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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/9901-8.txt b/9901-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d126311 --- /dev/null +++ b/9901-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6387 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus, 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 Return to Overton Campus + +Author: Jessie Graham Flower + +Release Date: January 28, 2007 [EBook #9901] +[This file was first posted on October 29, 2003] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Ginny Brewer, Tom Allen, +Mary Meehan, David Newman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus + + By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M. + +Author of The High School Girls Series, The College Girls Series, etc. + + + + +PHILADELPHIA +HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY +Copyright, 1915 + + + + +[Illustration: The Girls Worked Busily] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. A Midsummer Pilgrimage + + II. A Welcome Guest + + III. An Unexpected Caller + + IV. The Secret Session + + V. The Way to Perpetual Youth + + VI. Jessica's Wedding + + VII. The Return of Emma Dean + + VIII. A Strange Applicant + + IX. Mary Reynolds Makes a New Friend + + X. The Thirty-Third Girl + + XI. Evelyn Ward, Freshman + + XII. The Harlowe House Club + + XIII. Planning for the Reception + + XIV. A Disquieting Thought + + XV. A Semper Fidelis Reunion + + XVI. The Interrupted Confidence + + XVII. A Week-End in New York + + XVIII. A Humiliating Reprimand + + XIX. An Unintentional Listener + + XX. A Double Puzzle + + XXI. The Puzzle Deepens + + XXII. Two Letters + + XXIII. Kathleen West, Confidante + + XXIV. Conclusion + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +The Girls Worked Busily. + +"Why, Emma Dean!" Exclaimed Grace. + +"We Decided to Give Our Loyalheart a Loyalty Token." + +"Did I Startle You, Miss Ward?" + + + + +Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A MIDSUMMER PILGRIMAGE + + +"Overton, at last!" exclaimed Grace Harlowe, as, regardless of possible +cinders and stern railroad injunctions, she leaned far out of the car +window to obtain a first eager glimpse of her destination. + +It was midsummer, and the quiet, little town of Overton drowsed gently, +not to awaken until the sounds of girl laughter and the passing of light +feet through its sleepy streets roused it to the realization that it was +Overton College that made its hum-drum existence worth while. + +"Oh, Mrs. Gray, you can't imagine how happy I feel!" went on Grace, her +eyes eloquent with emotion. "Next to home, I love Overton better than +any other place on earth. I'm so glad we are going to stay at Wayne +Hall, and that Mrs. Elwood is to meet us." + +A long shrill whistle, a creaking and groaning of protesting iron +wheels, the stentorian cry of "Overton! Overton!" and then a sudden +jarring stop. Grace reached to the rack overhead for Mrs. Gray's small +leather bag, allowing the dainty little old lady to precede her down the +aisle which was practically clear. Apparently they were the only Overton +passengers in that car. She stood still on the top step of the train +until Mrs. Gray had been safely landed on the platform by the smiling +porter, then, disdaining his helping hand, ran down the steps with a +joyful skip that caused her companion to say indulgently, "You'll never +grow up, Grace, and I'm glad of it. I can't become reconciled to the +fact that Nora and Jessica are brides-to-be and that Anne's art is +making her terribly serious. It's a joy to my old age to see you frisk +about as happily as you did when you were a little thing in short white +skirts with two long braids of fair hair hanging down your back." + +"I don't really feel a bit older than I did then," confessed Grace. +"Sometimes I'm almost ashamed of my enthusiasm. It seems as though nice +things are always happening to me, and this summer pilgrimage of just we +two is the nicest of all." + +They were walking slowly across the deserted platform now, and Grace was +keeping a sharp look-out on all sides for the short, comfortable figure +of Mrs. Elwood. + +"There she is!" Grace hurried forward, her hands outstretched. The next +instant they were held in Mrs. Elwood's welcoming grasp, while she +kissed Grace's soft cheek. + +"My dear, dear girl!" she exclaimed, a suspicious moisture in her kindly +blue eyes. "It does seem good to see you again. I'm very glad to welcome +you to Overton, Mrs. Gray," she turned to shake hands with the donor of +Harlowe House, "and delighted to know that you are going to stay with me +instead of going to the Tourraine. Miss Harlowe's old room is ready for +her, and I'm going to put you in the room Miss Nesbit and Miss Briggs +used to have." + +"You'll be haunted by the kimono-clad shades of Miriam and Elfreda +drinking tea and eating cakes at unseemly hours of the night," laughed +Grace. + +"How are all my girls?" asked Mrs. Elwood. "I don't know what I shall do +without them this year. You will have to come and see me often and tell +me all about them, Miss Harlowe. Now let me see. There ought to be a +taxicab just the other side of the station. Yes, there it is." + +The driver touched his cap smilingly to Grace as they climbed into the +automobile, "It does look good to see you here again, miss," he said +respectfully. + +"Thank you. I'm glad to see you again." Grace beamed whole-heartedly +upon him. How many times he had carried her to and from the station. It +was he who had driven the car on that memorable day when Ruth Denton had +gone to the station to meet her father. Grace's eyes grew dreamy as they +passed through the familiar streets. How much had happened since the +time when she had entered Oakdale High School as a freshman with college +in the far and hidden future. + +To her many friends "Grace Harlowe's Plebe Year at High +School," "Grace Harlowe's Sophomore Year at High School," +"Grace Harlowe's Junior Year at High School," and "Grace +Harlowe's Senior Year at High School" are now familiar records. +Equally well known to these friends is the story of her freshman year at +Overton, as set forth in "Grace Harlowe's First Year at Overton +College." + +Accompanied by her friends, Miriam Nesbit and Anne Pierson, Grace began +her freshman year at Overton College under a cloud which rose from her +ready defense of J. Elfreda Briggs, a disgruntled student who had made +enemies of two sophomores, and whose first days at college were made +very unpleasant by them. J. Elfreda's subsequent casting aside of her +friendship and her tardy realization of Grace's worth brought about a +happy ending of their freshman year. + +In "Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton College" the four +girls set out to find the rainbow side of their sophomore year. How each +girl found it, but in an entirely different manner, how Grace lived up +to her resolve to choose only the highest in college, and how the famous +Semper Fidelis Club came into existence, made the sophomore year in +college memorable. + +"Grace Harlowe's Third Year at Overton College" told of what +befell the four friends as juniors. The advent of Kathleen West, a +newspaper girl, into college was the first link in a chain of petty +difficulties with which Grace was obliged to contend as a junior. The +carnival given by the Semper Fidelis Club in which the Alice in +Wonderland Circus was enacted, the important part which Jean, the old +hunter of Oakdale fame, played in one Overton girl's life, the message +Emma Dean forgot to deliver, and countless other absorbing incidents +served to fill their junior year with ceaseless interest. + +"Grace Harlowe's Fourth Year at Overton College" found Grace +and her friends on the homeward stretch with commencement at the end of +their college trail. The record of Grace's senior year was filled with +happenings grave and gay. It ended in a blaze of honor and glory, and it +was on Commencement day that she made her decision to return to Overton +and look after Harlowe House, lately completed and endowed by Mrs. Gray +in honor of her young friends and dedicated to the use of poor girls who +were making valiant efforts to obtain an education. + +It was in reference to Harlowe House, her future home, that Grace and +Mrs. Gray had made this midsummer pilgrimage, as Grace had laughingly +styled it, to Overton. As their car glided through the shady streets of +the dignified college town Grace wondered if it were really eight years +since her freshman days in Oakdale High School. It certainly couldn't be +four years since Mabel Ashe had conducted her and Anne and Miriam to the +Tourraine on that first eventful afternoon. She remembered just how +beautiful Mabel had looked in her white linen frock, with her white +embroidered parasol tilted over one shoulder, an effective frame for her +lovely face and wavy, golden-brown hair. + +"Dreaming, Grace?" Mrs. Gray's voice dispelled the vision. "I can't +blame you. I suppose this ride brings up hosts of memories." + +Grace nodded. She could not trust her voice to answer. A sudden mist +filled her eyes, a silent tribute to those whose feet had once kept pace +with hers through these beloved ways. Commencement had scattered them +broadcast. She, alone, was coming back again to take up life at the +college. How she would miss them all. The dry irresistible humor of Emma +Dean, the sturdy independence of J. Elfreda Briggs, the daintiness of +Arline Thayer and the steadfast loyalty of Ruth Denton. Last of all +there were Anne and Miriam. Anne, her devoted little comrade of years, +and Miriam, whose faith and good fellowship had never failed her. + +A sob rose in Grace's throat, but she quickly stifled it. After all she +was about to begin the work she herself had chosen. She had known when +she announced her determination to take charge of Harlowe House that +things could never be quite the same. It would be selfish, indeed, in +her to break down and cry when Mrs. Gray had come to Overton solely to +help her select the furniture and plan for the opening of Harlowe House +in September. + +Grace pulled herself together and, resolutely putting her own sense of +loss behind her, said steadily: "I couldn't help thinking of the girls +for a minute. It made me want to cry, but I've set my face to the future +now, and I'm sure that my new work is going to bring me as much +happiness here as I had during the other dear four years. When I think +of how splendid it was in you to give Harlowe House to Overton, I feel +as though there isn't any sacrifice too great for me to make to insure +its success, and I hope that my coming back to Overton Campus to do my +work is going to mean a thousand times more to me next June than it does +now." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A WELCOME GUEST + + +The summer sun, streaming intimately in at the window of her room, and +touching her hair with warm, awakening fingers, caused Grace to open her +eyes before six o'clock the next morning. She lay looking about her, +unable for the moment to remember where she was. Then she laughed and +reaching for her kimono, which hung folded across the footboard of the +bed, slipped it on, and, thrusting her feet into her bedroom slippers, +went to the window. + +"Dear old Overton Hall," she murmured, her eyes fixed lovingly on the +stately gray tower of the building that she had come to regard as a +close friend. Again she found herself overwhelmed by a tide of +reminiscences. How many times she and Anne had stood at the self-same +window, arm in arm, gazing out at the self-same sights. She could see +the very seat at the foot of the big tree where she had sat the day Emma +Dean had poked her head about the big syringa bush and mournfully handed +her the letter from Ruth Denton's father which had been buried in the +pocket of Emma's coat for so many weeks. She smiled as she recalled the +ludicrously penitent expression with which Emma had delivered the +letter. There were the library steps on which Arline Thayer had sat and +cried so disconsolately because she could not go home for Christmas. +Once more she saw a strange procession winding its way across the campus +headed by a walking, chattering scarecrow, Emma Dean again in her famous +representation of "Never Too Late to Mend," which had been one of the +great features of the Famous Fiction dance. + +Then she saw four girls, with their shining heads bared to the sun, +strolling across the campus, talking earnestly of what the future held +for them. And still again she saw them in caps and gowns marching toward +the Gate of Commencement. It was only a little time since they had +passed through that gateway, yet how long it seemed. + +Suddenly her look of abstraction changed to one of startled interest. +Running to the door she threw it open and listened intently. She heard +Mrs. Elwood's voice raised in pleased surprise, then, could she believe +her ears? she heard another never-to-be-forgotten voice say, "I could +see that there was some one awake and stirring." + +With a joyous cry of "J. Elfreda, where, oh, where did you come from?" a +lithe, blue-robed figure raced down the stairs and wrapped both arms +tightly about a plump young woman, in a tailored coat suit, who returned +the warm embrace with interest. + +"Oh, Grace, I can't tell you how glad I am to see you again!" exclaimed +J. Elfreda Briggs fervently. "I never was so glad in all my life as when +I found out you were here. The letter was forwarded to me at the beach. +We're at Wildwood for the summer. Maybe I didn't pick up my things in a +hurry. To use slang, which you know I can't resist using occasionally, I +hot-footed it for the station the minute Ma said I could come." + +"Which letter do you mean, Elfreda?" asked Grace in a puzzled tone. + +"Why the one from Mrs. Gray, of course," returned Elfreda. "Isn't she +here?" + +"Yes, but--" + +"Grace! Elfreda!" called Mrs. Gray from the head of the stairs, "come up +here, children." + +"Come on." Grace seized Elfreda's heavy suit case and started up the +stairs. Elfreda followed with alacrity. "Now," laughed Grace, as she +stepped into Mrs. Gray's room, "I demand an explanation." She laid her +hands lightly upon the old lady's shoulders, smiling down at her, then +bent and kissed her cheek. + +"This is certainly a happy meeting," declared Elfreda, as she embraced +Mrs. Gray, who rose to greet her. + +"I'm so glad you could come, my dear. I knew that Grace would miss her +friends dreadfully when she came back here. Anne and Miriam are both +away, and Nora and Jessica are too deep in the mysteries of hope chests +and wedding finery to be dragged off on even the most delightful of +midsummer pilgrimages. But my greatest reason for asking you to come was +because I believed you were the very person Grace needed to make her +happy here. You see it will take at least two weeks to set things to +rights and she must have inspiring company. I hope everything has +arrived safely. Suppose we hurry through with our breakfast and go over +to Harlowe House at once. Mrs. Elwood tells me that she informed the +caretaker yesterday of our coming. We shall be obliged to stop at his +house for the key." + +"Oh, Elfreda, I'm so sorry that you weren't with us in New York," was +Grace's regretful cry. "We stayed with the Southards, Mrs. Gray, Anne, +Miriam and I. Anne, Miss Southard and Mr. Southard left New York City +for California last week. Mr. Southard and Anne are to appear as joint +stars in film productions of 'As You Like It,' 'Hamlet,' 'King Lear' and +possibly other Shakespearian plays. It is their first experience in +posing before the camera. Anne sent you her love. She will write you as +soon as she is settled." + +"Dear little Anne," smiled Elfreda, her eyes growing tender. + +"I hope she'll be back in time for the girls' weddings. Nora and Jessica +say positively that they won't be married without her." Grace looked +anxious. + +"When are they to be married?" + +"The last of September. The date hasn't been set." + +"Grace," Elfreda fixed round solemn eyes on her friend, "do you feel +very old this summer?" + +"Not the least little bit. I can't realize that I've come back to +Harlowe House to take charge of it. I feel as young as I felt when I +first entered high school." + +"Well, I'm glad to hear it, for, to save me, I can't feel responsible +and dignified. I've run and raced and swum and played golf like an +Indian all summer, and honestly I feel ever so much younger than when I +came to Overton four years ago. See how tanned I am? I haven't gained an +ounce either. I weigh just one hundred and thirty-five pounds and no +more," concluded J. Elfreda in triumph. + +"You are in splendid condition, Elfreda," praised Mrs. Gray. Grace +nodded emphatic approval. + +"Yes, I'm strong enough to hustle furniture, beat rugs, scrub floors, or +do anything else necessary to the beautifying and eternal improvement of +Harlowe House." Then she added slyly, "Lead me to it." + +"You'll be led to it fast enough," promised Grace. "Just wait until we +have some breakfast." + +At that moment Mrs. Elwood appeared in the open doorway. "Shall I bring +your breakfast upstairs this morning?" she asked. "I thought Mrs. Gray +might like to have it in her room." + +"Thank you, but I'd rather go downstairs this morning," nodded the +energetic old lady. "May we breakfast a la negligee?" + +"Yes, come down just as you are. There is no one here besides myself and +the maid." + +"Miss Briggs, have you had your breakfast? Jane is making waffles. I +thought you--" + +"Waffles!" exclaimed Elfreda, rolling her eyes in ecstacy. "If I'd had +fifty breakfasts I couldn't resist waffles. Thank goodness Vinton's +wasn't open." + +"Aren't waffles supposed to be fattening?" inquired Grace judiciously. + +"Don't ask me," was Elfreda's fervent protest. "I've set my mind on +eating them, even though I have to walk to Hunter's Rock and back in the +glare of the noonday sun to counteract their deadly effects." + +It was a merry trio that gathered around the table which Mrs. Elwood had +set on the roomy, vine-covered back porch, and it was fully an hour +after they sat down to breakfast before they rose to go upstairs and +make ready for their visit to Harlowe House. + +"There is no use in trying to begin our real work to-day," declared +Grace, as the three left Mrs. Elwood's and strolled slowly along College +Street in the direction of the caretaker's house. Mr. Symes, who had +faithfully executed so many commissions for Grace, had been selected as +the best possible person to look after the house. "Mr. Symes was to see +that everything was unpacked before we arrived. We shall have to employ +two men to move the heavy furniture. Thank goodness and Mrs. Gray, there +are no carpets to be laid. The floors are all hard wood and there are +rugs for every room except the kitchen and laundry." + +"I brought an old dress along," Elfreda informed her friends. "I helped +Ma set our cottage to rights this summer and I know something about +work. We had two maids and a scrubwoman. The maids were in my way, so I +sent them off for a holiday and the scrubwoman and I tackled the job and +went through with it like wildfire. Ma nearly had a spasm, but she liked +the looks of things when we had finished. You should have seen me, +though. Ma didn't like my looks. I guess I did resemble a human mop if +you know what that looks like." + +"I can imagine," laughed Grace. "If you attack the business of putting +Harlowe House to rights with the same energy, I shall know exactly how +you looked when you cleaned the cottage." + +"Perhaps you will," Elfreda grinned boyishly. "I hadn't thought of +that." + +"You couldn't see that far ahead, could you?" quizzed Grace with +twinkling eyes. + +"No I couldn't," declared Elfreda earnestly, then, catching sight of +Grace's dancing eyes, she laughed good-naturedly. "You will tease me +about that. I can see that you'll never outgrow the habit." + +"I can see that Elfreda is going to lighten our labors and make our +tasks merry," smiled Mrs. Gray. "What a joy and a diversion you must +have been to Miriam." + +"I was anything but an unqualified source of pleasure during my freshman +year," replied Elfreda. "It is plain to be seen that Grace never told +you my early Overton history." + +"Now, Elfreda--" began Grace, but Elfreda was not to be thus easily +deterred from saying her say. She launched forth with a ludicrous +account of her freshman shortcomings that left Mrs. Gray and Grace +breathless with laughter. + +"Elfreda, it is hard to say which is funnier, you or Hippy," Mrs. Gray's +eyes twinkled with enjoyment. + +"Well, isn't it so?" demanded J. Elfreda. "Isn't that exactly the way I +used to do?" + +"It's what I call a highly exaggerated account of your self-named +misdeeds," returned Grace. "You haven't said a word about all the nice +things you did for the girls." + +"I don't remember them," evaded Elfreda hastily. "Oh, there's Mr. Symes +now! How are you, Mr. Symes? You didn't expect to see me here, did you?" + +"Well, well, if it ain't Miss Briggs," beamed the old man joyfully. His +remembrance of J. Elfreda was decidedly pleasant. She had always paid +him generously for the numerous errands he had run for her. He greeted +Grace with equal enthusiasm, and bobbed like a nodding mandarin before +Mrs. Gray. + +"I hope you have been well, Mr. Symes. How is your wife and how do you +like being caretaker of Harlowe House?" asked Grace. + +"I'm well, miss, and so's my wife. It's a fine place, miss, that Harlowe +House, an' it'll be finer still when fall comes and it's full of Overton +students. We're pretty proud of our young ladies, we Overton folks. +Excuse me, miss, I'll go over to my house and get the key. I'll be right +along." + +"He has a whole lot of real college spirit," commented Elfreda, "or he +couldn't speak so beautifully of the Overton girls." + +"He always was a perfect old dear," agreed Grace warmly. + +The caretaker soon overtook them with the key, and the little company +crossed the street and traversed the deserted campus. + +"How strangely still everything is," commented Grace. "Not in the least +like it was six months ago, is it, Elfreda?" + +"It gives me the blues," averred Elfreda in a low tone. + +"Here we are," called Mrs. Gray, with a cheery attempt at dispelling the +tiny cloud of dejection that had fallen over the two girls. "Harlowe +House couldn't have a prettier site." + +The three women followed Mr. Symes up the steps, then, as if by common +consent, turned and looked out over the green expanse of closely-clipped +lawn, sprinkled with sentinel-like old trees. They had stood guard year +after year and silently watched the comings and goings of the hundreds +of girls who proudly acknowledged Overton as their Alma Mater. + +"What's the use of gazing and mooning?" asked Elfreda, with sudden +brusqueness. "Please open that door, Mr. Symes. I shall certainly weep +and wail disconsolately out of pure sentiment if you don't distract my +attention with something else. Show me the furniture, or the boxes it +came in, or anything else that won't call forth tender reminiscences." + +Grace's laugh sounded a trifle shaky, but it was a laugh nevertheless. +Something in Elfreda's brusque tones acted as an antidote to her +retrospection. She had been more or less ghost-ridden ever since her +return to Overton. She now resolved to shake off that pleasantly +melancholy sensation and "be up and doing with a heart for any fate." + +The caretaker admitted them to a hall crowded with huge packing boxes. +In fact, the whole of the first floor was occupied by the large +shipments of furniture recently delivered into the care of Mr. Symes. + +"It's worse than the cottage," announced Elfreda; "a regular howling +wilderness. I'd like to know how we can possibly guess what's what and +why. These boxes all look alike. If we have our minds set upon seeing +the parlor suite, we'll be sure to unpack the kitchen furniture +instead." + +"We'll let the men wrestle with the unpacking, girls," decided Mrs. +Gray. "I don't wish my body guard to nurse wholesale bruises and smashed +fingers. Mr. Symes, can you have two men besides yourself here this +afternoon to unpack these things?" + +"I certainly can, Mrs. Gray," promised Mr. Symes with respectful +promptness. + +"Then we'll have to possess our souls in patience until to-morrow," +sighed Grace. "Isn't this a lovely, roomy house, Elfreda? I'm so glad, +too, that there isn't a prim, stiff parlor. I like this immense +living-room much better. The girls will surely like it. It will serve as +a library too. That little room just off the hall will make such a +convenient office for me. Imagine me as the head of a college house, +with an office all my own, Elfreda." + +"It's a good thing for the house," commented Elfreda. "I hope the girls +that live here will appreciate you, Grace. I hope none of them will be +as silly as J. Elfreda Briggs was." + +"Elfreda, how can you?" remonstrated Grace. + +"How could I, you mean," flung back Elfreda. "Because I was a spoiled, +selfish ingrate who never stopped to think of any one else's rights." + +"Now, now, Elfreda," protested Mrs. Gray. + +"Well, I was," insisted Elfreda positively. "It took a whole year to +reduce me to order. I wasn't as hopeless as some of the others. It took +three years to make Alberta Wicks and Mary Hampton real Overton girls, +and two years to instil college spirit into Kathleen West. But Grace +never gave any of us up, even though we treated her so shabbily. That's +why I just said I hoped that the girls would appreciate Grace. I'd hate +to think that some stupid ill-natured freshman, it's more likely to be a +freshman than any one else, would behave like an idiot and spoil her +first year at Harlowe House." There was an expression of anxious concern +on Elfreda's round face. + +"Don't worry, Elfreda," reassured Grace, "the students who come to +Harlowe House to live are sure to be nice. Girls who have their own way +to pay through college are usually cheerful and unselfish. They are +anxious to live and willing to let live." + +"I don't know about that. Kathleen West wasn't a glaring pattern of +amiability when she entered Overton," reminded Elfreda. "Of course she's +now a brilliant example of what forbearance will accomplish, and you +know that I am very fond of her, but you and I remember what we went +through during the forbearing process." + +"Don't croak, J. Elfreda Briggs," admonished Grace lightly, "I don't +imagine that everything will be plain sailing this year. That would be +asking too much. Still I hope I shall not have any serious +misunderstandings with my girls. I'm going to remember my motto, +'Blessed are they that have found their work,' and not shirk anything +that comes within the line of it." + +"I guess there isn't the slightest danger of shirking on your part," was +Elfreda's dry retort. "I hope the men that do the unpacking of this +stuff will be imbued with the same spirit. You'd better bring out that +motto and hang it up where they can see it. To change the subject, we +haven't been upstairs yet." + +"Come on, then." + +"I think I'll wait for you on the veranda, children," said Mrs. Gray. +"Don't stay upstairs too long. I should like to go back to Mrs. +Elwood's, telephone for a taxicab, and make a call upon Dr. Morton this +morning." + +"We'll hurry," promised Grace, as they ascended the open staircase which +led to the second floor. "These are to be my quarters," she announced, +opening a door at the end of the hall on the left side of the stairs. +"This left wing was designed especially for me. The right wing has the +same amount of space, but it is divided into two bedrooms. But the left +has a sitting-room and bedroom, with a bathroom between the two. It +seems selfish in me to have so much room, but Mrs. Gray insists that I +need it and wishes me to be thoroughly comfortable. She wanted me to +have circassian walnut bedroom furniture, but I chose oak. I don't wish +my rooms to suggest luxury. It wouldn't seem in touch with the spirit of +my undertaking." + +Elfreda regarded Grace with loving admiration. "You're the squarest, +fairest girl I ever knew or even expect to know, Grace," was her +tribute. "And you deserve the best that the Harlowe House girls can give +you." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +AN UNEXPECTED CALLER + + +"'And if I do say it as shouldn't,' this room is a credit to our college +and our own sweet native land," proclaimed Elfreda, as she viewed with +critical eyes the long cheerful living-room, to which she and Grace had +just put the final touches. The morning sunshine of a perfect midsummer +day poured in at the windows flooding the scene with dazzling light, as +though smiling its approval of the pretty room. The walls and ceilings +were papered in cream color with a running border of green leaves. The +floor rug was in two shades of green, and the window draperies were in +green and white. The furniture was in mission oak, but there were +several comfortable arm chairs and willow rockers scattered about the +room. A long library table took up considerable space at one end of the +room, and conveniently near it were rows of book shelves, lined with +special books required by the Overton curriculum of study, which, in +price, were out of reach of the more impecunious students, and were in +such constant demand at the library that their temporary possession +often meant weeks of waiting. + +There was a piano, of course, but the crowning feature of the room, +however, was the wide window seat built across the bow-window at its +upper end. It was at least four feet wide, upholstered in thick green +velvet and piled high with sofa pillows. It was indeed a cozy corner +which invited rest, and Elfreda confidently predicted that it would be +the most popular spot in the house. + +The house itself had not followed the usual plan of modern architecture. +In fact, it was distinctly old-fashioned and built for room rather than +effect. The hall ran the length of the house to the kitchen, dividing it +into two parts. The dining-room was on the side opposite the +living-room, and had also a bow-window. Directly behind it lay the +servants' quarters. Adjoining the living-room was Grace's little office +and behind that was a room furnished with every convenience for the +benefit of those girls who were obliged to launder their own clothing to +save expense. + +The second, third and fourth floors were, with the exception of Grace's +suite, given up entirely to bedrooms, of which there were sixteen. This +meant the accommodation of thirty-two students for whom the perplexing +problem of food and shelter was solved for their entire four years' +course at Overton, provided they complied with the rules of Harlowe +House. + +"Doesn't it seem wonderful, Elfreda, that through Mrs. Gray's generosity +the girls who come here will be free from the dreadful worry of paying +board? All they will have to look out for is their regular college fees, +and if they happen to be lucky enough to enter Overton on scholarships +they will have absolutely plain sailing." Grace's face was alight with +appreciation of Mrs. Gray's gift. + +"What a pity Ruth Denton couldn't have had such a chance," mused +Elfreda. "Poor little Ruth, how hard she worked." + +"And now she has everything," returned Grace. "It seems miraculous that +she found her father, doesn't it?" + +Elfreda nodded. "Arline Thayer was good to her those first three years. +Do you remember the ridiculous quarrel they had because Ruth wouldn't +tell us what she was like when she was a little girl?" + +"I ought to remember it, considering the fact that I officiated as peace +maker," smiled Grace. "How I shall miss Arline. There is only one other +girl, outside of you and Miriam and Anne, whom I shall miss as much." + +"Emma Dean?" guessed Elfreda. + +"Yes, Emma Dean. I can't begin to tell you how fond of her I am and +always have been. She was the life of Wayne Hall. Mrs. Elwood was +sighing fond remembrance of her only this morning. Really, Elfreda, I +wonder if, ever again, there will be a class quite like 19--?" + +"Never," declared Elfreda with quick loyalty, then, glancing up at the +mission clock on the wall, she exclaimed: "I wonder why Mrs. Gray +doesn't come! Let's go out on the veranda and watch for her." + +The two young women strolled out onto the veranda just in time to see an +automobile drive up to the house containing two persons. One of them was +Mrs. Gray, the other, to whom she was talking animatedly, was a +broad-shouldered young man, whose gray eyes shone with pleasure as he +caught sight of Grace. + +"Why, Tom!" she called in astonishment. "Where did you come from? I +thought you were away up in Maine." She hurried down the steps, her +hands extended. + +The young man caught them in his and held them fast. "So I was," he +answered, his eyes searching hers, "but my work there is done for the +present. I am on my way to Washington, but it's a roundabout way, for, +when I received your letter, I was devoured with curiosity to see +Harlowe House, so I took a day off, on my own responsibility, and came +this way." + +Grace colored under the young man's ardent gaze. She knew only too well +that it was not alone curiosity to see Harlowe House that had taken Tom +out of his way. "I'm sorry your curiosity didn't devour you sooner," she +retorted mischievously. "If only you had come here last week! You could +have made yourself invaluable. However, you are in time to meet Elfreda, +at least." + +"Yes, Tom," declared his aunt, "you can't afford to miss knowing +Elfreda. She is the counterpart of Hippy, and has kept Grace and I in a +perpetual state of smiles during the past two weeks." + +Tom helped his aunt out of the automobile and the three walked slowly +toward the veranda where Elfreda stood waiting. A moment later she and +Tom were shaking hands and declaring that, having heard so much of each +other from Grace, they were really old acquaintances. + +"When are you going home?" Tom asked, as half an hour later, the party +paused in the living-room after a tour of inspection which included the +four floors. + +"That is the main subject under discussion at present," smiled Grace. +"It must be very soon. If not to-morrow, then the day after. Here we are +fairly into August and I have spent a very short time with Father and +Mother. Then, too, the Phi Sigma Tau has a great many mysterious rites +to observe before two of its members enter into that state known as +matrimony. Also we expect Eleanor Savelli soon. She and her father and +aunt are going to be at 'Heartease' for two or three months. Mabel +Allison and her mother are coming east, and the Southards are coming +home with Anne when their motion-picture work in California is done. I +could go on naming plenty of other reasons, but those are the really +important ones." + +"I should say they were important ones," agreed Tom. "It sounds as +though there were to be some lively times in Oakdale. I'm going to try +to make my vacation cover the weddings. I can't allow the Originals to +get married, celebrate or jollificate without me." + +"Oh, Tom, will you really?" cried Grace with enthusiasm. "I'll let you +know the moment the date of the girls' weddings is set." + +"Can you stay over until to-morrow, Tom?" asked Mrs. Gray. "Then we can +go back to Oakdale on the late afternoon train." + +"I'm afraid not, Aunt Rose, I'm a day late now. I'll have to take the +night train for Washington. Let me see." He drew a time table from his +coat pocket. "There is a train out of Overton at nine o'clock to-night. +I'm due to catch it. But I'm going to take you all to dinner at the +Tourraine and we are going for a drive afterward which will end at the +station, where you will all see me on my desolate way. Are there any +objections?" + +"Nothing but delighted acceptances, my dear boy," assured his aunt, +glancing fondly at her big, good-looking nephew. "I'll venture to answer +for the girls, too." + +"We'll come to Tom's dinner party, provided he has luncheon with us," +stipulated Grace. "It's almost noon now. Mrs. Elwood will have luncheon +ready at one. You'd better come with us, Tom. We are going to have +strawberry shortcake with whipped cream, for dessert." + +"You couldn't lose me," asserted Tom with slangy emphasis. "Shall I go +on ahead and telephone for a car, Aunt Rose?" + +"No, I'll walk to Wayne Hall with you children," decided Mrs. Gray. + +"I wonder if there is anything else to be done," murmured Grace, +surveying the living-room with anxious eyes. "Oh, my motto. It must hang +directly above the archway." + +"Where is it?" asked Elfreda. "We have time to put it up before we go to +luncheon, and plenty of skilled laborers." She cast a laughing glance at +Tom. + +"It isn't made yet," confessed Grace. "Eva Allen's brother, who is an +artist, is illuminating one for me." + +"What is your motto, Grace?" asked Tom interestedly. + +"'Blessed are they that have found their work,'" repeated Grace, her +eyes on the spot where she intended the precious motto to hang. Mrs. +Gray had walked on into the hall, so there was only one pair of eyes to +see the sudden tightening of Tom's lips and the look of wistfulness +which crept into his face, and that pair of eyes belonged to Elfreda. + +"He cares a whole lot more for Grace than she cares for him," was +Elfreda's quick appraisal. "At heart, Grace is still a little girl, and +will be for a long time to come. I hope when she does wake up it won't +be another prince who will do the awakening." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE SECRET SESSION + + +"I feel more as though I were getting ready for a funeral than about to +give a dinner for the Eight Originals," sighed Grace Harlowe, as she +joined her mother on the shady front porch, a little white and gold work +bag, which Miss Southard had brought her from Paris, swinging from her +arm. "I can't realize that, within the next week, Nora and Jessica are +actually going to become Mrs. Hippy Wingate and Mrs. Reddy Brooks. It +seems ridiculous. Why it's only yesterday that Jessica's hair hung down +her back in two braids, and Nora wore curls and short dresses." + +"I can't imagine Hippy in the role of a dignified bridegroom," smiled +Mrs. Harlowe. "He is far more likely to convulse the wedding party and +upset the whole solemn service than to conduct himself with strict +propriety." + +"He insists that he will cover himself with glory if Reddy doesn't look +at him, and Reddy insists that he will sit and stare him out of +countenance. David is to be Hippy's best man and Tom Gray Reddy's, while +Jessica is to be Nora's maid of honor and Nora Jessica's matron of +honor. She's to be married first, you know. Mabel, Anne, Miriam Nesbit, +Eleanor Savelli and I are to be the bridesmaids at both weddings," went +on Grace. "We'll have a reunion of all our friends. The Gibsons are at +home, Judge Putnam and his sister are coming down earlier from the +Adirondacks; then there are Eleanor and her father, Miss Nevin and the +Southards. Every one who has played an active part in our home lives +will be on hand to see the girls married." + +"But how can Nora go away on a wedding journey and be Jessica's matron +of honor, too?" asked Mrs. Harlowe. + +"She and Jessica went over that point a dozen times. You see Nora's +wedding takes place in the morning. She is going to have a wedding +breakfast, then she and Hippy will go to the mountains for a week. They +will return to Oakdale on the day of Jessica's wedding, and leave for a +long trip west the next morning. That was the best way they could carry +out a compact they made last June to serve as maids of honor for each +other." + +Mrs. Harlowe listened to Grace's flow of eager talk with a smile of +content on her fine face. To her fond eyes Grace looked absurdly +immature in her simple frock of white dotted swiss. She was secretly +glad that Overton, rather than marriage, had claimed her alert, +self-reliant daughter for another year. Like every other mother she +wished some day to see Grace happily settled in a home of her own, but +she preferred to think of that someday as being still far distant. + +Grace took out of her bag a guest towel she was embroidering. It was the +last of the half dozen towels she had worked for Jessica's hope chest. +She was not fond of needlework. She preferred to spend her spare time +playing golf and tennis, or riding and walking. This, as well as the +hemstitched table cloth and napkins she had completed for Nora, was a +labor of love. Now as she bent painstakingly over her work, she smiled +to herself and wove a tender thread of loyalty and love into the +pattern. + +A long clear trill caused her to raise her head quickly and spring to +her feet with, "Here they are, at last!" She ran to meet them. + +Three girls, or rather three young women, came loitering through the +gate and up the walk, laughing gayly at something the girl in the center +was relating for their benefit. "Now what has Hippy done?" guessed Grace +shrewdly. + +"You might know it was something about him," said Jessica Bright. "This +time it was a case of what was done to him. Tell the lady all over +again, Nora." + +"It certainly was funny," dimpled Nora. "You see, Grace, Hippy and Edith +and I were going for a ride, last night, in his new car. We waited and +waited for him and couldn't imagine why he didn't come. About ten +o'clock he came tearing along at a speed that would have made a traffic +officer turn pale. Edith and I were still sitting on the porch. I +pretended I was dreadfully offended until he told me where he had been, +then Edith and I laughed until we almost cried." + +"Where had he been?" asked Grace curiously. + +The three girls giggled in unison. + +"Locked in the cellar," returned Nora mirthfully. "He was all ready to +go for his car when he happened to remember that he wanted a wrench from +the tool chest in the cellar. His father is away this week and there was +no one in the house but the cook. She was all ready to go away for the +evening, too. She didn't know Hippy was in the cellar, so she locked all +the doors, the cellar door included, and went on her way rejoicing. +Hippy said he pounded and shouted and howled and wailed and pounded some +more. Can't you imagine just how funny he must have looked? He couldn't +climb out of the cellar windows, for they are too small and he is too +fat, so he had to stay there until almost ten o'clock. He says he sat on +the cellar steps most of the time and thought of the happy past. At last +the cook came home and when he heard her walking around upstairs he +pounded and shouted again. She thought he was a burglar, just as though +a burglar would make all that noise, and wasn't going to let him out. He +insists that he ruined his voice forever in trying to convince her that +he was himself. He says his frenzied pleadings finally touched her +adamant heart, and she opened the cellar door very cautiously at the +rate of about a sixteenth of an inch per minute." + +Grace laughed with the others, as Nora finished. "Poor Hippy," she +commented, "he is always falling into difficulties. I must ask him about +his evening in the cellar." + +"Yes, do," urged Nora. "He tried to swear Edith and me to secrecy, but +we refused to be sworn." + +"It will make Reddy so happy," laughed Anne. + +"Oh, Anne, dear, you don't know how splendid it seems to have you home +again!" exclaimed Grace. "It's just like old times. I can't help feeling +sad though. We thought when we were graduated from high school that our +parting of the ways had come, but now that we are all standing on the +verge of our life work, it seems to me that this is going to be the real +parting. I can't help wondering if things will seem quite the same again +when we gather home next year." + +"Of course they will," declared practical Nora. "Grace Harlowe, don't +you dare to grow gloomy and retrospective. We four are chums for life, +and not all the weddings and stage careers and Harlowe House positions +in the world can change us." + +"I know they can't. I won't make any more excursions into the Valley of +Doubt," promised Grace. + +They had stopped on the walk to talk, now they moved slowly toward the +veranda, four abreast, a bright-eyed, happy quartette. Mrs. Harlowe +greeted her daughter's friends as affectionately as though they were her +own children. "Did you bring your work, girls, or is it to be a case of +idle hands?" + +"Idle hands!" exclaimed Nora. "Far from it. Jessica has a blouse to +finish and I have innumerable initials to embroider." + +"I am the only idle one," confessed Anne. "I am sorry to say that I +haven't the least desire to be industrious. I prefer to sit with my +hands folded and watch the rest of you work. It sounds lazy, doesn't +it?" + +"Not a bit of it," declared Grace loyally. "You've done your work, Anne. +It's time you took a rest. Make yourselves comfy, girls. Here, give me +your hats and parasols. I'll put them in the hall." + +In a moment Grace returned, and sitting down by Nora, who had stationed +herself in the big porch swing, she picked up her work and began to +embroider industriously. + +For the space of half an hour the little company worked busily, keeping +up a running accompaniment of merry conversation broken with light +laughter. It was Nora's quick eyes which first saw Grace lay down her +work with an impatient sigh. An instant later Grace discovered that +Nora's industry was flagging. Mrs. Harlowe had just gone into the house. +Anne was leaning back in her chair, her eyes fixed dreamily upon the far +horizon, while Jessica, alone, plodded patiently along, too much +absorbed in the development of the butterfly pattern she was +embroidering to note that two of her companions were lagging. A sudden +silence fell upon them all. It was broken by Nora's quick tones. "I'll +take it all back," she averred. "I'm strictly in favor of idle hands. +Let's put our work away and go for a walk!" + +"For this brilliant idea, we thank you," returned Anne, coming out of +her dream in a hurry. + +"Why not walk over to the old Omnibus House," suggested Grace. + +"Brillianter and brillianter," nodded Nora. "What could be more fitting +than to make a pilgrimage to the scenes of our high school days? I +haven't been there in ages." + +"Neither have I," was Grace's quick response. "It's only half-past +three. We'll have plenty of time to go there and back before dinner. The +boys won't be here until six o'clock. You know that Tom Gray arrived +yesterday, I suppose? That makes the Eight Originals complete. We'll +have to do without the Plus Two, because Miriam hasn't come home yet and +Arnold won't be here until the night before Nora's wedding." + +"How I miss Miriam," sighed Grace. + +"We never dreamed when we were freshmen that she would ever be our close +friend, did we?" asked Nora. + +"She's a dear, and no mistake," agreed Jessica. Then, her glance +straying to Anne, "What makes Anne look so mysterious?" + +Anne smiled. "I'll tell you the most surprising secret you ever heard, +but not until we get to the Omnibus House and are seated in a row on the +old stone steps behind it." + +"Then let's away!" exclaimed Nora. "We won't need our hats. Two parasols +will be enough to shade us from the sun." + +Five minutes later the four girls trooped down the steps and strolled +through the familiar streets in the direction of their old playground. +The afternoon sun beamed so gently and kindly upon them that it was not +long before they closed their parasols and walked with their heads +uncovered to his tempered rays. To see a bevy of girls walking in the +quiet streets of the little city without hats was the commonest sight, +and the quartette attracted little attention as they sauntered along. + +After leaving Oakdale behind, it was not more than ten minutes' walk +across the fields to the quaint old stone house which had been the scene +of so many of their high school revels. + +"What a lot of good times we have had here," mused Nora reminiscently, +as they paused before the quaint old building, that had once been a +tavern, and was, goodness knew, how many years old. "Shall you ever +forget the time we buried the hatchet?" + +"Never!" chorused three emphatic voices. + +"Wasn't Julia Crosby too ridiculous for words?" declared Jessica. Her +smile of recollection was reflected in the faces of her friends. + +"That reminds me," remarked Nora, "I have something to tell you girls +too." + +"Let's have a 'secret' session," proposed Jessica. "Every one who wishes +to attend must be ready to tell a secret the moment we sit down on the +steps." + +"'A secret is a secret, only, when known to three persons, two of which +are dead,'" quoted Anne mischievously. + +"These secrets mustn't be the heart-to-heart, +keep-it-to-yourself-forever kind," stipulated Nora. "They mustn't be of +the complex variety either. Dark secrets are also strictly tabooed from +this session." + +"Stop laying down rules and regulations," laughed Grace, "and let us +form our secret row. I am eaten up with curiosity to know what Anne and +Nora know." + +"Are you eligible?" quizzed Nora. "That is the important question. Anne, +you must head the row. You began this session." + +Anne complied obediently. + +Nora sat down beside her. + +Grace stood eyeing Nora thoughtfully. Then her eyes sparkled. "I'm +eligible," she announced as she made a third. + +"So am I," declared Jessica a trifle soberly, taking her place at the +other end of the row. + +"Ladies and no gentlemen," announced Nora, rising and bowing profoundly +to the three girls, "the great secret session of the four inseparables +is about to begin. Remember, you are not limited to one secret. If you +happen to know several, now is the time to tell them. Go ahead, Anne." + +Nora seated herself again and with the eyes of her chums fixed +expectantly upon her, Anne began the secret session. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE WAY TO PERPETUAL YOUTH + + +"This isn't a secret that any one told me," stated Anne. "It's something +I found out for myself. One of the two persons it concerns doesn't know +it yet. Perhaps she will never know." + +"How mysteriously interesting," commented Nora. "Hurry on with it, Anne. +Who are the persons concerned?" + +"Mr. Southard and"--Anne paused briefly to give due effect to her +words--"Miriam." + +A ripple of surprise passed along the row. + +"What do you mean, Anne?" was Grace's quick question. + +"I mean that for nearly four years Mr. Southard has cared for Miriam," +replied Anne steadily. + +Nora's puckered red lips emitted a surprised whistle. + +"This _is_ news," averred Jessica. "But Miriam could never care for him. +He is so much older." + +"How old do you imagine Mr. Southard to be, Jessica?" asked Anne slyly. + +"Oh, I don't know. He must be--" + +Jessica paused reflectively. Then a sudden look of astonishment passed +over her face. "Why how funny! He isn't really old. I don't believe he +is as old as thirty-five, but he _seems_ older." + +Anne nodded. "He is thirty-three. That isn't very ancient, is it?" + +"Miriam is twenty-four," mused Grace aloud. "She is so brilliant, +self-possessed and stunning that one feels as though she were even older +than that. I know she is very fond of the Southards, but I don't believe +she suspects that Mr. Southard--" + +"She doesn't," put in Anne eagerly. "He has been careful that she +shouldn't. I believe Miss Southard knows, but she would never say so, +even to me. Do you remember the time we went to New York City for +Thanksgiving, when we were freshmen at Overton, Grace? Well, it began +then. I know him so thoroughly that I could see things that you girls +couldn't. After that I took particular pains to notice the way he acted +toward Miriam whenever they met, and, as Elfreda says, I could see his +love for her grow and deepen. He cared a great deal last commencement, +and he was so dreadfully afraid she'd find out that he actually kept +away from her." + +"I remember that," interposed Grace. "Miriam noticed it, too. She told +me that she was afraid she had in some way offended Mr. Southard, for he +treated her with almost distant courtesy. I suppose he imagines himself +as being too old for Miriam." + +"This _is_ an interesting secret and no mistake," said Nora, wagging her +head with satisfaction, "but what about poor Arnold Evans?" + +"You are running ahead too fast, Nora," smiled Anne. "Remember Miriam +doesn't suspect that Mr. Southard loves her. The chances are she doesn't +nor never will care for him. But I'll be generous and tell you another +secret. Miriam and Arnold aren't the least bit in love with each other." + +"Do you know, Anne, I've always thought that, too," agreed Grace. "They +have always acted more like two good comrades." + +"Exactly," replied Anne, "but, as far as I am concerned, girls, to me it +would be a wonderful thing if some day Everett Southard and Miriam +Nesbit should decide that they were necessary to each other's welfare. +They are so admirably suited in temperament, disposition, and all that +goes toward making two persons absolutely happy." + +"Hear the sage expound life and love," giggled Nora. "What about poor +David's future happiness?" + +Anne flushed. "I can't answer that question," she said, after a little +pause. "It does sound rather silly for me to go on talking about the +love affairs of others when I can't settle my own. Not that I love David +less, but acting more," she finished almost tremulously. "I move that we +go on to the next secret." + +"Mine is about Julia Crosby," began Nora, "and I can tell you in few +words. She's engaged to a Harvard man." + +"Really!" exclaimed Grace delightedly. "Where did you see her, Nora? I +didn't know she was at home." + +"She came home from the mountains yesterday. I saw her in Carlton's, +that new confectioner's shop on Main Street. We had a sundae together +and she told me all about it. She has known her fiancé for two years. +She met him at a Harvard dance. He was graduated last June from the +Harvard law school. The engagement hasn't been formally announced yet. +She's going to give a luncheon to announce it. She wanted me to be sure +and tell you three girls. She is coming to see you soon, Grace." + +"I'll receive her with open arms," assured Grace. + +"That was a nice secret," commented Anne. "Now, Grace." + +"Our fairy godmother is coming to dinner to-night." + +"Hurrah!" cried Anne, standing up and waving her hand. "I didn't know +she was within two hundred miles of Oakdale. It seems years instead of +weeks since I saw her. When did she arrive in Oakdale?" + +"This morning. She telephoned me. In my last letter I mentioned my +dinner to you girls, and said I wished she might be here too. She came +home from the seashore a week earlier so as not to miss it. She didn't +say not to tell you. I had been holding it back as a surprise. It served +me in good stead by making me eligible to Secret Row." + +"Last but not least, Jessica," reminded Nora briskly. + +"I was going to tell you this evening when we were all together, and +Reddy promised to help me, but, somehow, I'd rather tell you now, while +we are together on these dear old steps where we've had so much fun." + +Something in Jessica's tone caused the eyes of her friends to search +hers inquiringly. It carried with it unmistakable regret. It presaged +parting. + +"Reddy and I aren't going to live in Oakdale this winter. We--we--are +going--to--Chicago to live." + +"Oh!" Nora ejaculated, drawing her breath sharply. "Oh, Jessica!" + +A painful silence fell upon the row of girls, whose voices had only a +moment since rung out so gayly. + +Nora sat staring straight ahead of her with quivering lips. Of the three +girls she would miss Jessica the most sorely. Grace, too, felt that +dreadful sense of loss, of which she had complained earlier in the +afternoon, stealing down upon her. Anne's face wore a look of loving +concern, but an expression of resignation to destiny, which was likely +to lead one to the ends of the earth, lurked in her somber eyes. She had +learned young to bow with the best possible grace to the inevitable. + +Suddenly a half-stifled sob broke the oppressive quiet. + +"Nora, you mustn't," protested Jessica weakly, but Nora's curly head was +already resting on Grace's comforting shoulder, and an instant afterward +Jessica sought the consolation of the other shoulder. + +"Girls, girls," soothed Grace, an arm around each, "you mustn't cry." +Nevertheless she experienced a wild desire to lift up her voice and +lament with them. "I know you looked forward to being together this +winter. It's terribly disappointing, but you can write letters and visit +each other, and next summer, Jessica, you must arrange to come to +Oakdale and stay all summer. Why didn't you tell us before?" + +"Reddy didn't know it until yesterday," faltered Jessica. "His father +has taken over a large business there and he wants Reddy to manage it +for him. Reddy's mother doesn't want to live in Chicago, so Mr. Brooks +wants Reddy to go." + +"It's the real parting of the ways," said Grace softly to Anne. + +Anne nodded. "Still, if we had our choice as to whether we would like to +go back and live over our past or go on, I am sure we'd choose to go +on," she said thoughtfully. "Don't you think so, Grace!" + +"Of course we would," agreed Grace cheerfully. "Good gracious, girls!" +she exclaimed in sudden consternation. "Whose familiar figures are those +coming across the field? It must be later than I thought." + +Nora's and Jessica's mourning heads bobbed up from Grace's shoulders +with simultaneous alacrity. + +"Hippy!" gasped Nora. "Do I look as though I'd been crying? I wouldn't +have him know it for the world." + +"Reddy!" recognized Jessica. "Are my eyes a sight?" + +"Also David and Tom," added Anne. "No, children, you haven't wept enough +to permanently disfigure your charming faces. If the boys had not +appeared we might now be weeping in a melancholy row. I had no idea that +Jessica's secret was to be a positive tragedy." + +"Neither had I," responded Grace soberly, laying an affectionate hand on +Jessica's arm. + +There was no time for further remarks on the subject, for the four young +men were crossing the last field in record time. As they neared the row +of young women Hippy Wingate picked up his coat and pirouetted toward +them, a wide smile on his round face, as he chanted gayly in a high +voice: + + "Children go, to and fro + In a merry pretty row; + Faces bright, all alight, + 'Tis a happy, happy sight. + Swiftly turning round and round, + Do not look upon the ground; + Follow me, full of glee, + Singing merrily." + +With each line of the song Hippy executed a most astonishing figure, +ending on "merrily" with a funny pas-seul that turned the sorrow of the +lately disconsolate audience to laughter. + +"How did you like that?" he inquired affably, as he landed directly in +front of the steps. "Shall I sing the chorus now or would you prefer to +hear it later." + +"Later, by all means," flung back Nora. + +"As you please. As you please," returned Hippy with a careless wave of +his hand. "I am not chary of my art. I ask for but one recompense." + +"There he goes," groaned Dave Nesbit. + +"I'm not going," retorted Hippy, with dignity. "I'm standing perfectly +still. However, I did not come away out here in this field to quarrel +with you, David Nesbit. I came because I am a--" + +"Nuisance," suggested Reddy. + +"Precisely. No, I don't mean anything of the sort. I am not a nuisance. +A nuisance is a tall, thin, conceited person with flaming red hair, pale +blue eyes, a freckled nose and a slanderous tongue. His name begins with +R and he is--" + +Without finishing his sentence Hippy took to his heels and disappeared +around the corner of the Omnibus House, with an agility worthy of a +better cause. + +"I'll see that he keeps at a safe distance from us till we start for +Grace's," was Reddy's grim comment. "You'll see his head appear at that +corner in a minute, and then, look out!" + +They waited in mirthful silence. True to Reddy's prediction Hippy's +round face was suddenly thrust into view. Reddy leaped toward him. There +was a horrified, "Oh, dreadful!" from Hippy, and the sound of running +feet. + +"He's afraid of me," boasted Reddy in a purposely loud tone. + +"Don't you ever believe it," contradicted Hippy's voice. "I like the +view from this side of the Omnibus House. I think Nora would like it, +too." + +"Such thoughtfulness is rare," jeered David. + +"'Tis better to have thought such thoughts, than never to have thought +at all," retorted the voice plaintively. + +"Let's eradicate him from the face of the earth, Reddy," proposed David. +"He's a blot upon the community." + +"No-r-a," wailed the voice, "aren't you going to help your little +friend!" + +"Rescue him, Nora," declared David disgustedly. "That's the reason he +created all this disturbance." + +Nora dimpled, the pink in her cheeks deepening. + +"Yes, do," urged Grace. "It is high time for us to start home. We must +be there to receive Mrs. Gray." + +"She sent me on ahead," informed Tom. "I wanted to wait and bring her +over in my car, but she is going to have Haynes bring her over in the +carriage." + +Nora disappeared around the corner of the house, but reappeared +immediately, leading by the hand a broadly smiling Hippy, who carried a +huge bouquet of buttercups and daisies in his free hand and cavorted at +her side as joyously as the proverbial lambkin on the green. + +"You can lead the way with him, Nora," directed David. "I wouldn't trust +him to bring up the rear. Reddy and I want him where we can keep an eye +upon him." + +"Certainly we shall lead the way," flung back Hippy, "but not because +you say so. Our superior rank places us in the front row of the +procession. Come on, Nora. May I sing and dance? I haven't sung the +chorus yet, you know." + +Without waiting for permission Hippy pranced ahead of her on his toes, +swaying from side to side and scattering the flowers from his bouquet, +his voice rising in a falsetto chorus of: + +"Singing merrily, merrily, merrily, Follow me, full of glee, Singing +merrily." + +"He'll never grow old," said Anne, as she watched Hippy's ridiculous +performance. + +"Neither will the rest of the Eight Originals," reminded Grace loyally. +"Remember, we have a Fairy Godmother who has taught us the secret of +perpetual youth." + +"What's the secret?" asked David innocently. He was fond of hearing +Grace's enthusiastic views of things. + +"Never lose one's grip on life," she answered simply. + +And as the Eight Originals strolled home through the radiant sunset, in +each young soul stirred the resolve to take a firm grip on life and keep +eternally young at heart, no matter what the years might bring forth. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +JESSICA'S WEDDING + + +"Jessica Bright, you will never look prettier in your life than you do +to-night!" exclaimed Grace Harlowe, as she stood off a little from her +friend and gazed at her with loving eyes. + +A wave of color dyed Jessica's pale cheeks. "I'm so glad that you think +so," she breathed. "Do you know, girls, I have always hoped that I'd +look nicer on my wedding day than at any other time. I'm glad I decided +to have a green and white wedding, too." + +"You always used to say that you were going to have a pink rose +wedding," reminded Anne. "What made you change your mind?" + +"Promise you won't laugh and I'll tell you," said Jessica solemnly. + +It was the evening of Jessica's wedding and Mabel Allison, Anne Pierson, +Miriam Nesbit, Eleanor Savelli, Nora, now Mrs. Hippy Wingate, and Grace +gathered about their friend with voluble promises of eternal secrecy. +They were in Jessica's room saying good-bye to Jessica Bright, so soon +to become Jessica Brooks. + +"I changed my mind," informed Jessica impressively, "on account of +Reddy's hair." + +"'On account of Reddy's hair,'" repeated Grace. "Why--" Then, catching +Nora's eye, she laughed. + +"You know how dreadfully pink and red clash," Jessica went on, with a +faint giggle, "but I had never thought of it until one night when Reddy +was sitting on our porch. He wrapped my pink scarf around his neck just +for fun, and I made up my mind then and there not to have a pink +wedding. Finally, I chose green and white, and I'm glad now, because he +will look so much nicer." + +"I think that was very sweet in you, Jessica," said Eleanor Savelli +decidedly. + +"Some of us ought to tell Reddy of Jessica's thoughtfulness," teased +Anne. + +"Just as though any of you would," replied Jessica, fondly surveying the +smiling faces of her friends. + +"You are very sure of us, aren't you, Jessica?" said Grace gayly. + +"And always shall be," answered Jessica simply. "Do you remember, girls, +when I was about fourteen how frightfully sentimental I used to be. I +read every love story I could lay hands on. I was forever imagining my +wedding day. My bridegroom was always tall and dark, with piercing black +eyes and a kingly air, and I always pictured myself as wearing a pink +satin dress and being married in church. Sometimes fate parted us at the +altar and sometimes we lived happily ever afterward. I used to plan that +on the day of my wedding I would lock myself in my room, put on my pink +satin dress and sit all day in rapt meditation. I would eat nothing, and +see no one, not even father, until the moment when I swept grandly out +into the hall and down the stairs to my carriage. Of course, I was +transcendently beautiful and there I were always two or three +disappointed lovers, who came to the church and cast sad, yearning eyes +upon me as I glided up the center aisle with my hero. I never dreamed, +then, that Reddy Brooks, my schoolmate and playfellow, was to be my +destiny," she continued, her eyes growing tender, "or that I should +begin my journey with him in our dear old parlor, surrounded by my +chums. I haven't the least desire to sit alone and moon and meditate. I +want all of you with me. It seems the most natural thing in the world +that I should walk down the same old stairs to the same old parlor to +meet the same old Reddy, just as I've done dozens of times before." + +"It's five minutes to eight, girls," announced Miriam Nesbit. "Say +good-bye to Jessica Bright, and don't one of you dare to shed a tear." + +One after another the girls embraced Jessica. Nora was last. She and +Jessica remained in each other's arms for a long, sweet moment. Their +devotion was as deep and true as that which existed between Grace and +Anne. + +"Here are the flower girls. It's time, Jessica," said Grace softly, as +the two little girls who had been chosen to act in that capacity entered +the room accompanied by Ellen, the Brights' old servant, who had been in +the household since Jessica's babyhood. They were pretty, dark-haired +children, cousins of Jessica's, and wore white lace frocks over pale +green silk. On their heads were wreaths of tiny double white daisies and +they carried small baskets filled to overflowing with the same flower. + +Quietly the little procession began to form. Nora, as matron of honor, +followed the flower girls. She wore her wedding gown of white satin, and +carried a huge armful of white roses. Then came the bride. As Grace had +said Jessica would, in all probability, never look lovelier than in her +wedding dress of white satin. Her veil of wonderful yellow-white old +lace, was an heirloom, Jessica being the fourth bride in the family to +wear it, and her bouquet was a shower of lilies of the valley. Jessica +possessed a dazzlingly white skin, and the purity of her complexion had +never showed to better advantage. Her deeply blue eyes were dark with +reverence and her whole face radiated a tender happiness that made it +rarely lovely. The bridesmaids wore gowns of white chiffon over pale +green chiffon which blended into a misty, sea-foam effect. Dainty +girdles of palest green satin and exquisite hair ornaments composed of +tiny chiffon flowers and satin leaves, together with white satin +slippers and white silk stockings, completed their costumes, and they +carried shower bouquets of white sweet peas. + +Down the stairs swept the bridal procession to the strains of +Mendelssohn's wedding march played by the orchestra, stationed in a +palm-screened corner of the wide hall. It was the same old orchestra +which had become so closely identified with the good times of the Eight +Originals during their high school days. Jessica had declared laughingly +that it would seem almost a sacrilege to think of being married to the +strains of a wedding march that was not played by them. At the foot of +the stairs the bride was met by her father, and the wedding party moved +slowly into and down the long parlor to the bow window at the end of the +room which had been transformed into a fairy bower of green. Before a +bank of ferns, white roses and white sweet peas stood the old clergyman +who had said the last solemn words over Jessica's mother years before, +and who had come from another city, many miles distant, to marry Jessica +and Reddy. Here it was that the bridegroom, accompanied by his best man, +Tom Gray, awaited his one-time playmate, his boyhood friend, his first +and only sweetheart, who had now come in all the bravery of her wedding +finery to place her hands, trustingly, confidently in his for the +journey over the untrodden trail they were to blaze together. + +A soft murmur that was almost a sigh went up from the assembled guests +as Mr. Bright handed his most precious treasure into the keeping of the +man who had claimed her for his own, and the beautiful Episcopal ring +service began. Jessica's responses were clear and unfaltering, while +Reddy's firm earnest tones carried conviction of the sincerity of his +vows. Notwithstanding the fact that the appellation of "Reddy," by which +he was known throughout Oakdale, arose from his unmistakably red hair, +Lawrence Brooks looked singularly handsome on his wedding night and the +expression of proud affection in his eyes, as he took Jessica's hand, +was plainly indicative of the love he bore her. + +The moment the ceremony was over Reddy kissed Jessica, who lifted loving +eyes to his, then, turning, wound both arms about her father's neck. The +bridesmaids quickly hemmed them in and the guests crowded about them to +offer their congratulations. Only the intimate friends of Reddy and +Jessica had been invited to attend the ceremony, Mrs. Allison, the +Southards, the Putnams, Mrs. Gibson, Eva Allen and James Gardner, Julia +Crosby, Marian Barber, Mrs. Gray, Miss Nevin, Guido Savelli, Arnold +Evans, Donald Earle, the immediate families of the bride and groom and +the families of the rest of the Eight Originals Plus Two. + +The reception, which was to begin at half-past eight, included the +greater part of Oakdale's younger set, and before it was over Reddy and +Jessica were to slip away and motor to the next town, there to catch the +night train to New York. From there they were to take a boat bound for +the West Indies where they had planned to spend a month's honeymoon, +then journey to their Chicago home. + +"Well, Reddy," declared Hippy condescendingly, when, a little later the +Eight Originals stood near the flower bank indulging in a brief old-time +chat before the arrival of the reception guests, "I must say that you +did very well, and Jessica, too." He beamed on the bride, with a wide +patronizing smile that caused her new dignity to vanish in a giggle of +ready appreciation of the irrepressible Hippy. "I hoped that you, Reddy, +would glance at me for inspiration. There you stood, like a wooden +Indian, I mean a marble statue, and never winked. But as you stood there +a beautiful thought came to me. I understood precisely why the name of +'Reddy' was appropriate to you. The electric light shone softly down +upon your gleaming Titian locks, as though to call attention to their +crimson glory. There was a look of--" + +"Nora, if you value the life of your husband, remove him," broke in +David Nesbit decisively. "Reddy is trying to behave with the becoming +dignity of a newly-wed, and I appeal to you, how can he?" + +"He can't," agreed Nora. "I'll remove the obstacle at once." + +"You'll have to use strategy to do it," announced Hippy. + +"'Come one, come all, this rock shall fly From its firm base as soon as +I!'" + +he quoted determinedly, with jerky little gestures. Planting himself +behind Jessica, he caught up a corner of her veil and peered defiantly +through it at David. + +"You haven't seen the bride's table in the tent yet, have you, Hippy?" +inquired Grace innocently. "It looks so pretty." + +"The bride's table!" Hippy's defiant face broke into an expansive, +affable grin. "No, but I'd love to see it. Show it to me, instantly." + +"I'll take charge of him, Grace," interposed Nora. "If he inspects the +refreshment tent it must be under guard." + +"I've changed my mind. I don't care to see it. I'd rather stay here and +offer a few more congratulations to Reddy. Grace's strategy was very +clever, but Nora's bullying is all wrong. I won't be taken charge of." + +But in spite of his vigorous protests Nora slipped her arm through his +and piloted him in the direction of the huge refreshment tent which had +been erected on the lawn. There the wedding supper was to be served by +caterers at small tables. + +"What a treasure Hippy is," said Anne, as the group of young people +smilingly watched Hippy and Nora out of sight. "He is so funny and nice +that he takes away that half-sad feeling that one almost always has at a +wedding. I am sure I don't know why seeing two friends made happy should +inspire one with a desire to cry, but it does." + +"Weddings and commencements are always more or less solemn and +productive of weeps," answered Grace. "Remember not one of us is going +to shed a tear when Jessica leaves us. This has been such a sweet, happy +wedding that we mustn't spoil its gladness. Of course, I can't imagine +you boys lifting up your voices in lamentation, but I'm not so sure of +the feminine half of the Eight Originals." + +"I couldn't help crying a little when Nora was married," confessed +Jessica. "A church wedding seems so much more solemn, and Hippy was far +too busy being a dignified bridegroom to say funny things." + +"He was perfect, wasn't he?" agreed Anne earnestly. "I never dreamed he +could look so reverent and devoted. I don't know which was nicer, +Jessica, Nora's wedding or yours. They were both beautiful." Happening +to catch David's grave eyes fixed searchingly upon her she flushed and +said hastily, "It must be almost time for the reception to begin." + +"So it is, and if I'm not mistaken here come the first guests," remarked +Tom Gray. + +For the next hour Jessica and Reddy were kept busy receiving the +congratulations of the steady in-pouring of friends who came to wish +them godspeed. Then followed the wedding supper, and it was almost +eleven o'clock when Jessica slipped away from her guests, and a little +later, appeared at the head of the stairs in a smart tailored suit of +brown, with hat, shoes and gloves to match. No secret had been made of +their departure, for their friends were not of those who delighted in +playing embarrassing and discomforting pranks. In fact, the majority of +the reception guests had departed, and it was their intimate friends who +were to see them off on their journey. + +Surrounded by her loved ones, Jessica made a second triumphal journey +down the stairs. In the hall a halt was made and the dreaded good-byes +began. Jessica clung first to her father, then to her aunt. Her chums +came next and she was passed from one to the other of them with warm +expressions of affection and good will. Then the procession moved on and +the second halt was made at the drive where a limousine stood waiting to +receive the bridal pair. It glided away amid a shower of rice and +several old shoes, which had been carefully selected beforehand by +Hippy, David and Grace, leaving six of the Eight Originals gazing after +it with eloquent eyes in which lay the meaning of "Auld Lang Syne." + +"I love weddings," gushed Hippy sentimentally, as the six strolled back +to the house. "I hope I shall have at least two more wedding invitations +this year." + +No one answered this pointed sally. Nora gave her loquacious husband's +arm a warning pinch. + +"Stop pinching my arm, Nora," he protested in a grieved tone. "How can +you be so cruel to little me?" + +This was too much for the silent four. They looked into each other's +eyes and laughed. Then Dave said quietly, "Not this year, old man." + +"Perhaps we can promise you one for next fall, Hippy," said Anne, with a +sudden temerity which surprised her as well as the others. + +"Anne!" David's voice vibrated with newborn hope. For the instant he +forgot everything except the fact that Anne had at last approached some +degree of definiteness regarding their future. + +"I said 'perhaps,'" laughed Anne, but behind her laughter David read the +blessed truth that in Anne's secret heart there was no "perhaps," and +the little hand which lay so contentedly in his, as they strolled up the +walk to the house, made the assurance of his new joy doubly sure. + +"Why can't you make me happy too, Grace?" asked Tom in a low, +reproachful tone. They had dropped a little to the rear of the others. + +"I'm sorry, Tom," faltered Grace, "but I can't. I am fonder of you than +any other man I know, but it is the fondness of long friendship. I'm not +looking forward to marriage. It is my work that interests me most. I +don't love you as Anne loves David, and Jessica and Nora love Reddy and +Hippy. I don't believe I know what love means. I don't wish to hurt you, +but I must be perfectly honest with myself and with you. I can only say +that I care for no one else, and that perhaps someday I may care as much +as you." + +Grace gazed sorrowfully at Tom as she ended. She knew by the tightening +of his lips and the nervous squaring of his broad shoulders that she had +hurt him sorely. + +"All right, Grace," he said with brave finality. "I'll try to be content +with your friendship and live in the hope of that 'someday.' I'm going +to be selfish enough to dream that there will come a time when even your +work won't be able to crowd out love." + +Grace made no reply. She felt that there was nothing to be said. The +bare idea that there might come a time when her beloved work would fail +to fill her life was not to be considered, even for a moment. Love was a +vague, far-distant possibility. It might come to her, and again it might +not. But her work--that lay directly before her. The glory of life was +not love, but achievement. Her eyes grew rapt with purpose, and, as Tom +wistfully scanned her changeful face, it fell upon him with a sudden +sinking of the heart that for him the longed-for "someday" might never +come. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE RETURN OF EMMA DEAN + + +"'A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!'" chanted a voice in Grace +Harlowe's ear. + +Grace whirled about, almost dropping the suit case and golf bag she +carried. + +"Why, Emma, _Emma Dean_!" she exclaimed, her voice rising high in +astonishment. + +[Illustration: "Why, Emma Dean!" Exclaimed Grace.] + +"Yes, it's Emma, _Emma Dean_," returned Emma humorously. "It is I, me, +myself and all the other personally personal pronouns that stand for +your old friend, Emily Elizabeth Dean." + +"Wherever did you come from and--oh, Emma"--as the tall thin young woman +pointed significantly to two heavy suit cases and a small leather bag +huddled together on the station platform--"you aren't really--are you--" + +"I am," interrupted Emma cheerfully. "I couldn't stay away. I knew you'd +need a comforter this year, so I applied for the position and you can +see for yourself how successful I was. Professor Morton was so grateful +to me for applying that he said with tears in his eyes, 'Emma, I can't +tell you how happy it makes me--'" + +"Emma Dean, stop talking nonsense and tell me how you really happened to +be here. It's too good to be true." Grace beamed fondly on her tall, +humorous classmate who had been a never-failing source of amusement to +the Wayne Hall girls. + +"Since you are determined to have facts, here goes. I've come back to +Overton, the land of the dig and the home of the sage, to show what four +years of unremittent toil have done for me. I am to be a living +testimonial, one of the 'after taking the prescribed course I can +cheerfully recommend, etc.,' kind. Briefly and explicitly, I dropped off +that train from the south that came in just before your train, and I'm +going to be Miss Duncan's assistant in English." + +"You aren't really!" Grace's eyes were dancing. "How splendid! Why I +didn't know you intended to teach." + +"Neither did I," returned Emma, a shadow flitting across her face, +"until I went home last June and found that things hadn't been going as +smoothly as they might. Mother and Father never gave me the slightest +inkling last year that money wasn't plentiful in the Dean family. Dear, +unselfish things! They wanted my college life to end in a blaze of +glory. You see, Father had put most of his little capital into a real +estate boom that didn't boom, and it left him with a lot of vacant lots +on his hands that no one, not even himself, wanted. A trolley line was +to pass through the section he owned and it changed its mind, or rather +the directors changed theirs, and straggled off in another direction. +So, unless it straggles back again and Father gets rid of his incubus, +which isn't at all likely, the eldest daughter of the noble house of +Dean will have to hustle indefinitely for her board and keep. + +"To go back a little, as soon as I noticed how worried Father looked, +and after I surprised Mother crying one day, I made them tell me all +about it. I wrote straight to Professor Morton. He helped me secure the +position of assistant in English, and here I am. I haven't the least +idea where I'm going to live either. I'd love to go back to Wayne Hall, +but I'm afraid I couldn't preserve a proper attitude of dignity there. +You know my failings. Beverly Place is a house given over to teachers. I +thought I'd try there first. I hope it won't be too expensive. I expect +to send some money home this year." + +Grace had listened attentively to Emma's recital. What a splendid girl +Emma was! She had not tried to dodge Life and his inseparable comrades, +Trouble and Hard Work. Instead, she had walked out courageously, +fearlessly, to meet them with smiling lips and a merry heart. Grace was +already enlivened by the prospect of having this free-hearted, jolly +classmate with her during the college year now opening. + +"How I wish you could live near me, Emma," she said longingly. Then she +stared at her friend with wide-open eyes, the expression of which +betokened the birth of an amazing idea. "Why--you can," she declared. +"I've just thought of the nicest way. Will you come, Emma? Will you?" + +"It depends on the exact spot where the pleasure of my company is +requested," returned Emma waggishly. "If it is to Kamptchatka--no, most +decidedly. I have no insane craving for life among the heathen, and that +'no' includes the Malay Archipelago and darkest Africa. It's too cold in +Greenland and I couldn't countenance terrible Thibet, but if it's any +place nearer home, say Hunter's Rock or Vinton's, I'll be delighted." + +Grace laughed happily. "It's a place you haven't guessed or thought of," +she replied. "I want you to come to Harlowe House and room with me, +Emma. I'm going to have lots of room, a whole suite. There's a +sitting-room, a bedroom and a bath. I need some one to help me and I'd +rather have you than any one else I know. Won't you say 'yes'? Please, +please, do." + +Emma regarded Grace with a look of one who could not believe the +evidence of her own ears. "Oh--I couldn't--it wouldn't be right to +impose upon you. I'd love to, but--" + +"Wait until you see Harlowe House before you make up your mind not to +live there," interposed Grace slyly. "We'll call a taxicab and go over +to it at once. I have my own key, so we can leave our luggage and go to +Vinton's or any other place we wish for luncheon. You can spend the +night at Harlowe House. We won't be alone there, for the cook and both +maids are supposed to arrive to-day. After you have enjoyed a few hours +of my beneficent society you may refuse to be torn from me and my +sheltering home," she ended banteringly. + +"I haven't the least doubt of it," averred Emma in a perfectly serious +tone. "That's why I feel as though I ought to decide now while I am in +my most heroic mood. I never dreamed of any such wonderful good fortune. +Honestly, Grace, I don't know what to say." + +"Say 'yes,'" advocated Grace. "You ought to be willing to come if I am +willing to have you. If it will make you feel more independent, you may +pay for your meals. I'll see that you are not overcharged, but as far as +the room is concerned you are welcome to it. Oh, Emma, think how +delightful it will be for us! I say 'will' because you simply can't find +yourself hard-hearted enough to refuse. I'm not obliged to consult a +soul about my plans. Mrs. Gray gave me full permission to do as I think +best. I have no set expense limit. I am to be prudent and economical, of +course; that's part of my trust. After this year there will be an +expense limit. We shall know by next June just what it costs for the +up-keep of a house like Harlowe House. This year, however, we are bound +to do more or less experimenting." + +Grace gazed pleadingly at Emma, who stood in the middle of the station +platform, her heavy eyebrows drawn together in deep thought. + +"I'm going for that taxicab," said Grace, as Emma still remained silent. +"There's one coming into the station yard now." She signalled to the +driver, who drew up directly in front of where they were standing, then +sprang out and began loading the girls' luggage in the car. + +"Come on, Emma," coaxed Grace. "You can finish making up your mind on +the way to Harlowe House." + +Emma turned to her friend with a face full of affectionate gratitude. +"I'm going to accept your offer, Grace," she declared. "In fact, I can't +resist it. I am sure you want me to come and I don't know of any other +place where I'd rather be. I can't begin to tell you how much it means +to me, and in so many different ways. Are you sure there won't come a +time when you'll think, 'Oh, if only I had never asked that noisy, +nervous, nosing, messy, meddlesome, moping, miserable, growling, +grumbling, grouchy, greedy, galloping, galumphing Emma Dean to room with +me?'" + +"I don't know any such person," denied Grace, laughing merrily at Emma's +remarkable self-arraignment. "It sounds more like a Thesaurus than a +category of your failings, Emma. Come along. We mustn't keep this man +waiting." + +Emma dutifully climbed into the automobile. "One never knows what will +happen next," she remarked naively as they seated themselves in the car. +"I feel as Cinderella must have felt when she was suddenly whisked off +to the ball by her fairy godmother. By the way, Grace, how is Mrs. Gray, +the fairy godmother of Harlowe House?" + +"I've been so busy coaxing you to come and live with me, I forgot to +tell you that she and I were down here in August, and who do you suppose +we had as a visitor?" + +"Arline Thayer?" asked Emma. + +"No; but that wasn't a bad guess. J. Elfreda was with us." + +"Bless her!" Emma's exclamation told plainly of her affection for the +one-time stout girl. "Was she as funny as ever?" + +"Every bit. She kept Mrs. Gray and I in a perpetual state of laughter. +She's going to study law in New York City, and she's promised to come to +Overton for Thanksgiving. Arline Thayer and Mabel Ashe are coming too. +We'll have a great celebration." + +"I'm certainly glad I'm here," sighed Emma, contentedly. "There seems to +be a prospect of one continuous round of pleasure." + +"I'm glad you are here too," nodded Grace. "You don't know how queerly I +felt to-day when I stepped off the train without seeing a soul I knew. I +suppose there are a number of girls here, although it's early. Classes +won't be called for at least a week or more. We'll surely see some +familiar spirits soon. There are Patience Eliot, Kathleen West, Laura +Atkins, Mildred Evans, Violet Darby, Myra Stone and ever so many others +still due in the land of Overton." + +"Why, that's so," declared Emma, her eyes bright with the prospect of +seeing her Overton friends. "Do you know, Grace, I'm ashamed to say I +hadn't really considered those girls. All along I've thought about the +Sempers and how strange and gray everything would seem without them." + +"I know it," sighed Grace. "I've felt exactly the same. Anne, Miriam, +Arline, Ruth, Elfreda and you were my absent crushes, but now you are a +present one, and next to you comes Patience Eliot. She always seemed +like a senior. I think I'm going to love the new Kathleen West dearly. +She is so clever, and now that we are friends I hope we can work +together in ever so many ways." + +As the taxicab bore them swiftly toward Harlowe House the two young +women talked on of the happy past with its pleasure-marked milestones. + +"We're almost there. Look, Emma! You can get a splendid view of all the +campus houses. Now isn't Harlowe House the prettiest of them all?" + +"It is, I swear it," returned Emma solemnly, "and, if I'm not mistaken, +one of your household has arrived ahead of you. Certainly some one is +camping out on the front steps." + +"Why, so there is. I wonder who she can be. One of the maids, I suppose, +or perhaps the cook. We'll know who she is in a minute." + +The car had now come to a full stop. Without waiting for the chauffeur +Grace opened the door and sprang out. "Never mind our luggage," she said +as she paid the driver. "We'll carry it into the house. It's not very +heavy." + +Gathering her belongings in one hand, and picking up one of Emma's suit +cases, Grace set off up the stone walk followed by Emma. As she advanced +there rose from the steps and came to meet her a most astonishing little +figure. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A STRANGE APPLICANT + + +"This is Harlowe House, isn't it?" was the sharp question that assailed +Grace's ears. + +"Yes." Grace's eyes traveled in amazement over the curious little +stranger within her gates. She was a girl of perhaps eighteen, although +there was a strained, anxious expression in her large brown eyes that +made her look positively aged, an effect which the three deep lines in +her high projecting forehead served to emphasize. If she possessed hair +it was not visible under the small round hat of a by-gone style which +set down upon her head like a helmet. She wore a plain, cheap black +skirt and a queer, old-fashioned white blouse made with a peplum. Around +her waist was a leather belt, and on her feet were coarse heavy shoes +such as a farm laborer might wear. In one hand she carried a large +bundle, in a newspaper wrapping. + +"I'm so glad. I thought I'd never get here," she said simply. + +Grace and Emma exchanged amazed glances. This must be the maid. But such +a maid! + +"Are you the young woman Mrs. Elwood engaged?" asked Grace politely. + +The girl shook her head. "I don't know what you mean. No one engaged me. +I just came because I heard about Harlowe House and wanted to go to +college. I've passed all my high school examinations and I've a +scholarship too. They wouldn't let me come, so I ran away from home and +walked all the way here. Is it true that a girl can live at Harlowe +House without having to pay her board?" she eyed Grace with a look of +mingled anxiety and defiance. + +"Oh," Grace's amazed look changed to one of interested concern, "pardon +me. I thought you were a young woman of whom Mrs. Elwood, of Wayne Hall, +had spoken." + +"I don't know Mrs. Elwood. I never heard of Wayne Hall. I don't know a +soul in this town. I only know that I want to go to Overton College more +than I ever wanted anything else in my life. Do you suppose there's a +chance for me to live at Harlowe House and study? I've walked over a +hundred miles to find out," finished the queer little stranger +pleadingly. + +"'Over a hundred miles!'" repeated Grace and Emma in chorus. + +The girl nodded solemnly. + +"You poor child!" exclaimed Emma Dean impulsively. "If your wish to be +an Overton girl brought you that distance on foot, I should say you +ought to have all the chance there is. At any rate you have applied to +the proper authority. This is Miss Harlowe, for whom Harlowe House was +named, and who is to be in charge of it. I am Miss Dean, of 19-- and now +assistant in English at Overton." + +But the knowledge that she was face to face with the person who held the +privilege of being a member of Harlowe House in her hands overcame the +quaint stranger with a sudden shyness. She shifted her weight uneasily +from one foot to the other, twisted her thin, bony hands nervously, +while her forehead was corrugated afresh with deep wrinkles. + +With the frank, winning smile which was one of Grace's chief charms, she +held out her hand to the other girl. "I am glad to know you," she said. +"Won't you tell me your name?" + +"Mary Reynolds," returned the newcomer in a low voice, as she timidly +shook Grace's proffered hand, then Emma's. + +"I shall be glad to welcome you to Harlowe House," said Grace cordially, +"provided you can fulfill the requirements necessary for entering +Overton. I am going over to Miss Wilder's office this afternoon, and if +you wish to go with me you can learn all the particulars. Until then, +however, you had better come into the house with Miss Dean and me. I am +sure you must be very tired." + +"Yes, I am, but I don't mind that. I'm here and nothing else matters," +returned the girl so fervently that Grace felt a sudden mist rise to her +eyes, and she determined, then and there, that if this curious, +destitute little stranger succeeded in measuring up to Overton's mental +requirements, she would smooth in every possible way her path, which she +foresaw would be troubled. + +"And now for our triumphal entry into Harlowe House," declaimed Emma +Dean, as she and Grace picked up their luggage, and, followed by Mary +Reynolds and her huge newspaper-wrapped bundle, mounted the steps. At +the door Grace again set down her luggage. Fumbling for her latch key +she fitted it to the lock. + +"What a perfectly delightful place!" was Emma's enthusiastic cry, as she +stepped into the hall which was done in oak with furnishings to match. +"Commend me to the living-room!" She poked her head inquisitively +through the soft green silk hangings and after surveying the pretty room +for an instant made a dive for the window seat. "Oh, you window seat!" +she laughed with a fine disregard for dignity. + +Grace laughed with her, and queer little Mary Reynolds smiled in sheer +sympathy with Emma's irresistible drollery. + +"I choose this green window seat for my boon companion," declared Emma, +curling her wiry length cosily upon it, "and may I be ever faithful to +my vows. I expect to have difficulty in protecting my claim, for I +predict this will be the most popular spot in the house. May I put up a +sign, Grace, 'This claim is staked by Emma Dean, no others need apply'?" + +"You may stake it, but I won't guarantee that it will stay staked," +replied Grace. + +"Oh, yes, it will," argued Emma confidently, bouncing up and down on the +soft springy cushions. "The freshmen of Harlowe House will be so +impressed with my height, dignity and general appearance that they will +defer to me as a matter of course. One imperious look, like this, over +my glasses, and the world will be mine." She peered over her glasses at +Grace in a ludicrous fashion which was far more likely to convulse, +rather than impress, the prospective freshmen. + +Even the solemn stranger giggled outright, then looked as though she had +been caught red-handed in some dreadful crime. + +"I'd like to recite English in one of your classes, Emma," smiled Grace. + +"Now there is just where you are wrong," retorted Emma. "I shan't have a +single amusing feature in my daily round of recitations. I shall be as +grim as grim can be and a regular slave driver as far as lessons are +concerned. Those freshmen will wish they'd never met me." Emma wagged +her head threateningly. + +"Stop making such dire threats and come upstairs to see our quarters," +commanded Grace. + +Emma uncoiled herself from the window seat with alacrity and began +gathering up her belongings. + +Grace turned kindly to Mary Reynolds. "If you will come upstairs with +us, Miss Reynolds, I think we can easily find a room for you. So far I +do not know just how many applications Miss Wilder has received. As I +told you, I am going over to the office after luncheon. You had better +go to your room and rest a little, then take luncheon with Miss Dean and +me and go with us to Overton Hall to see Miss Wilder, the dean." + +"I--I--thank you," stammered the girl, the dull color flooding her +sunburnt cheeks. "I'm afraid--I--can't go to luncheon--with you. +I'm--not--very hungry." + +Emma Dean flashed a quick, appraising glance at her from under her +eyelashes. "Neither are we," she assured the embarrassed girl, "but +still we don't care to miss luncheon entirely. You are a stranger in a +strange land, so you must be our guest, and then some day when you are a +seasoned Overtonite we'll insist on being yours." + +Mary Reynolds regarded the two young women with shy, grateful eyes. "You +are so good to me. You must know, of course, that I am very poor. I have +nothing in the world but this bundle of clothes and ten dollars," she +said humbly. "It took me two years to save it, I have been so sure that +there would be some little corner of this wonderful house for me. I +can't bear to think that I may be too late. I don't know where I'd go. I +guess I'd have to try to find some place else. Do you suppose I am too +late?" Her tones vibrated with alarm. + +"Of course you aren't," soothed Emma Dean. "I'm always late, but, as I +used to tell Miss Harlowe, I am hardly ever too late. You may be almost +the first girl to apply, or you may be among the latest, but not the too +latest. There, isn't that encouraging? The best thing for you to do is +to have an early luncheon and a long sleep. Suppose we go down to +Vinton's, Grace, as soon as we get the fond souvenirs of the railroad +off our faces. Then I'll come back here with Miss Reynolds and you can +go on to Overton to see Miss Wilder. My business with her will keep +until to-morrow. This little girl is too tired for interviews to-day." + +"I think that's dear in you, Emma, and real wisdom too. Now let's go +upstairs, at once." Grace led the way and the trio ascended to the +second story. + +"I'm going to put you in this room for the present, Miss Reynolds," said +Grace. She paused before a door that faced the head of the stairs and +threw it open. It was a pretty room, papered in dainty blue and white, +with a blue and white floor rug and white enameled furniture. There were +crisp, white dotted-swiss curtains at the windows and a sheer blue and +white ruffled cover on the dressing table, while on the walls hung +several neatly-framed water color and pen and ink sketches. + +The shabby, tired girl gave a long sigh of satisfaction and weariness as +she stood in the middle of the floor, her eyes eagerly devouring the +pretty room. + +"The bathroom is at the end of the hall," said Grace gently. "We'll stop +for you in about half an hour." + +The other girl did not answer, and Grace and Emma slipped away, leaving +her to get used to her new surroundings. + +"Well, did you ever?" asked Emma, the moment they were inside Grace's +sitting-room with the door closed. + +Grace shook her head. "Poor little thing," she murmured. "She can't +possibly go about Overton in those clothes, Emma. Yet I can't offer her +any of mine. She seems independent. I am afraid she would resent it. I +wonder what her story is. Did you notice she said that 'they' wouldn't +let her go to college, so she had run away from home? Suppose some one +of her family should follow her here just after we had nicely +established her at Harlowe House? We must find out everything about her. +I won't bother her with questions while she is so tired." + +"I am sure she is eighteen," declared Emma positively. "That will free +her from parental sway in this state. I think it would be a greater +tragedy if she has come too late. What is the highest number of girls +Harlowe House will accommodate?" + +"Thirty-two," answered Grace. + +"Then let us hope that Mary Reynolds is not unlucky thirty-three. The +sooner you go to see Miss Wilder the sooner you'll know her fate. Now +I'm going on a tour of exploration and noisy admiration. I'm sure I +haven't ohs and ahs enough to fully express my feeling of elevated +pleasure at so much magnificence. And to thing that I, ordinary, +every-day me, should be asked to become co-partner to all this." Emma +struck an attitude and launched forth into fresh extravagances over the +tastefully furnished suite of rooms. + +"Emma, you ridiculous creature, wind up your lecture and get ready for +luncheon," commanded Grace affectionately. + +"Not until I've seen the last saw," returned Emma firmly. + +For the next ten minutes she prowled and peered, examined and admired, +to her heart's content. "Now I've seen everything," she averred, at +last, with calm satisfaction, "and I'm twice as hungry as I was. But I +can't leave off thinking what a lucky person Emma Dean is to have all +this grandeur and Grace Harlowe thrown in." + +"And I can't help thinking what a lucky person Grace Harlowe is to have +Emma Dean." + +"Then we're a mutual admiration society," finished Emma, "and there's no +telling where we'll leave off." + +"If I didn't have to go on to Overton Hall I wouldn't wear a hat," +sighed Grace, half an hour later, reaching reluctantly for her hat. She +and Emma had bathed their faces, rearranged their hair, and put on fresh +lingerie blouses with their tailored suits. "Are you ready, Emma? I +wonder if Miss Reynolds is. I'll stop and see." + +Grace knocked lightly on the newcomer's door. It was opened immediately. + +"Are you ready, Miss Reynolds?" she asked, her alert eyes noting that +the offending peplum had been tucked inside the black skirt, and that +Mary Reynolds with her hat off was a vast improvement on Mary Reynolds +with her hat on. She also observed that the girl's hair, though drawn +uncompromisingly back from her forehead, showed a decided tendency to +curl. With her usual impulsiveness she exclaimed, "Oh, you have +naturally curly hair, haven't you? It's such a pretty shade of brown. Do +let me do it for you. It's a pity not to make the most of it." + +The girl regarded her with grave surprise. "Are you making fun of me?" +she asked seriously. + +"'Making fun of you,'" repeated Grace. "I should say not. I think you +have beautiful hair. Why, what is it, Miss Reynolds?" For, with a queer, +choking cry, the odd little stranger threw herself face downward on the +bed and sobbed disconsolately. + +Grace stood silent, watching the sob-wracked figure with puzzled, +sympathetic eyes. Emma appeared in the doorway, her eyebrows elevated in +astonishment. Grace motioned for her to come in. The girl on the bed +wept on, while the two young women waited patiently for her sobs to +cease. + +Suddenly she sat up with a jerk, and dashed her hand across her eyes. +"I'm sorry--I--was so--so--silly," she faltered, "but I couldn't help +it. No one ever told me that I was anything but plain and ugly before." + +"You poor little thing," sympathized Emma. + +Grace sat down on the bed beside Mary and put her arm across the thin +shoulders. "Cheer up," she said brightly. "I am sure you are going to be +happy at Overton. You feel blue just now because you are tired and +hungry. Let me fix your hair and we'll hurry to Vinton's as fast as ever +we can. I'm simply starved." + +Mary Reynolds obediently sat on the chair Grace placed for her and the +hair dressing began. Grace and Emma both exclaimed in admiration as +Grace unbraided the soft-golden brown hair, which, once free, broke into +waves and curls. + +"Did you ever see a prettier head of hair?" exclaimed Emma. + +"I think it would look best combed low over her forehead, don't you?" +asked Grace. + +Emma nodded her approval as Grace, with deft fingers, arranged the thick +curly locks in a strictly smart fashion which completely changed Mary +Reynolds' forlorn appearance. + +"Now look in the glass," directed Grace, when she had finished. + +Mary gazed earnestly at her new self. "It can't be me," she said with a +pardonable disregard of English. + +"But it is," Grace assured her. "You must learn to do your hair like +that and wear it so. Now let me put a tiny bit of powder on your face to +scare away the tear stains and we'll be off." + +The obnoxious helmet-like hat did not seem so unbecoming, now that +Mary's curls peeped from under it, and Grace felt a certain degree of +satisfaction in her efforts to make the new girl at least presentable. +She decided that once her large brown eyes had lost their scared, +anxious expression and her thin face had grown plump, Mary would be +really pretty. + +During luncheon at Vinton's Grace quietly studied her charge. There was +something about Mary that reminded one of Ruth Denton, she decided. She +and Emma made every effort to put the prospective freshman at her ease. +By common consent they refrained from asking any questions likely to +produce another flood of tears. As for Mary herself, although visibly +embarrassed at the ultra-smartness of Vinton's, the attention of the +waiter, and the puzzling array of knives, forks and spoons, she managed, +by watching Grace and Emma, to acquit herself with credit. Thanks to +Emma's never-failing flow of humorous remarks the luncheon proved to be +a merry meal and before it ended the forlorn girl looked almost happy. + +"I'll see you later," said Grace, as they paused for a moment in front +of Vinton's. "Emma, I leave Miss Reynolds in your care." + +"I accept the responsibility," declared Emma, flourishing her parasol in +fantastic salute. "I'm going to march her home and put her to bed." + +"While I go on to Overton Hall to learn her fate," smiled Grace. +"Good-bye. You may expect me when you see me." + +Grace swung across the campus toward Overton Hall at her usual brisk +pace. A few moments more and she would be fairly launched in her new +undertaking. She had no desire to run out to meet the future, yet she +could not refrain from wondering what her first year on the campus would +bring her. So far it had brought her Mary Reynolds, but somewhere in the +world there were thirty-one other girls whose faces were set toward +Overton and Harlowe House. + +A peculiar wave of dismay swept over Grace at the thought of actually +being responsible for the welfare of so many persons. The old saying +concerning the rushing in of fools where angels walk warily came +involuntarily to her mind. Then she laughed and squaring her capable +shoulders murmured half aloud, "I'm neither a fool nor an angel. I'm +just Grace Harlowe, a 'mere ordinary human being,' as Hippy would put +it. I'm not going to be so silly as to expect to get along with a whole +houseful of girls without some friction. Like the gardens Anne and I +planted away back in our freshman year, there are sure to be a few weeds +among the flowers." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MARY REYNOLDS MAKES A NEW FRIEND + + +"Twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one and Mary Reynolds makes thirty-two. +Isn't it fortunate that there was a place all ready for her?" Grace +Harlowe looked eagerly up from the list of names which she had been +intently scanning. + +"Very fortunate," smiled Miss Wilder. "I am quite curious to see your +protege, Miss Harlowe." + +Miss Wilder, the dean of Overton College, had been genuinely glad to +welcome Grace Harlowe back to the college fold. During Grace's four +years as a student at Overton she had greatly endeared herself to the +dignified, but kindly, dean, who had watched her pass from honor to +honor with the same sympathetic interest which Miss Thompson, the +principal of Oakdale High School, had ever exhibited in Grace's +progress. + +It was now almost four o'clock in the afternoon. Grace had spent a busy +two hours in Miss Wilder's office going over the applications for +admittance to Harlowe House and discussing ways and means with her +superior. + +"Do you know, Miss Wilder, that one of the very nicest things about you +is your interest in one's friends and plans?" Grace regarded the older +woman with sparkling eyes. "Away back in my freshman days I can remember +that I never came to you with anything, but that you were interested and +sympathetic." + +"My dear child!" Miss Wilder put up a protesting hand. + +"It's perfectly true," persisted Grace staunchly. "I am sure I could +never have planned everything so beautifully for Harlowe House if you +hadn't helped me." + +"But I had such a wonderful source of inspiration," reminded Miss +Wilder, turning the tide of approbation in Grace's direction. + +"I wish I could agree with you," laughed Grace, her color rising. Then +her face grew earnest. "It would make me very happy if I thought that, +as the head of Harlowe House, I could inspire my girls to love Overton +as deeply and truly as I do. I don't intend to preach to them or to +moralize, but I do wish them to gain real college spirit. If they strive +to cultivate that, it will mean more to them than all the talks and +lectures one could give them. Don't you think so?" + +"I do, indeed," agreed Miss Wilder warmly. + +"Of course," went on Grace thoughtfully, "there is the possibility that +some of these girls may fail in their entrance examinations. Undoubtedly +they will have to take them, for no girl who applies for admission to +Harlowe House will have come from a preparatory school. Naturally, they +will all be high school graduates. Some of them will have scholarships +and some will not. It is going to be more or less of a struggle for +those who have none to earn their college fees--that is, if they haven't +saved the money for them beforehand. I am reasonably certain that poor +little Mary Reynolds hasn't a penny of her own, other than the ten +dollars she has saved. But if she passes her examinations she can borrow +the money for her college fees from Semper Fidelis. Then, too, there is +the subject of rules and regulations to be considered." + +"A very important subject," interposed Miss Wilder. "The success of +Harlowe House will depend upon its rules and their absolute +enforcement." + +"Don't you think it would be a nice idea to draw up a little +constitution and by-laws as they do in clubs. It would not cost very +much to have a certain number of copies of them printed, and a copy +placed in each girl's room. Oh, Miss Wilder, wouldn't it be splendid if +we could form the girls of Harlowe House into a social club. It would +bring them in touch with one another, teach them to be self-governing, +and do an endless amount of good." Grace finished with sudden +inspiration. + +For a moment Miss Wilder did not answer. She was evidently turning the +matter over in her own mind. "It is rather an unusual idea," she said +slowly, "but I should not be surprised to see it work out well. Among a +number of young women who, aside from the advantages Harlowe House +offers them, are practically dependent upon their own resources you are +sure to find a variety of dispositions, some of them a little warped +from their struggle with poverty. I should say that they could be +reached and understood better by becoming members of this club, which +you propose, than by any other method. Yes, decidedly, it is a good +plan." + +Grace remained with the dean until after five o'clock talking earnestly +of her new work. "Oh, dear, I can scarcely wait for the next two weeks +to pass I'm so anxious to begin," she sighed, as she gathered together +her gloves, handkerchief and parasol and rose to go. "Miss Dean will +come to see you to-morrow morning, Miss Wilder. I'll send Miss Reynolds +with her." + +The sun was well advanced on his daily pilgrimage down the western sky, +and Grace's usually rapid steps lagged as she crossed the dear familiar +campus. Her eyes strayed lovingly from the green velvety carpeting under +her feet to the red and yellow pennants of autumn which the trees were +flaunting so bravely. It was hard to say at which season of the year +Overton campus was most beautiful. To Grace it was like some familiar +friend who was constantly surprising her with new and endearing virtues. + +She gazed across the wide stretch of green toward Morton House. Two +girlish figures were seated on the steps apparently deep in their own +interests. A little farther on she met three sophomores, who, +recognizing her, bowed to her in smiling admiration. Grace stopped and +held out her hand with the frank cordiality which characterized her. +After a pleasant exchange of greetings they passed on greatly elated +over the fact that "that clever Miss Harlowe, who was the most popular +girl at Overton last year," had remembered them. + +"We're beginning to gather home," she murmured softly. She was passing +Holland House now, and it brought back delightful memories of Mabel +Ashe. Her glance rested wistfully on the front door. She half expected +to see it open and to see coming toward her the lithe, graceful figure +of the girl whose dainty hands had been the first to grasp hers in +friendly welcome, when, as an untried freshman, she had first set foot +in the land of Overton so long ago. "Mabel," she breathed, "dear, dear +girl! If ever I come to mean half as much to lonely freshmen as you +meant to me, I shall feel that I have succeeded gloriously." + +Wrapped in recollections of the past, which she realized were bound to +haunt her at every turn until time and work had banished her sense of +loss, Grace did not hear the light footsteps of the tall young woman who +bore noiselessly down upon her like an avenging fate. Suddenly Grace +felt two soft, cool hands close over her eyes. + +"Oh!" she gasped. Then she laughed. "I know it's some one I'm anxious to +see. Is it Kathleen?" + +The hands did not relax their pressure. + +"Is it Laura Atkins?" guessed Grace again. + +The pressure tightened a little. + +"I know now," cried Grace. "Why didn't I guess you first of all? It's +Patience." + +The hands fell away from her eyes. Grace wheeled about into a pair of +encircling arms. A very tall, fair-haired young woman stood looking down +on her with a face full of lively affection. "I wonder if you are as +glad to see me as I am to see you, Grace," was her first speech. + +"Every bit as glad," responded Grace with emphasis. "Emma and I have +been looking forward to your coming every day since we came." + +"Emma?" interrogated Patience. "Do you mean to tell me that Emma Dean is +here?" + +"Yes," replied Grace happily. "She's come back to be Miss Duncan's +assistant. Isn't that splendid?" + +"I've been mourning Emma among the rest of the bright departed spirits," +smiled Patience, "and thinking of how dull Wayne Hall will be this year +without her. Emma is Emma, you know, and cannot be duplicated, imitated +nor replaced. I suppose, as a teacher, she'll live in one of the faculty +houses, instead of Wayne Hall." + +"She is going to have part of my suite at Harlowe House," said Grace. +"But, before I say another word, where are you going?" + +"To Overton Hall to see Miss Wilder." + +"Can't you put off going until to-morrow morning?" asked Grace. + +"Yes, if you and Emma will go with me to the six-thirty train to meet +Kathleen and then to dinner at Vinton's afterward." + +"Will we?" cried Grace. "I should say--I'm afraid we can't, Patience." +Her jubilant tone changed to one of disappointment. "I forgot all about +Mary Reynolds." + +"Who is Mary Reynolds and what did I ever do to her that causes her to +conspire to cheat me of the society of my friends?" inquired Patience +humorously. + +"Not a single thing," assured Grace brightening again. "She's the +thirty-second applicant for admission to Harlowe House, but she's living +there as my guest for a few days until she finds out whether she +'belongs.' Suppose you walk over there with me. I wish you to see the +house before the tenants arrive. I'll tell you the strange story of Mary +Reynolds on the way over. Emma's at home, so you can see her, too." + +"All right, I'll go, provided you and your entire family, including Mary +Reynolds, escort me to the train to meet Kathleen." + +"Here's my hand on it," promised Grace. + +Patience caught it in both of hers. "It's good to be here, Grace," she +said earnestly. + +"It's good to have you here, Patience," returned Grace, in the same +earnest tone. + +Patience was met at the door by Emma, who had seen their approach from +the living-room window, and who now pounced upon Patience and joyfully +escorted her into the living-room. + +"The plot thickens," declaimed Emma as the three paused in the middle of +the room. "Hurrah for the old guard! Like Macbeth's immortal witches, +I'll perform my antic round, just to show how jubilant I feel." She +executed a few fantastic steps about Patience, then paused beside her, +one hand on her shoulder. "Where did you acquire Patience, Grace?" + +"I acquired this particular kind of Patience on the campus just a few +moments ago. I have never actually acquired the other kind." + +"You're not the only one," murmured Emma significantly. + +"Where is our freshman-to-be?" + +"In her room and fast asleep, I suppose. Although she wouldn't admit it, +I know she was completely tired out. I could see that," she added slyly. + +Patience and Grace smiled in quick recognition of J. Elfreda Briggs' pet +phrase. + +"How I wish 'I could see' dear old J. Elfreda. Wouldn't it be glorious +if she were suddenly to appear in the flesh," sighed Emma. + +"She was here with Mrs. Gray and I in August, Patience." Grace went on +to relate the details of Elfreda's visit. "Emma has heard all this +before. Still, you don't mind hearing it again, do you, Emma?" + +"I could listen to it forever, and then ask for a repetition," asserted +Emma with gallant glibness. + +"I won't be so malicious as to take you at your word," returned Grace. +"Will you tell Patience all the news while I run upstairs to see Miss +Reynolds?" + +"I will," nodded Emma, "and tell it truthfully and without +embellishments. I am not a yellow journal. I am a reliable purveyor of +facts and nothing but facts." She pounded on the library table with her +clenched fist to emphasize her words. + +"I believe you," assured Patience with mock solemnity, "and salute you +as a disciple of truth." + +Leaving her friends to exchange confidences, Grace ran lightly up the +stairs and knocked on Mary Reynolds' door. Receiving no answer, she +knocked again. + +"She must be asleep," thought Grace. Then she turned the knob and +entered the room. Surely enough the tired stranger lay on her couch bed, +tranquil and slumber-wrapped. Sleep had smoothed away the lines of care +and, in repose, her face looked soft and childish. + +"Miss Reynolds." + +The girl sat up with a little, startled cry. "Oh," she breathed, in +relief. "I was so frightened. I forgot where I was." + +"Miss Dean, a friend of ours and I are going to the station to meet +another friend. We wish you to go with us," invited Grace. "That is, +unless you prefer to stay here. You will be all alone in the house." + +An expression of alarm showed itself in the girl's eyes. "I'd rather go +with you, if you are sure I won't be in the way." + +"Not in the least. We shall start in a few moments." With a cheerful +smile that elicited a faint, answering one from the other girl, Grace +left the room. She was back in an instant with something blue thrown +over her arm. "Here is a little coat I took out of my trunk especially +for you. It is cool enough for a coat to-night. This won't be too long +for you. It's only three-quarter length on me." + +"I--I--" stammered Mary, but Grace was gone. + +Mary could not help thrilling a little with pure pleasure at sight of +herself in the pretty blue serge coat. "I look just like them," she +murmured. "I'm so glad I came. I won't go back either, and no one shall +make me." She smoothed and patted her curly hair, then putting on her +shabby hat went slowly down stairs. + +Her momentary awe of Patience vanished when she discovered that, in +spite of her dignified bearing, this tall, fair young woman was as full +of fun as the droll Emma Dean. + +The quartette started for the station with Patience and Emma in the +lead. Grace walked with Mary, talking brightly of Overton to her +absorbed listener. She had just begun to tell Mary of Kathleen West, her +clever work as a newspaper woman and of how her play had won the honor +pin, when they arrived at the station. + +"Wait here while I see if the train is on time," directed Grace. + +The three young women strolled slowly along the platform, pausing at one +end of it. + +"The train's on time," called Grace as she came out of the station and +approached them. "It's due in four minutes. Listen! Didn't you hear it +whistle?" + +A minute later it was visible around the bend and bearing down on the +station with a great puffing and whistling. + +"I see her," announced Emma. "She's getting off at the upper end of the +train." + +An alert little figure in a gray coat suit came swinging down the +platform, a suit case in each hand, her keen, dark eyes scanning every +face. Suddenly she caught sight of her friends. Dropping her luggage she +ran forward, both hands extended. Grace caught them in hers. The two +embraced, then Grace passed Kathleen on to Patience. + +"And to think that Emma Dean is to be one of us!" exclaimed Kathleen. +"Emma, the one sure and certain cure for the blues. I didn't half +appreciate you last year." A swift flush rose to her cheeks. "I didn't +appreciate any one. I missed knowing Overton's best, but I'm so thankful +that part of that best has come back again, so that I can really show +how much I care," she finished, her eyes very bright. + +The little company lingered on the platform, for there was so much to be +said that they were loath to move on. So absorbed were they in their own +affairs they did not observe that a tall, raw-boned, roughly dressed +man, with a gaunt, disagreeable face had been stealthily edging nearer +the group until within a few feet of them. All at once a long bony hand +was thrust into their midst. The hand landed on the shoulder of Mary +Reynolds, swinging her almost off her feet. She did not scream, but her +face grew white and her eyes horror-stricken. Then she wrenched +desperately to free herself from the cruel clutch, gasping, +"Let--me--alone. I--won't--go back--with--you." + +"Oh, ye won't, won't ye," growled the hateful intruder. "We'll see if ye +won't. Get a move on." He half dragged, half shoved the now sobbing Mary +along the platform. + +For an instant no one of the astonished girls moved or protested. Then a +small, lithe figure flung itself in front of the brutal fellow, barring +his progress. "Take your hands off that girl," commanded a tense, +authoritative voice. + +As if in recognition of its authority the man's cruel hold on Mary's +slender shoulder relaxed. Kathleen West's black eyes were blazing. With +a swift forward movement she threw her arm protectingly across Mary's +shoulder and drew her close. "Now," she said, her whole body tense with +suppressed anger, "touch her if you dare." + +"Ye better git out and mind yer own business or ye'll wish ye had," +threatened the man, his first feeling of fear vanishing. "Yer nothin' +but a lot o' silly girls. You git along," he ordered, fixing his +scowling eyes on Mary. + +"This little girl is going to stay with us. It is you that had better +move on. If you aren't out of sight within the next three minutes I'll +have you arrested for annoying us, and it won't be wise for you to come +back again either." + +Kathleen's face, as she stood calmly eyeing her disagreeable adversary, +was like a study in stone. She looked as inexorable and relentless as +Fate itself, and the bully understood dimly that here was a force with +which he could not reckon. + +"I'm a goin'," he mumbled sullenly, "but I'm a goin' to git the law on +_her_," he pointed to Mary, "and make her git back where she belongs." + +By this time several persons had hurried to the scene of the encounter. +Kathleen's sole reply to the threat was a contemptuous shrug of her +shoulders. "Come on, girls," she said so nonchalantly that the curious +ones dropped disappointedly away. Not more than four minutes had elapsed +from the time the uncouth stranger had appeared until he slunk off. +Emma, Grace and Patience found their voices almost simultaneously. + +"Well, of all things!" exclaimed Emma. + +"I was literally amazed to dumbness," declared Patience. + +"So was I for a minute, but Kathleen was so completely sure of herself +that I knew it was better to be silent. She disposed of that +obstreperous individual most summarily. Who is he, Miss Reynolds?" Grace +turned grave eyes upon Mary. "We shall have to know all about him if we +are to help you." + +They were now walking slowly up the street. + +"He's--my--uncle," faltered the girl. "Mother died last summer just +after I finished high school, and I had no place to go. He wanted me to +go out in the country and live on his farm. He said I could go to +college, but after I went to the farm he and his wife made me do all the +work, and laughed when I spoke of going to college. A nice girl I knew +had told me about Overton and Harlowe House. She was in the town of +Overton last commencement and heard about it. I told them I would go in +spite of them, so they locked me in my room, but I climbed out the +window and into a big tree, one of its branches was quite near the +window, and then slid to the ground." + +"How old are you, Miss Reynolds?" asked Kathleen West with apparent +irrelevance. + +"I was eighteen last week." + +"Then you needn't worry about your uncle. You are of age and can do as +you please." + +"Do you mean that he can't make me leave here?" Mary Reynolds' eyes were +wide with surprise and sudden hope. + +"Of course he can't," reassured Kathleen. "Girls, I'm going to adopt +Mary Reynolds as my especial charge and help her fight her battles in +the Land of College. Mary, will you let me adopt you?" + +Mary regarded Kathleen with shy admiration. She thought her the most +wonderful person she had ever known. She was deeply grateful to Grace +and her two friends for their kindness, but Kathleen's swift, efficient +action on her behalf had completely won her heart. "I'd be the happiest +girl in the world," she said solemnly. + +The next morning Grace went frankly to Miss Wilder with the tragic story +of Mary's struggle to obtain an education and the attempt her miserly +uncle had made to force her to return to the farm. + +"We shall be obliged to look into the matter," declared the dean. "Send +Miss Reynolds to me as soon as possible. I must be very sure that she is +all she represents herself to be. I should not care to have a repetition +of the station scene later, on the campus, for instance. It would hardly +add to the dignity of Overton." + +"I'll bring her to your office to-morrow morning," said Grace, "then you +can form your own opinion of her." + +Mary Reynolds' wistful face was the last touch needed to completely +enlist Miss Wilder's sympathy in her behalf. On the strength of the +straightforward story which she repeated to the dean, she was allowed to +proceed with her examinations. Meantime Miss Wilder wrote to the +authorities of the little town near which Mary's uncle's farm was +situated. They conducted a prompt investigation and by the time the +hitherto friendless girl had passed triumphantly through the ordeal of +examinations the faintest trace of objection to her becoming a student +at Overton had been removed. