother that I'd stay. I hate the +east and everything in it. I know I'm going to be unhappy here." + +With the smile that few people could resist, Grace sat down on the +seat beside the tearful little stranger. "I think I know what is +troubling you," she said gently. "I could not help overhearing Miss +Atkins a few moments ago. I also heard you running downstairs, so I +came down, too, to ask you if there was anything I could do for you." + +"You are very kind," faltered the stranger. "I must wait to see Mrs. +Elwood, but will you tell me your name, please?" + +"Oh, I beg your pardon for not introducing myself," responded Grace +contritely. "I am Grace Harlowe of the sophomore class." + +"My name is Mildred Taylor," responded the newcomer. "I came from +the station in the bus a few minutes ago. There were two other +freshmen with me. They seem to be more fortunate than I. The maid +showed us to our rooms. I supposed, of course, that I would have to +room with another girl, but I didn't think--" she paused. + +"I know," sympathized Grace. "I heard what was said to you; at least +a part of it. Won't you come upstairs to our room and meet my +roommate, Miss Pierson?" + +"It is very thoughtful in you to take so much trouble for me," +replied the freshman gratefully. + +"That is part of our plan here at Overton," laughed Grace. "When I +was a lonely, bewildered freshman, several of the upper class girls +made it their business to look out for my comfort. Now it is my turn +to pass that kindness along." + +"What a nice way to look at things!" exclaimed Mildred Taylor. "If +I thought the rest of the girls in the college were going to be like +you, I'd be ready to love Overton." + +"Oh, you will love Overton," was Grace's quick reply. "You can't +help yourself." + +Anne received the forlorn newcomer with a sweet courtesy that quite +charmed her. "We are in the midst of our unpacking," she explained. +"Our trunks came only a little while ago. Won't you take off your hat +and coat?" + +"Anne, I will leave Miss Taylor in your care," declared Grace. +"Please excuse me, I'll be back directly," she nodded encouragingly +to their guest. + +At the door of Miriam's room Grace knocked softly, then in answer to +the impatient, "Come in," entered to find Elfreda standing in the +midst of an extended circle formed by her possessions. + +"Isn't this enough to discourage the most valiant heart?" she +declared, with a comprehensive sweep of her arm over the scattered +contents of her trunk. "But I am going to clear everything away. I +promised Miriam that my half of the room should be kept 'decently and +in order' all year. It is one of my sophomore obligations." + +Grace listened in amusement to the stout girl's earnest assertion. +"I haven't finished unpacking either," she said. "I came for advice. +The freshman who was to occupy the other half of Miss Atkins's room +has arrived, and Miss Atkins won't let her into the room. I just +brought her upstairs to my room. + +"Last night I talked with Mrs. Elwood. She isn't particularly +anxious to have Miss Atkins in the house. When Miss Taylor, that is +the name of the freshman who just came, tells her about what happened +she will ask Miss Atkins to leave Wayne Hall. This girl has brought +with her to Overton the worst possible spirit in which to begin her +freshman year. Of course, we don't know whether she is rich or poor, +or whether her success or failure in college means anything to any +one besides herself. We can not know under what circumstances she has +been brought up. Perhaps she has some one at home who is straining +every nerve to send her to college. Perhaps there is a father, +mother, sister or brother who has made untold sacrifices to give her +a college education. Perhaps there has been no lack of money, only +a desire on the part of parents or a guardian to get rid of her by +sending her off to school. I believe we ought to try to help this +girl in spite of her rudeness to us. Will you go with me to her room? +I want to talk to her. We may find her in a better humor than she was +in last night. While Anne entertains Miss Taylor you and I will +venture into the domain of the Anarchist." + +"I'll go," agreed Elfreda, secretly flattered because Grace had +chosen her. + +Grace led the way down the hall to the end room. A sulky voice +responded to her knock, and throwing open the door the two girls +stepped inside. The belligerent freshman sat bolt upright in a Morris +chair, forbidding and implacable. + +"How do you do?" said Grace politely. "I hope we are not intruding." + +The young woman merely scowled by way of answer. + +"I wonder how I'd better begin," pondered Grace, looking squarely +into the hostile eyes. + +Elfreda stood calmly surveying the scowling girl. "You might ask us +to sit down," she observed impertinently. + +The young woman glanced at the stout girl with an expression of +angry amazement. Elfreda's rudeness was equal to her own. + +"I beg your pardon," she said satirically. "Won't you be seated?" + +"Oh, no, I just wanted to hear you say it," flung back Elfreda. + +Ignoring this retort, Miss Atkins turned to Grace. "What do you +wish?" she asked with cold precision. + +"I am sorry to be obliged to tell you that if you do not allow Miss +Taylor to occupy her half of the room, you are likely to be asked to +leave Wayne Hall," said Grace gravely. "Mrs. Elwood was displeased +over what happened last night, and I know that when she learns of +what has happened to-day she will not overlook it. We do not wish to +see you leave Wayne Hall, and besides, the various college houses are +filling fast. You might have difficulty in securing a desirable room +elsewhere." + +"Is there any reason why I should not occupy this room alone?" + +"None whatever, if you arranged for a single beforehand," interposed +Elfreda shrewdly. "If you did, I can't see why Mrs. Elwood consented +to take Miss Taylor." + +"I did not arrange for a single room," was the stiff response. + +"Then you haven't any case, have you?" queried Elfreda cheerfully. +"Now, see here. I am going to tell you a few things. You are +beginning all wrong. It is just what I did last year, and I had a +pretty disagreeable time, you may rest assured. The best thing you +can do is to tell Miss Taylor to come and claim her half of the room +before anything happens to you. If you leave Wayne Hall, sooner or +later the whole college will hear of it and it won't help you to be +popular, either. It is easy enough to do as you please regardless of +whether or not it pleases others, but you are bound to pay for the +privilege. If you don't believe me, just wait and see." + +A flush mounted to the defiant stranger's cheeks. + +"Public opinion is usually a matter of small importance to me," she +said, but her tone of lofty indifference was not convincing. "There +is, however, a certain amount of wisdom in what you have just said. +I should not care to appear ridiculous in the eyes of the really +important students at Overton. You may inform Miss Taylor that I have +altered my decision. I shall raise no further objections to her as +a roommate." + +With a pompous gesture of dismissal this self-centered young woman +rose and walked majestically to the window. Turning her back squarely +upon Grace and Elfreda, she appeared to be deeply absorbed in +watching what went on in the street, and, divided between vexation +and laughter, the two girls left the room. Elfreda hurried back to +her unpacking and Grace to her own room. + +"It is all right, Miss Taylor. Your roommate is prepared to receive +you," Grace announced. + +"I shall be glad to have some place I can call all my own," sighed +the little girl, "but I know I shall never like her," she added +resentfully. + +"On the contrary, you may learn to like her very much," returned +Grace. "Now I'll help you with your things." Picking up Miss Taylor's +heavy suit case, Grace escorted her to the door of the end room. + +"How did it happen?" greeted Anne, when five minutes later Grace +returned alone, smiling and triumphant. + +"Don't ask me," laughed Grace. "Ask Elfreda. She wrought the miracle." + +"What did she do?" asked Anne. + +"She won the day, or rather the half of the room, by plain +speaking." Grace recounted to Anne what had taken place in the +belligerent young woman's room. "She made more impression on the +Anarchist in five minutes than I could have made in a week," finished +Grace. + +"Elfreda has a remarkable personality," was Anne's thoughtful +answer. "Her very frankness makes an impression where diplomacy +counts for little. However, I am not surprised that history repeated +itself so soon. I hope this is the last time we shall be obliged to +thwart the Anarchist and administer justice to the oppressed. + +"I don't envy Miss Taylor," said Anne. "I wish every girl in college +had as nice a roommate as I have." + +"Beware of flatterers," laughed Grace. + +"And also of Anarchists," added Anne. + +"But of the two," smiled Grace, "I prefer flatterers, especially if +they happen to occupy the other half of my room." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ELFREDA MAKES A RASH PROMISE + + +"How does it feel to be a senior, Mabel?" questioned Miriam Nesbit, +glancing smilingly over where Mabel Ashe, gowned smartly in white, +her brown eyes dancing with interest in what went on about her, sat +eating her dessert, and obligingly trying to answer half a dozen +questions at once. + +The seven other girls at the table looked expectantly at the pretty +senior, who was their hostess at a dinner given by her at Martell's +that Saturday evening. + +"Oh, just the same as it did last year," she replied lightly. "I +feel vastly older and a shade more responsible. To tell you the +truth, I hate to think about it. I don't know how I am ever going to +get along without Overton. I think I shall have to disguise myself +and come back next year as a freshman; then I could do the whole four +years over again." + +"The question is, What are we going to do next year without you?" +remarked Grace mournfully. + +"Let us forget all about it," advised Mabel. "I refuse to have any +weeps at my dinner. You may shed your tears in private, but not here." + +"What are you going to do when you finish college?" asked Miriam +Nesbit. + +"You girls will laugh when I tell you," replied Mabel solemnly, "but +really and truly there is only one thing I care to do. I have warned +Father that I intend to be self-supporting, but I haven't dared to +tell him how I propose to earn my living." + +"What are you going to do? Tell us, Mabel. We won't tell." + +"Frances knows already. She thinks it would be fine, don't you, +Frances?" + +Frances nodded emphatically. + +"I hope to become a newspaper woman," solemnly announced Mabel. + +"A newspaper woman!" cried Constance Fuller. "Why, I think that +would be dreadful!" + +"I don't," stoutly averred Mabel. "I'd love to be a reporter and go +poking into all sorts of places. After a while I'd be sent out to +write up murder trials and political happenings and, oh, lots of big +stories." Mabel beamed on her amazed audience. + +"I never would have believed it of you, but I'm sure you could do +it," predicted Leona Rowe confidently. + +"Good for you!" cried Mabel, leaning across the table to shake hands +with Leona. "I have one loyal supporter at least." + +Mabel's declaration having brought to the minds of the little +company the fact that sooner or later the choice of an after-college +occupation would be necessary, a brisk discussion began as to what +each girl intended to do. Aside from Anne, who had fully determined +to stick to her profession, and Constance, who was specializing in +English, with the intention of one day returning to Overton as an +instructor, no one at the table had a very definite idea of her +future usefulness. + +"We seem to be a rather purposeless lot," remarked Miriam Nesbit. +"The trouble with most of us is that we are not obliged to think +about earning our own living after we leave college. We look forward +to being ornaments in our own particular social set, but nothing +more. I'm not sure, yet, what I am going to do with my education. I +intend to put it to some practical use, though." + +"So am I," agreed Grace. "We'll just have to keep on doing our best +and find ourselves." + +"I suppose that is the real purpose of going to college," said Anne +thoughtfully. + +"I think we are all growing too serious," laughed Mabel. "By the +way, Grace," she went on, "who is that curious looking little +freshman with the perpetual scowl that lives at Wayne Hall!" + +The four Wayne Hall girls exchanged significant glances. + +"Stop exchanging eye messages and tell me," ordered Mabel. + +"Her name is Atkins," returned Grace briefly. Then a peculiar look +in her eyes caused Mabel to say hastily, "I just wondered who she +was," and changed the subject. + +As they left Martell's, walking two by two, Mabel fell into step +with Grace. Slipping her arm through that of the Oakdale girl, she +said in a low tone, "Come over to see me to-morrow evening. I have +something to say to you. I almost said it before the girls; then I +caught your warning look in time. Come to dinner to-morrow night and +stay all evening. I promise faithfully to make you study." + +"I have a theme to do," replied Grace dubiously. "Do you think there +would be any prospect of my getting it done?" + +"Oceans of it," assured Mabel glibly. "I'll be as still as a mouse +while you do it. If you need a subject perhaps I can furnish the +inspiration. As long as I intend to become a newspaper woman I might +as well begin to sprout a few ideas." + +"All right, I'll come," laughed Grace. "Did I tell you I was taking +chemistry this year? I find it very absorbing." + +"I liked it, too," agreed Mabel. "I am more interested in +psychology, though I like my essay and short story work best of all. +I'm going in for interpretative reading, too. All that sort of thing +will help me in my work when I leave here." + +"I wish I knew what I wanted to do," sighed Grace. "I'd love to +begin to plan about it now." + +"It will dawn upon you suddenly some day," prophesied Mabel, "and +you will wonder why you never thought of it before." + +The diners strolled along together as far as the campus. There, +Constance Fuller, Mabel, Frances and Helen Burton left the quartette +from Wayne Hall. + +"It's early yet," said Elfreda, consulting her watch. + +"What time is it, Elfreda?" asked Grace. + +"Half-past eight," answered the stout girl. "We have plenty of time +to study. I, for one, need it. My subjects are all frightfully hard. +I tried to pick out easy ones, but did you ever notice that the +schedule is so arranged that you can't possibly pick out two easy +subjects and recite them both in the same term? One always conflicts +with the other." + +"Long experience, crafty faculty," laughed Miriam. "They know our +weaknesses and how to deal with them." + +"The last time we were out to dinner in a body we talked about the +past. This time it was the future," remarked Elfreda. "That reminds +me, what has become of Arline and Ruth? I haven't seen either of them +this week except at a distance." + +"Arline and Ruth haven't been on friendly terms since the night of +Arline's dinner at Vinton's," Grace remarked soberly. "It isn't +Ruth's fault. She is heartbroken over the estrangement. This is the +first difference she and Arline have ever had." + +"Such a ridiculous thing to quarrel over," sniffed Elfreda. "I could +see that night that Arline was cross because Ruth didn't want to talk +about herself." + +"I hope they will be friends again before the reception," said +Grace. "It would be awkward for all of us if they are not." + +"Oh, dear," sighed Anne, sitting down on the top step of the +veranda. "I'm too lazy to look at my books to-night." The four girls +had reached Wayne Hall and the beauty of the autumn night made them +reluctant to go into the house, where an evening of hard study +awaited them. "I'd like to stay out here for hours and look at the +stars." + +"And have stiff neck and a cold of the fond, clinging type, +tomorrow," jeered Elfreda. + +"How disgustingly practical you are, Elfreda!" exclaimed Miriam. + +"I'm only warning her," persisted Elfreda. + +"It doesn't seem as though we'd been back at Overton for three +weeks, does it?" asked Grace. + +"It seems longer than that to me," said Miriam Nesbit. "The freshman +dance happened ages ago, according to my reckoning, and nothing, +absolutely nothing, has happened since." + +"Never mind, it won't be long until the sophomore reception," +comforted Grace. "I never suspected that you had such a rabid craving +for excitement, Miriam." + +"The freshman dance was a tame affair," averred Miriam. "I think our +class was more interesting in its infancy than is this year's class." + +"I think so, too," agreed Grace. "Still, we don't know what genius +lies hidden in the bosoms of 19--'s freshmen." + +"This year we shall be the hostesses," exulted Elfreda. "Who are you +girls going to invite?" + +"I'll ask Miss Taylor," volunteered Anne. + +"I'll ask Miss Wilton," said Miriam. + +"That's two from Wayne Hall," counted Anne. "There are two freshmen +left." + +"One of us could invite that nice tall girl, Miss Evans," planned +Grace. "That leaves only one girl uninvited." She hesitated. Her +three friends read the meaning of the hesitation. Elfreda sprang +loyally into the breach. + +"I'll ask Miss Atkins," she declared stoutly. "You notice, don't +you, that I am not addressing her by her pet name? I'll conduct her +to the reception and back, if she'll accept my manly arm, and buy her +flowers into the bargain. So go ahead and invite Miss Evans, Grace." + +"J. Elfreda Briggs, you can never manage that Miss Atkins," +protested Miriam. "In the first place, she won't accept you as an +escort, and if she should happen to do so, it will be a sorry evening +for you." + +"I'll take the risk," replied Elfreda confidently. "I managed her +once before, didn't I? You girls go ahead and invite the others. +Leave Miss Atkins to me. I'll escort her in triumph to the reception, +or perish gallantly in the attempt." + +"Do you really believe she will accept your invitation, Elfreda?" +asked Grace doubtfully. + +"I can tell you better after I have asked her," was Elfreda's +flippant retort. "I have an idea that she will feel dreadfully hurt +if no one asks her to go." + +"Hurt!" exclaimed three voices in unison. + +"Yes, hurt," repeated Elfreda. "The Anarchist isn't half so savage +as she pretends to be. That blood-thirsty manner of hers isn't real. +She puts it on to hide something else." + +"But what is it she wishes to hide?" asked Miriam. "Your deductions +are quite beyond us." + +"If I knew I'd tell you. I don't pretend to understand her, but I +can see that she isn't as fierce as she seems. Time and I will solve +the riddle, and when we do you'll be the first to hear of it." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +GIRLS AND THEIR IDEALS + + +Directly after her last class the next day, Grace hurried to her +room to change her gown. She looked forward with eager pleasure to +her evening with Mabel Ashe. She was deeply attached to the pretty +senior, who was the best-liked girl in college, and Grace could not +help feeling a trifle proud of Mabel's frank enjoyment of her +society. Anne, knowing Grace was to be away, had accepted an +invitation to go down to Ruth Denton's little room, help her cook +supper, and spend the evening with her. + +"Oh, dear," sighed Grace, as she tried vainly to reach the two hooks +of her dark blue charmeuse gown that seemed only a sixteenth of an +inch out of reach, "I wish Anne were here. I can touch these two +hooks with the ends of my fingers but I can't fasten them. I'll have +to ask Mabel to hook me up when I get to Holland House." Giving up +in disgust, Grace slipped into her long, blue serge coat, carefully +adjusted her new fall hat that she had just received from home, and +catching up her gloves ran downstairs. + +Mabel Ashe's graceful, welcoming figure leaning over the baluster +waiting for her was the first thing that attracted her attention as +she stepped inside the hall at Holland House. + +"Come right up," invited Mabel. "We'll have a little while together +before dinner. Did you bring your notebook?" + +"Yes," replied Grace. "Remember, you are to help me choose a subject +for my theme. You volunteered, you know." + +"Not until after dinner, though, if you don't mind. Sit down here +and be comfy. This is my pet chair, but I insist on letting you have +it because you are company." She gently pushed Grace into a roomy +leather-covered armchair. Seating herself opposite Grace, Mabel fixed +her brown eyes almost gravely on her. "Now, Grace," she said +earnestly, "please tell me about this Miss Atkins of Wayne Hall." + +"There isn't much to tell," replied Grace. "Did you ever see her?" + +"Once." + +"We had a little trouble with her our very first day back," +continued Grace. "She took possession of our room and refused to give +it up. Then when Mrs. Elwood came to our rescue, she went to the room +that had been assigned to her like a lamb. She felt anything but +lamblike toward me, you may believe, and when later Mrs. Elwood +brought up her new roommate, she refused to allow her to enter." + +"Refused to allow her to enter," repeated Mabel wonderingly. "What +sort of girl is she, Grace?" + +"I don't know," answered Grace doubtfully. "She is an enigma. She +speaks the most precise English, with absolutely no trace of slang. +But she looks as though the whole world were her natural enemy. +Elfreda named her the Anarchist. I am rather ashamed to say we call +her that behind her back." + +Mabel smiled slightly, then asked, "What did the girl do--the one +she wouldn't room with, I mean?" + +"She went downstairs to wait for Mrs. Elwood. The reason I know all +about it is because I happened to hear her tell Miss Taylor, that's +the freshman's name, that she would have to go elsewhere. I knew Mrs. +Elwood was out, so I went down to see if there were anything I could +do for her, and she told me all about it. I knew Mrs. Elwood would +be out of patience with Miss Atkins and ask her to leave Wayne Hall." +Grace paused. + +"What happened next?" asked Mabel interestedly. + +"I told Miss Taylor I would try to fix things for her. I went +upstairs and plotted with Elfreda. Then she and I bearded the dragon +in her den. After I had finished telling her that it would be better +to take little Miss Taylor without further bickering, Elfreda rose +to the occasion and gave her a much-needed lecture. She is very shrewd, +I think. She evidently realized she had gone too far. She objected +to Miss Taylor because it is her nature to object to everything. When +she saw that we had taken up the cudgels in Miss Taylor's behalf, and +that she was likely to get into hot water, she decided to accept her +as a roommate without further opposition. That's the whole story." + +"She must be eccentric and very disagreeable," commented Mabel. +"What made you go to such pains to save her from the wrath of Mrs. +Elwood?" + +"I suppose I felt sorry for her," confessed Grace. "She is beginning +her freshman year in the worst possible spirit. But as I said to the +girls not long ago, we do not know what lies back of her disagreeable +manner. Why are you so interested in hearing about her, Mabel?" + +"She is making herself the subject of considerable censure among the +juniors and seniors by snubbing the girls of her own class and calmly +announcing that she wishes to make only powerful and influential +friends in college," returned Mabel. "You know, of course, the +attitude of the old students toward freshmen. This Miss Atkins is +either laboring under the impression that she is an exception to +tradition, or else she has no sense of the fitness of things. At +first, I am sorry to say, a few of the seniors looked upon her as a +joke, but the reaction has set in, and, like Humpty Dumpty, she is +going to take a great fall. When she does, all the king's horses and +all the king's men won't be of any assistance to her in getting her +back from where she tumbled. I don't believe she realizes that she +is making herself ridiculous. + +"I was at Vinton's last Saturday afternoon. Jessie Meredith invited +another senior and me to luncheon there. Imagine our surprise when +a prim, precise little figure marched up to our table and seated +herself as calmly as though she were the president of the senior +class. There is room for four at those tables, you know, and we had +not reserved ours. Still, there were plenty of other tables at which +she might have seated herself. It was rather embarrassing for all of +us, but it was worse when she tried to break into the conversation. +She insisted on expounding her views on whatever we discussed. We +were compelled to cut short our luncheon and flee to Martell's for +our dessert. We escaped at the moment the waitress was serving her +luncheon, so she couldn't very well rise and pursue us. If I had been +alone, I might have stayed, but Jessie was disgusted, and I was +Jessie's guest." + +Grace had listened to Mabel's recital with troubled eyes. "I never +before knew a girl quite like Miss Atkins," she said slowly. "What +is it you wish me to do for her, Mabel?" + +"Wise young sophomore," laughed Mabel. "How did you guess it?" + +"You are not given to footless gossip," replied Grace quietly. +"Besides, I live at Wayne Hall." + +"Cleverer and cleverer," commented the senior, in mock admiration. +"This is my idea. I had hoped that, being in the same house with her, +you might be able to guide her gently along the beaten trail made by +girls like you. However, after what you have told me, I am afraid you +are not the one to do it." + +"I haven't a particle of influence with her," said Grace soberly. +"You must know that from what I have already told you." + +"Yes, I do know it," answered Mabel. "Is there any one at Wayne Hall +who would be likely to have the right kind of influence?" + +"No-o-o." Grace shook her head doubtfully. Then she suddenly +brightened. "There is one person who might help her. Elfreda is going +to invite her to the sophomore reception. She doesn't wish to do it, +I know, although she hasn't said so. Please don't think me conceited, +but Elfreda would do anything for me. She fancies herself under +obligation to me on account of what happened last year," Grace added +in an embarrassed tone. + +"Grace Harlowe!" exclaimed Mabel delightedly, "I believe we have +solved our problem. J. Elfreda is the very one to make Miss Atkins +wake up to what is expected from her at Overton. Will you talk with +her about it, and ask her if she is willing to try?" + +"I'll tell her tonight," promised Grace. "I'm sure she'll try. She +is not afraid to tackle Miss Atkins, either, or she wouldn't have +invited her to the reception." + +"Then that's settled for the time being at least," declared Mabel +jubilantly. "Just in time for dinner, too. There goes the bell." + +After dinner more conversation followed. It was eight o'clock before +Grace remembered her theme. "What shall I write about?" she demanded. +"You promised to supply the inspiration." + +"So I will," returned Mabel cheerfully. "Why don't you write about--" +She paused, frowning slightly. "After all my vaunted promises I'm +not able to suggest anything on the spur of the moment," she +confessed laughingly. "Why don't you take some incident in your own +life or that of your friends and write a story about it?" she +proposed after a moment's silence. + +"I don't believe I could ever write a story," confessed Grace. "I +think I'll write a little discussion about girls and their ideals." + +"That sounds interesting," commended Mabel. "Go ahead with it. You +may sit at this table, if you like." + +Grace seated herself, nibbled at the end of her fountain pen +reflectively, then began to write. Mabel busied herself with her own +work. At last Grace shoved aside the closely written sheets of paper. +"It's done," she cried, in a triumphant voice. "Now we can talk." + +"May I read it?" asked Mabel. + +"Of course, if you wish to," laughed Grace. "It isn't worth the +trouble, though." + +Mabel picked up the theme and began to read. Grace rose, and +strolling over to the bookcase fell to examining the various +bindings. Her friend's flattering comment, "It's splendid, Grace. I +had no idea you could write so well," caused her to look up in +surprise from the book she held in her hand. + +"I don't think it is very remarkable," she contradicted. "It hasn't +a shred of literary style." + +"It's convincing," argued Mabel. + +"That is because I felt strongly on my subject. When it comes to anything +that lies near my heart I am always convincing. Father says I put up the +most convincing argument of any one he knows," smiled Grace. "He always +declares he is wax in my hands. I hope you will make me a visit and meet +my father and mother, Mabel," she added. + +"I surely will," promised Mabel. "We must correspond after I leave +college. I wish you could go home with me for one of the holiday +vacations. Can't you manage it?" + +"I am afraid not this year," returned Grace doubtfully. "Father and +Mother wouldn't object, but they miss me so during the year that I +feel as though my holidays belonged to them. I am an only child, you +know." + +"So am I," returned Mabel. "I am also extremely popular with my +father. If I can tear myself away from him to make you a visit, +surely you ought to be equally public spirited." + +"I'll think it over," laughed Grace. "Oh, dear!" she exclaimed a +moment later, glancing at the little French clock on the chiffonier, +"I must go. It is twenty minutes to ten. How the time has slipped +away." + +"Thank you," bowed Mabel. "Such appreciation of my society is +gratifying in the extreme. I'll invite you again." + +"See that you do," retorted Grace. "Have you any engagement for +Saturday afternoon? If you haven't, then suppose we have luncheon at +Vinton's; then go for a long walk. We can stay out all afternoon, +stop at the tea shop for supper and come home on the street car, or +walk in, if we choose. We might ask Frances and Anne to join us. +Miriam and Elfreda are going out for a ride. Miriam has a horse here +this year. She had her choice between a horse and a runabout and she +took the horse. The moment Elfreda found out she had one, she wrote +home about it. Now she has a riding horse, too." + +"I had my own pet mount, Elixir, here during my freshman and +sophomore years. The latter part of my second year I didn't take him +out enough to exercise him. So I ordered him sent home. He is a +beauty. Jet black with a three-cornered white spot in the middle of +his forehead. He's an Arabian, and Father paid an extravagant price +for him. He shakes hands and does ever so many tricks that I taught +him. When you go home with me, you shall see him." + +"I'd love to have a riding horse," confessed Grace, "but Father +can't afford it. I've never asked him, but I know he can't. We have +no car either." + +"Make me a visit and you can ride Elixir every day," bribed Mabel. + +"I'd love that!" exclaimed Grace fervently as she slipped into her +coat and settled her hat firmly on her fluffy hair. "Good night, +Mabel. Come and see me soon. Don't forget our Saturday walk." + +"I'll go to the door with you," announced Mabel. "No, I won't forget +our walk. I'll tell Frances about it to-morrow, before she has a +chance to make any other plans. She is a popular young person, and +elusive in the matter of dates." + +"There are others," retorted Grace, with a significant glance at her +friend. + +"So there are," agreed Mabel innocently. + +On the way home Grace wondered if there were any way in which she +might help Laura Atkins. True to her promise, she went at once to +interview Elfreda on the subject of the eccentric freshman. She found +Miriam and the stout girl busily engaged in trying to put together +a puzzle that Elfreda had unearthed in the toy department of one of +the Overton stores that afternoon. Puzzles were the delight of Elfreda's +heart. But, once put together, they immediately ceased to be of +interest. + +"This is a wonder!" she exclaimed at sight of Grace. "It is worth +having. Neither Miriam nor I can put it together." + +"I have a harder one for you to tackle," smiled Grace. Then she +recounted her conversation with Mabel Ashe. + +"You have altogether too much faith in my powers of persuasion," +grumbled Elfreda, secretly pleased, nevertheless. + +"But that is much better than if we had no faith at all," reminded +Grace. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE INVITATION + + +The next morning Grace made a startling discovery. It was directly +after breakfast that she made it. Having fifteen minutes to spare +before going to her first recitation, she decided to reread her +theme. What one wrote always read differently after one had slept +over it. What seemed clever at night might be very commonplace when +read in the cold light of the morning. Grace reached for the book in +which she had placed her theme. It was not there. Going down on her +knees, she looked first under the table, then under the chiffonier, +then turned over the books on the table, then, darting to the closet, +searched the pockets of her long coat. + +"Where can it be?" she cried despairingly. "I am sure I had it when +I came into the hall last night. I couldn't have lost it on my way +across the campus. I'll run down and ask Anne. Perhaps she picked it +up and put it away for me." + +Grace hurried downstairs as fast as her feet would carry her. To her +low inquiry in Anne's ear she received a disappointing answer. Anne, +who was just finishing her breakfast, replied that she had not even +seen the theme. She rose at once to accompany Grace upstairs. The two +girls searched in every nook and corner of the room. "I wanted to +hand it in this morning," lamented Grace. "Now I'll have to write it +all over again. I don't believe I can remember much of it, either. +I'll have to explain to Miss Duncan, too, and ask her to give me +until tomorrow to write it." + +"Perhaps it will be found yet," comforted Anne. + +"No danger of it, unless I lost it in the street. Then there's only +one chance in a thousand of its turning up," declared Grace gloomily. +"I don't see how I happened to be so careless." + +"When must it be handed in?" questioned Anne. + +"This morning," answered Grace dolefully. "I'll have to re-write it +to-night and from memory, too." + +"Why don't you choose another subject?" was Anne's advice. + +"No." Grace shook her head positively. "I can do better with the old +one. I'm not going to bother about asking if any one has found it. +My name was on it. If I made a fuss over it some one might say it was +only an excuse, that I hadn't really lost it, but just wished to gain +time. I hope Miss Duncan won't think that." + +"No one in this house would say so," contradicted Anne loyally. + +"But suppose Alberta Wicks or Mary Hampton heard of it? They might +circulate that rumor. I hate to seem so suspicious, but an ounce of +prevention, you know. I will write it over and say nothing further +about it." Having made up her mind on the subject Grace promptly +dismissed it from her thoughts. + +Miss Duncan did look rather suspiciously at Grace as she related her +misfortune. Grace's gray eyes met hers so fairly and truthfully, +however, that she was forced to believe the young woman's statement. +She gave the desired respite rather ungraciously and Grace took her +place in class, relieved to think she had got off so easily. That +night she rewrote the theme. It did not give her as much trouble as +she had anticipated. She laid down her fountain pen with alacrity +when it was finished and carefully blotted the last sheet. "Now I can +begin to think about the reception," she announced. "What are you +going to wear, Anne?" + +"My new pink gown," said Anne promptly. "As long as I was +extravagant enough to indulge in a new evening dress I might as well +wear it. The sophomore reception is really the most important affair +of the year, to us, at least." + +"I'm delighted to have an opportunity to show off my pale blue +chiffon frock," laughed Grace. "I've been in ecstasies over it ever +since it was made. Have you seen that white gown of Elfreda's? It's +perfectly stunning. I stopped in her room for a minute last night. +She was trying it on. It's the prettiest gown she's had since she +came here. Ask her to show it to you." + +"I'm going over there now," said Anne. "I'll be back in a minute." +It was precisely four minutes later when Anne poked her head in +Grace's door. "Come on into Miriam's room, Grace," she called. "She +has just made chocolate. She has some lovely little cakes and +sandwiches, too. And Elfreda has something to tell us." + +Grace rose from her chair, lay down the notebook she had been +running through, and hastily followed Anne. + +"Have a cushion," laughed Miriam hospitably, throwing a fat sofa +pillow at Grace, who caught it dextrously, patted it into shape and, +placing it on the floor, sat down on it Turk fashion. Elfreda poured +another cup of chocolate, then seated herself on the floor beside +Grace. "Pass Grace the sandwiches, Anne," she ordered. "We made these +ourselves. We bought the stuff at that new delicatessen place on High +Street." + +"They are delicious," commented Grace, between bites. "I'm hungry +to-night. I didn't like the dinner very well." + +"Neither did we," responded Miriam. "After dinner we went out for a +walk to see what we could find, and we brought back what you see +spread before you." + +"I shall pay a visit to the delicatessen shop," announced Grace. +"To-morrow night you must come to my room for a spread." + +"I'll come to your room with pleasure," retorted Elfreda, "but not +to eat. One spread a week is my limit. Now for my news. The Anarchist +has accepted my invitation to the reception." + +"Really!" exclaimed Grace. "Do tell us about it, Elfreda." + +"I delivered my invitation after dinner tonight," began Elfreda. "I +waited and waited, thinking some one else might invite her. I am not +yearning for the honor, you know. I went to her door and knocked. Her +roommate, Miss Taylor, opened it. The Anarchist sat over in one +corner of the room, studying like mad. By the way, I understand she +is a dig and stands high in her classes." + +"Is she?" asked Anne, opening her eyes. "Then that is one thing she +has in her favor. Perhaps we shall discover other good qualities in +her that we've overlooked." + +"Perhaps," echoed Miriam dryly. + +"Mustn't interrupt me," drawled Elfreda. "I may become peevish and +refuse to talk." + +"All right," smiled Grace. "We accept the warning. Continue, my dear +Miss Briggs." + +Elfreda grinned cheerfully. "I inquired with deferential politeness +if Miss Atkins were busy. Then the Anarchist looked up from her book, +glared like a lion, straightened her eyebrows and said in that awful +voice she owns, 'Did you wish to speak to me?'" + +Elfreda unconsciously imitated the belligerent freshman. Her +audience giggled appreciatively. + +"I replied in my most impressive English that I did wish to do that +very thing," continued Elfreda. "Then I inquired tactfully if I was +too late with my invitation to the sophomore dance. Without giving +her time to answer I put in my application for the position of escort. +Then"--Elfreda paused, a slight flush rose to her round face, "then +she looked me in the eye and told me a deliberate untruth. She said +she had refused one invitation because she had not been interested +in the reception, but that she had changed her mind. She thanked me +and said she would be pleased to go. I bowed myself out without further +ado, but Miss Taylor gave me the queerest look as I went. Her face +was as red as fire. It was she who told me that the Anarchist had not +been invited. She was afraid I might think she hadn't told the truth, +but I knew better. Now, don't ever tell any one what I have said." + +"I'm sorry she didn't tell the truth," said Grace disapprovingly. +"Why couldn't she say that she had not been invited?" + +"False pride," commented Miriam. "She evidently isn't so indifferent +to the opinion of others as she would have us believe." + +"She is a strange girl," mused Anne. "Perhaps she is not altogether +to blame for her odd ways." + +"'Odd' is a good name for them," jeered Elfreda. "I wouldn't call it +'odd,' I'd use a stronger word than that. It's contemptible. I'm +sorry I asked her to go to the reception." + +"Then recall your invitation and tell her your reason for doing so," +advised Miriam Nesbit bluntly. "Don't take her to the reception in +that spirit. You will make yourself and her equally unhappy." + +"Hear the sage lay down the law," retorted Elfreda impudently. +"She's right, though, only I won't withdraw my invitation at this +late date. I'll try to give the Anarchist the most exciting time of +her young life, but if she balks please don't blame me. You can lead +an Anarchist to a reception, you know, but you can't make her dance +unless she happens to feel like dancing. Still, I am going to do my +best, and no sophomore can do more." + +"That sounds like the Elfreda Briggs I heard talking last night," +said Grace, smiling her approval of the stout girl's words. + +"So it does," agreed Elfreda. "Hereafter I'll try to be more +consistent. As for the Anarchist, she shall reap the benefit of my +vow. I hope she knows how to dance. If she doesn't I shall have to +constitute myself a committee of one to furnish amusement for her. +If on the fatal night you see me, my arm firmly linked in that of her +majesty, parading solemnly about the gymnasium with a fixed smile, +and an air of gayety that I am a long way from feeling, don't you +dare to laugh at me." + +"We won't laugh at you, then, even though we can't help laughing at +you now," said Grace. "We shall be only too glad to do anything we +can to help you entertain her." + +"I know that. Maybe you can help and maybe you can't. But if she +doesn't enjoy herself it won't be my fault." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ANTICIPATIONS + + +The day of the sophomore reception was a busy one for the members of +the sophomore class. To them, it was the event of the year, and the +desire to make this dance outshine all its predecessors was paramount +in almost every sophomore breast. Of course, there were the digs, who +never thought of festivities, but spent all their time in study. No +one counted on their help. The greater part of the class, however, +was properly enthusiastic over the music, decorations, gowns and +dance cards. Grace and Miriam, who were on the decorating committee, +had spent the greater part of their day in the gymnasium. Under the +skilful direction of the committee the big room blossomed out in +strange and gorgeous array. There were the masses of evergreen so +convenient for hiding unsightly gymnasium apparatus, which made the +gymnasium a veritable forest green. Strings of Japanese lanterns +added to the effect, while the freshmen and sophomore colors +impartially wound the gallery railing and were draped and festooned +wherever there was the slightest chance for display. + +The sophomores had put forth their best efforts in behalf of their +freshman sisters. When it came to sofa cushions and draperies they +had surrendered their most highly treasured possessions for the good +of the cause. + +"I think we may congratulate ourselves," commented Gertrude Wells as +she stood beside Miriam Nesbit, surveying their almost completed +task. "Look at my hands! I have scratched and bruised them handling +those evergreens. My dress is a sight, too," she added, pointing +first to the green stains that decorated her white linen gown, then +significantly to a three-cornered tear near the bottom of the skirt. +"I don't care. It will be out of style by next summer, at any rate." + +"I'm not much better off," declared Miriam. "You can't be a working +woman and keep up a bandbox appearance, you know." + +"I should say not," laughed Arline Thayer, who had come up in time +to hear Miriam's last remark. + +"Does any one know the time?" asked Grace, standing back a little to +view the effect of the bunting she had been winding about a post. "I +can't see the gym. clock from here. It is so swathed in green boughs +and decorations that its poor round face is almost hidden, and I'm +really too tired to go close enough to find out." + +"It's five minutes past four o'clock," informed Gertrude, glancing +at the tiny watch pinned to her waist. + +"Good gracious!" exclaimed Arline Thayer, "I can't stay here another +minute. I have a hundred things to do before to-night." + +"Where's Ruth?" asked Grace. "I haven't seen either of you lately +except at an aggravating distance." + +Arline's baby face hardened. "I haven't seen Ruth for over two +weeks," she said stiffly. + +"You haven't!" exclaimed Grace, who, stooping to tie her shoe, had +not noticed Arline's changed expression. As she straightened up her +surprised gray eyes met Arline's defiant blue ones. Like a flash she +remembered. "Then you don't know who she has invited to the reception?" + +"No," responded Arline shortly. "I don't know anything about it." + +Grace was about to say something further when, overtaken by sudden +thought, she turned her face away to hide the smile that hovered +about her lips. Meanwhile, Gertrude Wells had engaged Arline in +conversation, and Ruth's name was not mentioned again. + +"This is positively my last appearance this afternoon as a +decorator," declared Emma Dean. "I'm going home to beautify myself +for the great moment when I shall stand in line with my sophomore +sisters to greet the infant freshmen." + +"I'm going home, too, but without bursting into language," drawled +J. Elfreda Briggs. "I pounded my thumb with a hammer, scratched my +nose on an obstinate hemlock bough, and lost a bran span new pair of +scissors. I think it is high time to leave this place. I'm not on the +reception committee, 'tis true, but I have weighty matters to +consider and am on the verge of a perilous undertaking." She uttered +the last words in an all too familiar undertone, shooting a +mischievous glance at her friends which caused Grace, Anne and Miriam +to laugh outright. + +"What are you girls laughing at?" demanded Gertrude Wells. + +"Elfreda is so funny," explained Grace enigmatically. Then, fearing +to offend Gertrude, she said hastily, "What she said was extremely +laughable to us, because she was imitating some one we know." + +The knot of girls separated soon after, going their separate ways. +Anne, Grace, Miriam, Elfreda and Emma Dean turned their faces toward +Wayne Hall. + +"I wonder if Ruth is going?" remarked Grace, who walked behind Anne. +"I thought we'd see her this afternoon." + +"I noticed how sharply Arline answered you," said Anne significantly. + +"Poor Ruth, I haven't a minute to spare or I'd run down there. We +must go to-morrow afternoon, Anne. We'll take Ruth to Vinton's for +dinner and, oh, Anne! let's invite Arline and make them be friends!" + +"Splendid!" admired Anne. "I'll take charge of Ruth and you can look +out for Arline." + +"If you don't hurry, you'll be ready for the reception some time +to-morrow," called Elfreda derisively. The two quickened their steps. +The three girls ahead looked back, then mischievously began +running toward Wayne Hall. + +"We can catch them, Anne," exulted Grace. + +"You mean you can," laughed Anne. "Run ahead and surprise them." + +Grace was off like the wind. Although the three girls ran well they +were no match for the lithe, slender young woman who ran like a +hunted deer. She soon passed her friends and running on to the hall +sat down on the steps with no apparent traces of exhaustion to wait +for them. + +"Let me see, what track team did you say you belonged to?" quizzed +Elfreda, with open admiration. "If I could run like that I'd be +happy. Where did you learn to run?" + +"Back in Oakdale, where I was the prize tomboy of the school," +laughed Grace. "Have you seen to your flowers for your freshman? I +ordered pink roses for Miss Evans. Anne chose violets for Miss +Taylor, didn't you, Anne?" + +"I ordered violets for Miss Wilton, too," said Miriam. + +"I tried to get snap dragons," giggled Elfreda, "but it's rather +late in the season for them. Instead, the Anarchist will flourish a +nosegay of blood-red roses. I can't imagine her parading around the +gym. bedecked with violets." + +"Elfreda, you are anything but a chivalrous escort," commented Anne. + +"I am at least sincere," returned Elfreda, with an affected simper. +"I hope those flowers haven't loitered along the way. I must call on +my fair lady and see if she has received hers. I'm beginning to feel +excited. I'm going to eat my dinner post haste. I want to get dressed +and practice my bow before the mirror ere I enter the sacred +precincts of her majesty's boudoir. Then I shall sweep into her +domicile, arrayed in all my glory. She will be so overcome at sight +of me and my splendor that she will follow me down to the carriage +like a lamb. I ask you, ladies, after seeing me in that new white +silk gown of mine, what Anarchist could resist me?" + +"Of whom did Elfreda remind you just then, Grace?" asked Miriam. + +"Hippy," laughed Grace. "She looked exactly like him." + +"Never saw him," stated Elfreda laconically. + +"But you gave a fine imitation of him just the same!" exclaimed Grace. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN OFFENDED FRESHMAN + + +At dinner that night excitement reigned. Every girl in the house was +going to the reception. To dispose of one's dinner and hurry to one's +room to begin the all important task of dressing was the order of +procedure, and Mrs. Elwood's flock rose from the table almost in a +body and made a concerted rush for the stairs. + +"She got them," Elfreda informed the others as they stopped for a +moment in the hall. "I went to the door to ask her. She even thanked +me for them." + +"Wonderful," smiled Miriam. "Come on now. Remember, time flies and +that your new white frock is a dream." + +An hour later Elfreda stood before the mirror viewing herself with +great satisfaction. "It certainly is some class," she declared. +"There I go again. I haven't used slang for a week. But circumstances +alter cases, you know. Just pretend you didn't hear it, will you? I +think I'll wear my violets at my girdle. I don't look very stout in +this rig, do I? You look like a princess, Miriam. You're a regular +howling beauty in that corn-colored frock. Where are my gloves and +my cloak? Oh, here they are, just where I put them. Now, I must go +for her highness. Br--r--" Elfreda shivered, giggled, then gathering +up her cloak and gloves switched out the door. + +Miriam smiled to herself as she went about gathering up her own +effects, then fastening the cluster of yellow rosebuds to the waist +of her gown she hurried out into the hall in time to encounter Grace +and Anne. + +"We are fortunate in that our ladies live under the same roof with +us," laughed Anne. + +"It certainly saves carriage hire," returned Grace. "Here comes +Elfreda and Miss Atkins. What on earth is she wearing?" + +"I think I'll go for my freshman," said Miriam, her voice quivering +suspiciously. + +By the time Elfreda and the Anarchist had reached the head of the +stairs, the three girls had fled precipitately, unable to control +their mirth. Elfreda's face was set in a solemn expression that +defied laughter. As for the Anarchist herself, she might easily have +posed as a statue of vengeance. Her eyebrows were drawn into a +ferocious scowl. She walked down the stairs with the air of an Indian +chief about to tomahawk a victim. Her white silk gown, which was well +cut and in keeping with the occasion, contrasted oddly with her +threatening demeanor, which was enhanced by a feather hair ornament +that stood up belligerently at one side of her head. + +"If she wouldn't wear that feather thing she'd be all right," +muttered Grace in Anne's ear. "She looks like Hiawatha. She has made +up her mind to be nice with Elfreda. She's wearing her flowers. I +wonder if I'd better ask her to dance to-night. Shall you ask her, +Anne?" + +"I think so," reflected Anne. "I can't lead very well, but perhaps +she can." + +"I don't believe I'll ask her," said Grace slowly. "Humiliating +one's self needlessly is just as bad as having too much pride." + +"Hurry," called Miriam, who was already on the stairs. "The +carriages are here." + +It was a ridiculously short drive to the gymnasium, but, a fine rain +having set in, carriages for one's freshmen guests were a matter of +necessity. Elfreda and her charge occupied seats in the same carriage +with Anne and Mildred Taylor, who, in a gown of pink chiffon over +pink silk, looked, according to Elfreda, "too sweet to live." + +"How are you getting along with Miss Atkins?" asked Grace an hour +later, running up and waylaying Elfreda, who was slowly making her +way across the gymnasium toward the corner of the room where the big +punch bowl of lemonade stood. + +"Don't ask me!" returned Elfreda savagely. "I managed to fill her +dance card and supposed everything was lovely. She dances fairly +well. If she'd only keep quiet, smile and dance calmly along. But, +no, she must talk!" Elfreda's round face settled into lines of +disgust. "She says such outrageously personal things to her partners. +I know of three different girls she has offended so far. What will +become of her before the evening is over?" she inquired gloomily. +"She told me I was too stout to dance well, but I didn't mind that. +Stout or not, she will be lucky to have even me to dance with at the +rate she's going. Let's drown our mortification in lemonade." + +"Poor Elfreda," sympathized Grace. "I wish I could help you, but, +honestly, I feel as though it would be hardly fair to myself to make +further