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE THIRTY-THIRD GIRL + + +"I am sorry," said Grace gently, "but I am afraid it will be impossible +for me to do anything for your sister this year. Harlowe House will +hold, comfortably, thirty-two girls and no more. It isn't so much a +matter of meals. They could, perhaps, be arranged, but I haven't a room +for your sister. Could she afford to rent a room in town and come here +for her meals?" This was an afterthought on Grace's part, born of the +desire to clear away the cruel shadow of disappointment that clouded the +pale face of the woman who sat opposite her in her little office. + +"I--am--afraid not," faltered the pale, thin woman, her tired eyes +filling with an expression of resignation. "I thought I might be able to +manage her college fees, if her living expenses could be arranged. We +were so sorry that she did not win a scholarship. You are quite sure +that there is no chance for her here?" she asked pleadingly, for the +fourth time. "She has set her heart on coming to Overton. College means +so much to a girl, and Evelyn is so clever. It seems a pity that she +must stop with only a high school education." + +Grace knitted her brows in earnest thought, while the pleading voice +talked on. She felt an overpowering sympathy, not for the sister who +wished to come to Overton, but for the sister who was now advocating her +cause. And even as she thought the way in which one more girl might +partake of the benefits of Harlowe House came to her. It was a way of +sacrifice; she was not even sure that it could be done. Something in the +expression of her face, however, seemed to inspire the woman opposite +her with new hope. She leaned forward, with the eager question: "Am I +wrong or does your face tell me that there is a chance for Evelyn?" For +the first time she mentioned her sister's name. + +"'Evelyn,'" repeated Grace half musingly. "What a pretty name. How old +is your sister, Miss Ward?" + +"She was eighteen last August." + +"I can make you no definite promise yet," returned Grace slowly. "Could +you come to see me this afternoon at four o'clock? I shall know then +whether the plan I have in mind can be carried out." + +"I will come," promised the woman eagerly, her eyes kindling with happy +light. "I thank you for your kindness." Her voice trembled with +gratitude. She rose to go, looking as though she would like to say more +but could not find words in which to express herself. + +"You are quite welcome. I will try very hard to place her," was Grace's +parting assurance. + +After the woman, who had introduced herself as Ida Ward, had gone, Grace +went slowly upstairs and into her pretty sitting-room. She looked long +and fixedly at each attractive appointment, then she walked on into the +bedroom, which she and Emma shared, and surveyed it with the same +searching gaze. "I can't do it unless Emma is willing," she murmured. "I +dislike asking her after inviting her to share my suite. Still, we've +always been frank with each other. I'll tell her the exact circumstances +as soon as she comes home to luncheon, and let her decide what we had +better do." Having determined upon her course of action Grace went +downstairs again and was soon deep in the laying-out of next week's menu +for Harlowe House, a task in which she had been engaged when Miss Ida +Ward was announced. + +It was now two weeks since Overton College had opened. The thirty-two +applicants for places in Harlowe House had, without exception, passed +through the trying ordeal of their entrance examinations with varying +degrees of success, but not one had actually failed. They had come into +the house, which was their Open Sesame to college, in twos and threes. +Few of them were pretty, but even the plainest of their faces bore the +unmistakable stamp of intelligence that marks the scholar. The +half-brooding, anxious look in young eyes and the womanly dignity, +prematurely gained through hand to hand conflict with poverty, were +certain indications that the girls of Harlowe House were there for +earnest work and not for play. + +And now a thirty-third girl was knocking at the gate for admittance to +the Land of College. Grace wondered vaguely why Evelyn Ward had not come +to plead her own cause. The words of Ida Ward, "I thought I might be +able to manage her college fees," returned to her with disquieting +force. Then she made a little impatient gesture. "Grace Harlowe, what is +the matter with you? You are judging poor Evelyn Ward without giving her +an opportunity to defend herself. You know nothing whatever of the +Wards' affairs. There may be a dozen good reasons for Miss Ward's coming +here in her sister's behalf. Don't be so suspicious. Wait until you see +Evelyn Ward before you judge her." + +Although Grace did not realize it she was already thinking of Evelyn +Ward as a member of Harlowe House. There was no fear of refusal on +Emma's part. Long acquaintance with her good-natured, easy-going +classmate had taught her that Emma was equal to, if not more than a +match for, almost any emergency. + +"Emma would take her belongings and camp out in the hall if I asked her +to," smiled Grace to herself as she went slowly downstairs to her office +and, seating herself at her desk, took up the writing on which she had +been engaged when her caller was announced. + +She was still hard at work when the girls began to come in for luncheon, +one after another, and at last she heard Emma's delightful drawl as she +exchanged pleasantries with one of the freshmen who had opened the door +for her. + +"Oh, Emma," she called, stepping to the door of her office, "will you +come in here, please? I need you." + +By the time Grace had finished speaking Emma was standing in the +doorway, peering owlishly at her. "Most Gracious Grace," she salaamed, +"what is your majesty's magnificent pleasure with your worthless and +most despicable dog of a servant?" + +"I don't know any such person," laughed Grace. Then, her face sobering, +she plunged into the middle of things with, "What would you say, Emma, +if I were to give half of our quarters to some one else?" + +"I'd say that I was lucky to have half of the half that's left," was +Emma's prompt retort. + +"You're a dear!" cried Grace impulsively. "I knew you were true blue. +Still, I must tell you all about certain things before you decide. It's +just this way, Emma." Grace began with Miss Ward's call and recounted to +Emma all that had passed between herself and the stranger. Emma listened +without comment until Grace had finished with, "Now tell me what you +think, Emma." + +"I think it is positively noble in you to be willing to give up one of +your rooms," emphasized Emma. "As far as I am concerned I'm not a +'chooser.' I'm here because of that same saving grace--it's as much a +part of you as your name--which is reaching out now to put one more girl +in Overton. What can any strictly honorable, four-cornered person say +except, 'I'm with you,' and here's my hand in seal and token of it." + +"Thank you, Emma," Grace's quiet words and warm handclasp were eloquent +with appreciation of her friend's unselfish viewpoint, "Suppose we run +upstairs for a moment before luncheon to look around and decide which of +the two rooms we can best do without. And, O, Emma, we'll have room for +a thirty-fourth girl, if she happens along. I never thought of that. In +the face of all that a college education will mean to this girl our +personal comfort rather pales into insignificance." + +"Who are we that we should revel in the fleshpots of Overton while the +stranger knocks at our gates?" supplemented Emma. "Now which is it to +be? Shall we say, 'good-bye beloved sitting-room, ne'er shall we behold +thy like again,' or shall we bid fond adieu to the bedroom? I ask but +one concession, let us reserve our nice private bathroom. It has a value +above rubies." + +"Of course we'll keep our bathroom. There are three others in the house +of which these new girls can have the use. As long as the bathroom opens +into both rooms, I shall bolt the door leading into the room we give +Miss Ward. That may appear a trifle inhospitable on the surface, but I +wish to keep what is left of our apartment as secluded as possible," +ended Grace, opening the door into the sitting-room. "Now, which shall +it be, Emma?" + +Emma prowled contemplatively about the suite, her hands in her coat +pockets, her glasses pushed far over her nose. Finally she paused before +Grace. Settling her glasses at their proper angle she said earnestly, "I +don't wish to seem selfish, Grace, but really I think you are entitled +to the sitting-room. It's larger and lighter. It's more attractive in +every way. I am not thinking of myself in this matter, I am thinking of +you. You are the brains and brawn of Harlowe House, therefore you must +be made comfortable if you are to do good work here. The other room is +easily large enough to accommodate two girls. It is larger than the +rooms we occupied at Wayne Hall." + +"I know it." Grace strolled reflectively through the open bathroom door +and on into the bedroom. When she returned, she had decided. "You are +right, Emma. I don't believe it would be selfish to keep this room. Now +how shall we furnish it?" + +"Don't ask me to decide that," protested Emma. "I feel as though I ought +to pack my belongings and go to one of the faculty houses, Grace. It +isn't fair to you for me to stay here and be a cumberer of your room." + +"Emma Dean, if you do!" Grace caught Emma by the shoulders and proceeded +to shake her. + +"Wait! Stop!" implored Emma. "My glasses! And lenses cost money!" + +"Will you stay?" demanded a relentless voice. The shaking continued, but +gently. + +"I will. That is, I'll have to, or pay the oculist." + +Grace's hands fell from Emma's shoulders. + +"I didn't want to pack and go," confessed Emma, "but I was trying to be +as fair to you as you are to every one else." + +"It wouldn't be one bit fair in you to leave me. You promised to see me +through, you know," reproached Grace. + +"So I did, and so I will," declared Emma, "I take back all I said. From +now on I am as much of a fixture here as the kitchen range or the window +seat." + +Grace laughed at Emma's absurd declaration. "I couldn't let you go, +Emma. You are too good a comrade. Now let me think. I'll have my +dressing table brought in here, but, in order to make a combination +sitting and sleeping room of this, we will have to buy a couch bed. The +davenport there is a bed too. We'll put it across that corner, and have +the couch against that wall. We'll have to keep the dressing table. We +can't avoid that. I don't know what to do with my bed. It is +three-quarter size. I selected it purposely, so that I'd have room for +two of the girls at a time if they dropped in unexpectedly. I don't like +to sell it. It matches the set." + +"Why not leave it in the other room," suggested Emma. "If girl number +thirty-four never materializes then Miss Evelyn Ward can occupy the +whole bed, if she chooses." + +"But suppose we do admit another girl?" + +"Sufficient unto the day, etc.," shrugged Emma. "When she appears, then +let the committee take action." + +"I'll buy a smaller dressing table to match the bed, if I can, and a +chiffonier. I can't quite give mine up to this newcomer. There goes the +luncheon bell. I must hurry downstairs to the kitchen to see if +everything is all right." + +Grace hastened down the stairs, with her friend at her heels. Emma went +directly to the dining-room and took her place at the table laid for two +at the lower end of the room. This table belonged exclusively to her and +Grace. The dining-room at Harlowe House had been furnished after the +fashion of a pretty little tea shop at which Grace had often lunched in +New York. The walls were done in white with a faint blue and silver +stripe. The ceiling was white with a decoration of deep blue corn +flowers. The floor was covered with a thread and thrum rug in blue and +white, and instead of two long tables there were several small ones +which seated from four to six persons. In the middle of each table was a +vase of flowers, and the effect of the whole room was dainty and +homelike. Grace had spent much thought on the dining-room. The buffet, +serving tables, tables and chairs were white, and the silver, linen and +various other appointments had been carefully chosen. + +"I wish the girls to feel that this room is a place where they can eat +and be merry. It is in the dining-room that they will first become +acquainted with one another," Grace had said to Mrs. Gray while they +were choosing the dining-room furniture. "I like the idea of having the +small tables. The girls can talk quietly and confidentially, if they +choose. Besides it looks so cosy and informal." + +As Grace ate her luncheon that day her eyes wandered to the various +tables. She was speculating as to where she would seat Evelyn Ward. +Already she thought of her as one of her girls. + +At precisely four o'clock the door bell rang and the maid ushered Ida +Ward into the living-room. Her large eyes were wide with anxiety and +suspense as she sat nervously on the edge of her chair, trying to appear +composed. She tried to answer Grace's reassuring smile, but her anxious +eyes belied her wanly-smiling lips. + +"I have good news for you, Miss Ward," said Grace brightly. "I have made +room for your sister. When may I expect her?" + +Ida Ward's lips moved, but she made no sound. Then, to Grace's +consternation, she covered her face with her black-gloved hands and +began to cry quietly. For an instant Grace sat in embarrassed silence. +She hardly knew what consolation to offer this poor, pale woman who +looked as though she carried the burdens of the world upon her slender +shoulders. Before she could think of anything to say, Miss Ward suddenly +raised her head, wiped her eyes and said quietly, "Forgive me for +crying. I--am a little tired. I was rather overcome by the good news." + +"Suppose we have tea in the living room," was Grace's kindly suggestion. +"What time does your train leave? By the way, I don't think I know where +you live." + +"We live in Burton, a little town about two hundred miles from here, +with a population of six thousand people. I am a dressmaker. There are +only Evelyn and I, and I am fifteen years older than she. Mother died +when she was born. Father died only a year later and I have taken care +of her all her life. She is very beautiful. One of the prettiest girls I +have ever seen, and so clever." The plain face lighted as she described +Evelyn. + +"How she loves her pretty sister," thought Grace. + +Over the tea, dainty sandwiches and cakes, Ida Ward became quite +cheerful. When half an hour later she rose to take her leave, she looked +really happy. "How can I thank you for what you have done for Evelyn?" +she asked tremulously, her lips quivering. "My little sister will be so +glad. I am sure she can't help being happy in this beautiful house." + +"Send her to us as soon as you can," advised Grace. "College has been +open for over three weeks and she will have quite an amount of work to +make up. This is Monday. May I expect her on Thursday?" + +"Yes, she can leave Burton early Thursday morning. There is a train +which reaches here at two o'clock in the afternoon." + +"Very well. I will send some one to meet her," promised Grace. + +During the next two days Grace and Emma accomplished their moving so +quietly that no one in the house knew of the new member the morrow was +to bring. When everything had been put in place Emma declared cheerily +that they would never miss the other room. + +At the last moment Grace decided to go in person to the train to meet +Evelyn. The memory of Ida Ward's white patient face haunted her. For her +sake her beloved sister should be cordially welcomed. Grace felt the +deepest respect and sympathy for the older sister. + +"Miss Ward said her sister was very pretty," reflected Grace, then she +looked a trifle dismayed. She had received absolutely no other +description of the girl she was to meet. She did not know whether Evelyn +Ward was short or tall, stout or thin, dark or fair. "I'll simply have +to use my eyes and guess," was her mental comment, as she walked briskly +along the station platform just as the train whizzed down the track. Her +alert eyes scanned the nearest car steps where the porter was helping a +crotchety old man to the platform. Behind him, came a stout middle-aged +woman and two children. Grace scanned the next set of steps. Then, far +up the platform she saw a tall, slender, blue-clad figure walking toward +her at a leisurely pace. The girl carried a small handbag and a suit +case. When she came directly opposite Grace she paused, then, after a +deliberate survey, walked forward with outstretched hand. "Aren't you +Miss Harlowe?" she asked sweetly. "If you are, I am Evelyn Ward." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +EVELYN WARD, FRESHMAN + + +Grace found herself looking into one of the most perfect faces she had +ever seen. Evelyn Ward was a blonde of the purest type. Her thick golden +hair lay in shining waves under her small, smart blue hat. Her eyes were +deeply, darkly blue with purple depths, while her skin had the sheen and +texture of pale pink rose leaves. Her small, straight nose, +softly-curved red mouth and delicately-arched dark eyebrows added to the +tender beauty of her face. To Grace she came as a revelation, and, so +far as she could remember, she had never seen any other blonde girl who +approached this one in loveliness. + +"How do you do, Miss Ward? I am glad to know you," she said, offering +her hand. She noticed that the slender hand that Evelyn put forth to +meet hers was very soft and white. It had evidently done no hard work +and was in sharp contrast to the rough, work-worn hands of her sister. + +"I'm sure I am pleased to know you, Miss Harlowe, and very thankful to +you for arranging for my coming to Overton. I would have cried my eyes +out with disappointment if Ida had come home with bad news," returned +the pretty girl in a plaintive tone which impressed Grace with a +curiously uncomfortable feeling that this attractive young woman would +have done nothing of the sort. There was that indefinable something +about her that contradicted, flatly, the idea of tears. + +"Your sister was an eloquent pleader, Miss Ward. I would have made an +even greater effort than was necessary to place you, if only to please +her. I was greatly impressed with her unselfishness and nobility of +character," Grace made reply. + +An expression of amusement showed itself on Evelyn Ward's face. "Ida is +a perfect old dear," she agreed lightly. "She takes life too seriously, +though. She worries over every little thing. Still her very seriousness +makes a good impression. She has ever so many friends; a great many more +than I." She shrugged her shoulders, as though to convey the fact that +the latter state of affairs did not trouble her. + +"As your luggage is not heavy, we might walk to Harlowe House," +suggested Grace. "This glorious fall weather is ideal for walking. Let +me take your suit case." + +"With pleasure. It's altogether too heavy for comfort. Are there no +street cars or busses we can take? I like to walk, but not when I have +luggage to carry." + +"We can take a car or an automobile bus if you like," said Grace +courteously, although she experienced a vague sense of annoyance at this +newcomer's calmly expressed preference. + +"Oh, let's take the automobile, if it isn't too expensive!" exclaimed +Evelyn eagerly. "I love to ride in an automobile. Are there any girls at +Overton who own cars? If there are I shall certainly cultivate them. I +suppose they won't notice me, though, because I am a freshman and a poor +one at that," she ended with a pout, her fair face taking on almost +sullen lines. + +Grace shook her head. + +"Being poor doesn't count at Overton," she said, "I know a girl who +lived in a bare, cheerless room in an old house in the suburbs of +Overton and earned her way by doing mending for the students. She worked +in a dressmaker's shop during her summer vacations too, and yet she was +the chum of the richest girl in college." + +"Why didn't the rich girl help her if she thought so much of her?" +inquired Evelyn rather sarcastically. + +"Because the girl wouldn't allow her to do so. She was too independent +to accept help. She did not wish to become obligated to any one, not +even her dearest friend." + +"Foolish girl," was Evelyn's contemptuous comment. "If one can't ask +occasional favors of one's friends one might as well have none. I am +very sure that I would take the goods the gods provide without +murmuring. These extreme standards of ethics and honor are all very +pretty in books, but not at all practical in every-day life." + +Grace made no reply. She was lost, for the instant, in a maze of +disagreeable reflection. She was afraid she now understood only too well +why Ida instead of Evelyn Ward had come to see her. In the Ward family +the hard tasks had apparently been thrust upon the patient elder sister, +while the younger reaped where she had not sown, without a conscientious +qualm. And it was for this beautiful, selfish girl that she and Emma had +curtailed their comfort. She almost wished she had been firm in her +first refusal to consider taking another girl into Harlowe House. Then a +vision of Ida Ward's thin face, lighted by two pleading eyes, rose +before her. With an inward rebuke for her own grudging attitude, Grace +squared her shoulders and resolved to look for only the best in this +latest arrival. + +It took but a moment to hail an automobile bus which had just run into +the station yard, and they were soon on their way to Harlowe House. +Grace pointed out to Evelyn the various interesting features of Overton. +They impressed the latter but little. + +"It must be a sleepy old town," she commented, as they passed through +the quiet streets. She did, however, evince some slight interest in +Vinton's, remarking lightly that she supposed she would never have money +enough to buy a dinner there for herself, let alone ever inviting a +guest. + +"Do not look at your college life through such pessimistic spectacles," +advised Grace. "You will be sure to be unhappy." + +Evelyn made a pettish gesture. "You remind me of my sister, Miss +Harlowe. She is forever preaching patience and optimism and all the +other virtues in which I seem to be lacking." + +A bright flush rose to Grace's cheeks at this unparalleled rudeness. She +cast a quick, curious glance at Evelyn, whose eyes were for the second +fixed upon the campus which they were now nearing, and who appeared to +be utterly oblivious of her impertinence. + +"This is the campus." Grace decided to overlook the pointed remark. "We +are justly proud of Overton College and the campus." + +"It is really beautiful," nodded Evelyn, "but I'm going to tell you a +secret. I'm not the least little bit enthusiastic over college. I'd +rather go to a dramatic school and study for the stage. It is Ida who +insists upon my going to college. Thank goodness, I'm not a dunce. It +would be dreadful to be forced into college and then be too stupid to +learn anything, wouldn't it?" + +"It would indeed," agreed Grace. + +"I suppose my stage aspirations shock you, Miss Harlowe," went on +Evelyn, "but I can't help saying what I think." + +"My dearest woman friend is an actress," returned Grace quietly. + +"Oh, is she really?" Evelyn's voice rose high with excitement. "What is +her name? Perhaps I've heard of her." + +"Anne Pierson." + +"I should say I had heard of _her_. She is one of the great stars. She +is with Everett Southard, isn't she? I've seen their pictures in the +magazines." + +"She graduated from Overton last year. We were roommates throughout our +four years here. She is from my home town." + +"Really and truly?" demanded Evelyn impulsively. "That's the most +interesting piece of news I've heard for a long time. Will you tell me +all about her some time, Miss Harlowe?" + +"With pleasure," returned Grace. "It can hardly be to-day, however, for +here we are at Harlowe House." + +"What a darling house!" praised Evelyn as they alighted from the +automobile. "I am sure I shall like to live in it." + +"I hope that you will be happy here," returned Grace kindly. After all +it might be better not to take this self-willed young woman too +seriously. She had, at least, the virtue of truthfulness. She was +entirely frank in the expression of her opinions. She might have many +other redeeming qualities which would quite overbalance the disagreeably +self-centered side of her character. + +Evelyn gazed about in open approval as they ascended the steps of +Harlowe House. As they passed through the hall she peeped into the +living room and exclaimed in admiration of its attractive appointments. +Her voluble appreciation of her own room pleased Grace, who realized +that Evelyn's personality was singularly fascinating and that she could +be exceedingly gracious when she chose. + +"I will leave you now," said Grace, after a little further conversation. +"The dinner bell rings at six o'clock. If you need anything, or wish to +ask any questions, you will find me in my office downstairs. It is +rather too late in the day for you to see the registrar. To-morrow +morning will be time enough. You are lucky to be exempt from +examinations." + +Grace had hardly established herself in her office when Emma Dean came +breezily in from her work. "Well, Gracie," was her cheery greeting, "has +she materialized, and is she as pathetic and persistent as Sister Ida?" + +Grace made a little gesture of resignation. "Prepare for the surprise of +your college career, Emma." + +"Didn't she come?" demanded Emma, "That wouldn't surprise me. People are +forever promising to arrive on a certain train and then strolling in +several days later with the barefaced announcement that the time table +had been mysteriously changed." + +"She arrived," stated Grace. + +"Then wherein lies the surprise?" + +"Emma," said Grace solemnly, "Evelyn Ward is the most beautiful girl I +have ever seen, and, if I am not mistaken, one of the most selfish. She +is no more like her sister than I am like Dr. Morton, and she is going +to require more looking after than any other girl in Harlowe House." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE HARLOWE HOUSE CLUB + + +"There!" Grace Harlowe laid down her pen and scanned the notice she had +just finished writing. "I'll post this now. The girls will see it this +morning and again when they come in to luncheon. Then they will be sure +to meet me in the living-room before dinner. I hope they will like our +plan." + +"They ought to like it," replied Emma Dean. "It makes them a +self-respecting, self-governing body." + +"That is precisely what I wish them to be," responded Grace, in all +earnestness. "I believe that being members of Semper Fidelis was of +great benefit to us. Oh, Emma, did I tell you that Mr. Bedfield's gift +to Semper Fidelis is now an endowment? He called to see me on Friday for +the express purpose of telling me that he has arranged the matter with +Professor Morton. The money is to be known hereafter as the Semper +Fidelis endowment. He said he felt certain that we had not handed the +society down to this year's classes. He couldn't imagine any other young +women in our places. Wasn't that nice in him?" + +"Very nice and very true," agreed Emma. "I am of the same mind. The +Sempers can never be imitated, passed on to the next class, nor +replaced. They are in a class all by themselves." + +"The purpose of this new club which I propose to organize will be one of +welfare. The girls will do more for themselves as a self-governing body +than I can possibly do for them. By the way, I wonder if Miss Ward is up +yet. She overslept and missed her first recitation yesterday morning. +She came down to the dining-room long after breakfast was over. Susan +was rather upset over having to serve an extra breakfast. I was obliged +to tell Miss Ward that if it occurred again she would have to abide by +the consequences of her own tardiness. I can't impose upon the servants +to please a girl who has no thought for any one except herself." + +Grace spoke rather bitterly. Her early disappointment in Evelyn Ward had +deepened as the time passed. + +"I don't hear a sound from her room," commented Emma, who sat before the +dressing-table brushing her long hair. With hair brush poised in the air +she listened intently. "She is dead to the world." + +"Then I'll have to waken her," sighed Grace. + +Stepping out into the hall she knocked lightly on Evelyn's door. +Receiving no response she knocked again, this time with more force. + +"Come in," called a sleepy voice. + +Grace turned the knob. Sure enough, Evelyn lay comfortably back on her +pillow, her wonderful golden hair falling in long, loose waves about +her. Her beauty now made little impression upon Grace, who knew only too +well the tantalizing, troublesome spirit that lay behind it. "It is +almost eight o'clock, Miss Ward. Remember, breakfast is over at nine." + +"I know it," responded Evelyn with maddening sweetness. She eyed Grace +speculatively, but made no effort to rise. + +Without further words Grace closed the door. She did not wish to betray +her annoyance. She had experienced a wild desire to march over to the +bed and drag the complacent freshman forth from it by the shoulders. + +When Evelyn descended to the dining-room she found that most of the +girls had eaten breakfast and gone off to chapel. Happening to recall +that she had not attended the morning services for a week, and with +visions of her unsigned chapel card staring her in the face, she ate a +hurried breakfast and was about to depart when her eyes happened to rest +upon the bulletin board in the hall around which were gathered several +girls. Pausing, Evelyn read Grace's notice. It asked the members of +Harlowe House to be in the living room at five o'clock that afternoon +for the discussion of a most important subject. + +"I wonder what it is," said Nettie Weyburn, lively curiosity +overspreading her usually placid face. + +"I think I know," volunteered Mary Reynolds. "Miss Harlowe was telling +me only last night that she wishes to organize a club of just Harlowe +House girls, with a president and other officers. The club will have a +constitution and by-laws and every member will have to live up to them." + +"Wouldn't that be splendid?" asked Cecil Ferris, a gray-eyed, +black-haired freshman who made up in energy what she lacked in height. + +"Who would be president I wonder," murmured Evelyn, shooting a glance of +apparent innocence about the circle. + +"You'd make a good president, Miss Ward," declared Mary Reynolds, in +open admiration. To her beauty-loving little soul Evelyn was the most +exquisite person in the world. + +"_I_," cried Evelyn in well-simulated amazement. "I wouldn't attempt to +be, I am not clever or popular enough." + +"I believe you would be the very one. You are so independent and know +just how to do things." Now that Mary had suggested it, it met with +Nettie Weyburn's placid approval. Cecil Ferris echoed it. She, too, had +fallen under the spell of Evelyn's beauty. + +"I must run along or be late to chapel," murmured Evelyn modestly, and +hurried off at precisely the wisest moment to further her own cause. The +ambition to become the president of the proposed club had sprung into +life in her self-centered young soul as she stood reading the bulletin, +and she determined that she would leave nothing undone to obtain the +honor. + +At luncheon that day she took particular pains to be unusually friendly +to every one with whom she came in contact, exhibiting a gay +graciousness of manner toward a number of girls she had secretly +labeled, "digs, prigs and plodders." This quite won their trusting +hearts and made them innocently wonder how they had, so far, happened to +miss becoming really well acquainted with Miss Ward. + +When at five o'clock the big living room began to fill, Evelyn was among +the first there, with a dazzling smile for all comers. At ten minutes +past five the thirty-three girls who claimed Harlowe House as their home +were sitting or standing expectantly about the room, waiting for Grace, +who stood at one end of the room with Emma, to call the meeting to order +and enter upon the discussion of that "most important subject." + +"I have asked you to come here this afternoon because I believe the time +has arrived to try out a plan which I have had in my mind ever since +college began," stated Grace, by way of beginning. Then in clear, +concise sentences she told of her desire that her girls should be +self-governing and of how much good fellowship their banding themselves +together would create. "I thought, if you approved of the plan, we might +elect our officers at once, and appoint a committee to draw up the +constitution and by-laws. I am going to ask you to talk it over among +yourselves for ten minutes, while Miss Dean and I prepare some balloting +slips," she concluded, and at once a loud buzz of eager conversation +began. + +It was fifteen minutes before Grace again called the meeting to order, +and appointed four tellers, who distributed ballots. Then nominations +were in order. + +"I nominate Miss Ward for president," proposed Cecil Ferris. + +"I second the motion," came from Mary Reynolds. + +Grace could hardly control the surprise in her voice, when, after +waiting a little, she asked: "Are there any further nominations?" "I +nominate Miss Sampson," called a small pale girl from her perch in the +window seat, with a fond smile in the direction of her roommate. Another +girl seconded the nomination, and it was then moved and seconded that +the nominations for president be closed. The nomination for +vice-president, secretary and treasurer were then in order and after +they were closed the voting began. + +"Well, of all things," whispered Emma to Grace, who sank into the chair +beside her friend, a peculiar expression on her fine face. "I never +dreamed of matters taking that turn, did you?" + +Grace shook her head. It had indeed come as a shock. She had thought of +the club as a novel and possible means of bringing the Harlowe House +girls into a closer relationship with one another. She had never +considered the possibility of Evelyn being president of the club. It was +evident that her nomination had come about through admiration of her +undeniable beauty. She was absolutely unfit for any such office. Grace +hoped, devoutly, that Miss Sampson, a tall, capable young woman, with a +likable personality and a cheery, hearty manner of speaking, would be +elected. + +Emma made no further remark, but watched the tellers with calculating +eyes. At last one of them, who had been industriously making notations +on a sheet of paper, rose to announce the results of the election. + +"The total number of votes cast for president was thirty-three. Of these +Miss Ward received twenty-nine"--an enthusiastic clapping of hands +sounded--"Miss Sampson four." She then went on to read the result of the +balloting for the other three officers. Nettie Weyburn had won the +vice-presidency, Cecil Ferris had been chosen secretary, while quiet +little Mary Reynolds had been made treasurer. The reading of each name +elicited its quota of applause, but it was plain that, of the four +officers, Evelyn was, by far, the greatest favorite. After appointing a +committee of four girls to assist her in drawing up the constitution and +by-laws, Grace said pleasantly: "Will the new officers please come +forward so that we can all see you. You must be formally introduced, you +know." + +The newly elected officers rose from their various positions which they +occupied in the room and advanced to where Grace stood. About Evelyn +Ward's red lips played a smile of suppressed triumph as she shook the +hand Grace offered her and listened to the former's sincere wish for her +success. For an instant the gray eyes studied the perfect face gravely, +as though trying to penetrate what lay behind its smiling mask. Then +Grace turned to greet the vice-president, just in time to miss the +mocking flash which lighted Evelyn's blue eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PLANNING FOR THE RECEPTION + + +The committee on the constitution and by-laws for the new club met the +very next evening and drew up a terse little document setting forth +their object in banding themselves together. Grace had already made note +of the few rules she wished the girls to observe, but, so far as +possible, she wished the committee to draw up their own regulations, +subject to her approval. To create a spirit of independence and +self-confidence in the girls of Harlowe House had been Grace's basic +motive. She realized that many of them were hampered with an undue sense +of gratitude which made them too humble for their own interest. She +purposed to make them self-reliant and free. Therefore the rules which +she herself made were few and sensible, relating chiefly to the care of +rooms, the entertaining of guests and the problems which, if not +properly handled, were the most likely to cause friction among so many +young women of so many different dispositions. + +"But what are we to do about money, Miss Harlowe?" asked Mary Reynolds +in a plaintive tone, when the question arose of whether the club should +be assessed for dues, and Grace spoke against it. "Of what use is it to +have a treasureless treasurer?" + +The committee set up a unanimous giggle. + +"That is really a serious question," smiled Grace, "and one which the +girls will have to decide for themselves. I should not wish any girl to +feel that she were obliged to contribute money to the club, even for +dues. We are not obliged to conform to any particular set of rules. Our +club can be a purely informal organization with no obligations attached +to it." + +"But it would be splendid to have a little money in the treasury," +interposed Louise Sampson. "I know what we can do," she went on eagerly. +"Let us make the dues a dollar a year, and pledge ourselves to earn that +sum. Any one who feels that she can neither earn nor give a dollar can +be a member of the club just the same. Then we could give entertainments +or concerts or something and start a little fund of our own." + +Grace's gray eyes sparkled. Louise Sampson was a girl after her own +heart. "Then you must ask your president to call a meeting. She can +instruct the secretary to post a notice on the bulletin board," she +advised. + +The committee seized upon Louise's plan with avidity. + +"Why can't we post a notice and have done with it?" asked Cecil Ferris +innocently. + +"Because we have just made a law that the president shall be notified of +proposed meetings and shall post a bulletin to that effect," reminded +Grace. + +The girls remained for another hour, discussing their plans and +reconstructing their by-laws previous to voting on them. It was decided +to have a weekly meeting to take place on each Tuesday between five and +six o'clock in the afternoon, but a special meeting might be called at +any time at the request of a member, but at the president's discretion. + +"The last clause in that by-law is unfortunate," criticized Emma, when, +in the privacy of their room that night, Grace went over with her friend +the club rules as she had set them down. + +"I know what you mean." Grace gave an impatient sigh. "Still, as +president of the club Miss Ward must be consulted about things. You +think she is likely to refuse to call a meeting at the request of a +member, if she happens to be so inclined, don't you?" + +"I do, and she will," prophesied Emma. "I wouldn't lose any sleep over +it, Gracie, but still it's a good plan to be prepared in advance for the +beauteous Evelyn's vagaries. To change the subject, I have heard very +little mention made of the sophomore reception in the house. I wonder if +it is because some of the girls have no evening gowns?" + +Grace sat up in her chair, with a start of surprise. "Really, Emma, I +had forgotten all about the reception. I suppose it slipped my mind +because it is to be held so much later this year on account of repairing +the gymnasium. It will hardly be over until Thanksgiving will be upon +us, and then, oh, joy! we'll see the dear old Sempers. I must see if +there is anything I can do to help the girls get ready for it. I hope +they understand that their summer dresses will do nicely." + +For the next three days Grace made it a point to inquire tactfully into +the reception plans of the Harlowe House girls. She discovered that +Emma's conjecture had been only too correct. The bare mention of evening +gowns had intimidated them, and, worse still, only three or four of them +had been especially invited by sophomores. This was partly accounted for +by the fact that, while the sophomore class was large, it was completely +outnumbered by the entering class. Remembering that the same state of +affairs had prevailed when she had entered Overton as a freshman, Grace +proceeded to make a round of calls which began with the members of the +reception committee, and included Violet Darby, Myra Stone, Laura +Atkins, Mildred Taylor, Patience, Kathleen and others of the upper +classes whom she knew well, though not intimately. The reception +committee had expressed their absolute willingness to allow the upper +class girls to help them out on escort duty and the girls themselves +entered heartily into the plan. + +"I'll walk over to Harlowe House with you now and invite Mary Reynolds," +declared Kathleen West, who was the last girl on Grace's list. "I'm glad +to have the opportunity. What a bright little thing Mary is! She is +quick as a flash when it comes to grasping an idea. I tell her she has +the making of a good newspaper woman in her." + +"She is Emma's star pupil in English. Emma says she writes the most +original themes." + +"She has all sorts of queer fancies about people and things," went on +Kathleen. "I can't begin to tell you, Grace, how glad I am to be of some +help to her. I must do something to make up for lost time." A faint +color tinged Kathleen's pale face. + +"You are doing a great deal for Mary Reynolds, Kathleen. She loves you +dearly!" + +"It certainly is nice to be liked," returned Kathleen softly. "If it +hadn't been for you and Elfreda and Patience I would have gone on in the +same hard, selfish spirit in which I began college." + +"As it is, you are one of the literary lights of Overton, and a joy to +your friends," said Grace gayly. "I wish you were at Harlowe House this +year with Emma and me." + +"I wish I were," sighed Kathleen, "but I didn't feel that it would be +fair to apply for admission there. You see, Grace, my salary on the +newspaper, during the summer, is a generous one, and, by managing +carefully, I can pay my expenses in college for the year with it. I +don't have to do that, however, for every week I write a story for the +Sunday edition of our paper which more than pays my board at Wayne Hall. +Then I send in extra space articles and go out on special stories during +the Christmas and Easter vacations. I am never really very short of +money, so I'm not eligible as a member of your household." + +"You are a clever, capable girl, Kathleen," averred Grace, with honest +admiration, "and I am proud to be your friend." + +A long look of perfect understanding passed between the two. It had come +only after many days of misunderstanding and doubt. + +"Dear Loyalheart, I can never forgive myself for making you so unhappy," +Kathleen's crisp tones trembled. + +"And I shall never forgive you if you mention it again," retorted Grace. +"You mustn't recall such things. I am enough of a believer in destiny to +feel that we had to go through a kind of probation period before we were +ready to be friends." + +"It's dear in you to say so, Grace, but I know myself, and how +contemptibly I behaved. I've been determined to say this to you ever +since I came back to college, but you have never given me the least +chance until now." + +"'Loyalheart' was the highest proof of your regard you could have given +me," reminded Grace gently. "I don't need any other reminders. I must +go, Kathleen. Did I hear you say you were going with me?" + +"Yes." + +Kathleen slipped into her hat and coat, and, as they went down Mrs. +Elwood's familiar stairs and strolled out into the crisp autumn air, arm +in arm, Kathleen felt that she could never be thankful enough to the +girl who had taught her the true meaning of college spirit. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A DISQUIETING THOUGHT + + +When half way across the campus the two young women encountered Evelyn +Ward. The cold crisp November air had deepened the pink in her cheeks to +living rose. Her violet eyes fairly blazed with light and sparkle, and +her wonderful golden hair peeped in fascinating little curls from under +her gray velour hat. She wore a three-quarter length gray coat, cut in +the smartest fashion, and a passing glance at her would have left one +with the impression that she was in affluent circumstances. + +"How can a girl who can't afford to pay her college expenses wear such +smart clothes?" was Kathleen's appraising comment after they had passed +Evelyn, who nodded to them in condescending fashion. + +"Her sister, Ida, makes them. She told me so when she came here to ask +me to take Miss Ward into Harlowe House. She is a very pretty girl, +isn't she?" + +Kathleen nodded. "How are things at Harlowe House?" she inquired +irrelevantly. + +"Going beautifully. I told you about our club didn't I?" + +"Not a word. I haven't seen you for a week." + +The newspaper girl listened interestedly to Grace's account of the club. +"It would make a good story for my paper," she commented. "How about it, +Grace?" + +"You're welcome to it if the girls don't object. Suppose you come as a +guest to our next meeting and ask their permission." + +"I'll do it," promised Kathleen. + +Mary Reynolds received and accepted Kathleen's invitation to the +reception with unmistakable joy. Grace had sent home for a pink silk +evening gown, which she had worn but little, and fairly forced it, with +slippers, stockings and gloves, upon the reluctant Mary, with the plea +that pink was not her color and therefore she never wore the frock. +Aside from shortening it, it had needed little alteration, and when the +night of the sophomore reception arrived, Kathleen appeared, an hour +before the time to start for the dance, to help Mary dress. She brought +a cluster of pinky-white roses and a pink chiffon scarf, which, she +diplomatically insisted, did not go well with any of her gowns and +exactly matched Mary's. + +"I can't believe that I am I," Mary said happily, as she viewed herself +wonderingly in the round dressing-table mirror. She clasped her thin, +childish hands impulsively together. "I wish every girl in the world had +such good friends and pretty clothes as I have!" + +"I hope no one has such elusive hooks and eyes on their clothes as I +have," grumbled Emma Dean, who had appeared in the doorway in time to +hear Mary's heartfelt remark. "I have permanently dislocated one +shoulder and ruined the charming curves of both my elbows forever, in a +vain, but valiant, effort to unite one miserable hook and eye, which I'm +sure the dressmaker purposely sewed out of my reach." + +"Poor Emma," sympathized Kathleen. "Let me help you." + +Emma surrendered herself to Kathleen's deft fingers with a ludicrous +gesture of resignation. + +"Are all the Harlowe House girls going?" asked Kathleen. + +"Yes; thanks to the juniors and seniors, not one has been left out. It +is such a clear, pleasant night the campus house girls won't need +carriages," answered Grace. "It is eight o'clock now. Don't you think +you had better start? You go on with the girls, Emma. I'll run over some +time during the evening for a few minutes." + +After the merrymakers had set out for the gymnasium, Grace retired to +her office to write a letter to her mother. She had hardly settled +herself when the door bell rang and she heard a high, clear voice asking +the maid for Miss Ward. + +"Please tell her to hurry, my car is waiting," instructed the voice, as +the maid ushered the newcomer into the living-room. Grace glanced +through the open door of the office into the next room. In Evelyn's +escort she recognized Althea Parker, one of the most snobbish girls at +Overton College, and a member of the sophomore class. Evelyn's +declaration on her arrival at Overton that she intended to cultivate the +richest girls in college now came back to Grace with disagreeable force. + +"Good evening, Miss Harlowe," hailed Althea, as Grace rose and went +forward to greet her. "We are going to be late. I hope Evelyn won't keep +me waiting." There was a touch of impatience in her voice. + +Even as she spoke there was a patter of light feet on the stairs, and +Evelyn appeared in the doorway, her evening coat and scarf on her arm. + +Grace gave an involuntary gasp of admiration, while Althea cried out +openly, "Evelyn Ward, you are wonderful!" + +Evelyn's violet blue eyes flashed with gratified vanity. She wore an +exquisite gown of white silk and lace made in an apparently simple but +very smart fashion, which revealed the pure beauty of her white throat +and rounded arms, increasing her loveliness tenfold. She wore white silk +stockings and white satin slippers with little rhinestone buckles. Her +thick golden hair was drawn high on her head in a graceful knot and +clustered in little curls about her temples and over her forehead, while +her whole face was alive with excitement. At her corsage was an immense +bunch of violets, evidently sent her by her escort. + +"Shall I do?" she asked pertly, walking over to the living-room mirror +for a last peep at herself. + +"You look very lovely to-night," said Grace honestly. + +"Thank you," she swept Grace a curtsey. A faint mocking smile played +about her red lips, as though she doubted the sincerity of the remark. +Slipping on her evening coat of white broadcloth, and placing an +extremely handsome scarf of white and gold over her pretty head, Evelyn +walked to the door, followed by Althea Parker, who, divided between +admiration of Evelyn and fear of being late, was talking rapidly in her +high, excited voice. + +"Good night, Miss Harlowe," she nodded. + +"Oh, yes, good night," called Evelyn carelessly. + +Grace leaned back in her chair and smiled at Evelyn's slightly cavalier +treatment of herself. "How her sister has spoiled her," she mused. "She +treats me as though I were one of the maids. To see her to-night one +would be quite likely to imagine that she, rather than Miss Parker, were +the richest girl in Overton." + +A sudden, startled look stole into Grace's eyes. "Why, where--" She +paused as though she had come upon something which did not quite please +her. As a matter of fact it had recurred to her with an unpleasant jolt +that Evelyn was wearing an evening gown entirely too expensive for her +present circumstances. So were her evening coat, her scarf and all the +dainty appointments which so perfectly matched the white silk frock. +Again she recalled that Ida Ward planned and made all her sister's +gowns. Even so, she must have spent considerable money on Evelyn's +evening clothes. Suppose these things were to be noticed and commented +upon by the girls in the house, or by outsiders who knew nothing of the +real source of Evelyn's wardrobe? Suppose some one were ill-natured +enough to say that a girl who could afford such expensive gowns ought to +be able to pay her own expenses and give her place in Harlowe House to +some one more needy. Had not Kathleen asked how Evelyn could afford to +wear such smart clothes? + +Yet on the other hand, there was nothing to be done. Grace did not feel +it within her province to take Evelyn to task on the subject of her +wearing apparel. All she could do was to trust that what had perplexed +her would pass unnoticed and uncriticized. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A SEMPER FIDELIS REUNION + + +"O frabjous day!" rejoiced Emma Dean, using her bath towel as a scarf +and performing a weird dance about the room. "I know I shall go +chortling through my classes this morning in a highly undignified +manner. To think that dear old Semper Fidelis will hold forth again in +the same old haunts! And the most beautiful part is that there will be +no vacant chairs." + +Emma's delight was reflected on Grace's face. It was the morning before +Thanksgiving Day and the two young women were preparing to go to +breakfast, full of happy anticipation, for the various afternoon trains +were to bring to them their Semper Fidelis comrades. It had all begun +with Elfreda's and Mabel Ashe's promises to spend Thanksgiving at +Harlowe House. Then Elfreda had persuaded Arline Thayer, whom she saw +frequently in New York, to join them. Arline had written to Ruth, who +had come on to New York for a long visit to her chum in time to swell +the band. Elfreda had promptly written Grace that if she would see that +Miriam and Anne put in an appearance at the proper moment, the Briggs +Helping Hand Society would guarantee that the other members should +appear at Overton on the appointed day. + +"Elfreda has taken rather a large contract on her hands," Grace had said +to Emma, on receiving the letter. "She evidently knows what she's doing, +so I had better write to Miriam and Anne." + +Miriam's promise to come had been easily obtained, but Anne was not sure +of attending the Semper Fidelis reunion, until the week before +Thanksgiving, when Everett Southard, who was then playing in +Shakespearian repertoire in New York, obligingly arranged to give the +"Taming of the Shrew" on the day before Thanksgiving, and "King Richard +III" on Thanksgiving Day. As Anne did not appear in either play, her +Thanksgiving freedom was assured. + +And now the great day had dawned at last! There were to be recitations +in the morning, but college would close at noon, not to reopen until the +following Monday. The Semper Fidelis girls were to be Elfreda's guests +at Vinton's that night at a six o'clock dinner. On Thanksgiving morning +they were to breakfast at the Tourraine as the guests of Ruth and +Arline. Thanksgiving dinner at Martell's was to be Anne's and Miriam's +part of the celebration, while Thanksgiving night Emma and Grace were to +be hostesses at Vinton's, their favorite rendezvous. + +Grace would have dearly loved to be hostess at the Thanksgiving dinner, +but she felt that her duty lay with her household. She wondered whether +it would be really right for her to remain away from Harlowe House for +so many meals. After long and earnest discussion, she and Emma had +arranged that she would give up eating Thanksgiving dinner with her +friends, while Emma cheerfully agreed to preside at the Harlowe House +breakfast table on Thanksgiving morning. It was decided that Louise +Sampson, of whom Grace had grown extremely fond, was the best possible +person to leave in charge during their absence on Thanksgiving night, +for neither Grace nor Emma felt that they could bear to miss that last +gathering together of their beloved Semper Fidelis friends. + +"I wonder who will be first on the scene," speculated Grace. + +"Consult the time table, my child," advised Emma. "I have no time for +speculation. I am starting on a hunt in darkest Deanery for my cuff +links. They are tucked away in some remote corner of the Dean territory, +but which corner?" + +"They are in one end of your handkerchief box. I saw you put them there +yesterday, you ridiculous person," laughed Grace. + +"Thank you, thank you! 'One good turn deserves another,'" quoted Emma +fervently. "Bring forth the fateful time table and I'll sort out the +trains and the order of arrival of the clan." + +"I haven't a time table," confessed Grace. + +"Then we'll have to let the trains run merrily on, and the railroad do +its perfect work. I'm sorry I can't pay my debt of gratitude. I am +always helpful. I was always helpful. I have been helpful. I would be +helpful. I might have been helpful and I may yet be helpful," conjugated +Emma hopefully, "but not without a time table." + +"I appreciate your splendid spirit of helpfulness even though it isn't +of any use at present," assured Grace satirically. "I suppose--" + +A long reverberating ring of the bell cut short her remark. + +The two friends exchanged questioning glances. + +"It can't be one of the girls. It's only eight o'clock," was Emma's +quick comment. + +Grace opened the door and listened intently. Emma joined her, peering +over her shoulder. Then Miss Duncan's dignified assistant in English +gave an unmistakable, though subdued, war whoop, and, seizing Grace by +the hand, made for the stairs. Grace needed no assistance. An instant +later they brought up at the foot of the stairs and made a simultaneous +rush for a tall, plump young woman, enveloping her in a tempestuous +embrace. + +"I might have known you'd be the first," cried Grace with joyful +affection. "You must have taken a train in the middle of the night." + +"I did," returned J. Elfreda Briggs calmly. "We are living in New York +this winter, so Pa brought me to the station in his own pet car and saw +me safely on my way. Emma Dean, you good old comrade, how are you?" +Elfreda turned from Grace to Emma. + +Emma surveyed Elfreda with fond eyes. "Just now I'm overcome at seeing +you, J. Elfreda. How we have missed you!" Depth of feeling for the +moment checked Emma's irrepressible flow of humor. Next to Grace, in her +regard, came the one-time stout girl, now merely plump and extremely +attractive. + +Tears flashed across J. Elfreda's eyes as she stood looking into the +faces of these friends, whom she loved so truly, yet saw so seldom. +"Missing people has been my greatest cross this year," she said, her +voice not quite steady. "There's no use in making a fuss, though. I'm +beginning to learn that." + +A brief silence fell upon the three classmates. + +"Have you had your breakfast, Elfreda?" asked Grace, almost abruptly. + +"Are there waffles?" counter-questioned Elfreda. + +"There can be. The Harlowe House kitchen boasts of waffle irons, bought +with this occasion in view." + +"Then I am heart and soul for breakfast," avowed Elfreda. "I ate my +usual sumptuous repast of half a grape fruit and a piece of dry toast, +plus one small cup of black coffee, on the train. I haven't had a waffle +since I was here in August. I wonder how they would taste," she added +innocently. + +"You'll know before long," promised Grace. "Emma take Elfreda upstairs +to our room, while I ask Sarah to make the waffles." + +Half an hour later they sat around the breakfast table, a contented +trio. After Emma had left them to go to her work, Grace and Elfreda had +a long confidential conversation over their coffee. The noon train +brought Mabel Ashe, Arline and Ruth, while from off the afternoon trains +stepped Anne and Miriam, the smiling Emerson twins, Elizabeth Wade, +Marian Cummings and Elsie Wilton. + +It was a congenial and talkative company that, as Elfreda's guests, +graced Vinton's at six o'clock dinner that night. Kathleen West, who had +been prevailed upon to spend at least one Thanksgiving at Overton, +instead of on duty on her paper, was one of three guests of honor, Mabel +Ashe and Patience Eliot were the others. By special arrangement a table +that would seat fifteen persons had been set in their favorite +rendezvous, the mission alcove. Elfreda, Grace, Anne and Miriam, +rejoicing in their reunion, had made a tour of the stores together that +afternoon, and gleefully carrying the fruits of their shopping to +Vinton's had decorated the table with flowers, ribbons and funny little +favors. + +The Overton girls that happened to drop into Vinton's that night smiled +appreciatively at the gay little company in the alcove. A glance in that +direction on the part of the upper class girls was sufficient. They knew +that Semper Fidelis, the darling of the Overton clubs, was making merry. +The freshmen, however, had to have matters explained to them by their +friends. + +"That Semper Fidelis club was the life of Overton," Althea Parker +explained to Evelyn Ward. "That's one reason I asked you to come here +with me to-night. I wanted you to see them together." The two were +seated at a small table not far from that of the Sempers. + +Evelyn made no response. Her eyes were fixed upon the mission alcove. +She knew, only too well, that Althea's invitation to dinner had not been +disinterested. She had learned to know that Althea was not only +snobbish, but self-seeking as well. For whatever she gave she demanded +value received. Evelyn had been in the living-room when Grace and +Elfreda returned from their shopping. She had heard them discussing the +dinner, and had lost no time in slipping on her wraps and carrying the +news to Althea, who, as she had hoped, had at once invited her to dinner +at Vinton's. + +"Althea thinks I'll attract the attention of those girls," Evelyn had +speculated shrewdly. + +Meanwhile the girls in the alcove, quite unconscious of the discussion +going on about them at the other tables, were in their element. One +after another the dear wraiths of their Overton days were summoned, to +be laughingly and lovingly reviewed, then lingeringly laid to rest +again. + +"Girls, do you remember the dinner we gave here after the ghost party?" +asked Mabel Ashe, her brown eyes alight with mischief. "Some of you +girls weren't here that night, but at least half of you were." + +"I ought to remember it," declared Elfreda significantly. + +"Yes, Elfreda, it was in honor of you, I believe," laughed Arline. The +dinner to which Mabel referred belonged to Elfreda's freshman year at +Overton. + +"It was indeed," affirmed Anne Pierson. "Every one of our four years +brought its own parties." + +"And its own problems," supplemented Miriam. + +"Of whom we were which," murmured J. Elfreda. + +Every one laughed at this naive assertion. + +"But we've all turned out creditably," smiled Miriam Nesbit, "thanks to +our Loyalheart. She opened the way to good comradeship for me, long ago, +in my high school days." + +"She found my father for me!" said Ruth Denton, her eyes eloquent. + +"She stood by me when I needed her most," said Anne. + +"Girls, I won't--" Grace half rose from her chair, but was gently shoved +into it again. + +"Sit still and hear the rest of your misdeeds," commanded Mabel. "Go on, +Arline." + +"She helped me to be unselfish and to think of others," was Arline's +sweet tribute. + +"She made me over," asserted Elfreda with emphasis. + +"She taught me college spirit," said Kathleen softly. + +"Sara and I didn't like college and never had much fun until Grace asked +us to join the Sempers," declared Sue Emerson. + +"She was the first to welcome me to Overton, and has given me countless +good times since then," said Patience. + +"She taught me to look for the best rather than the worst, even in my +enemies," declared Mabel Ashe. + +Elizabeth Wade, Marian Cummings and Elsie Wilton each added their +tribute. + +"Girls, if you only knew how terribly this embarrasses me," pleaded +Grace. "Every one of you have done the nicest sort of things for me. I +think--" + +"You are not allowed to think," put in Miriam. "We will do the thinking +for the next two minutes. Besides J. Elfreda has something to say. Go +ahead, Elfreda." + +"Grace, you've heard what we all had to say about you, but there is a +whole lot that we can never find words for. Each of us knows best what +you've been to us, as individuals, and we all know that there will never +be any other girl quite as dear, and true, and loyal as you are to us. +So we decided to give our Loyalheart a loyalty token, and here it is. +Hold out your arm," commanded Elfreda. + +[Illustration: "We Decided to Give Our Loyalheart a Loyalty Token."] + +Grace held out her pretty, bare arm in obedient bewilderment. Something +shining slipped over her wrist. She stared at it in fascination. + +"How beautiful!" she gasped. "It can't be for me!" The bracelet was a +wide band of dull gold, chased with a pattern of tiny leaves, and, at +intervals, its golden circle was starred with small diamonds. It was the +most expensive piece of jewelry Grace had ever owned. + +"Every one of our initials is inside," informed Elsie Wilton +triumphantly. Grace slipped the band off her arm and peered into it. +Sure enough there were rows of tiny initials inscribed on the smooth +gold. + +"And now let us drink a toast to our Loyalheart and go up to the +Tourraine," proposed Elfreda, after the excitement attending the +presentation of the bracelet had died out. "Here's to our Loyalheart! +Drink her down!" + +The emptied lemonade glasses were set on the table and the party rose to +go. + +As they were passing out, Grace and Anne walked with linked arms, +determined to make the most of their brief hour together. + +"Oh, Grace, I almost forgot to ask you," began Anne, "who was that +beautiful girl at the next table to the alcove? I saw you speak to her. +She was with Miss Parker, that little girl of 19-- who has so much +money." + +"That was Evelyn Ward, Anne, and thereby hangs a tale which I'll +entertain you with to-morrow. One thing about her will interest you. She +wants to become an actress. She thinks you are the wonder of this +century. I'll introduce her to you to-morrow." + +"She is beautiful," commented Anne, "and if she is really sincere in her +ambition I might help her to attain her ambition." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE INTERRUPTED CONFIDENCE + + +The days that lay between Thanksgiving and Christmas passed swiftly and +uneventfully for Grace. As the holiday vacation drew near she was +divided, however, between her desire to go home and her duty to Harlowe +House. It was Emma Dean who finally settled the question by announcing +that she did not intend to go home for Christmas and would gladly look +after things during Grace's absence. The trip home was too expensive, +Emma had stated frankly, and her railroad fare would be quite a help +when added to the Dean housekeeping fund. Once she had made her decision +to stay at Overton she began to lay plans for a happy holiday season for +the Harlowe House girls, who, without exception, were also to remain in +Overton for their vacation. Two days before Christmas Grace left Overton +for Oakdale, with many injunctions to Emma to take things easy and to +telegraph her at once if she needed her. + +Once at home a round of merry parties began. True to their promise +Jessica and Reddy had come back to Oakdale for Christmas. The only +missing member of the Eight Originals was Anne, and the Sunday morning +following Christmas Day she walked into the Harlowe's living room +accompanied by Everett Southard and his sister. She could not bear to +allow the holidays to pass without seeing her friends, so she and the +Southards had taken the midnight train for Oakdale, determined to spend +at least one day there. That evening a contented, happy company gathered +at the Nesbits, as Miriam's and David's guests, at a dinner given in +honor of the unexpected arrivals. After a short, but exceedingly +earnest, confab in a cosy corner just off the hall, Anne and David had +appeared arm in arm, and, to an accompaniment of meaning smiles, had +announced their engagement. Although Miriam Nesbit was entirely unaware +of it, four pairs of eyes, belonging to the feminine half of the Eight +Originals had kept a lynx-like watch upon her and Everett Southard. +Afterward Grace confided to Anne that she believed Miriam did like Mr. +Southard a little, and it was quite plain to be seen that Mr. Southard +cared for her, while Jessica and Nora were wagging their heads in secret +agreement of the same belief. + +Only one thing marred Grace's pleasure in being at home and that was the +thought that she was making Tom Gray unhappy. Outwardly he was the same +sunny, smiling Tom she had known for so many years, but there were times +when the mask of cheerfulness fell away and Grace read in his eyes a +look of pain and longing that caused her to reproach herself. Then her +honest nature would reassert itself and she would vow never to promise +to marry Tom out of sympathy. Unless there came a time when she was +absolutely convinced that he meant more to her than her work she and Tom +would have to go on in the same old way. + +But aside from this one cloud it seemed to Grace that she had never +before so fully appreciated her father and mother. "You grow dearer +every minute," she assured them on her last night at home. She sat +between them on a little stool, holding a hand of each. "If you don't +put me out on the steps to-morrow morning with my luggage, and lock the +door in my face, I know I'll never, never have the courage to go away +from you. It is really a tragedy, this wanting to be in two places at +once." + +"Dear child," said her mother softly, while her father stroked her +shining hair and wondered how he ever managed to get along without her +during the long months she spent at Overton. "We hate to give you up, +Gracie," he said, "but we love you all the more for your faithfulness to +your work." + +And that was the thought which Grace took back with her to Overton. She +smiled to herself as she swung briskly through the quiet streets. Their +approbation had quickened her spirit to put forth fresh effort. She felt +as though she could remove mountains if they happened to rise suddenly +in her path. And in this state of mental exhilaration she ran up the +steps of Harlowe House and, after a second's fumbling with her latchkey, +let herself in. + +It was almost six o'clock in the afternoon, and the darkness of early +January had settled down upon the landscape. A wet, discouraging snow, +which made the streets a slush-covered menace to pedestrians, was +falling, and Grace gave a soft sigh of satisfaction as she stepped into +the cheery, well-lighted hall. Knowing that she was quite likely to find +Emma in her room she hurried up the stairs. Her hand was on the door +knob when she heard what sounded suspiciously like a sob. Grace flung +open the door and rushed into her room, her face alive with concern. +What could possibly have happened to make jolly, self-reliant Emma Dean +cry? She exclaimed in quick surprise, however, for, other than herself, +the room held no occupant. "I'm sure I heard some one crying," she +murmured. She listened intently. A moment later the same doleful sound +was again borne to her ears. Walking quickly into the bathroom she stood +by the door that opened into Evelyn Ward's room. + +"It comes from Miss Ward's room," was her second surmisal. "I wonder +what I ought to do. She is so easily offended that, if I go to her, she +may resent my call and think me meddlesome and interfering." Grace +continued to listen uneasily to the unmistakable sounds of grief that +came from the next room. + +"Something serious has certainly happened. I can't stand it to hear her +cry so. I'll take the risk of being misunderstood," she decided with a +grim little smile. + +Stepping out of her room into the hall she knocked softly on Evelyn's +door, receiving no answer. Her second and rather more emphatic knock +elicited a faint, "Who is there?" + +"Miss Harlowe," answered Grace. "May I come in for a moment, Miss Ward?" + +She heard Evelyn moving about the room for a moment, then the door was +opened slowly, and with apparent reluctance on the part of the pretty +freshman, who had evidently dried her tears for the time being. + +"How do you do, Miss Harlowe?" she said in a queer, strained voice. "I +did not know that you had returned from your vacation." She did not +offer her hand to Grace. In her blue eyes lay a look of positive fear. + +"I came in not more than ten minutes ago," returned Grace, stepping into +the room and closing the door after her. Then with her usual directness +she said, "Miss Ward, I heard you crying. I came to see if I could help +you." + +The look of fear in Evelyn's eyes deepened. She continued to regard +Grace intently, as though trying to discover whether there could be any +other motive for her visit. In spite of the effort she was making to be +natural her face expressed absolute consternation. + +"It--was--nothing," she stammered, at last. "I am not feeling very +well." + +Grace was not deceived. She knew that Evelyn was not the kind of girl to +cry hysterically over a slight illness. Still she could not force this +perverse young woman to tell that which she did not choose to tell. + +"I am sorry you won't let me help you. Are you sure that I can't be of +service to you." + +"_You._" Evelyn laughed shortly. "No; I am quite sure that _you_ can't +be." + +"Very well." Grace was about to leave the room. + +"Wait a minute!" Evelyn's voice rang out sharply. "I--I--will tell you +my trouble, Miss Harlowe. It's about--my college fees. I paid part of +the money when I came here. My--my--sister has been very ill and can't +send the rest of the money. She made a special arrangement with the +registrar to make the other payment in November. I've received two +notices. I don't know what to do. I can't bear to leave Overton." + +"Why didn't you come to me before?" asked Grace with gentle reproach. "I +can help you in this matter through the Semper Fidelis fund." + +Grace went on to explain the purpose of the Semper Fidelis Club. "We +lend the students the money rather than give it to them, because they +like to feel that they are proceeding on a strictly business basis. It +takes away the slightest idea of charity and makes the girls quite +responsible for themselves." + +"I see," murmured Evelyn. "But suppose I borrowed the money and then +found that I couldn't return it for ever so long?" + +"There is neither time limit set nor interest charged on any reasonable +sum of money a girl may wish to borrow," returned Grace. "We have the +utmost confidence in our borrowers. The very fact that they come to us +for help is an avowal of their honesty. How much money do you wish to +borrow, Miss Ward?" + +Evelyn rather hesitatingly named a sum considerably in excess of that +needed for her college fees. "It--will--pay my expenses for the year and +leave me a little besides for emergencies," she explained +apologetically. "Then poor Ida can get well and won't have to worry. I +am sure I can work at something this summer and pay at least part of the +money back to the club." + +She swept a swift, speculative glance at Grace from under her eyelashes +which quite belied her earnest tones. Grace, however, absorbed for a +brief moment in her own thoughts, failed to see it. When she looked at +Evelyn the latter's face bore a sweetly grateful expression that made +her wonder if she had not been mistaken in her estimate of the, +hitherto, troublesome freshman. Her apparent anxiety to relieve her +sister of worry over financial difficulties was distinct evidence of an +affection of which Grace had not believed Evelyn capable. "I have +misjudged her," was Grace's thought. "She really cares for her sister." + +Aloud she said, "I will write at once to Miss Thayer, who is the +president of the Semper Fidelis Club, and in whose name the account +stands, telling her the circumstances. Thus far we have not received +many calls for help since college opened, so there is quite a little +money in bank. It is during the last half of the year that we make the +greatest number of loans. I am sorry that your sister has been ill. If +you will give me her address I will write to her to-night." + +Evelyn flushed hotly. "Oh, no, you mustn't!" she exclaimed sharply. +"That is--I mean you--mustn't put yourself--to so much trouble for me," +she added lamely. + +"It won't be a particle of trouble," assured Grace. "I should like to do +so." + +Evelyn's confusion deepened. "I--can't--" she floundered. + +Grace regarded her with quiet, searching eyes. But before she had time +to go on from wonder at Evelyn's strange objection to her writing her +sister to actual suspicion, Evelyn interposed eagerly, "I'll give you +the address, with pleasure, Miss Harlowe. Wait a moment." She sprang to +her open writing desk and seizing a piece of paper and a pencil wrote +energetically for a moment. + +"Here it is." + +She laid it before Grace, who picked it up and read, "Miss Ida Ward, 320 +Duverne Street, Albany, N.Y." + +A puzzled frown wrinkled Grace's forehead. "I thought your sister told +me she lived in Burton. I must have misunderstood her." + +"So we did," put in Evelyn hurriedly, "but Ida is spending the winter +with my aunt in Albany. She went there just before she was taken ill. We +may never go back to Burton again to live. Of course I am not sure of +that. Perhaps I can find work in a large city during my summer +vacation." + +"That reminds me," began Grace. "I had a talk with Miss Pierson when she +was here about your going on the stage. She saw you at Vinton's, and +when I told her you had stage ambitions she said she was quite sure she +could find work for you during the summer in a stock company. She will +try to take you with her." + +"Really!" Evelyn sprang to her feet, her blue eyes glittering with +excitement. "Oh, Miss Harlowe, if I could, if she would take me! I'd +work so hard and pay every penny of everything I owe." + +"But you don't owe anything yet," reminded Grace, smiling. + +Evelyn did not answer. It was doubtful whether she heard Grace's last +words. She stood perfectly still, a curious look on her beautiful face. +Suddenly she said in a low, halting tone, "Miss Harlowe, if you knew +how--" + +A knock on the door interrupted her speech. Without finishing, she +stepped to it and turned the knob. "Hello, Mary," she said +indifferently. + +"Oh, Miss Harlowe, I didn't know that you had come home," cried Mary +Reynolds. "We have all missed you dreadfully, haven't we, Evelyn?" + +"Yes," replied Evelyn in her usual indifferent fashion. Then as Grace +turned to go she said sweetly, "Thank you so much for your kindness to +me, Miss Harlowe." + +But Grace reflected disappointedly as she went slowly into her own room +that Mary Reynolds' innocent interruption had occurred just in time to +prevent the establishment with Evelyn of the very footing which she had +been trying all year to gain. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A WEEK-END IN NEW YORK + + +True to her promise Grace wrote to Arline Thayer that very evening +concerning the sum of money which Evelyn wished to borrow, and three +days later she opened a fat letter from the president of Semper Fidelis +from which fell the magic slip of paper which, for Evelyn, meant the way +out of her difficulties. Grace pounced with delight upon the letter and +was soon deep in its contents. + +"We saw Anne as 'Ophelia' last Friday night," Arline wrote. "After the +play father gave a little supper for her at our house and invited the +Southards, Mabel and Mr. Ashe, Elfreda, Miriam Nesbit and her brother. +Miriam came to New York to visit and shop, and it is not hard to guess +why her brother came with her. We were all so surprised to see her, and +so delighted. She is staying with the Southards, and, Grace, I do +believe Everett Southard is in love with her. It is hard to say whether +she returns his love, for she doesn't manifest the slightest sign of it. +Wouldn't it be splendid if they did decide to go through life together? +He is so clever, and a great actor too. Mabel's lawyer has won the most +difficult case he ever fought for. He has persuaded Mabel to wear his +ring. Their engagement is to be announced next week. I suppose you will +hear from Mabel before many days. How I wish you were here. We all miss +you so. Can't you come to New York for a week end before Easter? Do try +to arrange it. I have so many things to tell you. It would take an age +to write them. Think it over and decide to come. With my dearest love, +Arline" + +Grace finished the letter with a happy sigh. She would try to manage to +run down to New York for a week end. She wondered how long Miriam +intended to stay in the city and she smiled faintly over Arline's +comment regarding Miriam and Everett Southard. It was not news to her. +Consulting the calendar that hung above the desk, she decided to go the +first week in February, and began to plan her work accordingly. + +In spite of her secret fears that everything was too perfect to last, +not only was her varied household serene, but prospering as well. From +the time the Harlowe House girls became a self-governing body the +question of putting money in the treasury had been continually agitated. +One way and another had been suggested, but it was not until the +Christmas holidays that the inspiration had come in the shape of a most +toothsome batch of caramels which Louise Sampson had descended into the +kitchen and made, one snowy, blustery evening when the club had +assembled in the living-room for a social session. The caramels were a +signal success, and when Cecil Ferris eyed one of the delicious brown +squares lovingly before popping it into her mouth, then asked +reflectively, "Why couldn't we make caramels and sell them to the +Overton girls?" the idea was hailed with cries of "Great," "A good +idea." "We could easily sell pounds of them." + +With one accord they had besieged Louise Sampson with curious questions +as to how she had made the caramels and the cost of the ingredients. +Louise had laughingly refused to tell her recipe. + +After talking things over Louise had sworn Cecil, Mary Reynolds and one +other girl to secrecy, imparted the precious recipe to them, and on the +next Saturday afternoon they had made their first candy. A gay little +poster, drawn by one of the girls, advertised their wares. It was tacked +to one side of the college bulletin board, and by nine o'clock on +Saturday night the last caramel had gone its destined way, while the +success-crowned merchants counted their money and lamented because they +had not made half enough caramels. From then on, caramel-making occupied +the spare moments of Louise and her faithful band and the "Harlowe House +Caramels" rapidly gained favor. With her usual kindly interest in the +success of others Grace, on her return from the Christmas holidays, +entered into the candy making with spirit and energy, doing much to help +fill the rush of orders. Try as they might the caramel supply was always +running out, for the students found the delicious home-made caramels +quite to their taste and they grew daily more popular. + +The Harlowe House girls were extremely proud of the growing fund in the +treasury. One and all, with the exception of Evelyn Ward, they begged so +earnestly to be initiated into the mysteries of caramel making that they +were sworn to secrecy at a special meeting of the club and divided into +caramel-making squads. It was also decided to make candy only twice a +week, on Wednesday and Friday evenings, and set Thursday and Saturday as +the days for selling the caramels, which were put up in neat half-pound +and pound boxes. + +But while this little enterprise was being carried on with a will Evelyn +was merely an indifferent onlooker. True she belonged to one squad of +the candy makers, but she usually managed to be absent when they worked. +Apparently she was not interested in the financial affairs of the +Harlowe House Club. For a week or more after the check from Semper +Fidelis had been handed to her she had maintained toward Grace an +attitude of sweet gratitude, too flattering to be wholly sincere. It had +gradually disappeared, however, and the old Evelyn had come to the +surface again. Although she was now careful not to offend openly, Grace +felt that underneath the thin veneer of reluctant gratitude lay the old +dislike which she was sure Evelyn felt for her. In spite of her efforts +to judge this strange selfish girl dispassionately Grace knew in her +heart that she still disapproved of Evelyn. + +The first week in February found Grace looking forward to her week end +in New York City. She had arranged to leave Overton on Friday at noon, +and on Friday morning she opened her eyes with that feeling of +exultation over something delightful just around the corner from her. +Then she remembered. In a few hours she would again be with her beloved +friends. She went about her work that morning humming under her breath. +As she was to take the eleven-thirty train she had said a regretful +good-bye to Emma before the latter went to her classes. "How I wish you +were going with me, Emma," she had sighed. Emma's eyes had grown wistful +for an instant, then she had launched forth into a multitude of pompous +and wholly ridiculous reasons why her presence was needed at Harlowe +House that made Grace laugh, and, for the time, banished the shadow from +her face. + +Later as she climbed into the taxicab that was to take her to the +station, Emma's face, with its funny little twisted smile, rose before +her, and she experienced fresh regret at leaving her behind. It was +hardly fair that she should have so much and Emma so little. How bravely +Emma had stepped into the breach made by her father's sudden reverse of +fortune. So deep was Grace in her own thoughts that she did not realize +that they had reached the station until the car came to a sudden stop +and the driver stood holding open the door. Handing him her suit case +and traveling bag Grace stepped out of the car, and tendering the man +her fare, gathered up her luggage and headed for the station. Seating +herself on one of the wooden benches inside the station, she placed her +traveling effects on the floor beside her and compared her watch with +the station clock. Then she rose and going to the ticket window, which +had just opened, purchased her ticket and inquired as to whether the +train were on time. + +"Fifteen minutes late," was the brief reply. + +Grace went back to her bench, and, seating herself, opened a magazine +she had brought with her. She was turning the leaves interestedly when a +sudden banging of the station door caused her to glance up. Her eyes +were riveted in surprise upon Evelyn Ward, who, suit case in hand, +hurried over to her with, "Oh, Miss Harlowe, I wonder if you would mind +my going to New York with you. I am invited to Althea Parker's for the +week end, but she had to go down last night. I tried to see you at +Harlowe House, but you had already gone. I would have spoken to you last +night about going, but I wasn't quite sure whether I could make it or +not." Evelyn's tones were far from concerned. + +"You are quite welcome to ride with me," returned Grace briefly. She +hardly liked the situation, yet she made it a rule not to interfere with +the amusements of the Harlowe House girls. When she had lived at Wayne +Hall Mrs. Elwood had never questioned the comings and goings of her +girls. Still Grace was not pleased with Evelyn's careless manner of +passing over her evident intention to go without even informing Grace of +her departure. + +Once on the train the two kept up a desultory conversation. But little +sympathy existed between them, and the situation grew momentarily more +strained. Grace caught Evelyn taking sly peeps at the magazine which she +still held. With her usual good nature, Grace hailed the boy who passed +through the train with magazines and candy and bought another magazine. + +"There is an article in this number which Miss Dean says is worth +reading," she explained. "Keep my magazine if you like, and I'll read +this." + +For the next two hours not a word was exchanged. The two girls read on +and on. As the afternoon began to wane Evelyn finished her magazine, +took off her hat, and, leaning her head against the high green velvet +back of the seat, closed her eyes. At last Grace laid aside her reading, +and idly watched, with half dreaming eyes, the fleeting landscape. +Occasionally her gaze wandered, in unwilling admiration, to Evelyn's +lovely, tranquil face. Why was such great beauty coupled with such +tantalizing perversity of spirit? was the thought that sprang unbidden +to her mind. + +It was long after dark when the two young women passed through the iron +gates of the station to where their friends awaited them. Anne, David, +Miriam and Arline stood eagerly watching for Grace. At almost the same +moment Evelyn spied Althea. On seeing Evelyn's companions, Althea +hurried forward in time to receive the much-coveted introduction to +Arline Thayer, Anne and the Nesbits. After a brief exchange of +courtesies Grace's friends bowed themselves off, gleefully escorting +Grace to David's car. + +Althea stared moodily after them. "I think they are awfully snobbish," +she remarked resentfully. "How did you manage to get away, Evelyn?" + +"Don't ask me," Evelyn made a gesture of deprecation. "All I hope is +that I'm not found out. I'm glad I overheard Miss Harlowe talking last +night about going to-day. If worse comes to worst, I'll say I came down +here with her." + +"But what if she denies it?" + +Evelyn shrugged her shoulders. "Ten chances to one I shall not be +missed, but if there is any trouble I'll appeal to her generosity of +spirit to help me. She pretends to be so helpful, let her demonstrate +her helpfulness by standing between me and Miss Sheldon." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A HUMILIATING REPRIMAND + + +To Grace forty-eight hours with her chums seemed hardly longer than +forty-eight minutes, and she found it an exceedingly difficult task to +divide her time equally among them. She went directly to the Southards +for dinner, and to the theater that night with David, Miriam and Miss +Southard to see Everett Southard and Anne as the ill-fated king and +queen in "Macbeth." To her delight she discovered that the opposite box +held Elfreda, Arline, Ruth, Mabel Ashe, Mr. Ashe and Mr. Thayer, and +after the play they were Mr. Ashe's guests at supper. + +On Saturday the devoted little band gathered at Arline's home at nine +o'clock in the morning, determined to crowd every possible bit of +pleasure into the hours that were theirs. On Sunday it was Mabel Ashe +who played hostess, and on Sunday night a goodly company saw Grace to +the station and safely on her way. + +It was eleven o'clock when she let herself into Harlowe House, and +hurried upstairs, anxious to relax and be comfortable after her long +ride. As she had expected, on opening the door of her room, she saw +Emma, her tall, thin figure wrapped in the folds of a gay crepe kimono, +seated before the table, industriously looking over, and marking, +themes. + +"Hello, Gracious," she caroled amiably, laying down the sheet of paper +she held in her hand and making a quick dive for Grace. "I began to +thing you weren't coming home to-night. How are you, and how is +everybody? In spite of being fairly swamped with themes, I managed to +arise in my might and make cocoa. It's in the chocolate pot and there +are some extra fine Dean-made sandwiches to match. Now say, 'Emma, you +are one in a million, and a cook besides.' Give me your coat and hat. +Your kimono and slippers await you." + +"What a dear you are, Emma," declared Grace, as she handed her wraps to +Emma and began to unhook her skirt. "How I wish you had been with us. +The girls were so sorry you couldn't come. Elfreda says she is going to +descend upon you some Friday and carry you off for a week end, +regardless of howls and protests." + +Emma's expressive face lighted with whimsical tenderness. "J. Elfreda +never forgets, does she? Here's your cocoa, Grace. Help yourself to +sandwiches." + +Seating themselves opposite each other at the oak center table, the +plate of sandwiches and the chocolate pot between them, the two young +women settled themselves for a talk which lasted until after midnight. + +"We are setting a fearful example for our girls," remarked Grace +yawning, as they finally arose to prepare for bed. "I hope we haven't +disturbed Miss Ward. I haven't heard a sound from her room. She must be +asleep. I wonder when she came back." + +"Came back from where?" asked Emma. + +"From New York City. She took the same train that I took and sat with me +all the way there." + +"She did!" exclaimed Emma. "That doesn't tally with what I heard in the +registrar's office Friday afternoon. I'm afraid she didn't ask +permission to go, Grace." + +"Oh, she must have had permission!" A look of surprise, mingled with +consternation, sprang into Grace's eyes. + +"Did she tell you she had the joyful sanction of the registrar?" quizzed +Emma. + +"No--o. She made a half apology for not telling me that she was going to +New York. She said she was not sure of going until the last minute. I +supposed, of course, that she had permission. Why will she persist in +disobeying the rules of the college?" asked Grace despairingly. "What +was said in the registrar's office, Emma, or aren't you at liberty to +tell me?" + +"Of course I am, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it," declared Emma. +"Friday afternoon I went over to Overton Hall to see Miss Sheldon. Just +as I stepped into her office I met Evelyn coming out looking like a +young thunder cloud. I wondered what had happened to upset her sweet, +even disposition," Emma's tones were distinctly ironical, "and without +asking any questions I soon found out. Miss Sheldon herself looked +anything but pleased and said: 'That Miss Ward is the most insolent girl +with whom I have ever come in contact. I refused to allow her to go to +New York City for the week end and she made some extremely impertinent +remarks to me. She has a condition to work off. I felt justified in +refusing her.'" + +"And she disregarded that refusal and went?" questioned Grace +wonderingly. "We would never have dreamed of defying the registrar, +would we, Emma?" + +"Hardly," returned Emma. "Even Laura Atkins in her most anarchistic +moods, or Kathleen West with all her thorns set, would have stopped +short of that. I hope the high and mighty Evelyn won't try to drag you +into this affair." + +"How can she?" demanded Grace. "I had nothing to do with it." + +"Yes, but you rode down to New York City on the same train and in the +same seat with her. She is quite likely to tell the registrar that you +countenanced her going even though Miss Sheldon didn't." + +"Oh, she couldn't!" burst forth Grace. + +"Why couldn't she?" demanded Emma. + +Grace shook her head. + +"I think you are a trifle hard on her, Emma. I know she is selfish, but +I don't believe she is malicious." + +"I wish I had your faith in people, Grace," said Emma sincerely. "You +always believe them honest until they prove themselves villains, don't +you?" + +When the next afternoon, Grace received a curt note from Miss Sheldon +asking her to come to her office at five o'clock, Emma's prophesy loomed +large before her. + +"It must be something else," reflected the troubled house mother, as she +prepared for her call on Miss Sheldon. Once in the registrar's office, a +quick glance at the older woman's face, set in lines of annoyance, was +enough to convince Grace that Emma's conjecture had been only too true. +Evelyn had in some way managed to make her a party to her disobedience. + +"Good afternoon, Miss Harlowe," said Miss Sheldon stiffly. There was no +trace of her usual friendly manner. "I sent for you this afternoon for +the purpose of clearing up any misunderstanding you may have in regard +to your authority here at Overton. The students in the various houses +are in every instance subject to the rules of Overton College, and it is +the purpose of the faculty to see that these rules are enforced. You +have no authority to grant a student leave of absence, particularly +after that permission has been refused by me." + +Then there followed a further sharp reprimand to which Grace listened +gravely, her calm, gray eyes never for an instant leaving Miss Sheldon's +face. Something in the younger woman's composure had its effect upon the +registrar, who, on first seeing Grace, had allowed her displeasure free +rein. She looked searchingly into the quiet face before her and said +more gently, "Perhaps I should have asked you to tell me your side of +the story, before condemning you, Miss Harlowe." + +Ah, so there was another side of the story! It was apparently as Emma +had said. + +Tears of hurt pride burned behind Grace's eyes, but they never fell. +With a brave effort she steadied her voice. "I do not know what has been +said to you, Miss Sheldon, but I do know that I have never given any +girl at Harlowe House leave of absence from Overton. I would not presume +to do so. I hope I understand the limit of my authority too clearly to +overstep it." + +"Then you did not take Miss Ward with you to New York City last Friday +afternoon?" + +"Miss Ward was with me on the train and shared my seat, but until I met +her in the station I had not the remotest idea that she intended to go. +I dislike to tell you this, Miss Sheldon, but since you have asked me +this question I can only tell you the truth." + +"I am sorry I spoke so hastily, Miss Harlowe," apologized Miss Sheldon, +"but I was greatly displeased. I have sent for Miss Ward. Will you wait +until she comes? You need not unless you wish to do so." + +"Thank you," said Grace, a shade of offended dignity in her voice, "but +I must go back to Harlowe House. It is almost dinner time. Good evening, +Miss Sheldon." + +Once outside Overton Hall her composure took wings and she brushed the +thick-gathering tears from her eyes as she hurried blindly across the +snow-covered campus in the gray twilight. She was still smarting under +the hurt of the registrar's sharp words. It was unspeakably humiliating +to be told that she had overstepped her authority. She had thought that +Miss Sheldon knew her too well for that. It merely served to show how +little one knew persons, she reflected bitterly. As for Evelyn, the +angry color dyed Grace's cheeks afresh as she thought of the girl's +treachery, and she made a resentful vow that Evelyn Ward should not be +admitted to Harlowe House for her sophomore year. + +The brisk walk across the campus in the crisp winter air cooled her +anger, and by the time she had reached the house she felt her +resentment, in a measure, vanishing. + +"You were right, Emma," she announced as she walked into their room +where Emma sat plodding laboriously through her weekly mending. + +"About Evelyn?" + +"Yes." + +Emma finished the sleeve of the blouse she was mending with a flourish. +Then, casting a swift, upward glance at Grace, she began singing +dolorously. + + "Mend, mend, mend, + On the waist that's weary and worn. + Stitch, stitch, stitch, + Each tatter so jagged and torn. + Collar and cuffs and sleeves, + Cobble and darn and baste, + Before they gape in a ghastly row, + And shriek the dirge of the waist." + +Grace's gloomy expression changed to a faint smile which broadened as +Emma's chant went on. At the end of the verse she laughed outright. + +"I couldn't be sad for long with you about, Emma," she said +affectionately. "How can you think of such funny things on the spur of +the moment?" + +"Oh, I don't know," drawled Emma. "Tell me about everything, Gracious." + +"I will," nodded Grace, "but I must run downstairs to the kitchen for a +minute. I'll be back directly." + +It was fifteen minutes before she returned. Emma had finished her +mending and was on her knees before the chiffonier putting her waists +away. + +"Now I'll tell you," began Grace. + +Emma turned her head to listen, but before Grace had time to begin the +door was flung violently open and Evelyn Ward rushed in, her blue eyes +bright with anger. "How could you tell Miss Sheldon that I didn't go to +New York with you? You could have helped me and she wouldn't have said a +word to Miss Wilder. Now I shall be expelled from college and it is all +your fault. You are--" + +At this juncture, however, Emma Dean took a hand. Without giving Grace +an opportunity to say a word she marched over to the excited Evelyn. +"Miss Ward, leave this room instantly, and do not come into it again +until you have asked Miss Harlowe to pardon you." + +In contrast to Evelyn's half-screamed denunciation Emma's voice was low +and even, but it vibrated with stern command. + +"I--she--" began Evelyn, but the look in Emma's eyes was too much for +her. With a half-sobbing cry of anger she rushed from the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +AN UNINTENTIONAL LISTENER + + +"Delightful young person," commented Emma dryly, as the resounding slam +of the door echoed through the room. + +Grace walked slowly over to the chair which she had been occupying when +Evelyn had made her tempestuous entrance, and sat down. There was a +brief silence, then, "Do you suppose Miss Wilder will send Evelyn home?" + +"Grace, you aren't going to try to intercede for that hateful girl after +this," Emma's tones quivered with vexation. + +"I don't know. I suppose it wouldn't be of much use. Miss Wilder won't +tolerate out and out disobedience. I--yes, Emma, I'm going to see if I +can save her. I'm going now." + +Grace sprang from her chair and began slipping into her wraps. + +Emma eyed her moodily, struggling between approval and disapproval, but +saying nothing. + +"Good-bye, dear," called Grace over her shoulder as she hurried out the +door. "I'm afraid I'll be late for dinner. Don't wait for me." + +Outside the house she paused, glanced toward Overton Hall, then set off +in the opposite direction toward Miss Wilder's home. + +"I hope she's at home," was Grace's anxious thought as she rang the +bell. + +"Miss Wilder's in the library, miss. I'll call her," informed the maid. +"Come in. It's Miss Harlowe wants to see her, isn't it?" + +"Yes," Grace smiled in pleasant appreciation of the maid's remembrance +of her. + +"Good evening, Miss Harlowe." Miss Wilder rose to greet her unexpected +visitor and offered her a chair. + +Grace returned the greeting, then seated herself directly opposite the +dean. + +"Miss Wilder, I came to see you," she burst forth, "to ask you if there +is--if you could give Miss Ward another chance. She came to me to-night +and said that she was to be sent home for what happened last Saturday. I +am sorry that she has put herself in such an unpleasant position, but I +am more sorry still for her sister, who has made so many sacrifices to +give her a college education. I never told you much about Miss Ward, +Miss Wilder. Let me tell you now." + +Miss Wilder listened attentively to Grace's eager outpouring. + +"Miss Ward's case has not yet been settled," she said slowly. "It rests +with me whether she shall remain at Overton. I will think over what you +have told me. I am not prepared to give you an answer now. Come to my +office at four o'clock to-morrow afternoon and bring Miss Ward with +you." + +"Thank you, Miss Wilder. Good night." + +Feeling that there was nothing more to be said, Grace rose and held out +her hand to the dean. The older woman took the hand in both of hers and +looked deep into Grace's honest eyes. + +"You are a true house mother," she said gently. "I know something of how +greatly Miss Ward has tried your patience, and if I do decide to give +her an opportunity to begin over again it will be largely because you +have asked me." + +When Grace let herself into Harlowe House a little later a hasty glance +into the dining-room revealed the fact that dinner was over. "I'll come +down and get mine after awhile," she decided, and ran upstairs to her +own room. + +"Well?" inquired Emma as Grace entered. + +"Pretty well," retorted Grace. "I won't know positively until to-morrow. +Is Miss Ward in her room?" + +"She is," stated Emma, "and, judging from the sounds, packing is in full +swing. I have heard her trunk lid banging frequently and wickedly, and +she is opening and shutting the drawers of her chiffonier in an anything +but gentle manner." + +"I must see her," declared Grace. + +"Then prepare to be greeted with an icy blast," predicted Emma. + +The next moment found Grace knocking on Evelyn's door. + +There was a rush of steps, the door was flung open and Evelyn faced her, +white and defiant. + +"Miss Wilder wishes you to be in her office at four o'clock to-morrow +afternoon. It will be to your interest to do as she requests," stated +Grace briefly. Without giving Evelyn an opportunity for speech she +turned and walked down the hall to her room. + +"Back so soon and no bones broken," commented Emma. + +Grace laughed a little in spite of herself. "Really, Emma, this is a +serious matter," she declared. "I'm not at all sure that Miss Wilder +will give Miss Ward another chance." + +"Don't think about it and she will. Worry over it and you'll defeat your +own hope. Think about your dinner instead. It's downstairs keeping hot +for you. I'll go down with you and entertain you while you eat. I have a +letter from Elfreda which I've been keeping as a surprise. There is +something in it that you will be glad to know." + +The "something" was Elfreda's announcement that Miriam had invited her +to go to Oakdale for the Easter holidays. + +"That settles it, Emma, you simply must come home with me!" exclaimed +Grace. "You know you delight in J. Elfreda." + +"I do, I do," solemnly agreed Emma. "I'll think it over, Gracious, and +if my finances can be stretched to cover my railroad fare I'll be 'wid +yez.' But who will look after the Harlowites if I fold my tents like the +Arabs and set sail for Oakdale?" + +"I don't know yet. Louise Sampson, perhaps. She is so capable and the +girls not only like her but respect her as well. I must talk with her +first. She may not wish to assume the responsibility. Then again she may +have other Easter plans. We shall manage, somehow, to arrange things +satisfactorily." + +Louise Sampson had no definite Easter plans, so she said, when Grace +broached the subject to her the following day. With never-failing +good-nature she readily agreed to take charge of Harlowe House during +the absence of Grace and Emma, provided Grace felt confident that she +was able to measure up to her responsibility. + +"I'm so thankful that's arranged," sighed Grace as Louise left her +office after luncheon to return to her classes. "I wish some other +things could be as easily disposed of." + +As she dressed that afternoon to go to Miss Wilder's office she was far +from joyous. She disliked the idea of meeting Evelyn in the dean's +office. She was confident that Miss Wilder would state frankly to Evelyn +why she had been spared. + +Her conjecture was only too well grounded. When Evelyn appeared in the +dean's office at precisely four o'clock, half anxious, half defiant, +Miss Wilder read her a lecture, the cutting severity of which caused +Evelyn to flush and pale with humiliation and anger. "Remember, Miss +Ward," she emphasized, "it is solely due to Miss Harlowe's intercession +in your behalf that I have decided to allow you to remain at Overton." + +"Oh, dear, I hope she isn't going to make Evelyn apologize to me," was +Grace's thought. "Why did Miss Wilder ask me to come here to-day?" + +As if in answer to her unspoken question, Miss Wilder went on to say, +"Miss Harlowe came to me last night and asked me not to send you home. I +requested her to be present to-day to hear what I wished to say to you. +I trust, Miss Ward, that, hereafter, you will see fit to observe the +rules of Overton College and live up to them, as a second infringement +of this nature will mean instant dismissal from Overton. That is all, I +believe." + +Thus dismissed Evelyn left the room without a word. + +Grace lingered for a moment's conversation with Miss Wilder, then left +the office and started across the campus for Harlowe House. Half way +there she glanced at her watch. It was not yet five o'clock. She would +have time to do a little shopping before dinner. Turning her steps in +the opposite direction she was soon hurrying along Overton's main +business thoroughfare. + +It was ten minutes to six when, her shopping done, she came within sight +of Harlowe House. She wondered if Evelyn were at home. Of late she had +been more intimate than ever with Althea Parker. As Grace walked into +the house and slowly up the stairs the pale face of Ida Ward rose before +her. She was glad that she had been able to avert the disastrous +consequences of Evelyn's disobedience so that Evelyn alone should +suffer. + +Entering her room she took off her wraps and began rearranging her hair +preparatory to going downstairs to dinner. The sound of footsteps in the +hall, the opening of Evelyn's door, then Evelyn's voice declaring +excitedly, "You can do it if you want to," caused Grace to lay down her +brush and involuntarily listen for a reply. + +It came, and in Mary Reynolds' distressed tones. "Oh, really, I +couldn't, Evelyn. Please, please don't ask me." + +"You must," Evelyn's command broke forth sharply. + +"I won't," Mary refusal gathered strength. "You have no right to ask me +and I have no right to do it." + +"Then you are not my friend if you don't do as I ask," flung back +Evelyn, "and I shall never speak to you again. Please go away and don't +ever come to this room again." + +"I am your friend," quivered Mary, "that's why I refuse to do something +which will surely make trouble for you." + +"How can it make trouble for me?" demanded Evelyn. "You know as well as +I--" + +But Grace, coming to a sudden realization that she was listening to +something not intended for her ears, sprang from her seat before her +dressing-table and went downstairs, wondering not a little what it all +meant. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A DOUBLE PUZZLE + + +Mary Reynolds slipped into her place at dinner that night with red +eyelids and a woebegone expression on her small face. Evelyn did not +enter the dining-room until after the others had began their meal. +Despite the air of careless indifference with which she took her seat, +Grace fancied she saw a gleam of anxiety in her eyes. From the few words +she had overheard she understood not only the meaning of Mary's +dejection, but also of Evelyn's anxious look. But what was it that +Evelyn had required of Mary and that Mary had bluntly refused to do? +Suppose Evelyn had involved herself in some fresh difficulty. To Grace +the thought was distinctly disturbing. Still she felt that it was not +within her province to interfere. After all it might be nothing of vital +importance, merely a girls' disagreement. + +Resolutely dismissing the matter from her mind, Grace thought no more of +it. That evening Evelyn came to her as she sat reading in the living +room and, in her most distant manner, notified Grace that she intended +to go to the dance to be given by the Gamma Kappa Phi, a Willston +fraternity, at their fraternity house. Miss Hilton, a member of the +Overton faculty, would chaperon her. There were four other freshmen +besides herself invited. + +Grace made no objection to Evelyn's announcement. After the severe +reprimand she had received it was hardly probable that Evelyn would +again misrepresent matters. Quite by accident the next day she +encountered Miss Hilton upon the campus, and the teacher confirmed +Evelyn's story by mentioning the dance and inquiring if Grace had been +asked to do chaperon duty. "I am surprised that you weren't," had been +Miss Hilton's comment when Grace answered that her services had not been +solicited. + +Grace had smiled to herself as she went on her way. She was not in the +least surprised at not being invited by Evelyn to play chaperon. She was +glad that she had not been asked. She decided that she would not have +accepted. The dance was to be held on the Friday evening of the +following week, and on the Saturday morning after she would be on her +way to Oakdale. + +How long and yet how short the days seemed that lay between her and +home. Long because of her impatience to see her father and mother, short +because of the multifold details to be attended to in Harlowe House. + +"I'm so tired," she sighed when, at seven o'clock on Friday evening, she +saw her trunk and Emma's safely in the hands of the expressman. "Thank +goodness our packing is done and gone and out of the way. Let's do +recreation stunts to-night, Emma. Suppose we call upon Kathleen and +Patience. Incidentally we can pay our respects to Laura Atkins and +Mildred Taylor. If they aren't busy we might have a quiet celebration +just for auld lang syne at Vinton's. We can be home by ten o'clock." + +"All right," agreed Emma, who knelt on the floor, her glasses pushed +above her forehead, wrestling valiantly with a refractory strap of her +suit case. A moment and she had buckled it into place with a triumphant +cluck. "There, that won't have to be done at the last minute. Shall I +telephone the girls that we are coming? It's after seven now." + +"Yes, do." + +Emma left the room returning shortly. + +"They are all at home. The sooner we reach Wayne Hall the sooner the +celebration will begin," she reminded. + +"Then we'll go at once." + +Five minutes later the two young women were on their way across the +campus. As they neared Wayne Hall a limousine passed containing Miss +Hilton, Althea Parker and a freshman friend of Evelyn's. Althea was +driving. She bowed curtly to Grace and Emma as her car whizzed by them. + +"They are going for Evelyn, I suppose," commented Emma. + +"Yes. Oh, bother!" exclaimed Grace, "I've forgotten a letter to Arline +which I must mail to-night. Will you wait until I go back for it?" + +With light feet Grace sped across the campus, letting herself into the +house with her latch key. As she stepped into the hall, a buzz of voices +caused her eyes to be fixed on the living-room. Through the parted +curtains she saw a dazzling figure which was standing in the middle of +the living room, surrounded by a group of admiring girls. + +It was Evelyn, looking like some wonderful fairy vision in a gown of +apricot satin and chiffon, embroidered with exquisite little sprays of +tiny rosebuds. The excitement of wholesale admiration had deepened the +blue of her eyes to violet and her usual expression of bored +indifference had changed to one of intense animation, due to her love of +adulation. Grace watched her fascinatedly for a moment, then, +remembering that Emma was waiting for her, she hurried on upstairs for +her letter and out of the house, unobserved by the group of girls in the +living room. + +"Was I gone long?" she asked as she rejoined her friend. "I stopped for +a minute in the hall to look at Evelyn Ward. She was posing in the +middle of the living room for the benefit of an admiring populace. She +is going to the Gamma Kappa Phi dance. Miss Hilton and Miss Parker and +some of our girls composed the populace. I suppose I ought to have gone +in and spoken to them instead of slipping out like a criminal, but I +didn't wish to lose time. Really, Emma, I can't begin to tell you how +beautiful Evelyn looked!" + +"Her white silk evening gown is a work of art. I wish I had a sister Ida +to sew for me," commented Emma. + +"Oh, she wasn't wearing her white silk. Her gown was apricot satin +and--" Grace came to an abrupt stop. "Why--she--that was a new gown. How +could she--" + +"Have a new gown when her sister is too ill to make it," supplemented +Emma dryly. + +Two pairs of eyes exchanged questioning glances. + +"She may have brought it with her when she came to Overton," said Grace. +"She is very secretive, you know. All along she may have been saving it +for some such occasion as this dance." + +"True enough," admitted Emma. "Always take people at their face value +until you find they haven't any," she added cheerfully. + +"I shall," declared Grace. "I'm not going to spoil my Easter vacation by +worrying over something that is really Evelyn's own affair." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE PUZZLE DEEPENS + + +Grace experienced a pleasure in being at home for Easter so deep as to +be akin to pain. When as a student at Overton she had traveled happily +home for her Christmas and Easter vacations there had been a difference. +Then, her classmates had much to do with making it easier to be away +from her adored father and mother. But now that she had bravely launched +her boat on the tempestuous sea of work, she found that home was a far +distant shore, for whose cheery lights she often yearned. To be sure +Emma was a never-failing source of consolation, but there were more +times than one when the clutching fingers of homesickness were at her +throat. + +To Mr. and Mrs. Harlowe, Emma Dean was an unfailing source of amusement +and delight. In Hippy, too, she found a kindred spirit, and when Elfreda +arrived the funny trio was complete. It seemed to Grace that she had not +laughed so much in years. Anne, Jessica and Reddy had not been able to +join their friends for the Easter holidays and were loudly mourned and +sorely missed. Tom Gray managed to come on for a two days' visit and +cause Grace the only unhappy moments she spent at home by again asking +her to give up her beloved work to marry him. + +"I'm so sorry for Tom," she confided to her mother, on the night before +leaving home to return to Overton, "but I can't give up my work, even +for him. Really and truly, mother, I wish I did love Tom in the way he +wants me to love him, but I don't. I feel toward him just as I felt when +I first met him. He's a good comrade; nothing more." + +"If you loved Tom, your father and I would be glad to welcome him as our +son, Grace," was her mother's quiet reply. "He is a remarkably fine type +of young man, but unless you reach the point where you are certain that +he is, and always will be, the one man in the world for you, you would +be doing not only yourself but him too, the greatest possible injury if +you promised to marry him." + +"That is just it!" exclaimed Grace. "I told him so, but I know that +didn't console him. Last June when I came home from Overton I thought +perhaps I might say 'yes' later on. But now that I've been working for +almost a year I find I'd rather keep on working. It would be dreadful, +of course, if some day I should suddenly discover that I did love him +enough to marry him and then he shouldn't ask me. That isn't likely to +happen. I don't believe I could give up my work for any man. My whole +heart is in it." + +In spite of her declaration of unswerving loyalty to her work, more than +once, Tom's fine resolute face rose before Grace on the return journey +to Overton. During the afternoon Emma, usually loquacious, became +absorbed in a book, so that Grace, who could not settle herself to read, +had altogether too much opportunity for reflection. + +She was inwardly thankful when the lights of Overton twinkled into view. +Emma was still deep in her book. "We are almost there, Emma," she +reminded. + +Emma glanced out of the window, then closed her book and began to gather +up her belongings. + +"I wonder how things are at Harlowe House," mused Grace, as they crossed +the station platform. "Come on, Emma. There's a taxicab just turning +into the station driveway." + +Three minutes later they were speeding through the silent streets. It +was after nine o'clock and there were few persons passing. + +"No place like home," caroled Emma as they let themselves into Harlowe +House. In the living-room they found Louise Sampson and half a dozen +girls. At sight of Grace and Emma, Louise came quickly forward. + +"We thought you would come!" she exclaimed, "so we decided to watch for +you. We have hot chocolate and sandwiches. Do say you're hungry." + +"We are ravenous," assured Emma, "and as soon as we make a trip upstairs +and dispossess ourselves of our goods and chattels we'll come to the +party." + +"Everything has gone beautifully," Louise confided to Grace, when later +she dropped down on the window seat beside her, where the latter had +established herself with a sandwich and a cup of chocolate. "Only one +thing bothered me, and that was the way Miss Reynolds moped. She and +Miss Ward had a quarrel and poor Miss Reynolds still goes about looking +like a red-eyed little ghost. No one can find out her trouble and no one +seems to be able to comfort her. One day last week I almost thought I +saw Miss Ward crying too, but I must have been mistaken. She is too +proud to cry over anything. There are several letters for you, Miss +Harlowe. I put them in the top drawer of your desk in the office." + +At the word "letters" Grace had risen to her feet. "You'll excuse me if +I go for them at once, won't you?" she asked. + +"Of course," smiled Louise. + +A goodly pile of letters met her eyes as she opened the drawer. Grace +ran through the envelopes with eager fingers. The square thin envelope +with the foreign postmark meant a letter from Eleanor Savelli. There was +one from Mabel Ashe and another from Mabel Allison, Arline Thayer and +Ruth Denton were also represented in the collection and on the very +bottom of the pile lay a square envelope addressed in Anne's neat hand. + +Grace pounced upon it joyfully, and, laying the others on the slide of +her desk, tore it open and became immediately absorbed in the closely +written sheets. When she had finished reading the letter she laid it +down, then picking it up again turned to a paragraph on the last sheet. + +"I promised to try to help Miss Ward," wrote Anne. "Well, I have +practically secured an engagement for her with Mr. Forest. It is an +ingenue part in 'The Reckoning,' which is to run in New York City all +summer, at his theater. If she can come to New York as soon as college +closes Mr. and Miss Southard wish her to stay at their home. We can soon +tell whether she can play the part or not. If she can't, Mr. Southard +will be able to give her 'bits' in his company, but the other part is by +far the best engagement if she can make good in it. Both Mr. and Miss +Southard say, however, that they must have a letter of consent from her +sister before they will undertake launching her in the theatrical world. +They will write her if Miss Ward wishes them to do so. It is a really +great opportunity for her. You know how easily and delightfully I earned +my way through college. Let me know as soon as you can, Grace, what she +wishes to do." + +Grace read this paragraph half a dozen times. Her other letters lay +unheeded before her. Finally she gathered them up and, with the open +letter in her hand, went slowly upstairs. At Evelyn's door she paused +and listened. She heard the sound of some one moving about within. Yes, +Evelyn was still up. Grace rapped boldly on the door. + +A moment and it swung open. Evelyn stood staring blankly at Grace. She +was wrapped in the folds of a pale blue silk kimono. Her hair hung in +loose golden waves far below her waist and she reminded Grace of the +beautiful Rapunzel of fairy tale fame who was shut up in a tower by a +wicked witch and forced each night to let down her golden hair so that +her dreadful jailer might climb up and into the tower window. + +"Miss Ward," began Grace, without giving Evelyn time to utter a word, "I +am sorry to disturb you so late in the evening, but I have very good +news for you. Miss Pierson has all but secured an engagement for you in +'The Reckoning,' a new play which is to run in New York City all summer. +Read what she says." + +Grace handed the sheet of paper to Evelyn. + +The girl stretched forth her hand mechanically for it. She +still regarded Grace dully. Then to Grace's utter amazement she +burst into tears. "I can't--take--the--engagement," she sobbed. +"I'm--not--coming--back--to--Overton--next year." + +"What can have happened to her!" wondered Grace. Aloud she said: "Don't +decide too hastily, Miss Ward. Take three or four days in which to think +things over. I'll come in and see you to-morrow." + +Evelyn made some incoherent response, unintelligible to Grace. The +latter realized that in her present state Evelyn could not be comforted. +It was best to leave her entirely alone until she had had her cry out. +To-morrow would be time enough to try again to try to discover what had +happened. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +TWO LETTERS + + +Shortly after Grace returned to her room Emma joined her. + +"Where did you go? You are not the only one whose correspondents rose +nobly to the occasion," she exulted, holding up several letters. "You +haven't read yours yet, have you. Let's get ready for bed, put on our +dressing gowns, and have a letter reading orgy." + +"All right," agreed Grace. "I've already opened one of mine. It was from +Anne. She sends her love to you, and what do you think, Emma?" Grace +lowered her voice. "She has secured a New York engagement for Evelyn +Ward. I saw Miss Ward to-night, but something is troubling her. When I +went to the door to tell her what Anne had done she began to cry. I +couldn't find out what ailed her, and the more I talked the harder she +cried. She said, however, that she couldn't accept Anne's offer. She +thinks she won't come back to Overton." + +"Happy Overton," commented Emma unsympathetically. "Now hurry into your +dressing gown and let's begin our letters." + +Evelyn appeared at breakfast the next morning looking weary and haggard. +Her face was very pale and her eyes were heavy. By night, however, she +seemed to have regained something of her old poise. Covertly watching +her, Grace noticed that for some unknown reason she was much subdued. +Several days afterward she came to Grace and finally refused Anne's +offer. "But are you quite certain that you are acting wisely, Miss +Ward?" Grace asked in perplexed amazement. "Last winter you were anxious +to go into dramatic work." + +"I have changed my mind," was Evelyn's sole reply. + +Grace wrote to Anne advising her of Evelyn's refusal, but adding that +she wished Anne would keep Evelyn in mind. "I can't help feeling that +she is acting against her real desires and that later she will realize +her mistake." + +The little that was left of April passed quickly. Life went on placidly +enough at Harlowe House, although Grace found few idle moments. With the +first of June she began a detailed report of her year's work to be +presented to the faculty and to Mrs. Gray. This report had not been +required of her. She was making it merely for her own satisfaction. With +her it was a matter of pride in having been a faithful steward. She had +tried to safeguard not only the interests of the girls under her roof, +but Mrs. Gray's interests as well. + +"I hope I've been a good house mother," she murmured wistfully, as, +seated in her office one bright Friday afternoon, she worked on her +report. The ring of the postman caused her to lay down her pen and hurry +into the hall. To her surprise she saw Evelyn Ward had forestalled her. +She had opened the door for the postman, and now stood rapidly going +over the pile of letters in her hand. Grace saw her separate two letters +from the pile. At this instant Evelyn glanced up. She uttered a sharp +exclamation of surprise when she saw Grace standing beside her. Two +letters fell from her hands. + +Grace stooped to pick them up. "Did I startle you, Miss Ward? I did not +mean to. I did not know you were in the house. I thought the girls had +gone to their classes." + +[Illustration: "Did I Startle You, Miss Ward?"] + +"I--I--am late," stammered Evelyn. "I'm going to my botany recitation in +a minute. I--expected a letter. Here is the mail." She thrust the +letters she had been holding into Grace's hand, and, turning, almost ran +up the stairs. + +For an instant Grace's eyes followed Evelyn's disappearing figure, then +she turned her attention to the letters. She still held the two she had +picked up from the floor in her one hand. Glancing at them she saw that +they were both addressed to her. No doubt Evelyn had intended to leave +them on her desk. Rapidly sorting the other letters she found another +for herself in Anne's handwriting. Placing the letters for the various +members of the household in the bulletin board Grace retired to her +office to read Anne's letter. + + "DEAREST GRACE: + + "Just a line to tell you that the part in 'The Reckoning' is still + open. Mr. Forest cannot find the type of girl he wishes for the + part. She must be dazzlingly, but naturally, blonde and very + beautiful. I am sure if he were to see Miss Ward he would engage + her at once, even though she has had no dramatic experience. Why + not let her read this note? Perhaps she may change her mind. She + will never have a better opportunity. I am ready and willing to + help her. Am writing in a rush. It is almost time for me to go on. + With much love. Will write more fully later. + + "Yours as ever, ANNE." + +Grace laid down the letter with a slight frown. Since Evelyn's first +refusal to consider Anne's proposal Grace had held little communication +with her. Of late Evelyn had gone about her affairs with a curious air +of repression, which reminded Grace of the terrible calm that so often +precedes a storm. + +"I'll watch for her when she comes in from her classes and give her +Anne's letter," said Grace, half aloud. She picked up the next envelope +and looked curiously at the unfamiliar writing. The postmark was all but +obliterated. Tearing the envelope she drew forth the letter, unfolded it +and read: + + "DEAR MISS HARLOWE: + + "More than once I have planned to write and thank you for your + goodness to Evelyn, but I have been so very busy that the time has + slipped by faster than I realized. Fortunately, for Evelyn and me, + I have had a great deal of work to do and have been in + exceptionally good health, so that it has been easier than I + thought to raise the money to pay her college fees. I will enclose + the second payment of her fee in a letter which I am writing to + her. I have mentioned in my letter to her that I have written to + you. I thank you many times for your goodness to my little sister + and trust that she has been truly appreciative of your kindness to + her. Trusting that you have been well and that you have met with + the greatest success in your year's work. With grateful thanks and + best wishes. + + "Yours sincerely, + + "IDA WARD." + +Grace read the letter through three times. When she raised her eyes from +it her face wore an expression of mingled horrified suspicion and +unbelief. Surely it could not be possible, and yet--before her mental +eyes flashed the vision of that wet January afternoon when she had come +back to Harlowe House from her Christmas vacation and had been greeted +by the sound of Evelyn's sobs as she passed her door. How she had gone +to Evelyn's room and there heard the pitiful story of Ida Ward's illness +and her failure to send Evelyn's college fees, and of how, through the +Semper Fidelis Fund, she had come forward and bridged Evelyn's +difficulty. + +What did it mean? "She must have--" muttered Grace. In her agitation she +spoke aloud. Then she stopped abruptly. She would not condemn Evelyn +without a hearing, but Evelyn would have to explain, if explanation were +possible. She laid the letter on her desk and turning away from it tore +open the last envelope, which bore the name of a business house in one +corner. It contained a bill from Hanford's, the largest department store +in Overton. At the bottom was written. "This account is long overdue. +Please remit at once." Grace had a charge account at Hanford's on which, +occasionally, she allowed certain girls in the house to buy goods, +merely as a matter of accommodation to them. Her gaze traveled down the +list of items in bewilderment. + +"Why!" she exclaimed. "I never bought a gown there that cost +seventy-five dollars, or silk stockings or a scarf. There must be some +mistake. I know that none of the girls have either. I haven't bought +anything since February. Let me see. It's only three o'clock. I think +I'll walk down to Hanford's and have the matter adjusted. I must see +Evelyn too, as soon as she comes in." + +Grace went upstairs for her hat and was soon on her way to the business +center of Overton. Her impatience to learn the truth received its first +check with the indifferent assurance of the clerk that Mr. Anderson, the +man in charge of the department of accounts, was busy upstairs. + +"Then I'll wait for him." With a sigh of resignation she sat down on the +oak seat just outside the office window to wait. + +It was twenty minutes past four when Mr. Anderson appeared. + +"I can't let you know about this at once," was the accountant's +discouraging response when Grace laid the matter before him. "We'll take +it up with the saleswoman, then write you." + +"Very well. I shall expect to hear from you within the next three days." +Grace turned away, far from satisfied. Yet there was nothing else to do. +Long since she had learned that the system employe of a department store +is a law unto himself, and as unchangeable in his methods as the most +stubborn Mede or Persian ever dreamed of being. + +And now for her interview with Evelyn. How could she best approach the +girl whom she suspected of having first shamefully betrayed her sister's +confidence, then purposely misrepresented matters to her? And what had +Evelyn done with the money? These and similar painful questions occupied +her thoughts so fully that she did not realize that she had reached +Harlowe House until she found herself ascending the front steps. + +Without giving herself time to consider delaying the disagreeable +interview, Grace hurried up the stairs. To her surprise Evelyn's door +stood partially open. She peered into the room, but it was empty of an +occupant. Stepping inside she glanced about her. Evelyn's hat was gone. +She had come in from her classes and gone out again. + +Grace went slowly downstairs. She was sorry that she had not been able +to have her talk with Evelyn before the others came in from their day's +recitations. She decided to wait until after dinner. When Evelyn went to +her room she would follow her there. The longer she delayed facing +Evelyn with her sister's letter the harder the task would become. But at +dinner time Evelyn's place was vacant. + +At ten o'clock that night she had not come in. + +Becoming alarmed Grace telephoned to Althea Parker to know if Evelyn +were with her. In reply to her anxious inquiry Althea declared she had +not seen Evelyn for two days. Uncertain as to the wisest course to +pursue Grace concluded to wait until Emma came in from an evening's +visit with Patience Eliot. + +It was almost eleven o'clock when Emma returned. + +"I'm so glad you've come," greeted Grace as her friend entered their +room. "Evelyn Ward hasn't come in yet and I'm worried about her. I saw +her this afternoon, but she hasn't been here since then." + +"Very likely she is with Miss Parker." Emma spoke in an unconcerned +tone. + +"No she isn't. I telephoned Miss Parker. She hasn't seen Evelyn for two +days." + +"She hasn't?" Emma glanced at Grace in surprise. The ring of anxiety in +Grace's voice had not been lost upon her. "What's happened, Gracious!" +she asked. + +For answer Grace handed Ida Ward's letter to Emma. "Read it," she +commanded. + +Emma read the letter. "Do you think--" she began. + +"What do _you_ think?" interrupted Grace. "What can one think? Evelyn +received her letter from Ida Ward before I received this. She knew that +this letter was on the way. This afternoon I found her at the door +sorting the mail. She had two letters in one hand, which she had +separated from the others. When she saw me she dropped the two. I +stooped to pick them up. Both of them were for me. I said, 'Did I +startle you, Miss Ward?' and she stammered something about expecting a +letter. She shoved the other letters into my hands and ran upstairs. I +haven't seen her since." + +"Who was the other letter from that she had picked out?" + +"Oh, it was a bill from Hanford's. I--" Grace stopped short and stared +at Emma. A horrible suspicion had seized her. She was afraid that she +now understood the meaning of the bill she had received. In one of those +curious, illumining flashes, which sometimes reveal in an instant what +seems hopelessly obscure, she had hit upon the truth. + +Briefly she outlined the situation to Emma, who had long been her +confidante. + +"You'd better let matters rest till to-morrow," advised Emma. "It's too +late to try to find her to-night. We would only create comment and +arouse suspicion if we telephone to the houses where her friends live. +It wouldn't surprise me if she had left Overton for good and all." + +"We must find her," declared Grace with decision. + +"What will you do with her if you do find her?" + +"I don't know. That will depend entirely upon her. You are right, +though, about waiting until morning. We must protect her from the +consequences of her own foolishness. For she isn't wicked, Emma. She has +been carried away by vanity and love of dress. Perhaps if we gave her +another chance she would live all this down and be a different girl." + +"Perhaps," Emma's tone was skeptical. "For the sake of the community at +large let us hope for this much-to-be-desired metamorphosis." + +But the next morning brought news of Evelyn in the shape of a letter +addressed to Grace, which came on the first delivery of the mail for the +day. With eager fingers Grace opened it. A slip of blue paper fluttered +to the floor as she unfolded it. Picking it up she saw it was a money +order made payable to Evelyn Ward, then she read: + + "DEAR MISS HARLOWE: + + "When you receive this letter I shall be far away from Harlowe + House. I have done dreadful things and I cannot face you. All I can + do is to go away where no one knows me, and begin over again. I + used the money Ida sent me in the fall for my college fees to buy + an evening dress. Then I told you that she was ill. I cried + purposely to gain your sympathy because I knew about the Semper + Fidelis Fund and was sure you would help me. I meant to pay it all + back to you, and so I am going to New York to get work and do it, + even though it takes me a long, long time. + + "But there is something still more dreadful to tell you. I wanted + another new evening gown to wear to the Willston dance. I had paid + my college fees for the year, so I thought I could take the money + that Ida sent me for my payment and buy a gown and other things + which I wanted. But Ida wrote and said she couldn't send the money + just then, so I went to Hanford's department store and bought the + things. I had them charged to your account. When the bill came I + was terribly frightened. I thought they wouldn't send it for a long + time. I just happened to see it in the bulletin board, so I took it + out and tore it up. + + "Then I went to Mary Reynolds and tried to get her to lend me some + of the treasury money until my money came, but she wouldn't do it. + That is why she cried so often. When the first of May came I + watched the bulletin board and took the bill again. It had + Hanford's address in one corner so I knew it. All the time I kept + hoping that Ida would send my money before it was too late. + Yesterday morning it came, but in her letter she said she had + written to you and told you how well she had been and about her + work. I knew it would be dreadful for me if you received her + letter, but I did not know when it would come, so I stayed away + from my classes and watched the mail. I had the letter from Ida and + the bill from the store in my hands when you surprised me this + afternoon. You picked them up before I had a chance to do so. Then + I knew that there was just one thing to do and that was to go away. + + "Please take the money order and pay the bill at the store. I will + pay Semper Fidelis as soon as I can. I will write Ida and tell her + how badly I have behaved, and when I go to work in New York I will + send for my trunk. It is packed and ready to be shipped. + + "Forgive me if you can. I am sorry for everything. I wish I had been + different. Good-bye and thank you for your great kindness to me. I + did not deserve it. Please don't try to find me. + + "Penitently, + + "EVELYN WARD." + +For a time Grace sat at her desk with the letter in her hand. Then she +stood up with the air of one who has come to a definite decision. "I'll +go to New York City to-day to look for her," she said half aloud. "I +believe she will try to get work at one of the theaters. Mr. Southard +and Anne will help me find her. She must come back to Overton. I feel +sure that she has suffered enough over this trouble to have learned her +lesson." + +Grace ran upstairs and burst into her room with, "Emma, Evelyn has gone +to New York! I'm going to take the next train there. Read this letter. +It will tell you everything. I haven't time. I must make that 9.15 +train." + +Grace was in the middle of a hasty toilet when a knock sounded on the +door. + +Emma answered it. + +"Here's a telegram for Miss Harlowe." The maid held out a yellow +envelope. + +Grace tore it open. One glance at the telegram and she began a joyful +dance about the room, waving it over her head. "Hurrah for Kathleen +West! She found Evelyn! Read it." + +She held the telegram before Emma's eyes. + + "Evelyn with me. Return Overton Sunday. All well + + "KATHLEEN." + +read Emma aloud. Turning to Grace she quoted with whimsical tenderness, +"To Kathleen West, girls, drink her down." Then with twinkling eyes she +added, "There's only one thing that I can say to express my sentiments, +and, with my sincerest apologies to the august faculty which trustfully +engaged me to teach English, I say it with heartfelt fervor, 'Can you +beat it?'" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +KATHLEEN WEST, CONFIDANTE + + +When Evelyn Ward left Grace Harlowe with the letters, which she had +tried so hard to obtain, in her possession, she had but one thought. +That thought was to leave Harlowe House before Grace realized the full +meaning of her guilt. For two days Evelyn's suit case had been packed +for just such an emergency. She had not been sure that she could stem +the tide of retribution that had set in against her, so she was prepared +to slip away if she failed to obtain the letters that meant her undoing. +Hardly had Grace reseated herself in her office when Evelyn, suit case +in hand, her hat on, the coat to her suit thrown over her arm, stole +stealthily down the stairs and let herself out of the house without a +sound. Once clear of the house she set off across the campus, almost at +a run, in the direction of the station. At four o 'clock there was a +train to New York. She had a little money. She would go there. Once +there she would try to get into a theatrical company. + +Arrived at the station she glanced fearfully about her. She did not wish +to meet any one she knew. Leaving her suit case in charge of the station +master she left the station and walked slowly up the street. She would +stroll about until almost train time. She had over an hour's wait. If +she encountered any of the students she knew on the street they would +attach no importance to seeing her. + +It was five minutes to four when she purchased her ticket to New York. +To her relief she had seen no one she knew. When the train pulled into +the station she was the first person to board it. She took a seat on the +side of the car farthest from the platform, so she did not see a slim +hurrying girl's figure rush madly down the platform, just as the train +was about to start, and swing herself up the car steps on the last +second, heedless of the warning expostulation of the porter. + +Torn with remorse for the past, fearful of the future, which, to her +overwrought imagination, crouched like a huge black monster ready to +spring upon her and engulf her in its cruel jaws, Evelyn watched the +swiftly passing landscape with unseeing eyes. When a voice from the seat +behind her suddenly addressed her with, "Good evening, Miss Ward," she +half sprang to her feet in blind terror. Turning, she found herself +looking into the keen, dark eyes of Kathleen West, the newspaper girl. + +"Oh--good evening," she faltered. + +"Going to New York?" was the brisk question. + +Evelyn nodded. + +"I'm coming into your seat. I hate riding alone in a train. I'm so glad +you are going the whole way." + +Evelyn made no reply. She wished Kathleen a thousand miles off. + +The newspaper girl scrutinized narrowly her companion's lovely set face. +Trained in the study of human nature she had learned to know the outward +signs of a perturbed spirit. Her straight brows knit in a puzzled frown. +Then, noting that Evelyn had colored hotly under the shrewd fixity of +her sharp eyes, she glanced carelessly away. + +Neither girl spoke for a little. Evelyn was wondering distractedly how +she could escape from Kathleen, when they reached New York, without +arousing suspicion on the part of the newspaper girl. Kathleen, whose +intuition as well as her eyes told her that all was not well with +Evelyn, racked her brain for the words which would tear down the wall of +stony reticence which this strange girl had built about herself. Try as +she might she could think of no effectual way to begin. Deciding to bide +her time she tried to rouse Evelyn's too-apparently flagging spirits by +a crisp account of a big newspaper story which she had run to earth +during her Easter vacation. At first she met with small success, but as +she talked on Evelyn grew interested in spite of herself and began +asking half timid, half eager questions about New York. Was it hard to +get work there? Could a girl live on six or seven dollars a week in a +large city? How did these girls go about it to find positions? In what +section of the city did most of the working girls, who had no homes, +live? + +Kathleen answered her questions imperturbably, telling of her own +experience in New York as a beginner of newspaper work. Later Evelyn +plied her with countless questions regarding the stage, its advantages +and disadvantages. The throb of anxiety in her voice was stronger than +her elaborate pretense of indifference. Figuratively, Kathleen pricked +up her ears. It was only when they had exhausted the subjects of the +working girl and the stage that she launched at Evelyn the seemingly +innocent question, "Where are you going to stay in New York, Miss Ward?" + +"I--why--" stammered Evelyn. + +"Do you expect to be met at the station? It will be almost midnight when +we reach New York, you know." + +"I know," muttered Evelyn. Averting her face from Kathleen she stared +out the window. + +"It's now or never," decided Kathleen. Her strong supple fingers closed +suddenly over one of the limp white hands that lay so helplessly in +Evelyn's lap. "Miss Ward," she said in a low tense voice, "something +dreadful has happened to you. I want you to tell me about it. Remember +this. No matter what it is, I am your friend. I feel sure that you are +going blindly and alone, to the coldest, cruelest city in the world and +I should never forgive myself if I allowed you to do it." + +Into Evelyn's eyes leaped indescribable terror as Kathleen's hand closed +over hers. For an instant she stared wildly at the newspaper girl, then +the stony reserve, with which she had bolstered herself, gave away, and +tearing her hands free she covered her face with them. + +Kathleen waited patiently till the tearless storm which shook Evelyn had +subsided a little. "Now tell me all about it," she urged gently. + +Evelyn's hands dropped from her face. The tortured look in her blue eyes +aroused all Kathleen's sympathy. Haltingly, tremblingly, bit by bit, +Evelyn told of the temptation to use her sister's hard-earned money for +fine clothes, and the gulf of deception and dishonesty into which she +had plunged by yielding to it. + +Kathleen listened without comment. When Evelyn had finished she said, +"You must go back to Overton, Miss Ward, and to Grace Harlowe. She will +forgive everything and set you right with yourself again." + +"Oh, I couldn't," protested Evelyn wildly. "She knows already how +dishonest I've been. I can never go back to Overton. I must stay in New +York and work and never see Ida or any one again. I have forfeited all +claim to friendship or love." + +"Nonsense! Just get rid of that idea as fast as ever you can. You are +going to my boarding house with me to-night. To-morrow we will go and +see Anne Pierson. I know where the Southards live. We will ask her to +get you an engagement. Perhaps you can meet Mr. Forest." + +"Miss Harlowe told Miss Pierson about me, and she wrote and offered to +get me an engagement," faltered Evelyn, "but I knew I couldn't take it, +so I refused. There wouldn't be any chance for me now. That was several +weeks ago." + +"There is sure to be something for you. You are beautiful, you know," +went on Kathleen in an appraising, matter-of-fact tone. "You are sure to +make good. You must. You're going to pay Semper Fidelis back as soon as +ever you can and you'll have to work hard and save your money." + +Forgetting for the instant her remorse and humiliation Evelyn clasped +her hands in an eagerness born of the desire to make reparation. "Oh, I +will!" Then her face clouded. "Miss Pierson won't care to help me after +the dreadful things I've done." + +"Who is going to tell her about them? I'm not. I know Grace Harlowe +won't. It isn't necessary for you to tell her either. It shall be a +secret among we three. I know Grace will say so." + +The two girls, so strangely brought together and united in this new bond +of fellowship, talked on. It was ten minutes to twelve when they reached +New York City. At the station they were met by a tall clean-cut, young +man with keen blue eyes. "Got your wire, Kathleen." He stooped and +kissed the self-reliant Miss West, who turned very pink. "I'll have to +explain," she smiled as she introduced him to Evelyn. "Mr. Vernon is my +fiancé, but don't you dare breathe it at Overton. Miss Ward won't be +able to see the persons she is to call upon until to-morrow. She's going +to my boarding house with me. You can call a taxicab and ride that far +with us." The newspaper girl's clever explanation bridged a yawning gap. + +Kathleen and Mr. Vernon kept up a steady conversation during the ride. +Evelyn sat silent, trying to realize just what had happened to her. She +experienced an immeasurable sense of relief, as though she had been +dragged, just in time, from the edge of a frightful precipice. Long +after Kathleen had gone to sleep that night she lay staring into the +darkness, wide-eyed and wondering at the goodness of this girl whom she +hardly knew, and into her heart crept a sudden revelation of what true +fellowship meant and was to mean to her forever afterward. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + +The following morning Kathleen took Evelyn to call on Anne Pierson at +the Southards. She gazed almost in awe at Everett Southard, while her +feeling of admiration for Anne was deep and abiding. Her undeniable +beauty was not lost upon Mr. Southard, who later confided to his sister +and Anne that Miss Ward was the most beautiful blonde girl he had ever +seen. After an hour's chat in the actor's big, comfortable library Mr. +Southard proposed that they call upon Mr. Forest that morning. Miss +Pierson had written Miss Harlowe about the part, he declared, to the +complete mystification of both Kathleen and Evelyn. He was glad Miss +Ward had been able to come. He was sure she would be exactly suited to +the part in "The Reckoning." Kathleen managed to shoot a warning glance +at Evelyn not to betray herself. Later, by adroitly questioning Anne, +she managed to put herself in possession of all the details concerning +the letter Anne had written to Grace. + +Mr. Forest quite fulfilled Mr. Southard's prediction. He could not +refrain from showing his satisfaction with Evelyn. Within half an hour +after entering his office she had signed a contract to play the part of +'Constance Devon' in the forthcoming production of 'The Reckoning.' + +"First rehearsal July 2d. Here's the part. Study it. Make these hardened +barnstormers help you," declared Mr. Forest with a dry chuckle, as he +handed her the part. + +"But how does he know that I can do it?" she questioned, half fearfully, +as they left the office. + +"He is going to take a chance," explained Mr. Southard. "In his own mind +he thinks you will do. He knows we will help you. You must work hard and +prove to him that he is right." + +To Evelyn the rest of that eventful Saturday seemed like a marvelous +dream. She had never before been in a large city, but despite her +interest in the sights and sounds of New York she could not help +thinking of how different it might all have been if she had not met +Kathleen. The busy, endless streets terrified her and the more she saw +of the great metropolis the less confidence she felt in her own power to +wrest a living from it, single-handed and alone. + +After leaving Mr. Forest's office they took luncheon at the Southards. +Mr. Southard and Anne had a matinee in the afternoon. That evening they +were to give the final performance of their season, which had run later +than usual. Kathleen had an assignment for her paper for the afternoon, +so Miss Southard took Evelyn to a matinee at one of the theaters. That +evening the little party met at six o'clock in Mr. Southard's dressing +room, where their dinner was brought in and served to them. Afterward +Kathleen, Miss Southard and Evelyn sat in a box and saw Everett Southard +and Anne in "The Merchant of Venice." + +After the theater came a little supper at the Southards' home to which +Mr. Vernon, Kathleen's fiancé, was also invited. Miss Southard had +insisted that Kathleen and Evelyn should be her guests for the remainder +of their stay in New York, and it was under the Southards' hospitable +roof that Evelyn fell asleep that night after one of the happiest, most +eventful days she had ever spent. + +Sunday morning soon slipped by. It seemed hardly half an hour from +breakfast until train time. The charming informality with which the +actor and his sister treated her made Evelyn feel as though she had +known them for a very long time. In the enjoyment of the moment she +quite forgot the real reason of her journey to New York, and it was only +when Miss Southard invited her to come to their home to live as soon as +college was over, in order that Mr. Southard might help her with her new +part, that the humiliating remembrance of her misdeeds returned to her +with sickening force. + +"You must write to your sister, my dear, and explain everything," said +Miss Southard. "If you will give me her address I will write to her too. +That is one point on which Everett is most particular. He would not +encourage a young girl to enter upon the life of the stage without the +full consent of her parents or guardian." + +When finally she and Kathleen had said good-bye to the Southards, who +had seen them to their train, and were settled for the long ride to +Overton, Evelyn faltered, "Kathleen, all the time I was with the +Southards I felt just like a traitor. Do you think I ought to have told +them everything? It's not fair to them to masquerade under false +colors." + +Kathleen eyed her companion searchingly. Evelyn's conscience was no +longer sleeping. It was now wide awake and tormenting her. + +"I'm glad you feel as you do about it, Evelyn," was her blunt rejoinder. +"It shows that you are on the right road. I don't believe it is +necessary for you to tell the Southards anything. Still there is another +person who must decide that." + +"You mean Miss Harlowe?" + +Kathleen nodded. + +"I can't bear to face her." Evelyn's voice sank almost to a whisper. + +"You are not the only one who has said that." There was a curiously +significant ring in Kathleen's voice that made Evelyn look at her in +mute inquiry. + +"Let me tell you of another girl who had to face the same situation." +Kathleen began with her entrance into Overton as a freshman and told +Evelyn the story of her hatred of Grace and her betrayal of Grace's +trust, of how Elfreda had shown her the way to reparation and the +gaining of true college spirit, and of how she had tried in a small +measure to redeem the past by writing "Loyalheart" as a belated tribute +to Grace. + +Evelyn listened with somber attentiveness. The past three days had +taught her more of life than had her entire eighteen years. She had +lately begun to see what college might mean to the girl who lived up to +its traditions. Until the moment of hearing Kathleen's story she had +felt that Grace Harlowe must despise her utterly. Now she fixed solemn +blue eyes on Kathleen. "Do you believe Miss Harlowe will ever forgive +me?" was her mournful question. + +"Of course she will. You don't know her as I do." + +Kathleen's emphatic assurance had a visibly cheering effect upon the +other girl. When they reached Overton, however, her dread of meeting +Grace returned with renewed force. "I can't face her to-night," she +pleaded. + +"We are going to Harlowe House now. Come on." Kathleen grasped Evelyn's +arm and piloted her up the street at a brisk pace. Neither girl ever +forgot that walk across the campus. + +"Here we are." They had mounted the steps of Harlowe House. Kathleen +rang the bell. + +A moment's wait and the door opened. Grace stood peering out at the two +girls. "I knew you'd come. I've been watching for you," she cried. She +held out her hands to Evelyn, who dropped her suit case and grasped them +with a half smothered sob. + +"Come up to my room." Slipping her arm about Evelyn, Grace drew her +toward the stairs. + +"Good night, Grace, I'll see you to-morrow." The vestibule door closed +with a decided click. Kathleen did not wish to be a third party. Grace +and Evelyn were better off without her. + +Once in Grace's room Evelyn broke down. "Oh, Miss Harlowe, can you, will +you forgive me?" she sobbed. + +"You mustn't cry so, Miss Ward," soothed Grace. "Of course I forgive +you. If Miss West had not brought you home to me I intended to go to New +York City to look for you. Remember, you are, and I hope will be until +your college days are over, a Harlowe House girl." + +"You are too good to me," sobbed Evelyn. + +Grace led her gently to a chair. "Sit down," she urged. + +Evelyn sank into the chair. "I can't come back to Overton next year." +Her head drooped in shame and humiliation. + +"You must," said Grace simply, "for your own sake as well as your +sister's. She must never be worried with the slightest inkling of what +has happened. It is to be a secret. Outside of Miss Dean and Miss West +no one except ourselves knows." + +"Miss Pierson and Mr. Southard took me to see Mr. Forest. He engaged me +to play a part in his new play 'The Reckoning,'" began Evelyn. "I--I +didn't--tell--the Southards--about--things. Kathleen wouldn't let me, +but she says I must tell them if you say so. I'd--rather. I--I want to +be--honest--now--and--and always." Evelyn's voice shook with the +intensity of her feelings. + +"Kathleen was right in not allowing you to tell them. You have suffered +enough, Evelyn. You must look to the future. Your work this summer will +make it possible for you to pay the money you owe Semper Fidelis and +your college expenses too." + +Grace's sensible, practical, words, went far toward restoring Evelyn to +her normal self. The two young women talked long and earnestly. It was +after eleven o'clock when Evelyn rose to go to her room. + +"I'll prove to you that I am worthy of your trust," she said with +shining eyes. "I'll make you and Ida proud of me yet." + +After she had gone to her room Grace sat for a little, her hands idly +folded, her thoughts on the girl who had found herself after many false +starts. How glad she was that everything had turned out so beautifully, +thanks to Kathleen's chance meeting with Evelyn. What a power for good +Kathleen had become. Yes, college was really the place where one +eventually found oneself. And now her first year of work was almost +over. Another week and she would be back in dear old Oakdale. With the +thought of home Tom Gray's earnest, boyish face rose before her. It cast +a faint shadow on the pleasure of the coming reunion with her family and +friends. She hated to feel that she was making Tom unhappy, yet she was +equally certain that, with her, work still came first. + +"I can't give up my work," she said aloud. + +"Well, who said you should?" demanded Emma Dean's matter-of-fact tones. +The door stood partly open and Emma had entered just in time to hear +Grace's emphatic utterance. + +"Has the prodigal returned?" + +"She has," smiled Grace. Grace recounted what had taken place that +evening. "Isn't it wonderful how college helps these girls to find +themselves, Emma?" she asked when she had finished her recital. + +"College and Grace Harlowe," declared Emma. + +"You mustn't say that," Grace colored and shook her head in emphatic +denial. + +"Oh, yes, I must, because it is the truth," insisted Emma. "Dear +Loyalheart, your Highway of Life led you back into the Land of College, +didn't it?" + +Grace nodded. "I'm going to stay in the Land of College too, Emma. I was +just thinking about it when you came in. That was what made me say, 'I +can't give up my work.'" + +"Overton needs you, and Harlowe House needs you, and Emma Dean needs +you, but are you sure that some one else does not need you more than we +do?" questioned Emma slyly. + +"That's three to one, Emma, and the majority rules," evaded Grace. "Will +you be my roommate, mentor and comforter next year?" + +"Most Gracious Grace, I will, and there's my hand on it." + +How fully Emma Dean kept her promise and what Grace's second year on the +campus brought her will be told in "Grace Harlowe's Problem," +the record of her further college life at Harlowe House. + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton +Campus, by Jessie Graham Flower + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN *** + +***** This file should be named 9901-8.txt or 9901-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/9/0/9901/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Ginny Brewer, Tom Allen, +Mary Meehan, David Newman 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 Return to Overton Campus + +Author: Jessie Graham Flower + +Release Date: January 28, 2007 [EBook #9901] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Ginny Brewer, Tom Allen, +Mary Meehan, David Newman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/roccover.jpg"><img src="images/roccover.jpg" alt=""/></a> +</div> +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + + +<h1>Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus</h1> + +<h3>By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M.</h3> + +<h4>Author of The High School Girls Series, The College Girls Series, etc.</h4> + + +<h4>PHILADELPHIA<br /> +HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY<br /> +<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1915</span></h4> + + + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="roc1" id="roc1"></a> +<img src="images/roc1.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>The Girls Worked Busily</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">A Midsummer Pilgrimage</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. <span class="smcap">A Welcome Guest</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. <span class="smcap">An Unexpected Caller</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. <span class="smcap">The Secret Session</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. <span class="smcap">The Way to Perpetual Youth</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. <span class="smcap">Jessica's Wedding</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. <span class="smcap">The Return of Emma Dean</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. <span class="smcap">A Strange Applicant</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. <span class="smcap">Mary Reynolds Makes a New Friend</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. <span class="smcap">The Thirty-Third Girl</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. <span class="smcap">Evelyn Ward, Freshman</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. <span class="smcap">The Harlowe House Club</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. <span class="smcap">Planning for the Reception</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. <span class="smcap">A Disquieting Thought</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. <span class="smcap">A Semper Fidelis Reunion</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. <span class="smcap">The Interrupted Confidence</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. <span class="smcap">A Week-End in New York</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. <span class="smcap">A Humiliating Reprimand</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX. <span class="smcap">An Unintentional Listener</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX. <span class="smcap">A Double Puzzle</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI. <span class="smcap">The Puzzle Deepens</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII. <span class="smcap">Two Letters</span></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII. <span class="smcap">Kathleen West, Confidante</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="#roc1">The Girls Worked Busily.</a></p> + +<p><a href="#roc2">"Why, Emma Dean!" Exclaimed Grace.</a></p> + +<p><a href="#roc3">"We Decided to Give Our Loyalheart a Loyalty Token."</a></p> + +<p><a href="#roc4">"Did I Startle You, Miss Ward?"</a></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>A MIDSUMMER PILGRIMAGE</h3> + + +<p>"Overton, at last!" exclaimed Grace Harlowe, as, regardless of possible +cinders and stern railroad injunctions, she leaned far out of the car +window to obtain a first eager glimpse of her destination.</p> + +<p>It was midsummer, and the quiet, little town of Overton drowsed gently, +not to awaken until the sounds of girl laughter and the passing of light +feet through its sleepy streets roused it to the realization that it was +Overton College that made its hum-drum existence worth while.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mrs. Gray, you can't imagine how happy I feel!" went on Grace, her +eyes eloquent with emotion. "Next to home, I love Overton better than +any other place on earth. I'm so glad we are going to stay at Wayne +Hall, and that Mrs. Elwood is to meet us."</p> + +<p>A long shrill whistle, a creaking and groaning of protesting iron +wheels, the stentorian cry of "Overton! Overton!" and then a sudden +jarring stop. Grace reached to the rack overhead for Mrs. Gray's small +leather bag, allowing the dainty little old lady to precede her down the +aisle which was practically clear. Apparently they were the only Overton +passengers in that car. She stood still on the top step of the train +until Mrs. Gray had been safely landed on the platform by the smiling +porter, then, disdaining his helping hand, ran down the steps with a +joyful skip that caused her companion to say indulgently, "You'll never +grow up, Grace, and I'm glad of it. I can't become reconciled to the +fact that Nora and Jessica are brides-to-be and that Anne's art is +making her terribly serious. It's a joy to my old age to see you frisk +about as happily as you did when you were a little thing in short white +skirts with two long braids of fair hair hanging down your back."</p> + +<p>"I don't really feel a bit older than I did then," confessed Grace. +"Sometimes I'm almost ashamed of my enthusiasm. It seems as though nice +things are always happening to me, and this summer pilgrimage of just we +two is the nicest of all."</p> + +<p>They were walking slowly across the deserted platform now, and Grace was +keeping a sharp look-out on all sides for the short, comfortable figure +of Mrs. Elwood.</p> + +<p>"There she is!" Grace hurried forward, her hands outstretched. The next +instant they were held in Mrs. Elwood's welcoming grasp, while she +kissed Grace's soft cheek.</p> + +<p>"My dear, dear girl!" she exclaimed, a suspicious moisture in her kindly +blue eyes. "It does seem good to see you again. I'm very glad to welcome +you to Overton, Mrs. Gray," she turned to shake hands with the donor of +Harlowe House, "and delighted to know that you are going to stay with me +instead of going to the Tourraine. Miss Harlowe's old room is ready for +her, and I'm going to put you in the room Miss Nesbit and Miss Briggs +used to have."</p> + +<p>"You'll be haunted by the kimono-clad shades of Miriam and Elfreda +drinking tea and eating cakes at unseemly hours of the night," laughed +Grace.</p> + +<p>"How are all my girls?" asked Mrs. Elwood. "I don't know what I shall do +without them this year. You will have to come and see me often and tell +me all about them, Miss Harlowe. Now let me see. There ought to be a +taxicab just the other side of the station. Yes, there it is."</p> + +<p>The driver touched his cap smilingly to Grace as they climbed into the +automobile, "It does look good to see you here again, miss," he said +respectfully.</p> + +<p>"Thank you. I'm glad to see you again." Grace beamed whole-heartedly +upon him. How many times he had carried her to and from the station. It +was he who had driven the car on that memorable day when Ruth Denton had +gone to the station to meet her father. Grace's eyes grew dreamy as they +passed through the familiar streets. How much had happened since the +time when she had entered Oakdale High School as a freshman with college +in the far and hidden future.</p> + +<p>To her many friends "<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe's Plebe Year at High +School</span>," "<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe's Sophomore Year at High School</span>," +"<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>" are now familiar records. +Equally well known to these friends is the story of her freshman year at +Overton, as set forth in "<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe's First Year at Overton +College</span>."</p> + +<p>Accompanied by her friends, Miriam Nesbit and Anne Pierson, Grace began +her freshman year at Overton College under a cloud which rose from her +ready defense of J. Elfreda Briggs, a disgruntled student who had made +enemies of two sophomores, and whose first days at college were made +very unpleasant by them. J. Elfreda's subsequent casting aside of her +friendship and her tardy realization of Grace's worth brought about a +happy ending of their freshman year.</p> + +<p>In "<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton College</span>" the four +girls set out to find the rainbow side of their sophomore year. How each +girl found it, but in an entirely different manner, how Grace lived up +to her resolve to choose only the highest in college, and how the famous +Semper Fidelis Club came into existence, made the sophomore year in +college memorable.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe's Third Year at Overton College</span>" told of what +befell the four friends as juniors. The advent of Kathleen West, a +newspaper girl, into college was the first link in a chain of petty +difficulties with which Grace was obliged to contend as a junior. The +carnival given by the Semper Fidelis Club in which the Alice in +Wonderland Circus was enacted, the important part which Jean, the old +hunter of Oakdale fame, played in one Overton girl's life, the message +Emma Dean forgot to deliver, and countless other absorbing incidents +served to fill their junior year with ceaseless interest.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe's Fourth Year at Overton College</span>" found Grace +and her friends on the homeward stretch with commencement at the end of +their college trail. The record of Grace's senior year was filled with +happenings grave and gay. It ended in a blaze of honor and glory, and it +was on Commencement day that she made her decision to return to Overton +and look after Harlowe House, lately completed and endowed by Mrs. Gray +in honor of her young friends and dedicated to the use of poor girls who +were making valiant efforts to obtain an education.</p> + +<p>It was in reference to Harlowe House, her future home, that Grace and +Mrs. Gray had made this midsummer pilgrimage, as Grace had laughingly +styled it, to Overton. As their car glided through the shady streets of +the dignified college town Grace wondered if it were really eight years +since her freshman days in Oakdale High School. It certainly couldn't be +four years since Mabel Ashe had conducted her and Anne and Miriam to the +Tourraine on that first eventful afternoon. She remembered just how +beautiful Mabel had looked in her white linen frock, with her white +embroidered parasol tilted over one shoulder, an effective frame for her +lovely face and wavy, golden-brown hair.</p> + +<p>"Dreaming, Grace?" Mrs. Gray's voice dispelled the vision. "I can't +blame you. I suppose this ride brings up hosts of memories."</p> + +<p>Grace nodded. She could not trust her voice to answer. A sudden mist +filled her eyes, a silent tribute to those whose feet had once kept pace +with hers through these beloved ways. Commencement had scattered them +broadcast. She, alone, was coming back again to take up life at the +college. How she would miss them all. The dry irresistible humor of Emma +Dean, the sturdy independence of J. Elfreda Briggs, the daintiness of +Arline Thayer and the steadfast loyalty of Ruth Denton. Last of all +there were Anne and Miriam. Anne, her devoted little comrade of years, +and Miriam, whose faith and good fellowship had never failed her.</p> + +<p>A sob rose in Grace's throat, but she quickly stifled it. After all she +was about to begin the work she herself had chosen. She had known when +she announced her determination to take charge of Harlowe House that +things could never be quite the same. It would be selfish, indeed, in +her to break down and cry when Mrs. Gray had come to Overton solely to +help her select the furniture and plan for the opening of Harlowe House +in September.</p> + +<p>Grace pulled herself together and, resolutely putting her own sense of +loss behind her, said steadily: "I couldn't help thinking of the girls +for a minute. It made me want to cry, but I've set my face to the future +now, and I'm sure that my new work is going to bring me as much +happiness here as I had during the other dear four years. When I think +of how splendid it was in you to give Harlowe House to Overton, I feel +as though there isn't any sacrifice too great for me to make to insure +its success, and I hope that my coming back to Overton Campus to do my +work is going to mean a thousand times more to me next June than it does +now."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>A WELCOME GUEST</h3> + + +<p>The summer sun, streaming intimately in at the window of her room, and +touching her hair with warm, awakening fingers, caused Grace to open her +eyes before six o'clock the next morning. She lay looking about her, +unable for the moment to remember where she was. Then she laughed and +reaching for her kimono, which hung folded across the footboard of the +bed, slipped it on, and, thrusting her feet into her bedroom slippers, +went to the window.</p> + +<p>"Dear old Overton Hall," she murmured, her eyes fixed lovingly on the +stately gray tower of the building that she had come to regard as a +close friend. Again she found herself overwhelmed by a tide of +reminiscences. How many times she and Anne had stood at the self-same +window, arm in arm, gazing out at the self-same sights. She could see +the very seat at the foot of the big tree where she had sat the day Emma +Dean had poked her head about the big syringa bush and mournfully handed +her the letter from Ruth Denton's father which had been buried in the +pocket of Emma's coat for so many weeks. She smiled as she recalled the +ludicrously penitent expression with which Emma had delivered the +letter. There were the library steps on which Arline Thayer had sat and +cried so disconsolately because she could not go home for Christmas. +Once more she saw a strange procession winding its way across the campus +headed by a walking, chattering scarecrow, Emma Dean again in her famous +representation of "Never Too Late to Mend," which had been one of the +great features of the Famous Fiction dance.</p> + +<p>Then she saw four girls, with their shining heads bared to the sun, +strolling across the campus, talking earnestly of what the future held +for them. And still again she saw them in caps and gowns marching toward +the Gate of Commencement. It was only a little time since they had +passed through that gateway, yet how long it seemed.</p> + +<p>Suddenly her look of abstraction changed to one of startled interest. +Running to the door she threw it open and listened intently. She heard +Mrs. Elwood's voice raised in pleased surprise, then, could she believe +her ears? she heard another never-to-be-forgotten voice say, "I could +see that there was some one awake and stirring."</p> + +<p>With a joyous cry of "J. Elfreda, where, oh, where did you come from?" a +lithe, blue-robed figure raced down the stairs and wrapped both arms +tightly about a plump young woman, in a tailored coat suit, who returned +the warm embrace with interest.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Grace, I can't tell you how glad I am to see you again!" exclaimed +J. Elfreda Briggs fervently. "I never was so glad in all my life as when +I found out you were here. The letter was forwarded to me at the beach. +We're at Wildwood for the summer. Maybe I didn't pick up my things in a +hurry. To use slang, which you know I can't resist using occasionally, I +hot-footed it for the station the minute Ma said I could come."</p> + +<p>"Which letter do you mean, Elfreda?" asked Grace in a puzzled tone.</p> + +<p>"Why the one from Mrs. Gray, of course," returned Elfreda. "Isn't she +here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but—"</p> + +<p>"Grace! Elfreda!" called Mrs. Gray from the head of the stairs, "come up +here, children."</p> + +<p>"Come on." Grace seized Elfreda's heavy suit case and started up the +stairs. Elfreda followed with alacrity. "Now," laughed Grace, as she +stepped into Mrs. Gray's room, "I demand an explanation." She laid her +hands lightly upon the old lady's shoulders, smiling down at her, then +bent and kissed her cheek.</p> + +<p>"This is certainly a happy meeting," declared Elfreda, as she embraced +Mrs. Gray, who rose to greet her.</p> + +<p>"I'm so glad you could come, my dear. I knew that Grace would miss her +friends dreadfully when she came back here. Anne and Miriam are both +away, and Nora and Jessica are too deep in the mysteries of hope chests +and wedding finery to be dragged off on even the most delightful of +midsummer pilgrimages. But my greatest reason for asking you to come was +because I believed you were the very person Grace needed to make her +happy here. You see it will take at least two weeks to set things to +rights and she must have inspiring company. I hope everything has +arrived safely. Suppose we hurry through with our breakfast and go over +to Harlowe House at once. Mrs. Elwood tells me that she informed the +caretaker yesterday of our coming. We shall be obliged to stop at his +house for the key."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Elfreda, I'm so sorry that you weren't with us in New York," was +Grace's regretful cry. "We stayed with the Southards, Mrs. Gray, Anne, +Miriam and I. Anne, Miss Southard and Mr. Southard left New York City +for California last week. Mr. Southard and Anne are to appear as joint +stars in film productions of 'As You Like It,' 'Hamlet,' 'King Lear' and +possibly other Shakespearian plays. It is their first experience in +posing before the camera. Anne sent you her love. She will write you as +soon as she is settled."</p> + +<p>"Dear little Anne," smiled Elfreda, her eyes growing tender.</p> + +<p>"I hope she'll be back in time for the girls' weddings. Nora and Jessica +say positively that they won't be married without her." Grace looked +anxious.</p> + +<p>"When are they to be married?"</p> + +<p>"The last of September. The date hasn't been set."</p> + +<p>"Grace," Elfreda fixed round solemn eyes on her friend, "do you feel +very old this summer?"</p> + +<p>"Not the least little bit. I can't realize that I've come back to +Harlowe House to take charge of it. I feel as young as I felt when I +first entered high school."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad to hear it, for, to save me, I can't feel responsible +and dignified. I've run and raced and swum and played golf like an +Indian all summer, and honestly I feel ever so much younger than when I +came to Overton four years ago. See how tanned I am? I haven't gained an +ounce either. I weigh just one hundred and thirty-five pounds and no +more," concluded J. Elfreda in triumph.</p> + +<p>"You are in splendid condition, Elfreda," praised Mrs. Gray. Grace +nodded emphatic approval.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm strong enough to hustle furniture, beat rugs, scrub floors, or +do anything else necessary to the beautifying and eternal improvement of +Harlowe House." Then she added slyly, "Lead me to it."</p> + +<p>"You'll be led to it fast enough," promised Grace. "Just wait until we +have some breakfast."</p> + +<p>At that moment Mrs. Elwood appeared in the open doorway. "Shall I bring +your breakfast upstairs this morning?" she asked. "I thought Mrs. Gray +might like to have it in her room."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, but I'd rather go downstairs this morning," nodded the +energetic old lady. "May we breakfast a la negligee?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, come down just as you are. There is no one here besides myself and +the maid."</p> + +<p>"Miss Briggs, have you had your breakfast? Jane is making waffles. I +thought you—"</p> + +<p>"Waffles!" exclaimed Elfreda, rolling her eyes in ecstacy. "If I'd had +fifty breakfasts I couldn't resist waffles. Thank goodness Vinton's +wasn't open."</p> + +<p>"Aren't waffles supposed to be fattening?" inquired Grace judiciously.</p> + +<p>"Don't ask me," was Elfreda's fervent protest. "I've set my mind on +eating them, even though I have to walk to Hunter's Rock and back in the +glare of the noonday sun to counteract their deadly effects."</p> + +<p>It was a merry trio that gathered around the table which Mrs. Elwood had +set on the roomy, vine-covered back porch, and it was fully an hour +after they sat down to breakfast before they rose to go upstairs and +make ready for their visit to Harlowe House.</p> + +<p>"There is no use in trying to begin our real work to-day," declared +Grace, as the three left Mrs. Elwood's and strolled slowly along College +Street in the direction of the caretaker's house. Mr. Symes, who had +faithfully executed so many commissions for Grace, had been selected as +the best possible person to look after the house. "Mr. Symes was to see +that everything was unpacked before we arrived. We shall have to employ +two men to move the heavy furniture. Thank goodness and Mrs. Gray, there +are no carpets to be laid. The floors are all hard wood and there are +rugs for every room except the kitchen and laundry."</p> + +<p>"I brought an old dress along," Elfreda informed her friends. "I helped +Ma set our cottage to rights this summer and I know something about +work. We had two maids and a scrubwoman. The maids were in my way, so I +sent them off for a holiday and the scrubwoman and I tackled the job and +went through with it like wildfire. Ma nearly had a spasm, but she liked +the looks of things when we had finished. You should have seen me, +though. Ma didn't like my looks. I guess I did resemble a human mop if +you know what that looks like."</p> + +<p>"I can imagine," laughed Grace. "If you attack the business of putting +Harlowe House to rights with the same energy, I shall know exactly how +you looked when you cleaned the cottage."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you will," Elfreda grinned boyishly. "I hadn't thought of +that."</p> + +<p>"You couldn't see that far ahead, could you?" quizzed Grace with +twinkling eyes.</p> + +<p>"No I couldn't," declared Elfreda earnestly, then, catching sight of +Grace's dancing eyes, she laughed good-naturedly. "You will tease me +about that. I can see that you'll never outgrow the habit."</p> + +<p>"I can see that Elfreda is going to lighten our labors and make our +tasks merry," smiled Mrs. Gray. "What a joy and a diversion you must +have been to Miriam."</p> + +<p>"I was anything but an unqualified source of pleasure during my freshman +year," replied Elfreda. "It is plain to be seen that Grace never told +you my early Overton history."</p> + +<p>"Now, Elfreda—" began Grace, but Elfreda was not to be thus easily +deterred from saying her say. She launched forth with a ludicrous +account of her freshman shortcomings that left Mrs. Gray and Grace +breathless with laughter.</p> + +<p>"Elfreda, it is hard to say which is funnier, you or Hippy," Mrs. Gray's +eyes twinkled with enjoyment.</p> + +<p>"Well, isn't it so?" demanded J. Elfreda. "Isn't that exactly the way I +used to do?"</p> + +<p>"It's what I call a highly exaggerated account of your self-named +misdeeds," returned Grace. "You haven't said a word about all the nice +things you did for the girls."</p> + +<p>"I don't remember them," evaded Elfreda hastily. "Oh, there's Mr. Symes +now! How are you, Mr. Symes? You didn't expect to see me here, did you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, well, if it ain't Miss Briggs," beamed the old man joyfully. His +remembrance of J. Elfreda was decidedly pleasant. She had always paid +him generously for the numerous errands he had run for her. He greeted +Grace with equal enthusiasm, and bobbed like a nodding mandarin before +Mrs. Gray.</p> + +<p>"I hope you have been well, Mr. Symes. How is your wife and how do you +like being caretaker of Harlowe House?" asked Grace.</p> + +<p>"I'm well, miss, and so's my wife. It's a fine place, miss, that Harlowe +House, an' it'll be finer still when fall comes and it's full of Overton +students. We're pretty proud of our young ladies, we Overton folks. +Excuse me, miss, I'll go over to my house and get the key. I'll be right +along."</p> + +<p>"He has a whole lot of real college spirit," commented Elfreda, "or he +couldn't speak so beautifully of the Overton girls."</p> + +<p>"He always was a perfect old dear," agreed Grace warmly.</p> + +<p>The caretaker soon overtook them with the key, and the little company +crossed the street and traversed the deserted campus.</p> + +<p>"How strangely still everything is," commented Grace. "Not in the least +like it was six months ago, is it, Elfreda?"</p> + +<p>"It gives me the blues," averred Elfreda in a low tone.</p> + +<p>"Here we are," called Mrs. Gray, with a cheery attempt at dispelling the +tiny cloud of dejection that had fallen over the two girls. "Harlowe +House couldn't have a prettier site."</p> + +<p>The three women followed Mr. Symes up the steps, then, as if by common +consent, turned and looked out over the green expanse of closely-clipped +lawn, sprinkled with sentinel-like old trees. They had stood guard year +after year and silently watched the comings and goings of the hundreds +of girls who proudly acknowledged Overton as their Alma Mater.</p> + +<p>"What's the use of gazing and mooning?" asked Elfreda, with sudden +brusqueness. "Please open that door, Mr. Symes. I shall certainly weep +and wail disconsolately out of pure sentiment if you don't distract my +attention with something else. Show me the furniture, or the boxes it +came in, or anything else that won't call forth tender reminiscences."</p> + +<p>Grace's laugh sounded a trifle shaky, but it was a laugh nevertheless. +Something in Elfreda's brusque tones acted as an antidote to her +retrospection. She had been more or less ghost-ridden ever since her +return to Overton. She now resolved to shake off that pleasantly +melancholy sensation and "be up and doing with a heart for any fate."</p> + +<p>The caretaker admitted them to a hall crowded with huge packing boxes. +In fact, the whole of the first floor was occupied by the large +shipments of furniture recently delivered into the care of Mr. Symes.</p> + +<p>"It's worse than the cottage," announced Elfreda; "a regular howling +wilderness. I'd like to know how we can possibly guess what's what and +why. These boxes all look alike. If we have our minds set upon seeing +the parlor suite, we'll be sure to unpack the kitchen furniture +instead."</p> + +<p>"We'll let the men wrestle with the unpacking, girls," decided Mrs. +Gray. "I don't wish my body guard to nurse wholesale bruises and smashed +fingers. Mr. Symes, can you have two men besides yourself here this +afternoon to unpack these things?"</p> + +<p>"I certainly can, Mrs. Gray," promised Mr. Symes with respectful +promptness.</p> + +<p>"Then we'll have to possess our souls in patience until to-morrow," +sighed Grace. "Isn't this a lovely, roomy house, Elfreda? I'm so glad, +too, that there isn't a prim, stiff parlor. I like this immense +living-room much better. The girls will surely like it. It will serve as +a library too. That little room just off the hall will make such a +convenient office for me. Imagine me as the head of a college house, +with an office all my own, Elfreda."</p> + +<p>"It's a good thing for the house," commented Elfreda. "I hope the girls +that live here will appreciate you, Grace. I hope none of them will be +as silly as J. Elfreda Briggs was."</p> + +<p>"Elfreda, how can you?" remonstrated Grace.</p> + +<p>"How could I, you mean," flung back Elfreda. "Because I was a spoiled, +selfish ingrate who never stopped to think of any one else's rights."</p> + +<p>"Now, now, Elfreda," protested Mrs. Gray.</p> + +<p>"Well, I was," insisted Elfreda positively. "It took a whole year to +reduce me to order. I wasn't as hopeless as some of the others. It took +three years to make Alberta Wicks and Mary Hampton real Overton girls, +and two years to instil college spirit into Kathleen West. But Grace +never gave any of us up, even though we treated her so shabbily. That's +why I just said I hoped that the girls would appreciate Grace. I'd hate +to think that some stupid ill-natured freshman, it's more likely to be a +freshman than any one else, would behave like an idiot and spoil her +first year at Harlowe House." There was an expression of anxious concern +on Elfreda's round face.</p> + +<p>"Don't worry, Elfreda," reassured Grace, "the students who come to +Harlowe House to live are sure to be nice. Girls who have their own way +to pay through college are usually cheerful and unselfish. They are +anxious to live and willing to let live."</p> + +<p>"I don't know about that. Kathleen West wasn't a glaring pattern of +amiability when she entered Overton," reminded Elfreda. "Of course she's +now a brilliant example of what forbearance will accomplish, and you +know that I am very fond of her, but you and I remember what we went +through during the forbearing process."</p> + +<p>"Don't croak, J. Elfreda Briggs," admonished Grace lightly, "I don't +imagine that everything will be plain sailing this year. That would be +asking too much. Still I hope I shall not have any serious +misunderstandings with my girls. I'm going to remember my motto, +'Blessed are they that have found their work,' and not shirk anything +that comes within the line of it."</p> + +<p>"I guess there isn't the slightest danger of shirking on your part," was +Elfreda's dry retort. "I hope the men that do the unpacking of this +stuff will be imbued with the same spirit. You'd better bring out that +motto and hang it up where they can see it. To change the subject, we +haven't been upstairs yet."</p> + +<p>"Come on, then."</p> + +<p>"I think I'll wait for you on the veranda, children," said Mrs. Gray. +"Don't stay upstairs too long. I should like to go back to Mrs. +Elwood's, telephone for a taxicab, and make a call upon Dr. Morton this +morning."</p> + +<p>"We'll hurry," promised Grace, as they ascended the open staircase which +led to the second floor. "These are to be my quarters," she announced, +opening a door at the end of the hall on the left side of the stairs. +"This left wing was designed especially for me. The right wing has the +same amount of space, but it is divided into two bedrooms. But the left +has a sitting-room and bedroom, with a bathroom between the two. It +seems selfish in me to have so much room, but Mrs. Gray insists that I +need it and wishes me to be thoroughly comfortable. She wanted me to +have circassian walnut bedroom furniture, but I chose oak. I don't wish +my rooms to suggest luxury. It wouldn't seem in touch with the spirit of +my undertaking."</p> + +<p>Elfreda regarded Grace with loving admiration. "You're the squarest, +fairest girl I ever knew or even expect to know, Grace," was her +tribute. "And you deserve the best that the Harlowe House girls can give +you."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>AN UNEXPECTED CALLER</h3> + + +<p>"'And if I do say it as shouldn't,' this room is a credit to our college +and our own sweet native land," proclaimed Elfreda, as she viewed with +critical eyes the long cheerful living-room, to which she and Grace had +just put the final touches. The morning sunshine of a perfect midsummer +day poured in at the windows flooding the scene with dazzling light, as +though smiling its approval of the pretty room. The walls and ceilings +were papered in cream color with a running border of green leaves. The +floor rug was in two shades of green, and the window draperies were in +green and white. The furniture was in mission oak, but there were +several comfortable arm chairs and willow rockers scattered about the +room. A long library table took up considerable space at one end of the +room, and conveniently near it were rows of book shelves, lined with +special books required by the Overton curriculum of study, which, in +price, were out of reach of the more impecunious students, and were in +such constant demand at the library that their temporary possession +often meant weeks of waiting.</p> + +<p>There was a piano, of course, but the crowning feature of the room, +however, was the wide window seat built across the bow-window at its +upper end. It was at least four feet wide, upholstered in thick green +velvet and piled high with sofa pillows. It was indeed a cozy corner +which invited rest, and Elfreda confidently predicted that it would be +the most popular spot in the house.</p> + +<p>The house itself had not followed the usual plan of modern architecture. +In fact, it was distinctly old-fashioned and built for room rather than +effect. The hall ran the length of the house to the kitchen, dividing it +into two parts. The dining-room was on the side opposite the +living-room, and had also a bow-window. Directly behind it lay the +servants' quarters. Adjoining the living-room was Grace's little office +and behind that was a room furnished with every convenience for the +benefit of those girls who were obliged to launder their own clothing to +save expense.</p> + +<p>The second, third and fourth floors were, with the exception of Grace's +suite, given up entirely to bedrooms, of which there were sixteen. This +meant the accommodation of thirty-two students for whom the perplexing +problem of food and shelter was solved for their entire four years' +course at Overton, provided they complied with the rules of Harlowe +House.</p> + +<p>"Doesn't it seem wonderful, Elfreda, that through Mrs. Gray's generosity +the girls who come here will be free from the dreadful worry of paying +board? All they will have to look out for is their regular college fees, +and if they happen to be lucky enough to enter Overton on scholarships +they will have absolutely plain sailing." Grace's face was alight with +appreciation of Mrs. Gray's gift.</p> + +<p>"What a pity Ruth Denton couldn't have had such a chance," mused +Elfreda. "Poor little Ruth, how hard she worked."</p> + +<p>"And now she has everything," returned Grace. "It seems miraculous that +she found her father, doesn't it?"</p> + +<p>Elfreda nodded. "Arline Thayer was good to her those first three years. +Do you remember the ridiculous quarrel they had because Ruth wouldn't +tell us what she was like when she was a little girl?"</p> + +<p>"I ought to remember it, considering the fact that I officiated as peace +maker," smiled Grace. "How I shall miss Arline. There is only one other +girl, outside of you and Miriam and Anne, whom I shall miss as much."</p> + +<p>"Emma Dean?" guessed Elfreda.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Emma Dean. I can't begin to tell you how fond of her I am and +always have been. She was the life of Wayne Hall. Mrs. Elwood was +sighing fond remembrance of her only this morning. Really, Elfreda, I +wonder if, ever again, there will be a class quite like 19—?"</p> + +<p>"Never," declared Elfreda with quick loyalty, then, glancing up at the +mission clock on the wall, she exclaimed: "I wonder why Mrs. Gray +doesn't come! Let's go out on the veranda and watch for her."</p> + +<p>The two young women strolled out onto the veranda just in time to see an +automobile drive up to the house containing two persons. One of them was +Mrs. Gray, the other, to whom she was talking animatedly, was a +broad-shouldered young man, whose gray eyes shone with pleasure as he +caught sight of Grace.</p> + +<p>"Why, Tom!" she called in astonishment. "Where did you come from? I +thought you were away up in Maine." She hurried down the steps, her +hands extended.</p> + +<p>The young man caught them in his and held them fast. "So I was," he +answered, his eyes searching hers, "but my work there is done for the +present. I am on my way to Washington, but it's a roundabout way, for, +when I received your letter, I was devoured with curiosity to see +Harlowe House, so I took a day off, on my own responsibility, and came +this way."</p> + +<p>Grace colored under the young man's ardent gaze. She knew only too well +that it was not alone curiosity to see Harlowe House that had taken Tom +out of his way. "I'm sorry your curiosity didn't devour you sooner," she +retorted mischievously. "If only you had come here last week! You could +have made yourself invaluable. However, you are in time to meet Elfreda, +at least."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Tom," declared his aunt, "you can't afford to miss knowing +Elfreda. She is the counterpart of Hippy, and has kept Grace and I in a +perpetual state of smiles during the past two weeks."</p> + +<p>Tom helped his aunt out of the automobile and the three walked slowly +toward the veranda where Elfreda stood waiting. A moment later she and +Tom were shaking hands and declaring that, having heard so much of each +other from Grace, they were really old acquaintances.</p> + +<p>"When are you going home?" Tom asked, as half an hour later, the party +paused in the living-room after a tour of inspection which included the +four floors.</p> + +<p>"That is the main subject under discussion at present," smiled Grace. +"It must be very soon. If not to-morrow, then the day after. Here we are +fairly into August and I have spent a very short time with Father and +Mother. Then, too, the Phi Sigma Tau has a great many mysterious rites +to observe before two of its members enter into that state known as +matrimony. Also we expect Eleanor Savelli soon. She and her father and +aunt are going to be at 'Heartease' for two or three months. Mabel +Allison and her mother are coming east, and the Southards are coming +home with Anne when their motion-picture work in California is done. I +could go on naming plenty of other reasons, but those are the really +important ones."</p> + +<p>"I should say they were important ones," agreed Tom. "It sounds as +though there were to be some lively times in Oakdale. I'm going to try +to make my vacation cover the weddings. I can't allow the Originals to +get married, celebrate or jollificate without me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Tom, will you really?" cried Grace with enthusiasm. "I'll let you +know the moment the date of the girls' weddings is set."</p> + +<p>"Can you stay over until to-morrow, Tom?" asked Mrs. Gray. "Then we can +go back to Oakdale on the late afternoon train."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid not, Aunt Rose, I'm a day late now. I'll have to take the +night train for Washington. Let me see." He drew a time table from his +coat pocket. "There is a train out of Overton at nine o'clock to-night. +I'm due to catch it. But I'm going to take you all to dinner at the +Tourraine and we are going for a drive afterward which will end at the +station, where you will all see me on my desolate way. Are there any +objections?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing but delighted acceptances, my dear boy," assured his aunt, +glancing fondly at her big, good-looking nephew. "I'll venture to answer +for the girls, too."</p> + +<p>"We'll come to Tom's dinner party, provided he has luncheon with us," +stipulated Grace. "It's almost noon now. Mrs. Elwood will have luncheon +ready at one. You'd better come with us, Tom. We are going to have +strawberry shortcake with whipped cream, for dessert."</p> + +<p>"You couldn't lose me," asserted Tom with slangy emphasis. "Shall I go +on ahead and telephone for a car, Aunt Rose?"</p> + +<p>"No, I'll walk to Wayne Hall with you children," decided Mrs. Gray.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if there is anything else to be done," murmured Grace, +surveying the living-room with anxious eyes. "Oh, my motto. It must hang +directly above the archway."</p> + +<p>"Where is it?" asked Elfreda. "We have time to put it up before we go to +luncheon, and plenty of skilled laborers." She cast a laughing glance at +Tom.</p> + +<p>"It isn't made yet," confessed Grace. "Eva Allen's brother, who is an +artist, is illuminating one for me."</p> + +<p>"What is your motto, Grace?" asked Tom interestedly.</p> + +<p>"'Blessed are they that have found their work,'" repeated Grace, her +eyes on the spot where she intended the precious motto to hang. Mrs. +Gray had walked on into the hall, so there was only one pair of eyes to +see the sudden tightening of Tom's lips and the look of wistfulness +which crept into his face, and that pair of eyes belonged to Elfreda.</p> + +<p>"He cares a whole lot more for Grace than she cares for him," was +Elfreda's quick appraisal. "At heart, Grace is still a little girl, and +will be for a long time to come. I hope when she does wake up it won't +be another prince who will do the awakening."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>THE SECRET SESSION</h3> + + +<p>"I feel more as though I were getting ready for a funeral than about to +give a dinner for the Eight Originals," sighed Grace Harlowe, as she +joined her mother on the shady front porch, a little white and gold work +bag, which Miss Southard had brought her from Paris, swinging from her +arm. "I can't realize that, within the next week, Nora and Jessica are +actually going to become Mrs. Hippy Wingate and Mrs. Reddy Brooks. It +seems ridiculous. Why it's only yesterday that Jessica's hair hung down +her back in two braids, and Nora wore curls and short dresses."</p> + +<p>"I can't imagine Hippy in the role of a dignified bridegroom," smiled +Mrs. Harlowe. "He is far more likely to convulse the wedding party and +upset the whole solemn service than to conduct himself with strict +propriety."</p> + +<p>"He insists that he will cover himself with glory if Reddy doesn't look +at him, and Reddy insists that he will sit and stare him out of +countenance. David is to be Hippy's best man and Tom Gray Reddy's, while +Jessica is to be Nora's maid of honor and Nora Jessica's matron of +honor. She's to be married first, you know. Mabel, Anne, Miriam Nesbit, +Eleanor Savelli and I are to be the bridesmaids at both weddings," went +on Grace. "We'll have a reunion of all our friends. The Gibsons are at +home, Judge Putnam and his sister are coming down earlier from the +Adirondacks; then there are Eleanor and her father, Miss Nevin and the +Southards. Every one who has played an active part in our home lives +will be on hand to see the girls married."</p> + +<p>"But how can Nora go away on a wedding journey and be Jessica's matron +of honor, too?" asked Mrs. Harlowe.</p> + +<p>"She and Jessica went over that point a dozen times. You see Nora's +wedding takes place in the morning. She is going to have a wedding +breakfast, then she and Hippy will go to the mountains for a week. They +will return to Oakdale on the day of Jessica's wedding, and leave for a +long trip west the next morning. That was the best way they could carry +out a compact they made last June to serve as maids of honor for each +other."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Harlowe listened to Grace's flow of eager talk with a smile of +content on her fine face. To her fond eyes Grace looked absurdly +immature in her simple frock of white dotted swiss. She was secretly +glad that Overton, rather than marriage, had claimed her alert, +self-reliant daughter for another year. Like every other mother she +wished some day to see Grace happily settled in a home of her own, but +she preferred to think of that someday as being still far distant.</p> + +<p>Grace took out of her bag a guest towel she was embroidering. It was the +last of the half dozen towels she had worked for Jessica's hope chest. +She was not fond of needlework. She preferred to spend her spare time +playing golf and tennis, or riding and walking. This, as well as the +hemstitched table cloth and napkins she had completed for Nora, was a +labor of love. Now as she bent painstakingly over her work, she smiled +to herself and wove a tender thread of loyalty and love into the +pattern.</p> + +<p>A long clear trill caused her to raise her head quickly and spring to +her feet with, "Here they are, at last!" She ran to meet them.</p> + +<p>Three girls, or rather three young women, came loitering through the +gate and up the walk, laughing gayly at something the girl in the center +was relating for their benefit. "Now what has Hippy done?" guessed Grace +shrewdly.</p> + +<p>"You might know it was something about him," said Jessica Bright. "This +time it was a case of what was done to him. Tell the lady all over +again, Nora."</p> + +<p>"It certainly was funny," dimpled Nora. "You see, Grace, Hippy and Edith +and I were going for a ride, last night, in his new car. We waited and +waited for him and couldn't imagine why he didn't come. About ten +o'clock he came tearing along at a speed that would have made a traffic +officer turn pale. Edith and I were still sitting on the porch. I +pretended I was dreadfully offended until he told me where he had been, +then Edith and I laughed until we almost cried."</p> + +<p>"Where had he been?" asked Grace curiously.</p> + +<p>The three girls giggled in unison.</p> + +<p>"Locked in the cellar," returned Nora mirthfully. "He was all ready to +go for his car when he happened to remember that he wanted a wrench from +the tool chest in the cellar. His father is away this week and there was +no one in the house but the cook. She was all ready to go away for the +evening, too. She didn't know Hippy was in the cellar, so she locked all +the doors, the cellar door included, and went on her way rejoicing. +Hippy said he pounded and shouted and howled and wailed and pounded some +more. Can't you imagine just how funny he must have looked? He couldn't +climb out of the cellar windows, for they are too small and he is too +fat, so he had to stay there until almost ten o'clock. He says he sat on +the cellar steps most of the time and thought of the happy past. At last +the cook came home and when he heard her walking around upstairs he +pounded and shouted again. She thought he was a burglar, just as though +a burglar would make all that noise, and wasn't going to let him out. He +insists that he ruined his voice forever in trying to convince her that +he was himself. He says his frenzied pleadings finally touched her +adamant heart, and she opened the cellar door very cautiously at the +rate of about a sixteenth of an inch per minute."</p> + +<p>Grace laughed with the others, as Nora finished. "Poor Hippy," she +commented, "he is always falling into difficulties. I must ask him about +his evening in the cellar."</p> + +<p>"Yes, do," urged Nora. "He tried to swear Edith and me to secrecy, but +we refused to be sworn."</p> + +<p>"It will make Reddy so happy," laughed Anne.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Anne, dear, you don't know how splendid it seems to have you home +again!" exclaimed Grace. "It's just like old times. I can't help feeling +sad though. We thought when we were graduated from high school that our +parting of the ways had come, but now that we are all standing on the +verge of our life work, it seems to me that this is going to be the real +parting. I can't help wondering if things will seem quite the same again +when we gather home next year."</p> + +<p>"Of course they will," declared practical Nora. "Grace Harlowe, don't +you dare to grow gloomy and retrospective. We four are chums for life, +and not all the weddings and stage careers and Harlowe House positions +in the world can change us."</p> + +<p>"I know they can't. I won't make any more excursions into the Valley of +Doubt," promised Grace.</p> + +<p>They had stopped on the walk to talk, now they moved slowly toward the +veranda, four abreast, a bright-eyed, happy quartette. Mrs. Harlowe +greeted her daughter's friends as affectionately as though they were her +own children. "Did you bring your work, girls, or is it to be a case of +idle hands?"</p> + +<p>"Idle hands!" exclaimed Nora. "Far from it. Jessica has a blouse to +finish and I have innumerable initials to embroider."</p> + +<p>"I am the only idle one," confessed Anne. "I am sorry to say that I +haven't the least desire to be industrious. I prefer to sit with my +hands folded and watch the rest of you work. It sounds lazy, doesn't +it?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it," declared Grace loyally. "You've done your work, Anne. +It's time you took a rest. Make yourselves comfy, girls. Here, give me +your hats and parasols. I'll put them in the hall."</p> + +<p>In a moment Grace returned, and sitting down by Nora, who had stationed +herself in the big porch swing, she picked up her work and began to +embroider industriously.</p> + +<p>For the space of half an hour the little company worked busily, keeping +up a running accompaniment of merry conversation broken with light +laughter. It was Nora's quick eyes which first saw Grace lay down her +work with an impatient sigh. An instant later Grace discovered that +Nora's industry was flagging. Mrs. Harlowe had just gone into the house. +Anne was leaning back in her chair, her eyes fixed dreamily upon the far +horizon, while Jessica, alone, plodded patiently along, too much +absorbed in the development of the butterfly pattern she was +embroidering to note that two of her companions were lagging. A sudden +silence fell upon them all. It was broken by Nora's quick tones. "I'll +take it all back," she averred. "I'm strictly in favor of idle hands. +Let's put our work away and go for a walk!"</p> + +<p>"For this brilliant idea, we thank you," returned Anne, coming out of +her dream in a hurry.</p> + +<p>"Why not walk over to the old Omnibus House," suggested Grace.</p> + +<p>"Brillianter and brillianter," nodded Nora. "What could be more fitting +than to make a pilgrimage to the scenes of our high school days? I +haven't been there in ages."</p> + +<p>"Neither have I," was Grace's quick response. "It's only half-past +three. We'll have plenty of time to go there and back before dinner. The +boys won't be here until six o'clock. You know that Tom Gray arrived +yesterday, I suppose? That makes the Eight Originals complete. We'll +have to do without the Plus Two, because Miriam hasn't come home yet and +Arnold won't be here until the night before Nora's wedding."</p> + +<p>"How I miss Miriam," sighed Grace.</p> + +<p>"We never dreamed when we were freshmen that she would ever be our close +friend, did we?" asked Nora.</p> + +<p>"She's a dear, and no mistake," agreed Jessica. Then, her glance +straying to Anne, "What makes Anne look so mysterious?"</p> + +<p>Anne smiled. "I'll tell you the most surprising secret you ever heard, +but not until we get to the Omnibus House and are seated in a row on the +old stone steps behind it."</p> + +<p>"Then let's away!" exclaimed Nora. "We won't need our hats. Two parasols +will be enough to shade us from the sun."</p> + +<p>Five minutes later the four girls trooped down the steps and strolled +through the familiar streets in the direction of their old playground. +The afternoon sun beamed so gently and kindly upon them that it was not +long before they closed their parasols and walked with their heads +uncovered to his tempered rays. To see a bevy of girls walking in the +quiet streets of the little city without hats was the commonest sight, +and the quartette attracted little attention as they sauntered along.</p> + +<p>After leaving Oakdale behind, it was not more than ten minutes' walk +across the fields to the quaint old stone house which had been the scene +of so many of their high school revels.</p> + +<p>"What a lot of good times we have had here," mused Nora reminiscently, +as they paused before the quaint old building, that had once been a +tavern, and was, goodness knew, how many years old. "Shall you ever +forget the time we buried the hatchet?"</p> + +<p>"Never!" chorused three emphatic voices.</p> + +<p>"Wasn't Julia Crosby too ridiculous for words?" declared Jessica. Her +smile of recollection was reflected in the faces of her friends.</p> + +<p>"That reminds me," remarked Nora, "I have something to tell you girls +too."</p> + +<p>"Let's have a 'secret' session," proposed Jessica. "Every one who wishes +to attend must be ready to tell a secret the moment we sit down on the +steps."</p> + +<p>"'A secret is a secret, only, when known to three persons, two of which +are dead,'" quoted Anne mischievously.</p> + +<p>"These secrets mustn't be the heart-to-heart, +keep-it-to-yourself-forever kind," stipulated Nora. "They mustn't be of +the complex variety either. Dark secrets are also strictly tabooed from +this session."</p> + +<p>"Stop laying down rules and regulations," laughed Grace, "and let us +form our secret row. I am eaten up with curiosity to know what Anne and +Nora know."</p> + +<p>"Are you eligible?" quizzed Nora. "That is the important question. Anne, +you must head the row. You began this session."</p> + +<p>Anne complied obediently.</p> + +<p>Nora sat down beside her.</p> + +<p>Grace stood eyeing Nora thoughtfully. Then her eyes sparkled. "I'm +eligible," she announced as she made a third.</p> + +<p>"So am I," declared Jessica a trifle soberly, taking her place at the +other end of the row.</p> + +<p>"Ladies and no gentlemen," announced Nora, rising and bowing profoundly +to the three girls, "the great secret session of the four inseparables +is about to begin. Remember, you are not limited to one secret. If you +happen to know several, now is the time to tell them. Go ahead, Anne."</p> + +<p>Nora seated herself again and with the eyes of her chums fixed +expectantly upon her, Anne began the secret session.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>THE WAY TO PERPETUAL YOUTH</h3> + + +<p>"This isn't a secret that any one told me," stated Anne. "It's something +I found out for myself. One of the two persons it concerns doesn't know +it yet. Perhaps she will never know."</p> + +<p>"How mysteriously interesting," commented Nora. "Hurry on with it, Anne. +Who are the persons concerned?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Southard and"—Anne paused briefly to give due effect to her +words—"Miriam."</p> + +<p>A ripple of surprise passed along the row.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Anne?" was Grace's quick question.</p> + +<p>"I mean that for nearly four years Mr. Southard has cared for Miriam," +replied Anne steadily.</p> + +<p>Nora's puckered red lips emitted a surprised whistle.</p> + +<p>"This <i>is</i> news," averred Jessica. "But Miriam could never care for him. +He is so much older."</p> + +<p>"How old do you imagine Mr. Southard to be, Jessica?" asked Anne slyly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know. He must be—"</p> + +<p>Jessica paused reflectively. Then a sudden look of astonishment passed +over her face. "Why how funny! He isn't really old. I don't believe he +is as old as thirty-five, but he <i>seems</i> older."</p> + +<p>Anne nodded. "He is thirty-three. That isn't very ancient, is it?"</p> + +<p>"Miriam is twenty-four," mused Grace aloud. "She is so brilliant, +self-possessed and stunning that one feels as though she were even older +than that. I know she is very fond of the Southards, but I don't believe +she suspects that Mr. Southard—"</p> + +<p>"She doesn't," put in Anne eagerly. "He has been careful that she +shouldn't. I believe Miss Southard knows, but she would never say so, +even to me. Do you remember the time we went to New York City for +Thanksgiving, when we were freshmen at Overton, Grace? Well, it began +then. I know him so thoroughly that I could see things that you girls +couldn't. After that I took particular pains to notice the way he acted +toward Miriam whenever they met, and, as Elfreda says, I could see his +love for her grow and deepen. He cared a great deal last commencement, +and he was so dreadfully afraid she'd find out that he actually kept +away from her."</p> + +<p>"I remember that," interposed Grace. "Miriam noticed it, too. She told +me that she was afraid she had in some way offended Mr. Southard, for he +treated her with almost distant courtesy. I suppose he imagines himself +as being too old for Miriam."</p> + +<p>"This <i>is</i> an interesting secret and no mistake," said Nora, wagging her +head with satisfaction, "but what about poor Arnold Evans?"</p> + +<p>"You are running ahead too fast, Nora," smiled Anne. "Remember Miriam +doesn't suspect that Mr. Southard loves her. The chances are she doesn't +nor never will care for him. But I'll be generous and tell you another +secret. Miriam and Arnold aren't the least bit in love with each other."</p> + +<p>"Do you know, Anne, I've always thought that, too," agreed Grace. "They +have always acted more like two good comrades."</p> + +<p>"Exactly," replied Anne, "but, as far as I am concerned, girls, to me it +would be a wonderful thing if some day Everett Southard and Miriam +Nesbit should decide that they were necessary to each other's welfare. +They are so admirably suited in temperament, disposition, and all that +goes toward making two persons absolutely happy."</p> + +<p>"Hear the sage expound life and love," giggled Nora. "What about poor +David's future happiness?"</p> + +<p>Anne flushed. "I can't answer that question," she said, after a little +pause. "It does sound rather silly for me to go on talking about the +love affairs of others when I can't settle my own. Not that I love David +less, but acting more," she finished almost tremulously. "I move that we +go on to the next secret."</p> + +<p>"Mine is about Julia Crosby," began Nora, "and I can tell you in few +words. She's engaged to a Harvard man."</p> + +<p>"Really!" exclaimed Grace delightedly. "Where did you see her, Nora? I +didn't know she was at home."</p> + +<p>"She came home from the mountains yesterday. I saw her in Carlton's, +that new confectioner's shop on Main Street. We had a sundae together +and she told me all about it. She has known her fiancé for two years. +She met him at a Harvard dance. He was graduated last June from the +Harvard law school. The engagement hasn't been formally announced yet. +She's going to give a luncheon to announce it. She wanted me to be sure +and tell you three girls. She is coming to see you soon, Grace."</p> + +<p>"I'll receive her with open arms," assured Grace.</p> + +<p>"That was a nice secret," commented Anne. "Now, Grace."</p> + +<p>"Our fairy godmother is coming to dinner to-night."</p> + +<p>"Hurrah!" cried Anne, standing up and waving her hand. "I didn't know +she was within two hundred miles of Oakdale. It seems years instead of +weeks since I saw her. When did she arrive in Oakdale?"</p> + +<p>"This morning. She telephoned me. In my last letter I mentioned my +dinner to you girls, and said I wished she might be here too. She came +home from the seashore a week earlier so as not to miss it. She didn't +say not to tell you. I had been holding it back as a surprise. It served +me in good stead by making me eligible to Secret Row."</p> + +<p>"Last but not least, Jessica," reminded Nora briskly.</p> + +<p>"I was going to tell you this evening when we were all together, and +Reddy promised to help me, but, somehow, I'd rather tell you now, while +we are together on these dear old steps where we've had so much fun."</p> + +<p>Something in Jessica's tone caused the eyes of her friends to search +hers inquiringly. It carried with it unmistakable regret. It presaged +parting.</p> + +<p>"Reddy and I aren't going to live in Oakdale this winter. We—we—are +going—to—Chicago to live."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Nora ejaculated, drawing her breath sharply. "Oh, Jessica!"</p> + +<p>A painful silence fell upon the row of girls, whose voices had only a +moment since rung out so gayly.</p> + +<p>Nora sat staring straight ahead of her with quivering lips. Of the three +girls she would miss Jessica the most sorely. Grace, too, felt that +dreadful sense of loss, of which she had complained earlier in the +afternoon, stealing down upon her. Anne's face wore a look of loving +concern, but an expression of resignation to destiny, which was likely +to lead one to the ends of the earth, lurked in her somber eyes. She had +learned young to bow with the best possible grace to the inevitable.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a half-stifled sob broke the oppressive quiet.</p> + +<p>"Nora, you mustn't," protested Jessica weakly, but Nora's curly head was +already resting on Grace's comforting shoulder, and an instant afterward +Jessica sought the consolation of the other shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Girls, girls," soothed Grace, an arm around each, "you mustn't cry." +Nevertheless she experienced a wild desire to lift up her voice and +lament with them. "I know you looked forward to being together this +winter. It's terribly disappointing, but you can write letters and visit +each other, and next summer, Jessica, you must arrange to come to +Oakdale and stay all summer. Why didn't you tell us before?"</p> + +<p>"Reddy didn't know it until yesterday," faltered Jessica. "His father +has taken over a large business there and he wants Reddy to manage it +for him. Reddy's mother doesn't want to live in Chicago, so Mr. Brooks +wants Reddy to go."</p> + +<p>"It's the real parting of the ways," said Grace softly to Anne.</p> + +<p>Anne nodded. "Still, if we had our choice as to whether we would like to +go back and live over our past or go on, I am sure we'd choose to go +on," she said thoughtfully. "Don't you think so, Grace!"</p> + +<p>"Of course we would," agreed Grace cheerfully. "Good gracious, girls!" +she exclaimed in sudden consternation. "Whose familiar figures are those +coming across the field? It must be later than I thought."</p> + +<p>Nora's and Jessica's mourning heads bobbed up from Grace's shoulders +with simultaneous alacrity.</p> + +<p>"Hippy!" gasped Nora. "Do I look as though I'd been crying? I wouldn't +have him know it for the world."</p> + +<p>"Reddy!" recognized Jessica. "Are my eyes a sight?"</p> + +<p>"Also David and Tom," added Anne. "No, children, you haven't wept enough +to permanently disfigure your charming faces. If the boys had not +appeared we might now be weeping in a melancholy row. I had no idea that +Jessica's secret was to be a positive tragedy."</p> + +<p>"Neither had I," responded Grace soberly, laying an affectionate hand on +Jessica's arm.</p> + +<p>There was no time for further remarks on the subject, for the four young +men were crossing the last field in record time. As they neared the row +of young women Hippy Wingate picked up his coat and pirouetted toward +them, a wide smile on his round face, as he chanted gayly in a high +voice:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Children go, to and fro<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In a merry pretty row;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Faces bright, all alight,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">'Tis a happy, happy sight.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Swiftly turning round and round,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Do not look upon the ground;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Follow me, full of glee,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Singing merrily."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>With each line of the song Hippy executed a most astonishing figure, +ending on "merrily" with a funny pas-seul that turned the sorrow of the +lately disconsolate audience to laughter.</p> + +<p>"How did you like that?" he inquired affably, as he landed directly in +front of the steps. "Shall I sing the chorus now or would you prefer to +hear it later."</p> + +<p>"Later, by all means," flung back Nora.</p> + +<p>"As you please. As you please," returned Hippy with a careless wave of +his hand. "I am not chary of my art. I ask for but one recompense."</p> + +<p>"There he goes," groaned Dave Nesbit.</p> + +<p>"I'm not going," retorted Hippy, with dignity. "I'm standing perfectly +still. However, I did not come away out here in this field to quarrel +with you, David Nesbit. I came because I am a—"</p> + +<p>"Nuisance," suggested Reddy.</p> + +<p>"Precisely. No, I don't mean anything of the sort. I am not a nuisance. +A nuisance is a tall, thin, conceited person with flaming red hair, pale +blue eyes, a freckled nose and a slanderous tongue. His name begins with +R and he is—"</p> + +<p>Without finishing his sentence Hippy took to his heels and disappeared +around the corner of the Omnibus House, with an agility worthy of a +better cause.</p> + +<p>"I'll see that he keeps at a safe distance from us till we start for +Grace's," was Reddy's grim comment. "You'll see his head appear at that +corner in a minute, and then, look out!"</p> + +<p>They waited in mirthful silence. True to Reddy's prediction Hippy's +round face was suddenly thrust into view. Reddy leaped toward him. There +was a horrified, "Oh, dreadful!" from Hippy, and the sound of running +feet.</p> + +<p>"He's afraid of me," boasted Reddy in a purposely loud tone.</p> + +<p>"Don't you ever believe it," contradicted Hippy's voice. "I like the +view from this side of the Omnibus House. I think Nora would like it, +too."</p> + +<p>"Such thoughtfulness is rare," jeered David.</p> + +<p>"'Tis better to have thought such thoughts, than never to have thought +at all," retorted the voice plaintively.</p> + +<p>"Let's eradicate him from the face of the earth, Reddy," proposed David. +"He's a blot upon the community."</p> + +<p>"No-r-a," wailed the voice, "aren't you going to help your little +friend!"</p> + +<p>"Rescue him, Nora," declared David disgustedly. "That's the reason he +created all this disturbance."</p> + +<p>Nora dimpled, the pink in her cheeks deepening.</p> + +<p>"Yes, do," urged Grace. "It is high time for us to start home. We must +be there to receive Mrs. Gray."</p> + +<p>"She sent me on ahead," informed Tom. "I wanted to wait and bring her +over in my car, but she is going to have Haynes bring her over in the +carriage."</p> + +<p>Nora disappeared around the corner of the house, but reappeared +immediately, leading by the hand a broadly smiling Hippy, who carried a +huge bouquet of buttercups and daisies in his free hand and cavorted at +her side as joyously as the proverbial lambkin on the green.</p> + +<p>"You can lead the way with him, Nora," directed David. "I wouldn't trust +him to bring up the rear. Reddy and I want him where we can keep an eye +upon him."</p> + +<p>"Certainly we shall lead the way," flung back Hippy, "but not because +you say so. Our superior rank places us in the front row of the +procession. Come on, Nora. May I sing and dance? I haven't sung the +chorus yet, you know."</p> + +<p>Without waiting for permission Hippy pranced ahead of her on his toes, +swaying from side to side and scattering the flowers from his bouquet, +his voice rising in a falsetto chorus of:</p> + +<p>"Singing merrily, merrily, merrily, Follow me, full of glee, Singing +merrily."</p> + +<p>"He'll never grow old," said Anne, as she watched Hippy's ridiculous +performance.</p> + +<p>"Neither will the rest of the Eight Originals," reminded Grace loyally. +"Remember, we have a Fairy Godmother who has taught us the secret of +perpetual youth."</p> + +<p>"What's the secret?" asked David innocently. He was fond of hearing +Grace's enthusiastic views of things.</p> + +<p>"Never lose one's grip on life," she answered simply.</p> + +<p>And as the Eight Originals strolled home through the radiant sunset, in +each young soul stirred the resolve to take a firm grip on life and keep +eternally young at heart, no matter what the years might bring forth.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>JESSICA'S WEDDING</h3> + + +<p>"Jessica Bright, you will never look prettier in your life than you do +to-night!" exclaimed Grace Harlowe, as she stood off a little from her +friend and gazed at her with loving eyes.</p> + +<p>A wave of color dyed Jessica's pale cheeks. "I'm so glad that you think +so," she breathed. "Do you know, girls, I have always hoped that I'd +look nicer on my wedding day than at any other time. I'm glad I decided +to have a green and white wedding, too."</p> + +<p>"You always used to say that you were going to have a pink rose +wedding," reminded Anne. "What made you change your mind?"</p> + +<p>"Promise you won't laugh and I'll tell you," said Jessica solemnly.</p> + +<p>It was the evening of Jessica's wedding and Mabel Allison, Anne Pierson, +Miriam Nesbit, Eleanor Savelli, Nora, now Mrs. Hippy Wingate, and Grace +gathered about their friend with voluble promises of eternal secrecy. +They were in Jessica's room saying good-bye to Jessica Bright, so soon +to become Jessica Brooks.</p> + +<p>"I changed my mind," informed Jessica impressively, "on account of +Reddy's hair."</p> + +<p>"'On account of Reddy's hair,'" repeated Grace. "Why—" Then, catching +Nora's eye, she laughed.</p> + +<p>"You know how dreadfully pink and red clash," Jessica went on, with a +faint giggle, "but I had never thought of it until one night when Reddy +was sitting on our porch. He wrapped my pink scarf around his neck just +for fun, and I made up my mind then and there not to have a pink +wedding. Finally, I chose green and white, and I'm glad now, because he +will look so much nicer."</p> + +<p>"I think that was very sweet in you, Jessica," said Eleanor Savelli +decidedly.</p> + +<p>"Some of us ought to tell Reddy of Jessica's thoughtfulness," teased +Anne.</p> + +<p>"Just as though any of you would," replied Jessica, fondly surveying the +smiling faces of her friends.</p> + +<p>"You are very sure of us, aren't you, Jessica?" said Grace gayly.</p> + +<p>"And always shall be," answered Jessica simply. "Do you remember, girls, +when I was about fourteen how frightfully sentimental I used to be. I +read every love story I could lay hands on. I was forever imagining my +wedding day. My bridegroom was always tall and dark, with piercing black +eyes and a kingly air, and I always pictured myself as wearing a pink +satin dress and being married in church. Sometimes fate parted us at the +altar and sometimes we lived happily ever afterward. I used to plan that +on the day of my wedding I would lock myself in my room, put on my pink +satin dress and sit all day in rapt meditation. I would eat nothing, and +see no one, not even father, until the moment when I swept grandly out +into the hall and down the stairs to my carriage. Of course, I was +transcendently beautiful and there I were always two or three +disappointed lovers, who came to the church and cast sad, yearning eyes +upon me as I glided up the center aisle with my hero. I never dreamed, +then, that Reddy Brooks, my schoolmate and playfellow, was to be my +destiny," she continued, her eyes growing tender, "or that I should +begin my journey with him in our dear old parlor, surrounded by my +chums. I haven't the least desire to sit alone and moon and meditate. I +want all of you with me. It seems the most natural thing in the world +that I should walk down the same old stairs to the same old parlor to +meet the same old Reddy, just as I've done dozens of times before."</p> + +<p>"It's five minutes to eight, girls," announced Miriam Nesbit. "Say +good-bye to Jessica Bright, and don't one of you dare to shed a tear."</p> + +<p>One after another the girls embraced Jessica. Nora was last. She and +Jessica remained in each other's arms for a long, sweet moment. Their +devotion was as deep and true as that which existed between Grace and +Anne.</p> + +<p>"Here are the flower girls. It's time, Jessica," said Grace softly, as +the two little girls who had been chosen to act in that capacity entered +the room accompanied by Ellen, the Brights' old servant, who had been in +the household since Jessica's babyhood. They were pretty, dark-haired +children, cousins of Jessica's, and wore white lace frocks over pale +green silk. On their heads were wreaths of tiny double white daisies and +they carried small baskets filled to overflowing with the same flower.</p> + +<p>Quietly the little procession began to form. Nora, as matron of honor, +followed the flower girls. She wore her wedding gown of white satin, and +carried a huge armful of white roses. Then came the bride. As Grace had +said Jessica would, in all probability, never look lovelier than in her +wedding dress of white satin. Her veil of wonderful yellow-white old +lace, was an heirloom, Jessica being the fourth bride in the family to +wear it, and her bouquet was a shower of lilies of the valley. Jessica +possessed a dazzlingly white skin, and the purity of her complexion had +never showed to better advantage. Her deeply blue eyes were dark with +reverence and her whole face radiated a tender happiness that made it +rarely lovely. The bridesmaids wore gowns of white chiffon over pale +green chiffon which blended into a misty, sea-foam effect. Dainty +girdles of palest green satin and exquisite hair ornaments composed of +tiny chiffon flowers and satin leaves, together with white satin +slippers and white silk stockings, completed their costumes, and they +carried shower bouquets of white sweet peas.</p> + +<p>Down the stairs swept the bridal procession to the strains of +Mendelssohn's wedding march played by the orchestra, stationed in a +palm-screened corner of the wide hall. It was the same old orchestra +which had become so closely identified with the good times of the Eight +Originals during their high school days. Jessica had declared laughingly +that it would seem almost a sacrilege to think of being married to the +strains of a wedding march that was not played by them. At the foot of +the stairs the bride was met by her father, and the wedding party moved +slowly into and down the long parlor to the bow window at the end of the +room which had been transformed into a fairy bower of green. Before a +bank of ferns, white roses and white sweet peas stood the old clergyman +who had said the last solemn words over Jessica's mother years before, +and who had come from another city, many miles distant, to marry Jessica +and Reddy. Here it was that the bridegroom, accompanied by his best man, +Tom Gray, awaited his one-time playmate, his boyhood friend, his first +and only sweetheart, who had now come in all the bravery of her wedding +finery to place her hands, trustingly, confidently in his for the +journey over the untrodden trail they were to blaze together.</p> + +<p>A soft murmur that was almost a sigh went up from the assembled guests +as Mr. Bright handed his most precious treasure into the keeping of the +man who had claimed her for his own, and the beautiful Episcopal ring +service began. Jessica's responses were clear and unfaltering, while +Reddy's firm earnest tones carried conviction of the sincerity of his +vows. Notwithstanding the fact that the appellation of "Reddy," by which +he was known throughout Oakdale, arose from his unmistakably red hair, +Lawrence Brooks looked singularly handsome on his wedding night and the +expression of proud affection in his eyes, as he took Jessica's hand, +was plainly indicative of the love he bore her.</p> + +<p>The moment the ceremony was over Reddy kissed Jessica, who lifted loving +eyes to his, then, turning, wound both arms about her father's neck. The +bridesmaids quickly hemmed them in and the guests crowded about them to +offer their congratulations. Only the intimate friends of Reddy and +Jessica had been invited to attend the ceremony, Mrs. Allison, the +Southards, the Putnams, Mrs. Gibson, Eva Allen and James Gardner, Julia +Crosby, Marian Barber, Mrs. Gray, Miss Nevin, Guido Savelli, Arnold +Evans, Donald Earle, the immediate families of the bride and groom and +the families of the rest of the Eight Originals Plus Two.</p> + +<p>The reception, which was to begin at half-past eight, included the +greater part of Oakdale's younger set, and before it was over Reddy and +Jessica were to slip away and motor to the next town, there to catch the +night train to New York. From there they were to take a boat bound for +the West Indies where they had planned to spend a month's honeymoon, +then journey to their Chicago home.</p> + +<p>"Well, Reddy," declared Hippy condescendingly, when, a little later the +Eight Originals stood near the flower bank indulging in a brief old-time +chat before the arrival of the reception guests, "I must say that you +did very well, and Jessica, too." He beamed on the bride, with a wide +patronizing smile that caused her new dignity to vanish in a giggle of +ready appreciation of the irrepressible Hippy. "I hoped that you, Reddy, +would glance at me for inspiration. There you stood, like a wooden +Indian, I mean a marble statue, and never winked. But as you stood there +a beautiful thought came to me. I understood precisely why the name of +'Reddy' was appropriate to you. The electric light shone softly down +upon your gleaming Titian locks, as though to call attention to their +crimson glory. There was a look of—"</p> + +<p>"Nora, if you value the life of your husband, remove him," broke in +David Nesbit decisively. "Reddy is trying to behave with the becoming +dignity of a newly-wed, and I appeal to you, how can he?"</p> + +<p>"He can't," agreed Nora. "I'll remove the obstacle at once."</p> + +<p>"You'll have to use strategy to do it," announced Hippy.</p> + +<p>"'Come one, come all, this rock shall fly From its firm base as soon as +I!'"</p> + +<p>he quoted determinedly, with jerky little gestures. Planting himself +behind Jessica, he caught up a corner of her veil and peered defiantly +through it at David.</p> + +<p>"You haven't seen the bride's table in the tent yet, have you, Hippy?" +inquired Grace innocently. "It looks so pretty."</p> + +<p>"The bride's table!" Hippy's defiant face broke into an expansive, +affable grin. "No, but I'd love to see it. Show it to me, instantly."</p> + +<p>"I'll take charge of him, Grace," interposed Nora. "If he inspects the +refreshment tent it must be under guard."</p> + +<p>"I've changed my mind. I don't care to see it. I'd rather stay here and +offer a few more congratulations to Reddy. Grace's strategy was very +clever, but Nora's bullying is all wrong. I won't be taken charge of."</p> + +<p>But in spite of his vigorous protests Nora slipped her arm through his +and piloted him in the direction of the huge refreshment tent which had +been erected on the lawn. There the wedding supper was to be served by +caterers at small tables.</p> + +<p>"What a treasure Hippy is," said Anne, as the group of young people +smilingly watched Hippy and Nora out of sight. "He is so funny and nice +that he takes away that half-sad feeling that one almost always has at a +wedding. I am sure I don't know why seeing two friends made happy should +inspire one with a desire to cry, but it does."</p> + +<p>"Weddings and commencements are always more or less solemn and +productive of weeps," answered Grace. "Remember not one of us is going +to shed a tear when Jessica leaves us. This has been such a sweet, happy +wedding that we mustn't spoil its gladness. Of course, I can't imagine +you boys lifting up your voices in lamentation, but I'm not so sure of +the feminine half of the Eight Originals."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't help crying a little when Nora was married," confessed +Jessica. "A church wedding seems so much more solemn, and Hippy was far +too busy being a dignified bridegroom to say funny things."</p> + +<p>"He was perfect, wasn't he?" agreed Anne earnestly. "I never dreamed he +could look so reverent and devoted. I don't know which was nicer, +Jessica, Nora's wedding or yours. They were both beautiful." Happening +to catch David's grave eyes fixed searchingly upon her she flushed and +said hastily, "It must be almost time for the reception to begin."</p> + +<p>"So it is, and if I'm not mistaken here come the first guests," remarked +Tom Gray.</p> + +<p>For the next hour Jessica and Reddy were kept busy receiving the +congratulations of the steady in-pouring of friends who came to wish +them godspeed. Then followed the wedding supper, and it was almost +eleven o'clock when Jessica slipped away from her guests, and a little +later, appeared at the head of the stairs in a smart tailored suit of +brown, with hat, shoes and gloves to match. No secret had been made of +their departure, for their friends were not of those who delighted in +playing embarrassing and discomforting pranks. In fact, the majority of +the reception guests had departed, and it was their intimate friends who +were to see them off on their journey.</p> + +<p>Surrounded by her loved ones, Jessica made a second triumphal journey +down the stairs. In the hall a halt was made and the dreaded good-byes +began. Jessica clung first to her father, then to her aunt. Her chums +came next and she was passed from one to the other of them with warm +expressions of affection and good will. Then the procession moved on and +the second halt was made at the drive where a limousine stood waiting to +receive the bridal pair. It glided away amid a shower of rice and +several old shoes, which had been carefully selected beforehand by +Hippy, David and Grace, leaving six of the Eight Originals gazing after +it with eloquent eyes in which lay the meaning of "Auld Lang Syne."</p> + +<p>"I love weddings," gushed Hippy sentimentally, as the six strolled back +to the house. "I hope I shall have at least two more wedding invitations +this year."</p> + +<p>No one answered this pointed sally. Nora gave her loquacious husband's +arm a warning pinch.</p> + +<p>"Stop pinching my arm, Nora," he protested in a grieved tone. "How can +you be so cruel to little me?"</p> + +<p>This was too much for the silent four. They looked into each other's +eyes and laughed. Then Dave said quietly, "Not this year, old man."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps we can promise you one for next fall, Hippy," said Anne, with a +sudden temerity which surprised her as well as the others.</p> + +<p>"Anne!" David's voice vibrated with newborn hope. For the instant he +forgot everything except the fact that Anne had at last approached some +degree of definiteness regarding their future.</p> + +<p>"I said 'perhaps,'" laughed Anne, but behind her laughter David read the +blessed truth that in Anne's secret heart there was no "perhaps," and +the little hand which lay so contentedly in his, as they strolled up the +walk to the house, made the assurance of his new joy doubly sure.</p> + +<p>"Why can't you make me happy too, Grace?" asked Tom in a low, +reproachful tone. They had dropped a little to the rear of the others.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry, Tom," faltered Grace, "but I can't. I am fonder of you than +any other man I know, but it is the fondness of long friendship. I'm not +looking forward to marriage. It is my work that interests me most. I +don't love you as Anne loves David, and Jessica and Nora love Reddy and +Hippy. I don't believe I know what love means. I don't wish to hurt you, +but I must be perfectly honest with myself and with you. I can only say +that I care for no one else, and that perhaps someday I may care as much +as you."</p> + +<p>Grace gazed sorrowfully at Tom as she ended. She knew by the tightening +of his lips and the nervous squaring of his broad shoulders that she had +hurt him sorely.</p> + +<p>"All right, Grace," he said with brave finality. "I'll try to be content +with your friendship and live in the hope of that 'someday.' I'm going +to be selfish enough to dream that there will come a time when even your +work won't be able to crowd out love."</p> + +<p>Grace made no reply. She felt that there was nothing to be said. The +bare idea that there might come a time when her beloved work would fail +to fill her life was not to be considered, even for a moment. Love was a +vague, far-distant possibility. It might come to her, and again it might +not. But her work—that lay directly before her. The glory of life was +not love, but achievement. Her eyes grew rapt with purpose, and, as Tom +wistfully scanned her changeful face, it fell upon him with a sudden +sinking of the heart that for him the longed-for "someday" might never +come.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE RETURN OF EMMA DEAN</h3> + + +<p>"'A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!'" chanted a voice in Grace +Harlowe's ear.</p> + +<p>Grace whirled about, almost dropping the suit case and golf bag she +carried.</p> + +<p>"Why, Emma, <i>Emma Dean</i>!" she exclaimed, her voice rising high in +astonishment.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="roc2" id="roc2"></a> +<img src="images/roc2.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>"Why, Emma Dean!" Exclaimed Grace.</h3> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + + +<p>"Yes, it's Emma, <i>Emma Dean</i>," returned Emma humorously. "It is I, me, +myself and all the other personally personal pronouns that stand for +your old friend, Emily Elizabeth Dean."</p> + +<p>"Wherever did you come from and—oh, Emma"—as the tall thin young woman +pointed significantly to two heavy suit cases and a small leather bag +huddled together on the station platform—"you aren't really—are you—"</p> + +<p>"I am," interrupted Emma cheerfully. "I couldn't stay away. I knew you'd +need a comforter this year, so I applied for the position and you can +see for yourself how successful I was. Professor Morton was so grateful +to me for applying that he said with tears in his eyes, 'Emma, I can't +tell you how happy it makes me—'"</p> + +<p>"Emma Dean, stop talking nonsense and tell me how you really happened to +be here. It's too good to be true." Grace beamed fondly on her tall, +humorous classmate who had been a never-failing source of amusement to +the Wayne Hall girls.</p> + +<p>"Since you are determined to have facts, here goes. I've come back to +Overton, the land of the dig and the home of the sage, to show what four +years of unremittent toil have done for me. I am to be a living +testimonial, one of the 'after taking the prescribed course I can +cheerfully recommend, etc.,' kind. Briefly and explicitly, I dropped off +that train from the south that came in just before your train, and I'm +going to be Miss Duncan's assistant in English."</p> + +<p>"You aren't really!" Grace's eyes were dancing. "How splendid! Why I +didn't know you intended to teach."</p> + +<p>"Neither did I," returned Emma, a shadow flitting across her face, +"until I went home last June and found that things hadn't been going as +smoothly as they might. Mother and Father never gave me the slightest +inkling last year that money wasn't plentiful in the Dean family. Dear, +unselfish things! They wanted my college life to end in a blaze of +glory. You see, Father had put most of his little capital into a real +estate boom that didn't boom, and it left him with a lot of vacant lots +on his hands that no one, not even himself, wanted. A trolley line was +to pass through the section he owned and it changed its mind, or rather +the directors changed theirs, and straggled off in another direction. +So, unless it straggles back again and Father gets rid of his incubus, +which isn't at all likely, the eldest daughter of the noble house of +Dean will have to hustle indefinitely for her board and keep.</p> + +<p>"To go back a little, as soon as I noticed how worried Father looked, +and after I surprised Mother crying one day, I made them tell me all +about it. I wrote straight to Professor Morton. He helped me secure the +position of assistant in English, and here I am. I haven't the least +idea where I'm going to live either. I'd love to go back to Wayne Hall, +but I'm afraid I couldn't preserve a proper attitude of dignity there. +You know my failings. Beverly Place is a house given over to teachers. I +thought I'd try there first. I hope it won't be too expensive. I expect +to send some money home this year."</p> + +<p>Grace had listened attentively to Emma's recital. What a splendid girl +Emma was! She had not tried to dodge Life and his inseparable comrades, +Trouble and Hard Work. Instead, she had walked out courageously, +fearlessly, to meet them with smiling lips and a merry heart. Grace was +already enlivened by the prospect of having this free-hearted, jolly +classmate with her during the college year now opening.</p> + +<p>"How I wish you could live near me, Emma," she said longingly. Then she +stared at her friend with wide-open eyes, the expression of which +betokened the birth of an amazing idea. "Why—you can," she declared. +"I've just thought of the nicest way. Will you come, Emma? Will you?"</p> + +<p>"It depends on the exact spot where the pleasure of my company is +requested," returned Emma waggishly. "If it is to Kamptchatka—no, most +decidedly. I have no insane craving for life among the heathen, and that +'no' includes the Malay Archipelago and darkest Africa. It's too cold in +Greenland and I couldn't countenance terrible Thibet, but if it's any +place nearer home, say Hunter's Rock or Vinton's, I'll be delighted."</p> + +<p>Grace laughed happily. "It's a place you haven't guessed or thought of," +she replied. "I want you to come to Harlowe House and room with me, +Emma. I'm going to have lots of room, a whole suite. There's a +sitting-room, a bedroom and a bath. I need some one to help me and I'd +rather have you than any one else I know. Won't you say 'yes'? Please, +please, do."</p> + +<p>Emma regarded Grace with a look of one who could not believe the +evidence of her own ears. "Oh—I couldn't—it wouldn't be right to +impose upon you. I'd love to, but—"</p> + +<p>"Wait until you see Harlowe House before you make up your mind not to +live there," interposed Grace slyly. "We'll call a taxicab and go over +to it at once. I have my own key, so we can leave our luggage and go to +Vinton's or any other place we wish for luncheon. You can spend the +night at Harlowe House. We won't be alone there, for the cook and both +maids are supposed to arrive to-day. After you have enjoyed a few hours +of my beneficent society you may refuse to be torn from me and my +sheltering home," she ended banteringly.</p> + +<p>"I haven't the least doubt of it," averred Emma in a perfectly serious +tone. "That's why I feel as though I ought to decide now while I am in +my most heroic mood. I never dreamed of any such wonderful good fortune. +Honestly, Grace, I don't know what to say."</p> + +<p>"Say 'yes,'" advocated Grace. "You ought to be willing to come if I am +willing to have you. If it will make you feel more independent, you may +pay for your meals. I'll see that you are not overcharged, but as far as +the room is concerned you are welcome to it. Oh, Emma, think how +delightful it will be for us! I say 'will' because you simply can't find +yourself hard-hearted enough to refuse. I'm not obliged to consult a +soul about my plans. Mrs. Gray gave me full permission to do as I think +best. I have no set expense limit. I am to be prudent and economical, of +course; that's part of my trust. After this year there will be an +expense limit. We shall know by next June just what it costs for the +up-keep of a house like Harlowe House. This year, however, we are bound +to do more or less experimenting."</p> + +<p>Grace gazed pleadingly at Emma, who stood in the middle of the station +platform, her heavy eyebrows drawn together in deep thought.</p> + +<p>"I'm going for that taxicab," said Grace, as Emma still remained silent. +"There's one coming into the station yard now." She signalled to the +driver, who drew up directly in front of where they were standing, then +sprang out and began loading the girls' luggage in the car.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Emma," coaxed Grace. "You can finish making up your mind on +the way to Harlowe House."</p> + +<p>Emma turned to her friend with a face full of affectionate gratitude. +"I'm going to accept your offer, Grace," she declared. "In fact, I can't +resist it. I am sure you want me to come and I don't know of any other +place where I'd rather be. I can't begin to tell you how much it means +to me, and in so many different ways. Are you sure there won't come a +time when you'll think, 'Oh, if only I had never asked that noisy, +nervous, nosing, messy, meddlesome, moping, miserable, growling, +grumbling, grouchy, greedy, galloping, galumphing Emma Dean to room with +me?'"</p> + +<p>"I don't know any such person," denied Grace, laughing merrily at Emma's +remarkable self-arraignment. "It sounds more like a Thesaurus than a +category of your failings, Emma. Come along. We mustn't keep this man +waiting."</p> + +<p>Emma dutifully climbed into the automobile. "One never knows what will +happen next," she remarked naively as they seated themselves in the car. +"I feel as Cinderella must have felt when she was suddenly whisked off +to the ball by her fairy godmother. By the way, Grace, how is Mrs. Gray, +the fairy godmother of Harlowe House?"</p> + +<p>"I've been so busy coaxing you to come and live with me, I forgot to +tell you that she and I were down here in August, and who do you suppose +we had as a visitor?"</p> + +<p>"Arline Thayer?" asked Emma.</p> + +<p>"No; but that wasn't a bad guess. J. Elfreda was with us."</p> + +<p>"Bless her!" Emma's exclamation told plainly of her affection for the +one-time stout girl. "Was she as funny as ever?"</p> + +<p>"Every bit. She kept Mrs. Gray and I in a perpetual state of laughter. +She's going to study law in New York City, and she's promised to come to +Overton for Thanksgiving. Arline Thayer and Mabel Ashe are coming too. +We'll have a great celebration."</p> + +<p>"I'm certainly glad I'm here," sighed Emma, contentedly. "There seems to +be a prospect of one continuous round of pleasure."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you are here too," nodded Grace. "You don't know how queerly I +felt to-day when I stepped off the train without seeing a soul I knew. I +suppose there are a number of girls here, although it's early. Classes +won't be called for at least a week or more. We'll surely see some +familiar spirits soon. There are Patience Eliot, Kathleen West, Laura +Atkins, Mildred Evans, Violet Darby, Myra Stone and ever so many others +still due in the land of Overton."</p> + +<p>"Why, that's so," declared Emma, her eyes bright with the prospect of +seeing her Overton friends. "Do you know, Grace, I'm ashamed to say I +hadn't really considered those girls. All along I've thought about the +Sempers and how strange and gray everything would seem without them."</p> + +<p>"I know it," sighed Grace. "I've felt exactly the same. Anne, Miriam, +Arline, Ruth, Elfreda and you were my absent crushes, but now you are a +present one, and next to you comes Patience Eliot. She always seemed +like a senior. I think I'm going to love the new Kathleen West dearly. +She is so clever, and now that we are friends I hope we can work +together in ever so many ways."</p> + +<p>As the taxicab bore them swiftly toward Harlowe House the two young +women talked on of the happy past with its pleasure-marked milestones.</p> + +<p>"We're almost there. Look, Emma! You can get a splendid view of all the +campus houses. Now isn't Harlowe House the prettiest of them all?"</p> + +<p>"It is, I swear it," returned Emma solemnly, "and, if I'm not mistaken, +one of your household has arrived ahead of you. Certainly some one is +camping out on the front steps."</p> + +<p>"Why, so there is. I wonder who she can be. One of the maids, I suppose, +or perhaps the cook. We'll know who she is in a minute."</p> + +<p>The car had now come to a full stop. Without waiting for the chauffeur +Grace opened the door and sprang out. "Never mind our luggage," she said +as she paid the driver. "We'll carry it into the house. It's not very +heavy."</p> + +<p>Gathering her belongings in one hand, and picking up one of Emma's suit +cases, Grace set off up the stone walk followed by Emma. As she advanced +there rose from the steps and came to meet her a most astonishing little +figure.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>A STRANGE APPLICANT</h3> + + +<p>"This is Harlowe House, isn't it?" was the sharp question that assailed +Grace's ears.</p> + +<p>"Yes." Grace's eyes traveled in amazement over the curious little +stranger within her gates. She was a girl of perhaps eighteen, although +there was a strained, anxious expression in her large brown eyes that +made her look positively aged, an effect which the three deep lines in +her high projecting forehead served to emphasize. If she possessed hair +it was not visible under the small round hat of a by-gone style which +set down upon her head like a helmet. She wore a plain, cheap black +skirt and a queer, old-fashioned white blouse made with a peplum. Around +her waist was a leather belt, and on her feet were coarse heavy shoes +such as a farm laborer might wear. In one hand she carried a large +bundle, in a newspaper wrapping.</p> + +<p>"I'm so glad. I thought I'd never get here," she said simply.</p> + +<p>Grace and Emma exchanged amazed glances. This must be the maid. But such +a maid!</p> + +<p>"Are you the young woman Mrs. Elwood engaged?" asked Grace politely.</p> + +<p>The girl shook her head. "I don't know what you mean. No one engaged me. +I just came because I heard about Harlowe House and wanted to go to +college. I've passed all my high school examinations and I've a +scholarship too. They wouldn't let me come, so I ran away from home and +walked all the way here. Is it true that a girl can live at Harlowe +House without having to pay her board?" she eyed Grace with a look of +mingled anxiety and defiance.</p> + +<p>"Oh," Grace's amazed look changed to one of interested concern, "pardon +me. I thought you were a young woman of whom Mrs. Elwood, of Wayne Hall, +had spoken."</p> + +<p>"I don't know Mrs. Elwood. I never heard of Wayne Hall. I don't know a +soul in this town. I only know that I want to go to Overton College more +than I ever wanted anything else in my life. Do you suppose there's a +chance for me to live at Harlowe House and study? I've walked over a +hundred miles to find out," finished the queer little stranger +pleadingly.</p> + +<p>"'Over a hundred miles!'" repeated Grace and Emma in chorus.</p> + +<p>The girl nodded solemnly.</p> + +<p>"You poor child!" exclaimed Emma Dean impulsively. "If your wish to be +an Overton girl brought you that distance on foot, I should say you +ought to have all the chance there is. At any rate you have applied to +the proper authority. This is Miss Harlowe, for whom Harlowe House was +named, and who is to be in charge of it. I am Miss Dean, of 19— and now +assistant in English at Overton."</p> + +<p>But the knowledge that she was face to face with the person who held the +privilege of being a member of Harlowe House in her hands overcame the +quaint stranger with a sudden shyness. She shifted her weight uneasily +from one foot to the other, twisted her thin, bony hands nervously, +while her forehead was corrugated afresh with deep wrinkles.</p> + +<p>With the frank, winning smile which was one of Grace's chief charms, she +held out her hand to the other girl. "I am glad to know you," she said. +"Won't you tell me your name?"</p> + +<p>"Mary Reynolds," returned the newcomer in a low voice, as she timidly +shook Grace's proffered hand, then Emma's.</p> + +<p>"I shall be glad to welcome you to Harlowe House," said Grace cordially, +"provided you can fulfill the requirements necessary for entering +Overton. I am going over to Miss Wilder's office this afternoon, and if +you wish to go with me you can learn all the particulars. Until then, +however, you had better come into the house with Miss Dean and me. I am +sure you must be very tired."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am, but I don't mind that. I'm here and nothing else matters," +returned the girl so fervently that Grace felt a sudden mist rise to her +eyes, and she determined, then and there, that if this curious, +destitute little stranger succeeded in measuring up to Overton's mental +requirements, she would smooth in every possible way her path, which she +foresaw would be troubled.</p> + +<p>"And now for our triumphal entry into Harlowe House," declaimed Emma +Dean, as she and Grace picked up their luggage, and, followed by Mary +Reynolds and her huge newspaper-wrapped bundle, mounted the steps. At +the door Grace again set down her luggage. Fumbling for her latch key +she fitted it to the lock.</p> + +<p>"What a perfectly delightful place!" was Emma's enthusiastic cry, as she +stepped into the hall which was done in oak with furnishings to match. +"Commend me to the living-room!" She poked her head inquisitively +through the soft green silk hangings and after surveying the pretty room +for an instant made a dive for the window seat. "Oh, you window seat!" +she laughed with a fine disregard for dignity.</p> + +<p>Grace laughed with her, and queer little Mary Reynolds smiled in sheer +sympathy with Emma's irresistible drollery.</p> + +<p>"I choose this green window seat for my boon companion," declared Emma, +curling her wiry length cosily upon it, "and may I be ever faithful to +my vows. I expect to have difficulty in protecting my claim, for I +predict this will be the most popular spot in the house. May I put up a +sign, Grace, 'This claim is staked by Emma Dean, no others need apply'?"</p> + +<p>"You may stake it, but I won't guarantee that it will stay staked," +replied Grace.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, it will," argued Emma confidently, bouncing up and down on the +soft springy cushions. "The freshmen of Harlowe House will be so +impressed with my height, dignity and general appearance that they will +defer to me as a matter of course. One imperious look, like this, over +my glasses, and the world will be mine." She peered over her glasses at +Grace in a ludicrous fashion which was far more likely to convulse, +rather than impress, the prospective freshmen.</p> + +<p>Even the solemn stranger giggled outright, then looked as though she had +been caught red-handed in some dreadful crime.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to recite English in one of your classes, Emma," smiled Grace.</p> + +<p>"Now there is just where you are wrong," retorted Emma. "I shan't have a +single amusing feature in my daily round of recitations. I shall be as +grim as grim can be and a regular slave driver as far as lessons are +concerned. Those freshmen will wish they'd never met me." Emma wagged +her head threateningly.</p> + +<p>"Stop making such dire threats and come upstairs to see our quarters," +commanded Grace.</p> + +<p>Emma uncoiled herself from the window seat with alacrity and began +gathering up her belongings.</p> + +<p>Grace turned kindly to Mary Reynolds. "If you will come upstairs with +us, Miss Reynolds, I think we can easily find a room for you. So far I +do not know just how many applications Miss Wilder has received. As I +told you, I am going over to the office after luncheon. You had better +go to your room and rest a little, then take luncheon with Miss Dean and +me and go with us to Overton Hall to see Miss Wilder, the dean."</p> + +<p>"I—I—thank you," stammered the girl, the dull color flooding her +sunburnt cheeks. "I'm afraid—I—can't go to luncheon—with you. +I'm—not—very hungry."</p> + +<p>Emma Dean flashed a quick, appraising glance at her from under her +eyelashes. "Neither are we," she assured the embarrassed girl, "but +still we don't care to miss luncheon entirely. You are a stranger in a +strange land, so you must be our guest, and then some day when you are a +seasoned Overtonite we'll insist on being yours."</p> + +<p>Mary Reynolds regarded the two young women with shy, grateful eyes. "You +are so good to me. You must know, of course, that I am very poor. I have +nothing in the world but this bundle of clothes and ten dollars," she +said humbly. "It took me two years to save it, I have been so sure that +there would be some little corner of this wonderful house for me. I +can't bear to think that I may be too late. I don't know where I'd go. I +guess I'd have to try to find some place else. Do you suppose I am too +late?" Her tones vibrated with alarm.</p> + +<p>"Of course you aren't," soothed Emma Dean. "I'm always late, but, as I +used to tell Miss Harlowe, I am hardly ever too late. You may be almost +the first girl to apply, or you may be among the latest, but not the too +latest. There, isn't that encouraging? The best thing for you to do is +to have an early luncheon and a long sleep. Suppose we go down to +Vinton's, Grace, as soon as we get the fond souvenirs of the railroad +off our faces. Then I'll come back here with Miss Reynolds and you can +go on to Overton to see Miss Wilder. My business with her will keep +until to-morrow. This little girl is too tired for interviews to-day."</p> + +<p>"I think that's dear in you, Emma, and real wisdom too. Now let's go +upstairs, at once." Grace led the way and the trio ascended to the +second story.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to put you in this room for the present, Miss Reynolds," said +Grace. She paused before a door that faced the head of the stairs and +threw it open. It was a pretty room, papered in dainty blue and white, +with a blue and white floor rug and white enameled furniture. There were +crisp, white dotted-swiss curtains at the windows and a sheer blue and +white ruffled cover on the dressing table, while on the walls hung +several neatly-framed water color and pen and ink sketches.</p> + +<p>The shabby, tired girl gave a long sigh of satisfaction and weariness as +she stood in the middle of the floor, her eyes eagerly devouring the +pretty room.</p> + +<p>"The bathroom is at the end of the hall," said Grace gently. "We'll stop +for you in about half an hour."</p> + +<p>The other girl did not answer, and Grace and Emma slipped away, leaving +her to get used to her new surroundings.</p> + +<p>"Well, did you ever?" asked Emma, the moment they were inside Grace's +sitting-room with the door closed.</p> + +<p>Grace shook her head. "Poor little thing," she murmured. "She can't +possibly go about Overton in those clothes, Emma. Yet I can't offer her +any of mine. She seems independent. I am afraid she would resent it. I +wonder what her story is. Did you notice she said that 'they' wouldn't +let her go to college, so she had run away from home? Suppose some one +of her family should follow her here just after we had nicely +established her at Harlowe House? We must find out everything about her. +I won't bother her with questions while she is so tired."</p> + +<p>"I am sure she is eighteen," declared Emma positively. "That will free +her from parental sway in this state. I think it would be a greater +tragedy if she has come too late. What is the highest number of girls +Harlowe House will accommodate?"</p> + +<p>"Thirty-two," answered Grace.</p> + +<p>"Then let us hope that Mary Reynolds is not unlucky thirty-three. The +sooner you go to see Miss Wilder the sooner you'll know her fate. Now +I'm going on a tour of exploration and noisy admiration. I'm sure I +haven't ohs and ahs enough to fully express my feeling of elevated +pleasure at so much magnificence. And to thing that I, ordinary, +every-day me, should be asked to become co-partner to all this." Emma +struck an attitude and launched forth into fresh extravagances over the +tastefully furnished suite of rooms.</p> + +<p>"Emma, you ridiculous creature, wind up your lecture and get ready for +luncheon," commanded Grace affectionately.</p> + +<p>"Not until I've seen the last saw," returned Emma firmly.</p> + +<p>For the next ten minutes she prowled and peered, examined and admired, +to her heart's content. "Now I've seen everything," she averred, at +last, with calm satisfaction, "and I'm twice as hungry as I was. But I +can't leave off thinking what a lucky person Emma Dean is to have all +this grandeur and Grace Harlowe thrown in."</p> + +<p>"And I can't help thinking what a lucky person Grace Harlowe is to have +Emma Dean."</p> + +<p>"Then we're a mutual admiration society," finished Emma, "and there's no +telling where we'll leave off."</p> + +<p>"If I didn't have to go on to Overton Hall I wouldn't wear a hat," +sighed Grace, half an hour later, reaching reluctantly for her hat. She +and Emma had bathed their faces, rearranged their hair, and put on fresh +lingerie blouses with their tailored suits. "Are you ready, Emma? I +wonder if Miss Reynolds is. I'll stop and see."</p> + +<p>Grace knocked lightly on the newcomer's door. It was opened immediately.</p> + +<p>"Are you ready, Miss Reynolds?" she asked, her alert eyes noting that +the offending peplum had been tucked inside the black skirt, and that +Mary Reynolds with her hat off was a vast improvement on Mary Reynolds +with her hat on. She also observed that the girl's hair, though drawn +uncompromisingly back from her forehead, showed a decided tendency to +curl. With her usual impulsiveness she exclaimed, "Oh, you have +naturally curly hair, haven't you? It's such a pretty shade of brown. Do +let me do it for you. It's a pity not to make the most of it."</p> + +<p>The girl regarded her with grave surprise. "Are you making fun of me?" +she asked seriously.</p> + +<p>"'Making fun of you,'" repeated Grace. "I should say not. I think you +have beautiful hair. Why, what is it, Miss Reynolds?" For, with a queer, +choking cry, the odd little stranger threw herself face downward on the +bed and sobbed disconsolately.</p> + +<p>Grace stood silent, watching the sob-wracked figure with puzzled, +sympathetic eyes. Emma appeared in the doorway, her eyebrows elevated in +astonishment. Grace motioned for her to come in. The girl on the bed +wept on, while the two young women waited patiently for her sobs to +cease.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she sat up with a jerk, and dashed her hand across her eyes. +"I'm sorry—I—was so—so—silly," she faltered, "but I couldn't help +it. No one ever told me that I was anything but plain and ugly before."</p> + +<p>"You poor little thing," sympathized Emma.</p> + +<p>Grace sat down on the bed beside Mary and put her arm across the thin +shoulders. "Cheer up," she said brightly. "I am sure you are going to be +happy at Overton. You feel blue just now because you are tired and +hungry. Let me fix your hair and we'll hurry to Vinton's as fast as ever +we can. I'm simply starved."</p> + +<p>Mary Reynolds obediently sat on the chair Grace placed for her and the +hair dressing began. Grace and Emma both exclaimed in admiration as +Grace unbraided the soft-golden brown hair, which, once free, broke into +waves and curls.</p> + +<p>"Did you ever see a prettier head of hair?" exclaimed Emma.</p> + +<p>"I think it would look best combed low over her forehead, don't you?" +asked Grace.</p> + +<p>Emma nodded her approval as Grace, with deft fingers, arranged the thick +curly locks in a strictly smart fashion which completely changed Mary +Reynolds' forlorn appearance.</p> + +<p>"Now look in the glass," directed Grace, when she had finished.</p> + +<p>Mary gazed earnestly at her new self. "It can't be me," she said with a +pardonable disregard of English.</p> + +<p>"But it is," Grace assured her. "You must learn to do your hair like +that and wear it so. Now let me put a tiny bit of powder on your face to +scare away the tear stains and we'll be off."</p> + +<p>The obnoxious helmet-like hat did not seem so unbecoming, now that +Mary's curls peeped from under it, and Grace felt a certain degree of +satisfaction in her efforts to make the new girl at least presentable. +She decided that once her large brown eyes had lost their scared, +anxious expression and her thin face had grown plump, Mary would be +really pretty.</p> + +<p>During luncheon at Vinton's Grace quietly studied her charge. There was +something about Mary that reminded one of Ruth Denton, she decided. She +and Emma made every effort to put the prospective freshman at her ease. +By common consent they refrained from asking any questions likely to +produce another flood of tears. As for Mary herself, although visibly +embarrassed at the ultra-smartness of Vinton's, the attention of the +waiter, and the puzzling array of knives, forks and spoons, she managed, +by watching Grace and Emma, to acquit herself with credit. Thanks to +Emma's never-failing flow of humorous remarks the luncheon proved to be +a merry meal and before it ended the forlorn girl looked almost happy.</p> + +<p>"I'll see you later," said Grace, as they paused for a moment in front +of Vinton's. "Emma, I leave Miss Reynolds in your care."</p> + +<p>"I accept the responsibility," declared Emma, flourishing her parasol in +fantastic salute. "I'm going to march her home and put her to bed."</p> + +<p>"While I go on to Overton Hall to learn her fate," smiled Grace. +"Good-bye. You may expect me when you see me."</p> + +<p>Grace swung across the campus toward Overton Hall at her usual brisk +pace. A few moments more and she would be fairly launched in her new +undertaking. She had no desire to run out to meet the future, yet she +could not refrain from wondering what her first year on the campus would +bring her. So far it had brought her Mary Reynolds, but somewhere in the +world there were thirty-one other girls whose faces were set toward +Overton and Harlowe House.</p> + +<p>A peculiar wave of dismay swept over Grace at the thought of actually +being responsible for the welfare of so many persons. The old saying +concerning the rushing in of fools where angels walk warily came +involuntarily to her mind. Then she laughed and squaring her capable +shoulders murmured half aloud, "I'm neither a fool nor an angel. I'm +just Grace Harlowe, a 'mere ordinary human being,' as Hippy would put +it. I'm not going to be so silly as to expect to get along with a whole +houseful of girls without some friction. Like the gardens Anne and I +planted away back in our freshman year, there are sure to be a few weeds +among the flowers."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>MARY REYNOLDS MAKES A NEW FRIEND</h3> + + +<p>"Twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one and Mary Reynolds makes thirty-two. +Isn't it fortunate that there was a place all ready for her?" Grace +Harlowe looked eagerly up from the list of names which she had been +intently scanning.</p> + +<p>"Very fortunate," smiled Miss Wilder. "I am quite curious to see your +protege, Miss Harlowe."</p> + +<p>Miss Wilder, the dean of Overton College, had been genuinely glad to +welcome Grace Harlowe back to the college fold. During Grace's four +years as a student at Overton she had greatly endeared herself to the +dignified, but kindly, dean, who had watched her pass from honor to +honor with the same sympathetic interest which Miss Thompson, the +principal of Oakdale High School, had ever exhibited in Grace's +progress.</p> + +<p>It was now almost four o'clock in the afternoon. Grace had spent a busy +two hours in Miss Wilder's office going over the applications for +admittance to Harlowe House and discussing ways and means with her +superior.</p> + +<p>"Do you know, Miss Wilder, that one of the very nicest things about you +is your interest in one's friends and plans?" Grace regarded the older +woman with sparkling eyes. "Away back in my freshman days I can remember +that I never came to you with anything, but that you were interested and +sympathetic."</p> + +<p>"My dear child!" Miss Wilder put up a protesting hand.</p> + +<p>"It's perfectly true," persisted Grace staunchly. "I am sure I could +never have planned everything so beautifully for Harlowe House if you +hadn't helped me."</p> + +<p>"But I had such a wonderful source of inspiration," reminded Miss +Wilder, turning the tide of approbation in Grace's direction.</p> + +<p>"I wish I could agree with you," laughed Grace, her color rising. Then +her face grew earnest. "It would make me very happy if I thought that, +as the head of Harlowe House, I could inspire my girls to love Overton +as deeply and truly as I do. I don't intend to preach to them or to +moralize, but I do wish them to gain real college spirit. If they strive +to cultivate that, it will mean more to them than all the talks and +lectures one could give them. Don't you think so?"</p> + +<p>"I do, indeed," agreed Miss Wilder warmly.</p> + +<p>"Of course," went on Grace thoughtfully, "there is the possibility that +some of these girls may fail in their entrance examinations. Undoubtedly +they will have to take them, for no girl who applies for admission to +Harlowe House will have come from a preparatory school. Naturally, they +will all be high school graduates. Some of them will have scholarships +and some will not. It is going to be more or less of a struggle for +those who have none to earn their college fees—that is, if they haven't +saved the money for them beforehand. I am reasonably certain that poor +little Mary Reynolds hasn't a penny of her own, other than the ten +dollars she has saved. But if she passes her examinations she can borrow +the money for her college fees from Semper Fidelis. Then, too, there is +the subject of rules and regulations to be considered."</p> + +<p>"A very important subject," interposed Miss Wilder. "The success of +Harlowe House will depend upon its rules and their absolute +enforcement."</p> + +<p>"Don't you think it would be a nice idea to draw up a little +constitution and by-laws as they do in clubs. It would not cost very +much to have a certain number of copies of them printed, and a copy +placed in each girl's room. Oh, Miss Wilder, wouldn't it be splendid if +we could form the girls of Harlowe House into a social club. It would +bring them in touch with one another, teach them to be self-governing, +and do an endless amount of good." Grace finished with sudden +inspiration.</p> + +<p>For a moment Miss Wilder did not answer. She was evidently turning the +matter over in her own mind. "It is rather an unusual idea," she said +slowly, "but I should not be surprised to see it work out well. Among a +number of young women who, aside from the advantages Harlowe House +offers them, are practically dependent upon their own resources you are +sure to find a variety of dispositions, some of them a little warped +from their struggle with poverty. I should say that they could be +reached and understood better by becoming members of this club, which +you propose, than by any other method. Yes, decidedly, it is a good +plan."</p> + +<p>Grace remained with the dean until after five o'clock talking earnestly +of her new work. "Oh, dear, I can scarcely wait for the next two weeks +to pass I'm so anxious to begin," she sighed, as she gathered together +her gloves, handkerchief and parasol and rose to go. "Miss Dean will +come to see you to-morrow morning, Miss Wilder. I'll send Miss Reynolds +with her."</p> + +<p>The sun was well advanced on his daily pilgrimage down the western sky, +and Grace's usually rapid steps lagged as she crossed the dear familiar +campus. Her eyes strayed lovingly from the green velvety carpeting under +her feet to the red and yellow pennants of autumn which the trees were +flaunting so bravely. It was hard to say at which season of the year +Overton campus was most beautiful. To Grace it was like some familiar +friend who was constantly surprising her with new and endearing virtues.</p> + +<p>She gazed across the wide stretch of green toward Morton House. Two +girlish figures were seated on the steps apparently deep in their own +interests. A little farther on she met three sophomores, who, +recognizing her, bowed to her in smiling admiration. Grace stopped and +held out her hand with the frank cordiality which characterized her. +After a pleasant exchange of greetings they passed on greatly elated +over the fact that "that clever Miss Harlowe, who was the most popular +girl at Overton last year," had remembered them.</p> + +<p>"We're beginning to gather home," she murmured softly. She was passing +Holland House now, and it brought back delightful memories of Mabel +Ashe. Her glance rested wistfully on the front door. She half expected +to see it open and to see coming toward her the lithe, graceful figure +of the girl whose dainty hands had been the first to grasp hers in +friendly welcome, when, as an untried freshman, she had first set foot +in the land of Overton so long ago. "Mabel," she breathed, "dear, dear +girl! If ever I come to mean half as much to lonely freshmen as you +meant to me, I shall feel that I have succeeded gloriously."</p> + +<p>Wrapped in recollections of the past, which she realized were bound to +haunt her at every turn until time and work had banished her sense of +loss, Grace did not hear the light footsteps of the tall young woman who +bore noiselessly down upon her like an avenging fate. Suddenly Grace +felt two soft, cool hands close over her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she gasped. Then she laughed. "I know it's some one I'm anxious to +see. Is it Kathleen?"</p> + +<p>The hands did not relax their pressure.</p> + +<p>"Is it Laura Atkins?" guessed Grace again.</p> + +<p>The pressure tightened a little.</p> + +<p>"I know now," cried Grace. "Why didn't I guess you first of all? It's +Patience."</p> + +<p>The hands fell away from her eyes. Grace wheeled about into a pair of +encircling arms. A very tall, fair-haired young woman stood looking down +on her with a face full of lively affection. "I wonder if you are as +glad to see me as I am to see you, Grace," was her first speech.</p> + +<p>"Every bit as glad," responded Grace with emphasis. "Emma and I have +been looking forward to your coming every day since we came."</p> + +<p>"Emma?" interrogated Patience. "Do you mean to tell me that Emma Dean is +here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Grace happily. "She's come back to be Miss Duncan's +assistant. Isn't that splendid?"</p> + +<p>"I've been mourning Emma among the rest of the bright departed spirits," +smiled Patience, "and thinking of how dull Wayne Hall will be this year +without her. Emma is Emma, you know, and cannot be duplicated, imitated +nor replaced. I suppose, as a teacher, she'll live in one of the faculty +houses, instead of Wayne Hall."</p> + +<p>"She is going to have part of my suite at Harlowe House," said Grace. +"But, before I say another word, where are you going?"</p> + +<p>"To Overton Hall to see Miss Wilder."</p> + +<p>"Can't you put off going until to-morrow morning?" asked Grace.</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you and Emma will go with me to the six-thirty train to meet +Kathleen and then to dinner at Vinton's afterward."</p> + +<p>"Will we?" cried Grace. "I should say—I'm afraid we can't, Patience." +Her jubilant tone changed to one of disappointment. "I forgot all about +Mary Reynolds."</p> + +<p>"Who is Mary Reynolds and what did I ever do to her that causes her to +conspire to cheat me of the society of my friends?" inquired Patience +humorously.</p> + +<p>"Not a single thing," assured Grace brightening again. "She's the +thirty-second applicant for admission to Harlowe House, but she's living +there as my guest for a few days until she finds out whether she +'belongs.' Suppose you walk over there with me. I wish you to see the +house before the tenants arrive. I'll tell you the strange story of Mary +Reynolds on the way over. Emma's at home, so you can see her, too."</p> + +<p>"All right, I'll go, provided you and your entire family, including Mary +Reynolds, escort me to the train to meet Kathleen."</p> + +<p>"Here's my hand on it," promised Grace.</p> + +<p>Patience caught it in both of hers. "It's good to be here, Grace," she +said earnestly.</p> + +<p>"It's good to have you here, Patience," returned Grace, in the same +earnest tone.</p> + +<p>Patience was met at the door by Emma, who had seen their approach from +the living-room window, and who now pounced upon Patience and joyfully +escorted her into the living-room.</p> + +<p>"The plot thickens," declaimed Emma as the three paused in the middle of +the room. "Hurrah for the old guard! Like Macbeth's immortal witches, +I'll perform my antic round, just to show how jubilant I feel." She +executed a few fantastic steps about Patience, then paused beside her, +one hand on her shoulder. "Where did you acquire Patience, Grace?"</p> + +<p>"I acquired this particular kind of Patience on the campus just a few +moments ago. I have never actually acquired the other kind."</p> + +<p>"You're not the only one," murmured Emma significantly.</p> + +<p>"Where is our freshman-to-be?"</p> + +<p>"In her room and fast asleep, I suppose. Although she wouldn't admit it, +I know she was completely tired out. I could see that," she added slyly.</p> + +<p>Patience and Grace smiled in quick recognition of J. Elfreda Briggs' pet +phrase.</p> + +<p>"How I wish 'I could see' dear old J. Elfreda. Wouldn't it be glorious +if she were suddenly to appear in the flesh," sighed Emma.</p> + +<p>"She was here with Mrs. Gray and I in August, Patience." Grace went on +to relate the details of Elfreda's visit. "Emma has heard all this +before. Still, you don't mind hearing it again, do you, Emma?"</p> + +<p>"I could listen to it forever, and then ask for a repetition," asserted +Emma with gallant glibness.</p> + +<p>"I won't be so malicious as to take you at your word," returned Grace. +"Will you tell Patience all the news while I run upstairs to see Miss +Reynolds?"</p> + +<p>"I will," nodded Emma, "and tell it truthfully and without +embellishments. I am not a yellow journal. I am a reliable purveyor of +facts and nothing but facts." She pounded on the library table with her +clenched fist to emphasize her words.</p> + +<p>"I believe you," assured Patience with mock solemnity, "and salute you +as a disciple of truth."</p> + +<p>Leaving her friends to exchange confidences, Grace ran lightly up the +stairs and knocked on Mary Reynolds' door. Receiving no answer, she +knocked again.</p> + +<p>"She must be asleep," thought Grace. Then she turned the knob and +entered the room. Surely enough the tired stranger lay on her couch bed, +tranquil and slumber-wrapped. Sleep had smoothed away the lines of care +and, in repose, her face looked soft and childish.</p> + +<p>"Miss Reynolds."</p> + +<p>The girl sat up with a little, startled cry. "Oh," she breathed, in +relief. "I was so frightened. I forgot where I was."</p> + +<p>"Miss Dean, a friend of ours and I are going to the station to meet +another friend. We wish you to go with us," invited Grace. "That is, +unless you prefer to stay here. You will be all alone in the house."</p> + +<p>An expression of alarm showed itself in the girl's eyes. "I'd rather go +with you, if you are sure I won't be in the way."</p> + +<p>"Not in the least. We shall start in a few moments." With a cheerful +smile that elicited a faint, answering one from the other girl, Grace +left the room. She was back in an instant with something blue thrown +over her arm. "Here is a little coat I took out of my trunk especially +for you. It is cool enough for a coat to-night. This won't be too long +for you. It's only three-quarter length on me."</p> + +<p>"I—I—" stammered Mary, but Grace was gone.</p> + +<p>Mary could not help thrilling a little with pure pleasure at sight of +herself in the pretty blue serge coat. "I look just like them," she +murmured. "I'm so glad I came. I won't go back either, and no one shall +make me." She smoothed and patted her curly hair, then putting on her +shabby hat went slowly down stairs.</p> + +<p>Her momentary awe of Patience vanished when she discovered that, in +spite of her dignified bearing, this tall, fair young woman was as full +of fun as the droll Emma Dean.</p> + +<p>The quartette started for the station with Patience and Emma in the +lead. Grace walked with Mary, talking brightly of Overton to her +absorbed listener. She had just begun to tell Mary of Kathleen West, her +clever work as a newspaper woman and of how her play had won the honor +pin, when they arrived at the station.</p> + +<p>"Wait here while I see if the train is on time," directed Grace.</p> + +<p>The three young women strolled slowly along the platform, pausing at one +end of it.</p> + +<p>"The train's on time," called Grace as she came out of the station and +approached them. "It's due in four minutes. Listen! Didn't you hear it +whistle?"</p> + +<p>A minute later it was visible around the bend and bearing down on the +station with a great puffing and whistling.</p> + +<p>"I see her," announced Emma. "She's getting off at the upper end of the +train."</p> + +<p>An alert little figure in a gray coat suit came swinging down the +platform, a suit case in each hand, her keen, dark eyes scanning every +face. Suddenly she caught sight of her friends. Dropping her luggage she +ran forward, both hands extended. Grace caught them in hers. The two +embraced, then Grace passed Kathleen on to Patience.</p> + +<p>"And to think that Emma Dean is to be one of us!" exclaimed Kathleen. +"Emma, the one sure and certain cure for the blues. I didn't half +appreciate you last year." A swift flush rose to her cheeks. "I didn't +appreciate any one. I missed knowing Overton's best, but I'm so thankful +that part of that best has come back again, so that I can really show +how much I care," she finished, her eyes very bright.</p> + +<p>The little company lingered on the platform, for there was so much to be +said that they were loath to move on. So absorbed were they in their own +affairs they did not observe that a tall, raw-boned, roughly dressed +man, with a gaunt, disagreeable face had been stealthily edging nearer +the group until within a few feet of them. All at once a long bony hand +was thrust into their midst. The hand landed on the shoulder of Mary +Reynolds, swinging her almost off her feet. She did not scream, but her +face grew white and her eyes horror-stricken. Then she wrenched +desperately to free herself from the cruel clutch, gasping, +"Let—me—alone. I—won't—go back—with—you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, ye won't, won't ye," growled the hateful intruder. "We'll see if ye +won't. Get a move on." He half dragged, half shoved the now sobbing Mary +along the platform.</p> + +<p>For an instant no one of the astonished girls moved or protested. Then a +small, lithe figure flung itself in front of the brutal fellow, barring +his progress. "Take your hands off that girl," commanded a tense, +authoritative voice.</p> + +<p>As if in recognition of its authority the man's cruel hold on Mary's +slender shoulder relaxed. Kathleen West's black eyes were blazing. With +a swift forward movement she threw her arm protectingly across Mary's +shoulder and drew her close. "Now," she said, her whole body tense with +suppressed anger, "touch her if you dare."</p> + +<p>"Ye better git out and mind yer own business or ye'll wish ye had," +threatened the man, his first feeling of fear vanishing. "Yer nothin' +but a lot o' silly girls. You git along," he ordered, fixing his +scowling eyes on Mary.</p> + +<p>"This little girl is going to stay with us. It is you that had better +move on. If you aren't out of sight within the next three minutes I'll +have you arrested for annoying us, and it won't be wise for you to come +back again either."</p> + +<p>Kathleen's face, as she stood calmly eyeing her disagreeable adversary, +was like a study in stone. She looked as inexorable and relentless as +Fate itself, and the bully understood dimly that here was a force with +which he could not reckon.</p> + +<p>"I'm a goin'," he mumbled sullenly, "but I'm a goin' to git the law on +<i>her</i>," he pointed to Mary, "and make her git back where she belongs."</p> + +<p>By this time several persons had hurried to the scene of the encounter. +Kathleen's sole reply to the threat was a contemptuous shrug of her +shoulders. "Come on, girls," she said so nonchalantly that the curious +ones dropped disappointedly away. Not more than four minutes had elapsed +from the time the uncouth stranger had appeared until he slunk off. +Emma, Grace and Patience found their voices almost simultaneously.</p> + +<p>"Well, of all things!" exclaimed Emma.</p> + +<p>"I was literally amazed to dumbness," declared Patience.</p> + +<p>"So was I for a minute, but Kathleen was so completely sure of herself +that I knew it was better to be silent. She disposed of that +obstreperous individual most summarily. Who is he, Miss Reynolds?" Grace +turned grave eyes upon Mary. "We shall have to know all about him if we +are to help you."</p> + +<p>They were now walking slowly up the street.</p> + +<p>"He's—my—uncle," faltered the girl. "Mother died last summer just +after I finished high school, and I had no place to go. He wanted me to +go out in the country and live on his farm. He said I could go to +college, but after I went to the farm he and his wife made me do all the +work, and laughed when I spoke of going to college. A nice girl I knew +had told me about Overton and Harlowe House. She was in the town of +Overton last commencement and heard about it. I told them I would go in +spite of them, so they locked me in my room, but I climbed out the +window and into a big tree, one of its branches was quite near the +window, and then slid to the ground."</p> + +<p>"How old are you, Miss Reynolds?" asked Kathleen West with apparent +irrelevance.</p> + +<p>"I was eighteen last week."</p> + +<p>"Then you needn't worry about your uncle. You are of age and can do as +you please."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that he can't make me leave here?" Mary Reynolds' eyes were +wide with surprise and sudden hope.</p> + +<p>"Of course he can't," reassured Kathleen. "Girls, I'm going to adopt +Mary Reynolds as my especial charge and help her fight her battles in +the Land of College. Mary, will you let me adopt you?"</p> + +<p>Mary regarded Kathleen with shy admiration. She thought her the most +wonderful person she had ever known. She was deeply grateful to Grace +and her two friends for their kindness, but Kathleen's swift, efficient +action on her behalf had completely won her heart. "I'd be the happiest +girl in the world," she said solemnly.</p> + +<p>The next morning Grace went frankly to Miss Wilder with the tragic story +of Mary's struggle to obtain an education and the attempt her miserly +uncle had made to force her to return to the farm.</p> + +<p>"We shall be obliged to look into the matter," declared the dean. "Send +Miss Reynolds to me as soon as possible. I must be very sure that she is +all she represents herself to be. I should not care to have a repetition +of the station scene later, on the campus, for instance. It would hardly +add to the dignity of Overton."</p> + +<p>"I'll bring her to your office to-morrow morning," said Grace, "then you +can form your own opinion of her."</p> + +<p>Mary Reynolds' wistful face was the last touch needed to completely +enlist Miss Wilder's sympathy in her behalf. On the strength of the +straightforward story which she repeated to the dean, she was allowed to +proceed with her examinations. Meantime Miss Wilder wrote to the +authorities of the little town near which Mary's uncle's farm was +situated. They conducted a prompt investigation and by the time the +hitherto friendless girl had passed triumphantly through the ordeal of +examinations the faintest trace of objection to her becoming a student +at Overton had been removed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE THIRTY-THIRD GIRL</h3> + + +<p>"I am sorry," said Grace gently, "but I am afraid it will be impossible +for me to do anything for your sister this year. Harlowe House will +hold, comfortably, thirty-two girls and no more. It isn't so much a +matter of meals. They could, perhaps, be arranged, but I haven't a room +for your sister. Could she afford to rent a room in town and come here +for her meals?" This was an afterthought on Grace's part, born of the +desire to clear away the cruel shadow of disappointment that clouded the +pale face of the woman who sat opposite her in her little office.</p> + +<p>"I—am—afraid not," faltered the pale, thin woman, her tired eyes +filling with an expression of resignation. "I thought I might be able to +manage her college fees, if her living expenses could be arranged. We +were so sorry that she did not win a scholarship. You are quite sure +that there is no chance for her here?" she asked pleadingly, for the +fourth time. "She has set her heart on coming to Overton. College means +so much to a girl, and Evelyn is so clever. It seems a pity that she +must stop with only a high school education."</p> + +<p>Grace knitted her brows in earnest thought, while the pleading voice +talked on. She felt an overpowering sympathy, not for the sister who +wished to come to Overton, but for the sister who was now advocating her +cause. And even as she thought the way in which one more girl might +partake of the benefits of Harlowe House came to her. It was a way of +sacrifice; she was not even sure that it could be done. Something in the +expression of her face, however, seemed to inspire the woman opposite +her with new hope. She leaned forward, with the eager question: "Am I +wrong or does your face tell me that there is a chance for Evelyn?" For +the first time she mentioned her sister's name.</p> + +<p>"'Evelyn,'" repeated Grace half musingly. "What a pretty name. How old +is your sister, Miss Ward?"</p> + +<p>"She was eighteen last August."</p> + +<p>"I can make you no definite promise yet," returned Grace slowly. "Could +you come to see me this afternoon at four o'clock? I shall know then +whether the plan I have in mind can be carried out."</p> + +<p>"I will come," promised the woman eagerly, her eyes kindling with happy +light. "I thank you for your kindness." Her voice trembled with +gratitude. She rose to go, looking as though she would like to say more +but could not find words in which to express herself.</p> + +<p>"You are quite welcome. I will try very hard to place her," was Grace's +parting assurance.</p> + +<p>After the woman, who had introduced herself as Ida Ward, had gone, Grace +went slowly upstairs and into her pretty sitting-room. She looked long +and fixedly at each attractive appointment, then she walked on into the +bedroom, which she and Emma shared, and surveyed it with the same +searching gaze. "I can't do it unless Emma is willing," she murmured. "I +dislike asking her after inviting her to share my suite. Still, we've +always been frank with each other. I'll tell her the exact circumstances +as soon as she comes home to luncheon, and let her decide what we had +better do." Having determined upon her course of action Grace went +downstairs again and was soon deep in the laying-out of next week's menu +for Harlowe House, a task in which she had been engaged when Miss Ida +Ward was announced.</p> + +<p>It was now two weeks since Overton College had opened. The thirty-two +applicants for places in Harlowe House had, without exception, passed +through the trying ordeal of their entrance examinations with varying +degrees of success, but not one had actually failed. They had come into +the house, which was their Open Sesame to college, in twos and threes. +Few of them were pretty, but even the plainest of their faces bore the +unmistakable stamp of intelligence that marks the scholar. The +half-brooding, anxious look in young eyes and the womanly dignity, +prematurely gained through hand to hand conflict with poverty, were +certain indications that the girls of Harlowe House were there for +earnest work and not for play.</p> + +<p>And now a thirty-third girl was knocking at the gate for admittance to +the Land of College. Grace wondered vaguely why Evelyn Ward had not come +to plead her own cause. The words of Ida Ward, "I thought I might be +able to manage her college fees," returned to her with disquieting +force. Then she made a little impatient gesture. "Grace Harlowe, what is +the matter with you? You are judging poor Evelyn Ward without giving her +an opportunity to defend herself. You know nothing whatever of the +Wards' affairs. There may be a dozen good reasons for Miss Ward's coming +here in her sister's behalf. Don't be so suspicious. Wait until you see +Evelyn Ward before you judge her."</p> + +<p>Although Grace did not realize it she was already thinking of Evelyn +Ward as a member of Harlowe House. There was no fear of refusal on +Emma's part. Long acquaintance with her good-natured, easy-going +classmate had taught her that Emma was equal to, if not more than a +match for, almost any emergency.</p> + +<p>"Emma would take her belongings and camp out in the hall if I asked her +to," smiled Grace to herself as she went slowly downstairs to her office +and, seating herself at her desk, took up the writing on which she had +been engaged when her caller was announced.</p> + +<p>She was still hard at work when the girls began to come in for luncheon, +one after another, and at last she heard Emma's delightful drawl as she +exchanged pleasantries with one of the freshmen who had opened the door +for her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Emma," she called, stepping to the door of her office, "will you +come in here, please? I need you."</p> + +<p>By the time Grace had finished speaking Emma was standing in the +doorway, peering owlishly at her. "Most Gracious Grace," she salaamed, +"what is your majesty's magnificent pleasure with your worthless and +most despicable dog of a servant?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know any such person," laughed Grace. Then, her face sobering, +she plunged into the middle of things with, "What would you say, Emma, +if I were to give half of our quarters to some one else?"</p> + +<p>"I'd say that I was lucky to have half of the half that's left," was +Emma's prompt retort.</p> + +<p>"You're a dear!" cried Grace impulsively. "I knew you were true blue. +Still, I must tell you all about certain things before you decide. It's +just this way, Emma." Grace began with Miss Ward's call and recounted to +Emma all that had passed between herself and the stranger. Emma listened +without comment until Grace had finished with, "Now tell me what you +think, Emma."</p> + +<p>"I think it is positively noble in you to be willing to give up one of +your rooms," emphasized Emma. "As far as I am concerned I'm not a +'chooser.' I'm here because of that same saving grace—it's as much a +part of you as your name—which is reaching out now to put one more girl +in Overton. What can any strictly honorable, four-cornered person say +except, 'I'm with you,' and here's my hand in seal and token of it."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Emma," Grace's quiet words and warm handclasp were eloquent +with appreciation of her friend's unselfish viewpoint, "Suppose we run +upstairs for a moment before luncheon to look around and decide which of +the two rooms we can best do without. And, O, Emma, we'll have room for +a thirty-fourth girl, if she happens along. I never thought of that. In +the face of all that a college education will mean to this girl our +personal comfort rather pales into insignificance."</p> + +<p>"Who are we that we should revel in the fleshpots of Overton while the +stranger knocks at our gates?" supplemented Emma. "Now which is it to +be? Shall we say, 'good-bye beloved sitting-room, ne'er shall we behold +thy like again,' or shall we bid fond adieu to the bedroom? I ask but +one concession, let us reserve our nice private bathroom. It has a value +above rubies."</p> + +<p>"Of course we'll keep our bathroom. There are three others in the house +of which these new girls can have the use. As long as the bathroom opens +into both rooms, I shall bolt the door leading into the room we give +Miss Ward. That may appear a trifle inhospitable on the surface, but I +wish to keep what is left of our apartment as secluded as possible," +ended Grace, opening the door into the sitting-room. "Now, which shall +it be, Emma?"</p> + +<p>Emma prowled contemplatively about the suite, her hands in her coat +pockets, her glasses pushed far over her nose. Finally she paused before +Grace. Settling her glasses at their proper angle she said earnestly, "I +don't wish to seem selfish, Grace, but really I think you are entitled +to the sitting-room. It's larger and lighter. It's more attractive in +every way. I am not thinking of myself in this matter, I am thinking of +you. You are the brains and brawn of Harlowe House, therefore you must +be made comfortable if you are to do good work here. The other room is +easily large enough to accommodate two girls. It is larger than the +rooms we occupied at Wayne Hall."</p> + +<p>"I know it." Grace strolled reflectively through the open bathroom door +and on into the bedroom. When she returned, she had decided. "You are +right, Emma. I don't believe it would be selfish to keep this room. Now +how shall we furnish it?"</p> + +<p>"Don't ask me to decide that," protested Emma. "I feel as though I ought +to pack my belongings and go to one of the faculty houses, Grace. It +isn't fair to you for me to stay here and be a cumberer of your room."</p> + +<p>"Emma Dean, if you do!" Grace caught Emma by the shoulders and proceeded +to shake her.</p> + +<p>"Wait! Stop!" implored Emma. "My glasses! And lenses cost money!"</p> + +<p>"Will you stay?" demanded a relentless voice. The shaking continued, but +gently.</p> + +<p>"I will. That is, I'll have to, or pay the oculist."</p> + +<p>Grace's hands fell from Emma's shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I didn't want to pack and go," confessed Emma, "but I was trying to be +as fair to you as you are to every one else."</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't be one bit fair in you to leave me. You promised to see me +through, you know," reproached Grace.</p> + +<p>"So I did, and so I will," declared Emma, "I take back all I said. From +now on I am as much of a fixture here as the kitchen range or the window +seat."</p> + +<p>Grace laughed at Emma's absurd declaration. "I couldn't let you go, +Emma. You are too good a comrade. Now let me think. I'll have my +dressing table brought in here, but, in order to make a combination +sitting and sleeping room of this, we will have to buy a couch bed. The +davenport there is a bed too. We'll put it across that corner, and have +the couch against that wall. We'll have to keep the dressing table. We +can't avoid that. I don't know what to do with my bed. It is +three-quarter size. I selected it purposely, so that I'd have room for +two of the girls at a time if they dropped in unexpectedly. I don't like +to sell it. It matches the set."</p> + +<p>"Why not leave it in the other room," suggested Emma. "If girl number +thirty-four never materializes then Miss Evelyn Ward can occupy the +whole bed, if she chooses."</p> + +<p>"But suppose we do admit another girl?"</p> + +<p>"Sufficient unto the day, etc.," shrugged Emma. "When she appears, then +let the committee take action."</p> + +<p>"I'll buy a smaller dressing table to match the bed, if I can, and a +chiffonier. I can't quite give mine up to this newcomer. There goes the +luncheon bell. I must hurry downstairs to the kitchen to see if +everything is all right."</p> + +<p>Grace hastened down the stairs, with her friend at her heels. Emma went +directly to the dining-room and took her place at the table laid for two +at the lower end of the room. This table belonged exclusively to her and +Grace. The dining-room at Harlowe House had been furnished after the +fashion of a pretty little tea shop at which Grace had often lunched in +New York. The walls were done in white with a faint blue and silver +stripe. The ceiling was white with a decoration of deep blue corn +flowers. The floor was covered with a thread and thrum rug in blue and +white, and instead of two long tables there were several small ones +which seated from four to six persons. In the middle of each table was a +vase of flowers, and the effect of the whole room was dainty and +homelike. Grace had spent much thought on the dining-room. The buffet, +serving tables, tables and chairs were white, and the silver, linen and +various other appointments had been carefully chosen.</p> + +<p>"I wish the girls to feel that this room is a place where they can eat +and be merry. It is in the dining-room that they will first become +acquainted with one another," Grace had said to Mrs. Gray while they +were choosing the dining-room furniture. "I like the idea of having the +small tables. The girls can talk quietly and confidentially, if they +choose. Besides it looks so cosy and informal."</p> + +<p>As Grace ate her luncheon that day her eyes wandered to the various +tables. She was speculating as to where she would seat Evelyn Ward. +Already she thought of her as one of her girls.</p> + +<p>At precisely four o'clock the door bell rang and the maid ushered Ida +Ward into the living-room. Her large eyes were wide with anxiety and +suspense as she sat nervously on the edge of her chair, trying to appear +composed. She tried to answer Grace's reassuring smile, but her anxious +eyes belied her wanly-smiling lips.</p> + +<p>"I have good news for you, Miss Ward," said Grace brightly. "I have made +room for your sister. When may I expect her?"</p> + +<p>Ida Ward's lips moved, but she made no sound. Then, to Grace's +consternation, she covered her face with her black-gloved hands and +began to cry quietly. For an instant Grace sat in embarrassed silence. +She hardly knew what consolation to offer this poor, pale woman who +looked as though she carried the burdens of the world upon her slender +shoulders. Before she could think of anything to say, Miss Ward suddenly +raised her head, wiped her eyes and said quietly, "Forgive me for +crying. I—am a little tired. I was rather overcome by the good news."</p> + +<p>"Suppose we have tea in the living room," was Grace's kindly suggestion. +"What time does your train leave? By the way, I don't think I know where +you live."</p> + +<p>"We live in Burton, a little town about two hundred miles from here, +with a population of six thousand people. I am a dressmaker. There are +only Evelyn and I, and I am fifteen years older than she. Mother died +when she was born. Father died only a year later and I have taken care +of her all her life. She is very beautiful. One of the prettiest girls I +have ever seen, and so clever." The plain face lighted as she described +Evelyn.</p> + +<p>"How she loves her pretty sister," thought Grace.</p> + +<p>Over the tea, dainty sandwiches and cakes, Ida Ward became quite +cheerful. When half an hour later she rose to take her leave, she looked +really happy. "How can I thank you for what you have done for Evelyn?" +she asked tremulously, her lips quivering. "My little sister will be so +glad. I am sure she can't help being happy in this beautiful house."</p> + +<p>"Send her to us as soon as you can," advised Grace. "College has been +open for over three weeks and she will have quite an amount of work to +make up. This is Monday. May I expect her on Thursday?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, she can leave Burton early Thursday morning. There is a train +which reaches here at two o'clock in the afternoon."</p> + +<p>"Very well. I will send some one to meet her," promised Grace.</p> + +<p>During the next two days Grace and Emma accomplished their moving so +quietly that no one in the house knew of the new member the morrow was +to bring. When everything had been put in place Emma declared cheerily +that they would never miss the other room.</p> + +<p>At the last moment Grace decided to go in person to the train to meet +Evelyn. The memory of Ida Ward's white patient face haunted her. For her +sake her beloved sister should be cordially welcomed. Grace felt the +deepest respect and sympathy for the older sister.</p> + +<p>"Miss Ward said her sister was very pretty," reflected Grace, then she +looked a trifle dismayed. She had received absolutely no other +description of the girl she was to meet. She did not know whether Evelyn +Ward was short or tall, stout or thin, dark or fair. "I'll simply have +to use my eyes and guess," was her mental comment, as she walked briskly +along the station platform just as the train whizzed down the track. Her +alert eyes scanned the nearest car steps where the porter was helping a +crotchety old man to the platform. Behind him, came a stout middle-aged +woman and two children. Grace scanned the next set of steps. Then, far +up the platform she saw a tall, slender, blue-clad figure walking toward +her at a leisurely pace. The girl carried a small handbag and a suit +case. When she came directly opposite Grace she paused, then, after a +deliberate survey, walked forward with outstretched hand. "Aren't you +Miss Harlowe?" she asked sweetly. "If you are, I am Evelyn Ward."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>EVELYN WARD, FRESHMAN</h3> + + +<p>Grace found herself looking into one of the most perfect faces she had +ever seen. Evelyn Ward was a blonde of the purest type. Her thick golden +hair lay in shining waves under her small, smart blue hat. Her eyes were +deeply, darkly blue with purple depths, while her skin had the sheen and +texture of pale pink rose leaves. Her small, straight nose, +softly-curved red mouth and delicately-arched dark eyebrows added to the +tender beauty of her face. To Grace she came as a revelation, and, so +far as she could remember, she had never seen any other blonde girl who +approached this one in loveliness.</p> + +<p>"How do you do, Miss Ward? I am glad to know you," she said, offering +her hand. She noticed that the slender hand that Evelyn put forth to +meet hers was very soft and white. It had evidently done no hard work +and was in sharp contrast to the rough, work-worn hands of her sister.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I am pleased to know you, Miss Harlowe, and very thankful to +you for arranging for my coming to Overton. I would have cried my eyes +out with disappointment if Ida had come home with bad news," returned +the pretty girl in a plaintive tone which impressed Grace with a +curiously uncomfortable feeling that this attractive young woman would +have done nothing of the sort. There was that indefinable something +about her that contradicted, flatly, the idea of tears.</p> + +<p>"Your sister was an eloquent pleader, Miss Ward. I would have made an +even greater effort than was necessary to place you, if only to please +her. I was greatly impressed with her unselfishness and nobility of +character," Grace made reply.</p> + +<p>An expression of amusement showed itself on Evelyn Ward's face. "Ida is +a perfect old dear," she agreed lightly. "She takes life too seriously, +though. She worries over every little thing. Still her very seriousness +makes a good impression. She has ever so many friends; a great many more +than I." She shrugged her shoulders, as though to convey the fact that +the latter state of affairs did not trouble her.</p> + +<p>"As your luggage is not heavy, we might walk to Harlowe House," +suggested Grace. "This glorious fall weather is ideal for walking. Let +me take your suit case."</p> + +<p>"With pleasure. It's altogether too heavy for comfort. Are there no +street cars or busses we can take? I like to walk, but not when I have +luggage to carry."</p> + +<p>"We can take a car or an automobile bus if you like," said Grace +courteously, although she experienced a vague sense of annoyance at this +newcomer's calmly expressed preference.</p> + +<p>"Oh, let's take the automobile, if it isn't too expensive!" exclaimed +Evelyn eagerly. "I love to ride in an automobile. Are there any girls at +Overton who own cars? If there are I shall certainly cultivate them. I +suppose they won't notice me, though, because I am a freshman and a poor +one at that," she ended with a pout, her fair face taking on almost +sullen lines.</p> + +<p>Grace shook her head.</p> + +<p>"Being poor doesn't count at Overton," she said, "I know a girl who +lived in a bare, cheerless room in an old house in the suburbs of +Overton and earned her way by doing mending for the students. She worked +in a dressmaker's shop during her summer vacations too, and yet she was +the chum of the richest girl in college."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't the rich girl help her if she thought so much of her?" +inquired Evelyn rather sarcastically.</p> + +<p>"Because the girl wouldn't allow her to do so. She was too independent +to accept help. She did not wish to become obligated to any one, not +even her dearest friend."</p> + +<p>"Foolish girl," was Evelyn's contemptuous comment. "If one can't ask +occasional favors of one's friends one might as well have none. I am +very sure that I would take the goods the gods provide without +murmuring. These extreme standards of ethics and honor are all very +pretty in books, but not at all practical in every-day life."</p> + +<p>Grace made no reply. She was lost, for the instant, in a maze of +disagreeable reflection. She was afraid she now understood only too well +why Ida instead of Evelyn Ward had come to see her. In the Ward family +the hard tasks had apparently been thrust upon the patient elder sister, +while the younger reaped where she had not sown, without a conscientious +qualm. And it was for this beautiful, selfish girl that she and Emma had +curtailed their comfort. She almost wished she had been firm in her +first refusal to consider taking another girl into Harlowe House. Then a +vision of Ida Ward's thin face, lighted by two pleading eyes, rose +before her. With an inward rebuke for her own grudging attitude, Grace +squared her shoulders and resolved to look for only the best in this +latest arrival.</p> + +<p>It took but a moment to hail an automobile bus which had just run into +the station yard, and they were soon on their way to Harlowe House. +Grace pointed out to Evelyn the various interesting features of Overton. +They impressed the latter but little.</p> + +<p>"It must be a sleepy old town," she commented, as they passed through +the quiet streets. She did, however, evince some slight interest in +Vinton's, remarking lightly that she supposed she would never have money +enough to buy a dinner there for herself, let alone ever inviting a +guest.</p> + +<p>"Do not look at your college life through such pessimistic spectacles," +advised Grace. "You will be sure to be unhappy."</p> + +<p>Evelyn made a pettish gesture. "You remind me of my sister, Miss +Harlowe. She is forever preaching patience and optimism and all the +other virtues in which I seem to be lacking."</p> + +<p>A bright flush rose to Grace's cheeks at this unparalleled rudeness. She +cast a quick, curious glance at Evelyn, whose eyes were for the second +fixed upon the campus which they were now nearing, and who appeared to +be utterly oblivious of her impertinence.</p> + +<p>"This is the campus." Grace decided to overlook the pointed remark. "We +are justly proud of Overton College and the campus."</p> + +<p>"It is really beautiful," nodded Evelyn, "but I'm going to tell you a +secret. I'm not the least little bit enthusiastic over college. I'd +rather go to a dramatic school and study for the stage. It is Ida who +insists upon my going to college. Thank goodness, I'm not a dunce. It +would be dreadful to be forced into college and then be too stupid to +learn anything, wouldn't it?"</p> + +<p>"It would indeed," agreed Grace.</p> + +<p>"I suppose my stage aspirations shock you, Miss Harlowe," went on +Evelyn, "but I can't help saying what I think."</p> + +<p>"My dearest woman friend is an actress," returned Grace quietly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, is she really?" Evelyn's voice rose high with excitement. "What is +her name? Perhaps I've heard of her."</p> + +<p>"Anne Pierson."</p> + +<p>"I should say I had heard of <i>her</i>. She is one of the great stars. She +is with Everett Southard, isn't she? I've seen their pictures in the +magazines."</p> + +<p>"She graduated from Overton last year. We were roommates throughout our +four years here. She is from my home town."</p> + +<p>"Really and truly?" demanded Evelyn impulsively. "That's the most +interesting piece of news I've heard for a long time. Will you tell me +all about her some time, Miss Harlowe?"</p> + +<p>"With pleasure," returned Grace. "It can hardly be to-day, however, for +here we are at Harlowe House."</p> + +<p>"What a darling house!" praised Evelyn as they alighted from the +automobile. "I am sure I shall like to live in it."</p> + +<p>"I hope that you will be happy here," returned Grace kindly. After all +it might be better not to take this self-willed young woman too +seriously. She had, at least, the virtue of truthfulness. She was +entirely frank in the expression of her opinions. She might have many +other redeeming qualities which would quite overbalance the disagreeably +self-centered side of her character.</p> + +<p>Evelyn gazed about in open approval as they ascended the steps of +Harlowe House. As they passed through the hall she peeped into the +living room and exclaimed in admiration of its attractive appointments. +Her voluble appreciation of her own room pleased Grace, who realized +that Evelyn's personality was singularly fascinating and that she could +be exceedingly gracious when she chose.</p> + +<p>"I will leave you now," said Grace, after a little further conversation. +"The dinner bell rings at six o'clock. If you need anything, or wish to +ask any questions, you will find me in my office downstairs. It is +rather too late in the day for you to see the registrar. To-morrow +morning will be time enough. You are lucky to be exempt from +examinations."</p> + +<p>Grace had hardly established herself in her office when Emma Dean came +breezily in from her work. "Well, Gracie," was her cheery greeting, "has +she materialized, and is she as pathetic and persistent as Sister Ida?"</p> + +<p>Grace made a little gesture of resignation. "Prepare for the surprise of +your college career, Emma."</p> + +<p>"Didn't she come?" demanded Emma, "That wouldn't surprise me. People are +forever promising to arrive on a certain train and then strolling in +several days later with the barefaced announcement that the time table +had been mysteriously changed."</p> + +<p>"She arrived," stated Grace.</p> + +<p>"Then wherein lies the surprise?"</p> + +<p>"Emma," said Grace solemnly, "Evelyn Ward is the most beautiful girl I +have ever seen, and, if I am not mistaken, one of the most selfish. She +is no more like her sister than I am like Dr. Morton, and she is going +to require more looking after than any other girl in Harlowe House."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>THE HARLOWE HOUSE CLUB</h3> + + +<p>"There!" Grace Harlowe laid down her pen and scanned the notice she had +just finished writing. "I'll post this now. The girls will see it this +morning and again when they come in to luncheon. Then they will be sure +to meet me in the living-room before dinner. I hope they will like our +plan."</p> + +<p>"They ought to like it," replied Emma Dean. "It makes them a +self-respecting, self-governing body."</p> + +<p>"That is precisely what I wish them to be," responded Grace, in all +earnestness. "I believe that being members of Semper Fidelis was of +great benefit to us. Oh, Emma, did I tell you that Mr. Bedfield's gift +to Semper Fidelis is now an endowment? He called to see me on Friday for +the express purpose of telling me that he has arranged the matter with +Professor Morton. The money is to be known hereafter as the Semper +Fidelis endowment. He said he felt certain that we had not handed the +society down to this year's classes. He couldn't imagine any other young +women in our places. Wasn't that nice in him?"</p> + +<p>"Very nice and very true," agreed Emma. "I am of the same mind. The +Sempers can never be imitated, passed on to the next class, nor +replaced. They are in a class all by themselves."</p> + +<p>"The purpose of this new club which I propose to organize will be one of +welfare. The girls will do more for themselves as a self-governing body +than I can possibly do for them. By the way, I wonder if Miss Ward is up +yet. She overslept and missed her first recitation yesterday morning. +She came down to the dining-room long after breakfast was over. Susan +was rather upset over having to serve an extra breakfast. I was obliged +to tell Miss Ward that if it occurred again she would have to abide by +the consequences of her own tardiness. I can't impose upon the servants +to please a girl who has no thought for any one except herself."</p> + +<p>Grace spoke rather bitterly. Her early disappointment in Evelyn Ward had +deepened as the time passed.</p> + +<p>"I don't hear a sound from her room," commented Emma, who sat before the +dressing-table brushing her long hair. With hair brush poised in the air +she listened intently. "She is dead to the world."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll have to waken her," sighed Grace.</p> + +<p>Stepping out into the hall she knocked lightly on Evelyn's door. +Receiving no response she knocked again, this time with more force.</p> + +<p>"Come in," called a sleepy voice.</p> + +<p>Grace turned the knob. Sure enough, Evelyn lay comfortably back on her +pillow, her wonderful golden hair falling in long, loose waves about +her. Her beauty now made little impression upon Grace, who knew only too +well the tantalizing, troublesome spirit that lay behind it. "It is +almost eight o'clock, Miss Ward. Remember, breakfast is over at nine."</p> + +<p>"I know it," responded Evelyn with maddening sweetness. She eyed Grace +speculatively, but made no effort to rise.</p> + +<p>Without further words Grace closed the door. She did not wish to betray +her annoyance. She had experienced a wild desire to march over to the +bed and drag the complacent freshman forth from it by the shoulders.</p> + +<p>When Evelyn descended to the dining-room she found that most of the +girls had eaten breakfast and gone off to chapel. Happening to recall +that she had not attended the morning services for a week, and with +visions of her unsigned chapel card staring her in the face, she ate a +hurried breakfast and was about to depart when her eyes happened to rest +upon the bulletin board in the hall around which were gathered several +girls. Pausing, Evelyn read Grace's notice. It asked the members of +Harlowe House to be in the living room at five o'clock that afternoon +for the discussion of a most important subject.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what it is," said Nettie Weyburn, lively curiosity +overspreading her usually placid face.</p> + +<p>"I think I know," volunteered Mary Reynolds. "Miss Harlowe was telling +me only last night that she wishes to organize a club of just Harlowe +House girls, with a president and other officers. The club will have a +constitution and by-laws and every member will have to live up to them."</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't that be splendid?" asked Cecil Ferris, a gray-eyed, +black-haired freshman who made up in energy what she lacked in height.</p> + +<p>"Who would be president I wonder," murmured Evelyn, shooting a glance of +apparent innocence about the circle.</p> + +<p>"You'd make a good president, Miss Ward," declared Mary Reynolds, in +open admiration. To her beauty-loving little soul Evelyn was the most +exquisite person in the world.</p> + +<p>"<i>I</i>," cried Evelyn in well-simulated amazement. "I wouldn't attempt to +be, I am not clever or popular enough."</p> + +<p>"I believe you would be the very one. You are so independent and know +just how to do things." Now that Mary had suggested it, it met with +Nettie Weyburn's placid approval. Cecil Ferris echoed it. She, too, had +fallen under the spell of Evelyn's beauty.</p> + +<p>"I must run along or be late to chapel," murmured Evelyn modestly, and +hurried off at precisely the wisest moment to further her own cause. The +ambition to become the president of the proposed club had sprung into +life in her self-centered young soul as she stood reading the bulletin, +and she determined that she would leave nothing undone to obtain the +honor.</p> + +<p>At luncheon that day she took particular pains to be unusually friendly +to every one with whom she came in contact, exhibiting a gay +graciousness of manner toward a number of girls she had secretly +labeled, "digs, prigs and plodders." This quite won their trusting +hearts and made them innocently wonder how they had, so far, happened to +miss becoming really well acquainted with Miss Ward.</p> + +<p>When at five o'clock the big living room began to fill, Evelyn was among +the first there, with a dazzling smile for all comers. At ten minutes +past five the thirty-three girls who claimed Harlowe House as their home +were sitting or standing expectantly about the room, waiting for Grace, +who stood at one end of the room with Emma, to call the meeting to order +and enter upon the discussion of that "most important subject."</p> + +<p>"I have asked you to come here this afternoon because I believe the time +has arrived to try out a plan which I have had in my mind ever since +college began," stated Grace, by way of beginning. Then in clear, +concise sentences she told of her desire that her girls should be +self-governing and of how much good fellowship their banding themselves +together would create. "I thought, if you approved of the plan, we might +elect our officers at once, and appoint a committee to draw up the +constitution and by-laws. I am going to ask you to talk it over among +yourselves for ten minutes, while Miss Dean and I prepare some balloting +slips," she concluded, and at once a loud buzz of eager conversation +began.</p> + +<p>It was fifteen minutes before Grace again called the meeting to order, +and appointed four tellers, who distributed ballots. Then nominations +were in order.</p> + +<p>"I nominate Miss Ward for president," proposed Cecil Ferris.</p> + +<p>"I second the motion," came from Mary Reynolds.</p> + +<p>Grace could hardly control the surprise in her voice, when, after +waiting a little, she asked: "Are there any further nominations?" "I +nominate Miss Sampson," called a small pale girl from her perch in the +window seat, with a fond smile in the direction of her roommate. Another +girl seconded the nomination, and it was then moved and seconded that +the nominations for president be closed. The nomination for +vice-president, secretary and treasurer were then in order and after +they were closed the voting began.</p> + +<p>"Well, of all things," whispered Emma to Grace, who sank into the chair +beside her friend, a peculiar expression on her fine face. "I never +dreamed of matters taking that turn, did you?"</p> + +<p>Grace shook her head. It had indeed come as a shock. She had thought of +the club as a novel and possible means of bringing the Harlowe House +girls into a closer relationship with one another. She had never +considered the possibility of Evelyn being president of the club. It was +evident that her nomination had come about through admiration of her +undeniable beauty. She was absolutely unfit for any such office. Grace +hoped, devoutly, that Miss Sampson, a tall, capable young woman, with a +likable personality and a cheery, hearty manner of speaking, would be +elected.</p> + +<p>Emma made no further remark, but watched the tellers with calculating +eyes. At last one of them, who had been industriously making notations +on a sheet of paper, rose to announce the results of the election.</p> + +<p>"The total number of votes cast for president was thirty-three. Of these +Miss Ward received twenty-nine"—an enthusiastic clapping of hands +sounded—"Miss Sampson four." She then went on to read the result of the +balloting for the other three officers. Nettie Weyburn had won the +vice-presidency, Cecil Ferris had been chosen secretary, while quiet +little Mary Reynolds had been made treasurer. The reading of each name +elicited its quota of applause, but it was plain that, of the four +officers, Evelyn was, by far, the greatest favorite. After appointing a +committee of four girls to assist her in drawing up the constitution and +by-laws, Grace said pleasantly: "Will the new officers please come +forward so that we can all see you. You must be formally introduced, you +know."</p> + +<p>The newly elected officers rose from their various positions which they +occupied in the room and advanced to where Grace stood. About Evelyn +Ward's red lips played a smile of suppressed triumph as she shook the +hand Grace offered her and listened to the former's sincere wish for her +success. For an instant the gray eyes studied the perfect face gravely, +as though trying to penetrate what lay behind its smiling mask. Then +Grace turned to greet the vice-president, just in time to miss the +mocking flash which lighted Evelyn's blue eyes.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>PLANNING FOR THE RECEPTION</h3> + + +<p>The committee on the constitution and by-laws for the new club met the +very next evening and drew up a terse little document setting forth +their object in banding themselves together. Grace had already made note +of the few rules she wished the girls to observe, but, so far as +possible, she wished the committee to draw up their own regulations, +subject to her approval. To create a spirit of independence and +self-confidence in the girls of Harlowe House had been Grace's basic +motive. She realized that many of them were hampered with an undue sense +of gratitude which made them too humble for their own interest. She +purposed to make them self-reliant and free. Therefore the rules which +she herself made were few and sensible, relating chiefly to the care of +rooms, the entertaining of guests and the problems which, if not +properly handled, were the most likely to cause friction among so many +young women of so many different dispositions.</p> + +<p>"But what are we to do about money, Miss Harlowe?" asked Mary Reynolds +in a plaintive tone, when the question arose of whether the club should +be assessed for dues, and Grace spoke against it. "Of what use is it to +have a treasureless treasurer?"</p> + +<p>The committee set up a unanimous giggle.</p> + +<p>"That is really a serious question," smiled Grace, "and one which the +girls will have to decide for themselves. I should not wish any girl to +feel that she were obliged to contribute money to the club, even for +dues. We are not obliged to conform to any particular set of rules. Our +club can be a purely informal organization with no obligations attached +to it."</p> + +<p>"But it would be splendid to have a little money in the treasury," +interposed Louise Sampson. "I know what we can do," she went on eagerly. +"Let us make the dues a dollar a year, and pledge ourselves to earn that +sum. Any one who feels that she can neither earn nor give a dollar can +be a member of the club just the same. Then we could give entertainments +or concerts or something and start a little fund of our own."</p> + +<p>Grace's gray eyes sparkled. Louise Sampson was a girl after her own +heart. "Then you must ask your president to call a meeting. She can +instruct the secretary to post a notice on the bulletin board," she +advised.</p> + +<p>The committee seized upon Louise's plan with avidity.</p> + +<p>"Why can't we post a notice and have done with it?" asked Cecil Ferris +innocently.</p> + +<p>"Because we have just made a law that the president shall be notified of +proposed meetings and shall post a bulletin to that effect," reminded +Grace.</p> + +<p>The girls remained for another hour, discussing their plans and +reconstructing their by-laws previous to voting on them. It was decided +to have a weekly meeting to take place on each Tuesday between five and +six o'clock in the afternoon, but a special meeting might be called at +any time at the request of a member, but at the president's discretion.</p> + +<p>"The last clause in that by-law is unfortunate," criticized Emma, when, +in the privacy of their room that night, Grace went over with her friend +the club rules as she had set them down.</p> + +<p>"I know what you mean." Grace gave an impatient sigh. "Still, as +president of the club Miss Ward must be consulted about things. You +think she is likely to refuse to call a meeting at the request of a +member, if she happens to be so inclined, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"I do, and she will," prophesied Emma. "I wouldn't lose any sleep over +it, Gracie, but still it's a good plan to be prepared in advance for the +beauteous Evelyn's vagaries. To change the subject, I have heard very +little mention made of the sophomore reception in the house. I wonder if +it is because some of the girls have no evening gowns?"</p> + +<p>Grace sat up in her chair, with a start of surprise. "Really, Emma, I +had forgotten all about the reception. I suppose it slipped my mind +because it is to be held so much later this year on account of repairing +the gymnasium. It will hardly be over until Thanksgiving will be upon +us, and then, oh, joy! we'll see the dear old Sempers. I must see if +there is anything I can do to help the girls get ready for it. I hope +they understand that their summer dresses will do nicely."</p> + +<p>For the next three days Grace made it a point to inquire tactfully into +the reception plans of the Harlowe House girls. She discovered that +Emma's conjecture had been only too correct. The bare mention of evening +gowns had intimidated them, and, worse still, only three or four of them +had been especially invited by sophomores. This was partly accounted for +by the fact that, while the sophomore class was large, it was completely +outnumbered by the entering class. Remembering that the same state of +affairs had prevailed when she had entered Overton as a freshman, Grace +proceeded to make a round of calls which began with the members of the +reception committee, and included Violet Darby, Myra Stone, Laura +Atkins, Mildred Taylor, Patience, Kathleen and others of the upper +classes whom she knew well, though not intimately. The reception +committee had expressed their absolute willingness to allow the upper +class girls to help them out on escort duty and the girls themselves +entered heartily into the plan.</p> + +<p>"I'll walk over to Harlowe House with you now and invite Mary Reynolds," +declared Kathleen West, who was the last girl on Grace's list. "I'm glad +to have the opportunity. What a bright little thing Mary is! She is +quick as a flash when it comes to grasping an idea. I tell her she has +the making of a good newspaper woman in her."</p> + +<p>"She is Emma's star pupil in English. Emma says she writes the most +original themes."</p> + +<p>"She has all sorts of queer fancies about people and things," went on +Kathleen. "I can't begin to tell you, Grace, how glad I am to be of some +help to her. I must do something to make up for lost time." A faint +color tinged Kathleen's pale face.</p> + +<p>"You are doing a great deal for Mary Reynolds, Kathleen. She loves you +dearly!"</p> + +<p>"It certainly is nice to be liked," returned Kathleen softly. "If it +hadn't been for you and Elfreda and Patience I would have gone on in the +same hard, selfish spirit in which I began college."</p> + +<p>"As it is, you are one of the literary lights of Overton, and a joy to +your friends," said Grace gayly. "I wish you were at Harlowe House this +year with Emma and me."</p> + +<p>"I wish I were," sighed Kathleen, "but I didn't feel that it would be +fair to apply for admission there. You see, Grace, my salary on the +newspaper, during the summer, is a generous one, and, by managing +carefully, I can pay my expenses in college for the year with it. I +don't have to do that, however, for every week I write a story for the +Sunday edition of our paper which more than pays my board at Wayne Hall. +Then I send in extra space articles and go out on special stories during +the Christmas and Easter vacations. I am never really very short of +money, so I'm not eligible as a member of your household."</p> + +<p>"You are a clever, capable girl, Kathleen," averred Grace, with honest +admiration, "and I am proud to be your friend."</p> + +<p>A long look of perfect understanding passed between the two. It had come +only after many days of misunderstanding and doubt.</p> + +<p>"Dear Loyalheart, I can never forgive myself for making you so unhappy," +Kathleen's crisp tones trembled.</p> + +<p>"And I shall never forgive you if you mention it again," retorted Grace. +"You mustn't recall such things. I am enough of a believer in destiny to +feel that we had to go through a kind of probation period before we were +ready to be friends."</p> + +<p>"It's dear in you to say so, Grace, but I know myself, and how +contemptibly I behaved. I've been determined to say this to you ever +since I came back to college, but you have never given me the least +chance until now."</p> + +<p>"'Loyalheart' was the highest proof of your regard you could have given +me," reminded Grace gently. "I don't need any other reminders. I must +go, Kathleen. Did I hear you say you were going with me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Kathleen slipped into her hat and coat, and, as they went down Mrs. +Elwood's familiar stairs and strolled out into the crisp autumn air, arm +in arm, Kathleen felt that she could never be thankful enough to the +girl who had taught her the true meaning of college spirit.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>A DISQUIETING THOUGHT</h3> + + +<p>When half way across the campus the two young women encountered Evelyn +Ward. The cold crisp November air had deepened the pink in her cheeks to +living rose. Her violet eyes fairly blazed with light and sparkle, and +her wonderful golden hair peeped in fascinating little curls from under +her gray velour hat. She wore a three-quarter length gray coat, cut in +the smartest fashion, and a passing glance at her would have left one +with the impression that she was in affluent circumstances.</p> + +<p>"How can a girl who can't afford to pay her college expenses wear such +smart clothes?" was Kathleen's appraising comment after they had passed +Evelyn, who nodded to them in condescending fashion.</p> + +<p>"Her sister, Ida, makes them. She told me so when she came here to ask +me to take Miss Ward into Harlowe House. She is a very pretty girl, +isn't she?"</p> + +<p>Kathleen nodded. "How are things at Harlowe House?" she inquired +irrelevantly.</p> + +<p>"Going beautifully. I told you about our club didn't I?"</p> + +<p>"Not a word. I haven't seen you for a week."</p> + +<p>The newspaper girl listened interestedly to Grace's account of the club. +"It would make a good story for my paper," she commented. "How about it, +Grace?"</p> + +<p>"You're welcome to it if the girls don't object. Suppose you come as a +guest to our next meeting and ask their permission."</p> + +<p>"I'll do it," promised Kathleen.</p> + +<p>Mary Reynolds received and accepted Kathleen's invitation to the +reception with unmistakable joy. Grace had sent home for a pink silk +evening gown, which she had worn but little, and fairly forced it, with +slippers, stockings and gloves, upon the reluctant Mary, with the plea +that pink was not her color and therefore she never wore the frock. +Aside from shortening it, it had needed little alteration, and when the +night of the sophomore reception arrived, Kathleen appeared, an hour +before the time to start for the dance, to help Mary dress. She brought +a cluster of pinky-white roses and a pink chiffon scarf, which, she +diplomatically insisted, did not go well with any of her gowns and +exactly matched Mary's.</p> + +<p>"I can't believe that I am I," Mary said happily, as she viewed herself +wonderingly in the round dressing-table mirror. She clasped her thin, +childish hands impulsively together. "I wish every girl in the world had +such good friends and pretty clothes as I have!"</p> + +<p>"I hope no one has such elusive hooks and eyes on their clothes as I +have," grumbled Emma Dean, who had appeared in the doorway in time to +hear Mary's heartfelt remark. "I have permanently dislocated one +shoulder and ruined the charming curves of both my elbows forever, in a +vain, but valiant, effort to unite one miserable hook and eye, which I'm +sure the dressmaker purposely sewed out of my reach."</p> + +<p>"Poor Emma," sympathized Kathleen. "Let me help you."</p> + +<p>Emma surrendered herself to Kathleen's deft fingers with a ludicrous +gesture of resignation.</p> + +<p>"Are all the Harlowe House girls going?" asked Kathleen.</p> + +<p>"Yes; thanks to the juniors and seniors, not one has been left out. It +is such a clear, pleasant night the campus house girls won't need +carriages," answered Grace. "It is eight o'clock now. Don't you think +you had better start? You go on with the girls, Emma. I'll run over some +time during the evening for a few minutes."</p> + +<p>After the merrymakers had set out for the gymnasium, Grace retired to +her office to write a letter to her mother. She had hardly settled +herself when the door bell rang and she heard a high, clear voice asking +the maid for Miss Ward.</p> + +<p>"Please tell her to hurry, my car is waiting," instructed the voice, as +the maid ushered the newcomer into the living-room. Grace glanced +through the open door of the office into the next room. In Evelyn's +escort she recognized Althea Parker, one of the most snobbish girls at +Overton College, and a member of the sophomore class. Evelyn's +declaration on her arrival at Overton that she intended to cultivate the +richest girls in college now came back to Grace with disagreeable force.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, Miss Harlowe," hailed Althea, as Grace rose and went +forward to greet her. "We are going to be late. I hope Evelyn won't keep +me waiting." There was a touch of impatience in her voice.</p> + +<p>Even as she spoke there was a patter of light feet on the stairs, and +Evelyn appeared in the doorway, her evening coat and scarf on her arm.</p> + +<p>Grace gave an involuntary gasp of admiration, while Althea cried out +openly, "Evelyn Ward, you are wonderful!"</p> + +<p>Evelyn's violet blue eyes flashed with gratified vanity. She wore an +exquisite gown of white silk and lace made in an apparently simple but +very smart fashion, which revealed the pure beauty of her white throat +and rounded arms, increasing her loveliness tenfold. She wore white silk +stockings and white satin slippers with little rhinestone buckles. Her +thick golden hair was drawn high on her head in a graceful knot and +clustered in little curls about her temples and over her forehead, while +her whole face was alive with excitement. At her corsage was an immense +bunch of violets, evidently sent her by her escort.</p> + +<p>"Shall I do?" she asked pertly, walking over to the living-room mirror +for a last peep at herself.</p> + +<p>"You look very lovely to-night," said Grace honestly.</p> + +<p>"Thank you," she swept Grace a curtsey. A faint mocking smile played +about her red lips, as though she doubted the sincerity of the remark. +Slipping on her evening coat of white broadcloth, and placing an +extremely handsome scarf of white and gold over her pretty head, Evelyn +walked to the door, followed by Althea Parker, who, divided between +admiration of Evelyn and fear of being late, was talking rapidly in her +high, excited voice.</p> + +<p>"Good night, Miss Harlowe," she nodded.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, good night," called Evelyn carelessly.</p> + +<p>Grace leaned back in her chair and smiled at Evelyn's slightly cavalier +treatment of herself. "How her sister has spoiled her," she mused. "She +treats me as though I were one of the maids. To see her to-night one +would be quite likely to imagine that she, rather than Miss Parker, were +the richest girl in Overton."</p> + +<p>A sudden, startled look stole into Grace's eyes. "Why, where—" She +paused as though she had come upon something which did not quite please +her. As a matter of fact it had recurred to her with an unpleasant jolt +that Evelyn was wearing an evening gown entirely too expensive for her +present circumstances. So were her evening coat, her scarf and all the +dainty appointments which so perfectly matched the white silk frock. +Again she recalled that Ida Ward planned and made all her sister's +gowns. Even so, she must have spent considerable money on Evelyn's +evening clothes. Suppose these things were to be noticed and commented +upon by the girls in the house, or by outsiders who knew nothing of the +real source of Evelyn's wardrobe? Suppose some one were ill-natured +enough to say that a girl who could afford such expensive gowns ought to +be able to pay her own expenses and give her place in Harlowe House to +some one more needy. Had not Kathleen asked how Evelyn could afford to +wear such smart clothes?</p> + +<p>Yet on the other hand, there was nothing to be done. Grace did not feel +it within her province to take Evelyn to task on the subject of her +wearing apparel. All she could do was to trust that what had perplexed +her would pass unnoticed and uncriticized.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>A SEMPER FIDELIS REUNION</h3> + + +<p>"O frabjous day!" rejoiced Emma Dean, using her bath towel as a scarf +and performing a weird dance about the room. "I know I shall go +chortling through my classes this morning in a highly undignified +manner. To think that dear old Semper Fidelis will hold forth again in +the same old haunts! And the most beautiful part is that there will be +no vacant chairs."</p> + +<p>Emma's delight was reflected on Grace's face. It was the morning before +Thanksgiving Day and the two young women were preparing to go to +breakfast, full of happy anticipation, for the various afternoon trains +were to bring to them their Semper Fidelis comrades. It had all begun +with Elfreda's and Mabel Ashe's promises to spend Thanksgiving at +Harlowe House. Then Elfreda had persuaded Arline Thayer, whom she saw +frequently in New York, to join them. Arline had written to Ruth, who +had come on to New York for a long visit to her chum in time to swell +the band. Elfreda had promptly written Grace that if she would see that +Miriam and Anne put in an appearance at the proper moment, the Briggs +Helping Hand Society would guarantee that the other members should +appear at Overton on the appointed day.</p> + +<p>"Elfreda has taken rather a large contract on her hands," Grace had said +to Emma, on receiving the letter. "She evidently knows what she's doing, +so I had better write to Miriam and Anne."</p> + +<p>Miriam's promise to come had been easily obtained, but Anne was not sure +of attending the Semper Fidelis reunion, until the week before +Thanksgiving, when Everett Southard, who was then playing in +Shakespearian repertoire in New York, obligingly arranged to give the +"Taming of the Shrew" on the day before Thanksgiving, and "King Richard +III" on Thanksgiving Day. As Anne did not appear in either play, her +Thanksgiving freedom was assured.</p> + +<p>And now the great day had dawned at last! There were to be recitations +in the morning, but college would close at noon, not to reopen until the +following Monday. The Semper Fidelis girls were to be Elfreda's guests +at Vinton's that night at a six o'clock dinner. On Thanksgiving morning +they were to breakfast at the Tourraine as the guests of Ruth and +Arline. Thanksgiving dinner at Martell's was to be Anne's and Miriam's +part of the celebration, while Thanksgiving night Emma and Grace were to +be hostesses at Vinton's, their favorite rendezvous.</p> + +<p>Grace would have dearly loved to be hostess at the Thanksgiving dinner, +but she felt that her duty lay with her household. She wondered whether +it would be really right for her to remain away from Harlowe House for +so many meals. After long and earnest discussion, she and Emma had +arranged that she would give up eating Thanksgiving dinner with her +friends, while Emma cheerfully agreed to preside at the Harlowe House +breakfast table on Thanksgiving morning. It was decided that Louise +Sampson, of whom Grace had grown extremely fond, was the best possible +person to leave in charge during their absence on Thanksgiving night, +for neither Grace nor Emma felt that they could bear to miss that last +gathering together of their beloved Semper Fidelis friends.</p> + +<p>"I wonder who will be first on the scene," speculated Grace.</p> + +<p>"Consult the time table, my child," advised Emma. "I have no time for +speculation. I am starting on a hunt in darkest Deanery for my cuff +links. They are tucked away in some remote corner of the Dean territory, +but which corner?"</p> + +<p>"They are in one end of your handkerchief box. I saw you put them there +yesterday, you ridiculous person," laughed Grace.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, thank you! 'One good turn deserves another,'" quoted Emma +fervently. "Bring forth the fateful time table and I'll sort out the +trains and the order of arrival of the clan."</p> + +<p>"I haven't a time table," confessed Grace.</p> + +<p>"Then we'll have to let the trains run merrily on, and the railroad do +its perfect work. I'm sorry I can't pay my debt of gratitude. I am +always helpful. I was always helpful. I have been helpful. I would be +helpful. I might have been helpful and I may yet be helpful," conjugated +Emma hopefully, "but not without a time table."</p> + +<p>"I appreciate your splendid spirit of helpfulness even though it isn't +of any use at present," assured Grace satirically. "I suppose—"</p> + +<p>A long reverberating ring of the bell cut short her remark.</p> + +<p>The two friends exchanged questioning glances.</p> + +<p>"It can't be one of the girls. It's only eight o'clock," was Emma's +quick comment.</p> + +<p>Grace opened the door and listened intently. Emma joined her, peering +over her shoulder. Then Miss Duncan's dignified assistant in English +gave an unmistakable, though subdued, war whoop, and, seizing Grace by +the hand, made for the stairs. Grace needed no assistance. An instant +later they brought up at the foot of the stairs and made a simultaneous +rush for a tall, plump young woman, enveloping her in a tempestuous +embrace.</p> + +<p>"I might have known you'd be the first," cried Grace with joyful +affection. "You must have taken a train in the middle of the night."</p> + +<p>"I did," returned J. Elfreda Briggs calmly. "We are living in New York +this winter, so Pa brought me to the station in his own pet car and saw +me safely on my way. Emma Dean, you good old comrade, how are you?" +Elfreda turned from Grace to Emma.</p> + +<p>Emma surveyed Elfreda with fond eyes. "Just now I'm overcome at seeing +you, J. Elfreda. How we have missed you!" Depth of feeling for the +moment checked Emma's irrepressible flow of humor. Next to Grace, in her +regard, came the one-time stout girl, now merely plump and extremely +attractive.</p> + +<p>Tears flashed across J. Elfreda's eyes as she stood looking into the +faces of these friends, whom she loved so truly, yet saw so seldom. +"Missing people has been my greatest cross this year," she said, her +voice not quite steady. "There's no use in making a fuss, though. I'm +beginning to learn that."</p> + +<p>A brief silence fell upon the three classmates.</p> + +<p>"Have you had your breakfast, Elfreda?" asked Grace, almost abruptly.</p> + +<p>"Are there waffles?" counter-questioned Elfreda.</p> + +<p>"There can be. The Harlowe House kitchen boasts of waffle irons, bought +with this occasion in view."</p> + +<p>"Then I am heart and soul for breakfast," avowed Elfreda. "I ate my +usual sumptuous repast of half a grape fruit and a piece of dry toast, +plus one small cup of black coffee, on the train. I haven't had a waffle +since I was here in August. I wonder how they would taste," she added +innocently.</p> + +<p>"You'll know before long," promised Grace. "Emma take Elfreda upstairs +to our room, while I ask Sarah to make the waffles."</p> + +<p>Half an hour later they sat around the breakfast table, a contented +trio. After Emma had left them to go to her work, Grace and Elfreda had +a long confidential conversation over their coffee. The noon train +brought Mabel Ashe, Arline and Ruth, while from off the afternoon trains +stepped Anne and Miriam, the smiling Emerson twins, Elizabeth Wade, +Marian Cummings and Elsie Wilton.</p> + +<p>It was a congenial and talkative company that, as Elfreda's guests, +graced Vinton's at six o'clock dinner that night. Kathleen West, who had +been prevailed upon to spend at least one Thanksgiving at Overton, +instead of on duty on her paper, was one of three guests of honor, Mabel +Ashe and Patience Eliot were the others. By special arrangement a table +that would seat fifteen persons had been set in their favorite +rendezvous, the mission alcove. Elfreda, Grace, Anne and Miriam, +rejoicing in their reunion, had made a tour of the stores together that +afternoon, and gleefully carrying the fruits of their shopping to +Vinton's had decorated the table with flowers, ribbons and funny little +favors.</p> + +<p>The Overton girls that happened to drop into Vinton's that night smiled +appreciatively at the gay little company in the alcove. A glance in that +direction on the part of the upper class girls was sufficient. They knew +that Semper Fidelis, the darling of the Overton clubs, was making merry. +The freshmen, however, had to have matters explained to them by their +friends.</p> + +<p>"That Semper Fidelis club was the life of Overton," Althea Parker +explained to Evelyn Ward. "That's one reason I asked you to come here +with me to-night. I wanted you to see them together." The two were +seated at a small table not far from that of the Sempers.</p> + +<p>Evelyn made no response. Her eyes were fixed upon the mission alcove. +She knew, only too well, that Althea's invitation to dinner had not been +disinterested. She had learned to know that Althea was not only +snobbish, but self-seeking as well. For whatever she gave she demanded +value received. Evelyn had been in the living-room when Grace and +Elfreda returned from their shopping. She had heard them discussing the +dinner, and had lost no time in slipping on her wraps and carrying the +news to Althea, who, as she had hoped, had at once invited her to dinner +at Vinton's.</p> + +<p>"Althea thinks I'll attract the attention of those girls," Evelyn had +speculated shrewdly.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the girls in the alcove, quite unconscious of the discussion +going on about them at the other tables, were in their element. One +after another the dear wraiths of their Overton days were summoned, to +be laughingly and lovingly reviewed, then lingeringly laid to rest +again.</p> + +<p>"Girls, do you remember the dinner we gave here after the ghost party?" +asked Mabel Ashe, her brown eyes alight with mischief. "Some of you +girls weren't here that night, but at least half of you were."</p> + +<p>"I ought to remember it," declared Elfreda significantly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Elfreda, it was in honor of you, I believe," laughed Arline. The +dinner to which Mabel referred belonged to Elfreda's freshman year at +Overton.</p> + +<p>"It was indeed," affirmed Anne Pierson. "Every one of our four years +brought its own parties."</p> + +<p>"And its own problems," supplemented Miriam.</p> + +<p>"Of whom we were which," murmured J. Elfreda.</p> + +<p>Every one laughed at this naive assertion.</p> + +<p>"But we've all turned out creditably," smiled Miriam Nesbit, "thanks to +our Loyalheart. She opened the way to good comradeship for me, long ago, +in my high school days."</p> + +<p>"She found my father for me!" said Ruth Denton, her eyes eloquent.</p> + +<p>"She stood by me when I needed her most," said Anne.</p> + +<p>"Girls, I won't—" Grace half rose from her chair, but was gently shoved +into it again.</p> + +<p>"Sit still and hear the rest of your misdeeds," commanded Mabel. "Go on, +Arline."</p> + +<p>"She helped me to be unselfish and to think of others," was Arline's +sweet tribute.</p> + +<p>"She made me over," asserted Elfreda with emphasis.</p> + +<p>"She taught me college spirit," said Kathleen softly.</p> + +<p>"Sara and I didn't like college and never had much fun until Grace asked +us to join the Sempers," declared Sue Emerson.</p> + +<p>"She was the first to welcome me to Overton, and has given me countless +good times since then," said Patience.</p> + +<p>"She taught me to look for the best rather than the worst, even in my +enemies," declared Mabel Ashe.</p> + +<p>Elizabeth Wade, Marian Cummings and Elsie Wilton each added their +tribute.</p> + +<p>"Girls, if you only knew how terribly this embarrasses me," pleaded +Grace. "Every one of you have done the nicest sort of things for me. I +think—"</p> + +<p>"You are not allowed to think," put in Miriam. "We will do the thinking +for the next two minutes. Besides J. Elfreda has something to say. Go +ahead, Elfreda."</p> + +<p>"Grace, you've heard what we all had to say about you, but there is a +whole lot that we can never find words for. Each of us knows best what +you've been to us, as individuals, and we all know that there will never +be any other girl quite as dear, and true, and loyal as you are to us. +So we decided to give our Loyalheart a loyalty token, and here it is. +Hold out your arm," commanded Elfreda.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="roc3" id="roc3"></a> +<img src="images/roc3.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>"We Decided to Give Our Loyalheart a Loyalty Token."</h3> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + + + +<p>Grace held out her pretty, bare arm in obedient bewilderment. Something +shining slipped over her wrist. She stared at it in fascination.</p> + +<p>"How beautiful!" she gasped. "It can't be for me!" The bracelet was a +wide band of dull gold, chased with a pattern of tiny leaves, and, at +intervals, its golden circle was starred with small diamonds. It was the +most expensive piece of jewelry Grace had ever owned.</p> + +<p>"Every one of our initials is inside," informed Elsie Wilton +triumphantly. Grace slipped the band off her arm and peered into it. +Sure enough there were rows of tiny initials inscribed on the smooth +gold.</p> + +<p>"And now let us drink a toast to our Loyalheart and go up to the +Tourraine," proposed Elfreda, after the excitement attending the +presentation of the bracelet had died out. "Here's to our Loyalheart! +Drink her down!"</p> + +<p>The emptied lemonade glasses were set on the table and the party rose to +go.</p> + +<p>As they were passing out, Grace and Anne walked with linked arms, +determined to make the most of their brief hour together.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Grace, I almost forgot to ask you," began Anne, "who was that +beautiful girl at the next table to the alcove? I saw you speak to her. +She was with Miss Parker, that little girl of 19— who has so much +money."</p> + +<p>"That was Evelyn Ward, Anne, and thereby hangs a tale which I'll +entertain you with to-morrow. One thing about her will interest you. She +wants to become an actress. She thinks you are the wonder of this +century. I'll introduce her to you to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"She is beautiful," commented Anne, "and if she is really sincere in her +ambition I might help her to attain her ambition."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>THE INTERRUPTED CONFIDENCE</h3> + + +<p>The days that lay between Thanksgiving and Christmas passed swiftly and +uneventfully for Grace. As the holiday vacation drew near she was +divided, however, between her desire to go home and her duty to Harlowe +House. It was Emma Dean who finally settled the question by announcing +that she did not intend to go home for Christmas and would gladly look +after things during Grace's absence. The trip home was too expensive, +Emma had stated frankly, and her railroad fare would be quite a help +when added to the Dean housekeeping fund. Once she had made her decision +to stay at Overton she began to lay plans for a happy holiday season for +the Harlowe House girls, who, without exception, were also to remain in +Overton for their vacation. Two days before Christmas Grace left Overton +for Oakdale, with many injunctions to Emma to take things easy and to +telegraph her at once if she needed her.</p> + +<p>Once at home a round of merry parties began. True to their promise +Jessica and Reddy had come back to Oakdale for Christmas. The only +missing member of the Eight Originals was Anne, and the Sunday morning +following Christmas Day she walked into the Harlowe's living room +accompanied by Everett Southard and his sister. She could not bear to +allow the holidays to pass without seeing her friends, so she and the +Southards had taken the midnight train for Oakdale, determined to spend +at least one day there. That evening a contented, happy company gathered +at the Nesbits, as Miriam's and David's guests, at a dinner given in +honor of the unexpected arrivals. After a short, but exceedingly +earnest, confab in a cosy corner just off the hall, Anne and David had +appeared arm in arm, and, to an accompaniment of meaning smiles, had +announced their engagement. Although Miriam Nesbit was entirely unaware +of it, four pairs of eyes, belonging to the feminine half of the Eight +Originals had kept a lynx-like watch upon her and Everett Southard. +Afterward Grace confided to Anne that she believed Miriam did like Mr. +Southard a little, and it was quite plain to be seen that Mr. Southard +cared for her, while Jessica and Nora were wagging their heads in secret +agreement of the same belief.</p> + +<p>Only one thing marred Grace's pleasure in being at home and that was the +thought that she was making Tom Gray unhappy. Outwardly he was the same +sunny, smiling Tom she had known for so many years, but there were times +when the mask of cheerfulness fell away and Grace read in his eyes a +look of pain and longing that caused her to reproach herself. Then her +honest nature would reassert itself and she would vow never to promise +to marry Tom out of sympathy. Unless there came a time when she was +absolutely convinced that he meant more to her than her work she and Tom +would have to go on in the same old way.</p> + +<p>But aside from this one cloud it seemed to Grace that she had never +before so fully appreciated her father and mother. "You grow dearer +every minute," she assured them on her last night at home. She sat +between them on a little stool, holding a hand of each. "If you don't +put me out on the steps to-morrow morning with my luggage, and lock the +door in my face, I know I'll never, never have the courage to go away +from you. It is really a tragedy, this wanting to be in two places at +once."</p> + +<p>"Dear child," said her mother softly, while her father stroked her +shining hair and wondered how he ever managed to get along without her +during the long months she spent at Overton. "We hate to give you up, +Gracie," he said, "but we love you all the more for your faithfulness to +your work."</p> + +<p>And that was the thought which Grace took back with her to Overton. She +smiled to herself as she swung briskly through the quiet streets. Their +approbation had quickened her spirit to put forth fresh effort. She felt +as though she could remove mountains if they happened to rise suddenly +in her path. And in this state of mental exhilaration she ran up the +steps of Harlowe House and, after a second's fumbling with her latchkey, +let herself in.</p> + +<p>It was almost six o'clock in the afternoon, and the darkness of early +January had settled down upon the landscape. A wet, discouraging snow, +which made the streets a slush-covered menace to pedestrians, was +falling, and Grace gave a soft sigh of satisfaction as she stepped into +the cheery, well-lighted hall. Knowing that she was quite likely to find +Emma in her room she hurried up the stairs. Her hand was on the door +knob when she heard what sounded suspiciously like a sob. Grace flung +open the door and rushed into her room, her face alive with concern. +What could possibly have happened to make jolly, self-reliant Emma Dean +cry? She exclaimed in quick surprise, however, for, other than herself, +the room held no occupant. "I'm sure I heard some one crying," she +murmured. She listened intently. A moment later the same doleful sound +was again borne to her ears. Walking quickly into the bathroom she stood +by the door that opened into Evelyn Ward's room.</p> + +<p>"It comes from Miss Ward's room," was her second surmisal. "I wonder +what I ought to do. She is so easily offended that, if I go to her, she +may resent my call and think me meddlesome and interfering." Grace +continued to listen uneasily to the unmistakable sounds of grief that +came from the next room.</p> + +<p>"Something serious has certainly happened. I can't stand it to hear her +cry so. I'll take the risk of being misunderstood," she decided with a +grim little smile.</p> + +<p>Stepping out of her room into the hall she knocked softly on Evelyn's +door, receiving no answer. Her second and rather more emphatic knock +elicited a faint, "Who is there?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Harlowe," answered Grace. "May I come in for a moment, Miss Ward?"</p> + +<p>She heard Evelyn moving about the room for a moment, then the door was +opened slowly, and with apparent reluctance on the part of the pretty +freshman, who had evidently dried her tears for the time being.</p> + +<p>"How do you do, Miss Harlowe?" she said in a queer, strained voice. "I +did not know that you had returned from your vacation." She did not +offer her hand to Grace. In her blue eyes lay a look of positive fear.</p> + +<p>"I came in not more than ten minutes ago," returned Grace, stepping into +the room and closing the door after her. Then with her usual directness +she said, "Miss Ward, I heard you crying. I came to see if I could help +you."</p> + +<p>The look of fear in Evelyn's eyes deepened. She continued to regard +Grace intently, as though trying to discover whether there could be any +other motive for her visit. In spite of the effort she was making to be +natural her face expressed absolute consternation.</p> + +<p>"It—was—nothing," she stammered, at last. "I am not feeling very +well."</p> + +<p>Grace was not deceived. She knew that Evelyn was not the kind of girl to +cry hysterically over a slight illness. Still she could not force this +perverse young woman to tell that which she did not choose to tell.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry you won't let me help you. Are you sure that I can't be of +service to you."</p> + +<p>"<i>You.</i>" Evelyn laughed shortly. "No; I am quite sure that <i>you</i> can't +be."</p> + +<p>"Very well." Grace was about to leave the room.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute!" Evelyn's voice rang out sharply. "I—I—will tell you +my trouble, Miss Harlowe. It's about—my college fees. I paid part of +the money when I came here. My—my—sister has been very ill and can't +send the rest of the money. She made a special arrangement with the +registrar to make the other payment in November. I've received two +notices. I don't know what to do. I can't bear to leave Overton."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you come to me before?" asked Grace with gentle reproach. "I +can help you in this matter through the Semper Fidelis fund."</p> + +<p>Grace went on to explain the purpose of the Semper Fidelis Club. "We +lend the students the money rather than give it to them, because they +like to feel that they are proceeding on a strictly business basis. It +takes away the slightest idea of charity and makes the girls quite +responsible for themselves."</p> + +<p>"I see," murmured Evelyn. "But suppose I borrowed the money and then +found that I couldn't return it for ever so long?"</p> + +<p>"There is neither time limit set nor interest charged on any reasonable +sum of money a girl may wish to borrow," returned Grace. "We have the +utmost confidence in our borrowers. The very fact that they come to us +for help is an avowal of their honesty. How much money do you wish to +borrow, Miss Ward?"</p> + +<p>Evelyn rather hesitatingly named a sum considerably in excess of that +needed for her college fees. "It—will—pay my expenses for the year and +leave me a little besides for emergencies," she explained +apologetically. "Then poor Ida can get well and won't have to worry. I +am sure I can work at something this summer and pay at least part of the +money back to the club."</p> + +<p>She swept a swift, speculative glance at Grace from under her eyelashes +which quite belied her earnest tones. Grace, however, absorbed for a +brief moment in her own thoughts, failed to see it. When she looked at +Evelyn the latter's face bore a sweetly grateful expression that made +her wonder if she had not been mistaken in her estimate of the, +hitherto, troublesome freshman. Her apparent anxiety to relieve her +sister of worry over financial difficulties was distinct evidence of an +affection of which Grace had not believed Evelyn capable. "I have +misjudged her," was Grace's thought. "She really cares for her sister."</p> + +<p>Aloud she said, "I will write at once to Miss Thayer, who is the +president of the Semper Fidelis Club, and in whose name the account +stands, telling her the circumstances. Thus far we have not received +many calls for help since college opened, so there is quite a little +money in bank. It is during the last half of the year that we make the +greatest number of loans. I am sorry that your sister has been ill. If +you will give me her address I will write to her to-night."</p> + +<p>Evelyn flushed hotly. "Oh, no, you mustn't!" she exclaimed sharply. +"That is—I mean you—mustn't put yourself—to so much trouble for me," +she added lamely.</p> + +<p>"It won't be a particle of trouble," assured Grace. "I should like to do +so."</p> + +<p>Evelyn's confusion deepened. "I—can't—" she floundered.</p> + +<p>Grace regarded her with quiet, searching eyes. But before she had time +to go on from wonder at Evelyn's strange objection to her writing her +sister to actual suspicion, Evelyn interposed eagerly, "I'll give you +the address, with pleasure, Miss Harlowe. Wait a moment." She sprang to +her open writing desk and seizing a piece of paper and a pencil wrote +energetically for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Here it is."</p> + +<p>She laid it before Grace, who picked it up and read, "Miss Ida Ward, 320 +Duverne Street, Albany, N.Y."</p> + +<p>A puzzled frown wrinkled Grace's forehead. "I thought your sister told +me she lived in Burton. I must have misunderstood her."</p> + +<p>"So we did," put in Evelyn hurriedly, "but Ida is spending the winter +with my aunt in Albany. She went there just before she was taken ill. We +may never go back to Burton again to live. Of course I am not sure of +that. Perhaps I can find work in a large city during my summer +vacation."</p> + +<p>"That reminds me," began Grace. "I had a talk with Miss Pierson when she +was here about your going on the stage. She saw you at Vinton's, and +when I told her you had stage ambitions she said she was quite sure she +could find work for you during the summer in a stock company. She will +try to take you with her."</p> + +<p>"Really!" Evelyn sprang to her feet, her blue eyes glittering with +excitement. "Oh, Miss Harlowe, if I could, if she would take me! I'd +work so hard and pay every penny of everything I owe."</p> + +<p>"But you don't owe anything yet," reminded Grace, smiling.</p> + +<p>Evelyn did not answer. It was doubtful whether she heard Grace's last +words. She stood perfectly still, a curious look on her beautiful face. +Suddenly she said in a low, halting tone, "Miss Harlowe, if you knew +how—"</p> + +<p>A knock on the door interrupted her speech. Without finishing, she +stepped to it and turned the knob. "Hello, Mary," she said +indifferently.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Harlowe, I didn't know that you had come home," cried Mary +Reynolds. "We have all missed you dreadfully, haven't we, Evelyn?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Evelyn in her usual indifferent fashion. Then as Grace +turned to go she said sweetly, "Thank you so much for your kindness to +me, Miss Harlowe."</p> + +<p>But Grace reflected disappointedly as she went slowly into her own room +that Mary Reynolds' innocent interruption had occurred just in time to +prevent the establishment with Evelyn of the very footing which she had +been trying all year to gain.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>A WEEK-END IN NEW YORK</h3> + + +<p>True to her promise Grace wrote to Arline Thayer that very evening +concerning the sum of money which Evelyn wished to borrow, and three +days later she opened a fat letter from the president of Semper Fidelis +from which fell the magic slip of paper which, for Evelyn, meant the way +out of her difficulties. Grace pounced with delight upon the letter and +was soon deep in its contents.</p> + +<p>"We saw Anne as 'Ophelia' last Friday night," Arline wrote. "After the +play father gave a little supper for her at our house and invited the +Southards, Mabel and Mr. Ashe, Elfreda, Miriam Nesbit and her brother. +Miriam came to New York to visit and shop, and it is not hard to guess +why her brother came with her. We were all so surprised to see her, and +so delighted. She is staying with the Southards, and, Grace, I do +believe Everett Southard is in love with her. It is hard to say whether +she returns his love, for she doesn't manifest the slightest sign of it. +Wouldn't it be splendid if they did decide to go through life together? +He is so clever, and a great actor too. Mabel's lawyer has won the most +difficult case he ever fought for. He has persuaded Mabel to wear his +ring. Their engagement is to be announced next week. I suppose you will +hear from Mabel before many days. How I wish you were here. We all miss +you so. Can't you come to New York for a week end before Easter? Do try +to arrange it. I have so many things to tell you. It would take an age +to write them. Think it over and decide to come. With my dearest love,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Arline"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Grace finished the letter with a happy sigh. She would try to manage to +run down to New York for a week end. She wondered how long Miriam +intended to stay in the city and she smiled faintly over Arline's +comment regarding Miriam and Everett Southard. It was not news to her. +Consulting the calendar that hung above the desk, she decided to go the +first week in February, and began to plan her work accordingly.</p> + +<p>In spite of her secret fears that everything was too perfect to last, +not only was her varied household serene, but prospering as well. From +the time the Harlowe House girls became a self-governing body the +question of putting money in the treasury had been continually agitated. +One way and another had been suggested, but it was not until the +Christmas holidays that the inspiration had come in the shape of a most +toothsome batch of caramels which Louise Sampson had descended into the +kitchen and made, one snowy, blustery evening when the club had +assembled in the living-room for a social session. The caramels were a +signal success, and when Cecil Ferris eyed one of the delicious brown +squares lovingly before popping it into her mouth, then asked +reflectively, "Why couldn't we make caramels and sell them to the +Overton girls?" the idea was hailed with cries of "Great," "A good +idea." "We could easily sell pounds of them."</p> + +<p>With one accord they had besieged Louise Sampson with curious questions +as to how she had made the caramels and the cost of the ingredients. +Louise had laughingly refused to tell her recipe.</p> + +<p>After talking things over Louise had sworn Cecil, Mary Reynolds and one +other girl to secrecy, imparted the precious recipe to them, and on the +next Saturday afternoon they had made their first candy. A gay little +poster, drawn by one of the girls, advertised their wares. It was tacked +to one side of the college bulletin board, and by nine o'clock on +Saturday night the last caramel had gone its destined way, while the +success-crowned merchants counted their money and lamented because they +had not made half enough caramels. From then on, caramel-making occupied +the spare moments of Louise and her faithful band and the "Harlowe House +Caramels" rapidly gained favor. With her usual kindly interest in the +success of others Grace, on her return from the Christmas holidays, +entered into the candy making with spirit and energy, doing much to help +fill the rush of orders. Try as they might the caramel supply was always +running out, for the students found the delicious home-made caramels +quite to their taste and they grew daily more popular.</p> + +<p>The Harlowe House girls were extremely proud of the growing fund in the +treasury. One and all, with the exception of Evelyn Ward, they begged so +earnestly to be initiated into the mysteries of caramel making that they +were sworn to secrecy at a special meeting of the club and divided into +caramel-making squads. It was also decided to make candy only twice a +week, on Wednesday and Friday evenings, and set Thursday and Saturday as +the days for selling the caramels, which were put up in neat half-pound +and pound boxes.</p> + +<p>But while this little enterprise was being carried on with a will Evelyn +was merely an indifferent onlooker. True she belonged to one squad of +the candy makers, but she usually managed to be absent when they worked. +Apparently she was not interested in the financial affairs of the +Harlowe House Club. For a week or more after the check from Semper +Fidelis had been handed to her she had maintained toward Grace an +attitude of sweet gratitude, too flattering to be wholly sincere. It had +gradually disappeared, however, and the old Evelyn had come to the +surface again. Although she was now careful not to offend openly, Grace +felt that underneath the thin veneer of reluctant gratitude lay the old +dislike which she was sure Evelyn felt for her. In spite of her efforts +to judge this strange selfish girl dispassionately Grace knew in her +heart that she still disapproved of Evelyn.</p> + +<p>The first week in February found Grace looking forward to her week end +in New York City. She had arranged to leave Overton on Friday at noon, +and on Friday morning she opened her eyes with that feeling of +exultation over something delightful just around the corner from her. +Then she remembered. In a few hours she would again be with her beloved +friends. She went about her work that morning humming under her breath. +As she was to take the eleven-thirty train she had said a regretful +good-bye to Emma before the latter went to her classes. "How I wish you +were going with me, Emma," she had sighed. Emma's eyes had grown wistful +for an instant, then she had launched forth into a multitude of pompous +and wholly ridiculous reasons why her presence was needed at Harlowe +House that made Grace laugh, and, for the time, banished the shadow from +her face.</p> + +<p>Later as she climbed into the taxicab that was to take her to the +station, Emma's face, with its funny little twisted smile, rose before +her, and she experienced fresh regret at leaving her behind. It was +hardly fair that she should have so much and Emma so little. How bravely +Emma had stepped into the breach made by her father's sudden reverse of +fortune. So deep was Grace in her own thoughts that she did not realize +that they had reached the station until the car came to a sudden stop +and the driver stood holding open the door. Handing him her suit case +and traveling bag Grace stepped out of the car, and tendering the man +her fare, gathered up her luggage and headed for the station. Seating +herself on one of the wooden benches inside the station, she placed her +traveling effects on the floor beside her and compared her watch with +the station clock. Then she rose and going to the ticket window, which +had just opened, purchased her ticket and inquired as to whether the +train were on time.</p> + +<p>"Fifteen minutes late," was the brief reply.</p> + +<p>Grace went back to her bench, and, seating herself, opened a magazine +she had brought with her. She was turning the leaves interestedly when a +sudden banging of the station door caused her to glance up. Her eyes +were riveted in surprise upon Evelyn Ward, who, suit case in hand, +hurried over to her with, "Oh, Miss Harlowe, I wonder if you would mind +my going to New York with you. I am invited to Althea Parker's for the +week end, but she had to go down last night. I tried to see you at +Harlowe House, but you had already gone. I would have spoken to you last +night about going, but I wasn't quite sure whether I could make it or +not." Evelyn's tones were far from concerned.</p> + +<p>"You are quite welcome to ride with me," returned Grace briefly. She +hardly liked the situation, yet she made it a rule not to interfere with +the amusements of the Harlowe House girls. When she had lived at Wayne +Hall Mrs. Elwood had never questioned the comings and goings of her +girls. Still Grace was not pleased with Evelyn's careless manner of +passing over her evident intention to go without even informing Grace of +her departure.</p> + +<p>Once on the train the two kept up a desultory conversation. But little +sympathy existed between them, and the situation grew momentarily more +strained. Grace caught Evelyn taking sly peeps at the magazine which she +still held. With her usual good nature, Grace hailed the boy who passed +through the train with magazines and candy and bought another magazine.</p> + +<p>"There is an article in this number which Miss Dean says is worth +reading," she explained. "Keep my magazine if you like, and I'll read +this."</p> + +<p>For the next two hours not a word was exchanged. The two girls read on +and on. As the afternoon began to wane Evelyn finished her magazine, +took off her hat, and, leaning her head against the high green velvet +back of the seat, closed her eyes. At last Grace laid aside her reading, +and idly watched, with half dreaming eyes, the fleeting landscape. +Occasionally her gaze wandered, in unwilling admiration, to Evelyn's +lovely, tranquil face. Why was such great beauty coupled with such +tantalizing perversity of spirit? was the thought that sprang unbidden +to her mind.</p> + +<p>It was long after dark when the two young women passed through the iron +gates of the station to where their friends awaited them. Anne, David, +Miriam and Arline stood eagerly watching for Grace. At almost the same +moment Evelyn spied Althea. On seeing Evelyn's companions, Althea +hurried forward in time to receive the much-coveted introduction to +Arline Thayer, Anne and the Nesbits. After a brief exchange of +courtesies Grace's friends bowed themselves off, gleefully escorting +Grace to David's car.</p> + +<p>Althea stared moodily after them. "I think they are awfully snobbish," +she remarked resentfully. "How did you manage to get away, Evelyn?"</p> + +<p>"Don't ask me," Evelyn made a gesture of deprecation. "All I hope is +that I'm not found out. I'm glad I overheard Miss Harlowe talking last +night about going to-day. If worse comes to worst, I'll say I came down +here with her."</p> + +<p>"But what if she denies it?"</p> + +<p>Evelyn shrugged her shoulders. "Ten chances to one I shall not be +missed, but if there is any trouble I'll appeal to her generosity of +spirit to help me. She pretends to be so helpful, let her demonstrate +her helpfulness by standing between me and Miss Sheldon."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>A HUMILIATING REPRIMAND</h3> + + +<p>To Grace forty-eight hours with her chums seemed hardly longer than +forty-eight minutes, and she found it an exceedingly difficult task to +divide her time equally among them. She went directly to the Southards +for dinner, and to the theater that night with David, Miriam and Miss +Southard to see Everett Southard and Anne as the ill-fated king and +queen in "Macbeth." To her delight she discovered that the opposite box +held Elfreda, Arline, Ruth, Mabel Ashe, Mr. Ashe and Mr. Thayer, and +after the play they were Mr. Ashe's guests at supper.</p> + +<p>On Saturday the devoted little band gathered at Arline's home at nine +o'clock in the morning, determined to crowd every possible bit of +pleasure into the hours that were theirs. On Sunday it was Mabel Ashe +who played hostess, and on Sunday night a goodly company saw Grace to +the station and safely on her way.</p> + +<p>It was eleven o'clock when she let herself into Harlowe House, and +hurried upstairs, anxious to relax and be comfortable after her long +ride. As she had expected, on opening the door of her room, she saw +Emma, her tall, thin figure wrapped in the folds of a gay crepe kimono, +seated before the table, industriously looking over, and marking, +themes.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Gracious," she caroled amiably, laying down the sheet of paper +she held in her hand and making a quick dive for Grace. "I began to +thing you weren't coming home to-night. How are you, and how is +everybody? In spite of being fairly swamped with themes, I managed to +arise in my might and make cocoa. It's in the chocolate pot and there +are some extra fine Dean-made sandwiches to match. Now say, 'Emma, you +are one in a million, and a cook besides.' Give me your coat and hat. +Your kimono and slippers await you."</p> + +<p>"What a dear you are, Emma," declared Grace, as she handed her wraps to +Emma and began to unhook her skirt. "How I wish you had been with us. +The girls were so sorry you couldn't come. Elfreda says she is going to +descend upon you some Friday and carry you off for a week end, +regardless of howls and protests."</p> + +<p>Emma's expressive face lighted with whimsical tenderness. "J. Elfreda +never forgets, does she? Here's your cocoa, Grace. Help yourself to +sandwiches."</p> + +<p>Seating themselves opposite each other at the oak center table, the +plate of sandwiches and the chocolate pot between them, the two young +women settled themselves for a talk which lasted until after midnight.</p> + +<p>"We are setting a fearful example for our girls," remarked Grace +yawning, as they finally arose to prepare for bed. "I hope we haven't +disturbed Miss Ward. I haven't heard a sound from her room. She must be +asleep. I wonder when she came back."</p> + +<p>"Came back from where?" asked Emma.</p> + +<p>"From New York City. She took the same train that I took and sat with me +all the way there."</p> + +<p>"She did!" exclaimed Emma. "That doesn't tally with what I heard in the +registrar's office Friday afternoon. I'm afraid she didn't ask +permission to go, Grace."</p> + +<p>"Oh, she must have had permission!" A look of surprise, mingled with +consternation, sprang into Grace's eyes.</p> + +<p>"Did she tell you she had the joyful sanction of the registrar?" quizzed +Emma.</p> + +<p>"No—o. She made a half apology for not telling me that she was going to +New York. She said she was not sure of going until the last minute. I +supposed, of course, that she had permission. Why will she persist in +disobeying the rules of the college?" asked Grace despairingly. "What +was said in the registrar's office, Emma, or aren't you at liberty to +tell me?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I am, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it," declared Emma. +"Friday afternoon I went over to Overton Hall to see Miss Sheldon. Just +as I stepped into her office I met Evelyn coming out looking like a +young thunder cloud. I wondered what had happened to upset her sweet, +even disposition," Emma's tones were distinctly ironical, "and without +asking any questions I soon found out. Miss Sheldon herself looked +anything but pleased and said: 'That Miss Ward is the most insolent girl +with whom I have ever come in contact. I refused to allow her to go to +New York City for the week end and she made some extremely impertinent +remarks to me. She has a condition to work off. I felt justified in +refusing her.'"</p> + +<p>"And she disregarded that refusal and went?" questioned Grace +wonderingly. "We would never have dreamed of defying the registrar, +would we, Emma?"</p> + +<p>"Hardly," returned Emma. "Even Laura Atkins in her most anarchistic +moods, or Kathleen West with all her thorns set, would have stopped +short of that. I hope the high and mighty Evelyn won't try to drag you +into this affair."</p> + +<p>"How can she?" demanded Grace. "I had nothing to do with it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but you rode down to New York City on the same train and in the +same seat with her. She is quite likely to tell the registrar that you +countenanced her going even though Miss Sheldon didn't."</p> + +<p>"Oh, she couldn't!" burst forth Grace.</p> + +<p>"Why couldn't she?" demanded Emma.</p> + +<p>Grace shook her head.</p> + +<p>"I think you are a trifle hard on her, Emma. I know she is selfish, but +I don't believe she is malicious."</p> + +<p>"I wish I had your faith in people, Grace," said Emma sincerely. "You +always believe them honest until they prove themselves villains, don't +you?"</p> + +<p>When the next afternoon, Grace received a curt note from Miss Sheldon +asking her to come to her office at five o'clock, Emma's prophesy loomed +large before her.</p> + +<p>"It must be something else," reflected the troubled house mother, as she +prepared for her call on Miss Sheldon. Once in the registrar's office, a +quick glance at the older woman's face, set in lines of annoyance, was +enough to convince Grace that Emma's conjecture had been only too true. +Evelyn had in some way managed to make her a party to her disobedience.</p> + +<p>"Good afternoon, Miss Harlowe," said Miss Sheldon stiffly. There was no +trace of her usual friendly manner. "I sent for you this afternoon for +the purpose of clearing up any misunderstanding you may have in regard +to your authority here at Overton. The students in the various houses +are in every instance subject to the rules of Overton College, and it is +the purpose of the faculty to see that these rules are enforced. You +have no authority to grant a student leave of absence, particularly +after that permission has been refused by me."</p> + +<p>Then there followed a further sharp reprimand to which Grace listened +gravely, her calm, gray eyes never for an instant leaving Miss Sheldon's +face. Something in the younger woman's composure had its effect upon the +registrar, who, on first seeing Grace, had allowed her displeasure free +rein. She looked searchingly into the quiet face before her and said +more gently, "Perhaps I should have asked you to tell me your side of +the story, before condemning you, Miss Harlowe."</p> + +<p>Ah, so there was another side of the story! It was apparently as Emma +had said.</p> + +<p>Tears of hurt pride burned behind Grace's eyes, but they never fell. +With a brave effort she steadied her voice. "I do not know what has been +said to you, Miss Sheldon, but I do know that I have never given any +girl at Harlowe House leave of absence from Overton. I would not presume +to do so. I hope I understand the limit of my authority too clearly to +overstep it."</p> + +<p>"Then you did not take Miss Ward with you to New York City last Friday +afternoon?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Ward was with me on the train and shared my seat, but until I met +her in the station I had not the remotest idea that she intended to go. +I dislike to tell you this, Miss Sheldon, but since you have asked me +this question I can only tell you the truth."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry I spoke so hastily, Miss Harlowe," apologized Miss Sheldon, +"but I was greatly displeased. I have sent for Miss Ward. Will you wait +until she comes? You need not unless you wish to do so."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Grace, a shade of offended dignity in her voice, "but +I must go back to Harlowe House. It is almost dinner time. Good evening, +Miss Sheldon."</p> + +<p>Once outside Overton Hall her composure took wings and she brushed the +thick-gathering tears from her eyes as she hurried blindly across the +snow-covered campus in the gray twilight. She was still smarting under +the hurt of the registrar's sharp words. It was unspeakably humiliating +to be told that she had overstepped her authority. She had thought that +Miss Sheldon knew her too well for that. It merely served to show how +little one knew persons, she reflected bitterly. As for Evelyn, the +angry color dyed Grace's cheeks afresh as she thought of the girl's +treachery, and she made a resentful vow that Evelyn Ward should not be +admitted to Harlowe House for her sophomore year.</p> + +<p>The brisk walk across the campus in the crisp winter air cooled her +anger, and by the time she had reached the house she felt her +resentment, in a measure, vanishing.</p> + +<p>"You were right, Emma," she announced as she walked into their room +where Emma sat plodding laboriously through her weekly mending.</p> + +<p>"About Evelyn?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Emma finished the sleeve of the blouse she was mending with a flourish. +Then, casting a swift, upward glance at Grace, she began singing +dolorously.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Mend, mend, mend,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">On the waist that's weary and worn.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Stitch, stitch, stitch,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Each tatter so jagged and torn.<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Collar and cuffs and sleeves,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Cobble and darn and baste,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Before they gape in a ghastly row,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And shriek the dirge of the waist."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Grace's gloomy expression changed to a faint smile which broadened as +Emma's chant went on. At the end of the verse she laughed outright.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't be sad for long with you about, Emma," she said +affectionately. "How can you think of such funny things on the spur of +the moment?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know," drawled Emma. "Tell me about everything, Gracious."</p> + +<p>"I will," nodded Grace, "but I must run downstairs to the kitchen for a +minute. I'll be back directly."</p> + +<p>It was fifteen minutes before she returned. Emma had finished her +mending and was on her knees before the chiffonier putting her waists +away.</p> + +<p>"Now I'll tell you," began Grace.</p> + +<p>Emma turned her head to listen, but before Grace had time to begin the +door was flung violently open and Evelyn Ward rushed in, her blue eyes +bright with anger. "How could you tell Miss Sheldon that I didn't go to +New York with you? You could have helped me and she wouldn't have said a +word to Miss Wilder. Now I shall be expelled from college and it is all +your fault. You are—"</p> + +<p>At this juncture, however, Emma Dean took a hand. Without giving Grace +an opportunity to say a word she marched over to the excited Evelyn. +"Miss Ward, leave this room instantly, and do not come into it again +until you have asked Miss Harlowe to pardon you."</p> + +<p>In contrast to Evelyn's half-screamed denunciation Emma's voice was low +and even, but it vibrated with stern command.</p> + +<p>"I—she—" began Evelyn, but the look in Emma's eyes was too much for +her. With a half-sobbing cry of anger she rushed from the room.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>AN UNINTENTIONAL LISTENER</h3> + + +<p>"Delightful young person," commented Emma dryly, as the resounding slam +of the door echoed through the room.</p> + +<p>Grace walked slowly over to the chair which she had been occupying when +Evelyn had made her tempestuous entrance, and sat down. There was a +brief silence, then, "Do you suppose Miss Wilder will send Evelyn home?"</p> + +<p>"Grace, you aren't going to try to intercede for that hateful girl after +this," Emma's tones quivered with vexation.</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I suppose it wouldn't be of much use. Miss Wilder won't +tolerate out and out disobedience. I—yes, Emma, I'm going to see if I +can save her. I'm going now."</p> + +<p>Grace sprang from her chair and began slipping into her wraps.</p> + +<p>Emma eyed her moodily, struggling between approval and disapproval, but +saying nothing.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, dear," called Grace over her shoulder as she hurried out the +door. "I'm afraid I'll be late for dinner. Don't wait for me."</p> + +<p>Outside the house she paused, glanced toward Overton Hall, then set off +in the opposite direction toward Miss Wilder's home.</p> + +<p>"I hope she's at home," was Grace's anxious thought as she rang the +bell.</p> + +<p>"Miss Wilder's in the library, miss. I'll call her," informed the maid. +"Come in. It's Miss Harlowe wants to see her, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," Grace smiled in pleasant appreciation of the maid's remembrance +of her.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, Miss Harlowe." Miss Wilder rose to greet her unexpected +visitor and offered her a chair.</p> + +<p>Grace returned the greeting, then seated herself directly opposite the +dean.</p> + +<p>"Miss Wilder, I came to see you," she burst forth, "to ask you if there +is—if you could give Miss Ward another chance. She came to me to-night +and said that she was to be sent home for what happened last Saturday. I +am sorry that she has put herself in such an unpleasant position, but I +am more sorry still for her sister, who has made so many sacrifices to +give her a college education. I never told you much about Miss Ward, +Miss Wilder. Let me tell you now."</p> + +<p>Miss Wilder listened attentively to Grace's eager outpouring.</p> + +<p>"Miss Ward's case has not yet been settled," she said slowly. "It rests +with me whether she shall remain at Overton. I will think over what you +have told me. I am not prepared to give you an answer now. Come to my +office at four o'clock to-morrow afternoon and bring Miss Ward with +you."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Miss Wilder. Good night."</p> + +<p>Feeling that there was nothing more to be said, Grace rose and held out +her hand to the dean. The older woman took the hand in both of hers and +looked deep into Grace's honest eyes.</p> + +<p>"You are a true house mother," she said gently. "I know something of how +greatly Miss Ward has tried your patience, and if I do decide to give +her an opportunity to begin over again it will be largely because you +have asked me."</p> + +<p>When Grace let herself into Harlowe House a little later a hasty glance +into the dining-room revealed the fact that dinner was over. "I'll come +down and get mine after awhile," she decided, and ran upstairs to her +own room.</p> + +<p>"Well?" inquired Emma as Grace entered.</p> + +<p>"Pretty well," retorted Grace. "I won't know positively until to-morrow. +Is Miss Ward in her room?"</p> + +<p>"She is," stated Emma, "and, judging from the sounds, packing is in full +swing. I have heard her trunk lid banging frequently and wickedly, and +she is opening and shutting the drawers of her chiffonier in an anything +but gentle manner."</p> + +<p>"I must see her," declared Grace.</p> + +<p>"Then prepare to be greeted with an icy blast," predicted Emma.</p> + +<p>The next moment found Grace knocking on Evelyn's door.</p> + +<p>There was a rush of steps, the door was flung open and Evelyn faced her, +white and defiant.</p> + +<p>"Miss Wilder wishes you to be in her office at four o'clock to-morrow +afternoon. It will be to your interest to do as she requests," stated +Grace briefly. Without giving Evelyn an opportunity for speech she +turned and walked down the hall to her room.</p> + +<p>"Back so soon and no bones broken," commented Emma.</p> + +<p>Grace laughed a little in spite of herself. "Really, Emma, this is a +serious matter," she declared. "I'm not at all sure that Miss Wilder +will give Miss Ward another chance."