advances in that direction." + +"Don't do it," advised Elfreda, quickly, handing Grace a cup of +fruit lemonade. "I'll manage to steer her through this dance. But +next time some one else may do the inviting. The two classes make a +good showing, don't they?" + +"Beautiful," commented Grace. "The gymnasium looks prettier than it +did last year. That sounds conceited, doesn't it?" + +"It's true, though," averred Elfreda stoutly. "Doesn't Miriam look +stunning tonight? I think she is the handsomest dark girl I ever saw, +don't you?" + +"With one exception," smiled Grace. + +"Show me the exception, then," challenged Elfreda. + +"I will some fine day," promised Grace. "She's in Italy now." + +"You mean the girl you speak of as Eleanor?" asked Elfreda curiously. + +Grace nodded. "She is one of my dearest friends and belongs to our +sorority at home. At one time she was my bitterest enemy," she +continued reminiscently. "She was so self-willed and domineering that +none of us could endure her. She entered the junior class in high +school when Miriam, Anne and I did. For a year and a half she made +life miserable for all of us, then something happened and she turned +out gloriously. I'll tell you all about it some other time." + +"Was she worse than the Anarchist?" asked Elfreda sceptically. + +"There is no comparison," replied Grace promptly. "Still, the +Anarchist may have possibilities of which we know nothing." + +"I wish she would give a demonstration of them to-night then," +muttered Elfreda. "I suppose I'll have to get busy and look her up. +It is dangerous to leave her to her own devices. She may have +offended half the company by this time." Elfreda strolled off in +search of her troublesome charge. Grace crossed the gymnasium, her +keen eyes darting from the floor, where groups of daintily gowned +girls stood exchanging gay badinage, and resting after the last +waltz, to the chairs and divans placed at intervals against the walls +that were for the most part unoccupied. + +Everyone seemed to be dancing. Grace remembered with a start that +she had seen nothing of Ruth Denton. She had waved to Arline across +the room on entering the gymnasium, and had not caught a glimpse of +her since. "I must find Ruth," she reflected, "and tell her about +tomorrow. Perhaps Anne has told her. She promised she would." Espying +Mildred Taylor, Grace remembered with sudden contrition that she had +not asked the little freshman to dance. "I suppose she hasn't a +single dance left," murmured Grace regretfully. "At any rate, I'll +ask her now." Approaching Mildred she said in her frank, +straightforward fashion, "I'm so sorry I overlooked you, Miss Taylor. +I intended asking you to dance first of all." + +The "cute" little freshman turned her head away from Grace's +apologetic gray eyes. "It doesn't matter," she answered in a queer, +strained voice. "My card was full long ago." + +"I hope you are not hurt or offended at my seeming neglect," +insisted Grace anxiously. + +"Not in the least," was the almost curt rejoinder. "I do not think +I shall stay much longer. I have a headache." + +"I'm so sorry," said Grace sympathetically. "Can I do anything for +you?" + +Mildred Taylor did not answer. Her lip quivered and her eyes filled +with tears. She brushed them angrily away, saying with a petulance +entirely foreign to her, "Please don't trouble yourself about me." + +"Very well," replied Grace, in proud surprise. "Shall I tell Miss +Pierson that you are ill?" + +"No," muttered Mildred. + +Grace walked away, puzzled and self-accusing. "I hurt her feelings +by not asking her to dance," was the thought that sprang instantly +to her mind. Then she suddenly recollected that she had not yet found +Ruth. A little later she discovered her in earnest conversation with +Gertrude Wells at the extreme end of the room. + +"Dance this with me, Ruth," called Grace, as she neared her friend. +Ruth glanced at her card. "I have this one free," she said. A moment +later they were gliding over the smooth floor to the inspiriting +strains of a popular two step. Long before the end of the dance they +stopped to rest and talk. "I suppose we ought to devote ourselves +strictly to the freshmen," said Grace. "They all appear to be +dancing, though. Where have you been keeping yourself, Ruth?" + +"I've been busy," replied Ruth evasively. + +"Will you be too busy to have dinner with us at Vinton's to-morrow +night?" persisted Grace. + +"No-o-o," said Ruth slowly. "At what time?" + +"Half-past six," returned Grace. "We'll meet you there. I must leave +you now to look after Miss Evans. I brought her here to-night." + +It was late when the notes of the last waltz sounded, and still +later when the gay participants left the gymnasium in twos, threes +and little crowds trooping down the broad stone steps to where they +were to take their carriages. The rain was now falling heavily, and +to walk even across the campus was out of the question. Every public +automobile and carriage in Overton had been pressed into service, and +many who had braved the fine rain early in the evening and walked +were obliged to negotiate with the drivers for a return of their +vehicles. The carriages to Wayne Hall carried six girls instead of +four, and the merry conversation that was kept up during the short +drive showed plainly that the evening had been a success. Even the +Anarchist indulged in an occasional stiff remark with a view toward +being gracious. When Elfreda humorously bowed her to her door and +wished her an elaborate good night, an actual gleam of fun appeared +in her stormy eyes, and forgetting her dignity she replied almost +cordially that she had enjoyed her evening. + +"I am surprised to think she did after the way she made remarks +about people," commented Elfreda to Miriam, who was busily engaged +in unhooking the stout girl's gown and listening in amusement to +Elfreda's recital. "She has as much tact as a guinea hen. You know +how tactful they are?" + +In the meantime Anne and Grace were discussing the night's festivity +in their own room. Grace had slipped into a kimono and stood brushing +her long hair before the mirror. Suddenly she paused, her brush +suspended in the air. "Anne," she said so abruptly that Anne looked +at her in surprise, "did you notice anything peculiar about Miss +Taylor? You were her escort, you know." + +"No," responded Anne, knitting her brows in an effort to remember. +"I can't say that I noticed anything." + +"Then I am right," decided Grace. "She is angry with me because in +some way I missed asking her to dance." + +"She said nothing to me," was Anne's quick reply. + +"She is offended, I know she is," said Grace. "I'm sorry, of course. +I didn't pass her by intentionally. I didn't know she was so +sensitive. I think I'll ask her to go to Vinton's for luncheon on +Saturday." + +But when Grace delivered her invitation at the breakfast table the +next morning it was curtly refused. Mildred Taylor's attitude, if +anything, was a shade more hostile than it had been the night before. +From her manner, it was evident that the little freshman, whom Grace +had hastened to befriend on that first doleful morning when she found +her roomless and in tears on the big oak seat in the hall, had quite +forgotten all she owed to the girl she now appeared to be trying to +avoid. + +Finding her efforts at friendliness repulsed, Grace proudly resolved +to make no more overtures toward the sulking freshman. She had done +everything in her power to make amends for what had been an +unintentional oversight on her part, and her self respect demanded +that she should allow the matter to drop. She decided that if, later +on, Mildred showed a disposition to be friendly, she would meet her +half way, but, until that time came, she would take no notice of her +or seek further to ascertain the cause of her grievance. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE FINGER OF SUSPICION + + +That very morning as Grace was about to leave Miss Duncan's class +room she heard her name called in severe tones. Turning quickly, she +met the teacher's blue eyes fixed suspiciously upon her. + +"Did you wish to speak to me, Miss Duncan?" Grace asked. + +"Yes," answered Miss Duncan shortly. She continued to look steadily +at Grace without speaking. + +Grace waited courteously for the teacher's next words. She wondered +a little why Miss Duncan had detained her. + +"Miss Harlowe," began the teacher impressively, "I have always +entertained a high opinion of you as an honor girl. Your record +during your freshman year seemed to indicate plainly that you had a +very clear conception of what constitutes an Overton girl's standard +of honor. Within the past week, however, something has happened that +forces me to admit that I am deeply disappointed in you." Miss Duncan +paused. + +Grace's expressive face paled a trifle. A look of wonder mingled +with hurt pride leaped into her gray eyes. "I don't understand you, +Miss Duncan," she said quietly. "What have I done to disappoint you?" + +Miss Duncan picked up a number of closely written sheets of folded +paper and handed them to Grace, who unfolded them, staring almost +stupidly at the sheet that lay on top. A wave of crimson flooded her +recently pale cheeks. "Why--what--where did you get this?" she +stammered. "It is my theme." + +"You mean it is the original from which you copied yours," put in +Miss Duncan dryly. "Is that your handwriting?" + +"No," replied Grace, in a puzzled tone. + +"Is this your writing?" questioned Miss Duncan, suddenly producing +another theme from the drawer of her desk. + +"Yes," was Grace's prompt answer. "I handed it in to you instead of +putting it in the collection box. You remember I told you I had lost +the first one I wrote and asked for more time." + +"I remember perfectly," was the significant answer. "Is this theme," +pointing to the one Grace still held, "the one you say you lost?" + +"The one I say I lost," repeated Grace, a glint of resentment +darkening her eyes. "What do you mean, Miss Duncan?" + +Her bold question caused the instructor's lips to tighten. "You have +not answered my question, Miss Harlowe," she said icily. + +"No, this is not my theme," answered Grace; "that is, it is not in +my handwriting. I do not recognize the writing." Grace ceased +speaking and stared at the theme in sudden consternation. "Some one +found my theme and copied it." Her voice sank almost to a whisper. +A flush of shame for the unknown culprit dyed her cheeks anew. + +"It would be better, perhaps," interrupted the teacher sarcastically, +"if you admitted the truth of the affair at once, Miss Harlowe." + +"There is nothing to admit," responded Grace steadily, "except that +I lost my theme on the evening I wrote it. When I found it was gone +I came to you at once and asked for another day's time. That same night +I rewrote it as well as I could from memory and handed it to you the +following day." + +An ominous silence ensued. Then Miss Duncan said stiffly: "Miss +Harlowe, the young woman who wrote the theme you have in your hand +dropped it into the collection box of another section during the very +evening you would have me believe you were writing it. It was brought +to me early the next morning." + +"How do you know that it was dropped into the box the evening +before?" flung back Grace, forgetting for an instant to whom she was +speaking. + +"Your question is hardly respectful, Miss Harlowe," returned Miss +Duncan, coldly reproving. "I will answer it, however, by saying that +I sent for the young woman and questioned her regarding the time she +placed her theme in the box, without letting her know my motive in +doing so. Her frank answer completely assured me that she was +speaking the truth. At the same time she explained that she had been +late with her theme on account of mislaying it. She had written it +two days before and placed it in her desk. Then it had mysteriously +vanished and suddenly reappeared in the same pigeonhole in her desk +in which she had placed it. She assured me that directly she found +it she took it to the box. Your theme is so suspiciously similar to +hers that it is hardly possible to believe it to be merely a coincidence. +In the face of the circumstances it looks as though you were the real +offender." + +Grace regarded Miss Duncan with mute reproach. She could not at once +trust herself to speak. + +"Have you anything to say to me, Miss Harlowe?" was the stern +question. + +"Only, that what I have previously said to you is the truth," +answered Grace, fighting down her desire to cry. Then, seized with +a sudden idea, she said in a tone of subdued excitement, "Will you +allow me to look at that theme again, Miss Duncan?" + +Miss Duncan picked up the theme from the desk where Grace had laid +it and handed it to her. A strip of paper had been pasted over the +name in the upper left hand corner. Grace scanned each closely +written page attentively. "This is my theme," she declared finally, +"and I have thought of a way to prove that I wrote it. I did not +steal it from another girl. I would not be so contemptible." + +"I shall be very glad to have conclusive proof that you did not," +commented Miss Duncan rather sarcastically. "Appearances are not in +your favor, Miss Harlowe." + +"I am sorry that you doubt my word, Miss Duncan," said Grace with +gentle dignity, "because I am going to prove to you how utterly wrong +you have been in suspecting me of such contemptible conduct. I wrote +this theme in the room of a member of the senior class. She read it +after I had written it. I feel sure that she can identify this as +mine because when I rewrote it I could not remember a word of the +original ending which she had particularly commended. I did the best +I could with it, but it wasn't in the least like the other," Grace +ended earnestly. + +"Will you tell me the name of the young woman in whose room you +wrote your theme?" asked Miss Duncan, her stern face relaxing a little. + +"It was Miss Ashe," returned Grace frankly. + +Miss Duncan raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I should say you had +strong evidence in your favor, Miss Harlowe." + +"Will you ask Miss Ashe to come to your room after your last class +to-day, Miss Duncan?" she asked eagerly. "I should like to show her +the theme without explaining anything to her at first. I give you my +word of honor I will say nothing about it to her in the meantime." +Then, realizing that her word of honor was at present being seriously +questioned, Grace blushed painfully. + +Miss Duncan, understanding the blush, said less severely, "Very +well, Miss Harlowe." She scrutinized Grace's fine, sensitive face for +a moment, then added, "You may come at the same time if you wish." + +Grace brightened, then shook her head positively. "Please let me +come to see you tomorrow morning instead." She wished to give Miss +Duncan perfect freedom to ask Mabel any questions she might find +necessary to ask. + +"To-morrow morning, then," acquiesced Miss Duncan graciously. + +Grace turned to leave the room. At the door she hesitated, then +walking back to the desk she said almost imploringly: "Please don't +punish the other girl now, Miss Duncan. I do not know who she is, but +I am sure she must have found my theme and copied it on the spur of +the moment. I can't believe that she did it deliberately. If she did, +then being found out by you will be lesson enough for her." + +"I have not as yet exonerated you from this charge, Miss Harlowe," +declared Miss Duncan stiffly, her brief graciousness vanishing like +magic. "If the other girl is to blame, then she must suffer for her +fault. Until I have seen Miss Ashe I shall say nothing. After that +I can not promise." + +Grace bowed and left the class room, her feeling toward the unknown +plagiarist entirely one of pity. She had vindicated herself at the +expense of exposing some one else without intent to do more than +assert her own innocence, and she now wondered sadly if there were +not some way in which she might persuade Miss Duncan to change her +mind. + +On her way from Miss Duncan's class room that morning Grace found +herself walking directly behind Emma Dean. She was sauntering across +the campus, her near-sighted eyes fixed on a small, hurrying figure +just ahead of her. + +"Hello, Grace," was Emma's affable salutation as she turned at the +touch of Grace's hand on her shoulder. "I was watching Miss Taylor. +What a disappointment that girl is. The first week or two after her +arrival at Wayne Hall I thought her delightful, but she has turned +out to be anything but agreeable. She barely nodded to me this +morning. I believe she is developing snobbish tendencies, which is +a great mistake. Deliver me from snobs! We have very few of them at +Overton, thank goodness." + +But Grace could not help thinking that somewhere in the college +community lived a girl who possessed a fault far greater than that +of being a snob. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE SUMMONS + + +The prospective dinner at Vinton's at which Ruth Denton and Arline +Thayer were to be guests of honor drove the unpleasant incident of +the morning from Grace's mind for the time being. She had determined +to keep her interview with Miss Duncan a secret from her friends. If +it had involved only herself, she might possibly have told Anne of +it, but since it concerned some one else, Grace's fine sense of honor +forbade her making even Anne her confidant in the matter. She could +not help speculating a little concerning the identity of the other +girl. She had not the remotest idea as to who she might be. Whoever +she was, she could not have realized what a dishonorable thing she +had done, was Grace's charitable reflection. She wondered what Mabel +would think when Miss Duncan asked her to identify the theme as the +one Grace had written during that evening in Holland House. + +"I'm going to stop thinking of it for the rest of the day," declared +Grace half aloud, as she dressed for dinner late that afternoon. She +started guiltily, glancing quickly to where Anne sat mending a tiny +tear in her white silk blouse. Anne, who was fully occupied with her +mending, made no comment. She was so used to Grace's habit of +thinking aloud that she had no idle curiosity regarding her friend's +thoughts. Whatever Grace wished her to know she would hear in due +season. + +"Miriam and Elfreda are not going with us, you know," said Grace as +they were about to leave their room. + +"I didn't know it," commented Anne. "Why did they change their minds?" + +"Miriam thinks you and I can do more toward restoring peace without +her and Elfreda. She suspects that Ruth will satisfy Arline's +curiosity and at the same time appease her wrath by telling what she +refused to tell that other night, provided there are not too many +listeners." + +"What a wise girl Miriam is!" exclaimed Anne admiringly. "I never +thought of that." + +"Nor I," admitted Grace, "until she mentioned it. Then I saw the +wisdom of it." + +"Where are we to meet Ruth and Arline?" asked Anne. "Suppose both of +them arrive at Vinton's before we do?" + +"I thought of that, too," chuckled Grace, "so Arline is to come +here, and Ruth is to wait for us at Vinton's. They can't possibly +meet until we are there to manage matters. Arline ought to be here +by this time. Shall we go downstairs and wait for her?" + +"There's the door bell now," said Anne. "That must be Arline." + +Her supposition proved correct. Just as they reached the foot of the +stairs the maid admitted the fluffy-haired little girl. + +"Hello!" she called merrily. "I'm strictly on time, you see." + +"So are we," smiled Anne. "Shall we start at once?" + +"Yes, indeed," emphasized Arline. "I'm starved. I wasn't prepared in +Greek to-day, and rushed through my luncheon in order to snatch a few +minutes' study before class. I had my trouble for my pains, too. The +bell rang before it was my turn to recite. Wasn't that fortunate?" + +"I should say so," agreed Grace. "If it had been I, Professor Martin +would have called on me first. You were born lucky, Daffydowndilly." + +"I don't think so," replied Arline gloomily. "I have all kinds of +miserable, unpleasant things to bother me." + +Anne and Grace exchanged significant glances behind the little +girl's back. There was a chance for the success of their scheme. +Arline was evidently unhappy over her cavalier treatment of Ruth. + +During the short walk to Vinton's all mention of Ruth's name was +tacitly avoided. Arline chattered volubly about the reception. She +had not enjoyed herself particularly. She had taken a freshman by the +name of Violet Darby, who lived on the top floor of Morton House. She +was considered the freshman beauty. + +"Oh, I remember her!" exclaimed Grace. "Gertrude Wells introduced me +to her. I asked for a dance, but her card was full to overflowing. +She is beautiful. She has such wonderful golden hair, and her brown +eyes are in such striking contrast to her hair and fair complexion. +She is awfully popular, I suppose." + +"Yes, the Morton House girls are all rushing her. I was surprised to +think she accepted my invitation," returned Arline. + +"I don't think that was so very surprising," declared Grace bluntly. +"Arline Thayer is also a Morton House favorite." + +"Violet is the reigning favorite just at present," rejoined Arline. +"It's her fatal beauty. She is a very nice girl, though. Not a bit +snobbish or conceited. Everyone in the house likes her. You must +become better acquainted with her." + +"Here we are at Vinton's," announced Grace. "I ordered one of the +alcove tables reserved for us." + +As they made their way to the alcove a girl rose from her seat in +the shadow to greet them. It was Ruth, and as Arline caught sight of +her her baby face grew dark. "How dared you?" she asked accusingly, +turning toward Grace. "You know we are not friends. I don't wish to +see her. I'm going straight home. I suppose she planned all this. She +has tried to make up with me, but I shall never again be friends with +her." + +"Please listen to me, Arline," began Grace, taking the angry little +girl by the arm and pulling her gently toward the alcove. Ruth had +risen from the table, a look of mingled pain and bewilderment on her +face. + +"I didn't know Arline was to be here," she said tremulously. "Please +tell her I didn't know it." She turned appealing eyes toward Grace. + +"Suppose we sit down at our table and talk over this matter," +suggested Grace, in her most casual manner. Her calm gray eyes rested +first on Ruth, then traveled to Arline, who hesitated briefly, then +with an angry shrug of her shoulders seated herself in the nearest +chair. Grace motioned Anne and Ruth to their chairs, then seating +herself she said gently: "Now, children, suppose we clear up some of +these doubts and misunderstanding by holding court? I am going to be +the prosecuting attorney. Anne can be the counsel for the defense. +Arline can borrow her first, then Ruth can have her. When all the +evidence is in I shall appoint myself as judge and jury. It means a +great deal of work for me, but the law must take its course. I, +therefore, summon you both into court." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +GRACE HOLDS COURT + + +In spite of her displeasure, Arline giggled faintly at Grace's +impromptu session of court. Ruth's sad little face brightened, while +Anne listened to her friend with open admiration. She could have +conceived of no surer way to settle the difference that had made them +so unhappy. + +"You must remember," Grace said solemnly, "that there can be no +dinner until the court has disposed of its first case. This is a +murder trial, therefore the chief object of the court is to find the +murderer of one friendship, done to death in cruel fashion. I wish +I had Emma Dean's glasses to make me look more imposing. I wonder what +kind of voice a prosecuting attorney would have. Dearly beloved," +went on Grace impressively, "they don't say that in court, I know, +but then I'm going to be different from most prosecuting attorneys." + +"There isn't the least doubt of that," interposed Anne slyly. + +"Silence," commanded Grace severely. "I shall have you arrested for +contempt of court. Then there won't be any counsel for the defense. +The first witness, that's you, Arline, will please take the stand. +You needn't really move, you know. We will take a few things for +granted. Sit up straight and be as dignified as possible. Fold your +hands on the table. That's right. Now, state where and when you first +met the defendant. Ruth can be the defendant until I question her. +Then you'll have to play the part." + +"Over a year ago, at Morton House," stated Arline obediently. + +"What was your opinion of the defendant?" + +"I liked her better than any other girl I had ever met," confessed +Arline. + +"Defendant number two, what did you think of Arline Thayer?" quizzed +Grace, eyeing Ruth expectantly. + +"I liked her as much as she liked me," replied Ruth promptly. + +"When did your first disagreement occur?" probed Grace, turning from +Ruth to Arline. + +"Here, at this very table," returned Arline in a low tone. + +"Whose fault was it?" inquired Grace wickedly. + +"Mine!" exclaimed Ruth and Arline simultaneously. + +"Thank you," returned Grace soberly. "Such spontaneity on the part +of the defendants is very refreshing. It also simplifies the case and +saves the court considerable trouble. There is hope that the court +will be dismissed in time for dinner. As prosecuting attorney I will +now deliver my charge. I shall have to deliver it sitting down or +attract too much attention to the case. Gentlemen of the jury, you +have heard the evidence. You think, no doubt, that murder has been +done. This is not so. The friendship between Defendant Number One," +Grace bowed to Arline, "and Defendant Number Two," she made a second +bow to Ruth, "received a blow on the head which rendered it +unconscious for some time. It had no intention of dying, but both +prisoners treated it with extreme cruelty, not allowing it to hold +up its poor crippled head. I ask you, Gentlemen of the jury, to consider +well what shall be the penalty for assaulting and battering +friendship with intent to kill. Gentlemen of the jury, are you ready +for the question?" + +"We are," Grace answered for the jury in a deep voice that elicited +little shrieks of laughter from her companions. + +"What shall be the fate of these malefactors?" demanded Grace in her +prosecuting attorney voice, after the jury had rendered a verdict of +guilty. "Be deliberate in your decision, but don't be all night about +it." + +"They shall be made to shake hands across the table or suffer the +full penalty of the law," stated the judge. + +"What is the full penalty of the law?" + +"No dinner," was the prompt answer. + +"Counsel for the defense, have you anything to say? I should have +asked you before sentence was pronounced, but it doesn't matter. The +prosecuting attorney always tries to fix things to suit himself, no +matter what any one else thinks." + +"The counsel for the defense is a mere blot on the landscape in this +trial," jeered Anne. + +"How did you guess it?" beamed the prosecuting attorney. "Prisoners, +the sentence will be executed at once. Shake hands." + +Ruth's hand was stretched across the table to meet Arline's. + +"I'm awfully sorry, Ruth," said Arline, her voice trembling +slightly. "I should never have asked you to tell what you wished to +keep secret." + +"And I shouldn't have been so silly as to refuse to tell," declared +Ruth bravely. "I'm going to tell you now, and you mustn't stop me. +I was brought up in an orphan asylum. That's why I didn't care to tell +you about myself that evening." + +"You poor, precious dear!" exclaimed Arline. "How can I ever forgive +myself for being so horrid? Won't you forgive me, Ruth? I never +supposed it was anything like that. I was angry because you called +me your best friend, but wouldn't trust me. I'm so sorry. I'll never +speak of it again to you." Arline looked appealingly at Ruth, her +blue eyes misty. + +"But I want you to think of it. I had made up my mind to tell you. +Then you passed me on the campus without speaking, and somehow I +didn't dare come near you after that." + +"I've been perfectly horrid, I know," admitted Arline contritely. +"I've been so used to having my own way that I try to bend everyone +I know to it." + +"I don't mind telling you girls about myself now. At first I was +ashamed of my poverty," confessed Ruth. "After I went to Arline's +beautiful home I hated to say anything about it to any one. Then +Arline grew angry with me. I realized afterward that I had been +foolish not to tell her my story. There isn't much to tell. I was +picked up in a railroad wreck on a westbound train when I was four +years old. I can just remember getting into the train with my mother. +She was burned to death in the wreck, but by some miracle I was +saved. I knew my name, Ruth Irving Denton, my age, and around my neck +mother had tied a little packet containing some money, a letter and +a gold watch. A woman who lived near where the wreck occurred took +charge of me, and as no one came for me, in time I was sent to a +home. I lived there until I was fourteen. The matron was good to us, +and considering we were all homeless waifs we fared very well." + +"And the letter?" asked Grace. + +"It was from my father to my mother, giving all the directions for +our journey west. With it had been enclosed a money order for four +hundred dollars, which my mother had evidently cashed. I still have +the letter. + +"Then a man and his wife took me. They were good to me and sent me +to school. I studied hard and finished high school when I was +seventeen. Then I won a scholarship of one hundred dollars a year. +I was determined to go to college, but the people with whom I lived +thought differently. So I left them a year ago last fall and came to +Overton, resolving to make my own way. They were so angry with me for +leaving them they would have nothing further to do with me. So you +see I had not a friend in the world until I met you girls." + +"But you have me now," comforted Arline, patting Ruth's hand. "I'll +never be so silly again. Poor little girl!" + +"And you have Anne and me," added Grace. "Don't forget Miriam and +Elfreda, either." + +"I am rich in friends now," said Ruth softly. + +"Perhaps your father isn't really dead, Ruth!" exclaimed Grace. + +"He must be," said Ruth sadly. "I have only one thing that belonged +to him, a heavy gold watch with his full name, 'Arthur Northrup +Denton,' engraved on the inside of the back case. It is a valuable +watch, but I have always declared I would starve rather than part +with it." + +"Perhaps it may help you to find him some day," suggested Grace +thoughtfully. + +"Don't you know the name of the town in Nevada where he first +lived?" asked Anne. + +"He went to Humboldt, and from there into the mountains," replied +Ruth. "Since that time all trace of him has been lost. I never knew +my own story until on the day I became fourteen years of age. Then +the matron told me. It was at the time that I was getting ready to +go to live with the man and his wife of whom I have spoken. After that +it seemed as though the whole world changed for me. I didn't mind +being poor, nor having to work, for I had the glorious thought that +perhaps my father was still alive and that some time I should see him +again. I wrote several letters to him, sending them to Humboldt, but +they always came back to me. + +"After a while I gave up all hope and stopped writing. I couldn't +bear to think of having more letters come back unclaimed. I tried to +forget that I had even dreamed of seeing my father again, and began +to put my whole mind on going to college. Now I am so thankful that +I persevered and won the scholarship. There were times when I was very +unhappy over leaving the only home I had ever known, outside the +orphanage. Still I could not rid myself of the conviction that I had +taken a step in the right direction. Later, when I met you girls, I +was sure of it. Even though I didn't find my father, I found true and +loyal friends who have crowded more pleasure and happiness into one +short year than I ever had in all my life before." + +"I'll lend you half of my father, Ruth," offered Arline generously. +"He is almost as fond of you as he is of me. You remember he said so." + +"Weren't you green with jealousy when he admitted it?" teased Anne. + +"Not a bit of it," protested Arline stoutly. "I only wish Ruth were +my sister." + +"I'd like to be the one to find Ruth's father," mused Grace. + +Anne smiled. "Even college can't uproot Grace's sleuthing +tendencies. She has an absolute genius for ferreting out mysteries." + +"No, I haven't," contradicted Grace. "If I had--" she stopped. She +had been on the point of remarking that she would have known who had +stolen and used her theme. + +"If you had what?" asked Arline curiously. + +"If I had the genius of which Arline prattles, I'd be at the head of +the New York Detective Bureau," finished Grace. And Anne alone knew +that Grace had purposely substituted this flippant answer to conceal +her real thought. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +GRACE MAKES A RESOLUTION + + +"What do you think has happened?" demanded J. Elfreda Briggs, +bursting into the room where Anne and Grace were busily making up for +lost time. They had lingered at Vinton's until after eight o'clock. +Then the thought of to-morrow with its eternal round of classes had +driven them home, reluctantly enough, to where their books awaited +them. It was almost nine o'clock before they had actually settled +themselves, and Elfreda's sudden, tempestuous entrance caused Anne +to lay down her Horace with an air of patient resignation. "We might +as well begin saying 'unprepared' now, and grow accustomed to the sound +of our own voices," she announced. + +"I think so, too," agreed Grace. "Well, Elfreda, why this thusness? +What has happened? Have you been elected to the Pi Beta Gamma, or did +you get an unusually large check from home?" + +"Catch the P. B. Gammas troubling themselves about me," scoffed +Elfreda. "As for a check, I've written for it, but so far I've seen +no signs of it. When I do lay hands on it we'll celebrate the event +with feasting and merrymaking." + +"Then I can't guess," sighed Grace. "You'd better tell us." + +"Well," began Elfreda, her eyes twinkling, "I have a dinner +invitation for to-morrow night at Martell's." + +"That is nothing startling," scoffed Anne. "We've just come from +Vinton's." + +"But the rest of my news is remarkable," persisted the stout girl. +"I am invited to dine"--Elfreda paused, then finished impressively +--"with the Anarchist." + +"You don't mean it!" Grace looked her surprise. + +"Of course I mean it," retorted Elfreda. "I wouldn't say so if I +didn't. She delivered her invitation on the way over to chapel this +morning. I'd give you an imitation of the way she did it if I hadn't +accepted." + +Grace shot a quick, approving glance toward Elfreda which the latter +saw and interpreted correctly. "I wouldn't have thought about that +last year, would I, Grace?" she asked shyly. + +Grace laughed rather confusedly. "How did you guess so much? The way +you stumble upon things is positively uncanny." + +"Observation, my dear, observation," returned Elfreda patronizingly. +"One can learn almost everything about everybody if one keeps one's +eyes open." + +"You seem to carry out your own theory," admitted Grace smilingly. +"Have you finished your work for to-night?" + +"Years ago," declared Elfreda extravagantly. "Miriam hasn't, at +least she was still studying when I left the room. I'll tell you what +I'll do. I'll make some fudge. Mrs. Elwood will let me have some milk +and we have the rest of the stuff in our room. I'll send Miriam in +here. Then I can have the whole room to myself. When it's done, I'll +call you." + +With a joyful skip that fairly jarred the furniture in the room +Elfreda bounded through the doorway and vanished. Two minutes later +Miriam appeared, an amused look on her dark face, several books +tucked under one arm. "Driven from home," she declaimed, posing on +the threshold, her free hand appealingly extended. "Will no one help +me?" + +"I will." Grace reached forth her hand, dragging Miriam into the +room. "Hurry through your lessons and we'll have a spread. I'm sorry +you weren't with us to-night, but Anne and I weren't sure as to just +how successfully our plan would work. Everything went smoothly, +though." Grace related briefly what had taken place at the dinner. + +"I am glad Ruth and Arline settled their differences," commented +Miriam. "We all knew that Arline was at fault. She is such a dear +little thing, one hesitates to say so." + +"She was very sweet to-night," interposed Anne. "She asked Ruth's +forgiveness and took the blame for their little coolness on her own +shoulders." + +"I don't wish to cause dissension in this happy band, but we really +must stop talking and study," warned Grace. "I haven't made a +satisfactory recitation this week, and I vote for reform." + +"All right, my dear Miss Harlowe," flung back Miriam. "'Work, for +the Night is Coming.'" + +"You mean going," giggled Anne. + +After this interchange of flippant remarks silence reigned, broken +only by the sound of turning leaves or an occasional sigh over the +appalling length of a lesson. The three girls were fully absorbed in +their work when Elfreda poked her head in the room to announce that +the fudge was made. "I've a bottle of cunning little pickles, and a +box of cheese wafers. I made some tea, too. Hurry, or it will be half-past +ten before we have time to eat a single thing." + +"I can't possibly finish studying my Latin tonight," sighed Miriam. +"Every day the lessons seem to get longer. Miss Arthur hasn't a spark +of compassion." + +"Don't stop to grumble," commanded Elfreda. "Come along." + +The half-past ten o'clock bell rang before the fudge was half gone. +In fact, it was after eleven before the quartette prepared for sleep. +During the evening all thought of the troublesome theme had left +Grace's mind. It was not until after she had turned out the light and +gone to bed that it came back to her with such disagreeable force +that for the time being all idea of sleep fled. For the first time +since her entrance into Overton College she had incurred the +displeasure of one in authority over her, and through no fault of her +own. + +As Grace lay staring into the darkness the recollection of that +bitter time during her junior year at high school, when Miss Thompson +had accused her of shielding the girl who had destroyed the +principal's personal papers, came back, vivid and complete. Eleanor +Savelli, now numbered among her dearest friends and a member of the +Phi Sigma Tau, had been the transgressor, and Grace had refused to +voice her suspicions. It had all come right in the end, although Miss +Thompson's displeasure had been hard to bear. + +Perhaps this affair would end happily, too. Suppose the other girl +had chosen the same subject? Grace gave vent to a soft exclamation +of impatience at her own supposition. She wished she dared believe +that it were so, but common sense told her that she could not hope +to deceive herself by any such delusion. + +"Who could the girl be?" Grace asked herself over and over. Surely, +no one of her intimate friends. Nor any girl at Wayne Hall, either. +Whoever was guilty would be severely punished, perhaps sent home. +Overton prided itself on its honor. Its children must be above +reproach at all times. Mabel's evidence would clear her. But what of +the other girl? + +"Whoever she is," speculated Grace, "by this time she is probably +sorry for what she did. I suppose she is frightened, too. I'm going +to make Miss Duncan let her off this once, and if I can find out who +she is, I'm going to stand by her so faithfully that she'll never +again care to do a dishonest thing as long as she lives." + +It was a long time before Grace fell asleep that night. Her +perturbed state of mind over the stolen theme had served to make her +wakeful, and her thoughts flitted from one subject to another, as she +lay waiting for the sleep that refused to come, always returning, +however, to that of the unlucky theme. + +When, at last, it came, it brought disturbing dreams, in which she +figured as the transgressor. The theme did not belong to her, but to +J. Elfreda Briggs. She had stolen it from the pocket of Elfreda's +brown serge coat, and Miss Duncan had seen her take it. During the +morning exercises in the chapel, Miss Duncan had mounted the steps +of the platform, and, standing beside Dr. Morton, had shouted forth +her guilt to the whole college, while she had endeavored to creep out +of the chapel unnoticed. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE QUALITY OF MERCY + + +The next morning Grace felt singularly dispirited as she went down +to breakfast. It had been raining, and the dreary outlook caused the +gloomy lines, "The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the +year," to run through her head with maddening persistency. + +"What's the matter, Grace?" inquired Emma Dean. "That chief-mourner +expression of yours is doubly depressing on a day like this. Did you +eat too much fudge last night, or have you been conditioned in math?" + +"You are a wild guesser, Emma," returned Grace, smiling faintly. "My +troubles are of an entirely different nature. But how did you know +we made fudge last night, and why didn't you come in and have some?" + +"I never go where I am not invited," was the significant retort. + +"Nonsense!" declared Grace. "You are always welcome, and you know +it. The spread was in Miriam's room, but you know who your friends +are, don't you?" + +"Don't worry, I'm not offended," Emma assured Grace good-humoredly. +"I came in just before the ten-thirty bell last night and heard +sounds of revelry as I passed by." + +"There's plenty of fudge on our table," put in Miriam Nesbit. "Help +yourself to it whenever the spirit moves you." + +"Where is Mildred Taylor this morning?" asked Irene Evans, glancing +toward Mildred's vacant place. + +"Miss Taylor is ill this morning," answered a prim voice from the +end of the table. + +With one accord all eyes were turned in the direction of the voice. +The Anarchist had actually spoken at the table! It was unbelievable. +What followed was even more surprising. The Anarchist swept the table +with a defiant look, then said, with startling distinctness, "If she +has not fully recovered by tonight I shall send for a physician. In +the meantime I shall remain with her to care for her." + +"That is very kind in you, I am sure," ventured Emma Dean. Surprise +had tied the tongues of the others. + +"Not in the least," contradicted the Anarchist coldly. "As her +roommate, common humanity demands that I assume a certain amount of +responsibility for her welfare." + +"Oh, yes, of course," agreed Emma hastily. "Please let us know when +we may run in to see her. Excuse me, everybody. I must run upstairs +and study a little before going to chapel." + +Several freshmen followed her lead and filed decorously out the door +with preternaturally solemn faces that broke into smiles the moment +the door closed behind them. + +The Anarchist, however, went on eating her breakfast, quite unaware +that she had created the slightest ripple of amusement. When Elfreda +rose to leave the dining room the strange young woman rose, too, and +walked sedately out of the room in the stout girl's wake. + +"Elfreda has evidently made a conquest," remarked Miriam to Grace. +"See how tamely the haughty Anarchist follows at her heels." + +"It's astonishing, but splendid, I think," said Grace decidedly. +"Isn't it strange how much influence for good one girl can have over +another? For some reason or other Elfreda knows just how to bring the +best in Miss Atkins to the surface. Shall we run up and see Miss +Taylor for a moment?" + +"You go this morning, Grace," urged Miriam. "I'll stop and see her +at noon. I haven't the time just now." + +"I'll go with you," volunteered Anne. + +Grace knocked gently on the slightly opened door, then, receiving no +answer, opened it softly. She paused irresolutely on the threshold, +Anne peering over her shoulder. Laura Atkins had left the room, but +Mildred Taylor, fully dressed, sat at the window looking listlessly +out. If she heard Grace's light knock she paid no attention to it. +It was not until Grace said rather diffidently, "We heard you were +ill and thought we'd come in to see you," that the girl at the window +turned toward Grace. Her piquant little face was drawn and pale, and +her eyes looked suspiciously red. She eyed Grace almost sulkily, then +said slowly, "It was kind of you to come, but I shall be all right +to-morrow." Under Grace's serious glance her eyes fell, then, to her +visitors' amazement, she burst into tears. Grace crossed the room. +Her arm slid across the sobbing freshman's shoulders in silent +sympathy. "Can't you tell me what troubles you?" she asked softly. + +Mildred shook off the comforting arm with a muttered: "Let me alone. +I can't tell you, of all persons. Go away." + +"Why can't you tell me?" persisted Grace gently. + +"Because I can't. Won't you please go. I don't wish to talk to any +one," wailed Mildred. + +Grace walked toward the door, her eyes on the weeping girl. Anne, +who had kept strictly in the background during the little scene, +stepped out into the hall, Grace following. + +"That was hardly my idea of a cordial reception," was Anne's dry +comment as they entered their own room. + +"That young woman has something on her mind," declared Grace. "Her +illness is not physical. It is mental. Either some one has torn her +feelings to shreds or else she has done something she is ashamed of +and remorse has overtaken her." + +"Unless she has had bad news from home or has been conditioned," +suggested Anne. + +"I don't believe it's either," said Grace, shaking her head. "I +believe this is something different. Of late she has been acting +strangely. Ever since the reception she has avoided me. Anne Pierson, +do you see the time? We'll be late for chapel!" gasped Grace in +consternation. + +With one accord the two friends gathered up their wraps, putting +them on as they ran. + +After chapel Grace left Anne at the door of Science Hall and went on +to Overton Hall. She wished to see Miss Duncan before her first class +recited, and learn the latest developments of her case. Until chapel +exercises were over, Grace had refused to allow her mind to dwell on +her trouble, but now, as she climbed slowly up the broad stairway to +Miss Duncan's class room, the whole unhappy affair rose before her. + +Miss Duncan was sitting at her desk as Grace entered. She looked at +her watch, smiled frankly at Grace and said in her usual businesslike +way, "I can give you only ten minutes, Miss Harlowe." + +The teacher's friendly tone made Grace's heart leap. She recognized +the fact that Miss Duncan no longer looked upon her with suspicion. + +"Your innocence was clearly proven by Miss Ashe," said Miss Duncan +in her blunt fashion, coming at once to the point. "I recognize your +claim to the authorship of the theme. The other young woman was the +real plagiarist. It was a contemptible trick and not in keeping with +Overton standards." + +"What will happen to this other girl, Miss Duncan?" asked Grace +apprehensively, her eyes fixed on Miss Duncan. + +"What do you think she deserves?" inquired Miss Duncan quizzically. + +"A chance to redeem herself," was the prompt reply. "No one except +you knows who she is. I don't wish to know her identity, and I am +sure Miss Ashe doesn't. Couldn't you send for the girl and tell her +that it would be a secret between just you two. That you were willing +to forget it had happened if she were willing to start all over again +and build her college foundation fairly and squarely. It wouldn't be +of any benefit to her to place her fault before the dean. No doubt +she would be dismissed, and that dismissal might spoil her whole life." + +"You are an eloquent pleader, Miss Harlowe," returned Miss Duncan. +"As this is strictly an affair of one of my classes, I consider that +I am at liberty to do as I think best about placing this matter +before the dean. If I did see fit to do so I hardly think it would +mean dismissal, particularly if I took you with me to plead the cause +of the offender. Come to me this afternoon after my last class and +I will give you my answer." + +Grace left the class room far more cheerfully than she had entered. +Her own vindication had not impressed her half so deeply as Miss +Duncan's apparently lenient attitude toward the girl who had been +false to herself and to Overton. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A DISGRUNTLED REFORMER + + +Grace was not disappointed. Miss Duncan graciously agreed to let the +culprit off with a severe reprimand. Grace ran joyfully down the +campus to Holland House. She wished to tell Mabel Ashe the good news. + +"Horrid little copy-cat! She doesn't deserve it," was Mabel's +unsympathetic comment as Grace related what had passed between Miss +Duncan and herself. "You know who she is, don't you, Grace?" + +Grace shook her head. "I haven't the slightest idea," she said +soberly. "I can't believe it was any one at Wayne Hall. You don't +suspect any one, do you?" + +"No," returned Mabel. "I haven't become very well acquainted with +the freshmen this year, so far. I suppose you did right in not +exposing this girl. I don't know whether I should be quite as +charitable as you. If you hadn't had a witness who saw you write the +theme, you would now be under a cloud. What I can't forget is the +fact that she went so far as to try to make Miss Duncan believe that +you really copied it. Miss Duncan said she insisted that the theme +had disappeared from her room. Think how foolish she must have felt +when Miss Duncan confronted her with the truth yesterday afternoon +and made her confess!" + +"Oh, Mabel!" Grace's distressed tone caused the pretty senior to +rise and stand in front of Grace's chair. + +"What's the matter, Gracie," she said, taking Grace's hands in hers. + +Grace raised her gray eyes to meet the inquiring brown ones bent on +her. "I'm so sorry," she said sadly, "but the girl who took my theme +does live in Wayne Hall." + +"How do you know?" asked Mabel quickly. + +"From what you said," returned Grace. "If she accused me of taking +her theme from her room, isn't it highly probable that her room is +in Wayne Hall? I wouldn't be likely to go into one of the campus houses +to steal a theme, would I? I must have dropped it in the hall or on +the stairs that night, and she must have come into the house directly +after I did and picked it up. I don't like to believe that one of our +girls did it," Grace concluded sorrowfully, "but I am afraid it's +true." + +"Some day you'll stumble upon the guilty girl when you least expect +to find her," prophesied Mabel. "Now forget her, and tell me what you +and your chums are going to do over Thanksgiving. I am going to a +dance on Thanksgiving night with a Willston man. His fraternity is +giving it." + +"I don't know any college men in this part of the world," sighed +Grace regretfully, "therefore I never have any invitations to man +dances." + +"Wait until my cousin comes up here. He is a Columbia man and you +will like him immensely. I know a number of the Willston men, too. +Why don't you go with me to the football game Thanksgiving Day? You +are not going away, are you? It is only a four days' vacation, you +know." + +"No, we haven't any particular place to go. Last year we spent our +Thanksgiving vacation with the Southards in New York. You knew about +that." + +"You lucky things," laughed Mabel. "I envy you your friendship with +Everett Southard and his sister." + +"Some day you must meet them," planned Grace. "They are delightful +people. Mr. Southard is appearing in Shakespearian roles in the large +cities this season, and Miss Southard is in Florida visiting friends. +If they were in New York they would insist on our going to them for +the holidays. I must run away now. It is almost dinner time and I +promised to hook up Elfreda's new gown. Miriam went over to Morton +House with Gertrude Wells, and won't return until late, and Elfreda +is going to dine with the Anarchist." + +"Really!" exclaimed Mabel. "Elfreda seems to be coming to the front +this year, doesn't she!" + +"She is turning out splendidly," said Grace warmly. "She stands high +in every one of her classes, and she is so ridiculously funny that +we would feel lost without her. She says things in the same droll way +that a young man we know in Oakdale does. But I mustn't stay another +minute. Good-bye, Mabel, I'll see you in a day or two." + +Grace darted across the campus and ran rapidly in the direction of +Wayne Hall. She loved to run and her fleetness of foot had served her +well on more than one occasion. Only that day she had complained to +Miriam that it had been years since she had indulged in a good run. +Miriam had laughingly accused her of still being a tomboy, and had +proposed that they take a long tramp on Saturday. "You can run up and +down the road to your heart's content when we get far enough away +from Overton so that no one will see you and think you have suddenly +gone crazy," Miriam had declared good-naturedly. + +Bounding up the steps two at a time, Grace reached the front door of +Wayne Hall without drawing a laboring breath. "I'm certainly in good +condition," she laughed to herself, inhaling deeply and inflating her +chest. "I hope I'll be chosen to play on the team this year." She +rang a third time before the door was opened by Emma Dean, who +grumbled at her repeated ringing and then announced that she had rung +six times that afternoon before any one had condescended to let her +in. "Have you seen Elfreda?" flung back Grace on her way upstairs. + +"You'd better hurry," called Emma after her. "I heard her growling +to herself as I passed her door." + +"I began to think you were never coming," greeted Elfreda, as Grace +burst into the room, her eyes bright and her cheeks becomingly +flushed from her recent run across the campus. + +"Why didn't you ask some one else to hook you up?" retorted Grace +mischievously, throwing down her gloves and beginning on the top hook. + +"Because I wanted you to see how nice I looked in this new frock," +replied the stout girl. "If I had not stipulated that you were to +perform this extremely important service for me, you would have in +all probability absented yourself from my immediate vicinity, +unmindful of the rare exhibition of youth and beauty that was being +prepared for you in my room." + +"If I had closed my eyes I could have sworn it was Miss Atkins," +laughed Grace. "Even she herself couldn't fail to recognize that +impersonation. It's ridiculously funny, Elfreda, but I wish you +wouldn't do it." As Grace and Elfreda were standing with their backs +directly away from the door neither girl saw the tense little figure +that stood rigid, one hand on the door casing, listening with +eyebrows drawn fiercely together. An instant later it had vanished. +Grace, after triumphantly placing the last hook in its eye, began +helping Elfreda find her handkerchief and gloves. "Now you have +everything you need," she declared, holding up the stout girl's coat. +"Do you wait here for your dinner partner or does she call for you?" + +"She is coming in here for me," answered Elfreda. "I wish she would +hurry along. I haven't had even a cracker to eat since luncheon and +I'm famished." + +"I think I'll go if you don't mind. I'm hungry, too. I must see if +Anne has come in yet. Miss Atkins will be here in a moment. Goodbye. +I hope you will have a nice time. I am so glad she invited you." + +Grace crossed the hall to her own room. Anne was rearranging her +hair preparatory to going down to dinner. + +"I think I'll do my hair over again," decided Grace. "That run +across the campus shook most of my hairpins loose. It will be at +least ten minutes before the bell rings, so I shall have plenty of +time." But her hair proved refractory and the clang of the dinner +bell found her tucking in a last unruly lock. "I'm going on +downstairs, Grace," called Anne from the doorway. + +"All right," answered Grace. As she passed Elfreda's room she heard +her name uttered in a sibilant whisper. Wheeling at the sound, Grace +stepped to the stout girl's door. Elfreda drew her in and, closing +the door, said nervously: "What do you suppose has happened? I waited +and waited for the An--Miss Atkins and she didn't appear, so I went +down to her room and found the door closed. I knocked at least a +dozen times, until my knuckles ached, but not a sound came from +within. Then I came back to my room and waited. She hasn't +materialized yet. I went down to her door just now and knocked again, +but, nothing doing." In her agitation Elfreda dropped into slang. + +"That is strange," agreed Grace. "Do you suppose she has been taken +suddenly ill?" + +"Search me," declared Elfreda wearily. "She ought to be called the +Riddle. She is past solution, isn't she? I'm hungry, and if she +doesn't appear within the next five minutes I'm going to put on my +old brown serge dress and go down to dinner. I'm not used to being +invited out to dine and then deserted before I've even had a chance +to look at the bill of fare." + +"Never mind," comforted Grace. "I'll ask you to dinner at Martell's +next week and won't desert you either. Wait a minute. I will go down +to the dining room and see if by any chance she could be there. Then +I'll come upstairs and let you know. If she isn't there you had +better change your gown and go downstairs with me." + +"She isn't there," reported Grace, five minutes later. "Miss Taylor +is, but her roommate is missing." + +"'Parted at the altar,'" quoted Elfreda dramatically. "Will you +please unhook me?" + +For the second time that night Grace busied herself with the +troublesome hooks and eyes. Elfreda jerked off the new gown. Her +temper was rising. "This is what comes of cultivating freaks," she +muttered, lapsing into her old rudeness. "I might have known she'd +do something. Catch me on any more reform committees!" + +"The way of the reformer is hard," soothed Grace, as she picked up +the gown Elfreda had thrown in a heap on the floor, and folding it, +laid it across the foot of the stout girl's couch. + +Elfreda, who was reaching into the closet for her brown serge dress, +wheeled about, regarding Grace solemnly. "Too hard for me," she +declared. "Hereafter, the Anarchist can attend to her own +reformation. The Briggs Helping Hand Society has disbanded." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +MAKING OTHER GIRLS HAPPY + + +The Thanksgiving holiday was welcomed with acclamation by the +students of Overton College, who, with a few exceptions, ate their +Thanksgiving dinners at their various campus houses and boarding +places. During the four days tables at Martell's and Vinton's were +in demand and a continuous succession of dinners and luncheons made +serious inroads in the monthly allowances of the hospitable +entertainers. + +The month of December dragged discouragingly, however, and when the +time really did arrive to pack and be off for the Christmas holidays +the latent energy that suddenly developed for packing trunks and +making calls caused the faculty to sigh with regret that it had not +been used in the pursuit of knowledge. + +Nothing of any event had happened at Wayne Hall. Since the evening +when Elfreda had waited in vain for Laura Atkins, whose invitation +to dinner she had accepted, this peculiar young woman had offered +neither apology nor explanation for her inexplicable behavior. In +fact, the next morning she had completely ignored Elfreda, who, +feeling herself to be the aggrieved one, had made no attempt to +discover what had prompted this glaring disregard of etiquette on the +part of the eccentric freshman. + +For a week afterward Elfreda discussed and rediscussed the mystery +with Grace, Anne and Miriam. Then she gave up in disgust and turned +her attention to basketball. She had lost considerable weight and was +now a member of the scrub team. Her greatest ambition was to make the +real team in her junior year, and with that intent she sturdily +refused to eat sweet things, took long walks and daily haunted the +gymnasium, going through the various forms of exercises she had +elected to take with commendable persistency. + +Grace had never sought to discover the identity of the freshman who +had stolen her theme. She felt reasonably certain that the same roof +covered them both, but she never allowed herself to reach the point +of laying the finger of suspicion on any one in particular. That she +had been vindicated of the charge was quite enough for her, but she +could not resist wondering occasionally what had prompted the deed, +and whether the other girl had turned over a new leaf. + +One other thing troubled Grace not a little. Mildred Taylor had +become extremely intimate with Mary Hampton and Alberta Wicks. Both +young women were frequent guests for dinner at Wayne Hall, and +Mildred spent her spare time almost entirely in their society. As the +two juniors were extremely unpopular with the Wayne Hall girls a +peculiar constraint invariably fell upon the table when either young +woman was Mildred's guest for the evening. "One has to weigh one's +words before speaking when Alberta Wicks or Mary Hampton are here," +Emma Dean had declared significantly to Irene Evans, and this seemed +to be the prevalent opinion among the students who lived at Wayne Hall. + +Mildred's attitude toward Grace had not changed. In manner she was +more distant than ever, and except for a slight bow when chance +brought her face to face with Grace, she gave no other evidence of +having been more than the merest acquaintance. Her dislike for her +roommate had to all appearances disappeared, and Laura Atkins was now +seen occasionally in company with Mildred and her two mischievous +junior friends. + +Such was the situation when the longed-for Christmas vacation +arrived. Grace Harlowe's thoughts were not on her own perplexities +as she walked toward Wayne Hall after finishing her last round of calls. +A new problem had arisen, and as she swung along through the crisp +winter air she was deep in thought. It was peculiar Christmas +weather. A light snow had fallen, but through the patches of white +lying softly on the campus the grass still showed spots of green. It +had been an unusually long, warm fall, and to Grace, whose winters +had been spent much farther north, the mildness of December had +seemed marvelous. + +"There!" she exclaimed, stopping in the middle of the walk to +consult a small leather book, and drawing a pencil through the last +item, "I can go home in peace. I have every single thing done, even +to notifying the expressman to come for my trunk." + +A sudden trill sounded down the street behind her. Turning her head, +Grace saw Arline Thayer bearing down upon her. "I thought I'd never +make you hear me," panted the little girl. "Ruth is going home with +me after all." + +"I thought she would," laughed Grace. "She assured me last night +that she wouldn't think of imposing upon you, but I know your powers +of persuasion. You have given Ruth a great deal of happiness, Arline, +and I am sure she appreciates it, too." + +Arline shook her curly head. "I don't deserve any credit. I am nice +with her because I like her. I am consulting my own selfish pleasure, +you see, and that doesn't count. If I didn't care for Ruth I am +afraid I wouldn't bother my head about helping her to have good times." + +"You are frank, at least," smiled Grace. + +"Seriously speaking, I am really very selfish," admitted Arline. "I +never think of doing good for unselfish reasons. I don't find any +particular interest in being nice with girls who do not appeal to me. +That sounds terribly cold-blooded, doesn't it? They say an only child +is always selfish, you know. Oh, forgive me, Grace; I forgot you were +an 'only child.' Goodness knows you are not selfish." + +"Yes, I am," contradicted Grace. "This is my second year at Overton +and in all the time I've been here I have thought about nothing but +myself and my friends and my good times. This afternoon when I +started out to make calls I met Miss Barlow, a little freshman who +lives in a boarding house down on Beech Street. We were going in the +same direction and I thoughtlessly asked if she were going home for +Christmas. A second afterward I was sorry. Her face fell, then she +brightened a little and said, 'No.' She and seven other girls who +lived in the same house were going to have a Christmas tree. For +three days they had been busy decorating it. They had just finished. +She asked, almost timidly, if I would like to see it. Of course I +said 'Yes,' and we started for her boarding house. It is away down +at the other end of Overton, and the most cheerless looking old barn +of a house. The inside of the house is almost as cheerless as the +outside, too. They had set up their tree in the parlor, and it was +the only bright spot in the room. + +"The tree was trimmed with popcorn and tinsel. There were funny +little ornaments of colored paper, too, that they had made +themselves. The presents were underneath the tree, a few forlorn +looking little packages that made me feel like crying. I couldn't +truthfully say that the tree was lovely, but I did tell Miss Barlow +that I thought they had done splendidly and that I was sorry I hadn't +known her better before, because I should have liked to help them +with their tree. + +"Then she said she had always wanted to know me, but I had so many +friends among the influential girls at Overton she had thought I +wouldn't care to know her. You can imagine how conscience stricken +I felt. At home I was the friend of every girl in high school, and +to think that I have been developing snobbish traits without realizing +it!" + +"Couldn't we do something nice for them before we go?" asked Arline +generously. "It is only three o 'clock. Why not start a movement +among the girls we know and send them a box? We can make the girls +contribute, but we won't tell a soul who it's for. We will ask for +money or presents--whatever they care to give," she went on eagerly. +"What do you think of it? Do you suppose they would be offended?" + +"I think it is the greatest thing out!" exclaimed Grace +enthusiastically. "How can they be offended if we send the things +anonymously?" + +"They can't," chuckled Arline gleefully. "Now we had better +separate. I'll do Morton House, Livingstone Hall and Wellington +House. You can do Wayne Hall, Holland House and those two boarding +houses on the corner below you. A lot of freshmen and sophomores live +there. I'll come over to your house with my loot to-night, directly +after dinner. Good-bye until then." + +At seven o'clock that night Arline set down a heavy suit case and +rang the bell at Wayne Hall. Grace, who had been watching for her +from one of the living-room windows, hastened to open the door. +"Thank goodness," sighed the little fluffy-haired girl. "I thought +I would never be able to drag this suit case across the campus. It +is crammed with things. I've been busier than all the busy bees that +ever buzzed," she continued happily, following Grace into the living +room. "You can't begin to think how nice every one has been. About +half of this stuff in the suit case is candy. One girl at Morton +House had ten boxes given her. Of course, she couldn't eat it all, +so she put in five." Arline did not volunteer the further information +that she was the "girl" and that the candy was mostly from Willston +men, with whom she was extremely popular. + +"Another girl gave me two pairs of gloves. She had half a dozen +pairs sent from home. She's going to New York for Christmas, so her +home presents were sent to her here. Ever so many girls who had +bought presents to take home gave me something from their store. I +caught them just as they were finishing their packing. But, best of +all," added Arline triumphantly, sinking into a chair and opening her +brown suede handbag, "I have money--fifty dollars! That will help +some, won't it?" She gave a little, gleeful chuckle. + +"I should say so," gasped Grace. "I didn't do quite as well, +although I have a whole table full of presents. Come on up and see +them. None of us have put in our money contribution yet." + +"How much have you?" asked Arline curiously. + +"So far only twenty-five dollars," replied Grace. "The girls in the +boarding houses are not overburdened with money. I collected half of +it from the Holland House girls. Miriam has promised me five dollars +and I will put in five. That makes thirty-five dollars. I haven't +asked Elfreda yet. She went out on a last shopping tour early this +afternoon and hasn't come home yet. I suppose she went to Vinton's +for dinner. Anne hasn't given me her money yet." + +"Did you ask Miss Atkins?" was Arline's sudden inquiry. She was +seized with a recollection of what transpired earlier in the fall. + +Grace shook her head. "I couldn't. She hasn't spoken to me since the +beginning of the term." + +"Shall I run up and ask her?" proposed Arline. "She is quite cordial +to me in that queer, stiff way of hers." + +"It is only fair to give her a chance to contribute if she wishes," +said Grace slowly. "I should say you might better ask her than leave +her out." + +"I'll go now, while I feel in the humor," declared Arline. + +"You might ask Miss Taylor, too. She is Miss Atkins's roommate. She +has been rather distant with me, so I haven't approached her on the +subject." + +Arline danced off on her errand with joyful little skips of +anticipation. It was not long before she returned, a pleased smile +on her baby face. "What do you think!" she whispered, gleefully. "She +gave me ten dollars! She was lovely, too, and didn't scowl at all. +I wished her a Merry Christmas, and she asked me to take luncheon or +dinner with her some time after Christmas. Miss Taylor wasn't there." + +Grace was on the point of replying humorously that she hoped Arline +would not share Elfreda's fate when the hour to dine came round. She +checked herself in time, however. She had no right to betray +Elfreda's confidence even to Arline. "That was generous in her," she +said warmly. "Would you like to come upstairs with me now, Arline, +while I collect my share of the contributions? Miriam and Elfreda +will soon be here and I will ask Anne for her money." + +Arline obediently followed Grace upstairs to her room. Grace lighted +the gas. As she did so she espied an envelope lying on the rug near +the door. Crossing to where it lay, Grace picked it up. It bore no +superscription. She turned it over, then finding it unsealed pulled +back the flap and peered into it. With an exclamation of wonder she +drew forth a crisp ten dollar bill. "Who do you suppose left it +there?" she gasped in amazement. "I thought Anne was here. She must +have gone out." + +"Look in the envelope. Perhaps there is a card, too," suggested +Arline hopefully. + +Grace peered into it a second time. Close to the inner surface of +the envelope lay a tiny strip of paper. She held it up triumphantly +for Arline's inspection. + +"Is there any writing on it?" demanded Arline. + +Grace scanned the strip of paper earnestly, turned it over and found +the faint lead-pencil inscription: "From a friend." + +"Who can it be?" pondered Arline. "Do you recognize the hand-writing?" + +"No." Grace looked puzzled. "It is a welcome gift. Just think, +Arline, we have one hundred dollars. Your fifty, and Miss Atkins's +ten makes sixty, and this makes seventy. The twenty-five dollars I +have and twenty dollars more from the four of us makes one hundred +and fifteen dollars. That will mean a great deal to those girls. I +only wish it were more." + +"If I had known sooner I would not have been so extravagant in +buying my Christmas presents," declared Arline regretfully. "There +isn't time to write Father for money. I don't like to telegraph. I've +been positively reckless with money this month. When I go home I'm +going to have a talk with Father. Oh, Grace Harlowe, I've a perfectly +lovely idea," she continued, joyfully clasping her two small hands +about Grace's arm, "but I am not going to say a word until I come +back to Overton." + +"Then I won't ask questions," smiled Grace. "Come, now, help me with +these packages. It is eight o'clock and we haven't made a start yet. +We had better wrap the presents in two large packages. I will ask +Mrs. Elwood for some wrapping paper, and we'll bring the suit case +up here." + +It was almost nine o'clock when Grace and Arline descended the steps +of Wayne Hall with mystery written on their faces. Each girl carried +an unwieldy bundle. In the center of Grace's bundle, securely wrapped +in fold after fold of tissue paper, was a little box. It contained +one hundred and fifteen dollars in bills. Wrapped about the bills was +the following note addressed to Esther Barlow, the freshman Grace had +encountered that afternoon: "Merry Christmas to yourself and your +seven freshmen friends. Santa Claus." + +"How can we manage to deliver this stuff without being seen?" +demanded Arline. "My arms ache already, and we haven't walked a block." + +Grace set down her bundle on a convenient horse block and paused to +consider. Arline dropped hers beside it with a sigh of relief. "I +know what we can do," said Grace reflectively. "We can get Mr. Symes +to go with us. He is that old man who does errands and takes messages +for ever so many of the girls. We will go with him as far as the +corner, then he can carry the things to the door and give them to the +woman who owns the boarding house. He lives just around the corner +from here. You stay here and watch the bundles and I will see if I +can find him." + +Grace found Mr. Symes at home and quite willing to carry out the +final detail of the Christmas plan. The old man was duly sworn to +secrecy and entered into the spirit of his errand almost as heartily +as did Arline and Grace. At the chosen corner the girls halted, +repeated their final instructions, and drawing back into the shadow, +left him to deliver the two bulky packages, his wrinkled face +wreathed in smiles. + +He smiled even more broadly on his return to the watchers, as Grace +slipped a crisp green note into his hand and wished him a Merry +Christmas. + +"Now we ought to do a little celebrating on our own account," she +proposed. "Suppose we pay a visit to Vinton's. It isn't too cold for +ices." + +"That is just what I was thinking," agreed Arline. + +An hour later Arline and Grace said good-bye on the corner below +Wayne Hall. "I won't see you in the morning at the station, Grace," +said Arline regretfully. "My train leaves a whole hour later than +yours. I hope you will have a perfectly lovely Christmas. I hope +eight other girls will, too. Don't you?" + +"You're a dear little Daffydowndilly," smiled Grace as she kissed +Arline's upturned face. "I am sure they will, and they have you to +thank for their pleasure, though they will never know it." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +MRS. GRAY'S CHRISTMAS CHILDREN + + +"If this isn't like old times, then nothing ever will be!" exclaimed +David Nesbit, beaming on Anne Pierson, who was busy pouring tea for +the "Eight Originals" in Mrs. Gray's comfortable library. + +"Old times!" exclaimed Hippy Wingate, accepting his teacup with a +flourish that threatened to send its contents into the lap of Nora +O'Malley, who sat beside him on the big leather davenport. "It takes +me back to the days when I had only to lift my hand and say, 'Table, +prepare thyself,' and some one of these fair damsels immediately +invited me to a banquet. Gone are the days when I waxed fat and +prosperous. Now I am thin and pale, a victim of adversity." + +"I think you look stouter than ever," declared Nora cruelly. "You +say you have lost ten pounds, but--" she shrugged her shoulders +significantly. + +"Cruel, cruel," moaned Hippy. "It is sad to see such calloused +inhumanity in one so young. Pass me the cakes, Anne, the chocolate +covered ones. They, at least, will afford me sweet consolation." + +"I object," interposed Reddy Brooks. "Don't give him that plate. +Hand him one or two, Anne. I like the looks of those cakes, too." + +"Man, do you mean to insinuate that I am not what I seem?" demanded +Hippy, glaring belligerently at Reddy. + +"No, I am stating plainly that you are exactly what you seem. That's +why I am looking out for my share of the cakes." + +"Always prompted by selfish motives," deplored Hippy. "How thankful +I am that the sweet blossom of unselfishness blooms freely in my +heart. It is true that I would eat all the cakes on that plate, but +from a purely unselfish motive." + +"Let's hear the motive," jeered Tom Gray. + +"I would eat them all," replied Hippy gently, favoring the company +with one of his famously wide smiles, "to save you, my beloved +friends, from indigestion. It is better that I should bear your +suffering." + +"Thank you," retorted David Nesbit dryly, helping himself to the +coveted cakes and passing the plate over Hippy's head to Mrs. Gray, +"I prefer to do my own suffering." + +"Oh, as you like," returned Hippy airily. "I have always been fonder +of Mrs. Gray than I can say." He sidled ingratiatingly toward where +Mrs. Gray sat, her cheeks pink with the excitement of having her +Christmas children with her. + +From the time Grace, Miriam and Anne stepped off the train into the +waiting arms of their dear ones, their vacation had been a season of +continued rejoicing. Mrs. Gray, who, Tom gravely declared, would +celebrate her twenty-fifth birthday next April, was tireless in her +efforts to make their brief stay in Oakdale a happy one. On Christmas +night she had gathered them in and given them a dinner and a tree. +She had also given a luncheon in honor of Anne and a large party on +New Year's night. It was now the evening after New Year's and the +morning train would take the boys back to college. Grace, Miriam and +Anne would leave a day later for Overton. Nora and Jessica were to +remain in Oakdale until the following week. It seemed only natural +that they should spend their last evening together at the home of +their old friend. Outside the "Eight Originals," Miriam had been the +only one invited to this last intimate gathering. + +"Now, Hippy, stick to the truth," commanded Mrs. Gray, shaking her +finger at him, but handing him the plate at the same time. Hippy +swooped down upon it with a gurgle of delight. + +"It's the truth. I swear it," he declared, holding up one fat hand +in which he clutched a cake. + +"What made you give him the plate, Aunt Rose?" asked Tom +reproachfully. + +"Bless you, child, there are plenty of cakes. Let Hippy have as many +as he can eat." + +"Vindicated," chuckled Hippy, between cakes, "and given full +possession besides." + +"I wouldn't be so greedy," sniffed Nora O'Malley. + +"I'm so glad. I dislike greedy little girls," retorted Hippy +patronizingly. + +"Stop squabbling," interposed Grace. "Here we are on the eve of +separation and yet you two are bickering as energetically as when you +first caught sight of each other two weeks ago. Did you ever agree +on any subject?" + +"Let me see," said Hippy. "Did we, Nora?" + +"Never," replied Nora emphatically. + +"Then, let's begin now," suggested Hippy hopefully. "If you will +agree always to agree with me I will agree--" + +"Thank you, but I can't imagine myself as ever being so foolish," +interrupted Nora loftily. + +"She spoke the truth," said Hippy sadly. "We never can agree. It is +better that we should part. Will you think of me, when I am gone? +That is the burning question. Will you, won't you, can you, can't you +remember me?" He beamed sentimentally on Nora, who beamed on him in +return, at the same time making almost imperceptible signs to Grace +to capture the plate of cakes, of which Hippy was still in +possession. In his efforts to be impressive, Hippy had, for the +moment, forgotten the cakes. But he was not to be caught napping. The +instant Grace made a sly movement toward the plate it was whisked +from under her fingers. + +"Naughty, naughty, mustn't touch!" he exclaimed, eyeing Grace +reprovingly. + +"Let him alone, girls, and come over here," broke in David Nesbit. +"He only does these things to make himself the center of attraction. +He wants all the attention." + +"Ha," jeered Hippy exultantly. "David thinks that crushing remark +will fill me with such overwhelming shame that I shall drop the cakes +and retire to a distant corner. He little knows what manner of man +I am. I will defend my rights until not a vestige of doubt remains +as to who is who in Oakdale." + +"There is not a vestige of doubt in my mind as to what will happen +in about ten seconds if certain people don't mend their ways," +threatened Reddy, rising from his chair, determination in his eye. + +"Take the cakes, Grace," entreated Hippy, hastily shoving the plate +into Grace's hand. "Nora, protect me. Don't let him get me. Please, +mister, I haven't any cakes. I gave them all to a poor, miserable +beggar who--" + +"Here, Reddy, you may have them," broke in Grace decisively. "It is +bad enough to have an unpleasant duty thrust upon one, but to be +called names!" + +"I never did, never," protested Hippy. "It was a mere figure of +speech. Didn't you ever hear of one?" + +"Not that kind, and you can't have the cakes, again," said Jessica +firmly. "Give them to me, Grace." + +"Jessica always helps Reddy," grumbled Hippy. "Now, if Nora would +only stand up for me, we could manage this whole organization with +one hand. She is such a splendid fighter--" + +"I'll never speak to you again, Hippy Wingate," declared Nora, +turning her back on him with a final air of dismissal. + +"Gently, gently!" exclaimed Hippy, raising his hand in expostulation. +"I was about to say that you, Nora, are a splendid fighter"--he paused +significantly--"for the right. What can be more noble than to fight +for the right? Now, aren't you sorry you repudiated me? If you will +say so immediately I will overlook the other remark. But you must be +quick. Time and I won't wait a minute. Remember, I'm going away +to-morrow." + +"Good-bye," retorted Nora indifferently. "I'll see you again some +day." + +"'Forsaken, forsaken, forsaken am I,'" wailed Hippy, hopelessly out +of tune. + +"Now, see what you've done," commented David Nesbit disgustedly. + +"I'm truly sorry," apologized Nora. "Hippy, if you will stop +singing, I'll forgive you and allow you to sit beside me." She patted +the davenport invitingly. + +"I thought you would," grinned Hippy, seating himself triumphantly +beside her. "I always gain my point by singing that song. It appeals +to people. It is so pathetic. They would give worlds to--" + +"Have you stop it," supplemented Tom Gray. + +"Yes," declared Hippy. "No, I don't mean 'yes' at all. Tom Gray is +an unfeeling monster. I refuse to say another word. I have subsided. +Now, may I have some more tea?" + +Anne filled the stout young man's cup and handed it to him with a +smile. "What are you going to be when you grow up, Hippy?" she asked +mischievously. + +"A brakeman," replied Hippy promptly. "I always did like to ride on +trains. That's why I am spending four years in college." + +"Don't waste your breath on him, Anne," advised Nora. "He won't tell +any one what he intends to do. I've asked him a hundred times. He +knows, too. He really isn't as foolish as he looks." + +"I'm going to try for a position in the Department of Forestry at +Washington after I get through college," announced Tom Gray. + +"I'm going into business with my father," declared Reddy. + +"I don't know yet what my work will be," said David Nesbit +reflectively. + +"All you children will be famous one of these days," predicted Mrs. +Gray sagely. She had been listening delightedly to the merry voices +of the young people. To her, as well as to his young friends, Hippy +was a never-failing source of amusement. + +"To choose a profession is easier for boys than for girls," declared +Grace. "I haven't the slightest idea what I shall do after my college +days are over. Most boys enter college with their minds made up as +to what their future work is going to be, but very few girls decide +until the last minute." + +"Girls whose parents can afford to send them to college don't have +to decide, as a rule," said Nora wisely, "but almost every young man +thinks about it from the first, no matter how much money his father +is worth." + +"That is true, my dear," nodded Mrs. Gray. + +"Yet I am sure my girls as well as my boys will astonish the world +some day. In fact, Anne has already proved her mettle. Nora hopes to +become a great singer, Jessica a pianiste and Grace and Miriam--" + +"Are still floundering helplessly, trying to discover their +respective vocations," supplemented Grace. + +"Yes, Mrs. Gray," smiled Miriam, "our future careers are shrouded in +mystery." + +"Time enough yet," said Mrs. Gray cheerily. "Going to college +doesn't necessitate adopting a profession, you know. Perhaps when +your college days are over you will find your vocation very near home." + +"Perhaps," assented Grace doubtfully, "only I'd like to 'do noble +deeds, not dream them all day long,'" she quoted laughingly. + + "'And so make life, death and the vast forever + One grand sweet song,'" + +finished Anne softly. + +"That is what I shall do when I am a brakeman," declared Hippy +confidently. + +"You mean you will make life miserable for every one who comes +within a mile of you," jeered Reddy Brooks. + +"Reddy, how can you thus ruthlessly belittle my tenderest hope, my +fondest ambitions? What do you know about my future career as a +brakeman? I intend to be touchingly faithful to my duty, kind and +considerate to the public. In time the world will hear of me and I +shall be honored and revered." + +"Which you never would be at home," put in David sarcastically. + +"What great man is ever appreciated in his own country?" questioned +Hippy gently. + +Even Reddy was obliged to smile at this retort. + +"Let the future take care of itself," said Tom Gray lazily. "The +night is yet young. Let us do stunts. Grace and Miriam must do their +Spanish dance for us. Then it will be Nora's and Jessica's turn. +Hippy can sing, nothing sentimental, though. David, Reddy, Hippy and +I will then enact for you a stirring drama of metropolitan life +entitled 'Oakdale's Great Mystery,' with the eminent actor, +Theophilus Hippopotamus Wingate as the 'Mystery.' Let the show begin. +We will have the Spanish dance first." + +"Come on, Miriam," laughed Grace. "We had better be obliging. Then +we shall be admitted to the rest of the performance." + +The impromptu "show" that followed was a repetition of the "stunts" +for which the various members of the little circle were famous and +which were always performed for Mrs. Gray's pleasure. "Oakdale's +Great Mystery," of which Hippy calmly admitted the authorship, proved +to be a ridiculous travesty on a melodrama which the boys had seen +the previous winter. Hippy as the much-vaunted Mystery, with a +handkerchief mask, a sweeping red portiere cloak, and an +ultra-mysterious shuffle was received with shrieks of laughter by the +audience. The dramatic manner in which, after a series of humorous +complications, the Mystery was run to earth and unmasked by "Deadlock +Jones, the King of Detectives," was portrayed by David with +"startling realism" and elicited loud applause. + +"That is the funniest farce you boys have ever given," laughed Mrs. +Gray, as Hippy removed his mask with a loud sigh of relief and wiped +his perspiring forehead with it. "You will be a playwright some day, +Hippy." + +"I'd rather be a brakeman," persisted Hippy with his Cheshire cat +grin. + +It was half-past ten o'clock when the last good night had been said +and the young people were on their way home. As the Nesbit residence +was so near Mrs. Gray's home, Miriam was escorted to her door by a +merry body guard. At Putnam Square the little company halted for a +moment before separating, Nora, Jessica, Hippy and Reddy going in one +direction, Grace, Anne, Tom and David in the other. + +"Are you coming down to the train to-morrow morning to see us off?" +asked David Nesbit, his question including the four girls. + +"Of course," replied Grace. "Don't we always see you off on the +train whenever you go back to school before we do?" + +"Then we'll reserve our sad farewells until the morn," beamed Hippy. + +"Sad farewells!" exclaimed Nora scornfully. "I never yet saw you +look sad over saying goodbye to us. You always smile at the last +minute as though you were going to a picnic." + +"'Tis only to hide my sorrow, my child," returned Hippy +lugubriously. "Would'st have the whole town look upon my tears and +jeer, 'cry baby'?" + +"That's a very good excuse," sniffed Nora. + +"Not an excuse," corrected Hippy, "but a cloak to hide my real +feelings." + +"That will do, Hippopotamus," cut in David decisively. "We don't +wish to hear the whys and wherefores of your feelings. If we stayed +to listen to them we would be here on this very spot when our train +leaves to-morrow morning." + +"Wait until we come back for Easter, Hippy, then if you begin the +first day you're home you'll finish before we go back to college," +suggested Grace. + +"That's a good idea," declared Hippy joyfully. "I shall remember it, +and look forward to the Easter vacation." + +"I shan't come home for Easter, then," decided Nora mercilessly. + +"Then I shan't look forward to anything," replied Hippy with such +earnestness that even scornful Nora forgot to retort sharply. + +"We all hope to be together again at Easter," said Grace, looking +affectionately from one to the other of the little group. "Remember, +every one, your good resolution about letters." + +"We'll talk about that in the morning," laughed Reddy, who abhorred +letter writing. + +"You mean you'll forget about it," said Jessica significantly. + +"We all have our faults," mourned Hippy. "Now, as for myself--" + +"Take him away, Nora," begged David. + +"I will," agreed Nora. "Come on, Hippy. Reddy, you and Jessica help +me tear him away from this corner." + +"How can you tear me away now? At the precise moment when I had +begun to enjoy myself, too?" reproached Hippy. + +"This is only the beginning," was Reddy's threatening answer. "We +are going to leave you stranded on the next corner. Then you can go +on enjoying yourself alone." + +"Try it," dared Hippy. "If you do I shall lift up my voice and tell +everyone in this block how unfeeling and hard-hearted some persons +are. I shall mention names in my most stentorian tones and the public +will rush forth from their houses to hear the truth about you. Ah, +here is the corner! Now, leave me at your peril." + +"His mind is wandering," said Reddy sadly. "He imagines he is still +'Oakdale's Great Mystery.' We had better lead him home. I'll take his +left arm, and Nora----" + +"Will take my right," interrupted Hippy. "Reddy, you may attend to +your own affairs, and keep your distance from my left arm. Jessica, +please look after Reddy. His mind is wandering. In fact, it always +has wandered. Crazy is as crazy does, you know." + +"Yes, we know," flung back David significantly. + +"Do you?" asked Hippy in apparent innocence. "I was so afraid you +didn't. To lose one's mind is a dreadful affliction, but not to know +that one is crazy is even worse. I am so relieved, David, Grace, Tom, +and all of you, that at last you know the truth concerning +yourselves. It is indeed a sad----" + +A moment later the loquacious Hippy was hustled down the street by +three determined young people, while the other four turned their +steps in the opposite direction. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +ARLINE'S PLAN + + +"It was beautiful to be at home, but it is nice to be here, too. If +it wasn't for mid year exams, I could be happy," sighed Grace +Harlowe, as she rearranged three new sofa pillows she had brought +from home, the gifts of Oakdale friends. Grace and Anne had invited +Arline Thayer and Ruth Denton to dinner, and Miriam and Elfreda had +dropped in for a brief chat before the dinner bell rang. + +"We'll all survive even mid year," predicted Miriam confidently. + +"We had a perfectly lovely time in New York, didn't we, Arline?" +asked Ruth Denton, looking at the little curly-haired girl with fond +eyes. + +Arline nodded. "I wish our vacation had been two weeks longer," she +remarked wistfully. "I just begin to get acquainted with Father, when +it is time to go back to college again. Have you seen many of the +girls?" + +"Only the Morton House girls and you," answered Arline. "This is the +first call I've made outside the house. Are all the Wayne Hall girls +here?" + +"Miss Taylor hasn't come back yet," said Elfreda. "Do you girls +happen to know where she spent her vacation?" + +"No," said Grace. "I didn't see her before I left. When first she +came to Wayne Hall she seemed to like me. At the sophomore reception +I hurt her feelings, unintentionally you may be sure. I am afraid she +has never forgiven me, for since then she has avoided me." + +"She must have very sensitive feelings," remarked Elfreda bluntly. +"What did you do to hurt them?" + +"I missed asking her to dance," explained Grace. "I didn't see her +until late that evening, and when I apologized and asked to see her +card she refused, saying coldly that my forgetting to ask her to +dance was of no consequence. Since then she has hardly spoken to me." + +"Why didn't you tell me that before?" asked Elfreda quickly. "That +accounts for certain things." + +"Don't be mysterious, Elfreda," put in Miriam. "Tell us what you +mean by 'certain things'?" + +"You girls know that on several occasions before Christmas Alberta +Wicks and Mary Hampton were invited here to dinner. Who invited them? +Miss Taylor. So Alberta Wicks retaliated by taking Miss Taylor home +with her for the holidays." + +"Really?" asked Miriam, in surprise. "Who told you?" + +"They went home on the same train with Emma Dean," returned Elfreda. +"She sat two seats behind them. Has any one seen the Anarchist?" + +No one answered. + +"Why don't we change the subject and talk about something pleasant," +complained Arline Thayer. + +"Do you remember saying to me the night before we went home that you +had thought of a lovely plan?" reminded Grace. + +"Yes," returned Arline. "I am glad you reminded me of it while we +are all here. Just before I went home for my vacation the idea popped +into my head that we ought to organize some kind of society for +helping these girls who come to Overton with little or no money and +who depend on the work they find to do here to help them through +college." + +"Like me," put in Ruth slyly. + +"Don't interrupt me," retorted Arline, smiling at Ruth. "When I went +home I had a talk with Father, and he has promised to give me five +hundred dollars with which to start a fund. Now, what I propose to +do is to organize a little society of our own with this same object +in view. There is one society of that kind here at Overton, but it +is always so besieged with requests for help that I don't imagine it +more than keeps its head above water. There is room for another, at +any rate. I don't see why we can't be the girls to organize it." +Arline looked questioningly about the circle of interested faces. + +"I think it would be splendid," said Miriam emphatically. "I know my +mother would contribute toward it." + +"So would Pa and Ma," declared Elfreda. "Suppose we all write home +tonight." + +"What do you think of it, Grace and Anne?" asked Arline. "So far +neither of you has said a word." + +"Neither has Ruth made any remarks," replied Anne. "Why don't you +ask her? I think she has something to say on the subject." + +All eyes were immediately turned on Ruth, who flushed, looked almost +distressed, then said slowly, "Could the girls who asked for help +borrow the money and return it as soon as they were able?" + +"Of course," responded Arline. "Don't be afraid that you are going +to have charity thrust upon you, Ruth." + +"That would be the only basis on which we could establish a society +of that kind," commented Miriam. "An Overton girl would hesitate to +make use of the money except as a loan." + +"What would we call ourselves?" asked Elfreda abruptly. + +"We can decide on a name later," said Arline. "The thing to decide +now is, shall we or shall we not form this society? Answer yes or no?" + +"Yes," was the chorus. + +"Don't you think," said Grace after a slight deliberation, "that it +would be nicer if we could finance this society ourselves, instead +of asking our fathers and mothers for money? It isn't any particular +effort for most of us to write home for money. How much better it +would be if we could say that we had earned the money ourselves, or +saved it from our allowances." + +"But what about my five hundred dollars?" questioned Arline +plaintively. "As the originator of this scheme I claim the privilege +of putting in as much capital as I please. I am going to be the +exception that proves the rule. Besides, Father has already promised +me the money. Take the five hundred dollars for the basis of our +fund, then we will pledge ourselves hereafter to earn or contribute +whatever money we put into it." + +"What do you say to that, girls?" asked Grace. + +"I think Arline ought to be allowed to give the five hundred dollars +if she wishes," said Miriam. "It is her money and her plan. Besides, +we need the money!" + +"I think so, too," echoed Elfreda. "We might call the society the +'Arline Thayer Club.'" + +"If you dare--" began Arline. + +"Save your breath, my child, I didn't mean that seriously," drawled +Elfreda. "However, we had better begin our society here, to-night. +There are six of us. Shall we add to our number or let well enough +alone?" + +"I'd like to have Gertrude Wells in it," said Arline. "Shall we make +it strictly a sophomore affair?" + +"I think it would be better," replied Grace. + +"Then let us ask Emma Dean, Elizabeth Wade, Marian Cummings and +Elsie Wilton," pursued Arline. + +"Seven, eight, nine, ten," counted Anne. + +"Let us make it a dozen," suggested Miriam. + +"Then who shall the other two members be?" + +"Why not ask the Emerson Twins?" suggested Arline. "They would be +good material, and they are both splendid on committees. Julia +Emerson nearly worked her head off for the sophomore reception last +fall." + +"Very well, we will ask them," agreed Grace. "In case any one of the +girls we have named but haven't yet interviewed should not wish to +belong to our society we can propose some one else to take her place. +In the meantime you must each be thinking of a name for our little +club. We can meet in the library after the last class tomorrow +afternoon, and go from there to Vinton's to talk it over. Arline, you +must tell Gertrude Wells, Elizabeth Wade and Marian Cummings. We can +easily see the others." + +"The dinner bell! Thank goodness!" exclaimed Elfreda fervently. "I +am almost starved. I hope dinner will be better than last night's +offering. Everything we had to eat was warranted to fatten one." + +"Never mind, Elfreda," consoled Arline. "Think how nice it will be +when you make the team. That will be a reward worth having." + +"Yes, if I make it," grumbled the stout girl. + +"We will go on with our new plan after dinner," said Grace. Then as +an afterthought she added: "Don't say anything about it at the table. +Suppose we keep it a secret until our society is in running order?" + +"Hello, children," greeted Emma Dean, as they entered the dining +room that night. "Has the board of directors been holding a meeting? +I see you are all here." + +Several girls already seated at the table looked up smilingly as the +six girls slipped into their places. Laura Atkins returned Arline's +friendly nod with a cold bow. She did not appear to see the others. +During the progress of the meal she said little, keeping up a +pretense of indifference as to what went on around her. Nevertheless +her eyes strayed more than once toward the end of the table where +Elfreda was entertaining the girls sitting nearest to her with a +ludicrous account of what had happened to her on her way back to +Overton. Miriam accidentally intercepted one of these straying +glances. In it she fancied she read reproach. A quick flush rose to +Laura Atkins's cheeks. Drawing down her eyebrows she scowled +defiantly at Miriam, then turned her head away, and went on with her +dinner. + +After dinner the discussion of the proposed club was renewed with +energy. Emma Dean's innocent allusion at dinner to the meeting of the +board of directors had brought smiles to the faces of the six girls. +After they had again gathered in Grace's room, Elfreda was despatched +to Emma's room with orders to bring her to the council, no matter +what her engagements or obligations might be. + +"I knew something was going to happen," was Emma's calm announcement +as she followed Elfreda into the room. "To quote my esteemed friend, +Miss Briggs, 'I could see' it in your eyes at dinner. I have a theme +to write, a dressmaker to see, and four letters to answer, but, +still, I am here." + +"We can readily understand how deeply it must have grieved you to +shun the dressmaker, put off writing your theme, and tear yourself +away from your correspondence," sympathized Miriam Nesbit, her eyes +twinkling. + +"Then, as long as you understand it, we won't say anything more +about it," was Emma's hasty reply. "I move that we avoid +personalities and proceed to business." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A WELCOME GUEST + + +The meeting in the library the next day, followed by a social +session at Vinton's, resulted in the enthusiastic organization of the +society proposed by Grace. As had been suggested, every girl had +brought with her a slip of paper on which was written the name she +had selected for the society. Arline collected the names and read +each one in turn to the assembled girls. + +"Which one do you like best?" she asked, looking from one to another +of her friends. + +"The first one," said Miriam Nesbit. + +"So do I," echoed half a dozen voices. + +"'Semper Fidelis,'" repeated Grace musingly. "I like the sound of +that, too. Who proposed that name?" + +"I did," admitted Emma Dean. "I thought it might stand for our motto +as well. It means 'always faithful,' you know. That applies to us, +doesn't it?" + +"Of course we shall be always faithful to our cause," declared +Grace. "All those in favor of the name Semper Fidelis, please +manifest it by holding up their right hands." + +Twelve right hands were raised simultaneously. + +"That settles it," stated Grace. "From now on we are the Semper +Fidelis girls. Let us lose no time in leaving the sacred precincts +of the library for Vinton's. We can make more noise there." + +After the second sundae all around had been disposed of the society +settled down to business. It was decided that the club should be a +purely social affair. Arline was chosen for president, Grace for +vice-president and Gertrude Wells as secretary and treasurer. There was +to be no special day set aside for meetings. A meeting might be called +at any time at the united request of three members. The sole object +of the club was to extend a helping hand to the young women who were +making praiseworthy efforts to put themselves through college. The +foremost duty of the society would be to ascertain the names of these +girls and offer them pecuniary assistance. Arline had written her +father for the promised check for five hundred dollars, which would +be deposited in the bank in Gertrude Wells's name as soon as it +arrived. + +"I might as well tell you now that I wrote and asked Pa for a check +in spite of what Grace said," confessed Elfreda rather sheepishly. + +"I might as well confess that I mentioned the club idea to Mother," +said Miriam. "I didn't ask her for a check, but I wouldn't be +astonished if she sent one in her next letter." + +"You two girls are traitors to the cause," laughed Grace. "Perhaps +you will be disappointed." + +"I won't," asserted Elfreda boldly. "Pa might as well help us as any +one else. I told him so, too." + +"The important question is what can we do to earn money for our +cause?" asked Grace. + +"We might give a play," said Miriam Nesbit. "Anne can star in it. I +should like to have the Overton girls see her at her best." + +"I don't wish to be seen 'at my best,'" protested Anne. "I want the +other girls to have a chance, too. Why not give a vaudeville show? +Grace and Miriam can dance. Elfreda can give imitations. There are +plenty of things we can do. We will advertise the show in all the +campus houses, and each one of us must pledge ourselves to sell a +certain number of tickets. I think we would be allowed to use Music +Hall for the show, and if we could sell tickets enough to fill it, +even comfortably, it would mean quite a sum of money for our +treasury. We might charge fifty cents for admittance, or, if you +think that is too much, we might put the price down to twenty-five +cents." + +"I think we had better charge fifty cents," said Elfreda shrewdly. +"It will be as easy for those who come to pay fifty cents as to pay +twenty-five. We might as well have the other quarter as Vinton's or +Martell's." + +"Elfreda, you are a brilliant and valuable addition to this +society," commended Arline. "I agree with you. We are likely to reap +almost as many half dollars as quarters." + +"We might give an act from one of Shakespeare's plays," remarked +Gertrude Wells doubtfully. "Still, I think it would be more fun to +have just stunts. Those of us who know any ought to be willing to +come forward and do them. We can ask some of the upper class girls +to help. Beatrice Alden sings; so does Frances Marlton. Mabel Ashe +can do almost any kind of fancy dancing. There is plenty of talent +in college. The junior glee club will sing for us, I am sure. + +"We can make it a regular vaudeville entertainment, and have posters +announcing each number. We can have two girls, costumed as pages, to +bring out and remove the posters announcing the numbers." + +"That's a good idea," approved Arline. "I can sing baby and little-girl +songs and dance a little. I might sing one to fill in." + +"You are engaged to sing one the first time you come to see me," +laughed Grace. "Here is talent of which we never dreamed. I knew you +could sing, but you never before confessed to being a real song and +dance artist." + +"We shall have all 'headliners in our show,' as the billboard +advertisements beautifully put it," commented Miriam. "I wish Eleanor +were here, don't you, Grace? Then Anne could recite 'Enoch Arden.'" + +"Who is Eleanor, and why can't Anne recite 'Enoch Arden' without +her?" were Elsie Wilton's curious inquiries. + +"The 'Eleanor' we speak of is in Italy, studying music, or was the +last time we heard from her. She used to live in Oakdale and is one +of our dearest friends. She arranged music to be played during Anne's +recital of 'Enoch Arden.' They gave it at a concert at home and it +was a tremendous success." + +"I wish she were to be here to our show, then," said Arline +plaintively. "We would feature her. What's her other name?" + +"Savelli," replied Grace quickly. + +"Eleanor Savelli, the famous Italian pianiste," announced Arline, +bowing to an imaginary audience. "Her name is the same as that of +Savelli, the great virtuoso, isn't it?" + +"He is her father," said Grace simply. + +A little murmur of astonishment went up. + +"Oh, if she had only come to Overton instead of going to Italy!" +sighed Elizabeth Wade. "I heard Savelli play at a concert three years +ago. I shall never forget him." + +"We were awfully disappointed," interposed Miriam. "Eleanor's father +was to tour America this winter, but changed his mind. There was talk +of a spring tour, but we haven't heard from Eleanor for over a month, +so we don't know whether there is any possibility of his sailing for +America. If he did come to this country, Eleanor would be sure to +accompany him. She has promised us that." + +"There is no use in wishing for the impossible, children," said Emma +Dean briskly, rising from the table and beginning to put on her coat. +"There is also no use in being late for dinner. In spite of this +bounteous repast," she indicated the empty sundae glasses, "I yearn +for Mrs. Elwood's simple but infinitely more satisfying fare. It's +almost six o'clock. Those that are going with me, hurry up." + +"We must have another meeting within the next two or three days," +declared Grace. "Can all of you girls come to our room next Friday +evening? In the meantime we will arrange a programme which will be +brought before the club for approval at our next meeting. Don't any +of you fail to be there." + +As the Wayne Hall girls flocked in the front door that night, Mrs. +Elwood met them with: "Miss Harlowe, there is a young lady in the +living room, waiting for you. She's been there almost an hour." + +"For me?" inquired Grace in surprise. "I'll go in at once." + +An instant later the girls heard a delighted little cry of "Eleanor, +you dear thing!" Then Grace sprang to the door, exclaiming: "Girls, +girls! come in here at once. You can never guess who is here!" + +At the cry of "Eleanor," Miriam and Anne, who were half way +upstairs, ran down again and into the living room. They were followed +by Elfreda, who paused on the stairs, then turned and went slowly up +to her room. "Last year I wouldn't have known enough to go on about +my business," she muttered as she walked stolidly into her room and +sat down on the end of the couch. + +Ten minutes later Miriam burst into the room with: "Come downstairs, +Elfreda. Don't you want to meet Eleanor? You know you have said so +ever so many times. She's very anxious to meet you." + +"Of course I want to meet her," returned Elfreda with a short, +embarrassed laugh. "This room is the place for me, though, until you +are ready to introduce me. Are you sure you want me to go downstairs?" + +"You funny girl," laughed Miriam. "Of course we want you. We have +just been telling Eleanor about you. She hasn't time to come upstairs +now, for her father is waiting for her at the 'Tourraine.' He is +going back to New York City to-night. He has a concert to-morrow. +Grace, Anne and I are going to dine with them. I'm sorry I can't take +you along, but perhaps he will come again to Overton. Eleanor is +going to stay a week longer if we can coax her to remain. She is +traveling with her father. We must hurry downstairs, for Eleanor is +to meet her father at half-past six o'clock, and it is a quarter-past +now." + +Elfreda shook hands with Eleanor almost timidly, She was deeply +impressed with the latter's exquisite beauty. + +"So this is Elfreda," smiled Eleanor, patting the stout girl's hand. +"I have learned to know you through the letters my friends have +written me. I feel as though you were an old friend." + +"It's awfully nice in you to say so," murmured Elfreda, her eyes +shining with pleasure. + +"Won't you go with us to the 'Tourraine'?" asked Eleanor sweetly. "I +would like to have you meet my father." + +"Thank you," almost gasped Elfreda. "I'd love to meet him, but I +think--" + +"Never mind thinking," interrupted Eleanor, gayly. "Just hurry into +your wraps and come along. We'll wait for you." + +"That's sweet in you, Eleanor," said Grace in a low tone as Elfreda +ran upstairs. "She was wild to go with us. She has worshipped you +ever since we showed her your picture. She has heard your father +play, too, and considers him the greatest violinist living." + +"I suspected she wished to be included in the invitation," smiled +Eleanor. "I imagine I am going to like her very much." + +Guido Savelli had engaged a private dining room at the "Tourraine" +for his young guests. He welcomed them with true Latin enthusiasm, +and to see him seated at the head of the table one would never have +suspected him to be the moody, temperamental genius whose playing had +made him famous in two continents. When the time came to leave the +hotel for the train he was escorted to the station by an admiring +bodyguard of five young women. + +"Remember, you have promised to visit Overton again before you leave +New York," reminded Grace as he walked down the station platform +between Grace and Eleanor. + +"He will," declared Eleanor. "I shall make him come back to Overton +for me. Good-bye, Father. Take care of yourself. Remember to go for +your walk every day, won't you? He's the nicest father," she said +softly as the little group turned to leave the station after the +train had gone. "Now take me to your house and let us have an +old-fashioned gossip. I have so much to tell you, and I want to hear +about Overton." + +A happy party gathered in Grace's room that night for an old-time +talk about Oakdale. Elfreda was the only outsider present. For her +benefit the story of the stolen class money and its timely recovery +by Grace and Eleanor, as related in "GRACE HARLOWE'S SENIOR YEAR AT +HIGH SCHOOL," was retold, as well as many other eventful happenings +of their high school life. At a quarter to ten o'clock the four girls +escorted Eleanor to the "Tourraine," returning just inside the half-past +ten o'clock limit. + +"Well, what do you think of Eleanor, Elfreda?" asked Grace, stopping +for a moment outside the room shared by Miriam and Elfreda before +going to her own. + +"Don't ask me," rejoined Elfreda fervently. "I can't thank you girls +enough for the good time I've had tonight. But I want to say that if +there is anything I can do for any of you, just count on J. Elfreda +Briggs to do it." + +"It isn't necessary for you to tell us that, Elfreda," said Anne. +"We know that you are true blue, and so does Eleanor." + +"Does she really like me?" asked Elfreda eagerly. + +"She likes you very much," interposed Grace. "She said so." + +"Then I'm going to give a luncheon for her to-morrow afternoon at +Vinton's," declared Elfreda with shining eyes. "I wanted to suggest +it, to-night, but I was afraid she might not care to come." + +"Couldn't you 'see' that she liked you?" teased Miriam. + +"No, I couldn't. There are lots of things I can't 'see.' One of them +is why you girls ever went to so much trouble to make me 'see.' Good +night." Casting one glance of love and loyalty toward her friends, +Elfreda vanished into her room, and wise Miriam took care not to +enter the room until the stout girl's moment of self-communion had +passed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A GIFT TO SEMPER FIDELIS + + +When the news was whispered about through Overton College that the +attractive young woman who was frequently seen in company with Grace +Harlowe and her friends was the daughter of Guido Savelli, the +renowned virtuoso, it created a wide ripple of excitement among the +four classes. Curious juniors and dignified seniors grew interested, +and Mabel Ashe and Frances Marlton, who were Eleanor's sworn +cavaliers, were besieged with requests for introductions. Far from +being spoiled by so much adulation, Eleanor laughingly attributed it +to her father's genius, and flouted the idea that her own delightful +personality had made her a reigning favorite during her stay in +Overton. + +It took Grace some time to recover from the surprise occasioned by +Eleanor's unexpected arrival. During the month in which she had +received no letter from Eleanor, Guido Savelli had reconsidered his +decision not to appear in America and instead of canceling his +contract had sailed at the eleventh hour to fulfill it, taking +Eleanor with him. + +"You arrived just in time for our show!" exclaimed Grace gleefully +to Eleanor. The two girls sat opposite each other at the library +table in the living room at Wayne Hall, making up the programme for +the vaudeville performance which was to be held in Music Hall, on the +following Friday evening. "Oh, Eleanor, don't you think you can go +home with me for Easter? Never mind if 'Heartsease' is closed. You +can have just as much fun at our house. We have only one more week +here, you know, and your father's concert tour doesn't end for +another month," pleaded Grace. + +"I think I can arrange it," reflected Eleanor. "It is only that +Father misses me so. In some ways he is like an overgrown child. All +great musicians are like that, I believe." + +"It is a pity to take you away from him," admitted Grace, "but we +would like to have you with us. Besides, Tom Gray is going to bring +Donald Earle to Oakdale with him for the Easter. Donald will be so +disappointed if he doesn't see you, Eleanor." + +"I'd like to see him, too," returned Eleanor frankly. "He is one of +the nicest young men I know. Father is coming down here for our show, +unless something unforeseen happens. I shall coax him to play. I +imagine he will be willing. He will play if you ask him, Grace." + +"I wish we might feature him on the bulletin board," reflected +Grace, with a managerial eye to business, "but he wouldn't like that. +We could have him for a surprise, though." + +"I'll tell you what I will do," volunteered Eleanor. "I will +telephone to his hotel in New York and ask him. If he says yes, we +can go ahead and count on him to furnish Overton with a surprise." + +"Oh, Eleanor, could you, would you do it?" asked Grace, a note of +excitement in her voice. + +"I'll telephone at once," nodded Eleanor, rising. "Suppose we go +over to the 'Tourraine' to do it." + +Within the next hour Eleanor and Grace had talked with Guido +Savelli. It had taken very little coaxing to secure his promise to +play at Overton on Friday night, as he gave his last performance in +New York on Thursday evening, and was free until the following +Monday, when he would appear in Boston. + +"It seems almost providential, doesn't it?" asked Eleanor, as she +hung up the receiver. "He could not have come here at any other time." + +"I'm so happy over it I could hurrah," declared Grace jubilantly. + +"I knew Father would not refuse us," smiled Eleanor. "Now hadn't we +better hurry home and make up the rest of the programme?" + +By eight o'clock Friday evening every available foot of space in +Music Hall was crowded with Overton students. The front rows of the +hall had been reserved for the faculty, who were quite in sympathy +with the idea of the new club. In order to obtain permission to use +this hall, Grace had gone to the dean with the story of the +organization of Semper Fidelis and its purpose. The dean had +sympathized heartily with the movement, and had at once laid the +matter before the president of the college, who willingly gave the +desired permission. + +As the Semper Fidelis Club was composed entirely of sophomores, +twelve young women of the sophomore class had been detailed as ushers +and ticket takers. The majority of the club members were down on the +programme, therefore these duties had been turned over to their +classmates. Grace, besides appearing in the Spanish dance with +Miriam, had taken upon herself the duties of stage manager. The two +smallest sophomores in the class, dressed as pages, had been chosen +to place the posters announcing the various numbers on the standards +at each side of the stage. These posters had been designed and +painted by Beatrice Alden and Frances Marlton, who, with Mabel Ashe, +Constance Fuller and several other public-spirited seniors, had +generously offered their services. As both Beatrice and Frances +possessed considerable skill with the brush they turned out extremely +decorative posters, which were afterward sold to various admiring +students for souvenirs of the club's first entertainment. + +"I am so tired," declared Grace to Eleanor as they stood at one side +of the stage while the Glee Club, composed of juniors and seniors, +arranged themselves preparatory to filing on to the stage. +"Everything seems to be going beautifully though. Not a single +performer has disappointed us. How pretty the Glee Club girls look +to-night." + +"Lovely," agreed Eleanor. "The audience is out in its best bib and +tucker, too. Nearly every girl in the house is in evening dress." + +"Consider the occasion," laughed Grace. "Our show would not have +amounted to much if it had not been for you and your distinguished +father. Anne could not have recited 'Enoch Arden,' without your +accompaniment, and the crowning glory of having the great Savelli +play would have been missing. It reminds me of our concert, Eleanor," +she added softly. + +Eleanor's blue eyes met Grace's gray ones with ineffable tenderness. +"The concert that brought me my father," she murmured. "It seems ages +since that night, Grace. I can't realize that I have ever been away +from Father." + +"It does seem a long time since our senior year in high school," +agreed Grace musingly. "Good gracious, Eleanor, the Glee Club are +waiting for the signal to go on while we stand here reminiscing!" +Grace hurried to the wing where one of the pages stood patiently +holding the Glee Club poster, and signaled to the page on the +opposite side. An instant later the singers had filed on the stage +for their opening song. + +As the show progressed the audience became more enthusiastic and +clamored loudly for encores. Elfreda's imitations provoked continuous +laughter, and dainty Arline Thayer, looking not more than seven years +old, was a delightful success from her first babyish lisp. Her song +of the goblin man who stole little children to work for him in his +underground cellar, with its catchy chorus of "Run away, you little +children," was immediately adopted by Overton, and when later it was +noised about that Ruth had written the words while Arline had +composed the music, both girls were later rushed by the Dramatic Club +and made members, an honor to which unassuming Ruth had some +difficulty in becoming accustomed. + +Anne's "Enoch Arden," to Eleanor's piano accompaniment, met with an +ovation. Guido Savelli had been purposely placed last on the +programme. "No one will care for anything else after he plays. The +audience will have the memory of his music to take away with them," +Grace had said wisely. Knowing the musician's horror of being +lionized, Grace had confided the secret to no one except Miriam, +Anne, Mabel Ashe and Elfreda, who, in company with her and Eleanor, +had met him at the train and dined with him at the "Tourraine." It +had been arranged that at half-past nine o'clock Anne and Elfreda +should go for him and escort him to Music Hall. + +At precisely ten minutes past ten o'clock he was escorted through +the side entrance to the hall by his two smiling guides, and into the +little room just off the stage that did duty for a green room. +Eleanor's quick exclamation of, "You have plenty of time, Father, +there are two more numbers before yours," caused the various +performers to open their eyes, and when Eleanor turned to those in +the room, saying sweetly, "Girls, this is my father. He is going to +play for us," astonishment looked out from every face. + +In order that the surprise might be complete, Grace had purposely +withheld until the last moment the posters bearing Guido Savelli's +name. When the two pages placed them up on their respective +standards, a positive sigh of astonishment went up from the audience +that changed to vociferous applause as Eleanor appeared and took her +place at the piano. A second later the great Savelli walked on the +stage, violin in hand. Eleanor, having frequently accompanied him on +the piano in private, had begged to be allowed for once to accompany +him in public. + +As the delighted audience listened to the music of the man whose +playing had won for him the homage of two continents, they realized +that they had been granted an unusual privilege. + +"How did he happen to stray into Overton?" "I supposed great artists +like him never condescended to play outside of the large cities," +were the whispered comments. + +One stately old gentleman in particular, who had been the guest of +the president at dinner, and who sat beside him during the +performance, grew enthusiastically curious, asking all sorts of +questions. Who had planned and managed the entertainment? What was +the object of the "Semper Fidelis Club"? How long had it been in +existence? Who had been on familiar enough terms with Savelli to +induce him to play at the "show"? The president answered his +questions with becoming patience, promising to introduce him to Grace +Harlowe and Arline Thayer, who, he stated, had been responsible for +the organization of the club. + +Later, the curious old gentleman was presented to Grace and Arline, +who answered his flow of inquiries so courteously and with such +apparent good will that he left the hall, smiling to himself as +though he had gained possession of some wonderful bit of information. + +The vaudeville show netted the Semper Fidelis Club two hundred +dollars, which Arline deposited in the bank the following morning. + +"'Every little bit helps'" chuckled Arline as she opened the bank +book and pointed to the new entry. She and Grace were on their way +from the bank. + +"I should say it did," returned Grace warmly. "I only wish we could +always make money as easily and pleasantly as we made that two +hundred dollars." + +"It was lots of fun, wasn't it?" declared Arline happily. "When we +come back next fall as juniors we can give another show and add to +our fund. We won't have time this year. We are all going home next +week and after Easter it will be too late in the year to bother with +entertainments." + +"We might give a carnival in the gymnasium next fall," suggested +Grace. "We had a bazaar at home and made over five hundred dollars. +If we gave it early in the fall we would have as much as a thousand +dollars on hand to lend where it was needed. I imagine we can find +plenty of places for it." + +"We can be thinking about it through the summer," planned Arline. + +That night when Grace reached Wayne Hall she found a letter bearing +her address in the bulletin board at the foot of the stairs. After +glancing curiously at the superscription, Grace tore it open and +read: + + "To Miss GRACE HARLOWE, + "Wayne Hall, + "Overton. + +"MY DEAR MISS HARLOWE: + +"I am enclosing a check made payable to you, which I should like you +to accept in behalf of the Semper Fidelis Club. I am greatly +interested in your association and wish to say that at this time each +year as long as the club exists I pledge myself to contribute the +same amount of money. Trusting that the club will continue to thrive +and prosper, + +"Yours very truly, + +"THOMAS REDFIELD." + +Grace lay down the letter and stared at the check with incredulous +eyes. It was for one thousand dollars. + +It took but an instant to dart down the hall to Miriam's room, where +Anne had just gone to borrow Miriam's Thesaurus. + +"Look, look!" cried Grace, holding the check before Anne's +astonished eyes. + +Miriam rose from her chair and peered over Anne's shoulder. "Three +cheers for Mr. Redfield!" she exclaimed. Three cheers for the fairy +godfather of Semper Fidelis! + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +CAMPUS CONFIDENCES + + +After the Easter vacation there seemed very little left of the +college year. Spring overtook the Overton girls unawares, and golf, +tennis, Saturday afternoon picnics and walking tours crowded even +basketball off their schedule. It was delightful just to stroll about +the fast-greening campus arm in arm with one's best friend under the +smiling blue of an April sky. It was ideal weather for planning for +the future, but it was anything but conducive to study. + +"It's a good thing we work like mad in the winter," grumbled Elfreda +Briggs, giving her Horace a vindictive little shove that sent it +sliding to the floor. "I can't remember anything now, except that the +grass is green, the sky is blue--" + +"Sugar is sweet, and so are you," supplemented Miriam Nesbit slyly. + +"That wasn't what I was going to say at all," retorted Elfreda +reprovingly. + +"Then I beg your pardon," returned Miriam, with mock contrition. +"What were you going to say?" + +"Nothing much," grinned Elfreda, "except that I was weighed to-day +and I've lost five pounds. I am down to one hundred and forty-five +pounds now. If I can lose five pounds more this summer I shall be in +fine condition for basketball next fall." + +"You did splendid work on the sub team this year," replied Miriam +warmly. "I am sure that you will make the regular team next fall." + +"The upper class girls say they have very little time for +basketball," mused Elfreda. "All kinds of other stunts crowd it out. +I'm not going to be like that, though. I love to play and I shall +manage to find time for it." + +"Where is Grace to-night?" asked Elfreda. "I didn't see her at +dinner." + +"She had a dinner engagement with Mabel Ashe." + +"Vinton's?" asked Elfreda. + +Miriam nodded. + +"Grace is lucky," sighed Elfreda. "She is always being invited to +something or other. Her dinner partners always materialize, too," she +added ruefully. + +"Which is more than can be said of some of yours," laughed Miriam. +"Strange you never found out about that, isn't it?" + +It was Elfreda's turn to nod. "I have often thought I would go to +Miss Atkins and ask her why she left me to languish dinnerless in my +room after inviting me to eat, drink and be merry," mused Elfreda. +"I hate to go home with the mystery unsolved. I believe I will go ask +her now," she declared, with sudden energy. "I know she's alone, for +the Enigma isn't there to-night." Elfreda had recently bestowed this +title upon Mildred Taylor on account of her inexplicable attitude +toward Grace. + +"I have been disappointed in little Miss Taylor," remarked Miriam +slowly. "I was so sure that she would prove another Arline Thayer. +She had the same fascinating little ways and at first she seemed so +genuinely frank and straightforward." + +"I wonder what made her change so suddenly," said Elfreda, walking +to the door, "and toward Grace, especially. She doesn't speak to +Grace when she meets her. She is an Enigma and no mistake. Now for +our friend the Anarchist. If I don't come back within a reasonable +length of time you will know that I have been annihilated." + +Ten minutes went by, then ten more. At the end of half an hour +Miriam wondered slightly at her roommate's continued absence. Just +before time for the dinner bell to ring, Elfreda burst into the room +with: "Miriam, will you help me to dress? I am invited to dinner and +this time I am going. The An--Miss Atkins has forgiven me, peace has +been restored and we are going out to dine, arm in arm." Elfreda +pranced jubilantly about the room, then flinging open the door of the +wardrobe brought forth two large boxes that had come by express the +day before, one of them containing her new spring hat, the other a +smart suit of natural pongee. + +"Stop hurrying for a minute and give me a true and faithful account +of this miracle," demanded Miriam. "I had begun to think the worst +had happened. What did you say first, and what did she say?" + +"The door of her room stood partly open and I knocked on it, then +marched in without an invitation," replied Elfreda. "She was so +surprised she forgot to be angry, and before she had time to remember +that she didn't like me I surprised her still further by asking her +to tell me why she had refused to speak to me for so long. Before she +knew it she had stammered something about Grace and I calling her +names and making fun of her behind her back when she had asked me in +all good faith to have dinner with her at Vinton's. She declared she +had heard us. + +"The instant she said that I remembered that I had mimicked her that +night while dressing and that Grace had laughed, but had said in the +same breath, that it wasn't fair. So I asked her point blank if that +was what she meant, and she said 'yes,' only she hadn't waited long +enough to hear what Grace had said about unfairness. She had come to +the door just in time to hear me mimic her, and had rushed back to +her room angry and hurt. Then I explained to her that I had a bad +trick of imitating even my friends, and that I had offended more than +one person by my thoughtlessness. I was really dreadfully sorry and +asked her to forgive me. She had half a mind not to do it, then she +relented, smiled a little and actually offered me her hand. Of +course, after that I stayed a few minutes to talk things over with +her and she proposed going to dinner. She is changed. In just what +way I can't explain, except that she is more gentle and not quite so +prim. Will you look in the top drawer of the chiffonier and see if +I put my gold beads in that green box? You know the one I mean." + +Miriam obediently opened the drawer and taking the beads from the +box deftly fastened them about Elfreda's neck. "Grace will be glad +to hear of this," she remarked. "May I tell her and Anne?" + +"Yes," returned Elfreda, "but please don't tell any one else." +Pinning on her new hat she hurried off to keep her long-delayed +engagement with the now thoroughly pacified Anarchist. + +When the dinner bell rang, Miriam suddenly remembered that of the +four friends she was the only stay-at-home that night. Anne had gone +to take supper and spend the evening with Ruth Denton. As she took +her seat at the table she noted that Emma Dean's and Mildred Taylor's +places were also vacant. + +"Where is everyone to-night?" asked Irene Evans, who sat opposite +Miriam. + +"Grace, Anne and Elfreda were all invited out this evening," +answered Miriam. "I don't know anything about Miss Dean and Miss +Taylor." + +"Emma is spending the evening with her cousin, that other Miss Dean +of Ralston House," replied Irene. "Miss Taylor," she shrugged her +shoulders slightly, "is with Miss Wicks and Miss Hampton, I suppose." + +"I don't think I shall overstudy to-night," announced Miriam, a +little later, as she rose from the table. "I'm going for a walk. Want +to go with me?" + +"I'm sorry," replied Irene regretfully, "but I've a frightfully hard +chemistry lesson ahead of me to-night." + +It had been an unusually balmy April and now that the moon was at +the full, the Overton girls took advantage of the fine nights to walk +up and down College Street or the campus. Sure of finding some one +she knew, Miriam slipped on her sweater, and, disdaining a hat, +strolled down the street toward the campus. Exchanging numerous +greetings with students, she wandered aimlessly across the campus +toward a seat built against a tree where she and Grace had had more +than one quiet session. + +As she neared the seat, which was somewhat in the shadow, she gave +a little startled exclamation. A girl was crouching at the darkest +end of the seat, her face hidden in her hands. Turning away, Miriam +was about to recross the campus when the utter despondency of the girl's +attitude caused her to go back. Stopping directly in front of the +bowed figure, she said gently, "Can I help you?" + +The girl rose, and without answering was about to hurry away, when +Miriam, after one swift glance at her face, ran after her, +exclaiming, "Wait a moment, Miss Taylor!" + +Mildred Taylor stopped and eyed Miriam defiantly. Despite her +expression of bravado, she looked as though she had been crying. +"What do you want?" she asked in a low voice. + +"To talk with you," said Miriam boldly, stepping forward and +slipping her arm through Mildred's. "Shall we sit down here and +begin? All my friends have deserted me to-night. There were ever so +many vacant places at the dinner table. I noticed you were away, too." + +"I--I--have--haven't had any dinner," faltered Mildred. Then, +staring disconsolately at her companion for an instant, she dropped +her head on her arm and gave way to violent sobbing. "I am so +miserable," she wailed. + +Miriam sat silent, touched by Mildred's distress, yet undecided what +to do. Things were evidently going badly with the "cute" little girl. +"She has done something she is sorry for," was Miriam's reflection. +After a slight deliberation she said gently, "Is there anything you +wish to tell me, Miss Taylor?" + +Mildred raised her head, regarding Miriam with troubled, hopeless +eyes. Miriam took one of the little girl's hands in hers. "Do not be +afraid to tell me," she said earnestly. "I am your friend." + +"You wouldn't be if you knew what a miserable, contemptible coward +I am," muttered Mildred. "I can't tell you anything. Please go away." +Her head dropped to her arm again. + +Miriam, still holding her other hand, patted it comfortingly. "No +one is infallible, Miss Taylor. I once felt just as you do to-night. +Only I am quite sure that my fault was much graver than yours can +possibly be." + +Mildred raised her head with a jerk. She looked at Miriam +incredulously. "I don't think _you_ ever did anything very +contemptible," she said sceptically. + +"Let me tell you about it," replied Miriam soberly. "Then you can +judge for yourself. The person whom I wronged has long since forgiven +me, but I can never quite forgive myself or forget. It was during my +first year in high school that I began behaving very badly toward a +new girl in the freshman class, of whom I was jealous. I was the star +pupil of the class until she came, then she proved herself my equal +if not my superior in class standing, and I tried in every way to +discredit her in the eyes of her teachers and her friends. At the end +of the freshman year, a sum of money was offered as a prize to the +freshman who averaged highest in her final examinations. Feeling sure +that this other girl would win it, I managed, with the help of some +one as dishonest as myself, to gain possession of the examination +questions, but before I had finished with them, I was obliged to drop +them in a hurry, to escape discovery by the principal. By the merest +chance the girl I disliked happened along just in time to be +suspected of tampering with the papers. But she had friends who +fought loyally for her and cleared her of the suspicion. + +"She won the prize. Nothing was ever said to me about it, but I knew +that the principal and at least four girls in school knew what I had +done. When I entered the sophomore class in the fall I felt a +positive hatred for this girl and for her friends. I did all sorts +of cruel, despicable things that year, and succeeded in dividing my +class into two factions who opposed each other at every point. + +"Toward the last of the year I grew tired of being so disagreeable. +My conscience began to trouble me seriously. Then, one day, the two +girls I despised did me a great service, and my enmity toward them +died out forever. + +"I can't begin to tell you how differently I felt after I had +acknowledged my fault and been forgiven. Those girls are my dearest +friends now. You know them, too." + +"You--you don't mean Miss Harlowe and Miss Pierson?" asked Mildred +in a low tone, her eyes fixed upon Miriam. + +Miriam nodded. "Grace and Anne are the most charitable girls I ever +knew," she said softly, "If they were not they would never have +forgiven me. Anne was the girl who won the prize. Grace was one of +the friends who stood by her. If you feel that you have done some one +an injustice, you will not be happy until you have righted matters. +If the person refuses to forgive you, you at least will have done +your part." + +"I can't go to the--the--person and tell her," faltered Mildred. "I +should die of humiliation." + +"But you don't wish to go away from Overton carrying this burden +with you," persisted Miriam. "It will weigh heavily upon you when you +come back next fall--" + +"I'm not coming back next fall," mumbled Mildred. "I shall never +again be happy at Overton." + +"Brace up, and square things with the other girl, and you'll feel +differently," retorted Miriam. + +"If it were any one else besides Miss Harlowe," began Mildred. + +"Oh, I am so sorry you told me her name!" exclaimed Miriam +regretfully. "Now that I know it is Grace, however, I shall redouble +my advice about going to her. You need have no fear that she will not +forgive you. Grace never holds grudges." + +"I can't do it," declared Mildred tremulously, "I am afraid." + +Miriam looked at her companion rather doubtfully. "I think Grace is +the person with whom to talk this matter over," she declared. +"Suppose we go over to Wayne Hall now? She went to dinner at Vinton's +with Mabel Ashe, but she must be at the hall by this time." + +"Oh, I can't," gasped Mildred nervously, "Yes, yes, I will if you +will come with me while I tell her." + +"I think it would be better for you to go to her by yourself," said +Miriam dubiously. + +"I can't do it," protested Mildred miserably. "Please, please come +with me." + +"Then, let us go now," returned Miriam decisively. "We may catch +Grace at home and alone." + +During the walk across the campus the two girls exchanged no words. +Mildred was trying to summon all her courage in order to make the +dreaded confession. + +Miriam was thinking of the day that belonged to the long ago when +she had confessed her fault, and, joining hands with Anne Pierson and +Grace Harlowe, had sworn eternal friendship. She felt only the +deepest sympathy for the unhappy little girl at her side, for having +been through a similar experience she understood clearly the struggle +that was going on in Mildred's mind. + +Twice the little freshman stopped short, declaring she could not and +would not go on, and each time, with infinite patience, Miriam buoyed +and restored to firmness her shaking resolution. + +"You do not know Grace Harlowe," Miriam said as they neared Wayne +Hall, "or you would not be afraid to go to her and tell her what you +have just told me. She is neither revengeful nor unforgiving, and I +am sure that she will be only too glad to help you begin all over +again." + +"But not here at Overton," quavered Mildred. + +"You can decide that later," Miriam said kindly, as they entered the +house. But she smiled to herself, for she felt reasonably sure that +Mildred would come back to Overton for her sophomore year. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +A FAULT CONFESSED + + +Grace came home from Vinton's with the firm intention of putting in +a full evening of study. "It is only half-past eight," she exulted. +"I'll have plenty of time for everything. I suppose Anne won't be +home until the last minute's grace." + +As she passed through the hall to the stairs she poked her head +inquisitively into the living room. Three or four girls sat at the +library table industriously engaged in writing. Grace turned away +without disturbing them, and went quietly up the stairs. As she +walked down the hall to her own room she noticed that Miriam's room +was dark. + +"I wonder where the girls are!" Grace exclaimed. "I didn't know they +were to be away to-night, too. Perhaps they have gone for a walk." +Grace lighted the gas in her own room and, hanging up her hat, sat +down in the Morris chair, beside the table on which lay her books +piled ready for work. "If no one bothers me for the next hour and the +girls obligingly stay away, the rest will be easy," she smiled to +herself as she worked at her French. + +At five minutes of ten she closed her text book on chemistry with a +triumphant bang. "Nothing left to do now but my theme and that can +wait until to-morrow night. I think I'll read until the girls come +in." Grace reached for her book, which lay on the table conveniently +near her, opened it at the place she had marked and began to read. +She had not read more than two or three pages when, through the half +opened door, came the sound of voices. + +Grace's gray eyes opened in surprise as Miriam Nesbit walked into +the room followed by Mildred Taylor. + +"I thought you would be here," greeted Miriam. + +Grace rose and walked toward Mildred. Without the slightest show of +hesitation she held out her hand. "I am glad to see you, Mildred. Why +haven't you come in before?" she asked frankly. + +Mildred looked from Miriam to Grace. "I can't tell you why!" she +exclaimed in a choked, frightened voice. "I thought I could, but I +can't." She began to cry softly. + +Grace sprang to her side, and, placing her arm about the little +girl's waist, said soothingly, "Don't cry, and don't tell us anything +you don't wish to tell. I am so glad you came at all. The early part +of the year I thought we were going to be friends. I am sorry I hurt +your feelings on the night of the sophomore reception. I told you so +then, but I am afraid you thought I didn't mean what I said." + +"It wasn't that," quavered Mildred, wiping her eyes. "It was--it was +--I had no business to take it. It was stealing!" + +Miriam looked sharply at Mildred's distressed face, as though trying +to gain some inkling of what was to come. Grace's expression was one +of anxious concern. Neither girl spoke. + +"I might as well tell you, Grace," went on Mildred in a low, shamed +voice. "I am the person who stole your theme. I found it at the foot +of the stairs. I did not look at the name written on it until I was +in my own room. I ought to have given it to you at once, but I +stopped to read it. It was so clever I wished I had written it. +Themes are my weak point, and Miss Duncan had criticised my work so +severely that I was feeling blue and discouraged. Then came the +temptation to take your theme, copy it, and hand it in as my own. You +had lost it, so you would never know what became of it. You could +write another theme as easily as you had written that. It did occur +to me that you might be able to rewrite that particular theme from +memory. So I changed the title of your theme, copied it that night +and changed the ending a little and took particular pains to hand it +in early the next morning, so that if any suspicion were aroused it +would not fall on me, but on you. It was thoroughly contemptible in +me, and after I handed in the theme I felt like a criminal. When Miss +Duncan sent for me, I grew frightened and instead of owning to what +I had done I told more lies and tried to make it appear that you were +the real offender. At first she believed me, but afterward she +didn't, and made me admit that I had lied. When she told me about +promising you that she would give me another chance and that you +neither knew nor cared to know my name, I could hardly believe it. +Since that time I've never dared to speak to you. I have been so +dreadfully ashamed." Her voice broke. + +"Don't think about it ever again," comforted Grace. "Everyone is +likely to make mistakes. I think you have suffered enough for yours. +I am sure you would never do any such thing again." + +Mildred shook her head vigorously. "Never," she declared sadly. + +Miriam, who had listened to the little girl's confession, an +inscrutable expression on her dark face, said practically, "Was there +anything besides what you have told us that made you unhappy to-night?" + +"Why--why," stammered Mildred. "Yes, there was. How did you know?" + +"I didn't know," declared Miriam dryly. "I just wondered." + +"It was something that made me unhappy, yet glad, too," said +Mildred, her face flushing. "I thought I hated Grace and said horrid +things about her to two other girls I know, who are not her friends. +To-night I was with them at Martell's, and I quarreled with them +about you girls. Ever since I heard Savelli play at your +entertainment I have felt differently about everything. His music +brought me to my real self and made me realize how small and mean and +contemptible I was. I discovered that it was not you but myself I +hated, and when these girls began to say things about you, all of a +sudden I found myself standing up for you as staunchly as ever I +could. Then we quarreled and I got up from the table and almost ran +out of Martell's. + +"I walked and walked until I was all tired out, Then I sat down on +that seat by the tree where Miriam found me. In defending you, Grace, +I found myself. I saw clearly that my college life was all wrong. The +mean things I had done stared me in the face. The theme was the worst +of all. No wonder I cried. Now that I've told you everything I am +happier than I have been since last fall. Next year I am going to +start all over again in some other college where no one knows me." + +"Besides yourself, there are only three who know, Miriam, Miss +Duncan and I." said Grace slowly. "When Miss Duncan sent for me about +the theme I told myself then that, although I had no desire to know +the name of the other girl, if ever I should learn her identity I +would try to be the best friend she ever had. I am ready to keep my +word, Mildred, if you are ready to come back to Overton next year and +help me keep it." + +Mildred glanced timidly from Grace to Miriam. "I'd love to come +back," she faltered, "only I'm afraid you girls would never believe +in me again." + +"My friends did," reminded Miriam softly, extending her hand to +Mildred. "I believe in you now." + +"Of course we will believe in you," declared Grace cheerfully. "Come +back next fall and give us a chance to show you that we trust you." + +"I will," answered Mildred with solemn resolution, "but you shall +give me the chance to show you that your trust is not misplaced. Good +night," she put out her hand again rather uncertainly. Grace's hand +went quickly out to meet it, holding it in a warm, friendly clasp, +and Mildred went to her room a changed girl. + +"How did you happen to be her confessor, Miriam?" asked Grace +wonderingly, after the freshman had gone. + +Miriam related the evening's happenings. + +"I never even suspected her," said Grace. "I believed her to be +angry with me for overlooking her at the reception. I always tried +not to think of any particular girl as being guilty of taking my +theme. It has turned out beautifully, hasn't it?" + +"Yes," nodded Miriam. "As a matter of fact everything generally does +turn out well in the end if one has the patience to wait." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + +"Two more days, then good-bye to Overton," mourned Elfreda Briggs +sadly. + +The stout girl was seated on the floor, the contents of her trunk +spread broadcast about her. + +"Elfreda would like to stay here and study all summer," remarked +Miriam slyly to Anne, who was watching Elfreda's movements with +amused eyes. + +"Oh, no, I wouldn't," retorted Elfreda good-naturedly. "I am as +anxious to go home as the rest of you, but I'm sorry to leave here, +too. What's the use in explaining?" she grumbled, catching sight of +her friends' laughing faces. "You girls know what I mean, only you +will tease me." + +"Never mind, we won't tease It any more," said Miriam soothingly. + +"There is only one thing you can do to convince me that you are in +earnest," stipulated Elfreda. + +"Name it," laughed Anne. + +"Invite me to a banquet, and have cakes and lemonade," was the calm +request. + +"I thought you were strongly opposed to sweet things," commented Anne. + +"Not at the sad, sorrowful end of the sophomore year," returned +Elfreda, impressively. "Besides, lemonade isn't fattening." + +"And it will be such splendid exercise for you to make it," added +Miriam mischievously. + +Elfreda looked disapprovingly at Miriam, then a broad smile +illuminated her round face. "So nice of you to think about the +exercise," she beamed affectedly. "Lead me to the lemons." + +Miriam rose, took Elfreda by the arm, and leading her to the closet, +pointed upward to the shelf. Elfreda grasped the paper bag with a +giggle. Then Miriam led her calmly out again, just in time to +encounter Grace, Mabel Ashe and Frances Marlton, who, in passing down +the hall, had heard voices, and could not resist stopping for a moment. + +"What is going on here?" asked Mabel curiously. "Why is J. Elfreda +in leading strings?" + +"She is taking exercise," replied Miriam gravely. "J. Elfreda, +explain to the lady." + +"This exercise is compulsory," grinned Elfreda. "No exercise, no +lemonade. Of course, you will stay and have some." + +"Of course," agreed Mabel. "I may not have a chance for a very long +time to drink lemonade again with the Wayne Hallites." + +"You mustn't say that," remonstrated Grace. "Remember, you are going +to visit me at Oakdale. Elfreda is going to visit Miriam. Can't you +can arrange to come, too, Frances?" + +"I'm sorry," declared Frances, shaking her head, "but we are going +to sail for Europe within a week after I reach home. I shall have to +say good-bye in earnest on Thursday. But I'll write you, and make you +a visit some time." + +"How comfortingly definite. I'll see you again during the next +hundred years," jeered Mabel. + +"You know I don't mean that," reproached Frances. + + "I do intend before the end, + This happy couple shall meet again," + +chanted Elfreda as she peered into the lemonade pitcher. + +"Precisely," laughed Frances. "Did you play 'Needle's eye' when you +were a little girl, Elfreda?" + +"Yes, and 'London Bridge' and 'King William was King James's son,' +too. I always loved to play, but was hardly ever chosen because I was +so fat and ungainly. I remember once, though, when I went to a +children's party in a pale blue silk dress that made me look like a +young mountain. I thought myself superlatively beautiful, however, +and the rest of the little girls were so impressed that I was a great +social triumph, and made up for the times when I had been passed by," +concluded Elfreda humorously. + +"Your adventures are worthy of recording and publishing," said Anne +lightly. "Write a book and call it 'The Astonishing Adventures of +Elfreda'." + +The stout girl eyed Anne reflectively, the lemon squeezer poised in +one hand. "That's a good idea," she said coolly. "I'll do it when I +come back next fall. Now I'm not going to say another word until I +finish this lemonade, so don't speak to me." When she left the room +for ice water, Mabel Ashe observed warmly, "She is a credit to 19--, +isn't she?" + +"Yes," returned Grace. "They are beginning to find it out, too." + +"Your sophomore days have been peaceful, compared with last year," +remarked Frances Marlton. "Certain girls have kept strictly in the +background." + +"We have not been obliged to resort to ghost parties this year," +reminded Mabel Ashe. "It requires ghosts to lay ghosts, you know." + +Grace could have remarked with truth that certain ghosts had not +been laid as effectually as she desired, but wisely keeping her own +counsel she was about to essay a change of subject when the return +of Elfreda with the lemonade served her purpose. + +"'How can I bear to leave thee?'" quoted Mabel sentimentally, as she +and Frances reluctantly rose to go half an hour later. "I hope you +feel properly flattered. Graduates' attentions are at a premium this +week. They ought to be, too, when one stops to think that it takes +four years to reach that dizzy height of popularity. Four long years +of slavish toil, my children. Observe my careworn air, my rapidly +graying locks, my deeply-lined countenance." + +"Yes, observe them," grinned Elfreda. "You look younger than Anne, +and she looks like a mere chee--ild. Don't forget that you are going +to send us pictures of you in your cap and gown, will you?" she +added, looking affectionately at the two pretty seniors, whose help +and kindly interest had meant much to her individually. + +"We will see you to the door," laughed Grace, slipping her arm +through Mabel's. + +"Did you ever find the girl?" asked Mabel in a low tone. "You know +the one I mean. I have often wondered about her." + +"Yes," replied Grace in the same guarded tones. "I can't tell even +you her name, but everything has been explained." + +Mabel pressed Grace's arm in silent understanding. "Good-bye," she +said, "we shall see you again before we leave Overton." + +"You had better come into our room and finish the lemonade," +declared Miriam, as they watched their guests go down the walk. + +"But I haven't begun my packing yet, and I have so many things to do +and so many girls to see that I ought not waste a minute." + +"Time spent with us is never wasted," reminded Elfreda significantly. + +"Quite true," responded Grace gaily. "I am sorry I had to be +reminded. To prove my sorrow I will help you with your packing, when +I ought to be doing my own." + +"Come on, then," challenged Elfreda. She ran lightly up the stairs, +her three friends at her heels. + +"I'll pour the lemonade while you and Grace pack," volunteered Miriam. + +"I choose to do nothing," said Anne lazily. "I am going to work all +summer. I need a little rest now." + +"You won't know where you are to be for the summer until Mr. Forest +writes, will you?" asked Miriam. + +"The Originals will be lonesome without you, Anne," mourned Grace. +"You must be sure to visit me. That is, unless you are too far west." + +"I am going to have a visitor of my own," announced Elfreda proudly. +"You can never guess who it is." + +"I know," laughed Anne, after a moment's reflection. "It is the +Anar--Miss Atkins, I mean." + +"Who told you?" demanded Elfreda. "It is true, though. She is coming +to Fairview the last two weeks in July, and I am going to give her +the time of her life. Just think, girls, she has never had any girl +friends until she came here. Her mother died when she was a baby, and +a prim old aunt kept house for them. Her father is Professor +Archibald Atkins, that Natural Scientist who went to Africa and was +held captive by a tribe of savages for two years. + +"Living with the heathen didn't improve him, for when he came home +he behaved so queerly that people thought him crazy. Then the aunt, +who was the professor's sister, died, and poor Laura had to live +alone with her father in a great big country house. Finally, she grew +so tired of it she asked him to send her to college. She had always +had a tutor, so she was ready for the entrance examinations, but she +had never associated with other girls and didn't know much about +them. I can't feel sorry enough for calling her names and imitating +her. We had a long talk at Martell's the other night and I am going +to be her knight errant from now on." + +"You found the rainbow side of your sophomore year in helping some +one else, didn't you, Elfreda?" + +"I don't know what you are talking about," rejoined Elfreda bluntly. + +"I know you don't," laughed Grace. "It was nothing much. Last year +at this time Anne and I were lamenting because we couldn't be +freshmen all over again, and Anne said that being a sophomore was +sure to have its rainbow side." + +"It has been the nicest year of my life," said Elfreda earnestly. +"If being a junior is any nicer than being a sophomore--well--you +will have to show me. There, I've ended by using slang. But I've +found my rainbow side in another way, too." + +"Name it," challenged Miriam mischievously. + +"By losing twenty pounds," announced Elfreda, with proud triumph. "I +weigh one hundred and forty pounds now, and next fall you will see +me on the team, or it won't be my fault." + +"I hope I shall have time for basketball," said Grace. "There will +be so many other things. Remember, girls, if during vacation you +think of any good plan for the Semper Fidelis Club to make money, +make a note of it. Just because we have money in our treasury, we +mustn't become lazy. We will find plenty of uses for every cent we +can earn. There are dozens of girls struggling through Overton who +need help." + +"You never told us to what girls you and Arline played Santa Claus +last winter, Grace," said Elfreda reproachfully. + +"And I never will," laughed Grace, "and Arline won't tell, either." + +"I know something, too," declared Elfreda, "but I'm not as stingy as +Grace. I know who poked that envelope with the ten dollars in it +under Grace's door." + +"Who?" came simultaneously from the three girls. + +"Mildred Taylor," replied Elfreda. "I saw her do it. I was just +coming down the hall that night as she slipped it under the door and +ran away. I never told any one, because I could see she didn't want +any one to know she did it." + +"Elfreda always sees more than appears on the surface," commented +Miriam mischievously. + +"Elfreda's energy has inspired me to go to my room and begin my own +packing," declared Anne, rising. + +"I'll go with you," volunteered Grace. "I think Elfreda can be +trusted to finish her packing by herself." + +"I think I'll accomplish more, at any rate," declared Elfreda +pointedly. + +"It is half over, Anne, dear," said Grace, almost wistfully, as they +strolled down the hall, school girl fashion, their arms about each +other's waists. + +"Our life at Overton, you mean?" asked Anne. + +Grace nodded. "I was sure I should never like college as well as +high school, but I've found it even nicer." + +"And we are going to like being juniors best of all," predicted Anne. + +How completely the truth of Anne's prediction was proven will be +found in "Grace Harlowe's Third Year at Overton College." + + +The End. + + + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: The spelling "aplication" occurred in chapter VIII +and was changed to "application."] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton +College, by Jessie Graham Flower + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR *** + +This file should be named ghlsd10.txt or ghlsd10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, ghlsd11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, ghlsd10a.txt + +Produced by Avinash Kothare, Tom Allen, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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