</p> + +<p>"Don't think about it and she will. Worry over it and you'll defeat your +own hope. Think about your dinner instead. It's downstairs keeping hot +for you. I'll go down with you and entertain you while you eat. I have a +letter from Elfreda which I've been keeping as a surprise. There is +something in it that you will be glad to know."</p> + +<p>The "something" was Elfreda's announcement that Miriam had invited her +to go to Oakdale for the Easter holidays.</p> + +<p>"That settles it, Emma, you simply must come home with me!" exclaimed +Grace. "You know you delight in J. Elfreda."</p> + +<p>"I do, I do," solemnly agreed Emma. "I'll think it over, Gracious, and +if my finances can be stretched to cover my railroad fare I'll be 'wid +yez.' But who will look after the Harlowites if I fold my tents like the +Arabs and set sail for Oakdale?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know yet. Louise Sampson, perhaps. She is so capable and the +girls not only like her but respect her as well. I must talk with her +first. She may not wish to assume the responsibility. Then again she may +have other Easter plans. We shall manage, somehow, to arrange things +satisfactorily."</p> + +<p>Louise Sampson had no definite Easter plans, so she said, when Grace +broached the subject to her the following day. With never-failing +good-nature she readily agreed to take charge of Harlowe House during +the absence of Grace and Emma, provided Grace felt confident that she +was able to measure up to her responsibility.</p> + +<p>"I'm so thankful that's arranged," sighed Grace as Louise left her +office after luncheon to return to her classes. "I wish some other +things could be as easily disposed of."</p> + +<p>As she dressed that afternoon to go to Miss Wilder's office she was far +from joyous. She disliked the idea of meeting Evelyn in the dean's +office. She was confident that Miss Wilder would state frankly to Evelyn +why she had been spared.</p> + +<p>Her conjecture was only too well grounded. When Evelyn appeared in the +dean's office at precisely four o'clock, half anxious, half defiant, +Miss Wilder read her a lecture, the cutting severity of which caused +Evelyn to flush and pale with humiliation and anger. "Remember, Miss +Ward," she emphasized, "it is solely due to Miss Harlowe's intercession +in your behalf that I have decided to allow you to remain at Overton."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear, I hope she isn't going to make Evelyn apologize to me," was +Grace's thought. "Why did Miss Wilder ask me to come here to-day?"</p> + +<p>As if in answer to her unspoken question, Miss Wilder went on to say, +"Miss Harlowe came to me last night and asked me not to send you home. I +requested her to be present to-day to hear what I wished to say to you. +I trust, Miss Ward, that, hereafter, you will see fit to observe the +rules of Overton College and live up to them, as a second infringement +of this nature will mean instant dismissal from Overton. That is all, I +believe."</p> + +<p>Thus dismissed Evelyn left the room without a word.</p> + +<p>Grace lingered for a moment's conversation with Miss Wilder, then left +the office and started across the campus for Harlowe House. Half way +there she glanced at her watch. It was not yet five o'clock. She would +have time to do a little shopping before dinner. Turning her steps in +the opposite direction she was soon hurrying along Overton's main +business thoroughfare.</p> + +<p>It was ten minutes to six when, her shopping done, she came within sight +of Harlowe House. She wondered if Evelyn were at home. Of late she had +been more intimate than ever with Althea Parker. As Grace walked into +the house and slowly up the stairs the pale face of Ida Ward rose before +her. She was glad that she had been able to avert the disastrous +consequences of Evelyn's disobedience so that Evelyn alone should +suffer.</p> + +<p>Entering her room she took off her wraps and began rearranging her hair +preparatory to going downstairs to dinner. The sound of footsteps in the +hall, the opening of Evelyn's door, then Evelyn's voice declaring +excitedly, "You can do it if you want to," caused Grace to lay down her +brush and involuntarily listen for a reply.</p> + +<p>It came, and in Mary Reynolds' distressed tones. "Oh, really, I +couldn't, Evelyn. Please, please don't ask me."</p> + +<p>"You must," Evelyn's command broke forth sharply.</p> + +<p>"I won't," Mary refusal gathered strength. "You have no right to ask me +and I have no right to do it."</p> + +<p>"Then you are not my friend if you don't do as I ask," flung back +Evelyn, "and I shall never speak to you again. Please go away and don't +ever come to this room again."</p> + +<p>"I am your friend," quivered Mary, "that's why I refuse to do something +which will surely make trouble for you."</p> + +<p>"How can it make trouble for me?" demanded Evelyn. "You know as well as +I—"</p> + +<p>But Grace, coming to a sudden realization that she was listening to +something not intended for her ears, sprang from her seat before her +dressing-table and went downstairs, wondering not a little what it all +meant.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>A DOUBLE PUZZLE</h3> + + +<p>Mary Reynolds slipped into her place at dinner that night with red +eyelids and a woebegone expression on her small face. Evelyn did not +enter the dining-room until after the others had began their meal. +Despite the air of careless indifference with which she took her seat, +Grace fancied she saw a gleam of anxiety in her eyes. From the few words +she had overheard she understood not only the meaning of Mary's +dejection, but also of Evelyn's anxious look. But what was it that +Evelyn had required of Mary and that Mary had bluntly refused to do? +Suppose Evelyn had involved herself in some fresh difficulty. To Grace +the thought was distinctly disturbing. Still she felt that it was not +within her province to interfere. After all it might be nothing of vital +importance, merely a girls' disagreement.</p> + +<p>Resolutely dismissing the matter from her mind, Grace thought no more of +it. That evening Evelyn came to her as she sat reading in the living +room and, in her most distant manner, notified Grace that she intended +to go to the dance to be given by the Gamma Kappa Phi, a Willston +fraternity, at their fraternity house. Miss Hilton, a member of the +Overton faculty, would chaperon her. There were four other freshmen +besides herself invited.</p> + +<p>Grace made no objection to Evelyn's announcement. After the severe +reprimand she had received it was hardly probable that Evelyn would +again misrepresent matters. Quite by accident the next day she +encountered Miss Hilton upon the campus, and the teacher confirmed +Evelyn's story by mentioning the dance and inquiring if Grace had been +asked to do chaperon duty. "I am surprised that you weren't," had been +Miss Hilton's comment when Grace answered that her services had not been +solicited.</p> + +<p>Grace had smiled to herself as she went on her way. She was not in the +least surprised at not being invited by Evelyn to play chaperon. She was +glad that she had not been asked. She decided that she would not have +accepted. The dance was to be held on the Friday evening of the +following week, and on the Saturday morning after she would be on her +way to Oakdale.</p> + +<p>How long and yet how short the days seemed that lay between her and +home. Long because of her impatience to see her father and mother, short +because of the multifold details to be attended to in Harlowe House.</p> + +<p>"I'm so tired," she sighed when, at seven o'clock on Friday evening, she +saw her trunk and Emma's safely in the hands of the expressman. "Thank +goodness our packing is done and gone and out of the way. Let's do +recreation stunts to-night, Emma. Suppose we call upon Kathleen and +Patience. Incidentally we can pay our respects to Laura Atkins and +Mildred Taylor. If they aren't busy we might have a quiet celebration +just for auld lang syne at Vinton's. We can be home by ten o'clock."</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Emma, who knelt on the floor, her glasses pushed +above her forehead, wrestling valiantly with a refractory strap of her +suit case. A moment and she had buckled it into place with a triumphant +cluck. "There, that won't have to be done at the last minute. Shall I +telephone the girls that we are coming? It's after seven now."</p> + +<p>"Yes, do."</p> + +<p>Emma left the room returning shortly.</p> + +<p>"They are all at home. The sooner we reach Wayne Hall the sooner the +celebration will begin," she reminded.</p> + +<p>"Then we'll go at once."</p> + +<p>Five minutes later the two young women were on their way across the +campus. As they neared Wayne Hall a limousine passed containing Miss +Hilton, Althea Parker and a freshman friend of Evelyn's. Althea was +driving. She bowed curtly to Grace and Emma as her car whizzed by them.</p> + +<p>"They are going for Evelyn, I suppose," commented Emma.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Oh, bother!" exclaimed Grace, "I've forgotten a letter to Arline +which I must mail to-night. Will you wait until I go back for it?"</p> + +<p>With light feet Grace sped across the campus, letting herself into the +house with her latch key. As she stepped into the hall, a buzz of voices +caused her eyes to be fixed on the living-room. Through the parted +curtains she saw a dazzling figure which was standing in the middle of +the living room, surrounded by a group of admiring girls.</p> + +<p>It was Evelyn, looking like some wonderful fairy vision in a gown of +apricot satin and chiffon, embroidered with exquisite little sprays of +tiny rosebuds. The excitement of wholesale admiration had deepened the +blue of her eyes to violet and her usual expression of bored +indifference had changed to one of intense animation, due to her love of +adulation. Grace watched her fascinatedly for a moment, then, +remembering that Emma was waiting for her, she hurried on upstairs for +her letter and out of the house, unobserved by the group of girls in the +living room.</p> + +<p>"Was I gone long?" she asked as she rejoined her friend. "I stopped for +a minute in the hall to look at Evelyn Ward. She was posing in the +middle of the living room for the benefit of an admiring populace. She +is going to the Gamma Kappa Phi dance. Miss Hilton and Miss Parker and +some of our girls composed the populace. I suppose I ought to have gone +in and spoken to them instead of slipping out like a criminal, but I +didn't wish to lose time. Really, Emma, I can't begin to tell you how +beautiful Evelyn looked!"</p> + +<p>"Her white silk evening gown is a work of art. I wish I had a sister Ida +to sew for me," commented Emma.</p> + +<p>"Oh, she wasn't wearing her white silk. Her gown was apricot satin +and—" Grace came to an abrupt stop. "Why—she—that was a new gown. How +could she—"</p> + +<p>"Have a new gown when her sister is too ill to make it," supplemented +Emma dryly.</p> + +<p>Two pairs of eyes exchanged questioning glances.</p> + +<p>"She may have brought it with her when she came to Overton," said Grace. +"She is very secretive, you know. All along she may have been saving it +for some such occasion as this dance."</p> + +<p>"True enough," admitted Emma. "Always take people at their face value +until you find they haven't any," she added cheerfully.</p> + +<p>"I shall," declared Grace. "I'm not going to spoil my Easter vacation by +worrying over something that is really Evelyn's own affair."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<h3>THE PUZZLE DEEPENS</h3> + + +<p>Grace experienced a pleasure in being at home for Easter so deep as to +be akin to pain. When as a student at Overton she had traveled happily +home for her Christmas and Easter vacations there had been a difference. +Then, her classmates had much to do with making it easier to be away +from her adored father and mother. But now that she had bravely launched +her boat on the tempestuous sea of work, she found that home was a far +distant shore, for whose cheery lights she often yearned. To be sure +Emma was a never-failing source of consolation, but there were more +times than one when the clutching fingers of homesickness were at her +throat.</p> + +<p>To Mr. and Mrs. Harlowe, Emma Dean was an unfailing source of amusement +and delight. In Hippy, too, she found a kindred spirit, and when Elfreda +arrived the funny trio was complete. It seemed to Grace that she had not +laughed so much in years. Anne, Jessica and Reddy had not been able to +join their friends for the Easter holidays and were loudly mourned and +sorely missed. Tom Gray managed to come on for a two days' visit and +cause Grace the only unhappy moments she spent at home by again asking +her to give up her beloved work to marry him.</p> + +<p>"I'm so sorry for Tom," she confided to her mother, on the night before +leaving home to return to Overton, "but I can't give up my work, even +for him. Really and truly, mother, I wish I did love Tom in the way he +wants me to love him, but I don't. I feel toward him just as I felt when +I first met him. He's a good comrade; nothing more."</p> + +<p>"If you loved Tom, your father and I would be glad to welcome him as our +son, Grace," was her mother's quiet reply. "He is a remarkably fine type +of young man, but unless you reach the point where you are certain that +he is, and always will be, the one man in the world for you, you would +be doing not only yourself but him too, the greatest possible injury if +you promised to marry him."</p> + +<p>"That is just it!" exclaimed Grace. "I told him so, but I know that +didn't console him. Last June when I came home from Overton I thought +perhaps I might say 'yes' later on. But now that I've been working for +almost a year I find I'd rather keep on working. It would be dreadful, +of course, if some day I should suddenly discover that I did love him +enough to marry him and then he shouldn't ask me. That isn't likely to +happen. I don't believe I could give up my work for any man. My whole +heart is in it."</p> + +<p>In spite of her declaration of unswerving loyalty to her work, more than +once, Tom's fine resolute face rose before Grace on the return journey +to Overton. During the afternoon Emma, usually loquacious, became +absorbed in a book, so that Grace, who could not settle herself to read, +had altogether too much opportunity for reflection.</p> + +<p>She was inwardly thankful when the lights of Overton twinkled into view. +Emma was still deep in her book. "We are almost there, Emma," she +reminded.</p> + +<p>Emma glanced out of the window, then closed her book and began to gather +up her belongings.</p> + +<p>"I wonder how things are at Harlowe House," mused Grace, as they crossed +the station platform. "Come on, Emma. There's a taxicab just turning +into the station driveway."</p> + +<p>Three minutes later they were speeding through the silent streets. It +was after nine o'clock and there were few persons passing.</p> + +<p>"No place like home," caroled Emma as they let themselves into Harlowe +House. In the living-room they found Louise Sampson and half a dozen +girls. At sight of Grace and Emma, Louise came quickly forward.</p> + +<p>"We thought you would come!" she exclaimed, "so we decided to watch for +you. We have hot chocolate and sandwiches. Do say you're hungry."</p> + +<p>"We are ravenous," assured Emma, "and as soon as we make a trip upstairs +and dispossess ourselves of our goods and chattels we'll come to the +party."</p> + +<p>"Everything has gone beautifully," Louise confided to Grace, when later +she dropped down on the window seat beside her, where the latter had +established herself with a sandwich and a cup of chocolate. "Only one +thing bothered me, and that was the way Miss Reynolds moped. She and +Miss Ward had a quarrel and poor Miss Reynolds still goes about looking +like a red-eyed little ghost. No one can find out her trouble and no one +seems to be able to comfort her. One day last week I almost thought I +saw Miss Ward crying too, but I must have been mistaken. She is too +proud to cry over anything. There are several letters for you, Miss +Harlowe. I put them in the top drawer of your desk in the office."</p> + +<p>At the word "letters" Grace had risen to her feet. "You'll excuse me if +I go for them at once, won't you?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Of course," smiled Louise.</p> + +<p>A goodly pile of letters met her eyes as she opened the drawer. Grace +ran through the envelopes with eager fingers. The square thin envelope +with the foreign postmark meant a letter from Eleanor Savelli. There was +one from Mabel Ashe and another from Mabel Allison, Arline Thayer and +Ruth Denton were also represented in the collection and on the very +bottom of the pile lay a square envelope addressed in Anne's neat hand.</p> + +<p>Grace pounced upon it joyfully, and, laying the others on the slide of +her desk, tore it open and became immediately absorbed in the closely +written sheets. When she had finished reading the letter she laid it +down, then picking it up again turned to a paragraph on the last sheet.</p> + +<p>"I promised to try to help Miss Ward," wrote Anne. "Well, I have +practically secured an engagement for her with Mr. Forest. It is an +ingenue part in 'The Reckoning,' which is to run in New York City all +summer, at his theater. If she can come to New York as soon as college +closes Mr. and Miss Southard wish her to stay at their home. We can soon +tell whether she can play the part or not. If she can't, Mr. Southard +will be able to give her 'bits' in his company, but the other part is by +far the best engagement if she can make good in it. Both Mr. and Miss +Southard say, however, that they must have a letter of consent from her +sister before they will undertake launching her in the theatrical world. +They will write her if Miss Ward wishes them to do so. It is a really +great opportunity for her. You know how easily and delightfully I earned +my way through college. Let me know as soon as you can, Grace, what she +wishes to do."</p> + +<p>Grace read this paragraph half a dozen times. Her other letters lay +unheeded before her. Finally she gathered them up and, with the open +letter in her hand, went slowly upstairs. At Evelyn's door she paused +and listened. She heard the sound of some one moving about within. Yes, +Evelyn was still up. Grace rapped boldly on the door.</p> + +<p>A moment and it swung open. Evelyn stood staring blankly at Grace. She +was wrapped in the folds of a pale blue silk kimono. Her hair hung in +loose golden waves far below her waist and she reminded Grace of the +beautiful Rapunzel of fairy tale fame who was shut up in a tower by a +wicked witch and forced each night to let down her golden hair so that +her dreadful jailer might climb up and into the tower window.</p> + +<p>"Miss Ward," began Grace, without giving Evelyn time to utter a word, "I +am sorry to disturb you so late in the evening, but I have very good +news for you. Miss Pierson has all but secured an engagement for you in +'The Reckoning,' a new play which is to run in New York City all summer. +Read what she says."</p> + +<p>Grace handed the sheet of paper to Evelyn.</p> + +<p>The girl stretched forth her hand mechanically for it. She +still regarded Grace dully. Then to Grace's utter amazement she +burst into tears. "I can't—take—the—engagement," she sobbed. +"I'm—not—coming—back—to—Overton—next year."</p> + +<p>"What can have happened to her!" wondered Grace. Aloud she said: "Don't +decide too hastily, Miss Ward. Take three or four days in which to think +things over. I'll come in and see you to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Evelyn made some incoherent response, unintelligible to Grace. The +latter realized that in her present state Evelyn could not be comforted. +It was best to leave her entirely alone until she had had her cry out. +To-morrow would be time enough to try again to try to discover what had +happened.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<h3>TWO LETTERS</h3> + + +<p>Shortly after Grace returned to her room Emma joined her.</p> + +<p>"Where did you go? You are not the only one whose correspondents rose +nobly to the occasion," she exulted, holding up several letters. "You +haven't read yours yet, have you. Let's get ready for bed, put on our +dressing gowns, and have a letter reading orgy."</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Grace. "I've already opened one of mine. It was from +Anne. She sends her love to you, and what do you think, Emma?" Grace +lowered her voice. "She has secured a New York engagement for Evelyn +Ward. I saw Miss Ward to-night, but something is troubling her. When I +went to the door to tell her what Anne had done she began to cry. I +couldn't find out what ailed her, and the more I talked the harder she +cried. She said, however, that she couldn't accept Anne's offer. She +thinks she won't come back to Overton."</p> + +<p>"Happy Overton," commented Emma unsympathetically. "Now hurry into your +dressing gown and let's begin our letters."</p> + +<p>Evelyn appeared at breakfast the next morning looking weary and haggard. +Her face was very pale and her eyes were heavy. By night, however, she +seemed to have regained something of her old poise. Covertly watching +her, Grace noticed that for some unknown reason she was much subdued. +Several days afterward she came to Grace and finally refused Anne's +offer. "But are you quite certain that you are acting wisely, Miss +Ward?" Grace asked in perplexed amazement. "Last winter you were anxious +to go into dramatic work."</p> + +<p>"I have changed my mind," was Evelyn's sole reply.</p> + +<p>Grace wrote to Anne advising her of Evelyn's refusal, but adding that +she wished Anne would keep Evelyn in mind. "I can't help feeling that +she is acting against her real desires and that later she will realize +her mistake."</p> + +<p>The little that was left of April passed quickly. Life went on placidly +enough at Harlowe House, although Grace found few idle moments. With the +first of June she began a detailed report of her year's work to be +presented to the faculty and to Mrs. Gray. This report had not been +required of her. She was making it merely for her own satisfaction. With +her it was a matter of pride in having been a faithful steward. She had +tried to safeguard not only the interests of the girls under her roof, +but Mrs. Gray's interests as well.</p> + +<p>"I hope I've been a good house mother," she murmured wistfully, as, +seated in her office one bright Friday afternoon, she worked on her +report. The ring of the postman caused her to lay down her pen and hurry +into the hall. To her surprise she saw Evelyn Ward had forestalled her. +She had opened the door for the postman, and now stood rapidly going +over the pile of letters in her hand. Grace saw her separate two letters +from the pile. At this instant Evelyn glanced up. She uttered a sharp +exclamation of surprise when she saw Grace standing beside her. Two +letters fell from her hands.</p> + +<p>Grace stooped to pick them up. "Did I startle you, Miss Ward? I did not +mean to. I did not know you were in the house. I thought the girls had +gone to their classes."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="roc4" id="roc4"></a> +<img src="images/roc4.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>"Did I Startle You, Miss Ward?"</h3> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + + +<p>"I—I—am late," stammered Evelyn. "I'm going to my botany recitation in +a minute. I—expected a letter. Here is the mail." She thrust the +letters she had been holding into Grace's hand, and, turning, almost ran +up the stairs.</p> + +<p>For an instant Grace's eyes followed Evelyn's disappearing figure, then +she turned her attention to the letters. She still held the two she had +picked up from the floor in her one hand. Glancing at them she saw that +they were both addressed to her. No doubt Evelyn had intended to leave +them on her desk. Rapidly sorting the other letters she found another +for herself in Anne's handwriting. Placing the letters for the various +members of the household in the bulletin board Grace retired to her +office to read Anne's letter.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dearest Grace</span>:</p> + +<p>"Just a line to tell you that the part in 'The Reckoning' is still +open. Mr. Forest cannot find the type of girl he wishes for the +part. She must be dazzlingly, but naturally, blonde and very +beautiful. I am sure if he were to see Miss Ward he would engage +her at once, even though she has had no dramatic experience. Why +not let her read this note? Perhaps she may change her mind. She +will never have a better opportunity. I am ready and willing to +help her. Am writing in a rush. It is almost time for me to go on. +With much love. Will write more fully later.</p> + +<p>"Yours as ever, <span class="smcap">Anne</span>."</p></div> + +<p>Grace laid down the letter with a slight frown. Since Evelyn's first +refusal to consider Anne's proposal Grace had held little communication +with her. Of late Evelyn had gone about her affairs with a curious air +of repression, which reminded Grace of the terrible calm that so often +precedes a storm.</p> + +<p>"I'll watch for her when she comes in from her classes and give her +Anne's letter," said Grace, half aloud. She picked up the next envelope +and looked curiously at the unfamiliar writing. The postmark was all but +obliterated. Tearing the envelope she drew forth the letter, unfolded it +and read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Miss Harlowe</span>:</p> + +<p>"More than once I have planned to write and thank you for your +goodness to Evelyn, but I have been so very busy that the time has +slipped by faster than I realized. Fortunately, for Evelyn and me, +I have had a great deal of work to do and have been in +exceptionally good health, so that it has been easier than I +thought to raise the money to pay her college fees. I will enclose +the second payment of her fee in a letter which I am writing to +her. I have mentioned in my letter to her that I have written to +you. I thank you many times for your goodness to my little sister +and trust that she has been truly appreciative of your kindness to +her. Trusting that you have been well and that you have met with +the greatest success in your year's work. With grateful thanks and +best wishes.</p> + +<p>"Yours sincerely,</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Ida Ward</span>."</p></div> + +<p>Grace read the letter through three times. When she raised her eyes from +it her face wore an expression of mingled horrified suspicion and +unbelief. Surely it could not be possible, and yet—before her mental +eyes flashed the vision of that wet January afternoon when she had come +back to Harlowe House from her Christmas vacation and had been greeted +by the sound of Evelyn's sobs as she passed her door. How she had gone +to Evelyn's room and there heard the pitiful story of Ida Ward's illness +and her failure to send Evelyn's college fees, and of how, through the +Semper Fidelis Fund, she had come forward and bridged Evelyn's +difficulty.</p> + +<p>What did it mean? "She must have—" muttered Grace. In her agitation she +spoke aloud. Then she stopped abruptly. She would not condemn Evelyn +without a hearing, but Evelyn would have to explain, if explanation were +possible. She laid the letter on her desk and turning away from it tore +open the last envelope, which bore the name of a business house in one +corner. It contained a bill from Hanford's, the largest department store +in Overton. At the bottom was written. "This account is long overdue. +Please remit at once." Grace had a charge account at Hanford's on which, +occasionally, she allowed certain girls in the house to buy goods, +merely as a matter of accommodation to them. Her gaze traveled down the +list of items in bewilderment.</p> + +<p>"Why!" she exclaimed. "I never bought a gown there that cost +seventy-five dollars, or silk stockings or a scarf. There must be some +mistake. I know that none of the girls have either. I haven't bought +anything since February. Let me see. It's only three o'clock. I think +I'll walk down to Hanford's and have the matter adjusted. I must see +Evelyn too, as soon as she comes in."</p> + +<p>Grace went upstairs for her hat and was soon on her way to the business +center of Overton. Her impatience to learn the truth received its first +check with the indifferent assurance of the clerk that Mr. Anderson, the +man in charge of the department of accounts, was busy upstairs.</p> + +<p>"Then I'll wait for him." With a sigh of resignation she sat down on the +oak seat just outside the office window to wait.</p> + +<p>It was twenty minutes past four when Mr. Anderson appeared.</p> + +<p>"I can't let you know about this at once," was the accountant's +discouraging response when Grace laid the matter before him. "We'll take +it up with the saleswoman, then write you."</p> + +<p>"Very well. I shall expect to hear from you within the next three days." +Grace turned away, far from satisfied. Yet there was nothing else to do. +Long since she had learned that the system employe of a department store +is a law unto himself, and as unchangeable in his methods as the most +stubborn Mede or Persian ever dreamed of being.</p> + +<p>And now for her interview with Evelyn. How could she best approach the +girl whom she suspected of having first shamefully betrayed her sister's +confidence, then purposely misrepresented matters to her? And what had +Evelyn done with the money? These and similar painful questions occupied +her thoughts so fully that she did not realize that she had reached +Harlowe House until she found herself ascending the front steps.</p> + +<p>Without giving herself time to consider delaying the disagreeable +interview, Grace hurried up the stairs. To her surprise Evelyn's door +stood partially open. She peered into the room, but it was empty of an +occupant. Stepping inside she glanced about her. Evelyn's hat was gone. +She had come in from her classes and gone out again.</p> + +<p>Grace went slowly downstairs. She was sorry that she had not been able +to have her talk with Evelyn before the others came in from their day's +recitations. She decided to wait until after dinner. When Evelyn went to +her room she would follow her there. The longer she delayed facing +Evelyn with her sister's letter the harder the task would become. But at +dinner time Evelyn's place was vacant.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock that night she had not come in.</p> + +<p>Becoming alarmed Grace telephoned to Althea Parker to know if Evelyn +were with her. In reply to her anxious inquiry Althea declared she had +not seen Evelyn for two days. Uncertain as to the wisest course to +pursue Grace concluded to wait until Emma came in from an evening's +visit with Patience Eliot.</p> + +<p>It was almost eleven o'clock when Emma returned.</p> + +<p>"I'm so glad you've come," greeted Grace as her friend entered their +room. "Evelyn Ward hasn't come in yet and I'm worried about her. I saw +her this afternoon, but she hasn't been here since then."</p> + +<p>"Very likely she is with Miss Parker." Emma spoke in an unconcerned +tone.</p> + +<p>"No she isn't. I telephoned Miss Parker. She hasn't seen Evelyn for two +days."</p> + +<p>"She hasn't?" Emma glanced at Grace in surprise. The ring of anxiety in +Grace's voice had not been lost upon her. "What's happened, Gracious!" +she asked.</p> + +<p>For answer Grace handed Ida Ward's letter to Emma. "Read it," she +commanded.</p> + +<p>Emma read the letter. "Do you think—" she began.</p> + +<p>"What do <i>you</i> think?" interrupted Grace. "What can one think? Evelyn +received her letter from Ida Ward before I received this. She knew that +this letter was on the way. This afternoon I found her at the door +sorting the mail. She had two letters in one hand, which she had +separated from the others. When she saw me she dropped the two. I +stooped to pick them up. Both of them were for me. I said, 'Did I +startle you, Miss Ward?' and she stammered something about expecting a +letter. She shoved the other letters into my hands and ran upstairs. I +haven't seen her since."</p> + +<p>"Who was the other letter from that she had picked out?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was a bill from Hanford's. I—" Grace stopped short and stared +at Emma. A horrible suspicion had seized her. She was afraid that she +now understood the meaning of the bill she had received. In one of those +curious, illumining flashes, which sometimes reveal in an instant what +seems hopelessly obscure, she had hit upon the truth.</p> + +<p>Briefly she outlined the situation to Emma, who had long been her +confidante.</p> + +<p>"You'd better let matters rest till to-morrow," advised Emma. "It's too +late to try to find her to-night. We would only create comment and +arouse suspicion if we telephone to the houses where her friends live. +It wouldn't surprise me if she had left Overton for good and all."</p> + +<p>"We must find her," declared Grace with decision.</p> + +<p>"What will you do with her if you do find her?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. That will depend entirely upon her. You are right, +though, about waiting until morning. We must protect her from the +consequences of her own foolishness. For she isn't wicked, Emma. She has +been carried away by vanity and love of dress. Perhaps if we gave her +another chance she would live all this down and be a different girl."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," Emma's tone was skeptical. "For the sake of the community at +large let us hope for this much-to-be-desired metamorphosis."</p> + +<p>But the next morning brought news of Evelyn in the shape of a letter +addressed to Grace, which came on the first delivery of the mail for the +day. With eager fingers Grace opened it. A slip of blue paper fluttered +to the floor as she unfolded it. Picking it up she saw it was a money +order made payable to Evelyn Ward, then she read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Miss Harlowe</span>:</p> + +<p>"When you receive this letter I shall be far away from Harlowe +House. I have done dreadful things and I cannot face you. All I can +do is to go away where no one knows me, and begin over again. I +used the money Ida sent me in the fall for my college fees to buy +an evening dress. Then I told you that she was ill. I cried +purposely to gain your sympathy because I knew about the Semper +Fidelis Fund and was sure you would help me. I meant to pay it all +back to you, and so I am going to New York to get work and do it, +even though it takes me a long, long time.</p> + +<p>"But there is something still more dreadful to tell you. I wanted +another new evening gown to wear to the Willston dance. I had paid +my college fees for the year, so I thought I could take the money +that Ida sent me for my payment and buy a gown and other things +which I wanted. But Ida wrote and said she couldn't send the money +just then, so I went to Hanford's department store and bought the +things. I had them charged to your account. When the bill came I +was terribly frightened. I thought they wouldn't send it for a long +time. I just happened to see it in the bulletin board, so I took it +out and tore it up.</p> + +<p>"Then I went to Mary Reynolds and tried to get her to lend me some +of the treasury money until my money came, but she wouldn't do it. +That is why she cried so often. When the first of May came I +watched the bulletin board and took the bill again. It had +Hanford's address in one corner so I knew it. All the time I kept +hoping that Ida would send my money before it was too late. +Yesterday morning it came, but in her letter she said she had +written to you and told you how well she had been and about her +work. I knew it would be dreadful for me if you received her +letter, but I did not know when it would come, so I stayed away +from my classes and watched the mail. I had the letter from Ida and +the bill from the store in my hands when you surprised me this +afternoon. You picked them up before I had a chance to do so. Then +I knew that there was just one thing to do and that was to go away.</p> + +<p>"Please take the money order and pay the bill at the store. I will +pay Semper Fidelis as soon as I can. I will write Ida and tell her +how badly I have behaved, and when I go to work in New York I will +send for my trunk. It is packed and ready to be shipped.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me if you can. I am sorry for everything. I wish I had been +different. Good-bye and thank you for your great kindness to me. I +did not deserve it. Please don't try to find me.</p> + +<p>"Penitently,</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Evelyn Ward</span>."</p> +</div> + +<p>For a time Grace sat at her desk with the letter in her hand. Then she +stood up with the air of one who has come to a definite decision. "I'll +go to New York City to-day to look for her," she said half aloud. "I +believe she will try to get work at one of the theaters. Mr. Southard +and Anne will help me find her. She must come back to Overton. I feel +sure that she has suffered enough over this trouble to have learned her +lesson."</p> + +<p>Grace ran upstairs and burst into her room with, "Emma, Evelyn has gone +to New York! I'm going to take the next train there. Read this letter. +It will tell you everything. I haven't time. I must make that 9.15 +train."</p> + +<p>Grace was in the middle of a hasty toilet when a knock sounded on the +door.</p> + +<p>Emma answered it.</p> + +<p>"Here's a telegram for Miss Harlowe." The maid held out a yellow +envelope.</p> + +<p>Grace tore it open. One glance at the telegram and she began a joyful +dance about the room, waving it over her head. "Hurrah for Kathleen +West! She found Evelyn! Read it."</p> + +<p>She held the telegram before Emma's eyes.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Evelyn with me. Return Overton Sunday. All well</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Kathleen</span>."</p></div> + +<p>read Emma aloud. Turning to Grace she quoted with whimsical tenderness, +"To Kathleen West, girls, drink her down." Then with twinkling eyes she +added, "There's only one thing that I can say to express my sentiments, +and, with my sincerest apologies to the august faculty which trustfully +engaged me to teach English, I say it with heartfelt fervor, 'Can you +beat it?'"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<h3>KATHLEEN WEST, CONFIDANTE</h3> + + +<p>When Evelyn Ward left Grace Harlowe with the letters, which she had +tried so hard to obtain, in her possession, she had but one thought. +That thought was to leave Harlowe House before Grace realized the full +meaning of her guilt. For two days Evelyn's suit case had been packed +for just such an emergency. She had not been sure that she could stem +the tide of retribution that had set in against her, so she was prepared +to slip away if she failed to obtain the letters that meant her undoing. +Hardly had Grace reseated herself in her office when Evelyn, suit case +in hand, her hat on, the coat to her suit thrown over her arm, stole +stealthily down the stairs and let herself out of the house without a +sound. Once clear of the house she set off across the campus, almost at +a run, in the direction of the station. At four o 'clock there was a +train to New York. She had a little money. She would go there. Once +there she would try to get into a theatrical company.</p> + +<p>Arrived at the station she glanced fearfully about her. She did not wish +to meet any one she knew. Leaving her suit case in charge of the station +master she left the station and walked slowly up the street. She would +stroll about until almost train time. She had over an hour's wait. If +she encountered any of the students she knew on the street they would +attach no importance to seeing her.</p> + +<p>It was five minutes to four when she purchased her ticket to New York. +To her relief she had seen no one she knew. When the train pulled into +the station she was the first person to board it. She took a seat on the +side of the car farthest from the platform, so she did not see a slim +hurrying girl's figure rush madly down the platform, just as the train +was about to start, and swing herself up the car steps on the last +second, heedless of the warning expostulation of the porter.</p> + +<p>Torn with remorse for the past, fearful of the future, which, to her +overwrought imagination, crouched like a huge black monster ready to +spring upon her and engulf her in its cruel jaws, Evelyn watched the +swiftly passing landscape with unseeing eyes. When a voice from the seat +behind her suddenly addressed her with, "Good evening, Miss Ward," she +half sprang to her feet in blind terror. Turning, she found herself +looking into the keen, dark eyes of Kathleen West, the newspaper girl.</p> + +<p>"Oh—good evening," she faltered.</p> + +<p>"Going to New York?" was the brisk question.</p> + +<p>Evelyn nodded.</p> + +<p>"I'm coming into your seat. I hate riding alone in a train. I'm so glad +you are going the whole way."</p> + +<p>Evelyn made no reply. She wished Kathleen a thousand miles off.</p> + +<p>The newspaper girl scrutinized narrowly her companion's lovely set face. +Trained in the study of human nature she had learned to know the outward +signs of a perturbed spirit. Her straight brows knit in a puzzled frown. +Then, noting that Evelyn had colored hotly under the shrewd fixity of +her sharp eyes, she glanced carelessly away.</p> + +<p>Neither girl spoke for a little. Evelyn was wondering distractedly how +she could escape from Kathleen, when they reached New York, without +arousing suspicion on the part of the newspaper girl. Kathleen, whose +intuition as well as her eyes told her that all was not well with +Evelyn, racked her brain for the words which would tear down the wall of +stony reticence which this strange girl had built about herself. Try as +she might she could think of no effectual way to begin. Deciding to bide +her time she tried to rouse Evelyn's too-apparently flagging spirits by +a crisp account of a big newspaper story which she had run to earth +during her Easter vacation. At first she met with small success, but as +she talked on Evelyn grew interested in spite of herself and began +asking half timid, half eager questions about New York. Was it hard to +get work there? Could a girl live on six or seven dollars a week in a +large city? How did these girls go about it to find positions? In what +section of the city did most of the working girls, who had no homes, +live?</p> + +<p>Kathleen answered her questions imperturbably, telling of her own +experience in New York as a beginner of newspaper work. Later Evelyn +plied her with countless questions regarding the stage, its advantages +and disadvantages. The throb of anxiety in her voice was stronger than +her elaborate pretense of indifference. Figuratively, Kathleen pricked +up her ears. It was only when they had exhausted the subjects of the +working girl and the stage that she launched at Evelyn the seemingly +innocent question, "Where are you going to stay in New York, Miss Ward?"</p> + +<p>"I—why—" stammered Evelyn.</p> + +<p>"Do you expect to be met at the station? It will be almost midnight when +we reach New York, you know."</p> + +<p>"I know," muttered Evelyn. Averting her face from Kathleen she stared +out the window.</p> + +<p>"It's now or never," decided Kathleen. Her strong supple fingers closed +suddenly over one of the limp white hands that lay so helplessly in +Evelyn's lap. "Miss Ward," she said in a low tense voice, "something +dreadful has happened to you. I want you to tell me about it. Remember +this. No matter what it is, I am your friend. I feel sure that you are +going blindly and alone, to the coldest, cruelest city in the world and +I should never forgive myself if I allowed you to do it."</p> + +<p>Into Evelyn's eyes leaped indescribable terror as Kathleen's hand closed +over hers. For an instant she stared wildly at the newspaper girl, then +the stony reserve, with which she had bolstered herself, gave away, and +tearing her hands free she covered her face with them.</p> + +<p>Kathleen waited patiently till the tearless storm which shook Evelyn had +subsided a little. "Now tell me all about it," she urged gently.</p> + +<p>Evelyn's hands dropped from her face. The tortured look in her blue eyes +aroused all Kathleen's sympathy. Haltingly, tremblingly, bit by bit, +Evelyn told of the temptation to use her sister's hard-earned money for +fine clothes, and the gulf of deception and dishonesty into which she +had plunged by yielding to it.</p> + +<p>Kathleen listened without comment. When Evelyn had finished she said, +"You must go back to Overton, Miss Ward, and to Grace Harlowe. She will +forgive everything and set you right with yourself again."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I couldn't," protested Evelyn wildly. "She knows already how +dishonest I've been. I can never go back to Overton. I must stay in New +York and work and never see Ida or any one again. I have forfeited all +claim to friendship or love."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! Just get rid of that idea as fast as ever you can. You are +going to my boarding house with me to-night. To-morrow we will go and +see Anne Pierson. I know where the Southards live. We will ask her to +get you an engagement. Perhaps you can meet Mr. Forest."</p> + +<p>"Miss Harlowe told Miss Pierson about me, and she wrote and offered to +get me an engagement," faltered Evelyn, "but I knew I couldn't take it, +so I refused. There wouldn't be any chance for me now. That was several +weeks ago."</p> + +<p>"There is sure to be something for you. You are beautiful, you know," +went on Kathleen in an appraising, matter-of-fact tone. "You are sure to +make good. You must. You're going to pay Semper Fidelis back as soon as +ever you can and you'll have to work hard and save your money."</p> + +<p>Forgetting for the instant her remorse and humiliation Evelyn clasped +her hands in an eagerness born of the desire to make reparation. "Oh, I +will!" Then her face clouded. "Miss Pierson won't care to help me after +the dreadful things I've done."</p> + +<p>"Who is going to tell her about them? I'm not. I know Grace Harlowe +won't. It isn't necessary for you to tell her either. It shall be a +secret among we three. I know Grace will say so."</p> + +<p>The two girls, so strangely brought together and united in this new bond +of fellowship, talked on. It was ten minutes to twelve when they reached +New York City. At the station they were met by a tall clean-cut, young +man with keen blue eyes. "Got your wire, Kathleen." He stooped and +kissed the self-reliant Miss West, who turned very pink. "I'll have to +explain," she smiled as she introduced him to Evelyn. "Mr. Vernon is my +fiancé, but don't you dare breathe it at Overton. Miss Ward won't be +able to see the persons she is to call upon until to-morrow. She's going +to my boarding house with me. You can call a taxicab and ride that far +with us." The newspaper girl's clever explanation bridged a yawning gap.</p> + +<p>Kathleen and Mr. Vernon kept up a steady conversation during the ride. +Evelyn sat silent, trying to realize just what had happened to her. She +experienced an immeasurable sense of relief, as though she had been +dragged, just in time, from the edge of a frightful precipice. Long +after Kathleen had gone to sleep that night she lay staring into the +darkness, wide-eyed and wondering at the goodness of this girl whom she +hardly knew, and into her heart crept a sudden revelation of what true +fellowship meant and was to mean to her forever afterward.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<h3>CONCLUSION</h3> + + +<p>The following morning Kathleen took Evelyn to call on Anne Pierson at +the Southards. She gazed almost in awe at Everett Southard, while her +feeling of admiration for Anne was deep and abiding. Her undeniable +beauty was not lost upon Mr. Southard, who later confided to his sister +and Anne that Miss Ward was the most beautiful blonde girl he had ever +seen. After an hour's chat in the actor's big, comfortable library Mr. +Southard proposed that they call upon Mr. Forest that morning. Miss +Pierson had written Miss Harlowe about the part, he declared, to the +complete mystification of both Kathleen and Evelyn. He was glad Miss +Ward had been able to come. He was sure she would be exactly suited to +the part in "The Reckoning." Kathleen managed to shoot a warning glance +at Evelyn not to betray herself. Later, by adroitly questioning Anne, +she managed to put herself in possession of all the details concerning +the letter Anne had written to Grace.</p> + +<p>Mr. Forest quite fulfilled Mr. Southard's prediction. He could not +refrain from showing his satisfaction with Evelyn. Within half an hour +after entering his office she had signed a contract to play the part of +'Constance Devon' in the forthcoming production of 'The Reckoning.'</p> + +<p>"First rehearsal July 2d. Here's the part. Study it. Make these hardened +barnstormers help you," declared Mr. Forest with a dry chuckle, as he +handed her the part.</p> + +<p>"But how does he know that I can do it?" she questioned, half fearfully, +as they left the office.</p> + +<p>"He is going to take a chance," explained Mr. Southard. "In his own mind +he thinks you will do. He knows we will help you. You must work hard and +prove to him that he is right."</p> + +<p>To Evelyn the rest of that eventful Saturday seemed like a marvelous +dream. She had never before been in a large city, but despite her +interest in the sights and sounds of New York she could not help +thinking of how different it might all have been if she had not met +Kathleen. The busy, endless streets terrified her and the more she saw +of the great metropolis the less confidence she felt in her own power to +wrest a living from it, single-handed and alone.</p> + +<p>After leaving Mr. Forest's office they took luncheon at the Southards. +Mr. Southard and Anne had a matinee in the afternoon. That evening they +were to give the final performance of their season, which had run later +than usual. Kathleen had an assignment for her paper for the afternoon, +so Miss Southard took Evelyn to a matinee at one of the theaters. That +evening the little party met at six o'clock in Mr. Southard's dressing +room, where their dinner was brought in and served to them. Afterward +Kathleen, Miss Southard and Evelyn sat in a box and saw Everett Southard +and Anne in "The Merchant of Venice."</p> + +<p>After the theater came a little supper at the Southards' home to which +Mr. Vernon, Kathleen's fiancé, was also invited. Miss Southard had +insisted that Kathleen and Evelyn should be her guests for the remainder +of their stay in New York, and it was under the Southards' hospitable +roof that Evelyn fell asleep that night after one of the happiest, most +eventful days she had ever spent.</p> + +<p>Sunday morning soon slipped by. It seemed hardly half an hour from +breakfast until train time. The charming informality with which the +actor and his sister treated her made Evelyn feel as though she had +known them for a very long time. In the enjoyment of the moment she +quite forgot the real reason of her journey to New York, and it was only +when Miss Southard invited her to come to their home to live as soon as +college was over, in order that Mr. Southard might help her with her new +part, that the humiliating remembrance of her misdeeds returned to her +with sickening force.</p> + +<p>"You must write to your sister, my dear, and explain everything," said +Miss Southard. "If you will give me her address I will write to her too. +That is one point on which Everett is most particular. He would not +encourage a young girl to enter upon the life of the stage without the +full consent of her parents or guardian."</p> + +<p>When finally she and Kathleen had said good-bye to the Southards, who +had seen them to their train, and were settled for the long ride to +Overton, Evelyn faltered, "Kathleen, all the time I was with the +Southards I felt just like a traitor. Do you think I ought to have told +them everything? It's not fair to them to masquerade under false +colors."</p> + +<p>Kathleen eyed her companion searchingly. Evelyn's conscience was no +longer sleeping. It was now wide awake and tormenting her.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you feel as you do about it, Evelyn," was her blunt rejoinder. +"It shows that you are on the right road. I don't believe it is +necessary for you to tell the Southards anything. Still there is another +person who must decide that."</p> + +<p>"You mean Miss Harlowe?"</p> + +<p>Kathleen nodded.</p> + +<p>"I can't bear to face her." Evelyn's voice sank almost to a whisper.</p> + +<p>"You are not the only one who has said that." There was a curiously +significant ring in Kathleen's voice that made Evelyn look at her in +mute inquiry.</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you of another girl who had to face the same situation." +Kathleen began with her entrance into Overton as a freshman and told +Evelyn the story of her hatred of Grace and her betrayal of Grace's +trust, of how Elfreda had shown her the way to reparation and the +gaining of true college spirit, and of how she had tried in a small +measure to redeem the past by writing "Loyalheart" as a belated tribute +to Grace.</p> + +<p>Evelyn listened with somber attentiveness. The past three days had +taught her more of life than had her entire eighteen years. She had +lately begun to see what college might mean to the girl who lived up to +its traditions. Until the moment of hearing Kathleen's story she had +felt that Grace Harlowe must despise her utterly. Now she fixed solemn +blue eyes on Kathleen. "Do you believe Miss Harlowe will ever forgive +me?" was her mournful question.</p> + +<p>"Of course she will. You don't know her as I do."</p> + +<p>Kathleen's emphatic assurance had a visibly cheering effect upon the +other girl. When they reached Overton, however, her dread of meeting +Grace returned with renewed force. "I can't face her to-night," she +pleaded.</p> + +<p>"We are going to Harlowe House now. Come on." Kathleen grasped Evelyn's +arm and piloted her up the street at a brisk pace. Neither girl ever +forgot that walk across the campus.</p> + +<p>"Here we are." They had mounted the steps of Harlowe House. Kathleen +rang the bell.</p> + +<p>A moment's wait and the door opened. Grace stood peering out at the two +girls. "I knew you'd come. I've been watching for you," she cried. She +held out her hands to Evelyn, who dropped her suit case and grasped them +with a half smothered sob.</p> + +<p>"Come up to my room." Slipping her arm about Evelyn, Grace drew her +toward the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Good night, Grace, I'll see you to-morrow." The vestibule door closed +with a decided click. Kathleen did not wish to be a third party. Grace +and Evelyn were better off without her.</p> + +<p>Once in Grace's room Evelyn broke down. "Oh, Miss Harlowe, can you, will +you forgive me?" she sobbed.</p> + +<p>"You mustn't cry so, Miss Ward," soothed Grace. "Of course I forgive +you. If Miss West had not brought you home to me I intended to go to New +York City to look for you. Remember, you are, and I hope will be until +your college days are over, a Harlowe House girl."</p> + +<p>"You are too good to me," sobbed Evelyn.</p> + +<p>Grace led her gently to a chair. "Sit down," she urged.</p> + +<p>Evelyn sank into the chair. "I can't come back to Overton next year." +Her head drooped in shame and humiliation.</p> + +<p>"You must," said Grace simply, "for your own sake as well as your +sister's. She must never be worried with the slightest inkling of what +has happened. It is to be a secret. Outside of Miss Dean and Miss West +no one except ourselves knows."</p> + +<p>"Miss Pierson and Mr. Southard took me to see Mr. Forest. He engaged me +to play a part in his new play 'The Reckoning,'" began Evelyn. "I—I +didn't—tell—the Southards—about—things. Kathleen wouldn't let me, +but she says I must tell them if you say so. I'd—rather. I—I want to +be—honest—now—and—and always." Evelyn's voice shook with the +intensity of her feelings.</p> + +<p>"Kathleen was right in not allowing you to tell them. You have suffered +enough, Evelyn. You must look to the future. Your work this summer will +make it possible for you to pay the money you owe Semper Fidelis and +your college expenses too."</p> + +<p>Grace's sensible, practical, words, went far toward restoring Evelyn to +her normal self. The two young women talked long and earnestly. It was +after eleven o'clock when Evelyn rose to go to her room.</p> + +<p>"I'll prove to you that I am worthy of your trust," she said with +shining eyes. "I'll make you and Ida proud of me yet."</p> + +<p>After she had gone to her room Grace sat for a little, her hands idly +folded, her thoughts on the girl who had found herself after many false +starts. How glad she was that everything had turned out so beautifully, +thanks to Kathleen's chance meeting with Evelyn. What a power for good +Kathleen had become. Yes, college was really the place where one +eventually found oneself. And now her first year of work was almost +over. Another week and she would be back in dear old Oakdale. With the +thought of home Tom Gray's earnest, boyish face rose before her. It cast +a faint shadow on the pleasure of the coming reunion with her family and +friends. She hated to feel that she was making Tom unhappy, yet she was +equally certain that, with her, work still came first.</p> + +<p>"I can't give up my work," she said aloud.</p> + +<p>"Well, who said you should?" demanded Emma Dean's matter-of-fact tones. +The door stood partly open and Emma had entered just in time to hear +Grace's emphatic utterance.</p> + +<p>"Has the prodigal returned?"</p> + +<p>"She has," smiled Grace. Grace recounted what had taken place that +evening. "Isn't it wonderful how college helps these girls to find +themselves, Emma?" she asked when she had finished her recital.</p> + +<p>"College and Grace Harlowe," declared Emma.</p> + +<p>"You mustn't say that," Grace colored and shook her head in emphatic +denial.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I must, because it is the truth," insisted Emma. "Dear +Loyalheart, your Highway of Life led you back into the Land of College, +didn't it?"</p> + +<p>Grace nodded. "I'm going to stay in the Land of College too, Emma. I was +just thinking about it when you came in. That was what made me say, 'I +can't give up my work.'"</p> + +<p>"Overton needs you, and Harlowe House needs you, and Emma Dean needs +you, but are you sure that some one else does not need you more than we +do?" questioned Emma slyly.</p> + +<p>"That's three to one, Emma, and the majority rules," evaded Grace. "Will +you be my roommate, mentor and comforter next year?"</p> + +<p>"Most Gracious Grace, I will, and there's my hand on it."</p> + +<p>How fully Emma Dean kept her promise and what Grace's second year on the +campus brought her will be told in "<span class="smcap">Grace Harlowe's Problem</span>," +the record of her further college life at Harlowe House.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The End</span>.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton +Campus, by Jessie Graham Flower + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN *** + +***** This file should be named 9901-h.htm or 9901-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/9/0/9901/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Ginny Brewer, Tom Allen, +Mary Meehan, David Newman 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 Return to Overton Campus + +Author: Jessie Graham Flower + +Release Date: January 28, 2007 [EBook #9901] +[This file was first posted on October 29, 2003] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Ginny Brewer, Tom Allen, +Mary Meehan, David Newman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus + + By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M. + +Author of The High School Girls Series, The College Girls Series, etc. + + + + +PHILADELPHIA +HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY +Copyright, 1915 + + + + +[Illustration: The Girls Worked Busily] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. A Midsummer Pilgrimage + + II. A Welcome Guest + + III. An Unexpected Caller + + IV. The Secret Session + + V. The Way to Perpetual Youth + + VI. Jessica's Wedding + + VII. The Return of Emma Dean + + VIII. A Strange Applicant + + IX. Mary Reynolds Makes a New Friend + + X. The Thirty-Third Girl + + XI. Evelyn Ward, Freshman + + XII. The Harlowe House Club + + XIII. Planning for the Reception + + XIV. A Disquieting Thought + + XV. A Semper Fidelis Reunion + + XVI. The Interrupted Confidence + + XVII. A Week-End in New York + + XVIII. A Humiliating Reprimand + + XIX. An Unintentional Listener + + XX. A Double Puzzle + + XXI. The Puzzle Deepens + + XXII. Two Letters + + XXIII. Kathleen West, Confidante + + XXIV. Conclusion + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +The Girls Worked Busily. + +"Why, Emma Dean!" Exclaimed Grace. + +"We Decided to Give Our Loyalheart a Loyalty Token." + +"Did I Startle You, Miss Ward?" + + + + +Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A MIDSUMMER PILGRIMAGE + + +"Overton, at last!" exclaimed Grace Harlowe, as, regardless of possible +cinders and stern railroad injunctions, she leaned far out of the car +window to obtain a first eager glimpse of her destination. + +It was midsummer, and the quiet, little town of Overton drowsed gently, +not to awaken until the sounds of girl laughter and the passing of light +feet through its sleepy streets roused it to the realization that it was +Overton College that made its hum-drum existence worth while. + +"Oh, Mrs. Gray, you can't imagine how happy I feel!" went on Grace, her +eyes eloquent with emotion. "Next to home, I love Overton better than +any other place on earth. I'm so glad we are going to stay at Wayne +Hall, and that Mrs. Elwood is to meet us." + +A long shrill whistle, a creaking and groaning of protesting iron +wheels, the stentorian cry of "Overton! Overton!" and then a sudden +jarring stop. Grace reached to the rack overhead for Mrs. Gray's small +leather bag, allowing the dainty little old lady to precede her down the +aisle which was practically clear. Apparently they were the only Overton +passengers in that car. She stood still on the top step of the train +until Mrs. Gray had been safely landed on the platform by the smiling +porter, then, disdaining his helping hand, ran down the steps with a +joyful skip that caused her companion to say indulgently, "You'll never +grow up, Grace, and I'm glad of it. I can't become reconciled to the +fact that Nora and Jessica are brides-to-be and that Anne's art is +making her terribly serious. It's a joy to my old age to see you frisk +about as happily as you did when you were a little thing in short white +skirts with two long braids of fair hair hanging down your back." + +"I don't really feel a bit older than I did then," confessed Grace. +"Sometimes I'm almost ashamed of my enthusiasm. It seems as though nice +things are always happening to me, and this summer pilgrimage of just we +two is the nicest of all." + +They were walking slowly across the deserted platform now, and Grace was +keeping a sharp look-out on all sides for the short, comfortable figure +of Mrs. Elwood. + +"There she is!" Grace hurried forward, her hands outstretched. The next +instant they were held in Mrs. Elwood's welcoming grasp, while she +kissed Grace's soft cheek. + +"My dear, dear girl!" she exclaimed, a suspicious moisture in her kindly +blue eyes. "It does seem good to see you again. I'm very glad to welcome +you to Overton, Mrs. Gray," she turned to shake hands with the donor of +Harlowe House, "and delighted to know that you are going to stay with me +instead of going to the Tourraine. Miss Harlowe's old room is ready for +her, and I'm going to put you in the room Miss Nesbit and Miss Briggs +used to have." + +"You'll be haunted by the kimono-clad shades of Miriam and Elfreda +drinking tea and eating cakes at unseemly hours of the night," laughed +Grace. + +"How are all my girls?" asked Mrs. Elwood. "I don't know what I shall do +without them this year. You will have to come and see me often and tell +me all about them, Miss Harlowe. Now let me see. There ought to be a +taxicab just the other side of the station. Yes, there it is." + +The driver touched his cap smilingly to Grace as they climbed into the +automobile, "It does look good to see you here again, miss," he said +respectfully. + +"Thank you. I'm glad to see you again." Grace beamed whole-heartedly +upon him. How many times he had carried her to and from the station. It +was he who had driven the car on that memorable day when Ruth Denton had +gone to the station to meet her father. Grace's eyes grew dreamy as they +passed through the familiar streets. How much had happened since the +time when she had entered Oakdale High School as a freshman with college +in the far and hidden future. + +To her many friends "Grace Harlowe's Plebe Year at High +School," "Grace Harlowe's Sophomore Year at High School," +"Grace Harlowe's Junior Year at High School," and "Grace +Harlowe's Senior Year at High School" are now familiar records. +Equally well known to these friends is the story of her freshman year at +Overton, as set forth in "Grace Harlowe's First Year at Overton +College." + +Accompanied by her friends, Miriam Nesbit and Anne Pierson, Grace began +her freshman year at Overton College under a cloud which rose from her +ready defense of J. Elfreda Briggs, a disgruntled student who had made +enemies of two sophomores, and whose first days at college were made +very unpleasant by them. J. Elfreda's subsequent casting aside of her +friendship and her tardy realization of Grace's worth brought about a +happy ending of their freshman year. + +In "Grace Harlowe's Second Year at Overton College" the four +girls set out to find the rainbow side of their sophomore year. How each +girl found it, but in an entirely different manner, how Grace lived up +to her resolve to choose only the highest in college, and how the famous +Semper Fidelis Club came into existence, made the sophomore year in +college memorable. + +"Grace Harlowe's Third Year at Overton College" told of what +befell the four friends as juniors. The advent of Kathleen West, a +newspaper girl, into college was the first link in a chain of petty +difficulties with which Grace was obliged to contend as a junior. The +carnival given by the Semper Fidelis Club in which the Alice in +Wonderland Circus was enacted, the important part which Jean, the old +hunter of Oakdale fame, played in one Overton girl's life, the message +Emma Dean forgot to deliver, and countless other absorbing incidents +served to fill their junior year with ceaseless interest. + +"Grace Harlowe's Fourth Year at Overton College" found Grace +and her friends on the homeward stretch with commencement at the end of +their college trail. The record of Grace's senior year was filled with +happenings grave and gay. It ended in a blaze of honor and glory, and it +was on Commencement day that she made her decision to return to Overton +and look after Harlowe House, lately completed and endowed by Mrs. Gray +in honor of her young friends and dedicated to the use of poor girls who +were making valiant efforts to obtain an education. + +It was in reference to Harlowe House, her future home, that Grace and +Mrs. Gray had made this midsummer pilgrimage, as Grace had laughingly +styled it, to Overton. As their car glided through the shady streets of +the dignified college town Grace wondered if it were really eight years +since her freshman days in Oakdale High School. It certainly couldn't be +four years since Mabel Ashe had conducted her and Anne and Miriam to the +Tourraine on that first eventful afternoon. She remembered just how +beautiful Mabel had looked in her white linen frock, with her white +embroidered parasol tilted over one shoulder, an effective frame for her +lovely face and wavy, golden-brown hair. + +"Dreaming, Grace?" Mrs. Gray's voice dispelled the vision. "I can't +blame you. I suppose this ride brings up hosts of memories." + +Grace nodded. She could not trust her voice to answer. A sudden mist +filled her eyes, a silent tribute to those whose feet had once kept pace +with hers through these beloved ways. Commencement had scattered them +broadcast. She, alone, was coming back again to take up life at the +college. How she would miss them all. The dry irresistible humor of Emma +Dean, the sturdy independence of J. Elfreda Briggs, the daintiness of +Arline Thayer and the steadfast loyalty of Ruth Denton. Last of all +there were Anne and Miriam. Anne, her devoted little comrade of years, +and Miriam, whose faith and good fellowship had never failed her. + +A sob rose in Grace's throat, but she quickly stifled it. After all she +was about to begin the work she herself had chosen. She had known when +she announced her determination to take charge of Harlowe House that +things could never be quite the same. It would be selfish, indeed, in +her to break down and cry when Mrs. Gray had come to Overton solely to +help her select the furniture and plan for the opening of Harlowe House +in September. + +Grace pulled herself together and, resolutely putting her own sense of +loss behind her, said steadily: "I couldn't help thinking of the girls +for a minute. It made me want to cry, but I've set my face to the future +now, and I'm sure that my new work is going to bring me as much +happiness here as I had during the other dear four years. When I think +of how splendid it was in you to give Harlowe House to Overton, I feel +as though there isn't any sacrifice too great for me to make to insure +its success, and I hope that my coming back to Overton Campus to do my +work is going to mean a thousand times more to me next June than it does +now." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A WELCOME GUEST + + +The summer sun, streaming intimately in at the window of her room, and +touching her hair with warm, awakening fingers, caused Grace to open her +eyes before six o'clock the next morning. She lay looking about her, +unable for the moment to remember where she was. Then she laughed and +reaching for her kimono, which hung folded across the footboard of the +bed, slipped it on, and, thrusting her feet into her bedroom slippers, +went to the window. + +"Dear old Overton Hall," she murmured, her eyes fixed lovingly on the +stately gray tower of the building that she had come to regard as a +close friend. Again she found herself overwhelmed by a tide of +reminiscences. How many times she and Anne had stood at the self-same +window, arm in arm, gazing out at the self-same sights. She could see +the very seat at the foot of the big tree where she had sat the day Emma +Dean had poked her head about the big syringa bush and mournfully handed +her the letter from Ruth Denton's father which had been buried in the +pocket of Emma's coat for so many weeks. She smiled as she recalled the +ludicrously penitent expression with which Emma had delivered the +letter. There were the library steps on which Arline Thayer had sat and +cried so disconsolately because she could not go home for Christmas. +Once more she saw a strange procession winding its way across the campus +headed by a walking, chattering scarecrow, Emma Dean again in her famous +representation of "Never Too Late to Mend," which had been one of the +great features of the Famous Fiction dance. + +Then she saw four girls, with their shining heads bared to the sun, +strolling across the campus, talking earnestly of what the future held +for them. And still again she saw them in caps and gowns marching toward +the Gate of Commencement. It was only a little time since they had +passed through that gateway, yet how long it seemed. + +Suddenly her look of abstraction changed to one of startled interest. +Running to the door she threw it open and listened intently. She heard +Mrs. Elwood's voice raised in pleased surprise, then, could she believe +her ears? she heard another never-to-be-forgotten voice say, "I could +see that there was some one awake and stirring." + +With a joyous cry of "J. Elfreda, where, oh, where did you come from?" a +lithe, blue-robed figure raced down the stairs and wrapped both arms +tightly about a plump young woman, in a tailored coat suit, who returned +the warm embrace with interest. + +"Oh, Grace, I can't tell you how glad I am to see you again!" exclaimed +J. Elfreda Briggs fervently. "I never was so glad in all my life as when +I found out you were here. The letter was forwarded to me at the beach. +We're at Wildwood for the summer. Maybe I didn't pick up my things in a +hurry. To use slang, which you know I can't resist using occasionally, I +hot-footed it for the station the minute Ma said I could come." + +"Which letter do you mean, Elfreda?" asked Grace in a puzzled tone. + +"Why the one from Mrs. Gray, of course," returned Elfreda. "Isn't she +here?" + +"Yes, but--" + +"Grace! Elfreda!" called Mrs. Gray from the head of the stairs, "come up +here, children." + +"Come on." Grace seized Elfreda's heavy suit case and started up the +stairs. Elfreda followed with alacrity. "Now," laughed Grace, as she +stepped into Mrs. Gray's room, "I demand an explanation." She laid her +hands lightly upon the old lady's shoulders, smiling down at her, then +bent and kissed her cheek. + +"This is certainly a happy meeting," declared Elfreda, as she embraced +Mrs. Gray, who rose to greet her. + +"I'm so glad you could come, my dear. I knew that Grace would miss her +friends dreadfully when she came back here. Anne and Miriam are both +away, and Nora and Jessica are too deep in the mysteries of hope chests +and wedding finery to be dragged off on even the most delightful of +midsummer pilgrimages. But my greatest reason for asking you to come was +because I believed you were the very person Grace needed to make her +happy here. You see it will take at least two weeks to set things to +rights and she must have inspiring company. I hope everything has +arrived safely. Suppose we hurry through with our breakfast and go over +to Harlowe House at once. Mrs. Elwood tells me that she informed the +caretaker yesterday of our coming. We shall be obliged to stop at his +house for the key." + +"Oh, Elfreda, I'm so sorry that you weren't with us in New York," was +Grace's regretful cry. "We stayed with the Southards, Mrs. Gray, Anne, +Miriam and I. Anne, Miss Southard and Mr. Southard left New York City +for California last week. Mr. Southard and Anne are to appear as joint +stars in film productions of 'As You Like It,' 'Hamlet,' 'King Lear' and +possibly other Shakespearian plays. It is their first experience in +posing before the camera. Anne sent you her love. She will write you as +soon as she is settled." + +"Dear little Anne," smiled Elfreda, her eyes growing tender. + +"I hope she'll be back in time for the girls' weddings. Nora and Jessica +say positively that they won't be married without her." Grace looked +anxious. + +"When are they to be married?" + +"The last of September. The date hasn't been set." + +"Grace," Elfreda fixed round solemn eyes on her friend, "do you feel +very old this summer?" + +"Not the least little bit. I can't realize that I've come back to +Harlowe House to take charge of it. I feel as young as I felt when I +first entered high school." + +"Well, I'm glad to hear it, for, to save me, I can't feel responsible +and dignified. I've run and raced and swum and played golf like an +Indian all summer, and honestly I feel ever so much younger than when I +came to Overton four years ago. See how tanned I am? I haven't gained an +ounce either. I weigh just one hundred and thirty-five pounds and no +more," concluded J. Elfreda in triumph. + +"You are in splendid condition, Elfreda," praised Mrs. Gray. Grace +nodded emphatic approval. + +"Yes, I'm strong enough to hustle furniture, beat rugs, scrub floors, or +do anything else necessary to the beautifying and eternal improvement of +Harlowe House." Then she added slyly, "Lead me to it." + +"You'll be led to it fast enough," promised Grace. "Just wait until we +have some breakfast." + +At that moment Mrs. Elwood appeared in the open doorway. "Shall I bring +your breakfast upstairs this morning?" she asked. "I thought Mrs. Gray +might like to have it in her room." + +"Thank you, but I'd rather go downstairs this morning," nodded the +energetic old lady. "May we breakfast a la negligee?" + +"Yes, come down just as you are. There is no one here besides myself and +the maid." + +"Miss Briggs, have you had your breakfast? Jane is making waffles. I +thought you--" + +"Waffles!" exclaimed Elfreda, rolling her eyes in ecstacy. "If I'd had +fifty breakfasts I couldn't resist waffles. Thank goodness Vinton's +wasn't open." + +"Aren't waffles supposed to be fattening?" inquired Grace judiciously. + +"Don't ask me," was Elfreda's fervent protest. "I've set my mind on +eating them, even though I have to walk to Hunter's Rock and back in the +glare of the noonday sun to counteract their deadly effects." + +It was a merry trio that gathered around the table which Mrs. Elwood had +set on the roomy, vine-covered back porch, and it was fully an hour +after they sat down to breakfast before they rose to go upstairs and +make ready for their visit to Harlowe House. + +"There is no use in trying to begin our real work to-day," declared +Grace, as the three left Mrs. Elwood's and strolled slowly along College +Street in the direction of the caretaker's house. Mr. Symes, who had +faithfully executed so many commissions for Grace, had been selected as +the best possible person to look after the house. "Mr. Symes was to see +that everything was unpacked before we arrived. We shall have to employ +two men to move the heavy furniture. Thank goodness and Mrs. Gray, there +are no carpets to be laid. The floors are all hard wood and there are +rugs for every room except the kitchen and laundry." + +"I brought an old dress along," Elfreda informed her friends. "I helped +Ma set our cottage to rights this summer and I know something about +work. We had two maids and a scrubwoman. The maids were in my way, so I +sent them off for a holiday and the scrubwoman and I tackled the job and +went through with it like wildfire. Ma nearly had a spasm, but she liked +the looks of things when we had finished. You should have seen me, +though. Ma didn't like my looks. I guess I did resemble a human mop if +you know what that looks like." + +"I can imagine," laughed Grace. "If you attack the business of putting +Harlowe House to rights with the same energy, I shall know exactly how +you looked when you cleaned the cottage." + +"Perhaps you will," Elfreda grinned boyishly. "I hadn't thought of +that." + +"You couldn't see that far ahead, could you?" quizzed Grace with +twinkling eyes. + +"No I couldn't," declared Elfreda earnestly, then, catching sight of +Grace's dancing eyes, she laughed good-naturedly. "You will tease me +about that. I can see that you'll never outgrow the habit." + +"I can see that Elfreda is going to lighten our labors and make our +tasks merry," smiled Mrs. Gray. "What a joy and a diversion you must +have been to Miriam." + +"I was anything but an unqualified source of pleasure during my freshman +year," replied Elfreda. "It is plain to be seen that Grace never told +you my early Overton history." + +"Now, Elfreda--" began Grace, but Elfreda was not to be thus easily +deterred from saying her say. She launched forth with a ludicrous +account of her freshman shortcomings that left Mrs. Gray and Grace +breathless with laughter. + +"Elfreda, it is hard to say which is funnier, you or Hippy," Mrs. Gray's +eyes twinkled with enjoyment. + +"Well, isn't it so?" demanded J. Elfreda. "Isn't that exactly the way I +used to do?" + +"It's what I call a highly exaggerated account of your self-named +misdeeds," returned Grace. "You haven't said a word about all the nice +things you did for the girls." + +"I don't remember them," evaded Elfreda hastily. "Oh, there's Mr. Symes +now! How are you, Mr. Symes? You didn't expect to see me here, did you?" + +"Well, well, if it ain't Miss Briggs," beamed the old man joyfully. His +remembrance of J. Elfreda was decidedly pleasant. She had always paid +him generously for the numerous errands he had run for her. He greeted +Grace with equal enthusiasm, and bobbed like a nodding mandarin before +Mrs. Gray. + +"I hope you have been well, Mr. Symes. How is your wife and how do you +like being caretaker of Harlowe House?" asked Grace. + +"I'm well, miss, and so's my wife. It's a fine place, miss, that Harlowe +House, an' it'll be finer still when fall comes and it's full of Overton +students. We're pretty proud of our young ladies, we Overton folks. +Excuse me, miss, I'll go over to my house and get the key. I'll be right +along." + +"He has a whole lot of real college spirit," commented Elfreda, "or he +couldn't speak so beautifully of the Overton girls." + +"He always was a perfect old dear," agreed Grace warmly. + +The caretaker soon overtook them with the key, and the little company +crossed the street and traversed the deserted campus. + +"How strangely still everything is," commented Grace. "Not in the least +like it was six months ago, is it, Elfreda?" + +"It gives me the blues," averred Elfreda in a low tone. + +"Here we are," called Mrs. Gray, with a cheery attempt at dispelling the +tiny cloud of dejection that had fallen over the two girls. "Harlowe +House couldn't have a prettier site." + +The three women followed Mr. Symes up the steps, then, as if by common +consent, turned and looked out over the green expanse of closely-clipped +lawn, sprinkled with sentinel-like old trees. They had stood guard year +after year and silently watched the comings and goings of the hundreds +of girls who proudly acknowledged Overton as their Alma Mater. + +"What's the use of gazing and mooning?" asked Elfreda, with sudden +brusqueness. "Please open that door, Mr. Symes. I shall certainly weep +and wail disconsolately out of pure sentiment if you don't distract my +attention with something else. Show me the furniture, or the boxes it +came in, or anything else that won't call forth tender reminiscences." + +Grace's laugh sounded a trifle shaky, but it was a laugh nevertheless. +Something in Elfreda's brusque tones acted as an antidote to her +retrospection. She had been more or less ghost-ridden ever since her +return to Overton. She now resolved to shake off that pleasantly +melancholy sensation and "be up and doing with a heart for any fate." + +The caretaker admitted them to a hall crowded with huge packing boxes. +In fact, the whole of the first floor was occupied by the large +shipments of furniture recently delivered into the care of Mr. Symes. + +"It's worse than the cottage," announced Elfreda; "a regular howling +wilderness. I'd like to know how we can possibly guess what's what and +why. These boxes all look alike. If we have our minds set upon seeing +the parlor suite, we'll be sure to unpack the kitchen furniture +instead." + +"We'll let the men wrestle with the unpacking, girls," decided Mrs. +Gray. "I don't wish my body guard to nurse wholesale bruises and smashed +fingers. Mr. Symes, can you have two men besides yourself here this +afternoon to unpack these things?" + +"I certainly can, Mrs. Gray," promised Mr. Symes with respectful +promptness. + +"Then we'll have to possess our souls in patience until to-morrow," +sighed Grace. "Isn't this a lovely, roomy house, Elfreda? I'm so glad, +too, that there isn't a prim, stiff parlor. I like this immense +living-room much better. The girls will surely like it. It will serve as +a library too. That little room just off the hall will make such a +convenient office for me. Imagine me as the head of a college house, +with an office all my own, Elfreda." + +"It's a good thing for the house," commented Elfreda. "I hope the girls +that live here will appreciate you, Grace. I hope none of them will be +as silly as J. Elfreda Briggs was." + +"Elfreda, how can you?" remonstrated Grace. + +"How could I, you mean," flung back Elfreda. "Because I was a spoiled, +selfish ingrate who never stopped to think of any one else's rights." + +"Now, now, Elfreda," protested Mrs. Gray. + +"Well, I was," insisted Elfreda positively. "It took a whole year to +reduce me to order. I wasn't as hopeless as some of the others. It took +three years to make Alberta Wicks and Mary Hampton real Overton girls, +and two years to instil college spirit into Kathleen West. But Grace +never gave any of us up, even though we treated her so shabbily. That's +why I just said I hoped that the girls would appreciate Grace. I'd hate +to think that some stupid ill-natured freshman, it's more likely to be a +freshman than any one else, would behave like an idiot and spoil her +first year at Harlowe House." There was an expression of anxious concern +on Elfreda's round face. + +"Don't worry, Elfreda," reassured Grace, "the students who come to +Harlowe House to live are sure to be nice. Girls who have their own way +to pay through college are usually cheerful and unselfish. They are +anxious to live and willing to let live." + +"I don't know about that. Kathleen West wasn't a glaring pattern of +amiability when she entered Overton," reminded Elfreda. "Of course she's +now a brilliant example of what forbearance will accomplish, and you +know that I am very fond of her, but you and I remember what we went +through during the forbearing process." + +"Don't croak, J. Elfreda Briggs," admonished Grace lightly, "I don't +imagine that everything will be plain sailing this year. That would be +asking too much. Still I hope I shall not have any serious +misunderstandings with my girls. I'm going to remember my motto, +'Blessed are they that have found their work,' and not shirk anything +that comes within the line of it." + +"I guess there isn't the slightest danger of shirking on your part," was +Elfreda's dry retort. "I hope the men that do the unpacking of this +stuff will be imbued with the same spirit. You'd better bring out that +motto and hang it up where they can see it. To change the subject, we +haven't been upstairs yet." + +"Come on, then." + +"I think I'll wait for you on the veranda, children," said Mrs. Gray. +"Don't stay upstairs too long. I should like to go back to Mrs. +Elwood's, telephone for a taxicab, and make a call upon Dr. Morton this +morning." + +"We'll hurry," promised Grace, as they ascended the open staircase which +led to the second floor. "These are to be my quarters," she announced, +opening a door at the end of the hall on the left side of the stairs. +"This left wing was designed especially for me. The right wing has the +same amount of space, but it is divided into two bedrooms. But the left +has a sitting-room and bedroom, with a bathroom between the two. It +seems selfish in me to have so much room, but Mrs. Gray insists that I +need it and wishes me to be thoroughly comfortable. She wanted me to +have circassian walnut bedroom furniture, but I chose oak. I don't wish +my rooms to suggest luxury. It wouldn't seem in touch with the spirit of +my undertaking." + +Elfreda regarded Grace with loving admiration. "You're the squarest, +fairest girl I ever knew or even expect to know, Grace," was her +tribute. "And you deserve the best that the Harlowe House girls can give +you." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +AN UNEXPECTED CALLER + + +"'And if I do say it as shouldn't,' this room is a credit to our college +and our own sweet native land," proclaimed Elfreda, as she viewed with +critical eyes the long cheerful living-room, to which she and Grace had +just put the final touches. The morning sunshine of a perfect midsummer +day poured in at the windows flooding the scene with dazzling light, as +though smiling its approval of the pretty room. The walls and ceilings +were papered in cream color with a running border of green leaves. The +floor rug was in two shades of green, and the window draperies were in +green and white. The furniture was in mission oak, but there were +several comfortable arm chairs and willow rockers scattered about the +room. A long library table took up considerable space at one end of the +room, and conveniently near it were rows of book shelves, lined with +special books required by the Overton curriculum of study, which, in +price, were out of reach of the more impecunious students, and were in +such constant demand at the library that their temporary possession +often meant weeks of waiting. + +There was a piano, of course, but the crowning feature of the room, +however, was the wide window seat built across the bow-window at its +upper end. It was at least four feet wide, upholstered in thick green +velvet and piled high with sofa pillows. It was indeed a cozy corner +which invited rest, and Elfreda confidently predicted that it would be +the most popular spot in the house. + +The house itself had not followed the usual plan of modern architecture. +In fact, it was distinctly old-fashioned and built for room rather than +effect. The hall ran the length of the house to the kitchen, dividing it +into two parts. The dining-room was on the side opposite the +living-room, and had also a bow-window. Directly behind it lay the +servants' quarters. Adjoining the living-room was Grace's little office +and behind that was a room furnished with every convenience for the +benefit of those girls who were obliged to launder their own clothing to +save expense. + +The second, third and fourth floors were, with the exception of Grace's +suite, given up entirely to bedrooms, of which there were sixteen. This +meant the accommodation of thirty-two students for whom the perplexing +problem of food and shelter was solved for their entire four years' +course at Overton, provided they complied with the rules of Harlowe +House. + +"Doesn't it seem wonderful, Elfreda, that through Mrs. Gray's generosity +the girls who come here will be free from the dreadful worry of paying +board? All they will have to look out for is their regular college fees, +and if they happen to be lucky enough to enter Overton on scholarships +they will have absolutely plain sailing." Grace's face was alight with +appreciation of Mrs. Gray's gift. + +"What a pity Ruth Denton couldn't have had such a chance," mused +Elfreda. "Poor little Ruth, how hard she worked." + +"And now she has everything," returned Grace. "It seems miraculous that +she found her father, doesn't it?" + +Elfreda nodded. "Arline Thayer was good to her those first three years. +Do you remember the ridiculous quarrel they had because Ruth wouldn't +tell us what she was like when she was a little girl?" + +"I ought to remember it, considering the fact that I officiated as peace +maker," smiled Grace. "How I shall miss Arline. There is only one other +girl, outside of you and Miriam and Anne, whom I shall miss as much." + +"Emma Dean?" guessed Elfreda. + +"Yes, Emma Dean. I can't begin to tell you how fond of her I am and +always have been. She was the life of Wayne Hall. Mrs. Elwood was +sighing fond remembrance of her only this morning. Really, Elfreda, I +wonder if, ever again, there will be a class quite like 19--?" + +"Never," declared Elfreda with quick loyalty, then, glancing up at the +mission clock on the wall, she exclaimed: "I wonder why Mrs. Gray +doesn't come! Let's go out on the veranda and watch for her." + +The two young women strolled out onto the veranda just in time to see an +automobile drive up to the house containing two persons. One of them was +Mrs. Gray, the other, to whom she was talking animatedly, was a +broad-shouldered young man, whose gray eyes shone with pleasure as he +caught sight of Grace. + +"Why, Tom!" she called in astonishment. "Where did you come from? I +thought you were away up in Maine." She hurried down the steps, her +hands extended. + +The young man caught them in his and held them fast. "So I was," he +answered, his eyes searching hers, "but my work there is done for the +present. I am on my way to Washington, but it's a roundabout way, for, +when I received your letter, I was devoured with curiosity to see +Harlowe House, so I took a day off, on my own responsibility, and came +this way." + +Grace colored under the young man's ardent gaze. She knew only too well +that it was not alone curiosity to see Harlowe House that had taken Tom +out of his way. "I'm sorry your curiosity didn't devour you sooner," she +retorted mischievously. "If only you had come here last week! You could +have made yourself invaluable. However, you are in time to meet Elfreda, +at least." + +"Yes, Tom," declared his aunt, "you can't afford to miss knowing +Elfreda. She is the counterpart of Hippy, and has kept Grace and I in a +perpetual state of smiles during the past two weeks." + +Tom helped his aunt out of the automobile and the three walked slowly +toward the veranda where Elfreda stood waiting. A moment later she and +Tom were shaking hands and declaring that, having heard so much of each +other from Grace, they were really old acquaintances. + +"When are you going home?" Tom asked, as half an hour later, the party +paused in the living-room after a tour of inspection which included the +four floors. + +"That is the main subject under discussion at present," smiled Grace. +"It must be very soon. If not to-morrow, then the day after. Here we are +fairly into August and I have spent a very short time with Father and +Mother. Then, too, the Phi Sigma Tau has a great many mysterious rites +to observe before two of its members enter into that state known as +matrimony. Also we expect Eleanor Savelli soon. She and her father and +aunt are going to be at 'Heartease' for two or three months. Mabel +Allison and her mother are coming east, and the Southards are coming +home with Anne when their motion-picture work in California is done. I +could go on naming plenty of other reasons, but those are the really +important ones." + +"I should say they were important ones," agreed Tom. "It sounds as +though there were to be some lively times in Oakdale. I'm going to try +to make my vacation cover the weddings. I can't allow the Originals to +get married, celebrate or jollificate without me." + +"Oh, Tom, will you really?" cried Grace with enthusiasm. "I'll let you +know the moment the date of the girls' weddings is set." + +"Can you stay over until to-morrow, Tom?" asked Mrs. Gray. "Then we can +go back to Oakdale on the late afternoon train." + +"I'm afraid not, Aunt Rose, I'm a day late now. I'll have to take the +night train for Washington. Let me see." He drew a time table from his +coat pocket. "There is a train out of Overton at nine o'clock to-night. +I'm due to catch it. But I'm going to take you all to dinner at the +Tourraine and we are going for a drive afterward which will end at the +station, where you will all see me on my desolate way. Are there any +objections?" + +"Nothing but delighted acceptances, my dear boy," assured his aunt, +glancing fondly at her big, good-looking nephew. "I'll venture to answer +for the girls, too." + +"We'll come to Tom's dinner party, provided he has luncheon with us," +stipulated Grace. "It's almost noon now. Mrs. Elwood will have luncheon +ready at one. You'd better come with us, Tom. We are going to have +strawberry shortcake with whipped cream, for dessert." + +"You couldn't lose me," asserted Tom with slangy emphasis. "Shall I go +on ahead and telephone for a car, Aunt Rose?" + +"No, I'll walk to Wayne Hall with you children," decided Mrs. Gray. + +"I wonder if there is anything else to be done," murmured Grace, +surveying the living-room with anxious eyes. "Oh, my motto. It must hang +directly above the archway." + +"Where is it?" asked Elfreda. "We have time to put it up before we go to +luncheon, and plenty of skilled laborers." She cast a laughing glance at +Tom. + +"It isn't made yet," confessed Grace. "Eva Allen's brother, who is an +artist, is illuminating one for me." + +"What is your motto, Grace?" asked Tom interestedly. + +"'Blessed are they that have found their work,'" repeated Grace, her +eyes on the spot where she intended the precious motto to hang. Mrs. +Gray had walked on into the hall, so there was only one pair of eyes to +see the sudden tightening of Tom's lips and the look of wistfulness +which crept into his face, and that pair of eyes belonged to Elfreda. + +"He cares a whole lot more for Grace than she cares for him," was +Elfreda's quick appraisal. "At heart, Grace is still a little girl, and +will be for a long time to come. I hope when she does wake up it won't +be another prince who will do the awakening." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE SECRET SESSION + + +"I feel more as though I were getting ready for a funeral than about to +give a dinner for the Eight Originals," sighed Grace Harlowe, as she +joined her mother on the shady front porch, a little white and gold work +bag, which Miss Southard had brought her from Paris, swinging from her +arm. "I can't realize that, within the next week, Nora and Jessica are +actually going to become Mrs. Hippy Wingate and Mrs. Reddy Brooks. It +seems ridiculous. Why it's only yesterday that Jessica's hair hung down +her back in two braids, and Nora wore curls and short dresses." + +"I can't imagine Hippy in the role of a dignified bridegroom," smiled +Mrs. Harlowe. "He is far more likely to convulse the wedding party and +upset the whole solemn service than to conduct himself with strict +propriety." + +"He insists that he will cover himself with glory if Reddy doesn't look +at him, and Reddy insists that he will sit and stare him out of +countenance. David is to be Hippy's best man and Tom Gray Reddy's, while +Jessica is to be Nora's maid of honor and Nora Jessica's matron of +honor. She's to be married first, you know. Mabel, Anne, Miriam Nesbit, +Eleanor Savelli and I are to be the bridesmaids at both weddings," went +on Grace. "We'll have a reunion of all our friends. The Gibsons are at +home, Judge Putnam and his sister are coming down earlier from the +Adirondacks; then there are Eleanor and her father, Miss Nevin and the +Southards. Every one who has played an active part in our home lives +will be on hand to see the girls married." + +"But how can Nora go away on a wedding journey and be Jessica's matron +of honor, too?" asked Mrs. Harlowe. + +"She and Jessica went over that point a dozen times. You see Nora's +wedding takes place in the morning. She is going to have a wedding +breakfast, then she and Hippy will go to the mountains for a week. They +will return to Oakdale on the day of Jessica's wedding, and leave for a +long trip west the next morning. That was the best way they could carry +out a compact they made last June to serve as maids of honor for each +other." + +Mrs. Harlowe listened to Grace's flow of eager talk with a smile of +content on her fine face. To her fond eyes Grace looked absurdly +immature in her simple frock of white dotted swiss. She was secretly +glad that Overton, rather than marriage, had claimed her alert, +self-reliant daughter for another year. Like every other mother she +wished some day to see Grace happily settled in a home of her own, but +she preferred to think of that someday as being still far distant. + +Grace took out of her bag a guest towel she was embroidering. It was the +last of the half dozen towels she had worked for Jessica's hope chest. +She was not fond of needlework. She preferred to spend her spare time +playing golf and tennis, or riding and walking. This, as well as the +hemstitched table cloth and napkins she had completed for Nora, was a +labor of love. Now as she bent painstakingly over her work, she smiled +to herself and wove a tender thread of loyalty and love into the +pattern. + +A long clear trill caused her to raise her head quickly and spring to +her feet with, "Here they are, at last!" She ran to meet them. + +Three girls, or rather three young women, came loitering through the +gate and up the walk, laughing gayly at something the girl in the center +was relating for their benefit. "Now what has Hippy done?" guessed Grace +shrewdly. + +"You might know it was something about him," said Jessica Bright. "This +time it was a case of what was done to him. Tell the lady all over +again, Nora." + +"It certainly was funny," dimpled Nora. "You see, Grace, Hippy and Edith +and I were going for a ride, last night, in his new car. We waited and +waited for him and couldn't imagine why he didn't come. About ten +o'clock he came tearing along at a speed that would have made a traffic +officer turn pale. Edith and I were still sitting on the porch. I +pretended I was dreadfully offended until he told me where he had been, +then Edith and I laughed until we almost cried." + +"Where had he been?" asked Grace curiously. + +The three girls giggled in unison. + +"Locked in the cellar," returned Nora mirthfully. "He was all ready to +go for his car when he happened to remember that he wanted a wrench from +the tool chest in the cellar. His father is away this week and there was +no one in the house but the cook. She was all ready to go away for the +evening, too. She didn't know Hippy was in the cellar, so she locked all +the doors, the cellar door included, and went on her way rejoicing. +Hippy said he pounded and shouted and howled and wailed and pounded some +more. Can't you imagine just how funny he must have looked? He couldn't +climb out of the cellar windows, for they are too small and he is too +fat, so he had to stay there until almost ten o'clock. He says he sat on +the cellar steps most of the time and thought of the happy past. At last +the cook came home and when he heard her walking around upstairs he +pounded and shouted again. She thought he was a burglar, just as though +a burglar would make all that noise, and wasn't going to let him out. He +insists that he ruined his voice forever in trying to convince her that +he was himself. He says his frenzied pleadings finally touched her +adamant heart, and she opened the cellar door very cautiously at the +rate of about a sixteenth of an inch per minute." + +Grace laughed with the others, as Nora finished. "Poor Hippy," she +commented, "he is always falling into difficulties. I must ask him about +his evening in the cellar." + +"Yes, do," urged Nora. "He tried to swear Edith and me to secrecy, but +we refused to be sworn." + +"It will make Reddy so happy," laughed Anne. + +"Oh, Anne, dear, you don't know how splendid it seems to have you home +again!" exclaimed Grace. "It's just like old times. I can't help feeling +sad though. We thought when we were graduated from high school that our +parting of the ways had come, but now that we are all standing on the +verge of our life work, it seems to me that this is going to be the real +parting. I can't help wondering if things will seem quite the same again +when we gather home next year." + +"Of course they will," declared practical Nora. "Grace Harlowe, don't +you dare to grow gloomy and retrospective. We four are chums for life, +and not all the weddings and stage careers and Harlowe House positions +in the world can change us." + +"I know they can't. I won't make any more excursions into the Valley of +Doubt," promised Grace. + +They had stopped on the walk to talk, now they moved slowly toward the +veranda, four abreast, a bright-eyed, happy quartette. Mrs. Harlowe +greeted her daughter's friends as affectionately as though they were her +own children. "Did you bring your work, girls, or is it to be a case of +idle hands?" + +"Idle hands!" exclaimed Nora. "Far from it. Jessica has a blouse to +finish and I have innumerable initials to embroider." + +"I am the only idle one," confessed Anne. "I am sorry to say that I +haven't the least desire to be industrious. I prefer to sit with my +hands folded and watch the rest of you work. It sounds lazy, doesn't +it?" + +"Not a bit of it," declared Grace loyally. "You've done your work, Anne. +It's time you took a rest. Make yourselves comfy, girls. Here, give me +your hats and parasols. I'll put them in the hall." + +In a moment Grace returned, and sitting down by Nora, who had stationed +herself in the big porch swing, she picked up her work and began to +embroider industriously. + +For the space of half an hour the little company worked busily, keeping +up a running accompaniment of merry conversation broken with light +laughter. It was Nora's quick eyes which first saw Grace lay down her +work with an impatient sigh. An instant later Grace discovered that +Nora's industry was flagging. Mrs. Harlowe had just gone into the house. +Anne was leaning back in her chair, her eyes fixed dreamily upon the far +horizon, while Jessica, alone, plodded patiently along, too much +absorbed in the development of the butterfly pattern she was +embroidering to note that two of her companions were lagging. A sudden +silence fell upon them all. It was broken by Nora's quick tones. "I'll +take it all back," she averred. "I'm strictly in favor of idle hands. +Let's put our work away and go for a walk!" + +"For this brilliant idea, we thank you," returned Anne, coming out of +her dream in a hurry. + +"Why not walk over to the old Omnibus House," suggested Grace. + +"Brillianter and brillianter," nodded Nora. "What could be more fitting +than to make a pilgrimage to the scenes of our high school days? I +haven't been there in ages." + +"Neither have I," was Grace's quick response. "It's only half-past +three. We'll have plenty of time to go there and back before dinner. The +boys won't be here until six o'clock. You know that Tom Gray arrived +yesterday, I suppose? That makes the Eight Originals complete. We'll +have to do without the Plus Two, because Miriam hasn't come home yet and +Arnold won't be here until the night before Nora's wedding." + +"How I miss Miriam," sighed Grace. + +"We never dreamed when we were freshmen that she would ever be our close +friend, did we?" asked Nora. + +"She's a dear, and no mistake," agreed Jessica. Then, her glance +straying to Anne, "What makes Anne look so mysterious?" + +Anne smiled. "I'll tell you the most surprising secret you ever heard, +but not until we get to the Omnibus House and are seated in a row on the +old stone steps behind it." + +"Then let's away!" exclaimed Nora. "We won't need our hats. Two parasols +will be enough to shade us from the sun." + +Five minutes later the four girls trooped down the steps and strolled +through the familiar streets in the direction of their old playground. +The afternoon sun beamed so gently and kindly upon them that it was not +long before they closed their parasols and walked with their heads +uncovered to his tempered rays. To see a bevy of girls walking in the +quiet streets of the little city without hats was the commonest sight, +and the quartette attracted little attention as they sauntered along. + +After leaving Oakdale behind, it was not more than ten minutes' walk +across the fields to the quaint old stone house which had been the scene +of so many of their high school revels. + +"What a lot of good times we have had here," mused Nora reminiscently, +as they paused before the quaint old building, that had once been a +tavern, and was, goodness knew, how many years old. "Shall you ever +forget the time we buried the hatchet?" + +"Never!" chorused three emphatic voices. + +"Wasn't Julia Crosby too ridiculous for words?" declared Jessica. Her +smile of recollection was reflected in the faces of her friends. + +"That reminds me," remarked Nora, "I have something to tell you girls +too." + +"Let's have a 'secret' session," proposed Jessica. "Every one who wishes +to attend must be ready to tell a secret the moment we sit down on the +steps." + +"'A secret is a secret, only, when known to three persons, two of which +are dead,'" quoted Anne mischievously. + +"These secrets mustn't be the heart-to-heart, +keep-it-to-yourself-forever kind," stipulated Nora. "They mustn't be of +the complex variety either. Dark secrets are also strictly tabooed from +this session." + +"Stop laying down rules and regulations," laughed Grace, "and let us +form our secret row. I am eaten up with curiosity to know what Anne and +Nora know." + +"Are you eligible?" quizzed Nora. "That is the important question. Anne, +you must head the row. You began this session." + +Anne complied obediently. + +Nora sat down beside her. + +Grace stood eyeing Nora thoughtfully. Then her eyes sparkled. "I'm +eligible," she announced as she made a third. + +"So am I," declared Jessica a trifle soberly, taking her place at the +other end of the row. + +"Ladies and no gentlemen," announced Nora, rising and bowing profoundly +to the three girls, "the great secret session of the four inseparables +is about to begin. Remember, you are not limited to one secret. If you +happen to know several, now is the time to tell them. Go ahead, Anne." + +Nora seated herself again and with the eyes of her chums fixed +expectantly upon her, Anne began the secret session. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE WAY TO PERPETUAL YOUTH + + +"This isn't a secret that any one told me," stated Anne. "It's something +I found out for myself. One of the two persons it concerns doesn't know +it yet. Perhaps she will never know." + +"How mysteriously interesting," commented Nora. "Hurry on with it, Anne. +Who are the persons concerned?" + +"Mr. Southard and"--Anne paused briefly to give due effect to her +words--"Miriam." + +A ripple of surprise passed along the row. + +"What do you mean, Anne?" was Grace's quick question. + +"I mean that for nearly four years Mr. Southard has cared for Miriam," +replied Anne steadily. + +Nora's puckered red lips emitted a surprised whistle. + +"This _is_ news," averred Jessica. "But Miriam could never care for him. +He is so much older." + +"How old do you imagine Mr. Southard to be, Jessica?" asked Anne slyly. + +"Oh, I don't know. He must be--" + +Jessica paused reflectively. Then a sudden look of astonishment passed +over her face. "Why how funny! He isn't really old. I don't believe he +is as old as thirty-five, but he _seems_ older." + +Anne nodded. "He is thirty-three. That isn't very ancient, is it?" + +"Miriam is twenty-four," mused Grace aloud. "She is so brilliant, +self-possessed and stunning that one feels as though she were even older +than that. I know she is very fond of the Southards, but I don't believe +she suspects that Mr. Southard--" + +"She doesn't," put in Anne eagerly. "He has been careful that she +shouldn't. I believe Miss Southard knows, but she would never say so, +even to me. Do you remember the time we went to New York City for +Thanksgiving, when we were freshmen at Overton, Grace? Well, it began +then. I know him so thoroughly that I could see things that you girls +couldn't. After that I took particular pains to notice the way he acted +toward Miriam whenever they met, and, as Elfreda says, I could see his +love for her grow and deepen. He cared a great deal last commencement, +and he was so dreadfully afraid she'd find out that he actually kept +away from her." + +"I remember that," interposed Grace. "Miriam noticed it, too. She told +me that she was afraid she had in some way offended Mr. Southard, for he +treated her with almost distant courtesy. I suppose he imagines himself +as being too old for Miriam." + +"This _is_ an interesting secret and no mistake," said Nora, wagging her +head with satisfaction, "but what about poor Arnold Evans?" + +"You are running ahead too fast, Nora," smiled Anne. "Remember Miriam +doesn't suspect that Mr. Southard loves her. The chances are she doesn't +nor never will care for him. But I'll be generous and tell you another +secret. Miriam and Arnold aren't the least bit in love with each other." + +"Do you know, Anne, I've always thought that, too," agreed Grace. "They +have always acted more like two good comrades." + +"Exactly," replied Anne, "but, as far as I am concerned, girls, to me it +would be a wonderful thing if some day Everett Southard and Miriam +Nesbit should decide that they were necessary to each other's welfare. +They are so admirably suited in temperament, disposition, and all that +goes toward making two persons absolutely happy." + +"Hear the sage expound life and love," giggled Nora. "What about poor +David's future happiness?" + +Anne flushed. "I can't answer that question," she said, after a little +pause. "It does sound rather silly for me to go on talking about the +love affairs of others when I can't settle my own. Not that I love David +less, but acting more," she finished almost tremulously. "I move that we +go on to the next secret." + +"Mine is about Julia Crosby," began Nora, "and I can tell you in few +words. She's engaged to a Harvard man." + +"Really!" exclaimed Grace delightedly. "Where did you see her, Nora? I +didn't know she was at home." + +"She came home from the mountains yesterday. I saw her in Carlton's, +that new confectioner's shop on Main Street. We had a sundae together +and she told me all about it. She has known her fiance for two years. +She met him at a Harvard dance. He was graduated last June from the +Harvard law school. The engagement hasn't been formally announced yet. +She's going to give a luncheon to announce it. She wanted me to be sure +and tell you three girls. She is coming to see you soon, Grace." + +"I'll receive her with open arms," assured Grace. + +"That was a nice secret," commented Anne. "Now, Grace." + +"Our fairy godmother is coming to dinner to-night." + +"Hurrah!" cried Anne, standing up and waving her hand. "I didn't know +she was within two hundred miles of Oakdale. It seems years instead of +weeks since I saw her. When did she arrive in Oakdale?" + +"This morning. She telephoned me. In my last letter I mentioned my +dinner to you girls, and said I wished she might be here too. She came +home from the seashore a week earlier so as not to miss it. She didn't +say not to tell you. I had been holding it back as a surprise. It served +me in good stead by making me eligible to Secret Row." + +"Last but not least, Jessica," reminded Nora briskly. + +"I was going to tell you this evening when we were all together, and +Reddy promised to help me, but, somehow, I'd rather tell you now, while +we are together on these dear old steps where we've had so much fun." + +Something in Jessica's tone caused the eyes of her friends to search +hers inquiringly. It carried with it unmistakable regret. It presaged +parting. + +"Reddy and I aren't going to live in Oakdale this winter. We--we--are +going--to--Chicago to live." + +"Oh!" Nora ejaculated, drawing her breath sharply. "Oh, Jessica!" + +A painful silence fell upon the row of girls, whose voices had only a +moment since rung out so gayly. + +Nora sat staring straight ahead of her with quivering lips. Of the three +girls she would miss Jessica the most sorely. Grace, too, felt that +dreadful sense of loss, of which she had complained earlier in the +afternoon, stealing down upon her. Anne's face wore a look of loving +concern, but an expression of resignation to destiny, which was likely +to lead one to the ends of the earth, lurked in her somber eyes. She had +learned young to bow with the best possible grace to the inevitable. + +Suddenly a half-stifled sob broke the oppressive quiet. + +"Nora, you mustn't," protested Jessica weakly, but Nora's curly head was +already resting on Grace's comforting shoulder, and an instant afterward +Jessica sought the consolation of the other shoulder. + +"Girls, girls," soothed Grace, an arm around each, "you mustn't cry." +Nevertheless she experienced a wild desire to lift up her voice and +lament with them. "I know you looked forward to being together this +winter. It's terribly disappointing, but you can write letters and visit +each other, and next summer, Jessica, you must arrange to come to +Oakdale and stay all summer. Why didn't you tell us before?" + +"Reddy didn't know it until yesterday," faltered Jessica. "His father +has taken over a large business there and he wants Reddy to manage it +for him. Reddy's mother doesn't want to live in Chicago, so Mr. Brooks +wants Reddy to go." + +"It's the real parting of the ways," said Grace softly to Anne. + +Anne nodded. "Still, if we had our choice as to whether we would like to +go back and live over our past or go on, I am sure we'd choose to go +on," she said thoughtfully. "Don't you think so, Grace!" + +"Of course we would," agreed Grace cheerfully. "Good gracious, girls!" +she exclaimed in sudden consternation. "Whose familiar figures are those +coming across the field? It must be later than I thought." + +Nora's and Jessica's mourning heads bobbed up from Grace's shoulders +with simultaneous alacrity. + +"Hippy!" gasped Nora. "Do I look as though I'd been crying? I wouldn't +have him know it for the world." + +"Reddy!" recognized Jessica. "Are my eyes a sight?" + +"Also David and Tom," added Anne. "No, children, you haven't wept enough +to permanently disfigure your charming faces. If the boys had not +appeared we might now be weeping in a melancholy row. I had no idea that +Jessica's secret was to be a positive tragedy." + +"Neither had I," responded Grace soberly, laying an affectionate hand on +Jessica's arm. + +There was no time for further remarks on the subject, for the four young +men were crossing the last field in record time. As they neared the row +of young women Hippy Wingate picked up his coat and pirouetted toward +them, a wide smile on his round face, as he chanted gayly in a high +voice: + + "Children go, to and fro + In a merry pretty row; + Faces bright, all alight, + 'Tis a happy, happy sight. + Swiftly turning round and round, + Do not look upon the ground; + Follow me, full of glee, + Singing merrily." + +With each line of the song Hippy executed a most astonishing figure, +ending on "merrily" with a funny pas-seul that turned the sorrow of the +lately disconsolate audience to laughter. + +"How did you like that?" he inquired affably, as he landed directly in +front of the steps. "Shall I sing the chorus now or would you prefer to +hear it later." + +"Later, by all means," flung back Nora. + +"As you please. As you please," returned Hippy with a careless wave of +his hand. "I am not chary of my art. I ask for but one recompense." + +"There he goes," groaned Dave Nesbit. + +"I'm not going," retorted Hippy, with dignity. "I'm standing perfectly +still. However, I did not come away out here in this field to quarrel +with you, David Nesbit. I came because I am a--" + +"Nuisance," suggested Reddy. + +"Precisely. No, I don't mean anything of the sort. I am not a nuisance. +A nuisance is a tall, thin, conceited person with flaming red hair, pale +blue eyes, a freckled nose and a slanderous tongue. His name begins with +R and he is--" + +Without finishing his sentence Hippy took to his heels and disappeared +around the corner of the Omnibus House, with an agility worthy of a +better cause. + +"I'll see that he keeps at a safe distance from us till we start for +Grace's," was Reddy's grim comment. "You'll see his head appear at that +corner in a minute, and then, look out!" + +They waited in mirthful silence. True to Reddy's prediction Hippy's +round face was suddenly thrust into view. Reddy leaped toward him. There +was a horrified, "Oh, dreadful!" from Hippy, and the sound of running +feet. + +"He's afraid of me," boasted Reddy in a purposely loud tone. + +"Don't you ever believe it," contradicted Hippy's voice. "I like the +view from this side of the Omnibus House. I think Nora would like it, +too." + +"Such thoughtfulness is rare," jeered David. + +"'Tis better to have thought such thoughts, than never to have thought +at all," retorted the voice plaintively. + +"Let's eradicate him from the face of the earth, Reddy," proposed David. +"He's a blot upon the community." + +"No-r-a," wailed the voice, "aren't you going to help your little +friend!" + +"Rescue him, Nora," declared David disgustedly. "That's the reason he +created all this disturbance." + +Nora dimpled, the pink in her cheeks deepening. + +"Yes, do," urged Grace. "It is high time for us to start home. We must +be there to receive Mrs. Gray." + +"She sent me on ahead," informed Tom. "I wanted to wait and bring her +over in my car, but she is going to have Haynes bring her over in the +carriage." + +Nora disappeared around the corner of the house, but reappeared +immediately, leading by the hand a broadly smiling Hippy, who carried a +huge bouquet of buttercups and daisies in his free hand and cavorted at +her side as joyously as the proverbial lambkin on the green. + +"You can lead the way with him, Nora," directed David. "I wouldn't trust +him to bring up the rear. Reddy and I want him where we can keep an eye +upon him." + +"Certainly we shall lead the way," flung back Hippy, "but not because +you say so. Our superior rank places us in the front row of the +procession. Come on, Nora. May I sing and dance? I haven't sung the +chorus yet, you know." + +Without waiting for permission Hippy pranced ahead of her on his toes, +swaying from side to side and scattering the flowers from his bouquet, +his voice rising in a falsetto chorus of: + +"Singing merrily, merrily, merrily, Follow me, full of glee, Singing +merrily." + +"He'll never grow old," said Anne, as she watched Hippy's ridiculous +performance. + +"Neither will the rest of the Eight Originals," reminded Grace loyally. +"Remember, we have a Fairy Godmother who has taught us the secret of +perpetual youth." + +"What's the secret?" asked David innocently. He was fond of hearing +Grace's enthusiastic views of things. + +"Never lose one's grip on life," she answered simply. + +And as the Eight Originals strolled home through the radiant sunset, in +each young soul stirred the resolve to take a firm grip on life and keep +eternally young at heart, no matter what the years might bring forth. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +JESSICA'S WEDDING + + +"Jessica Bright, you will never look prettier in your life than you do +to-night!" exclaimed Grace Harlowe, as she stood off a little from her +friend and gazed at her with loving eyes. + +A wave of color dyed Jessica's pale cheeks. "I'm so glad that you think +so," she breathed. "Do you know, girls, I have always hoped that I'd +look nicer on my wedding day than at any other time. I'm glad I decided +to have a green and white wedding, too." + +"You always used to say that you were going to have a pink rose +wedding," reminded Anne. "What made you change your mind?" + +"Promise you won't laugh and I'll tell you," said Jessica solemnly. + +It was the evening of Jessica's wedding and Mabel Allison, Anne Pierson, +Miriam Nesbit, Eleanor Savelli, Nora, now Mrs. Hippy Wingate, and Grace +gathered about their friend with voluble promises of eternal secrecy. +They were in Jessica's room saying good-bye to Jessica Bright, so soon +to become Jessica Brooks. + +"I changed my mind," informed Jessica impressively, "on account of +Reddy's hair." + +"'On account of Reddy's hair,'" repeated Grace. "Why--" Then, catching +Nora's eye, she laughed. + +"You know how dreadfully pink and red clash," Jessica went on, with a +faint giggle, "but I had never thought of it until one night when Reddy +was sitting on our porch. He wrapped my pink scarf around his neck just +for fun, and I made up my mind then and there not to have a pink +wedding. Finally, I chose green and white, and I'm glad now, because he +will look so much nicer." + +"I think that was very sweet in you, Jessica," said Eleanor Savelli +decidedly. + +"Some of us ought to tell Reddy of Jessica's thoughtfulness," teased +Anne. + +"Just as though any of you would," replied Jessica, fondly surveying the +smiling faces of her friends. + +"You are very sure of us, aren't you, Jessica?" said Grace gayly. + +"And always shall be," answered Jessica simply. "Do you remember, girls, +when I was about fourteen how frightfully sentimental I used to be. I +read every love story I could lay hands on. I was forever imagining my +wedding day. My bridegroom was always tall and dark, with piercing black +eyes and a kingly air, and I always pictured myself as wearing a pink +satin dress and being married in church. Sometimes fate parted us at the +altar and sometimes we lived happily ever afterward. I used to plan that +on the day of my wedding I would lock myself in my room, put on my pink +satin dress and sit all day in rapt meditation. I would eat nothing, and +see no one, not even father, until the moment when I swept grandly out +into the hall and down the stairs to my carriage. Of course, I was +transcendently beautiful and there I were always two or three +disappointed lovers, who came to the church and cast sad, yearning eyes +upon me as I glided up the center aisle with my hero. I never dreamed, +then, that Reddy Brooks, my schoolmate and playfellow, was to be my +destiny," she continued, her eyes growing tender, "or that I should +begin my journey with him in our dear old parlor, surrounded by my +chums. I haven't the least desire to sit alone and moon and meditate. I +want all of you with me. It seems the most natural thing in the world +that I should walk down the same old stairs to the same old parlor to +meet the same old Reddy, just as I've done dozens of times before." + +"It's five minutes to eight, girls," announced Miriam Nesbit. "Say +good-bye to Jessica Bright, and don't one of you dare to shed a tear." + +One after another the girls embraced Jessica. Nora was last. She and +Jessica remained in each other's arms for a long, sweet moment. Their +devotion was as deep and true as that which existed between Grace and +Anne. + +"Here are the flower girls. It's time, Jessica," said Grace softly, as +the two little girls who had been chosen to act in that capacity entered +the room accompanied by Ellen, the Brights' old servant, who had been in +the household since Jessica's babyhood. They were pretty, dark-haired +children, cousins of Jessica's, and wore white lace frocks over pale +green silk. On their heads were wreaths of tiny double white daisies and +they carried small baskets filled to overflowing with the same flower. + +Quietly the little procession began to form. Nora, as matron of honor, +followed the flower girls. She wore her wedding gown of white satin, and +carried a huge armful of white roses. Then came the bride. As Grace had +said Jessica would, in all probability, never look lovelier than in her +wedding dress of white satin. Her veil of wonderful yellow-white old +lace, was an heirloom, Jessica being the fourth bride in the family to +wear it, and her bouquet was a shower of lilies of the valley. Jessica +possessed a dazzlingly white skin, and the purity of her complexion had +never showed to better advantage. Her deeply blue eyes were dark with +reverence and her whole face radiated a tender happiness that made it +rarely lovely. The bridesmaids wore gowns of white chiffon over pale +green chiffon which blended into a misty, sea-foam effect. Dainty +girdles of palest green satin and exquisite hair ornaments composed of +tiny chiffon flowers and satin leaves, together with white satin +slippers and white silk stockings, completed their costumes, and they +carried shower bouquets of white sweet peas. + +Down the stairs swept the bridal procession to the strains of +Mendelssohn's wedding march played by the orchestra, stationed in a +palm-screened corner of the wide hall. It was the same old orchestra +which had become so closely identified with the good times of the Eight +Originals during their high school days. Jessica had declared laughingly +that it would seem almost a sacrilege to think of being married to the +strains of a wedding march that was not played by them. At the foot of +the stairs the bride was met by her father, and the wedding party moved +slowly into and down the long parlor to the bow window at the end of the +room which had been transformed into a fairy bower of green. Before a +bank of ferns, white roses and white sweet peas stood the old clergyman +who had said the last solemn words over Jessica's mother years before, +and who had come from another city, many miles distant, to marry Jessica +and Reddy. Here it was that the bridegroom, accompanied by his best man, +Tom Gray, awaited his one-time playmate, his boyhood friend, his first +and only sweetheart, who had now come in all the bravery of her wedding +finery to place her hands, trustingly, confidently in his for the +journey over the untrodden trail they were to blaze together. + +A soft murmur that was almost a sigh went up from the assembled guests +as Mr. Bright handed his most precious treasure into the keeping of the +man who had claimed her for his own, and the beautiful Episcopal ring +service began. Jessica's responses were clear and unfaltering, while +Reddy's firm earnest tones carried conviction of the sincerity of his +vows. Notwithstanding the fact that the appellation of "Reddy," by which +he was known throughout Oakdale, arose from his unmistakably red hair, +Lawrence Brooks looked singularly handsome on his wedding night and the +expression of proud affection in his eyes, as he took Jessica's hand, +was plainly indicative of the love he bore her. + +The moment the ceremony was over Reddy kissed Jessica, who lifted loving +eyes to his, then, turning, wound both arms about her father's neck. The +bridesmaids quickly hemmed them in and the guests crowded about them to +offer their congratulations. Only the intimate friends of Reddy and +Jessica had been invited to attend the ceremony, Mrs. Allison, the +Southards, the Putnams, Mrs. Gibson, Eva Allen and James Gardner, Julia +Crosby, Marian Barber, Mrs. Gray, Miss Nevin, Guido Savelli, Arnold +Evans, Donald Earle, the immediate families of the bride and groom and +the families of the rest of the Eight Originals Plus Two. + +The reception, which was to begin at half-past eight, included the +greater part of Oakdale's younger set, and before it was over Reddy and +Jessica were to slip away and motor to the next town, there to catch the +night train to New York. From there they were to take a boat bound for +the West Indies where they had planned to spend a month's honeymoon, +then journey to their Chicago home. + +"Well, Reddy," declared Hippy condescendingly, when, a little later the +Eight Originals stood near the flower bank indulging in a brief old-time +chat before the arrival of the reception guests, "I must say that you +did very well, and Jessica, too." He beamed on the bride, with a wide +patronizing smile that caused her new dignity to vanish in a giggle of +ready appreciation of the irrepressible Hippy. "I hoped that you, Reddy, +would glance at me for inspiration. There you stood, like a wooden +Indian, I mean a marble statue, and never winked. But as you stood there +a beautiful thought came to me. I understood precisely why the name of +'Reddy' was appropriate to you. The electric light shone softly down +upon your gleaming Titian locks, as though to call attention to their +crimson glory. There was a look of--" + +"Nora, if you value the life of your husband, remove him," broke in +David Nesbit decisively. "Reddy is trying to behave with the becoming +dignity of a newly-wed, and I appeal to you, how can he?" + +"He can't," agreed Nora. "I'll remove the obstacle at once." + +"You'll have to use strategy to do it," announced Hippy. + +"'Come one, come all, this rock shall fly From its firm base as soon as +I!'" + +he quoted determinedly, with jerky little gestures. Planting himself +behind Jessica, he caught up a corner of her veil and peered defiantly +through it at David. + +"You haven't seen the bride's table in the tent yet, have you, Hippy?" +inquired Grace innocently. "It looks so pretty." + +"The bride's table!" Hippy's defiant face broke into an expansive, +affable grin. "No, but I'd love to see it. Show it to me, instantly." + +"I'll take charge of him, Grace," interposed Nora. "If he inspects the +refreshment tent it must be under guard." + +"I've changed my mind. I don't care to see it. I'd rather stay here and +offer a few more congratulations to Reddy. Grace's strategy was very +clever, but Nora's bullying is all wrong. I won't be taken charge of." + +But in spite of his vigorous protests Nora slipped her arm through his +and piloted him in the direction of the huge refreshment tent which had +been erected on the lawn. There the wedding supper was to be served by +caterers at small tables. + +"What a treasure Hippy is," said Anne, as the group of young people +smilingly watched Hippy and Nora out of sight. "He is so funny and nice +that he takes away that half-sad feeling that one almost always has at a +wedding. I am sure I don't know why seeing two friends made happy should +inspire one with a desire to cry, but it does." + +"Weddings and commencements are always more or less solemn and +productive of weeps," answered Grace. "Remember not one of us is going +to shed a tear when Jessica leaves us. This has been such a sweet, happy +wedding that we mustn't spoil its gladness. Of course, I can't imagine +you boys lifting up your voices in lamentation, but I'm not so sure of +the feminine half of the Eight Originals." + +"I couldn't help crying a little when Nora was married," confessed +Jessica. "A church wedding seems so much more solemn, and Hippy was far +too busy being a dignified bridegroom to say funny things." + +"He was perfect, wasn't he?" agreed Anne earnestly. "I never dreamed he +could look so reverent and devoted. I don't know which was nicer, +Jessica, Nora's wedding or yours. They were both beautiful." Happening +to catch David's grave eyes fixed searchingly upon her she flushed and +said hastily, "It must be almost time for the reception to begin." + +"So it is, and if I'm not mistaken here come the first guests," remarked +Tom Gray. + +For the next hour Jessica and Reddy were kept busy receiving the +congratulations of the steady in-pouring of friends who came to wish +them godspeed. Then followed the wedding supper, and it was almost +eleven o'clock when Jessica slipped away from her guests, and a little +later, appeared at the head of the stairs in a smart tailored suit of +brown, with hat, shoes and gloves to match. No secret had been made of +their departure, for their friends were not of those who delighted in +playing embarrassing and discomforting pranks. In fact, the majority of +the reception guests had departed, and it was their intimate friends who +were to see them off on their journey. + +Surrounded by her loved ones, Jessica made a second triumphal journey +down the stairs. In the hall a halt was made and the dreaded good-byes +began. Jessica clung first to her father, then to her aunt. Her chums +came next and she was passed from one to the other of them with warm +expressions of affection and good will. Then the procession moved on and +the second halt was made at the drive where a limousine stood waiting to +receive the bridal pair. It glided away amid a shower of rice and +several old shoes, which had been carefully selected beforehand by +Hippy, David and Grace, leaving six of the Eight Originals gazing after +it with eloquent eyes in which lay the meaning of "Auld Lang Syne." + +"I love weddings," gushed Hippy sentimentally, as the six strolled back +to the house. "I hope I shall have at least two more wedding invitations +this year." + +No one answered this pointed sally. Nora gave her loquacious husband's +arm a warning pinch. + +"Stop pinching my arm, Nora," he protested in a grieved tone. "How can +you be so cruel to little me?" + +This was too much for the silent four. They looked into each other's +eyes and laughed. Then Dave said quietly, "Not this year, old man." + +"Perhaps we can promise you one for next fall, Hippy," said Anne, with a +sudden temerity which surprised her as well as the others. + +"Anne!" David's voice vibrated with newborn hope. For the instant he +forgot everything except the fact that Anne had at last approached some +degree of definiteness regarding their future. + +"I said 'perhaps,'" laughed Anne, but behind her laughter David read the +blessed truth that in Anne's secret heart there was no "perhaps," and +the little hand which lay so contentedly in his, as they strolled up the +walk to the house, made the assurance of his new joy doubly sure. + +"Why can't you make me happy too, Grace?" asked Tom in a low, +reproachful tone. They had dropped a little to the rear of the others. + +"I'm sorry, Tom," faltered Grace, "but I can't. I am fonder of you than +any other man I know, but it is the fondness of long friendship. I'm not +looking forward to marriage. It is my work that interests me most. I +don't love you as Anne loves David, and Jessica and Nora love Reddy and +Hippy. I don't believe I know what love means. I don't wish to hurt you, +but I must be perfectly honest with myself and with you. I can only say +that I care for no one else, and that perhaps someday I may care as much +as you." + +Grace gazed sorrowfully at Tom as she ended. She knew by the tightening +of his lips and the nervous squaring of his broad shoulders that she had +hurt him sorely. + +"All right, Grace," he said with brave finality. "I'll try to be content +with your friendship and live in the hope of that 'someday.' I'm going +to be selfish enough to dream that there will come a time when even your +work won't be able to crowd out love." + +Grace made no reply. She felt that there was nothing to be said. The +bare idea that there might come a time when her beloved work would fail +to fill her life was not to be considered, even for a moment. Love was a +vague, far-distant possibility. It might come to her, and again it might +not. But her work--that lay directly before her. The glory of life was +not love, but achievement. Her eyes grew rapt with purpose, and, as Tom +wistfully scanned her changeful face, it fell upon him with a sudden +sinking of the heart that for him the longed-for "someday" might never +come. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE RETURN OF EMMA DEAN + + +"'A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!'" chanted a voice in Grace +Harlowe's ear. + +Grace whirled about, almost dropping the suit case and golf bag she +carried. + +"Why, Emma, _Emma Dean_!" she exclaimed, her voice rising high in +astonishment. + +[Illustration: "Why, Emma Dean!" Exclaimed Grace.] + +"Yes, it's Emma, _Emma Dean_," returned Emma humorously. "It is I, me, +myself and all the other personally personal pronouns that stand for +your old friend, Emily Elizabeth Dean." + +"Wherever did you come from and--oh, Emma"--as the tall thin young woman +pointed significantly to two heavy suit cases and a small leather bag +huddled together on the station platform--"you aren't really--are you--" + +"I am," interrupted Emma cheerfully. "I couldn't stay away. I knew you'd +need a comforter this year, so I applied for the position and you can +see for yourself how successful I was. Professor Morton was so grateful +to me for applying that he said with tears in his eyes, 'Emma, I can't +tell you how happy it makes me--'" + +"Emma Dean, stop talking nonsense and tell me how you really happened to +be here. It's too good to be true." Grace beamed fondly on her tall, +humorous classmate who had been a never-failing source of amusement to +the Wayne Hall girls. + +"Since you are determined to have facts, here goes. I've come back to +Overton, the land of the dig and the home of the sage, to show what four +years of unremittent toil have done for me. I am to be a living +testimonial, one of the 'after taking the prescribed course I can +cheerfully recommend, etc.,' kind. Briefly and explicitly, I dropped off +that train from the south that came in just before your train, and I'm +going to be Miss Duncan's assistant in English." + +"You aren't really!" Grace's eyes were dancing. "How splendid! Why I +didn't know you intended to teach." + +"Neither did I," returned Emma, a shadow flitting across her face, +"until I went home last June and found that things hadn't been going as +smoothly as they might. Mother and Father never gave me the slightest +inkling last year that money wasn't plentiful in the Dean family. Dear, +unselfish things! They wanted my college life to end in a blaze of +glory. You see, Father had put most of his little capital into a real +estate boom that didn't boom, and it left him with a lot of vacant lots +on his hands that no one, not even himself, wanted. A trolley line was +to pass through the section he owned and it changed its mind, or rather +the directors changed theirs, and straggled off in another direction. +So, unless it straggles back again and Father gets rid of his incubus, +which isn't at all likely, the eldest daughter of the noble house of +Dean will have to hustle indefinitely for her board and keep. + +"To go back a little, as soon as I noticed how worried Father looked, +and after I surprised Mother crying one day, I made them tell me all +about it. I wrote straight to Professor Morton. He helped me secure the +position of assistant in English, and here I am. I haven't the least +idea where I'm going to live either. I'd love to go back to Wayne Hall, +but I'm afraid I couldn't preserve a proper attitude of dignity there. +You know my failings. Beverly Place is a house given over to teachers. I +thought I'd try there first. I hope it won't be too expensive. I expect +to send some money home this year." + +Grace had listened attentively to Emma's recital. What a splendid girl +Emma was! She had not tried to dodge Life and his inseparable comrades, +Trouble and Hard Work. Instead, she had walked out courageously, +fearlessly, to meet them with smiling lips and a merry heart. Grace was +already enlivened by the prospect of having this free-hearted, jolly +classmate with her during the college year now opening. + +"How I wish you could live near me, Emma," she said longingly. Then she +stared at her friend with wide-open eyes, the expression of which +betokened the birth of an amazing idea. "Why--you can," she declared. +"I've just thought of the nicest way. Will you come, Emma? Will you?" + +"It depends on the exact spot where the pleasure of my company is +requested," returned Emma waggishly. "If it is to Kamptchatka--no, most +decidedly. I have no insane craving for life among the heathen, and that +'no' includes the Malay Archipelago and darkest Africa. It's too cold in +Greenland and I couldn't countenance terrible Thibet, but if it's any +place nearer home, say Hunter's Rock or Vinton's, I'll be delighted." + +Grace laughed happily. "It's a place you haven't guessed or thought of," +she replied. "I want you to come to Harlowe House and room with me, +Emma. I'm going to have lots of room, a whole suite. There's a +sitting-room, a bedroom and a bath. I need some one to help me and I'd +rather have you than any one else I know. Won't you say 'yes'? Please, +please, do." + +Emma regarded Grace with a look of one who could not believe the +evidence of her own ears. "Oh--I couldn't--it wouldn't be right to +impose upon you. I'd love to, but--" + +"Wait until you see Harlowe House before you make up your mind not to +live there," interposed Grace slyly. "We'll call a taxicab and go over +to it at once. I have my own key, so we can leave our luggage and go to +Vinton's or any other place we wish for luncheon. You can spend the +night at Harlowe House. We won't be alone there, for the cook and both +maids are supposed to arrive to-day. After you have enjoyed a few hours +of my beneficent society you may refuse to be torn from me and my +sheltering home," she ended banteringly. + +"I haven't the least doubt of it," averred Emma in a perfectly serious +tone. "That's why I feel as though I ought to decide now while I am in +my most heroic mood. I never dreamed of any such wonderful good fortune. +Honestly, Grace, I don't know what to say." + +"Say 'yes,'" advocated Grace. "You ought to be willing to come if I am +willing to have you. If it will make you feel more independent, you may +pay for your meals. I'll see that you are not overcharged, but as far as +the room is concerned you are welcome to it. Oh, Emma, think how +delightful it will be for us! I say 'will' because you simply can't find +yourself hard-hearted enough to refuse. I'm not obliged to consult a +soul about my plans. Mrs. Gray gave me full permission to do as I think +best. I have no set expense limit. I am to be prudent and economical, of +course; that's part of my trust. After this year there will be an +expense limit. We shall know by next June just what it costs for the +up-keep of a house like Harlowe House. This year, however, we are bound +to do more or less experimenting." + +Grace gazed pleadingly at Emma, who stood in the middle of the station +platform, her heavy eyebrows drawn together in deep thought. + +"I'm going for that taxicab," said Grace, as Emma still remained silent. +"There's one coming into the station yard now." She signalled to the +driver, who drew up directly in front of where they were standing, then +sprang out and began loading the girls' luggage in the car. + +"Come on, Emma," coaxed Grace. "You can finish making up your mind on +the way to Harlowe House." + +Emma turned to her friend with a face full of affectionate gratitude. +"I'm going to accept your offer, Grace," she declared. "In fact, I can't +resist it. I am sure you want me to come and I don't know of any other +place where I'd rather be. I can't begin to tell you how much it means +to me, and in so many different ways. Are you sure there won't come a +time when you'll think, 'Oh, if only I had never asked that noisy, +nervous, nosing, messy, meddlesome, moping, miserable, growling, +grumbling, grouchy, greedy, galloping, galumphing Emma Dean to room with +me?'" + +"I don't know any such person," denied Grace, laughing merrily at Emma's +remarkable self-arraignment. "It sounds more like a Thesaurus than a +category of your failings, Emma. Come along. We mustn't keep this man +waiting." + +Emma dutifully climbed into the automobile. "One never knows what will +happen next," she remarked naively as they seated themselves in the car. +"I feel as Cinderella must have felt when she was suddenly whisked off +to the ball by her fairy godmother. By the way, Grace, how is Mrs. Gray, +the fairy godmother of Harlowe House?" + +"I've been so busy coaxing you to come and live with me, I forgot to +tell you that she and I were down here in August, and who do you suppose +we had as a visitor?" + +"Arline Thayer?" asked Emma. + +"No; but that wasn't a bad guess. J. Elfreda was with us." + +"Bless her!" Emma's exclamation told plainly of her affection for the +one-time stout girl. "Was she as funny as ever?" + +"Every bit. She kept Mrs. Gray and I in a perpetual state of laughter. +She's going to study law in New York City, and she's promised to come to +Overton for Thanksgiving. Arline Thayer and Mabel Ashe are coming too. +We'll have a great celebration." + +"I'm certainly glad I'm here," sighed Emma, contentedly. "There seems to +be a prospect of one continuous round of pleasure." + +"I'm glad you are here too," nodded Grace. "You don't know how queerly I +felt to-day when I stepped off the train without seeing a soul I knew. I +suppose there are a number of girls here, although it's early. Classes +won't be called for at least a week or more. We'll surely see some +familiar spirits soon. There are Patience Eliot, Kathleen West, Laura +Atkins, Mildred Evans, Violet Darby, Myra Stone and ever so many others +still due in the land of Overton." + +"Why, that's so," declared Emma, her eyes bright with the prospect of +seeing her Overton friends. "Do you know, Grace, I'm ashamed to say I +hadn't really considered those girls. All along I've thought about the +Sempers and how strange and gray everything would seem without them." + +"I know it," sighed Grace. "I've felt exactly the same. Anne, Miriam, +Arline, Ruth, Elfreda and you were my absent crushes, but now you are a +present one, and next to you comes Patience Eliot. She always seemed +like a senior. I think I'm going to love the new Kathleen West dearly. +She is so clever, and now that we are friends I hope we can work +together in ever so many ways." + +As the taxicab bore them swiftly toward Harlowe House the two young +women talked on of the happy past with its pleasure-marked milestones. + +"We're almost there. Look, Emma! You can get a splendid view of all the +campus houses. Now isn't Harlowe House the prettiest of them all?" + +"It is, I swear it," returned Emma solemnly, "and, if I'm not mistaken, +one of your household has arrived ahead of you. Certainly some one is +camping out on the front steps." + +"Why, so there is. I wonder who she can be. One of the maids, I suppose, +or perhaps the cook. We'll know who she is in a minute." + +The car had now come to a full stop. Without waiting for the chauffeur +Grace opened the door and sprang out. "Never mind our luggage," she said +as she paid the driver. "We'll carry it into the house. It's not very +heavy." + +Gathering her belongings in one hand, and picking up one of Emma's suit +cases, Grace set off up the stone walk followed by Emma. As she advanced +there rose from the steps and came to meet her a most astonishing little +figure. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A STRANGE APPLICANT + + +"This is Harlowe House, isn't it?" was the sharp question that assailed +Grace's ears. + +"Yes." Grace's eyes traveled in amazement over the curious little +stranger within her gates. She was a girl of perhaps eighteen, although +there was a strained, anxious expression in her large brown eyes that +made her look positively aged, an effect which the three deep lines in +her high projecting forehead served to emphasize. If she possessed hair +it was not visible under the small round hat of a by-gone style which +set down upon her head like a helmet. She wore a plain, cheap black +skirt and a queer, old-fashioned white blouse made with a peplum. Around +her waist was a leather belt, and on her feet were coarse heavy shoes +such as a farm laborer might wear. In one hand she carried a large +bundle, in a newspaper wrapping. + +"I'm so glad. I thought I'd never get here," she said simply. + +Grace and Emma exchanged amazed glances. This must be the maid. But such +a maid! + +"Are you the young woman Mrs. Elwood engaged?" asked Grace politely. + +The girl shook her head. "I don't know what you mean. No one engaged me. +I just came because I heard about Harlowe House and wanted to go to +college. I've passed all my high school examinations and I've a +scholarship too. They wouldn't let me come, so I ran away from home and +walked all the way here. Is it true that a girl can live at Harlowe +House without having to pay her board?" she eyed Grace with a look of +mingled anxiety and defiance. + +"Oh," Grace's amazed look changed to one of interested concern, "pardon +me. I thought you were a young woman of whom Mrs. Elwood, of Wayne Hall, +had spoken." + +"I don't know Mrs. Elwood. I never heard of Wayne Hall. I don't know a +soul in this town. I only know that I want to go to Overton College more +than I ever wanted anything else in my life. Do you suppose there's a +chance for me to live at Harlowe House and study? I've walked over a +hundred miles to find out," finished the queer little stranger +pleadingly. + +"'Over a hundred miles!'" repeated Grace and Emma in chorus. + +The girl nodded solemnly. + +"You poor child!" exclaimed Emma Dean impulsively. "If your wish to be +an Overton girl brought you that distance on foot, I should say you +ought to have all the chance there is. At any rate you have applied to +the proper authority. This is Miss Harlowe, for whom Harlowe House was +named, and who is to be in charge of it. I am Miss Dean, of 19-- and now +assistant in English at Overton." + +But the knowledge that she was face to face with the person who held the +privilege of being a member of Harlowe House in her hands overcame the +quaint stranger with a sudden shyness. She shifted her weight uneasily +from one foot to the other, twisted her thin, bony hands nervously, +while her forehead was corrugated afresh with deep wrinkles. + +With the frank, winning smile which was one of Grace's chief charms, she +held out her hand to the other girl. "I am glad to know you," she said. +"Won't you tell me your name?" + +"Mary Reynolds," returned the newcomer in a low voice, as she timidly +shook Grace's proffered hand, then Emma's. + +"I shall be glad to welcome you to Harlowe House," said Grace cordially, +"provided you can fulfill the requirements necessary for entering +Overton. I am going over to Miss Wilder's office this afternoon, and if +you wish to go with me you can learn all the particulars. Until then, +however, you had better come into the house with Miss Dean and me. I am +sure you must be very tired." + +"Yes, I am, but I don't mind that. I'm here and nothing else matters," +returned the girl so fervently that Grace felt a sudden mist rise to her +eyes, and she determined, then and there, that if this curious, +destitute little stranger succeeded in measuring up to Overton's mental +requirements, she would smooth in every possible way her path, which she +foresaw would be troubled. + +"And now for our triumphal entry into Harlowe House," declaimed Emma +Dean, as she and Grace picked up their luggage, and, followed by Mary +Reynolds and her huge newspaper-wrapped bundle, mounted the steps. At +the door Grace again set down her luggage. Fumbling for her latch key +she fitted it to the lock. + +"What a perfectly delightful place!" was Emma's enthusiastic cry, as she +stepped into the hall which was done in oak with furnishings to match. +"Commend me to the living-room!" She poked her head inquisitively +through the soft green silk hangings and after surveying the pretty room +for an instant made a dive for the window seat. "Oh, you window seat!" +she laughed with a fine disregard for dignity. + +Grace laughed with her, and queer little Mary Reynolds smiled in sheer +sympathy with Emma's irresistible drollery. + +"I choose this green window seat for my boon companion," declared Emma, +curling her wiry length cosily upon it, "and may I be ever faithful to +my vows. I expect to have difficulty in protecting my claim, for I +predict this will be the most popular spot in the house. May I put up a +sign, Grace, 'This claim is staked by Emma Dean, no others need apply'?" + +"You may stake it, but I won't guarantee that it will stay staked," +replied Grace. + +"Oh, yes, it will," argued Emma confidently, bouncing up and down on the +soft springy cushions. "The freshmen of Harlowe House will be so +impressed with my height, dignity and general appearance that they will +defer to me as a matter of course. One imperious look, like this, over +my glasses, and the world will be mine." She peered over her glasses at +Grace in a ludicrous fashion which was far more likely to convulse, +rather than impress, the prospective freshmen. + +Even the solemn stranger giggled outright, then looked as though she had +been caught red-handed in some dreadful crime. + +"I'd like to recite English in one of your classes, Emma," smiled Grace. + +"Now there is just where you are wrong," retorted Emma. "I shan't have a +single amusing feature in my daily round of recitations. I shall be as +grim as grim can be and a regular slave driver as far as lessons are +concerned. Those freshmen will wish they'd never met me." Emma wagged +her head threateningly. + +"Stop making such dire threats and come upstairs to see our quarters," +commanded Grace. + +Emma uncoiled herself from the window seat with alacrity and began +gathering up her belongings. + +Grace turned kindly to Mary Reynolds. "If you will come upstairs with +us, Miss Reynolds, I think we can easily find a room for you. So far I +do not know just how many applications Miss Wilder has received. As I +told you, I am going over to the office after luncheon. You had better +go to your room and rest a little, then take luncheon with Miss Dean and +me and go with us to Overton Hall to see Miss Wilder, the dean." + +"I--I--thank you," stammered the girl, the dull color flooding her +sunburnt cheeks. "I'm afraid--I--can't go to luncheon--with you. +I'm--not--very hungry." + +Emma Dean flashed a quick, appraising glance at her from under her +eyelashes. "Neither are we," she assured the embarrassed girl, "but +still we don't care to miss luncheon entirely. You are a stranger in a +strange land, so you must be our guest, and then some day when you are a +seasoned Overtonite we'll insist on being yours." + +Mary Reynolds regarded the two young women with shy, grateful eyes. "You +are so good to me. You must know, of course, that I am very poor. I have +nothing in the world but this bundle of clothes and ten dollars," she +said humbly. "It took me two years to save it, I have been so sure that +there would be some little corner of this wonderful house for me. I +can't bear to think that I may be too late. I don't know where I'd go. I +guess I'd have to try to find some place else. Do you suppose I am too +late?" Her tones vibrated with alarm. + +"Of course you aren't," soothed Emma Dean. "I'm always late, but, as I +used to tell Miss Harlowe, I am hardly ever too late. You may be almost +the first girl to apply, or you may be among the latest, but not the too +latest. There, isn't that encouraging? The best thing for you to do is +to have an early luncheon and a long sleep. Suppose we go down to +Vinton's, Grace, as soon as we get the fond souvenirs of the railroad +off our faces. Then I'll come back here with Miss Reynolds and you can +go on to Overton to see Miss Wilder. My business with her will keep +until to-morrow. This little girl is too tired for interviews to-day." + +"I think that's dear in you, Emma, and real wisdom too. Now let's go +upstairs, at once." Grace led the way and the trio ascended to the +second story. + +"I'm going to put you in this room for the present, Miss Reynolds," said +Grace. She paused before a door that faced the head of the stairs and +threw it open. It was a pretty room, papered in dainty blue and white, +with a blue and white floor rug and white enameled furniture. There were +crisp, white dotted-swiss curtains at the windows and a sheer blue and +white ruffled cover on the dressing table, while on the walls hung +several neatly-framed water color and pen and ink sketches. + +The shabby, tired girl gave a long sigh of satisfaction and weariness as +she stood in the middle of the floor, her eyes eagerly devouring the +pretty room. + +"The bathroom is at the end of the hall," said Grace gently. "We'll stop +for you in about half an hour." + +The other girl did not answer, and Grace and Emma slipped away, leaving +her to get used to her new surroundings. + +"Well, did you ever?" asked Emma, the moment they were inside Grace's +sitting-room with the door closed. + +Grace shook her head. "Poor little thing," she murmured. "She can't +possibly go about Overton in those clothes, Emma. Yet I can't offer her +any of mine. She seems independent. I am afraid she would resent it. I +wonder what her story is. Did you notice she said that 'they' wouldn't +let her go to college, so she had run away from home? Suppose some one +of her family should follow her here just after we had nicely +established her at Harlowe House? We must find out everything about her. +I won't bother her with questions while she is so tired." + +"I am sure she is eighteen," declared Emma positively. "That will free +her from parental sway in this state. I think it would be a greater +tragedy if she has come too late. What is the highest number of girls +Harlowe House will accommodate?" + +"Thirty-two," answered Grace. + +"Then let us hope that Mary Reynolds is not unlucky thirty-three. The +sooner you go to see Miss Wilder the sooner you'll know her fate. Now +I'm going on a tour of exploration and noisy admiration. I'm sure I +haven't ohs and ahs enough to fully express my feeling of elevated +pleasure at so much magnificence. And to thing that I, ordinary, +every-day me, should be asked to become co-partner to all this." Emma +struck an attitude and launched forth into fresh extravagances over the +tastefully furnished suite of rooms. + +"Emma, you ridiculous creature, wind up your lecture and get ready for +luncheon," commanded Grace affectionately. + +"Not until I've seen the last saw," returned Emma firmly. + +For the next ten minutes she prowled and peered, examined and admired, +to her heart's content. "Now I've seen everything," she averred, at +last, with calm satisfaction, "and I'm twice as hungry as I was. But I +can't leave off thinking what a lucky person Emma Dean is to have all +this grandeur and Grace Harlowe thrown in." + +"And I can't help thinking what a lucky person Grace Harlowe is to have +Emma Dean." + +"Then we're a mutual admiration society," finished Emma, "and there's no +telling where we'll leave off." + +"If I didn't have to go on to Overton Hall I wouldn't wear a hat," +sighed Grace, half an hour later, reaching reluctantly for her hat. She +and Emma had bathed their faces, rearranged their hair, and put on fresh +lingerie blouses with their tailored suits. "Are you ready, Emma? I +wonder if Miss Reynolds is. I'll stop and see." + +Grace knocked lightly on the newcomer's door. It was opened immediately. + +"Are you ready, Miss Reynolds?" she asked, her alert eyes noting that +the offending peplum had been tucked inside the black skirt, and that +Mary Reynolds with her hat off was a vast improvement on Mary Reynolds +with her hat on. She also observed that the girl's hair, though drawn +uncompromisingly back from her forehead, showed a decided tendency to +curl. With her usual impulsiveness she exclaimed, "Oh, you have +naturally curly hair, haven't you? It's such a pretty shade of brown. Do +let me do it for you. It's a pity not to make the most of it." + +The girl regarded her with grave surprise. "Are you making fun of me?" +she asked seriously. + +"'Making fun of you,'" repeated Grace. "I should say not. I think you +have beautiful hair. Why, what is it, Miss Reynolds?" For, with a queer, +choking cry, the odd little stranger threw herself face downward on the +bed and sobbed disconsolately. + +Grace stood silent, watching the sob-wracked figure with puzzled, +sympathetic eyes. Emma appeared in the doorway, her eyebrows elevated in +astonishment. Grace motioned for her to come in. The girl on the bed +wept on, while the two young women waited patiently for her sobs to +cease. + +Suddenly she sat up with a jerk, and dashed her hand across her eyes. +"I'm sorry--I--was so--so--silly," she faltered, "but I couldn't help +it. No one ever told me that I was anything but plain and ugly before." + +"You poor little thing," sympathized Emma. + +Grace sat down on the bed beside Mary and put her arm across the thin +shoulders. "Cheer up," she said brightly. "I am sure you are going to be +happy at Overton. You feel blue just now because you are tired and +hungry. Let me fix your hair and we'll hurry to Vinton's as fast as ever +we can. I'm simply starved." + +Mary Reynolds obediently sat on the chair Grace placed for her and the +hair dressing began. Grace and Emma both exclaimed in admiration as +Grace unbraided the soft-golden brown hair, which, once free, broke into +waves and curls. + +"Did you ever see a prettier head of hair?" exclaimed Emma. + +"I think it would look best combed low over her forehead, don't you?" +asked Grace. + +Emma nodded her approval as Grace, with deft fingers, arranged the thick +curly locks in a strictly smart fashion which completely changed Mary +Reynolds' forlorn appearance. + +"Now look in the glass," directed Grace, when she had finished. + +Mary gazed earnestly at her new self. "It can't be me," she said with a +pardonable disregard of English. + +"But it is," Grace assured her. "You must learn to do your hair like +that and wear it so. Now let me put a tiny bit of powder on your face to +scare away the tear stains and we'll be off." + +The obnoxious helmet-like hat did not seem so unbecoming, now that +Mary's curls peeped from under it, and Grace felt a certain degree of +satisfaction in her efforts to make the new girl at least presentable. +She decided that once her large brown eyes had lost their scared, +anxious expression and her thin face had grown plump, Mary would be +really pretty. + +During luncheon at Vinton's Grace quietly studied her charge. There was +something about Mary that reminded one of Ruth Denton, she decided. She +and Emma made every effort to put the prospective freshman at her ease. +By common consent they refrained from asking any questions likely to +produce another flood of tears. As for Mary herself, although visibly +embarrassed at the ultra-smartness of Vinton's, the attention of the +waiter, and the puzzling array of knives, forks and spoons, she managed, +by watching Grace and Emma, to acquit herself with credit. Thanks to +Emma's never-failing flow of humorous remarks the luncheon proved to be +a merry meal and before it ended the forlorn girl looked almost happy. + +"I'll see you later," said Grace, as they paused for a moment in front +of Vinton's. "Emma, I leave Miss Reynolds in your care." + +"I accept the responsibility," declared Emma, flourishing her parasol in +fantastic salute. "I'm going to march her home and put her to bed." + +"While I go on to Overton Hall to learn her fate," smiled Grace. +"Good-bye. You may expect me when you see me." + +Grace swung across the campus toward Overton Hall at her usual brisk +pace. A few moments more and she would be fairly launched in her new +undertaking. She had no desire to run out to meet the future, yet she +could not refrain from wondering what her first year on the campus would +bring her. So far it had brought her Mary Reynolds, but somewhere in the +world there were thirty-one other girls whose faces were set toward +Overton and Harlowe House. + +A peculiar wave of dismay swept over Grace at the thought of actually +being responsible for the welfare of so many persons. The old saying +concerning the rushing in of fools where angels walk warily came +involuntarily to her mind. Then she laughed and squaring her capable +shoulders murmured half aloud, "I'm neither a fool nor an angel. I'm +just Grace Harlowe, a 'mere ordinary human being,' as Hippy would put +it. I'm not going to be so silly as to expect to get along with a whole +houseful of girls without some friction. Like the gardens Anne and I +planted away back in our freshman year, there are sure to be a few weeds +among the flowers." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MARY REYNOLDS MAKES A NEW FRIEND + + +"Twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one and Mary Reynolds makes thirty-two. +Isn't it fortunate that there was a place all ready for her?" Grace +Harlowe looked eagerly up from the list of names which she had been +intently scanning. + +"Very fortunate," smiled Miss Wilder. "I am quite curious to see your +protege, Miss Harlowe." + +Miss Wilder, the dean of Overton College, had been genuinely glad to +welcome Grace Harlowe back to the college fold. During Grace's four +years as a student at Overton she had greatly endeared herself to the +dignified, but kindly, dean, who had watched her pass from honor to +honor with the same sympathetic interest which Miss Thompson, the +principal of Oakdale High School, had ever exhibited in Grace's +progress. + +It was now almost four o'clock in the afternoon. Grace had spent a busy +two hours in Miss Wilder's office going over the applications for +admittance to Harlowe House and discussing ways and means with her +superior. + +"Do you know, Miss Wilder, that one of the very nicest things about you +is your interest in one's friends and plans?" Grace regarded the older +woman with sparkling eyes. "Away back in my freshman days I can remember +that I never came to you with anything, but that you were interested and +sympathetic." + +"My dear child!" Miss Wilder put up a protesting hand. + +"It's perfectly true," persisted Grace staunchly. "I am sure I could +never have planned everything so beautifully for Harlowe House if you +hadn't helped me." + +"But I had such a wonderful source of inspiration," reminded Miss +Wilder, turning the tide of approbation in Grace's direction. + +"I wish I could agree with you," laughed Grace, her color rising. Then +her face grew earnest. "It would make me very happy if I thought that, +as the head of Harlowe House, I could inspire my girls to love Overton +as deeply and truly as I do. I don't intend to preach to them or to +moralize, but I do wish them to gain real college spirit. If they strive +to cultivate that, it will mean more to them than all the talks and +lectures one could give them. Don't you think so?" + +"I do, indeed," agreed Miss Wilder warmly. + +"Of course," went on Grace thoughtfully, "there is the possibility that +some of these girls may fail in their entrance examinations. Undoubtedly +they will have to take them, for no girl who applies for admission to +Harlowe House will have come from a preparatory school. Naturally, they +will all be high school graduates. Some of them will have scholarships +and some will not. It is going to be more or less of a struggle for +those who have none to earn their college fees--that is, if they haven't +saved the money for them beforehand. I am reasonably certain that poor +little Mary Reynolds hasn't a penny of her own, other than the ten +dollars she has saved. But if she passes her examinations she can borrow +the money for her college fees from Semper Fidelis. Then, too, there is +the subject of rules and regulations to be considered." + +"A very important subject," interposed Miss Wilder. "The success of +Harlowe House will depend upon its rules and their absolute +enforcement." + +"Don't you think it would be a nice idea to draw up a little +constitution and by-laws as they do in clubs. It would not cost very +much to have a certain number of copies of them printed, and a copy +placed in each girl's room. Oh, Miss Wilder, wouldn't it be splendid if +we could form the girls of Harlowe House into a social club. It would +bring them in touch with one another, teach them to be self-governing, +and do an endless amount of good." Grace finished with sudden +inspiration. + +For a moment Miss Wilder did not answer. She was evidently turning the +matter over in her own mind. "It is rather an unusual idea," she said +slowly, "but I should not be surprised to see it work out well. Among a +number of young women who, aside from the advantages Harlowe House +offers them, are practically dependent upon their own resources you are +sure to find a variety of dispositions, some of them a little warped +from their struggle with poverty. I should say that they could be +reached and understood better by becoming members of this club, which +you propose, than by any other method. Yes, decidedly, it is a good +plan." + +Grace remained with the dean until after five o'clock talking earnestly +of her new work. "Oh, dear, I can scarcely wait for the next two weeks +to pass I'm so anxious to begin," she sighed, as she gathered together +her gloves, handkerchief and parasol and rose to go. "Miss Dean will +come to see you to-morrow morning, Miss Wilder. I'll send Miss Reynolds +with her." + +The sun was well advanced on his daily pilgrimage down the western sky, +and Grace's usually rapid steps lagged as she crossed the dear familiar +campus. Her eyes strayed lovingly from the green velvety carpeting under +her feet to the red and yellow pennants of autumn which the trees were +flaunting so bravely. It was hard to say at which season of the year +Overton campus was most beautiful. To Grace it was like some familiar +friend who was constantly surprising her with new and endearing virtues. + +She gazed across the wide stretch of green toward Morton House. Two +girlish figures were seated on the steps apparently deep in their own +interests. A little farther on she met three sophomores, who, +recognizing her, bowed to her in smiling admiration. Grace stopped and +held out her hand with the frank cordiality which characterized her. +After a pleasant exchange of greetings they passed on greatly elated +over the fact that "that clever Miss Harlowe, who was the most popular +girl at Overton last year," had remembered them. + +"We're beginning to gather home," she murmured softly. She was passing +Holland House now, and it brought back delightful memories of Mabel +Ashe. Her glance rested wistfully on the front door. She half expected +to see it open and to see coming toward her the lithe, graceful figure +of the girl whose dainty hands had been the first to grasp hers in +friendly welcome, when, as an untried freshman, she had first set foot +in the land of Overton so long ago. "Mabel," she breathed, "dear, dear +girl! If ever I come to mean half as much to lonely freshmen as you +meant to me, I shall feel that I have succeeded gloriously." + +Wrapped in recollections of the past, which she realized were bound to +haunt her at every turn until time and work had banished her sense of +loss, Grace did not hear the light footsteps of the tall young woman who +bore noiselessly down upon her like an avenging fate. Suddenly Grace +felt two soft, cool hands close over her eyes. + +"Oh!" she gasped. Then she laughed. "I know it's some one I'm anxious to +see. Is it Kathleen?" + +The hands did not relax their pressure. + +"Is it Laura Atkins?" guessed Grace again. + +The pressure tightened a little. + +"I know now," cried Grace. "Why didn't I guess you first of all? It's +Patience." + +The hands fell away from her eyes. Grace wheeled about into a pair of +encircling arms. A very tall, fair-haired young woman stood looking down +on her with a face full of lively affection. "I wonder if you are as +glad to see me as I am to see you, Grace," was her first speech. + +"Every bit as glad," responded Grace with emphasis. "Emma and I have +been looking forward to your coming every day since we came." + +"Emma?" interrogated Patience. "Do you mean to tell me that Emma Dean is +here?" + +"Yes," replied Grace happily. "She's come back to be Miss Duncan's +assistant. Isn't that splendid?" + +"I've been mourning Emma among the rest of the bright departed spirits," +smiled Patience, "and thinking of how dull Wayne Hall will be this year +without her. Emma is Emma, you know, and cannot be duplicated, imitated +nor replaced. I suppose, as a teacher, she'll live in one of the faculty +houses, instead of Wayne Hall." + +"She is going to have part of my suite at Harlowe House," said Grace. +"But, before I say another word, where are you going?" + +"To Overton Hall to see Miss Wilder." + +"Can't you put off going until to-morrow morning?" asked Grace. + +"Yes, if you and Emma will go with me to the six-thirty train to meet +Kathleen and then to dinner at Vinton's afterward." + +"Will we?" cried Grace. "I should say--I'm afraid we can't, Patience." +Her jubilant tone changed to one of disappointment. "I forgot all about +Mary Reynolds." + +"Who is Mary Reynolds and what did I ever do to her that causes her to +conspire to cheat me of the society of my friends?" inquired Patience +humorously. + +"Not a single thing," assured Grace brightening again. "She's the +thirty-second applicant for admission to Harlowe House, but she's living +there as my guest for a few days until she finds out whether she +'belongs.' Suppose you walk over there with me. I wish you to see the +house before the tenants arrive. I'll tell you the strange story of Mary +Reynolds on the way over. Emma's at home, so you can see her, too." + +"All right, I'll go, provided you and your entire family, including Mary +Reynolds, escort me to the train to meet Kathleen." + +"Here's my hand on it," promised Grace. + +Patience caught it in both of hers. "It's good to be here, Grace," she +said earnestly. + +"It's good to have you here, Patience," returned Grace, in the same +earnest tone. + +Patience was met at the door by Emma, who had seen their approach from +the living-room window, and who now pounced upon Patience and joyfully +escorted her into the living-room. + +"The plot thickens," declaimed Emma as the three paused in the middle of +the room. "Hurrah for the old guard! Like Macbeth's immortal witches, +I'll perform my antic round, just to show how jubilant I feel." She +executed a few fantastic steps about Patience, then paused beside her, +one hand on her shoulder. "Where did you acquire Patience, Grace?" + +"I acquired this particular kind of Patience on the campus just a few +moments ago. I have never actually acquired the other kind." + +"You're not the only one," murmured Emma significantly. + +"Where is our freshman-to-be?" + +"In her room and fast asleep, I suppose. Although she wouldn't admit it, +I know she was completely tired out. I could see that," she added slyly. + +Patience and Grace smiled in quick recognition of J. Elfreda Briggs' pet +phrase. + +"How I wish 'I could see' dear old J. Elfreda. Wouldn't it be glorious +if she were suddenly to appear in the flesh," sighed Emma. + +"She was here with Mrs. Gray and I in August, Patience." Grace went on +to relate the details of Elfreda's visit. "Emma has heard all this +before. Still, you don't mind hearing it again, do you, Emma?" + +"I could listen to it forever, and then ask for a repetition," asserted +Emma with gallant glibness. + +"I won't be so malicious as to take you at your word," returned Grace. +"Will you tell Patience all the news while I run upstairs to see Miss +Reynolds?" + +"I will," nodded Emma, "and tell it truthfully and without +embellishments. I am not a yellow journal. I am a reliable purveyor of +facts and nothing but facts." She pounded on the library table with her +clenched fist to emphasize her words. + +"I believe you," assured Patience with mock solemnity, "and salute you +as a disciple of truth." + +Leaving her friends to exchange confidences, Grace ran lightly up the +stairs and knocked on Mary Reynolds' door. Receiving no answer, she +knocked again. + +"She must be asleep," thought Grace. Then she turned the knob and +entered the room. Surely enough the tired stranger lay on her couch bed, +tranquil and slumber-wrapped. Sleep had smoothed away the lines of care +and, in repose, her face looked soft and childish. + +"Miss Reynolds." + +The girl sat up with a little, startled cry. "Oh," she breathed, in +relief. "I was so frightened. I forgot where I was." + +"Miss Dean, a friend of ours and I are going to the station to meet +another friend. We wish you to go with us," invited Grace. "That is, +unless you prefer to stay here. You will be all alone in the house." + +An expression of alarm showed itself in the girl's eyes. "I'd rather go +with you, if you are sure I won't be in the way." + +"Not in the least. We shall start in a few moments." With a cheerful +smile that elicited a faint, answering one from the other girl, Grace +left the room. She was back in an instant with something blue thrown +over her arm. "Here is a little coat I took out of my trunk especially +for you. It is cool enough for a coat to-night. This won't be too long +for you. It's only three-quarter length on me." + +"I--I--" stammered Mary, but Grace was gone. + +Mary could not help thrilling a little with pure pleasure at sight of +herself in the pretty blue serge coat. "I look just like them," she +murmured. "I'm so glad I came. I won't go back either, and no one shall +make me." She smoothed and patted her curly hair, then putting on her +shabby hat went slowly down stairs. + +Her momentary awe of Patience vanished when she discovered that, in +spite of her dignified bearing, this tall, fair young woman was as full +of fun as the droll Emma Dean. + +The quartette started for the station with Patience and Emma in the +lead. Grace walked with Mary, talking brightly of Overton to her +absorbed listener. She had just begun to tell Mary of Kathleen West, her +clever work as a newspaper woman and of how her play had won the honor +pin, when they arrived at the station. + +"Wait here while I see if the train is on time," directed Grace. + +The three young women strolled slowly along the platform, pausing at one +end of it. + +"The train's on time," called Grace as she came out of the station and +approached them. "It's due in four minutes. Listen! Didn't you hear it +whistle?" + +A minute later it was visible around the bend and bearing down on the +station with a great puffing and whistling. + +"I see her," announced Emma. "She's getting off at the upper end of the +train." + +An alert little figure in a gray coat suit came swinging down the +platform, a suit case in each hand, her keen, dark eyes scanning every +face. Suddenly she caught sight of her friends. Dropping her luggage she +ran forward, both hands extended. Grace caught them in hers. The two +embraced, then Grace passed Kathleen on to Patience. + +"And to think that Emma Dean is to be one of us!" exclaimed Kathleen. +"Emma, the one sure and certain cure for the blues. I didn't half +appreciate you last year." A swift flush rose to her cheeks. "I didn't +appreciate any one. I missed knowing Overton's best, but I'm so thankful +that part of that best has come back again, so that I can really show +how much I care," she finished, her eyes very bright. + +The little company lingered on the platform, for there was so much to be +said that they were loath to move on. So absorbed were they in their own +affairs they did not observe that a tall, raw-boned, roughly dressed +man, with a gaunt, disagreeable face had been stealthily edging nearer +the group until within a few feet of them. All at once a long bony hand +was thrust into their midst. The hand landed on the shoulder of Mary +Reynolds, swinging her almost off her feet. She did not scream, but her +face grew white and her eyes horror-stricken. Then she wrenched +desperately to free herself from the cruel clutch, gasping, +"Let--me--alone. I--won't--go back--with--you." + +"Oh, ye won't, won't ye," growled the hateful intruder. "We'll see if ye +won't. Get a move on." He half dragged, half shoved the now sobbing Mary +along the platform. + +For an instant no one of the astonished girls moved or protested. Then a +small, lithe figure flung itself in front of the brutal fellow, barring +his progress. "Take your hands off that girl," commanded a tense, +authoritative voice. + +As if in recognition of its authority the man's cruel hold on Mary's +slender shoulder relaxed. Kathleen West's black eyes were blazing. With +a swift forward movement she threw her arm protectingly across Mary's +shoulder and drew her close. "Now," she said, her whole body tense with +suppressed anger, "touch her if you dare." + +"Ye better git out and mind yer own business or ye'll wish ye had," +threatened the man, his first feeling of fear vanishing. "Yer nothin' +but a lot o' silly girls. You git along," he ordered, fixing his +scowling eyes on Mary. + +"This little girl is going to stay with us. It is you that had better +move on. If you aren't out of sight within the next three minutes I'll +have you arrested for annoying us, and it won't be wise for you to come +back again either." + +Kathleen's face, as she stood calmly eyeing her disagreeable adversary, +was like a study in stone. She looked as inexorable and relentless as +Fate itself, and the bully understood dimly that here was a force with +which he could not reckon. + +"I'm a goin'," he mumbled sullenly, "but I'm a goin' to git the law on +_her_," he pointed to Mary, "and make her git back where she belongs." + +By this time several persons had hurried to the scene of the encounter. +Kathleen's sole reply to the threat was a contemptuous shrug of her +shoulders. "Come on, girls," she said so nonchalantly that the curious +ones dropped disappointedly away. Not more than four minutes had elapsed +from the time the uncouth stranger had appeared until he slunk off. +Emma, Grace and Patience found their voices almost simultaneously. + +"Well, of all things!" exclaimed Emma. + +"I was literally amazed to dumbness," declared Patience. + +"So was I for a minute, but Kathleen was so completely sure of herself +that I knew it was better to be silent. She disposed of that +obstreperous individual most summarily. Who is he, Miss Reynolds?" Grace +turned grave eyes upon Mary. "We shall have to know all about him if we +are to help you." + +They were now walking slowly up the street. + +"He's--my--uncle," faltered the girl. "Mother died last summer just +after I finished high school, and I had no place to go. He wanted me to +go out in the country and live on his farm. He said I could go to +college, but after I went to the farm he and his wife made me do all the +work, and laughed when I spoke of going to college. A nice girl I knew +had told me about Overton and Harlowe House. She was in the town of +Overton last commencement and heard about it. I told them I would go in +spite of them, so they locked me in my room, but I climbed out the +window and into a big tree, one of its branches was quite near the +window, and then slid to the ground." + +"How old are you, Miss Reynolds?" asked Kathleen West with apparent +irrelevance. + +"I was eighteen last week." + +"Then you needn't worry about your uncle. You are of age and can do as +you please." + +"Do you mean that he can't make me leave here?" Mary Reynolds' eyes were +wide with surprise and sudden hope. + +"Of course he can't," reassured Kathleen. "Girls, I'm going to adopt +Mary Reynolds as my especial charge and help her fight her battles in +the Land of College. Mary, will you let me adopt you?" + +Mary regarded Kathleen with shy admiration. She thought her the most +wonderful person she had ever known. She was deeply grateful to Grace +and her two friends for their kindness, but Kathleen's swift, efficient +action on her behalf had completely won her heart. "I'd be the happiest +girl in the world," she said solemnly. + +The next morning Grace went frankly to Miss Wilder with the tragic story +of Mary's struggle to obtain an education and the attempt her miserly +uncle had made to force her to return to the farm. + +"We shall be obliged to look into the matter," declared the dean. "Send +Miss Reynolds to me as soon as possible. I must be very sure that she is +all she represents herself to be. I should not care to have a repetition +of the station scene later, on the campus, for instance. It would hardly +add to the dignity of Overton." + +"I'll bring her to your office to-morrow morning," said Grace, "then you +can form your own opinion of her." + +Mary Reynolds' wistful face was the last touch needed to completely +enlist Miss Wilder's sympathy in her behalf. On the strength of the +straightforward story which she repeated to the dean, she was allowed to +proceed with her examinations. Meantime Miss Wilder wrote to the +authorities of the little town near which Mary's uncle's farm was +situated. They conducted a prompt investigation and by the time the +hitherto friendless girl had passed triumphantly through the ordeal of +examinations the faintest trace of objection to her becoming a student +at Overton had been removed. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE THIRTY-THIRD GIRL + + +"I am sorry," said Grace gently, "but I am afraid it will be impossible +for me to do anything for your sister this year. Harlowe House will +hold, comfortably, thirty-two girls and no more. It isn't so much a +matter of meals. They could, perhaps, be arranged, but I haven't a room +for your sister. Could she afford to rent a room in town and come here +for her meals?" This was an afterthought on Grace's part, born of the +desire to clear away the cruel shadow of disappointment that clouded the +pale face of the woman who sat opposite her in her little office. + +"I--am--afraid not," faltered the pale, thin woman, her tired eyes +filling with an expression of resignation. "I thought I might be able to +manage her college fees, if her living expenses could be arranged. We +were so sorry that she did not win a scholarship. You are quite sure +that there is no chance for her here?" she asked pleadingly, for the +fourth time. "She has set her heart on coming to Overton. College means +so much to a girl, and Evelyn is so clever. It seems a pity that she +must stop with only a high school education." + +Grace knitted her brows in earnest thought, while the pleading voice +talked on. She felt an overpowering sympathy, not for the sister who +wished to come to Overton, but for the sister who was now advocating her +cause. And even as she thought the way in which one more girl might +partake of the benefits of Harlowe House came to her. It was a way of +sacrifice; she was not even sure that it could be done. Something in the +expression of her face, however, seemed to inspire the woman opposite +her with new hope. She leaned forward, with the eager question: "Am I +wrong or does your face tell me that there is a chance for Evelyn?" For +the first time she mentioned her sister's name. + +"'Evelyn,'" repeated Grace half musingly. "What a pretty name. How old +is your sister, Miss Ward?" + +"She was eighteen last August." + +"I can make you no definite promise yet," returned Grace slowly. "Could +you come to see me this afternoon at four o'clock? I shall know then +whether the plan I have in mind can be carried out." + +"I will come," promised the woman eagerly, her eyes kindling with happy +light. "I thank you for your kindness." Her voice trembled with +gratitude. She rose to go, looking as though she would like to say more +but could not find words in which to express herself. + +"You are quite welcome. I will try very hard to place her," was Grace's +parting assurance. + +After the woman, who had introduced herself as Ida Ward, had gone, Grace +went slowly upstairs and into her pretty sitting-room. She looked long +and fixedly at each attractive appointment, then she walked on into the +bedroom, which she and Emma shared, and surveyed it with the same +searching gaze. "I can't do it unless Emma is willing," she murmured. "I +dislike asking her after inviting her to share my suite. Still, we've +always been frank with each other. I'll tell her the exact circumstances +as soon as she comes home to luncheon, and let her decide what we had +better do." Having determined upon her course of action Grace went +downstairs again and was soon deep in the laying-out of next week's menu +for Harlowe House, a task in which she had been engaged when Miss Ida +Ward was announced. + +It was now two weeks since Overton College had opened. The thirty-two +applicants for places in Harlowe House had, without exception, passed +through the trying ordeal of their entrance examinations with varying +degrees of success, but not one had actually failed. They had come into +the house, which was their Open Sesame to college, in twos and threes. +Few of them were pretty, but even the plainest of their faces bore the +unmistakable stamp of intelligence that marks the scholar. The +half-brooding, anxious look in young eyes and the womanly dignity, +prematurely gained through hand to hand conflict with poverty, were +certain indications that the girls of Harlowe House were there for +earnest work and not for play. + +And now a thirty-third girl was knocking at the gate for admittance to +the Land of College. Grace wondered vaguely why Evelyn Ward had not come +to plead her own cause. The words of Ida Ward, "I thought I might be +able to manage her college fees," returned to her with disquieting +force. Then she made a little impatient gesture. "Grace Harlowe, what is +the matter with you? You are judging poor Evelyn Ward without giving her +an opportunity to defend herself. You know nothing whatever of the +Wards' affairs. There may be a dozen good reasons for Miss Ward's coming +here in her sister's behalf. Don't be so suspicious. Wait until you see +Evelyn Ward before you judge her." + +Although Grace did not realize it she was already thinking of Evelyn +Ward as a member of Harlowe House. There was no fear of refusal on +Emma's part. Long acquaintance with her good-natured, easy-going +classmate had taught her that Emma was equal to, if not more than a +match for, almost any emergency. + +"Emma would take her belongings and camp out in the hall if I asked her +to," smiled Grace to herself as she went slowly downstairs to her office +and, seating herself at her desk, took up the writing on which she had +been engaged when her caller was announced. + +She was still hard at work when the girls began to come in for luncheon, +one after another, and at last she heard Emma's delightful drawl as she +exchanged pleasantries with one of the freshmen who had opened the door +for her. + +"Oh, Emma," she called, stepping to the door of her office, "will you +come in here, please? I need you." + +By the time Grace had finished speaking Emma was standing in the +doorway, peering owlishly at her. "Most Gracious Grace," she salaamed, +"what is your majesty's magnificent pleasure with your worthless and +most despicable dog of a servant?" + +"I don't know any such person," laughed Grace. Then, her face sobering, +she plunged into the middle of things with, "What would you say, Emma, +if I were to give half of our quarters to some one else?" + +"I'd say that I was lucky to have half of the half that's left," was +Emma's prompt retort. + +"You're a dear!" cried Grace impulsively. "I knew you were true blue. +Still, I must tell you all about certain things before you decide. It's +just this way, Emma." Grace began with Miss Ward's call and recounted to +Emma all that had passed between herself and the stranger. Emma listened +without comment until Grace had finished with, "Now tell me what you +think, Emma." + +"I think it is positively noble in you to be willing to give up one of +your rooms," emphasized Emma. "As far as I am concerned I'm not a +'chooser.' I'm here because of that same saving grace--it's as much a +part of you as your name--which is reaching out now to put one more girl +in Overton. What can any strictly honorable, four-cornered person say +except, 'I'm with you,' and here's my hand in seal and token of it." + +"Thank you, Emma," Grace's quiet words and warm handclasp were eloquent +with appreciation of her friend's unselfish viewpoint, "Suppose we run +upstairs for a moment before luncheon to look around and decide which of +the two rooms we can best do without. And, O, Emma, we'll have room for +a thirty-fourth girl, if she happens along. I never thought of that. In +the face of all that a college education will mean to this girl our +personal comfort rather pales into insignificance." + +"Who are we that we should revel in the fleshpots of Overton while the +stranger knocks at our gates?" supplemented Emma. "Now which is it to +be? Shall we say, 'good-bye beloved sitting-room, ne'er shall we behold +thy like again,' or shall we bid fond adieu to the bedroom? I ask but +one concession, let us reserve our nice private bathroom. It has a value +above rubies." + +"Of course we'll keep our bathroom. There are three others in the house +of which these new girls can have the use. As long as the bathroom opens +into both rooms, I shall bolt the door leading into the room we give +Miss Ward. That may appear a trifle inhospitable on the surface, but I +wish to keep what is left of our apartment as secluded as possible," +ended Grace, opening the door into the sitting-room. "Now, which shall +it be, Emma?" + +Emma prowled contemplatively about the suite, her hands in her coat +pockets, her glasses pushed far over her nose. Finally she paused before +Grace. Settling her glasses at their proper angle she said earnestly, "I +don't wish to seem selfish, Grace, but really I think you are entitled +to the sitting-room. It's larger and lighter. It's more attractive in +every way. I am not thinking of myself in this matter, I am thinking of +you. You are the brains and brawn of Harlowe House, therefore you must +be made comfortable if you are to do good work here. The other room is +easily large enough to accommodate two girls. It is larger than the +rooms we occupied at Wayne Hall." + +"I know it." Grace strolled reflectively through the open bathroom door +and on into the bedroom. When she returned, she had decided. "You are +right, Emma. I don't believe it would be selfish to keep this room. Now +how shall we furnish it?" + +"Don't ask me to decide that," protested Emma. "I feel as though I ought +to pack my belongings and go to one of the faculty houses, Grace. It +isn't fair to you for me to stay here and be a cumberer of your room." + +"Emma Dean, if you do!" Grace caught Emma by the shoulders and proceeded +to shake her. + +"Wait! Stop!" implored Emma. "My glasses! And lenses cost money!" + +"Will you stay?" demanded a relentless voice. The shaking continued, but +gently. + +"I will. That is, I'll have to, or pay the oculist." + +Grace's hands fell from Emma's shoulders. + +"I didn't want to pack and go," confessed Emma, "but I was trying to be +as fair to you as you are to every one else." + +"It wouldn't be one bit fair in you to leave me. You promised to see me +through, you know," reproached Grace. + +"So I did, and so I will," declared Emma, "I take back all I said. From +now on I am as much of a fixture here as the kitchen range or the window +seat." + +Grace laughed at Emma's absurd declaration. "I couldn't let you go, +Emma. You are too good a comrade. Now let me think. I'll have my +dressing table brought in here, but, in order to make a combination +sitting and sleeping room of this, we will have to buy a couch bed. The +davenport there is a bed too. We'll put it across that corner, and have +the couch against that wall. We'll have to keep the dressing table. We +can't avoid that. I don't know what to do with my bed. It is +three-quarter size. I selected it purposely, so that I'd have room for +two of the girls at a time if they dropped in unexpectedly. I don't like +to sell it. It matches the set." + +"Why not leave it in the other room," suggested Emma. "If girl number +thirty-four never materializes then Miss Evelyn Ward can occupy the +whole bed, if she chooses." + +"But suppose we do admit another girl?" + +"Sufficient unto the day, etc.," shrugged Emma. "When she appears, then +let the committee take action." + +"I'll buy a smaller dressing table to match the bed, if I can, and a +chiffonier. I can't quite give mine up to this newcomer. There goes the +luncheon bell. I must hurry downstairs to the kitchen to see if +everything is all right." + +Grace hastened down the stairs, with her friend at her heels. Emma went +directly to the dining-room and took her place at the table laid for two +at the lower end of the room. This table belonged exclusively to her and +Grace. The dining-room at Harlowe House had been furnished after the +fashion of a pretty little tea shop at which Grace had often lunched in +New York. The walls were done in white with a faint blue and silver +stripe. The ceiling was white with a decoration of deep blue corn +flowers. The floor was covered with a thread and thrum rug in blue and +white, and instead of two long tables there were several small ones +which seated from four to six persons. In the middle of each table was a +vase of flowers, and the effect of the whole room was dainty and +homelike. Grace had spent much thought on the dining-room. The buffet, +serving tables, tables and chairs were white, and the silver, linen and +various other appointments had been carefully chosen. + +"I wish the girls to feel that this room is a place where they can eat +and be merry. It is in the dining-room that they will first become +acquainted with one another," Grace had said to Mrs. Gray while they +were choosing the dining-room furniture. "I like the idea of having the +small tables. The girls can talk quietly and confidentially, if they +choose. Besides it looks so cosy and informal." + +As Grace ate her luncheon that day her eyes wandered to the various +tables. She was speculating as to where she would seat Evelyn Ward. +Already she thought of her as one of her girls. + +At precisely four o'clock the door bell rang and the maid ushered Ida +Ward into the living-room. Her large eyes were wide with anxiety and +suspense as she sat nervously on the edge of her chair, trying to appear +composed. She tried to answer Grace's reassuring smile, but her anxious +eyes belied her wanly-smiling lips. + +"I have good news for you, Miss Ward," said Grace brightly. "I have made +room for your sister. When may I expect her?" + +Ida Ward's lips moved, but she made no sound. Then, to Grace's +consternation, she covered her face with her black-gloved hands and +began to cry quietly. For an instant Grace sat in embarrassed silence. +She hardly knew what consolation to offer this poor, pale woman who +looked as though she carried the burdens of the world upon her slender +shoulders. Before she could think of anything to say, Miss Ward suddenly +raised her head, wiped her eyes and said quietly, "Forgive me for +crying. I--am a little tired. I was rather overcome by the good news." + +"Suppose we have tea in the living room," was Grace's kindly suggestion. +"What time does your train leave? By the way, I don't think I know where +you live." + +"We live in Burton, a little town about two hundred miles from here, +with a population of six thousand people. I am a dressmaker. There are +only Evelyn and I, and I am fifteen years older than she. Mother died +when she was born. Father died only a year later and I have taken care +of her all her life. She is very beautiful. One of the prettiest girls I +have ever seen, and so clever." The plain face lighted as she described +Evelyn. + +"How she loves her pretty sister," thought Grace. + +Over the tea, dainty sandwiches and cakes, Ida Ward became quite +cheerful. When half an hour later she rose to take her leave, she looked +really happy. "How can I thank you for what you have done for Evelyn?" +she asked tremulously, her lips quivering. "My little sister will be so +glad. I am sure she can't help being happy in this beautiful house." + +"Send her to us as soon as you can," advised Grace. "College has been +open for over three weeks and she will have quite an amount of work to +make up. This is Monday. May I expect her on Thursday?" + +"Yes, she can leave Burton early Thursday morning. There is a train +which reaches here at two o'clock in the afternoon." + +"Very well. I will send some one to meet her," promised Grace. + +During the next two days Grace and Emma accomplished their moving so +quietly that no one in the house knew of the new member the morrow was +to bring. When everything had been put in place Emma declared cheerily +that they would never miss the other room. + +At the last moment Grace decided to go in person to the train to meet +Evelyn. The memory of Ida Ward's white patient face haunted her. For her +sake her beloved sister should be cordially welcomed. Grace felt the +deepest respect and sympathy for the older sister. + +"Miss Ward said her sister was very pretty," reflected Grace, then she +looked a trifle dismayed. She had received absolutely no other +description of the girl she was to meet. She did not know whether Evelyn +Ward was short or tall, stout or thin, dark or fair. "I'll simply have +to use my eyes and guess," was her mental comment, as she walked briskly +along the station platform just as the train whizzed down the track. Her +alert eyes scanned the nearest car steps where the porter was helping a +crotchety old man to the platform. Behind him, came a stout middle-aged +woman and two children. Grace scanned the next set of steps. Then, far +up the platform she saw a tall, slender, blue-clad figure walking toward +her at a leisurely pace. The girl carried a small handbag and a suit +case. When she came directly opposite Grace she paused, then, after a +deliberate survey, walked forward with outstretched hand. "Aren't you +Miss Harlowe?" she asked sweetly. "If you are, I am Evelyn Ward." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +EVELYN WARD, FRESHMAN + + +Grace found herself looking into one of the most perfect faces she had +ever seen. Evelyn Ward was a blonde of the purest type. Her thick golden +hair lay in shining waves under her small, smart blue hat. Her eyes were +deeply, darkly blue with purple depths, while her skin had the sheen and +texture of pale pink rose leaves. Her small, straight nose, +softly-curved red mouth and delicately-arched dark eyebrows added to the +tender beauty of her face. To Grace she came as a revelation, and, so +far as she could remember, she had never seen any other blonde girl who +approached this one in loveliness. + +"How do you do, Miss Ward? I am glad to know you," she said, offering +her hand. She noticed that the slender hand that Evelyn put forth to +meet hers was very soft and white. It had evidently done no hard work +and was in sharp contrast to the rough, work-worn hands of her sister. + +"I'm sure I am pleased to know you, Miss Harlowe, and very thankful to +you for arranging for my coming to Overton. I would have cried my eyes +out with disappointment if Ida had come home with bad news," returned +the pretty girl in a plaintive tone which impressed Grace with a +curiously uncomfortable feeling that this attractive young woman would +have done nothing of the sort. There was that indefinable something +about her that contradicted, flatly, the idea of tears. + +"Your sister was an eloquent pleader, Miss Ward. I would have made an +even greater effort than was necessary to place you, if only to please +her. I was greatly impressed with her unselfishness and nobility of +character," Grace made reply. + +An expression of amusement showed itself on Evelyn Ward's face. "Ida is +a perfect old dear," she agreed lightly. "She takes life too seriously, +though. She worries over every little thing. Still her very seriousness +makes a good impression. She has ever so many friends; a great many more +than I." She shrugged her shoulders, as though to convey the fact that +the latter state of affairs did not trouble her. + +"As your luggage is not heavy, we might walk to Harlowe House," +suggested Grace. "This glorious fall weather is ideal for walking. Let +me take your suit case." + +"With pleasure. It's altogether too heavy for comfort. Are there no +street cars or busses we can take? I like to walk, but not when I have +luggage to carry." + +"We can take a car or an automobile bus if you like," said Grace +courteously, although she experienced a vague sense of annoyance at this +newcomer's calmly expressed preference. + +"Oh, let's take the automobile, if it isn't too expensive!" exclaimed +Evelyn eagerly. "I love to ride in an automobile. Are there any girls at +Overton who own cars? If there are I shall certainly cultivate them. I +suppose they won't notice me, though, because I am a freshman and a poor +one at that," she ended with a pout, her fair face taking on almost +sullen lines. + +Grace shook her head. + +"Being poor doesn't count at Overton," she said, "I know a girl who +lived in a bare, cheerless room in an old house in the suburbs of +Overton and earned her way by doing mending for the students. She worked +in a dressmaker's shop during her summer vacations too, and yet she was +the chum of the richest girl in college." + +"Why didn't the rich girl help her if she thought so much of her?" +inquired Evelyn rather sarcastically. + +"Because the girl wouldn't allow her to do so. She was too independent +to accept help. She did not wish to become obligated to any one, not +even her dearest friend." + +"Foolish girl," was Evelyn's contemptuous comment. "If one can't ask +occasional favors of one's friends one might as well have none. I am +very sure that I would take the goods the gods provide without +murmuring. These extreme standards of ethics and honor are all very +pretty in books, but not at all practical in every-day life." + +Grace made no reply. She was lost, for the instant, in a maze of +disagreeable reflection. She was afraid she now understood only too well +why Ida instead of Evelyn Ward had come to see her. In the Ward family +the hard tasks had apparently been thrust upon the patient elder sister, +while the younger reaped where she had not sown, without a conscientious +qualm. And it was for this beautiful, selfish girl that she and Emma had +curtailed their comfort. She almost wished she had been firm in her +first refusal to consider taking another girl into Harlowe House. Then a +vision of Ida Ward's thin face, lighted by two pleading eyes, rose +before her. With an inward rebuke for her own grudging attitude, Grace +squared her shoulders and resolved to look for only the best in this +latest arrival. + +It took but a moment to hail an automobile bus which had just run into +the station yard, and they were soon on their way to Harlowe House. +Grace pointed out to Evelyn the various interesting features of Overton. +They impressed the latter but little. + +"It must be a sleepy old town," she commented, as they passed through +the quiet streets. She did, however, evince some slight interest in +Vinton's, remarking lightly that she supposed she would never have money +enough to buy a dinner there for herself, let alone ever inviting a +guest. + +"Do not look at your college life through such pessimistic spectacles," +advised Grace. "You will be sure to be unhappy." + +Evelyn made a pettish gesture. "You remind me of my sister, Miss +Harlowe. She is forever preaching patience and optimism and all the +other virtues in which I seem to be lacking." + +A bright flush rose to Grace's cheeks at this unparalleled rudeness. She +cast a quick, curious glance at Evelyn, whose eyes were for the second +fixed upon the campus which they were now nearing, and who appeared to +be utterly oblivious of her impertinence. + +"This is the campus." Grace decided to overlook the pointed remark. "We +are justly proud of Overton College and the campus." + +"It is really beautiful," nodded Evelyn, "but I'm going to tell you a +secret. I'm not the least little bit enthusiastic over college. I'd +rather go to a dramatic school and study for the stage. It is Ida who +insists upon my going to college. Thank goodness, I'm not a dunce. It +would be dreadful to be forced into college and then be too stupid to +learn anything, wouldn't it?" + +"It would indeed," agreed Grace. + +"I suppose my stage aspirations shock you, Miss Harlowe," went on +Evelyn, "but I can't help saying what I think." + +"My dearest woman friend is an actress," returned Grace quietly. + +"Oh, is she really?" Evelyn's voice rose high with excitement. "What is +her name? Perhaps I've heard of her." + +"Anne Pierson." + +"I should say I had heard of _her_. She is one of the great stars. She +is with Everett Southard, isn't she? I've seen their pictures in the +magazines." + +"She graduated from Overton last year. We were roommates throughout our +four years here. She is from my home town." + +"Really and truly?" demanded Evelyn impulsively. "That's the most +interesting piece of news I've heard for a long time. Will you tell me +all about her some time, Miss Harlowe?" + +"With pleasure," returned Grace. "It can hardly be to-day, however, for +here we are at Harlowe House." + +"What a darling house!" praised Evelyn as they alighted from the +automobile. "I am sure I shall like to live in it." + +"I hope that you will be happy here," returned Grace kindly. After all +it might be better not to take this self-willed young woman too +seriously. She had, at least, the virtue of truthfulness. She was +entirely frank in the expression of her opinions. She might have many +other redeeming qualities which would quite overbalance the disagreeably +self-centered side of her character. + +Evelyn gazed about in open approval as they ascended the steps of +Harlowe House. As they passed through the hall she peeped into the +living room and exclaimed in admiration of its attractive appointments. +Her voluble appreciation of her own room pleased Grace, who realized +that Evelyn's personality was singularly fascinating and that she could +be exceedingly gracious when she chose. + +"I will leave you now," said Grace, after a little further conversation. +"The dinner bell rings at six o'clock. If you need anything, or wish to +ask any questions, you will find me in my office downstairs. It is +rather too late in the day for you to see the registrar. To-morrow +morning will be time enough. You are lucky to be exempt from +examinations." + +Grace had hardly established herself in her office when Emma Dean came +breezily in from her work. "Well, Gracie," was her cheery greeting, "has +she materialized, and is she as pathetic and persistent as Sister Ida?" + +Grace made a little gesture of resignation. "Prepare for the surprise of +your college career, Emma." + +"Didn't she come?" demanded Emma, "That wouldn't surprise me. People are +forever promising to arrive on a certain train and then strolling in +several days later with the barefaced announcement that the time table +had been mysteriously changed." + +"She arrived," stated Grace. + +"Then wherein lies the surprise?" + +"Emma," said Grace solemnly, "Evelyn Ward is the most beautiful girl I +have ever seen, and, if I am not mistaken, one of the most selfish. She +is no more like her sister than I am like Dr. Morton, and she is going +to require more looking after than any other girl in Harlowe House." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE HARLOWE HOUSE CLUB + + +"There!" Grace Harlowe laid down her pen and scanned the notice she had +just finished writing. "I'll post this now. The girls will see it this +morning and again when they come in to luncheon. Then they will be sure +to meet me in the living-room before dinner. I hope they will like our +plan." + +"They ought to like it," replied Emma Dean. "It makes them a +self-respecting, self-governing body." + +"That is precisely what I wish them to be," responded Grace, in all +earnestness. "I believe that being members of Semper Fidelis was of +great benefit to us. Oh, Emma, did I tell you that Mr. Bedfield's gift +to Semper Fidelis is now an endowment? He called to see me on Friday for +the express purpose of telling me that he has arranged the matter with +Professor Morton. The money is to be known hereafter as the Semper +Fidelis endowment. He said he felt certain that we had not handed the +society down to this year's classes. He couldn't imagine any other young +women in our places. Wasn't that nice in him?" + +"Very nice and very true," agreed Emma. "I am of the same mind. The +Sempers can never be imitated, passed on to the next class, nor +replaced. They are in a class all by themselves." + +"The purpose of this new club which I propose to organize will be one of +welfare. The girls will do more for themselves as a self-governing body +than I can possibly do for them. By the way, I wonder if Miss Ward is up +yet. She overslept and missed her first recitation yesterday morning. +She came down to the dining-room long after breakfast was over. Susan +was rather upset over having to serve an extra breakfast. I was obliged +to tell Miss Ward that if it occurred again she would have to abide by +the consequences of her own tardiness. I can't impose upon the servants +to please a girl who has no thought for any one except herself." + +Grace spoke rather bitterly. Her early disappointment in Evelyn Ward had +deepened as the time passed. + +"I don't hear a sound from her room," commented Emma, who sat before the +dressing-table brushing her long hair. With hair brush poised in the air +she listened intently. "She is dead to the world." + +"Then I'll have to waken her," sighed Grace. + +Stepping out into the hall she knocked lightly on Evelyn's door. +Receiving no response she knocked again, this time with more force. + +"Come in," called a sleepy voice. + +Grace turned the knob. Sure enough, Evelyn lay comfortably back on her +pillow, her wonderful golden hair falling in long, loose waves about +her. Her beauty now made little impression upon Grace, who knew only too +well the tantalizing, troublesome spirit that lay behind it. "It is +almost eight o'clock, Miss Ward. Remember, breakfast is over at nine." + +"I know it," responded Evelyn with maddening sweetness. She eyed Grace +speculatively, but made no effort to rise. + +Without further words Grace closed the door. She did not wish to betray +her annoyance. She had experienced a wild desire to march over to the +bed and drag the complacent freshman forth from it by the shoulders. + +When Evelyn descended to the dining-room she found that most of the +girls had eaten breakfast and gone off to chapel. Happening to recall +that she had not attended the morning services for a week, and with +visions of her unsigned chapel card staring her in the face, she ate a +hurried breakfast and was about to depart when her eyes happened to rest +upon the bulletin board in the hall around which were gathered several +girls. Pausing, Evelyn read Grace's notice. It asked the members of +Harlowe House to be in the living room at five o'clock that afternoon +for the discussion of a most important subject. + +"I wonder what it is," said Nettie Weyburn, lively curiosity +overspreading her usually placid face. + +"I think I know," volunteered Mary Reynolds. "Miss Harlowe was telling +me only last night that she wishes to organize a club of just Harlowe +House girls, with a president and other officers. The club will have a +constitution and by-laws and every member will have to live up to them." + +"Wouldn't that be splendid?" asked Cecil Ferris, a gray-eyed, +black-haired freshman who made up in energy what she lacked in height. + +"Who would be president I wonder," murmured Evelyn, shooting a glance of +apparent innocence about the circle. + +"You'd make a good president, Miss Ward," declared Mary Reynolds, in +open admiration. To her beauty-loving little soul Evelyn was the most +exquisite person in the world. + +"_I_," cried Evelyn in well-simulated amazement. "I wouldn't attempt to +be, I am not clever or popular enough." + +"I believe you would be the very one. You are so independent and know +just how to do things." Now that Mary had suggested it, it met with +Nettie Weyburn's placid approval. Cecil Ferris echoed it. She, too, had +fallen under the spell of Evelyn's beauty. + +"I must run along or be late to chapel," murmured Evelyn modestly, and +hurried off at precisely the wisest moment to further her own cause. The +ambition to become the president of the proposed club had sprung into +life in her self-centered young soul as she stood reading the bulletin, +and she determined that she would leave nothing undone to obtain the +honor. + +At luncheon that day she took particular pains to be unusually friendly +to every one with whom she came in contact, exhibiting a gay +graciousness of manner toward a number of girls she had secretly +labeled, "digs, prigs and plodders." This quite won their trusting +hearts and made them innocently wonder how they had, so far, happened to +miss becoming really well acquainted with Miss Ward. + +When at five o'clock the big living room began to fill, Evelyn was among +the first there, with a dazzling smile for all comers. At ten minutes +past five the thirty-three girls who claimed Harlowe House as their home +were sitting or standing expectantly about the room, waiting for Grace, +who stood at one end of the room with Emma, to call the meeting to order +and enter upon the discussion of that "most important subject." + +"I have asked you to come here this afternoon because I believe the time +has arrived to try out a plan which I have had in my mind ever since +college began," stated Grace, by way of beginning. Then in clear, +concise sentences she told of her desire that her girls should be +self-governing and of how much good fellowship their banding themselves +together would create. "I thought, if you approved of the plan, we might +elect our officers at once, and appoint a committee to draw up the +constitution and by-laws. I am going to ask you to talk it over among +yourselves for ten minutes, while Miss Dean and I prepare some balloting +slips," she concluded, and at once a loud buzz of eager conversation +began. + +It was fifteen minutes before Grace again called the meeting to order, +and appointed four tellers, who distributed ballots. Then nominations +were in order. + +"I nominate Miss Ward for president," proposed Cecil Ferris. + +"I second the motion," came from Mary Reynolds. + +Grace could hardly control the surprise in her voice, when, after +waiting a little, she asked: "Are there any further nominations?" "I +nominate Miss Sampson," called a small pale girl from her perch in the +window seat, with a fond smile in the direction of her roommate. Another +girl seconded the nomination, and it was then moved and seconded that +the nominations for president be closed. The nomination for +vice-president, secretary and treasurer were then in order and after +they were closed the voting began. + +"Well, of all things," whispered Emma to Grace, who sank into the chair +beside her friend, a peculiar expression on her fine face. "I never +dreamed of matters taking that turn, did you?" + +Grace shook her head. It had indeed come as a shock. She had thought of +the club as a novel and possible means of bringing the Harlowe House +girls into a closer relationship with one another. She had never +considered the possibility of Evelyn being president of the club. It was +evident that her nomination had come about through admiration of her +undeniable beauty. She was absolutely unfit for any such office. Grace +hoped, devoutly, that Miss Sampson, a tall, capable young woman, with a +likable personality and a cheery, hearty manner of speaking, would be +elected. + +Emma made no further remark, but watched the tellers with calculating +eyes. At last one of them, who had been industriously making notations +on a sheet of paper, rose to announce the results of the election. + +"The total number of votes cast for president was thirty-three. Of these +Miss Ward received twenty-nine"--an enthusiastic clapping of hands +sounded--"Miss Sampson four." She then went on to read the result of the +balloting for the other three officers. Nettie Weyburn had won the +vice-presidency, Cecil Ferris had been chosen secretary, while quiet +little Mary Reynolds had been made treasurer. The reading of each name +elicited its quota of applause, but it was plain that, of the four +officers, Evelyn was, by far, the greatest favorite. After appointing a +committee of four girls to assist her in drawing up the constitution and +by-laws, Grace said pleasantly: "Will the new officers please come +forward so that we can all see you. You must be formally introduced, you +know." + +The newly elected officers rose from their various positions which they +occupied in the room and advanced to where Grace stood. About Evelyn +Ward's red lips played a smile of suppressed triumph as she shook the +hand Grace offered her and listened to the former's sincere wish for her +success. For an instant the gray eyes studied the perfect face gravely, +as though trying to penetrate what lay behind its smiling mask. Then +Grace turned to greet the vice-president, just in time to miss the +mocking flash which lighted Evelyn's blue eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PLANNING FOR THE RECEPTION + + +The committee on the constitution and by-laws for the new club met the +very next evening and drew up a terse little document setting forth +their object in banding themselves together. Grace had already made note +of the few rules she wished the girls to observe, but, so far as +possible, she wished the committee to draw up their own regulations, +subject to her approval. To create a spirit of independence and +self-confidence in the girls of Harlowe House had been Grace's basic +motive. She realized that many of them were hampered with an undue sense +of gratitude which made them too humble for their own interest. She +purposed to make them self-reliant and free. Therefore the rules which +she herself made were few and sensible, relating chiefly to the care of +rooms, the entertaining of guests and the problems which, if not +properly handled, were the most likely to cause friction among so many +young women of so many different dispositions. + +"But what are we to do about money, Miss Harlowe?" asked Mary Reynolds +in a plaintive tone, when the question arose of whether the club should +be assessed for dues, and Grace spoke against it. "Of what use is it to +have a treasureless treasurer?" + +The committee set up a unanimous giggle. + +"That is really a serious question," smiled Grace, "and one which the +girls will have to decide for themselves. I should not wish any girl to +feel that she were obliged to contribute money to the club, even for +dues. We are not obliged to conform to any particular set of rules. Our +club can be a purely informal organization with no obligations attached +to it." + +"But it would be splendid to have a little money in the treasury," +interposed Louise Sampson. "I know what we can do," she went on eagerly. +"Let us make the dues a dollar a year, and pledge ourselves to earn that +sum. Any one who feels that she can neither earn nor give a dollar can +be a member of the club just the same. Then we could give entertainments +or concerts or something and start a little fund of our own." + +Grace's gray eyes sparkled. Louise Sampson was a girl after her own +heart. "Then you must ask your president to call a meeting. She can +instruct the secretary to post a notice on the bulletin board," she +advised. + +The committee seized upon Louise's plan with avidity. + +"Why can't we post a notice and have done with it?" asked Cecil Ferris +innocently. + +"Because we have just made a law that the president shall be notified of +proposed meetings and shall post a bulletin to that effect," reminded +Grace. + +The girls remained for another hour, discussing their plans and +reconstructing their by-laws previous to voting on them. It was decided +to have a weekly meeting to take place on each Tuesday between five and +six o'clock in the afternoon, but a special meeting might be called at +any time at the request of a member, but at the president's discretion. + +"The last clause in that by-law is unfortunate," criticized Emma, when, +in the privacy of their room that night, Grace went over with her friend +the club rules as she had set them down. + +"I know what you mean." Grace gave an impatient sigh. "Still, as +president of the club Miss Ward must be consulted about things. You +think she is likely to refuse to call a meeting at the request of a +member, if she happens to be so inclined, don't you?" + +"I do, and she will," prophesied Emma. "I wouldn't lose any sleep over +it, Gracie, but still it's a good plan to be prepared in advance for the +beauteous Evelyn's vagaries. To change the subject, I have heard very +little mention made of the sophomore reception in the house. I wonder if +it is because some of the girls have no evening gowns?" + +Grace sat up in her chair, with a start of surprise. "Really, Emma, I +had forgotten all about the reception. I suppose it slipped my mind +because it is to be held so much later this year on account of repairing +the gymnasium. It will hardly be over until Thanksgiving will be upon +us, and then, oh, joy! we'll see the dear old Sempers. I must see if +there is anything I can do to help the girls get ready for it. I hope +they understand that their summer dresses will do nicely." + +For the next three days Grace made it a point to inquire tactfully into +the reception plans of the Harlowe House girls. She discovered that +Emma's conjecture had been only too correct. The bare mention of evening +gowns had intimidated them, and, worse still, only three or four of them +had been especially invited by sophomores. This was partly accounted for +by the fact that, while the sophomore class was large, it was completely +outnumbered by the entering class. Remembering that the same state of +affairs had prevailed when she had entered Overton as a freshman, Grace +proceeded to make a round of calls which began with the members of the +reception committee, and included Violet Darby, Myra Stone, Laura +Atkins, Mildred Taylor, Patience, Kathleen and others of the upper +classes whom she knew well, though not intimately. The reception +committee had expressed their absolute willingness to allow the upper +class girls to help them out on escort duty and the girls themselves +entered heartily into the plan. + +"I'll walk over to Harlowe House with you now and invite Mary Reynolds," +declared Kathleen West, who was the last girl on Grace's list. "I'm glad +to have the opportunity. What a bright little thing Mary is! She is +quick as a flash when it comes to grasping an idea. I tell her she has +the making of a good newspaper woman in her." + +"She is Emma's star pupil in English. Emma says she writes the most +original themes." + +"She has all sorts of queer fancies about people and things," went on +Kathleen. "I can't begin to tell you, Grace, how glad I am to be of some +help to her. I must do something to make up for lost time." A faint +color tinged Kathleen's pale face. + +"You are doing a great deal for Mary Reynolds, Kathleen. She loves you +dearly!" + +"It certainly is nice to be liked," returned Kathleen softly. "If it +hadn't been for you and Elfreda and Patience I would have gone on in the +same hard, selfish spirit in which I began college." + +"As it is, you are one of the literary lights of Overton, and a joy to +your friends," said Grace gayly. "I wish you were at Harlowe House this +year with Emma and me." + +"I wish I were," sighed Kathleen, "but I didn't feel that it would be +fair to apply for admission there. You see, Grace, my salary on the +newspaper, during the summer, is a generous one, and, by managing +carefully, I can pay my expenses in college for the year with it. I +don't have to do that, however, for every week I write a story for the +Sunday edition of our paper which more than pays my board at Wayne Hall. +Then I send in extra space articles and go out on special stories during +the Christmas and Easter vacations. I am never really very short of +money, so I'm not eligible as a member of your household." + +"You are a clever, capable girl, Kathleen," averred Grace, with honest +admiration, "and I am proud to be your friend." + +A long look of perfect understanding passed between the two. It had come +only after many days of misunderstanding and doubt. + +"Dear Loyalheart, I can never forgive myself for making you so unhappy," +Kathleen's crisp tones trembled. + +"And I shall never forgive you if you mention it again," retorted Grace. +"You mustn't recall such things. I am enough of a believer in destiny to +feel that we had to go through a kind of probation period before we were +ready to be friends." + +"It's dear in you to say so, Grace, but I know myself, and how +contemptibly I behaved. I've been determined to say this to you ever +since I came back to college, but you have never given me the least +chance until now." + +"'Loyalheart' was the highest proof of your regard you could have given +me," reminded Grace gently. "I don't need any other reminders. I must +go, Kathleen. Did I hear you say you were going with me?" + +"Yes." + +Kathleen slipped into her hat and coat, and, as they went down Mrs. +Elwood's familiar stairs and strolled out into the crisp autumn air, arm +in arm, Kathleen felt that she could never be thankful enough to the +girl who had taught her the true meaning of college spirit. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A DISQUIETING THOUGHT + + +When half way across the campus the two young women encountered Evelyn +Ward. The cold crisp November air had deepened the pink in her cheeks to +living rose. Her violet eyes fairly blazed with light and sparkle, and +her wonderful golden hair peeped in fascinating little curls from under +her gray velour hat. She wore a three-quarter length gray coat, cut in +the smartest fashion, and a passing glance at her would have left one +with the impression that she was in affluent circumstances. + +"How can a girl who can't afford to pay her college expenses wear such +smart clothes?" was Kathleen's appraising comment after they had passed +Evelyn, who nodded to them in condescending fashion. + +"Her sister, Ida, makes them. She told me so when she came here to ask +me to take Miss Ward into Harlowe House. She is a very pretty girl, +isn't she?" + +Kathleen nodded. "How are things at Harlowe House?" she inquired +irrelevantly. + +"Going beautifully. I told you about our club didn't I?" + +"Not a word. I haven't seen you for a week." + +The newspaper girl listened interestedly to Grace's account of the club. +"It would make a good story for my paper," she commented. "How about it, +Grace?" + +"You're welcome to it if the girls don't object. Suppose you come as a +guest to our next meeting and ask their permission." + +"I'll do it," promised Kathleen. + +Mary Reynolds received and accepted Kathleen's invitation to the +reception with unmistakable joy. Grace had sent home for a pink silk +evening gown, which she had worn but little, and fairly forced it, with +slippers, stockings and gloves, upon the reluctant Mary, with the plea +that pink was not her color and therefore she never wore the frock. +Aside from shortening it, it had needed little alteration, and when the +night of the sophomore reception arrived, Kathleen appeared, an hour +before the time to start for the dance, to help Mary dress. She brought +a cluster of pinky-white roses and a pink chiffon scarf, which, she +diplomatically insisted, did not go well with any of her gowns and +exactly matched Mary's. + +"I can't believe that I am I," Mary said happily, as she viewed herself +wonderingly in the round dressing-table mirror. She clasped her thin, +childish hands impulsively together. "I wish every girl in the world had +such good friends and pretty clothes as I have!" + +"I hope no one has such elusive hooks and eyes on their clothes as I +have," grumbled Emma Dean, who had appeared in the doorway in time to +hear Mary's heartfelt remark. "I have permanently dislocated one +shoulder and ruined the charming curves of both my elbows forever, in a +vain, but valiant, effort to unite one miserable hook and eye, which I'm +sure the dressmaker purposely sewed out of my reach." + +"Poor Emma," sympathized Kathleen. "Let me help you." + +Emma surrendered herself to Kathleen's deft fingers with a ludicrous +gesture of resignation. + +"Are all the Harlowe House girls going?" asked Kathleen. + +"Yes; thanks to the juniors and seniors, not one has been left out. It +is such a clear, pleasant night the campus house girls won't need +carriages," answered Grace. "It is eight o'clock now. Don't you think +you had better start? You go on with the girls, Emma. I'll run over some +time during the evening for a few minutes." + +After the merrymakers had set out for the gymnasium, Grace retired to +her office to write a letter to her mother. She had hardly settled +herself when the door bell rang and she heard a high, clear voice asking +the maid for Miss Ward. + +"Please tell her to hurry, my car is waiting," instructed the voice, as +the maid ushered the newcomer into the living-room. Grace glanced +through the open door of the office into the next room. In Evelyn's +escort she recognized Althea Parker, one of the most snobbish girls at +Overton College, and a member of the sophomore class. Evelyn's +declaration on her arrival at Overton that she intended to cultivate the +richest girls in college now came back to Grace with disagreeable force. + +"Good evening, Miss Harlowe," hailed Althea, as Grace rose and went +forward to greet her. "We are going to be late. I hope Evelyn won't keep +me waiting." There was a touch of impatience in her voice. + +Even as she spoke there was a patter of light feet on the stairs, and +Evelyn appeared in the doorway, her evening coat and scarf on her arm. + +Grace gave an involuntary gasp of admiration, while Althea cried out +openly, "Evelyn Ward, you are wonderful!" + +Evelyn's violet blue eyes flashed with gratified vanity. She wore an +exquisite gown of white silk and lace made in an apparently simple but +very smart fashion, which revealed the pure beauty of her white throat +and rounded arms, increasing her loveliness tenfold. She wore white silk +stockings and white satin slippers with little rhinestone buckles. Her +thick golden hair was drawn high on her head in a graceful knot and +clustered in little curls about her temples and over her forehead, while +her whole face was alive with excitement. At her corsage was an immense +bunch of violets, evidently sent her by her escort. + +"Shall I do?" she asked pertly, walking over to the living-room mirror +for a last peep at herself. + +"You look very lovely to-night," said Grace honestly. + +"Thank you," she swept Grace a curtsey. A faint mocking smile played +about her red lips, as though she doubted the sincerity of the remark. +Slipping on her evening coat of white broadcloth, and placing an +extremely handsome scarf of white and gold over her pretty head, Evelyn +walked to the door, followed by Althea Parker, who, divided between +admiration of Evelyn and fear of being late, was talking rapidly in her +high, excited voice. + +"Good night, Miss Harlowe," she nodded. + +"Oh, yes, good night," called Evelyn carelessly. + +Grace leaned back in her chair and smiled at Evelyn's slightly cavalier +treatment of herself. "How her sister has spoiled her," she mused. "She +treats me as though I were one of the maids. To see her to-night one +would be quite likely to imagine that she, rather than Miss Parker, were +the richest girl in Overton." + +A sudden, startled look stole into Grace's eyes. "Why, where--" She +paused as though she had come upon something which did not quite please +her. As a matter of fact it had recurred to her with an unpleasant jolt +that Evelyn was wearing an evening gown entirely too expensive for her +present circumstances. So were her evening coat, her scarf and all the +dainty appointments which so perfectly matched the white silk frock. +Again she recalled that Ida Ward planned and made all her sister's +gowns. Even so, she must have spent considerable money on Evelyn's +evening clothes. Suppose these things were to be noticed and commented +upon by the girls in the house, or by outsiders who knew nothing of the +real source of Evelyn's wardrobe? Suppose some one were ill-natured +enough to say that a girl who could afford such expensive gowns ought to +be able to pay her own expenses and give her place in Harlowe House to +some one more needy. Had not Kathleen asked how Evelyn could afford to +wear such smart clothes? + +Yet on the other hand, there was nothing to be done. Grace did not feel +it within her province to take Evelyn to task on the subject of her +wearing apparel. All she could do was to trust that what had perplexed +her would pass unnoticed and uncriticized. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A SEMPER FIDELIS REUNION + + +"O frabjous day!" rejoiced Emma Dean, using her bath towel as a scarf +and performing a weird dance about the room. "I know I shall go +chortling through my classes this morning in a highly undignified +manner. To think that dear old Semper Fidelis will hold forth again in +the same old haunts! And the most beautiful part is that there will be +no vacant chairs." + +Emma's delight was reflected on Grace's face. It was the morning before +Thanksgiving Day and the two young women were preparing to go to +breakfast, full of happy anticipation, for the various afternoon trains +were to bring to them their Semper Fidelis comrades. It had all begun +with Elfreda's and Mabel Ashe's promises to spend Thanksgiving at +Harlowe House. Then Elfreda had persuaded Arline Thayer, whom she saw +frequently in New York, to join them. Arline had written to Ruth, who +had come on to New York for a long visit to her chum in time to swell +the band. Elfreda had promptly written Grace that if she would see that +Miriam and Anne put in an appearance at the proper moment, the Briggs +Helping Hand Society would guarantee that the other members should +appear at Overton on the appointed day. + +"Elfreda has taken rather a large contract on her hands," Grace had said +to Emma, on receiving the letter. "She evidently knows what she's doing, +so I had better write to Miriam and Anne." + +Miriam's promise to come had been easily obtained, but Anne was not sure +of attending the Semper Fidelis reunion, until the week before +Thanksgiving, when Everett Southard, who was then playing in +Shakespearian repertoire in New York, obligingly arranged to give the +"Taming of the Shrew" on the day before Thanksgiving, and "King Richard +III" on Thanksgiving Day. As Anne did not appear in either play, her +Thanksgiving freedom was assured. + +And now the great day had dawned at last! There were to be recitations +in the morning, but college would close at noon, not to reopen until the +following Monday. The Semper Fidelis girls were to be Elfreda's guests +at Vinton's that night at a six o'clock dinner. On Thanksgiving morning +they were to breakfast at the Tourraine as the guests of Ruth and +Arline. Thanksgiving dinner at Martell's was to be Anne's and Miriam's +part of the celebration, while Thanksgiving night Emma and Grace were to +be hostesses at Vinton's, their favorite rendezvous. + +Grace would have dearly loved to be hostess at the Thanksgiving dinner, +but she felt that her duty lay with her household. She wondered whether +it would be really right for her to remain away from Harlowe House for +so many meals. After long and earnest discussion, she and Emma had +arranged that she would give up eating Thanksgiving dinner with her +friends, while Emma cheerfully agreed to preside at the Harlowe House +breakfast table on Thanksgiving morning. It was decided that Louise +Sampson, of whom Grace had grown extremely fond, was the best possible +person to leave in charge during their absence on Thanksgiving night, +for neither Grace nor Emma felt that they could bear to miss that last +gathering together of their beloved Semper Fidelis friends. + +"I wonder who will be first on the scene," speculated Grace. + +"Consult the time table, my child," advised Emma. "I have no time for +speculation. I am starting on a hunt in darkest Deanery for my cuff +links. They are tucked away in some remote corner of the Dean territory, +but which corner?" + +"They are in one end of your handkerchief box. I saw you put them there +yesterday, you ridiculous person," laughed Grace. + +"Thank you, thank you! 'One good turn deserves another,'" quoted Emma +fervently. "Bring forth the fateful time table and I'll sort out the +trains and the order of arrival of the clan." + +"I haven't a time table," confessed Grace. + +"Then we'll have to let the trains run merrily on, and the railroad do +its perfect work. I'm sorry I can't pay my debt of gratitude. I am +always helpful. I was always helpful. I have been helpful. I would be +helpful. I might have been helpful and I may yet be helpful," conjugated +Emma hopefully, "but not without a time table." + +"I appreciate your splendid spirit of helpfulness even though it isn't +of any use at present," assured Grace satirically. "I suppose--" + +A long reverberating ring of the bell cut short her remark. + +The two friends exchanged questioning glances. + +"It can't be one of the girls. It's only eight o'clock," was Emma's +quick comment. + +Grace opened the door and listened intently. Emma joined her, peering +over her shoulder. Then Miss Duncan's dignified assistant in English +gave an unmistakable, though subdued, war whoop, and, seizing Grace by +the hand, made for the stairs. Grace needed no assistance. An instant +later they brought up at the foot of the stairs and made a simultaneous +rush for a tall, plump young woman, enveloping her in a tempestuous +embrace. + +"I might have known you'd be the first," cried Grace with joyful +affection. "You must have taken a train in the middle of the night." + +"I did," returned J. Elfreda Briggs calmly. "We are living in New York +this winter, so Pa brought me to the station in his own pet car and saw +me safely on my way. Emma Dean, you good old comrade, how are you?" +Elfreda turned from Grace to Emma. + +Emma surveyed Elfreda with fond eyes. "Just now I'm overcome at seeing +you, J. Elfreda. How we have missed you!" Depth of feeling for the +moment checked Emma's irrepressible flow of humor. Next to Grace, in her +regard, came the one-time stout girl, now merely plump and extremely +attractive. + +Tears flashed across J. Elfreda's eyes as she stood looking into the +faces of these friends, whom she loved so truly, yet saw so seldom. +"Missing people has been my greatest cross this year," she said, her +voice not quite steady. "There's no use in making a fuss, though. I'm +beginning to learn that." + +A brief silence fell upon the three classmates. + +"Have you had your breakfast, Elfreda?" asked Grace, almost abruptly. + +"Are there waffles?" counter-questioned Elfreda. + +"There can be. The Harlowe House kitchen boasts of waffle irons, bought +with this occasion in view." + +"Then I am heart and soul for breakfast," avowed Elfreda. "I ate my +usual sumptuous repast of half a grape fruit and a piece of dry toast, +plus one small cup of black coffee, on the train. I haven't had a waffle +since I was here in August. I wonder how they would taste," she added +innocently. + +"You'll know before long," promised Grace. "Emma take Elfreda upstairs +to our room, while I ask Sarah to make the waffles." + +Half an hour later they sat around the breakfast table, a contented +trio. After Emma had left them to go to her work, Grace and Elfreda had +a long confidential conversation over their coffee. The noon train +brought Mabel Ashe, Arline and Ruth, while from off the afternoon trains +stepped Anne and Miriam, the smiling Emerson twins, Elizabeth Wade, +Marian Cummings and Elsie Wilton. + +It was a congenial and talkative company that, as Elfreda's guests, +graced Vinton's at six o'clock dinner that night. Kathleen West, who had +been prevailed upon to spend at least one Thanksgiving at Overton, +instead of on duty on her paper, was one of three guests of honor, Mabel +Ashe and Patience Eliot were the others. By special arrangement a table +that would seat fifteen persons had been set in their favorite +rendezvous, the mission alcove. Elfreda, Grace, Anne and Miriam, +rejoicing in their reunion, had made a tour of the stores together that +afternoon, and gleefully carrying the fruits of their shopping to +Vinton's had decorated the table with flowers, ribbons and funny little +favors. + +The Overton girls that happened to drop into Vinton's that night smiled +appreciatively at the gay little company in the alcove. A glance in that +direction on the part of the upper class girls was sufficient. They knew +that Semper Fidelis, the darling of the Overton clubs, was making merry. +The freshmen, however, had to have matters explained to them by their +friends. + +"That Semper Fidelis club was the life of Overton," Althea Parker +explained to Evelyn Ward. "That's one reason I asked you to come here +with me to-night. I wanted you to see them together." The two were +seated at a small table not far from that of the Sempers. + +Evelyn made no response. Her eyes were fixed upon the mission alcove. +She knew, only too well, that Althea's invitation to dinner had not been +disinterested. She had learned to know that Althea was not only +snobbish, but self-seeking as well. For whatever she gave she demanded +value received. Evelyn had been in the living-room when Grace and +Elfreda returned from their shopping. She had heard them discussing the +dinner, and had lost no time in slipping on her wraps and carrying the +news to Althea, who, as she had hoped, had at once invited her to dinner +at Vinton's. + +"Althea thinks I'll attract the attention of those girls," Evelyn had +speculated shrewdly. + +Meanwhile the girls in the alcove, quite unconscious of the discussion +going on about them at the other tables, were in their element. One +after another the dear wraiths of their Overton days were summoned, to +be laughingly and lovingly reviewed, then lingeringly laid to rest +again. + +"Girls, do you remember the dinner we gave here after the ghost party?" +asked Mabel Ashe, her brown eyes alight with mischief. "Some of you +girls weren't here that night, but at least half of you were." + +"I ought to remember it," declared Elfreda significantly. + +"Yes, Elfreda, it was in honor of you, I believe," laughed Arline. The +dinner to which Mabel referred belonged to Elfreda's freshman year at +Overton. + +"It was indeed," affirmed Anne Pierson. "Every one of our four years +brought its own parties." + +"And its own problems," supplemented Miriam. + +"Of whom we were which," murmured J. Elfreda. + +Every one laughed at this naive assertion. + +"But we've all turned out creditably," smiled Miriam Nesbit, "thanks to +our Loyalheart. She opened the way to good comradeship for me, long ago, +in my high school days." + +"She found my father for me!" said Ruth Denton, her eyes eloquent. + +"She stood by me when I needed her most," said Anne. + +"Girls, I won't--" Grace half rose from her chair, but was gently shoved +into it again. + +"Sit still and hear the rest of your misdeeds," commanded Mabel. "Go on, +Arline." + +"She helped me to be unselfish and to think of others," was Arline's +sweet tribute. + +"She made me over," asserted Elfreda with emphasis. + +"She taught me college spirit," said Kathleen softly. + +"Sara and I didn't like college and never had much fun until Grace asked +us to join the Sempers," declared Sue Emerson. + +"She was the first to welcome me to Overton, and has given me countless +good times since then," said Patience. + +"She taught me to look for the best rather than the worst, even in my +enemies," declared Mabel Ashe. + +Elizabeth Wade, Marian Cummings and Elsie Wilton each added their +tribute. + +"Girls, if you only knew how terribly this embarrasses me," pleaded +Grace. "Every one of you have done the nicest sort of things for me. I +think--" + +"You are not allowed to think," put in Miriam. "We will do the thinking +for the next two minutes. Besides J. Elfreda has something to say. Go +ahead, Elfreda." + +"Grace, you've heard what we all had to say about you, but there is a +whole lot that we can never find words for. Each of us knows best what +you've been to us, as individuals, and we all know that there will never +be any other girl quite as dear, and true, and loyal as you are to us. +So we decided to give our Loyalheart a loyalty token, and here it is. +Hold out your arm," commanded Elfreda. + +[Illustration: "We Decided to Give Our Loyalheart a Loyalty Token."] + +Grace held out her pretty, bare arm in obedient bewilderment. Something +shining slipped over her wrist. She stared at it in fascination. + +"How beautiful!" she gasped. "It can't be for me!" The bracelet was a +wide band of dull gold, chased with a pattern of tiny leaves, and, at +intervals, its golden circle was starred with small diamonds. It was the +most expensive piece of jewelry Grace had ever owned. + +"Every one of our initials is inside," informed Elsie Wilton +triumphantly. Grace slipped the band off her arm and peered into it. +Sure enough there were rows of tiny initials inscribed on the smooth +gold. + +"And now let us drink a toast to our Loyalheart and go up to the +Tourraine," proposed Elfreda, after the excitement attending the +presentation of the bracelet had died out. "Here's to our Loyalheart! +Drink her down!" + +The emptied lemonade glasses were set on the table and the party rose to +go. + +As they were passing out, Grace and Anne walked with linked arms, +determined to make the most of their brief hour together. + +"Oh, Grace, I almost forgot to ask you," began Anne, "who was that +beautiful girl at the next table to the alcove? I saw you speak to her. +She was with Miss Parker, that little girl of 19-- who has so much +money." + +"That was Evelyn Ward, Anne, and thereby hangs a tale which I'll +entertain you with to-morrow. One thing about her will interest you. She +wants to become an actress. She thinks you are the wonder of this +century. I'll introduce her to you to-morrow." + +"She is beautiful," commented Anne, "and if she is really sincere in her +ambition I might help her to attain her ambition." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE INTERRUPTED CONFIDENCE + + +The days that lay between Thanksgiving and Christmas passed swiftly and +uneventfully for Grace. As the holiday vacation drew near she was +divided, however, between her desire to go home and her duty to Harlowe +House. It was Emma Dean who finally settled the question by announcing +that she did not intend to go home for Christmas and would gladly look +after things during Grace's absence. The trip home was too expensive, +Emma had stated frankly, and her railroad fare would be quite a help +when added to the Dean housekeeping fund. Once she had made her decision +to stay at Overton she began to lay plans for a happy holiday season for +the Harlowe House girls, who, without exception, were also to remain in +Overton for their vacation. Two days before Christmas Grace left Overton +for Oakdale, with many injunctions to Emma to take things easy and to +telegraph her at once if she needed her. + +Once at home a round of merry parties began. True to their promise +Jessica and Reddy had come back to Oakdale for Christmas. The only +missing member of the Eight Originals was Anne, and the Sunday morning +following Christmas Day she walked into the Harlowe's living room +accompanied by Everett Southard and his sister. She could not bear to +allow the holidays to pass without seeing her friends, so she and the +Southards had taken the midnight train for Oakdale, determined to spend +at least one day there. That evening a contented, happy company gathered +at the Nesbits, as Miriam's and David's guests, at a dinner given in +honor of the unexpected arrivals. After a short, but exceedingly +earnest, confab in a cosy corner just off the hall, Anne and David had +appeared arm in arm, and, to an accompaniment of meaning smiles, had +announced their engagement. Although Miriam Nesbit was entirely unaware +of it, four pairs of eyes, belonging to the feminine half of the Eight +Originals had kept a lynx-like watch upon her and Everett Southard. +Afterward Grace confided to Anne that she believed Miriam did like Mr. +Southard a little, and it was quite plain to be seen that Mr. Southard +cared for her, while Jessica and Nora were wagging their heads in secret +agreement of the same belief. + +Only one thing marred Grace's pleasure in being at home and that was the +thought that she was making Tom Gray unhappy. Outwardly he was the same +sunny, smiling Tom she had known for so many years, but there were times +when the mask of cheerfulness fell away and Grace read in his eyes a +look of pain and longing that caused her to reproach herself. Then her +honest nature would reassert itself and she would vow never to promise +to marry Tom out of sympathy. Unless there came a time when she was +absolutely convinced that he meant more to her than her work she and Tom +would have to go on in the same old way. + +But aside from this one cloud it seemed to Grace that she had never +before so fully appreciated her father and mother. "You grow dearer +every minute," she assured them on her last night at home. She sat +between them on a little stool, holding a hand of each. "If you don't +put me out on the steps to-morrow morning with my luggage, and lock the +door in my face, I know I'll never, never have the courage to go away +from you. It is really a tragedy, this wanting to be in two places at +once." + +"Dear child," said her mother softly, while her father stroked her +shining hair and wondered how he ever managed to get along without her +during the long months she spent at Overton. "We hate to give you up, +Gracie," he said, "but we love you all the more for your faithfulness to +your work." + +And that was the thought which Grace took back with her to Overton. She +smiled to herself as she swung briskly through the quiet streets. Their +approbation had quickened her spirit to put forth fresh effort. She felt +as though she could remove mountains if they happened to rise suddenly +in her path. And in this state of mental exhilaration she ran up the +steps of Harlowe House and, after a second's fumbling with her latchkey, +let herself in. + +It was almost six o'clock in the afternoon, and the darkness of early +January had settled down upon the landscape. A wet, discouraging snow, +which made the streets a slush-covered menace to pedestrians, was +falling, and Grace gave a soft sigh of satisfaction as she stepped into +the cheery, well-lighted hall. Knowing that she was quite likely to find +Emma in her room she hurried up the stairs. Her hand was on the door +knob when she heard what sounded suspiciously like a sob. Grace flung +open the door and rushed into her room, her face alive with concern. +What could possibly have happened to make jolly, self-reliant Emma Dean +cry? She exclaimed in quick surprise, however, for, other than herself, +the room held no occupant. "I'm sure I heard some one crying," she +murmured. She listened intently. A moment later the same doleful sound +was again borne to her ears. Walking quickly into the bathroom she stood +by the door that opened into Evelyn Ward's room. + +"It comes from Miss Ward's room," was her second surmisal. "I wonder +what I ought to do. She is so easily offended that, if I go to her, she +may resent my call and think me meddlesome and interfering." Grace +continued to listen uneasily to the unmistakable sounds of grief that +came from the next room. + +"Something serious has certainly happened. I can't stand it to hear her +cry so. I'll take the risk of being misunderstood," she decided with a +grim little smile. + +Stepping out of her room into the hall she knocked softly on Evelyn's +door, receiving no answer. Her second and rather more emphatic knock +elicited a faint, "Who is there?" + +"Miss Harlowe," answered Grace. "May I come in for a moment, Miss Ward?" + +She heard Evelyn moving about the room for a moment, then the door was +opened slowly, and with apparent reluctance on the part of the pretty +freshman, who had evidently dried her tears for the time being. + +"How do you do, Miss Harlowe?" she said in a queer, strained voice. "I +did not know that you had returned from your vacation." She did not +offer her hand to Grace. In her blue eyes lay a look of positive fear. + +"I came in not more than ten minutes ago," returned Grace, stepping into +the room and closing the door after her. Then with her usual directness +she said, "Miss Ward, I heard you crying. I came to see if I could help +you." + +The look of fear in Evelyn's eyes deepened. She continued to regard +Grace intently, as though trying to discover whether there could be any +other motive for her visit. In spite of the effort she was making to be +natural her face expressed absolute consternation. + +"It--was--nothing," she stammered, at last. "I am not feeling very +well." + +Grace was not deceived. She knew that Evelyn was not the kind of girl to +cry hysterically over a slight illness. Still she could not force this +perverse young woman to tell that which she did not choose to tell. + +"I am sorry you won't let me help you. Are you sure that I can't be of +service to you." + +"_You._" Evelyn laughed shortly. "No; I am quite sure that _you_ can't +be." + +"Very well." Grace was about to leave the room. + +"Wait a minute!" Evelyn's voice rang out sharply. "I--I--will tell you +my trouble, Miss Harlowe. It's about--my college fees. I paid part of +the money when I came here. My--my--sister has been very ill and can't +send the rest of the money. She made a special arrangement with the +registrar to make the other payment in November. I've received two +notices. I don't know what to do. I can't bear to leave Overton." + +"Why didn't you come to me before?" asked Grace with gentle reproach. "I +can help you in this matter through the Semper Fidelis fund." + +Grace went on to explain the purpose of the Semper Fidelis Club. "We +lend the students the money rather than give it to them, because they +like to feel that they are proceeding on a strictly business basis. It +takes away the slightest idea of charity and makes the girls quite +responsible for themselves." + +"I see," murmured Evelyn. "But suppose I borrowed the money and then +found that I couldn't return it for ever so long?" + +"There is neither time limit set nor interest charged on any reasonable +sum of money a girl may wish to borrow," returned Grace. "We have the +utmost confidence in our borrowers. The very fact that they come to us +for help is an avowal of their honesty. How much money do you wish to +borrow, Miss Ward?" + +Evelyn rather hesitatingly named a sum considerably in excess of that +needed for her college fees. "It--will--pay my expenses for the year and +leave me a little besides for emergencies," she explained +apologetically. "Then poor Ida can get well and won't have to worry. I +am sure I can work at something this summer and pay at least part of the +money back to the club." + +She swept a swift, speculative glance at Grace from under her eyelashes +which quite belied her earnest tones. Grace, however, absorbed for a +brief moment in her own thoughts, failed to see it. When she looked at +Evelyn the latter's face bore a sweetly grateful expression that made +her wonder if she had not been mistaken in her estimate of the, +hitherto, troublesome freshman. Her apparent anxiety to relieve her +sister of worry over financial difficulties was distinct evidence of an +affection of which Grace had not believed Evelyn capable. "I have +misjudged her," was Grace's thought. "She really cares for her sister." + +Aloud she said, "I will write at once to Miss Thayer, who is the +president of the Semper Fidelis Club, and in whose name the account +stands, telling her the circumstances. Thus far we have not received +many calls for help since college opened, so there is quite a little +money in bank. It is during the last half of the year that we make the +greatest number of loans. I am sorry that your sister has been ill. If +you will give me her address I will write to her to-night." + +Evelyn flushed hotly. "Oh, no, you mustn't!" she exclaimed sharply. +"That is--I mean you--mustn't put yourself--to so much trouble for me," +she added lamely. + +"It won't be a particle of trouble," assured Grace. "I should like to do +so." + +Evelyn's confusion deepened. "I--can't--" she floundered. + +Grace regarded her with quiet, searching eyes. But before she had time +to go on from wonder at Evelyn's strange objection to her writing her +sister to actual suspicion, Evelyn interposed eagerly, "I'll give you +the address, with pleasure, Miss Harlowe. Wait a moment." She sprang to +her open writing desk and seizing a piece of paper and a pencil wrote +energetically for a moment. + +"Here it is." + +She laid it before Grace, who picked it up and read, "Miss Ida Ward, 320 +Duverne Street, Albany, N.Y." + +A puzzled frown wrinkled Grace's forehead. "I thought your sister told +me she lived in Burton. I must have misunderstood her." + +"So we did," put in Evelyn hurriedly, "but Ida is spending the winter +with my aunt in Albany. She went there just before she was taken ill. We +may never go back to Burton again to live. Of course I am not sure of +that. Perhaps I can find work in a large city during my summer +vacation." + +"That reminds me," began Grace. "I had a talk with Miss Pierson when she +was here about your going on the stage. She saw you at Vinton's, and +when I told her you had stage ambitions she said she was quite sure she +could find work for you during the summer in a stock company. She will +try to take you with her." + +"Really!" Evelyn sprang to her feet, her blue eyes glittering with +excitement. "Oh, Miss Harlowe, if I could, if she would take me! I'd +work so hard and pay every penny of everything I owe." + +"But you don't owe anything yet," reminded Grace, smiling. + +Evelyn did not answer. It was doubtful whether she heard Grace's last +words. She stood perfectly still, a curious look on her beautiful face. +Suddenly she said in a low, halting tone, "Miss Harlowe, if you knew +how--" + +A knock on the door interrupted her speech. Without finishing, she +stepped to it and turned the knob. "Hello, Mary," she said +indifferently. + +"Oh, Miss Harlowe, I didn't know that you had come home," cried Mary +Reynolds. "We have all missed you dreadfully, haven't we, Evelyn?" + +"Yes," replied Evelyn in her usual indifferent fashion. Then as Grace +turned to go she said sweetly, "Thank you so much for your kindness to +me, Miss Harlowe." + +But Grace reflected disappointedly as she went slowly into her own room +that Mary Reynolds' innocent interruption had occurred just in time to +prevent the establishment with Evelyn of the very footing which she had +been trying all year to gain. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A WEEK-END IN NEW YORK + + +True to her promise Grace wrote to Arline Thayer that very evening +concerning the sum of money which Evelyn wished to borrow, and three +days later she opened a fat letter from the president of Semper Fidelis +from which fell the magic slip of paper which, for Evelyn, meant the way +out of her difficulties. Grace pounced with delight upon the letter and +was soon deep in its contents. + +"We saw Anne as 'Ophelia' last Friday night," Arline wrote. "After the +play father gave a little supper for her at our house and invited the +Southards, Mabel and Mr. Ashe, Elfreda, Miriam Nesbit and her brother. +Miriam came to New York to visit and shop, and it is not hard to guess +why her brother came with her. We were all so surprised to see her, and +so delighted. She is staying with the Southards, and, Grace, I do +believe Everett Southard is in love with her. It is hard to say whether +she returns his love, for she doesn't manifest the slightest sign of it. +Wouldn't it be splendid if they did decide to go through life together? +He is so clever, and a great actor too. Mabel's lawyer has won the most +difficult case he ever fought for. He has persuaded Mabel to wear his +ring. Their engagement is to be announced next week. I suppose you will +hear from Mabel before many days. How I wish you were here. We all miss +you so. Can't you come to New York for a week end before Easter? Do try +to arrange it. I have so many things to tell you. It would take an age +to write them. Think it over and decide to come. With my dearest love, +Arline" + +Grace finished the letter with a happy sigh. She would try to manage to +run down to New York for a week end. She wondered how long Miriam +intended to stay in the city and she smiled faintly over Arline's +comment regarding Miriam and Everett Southard. It was not news to her. +Consulting the calendar that hung above the desk, she decided to go the +first week in February, and began to plan her work accordingly. + +In spite of her secret fears that everything was too perfect to last, +not only was her varied household serene, but prospering as well. From +the time the Harlowe House girls became a self-governing body the +question of putting money in the treasury had been continually agitated. +One way and another had been suggested, but it was not until the +Christmas holidays that the inspiration had come in the shape of a most +toothsome batch of caramels which Louise Sampson had descended into the +kitchen and made, one snowy, blustery evening when the club had +assembled in the living-room for a social session. The caramels were a +signal success, and when Cecil Ferris eyed one of the delicious brown +squares lovingly before popping it into her mouth, then asked +reflectively, "Why couldn't we make caramels and sell them to the +Overton girls?" the idea was hailed with cries of "Great," "A good +idea." "We could easily sell pounds of them." + +With one accord they had besieged Louise Sampson with curious questions +as to how she had made the caramels and the cost of the ingredients. +Louise had laughingly refused to tell her recipe. + +After talking things over Louise had sworn Cecil, Mary Reynolds and one +other girl to secrecy, imparted the precious recipe to them, and on the +next Saturday afternoon they had made their first candy. A gay little +poster, drawn by one of the girls, advertised their wares. It was tacked +to one side of the college bulletin board, and by nine o'clock on +Saturday night the last caramel had gone its destined way, while the +success-crowned merchants counted their money and lamented because they +had not made half enough caramels. From then on, caramel-making occupied +the spare moments of Louise and her faithful band and the "Harlowe House +Caramels" rapidly gained favor. With her usual kindly interest in the +success of others Grace, on her return from the Christmas holidays, +entered into the candy making with spirit and energy, doing much to help +fill the rush of orders. Try as they might the caramel supply was always +running out, for the students found the delicious home-made caramels +quite to their taste and they grew daily more popular. + +The Harlowe House girls were extremely proud of the growing fund in the +treasury. One and all, with the exception of Evelyn Ward, they begged so +earnestly to be initiated into the mysteries of caramel making that they +were sworn to secrecy at a special meeting of the club and divided into +caramel-making squads. It was also decided to make candy only twice a +week, on Wednesday and Friday evenings, and set Thursday and Saturday as +the days for selling the caramels, which were put up in neat half-pound +and pound boxes. + +But while this little enterprise was being carried on with a will Evelyn +was merely an indifferent onlooker. True she belonged to one squad of +the candy makers, but she usually managed to be absent when they worked. +Apparently she was not interested in the financial affairs of the +Harlowe House Club. For a week or more after the check from Semper +Fidelis had been handed to her she had maintained toward Grace an +attitude of sweet gratitude, too flattering to be wholly sincere. It had +gradually disappeared, however, and the old Evelyn had come to the +surface again. Although she was now careful not to offend openly, Grace +felt that underneath the thin veneer of reluctant gratitude lay the old +dislike which she was sure Evelyn felt for her. In spite of her efforts +to judge this strange selfish girl dispassionately Grace knew in her +heart that she still disapproved of Evelyn. + +The first week in February found Grace looking forward to her week end +in New York City. She had arranged to leave Overton on Friday at noon, +and on Friday morning she opened her eyes with that feeling of +exultation over something delightful just around the corner from her. +Then she remembered. In a few hours she would again be with her beloved +friends. She went about her work that morning humming under her breath. +As she was to take the eleven-thirty train she had said a regretful +good-bye to Emma before the latter went to her classes. "How I wish you +were going with me, Emma," she had sighed. Emma's eyes had grown wistful +for an instant, then she had launched forth into a multitude of pompous +and wholly ridiculous reasons why her presence was needed at Harlowe +House that made Grace laugh, and, for the time, banished the shadow from +her face. + +Later as she climbed into the taxicab that was to take her to the +station, Emma's face, with its funny little twisted smile, rose before +her, and she experienced fresh regret at leaving her behind. It was +hardly fair that she should have so much and Emma so little. How bravely +Emma had stepped into the breach made by her father's sudden reverse of +fortune. So deep was Grace in her own thoughts that she did not realize +that they had reached the station until the car came to a sudden stop +and the driver stood holding open the door. Handing him her suit case +and traveling bag Grace stepped out of the car, and tendering the man +her fare, gathered up her luggage and headed for the station. Seating +herself on one of the wooden benches inside the station, she placed her +traveling effects on the floor beside her and compared her watch with +the station clock. Then she rose and going to the ticket window, which +had just opened, purchased her ticket and inquired as to whether the +train were on time. + +"Fifteen minutes late," was the brief reply. + +Grace went back to her bench, and, seating herself, opened a magazine +she had brought with her. She was turning the leaves interestedly when a +sudden banging of the station door caused her to glance up. Her eyes +were riveted in surprise upon Evelyn Ward, who, suit case in hand, +hurried over to her with, "Oh, Miss Harlowe, I wonder if you would mind +my going to New York with you. I am invited to Althea Parker's for the +week end, but she had to go down last night. I tried to see you at +Harlowe House, but you had already gone. I would have spoken to you last +night about going, but I wasn't quite sure whether I could make it or +not." Evelyn's tones were far from concerned. + +"You are quite welcome to ride with me," returned Grace briefly. She +hardly liked the situation, yet she made it a rule not to interfere with +the amusements of the Harlowe House girls. When she had lived at Wayne +Hall Mrs. Elwood had never questioned the comings and goings of her +girls. Still Grace was not pleased with Evelyn's careless manner of +passing over her evident intention to go without even informing Grace of +her departure. + +Once on the train the two kept up a desultory conversation. But little +sympathy existed between them, and the situation grew momentarily more +strained. Grace caught Evelyn taking sly peeps at the magazine which she +still held. With her usual good nature, Grace hailed the boy who passed +through the train with magazines and candy and bought another magazine. + +"There is an article in this number which Miss Dean says is worth +reading," she explained. "Keep my magazine if you like, and I'll read +this." + +For the next two hours not a word was exchanged. The two girls read on +and on. As the afternoon began to wane Evelyn finished her magazine, +took off her hat, and, leaning her head against the high green velvet +back of the seat, closed her eyes. At last Grace laid aside her reading, +and idly watched, with half dreaming eyes, the fleeting landscape. +Occasionally her gaze wandered, in unwilling admiration, to Evelyn's +lovely, tranquil face. Why was such great beauty coupled with such +tantalizing perversity of spirit? was the thought that sprang unbidden +to her mind. + +It was long after dark when the two young women passed through the iron +gates of the station to where their friends awaited them. Anne, David, +Miriam and Arline stood eagerly watching for Grace. At almost the same +moment Evelyn spied Althea. On seeing Evelyn's companions, Althea +hurried forward in time to receive the much-coveted introduction to +Arline Thayer, Anne and the Nesbits. After a brief exchange of +courtesies Grace's friends bowed themselves off, gleefully escorting +Grace to David's car. + +Althea stared moodily after them. "I think they are awfully snobbish," +she remarked resentfully. "How did you manage to get away, Evelyn?" + +"Don't ask me," Evelyn made a gesture of deprecation. "All I hope is +that I'm not found out. I'm glad I overheard Miss Harlowe talking last +night about going to-day. If worse comes to worst, I'll say I came down +here with her." + +"But what if she denies it?" + +Evelyn shrugged her shoulders. "Ten chances to one I shall not be +missed, but if there is any trouble I'll appeal to her generosity of +spirit to help me. She pretends to be so helpful, let her demonstrate +her helpfulness by standing between me and Miss Sheldon." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A HUMILIATING REPRIMAND + + +To Grace forty-eight hours with her chums seemed hardly longer than +forty-eight minutes, and she found it an exceedingly difficult task to +divide her time equally among them. She went directly to the Southards +for dinner, and to the theater that night with David, Miriam and Miss +Southard to see Everett Southard and Anne as the ill-fated king and +queen in "Macbeth." To her delight she discovered that the opposite box +held Elfreda, Arline, Ruth, Mabel Ashe, Mr. Ashe and Mr. Thayer, and +after the play they were Mr. Ashe's guests at supper. + +On Saturday the devoted little band gathered at Arline's home at nine +o'clock in the morning, determined to crowd every possible bit of +pleasure into the hours that were theirs. On Sunday it was Mabel Ashe +who played hostess, and on Sunday night a goodly company saw Grace to +the station and safely on her way. + +It was eleven o'clock when she let herself into Harlowe House, and +hurried upstairs, anxious to relax and be comfortable after her long +ride. As she had expected, on opening the door of her room, she saw +Emma, her tall, thin figure wrapped in the folds of a gay crepe kimono, +seated before the table, industriously looking over, and marking, +themes. + +"Hello, Gracious," she caroled amiably, laying down the sheet of paper +she held in her hand and making a quick dive for Grace. "I began to +thing you weren't coming home to-night. How are you, and how is +everybody? In spite of being fairly swamped with themes, I managed to +arise in my might and make cocoa. It's in the chocolate pot and there +are some extra fine Dean-made sandwiches to match. Now say, 'Emma, you +are one in a million, and a cook besides.' Give me your coat and hat. +Your kimono and slippers await you." + +"What a dear you are, Emma," declared Grace, as she handed her wraps to +Emma and began to unhook her skirt. "How I wish you had been with us. +The girls were so sorry you couldn't come. Elfreda says she is going to +descend upon you some Friday and carry you off for a week end, +regardless of howls and protests." + +Emma's expressive face lighted with whimsical tenderness. "J. Elfreda +never forgets, does she? Here's your cocoa, Grace. Help yourself to +sandwiches." + +Seating themselves opposite each other at the oak center table, the +plate of sandwiches and the chocolate pot between them, the two young +women settled themselves for a talk which lasted until after midnight. + +"We are setting a fearful example for our girls," remarked Grace +yawning, as they finally arose to prepare for bed. "I hope we haven't +disturbed Miss Ward. I haven't heard a sound from her room. She must be +asleep. I wonder when she came back." + +"Came back from where?" asked Emma. + +"From New York City. She took the same train that I took and sat with me +all the way there." + +"She did!" exclaimed Emma. "That doesn't tally with what I heard in the +registrar's office Friday afternoon. I'm afraid she didn't ask +permission to go, Grace." + +"Oh, she must have had permission!" A look of surprise, mingled with +consternation, sprang into Grace's eyes. + +"Did she tell you she had the joyful sanction of the registrar?" quizzed +Emma. + +"No--o. She made a half apology for not telling me that she was going to +New York. She said she was not sure of going until the last minute. I +supposed, of course, that she had permission. Why will she persist in +disobeying the rules of the college?" asked Grace despairingly. "What +was said in the registrar's office, Emma, or aren't you at liberty to +tell me?" + +"Of course I am, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it," declared Emma. +"Friday afternoon I went over to Overton Hall to see Miss Sheldon. Just +as I stepped into her office I met Evelyn coming out looking like a +young thunder cloud. I wondered what had happened to upset her sweet, +even disposition," Emma's tones were distinctly ironical, "and without +asking any questions I soon found out. Miss Sheldon herself looked +anything but pleased and said: 'That Miss Ward is the most insolent girl +with whom I have ever come in contact. I refused to allow her to go to +New York City for the week end and she made some extremely impertinent +remarks to me. She has a condition to work off. I felt justified in +refusing her.'" + +"And she disregarded that refusal and went?" questioned Grace +wonderingly. "We would never have dreamed of defying the registrar, +would we, Emma?" + +"Hardly," returned Emma. "Even Laura Atkins in her most anarchistic +moods, or Kathleen West with all her thorns set, would have stopped +short of that. I hope the high and mighty Evelyn won't try to drag you +into this affair." + +"How can she?" demanded Grace. "I had nothing to do with it." + +"Yes, but you rode down to New York City on the same train and in the +same seat with her. She is quite likely to tell the registrar that you +countenanced her going even though Miss Sheldon didn't." + +"Oh, she couldn't!" burst forth Grace. + +"Why couldn't she?" demanded Emma. + +Grace shook her head. + +"I think you are a trifle hard on her, Emma. I know she is selfish, but +I don't believe she is malicious." + +"I wish I had your faith in people, Grace," said Emma sincerely. "You +always believe them honest until they prove themselves villains, don't +you?" + +When the next afternoon, Grace received a curt note from Miss Sheldon +asking her to come to her office at five o'clock, Emma's prophesy loomed +large before her. + +"It must be something else," reflected the troubled house mother, as she +prepared for her call on Miss Sheldon. Once in the registrar's office, a +quick glance at the older woman's face, set in lines of annoyance, was +enough to convince Grace that Emma's conjecture had been only too true. +Evelyn had in some way managed to make her a party to her disobedience. + +"Good afternoon, Miss Harlowe," said Miss Sheldon stiffly. There was no +trace of her usual friendly manner. "I sent for you this afternoon for +the purpose of clearing up any misunderstanding you may have in regard +to your authority here at Overton. The students in the various houses +are in every instance subject to the rules of Overton College, and it is +the purpose of the faculty to see that these rules are enforced. You +have no authority to grant a student leave of absence, particularly +after that permission has been refused by me." + +Then there followed a further sharp reprimand to which Grace listened +gravely, her calm, gray eyes never for an instant leaving Miss Sheldon's +face. Something in the younger woman's composure had its effect upon the +registrar, who, on first seeing Grace, had allowed her displeasure free +rein. She looked searchingly into the quiet face before her and said +more gently, "Perhaps I should have asked you to tell me your side of +the story, before condemning you, Miss Harlowe." + +Ah, so there was another side of the story! It was apparently as Emma +had said. + +Tears of hurt pride burned behind Grace's eyes, but they never fell. +With a brave effort she steadied her voice. "I do not know what has been +said to you, Miss Sheldon, but I do know that I have never given any +girl at Harlowe House leave of absence from Overton. I would not presume +to do so. I hope I understand the limit of my authority too clearly to +overstep it." + +"Then you did not take Miss Ward with you to New York City last Friday +afternoon?" + +"Miss Ward was with me on the train and shared my seat, but until I met +her in the station I had not the remotest idea that she intended to go. +I dislike to tell you this, Miss Sheldon, but since you have asked me +this question I can only tell you the truth." + +"I am sorry I spoke so hastily, Miss Harlowe," apologized Miss Sheldon, +"but I was greatly displeased. I have sent for Miss Ward. Will you wait +until she comes? You need not unless you wish to do so." + +"Thank you," said Grace, a shade of offended dignity in her voice, "but +I must go back to Harlowe House. It is almost dinner time. Good evening, +Miss Sheldon." + +Once outside Overton Hall her composure took wings and she brushed the +thick-gathering tears from her eyes as she hurried blindly across the +snow-covered campus in the gray twilight. She was still smarting under +the hurt of the registrar's sharp words. It was unspeakably humiliating +to be told that she had overstepped her authority. She had thought that +Miss Sheldon knew her too well for that. It merely served to show how +little one knew persons, she reflected bitterly. As for Evelyn, the +angry color dyed Grace's cheeks afresh as she thought of the girl's +treachery, and she made a resentful vow that Evelyn Ward should not be +admitted to Harlowe House for her sophomore year. + +The brisk walk across the campus in the crisp winter air cooled her +anger, and by the time she had reached the house she felt her +resentment, in a measure, vanishing. + +"You were right, Emma," she announced as she walked into their room +where Emma sat plodding laboriously through her weekly mending. + +"About Evelyn?" + +"Yes." + +Emma finished the sleeve of the blouse she was mending with a flourish. +Then, casting a swift, upward glance at Grace, she began singing +dolorously. + + "Mend, mend, mend, + On the waist that's weary and worn. + Stitch, stitch, stitch, + Each tatter so jagged and torn. + Collar and cuffs and sleeves, + Cobble and darn and baste, + Before they gape in a ghastly row, + And shriek the dirge of the waist." + +Grace's gloomy expression changed to a faint smile which broadened as +Emma's chant went on. At the end of the verse she laughed outright. + +"I couldn't be sad for long with you about, Emma," she said +affectionately. "How can you think of such funny things on the spur of +the moment?" + +"Oh, I don't know," drawled Emma. "Tell me about everything, Gracious." + +"I will," nodded Grace, "but I must run downstairs to the kitchen for a +minute. I'll be back directly." + +It was fifteen minutes before she returned. Emma had finished her +mending and was on her knees before the chiffonier putting her waists +away. + +"Now I'll tell you," began Grace. + +Emma turned her head to listen, but before Grace had time to begin the +door was flung violently open and Evelyn Ward rushed in, her blue eyes +bright with anger. "How could you tell Miss Sheldon that I didn't go to +New York with you? You could have helped me and she wouldn't have said a +word to Miss Wilder. Now I shall be expelled from college and it is all +your fault. You are--" + +At this juncture, however, Emma Dean took a hand. Without giving Grace +an opportunity to say a word she marched over to the excited Evelyn. +"Miss Ward, leave this room instantly, and do not come into it again +until you have asked Miss Harlowe to pardon you." + +In contrast to Evelyn's half-screamed denunciation Emma's voice was low +and even, but it vibrated with stern command. + +"I--she--" began Evelyn, but the look in Emma's eyes was too much for +her. With a half-sobbing cry of anger she rushed from the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +AN UNINTENTIONAL LISTENER + + +"Delightful young person," commented Emma dryly, as the resounding slam +of the door echoed through the room. + +Grace walked slowly over to the chair which she had been occupying when +Evelyn had made her tempestuous entrance, and sat down. There was a +brief silence, then, "Do you suppose Miss Wilder will send Evelyn home?" + +"Grace, you aren't going to try to intercede for that hateful girl after +this," Emma's tones quivered with vexation. + +"I don't know. I suppose it wouldn't be of much use. Miss Wilder won't +tolerate out and out disobedience. I--yes, Emma, I'm going to see if I +can save her. I'm going now." + +Grace sprang from her chair and began slipping into her wraps. + +Emma eyed her moodily, struggling between approval and disapproval, but +saying nothing. + +"Good-bye, dear," called Grace over her shoulder as she hurried out the +door. "I'm afraid I'll be late for dinner. Don't wait for me." + +Outside the house she paused, glanced toward Overton Hall, then set off +in the opposite direction toward Miss Wilder's home. + +"I hope she's at home," was Grace's anxious thought as she rang the +bell. + +"Miss Wilder's in the library, miss. I'll call her," informed the maid. +"Come in. It's Miss Harlowe wants to see her, isn't it?" + +"Yes," Grace smiled in pleasant appreciation of the maid's remembrance +of her. + +"Good evening, Miss Harlowe." Miss Wilder rose to greet her unexpected +visitor and offered her a chair. + +Grace returned the greeting, then seated herself directly opposite the +dean. + +"Miss Wilder, I came to see you," she burst forth, "to ask you if there +is--if you could give Miss Ward another chance. She came to me to-night +and said that she was to be sent home for what happened last Saturday. I +am sorry that she has put herself in such an unpleasant position, but I +am more sorry still for her sister, who has made so many sacrifices to +give her a college education. I never told you much about Miss Ward, +Miss Wilder. Let me tell you now." + +Miss Wilder listened attentively to Grace's eager outpouring. + +"Miss Ward's case has not yet been settled," she said slowly. "It rests +with me whether she shall remain at Overton. I will think over what you +have told me. I am not prepared to give you an answer now. Come to my +office at four o'clock to-morrow afternoon and bring Miss Ward with +you." + +"Thank you, Miss Wilder. Good night." + +Feeling that there was nothing more to be said, Grace rose and held out +her hand to the dean. The older woman took the hand in both of hers and +looked deep into Grace's honest eyes. + +"You are a true house mother," she said gently. "I know something of how +greatly Miss Ward has tried your patience, and if I do decide to give +her an opportunity to begin over again it will be largely because you +have asked me." + +When Grace let herself into Harlowe House a little later a hasty glance +into the dining-room revealed the fact that dinner was over. "I'll come +down and get mine after awhile," she decided, and ran upstairs to her +own room. + +"Well?" inquired Emma as Grace entered. + +"Pretty well," retorted Grace. "I won't know positively until to-morrow. +Is Miss Ward in her room?" + +"She is," stated Emma, "and, judging from the sounds, packing is in full +swing. I have heard her trunk lid banging frequently and wickedly, and +she is opening and shutting the drawers of her chiffonier in an anything +but gentle manner." + +"I must see her," declared Grace. + +"Then prepare to be greeted with an icy blast," predicted Emma. + +The next moment found Grace knocking on Evelyn's door. + +There was a rush of steps, the door was flung open and Evelyn faced her, +white and defiant. + +"Miss Wilder wishes you to be in her office at four o'clock to-morrow +afternoon. It will be to your interest to do as she requests," stated +Grace briefly. Without giving Evelyn an opportunity for speech she +turned and walked down the hall to her room. + +"Back so soon and no bones broken," commented Emma. + +Grace laughed a little in spite of herself. "Really, Emma, this is a +serious matter," she declared. "I'm not at all sure that Miss Wilder +will give Miss Ward another chance." + +"Don't think about it and she will. Worry over it and you'll defeat your +own hope. Think about your dinner instead. It's downstairs keeping hot +for you. I'll go down with you and entertain you while you eat. I have a +letter from Elfreda which I've been keeping as a surprise. There is +something in it that you will be glad to know." + +The "something" was Elfreda's announcement that Miriam had invited her +to go to Oakdale for the Easter holidays. + +"That settles it, Emma, you simply must come home with me!" exclaimed +Grace. "You know you delight in J. Elfreda." + +"I do, I do," solemnly agreed Emma. "I'll think it over, Gracious, and +if my finances can be stretched to cover my railroad fare I'll be 'wid +yez.' But who will look after the Harlowites if I fold my tents like the +Arabs and set sail for Oakdale?" + +"I don't know yet. Louise Sampson, perhaps. She is so capable and the +girls not only like her but respect her as well. I must talk with her +first. She may not wish to assume the responsibility. Then again she may +have other Easter plans. We shall manage, somehow, to arrange things +satisfactorily." + +Louise Sampson had no definite Easter plans, so she said, when Grace +broached the subject to her the following day. With never-failing +good-nature she readily agreed to take charge of Harlowe House during +the absence of Grace and Emma, provided Grace felt confident that she +was able to measure up to her responsibility. + +"I'm so thankful that's arranged," sighed Grace as Louise left her +office after luncheon to return to her classes. "I wish some other +things could be as easily disposed of." + +As she dressed that afternoon to go to Miss Wilder's office she was far +from joyous. She disliked the idea of meeting Evelyn in the dean's +office. She was confident that Miss Wilder would state frankly to Evelyn +why she had been spared. + +Her conjecture was only too well grounded. When Evelyn appeared in the +dean's office at precisely four o'clock, half anxious, half defiant, +Miss Wilder read her a lecture, the cutting severity of which caused +Evelyn to flush and pale with humiliation and anger. "Remember, Miss +Ward," she emphasized, "it is solely due to Miss Harlowe's intercession +in your behalf that I have decided to allow you to remain at Overton." + +"Oh, dear, I hope she isn't going to make Evelyn apologize to me," was +Grace's thought. "Why did Miss Wilder ask me to come here to-day?" + +As if in answer to her unspoken question, Miss Wilder went on to say, +"Miss Harlowe came to me last night and asked me not to send you home. I +requested her to be present to-day to hear what I wished to say to you. +I trust, Miss Ward, that, hereafter, you will see fit to observe the +rules of Overton College and live up to them, as a second infringement +of this nature will mean instant dismissal from Overton. That is all, I +believe." + +Thus dismissed Evelyn left the room without a word. + +Grace lingered for a moment's conversation with Miss Wilder, then left +the office and started across the campus for Harlowe House. Half way +there she glanced at her watch. It was not yet five o'clock. She would +have time to do a little shopping before dinner. Turning her steps in +the opposite direction she was soon hurrying along Overton's main +business thoroughfare. + +It was ten minutes to six when, her shopping done, she came within sight +of Harlowe House. She wondered if Evelyn were at home. Of late she had +been more intimate than ever with Althea Parker. As Grace walked into +the house and slowly up the stairs the pale face of Ida Ward rose before +her. She was glad that she had been able to avert the disastrous +consequences of Evelyn's disobedience so that Evelyn alone should +suffer. + +Entering her room she took off her wraps and began rearranging her hair +preparatory to going downstairs to dinner. The sound of footsteps in the +hall, the opening of Evelyn's door, then Evelyn's voice declaring +excitedly, "You can do it if you want to," caused Grace to lay down her +brush and involuntarily listen for a reply. + +It came, and in Mary Reynolds' distressed tones. "Oh, really, I +couldn't, Evelyn. Please, please don't ask me." + +"You must," Evelyn's command broke forth sharply. + +"I won't," Mary refusal gathered strength. "You have no right to ask me +and I have no right to do it." + +"Then you are not my friend if you don't do as I ask," flung back +Evelyn, "and I shall never speak to you again. Please go away and don't +ever come to this room again." + +"I am your friend," quivered Mary, "that's why I refuse to do something +which will surely make trouble for you." + +"How can it make trouble for me?" demanded Evelyn. "You know as well as +I--" + +But Grace, coming to a sudden realization that she was listening to +something not intended for her ears, sprang from her seat before her +dressing-table and went downstairs, wondering not a little what it all +meant. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A DOUBLE PUZZLE + + +Mary Reynolds slipped into her place at dinner that night with red +eyelids and a woebegone expression on her small face. Evelyn did not +enter the dining-room until after the others had began their meal. +Despite the air of careless indifference with which she took her seat, +Grace fancied she saw a gleam of anxiety in her eyes. From the few words +she had overheard she understood not only the meaning of Mary's +dejection, but also of Evelyn's anxious look. But what was it that +Evelyn had required of Mary and that Mary had bluntly refused to do? +Suppose Evelyn had involved herself in some fresh difficulty. To Grace +the thought was distinctly disturbing. Still she felt that it was not +within her province to interfere. After all it might be nothing of vital +importance, merely a girls' disagreement. + +Resolutely dismissing the matter from her mind, Grace thought no more of +it. That evening Evelyn came to her as she sat reading in the living +room and, in her most distant manner, notified Grace that she intended +to go to the dance to be given by the Gamma Kappa Phi, a Willston +fraternity, at their fraternity house. Miss Hilton, a member of the +Overton faculty, would chaperon her. There were four other freshmen +besides herself invited. + +Grace made no objection to Evelyn's announcement. After the severe +reprimand she had received it was hardly probable that Evelyn would +again misrepresent matters. Quite by accident the next day she +encountered Miss Hilton upon the campus, and the teacher confirmed +Evelyn's story by mentioning the dance and inquiring if Grace had been +asked to do chaperon duty. "I am surprised that you weren't," had been +Miss Hilton's comment when Grace answered that her services had not been +solicited. + +Grace had smiled to herself as she went on her way. She was not in the +least surprised at not being invited by Evelyn to play chaperon. She was +glad that she had not been asked. She decided that she would not have +accepted. The dance was to be held on the Friday evening of the +following week, and on the Saturday morning after she would be on her +way to Oakdale. + +How long and yet how short the days seemed that lay between her and +home. Long because of her impatience to see her father and mother, short +because of the multifold details to be attended to in Harlowe House. + +"I'm so tired," she sighed when, at seven o'clock on Friday evening, she +saw her trunk and Emma's safely in the hands of the expressman. "Thank +goodness our packing is done and gone and out of the way. Let's do +recreation stunts to-night, Emma. Suppose we call upon Kathleen and +Patience. Incidentally we can pay our respects to Laura Atkins and +Mildred Taylor. If they aren't busy we might have a quiet celebration +just for auld lang syne at Vinton's. We can be home by ten o'clock." + +"All right," agreed Emma, who knelt on the floor, her glasses pushed +above her forehead, wrestling valiantly with a refractory strap of her +suit case. A moment and she had buckled it into place with a triumphant +cluck. "There, that won't have to be done at the last minute. Shall I +telephone the girls that we are coming? It's after seven now." + +"Yes, do." + +Emma left the room returning shortly. + +"They are all at home. The sooner we reach Wayne Hall the sooner the +celebration will begin," she reminded. + +"Then we'll go at once." + +Five minutes later the two young women were on their way across the +campus. As they neared Wayne Hall a limousine passed containing Miss +Hilton, Althea Parker and a freshman friend of Evelyn's. Althea was +driving. She bowed curtly to Grace and Emma as her car whizzed by them. + +"They are going for Evelyn, I suppose," commented Emma. + +"Yes. Oh, bother!" exclaimed Grace, "I've forgotten a letter to Arline +which I must mail to-night. Will you wait until I go back for it?" + +With light feet Grace sped across the campus, letting herself into the +house with her latch key. As she stepped into the hall, a buzz of voices +caused her eyes to be fixed on the living-room. Through the parted +curtains she saw a dazzling figure which was standing in the middle of +the living room, surrounded by a group of admiring girls. + +It was Evelyn, looking like some wonderful fairy vision in a gown of +apricot satin and chiffon, embroidered with exquisite little sprays of +tiny rosebuds. The excitement of wholesale admiration had deepened the +blue of her eyes to violet and her usual expression of bored +indifference had changed to one of intense animation, due to her love of +adulation. Grace watched her fascinatedly for a moment, then, +remembering that Emma was waiting for her, she hurried on upstairs for +her letter and out of the house, unobserved by the group of girls in the +living room. + +"Was I gone long?" she asked as she rejoined her friend. "I stopped for +a minute in the hall to look at Evelyn Ward. She was posing in the +middle of the living room for the benefit of an admiring populace. She +is going to the Gamma Kappa Phi dance. Miss Hilton and Miss Parker and +some of our girls composed the populace. I suppose I ought to have gone +in and spoken to them instead of slipping out like a criminal, but I +didn't wish to lose time. Really, Emma, I can't begin to tell you how +beautiful Evelyn looked!" + +"Her white silk evening gown is a work of art. I wish I had a sister Ida +to sew for me," commented Emma. + +"Oh, she wasn't wearing her white silk. Her gown was apricot satin +and--" Grace came to an abrupt stop. "Why--she--that was a new gown. How +could she--" + +"Have a new gown when her sister is too ill to make it," supplemented +Emma dryly. + +Two pairs of eyes exchanged questioning glances. + +"She may have brought it with her when she came to Overton," said Grace. +"She is very secretive, you know. All along she may have been saving it +for some such occasion as this dance." + +"True enough," admitted Emma. "Always take people at their face value +until you find they haven't any," she added cheerfully. + +"I shall," declared Grace. "I'm not going to spoil my Easter vacation by +worrying over something that is really Evelyn's own affair." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE PUZZLE DEEPENS + + +Grace experienced a pleasure in being at home for Easter so deep as to +be akin to pain. When as a student at Overton she had traveled happily +home for her Christmas and Easter vacations there had been a difference. +Then, her classmates had much to do with making it easier to be away +from her adored father and mother. But now that she had bravely launched +her boat on the tempestuous sea of work, she found that home was a far +distant shore, for whose cheery lights she often yearned. To be sure +Emma was a never-failing source of consolation, but there were more +times than one when the clutching fingers of homesickness were at her +throat. + +To Mr. and Mrs. Harlowe, Emma Dean was an unfailing source of amusement +and delight. In Hippy, too, she found a kindred spirit, and when Elfreda +arrived the funny trio was complete. It seemed to Grace that she had not +laughed so much in years. Anne, Jessica and Reddy had not been able to +join their friends for the Easter holidays and were loudly mourned and +sorely missed. Tom Gray managed to come on for a two days' visit and +cause Grace the only unhappy moments she spent at home by again asking +her to give up her beloved work to marry him. + +"I'm so sorry for Tom," she confided to her mother, on the night before +leaving home to return to Overton, "but I can't give up my work, even +for him. Really and truly, mother, I wish I did love Tom in the way he +wants me to love him, but I don't. I feel toward him just as I felt when +I first met him. He's a good comrade; nothing more." + +"If you loved Tom, your father and I would be glad to welcome him as our +son, Grace," was her mother's quiet reply. "He is a remarkably fine type +of young man, but unless you reach the point where you are certain that +he is, and always will be, the one man in the world for you, you would +be doing not only yourself but him too, the greatest possible injury if +you promised to marry him." + +"That is just it!" exclaimed Grace. "I told him so, but I know that +didn't console him. Last June when I came home from Overton I thought +perhaps I might say 'yes' later on. But now that I've been working for +almost a year I find I'd rather keep on working. It would be dreadful, +of course, if some day I should suddenly discover that I did love him +enough to marry him and then he shouldn't ask me. That isn't likely to +happen. I don't believe I could give up my work for any man. My whole +heart is in it." + +In spite of her declaration of unswerving loyalty to her work, more than +once, Tom's fine resolute face rose before Grace on the return journey +to Overton. During the afternoon Emma, usually loquacious, became +absorbed in a book, so that Grace, who could not settle herself to read, +had altogether too much opportunity for reflection. + +She was inwardly thankful when the lights of Overton twinkled into view. +Emma was still deep in her book. "We are almost there, Emma," she +reminded. + +Emma glanced out of the window, then closed her book and began to gather +up her belongings. + +"I wonder how things are at Harlowe House," mused Grace, as they crossed +the station platform. "Come on, Emma. There's a taxicab just turning +into the station driveway." + +Three minutes later they were speeding through the silent streets. It +was after nine o'clock and there were few persons passing. + +"No place like home," caroled Emma as they let themselves into Harlowe +House. In the living-room they found Louise Sampson and half a dozen +girls. At sight of Grace and Emma, Louise came quickly forward. + +"We thought you would come!" she exclaimed, "so we decided to watch for +you. We have hot chocolate and sandwiches. Do say you're hungry." + +"We are ravenous," assured Emma, "and as soon as we make a trip upstairs +and dispossess ourselves of our goods and chattels we'll come to the +party." + +"Everything has gone beautifully," Louise confided to Grace, when later +she dropped down on the window seat beside her, where the latter had +established herself with a sandwich and a cup of chocolate. "Only one +thing bothered me, and that was the way Miss Reynolds moped. She and +Miss Ward had a quarrel and poor Miss Reynolds still goes about looking +like a red-eyed little ghost. No one can find out her trouble and no one +seems to be able to comfort her. One day last week I almost thought I +saw Miss Ward crying too, but I must have been mistaken. She is too +proud to cry over anything. There are several letters for you, Miss +Harlowe. I put them in the top drawer of your desk in the office." + +At the word "letters" Grace had risen to her feet. "You'll excuse me if +I go for them at once, won't you?" she asked. + +"Of course," smiled Louise. + +A goodly pile of letters met her eyes as she opened the drawer. Grace +ran through the envelopes with eager fingers. The square thin envelope +with the foreign postmark meant a letter from Eleanor Savelli. There was +one from Mabel Ashe and another from Mabel Allison, Arline Thayer and +Ruth Denton were also represented in the collection and on the very +bottom of the pile lay a square envelope addressed in Anne's neat hand. + +Grace pounced upon it joyfully, and, laying the others on the slide of +her desk, tore it open and became immediately absorbed in the closely +written sheets. When she had finished reading the letter she laid it +down, then picking it up again turned to a paragraph on the last sheet. + +"I promised to try to help Miss Ward," wrote Anne. "Well, I have +practically secured an engagement for her with Mr. Forest. It is an +ingenue part in 'The Reckoning,' which is to run in New York City all +summer, at his theater. If she can come to New York as soon as college +closes Mr. and Miss Southard wish her to stay at their home. We can soon +tell whether she can play the part or not. If she can't, Mr. Southard +will be able to give her 'bits' in his company, but the other part is by +far the best engagement if she can make good in it. Both Mr. and Miss +Southard say, however, that they must have a letter of consent from her +sister before they will undertake launching her in the theatrical world. +They will write her if Miss Ward wishes them to do so. It is a really +great opportunity for her. You know how easily and delightfully I earned +my way through college. Let me know as soon as you can, Grace, what she +wishes to do." + +Grace read this paragraph half a dozen times. Her other letters lay +unheeded before her. Finally she gathered them up and, with the open +letter in her hand, went slowly upstairs. At Evelyn's door she paused +and listened. She heard the sound of some one moving about within. Yes, +Evelyn was still up. Grace rapped boldly on the door. + +A moment and it swung open. Evelyn stood staring blankly at Grace. She +was wrapped in the folds of a pale blue silk kimono. Her hair hung in +loose golden waves far below her waist and she reminded Grace of the +beautiful Rapunzel of fairy tale fame who was shut up in a tower by a +wicked witch and forced each night to let down her golden hair so that +her dreadful jailer might climb up and into the tower window. + +"Miss Ward," began Grace, without giving Evelyn time to utter a word, "I +am sorry to disturb you so late in the evening, but I have very good +news for you. Miss Pierson has all but secured an engagement for you in +'The Reckoning,' a new play which is to run in New York City all summer. +Read what she says." + +Grace handed the sheet of paper to Evelyn. + +The girl stretched forth her hand mechanically for it. She +still regarded Grace dully. Then to Grace's utter amazement she +burst into tears. "I can't--take--the--engagement," she sobbed. +"I'm--not--coming--back--to--Overton--next year." + +"What can have happened to her!" wondered Grace. Aloud she said: "Don't +decide too hastily, Miss Ward. Take three or four days in which to think +things over. I'll come in and see you to-morrow." + +Evelyn made some incoherent response, unintelligible to Grace. The +latter realized that in her present state Evelyn could not be comforted. +It was best to leave her entirely alone until she had had her cry out. +To-morrow would be time enough to try again to try to discover what had +happened. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +TWO LETTERS + + +Shortly after Grace returned to her room Emma joined her. + +"Where did you go? You are not the only one whose correspondents rose +nobly to the occasion," she exulted, holding up several letters. "You +haven't read yours yet, have you. Let's get ready for bed, put on our +dressing gowns, and have a letter reading orgy." + +"All right," agreed Grace. "I've already opened one of mine. It was from +Anne. She sends her love to you, and what do you think, Emma?" Grace +lowered her voice. "She has secured a New York engagement for Evelyn +Ward. I saw Miss Ward to-night, but something is troubling her. When I +went to the door to tell her what Anne had done she began to cry. I +couldn't find out what ailed her, and the more I talked the harder she +cried. She said, however, that she couldn't accept Anne's offer. She +thinks she won't come back to Overton." + +"Happy Overton," commented Emma unsympathetically. "Now hurry into your +dressing gown and let's begin our letters." + +Evelyn appeared at breakfast the next morning looking weary and haggard. +Her face was very pale and her eyes were heavy. By night, however, she +seemed to have regained something of her old poise. Covertly watching +her, Grace noticed that for some unknown reason she was much subdued. +Several days afterward she came to Grace and finally refused Anne's +offer. "But are you quite certain that you are acting wisely, Miss +Ward?" Grace asked in perplexed amazement. "Last winter you were anxious +to go into dramatic work." + +"I have changed my mind," was Evelyn's sole reply. + +Grace wrote to Anne advising her of Evelyn's refusal, but adding that +she wished Anne would keep Evelyn in mind. "I can't help feeling that +she is acting against her real desires and that later she will realize +her mistake." + +The little that was left of April passed quickly. Life went on placidly +enough at Harlowe House, although Grace found few idle moments. With the +first of June she began a detailed report of her year's work to be +presented to the faculty and to Mrs. Gray. This report had not been +required of her. She was making it merely for her own satisfaction. With +her it was a matter of pride in having been a faithful steward. She had +tried to safeguard not only the interests of the girls under her roof, +but Mrs. Gray's interests as well. + +"I hope I've been a good house mother," she murmured wistfully, as, +seated in her office one bright Friday afternoon, she worked on her +report. The ring of the postman caused her to lay down her pen and hurry +into the hall. To her surprise she saw Evelyn Ward had forestalled her. +She had opened the door for the postman, and now stood rapidly going +over the pile of letters in her hand. Grace saw her separate two letters +from the pile. At this instant Evelyn glanced up. She uttered a sharp +exclamation of surprise when she saw Grace standing beside her. Two +letters fell from her hands. + +Grace stooped to pick them up. "Did I startle you, Miss Ward? I did not +mean to. I did not know you were in the house. I thought the girls had +gone to their classes." + +[Illustration: "Did I Startle You, Miss Ward?"] + +"I--I--am late," stammered Evelyn. "I'm going to my botany recitation in +a minute. I--expected a letter. Here is the mail." She thrust the +letters she had been holding into Grace's hand, and, turning, almost ran +up the stairs. + +For an instant Grace's eyes followed Evelyn's disappearing figure, then +she turned her attention to the letters. She still held the two she had +picked up from the floor in her one hand. Glancing at them she saw that +they were both addressed to her. No doubt Evelyn had intended to leave +them on her desk. Rapidly sorting the other letters she found another +for herself in Anne's handwriting. Placing the letters for the various +members of the household in the bulletin board Grace retired to her +office to read Anne's letter. + + "DEAREST GRACE: + + "Just a line to tell you that the part in 'The Reckoning' is still + open. Mr. Forest cannot find the type of girl he wishes for the + part. She must be dazzlingly, but naturally, blonde and very + beautiful. I am sure if he were to see Miss Ward he would engage + her at once, even though she has had no dramatic experience. Why + not let her read this note? Perhaps she may change her mind. She + will never have a better opportunity. I am ready and willing to + help her. Am writing in a rush. It is almost time for me to go on. + With much love. Will write more fully later. + + "Yours as ever, ANNE." + +Grace laid down the letter with a slight frown. Since Evelyn's first +refusal to consider Anne's proposal Grace had held little communication +with her. Of late Evelyn had gone about her affairs with a curious air +of repression, which reminded Grace of the terrible calm that so often +precedes a storm. + +"I'll watch for her when she comes in from her classes and give her +Anne's letter," said Grace, half aloud. She picked up the next envelope +and looked curiously at the unfamiliar writing. The postmark was all but +obliterated. Tearing the envelope she drew forth the letter, unfolded it +and read: + + "DEAR MISS HARLOWE: + + "More than once I have planned to write and thank you for your + goodness to Evelyn, but I have been so very busy that the time has + slipped by faster than I realized. Fortunately, for Evelyn and me, + I have had a great deal of work to do and have been in + exceptionally good health, so that it has been easier than I + thought to raise the money to pay her college fees. I will enclose + the second payment of her fee in a letter which I am writing to + her. I have mentioned in my letter to her that I have written to + you. I thank you many times for your goodness to my little sister + and trust that she has been truly appreciative of your kindness to + her. Trusting that you have been well and that you have met with + the greatest success in your year's work. With grateful thanks and + best wishes. + + "Yours sincerely, + + "IDA WARD." + +Grace read the letter through three times. When she raised her eyes from +it her face wore an expression of mingled horrified suspicion and +unbelief. Surely it could not be possible, and yet--before her mental +eyes flashed the vision of that wet January afternoon when she had come +back to Harlowe House from her Christmas vacation and had been greeted +by the sound of Evelyn's sobs as she passed her door. How she had gone +to Evelyn's room and there heard the pitiful story of Ida Ward's illness +and her failure to send Evelyn's college fees, and of how, through the +Semper Fidelis Fund, she had come forward and bridged Evelyn's +difficulty. + +What did it mean? "She must have--" muttered Grace. In her agitation she +spoke aloud. Then she stopped abruptly. She would not condemn Evelyn +without a hearing, but Evelyn would have to explain, if explanation were +possible. She laid the letter on her desk and turning away from it tore +open the last envelope, which bore the name of a business house in one +corner. It contained a bill from Hanford's, the largest department store +in Overton. At the bottom was written. "This account is long overdue. +Please remit at once." Grace had a charge account at Hanford's on which, +occasionally, she allowed certain girls in the house to buy goods, +merely as a matter of accommodation to them. Her gaze traveled down the +list of items in bewilderment. + +"Why!" she exclaimed. "I never bought a gown there that cost +seventy-five dollars, or silk stockings or a scarf. There must be some +mistake. I know that none of the girls have either. I haven't bought +anything since February. Let me see. It's only three o'clock. I think +I'll walk down to Hanford's and have the matter adjusted. I must see +Evelyn too, as soon as she comes in." + +Grace went upstairs for her hat and was soon on her way to the business +center of Overton. Her impatience to learn the truth received its first +check with the indifferent assurance of the clerk that Mr. Anderson, the +man in charge of the department of accounts, was busy upstairs. + +"Then I'll wait for him." With a sigh of resignation she sat down on the +oak seat just outside the office window to wait. + +It was twenty minutes past four when Mr. Anderson appeared. + +"I can't let you know about this at once," was the accountant's +discouraging response when Grace laid the matter before him. "We'll take +it up with the saleswoman, then write you." + +"Very well. I shall expect to hear from you within the next three days." +Grace turned away, far from satisfied. Yet there was nothing else to do. +Long since she had learned that the system employe of a department store +is a law unto himself, and as unchangeable in his methods as the most +stubborn Mede or Persian ever dreamed of being. + +And now for her interview with Evelyn. How could she best approach the +girl whom she suspected of having first shamefully betrayed her sister's +confidence, then purposely misrepresented matters to her? And what had +Evelyn done with the money? These and similar painful questions occupied +her thoughts so fully that she did not realize that she had reached +Harlowe House until she found herself ascending the front steps. + +Without giving herself time to consider delaying the disagreeable +interview, Grace hurried up the stairs. To her surprise Evelyn's door +stood partially open. She peered into the room, but it was empty of an +occupant. Stepping inside she glanced about her. Evelyn's hat was gone. +She had come in from her classes and gone out again. + +Grace went slowly downstairs. She was sorry that she had not been able +to have her talk with Evelyn before the others came in from their day's +recitations. She decided to wait until after dinner. When Evelyn went to +her room she would follow her there. The longer she delayed facing +Evelyn with her sister's letter the harder the task would become. But at +dinner time Evelyn's place was vacant. + +At ten o'clock that night she had not come in. + +Becoming alarmed Grace telephoned to Althea Parker to know if Evelyn +were with her. In reply to her anxious inquiry Althea declared she had +not seen Evelyn for two days. Uncertain as to the wisest course to +pursue Grace concluded to wait until Emma came in from an evening's +visit with Patience Eliot. + +It was almost eleven o'clock when Emma returned. + +"I'm so glad you've come," greeted Grace as her friend entered their +room. "Evelyn Ward hasn't come in yet and I'm worried about her. I saw +her this afternoon, but she hasn't been here since then." + +"Very likely she is with Miss Parker." Emma spoke in an unconcerned +tone. + +"No she isn't. I telephoned Miss Parker. She hasn't seen Evelyn for two +days." + +"She hasn't?" Emma glanced at Grace in surprise. The ring of anxiety in +Grace's voice had not been lost upon her. "What's happened, Gracious!" +she asked. + +For answer Grace handed Ida Ward's letter to Emma. "Read it," she +commanded. + +Emma read the letter. "Do you think--" she began. + +"What do _you_ think?" interrupted Grace. "What can one think? Evelyn +received her letter from Ida Ward before I received this. She knew that +this letter was on the way. This afternoon I found her at the door +sorting the mail. She had two letters in one hand, which she had +separated from the others. When she saw me she dropped the two. I +stooped to pick them up. Both of them were for me. I said, 'Did I +startle you, Miss Ward?' and she stammered something about expecting a +letter. She shoved the other letters into my hands and ran upstairs. I +haven't seen her since." + +"Who was the other letter from that she had picked out?" + +"Oh, it was a bill from Hanford's. I--" Grace stopped short and stared +at Emma. A horrible suspicion had seized her. She was afraid that she +now understood the meaning of the bill she had received. In one of those +curious, illumining flashes, which sometimes reveal in an instant what +seems hopelessly obscure, she had hit upon the truth. + +Briefly she outlined the situation to Emma, who had long been her +confidante. + +"You'd better let matters rest till to-morrow," advised Emma. "It's too +late to try to find her to-night. We would only create comment and +arouse suspicion if we telephone to the houses where her friends live. +It wouldn't surprise me if she had left Overton for good and all." + +"We must find her," declared Grace with decision. + +"What will you do with her if you do find her?" + +"I don't know. That will depend entirely upon her. You are right, +though, about waiting until morning. We must protect her from the +consequences of her own foolishness. For she isn't wicked, Emma. She has +been carried away by vanity and love of dress. Perhaps if we gave her +another chance she would live all this down and be a different girl." + +"Perhaps," Emma's tone was skeptical. "For the sake of the community at +large let us hope for this much-to-be-desired metamorphosis." + +But the next morning brought news of Evelyn in the shape of a letter +addressed to Grace, which came on the first delivery of the mail for the +day. With eager fingers Grace opened it. A slip of blue paper fluttered +to the floor as she unfolded it. Picking it up she saw it was a money +order made payable to Evelyn Ward, then she read: + + "DEAR MISS HARLOWE: + + "When you receive this letter I shall be far away from Harlowe + House. I have done dreadful things and I cannot face you. All I can + do is to go away where no one knows me, and begin over again. I + used the money Ida sent me in the fall for my college fees to buy + an evening dress. Then I told you that she was ill. I cried + purposely to gain your sympathy because I knew about the Semper + Fidelis Fund and was sure you would help me. I meant to pay it all + back to you, and so I am going to New York to get work and do it, + even though it takes me a long, long time. + + "But there is something still more dreadful to tell you. I wanted + another new evening gown to wear to the Willston dance. I had paid + my college fees for the year, so I thought I could take the money + that Ida sent me for my payment and buy a gown and other things + which I wanted. But Ida wrote and said she couldn't send the money + just then, so I went to Hanford's department store and bought the + things. I had them charged to your account. When the bill came I + was terribly frightened. I thought they wouldn't send it for a long + time. I just happened to see it in the bulletin board, so I took it + out and tore it up. + + "Then I went to Mary Reynolds and tried to get her to lend me some + of the treasury money until my money came, but she wouldn't do it. + That is why she cried so often. When the first of May came I + watched the bulletin board and took the bill again. It had + Hanford's address in one corner so I knew it. All the time I kept + hoping that Ida would send my money before it was too late. + Yesterday morning it came, but in her letter she said she had + written to you and told you how well she had been and about her + work. I knew it would be dreadful for me if you received her + letter, but I did not know when it would come, so I stayed away + from my classes and watched the mail. I had the letter from Ida and + the bill from the store in my hands when you surprised me this + afternoon. You picked them up before I had a chance to do so. Then + I knew that there was just one thing to do and that was to go away. + + "Please take the money order and pay the bill at the store. I will + pay Semper Fidelis as soon as I can. I will write Ida and tell her + how badly I have behaved, and when I go to work in New York I will + send for my trunk. It is packed and ready to be shipped. + + "Forgive me if you can. I am sorry for everything. I wish I had been + different. Good-bye and thank you for your great kindness to me. I + did not deserve it. Please don't try to find me. + + "Penitently, + + "EVELYN WARD." + +For a time Grace sat at her desk with the letter in her hand. Then she +stood up with the air of one who has come to a definite decision. "I'll +go to New York City to-day to look for her," she said half aloud. "I +believe she will try to get work at one of the theaters. Mr. Southard +and Anne will help me find her. She must come back to Overton. I feel +sure that she has suffered enough over this trouble to have learned her +lesson." + +Grace ran upstairs and burst into her room with, "Emma, Evelyn has gone +to New York! I'm going to take the next train there. Read this letter. +It will tell you everything. I haven't time. I must make that 9.15 +train." + +Grace was in the middle of a hasty toilet when a knock sounded on the +door. + +Emma answered it. + +"Here's a telegram for Miss Harlowe." The maid held out a yellow +envelope. + +Grace tore it open. One glance at the telegram and she began a joyful +dance about the room, waving it over her head. "Hurrah for Kathleen +West! She found Evelyn! Read it." + +She held the telegram before Emma's eyes. + + "Evelyn with me. Return Overton Sunday. All well + + "KATHLEEN." + +read Emma aloud. Turning to Grace she quoted with whimsical tenderness, +"To Kathleen West, girls, drink her down." Then with twinkling eyes she +added, "There's only one thing that I can say to express my sentiments, +and, with my sincerest apologies to the august faculty which trustfully +engaged me to teach English, I say it with heartfelt fervor, 'Can you +beat it?'" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +KATHLEEN WEST, CONFIDANTE + + +When Evelyn Ward left Grace Harlowe with the letters, which she had +tried so hard to obtain, in her possession, she had but one thought. +That thought was to leave Harlowe House before Grace realized the full +meaning of her guilt. For two days Evelyn's suit case had been packed +for just such an emergency. She had not been sure that she could stem +the tide of retribution that had set in against her, so she was prepared +to slip away if she failed to obtain the letters that meant her undoing. +Hardly had Grace reseated herself in her office when Evelyn, suit case +in hand, her hat on, the coat to her suit thrown over her arm, stole +stealthily down the stairs and let herself out of the house without a +sound. Once clear of the house she set off across the campus, almost at +a run, in the direction of the station. At four o 'clock there was a +train to New York. She had a little money. She would go there. Once +there she would try to get into a theatrical company. + +Arrived at the station she glanced fearfully about her. She did not wish +to meet any one she knew. Leaving her suit case in charge of the station +master she left the station and walked slowly up the street. She would +stroll about until almost train time. She had over an hour's wait. If +she encountered any of the students she knew on the street they would +attach no importance to seeing her. + +It was five minutes to four when she purchased her ticket to New York. +To her relief she had seen no one she knew. When the train pulled into +the station she was the first person to board it. She took a seat on the +side of the car farthest from the platform, so she did not see a slim +hurrying girl's figure rush madly down the platform, just as the train +was about to start, and swing herself up the car steps on the last +second, heedless of the warning expostulation of the porter. + +Torn with remorse for the past, fearful of the future, which, to her +overwrought imagination, crouched like a huge black monster ready to +spring upon her and engulf her in its cruel jaws, Evelyn watched the +swiftly passing landscape with unseeing eyes. When a voice from the seat +behind her suddenly addressed her with, "Good evening, Miss Ward," she +half sprang to her feet in blind terror. Turning, she found herself +looking into the keen, dark eyes of Kathleen West, the newspaper girl. + +"Oh--good evening," she faltered. + +"Going to New York?" was the brisk question. + +Evelyn nodded. + +"I'm coming into your seat. I hate riding alone in a train. I'm so glad +you are going the whole way." + +Evelyn made no reply. She wished Kathleen a thousand miles off. + +The newspaper girl scrutinized narrowly her companion's lovely set face. +Trained in the study of human nature she had learned to know the outward +signs of a perturbed spirit. Her straight brows knit in a puzzled frown. +Then, noting that Evelyn had colored hotly under the shrewd fixity of +her sharp eyes, she glanced carelessly away. + +Neither girl spoke for a little. Evelyn was wondering distractedly how +she could escape from Kathleen, when they reached New York, without +arousing suspicion on the part of the newspaper girl. Kathleen, whose +intuition as well as her eyes told her that all was not well with +Evelyn, racked her brain for the words which would tear down the wall of +stony reticence which this strange girl had built about herself. Try as +she might she could think of no effectual way to begin. Deciding to bide +her time she tried to rouse Evelyn's too-apparently flagging spirits by +a crisp account of a big newspaper story which she had run to earth +during her Easter vacation. At first she met with small success, but as +she talked on Evelyn grew interested in spite of herself and began +asking half timid, half eager questions about New York. Was it hard to +get work there? Could a girl live on six or seven dollars a week in a +large city? How did these girls go about it to find positions? In what +section of the city did most of the working girls, who had no homes, +live? + +Kathleen answered her questions imperturbably, telling of her own +experience in New York as a beginner of newspaper work. Later Evelyn +plied her with countless questions regarding the stage, its advantages +and disadvantages. The throb of anxiety in her voice was stronger than +her elaborate pretense of indifference. Figuratively, Kathleen pricked +up her ears. It was only when they had exhausted the subjects of the +working girl and the stage that she launched at Evelyn the seemingly +innocent question, "Where are you going to stay in New York, Miss Ward?" + +"I--why--" stammered Evelyn. + +"Do you expect to be met at the station? It will be almost midnight when +we reach New York, you know." + +"I know," muttered Evelyn. Averting her face from Kathleen she stared +out the window. + +"It's now or never," decided Kathleen. Her strong supple fingers closed +suddenly over one of the limp white hands that lay so helplessly in +Evelyn's lap. "Miss Ward," she said in a low tense voice, "something +dreadful has happened to you. I want you to tell me about it. Remember +this. No matter what it is, I am your friend. I feel sure that you are +going blindly and alone, to the coldest, cruelest city in the world and +I should never forgive myself if I allowed you to do it." + +Into Evelyn's eyes leaped indescribable terror as Kathleen's hand closed +over hers. For an instant she stared wildly at the newspaper girl, then +the stony reserve, with which she had bolstered herself, gave away, and +tearing her hands free she covered her face with them. + +Kathleen waited patiently till the tearless storm which shook Evelyn had +subsided a little. "Now tell me all about it," she urged gently. + +Evelyn's hands dropped from her face. The tortured look in her blue eyes +aroused all Kathleen's sympathy. Haltingly, tremblingly, bit by bit, +Evelyn told of the temptation to use her sister's hard-earned money for +fine clothes, and the gulf of deception and dishonesty into which she +had plunged by yielding to it. + +Kathleen listened without comment. When Evelyn had finished she said, +"You must go back to Overton, Miss Ward, and to Grace Harlowe. She will +forgive everything and set you right with yourself again." + +"Oh, I couldn't," protested Evelyn wildly. "She knows already how +dishonest I've been. I can never go back to Overton. I must stay in New +York and work and never see Ida or any one again. I have forfeited all +claim to friendship or love." + +"Nonsense! Just get rid of that idea as fast as ever you can. You are +going to my boarding house with me to-night. To-morrow we will go and +see Anne Pierson. I know where the Southards live. We will ask her to +get you an engagement. Perhaps you can meet Mr. Forest." + +"Miss Harlowe told Miss Pierson about me, and she wrote and offered to +get me an engagement," faltered Evelyn, "but I knew I couldn't take it, +so I refused. There wouldn't be any chance for me now. That was several +weeks ago." + +"There is sure to be something for you. You are beautiful, you know," +went on Kathleen in an appraising, matter-of-fact tone. "You are sure to +make good. You must. You're going to pay Semper Fidelis back as soon as +ever you can and you'll have to work hard and save your money." + +Forgetting for the instant her remorse and humiliation Evelyn clasped +her hands in an eagerness born of the desire to make reparation. "Oh, I +will!" Then her face clouded. "Miss Pierson won't care to help me after +the dreadful things I've done." + +"Who is going to tell her about them? I'm not. I know Grace Harlowe +won't. It isn't necessary for you to tell her either. It shall be a +secret among we three. I know Grace will say so." + +The two girls, so strangely brought together and united in this new bond +of fellowship, talked on. It was ten minutes to twelve when they reached +New York City. At the station they were met by a tall clean-cut, young +man with keen blue eyes. "Got your wire, Kathleen." He stooped and +kissed the self-reliant Miss West, who turned very pink. "I'll have to +explain," she smiled as she introduced him to Evelyn. "Mr. Vernon is my +fiance, but don't you dare breathe it at Overton. Miss Ward won't be +able to see the persons she is to call upon until to-morrow. She's going +to my boarding house with me. You can call a taxicab and ride that far +with us." The newspaper girl's clever explanation bridged a yawning gap. + +Kathleen and Mr. Vernon kept up a steady conversation during the ride. +Evelyn sat silent, trying to realize just what had happened to her. She +experienced an immeasurable sense of relief, as though she had been +dragged, just in time, from the edge of a frightful precipice. Long +after Kathleen had gone to sleep that night she lay staring into the +darkness, wide-eyed and wondering at the goodness of this girl whom she +hardly knew, and into her heart crept a sudden revelation of what true +fellowship meant and was to mean to her forever afterward. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + +The following morning Kathleen took Evelyn to call on Anne Pierson at +the Southards. She gazed almost in awe at Everett Southard, while her +feeling of admiration for Anne was deep and abiding. Her undeniable +beauty was not lost upon Mr. Southard, who later confided to his sister +and Anne that Miss Ward was the most beautiful blonde girl he had ever +seen. After an hour's chat in the actor's big, comfortable library Mr. +Southard proposed that they call upon Mr. Forest that morning. Miss +Pierson had written Miss Harlowe about the part, he declared, to the +complete mystification of both Kathleen and Evelyn. He was glad Miss +Ward had been able to come. He was sure she would be exactly suited to +the part in "The Reckoning." Kathleen managed to shoot a warning glance +at Evelyn not to betray herself. Later, by adroitly questioning Anne, +she managed to put herself in possession of all the details concerning +the letter Anne had written to Grace. + +Mr. Forest quite fulfilled Mr. Southard's prediction. He could not +refrain from showing his satisfaction with Evelyn. Within half an hour +after entering his office she had signed a contract to play the part of +'Constance Devon' in the forthcoming production of 'The Reckoning.' + +"First rehearsal July 2d. Here's the part. Study it. Make these hardened +barnstormers help you," declared Mr. Forest with a dry chuckle, as he +handed her the part. + +"But how does he know that I can do it?" she questioned, half fearfully, +as they left the office. + +"He is going to take a chance," explained Mr. Southard. "In his own mind +he thinks you will do. He knows we will help you. You must work hard and +prove to him that he is right." + +To Evelyn the rest of that eventful Saturday seemed like a marvelous +dream. She had never before been in a large city, but despite her +interest in the sights and sounds of New York she could not help +thinking of how different it might all have been if she had not met +Kathleen. The busy, endless streets terrified her and the more she saw +of the great metropolis the less confidence she felt in her own power to +wrest a living from it, single-handed and alone. + +After leaving Mr. Forest's office they took luncheon at the Southards. +Mr. Southard and Anne had a matinee in the afternoon. That evening they +were to give the final performance of their season, which had run later +than usual. Kathleen had an assignment for her paper for the afternoon, +so Miss Southard took Evelyn to a matinee at one of the theaters. That +evening the little party met at six o'clock in Mr. Southard's dressing +room, where their dinner was brought in and served to them. Afterward +Kathleen, Miss Southard and Evelyn sat in a box and saw Everett Southard +and Anne in "The Merchant of Venice." + +After the theater came a little supper at the Southards' home to which +Mr. Vernon, Kathleen's fiance, was also invited. Miss Southard had +insisted that Kathleen and Evelyn should be her guests for the remainder +of their stay in New York, and it was under the Southards' hospitable +roof that Evelyn fell asleep that night after one of the happiest, most +eventful days she had ever spent. + +Sunday morning soon slipped by. It seemed hardly half an hour from +breakfast until train time. The charming informality with which the +actor and his sister treated her made Evelyn feel as though she had +known them for a very long time. In the enjoyment of the moment she +quite forgot the real reason of her journey to New York, and it was only +when Miss Southard invited her to come to their home to live as soon as +college was over, in order that Mr. Southard might help her with her new +part, that the humiliating remembrance of her misdeeds returned to her +with sickening force. + +"You must write to your sister, my dear, and explain everything," said +Miss Southard. "If you will give me her address I will write to her too. +That is one point on which Everett is most particular. He would not +encourage a young girl to enter upon the life of the stage without the +full consent of her parents or guardian." + +When finally she and Kathleen had said good-bye to the Southards, who +had seen them to their train, and were settled for the long ride to +Overton, Evelyn faltered, "Kathleen, all the time I was with the +Southards I felt just like a traitor. Do you think I ought to have told +them everything? It's not fair to them to masquerade under false +colors." + +Kathleen eyed her companion searchingly. Evelyn's conscience was no +longer sleeping. It was now wide awake and tormenting her. + +"I'm glad you feel as you do about it, Evelyn," was her blunt rejoinder. +"It shows that you are on the right road. I don't believe it is +necessary for you to tell the Southards anything. Still there is another +person who must decide that." + +"You mean Miss Harlowe?" + +Kathleen nodded. + +"I can't bear to face her." Evelyn's voice sank almost to a whisper. + +"You are not the only one who has said that." There was a curiously +significant ring in Kathleen's voice that made Evelyn look at her in +mute inquiry. + +"Let me tell you of another girl who had to face the same situation." +Kathleen began with her entrance into Overton as a freshman and told +Evelyn the story of her hatred of Grace and her betrayal of Grace's +trust, of how Elfreda had shown her the way to reparation and the +gaining of true college spirit, and of how she had tried in a small +measure to redeem the past by writing "Loyalheart" as a belated tribute +to Grace. + +Evelyn listened with somber attentiveness. The past three days had +taught her more of life than had her entire eighteen years. She had +lately begun to see what college might mean to the girl who lived up to +its traditions. Until the moment of hearing Kathleen's story she had +felt that Grace Harlowe must despise her utterly. Now she fixed solemn +blue eyes on Kathleen. "Do you believe Miss Harlowe will ever forgive +me?" was her mournful question. + +"Of course she will. You don't know her as I do." + +Kathleen's emphatic assurance had a visibly cheering effect upon the +other girl. When they reached Overton, however, her dread of meeting +Grace returned with renewed force. "I can't face her to-night," she +pleaded. + +"We are going to Harlowe House now. Come on." Kathleen grasped Evelyn's +arm and piloted her up the street at a brisk pace. Neither girl ever +forgot that walk across the campus. + +"Here we are." They had mounted the steps of Harlowe House. Kathleen +rang the bell. + +A moment's wait and the door opened. Grace stood peering out at the two +girls. "I knew you'd come. I've been watching for you," she cried. She +held out her hands to Evelyn, who dropped her suit case and grasped them +with a half smothered sob. + +"Come up to my room." Slipping her arm about Evelyn, Grace drew her +toward the stairs. + +"Good night, Grace, I'll see you to-morrow." The vestibule door closed +with a decided click. Kathleen did not wish to be a third party. Grace +and Evelyn were better off without her. + +Once in Grace's room Evelyn broke down. "Oh, Miss Harlowe, can you, will +you forgive me?" she sobbed. + +"You mustn't cry so, Miss Ward," soothed Grace. "Of course I forgive +you. If Miss West had not brought you home to me I intended to go to New +York City to look for you. Remember, you are, and I hope will be until +your college days are over, a Harlowe House girl." + +"You are too good to me," sobbed Evelyn. + +Grace led her gently to a chair. "Sit down," she urged. + +Evelyn sank into the chair. "I can't come back to Overton next year." +Her head drooped in shame and humiliation. + +"You must," said Grace simply, "for your own sake as well as your +sister's. She must never be worried with the slightest inkling of what +has happened. It is to be a secret. Outside of Miss Dean and Miss West +no one except ourselves knows." + +"Miss Pierson and Mr. Southard took me to see Mr. Forest. He engaged me +to play a part in his new play 'The Reckoning,'" began Evelyn. "I--I +didn't--tell--the Southards--about--things. Kathleen wouldn't let me, +but she says I must tell them if you say so. I'd--rather. I--I want to +be--honest--now--and--and always." Evelyn's voice shook with the +intensity of her feelings. + +"Kathleen was right in not allowing you to tell them. You have suffered +enough, Evelyn. You must look to the future. Your work this summer will +make it possible for you to pay the money you owe Semper Fidelis and +your college expenses too." + +Grace's sensible, practical, words, went far toward restoring Evelyn to +her normal self. The two young women talked long and earnestly. It was +after eleven o'clock when Evelyn rose to go to her room. + +"I'll prove to you that I am worthy of your trust," she said with +shining eyes. "I'll make you and Ida proud of me yet." + +After she had gone to her room Grace sat for a little, her hands idly +folded, her thoughts on the girl who had found herself after many false +starts. How glad she was that everything had turned out so beautifully, +thanks to Kathleen's chance meeting with Evelyn. What a power for good +Kathleen had become. Yes, college was really the place where one +eventually found oneself. And now her first year of work was almost +over. Another week and she would be back in dear old Oakdale. With the +thought of home Tom Gray's earnest, boyish face rose before her. It cast +a faint shadow on the pleasure of the coming reunion with her family and +friends. She hated to feel that she was making Tom unhappy, yet she was +equally certain that, with her, work still came first. + +"I can't give up my work," she said aloud. + +"Well, who said you should?" demanded Emma Dean's matter-of-fact tones. +The door stood partly open and Emma had entered just in time to hear +Grace's emphatic utterance. + +"Has the prodigal returned?" + +"She has," smiled Grace. Grace recounted what had taken place that +evening. "Isn't it wonderful how college helps these girls to find +themselves, Emma?" she asked when she had finished her recital. + +"College and Grace Harlowe," declared Emma. + +"You mustn't say that," Grace colored and shook her head in emphatic +denial. + +"Oh, yes, I must, because it is the truth," insisted Emma. "Dear +Loyalheart, your Highway of Life led you back into the Land of College, +didn't it?" + +Grace nodded. "I'm going to stay in the Land of College too, Emma. I was +just thinking about it when you came in. That was what made me say, 'I +can't give up my work.'" + +"Overton needs you, and Harlowe House needs you, and Emma Dean needs +you, but are you sure that some one else does not need you more than we +do?" questioned Emma slyly. + +"That's three to one, Emma, and the majority rules," evaded Grace. "Will +you be my roommate, mentor and comforter next year?" + +"Most Gracious Grace, I will, and there's my hand on it." + +How fully Emma Dean kept her promise and what Grace's second year on the +campus brought her will be told in "Grace Harlowe's Problem," +the record of her further college life at Harlowe House. + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton +Campus, by Jessie Graham Flower + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN *** + +***** This file should be named 9901.txt or 9901.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/9/0/9901/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Ginny Brewer, Tom Allen, +Mary Meehan, David Newman 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 Return to Overton Campus + +Author: Jessie Graham Flower + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9901] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 29, 2003] +[Date last updated: November 12, 2004] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Ginny Brewer, Tom Allen, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +GRACE HARLOWE'S +RETURN TO OVERTON CAMPUS + +By + +JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M. + +Author of The High School Girls Series, The College Girls Series, etc. + +1915 + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. A MIDSUMMER PILGRIMAGE + II. A WELCOME GUEST + III. AN UNEXPECTED CALLER + IV. THE SECRET SESSION + V. THE WAY TO PERPETUAL YOUTH + VI. JESSICA'S WEDDING + VII. THE RETURN OF EMMA DEAN + VIII. A STRANGE APPLICANT + IX. MARY REYNOLDS MAKES A NEW FRIEND + X. THE THIRTY-THIRD GIRL + XI. EVELYN WARD, FRESHMAN + XII. THE HARLOWE HOUSE CLUB + XIII. PLANNING FOR THE RECEPTION + XIV. A DISQUIETING THOUGHT + XV. A SEMPER FIDELIS REUNION + XVI. THE INTERRUPTED CONFIDENCE + XVII. A WEEK-END IN NEW YORK + XVIII. A HUMILIATING REPRIMAND + XIX. AN UNINTENTIONAL LISTENER + XX. A DOUBLE PUZZLE + XXI. THE PUZZLE DEEPENS + XXII. TWO LETTERS + XXIII. KATHLEEN WEST, CONFIDANTE + XXIV. CONCLUSION + + + +Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus + + + +CHAPTER I + +A MIDSUMMER PILGRIMAGE + + +"Overton, at last!" exclaimed Grace Harlowe, as, regardless of possible +cinders and stern railroad injunctions, she leaned far out of the car +window to obtain a first eager glimpse of her destination. + +It was midsummer, and the quiet, little town of Overton drowsed gently, +not to awaken until the sounds of girl laughter and the passing of light +feet through its sleepy streets roused it to the realization that it was +Overton College that made its hum-drum existence worth while. + +"Oh, Mrs. Gray, you can't imagine how happy I feel!" went on Grace, her +eyes eloquent with emotion. "Next to home, I love Overton better than any +other place on earth. I'm so glad we are going to stay at Wayne Hall, and +that Mrs. Elwood is to meet us." + +A long shrill whistle, a creaking and groaning of protesting iron wheels, +the stentorian cry of "Overton! Overton!" and then a sudden jarring stop. +Grace reached to the rack overhead for Mrs. Gray's small leather bag, +allowing the dainty little old lady to precede her down the aisle which +was practically clear. Apparently they were the only Overton passengers in +that car. She stood still on the top step of the train until Mrs. Gray had +been safely landed on the platform by the smiling porter, then, disdaining +his helping hand, ran down the steps with a joyful skip that caused her +companion to say indulgently, "You'll never grow up, Grace, and I'm glad +of it. I can't become reconciled to the fact that Nora and Jessica are +brides-to-be and that Anne's art is making her terribly serious. It's a +joy to my old age to see you frisk about as happily as you did when you +were a little thing in short white skirts with two long braids of fair +hair hanging down your back." + +"I don't really feel a bit older than I did then," confessed Grace. +"Sometimes I'm almost ashamed of my enthusiasm. It seems as though nice +things are always happening to me, and this summer pilgrimage of just we +two is the nicest of all." + +They were walking slowly across the deserted platform now, and Grace was +keeping a sharp look-out on all sides for the short, comfortable figure of +Mrs. Elwood. + +"There she is!" Grace hurried forward, her hands outstretched. The next +instant they were held in Mrs. Elwood's welcoming grasp, while she kissed +Grace's soft cheek. + +"My dear, dear girl!" she exclaimed, a suspicious moisture in her kindly +blue eyes. "It does seem good to see you again. I'm very glad to welcome +you to Overton, Mrs. Gray," she turned to shake hands with the donor of +Harlowe House, "and delighted to know that you are going to stay with me +instead of going to the Tourraine. Miss Harlowe's old room is ready for +her, and I'm going to put you in the room Miss Nesbit and Miss Briggs used +to have." + +"You'll be haunted by the kimono-clad shades of Miriam and Elfreda +drinking tea and eating cakes at unseemly hours of the night," laughed +Grace. + +"How are all my girls?" asked Mrs. Elwood. "I don't know what I shall do +without them this year. You will have to come and see me often and tell me +all about them, Miss Harlowe. Now let me see. There ought to be a taxicab +just the other side of the station. Yes, there it is." + +The driver touched his cap smilingly to Grace as they climbed into the +automobile, "It does look good to see you here again, miss," he said +respectfully. + +"Thank you. I'm glad to see you again." Grace beamed whole-heartedly upon +him. How many times he had carried her to and from the station. It was he +who had driven the car on that memorable day when Ruth Denton had gone to +the station to meet her father. Grace's eyes grew dreamy as they passed +through the familiar streets. How much had happened since the time when +she had entered Oakdale High School as a freshman with college in the far +and hidden future. + +To her many friends "GRACE HARLOWE'S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL," "GRACE +HARLOWE'S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL," "GRACE HARLOWE'S JUNIOR YEAR AT +HIGH SCHOOL," and "GRACE HARLOWE'S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL" are now +familiar records. Equally well known to these friends is the story of her +freshman year at Overton, as set forth in "GRACE HARLOWE'S FIRST YEAR AT +OVERTON COLLEGE." + +Accompanied by her friends, Miriam Nesbit and Anne Pierson, Grace began +her freshman year at Overton College under a cloud which rose from her +ready defense of J. Elfreda Briggs, a disgruntled student who had made +enemies of two sophomores, and whose first days at college were made very +unpleasant by them. J. Elfreda's subsequent casting aside of her +friendship and her tardy realization of Grace's worth brought about a +happy ending of their freshman year. + +In "GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE" the four girls set out +to find the rainbow side of their sophomore year. How each girl found it, +but in an entirely different manner, how Grace lived up to her resolve to +choose only the highest in college, and how the famous Semper Fidelis Club +came into existence, made the sophomore year in college memorable. + +"GRACE HARLOWE'S THIRD YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE" told of what befell the +four friends as juniors. The advent of Kathleen West, a newspaper girl, +into college was the first link in a chain of petty difficulties with +which Grace was obliged to contend as a junior. The carnival given by the +Semper Fidelis Club in which the Alice in Wonderland Circus was enacted, +the important part which Jean, the old hunter of Oakdale fame, played in +one Overton girl's life, the message Emma Dean forgot to deliver, and +countless other absorbing incidents served to fill their junior year with +ceaseless interest. + +"GRACE HARLOWE'S FOURTH YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE" found Grace and her +friends on the homeward stretch with commencement at the end of their +college trail. The record of Grace's senior year was filled with +happenings grave and gay. It ended in a blaze of honor and glory, and it +was on Commencement day that she made her decision to return to Overton +and look after Harlowe House, lately completed and endowed by Mrs. Gray +in honor of her young friends and dedicated to the use of poor girls who +were making valiant efforts to obtain an education. + +It was in reference to Harlowe House, her future home, that Grace and +Mrs. Gray had made this midsummer pilgrimage, as Grace had laughingly +styled it, to Overton. As their car glided through the shady streets of +the dignified college town Grace wondered if it were really eight years +since her freshman days in Oakdale High School. It certainly couldn't be +four years since Mabel Ashe had conducted her and Anne and Miriam to the +Tourraine on that first eventful afternoon. She remembered just how +beautiful Mabel had looked in her white linen frock, with her white +embroidered parasol tilted over one shoulder, an effective frame for her +lovely face and wavy, golden-brown hair. + +"Dreaming, Grace?" Mrs. Gray's voice dispelled the vision. "I can't blame +you. I suppose this ride brings up hosts of memories." + +Grace nodded. She could not trust her voice to answer. A sudden mist +filled her eyes, a silent tribute to those whose feet had once kept pace +with hers through these beloved ways. Commencement had scattered them +broadcast. She, alone, was coming back again to take up life at the +college. How she would miss them all. The dry irresistible humor of Emma +Dean, the sturdy independence of J. Elfreda Briggs, the daintiness of +Arline Thayer and the steadfast loyalty of Ruth Denton. Last of all there +were Anne and Miriam. Anne, her devoted little comrade of years, and +Miriam, whose faith and good fellowship had never failed her. + +A sob rose in Grace's throat, but she quickly stifled it. After all she +was about to begin the work she herself had chosen. She had known when she +announced her determination to take charge of Harlowe House that things +could never be quite the same. It would be selfish, indeed, in her to +break down and cry when Mrs. Gray had come to Overton solely to help her +select the furniture and plan for the opening of Harlowe House in +September. + +Grace pulled herself together and, resolutely putting her own sense of +loss behind her, said steadily: "I couldn't help thinking of the girls for +a minute. It made me want to cry, but I've set my face to the future now, +and I'm sure that my new work is going to bring me as much happiness here +as I had during the other dear four years. When I think of how splendid it +was in you to give Harlowe House to Overton, I feel as though there isn't +any sacrifice too great for me to make to insure its success, and I hope +that my coming back to Overton Campus to do my work is going to mean a +thousand times more to me next June than it does now." + + + +CHAPTER II + +A WELCOME GUEST + + +The summer sun, streaming intimately in at the window of her room, and +touching her hair with warm, awakening fingers, caused Grace to open her +eyes before six o'clock the next morning. She lay looking about her, +unable for the moment to remember where she was. Then she laughed and +reaching for her kimono, which hung folded across the footboard of the +bed, slipped it on, and, thrusting her feet into her bedroom slippers, +went to the window. + +"Dear old Overton Hall," she murmured, her eyes fixed lovingly on the +stately gray tower of the building that she had come to regard as a close +friend. Again she found herself overwhelmed by a tide of reminiscences. +How many times she and Anne had stood at the self-same window, arm in arm, +gazing out at the self-same sights. She could see the very seat at the +foot of the big tree where she had sat the day Emma Dean had poked her +head about the big syringa bush and mournfully handed her the letter from +Ruth Denton's father which had been buried in the pocket of Emma's coat +for so many weeks. She smiled as she recalled the ludicrously penitent +expression with which Emma had delivered the letter. There were the +library steps on which Arline Thayer had sat and cried so disconsolately +because she could not go home for Christmas. Once more she saw a strange +procession winding its way across the campus headed by a walking, +chattering scarecrow, Emma Dean again in her famous representation of +"Never Too Late to Mend," which had been one of the great features of the +Famous Fiction dance. + +Then she saw four girls, with their shining heads bared to the sun, +strolling across the campus, talking earnestly of what the future held for +them. And still again she saw them in caps and gowns marching toward the +Gate of Commencement. It was only a little time since they had passed +through that gateway, yet how long it seemed. + +Suddenly her look of abstraction changed to one of startled interest. +Running to the door she threw it open and listened intently. She heard +Mrs. Elwood's voice raised in pleased surprise, then, could she believe +her ears? she heard another never-to-be-forgotten voice say, "I could see +that there was some one awake and stirring." + +With a joyous cry of "J. Elfreda, where, oh, where did you come from?" a +lithe, blue-robed figure raced down the stairs and wrapped both arms +tightly about a plump young woman, in a tailored coat suit, who returned +the warm embrace with interest. + +"Oh, Grace, I can't tell you how glad I am to see you again!" exclaimed J. +Elfreda Briggs fervently. "I never was so glad in all my life as when I +found out you were here. The letter was forwarded to me at the beach. +We're at Wildwood for the summer. Maybe I didn't pick up my things in a +hurry. To use slang, which you know I can't resist using occasionally, I +hot-footed it for the station the minute Ma said I could come." + +"Which letter do you mean, Elfreda?" asked Grace in a puzzled tone. + +"Why the one from Mrs. Gray, of course," returned Elfreda. "Isn't she +here?" + +"Yes, but--" + +"Grace! Elfreda!" called Mrs. Gray from the head of the stairs, "come up +here, children." + +"Come on." Grace seized Elfreda's heavy suit case and started up the +stairs. Elfreda followed with alacrity. "Now," laughed Grace, as she +stepped into Mrs. Gray's room, "I demand an explanation." She laid her +hands lightly upon the old lady's shoulders, smiling down at her, then +bent and kissed her cheek. + +"This is certainly a happy meeting," declared Elfreda, as she embraced +Mrs. Gray, who rose to greet her. + +"I'm so glad you could come, my dear. I knew that Grace would miss her +friends dreadfully when she came back here. Anne and Miriam are both away, +and Nora and Jessica are too deep in the mysteries of hope chests and +wedding finery to be dragged off on even the most delightful of midsummer +pilgrimages. But my greatest reason for asking you to come was because I +believed you were the very person Grace needed to make her happy here. You +see it will take at least two weeks to set things to rights and she must +have inspiring company. I hope everything has arrived safely. Suppose we +hurry through with our breakfast and go over to Harlowe House at once. +Mrs. Elwood tells me that she informed the caretaker yesterday of our +coming. We shall be obliged to stop at his house for the key." + +"Oh, Elfreda, I'm so sorry that you weren't with us in New York," was +Grace's regretful cry. "We stayed with the Southards, Mrs. Gray, Anne, +Miriam and I. Anne, Miss Southard and Mr. Southard left New York City for +California last week. Mr. Southard and Anne are to appear as joint stars +in film productions of 'As You Like It,' 'Hamlet,' 'King Lear' and +possibly other Shakespearian plays. It is their first experience in posing +before the camera. Anne sent you her love. She will write you as soon as +she is settled." + +"Dear little Anne," smiled Elfreda, her eyes growing tender. + +"I hope she'll be back in time for the girls' weddings. Nora and Jessica +say positively that they won't be married without her." Grace looked +anxious. + +"When are they to be married?" + +"The last of September. The date hasn't been set." + +"Grace," Elfreda fixed round solemn eyes on her friend, "do you feel very +old this summer?" + +"Not the least little bit. I can't realize that I've come back to Harlowe +House to take charge of it. I feel as young as I felt when I first entered +high school." + +"Well, I'm glad to hear it, for, to save me, I can't feel responsible and +dignified. I've run and raced and swum and played golf like an Indian all +summer, and honestly I feel ever so much younger than when I came to +Overton four years ago. See how tanned I am? I haven't gained an ounce +either. I weigh just one hundred and thirty-five pounds and no more," +concluded J. Elfreda in triumph. + +"You are in splendid condition, Elfreda," praised Mrs. Gray. Grace nodded +emphatic approval. + +"Yes, I'm strong enough to hustle furniture, beat rugs, scrub floors, or +do anything else necessary to the beautifying and eternal improvement of +Harlowe House." Then she added slyly, "Lead me to it." + +"You'll be led to it fast enough," promised Grace. "Just wait until we +have some breakfast." + +At that moment Mrs. Elwood appeared in the open doorway. "Shall I bring +your breakfast upstairs this morning?" she asked. "I thought Mrs. Gray +might like to have it in her room." + +"Thank you, but I'd rather go downstairs this morning," nodded the +energetic old lady. "May we breakfast a la negligee?" + +"Yes, come down just as you are. There is no one here besides myself and +the maid." + +"Miss Briggs, have you had your breakfast? Jane is making waffles. I +thought you--" + +"Waffles!" exclaimed Elfreda, rolling her eyes in ecstacy. "If I'd had +fifty breakfasts I couldn't resist waffles. Thank goodness Vinton's wasn't +open." + +"Aren't waffles supposed to be fattening?" inquired Grace judiciously. + +"Don't ask me," was Elfreda's fervent protest. "I've set my mind on eating +them, even though I have to walk to Hunter's Rock and back in the glare of +the noonday sun to counteract their deadly effects." + +It was a merry trio that gathered around the table which Mrs. Elwood had +set on the roomy, vine-covered back porch, and it was fully an hour after +they sat down to breakfast before they rose to go upstairs and make ready +for their visit to Harlowe House. + +"There is no use in trying to begin our real work to-day," declared Grace, +as the three left Mrs. Elwood's and strolled slowly along College Street +in the direction of the caretaker's house. Mr. Symes, who had faithfully +executed so many commissions for Grace, had been selected as the best +possible person to look after the house. "Mr. Symes was to see that +everything was unpacked before we arrived. We shall have to employ two men +to move the heavy furniture. Thank goodness and Mrs. Gray, there are no +carpets to be laid. The floors are all hard wood and there are rugs for +every room except the kitchen and laundry." + +"I brought an old dress along," Elfreda informed her friends. "I helped Ma +set our cottage to rights this summer and I know something about work. We +had two maids and a scrubwoman. The maids were in my way, so I sent them +off for a holiday and the scrubwoman and I tackled the job and went +through with it like wildfire. Ma nearly had a spasm, but she liked the +looks of things when we had finished. You should have seen me, though. Ma +didn't like my looks. I guess I did resemble a human mop if you know what +that looks like." + +"I can imagine," laughed Grace. "If you attack the business of putting +Harlowe House to rights with the same energy, I shall know exactly how you +looked when you cleaned the cottage." + +"Perhaps you will," Elfreda grinned boyishly. "I hadn't thought of that." + +"You couldn't see that far ahead, could you?" quizzed Grace with twinkling +eyes. + +"No I couldn't," declared Elfreda earnestly, then, catching sight of +Grace's dancing eyes, she laughed good-naturedly. "You will tease me about +that. I can see that you'll never outgrow the habit." + +"I can see that Elfreda is going to lighten our labors and make our tasks +merry," smiled Mrs. Gray. "What a joy and a diversion you must have been +to Miriam." + +"I was anything but an unqualified source of pleasure during my freshman +year," replied Elfreda. "It is plain to be seen that Grace never told you +my early Overton history." + +"Now, Elfreda--" began Grace, but Elfreda was not to be thus easily +deterred from saying her say. She launched forth with a ludicrous account +of her freshman shortcomings that left Mrs. Gray and Grace breathless with +laughter. + +"Elfreda, it is hard to say which is funnier, you or Hippy," Mrs. Gray's +eyes twinkled with enjoyment. + +"Well, isn't it so?" demanded J. Elfreda. "Isn't that exactly the way I +used to do?" + +"It's what I call a highly exaggerated account of your self-named +misdeeds," returned Grace. "You haven't said a word about all the nice +things you did for the girls." + +"I don't remember them," evaded Elfreda hastily. "Oh, there's Mr. Symes +now! How are you, Mr. Symes? You didn't expect to see me here, did you?" + +"Well, well, if it ain't Miss Briggs," beamed the old man joyfully. His +remembrance of J. Elfreda was decidedly pleasant. She had always paid him +generously for the numerous errands he had run for her. He greeted Grace +with equal enthusiasm, and bobbed like a nodding mandarin before Mrs. +Gray. + +"I hope you have been well, Mr. Symes. How is your wife and how do you +like being caretaker of Harlowe House?" asked Grace. + +"I'm well, miss, and so's my wife. It's a fine place, miss, that Harlowe +House, an' it'll be finer still when fall comes and it's full of Overton +students. We're pretty proud of our young ladies, we Overton folks. Excuse +me, miss, I'll go over to my house and get the key. I'll be right along." + +"He has a whole lot of real college spirit," commented Elfreda, "or he +couldn't speak so beautifully of the Overton girls." + +"He always was a perfect old dear," agreed Grace warmly. + +The caretaker soon overtook them with the key, and the little company +crossed the street and traversed the deserted campus. + +"How strangely still everything is," commented Grace. "Not in the least +like it was six months ago, is it, Elfreda?" + +"It gives me the blues," averred Elfreda in a low tone. + +"Here we are," called Mrs. Gray, with a cheery attempt at dispelling the +tiny cloud of dejection that had fallen over the two girls. "Harlowe House +couldn't have a prettier site." + +The three women followed Mr. Symes up the steps, then, as if by common +consent, turned and looked out over the green expanse of closely-clipped +lawn, sprinkled with sentinel-like old trees. They had stood guard year +after year and silently watched the comings and goings of the hundreds of +girls who proudly acknowledged Overton as their Alma Mater. + +"What's the use of gazing and mooning?" asked Elfreda, with sudden +brusqueness. "Please open that door, Mr. Symes. I shall certainly weep and +wail disconsolately out of pure sentiment if you don't distract my +attention with something else. Show me the furniture, or the boxes it came +in, or anything else that won't call forth tender reminiscences." + +Grace's laugh sounded a trifle shaky, but it was a laugh nevertheless. +Something in Elfreda's brusque tones acted as an antidote to her +retrospection. She had been more or less ghost-ridden ever since her +return to Overton. She now resolved to shake off that pleasantly +melancholy sensation and "be up and doing with a heart for any fate." + +The caretaker admitted them to a hall crowded with huge packing boxes. In +fact, the whole of the first floor was occupied by the large shipments of +furniture recently delivered into the care of Mr. Symes. + +"It's worse than the cottage," announced Elfreda; "a regular howling +wilderness. I'd like to know how we can possibly guess what's what and +why. These boxes all look alike. If we have our minds set upon seeing the +parlor suite, we'll be sure to unpack the kitchen furniture instead." + +"We'll let the men wrestle with the unpacking, girls," decided Mrs. Gray. +"I don't wish my body guard to nurse wholesale bruises and smashed +fingers. Mr. Symes, can you have two men besides yourself here this +afternoon to unpack these things?" + +"I certainly can, Mrs. Gray," promised Mr. Symes with respectful +promptness. + +"Then we'll have to possess our souls in patience until to-morrow," sighed +Grace. "Isn't this a lovely, roomy house, Elfreda? I'm so glad, too, that +there isn't a prim, stiff parlor. I like this immense living-room much +better. The girls will surely like it. It will serve as a library too. +That little room just off the hall will make such a convenient office for +me. Imagine me as the head of a college house, with an office all my own, +Elfreda." + +"It's a good thing for the house," commented Elfreda. "I hope the girls +that live here will appreciate you, Grace. I hope none of them will be as +silly as J. Elfreda Briggs was." + +"Elfreda, how can you?" remonstrated Grace. + +"How could I, you mean," flung back Elfreda. "Because I was a spoiled, +selfish ingrate who never stopped to think of any one else's rights." + +"Now, now, Elfreda," protested Mrs. Gray. + +"Well, I was," insisted Elfreda positively. "It took a whole year to +reduce me to order. I wasn't as hopeless as some of the others. It took +three years to make Alberta Wicks and Mary Hampton real Overton girls, and +two years to instil college spirit into Kathleen West. But Grace never +gave any of us up, even though we treated her so shabbily. That's why I +just said I hoped that the girls would appreciate Grace. I'd hate to think +that some stupid ill-natured freshman, it's more likely to be a freshman +than any one else, would behave like an idiot and spoil her first year at +Harlowe House." There was an expression of anxious concern on Elfreda's +round face. + +"Don't worry, Elfreda," reassured Grace, "the students who come to Harlowe +House to live are sure to be nice. Girls who have their own way to pay +through college are usually cheerful and unselfish. They are anxious to +live and willing to let live." + +"I don't know about that. Kathleen West wasn't a glaring pattern of +amiability when she entered Overton," reminded Elfreda. "Of course she's +now a brilliant example of what forbearance will accomplish, and you know +that I am very fond of her, but you and I remember what we went through +during the forbearing process." + +"Don't croak, J. Elfreda Briggs," admonished Grace lightly, "I don't +imagine that everything will be plain sailing this year. That would be +asking too much. Still I hope I shall not have any serious +misunderstandings with my girls. I'm going to remember my motto, 'Blessed +are they that have found their work,' and not shirk anything that comes +within the line of it." + +"I guess there isn't the slightest danger of shirking on your part," was +Elfreda's dry retort. "I hope the men that do the unpacking of this stuff +will be imbued with the same spirit. You'd better bring out that motto and +hang it up where they can see it. To change the subject, we haven't been +upstairs yet." + +"Come on, then." + +"I think I'll wait for you on the veranda, children," said Mrs. Gray. +"Don't stay upstairs too long. I should like to go back to Mrs. Elwood's, +telephone for a taxicab, and make a call upon Dr. Morton this morning." + +"We'll hurry," promised Grace, as they ascended the open staircase which +led to the second floor. "These are to be my quarters," she announced, +opening a door at the end of the hall on the left side of the stairs. +"This left wing was designed especially for me. The right wing has the +same amount of space, but it is divided into two bedrooms. But the left +has a sitting-room and bedroom, with a bathroom between the two. It seems +selfish in me to have so much room, but Mrs. Gray insists that I need it +and wishes me to be thoroughly comfortable. She wanted me to have +circassian walnut bedroom furniture, but I chose oak. I don't wish my +rooms to suggest luxury. It wouldn't seem in touch with the spirit of my +undertaking." + +Elfreda regarded Grace with loving admiration. "You're the squarest, +fairest girl I ever knew or even expect to know, Grace," was her tribute. +"And you deserve the best that the Harlowe House girls can give you." + + + +CHAPTER III + +AN UNEXPECTED CALLER + + +"'And if I do say it as shouldn't,' this room is a credit to our college +and our own sweet native land," proclaimed Elfreda, as she viewed with +critical eyes the long cheerful living-room, to which she and Grace had +just put the final touches. The morning sunshine of a perfect midsummer +day poured in at the windows flooding the scene with dazzling light, as +though smiling its approval of the pretty room. The walls and ceilings +were papered in cream color with a running border of green leaves. The +floor rug was in two shades of green, and the window draperies were in +green and white. The furniture was in mission oak, but there were several +comfortable arm chairs and willow rockers scattered about the room. A long +library table took up considerable space at one end of the room, and +conveniently near it were rows of book shelves, lined with special books +required by the Overton curriculum of study, which, in price, were out of +reach of the more impecunious students, and were in such constant demand +at the library that their temporary possession often meant weeks of +waiting. + +There was a piano, of course, but the crowning feature of the room, +however, was the wide window seat built across the bow-window at its upper +end. It was at least four feet wide, upholstered in thick green velvet and +piled high with sofa pillows. It was indeed a cozy corner which invited +rest, and Elfreda confidently predicted that it would be the most popular +spot in the house. + +The house itself had not followed the usual plan of modern architecture. +In fact, it was distinctly old-fashioned and built for room rather than +effect. The hall ran the length of the house to the kitchen, dividing it +into two parts. The dining-room was on the side opposite the living-room, +and had also a bow-window. Directly behind it lay the servants' quarters. +Adjoining the living-room was Grace's little office and behind that was a +room furnished with every convenience for the benefit of those girls who +were obliged to launder their own clothing to save expense. + +The second, third and fourth floors were, with the exception of Grace's +suite, given up entirely to bedrooms, of which there were sixteen. This +meant the accommodation of thirty-two students for whom the perplexing +problem of food and shelter was solved for their entire four years' course +at Overton, provided they complied with the rules of Harlowe House. + +"Doesn't it seem wonderful, Elfreda, that through Mrs. Gray's generosity +the girls who come here will be free from the dreadful worry of paying +board? All they will have to look out for is their regular college fees, +and if they happen to be lucky enough to enter Overton on scholarships +they will have absolutely plain sailing." Grace's face was alight with +appreciation of Mrs. Gray's gift. + +"What a pity Ruth Denton couldn't have had such a chance," mused Elfreda. +"Poor little Ruth, how hard she worked." + +"And now she has everything," returned Grace. "It seems miraculous that +she found her father, doesn't it?" + +Elfreda nodded. "Arline Thayer was good to her those first three years. Do +you remember the ridiculous quarrel they had because Ruth wouldn't tell us +what she was like when she was a little girl?" + +"I ought to remember it, considering the fact that I officiated as peace +maker," smiled Grace. "How I shall miss Arline. There is only one other +girl, outside of you and Miriam and Anne, whom I shall miss as much." + +"Emma Dean?" guessed Elfreda. + +"Yes, Emma Dean. I can't begin to tell you how fond of her I am and always +have been. She was the life of Wayne Hall. Mrs. Elwood was sighing fond +remembrance of her only this morning. Really, Elfreda, I wonder if, ever +again, there will be a class quite like 19--?" + +"Never," declared Elfreda with quick loyalty, then, glancing up at the +mission clock on the wall, she exclaimed: "I wonder why Mrs. Gray doesn't +come! Let's go out on the veranda and watch for her." + +The two young women strolled out onto the veranda just in time to see an +automobile drive up to the house containing two persons. One of them was +Mrs. Gray, the other, to whom she was talking animatedly, was a +broad-shouldered young man, whose gray eyes shone with pleasure as he +caught sight of Grace. + +"Why, Tom!" she called in astonishment. "Where did you come from? I +thought you were away up in Maine." She hurried down the steps, her hands +extended. + +The young man caught them in his and held them fast. "So I was," he +answered, his eyes searching hers, "but my work there is done for the +present. I am on my way to Washington, but it's a roundabout way, for, when +I received your letter, I was devoured with curiosity to see Harlowe +House, so I took a day off, on my own responsibility, and came this way." + +Grace colored under the young man's ardent gaze. She knew only too well +that it was not alone curiosity to see Harlowe House that had taken Tom +out of his way. "I'm sorry your curiosity didn't devour you sooner," she +retorted mischievously. "If only you had come here last week! You could +have made yourself invaluable. However, you are in time to meet Elfreda, +at least." + +"Yes, Tom," declared his aunt, "you can't afford to miss knowing Elfreda. +She is the counterpart of Hippy, and has kept Grace and I in a perpetual +state of smiles during the past two weeks." + +Tom helped his aunt out of the automobile and the three walked slowly +toward the veranda where Elfreda stood waiting. A moment later she and Tom +were shaking hands and declaring that, having heard so much of each other +from Grace, they were really old acquaintances. + +"When are you going home?" Tom asked, as half an hour later, the party +paused in the living-room after a tour of inspection which included the +four floors. + +"That is the main subject under discussion at present," smiled Grace. "It +must be very soon. If not to-morrow, then the day after. Here we are +fairly into August and I have spent a very short time with Father and +Mother. Then, too, the Phi Sigma Tau has a great many mysterious rites to +observe before two of its members enter into that state known as +matrimony. Also we expect Eleanor Savelli soon. She and her father and +aunt are going to be at 'Heartease' for two or three months. Mabel Allison +and her mother are coming east, and the Southards are coming home with +Anne when their motion-picture work in California is done. I could go on +naming plenty of other reasons, but those are the really important ones." + +"I should say they were important ones," agreed Tom. "It sounds as though +there were to be some lively times in Oakdale. I'm going to try to make my +vacation cover the weddings. I can't allow the Originals to get married, +celebrate or jollificate without me." + +"Oh, Tom, will you really?" cried Grace with enthusiasm. "I'll let you +know the moment the date of the girls' weddings is set." + +"Can you stay over until to-morrow, Tom?" asked Mrs. Gray. "Then we can go +back to Oakdale on the late afternoon train." + +"I'm afraid not, Aunt Rose, I'm a day late now. I'll have to take the +night train for Washington. Let me see." He drew a time table from his +coat pocket. "There is a train out of Overton at nine o'clock to-night. +I'm due to catch it. But I'm going to take you all to dinner at the +Tourraine and we are going for a drive afterward which will end at the +station, where you will all see me on my desolate way. Are there any +objections?" + +"Nothing but delighted acceptances, my dear boy," assured his aunt, +glancing fondly at her big, good-looking nephew. "I'll venture to answer +for the girls, too." + +"We'll come to Tom's dinner party, provided he has luncheon with us," +stipulated Grace. "It's almost noon now. Mrs. Elwood will have luncheon +ready at one. You'd better come with us, Tom. We are going to have +strawberry shortcake with whipped cream, for dessert." + +"You couldn't lose me," asserted Tom with slangy emphasis. "Shall I go on +ahead and telephone for a car, Aunt Rose?" + +"No, I'll walk to Wayne Hall with you children," decided Mrs. Gray. + +"I wonder if there is anything else to be done," murmured Grace, surveying +the living-room with anxious eyes. "Oh, my motto. It must hang directly +above the archway." + +"Where is it?" asked Elfreda. "We have time to put it up before we go to +luncheon, and plenty of skilled laborers." She cast a laughing glance at +Tom. + +"It isn't made yet," confessed Grace. "Eva Allen's brother, who is an +artist, is illuminating one for me." + +"What is your motto, Grace?" asked Tom interestedly. + +"'Blessed are they that have found their work,'" repeated Grace, her eyes +on the spot where she intended the precious motto to hang. Mrs. Gray had +walked on into the hall, so there was only one pair of eyes to see the +sudden tightening of Tom's lips and the look of wistfulness which crept +into his face, and that pair of eyes belonged to Elfreda. + +"He cares a whole lot more for Grace than she cares for him," was +Elfreda's quick appraisal. "At heart, Grace is still a little girl, and +will be for a long time to come. I hope when she does wake up it won't be +another prince who will do the awakening." + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE SECRET SESSION + + +"I feel more as though I were getting ready for a funeral than about to +give a dinner for the Eight Originals," sighed Grace Harlowe, as she +joined her mother on the shady front porch, a little white and gold work +bag, which Miss Southard had brought her from Paris, swinging from her +arm. "I can't realize that, within the next week, Nora and Jessica are +actually going to become Mrs. Hippy Wingate and Mrs. Reddy Brooks. It +seems ridiculous. Why it's only yesterday that Jessica's hair hung down +her back in two braids, and Nora wore curls and short dresses." + +"I can't imagine Hippy in the role of a dignified bridegroom," smiled Mrs. +Harlowe. "He is far more likely to convulse the wedding party and upset +the whole solemn service than to conduct himself with strict propriety." + +"He insists that he will cover himself with glory if Reddy doesn't look at +him, and Reddy insists that he will sit and stare him out of countenance. +David is to be Hippy's best man and Tom Gray Reddy's, while Jessica is to +be Nora's maid of honor and Nora Jessica's matron of honor. She's to be +married first, you know. Mabel, Anne, Miriam Nesbit, Eleanor Savelli and I +are to be the bridesmaids at both weddings," went on Grace. "We'll have a +reunion of all our friends. The Gibsons are at home, Judge Putnam and his +sister are coming down earlier from the Adirondacks; then there are +Eleanor and her father, Miss Nevin and the Southards. Every one who has +played an active part in our home lives will be on hand to see the girls +married." + +"But how can Nora go away on a wedding journey and be Jessica's matron of +honor, too?" asked Mrs. Harlowe. + +"She and Jessica went over that point a dozen times. You see Nora's +wedding takes place in the morning. She is going to have a wedding +breakfast, then she and Hippy will go to the mountains for a week. They +will return to Oakdale on the day of Jessica's wedding, and leave for a +long trip west the next morning. That was the best way they could carry +out a compact they made last June to serve as maids of honor for each +other." + +Mrs. Harlowe listened to Grace's flow of eager talk with a smile of +content on her fine face. To her fond eyes Grace looked absurdly immature +in her simple frock of white dotted swiss. She was secretly glad that +Overton, rather than marriage, had claimed her alert, self-reliant +daughter for another year. Like every other mother she wished some day to +see Grace happily settled in a home of her own, but she preferred to think +of that someday as being still far distant. + +Grace took out of her bag a guest towel she was embroidering. It was the +last of the half dozen towels she had worked for Jessica's hope chest. She +was not fond of needlework. She preferred to spend her spare time playing +golf and tennis, or riding and walking. This, as well as the hemstitched +table cloth and napkins she had completed for Nora, was a labor of love. +Now as she bent painstakingly over her work, she smiled to herself and +wove a tender thread of loyalty and love into the pattern. + +A long clear trill caused her to raise her head quickly and spring to her +feet with, "Here they are, at last!" She ran to meet them. + +Three girls, or rather three young women, came loitering through the gate +and up the walk, laughing gayly at something the girl in the center was +relating for their benefit. "Now what has Hippy done?" guessed Grace +shrewdly. + +"You might know it was something about him," said Jessica Bright. "This +time it was a case of what was done to him. Tell the lady all over again, +Nora." + +"It certainly was funny," dimpled Nora. "You see, Grace, Hippy and Edith +and I were going for a ride, last night, in his new car. We waited and +waited for him and couldn't imagine why he didn't come. About ten o'clock +he came tearing along at a speed that would have made a traffic officer +turn pale. Edith and I were still sitting on the porch. I pretended I was +dreadfully offended until he told me where he had been, then Edith and I +laughed until we almost cried." + +"Where had he been?" asked Grace curiously. + +The three girls giggled in unison. + +"Locked in the cellar," returned Nora mirthfully. "He was all ready to go +for his car when he happened to remember that he wanted a wrench from the +tool chest in the cellar. His father is away this week and there was no +one in the house but the cook. She was all ready to go away for the +evening, too. She didn't know Hippy was in the cellar, so she locked all +the doors, the cellar door included, and went on her way rejoicing. Hippy +said he pounded and shouted and howled and wailed and pounded some more. +Can't you imagine just how funny he must have looked? He couldn't climb +out of the cellar windows, for they are too small and he is too fat, so he +had to stay there until almost ten o'clock. He says he sat on the cellar +steps most of the time and thought of the happy past. At last the cook +came home and when he heard her walking around upstairs he pounded and +shouted again. She thought he was a burglar, just as though a burglar +would make all that noise, and wasn't going to let him out. He insists +that he ruined his voice forever in trying to convince her that he was +himself. He says his frenzied pleadings finally touched her adamant heart, +and she opened the cellar door very cautiously at the rate of about a +sixteenth of an inch per minute." + +Grace laughed with the others, as Nora finished. "Poor Hippy," she +commented, "he is always falling into difficulties. I must ask him about +his evening in the cellar." + +"Yes, do," urged Nora. "He tried to swear Edith and me to secrecy, but we +refused to be sworn." + +"It will make Reddy so happy," laughed Anne. + +"Oh, Anne, dear, you don't know how splendid it seems to have you home +again!" exclaimed Grace. "It's just like old times. I can't help feeling +sad though. We thought when we were graduated from high school that our +parting of the ways had come, but now that we are all standing on the +verge of our life work, it seems to me that this is going to be the real +parting. I can't help wondering if things will seem quite the same again +when we gather home next year." + +"Of course they will," declared practical Nora. "Grace Harlowe, don't you +dare to grow gloomy and retrospective. We four are chums for life, and not +all the weddings and stage careers and Harlowe House positions in the +world can change us." + +"I know they can't. I won't make any more excursions into the Valley of +Doubt," promised Grace. + +They had stopped on the walk to talk, now they moved slowly toward the +veranda, four abreast, a bright-eyed, happy quartette. Mrs. Harlowe +greeted her daughter's friends as affectionately as though they were her +own children. "Did you bring your work, girls, or is it to be a case of +idle hands?" + +"Idle hands!" exclaimed Nora. "Far from it. Jessica has a blouse to finish +and I have innumerable initials to embroider." + +"I am the only idle one," confessed Anne. "I am sorry to say that I +haven't the least desire to be industrious. I prefer to sit with my hands +folded and watch the rest of you work. It sounds lazy, doesn't it?" + +"Not a bit of it," declared Grace loyally. "You've done your work, Anne. +It's time you took a rest. Make yourselves comfy, girls. Here, give me +your hats and parasols. I'll put them in the hall." + +In a moment Grace returned, and sitting down by Nora, who had stationed +herself in the big porch swing, she picked up her work and began to +embroider industriously. + +For the space of half an hour the little company worked busily, keeping up +a running accompaniment of merry conversation broken with light laughter. +It was Nora's quick eyes which first saw Grace lay down her work with an +impatient sigh. An instant later Grace discovered that Nora's industry was +flagging. Mrs. Harlowe had just gone into the house. Anne was leaning back +in her chair, her eyes fixed dreamily upon the far horizon, while Jessica, +alone, plodded patiently along, too much absorbed in the development of +the butterfly pattern she was embroidering to note that two of her +companions were lagging. A sudden silence fell upon them all. It was +broken by Nora's quick tones. "I'll take it all back," she averred. "I'm +strictly in favor of idle hands. Let's put our work away and go for a +walk!" + +"For this brilliant idea, we thank you," returned Anne, coming out of her +dream in a hurry. + +"Why not walk over to the old Omnibus House," suggested Grace. + +"Brillianter and brillianter," nodded Nora. "What could be more fitting +than to make a pilgrimage to the scenes of our high school days? I haven't +been there in ages." + +"Neither have I," was Grace's quick response. "It's only half-past three. +We'll have plenty of time to go there and back before dinner. The boys +won't be here until six o'clock. You know that Tom Gray arrived yesterday, +I suppose? That makes the Eight Originals complete. We'll have to do +without the Plus Two, because Miriam hasn't come home yet and Arnold won't +be here until the night before Nora's wedding." + +"How I miss Miriam," sighed Grace. + +"We never dreamed when we were freshmen that she would ever be our close +friend, did we?" asked Nora. + +"She's a dear, and no mistake," agreed Jessica. Then, her glance straying +to Anne, "What makes Anne look so mysterious?" + +Anne smiled. "I'll tell you the most surprising secret you ever heard, but +not until we get to the Omnibus House and are seated in a row on the old +stone steps behind it." + +"Then let's away!" exclaimed Nora. "We won't need our hats. Two parasols +will be enough to shade us from the sun." + +Five minutes later the four girls trooped down the steps and strolled +through the familiar streets in the direction of their old playground. The +afternoon sun beamed so gently and kindly upon them that it was not long +before they closed their parasols and walked with their heads uncovered to +his tempered rays. To see a bevy of girls walking in the quiet streets of +the little city without hats was the commonest sight, and the quartette +attracted little attention as they sauntered along. + +After leaving Oakdale behind, it was not more than ten minutes' walk +across the fields to the quaint old stone house which had been the scene +of so many of their high school revels. + +"What a lot of good times we have had here," mused Nora reminiscently, as +they paused before the quaint old building, that had once been a tavern, +and was, goodness knew, how many years old. "Shall you ever forget the +time we buried the hatchet?" + +"Never!" chorused three emphatic voices. + +"Wasn't Julia Crosby too ridiculous for words?" declared Jessica. Her +smile of recollection was reflected in the faces of her friends. + +"That reminds me," remarked Nora, "I have something to tell you girls +too." + +"Let's have a 'secret' session," proposed Jessica. "Every one who wishes +to attend must be ready to tell a secret the moment we sit down on the +steps." + +"'A secret is a secret, only, when known to three persons, two of which +are dead,'" quoted Anne mischievously. + +"These secrets mustn't be the heart-to-heart, keep-it-to-yourself-forever +kind," stipulated Nora. "They mustn't be of the complex variety either. +Dark secrets are also strictly tabooed from this session." + +"Stop laying down rules and regulations," laughed Grace, "and let us form +our secret row. I am eaten up with curiosity to know what Anne and Nora +know." + +"Are you eligible?" quizzed Nora. "That is the important question. Anne, +you must head the row. You began this session." + +Anne complied obediently. + +Nora sat down beside her. + +Grace stood eyeing Nora thoughtfully. Then her eyes sparkled. "I'm +eligible," she announced as she made a third. + +"So am I," declared Jessica a trifle soberly, taking her place at the +other end of the row. + +"Ladies and no gentlemen," announced Nora, rising and bowing profoundly to +the three girls, "the great secret session of the four inseparables is +about to begin. Remember, you are not limited to one secret. If you happen +to know several, now is the time to tell them. Go ahead, Anne." + +Nora seated herself again and with the eyes of her chums fixed expectantly +upon her, Anne began the secret session. + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE WAY TO PERPETUAL YOUTH + + +"This isn't a secret that any one told me," stated Anne. "It's something I +found out for myself. One of the two persons it concerns doesn't know it +yet. Perhaps she will never know." + +"How mysteriously interesting," commented Nora. "Hurry on with it, Anne. +Who are the persons concerned?" + +"Mr. Southard and"--Anne paused briefly to give due effect to her words-- +"Miriam." + +A ripple of surprise passed along the row. + +"What do you mean, Anne?" was Grace's quick question. + +"I mean that for nearly four years Mr. Southard has cared for Miriam," +replied Anne steadily. + +Nora's puckered red lips emitted a surprised whistle. + +"This _is_ news," averred Jessica. "But Miriam could never care for +him. He is so much older." + +"How old do you imagine Mr. Southard to be, Jessica?" asked Anne slyly. + +"Oh, I don't know. He must be--" + +Jessica paused reflectively. Then a sudden look of astonishment passed +over her face. "Why how funny! He isn't really old. I don't believe he is +as old as thirty-five, but he _seems_ older." + +Anne nodded. "He is thirty-three. That isn't very ancient, is it?" + +"Miriam is twenty-four," mused Grace aloud. "She is so brilliant, +self-possessed and stunning that one feels as though she were even older +than that. I know she is very fond of the Southards, but I don't believe +she suspects that Mr. Southard--" + +"She doesn't," put in Anne eagerly. "He has been careful that she +shouldn't. I believe Miss Southard knows, but she would never say so, even +to me. Do you remember the time we went to New York City for Thanksgiving, +when we were freshmen at Overton, Grace? Well, it began then. I know him +so thoroughly that I could see things that you girls couldn't. After that +I took particular pains to notice the way he acted toward Miriam whenever +they met, and, as Elfreda says, I could see his love for her grow and +deepen. He cared a great deal last commencement, and he was so dreadfully +afraid she'd find out that he actually kept away from her." + +"I remember that," interposed Grace. "Miriam noticed it, too. She told me +that she was afraid she had in some way offended Mr. Southard, for he +treated her with almost distant courtesy. I suppose he imagines himself as +being too old for Miriam." + +"This _is_ an interesting secret and no mistake," said Nora, wagging +her head with satisfaction, "but what about poor Arnold Evans?" + +"You are running ahead too fast, Nora," smiled Anne. "Remember Miriam +doesn't suspect that Mr. Southard loves her. The chances are she doesn't +nor never will care for him. But I'll be generous and tell you another +secret. Miriam and Arnold aren't the least bit in love with each other." + +"Do you know, Anne, I've always thought that, too," agreed Grace. "They +have always acted more like two good comrades." + +"Exactly," replied Anne, "but, as far as I am concerned, girls, to me it +would be a wonderful thing if some day Everett Southard and Miriam Nesbit +should decide that they were necessary to each other's welfare. They are +so admirably suited in temperament, disposition, and all that goes toward +making two persons absolutely happy." + +"Hear the sage expound life and love," giggled Nora. "What about poor +David's future happiness?" + +Anne flushed. "I can't answer that question," she said, after a little +pause. "It does sound rather silly for me to go on talking about the love +affairs of others when I can't settle my own. Not that I love David less, +but acting more," she finished almost tremulously. "I move that we go on +to the next secret." + +"Mine is about Julia Crosby," began Nora, "and I can tell you in few +words. She's engaged to a Harvard man." + +"Really!" exclaimed Grace delightedly. "Where did you see her, Nora? I +didn't know she was at home." + +"She came home from the mountains yesterday. I saw her in Carlton's, that +new confectioner's shop on Main Street. We had a sundae together and she +told me all about it. She has known her fiance for two years. She met him +at a Harvard dance. He was graduated last June from the Harvard law +school. The engagement hasn't been formally announced yet. She's going to +give a luncheon to announce it. She wanted me to be sure and tell you +three girls. She is coming to see you soon, Grace." + +"I'll receive her with open arms," assured Grace. + +"That was a nice secret," commented Anne. "Now, Grace." + +"Our fairy godmother is coming to dinner to-night." + +"Hurrah!" cried Anne, standing up and waving her hand. "I didn't know she +was within two hundred miles of Oakdale. It seems years instead of weeks +since I saw her. When did she arrive in Oakdale?" + +"This morning. She telephoned me. In my last letter I mentioned my dinner +to you girls, and said I wished she might be here too. She came home from +the seashore a week earlier so as not to miss it. She didn't say not to +tell you. I had been holding it back as a surprise. It served me in good +stead by making me eligible to Secret Row." + +"Last but not least, Jessica," reminded Nora briskly. + +"I was going to tell you this evening when we were all together, and Reddy +promised to help me, but, somehow, I'd rather tell you now, while we are +together on these dear old steps where we've had so much fun." + +Something in Jessica's tone caused the eyes of her friends to search hers +inquiringly. It carried with it unmistakable regret. It presaged parting. + +"Reddy and I aren't going to live in Oakdale this winter. We--we--are +going--to--Chicago to live." + +"Oh!" Nora ejaculated, drawing her breath sharply. "Oh, Jessica!" + +A painful silence fell upon the row of girls, whose voices had only a +moment since rung out so gayly. + +Nora sat staring straight ahead of her with quivering lips. Of the three +girls she would miss Jessica the most sorely. Grace, too, felt that +dreadful sense of loss, of which she had complained earlier in the +afternoon, stealing down upon her. Anne's face wore a look of loving +concern, but an expression of resignation to destiny, which was likely to +lead one to the ends of the earth, lurked in her somber eyes. She had +learned young to bow with the best possible grace to the inevitable. + +Suddenly a half-stifled sob broke the oppressive quiet. + +"Nora, you mustn't," protested Jessica weakly, but Nora's curly head was +already resting on Grace's comforting shoulder, and an instant afterward +Jessica sought the consolation of the other shoulder. + +"Girls, girls," soothed Grace, an arm around each, "you mustn't cry." +Nevertheless she experienced a wild desire to lift up her voice and lament +with them. "I know you looked forward to being together this winter. It's +terribly disappointing, but you can write letters and visit each other, +and next summer, Jessica, you must arrange to come to Oakdale and stay all +summer. Why didn't you tell us before?" + +"Reddy didn't know it until yesterday," faltered Jessica. "His father has +taken over a large business there and he wants Reddy to manage it for him. +Reddy's mother doesn't want to live in Chicago, so Mr. Brooks wants Reddy +to go." + +"It's the real parting of the ways," said Grace softly to Anne. + +Anne nodded. "Still, if we had our choice as to whether we would like to +go back and live over our past or go on, I am sure we'd choose to go on," +she said thoughtfully. "Don't you think so, Grace!" + +"Of course we would," agreed Grace cheerfully. "Good gracious, girls!" she +exclaimed in sudden consternation. "Whose familiar figures are those +coming across the field? It must be later than I thought." + +Nora's and Jessica's mourning heads bobbed up from Grace's shoulders with +simultaneous alacrity. + +"Hippy!" gasped Nora. "Do I look as though I'd been crying? I wouldn't +have him know it for the world." + +"Reddy!" recognized Jessica. "Are my eyes a sight?" + +"Also David and Tom," added Anne. "No, children, you haven't wept enough +to permanently disfigure your charming faces. If the boys had not appeared +we might now be weeping in a melancholy row. I had no idea that Jessica's +secret was to be a positive tragedy." + +"Neither had I," responded Grace soberly, laying an affectionate hand on +Jessica's arm. + +There was no time for further remarks on the subject, for the four young +men were crossing the last field in record time. As they neared the row of +young women Hippy Wingate picked up his coat and pirouetted toward them, a +wide smile on his round face, as he chanted gayly in a high voice: + + "Children go, to and fro + In a merry pretty row; + Faces bright, all alight, + 'Tis a happy, happy sight. + Swiftly turning round and round, + Do not look upon the ground; + Follow me, full of glee, + Singing merrily." + +With each line of the song Hippy executed a most astonishing figure, +ending on "merrily" with a funny pas-seul that turned the sorrow of the +lately disconsolate audience to laughter. + +"How did you like that?" he inquired affably, as he landed directly in +front of the steps. "Shall I sing the chorus now or would you prefer to +hear it later." + +"Later, by all means," flung back Nora. + +"As you please. As you please," returned Hippy with a careless wave of his +hand. "I am not chary of my art. I ask for but one recompense." + +"There he goes," groaned Dave Nesbit. + +"I'm not going," retorted Hippy, with dignity. "I'm standing perfectly +still. However, I did not come away out here in this field to quarrel with +you, David Nesbit. I came because I am a--" + +"Nuisance," suggested Reddy. + +"Precisely. No, I don't mean anything of the sort. I am not a nuisance. A +nuisance is a tall, thin, conceited person with flaming red hair, pale +blue eyes, a freckled nose and a slanderous tongue. His name begins with R +and he is--" + +Without finishing his sentence Hippy took to his heels and disappeared +around the corner of the Omnibus House, with an agility worthy of a better +cause. + +"I'll see that he keeps at a safe distance from us till we start for +Grace's," was Reddy's grim comment. "You'll see his head appear at that +corner in a minute, and then, look out!" + +They waited in mirthful silence. True to Reddy's prediction Hippy's round +face was suddenly thrust into view. Reddy leaped toward him. There was a +horrified, "Oh, dreadful!" from Hippy, and the sound of running feet. + +"He's afraid of me," boasted Reddy in a purposely loud tone. + +"Don't you ever believe it," contradicted Hippy's voice. "I like the view +from this side of the Omnibus House. I think Nora would like it, too." + +"Such thoughtfulness is rare," jeered David. + +"'Tis better to have thought such thoughts, than never to have thought at +all," retorted the voice plaintively. + +"Let's eradicate him from the face of the earth, Reddy," proposed David. +"He's a blot upon the community." + +"No-r-a," wailed the voice, "aren't you going to help your little friend!" + +"Rescue him, Nora," declared David disgustedly. "That's the reason he +created all this disturbance." + +Nora dimpled, the pink in her cheeks deepening. + +"Yes, do," urged Grace. "It is high time for us to start home. We must be +there to receive Mrs. Gray." + +"She sent me on ahead," informed Tom. "I wanted to wait and bring her over +in my car, but she is going to have Haynes bring her over in the +carriage." + +Nora disappeared around the corner of the house, but reappeared +immediately, leading by the hand a broadly smiling Hippy, who carried a +huge bouquet of buttercups and daisies in his free hand and cavorted at +her side as joyously as the proverbial lambkin on the green. + +"You can lead the way with him, Nora," directed David. "I wouldn't trust +him to bring up the rear. Reddy and I want him where we can keep an eye +upon him." + +"Certainly we shall lead the way," flung back Hippy, "but not because you +say so. Our superior rank places us in the front row of the procession. +Come on, Nora. May I sing and dance? I haven't sung the chorus yet, you +know." + +Without waiting for permission Hippy pranced ahead of her on his toes, +swaying from side to side and scattering the flowers from his bouquet, his +voice rising in a falsetto chorus of: + +"Singing merrily, merrily, merrily, +Follow me, full of glee, +Singing merrily." + +"He'll never grow old," said Anne, as she watched Hippy's ridiculous +performance. + +"Neither will the rest of the Eight Originals," reminded Grace loyally. +"Remember, we have a Fairy Godmother who has taught us the secret of +perpetual youth." + +"What's the secret?" asked David innocently. He was fond of hearing +Grace's enthusiastic views of things. + +"Never lose one's grip on life," she answered simply. + +And as the Eight Originals strolled home through the radiant sunset, in +each young soul stirred the resolve to take a firm grip on life and keep +eternally young at heart, no matter what the years might bring forth. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +JESSICA'S WEDDING + + +"Jessica Bright, you will never look prettier in your life than you do +to-night!" exclaimed Grace Harlowe, as she stood off a little from her +friend and gazed at her with loving eyes. + +A wave of color dyed Jessica's pale cheeks. "I'm so glad that you think +so," she breathed. "Do you know, girls, I have always hoped that I'd look +nicer on my wedding day than at any other time. I'm glad I decided to have +a green and white wedding, too." + +"You always used to say that you were going to have a pink rose wedding," +reminded Anne. "What made you change your mind?" + +"Promise you won't laugh and I'll tell you," said Jessica solemnly. + +It was the evening of Jessica's wedding and Mabel Allison, Anne Pierson, +Miriam Nesbit, Eleanor Savelli, Nora, now Mrs. Hippy Wingate, and Grace +gathered about their friend with voluble promises of eternal secrecy. They +were in Jessica's room saying good-bye to Jessica Bright, so soon to +become Jessica Brooks. + +"I changed my mind," informed Jessica impressively, "on account of Reddy's +hair." + +"'On account of Reddy's hair,'" repeated Grace. "Why--" Then, catching +Nora's eye, she laughed. + +"You know how dreadfully pink and red clash," Jessica went on, with a +faint giggle, "but I had never thought of it until one night when Reddy +was sitting on our porch. He wrapped my pink scarf around his neck just +for fun, and I made up my mind then and there not to have a pink wedding. +Finally, I chose green and white, and I'm glad now, because he will look +so much nicer." + +"I think that was very sweet in you, Jessica," said Eleanor Savelli +decidedly. + +"Some of us ought to tell Reddy of Jessica's thoughtfulness," teased Anne. + +"Just as though any of you would," replied Jessica, fondly surveying the +smiling faces of her friends. + +"You are very sure of us, aren't you, Jessica?" said Grace gayly. + +"And always shall be," answered Jessica simply. "Do you remember, girls, +when I was about fourteen how frightfully sentimental I used to be. I read +every love story I could lay hands on. I was forever imagining my wedding +day. My bridegroom was always tall and dark, with piercing black eyes and +a kingly air, and I always pictured myself as wearing a pink satin dress +and being married in church. Sometimes fate parted us at the altar and +sometimes we lived happily ever afterward. I used to plan that on the day +of my wedding I would lock myself in my room, put on my pink satin dress +and sit all day in rapt meditation. I would eat nothing, and see no one, +not even father, until the moment when I swept grandly out into the hall +and down the stairs to my carriage. Of course, I was transcendently +beautiful and there I were always two or three disappointed lovers, who +came to the church and cast sad, yearning eyes upon me as I glided up the +center aisle with my hero. I never dreamed, then, that Reddy Brooks, my +schoolmate and playfellow, was to be my destiny," she continued, her eyes +growing tender, "or that I should begin my journey with him in our dear +old parlor, surrounded by my chums. I haven't the least desire to sit +alone and moon and meditate. I want all of you with me. It seems the most +natural thing in the world that I should walk down the same old stairs to +the same old parlor to meet the same old Reddy, just as I've done dozens +of times before." + +"It's five minutes to eight, girls," announced Miriam Nesbit. "Say +good-bye to Jessica Bright, and don't one of you dare to shed a tear." + +One after another the girls embraced Jessica. Nora was last. She and +Jessica remained in each other's arms for a long, sweet moment. Their +devotion was as deep and true as that which existed between Grace and +Anne. + +"Here are the flower girls. It's time, Jessica," said Grace softly, as the +two little girls who had been chosen to act in that capacity entered the +room accompanied by Ellen, the Brights' old servant, who had been in the +household since Jessica's babyhood. They were pretty, dark-haired +children, cousins of Jessica's, and wore white lace frocks over pale green +silk. On their heads were wreaths of tiny double white daisies and they +carried small baskets filled to overflowing with the same flower. + +Quietly the little procession began to form. Nora, as matron of honor, +followed the flower girls. She wore her wedding gown of white satin, and +carried a huge armful of white roses. Then came the bride. As Grace had +said Jessica would, in all probability, never look lovelier than in her +wedding dress of white satin. Her veil of wonderful yellow-white old lace, +was an heirloom, Jessica being the fourth bride in the family to wear it, +and her bouquet was a shower of lilies of the valley. Jessica possessed a +dazzlingly white skin, and the purity of her complexion had never showed +to better advantage. Her deeply blue eyes were dark with reverence and her +whole face radiated a tender happiness that made it rarely lovely. The +bridesmaids wore gowns of white chiffon over pale green chiffon which +blended into a misty, sea-foam effect. Dainty girdles of palest green +satin and exquisite hair ornaments composed of tiny chiffon flowers and +satin leaves, together with white satin slippers and white silk stockings, +completed their costumes, and they carried shower bouquets of white sweet +peas. + +Down the stairs swept the bridal procession to the strains of +Mendelssohn's wedding march played by the orchestra, stationed in a +palm-screened corner of the wide hall. It was the same old orchestra which +had become so closely identified with the good times of the Eight Originals +during their high school days. Jessica had declared laughingly that it +would seem almost a sacrilege to think of being married to the strains of +a wedding march that was not played by them. At the foot of the stairs the +bride was met by her father, and the wedding party moved slowly into and +down the long parlor to the bow window at the end of the room which had +been transformed into a fairy bower of green. Before a bank of ferns, +white roses and white sweet peas stood the old clergyman who had said the +last solemn words over Jessica's mother years before, and who had come +from another city, many miles distant, to marry Jessica and Reddy. Here it +was that the bridegroom, accompanied by his best man, Tom Gray, awaited +his one-time playmate, his boyhood friend, his first and only sweetheart, +who had now come in all the bravery of her wedding finery to place her +hands, trustingly, confidently in his for the journey over the untrodden +trail they were to blaze together. + +A soft murmur that was almost a sigh went up from the assembled guests as +Mr. Bright handed his most precious treasure into the keeping of the man +who had claimed her for his own, and the beautiful Episcopal ring service +began. Jessica's responses were clear and unfaltering, while Reddy's firm +earnest tones carried conviction of the sincerity of his vows. +Notwithstanding the fact that the appellation of "Reddy," by which he was +known throughout Oakdale, arose from his unmistakably red hair, Lawrence +Brooks looked singularly handsome on his wedding night and the expression +of proud affection in his eyes, as he took Jessica's hand, was plainly +indicative of the love he bore her. + +The moment the ceremony was over Reddy kissed Jessica, who lifted loving +eyes to his, then, turning, wound both arms about her father's neck. The +bridesmaids quickly hemmed them in and the guests crowded about them to +offer their congratulations. Only the intimate friends of Reddy and +Jessica had been invited to attend the ceremony, Mrs. Allison, the +Southards, the Putnams, Mrs. Gibson, Eva Allen and James Gardner, Julia +Crosby, Marian Barber, Mrs. Gray, Miss Nevin, Guido Savelli, Arnold Evans, +Donald Earle, the immediate families of the bride and groom and the +families of the rest of the Eight Originals Plus Two. + +The reception, which was to begin at half-past eight, included the greater +part of Oakdale's younger set, and before it was over Reddy and Jessica +were to slip away and motor to the next town, there to catch the night +train to New York. From there they were to take a boat bound for the West +Indies where they had planned to spend a month's honeymoon, then journey +to their Chicago home. + +"Well, Reddy," declared Hippy condescendingly, when, a little later the +Eight Originals stood near the flower bank indulging in a brief old-time +chat before the arrival of the reception guests, "I must say that you did +very well, and Jessica, too." He beamed on the bride, with a wide +patronizing smile that caused her new dignity to vanish in a giggle of +ready appreciation of the irrepressible Hippy. "I hoped that you, Reddy, +would glance at me for inspiration. There you stood, like a wooden Indian, +I mean a marble statue, and never winked. But as you stood there a +beautiful thought came to me. I understood precisely why the name of +'Reddy' was appropriate to you. The electric light shone softly down upon +your gleaming Titian locks, as though to call attention to their crimson +glory. There was a look of--" + +"Nora, if you value the life of your husband, remove him," broke in David +Nesbit decisively. "Reddy is trying to behave with the becoming dignity of +a newly-wed, and I appeal to you, how can he?" + +"He can't," agreed Nora. "I'll remove the obstacle at once." + +"You'll have to use strategy to do it," announced Hippy. + +"'Come one, come all, this rock shall fly +From its firm base as soon as I!'" + +he quoted determinedly, with jerky little gestures. Planting himself +behind Jessica, he caught up a corner of her veil and peered defiantly +through it at David. + +"You haven't seen the bride's table in the tent yet, have you, Hippy?" +inquired Grace innocently. "It looks so pretty." + +"The bride's table!" Hippy's defiant face broke into an expansive, affable +grin. "No, but I'd love to see it. Show it to me, instantly." + +"I'll take charge of him, Grace," interposed Nora. "If he inspects the +refreshment tent it must be under guard." + +"I've changed my mind. I don't care to see it. I'd rather stay here and +offer a few more congratulations to Reddy. Grace's strategy was very +clever, but Nora's bullying is all wrong. I won't be taken charge of." + +But in spite of his vigorous protests Nora slipped her arm through his and +piloted him in the direction of the huge refreshment tent which had been +erected on the lawn. There the wedding supper was to be served by caterers +at small tables. + +"What a treasure Hippy is," said Anne, as the group of young people +smilingly watched Hippy and Nora out of sight. "He is so funny and nice +that he takes away that half-sad feeling that one almost always has at a +wedding. I am sure I don't know why seeing two friends made happy should +inspire one with a desire to cry, but it does." + +"Weddings and commencements are always more or less solemn and productive +of weeps," answered Grace. "Remember not one of us is going to shed a tear +when Jessica leaves us. This has been such a sweet, happy wedding that we +mustn't spoil its gladness. Of course, I can't imagine you boys lifting up +your voices in lamentation, but I'm not so sure of the feminine half of +the Eight Originals." + +"I couldn't help crying a little when Nora was married," confessed +Jessica. "A church wedding seems so much more solemn, and Hippy was far +too busy being a dignified bridegroom to say funny things." + +"He was perfect, wasn't he?" agreed Anne earnestly. "I never dreamed he +could look so reverent and devoted. I don't know which was nicer, Jessica, +Nora's wedding or yours. They were both beautiful." Happening to catch +David's grave eyes fixed searchingly upon her she flushed and said +hastily, "It must be almost time for the reception to begin." + +"So it is, and if I'm not mistaken here come the first guests," remarked +Tom Gray. + +For the next hour Jessica and Reddy were kept busy receiving the +congratulations of the steady in-pouring of friends who came to wish them +godspeed. Then followed the wedding supper, and it was almost eleven +o'clock when Jessica slipped away from her guests, and a little later, +appeared at the head of the stairs in a smart tailored suit of brown, with +hat, shoes and gloves to match. No secret had been made of their +departure, for their friends were not of those who delighted in playing +embarrassing and discomforting pranks. In fact, the majority of the +reception guests had departed, and it was their intimate friends who were +to see them off on their journey. + +Surrounded by her loved ones, Jessica made a second triumphal journey down +the stairs. In the hall a halt was made and the dreaded good-byes began. +Jessica clung first to her father, then to her aunt. Her chums came next +and she was passed from one to the other of them with warm expressions of +affection and good will. Then the procession moved on and the second halt +was made at the drive where a limousine stood waiting to receive the +bridal pair. It glided away amid a shower of rice and several old shoes, +which had been carefully selected beforehand by Hippy, David and Grace, +leaving six of the Eight Originals gazing after it with eloquent eyes in +which lay the meaning of "Auld Lang Syne." + +"I love weddings," gushed Hippy sentimentally, as the six strolled back to +the house. "I hope I shall have at least two more wedding invitations this +year." + +No one answered this pointed sally. Nora gave her loquacious husband's arm +a warning pinch. + +"Stop pinching my arm, Nora," he protested in a grieved tone. "How can you +be so cruel to little me?" + +This was too much for the silent four. They looked into each other's eyes +and laughed. Then Dave said quietly, "Not this year, old man." + +"Perhaps we can promise you one for next fall, Hippy," said Anne, with a +sudden temerity which surprised her as well as the others. + +"Anne!" David's voice vibrated with newborn hope. For the instant he +forgot everything except the fact that Anne had at last approached some +degree of definiteness regarding their future. + +"I said 'perhaps,'" laughed Anne, but behind her laughter David read the +blessed truth that in Anne's secret heart there was no "perhaps," and the +little hand which lay so contentedly in his, as they strolled up the walk +to the house, made the assurance of his new joy doubly sure. + +"Why can't you make me happy too, Grace?" asked Tom in a low, reproachful +tone. They had dropped a little to the rear of the others. + +"I'm sorry, Tom," faltered Grace, "but I can't. I am fonder of you than +any other man I know, but it is the fondness of long friendship. I'm not +looking forward to marriage. It is my work that interests me most. I don't +love you as Anne loves David, and Jessica and Nora love Reddy and Hippy. I +don't believe I know what love means. I don't wish to hurt you, but I must +be perfectly honest with myself and with you. I can only say that I care +for no one else, and that perhaps someday I may care as much as you." + +Grace gazed sorrowfully at Tom as she ended. She knew by the tightening of +his lips and the nervous squaring of his broad shoulders that she had hurt +him sorely. + +"All right, Grace," he said with brave finality. "I'll try to be content +with your friendship and live in the hope of that 'someday.' I'm going to +be selfish enough to dream that there will come a time when even your work +won't be able to crowd out love." + +Grace made no reply. She felt that there was nothing to be said. The bare +idea that there might come a time when her beloved work would fail to fill +her life was not to be considered, even for a moment. Love was a vague, +far-distant possibility. It might come to her, and again it might not. But +her work--that lay directly before her. The glory of life was not love, +but achievement. Her eyes grew rapt with purpose, and, as Tom wistfully +scanned her changeful face, it fell upon him with a sudden sinking of the +heart that for him the longed-for "someday" might never come. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE RETURN OF EMMA DEAN + + +"'A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!'" chanted a voice in Grace +Harlowe's ear. + +Grace whirled about, almost dropping the suit case and golf bag she +carried. + +"Why, Emma, _Emma Dean_!" she exclaimed, her voice rising high in +astonishment. + +"Yes, it's Emma, _Emma Dean_," returned Emma humorously. "It is I, +me, myself and all the other personally personal pronouns that stand for +your old friend, Emily Elizabeth Dean." + +"Wherever did you come from and--oh, Emma"--as the tall thin young woman +pointed significantly to two heavy suit cases and a small leather bag +huddled together on the station platform--"you aren't really--are you--" + +"I am," interrupted Emma cheerfully. "I couldn't stay away. I knew you'd +need a comforter this year, so I applied for the position and you can see +for yourself how successful I was. Professor Morton was so grateful to me +for applying that he said with tears in his eyes, 'Emma, I can't tell you +how happy it makes me--'" + +"Emma Dean, stop talking nonsense and tell me how you really happened to +be here. It's too good to be true." Grace beamed fondly on her tall, +humorous classmate who had been a never-failing source of amusement to the +Wayne Hall girls. + +"Since you are determined to have facts, here goes. I've come back to +Overton, the land of the dig and the home of the sage, to show what four +years of unremittent toil have done for me. I am to be a living +testimonial, one of the 'after taking the prescribed course I can +cheerfully recommend, etc.,' kind. Briefly and explicitly, I dropped off +that train from the south that came in just before your train, and I'm +going to be Miss Duncan's assistant in English." + +"You aren't really!" Grace's eyes were dancing. "How splendid! Why I +didn't know you intended to teach." + +"Neither did I," returned Emma, a shadow flitting across her face, "until +I went home last June and found that things hadn't been going as smoothly +as they might. Mother and Father never gave me the slightest inkling last +year that money wasn't plentiful in the Dean family. Dear, unselfish +things! They wanted my college life to end in a blaze of glory. You see, +Father had put most of his little capital into a real estate boom that +didn't boom, and it left him with a lot of vacant lots on his hands that +no one, not even himself, wanted. A trolley line was to pass through the +section he owned and it changed its mind, or rather the directors changed +theirs, and straggled off in another direction. So, unless it straggles +back again and Father gets rid of his incubus, which isn't at all likely, +the eldest daughter of the noble house of Dean will have to hustle +indefinitely for her board and keep. + +"To go back a little, as soon as I noticed how worried Father looked, and +after I surprised Mother crying one day, I made them tell me all about it. +I wrote straight to Professor Morton. He helped me secure the position of +assistant in English, and here I am. I haven't the least idea where I'm +going to live either. I'd love to go back to Wayne Hall, but I'm afraid I +couldn't preserve a proper attitude of dignity there. You know my +failings. Beverly Place is a house given over to teachers. I thought I'd +try there first. I hope it won't be too expensive. I expect to send some +money home this year." + +Grace had listened attentively to Emma's recital. What a splendid girl +Emma was! She had not tried to dodge Life and his inseparable comrades, +Trouble and Hard Work. Instead, she had walked out courageously, +fearlessly, to meet them with smiling lips and a merry heart. Grace was +already enlivened by the prospect of having this free-hearted, jolly +classmate with her during the college year now opening. + +"How I wish you could live near me, Emma," she said longingly. Then she +stared at her friend with wide-open eyes, the expression of which +betokened the birth of an amazing idea. "Why--you can," she declared. +"I've just thought of the nicest way. Will you come, Emma? Will you?" + +"It depends on the exact spot where the pleasure of my company is +requested," returned Emma waggishly. "If it is to Kamptchatka--no, most +decidedly. I have no insane craving for life among the heathen, and that +'no' includes the Malay Archipelago and darkest Africa. It's too cold in +Greenland and I couldn't countenance terrible Thibet, but if it's any place +nearer home, say Hunter's Rock or Vinton's, I'll be delighted." + +Grace laughed happily. "It's a place you haven't guessed or thought of," +she replied. "I want you to come to Harlowe House and room with me, Emma. +I'm going to have lots of room, a whole suite. There's a sitting-room, a +bedroom and a bath. I need some one to help me and I'd rather have you +than any one else I know. Won't you say 'yes'? Please, please, do." + +Emma regarded Grace with a look of one who could not believe the evidence +of her own ears. "Oh--I couldn't--it wouldn't be right to impose upon you. +I'd love to, but--" + +"Wait until you see Harlowe House before you make up your mind not to live +there," interposed Grace slyly. "We'll call a taxicab and go over to it at +once. I have my own key, so we can leave our luggage and go to Vinton's or +any other place we wish for luncheon. You can spend the night at Harlowe +House. We won't be alone there, for the cook and both maids are supposed +to arrive to-day. After you have enjoyed a few hours of my beneficent +society you may refuse to be torn from me and my sheltering home," she +ended banteringly. + +"I haven't the least doubt of it," averred Emma in a perfectly serious +tone. "That's why I feel as though I ought to decide now while I am in my +most heroic mood. I never dreamed of any such wonderful good fortune. +Honestly, Grace, I don't know what to say." + +"Say 'yes,'" advocated Grace. "You ought to be willing to come if I am +willing to have you. If it will make you feel more independent, you may +pay for your meals. I'll see that you are not overcharged, but as far as +the room is concerned you are welcome to it. Oh, Emma, think how +delightful it will be for us! I say 'will' because you simply can't find +yourself hard-hearted enough to refuse. I'm not obliged to consult a soul +about my plans. Mrs. Gray gave me full permission to do as I think best. I +have no set expense limit. I am to be prudent and economical, of course; +that's part of my trust. After this year there will be an expense limit. +We shall know by next June just what it costs for the up-keep of a house +like Harlowe House. This year, however, we are bound to do more or less +experimenting." + +Grace gazed pleadingly at Emma, who stood in the middle of the station +platform, her heavy eyebrows drawn together in deep thought. + +"I'm going for that taxicab," said Grace, as Emma still remained silent. +"There's one coming into the station yard now." She signalled to the +driver, who drew up directly in front of where they were standing, then +sprang out and began loading the girls' luggage in the car. + +"Come on, Emma," coaxed Grace. "You can finish making up your mind on the +way to Harlowe House." + +Emma turned to her friend with a face full of affectionate gratitude. "I'm +going to accept your offer, Grace," she declared. "In fact, I can't resist +it. I am sure you want me to come and I don't know of any other place +where I'd rather be. I can't begin to tell you how much it means to me, +and in so many different ways. Are you sure there won't come a time when +you'll think, 'Oh, if only I had never asked that noisy, nervous, nosing, +messy, meddlesome, moping, miserable, growling, grumbling, grouchy, +greedy, galloping, galumphing Emma Dean to room with me?'" + +"I don't know any such person," denied Grace, laughing merrily at Emma's +remarkable self-arraignment. "It sounds more like a Thesaurus than a +category of your failings, Emma. Come along. We mustn't keep this man +waiting." + +Emma dutifully climbed into the automobile. "One never knows what will +happen next," she remarked naively as they seated themselves in the car. +"I feel as Cinderella must have felt when she was suddenly whisked off to +the ball by her fairy godmother. By the way, Grace, how is Mrs. Gray, the +fairy godmother of Harlowe House?" + +"I've been so busy coaxing you to come and live with me, I forgot to tell +you that she and I were down here in August, and who do you suppose we had +as a visitor?" + +"Arline Thayer?" asked Emma. + +"No; but that wasn't a bad guess. J. Elfreda was with us." + +"Bless her!" Emma's exclamation told plainly of her affection for the +one-time stout girl. "Was she as funny as ever?" + +"Every bit. She kept Mrs. Gray and I in a perpetual state of laughter. +She's going to study law in New York City, and she's promised to come to +Overton for Thanksgiving. Arline Thayer and Mabel Ashe are coming too. +We'll have a great celebration." + +"I'm certainly glad I'm here," sighed Emma, contentedly. "There seems to +be a prospect of one continuous round of pleasure." + +"I'm glad you are here too," nodded Grace. "You don't know how queerly I +felt to-day when I stepped off the train without seeing a soul I knew. I +suppose there are a number of girls here, although it's early. Classes +won't be called for at least a week or more. We'll surely see some +familiar spirits soon. There are Patience Eliot, Kathleen West, Laura +Atkins, Mildred Evans, Violet Darby, Myra Stone and ever so many others +still due in the land of Overton." + +"Why, that's so," declared Emma, her eyes bright with the prospect of +seeing her Overton friends. "Do you know, Grace, I'm ashamed to say I +hadn't really considered those girls. All along I've thought about the +Sempers and how strange and gray everything would seem without them." + +"I know it," sighed Grace. "I've felt exactly the same. Anne, Miriam, +Arline, Ruth, Elfreda and you were my absent crushes, but now you are a +present one, and next to you comes Patience Eliot. She always seemed like +a senior. I think I'm going to love the new Kathleen West dearly. She is +so clever, and now that we are friends I hope we can work together in +ever so many ways." + +As the taxicab bore them swiftly toward Harlowe House the two young women +talked on of the happy past with its pleasure-marked milestones. + +"We're almost there. Look, Emma! You can get a splendid view of all the +campus houses. Now isn't Harlowe House the prettiest of them all?" + +"It is, I swear it," returned Emma solemnly, "and, if I'm not mistaken, +one of your household has arrived ahead of you. Certainly some one is +camping out on the front steps." + +"Why, so there is. I wonder who she can be. One of the maids, I suppose, +or perhaps the cook. We'll know who she is in a minute." + +The car had now come to a full stop. Without waiting for the chauffeur +Grace opened the door and sprang out. "Never mind our luggage," she said +as she paid the driver. "We'll carry it into the house. It's not very +heavy." + +Gathering her belongings in one hand, and picking up one of Emma's suit +cases, Grace set off up the stone walk followed by Emma. As she advanced +there rose from the steps and came to meet her a most astonishing little +figure. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A STRANGE APPLICANT + + +"This is Harlowe House, isn't it?" was the sharp question that assailed +Grace's ears. + +"Yes." Grace's eyes traveled in amazement over the curious little stranger +within her gates. She was a girl of perhaps eighteen, although there was a +strained, anxious expression in her large brown eyes that made her look +positively aged, an effect which the three deep lines in her high +projecting forehead served to emphasize. If she possessed hair it was not +visible under the small round hat of a by-gone style which set down upon +her head like a helmet. She wore a plain, cheap black skirt and a queer, +old-fashioned white blouse made with a peplum. Around her waist was a +leather belt, and on her feet were coarse heavy shoes such as a farm +laborer might wear. In one hand she carried a large bundle, in a newspaper +wrapping. + +"I'm so glad. I thought I'd never get here," she said simply. + +Grace and Emma exchanged amazed glances. This must be the maid. But such a +maid! + +"Are you the young woman Mrs. Elwood engaged?" asked Grace politely. + +The girl shook her head. "I don't know what you mean. No one engaged me. I +just came because I heard about Harlowe House and wanted to go to college. +I've passed all my high school examinations and I've a scholarship too. +They wouldn't let me come, so I ran away from home and walked all the way +here. Is it true that a girl can live at Harlowe House without having to +pay her board?" she eyed Grace with a look of mingled anxiety and +defiance. + +"Oh," Grace's amazed look changed to one of interested concern, "pardon +me. I thought you were a young woman of whom Mrs. Elwood, of Wayne Hall, +had spoken." + +"I don't know Mrs. Elwood. I never heard of Wayne Hall. I don't know a +soul in this town. I only know that I want to go to Overton College more +than I ever wanted anything else in my life. Do you suppose there's a +chance for me to live at Harlowe House and study? I've walked over a +hundred miles to find out," finished the queer little stranger pleadingly. + +"'Over a hundred miles!'" repeated Grace and Emma in chorus. + +The girl nodded solemnly. + +"You poor child!" exclaimed Emma Dean impulsively. "If your wish to be an +Overton girl brought you that distance on foot, I should say you ought to +have all the chance there is. At any rate you have applied to the proper +authority. This is Miss Harlowe, for whom Harlowe House was named, and who +is to be in charge of it. I am Miss Dean, of 19-- and now assistant in +English at Overton." + +But the knowledge that she was face to face with the person who held the +privilege of being a member of Harlowe House in her hands overcame the +quaint stranger with a sudden shyness. She shifted her weight uneasily +from one foot to the other, twisted her thin, bony hands nervously, while +her forehead was corrugated afresh with deep wrinkles. + +With the frank, winning smile which was one of Grace's chief charms, she +held out her hand to the other girl. "I am glad to know you," she said. +"Won't you tell me your name?" + +"Mary Reynolds," returned the newcomer in a low voice, as she timidly +shook Grace's proffered hand, then Emma's. + +"I shall be glad to welcome you to Harlowe House," said Grace cordially, +"provided you can fulfill the requirements necessary for entering Overton. +I am going over to Miss Wilder's office this afternoon, and if you wish to +go with me you can learn all the particulars. Until then, however, you had +better come into the house with Miss Dean and me. I am sure you must be +very tired." + +"Yes, I am, but I don't mind that. I'm here and nothing else matters," +returned the girl so fervently that Grace felt a sudden mist rise to her +eyes, and she determined, then and there, that if this curious, destitute +little stranger succeeded in measuring up to Overton's mental +requirements, she would smooth in every possible way her path, which she +foresaw would be troubled. + +"And now for our triumphal entry into Harlowe House," declaimed Emma Dean, +as she and Grace picked up their luggage, and, followed by Mary Reynolds +and her huge newspaper-wrapped bundle, mounted the steps. At the door +Grace again set down her luggage. Fumbling for her latch key she fitted it +to the lock. + +"What a perfectly delightful place!" was Emma's enthusiastic cry, as she +stepped into the hall which was done in oak with furnishings to match. +"Commend me to the living-room!" She poked her head inquisitively through +the soft green silk hangings and after surveying the pretty room for an +instant made a dive for the window seat. "Oh, you window seat!" she +laughed with a fine disregard for dignity. + +Grace laughed with her, and queer little Mary Reynolds smiled in sheer +sympathy with Emma's irresistible drollery. + +"I choose this green window seat for my boon companion," declared Emma, +curling her wiry length cosily upon it, "and may I be ever faithful to my +vows. I expect to have difficulty in protecting my claim, for I predict +this will be the most popular spot in the house. May I put up a sign, +Grace, 'This claim is staked by Emma Dean, no others need apply'?" + +"You may stake it, but I won't guarantee that it will stay staked," +replied Grace. + +"Oh, yes, it will," argued Emma confidently, bouncing up and down on the +soft springy cushions. "The freshmen of Harlowe House will be so impressed +with my height, dignity and general appearance that they will defer to me +as a matter of course. One imperious look, like this, over my glasses, and +the world will be mine." She peered over her glasses at Grace in a +ludicrous fashion which was far more likely to convulse, rather than +impress, the prospective freshmen. + +Even the solemn stranger giggled outright, then looked as though she had +been caught red-handed in some dreadful crime. + +"I'd like to recite English in one of your classes, Emma," smiled Grace. + +"Now there is just where you are wrong," retorted Emma. "I shan't have a +single amusing feature in my daily round of recitations. I shall be as +grim as grim can be and a regular slave driver as far as lessons are +concerned. Those freshmen will wish they'd never met me." Emma wagged her +head threateningly. + +"Stop making such dire threats and come upstairs to see our quarters," +commanded Grace. + +Emma uncoiled herself from the window seat with alacrity and began +gathering up her belongings. + +Grace turned kindly to Mary Reynolds. "If you will come upstairs with us, +Miss Reynolds, I think we can easily find a room for you. So far I do not +know just how many applications Miss Wilder has received. As I told you, I +am going over to the office after luncheon. You had better go to your room +and rest a little, then take luncheon with Miss Dean and me and go with us +to Overton Hall to see Miss Wilder, the dean." + +"I--I--thank you," stammered the girl, the dull color flooding her +sunburnt cheeks. "I'm afraid--I--can't go to luncheon--with you. I'm--not +--very hungry." + +Emma Dean flashed a quick, appraising glance at her from under her +eyelashes. "Neither are we," she assured the embarrassed girl, "but still +we don't care to miss luncheon entirely. You are a stranger in a strange +land, so you must be our guest, and then some day when you are a seasoned +Overtonite we'll insist on being yours." + +Mary Reynolds regarded the two young women with shy, grateful eyes. "You +are so good to me. You must know, of course, that I am very poor. I have +nothing in the world but this bundle of clothes and ten dollars," she said +humbly. "It took me two years to save it, I have been so sure that there +would be some little corner of this wonderful house for me. I can't bear +to think that I may be too late. I don't know where I'd go. I guess I'd +have to try to find some place else. Do you suppose I am too late?" Her +tones vibrated with alarm. + +"Of course you aren't," soothed Emma Dean. "I'm always late, but, as I +used to tell Miss Harlowe, I am hardly ever too late. You may be almost +the first girl to apply, or you may be among the latest, but not the too +latest. There, isn't that encouraging? The best thing for you to do is to +have an early luncheon and a long sleep. Suppose we go down to Vinton's, +Grace, as soon as we get the fond souvenirs of the railroad off our faces. +Then I'll come back here with Miss Reynolds and you can go on to Overton +to see Miss Wilder. My business with her will keep until to-morrow. This +little girl is too tired for interviews to-day." + +"I think that's dear in you, Emma, and real wisdom too. Now let's go +upstairs, at once." Grace led the way and the trio ascended to the second +story. + +"I'm going to put you in this room for the present, Miss Reynolds," said +Grace. She paused before a door that faced the head of the stairs and +threw it open. It was a pretty room, papered in dainty blue and white, +with a blue and white floor rug and white enameled furniture. There were +crisp, white dotted-swiss curtains at the windows and a sheer blue and +white ruffled cover on the dressing table, while on the walls hung several +neatly-framed water color and pen and ink sketches. + +The shabby, tired girl gave a long sigh of satisfaction and weariness as +she stood in the middle of the floor, her eyes eagerly devouring the +pretty room. + +"The bathroom is at the end of the hall," said Grace gently. "We'll stop +for you in about half an hour." + +The other girl did not answer, and Grace and Emma slipped away, leaving +her to get used to her new surroundings. + +"Well, did you ever?" asked Emma, the moment they were inside Grace's +sitting-room with the door closed. + +Grace shook her head. "Poor little thing," she murmured. "She can't +possibly go about Overton in those clothes, Emma. Yet I can't offer her +any of mine. She seems independent. I am afraid she would resent it. I +wonder what her story is. Did you notice she said that 'they' wouldn't let +her go to college, so she had run away from home? Suppose some one of her +family should follow her here just after we had nicely established her at +Harlowe House? We must find out everything about her. I won't bother her +with questions while she is so tired." + +"I am sure she is eighteen," declared Emma positively. "That will free her +from parental sway in this state. I think it would be a greater tragedy if +she has come too late. What is the highest number of girls Harlowe House +will accommodate?" + +"Thirty-two," answered Grace. + +"Then let us hope that Mary Reynolds is not unlucky thirty-three. The +sooner you go to see Miss Wilder the sooner you'll know her fate. Now I'm +going on a tour of exploration and noisy admiration. I'm sure I haven't +ohs and ahs enough to fully express my feeling of elevated pleasure at so +much magnificence. And to thing that I, ordinary, every-day me, should be +asked to become co-partner to all this." Emma struck an attitude and +launched forth into fresh extravagances over the tastefully furnished +suite of rooms. + +"Emma, you ridiculous creature, wind up your lecture and get ready for +luncheon," commanded Grace affectionately. + +"Not until I've seen the last saw," returned Emma firmly. + +For the next ten minutes she prowled and peered, examined and admired, to +her heart's content. "Now I've seen everything," she averred, at last, +with calm satisfaction, "and I'm twice as hungry as I was. But I can't +leave off thinking what a lucky person Emma Dean is to have all this +grandeur and Grace Harlowe thrown in." + +"And I can't help thinking what a lucky person Grace Harlowe is to have +Emma Dean." + +"Then we're a mutual admiration society," finished Emma, "and there's no +telling where we'll leave off." + +"If I didn't have to go on to Overton Hall I wouldn't wear a hat," sighed +Grace, half an hour later, reaching reluctantly for her hat. She and Emma +had bathed their faces, rearranged their hair, and put on fresh lingerie +blouses with their tailored suits. "Are you ready, Emma? I wonder if Miss +Reynolds is. I'll stop and see." + +Grace knocked lightly on the newcomer's door. It was opened immediately. + +"Are you ready, Miss Reynolds?" she asked, her alert eyes noting that the +offending peplum had been tucked inside the black skirt, and that Mary +Reynolds with her hat off was a vast improvement on Mary Reynolds with her +hat on. She also observed that the girl's hair, though drawn +uncompromisingly back from her forehead, showed a decided tendency to +curl. With her usual impulsiveness she exclaimed, "Oh, you have naturally +curly hair, haven't you? It's such a pretty shade of brown. Do let me do +it for you. It's a pity not to make the most of it." + +The girl regarded her with grave surprise. "Are you making fun of me?" she +asked seriously. + +"'Making fun of you,'" repeated Grace. "I should say not. I think you have +beautiful hair. Why, what is it, Miss Reynolds?" For, with a queer, +choking cry, the odd little stranger threw herself face downward on the +bed and sobbed disconsolately. + +Grace stood silent, watching the sob-wracked figure with puzzled, +sympathetic eyes. Emma appeared in the doorway, her eyebrows elevated in +astonishment. Grace motioned for her to come in. The girl on the bed wept +on, while the two young women waited patiently for her sobs to cease. + +Suddenly she sat up with a jerk, and dashed her hand across her eyes. "I'm +sorry--I--was so--so--silly," she faltered, "but I couldn't help it. No +one ever told me that I was anything but plain and ugly before." + +"You poor little thing," sympathized Emma. + +Grace sat down on the bed beside Mary and put her arm across the thin +shoulders. "Cheer up," she said brightly. "I am sure you are going to be +happy at Overton. You feel blue just now because you are tired and hungry. +Let me fix your hair and we'll hurry to Vinton's as fast as ever we can. +I'm simply starved." + +Mary Reynolds obediently sat on the chair Grace placed for her and the +hair dressing began. Grace and Emma both exclaimed in admiration as Grace +unbraided the soft-golden brown hair, which, once free, broke into waves +and curls. + +"Did you ever see a prettier head of hair?" exclaimed Emma. + +"I think it would look best combed low over her forehead, don't you?" +asked Grace. + +Emma nodded her approval as Grace, with deft fingers, arranged the thick +curly locks in a strictly smart fashion which completely changed Mary +Reynolds' forlorn appearance. + +"Now look in the glass," directed Grace, when she had finished. + +Mary gazed earnestly at her new self. "It can't be me," she said with a +pardonable disregard of English. + +"But it is," Grace assured her. "You must learn to do your hair like that +and wear it so. Now let me put a tiny bit of powder on your face to scare +away the tear stains and we'll be off." + +The obnoxious helmet-like hat did not seem so unbecoming, now that Mary's +curls peeped from under it, and Grace felt a certain degree of +satisfaction in her efforts to make the new girl at least presentable. She +decided that once her large brown eyes had lost their scared, anxious +expression and her thin face had grown plump, Mary would be really pretty. + +During luncheon at Vinton's Grace quietly studied her charge. There was +something about Mary that reminded one of Ruth Denton, she decided. She +and Emma made every effort to put the prospective freshman at her ease. By +common consent they refrained from asking any questions likely to produce +another flood of tears. As for Mary herself, although visibly embarrassed +at the ultra-smartness of Vinton's, the attention of the waiter, and the +puzzling array of knives, forks and spoons, she managed, by watching Grace +and Emma, to acquit herself with credit. Thanks to Emma's never-failing +flow of humorous remarks the luncheon proved to be a merry meal and before +it ended the forlorn girl looked almost happy. + +"I'll see you later," said Grace, as they paused for a moment in front of +Vinton's. "Emma, I leave Miss Reynolds in your care." + +"I accept the responsibility," declared Emma, flourishing her parasol in +fantastic salute. "I'm going to march her home and put her to bed." + +"While I go on to Overton Hall to learn her fate," smiled Grace. "Good-bye. +You may expect me when you see me." + +Grace swung across the campus toward Overton Hall at her usual brisk pace. +A few moments more and she would be fairly launched in her new +undertaking. She had no desire to run out to meet the future, yet she +could not refrain from wondering what her first year on the campus would +bring her. So far it had brought her Mary Reynolds, but somewhere in the +world there were thirty-one other girls whose faces were set toward +Overton and Harlowe House. + +A peculiar wave of dismay swept over Grace at the thought of actually +being responsible for the welfare of so many persons. The old saying +concerning the rushing in of fools where angels walk warily came +involuntarily to her mind. Then she laughed and squaring her capable +shoulders murmured half aloud, "I'm neither a fool nor an angel. I'm just +Grace Harlowe, a 'mere ordinary human being,' as Hippy would put it. I'm +not going to be so silly as to expect to get along with a whole houseful +of girls without some friction. Like the gardens Anne and I planted away +back in our freshman year, there are sure to be a few weeds among the +flowers." + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MARY REYNOLDS MAKES A NEW FRIEND + + +"Twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one and Mary Reynolds makes thirty-two. Isn't +it fortunate that there was a place all ready for her?" Grace Harlowe +looked eagerly up from the list of names which she had been intently +scanning. + +"Very fortunate," smiled Miss Wilder. "I am quite curious to see your +protege, Miss Harlowe." + +Miss Wilder, the dean of Overton College, had been genuinely glad to +welcome Grace Harlowe back to the college fold. During Grace's four years +as a student at Overton she had greatly endeared herself to the dignified, +but kindly, dean, who had watched her pass from honor to honor with the +same sympathetic interest which Miss Thompson, the principal of Oakdale +High School, had ever exhibited in Grace's progress. + +It was now almost four o'clock in the afternoon. Grace had spent a busy +two hours in Miss Wilder's office going over the applications for +admittance to Harlowe House and discussing ways and means with her +superior. + +"Do you know, Miss Wilder, that one of the very nicest things about you is +your interest in one's friends and plans?" Grace regarded the older woman +with sparkling eyes. "Away back in my freshman days I can remember that I +never came to you with anything, but that you were interested and +sympathetic." + +"My dear child!" Miss Wilder put up a protesting hand. + +"It's perfectly true," persisted Grace staunchly. "I am sure I could never +have planned everything so beautifully for Harlowe House if you hadn't +helped me." + +"But I had such a wonderful source of inspiration," reminded Miss Wilder, +turning the tide of approbation in Grace's direction. + +"I wish I could agree with you," laughed Grace, her color rising. Then her +face grew earnest. "It would make me very happy if I thought that, as the +head of Harlowe House, I could inspire my girls to love Overton as deeply +and truly as I do. I don't intend to preach to them or to moralize, but I +do wish them to gain real college spirit. If they strive to cultivate +that, it will mean more to them than all the talks and lectures one could +give them. Don't you think so?" + +"I do, indeed," agreed Miss Wilder warmly. + +"Of course," went on Grace thoughtfully, "there is the possibility that +some of these girls may fail in their entrance examinations. Undoubtedly +they will have to take them, for no girl who applies for admission to +Harlowe House will have come from a preparatory school. Naturally, they +will all be high school graduates. Some of them will have scholarships and +some will not. It is going to be more or less of a struggle for those who +have none to earn their college fees--that is, if they haven't saved the +money for them beforehand. I am reasonably certain that poor little Mary +Reynolds hasn't a penny of her own, other than the ten dollars she has +saved. But if she passes her examinations she can borrow the money for her +college fees from Semper Fidelis. Then, too, there is the subject of rules +and regulations to be considered." + +"A very important subject," interposed Miss Wilder. "The success of +Harlowe House will depend upon its rules and their absolute enforcement." + +"Don't you think it would be a nice idea to draw up a little constitution +and by-laws as they do in clubs. It would not cost very much to have a +certain number of copies of them printed, and a copy placed in each girl's +room. Oh, Miss Wilder, wouldn't it be splendid if we could form the girls +of Harlowe House into a social club. It would bring them in touch with one +another, teach them to be self-governing, and do an endless amount of +good." Grace finished with sudden inspiration. + +For a moment Miss Wilder did not answer. She was evidently turning the +matter over in her own mind. "It is rather an unusual idea," she said +slowly, "but I should not be surprised to see it work out well. Among a +number of young women who, aside from the advantages Harlowe House offers +them, are practically dependent upon their own resources you are sure to +find a variety of dispositions, some of them a little warped from their +struggle with poverty. I should say that they could be reached and +understood better by becoming members of this club, which you propose, +than by any other method. Yes, decidedly, it is a good plan." + +Grace remained with the dean until after five o'clock talking earnestly of +her new work. "Oh, dear, I can scarcely wait for the next two weeks to +pass I'm so anxious to begin," she sighed, as she gathered together her +gloves, handkerchief and parasol and rose to go. "Miss Dean will come to +see you to-morrow morning, Miss Wilder. I'll send Miss Reynolds with her." + +The sun was well advanced on his daily pilgrimage down the western sky, +and Grace's usually rapid steps lagged as she crossed the dear familiar +campus. Her eyes strayed lovingly from the green velvety carpeting under +her feet to the red and yellow pennants of autumn which the trees were +flaunting so bravely. It was hard to say at which season of the year +Overton campus was most beautiful. To Grace it was like some familiar +friend who was constantly surprising her with new and endearing virtues. + +She gazed across the wide stretch of green toward Morton House. Two +girlish figures were seated on the steps apparently deep in their own +interests. A little farther on she met three sophomores, who, recognizing +her, bowed to her in smiling admiration. Grace stopped and held out her +hand with the frank cordiality which characterized her. After a pleasant +exchange of greetings they passed on greatly elated over the fact that +"that clever Miss Harlowe, who was the most popular girl at Overton last +year," had remembered them. + +"We're beginning to gather home," she murmured softly. She was passing +Holland House now, and it brought back delightful memories of Mabel Ashe. +Her glance rested wistfully on the front door. She half expected to see it +open and to see coming toward her the lithe, graceful figure of the girl +whose dainty hands had been the first to grasp hers in friendly welcome, +when, as an untried freshman, she had first set foot in the land of +Overton so long ago. "Mabel," she breathed, "dear, dear girl! If ever I +come to mean half as much to lonely freshmen as you meant to me, I shall +feel that I have succeeded gloriously." + +Wrapped in recollections of the past, which she realized were bound to +haunt her at every turn until time and work had banished her sense of +loss, Grace did not hear the light footsteps of the tall young woman who +bore noiselessly down upon her like an avenging fate. Suddenly Grace felt +two soft, cool hands close over her eyes. + +"Oh!" she gasped. Then she laughed. "I know it's some one I'm anxious to +see. Is it Kathleen?" + +The hands did not relax their pressure. + +"Is it Laura Atkins?" guessed Grace again. + +The pressure tightened a little. + +"I know now," cried Grace. "Why didn't I guess you first of all? It's +Patience." + +The hands fell away from her eyes. Grace wheeled about into a pair of +encircling arms. A very tall, fair-haired young woman stood looking down +on her with a face full of lively affection. "I wonder if you are as glad +to see me as I am to see you, Grace," was her first speech. + +"Every bit as glad," responded Grace with emphasis. "Emma and I have been +looking forward to your coming every day since we came." + +"Emma?" interrogated Patience. "Do you mean to tell me that Emma Dean is +here?" + +"Yes," replied Grace happily. "She's come back to be Miss Duncan's +assistant. Isn't that splendid?" + +"I've been mourning Emma among the rest of the bright departed spirits," +smiled Patience, "and thinking of how dull Wayne Hall will be this year +without her. Emma is Emma, you know, and cannot be duplicated, imitated +nor replaced. I suppose, as a teacher, she'll live in one of the faculty +houses, instead of Wayne Hall." + +"She is going to have part of my suite at Harlowe House," said Grace. +"But, before I say another word, where are you going?" + +"To Overton Hall to see Miss Wilder." + +"Can't you put off going until to-morrow morning?" asked Grace. + +"Yes, if you and Emma will go with me to the six-thirty train to meet +Kathleen and then to dinner at Vinton's afterward." + +"Will we?" cried Grace. "I should say--I'm afraid we can't, Patience." Her +jubilant tone changed to one of disappointment. "I forgot all about Mary +Reynolds." + +"Who is Mary Reynolds and what did I ever do to her that causes her to +conspire to cheat me of the society of my friends?" inquired Patience +humorously. + +"Not a single thing," assured Grace brightening again. "She's the +thirty-second applicant for admission to Harlowe House, but she's living +there as my guest for a few days until she finds out whether she 'belongs.' +Suppose you walk over there with me. I wish you to see the house before the +tenants arrive. I'll tell you the strange story of Mary Reynolds on the +way over. Emma's at home, so you can see her, too." + +"All right, I'll go, provided you and your entire family, including Mary +Reynolds, escort me to the train to meet Kathleen." + +"Here's my hand on it," promised Grace. + +Patience caught it in both of hers. "It's good to be here, Grace," she +said earnestly. + +"It's good to have you here, Patience," returned Grace, in the same +earnest tone. + +Patience was met at the door by Emma, who had seen their approach from the +living-room window, and who now pounced upon Patience and joyfully +escorted her into the living-room. + +"The plot thickens," declaimed Emma as the three paused in the middle of +the room. "Hurrah for the old guard! Like Macbeth's immortal witches, I'll +perform my antic round, just to show how jubilant I feel." She executed a +few fantastic steps about Patience, then paused beside her, one hand on +her shoulder. "Where did you acquire Patience, Grace?" + +"I acquired this particular kind of Patience on the campus just a few +moments ago. I have never actually acquired the other kind." + +"You're not the only one," murmured Emma significantly. + +"Where is our freshman-to-be?" + +"In her room and fast asleep, I suppose. Although she wouldn't admit it, I +know she was completely tired out. I could see that," she added slyly. + +Patience and Grace smiled in quick recognition of J. Elfreda Briggs' pet +phrase. + +"How I wish 'I could see' dear old J. Elfreda. Wouldn't it be glorious if +she were suddenly to appear in the flesh," sighed Emma. + +"She was here with Mrs. Gray and I in August, Patience." Grace went on to +relate the details of Elfreda's visit. "Emma has heard all this before. +Still, you don't mind hearing it again, do you, Emma?" + +"I could listen to it forever, and then ask for a repetition," asserted +Emma with gallant glibness. + +"I won't be so malicious as to take you at your word," returned Grace. +"Will you tell Patience all the news while I run upstairs to see Miss +Reynolds?" + +"I will," nodded Emma, "and tell it truthfully and without embellishments. +I am not a yellow journal. I am a reliable purveyor of facts and nothing +but facts." She pounded on the library table with her clenched fist to +emphasize her words. + +"I believe you," assured Patience with mock solemnity, "and salute you as +a disciple of truth." + +Leaving her friends to exchange confidences, Grace ran lightly up the +stairs and knocked on Mary Reynolds' door. Receiving no answer, she +knocked again. + +"She must be asleep," thought Grace. Then she turned the knob and entered +the room. Surely enough the tired stranger lay on her couch bed, tranquil +and slumber-wrapped. Sleep had smoothed away the lines of care and, in +repose, her face looked soft and childish. + +"Miss Reynolds." + +The girl sat up with a little, startled cry. "Oh," she breathed, in +relief. "I was so frightened. I forgot where I was." + +"Miss Dean, a friend of ours and I are going to the station to meet +another friend. We wish you to go with us," invited Grace. "That is, +unless you prefer to stay here. You will be all alone in the house." + +An expression of alarm showed itself in the girl's eyes. "I'd rather go +with you, if you are sure I won't be in the way." + +"Not in the least. We shall start in a few moments." With a cheerful smile +that elicited a faint, answering one from the other girl, Grace left the +room. She was back in an instant with something blue thrown over her arm. +"Here is a little coat I took out of my trunk especially for you. It is +cool enough for a coat to-night. This won't be too long for you. It's only +three-quarter length on me." + +"I--I--" stammered Mary, but Grace was gone. + +Mary could not help thrilling a little with pure pleasure at sight of +herself in the pretty blue serge coat. "I look just like them," she +murmured. "I'm so glad I came. I won't go back either, and no one shall +make me." She smoothed and patted her curly hair, then putting on her +shabby hat went slowly down stairs. + +Her momentary awe of Patience vanished when she discovered that, in spite +of her dignified bearing, this tall, fair young woman was as full of fun +as the droll Emma Dean. + +The quartette started for the station with Patience and Emma in the lead. +Grace walked with Mary, talking brightly of Overton to her absorbed +listener. She had just begun to tell Mary of Kathleen West, her clever +work as a newspaper woman and of how her play had won the honor pin, when +they arrived at the station. + +"Wait here while I see if the train is on time," directed Grace. + +The three young women strolled slowly along the platform, pausing at one +end of it. + +"The train's on time," called Grace as she came out of the station and +approached them. "It's due in four minutes. Listen! Didn't you hear it +whistle?" + +A minute later it was visible around the bend and bearing down on the +station with a great puffing and whistling. + +"I see her," announced Emma. "She's getting off at the upper end of the +train." + +An alert little figure in a gray coat suit came swinging down the +platform, a suit case in each hand, her keen, dark eyes scanning every +face. Suddenly she caught sight of her friends. Dropping her luggage she +ran forward, both hands extended. Grace caught them in hers. The two +embraced, then Grace passed Kathleen on to Patience. + +"And to think that Emma Dean is to be one of us!" exclaimed Kathleen. +"Emma, the one sure and certain cure for the blues. I didn't half +appreciate you last year." A swift flush rose to her cheeks. "I didn't +appreciate any one. I missed knowing Overton's best, but I'm so thankful +that part of that best has come back again, so that I can really show how +much I care," she finished, her eyes very bright. + +The little company lingered on the platform, for there was so much to be +said that they were loath to move on. So absorbed were they in their own +affairs they did not observe that a tall, raw-boned, roughly dressed man, +with a gaunt, disagreeable face had been stealthily edging nearer the +group until within a few feet of them. All at once a long bony hand was +thrust into their midst. The hand landed on the shoulder of Mary Reynolds, +swinging her almost off her feet. She did not scream, but her face grew +white and her eyes horror-stricken. Then she wrenched desperately to free +herself from the cruel clutch, gasping, "Let--me--alone. I--won't--go +back--with--you." + +"Oh, ye won't, won't ye," growled the hateful intruder. "We'll see if ye +won't. Get a move on." He half dragged, half shoved the now sobbing Mary +along the platform. + +For an instant no one of the astonished girls moved or protested. Then a +small, lithe figure flung itself in front of the brutal fellow, barring +his progress. "Take your hands off that girl," commanded a tense, +authoritative voice. + +As if in recognition of its authority the man's cruel hold on Mary's +slender shoulder relaxed. Kathleen West's black eyes were blazing. With a +swift forward movement she threw her arm protectingly across Mary's +shoulder and drew her close. "Now," she said, her whole body tense with +suppressed anger, "touch her if you dare." + +"Ye better git out and mind yer own business or ye'll wish ye had," +threatened the man, his first feeling of fear vanishing. "Yer nothin' but +a lot o' silly girls. You git along," he ordered, fixing his scowling eyes +on Mary. + +"This little girl is going to stay with us. It is you that had better move +on. If you aren't out of sight within the next three minutes I'll have you +arrested for annoying us, and it won't be wise for you to come back again +either." + +Kathleen's face, as she stood calmly eyeing her disagreeable adversary, +was like a study in stone. She looked as inexorable and relentless as Fate +itself, and the bully understood dimly that here was a force with which he +could not reckon. + +"I'm a goin'," he mumbled sullenly, "but I'm a goin' to git the law on +_her_," he pointed to Mary, "and make her git back where she +belongs." + +By this time several persons had hurried to the scene of the encounter. +Kathleen's sole reply to the threat was a contemptuous shrug of her +shoulders. "Come on, girls," she said so nonchalantly that the curious +ones dropped disappointedly away. Not more than four minutes had elapsed +from the time the uncouth stranger had appeared until he slunk off. Emma, +Grace and Patience found their voices almost simultaneously. + +"Well, of all things!" exclaimed Emma. + +"I was literally amazed to dumbness," declared Patience. + +"So was I for a minute, but Kathleen was so completely sure of herself +that I knew it was better to be silent. She disposed of that obstreperous +individual most summarily. Who is he, Miss Reynolds?" Grace turned grave +eyes upon Mary. "We shall have to know all about him if we are to help +you." + +They were now walking slowly up the street. + +"He's--my--uncle," faltered the girl. "Mother died last summer just after +I finished high school, and I had no place to go. He wanted me to go out +in the country and live on his farm. He said I could go to college, but +after I went to the farm he and his wife made me do all the work, and +laughed when I spoke of going to college. A nice girl I knew had told me +about Overton and Harlowe House. She was in the town of Overton last +commencement and heard about it. I told them I would go in spite of them, +so they locked me in my room, but I climbed out the window and into a big +tree, one of its branches was quite near the window, and then slid to the +ground." + +"How old are you, Miss Reynolds?" asked Kathleen West with apparent +irrelevance. + +"I was eighteen last week." + +"Then you needn't worry about your uncle. You are of age and can do as you +please." + +"Do you mean that he can't make me leave here?" Mary Reynolds' eyes were +wide with surprise and sudden hope. + +"Of course he can't," reassured Kathleen. "Girls, I'm going to adopt Mary +Reynolds as my especial charge and help her fight her battles in the Land +of College. Mary, will you let me adopt you?" + +Mary regarded Kathleen with shy admiration. She thought her the most +wonderful person she had ever known. She was deeply grateful to Grace and +her two friends for their kindness, but Kathleen's swift, efficient action +on her behalf had completely won her heart. "I'd be the happiest girl in +the world," she said solemnly. + +The next morning Grace went frankly to Miss Wilder with the tragic story +of Mary's struggle to obtain an education and the attempt her miserly +uncle had made to force her to return to the farm. + +"We shall be obliged to look into the matter," declared the dean. "Send +Miss Reynolds to me as soon as possible. I must be very sure that she is +all she represents herself to be. I should not care to have a repetition +of the station scene later, on the campus, for instance. It would hardly +add to the dignity of Overton." + +"I'll bring her to your office to-morrow morning," said Grace, "then you +can form your own opinion of her." + +Mary Reynolds' wistful face was the last touch needed to completely enlist +Miss Wilder's sympathy in her behalf. On the strength of the +straightforward story which she repeated to the dean, she was allowed to +proceed with her examinations. Meantime Miss Wilder wrote to the +authorities of the little town near which Mary's uncle's farm was +situated. They conducted a prompt investigation and by the time the +hitherto friendless girl had passed triumphantly through the ordeal of +examinations the faintest trace of objection to her becoming a student at +Overton had been removed. + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE THIRTY-THIRD GIRL + + +"I am sorry," said Grace gently, "but I am afraid it will be impossible +for me to do anything for your sister this year. Harlowe House will hold, +comfortably, thirty-two girls and no more. It isn't so much a matter of +meals. They could, perhaps, be arranged, but I haven't a room for your +sister. Could she afford to rent a room in town and come here for her +meals?" This was an afterthought on Grace's part, born of the desire to +clear away the cruel shadow of disappointment that clouded the pale face +of the woman who sat opposite her in her little office. + +"I--am--afraid not," faltered the pale, thin woman, her tired eyes filling +with an expression of resignation. "I thought I might be able to manage +her college fees, if her living expenses could be arranged. We were so +sorry that she did not win a scholarship. You are quite sure that there is +no chance for her here?" she asked pleadingly, for the fourth time. "She +has set her heart on coming to Overton. College means so much to a girl, +and Evelyn is so clever. It seems a pity that she must stop with only a +high school education." + +Grace knitted her brows in earnest thought, while the pleading voice +talked on. She felt an overpowering sympathy, not for the sister who +wished to come to Overton, but for the sister who was now advocating her +cause. And even as she thought the way in which one more girl might +partake of the benefits of Harlowe House came to her. It was a way of +sacrifice; she was not even sure that it could be done. Something in the +expression of her face, however, seemed to inspire the woman opposite her +with new hope. She leaned forward, with the eager question: "Am I wrong or +does your face tell me that there is a chance for Evelyn?" For the first +time she mentioned her sister's name. + +"'Evelyn,'" repeated Grace half musingly. "What a pretty name. How old is +your sister, Miss Ward?" + +"She was eighteen last August." + +"I can make you no definite promise yet," returned Grace slowly. "Could +you come to see me this afternoon at four o'clock? I shall know then +whether the plan I have in mind can be carried out." + +"I will come," promised the woman eagerly, her eyes kindling with happy +light. "I thank you for your kindness." Her voice trembled with gratitude. +She rose to go, looking as though she would like to say more but could not +find words in which to express herself. + +"You are quite welcome. I will try very hard to place her," was Grace's +parting assurance. + +After the woman, who had introduced herself as Ida Ward, had gone, Grace +went slowly upstairs and into her pretty sitting-room. She looked long and +fixedly at each attractive appointment, then she walked on into the +bedroom, which she and Emma shared, and surveyed it with the same +searching gaze. "I can't do it unless Emma is willing," she murmured. "I +dislike asking her after inviting her to share my suite. Still, we've +always been frank with each other. I'll tell her the exact circumstances +as soon as she comes home to luncheon, and let her decide what we had +better do." Having determined upon her course of action Grace went +downstairs again and was soon deep in the laying-out of next week's menu +for Harlowe House, a task in which she had been engaged when Miss Ida Ward +was announced. + +It was now two weeks since Overton College had opened. The thirty-two +applicants for places in Harlowe House had, without exception, passed +through the trying ordeal of their entrance examinations with varying +degrees of success, but not one had actually failed. They had come into +the house, which was their Open Sesame to college, in twos and threes. Few +of them were pretty, but even the plainest of their faces bore the +unmistakable stamp of intelligence that marks the scholar. The +half-brooding, anxious look in young eyes and the womanly dignity, +prematurely gained through hand to hand conflict with poverty, were certain +indications that the girls of Harlowe House were there for earnest work +and not for play. + +And now a thirty-third girl was knocking at the gate for admittance to the +Land of College. Grace wondered vaguely why Evelyn Ward had not come to +plead her own cause. The words of Ida Ward, "I thought I might be able to +manage her college fees," returned to her with disquieting force. Then she +made a little impatient gesture. "Grace Harlowe, what is the matter with +you? You are judging poor Evelyn Ward without giving her an opportunity to +defend herself. You know nothing whatever of the Wards' affairs. There may +be a dozen good reasons for Miss Ward's coming here in her sister's +behalf. Don't be so suspicious. Wait until you see Evelyn Ward before you +judge her." + +Although Grace did not realize it she was already thinking of Evelyn Ward +as a member of Harlowe House. There was no fear of refusal on Emma's +part. Long acquaintance with her good-natured, easy-going classmate had +taught her that Emma was equal to, if not more than a match for, almost +any emergency. + +"Emma would take her belongings and camp out in the hall if I asked her +to," smiled Grace to herself as she went slowly downstairs to her office +and, seating herself at her desk, took up the writing on which she had +been engaged when her caller was announced. + +She was still hard at work when the girls began to come in for luncheon, +one after another, and at last she heard Emma's delightful drawl as she +exchanged pleasantries with one of the freshmen who had opened the door +for her. + +"Oh, Emma," she called, stepping to the door of her office, "will you come +in here, please? I need you." + +By the time Grace had finished speaking Emma was standing in the doorway, +peering owlishly at her. "Most Gracious Grace," she salaamed, "what is +your majesty's magnificent pleasure with your worthless and most +despicable dog of a servant?" + +"I don't know any such person," laughed Grace. Then, her face sobering, +she plunged into the middle of things with, "What would you say, Emma, if +I were to give half of our quarters to some one else?" + +"I'd say that I was lucky to have half of the half that's left," was +Emma's prompt retort. + +"You're a dear!" cried Grace impulsively. "I knew you were true blue. +Still, I must tell you all about certain things before you decide. It's +just this way, Emma." Grace began with Miss Ward's call and recounted to +Emma all that had passed between herself and the stranger. Emma listened +without comment until Grace had finished with, "Now tell me what you +think, Emma." + +"I think it is positively noble in you to be willing to give up one of +your rooms," emphasized Emma. "As far as I am concerned I'm not a +'chooser.' I'm here because of that same saving grace--it's as much a part +of you as your name--which is reaching out now to put one more girl in +Overton. What can any strictly honorable, four-cornered person say except, +'I'm with you,' and here's my hand in seal and token of it." + +"Thank you, Emma," Grace's quiet words and warm handclasp were eloquent +with appreciation of her friend's unselfish viewpoint, "Suppose we run +upstairs for a moment before luncheon to look around and decide which of +the two rooms we can best do without. And, O, Emma, we'll have room for a +thirty-fourth girl, if she happens along. I never thought of that. In the +face of all that a college education will mean to this girl our personal +comfort rather pales into insignificance." + +"Who are we that we should revel in the fleshpots of Overton while the +stranger knocks at our gates?" supplemented Emma. "Now which is it to be? +Shall we say, 'good-bye beloved sitting-room, ne'er shall we behold thy +like again,' or shall we bid fond adieu to the bedroom? I ask but one +concession, let us reserve our nice private bathroom. It has a value above +rubies." + +"Of course we'll keep our bathroom. There are three others in the house of +which these new girls can have the use. As long as the bathroom opens into +both rooms, I shall bolt the door leading into the room we give Miss Ward. +That may appear a trifle inhospitable on the surface, but I wish to keep +what is left of our apartment as secluded as possible," ended Grace, +opening the door into the sitting-room. "Now, which shall it be, Emma?" + +Emma prowled contemplatively about the suite, her hands in her coat +pockets, her glasses pushed far over her nose. Finally she paused before +Grace. Settling her glasses at their proper angle she said earnestly, "I +don't wish to seem selfish, Grace, but really I think you are entitled to +the sitting-room. It's larger and lighter. It's more attractive in every +way. I am not thinking of myself in this matter, I am thinking of you. You +are the brains and brawn of Harlowe House, therefore you must be made +comfortable if you are to do good work here. The other room is easily +large enough to accommodate two girls. It is larger than the rooms we +occupied at Wayne Hall." + +"I know it." Grace strolled reflectively through the open bathroom door +and on into the bedroom. When she returned, she had decided. "You are +right, Emma. I don't believe it would be selfish to keep this room. Now +how shall we furnish it?" + +"Don't ask me to decide that," protested Emma. "I feel as though I ought +to pack my belongings and go to one of the faculty houses, Grace. It isn't +fair to you for me to stay here and be a cumberer of your room." + +"Emma Dean, if you do!" Grace caught Emma by the shoulders and proceeded +to shake her. + +"Wait! Stop!" implored Emma. "My glasses! And lenses cost money!" + +"Will you stay?" demanded a relentless voice. The shaking continued, but +gently. + +"I will. That is, I'll have to, or pay the oculist." + +Grace's hands fell from Emma's shoulders. + +"I didn't want to pack and go," confessed Emma, "but I was trying to be as +fair to you as you are to every one else." + +"It wouldn't be one bit fair in you to leave me. You promised to see me +through, you know," reproached Grace. + +"So I did, and so I will," declared Emma, "I take back all I said. From +now on I am as much of a fixture here as the kitchen range or the window +seat." + +Grace laughed at Emma's absurd declaration. "I couldn't let you go, Emma. +You are too good a comrade. Now let me think. I'll have my dressing table +brought in here, but, in order to make a combination sitting and sleeping +room of this, we will have to buy a couch bed. The davenport there is a +bed too. We'll put it across that corner, and have the couch against that +wall. We'll have to keep the dressing table. We can't avoid that. I don't +know what to do with my bed. It is three-quarter size. I selected it +purposely, so that I'd have room for two of the girls at a time if they +dropped in unexpectedly. I don't like to sell it. It matches the set." + +"Why not leave it in the other room," suggested Emma. "If girl number +thirty-four never materializes then Miss Evelyn Ward can occupy the whole +bed, if she chooses." + +"But suppose we do admit another girl?" + +"Sufficient unto the day, etc.," shrugged Emma. "When she appears, then +let the committee take action." + +"I'll buy a smaller dressing table to match the bed, if I can, and a +chiffonier. I can't quite give mine up to this newcomer. There goes the +luncheon bell. I must hurry downstairs to the kitchen to see if everything +is all right." + +Grace hastened down the stairs, with her friend at her heels. Emma went +directly to the dining-room and took her place at the table laid for two +at the lower end of the room. This table belonged exclusively to her and +Grace. The dining-room at Harlowe House had been furnished after the +fashion of a pretty little tea shop at which Grace had often lunched in +New York. The walls were done in white with a faint blue and silver +stripe. The ceiling was white with a decoration of deep blue corn flowers. +The floor was covered with a thread and thrum rug in blue and white, and +instead of two long tables there were several small ones which seated from +four to six persons. In the middle of each table was a vase of flowers, +and the effect of the whole room was dainty and homelike. Grace had spent +much thought on the dining-room. The buffet, serving tables, tables and +chairs were white, and the silver, linen and various other appointments +had been carefully chosen. + +"I wish the girls to feel that this room is a place where they can eat and +be merry. It is in the dining-room that they will first become acquainted +with one another," Grace had said to Mrs. Gray while they were choosing +the dining-room furniture. "I like the idea of having the small tables. +The girls can talk quietly and confidentially, if they choose. Besides it +looks so cosy and informal." + +As Grace ate her luncheon that day her eyes wandered to the various +tables. She was speculating as to where she would seat Evelyn Ward. +Already she thought of her as one of her girls. + +At precisely four o'clock the door bell rang and the maid ushered Ida Ward +into the living-room. Her large eyes were wide with anxiety and suspense +as she sat nervously on the edge of her chair, trying to appear composed. +She tried to answer Grace's reassuring smile, but her anxious eyes belied +her wanly-smiling lips. + +"I have good news for you, Miss Ward," said Grace brightly. "I have made +room for your sister. When may I expect her?" + +Ida Ward's lips moved, but she made no sound. Then, to Grace's +consternation, she covered her face with her black-gloved hands and began +to cry quietly. For an instant Grace sat in embarrassed silence. She +hardly knew what consolation to offer this poor, pale woman who looked as +though she carried the burdens of the world upon her slender shoulders. +Before she could think of anything to say, Miss Ward suddenly raised her +head, wiped her eyes and said quietly, "Forgive me for crying. I--am a +little tired. I was rather overcome by the good news." + +"Suppose we have tea in the living room," was Grace's kindly suggestion. +"What time does your train leave? By the way, I don't think I know where +you live." + +"We live in Burton, a little town about two hundred miles from here, with +a population of six thousand people. I am a dressmaker. There are only +Evelyn and I, and I am fifteen years older than she. Mother died when she +was born. Father died only a year later and I have taken care of her all +her life. She is very beautiful. One of the prettiest girls I have ever +seen, and so clever." The plain face lighted as she described Evelyn. + +"How she loves her pretty sister," thought Grace. + +Over the tea, dainty sandwiches and cakes, Ida Ward became quite cheerful. +When half an hour later she rose to take her leave, she looked really +happy. "How can I thank you for what you have done for Evelyn?" she asked +tremulously, her lips quivering. "My little sister will be so glad. I am +sure she can't help being happy in this beautiful house." + +"Send her to us as soon as you can," advised Grace. "College has been open +for over three weeks and she will have quite an amount of work to make up. +This is Monday. May I expect her on Thursday?" + +"Yes, she can leave Burton early Thursday morning. There is a train which +reaches here at two o'clock in the afternoon." + +"Very well. I will send some one to meet her," promised Grace. + +During the next two days Grace and Emma accomplished their moving so +quietly that no one in the house knew of the new member the morrow was to +bring. When everything had been put in place Emma declared cheerily that +they would never miss the other room. + +At the last moment Grace decided to go in person to the train to meet +Evelyn. The memory of Ida Ward's white patient face haunted her. For her +sake her beloved sister should be cordially welcomed. Grace felt the +deepest respect and sympathy for the older sister. + +"Miss Ward said her sister was very pretty," reflected Grace, then she +looked a trifle dismayed. She had received absolutely no other description +of the girl she was to meet. She did not know whether Evelyn Ward was +short or tall, stout or thin, dark or fair. "I'll simply have to use my +eyes and guess," was her mental comment, as she walked briskly along the +station platform just as the train whizzed down the track. Her alert eyes +scanned the nearest car steps where the porter was helping a crotchety old +man to the platform. Behind him, came a stout middle-aged woman and two +children. Grace scanned the next set of steps. Then, far up the platform +she saw a tall, slender, blue-clad figure walking toward her at a +leisurely pace. The girl carried a small handbag and a suit case. When she +came directly opposite Grace she paused, then, after a deliberate survey, +walked forward with outstretched hand. "Aren't you Miss Harlowe?" she +asked sweetly. "If you are, I am Evelyn Ward." + + + +CHAPTER XI + +EVELYN WARD, FRESHMAN + + +Grace found herself looking into one of the most perfect faces she had +ever seen. Evelyn Ward was a blonde of the purest type. Her thick golden +hair lay in shining waves under her small, smart blue hat. Her eyes were +deeply, darkly blue with purple depths, while her skin had the sheen and +texture of pale pink rose leaves. Her small, straight nose, softly-curved +red mouth and delicately-arched dark eyebrows added to the tender beauty +of her face. To Grace she came as a revelation, and, so far as she could +remember, she had never seen any other blonde girl who approached this one +in loveliness. + +"How do you do, Miss Ward? I am glad to know you," she said, offering her +hand. She noticed that the slender hand that Evelyn put forth to meet hers +was very soft and white. It had evidently done no hard work and was in +sharp contrast to the rough, work-worn hands of her sister. + +"I'm sure I am pleased to know you, Miss Harlowe, and very thankful to you +for arranging for my coming to Overton. I would have cried my eyes out +with disappointment if Ida had come home with bad news," returned the +pretty girl in a plaintive tone which impressed Grace with a curiously +uncomfortable feeling that this attractive young woman would have done +nothing of the sort. There was that indefinable something about her that +contradicted, flatly, the idea of tears. + +"Your sister was an eloquent pleader, Miss Ward. I would have made an even +greater effort than was necessary to place you, if only to please her. I +was greatly impressed with her unselfishness and nobility of character," +Grace made reply. + +An expression of amusement showed itself on Evelyn Ward's face. "Ida is a +perfect old dear," she agreed lightly. "She takes life too seriously, +though. She worries over every little thing. Still her very seriousness +makes a good impression. She has ever so many friends; a great many more +than I." She shrugged her shoulders, as though to convey the fact that the +latter state of affairs did not trouble her. + +"As your luggage is not heavy, we might walk to Harlowe House," suggested +Grace. "This glorious fall weather is ideal for walking. Let me take your +suit case." + +"With pleasure. It's altogether too heavy for comfort. Are there no street +cars or busses we can take? I like to walk, but not when I have luggage to +carry." + +"We can take a car or an automobile bus if you like," said Grace +courteously, although she experienced a vague sense of annoyance at this +newcomer's calmly expressed preference. + +"Oh, let's take the automobile, if it isn't too expensive!" exclaimed +Evelyn eagerly. "I love to ride in an automobile. Are there any girls at +Overton who own cars? If there are I shall certainly cultivate them. I +suppose they won't notice me, though, because I am a freshman and a poor +one at that," she ended with a pout, her fair face taking on almost sullen +lines. + +Grace shook her head. + +"Being poor doesn't count at Overton," she said, "I know a girl who lived +in a bare, cheerless room in an old house in the suburbs of Overton and +earned her way by doing mending for the students. She worked in a +dressmaker's shop during her summer vacations too, and yet she was the +chum of the richest girl in college." + +"Why didn't the rich girl help her if she thought so much of her?" +inquired Evelyn rather sarcastically. + +"Because the girl wouldn't allow her to do so. She was too independent to +accept help. She did not wish to become obligated to any one, not even her +dearest friend." + +"Foolish girl," was Evelyn's contemptuous comment. "If one can't ask +occasional favors of one's friends one might as well have none. I am very +sure that I would take the goods the gods provide without murmuring. These +extreme standards of ethics and honor are all very pretty in books, but +not at all practical in every-day life." + +Grace made no reply. She was lost, for the instant, in a maze of +disagreeable reflection. She was afraid she now understood only too well +why Ida instead of Evelyn Ward had come to see her. In the Ward family the +hard tasks had apparently been thrust upon the patient elder sister, while +the younger reaped where she had not sown, without a conscientious qualm. +And it was for this beautiful, selfish girl that she and Emma had +curtailed their comfort. She almost wished she had been firm in her first +refusal to consider taking another girl into Harlowe House. Then a vision +of Ida Ward's thin face, lighted by two pleading eyes, rose before her. +With an inward rebuke for her own grudging attitude, Grace squared her +shoulders and resolved to look for only the best in this latest arrival. + +It took but a moment to hail an automobile bus which had just run into the +station yard, and they were soon on their way to Harlowe House. Grace +pointed out to Evelyn the various interesting features of Overton. They +impressed the latter but little. + +"It must be a sleepy old town," she commented, as they passed through the +quiet streets. She did, however, evince some slight interest in Vinton's, +remarking lightly that she supposed she would never have money enough to +buy a dinner there for herself, let alone ever inviting a guest. + +"Do not look at your college life through such pessimistic spectacles," +advised Grace. "You will be sure to be unhappy." + +Evelyn made a pettish gesture. "You remind me of my sister, Miss Harlowe. +She is forever preaching patience and optimism and all the other virtues +in which I seem to be lacking." + +A bright flush rose to Grace's cheeks at this unparalleled rudeness. She +cast a quick, curious glance at Evelyn, whose eyes were for the second +fixed upon the campus which they were now nearing, and who appeared to be +utterly oblivious of her impertinence. + +"This is the campus." Grace decided to overlook the pointed remark. "We +are justly proud of Overton College and the campus." + +"It is really beautiful," nodded Evelyn, "but I'm going to tell you a +secret. I'm not the least little bit enthusiastic over college. I'd rather +go to a dramatic school and study for the stage. It is Ida who insists +upon my going to college. Thank goodness, I'm not a dunce. It would be +dreadful to be forced into college and then be too stupid to learn +anything, wouldn't it?" + +"It would indeed," agreed Grace. + +"I suppose my stage aspirations shock you, Miss Harlowe," went on Evelyn, +"but I can't help saying what I think." + +"My dearest woman friend is an actress," returned Grace quietly. + +"Oh, is she really?" Evelyn's voice rose high with excitement. "What is +her name? Perhaps I've heard of her." + +"Anne Pierson." + +"I should say I had heard of _her_. She is one of the great stars. +She is with Everett Southard, isn't she? I've seen their pictures in the +magazines." + +"She graduated from Overton last year. We were roommates throughout our +four years here. She is from my home town." + +"Really and truly?" demanded Evelyn impulsively. "That's the most +interesting piece of news I've heard for a long time. Will you tell me all +about her some time, Miss Harlowe?" + +"With pleasure," returned Grace. "It can hardly be to-day, however, for +here we are at Harlowe House." + +"What a darling house!" praised Evelyn as they alighted from the +automobile. "I am sure I shall like to live in it." + +"I hope that you will be happy here," returned Grace kindly. After all it +might be better not to take this self-willed young woman too seriously. +She had, at least, the virtue of truthfulness. She was entirely frank in +the expression of her opinions. She might have many other redeeming +qualities which would quite overbalance the disagreeably self-centered +side of her character. + +Evelyn gazed about in open approval as they ascended the steps of Harlowe +House. As they passed through the hall she peeped into the living room and +exclaimed in admiration of its attractive appointments. Her voluble +appreciation of her own room pleased Grace, who realized that Evelyn's +personality was singularly fascinating and that she could be exceedingly +gracious when she chose. + +"I will leave you now," said Grace, after a little further conversation. +"The dinner bell rings at six o'clock. If you need anything, or wish to +ask any questions, you will find me in my office downstairs. It is rather +too late in the day for you to see the registrar. To-morrow morning will +be time enough. You are lucky to be exempt from examinations." + +Grace had hardly established herself in her office when Emma Dean came +breezily in from her work. "Well, Gracie," was her cheery greeting, "has +she materialized, and is she as pathetic and persistent as Sister Ida?" + +Grace made a little gesture of resignation. "Prepare for the surprise of +your college career, Emma." + +"Didn't she come?" demanded Emma, "That wouldn't surprise me. People are +forever promising to arrive on a certain train and then strolling in +several days later with the barefaced announcement that the time table had +been mysteriously changed." + +"She arrived," stated Grace. + +"Then wherein lies the surprise?" + +"Emma," said Grace solemnly, "Evelyn Ward is the most beautiful girl I +have ever seen, and, if I am not mistaken, one of the most selfish. She is +no more like her sister than I am like Dr. Morton, and she is going to +require more looking after than any other girl in Harlowe House." + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE HARLOWE HOUSE CLUB + + +"There!" Grace Harlowe laid down her pen and scanned the notice she had +just finished writing. "I'll post this now. The girls will see it this +morning and again when they come in to luncheon. Then they will be sure to +meet me in the living-room before dinner. I hope they will like our plan." + +"They ought to like it," replied Emma Dean. "It makes them a +self-respecting, self-governing body." + +"That is precisely what I wish them to be," responded Grace, in all +earnestness. "I believe that being members of Semper Fidelis was of great +benefit to us. Oh, Emma, did I tell you that Mr. Bedfield's gift to Semper +Fidelis is now an endowment? He called to see me on Friday for the express +purpose of telling me that he has arranged the matter with Professor +Morton. The money is to be known hereafter as the Semper Fidelis +endowment. He said he felt certain that we had not handed the society down +to this year's classes. He couldn't imagine any other young women in our +places. Wasn't that nice in him?" + +"Very nice and very true," agreed Emma. "I am of the same mind. The +Sempers can never be imitated, passed on to the next class, nor replaced. +They are in a class all by themselves." + +"The purpose of this new club which I propose to organize will be one of +welfare. The girls will do more for themselves as a self-governing body +than I can possibly do for them. By the way, I wonder if Miss Ward is up +yet. She overslept and missed her first recitation yesterday morning. She +came down to the dining-room long after breakfast was over. Susan was +rather upset over having to serve an extra breakfast. I was obliged to +tell Miss Ward that if it occurred again she would have to abide by the +consequences of her own tardiness. I can't impose upon the servants to +please a girl who has no thought for any one except herself." + +Grace spoke rather bitterly. Her early disappointment in Evelyn Ward had +deepened as the time passed. + +"I don't hear a sound from her room," commented Emma, who sat before the +dressing-table brushing her long hair. With hair brush poised in the air +she listened intently. "She is dead to the world." + +"Then I'll have to waken her," sighed Grace. + +Stepping out into the hall she knocked lightly on Evelyn's door. Receiving +no response she knocked again, this time with more force. + +"Come in," called a sleepy voice. + +Grace turned the knob. Sure enough, Evelyn lay comfortably back on her +pillow, her wonderful golden hair falling in long, loose waves about her. +Her beauty now made little impression upon Grace, who knew only too well +the tantalizing, troublesome spirit that lay behind it. "It is almost +eight o'clock, Miss Ward. Remember, breakfast is over at nine." + +"I know it," responded Evelyn with maddening sweetness. She eyed Grace +speculatively, but made no effort to rise. + +Without further words Grace closed the door. She did not wish to betray +her annoyance. She had experienced a wild desire to march over to the bed +and drag the complacent freshman forth from it by the shoulders. + +When Evelyn descended to the dining-room she found that most of the girls +had eaten breakfast and gone off to chapel. Happening to recall that she +had not attended the morning services for a week, and with visions of her +unsigned chapel card staring her in the face, she ate a hurried breakfast +and was about to depart when her eyes happened to rest upon the bulletin +board in the hall around which were gathered several girls. Pausing, +Evelyn read Grace's notice. It asked the members of Harlowe House to be in +the living room at five o'clock that afternoon for the discussion of a +most important subject. + +"I wonder what it is," said Nettie Weyburn, lively curiosity overspreading +her usually placid face. + +"I think I know," volunteered Mary Reynolds. "Miss Harlowe was telling me +only last night that she wishes to organize a club of just Harlowe House +girls, with a president and other officers. The club will have a +constitution and by-laws and every member will have to live up to them." + +"Wouldn't that be splendid?" asked Cecil Ferris, a gray-eyed, black-haired +freshman who made up in energy what she lacked in height. + +"Who would be president I wonder," murmured Evelyn, shooting a glance of +apparent innocence about the circle. + +"You'd make a good president, Miss Ward," declared Mary Reynolds, in open +admiration. To her beauty-loving little soul Evelyn was the most exquisite +person in the world. + +"_I_," cried Evelyn in well-simulated amazement. "I wouldn't attempt +to be, I am not clever or popular enough." + +"I believe you would be the very one. You are so independent and know just +how to do things." Now that Mary had suggested it, it met with Nettie +Weyburn's placid approval. Cecil Ferris echoed it. She, too, had fallen +under the spell of Evelyn's beauty. + +"I must run along or be late to chapel," murmured Evelyn modestly, and +hurried off at precisely the wisest moment to further her own cause. The +ambition to become the president of the proposed club had sprung into life +in her self-centered young soul as she stood reading the bulletin, and she +determined that she would leave nothing undone to obtain the honor. + +At luncheon that day she took particular pains to be unusually friendly to +every one with whom she came in contact, exhibiting a gay graciousness of +manner toward a number of girls she had secretly labeled, "digs, prigs and +plodders." This quite won their trusting hearts and made them innocently +wonder how they had, so far, happened to miss becoming really well +acquainted with Miss Ward. + +When at five o'clock the big living room began to fill, Evelyn was among +the first there, with a dazzling smile for all comers. At ten minutes past +five the thirty-three girls who claimed Harlowe House as their home were +sitting or standing expectantly about the room, waiting for Grace, who +stood at one end of the room with Emma, to call the meeting to order and +enter upon the discussion of that "most important subject." + +"I have asked you to come here this afternoon because I believe the time +has arrived to try out a plan which I have had in my mind ever since +college began," stated Grace, by way of beginning. Then in clear, concise +sentences she told of her desire that her girls should be self-governing +and of how much good fellowship their banding themselves together would +create. "I thought, if you approved of the plan, we might elect our +officers at once, and appoint a committee to draw up the constitution and +by-laws. I am going to ask you to talk it over among yourselves for ten +minutes, while Miss Dean and I prepare some balloting slips," she +concluded, and at once a loud buzz of eager conversation began. + +It was fifteen minutes before Grace again called the meeting to order, and +appointed four tellers, who distributed ballots. Then nominations were in +order. + +"I nominate Miss Ward for president," proposed Cecil Ferris. + +"I second the motion," came from Mary Reynolds. + +Grace could hardly control the surprise in her voice, when, after waiting +a little, she asked: "Are there any further nominations?" "I nominate +Miss Sampson," called a small pale girl from her perch in the window seat, +with a fond smile in the direction of her roommate. Another girl seconded +the nomination, and it was then moved and seconded that the nominations +for president be closed. The nomination for vice-president, secretary and +treasurer were then in order and after they were closed the voting began. + +"Well, of all things," whispered Emma to Grace, who sank into the chair +beside her friend, a peculiar expression on her fine face. "I never +dreamed of matters taking that turn, did you?" + +Grace shook her head. It had indeed come as a shock. She had thought of +the club as a novel and possible means of bringing the Harlowe House girls +into a closer relationship with one another. She had never considered the +possibility of Evelyn being president of the club. It was evident that her +nomination had come about through admiration of her undeniable beauty. She +was absolutely unfit for any such office. Grace hoped, devoutly, that Miss +Sampson, a tall, capable young woman, with a likable personality and a +cheery, hearty manner of speaking, would be elected. + +Emma made no further remark, but watched the tellers with calculating +eyes. At last one of them, who had been industriously making notations on +a sheet of paper, rose to announce the results of the election. + +"The total number of votes cast for president was thirty-three. Of these +Miss Ward received twenty-nine"--an enthusiastic clapping of hands +sounded--"Miss Sampson four." She then went on to read the result of the +balloting for the other three officers. Nettie Weyburn had won the +vice-presidency, Cecil Ferris had been chosen secretary, while quiet little +Mary Reynolds had been made treasurer. The reading of each name elicited +its quota of applause, but it was plain that, of the four officers, Evelyn +was, by far, the greatest favorite. After appointing a committee of four +girls to assist her in drawing up the constitution and by-laws, Grace said +pleasantly: "Will the new officers please come forward so that we can all +see you. You must be formally introduced, you know." + +The newly elected officers rose from their various positions which they +occupied in the room and advanced to where Grace stood. About Evelyn +Ward's red lips played a smile of suppressed triumph as she shook the hand +Grace offered her and listened to the former's sincere wish for her +success. For an instant the gray eyes studied the perfect face gravely, as +though trying to penetrate what lay behind its smiling mask. Then Grace +turned to greet the vice-president, just in time to miss the mocking flash +which lighted Evelyn's blue eyes. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PLANNING FOR THE RECEPTION + + +The committee on the constitution and bylaws for the new club met the very +next evening and drew up a terse little document setting forth their +object in banding themselves together. Grace had already made note of the +few rules she wished the girls to observe, but, so far as possible, she +wished the committee to draw up their own regulations, subject to her +approval. To create a spirit of independence and self-confidence in the +girls of Harlowe House had been Grace's basic motive. She realized that +many of them were hampered with an undue sense of gratitude which made +them too humble for their own interest. She purposed to make them +self-reliant and free. Therefore the rules which she herself made were few +and sensible, relating chiefly to the care of rooms, the entertaining of +guests and the problems which, if not properly handled, were the most +likely to cause friction among so many young women of so many different +dispositions. + +"But what are we to do about money, Miss Harlowe?" asked Mary Reynolds in +a plaintive tone, when the question arose of whether the club should be +assessed for dues, and Grace spoke against it. "Of what use is it to have +a treasureless treasurer?" + +The committee set up a unanimous giggle. + +"That is really a serious question," smiled Grace, "and one which the +girls will have to decide for themselves. I should not wish any girl to +feel that she were obliged to contribute money to the club, even for dues. +We are not obliged to conform to any particular set of rules. Our club can +be a purely informal organization with no obligations attached to it." + +"But it would be splendid to have a little money in the treasury," +interposed Louise Sampson. "I know what we can do," she went on eagerly. +"Let us make the dues a dollar a year, and pledge ourselves to earn that +sum. Any one who feels that she can neither earn nor give a dollar can be +a member of the club just the same. Then we could give entertainments or +concerts or something and start a little fund of our own." + +Grace's gray eyes sparkled. Louise Sampson was a girl after her own heart. +"Then you must ask your president to call a meeting. She can instruct the +secretary to post a notice on the bulletin board," she advised. + +The committee seized upon Louise's plan with avidity. + +"Why can't we post a notice and have done with it?" asked Cecil Ferris +innocently. + +"Because we have just made a law that the president shall be notified of +proposed meetings and shall post a bulletin to that effect," reminded +Grace. + +The girls remained for another hour, discussing their plans and +reconstructing their by-laws previous to voting on them. It was decided to +have a weekly meeting to take place on each Tuesday between five and six +o'clock in the afternoon, but a special meeting might be called at any +time at the request of a member, but at the president's discretion. + +"The last clause in that by-law is unfortunate," criticized Emma, when, in +the privacy of their room that night, Grace went over with her friend the +club rules as she had set them down. + +"I know what you mean." Grace gave an impatient sigh. "Still, as president +of the club Miss Ward must be consulted about things. You think she is +likely to refuse to call a meeting at the request of a member, if she +happens to be so inclined, don't you?" + +"I do, and she will," prophesied Emma. "I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, +Gracie, but still it's a good plan to be prepared in advance for the +beauteous Evelyn's vagaries. To change the subject, I have heard very +little mention made of the sophomore reception in the house. I wonder if +it is because some of the girls have no evening gowns?" + +Grace sat up in her chair, with a start of surprise. "Really, Emma, I had +forgotten all about the reception. I suppose it slipped my mind because it +is to be held so much later this year on account of repairing the +gymnasium. It will hardly be over until Thanksgiving will be upon us, and +then, oh, joy! we'll see the dear old Sempers. I must see if there is +anything I can do to help the girls get ready for it. I hope they +understand that their summer dresses will do nicely." + +For the next three days Grace made it a point to inquire tactfully into +the reception plans of the Harlowe House girls. She discovered that Emma's +conjecture had been only too correct. The bare mention of evening gowns +had intimidated them, and, worse still, only three or four of them had +been especially invited by sophomores. This was partly accounted for by +the fact that, while the sophomore class was large, it was completely +outnumbered by the entering class. Remembering that the same state of +affairs had prevailed when she had entered Overton as a freshman, Grace +proceeded to make a round of calls which began with the members of the +reception committee, and included Violet Darby, Myra Stone, Laura Atkins, +Mildred Taylor, Patience, Kathleen and others of the upper classes whom +she knew well, though not intimately. The reception committee had +expressed their absolute willingness to allow the upper class girls to +help them out on escort duty and the girls themselves entered heartily +into the plan. + +"I'll walk over to Harlowe House with you now and invite Mary Reynolds," +declared Kathleen West, who was the last girl on Grace's list. "I'm glad +to have the opportunity. What a bright little thing Mary is! She is quick +as a flash when it comes to grasping an idea. I tell her she has the +making of a good newspaper woman in her." + +"She is Emma's star pupil in English. Emma says she writes the most +original themes." + +"She has all sorts of queer fancies about people and things," went on +Kathleen. "I can't begin to tell you, Grace, how glad I am to be of some +help to her. I must do something to make up for lost time." A faint color +tinged Kathleen's pale face. + +"You are doing a great deal for Mary Reynolds, Kathleen. She loves you +dearly!" + +"It certainly is nice to be liked," returned Kathleen softly. "If it +hadn't been for you and Elfreda and Patience I would have gone on in the +same hard, selfish spirit in which I began college." + +"As it is, you are one of the literary lights of Overton, and a joy to +your friends," said Grace gayly. "I wish you were at Harlowe House this +year with Emma and me." + +"I wish I were," sighed Kathleen, "but I didn't feel that it would be fair +to apply for admission there. You see, Grace, my salary on the newspaper, +during the summer, is a generous one, and, by managing carefully, I can +pay my expenses in college for the year with it. I don't have to do that, +however, for every week I write a story for the Sunday edition of our +paper which more than pays my board at Wayne Hall. Then I send in extra +space articles and go out on special stories during the Christmas and +Easter vacations. I am never really very short of money, so I'm not +eligible as a member of your household." + +"You are a clever, capable girl, Kathleen," averred Grace, with honest +admiration, "and I am proud to be your friend." + +A long look of perfect understanding passed between the two. It had come +only after many days of misunderstanding and doubt. + +"Dear Loyalheart, I can never forgive myself for making you so unhappy," +Kathleen's crisp tones trembled. + +"And I shall never forgive you if you mention it again," retorted Grace. +"You mustn't recall such things. I am enough of a believer in destiny to +feel that we had to go through a kind of probation period before we were +ready to be friends." + +"It's dear in you to say so, Grace, but I know myself, and how +contemptibly I behaved. I've been determined to say this to you ever since +I came back to college, but you have never given me the least chance until +now." + +"'Loyalheart' was the highest proof of your regard you could have given +me," reminded Grace gently. "I don't need any other reminders. I must go, +Kathleen. Did I hear you say you were going with me?" + +"Yes." + +Kathleen slipped into her hat and coat, and, as they went down Mrs. +Elwood's familiar stairs and strolled out into the crisp autumn air, arm +in arm, Kathleen felt that she could never be thankful enough to the girl +who had taught her the true meaning of college spirit. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A DISQUIETING THOUGHT + + +When half way across the campus the two young women encountered Evelyn +Ward. The cold crisp November air had deepened the pink in her cheeks to +living rose. Her violet eyes fairly blazed with light and sparkle, and her +wonderful golden hair peeped in fascinating little curls from under her +gray velour hat. She wore a three-quarter length gray coat, cut in the +smartest fashion, and a passing glance at her would have left one with the +impression that she was in affluent circumstances. + +"How can a girl who can't afford to pay her college expenses wear such +smart clothes?" was Kathleen's appraising comment after they had passed +Evelyn, who nodded to them in condescending fashion. + +"Her sister, Ida, makes them. She told me so when she came here to ask me +to take Miss Ward into Harlowe House. She is a very pretty girl, isn't +she?" + +Kathleen nodded. "How are things at Harlowe House?" she inquired +irrelevantly. + +"Going beautifully. I told you about our club didn't I?" + +"Not a word. I haven't seen you for a week." + +The newspaper girl listened interestedly to Grace's account of the club. +"It would make a good story for my paper," she commented. "How about it, +Grace?" + +"You're welcome to it if the girls don't object. Suppose you come as a guest +to our next meeting and ask their permission." + +"I'll do it," promised Kathleen. + +Mary Reynolds received and accepted Kathleen's invitation to the reception +with unmistakable joy. Grace had sent home for a pink silk evening gown, +which she had worn but little, and fairly forced it, with slippers, +stockings and gloves, upon the reluctant Mary, with the plea that pink was +not her color and therefore she never wore the frock. Aside from +shortening it, it had needed little alteration, and when the night of the +sophomore reception arrived, Kathleen appeared, an hour before the time to +start for the dance, to help Mary dress. She brought a cluster of +pinky-white roses and a pink chiffon scarf, which, she diplomatically +insisted, did not go well with any of her gowns and exactly matched Mary's. + +"I can't believe that I am I," Mary said happily, as she viewed herself +wonderingly in the round dressing-table mirror. She clasped her thin, +childish hands impulsively together. "I wish every girl in the world had +such good friends and pretty clothes as I have!" + +"I hope no one has such elusive hooks and eyes on their clothes as I +have," grumbled Emma Dean, who had appeared in the doorway in time to hear +Mary's heartfelt remark. "I have permanently dislocated one shoulder and +ruined the charming curves of both my elbows forever, in a vain, but +valiant, effort to unite one miserable hook and eye, which I'm sure the +dressmaker purposely sewed out of my reach." + +"Poor Emma," sympathized Kathleen. "Let me help you." + +Emma surrendered herself to Kathleen's deft fingers with a ludicrous +gesture of resignation. + +"Are all the Harlowe House girls going?" asked Kathleen. + +"Yes; thanks to the juniors and seniors, not one has been left out. It is +such a clear, pleasant night the campus house girls won't need carriages," +answered Grace. "It is eight o'clock now. Don't you think you had better +start? You go on with the girls, Emma. I'll run over some time during the +evening for a few minutes." + +After the merrymakers had set out for the gymnasium, Grace retired to her +office to write a letter to her mother. She had hardly settled herself +when the door bell rang and she heard a high, clear voice asking the maid +for Miss Ward. + +"Please tell her to hurry, my car is waiting," instructed the voice, as +the maid ushered the newcomer into the living-room. Grace glanced through +the open door of the office into the next room. In Evelyn's escort she +recognized Althea Parker, one of the most snobbish girls at Overton +College, and a member of the sophomore class. Evelyn's declaration on her +arrival at Overton that she intended to cultivate the richest girls in +college now came back to Grace with disagreeable force. + +"Good evening, Miss Harlowe," hailed Althea, as Grace rose and went +forward to greet her. "We are going to be late. I hope Evelyn won't keep +me waiting." There was a touch of impatience in her voice. + +Even as she spoke there was a patter of light feet on the stairs, and +Evelyn appeared in the doorway, her evening coat and scarf on her arm. + +Grace gave an involuntary gasp of admiration, while Althea cried out +openly, "Evelyn Ward, you are wonderful!" + +Evelyn's violet blue eyes flashed with gratified vanity. She wore an +exquisite gown of white silk and lace made in an apparently simple but +very smart fashion, which revealed the pure beauty of her white throat and +rounded arms, increasing her loveliness tenfold. She wore white silk +stockings and white satin slippers with little rhinestone buckles. Her +thick golden hair was drawn high on her head in a graceful knot and +clustered in little curls about her temples and over her forehead, while +her whole face was alive with excitement. At her corsage was an immense +bunch of violets, evidently sent her by her escort. + +"Shall I do?" she asked pertly, walking over to the living-room mirror for +a last peep at herself. + +"You look very lovely to-night," said Grace honestly. + +"Thank you," she swept Grace a curtsey. A faint mocking smile played about +her red lips, as though she doubted the sincerity of the remark. Slipping +on her evening coat of white broadcloth, and placing an extremely handsome +scarf of white and gold over her pretty head, Evelyn walked to the door, +followed by Althea Parker, who, divided between admiration of Evelyn and +fear of being late, was talking rapidly in her high, excited voice. + +"Good night, Miss Harlowe," she nodded. + +"Oh, yes, good night," called Evelyn carelessly. + +Grace leaned back in her chair and smiled at Evelyn's slightly cavalier +treatment of herself. "How her sister has spoiled her," she mused. "She +treats me as though I were one of the maids. To see her to-night one would +be quite likely to imagine that she, rather than Miss Parker, were the +richest girl in Overton." + +A sudden, startled look stole into Grace's eyes. "Why, where--" She +paused as though she had come upon something which did not quite please +her. As a matter of fact it had recurred to her with an unpleasant jolt +that Evelyn was wearing an evening gown entirely too expensive for her +present circumstances. So were her evening coat, her scarf and all the +dainty appointments which so perfectly matched the white silk frock. Again +she recalled that Ida Ward planned and made all her sister's gowns. Even +so, she must have spent considerable money on Evelyn's evening clothes. +Suppose these things were to be noticed and commented upon by the girls in +the house, or by outsiders who knew nothing of the real source of Evelyn's +wardrobe? Suppose some one were ill-natured enough to say that a girl who +could afford such expensive gowns ought to be able to pay her own expenses +and give her place in Harlowe House to some one more needy. Had not +Kathleen asked how Evelyn could afford to wear such smart clothes? + +Yet on the other hand, there was nothing to be done. Grace did not feel it +within her province to take Evelyn to task on the subject of her wearing +apparel. All she could do was to trust that what had perplexed her would +pass unnoticed and uncriticized. + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A SEMPER FIDELIS REUNION + + +"O frabjous day!" rejoiced Emma Dean, using her bath towel as a scarf and +performing a weird dance about the room. "I know I shall go chortling +through my classes this morning in a highly undignified manner. To think +that dear old Semper Fidelis will hold forth again in the same old haunts! +And the most beautiful part is that there will be no vacant chairs." + +Emma's delight was reflected on Grace's face. It was the morning before +Thanksgiving Day and the two young women were preparing to go to +breakfast, full of happy anticipation, for the various afternoon trains +were to bring to them their Semper Fidelis comrades. It had all begun with +Elfreda's and Mabel Ashe's promises to spend Thanksgiving at Harlowe +House. Then Elfreda had persuaded Arline Thayer, whom she saw frequently +in New York, to join them. Arline had written to Ruth, who had come on to +New York for a long visit to her chum in time to swell the band. Elfreda +had promptly written Grace that if she would see that Miriam and Anne put +in an appearance at the proper moment, the Briggs Helping Hand Society +would guarantee that the other members should appear at Overton on the +appointed day. + +"Elfreda has taken rather a large contract on her hands," Grace had said +to Emma, on receiving the letter. "She evidently knows what she's doing, +so I had better write to Miriam and Anne." + +Miriam's promise to come had been easily obtained, but Anne was not sure +of attending the Semper Fidelis reunion, until the week before +Thanksgiving, when Everett Southard, who was then playing in Shakespearian +repertoire in New York, obligingly arranged to give the "Taming of the +Shrew" on the day before Thanksgiving, and "King Richard III" on +Thanksgiving Day. As Anne did not appear in either play, her Thanksgiving +freedom was assured. + +And now the great day had dawned at last! There were to be recitations in +the morning, but college would close at noon, not to reopen until the +following Monday. The Semper Fidelis girls were to be Elfreda's guests at +Vinton's that night at a six o'clock dinner. On Thanksgiving morning they +were to breakfast at the Tourraine as the guests of Ruth and Arline. +Thanksgiving dinner at Martell's was to be Anne's and Miriam's part of the +celebration, while Thanksgiving night Emma and Grace were to be hostesses +at Vinton's, their favorite rendezvous. + +Grace would have dearly loved to be hostess at the Thanksgiving dinner, +but she felt that her duty lay with her household. She wondered whether it +would be really right for her to remain away from Harlowe House for so +many meals. After long and earnest discussion, she and Emma had arranged +that she would give up eating Thanksgiving dinner with her friends, while +Emma cheerfully agreed to preside at the Harlowe House breakfast table on +Thanksgiving morning. It was decided that Louise Sampson, of whom Grace +had grown extremely fond, was the best possible person to leave in charge +during their absence on Thanksgiving night, for neither Grace nor Emma +felt that they could bear to miss that last gathering together of their +beloved Semper Fidelis friends. + +"I wonder who will be first on the scene," speculated Grace. + +"Consult the time table, my child," advised Emma. "I have no time for +speculation. I am starting on a hunt in darkest Deanery for my cuff links. +They are tucked away in some remote corner of the Dean territory, but +which corner?" + +"They are in one end of your handkerchief box. I saw you put them there +yesterday, you ridiculous person," laughed Grace. + +"Thank you, thank you! 'One good turn deserves another,'" quoted Emma +fervently. "Bring forth the fateful time table and I'll sort out the +trains and the order of arrival of the clan." + +"I haven't a time table," confessed Grace. + +"Then we'll have to let the trains run merrily on, and the railroad do its +perfect work. I'm sorry I can't pay my debt of gratitude. I am always +helpful. I was always helpful. I have been helpful. I would be helpful. I +might have been helpful and I may yet be helpful," conjugated Emma +hopefully, "but not without a time table." + +"I appreciate your splendid spirit of helpfulness even though it isn't of +any use at present," assured Grace satirically. "I suppose--" + +A long reverberating ring of the bell cut short her remark. + +The two friends exchanged questioning glances. + +"It can't be one of the girls. It's only eight o'clock," was Emma's quick +comment. + +Grace opened the door and listened intently. Emma joined her, peering over +her shoulder. Then Miss Duncan's dignified assistant in English gave an +unmistakable, though subdued, war whoop, and, seizing Grace by the hand, +made for the stairs. Grace needed no assistance. An instant later they +brought up at the foot of the stairs and made a simultaneous rush for a +tall, plump young woman, enveloping her in a tempestuous embrace. + +"I might have known you'd be the first," cried Grace with joyful +affection. "You must have taken a train in the middle of the night." + +"I did," returned J. Elfreda Briggs calmly. "We are living in New York +this winter, so Pa brought me to the station in his own pet car and saw me +safely on my way. Emma Dean, you good old comrade, how are you?" Elfreda +turned from Grace to Emma. + +Emma surveyed Elfreda with fond eyes. "Just now I'm overcome at seeing +you, J. Elfreda. How we have missed you!" Depth of feeling for the moment +checked Emma's irrepressible flow of humor. Next to Grace, in her regard, +came the one-time stout girl, now merely plump and extremely attractive. + +Tears flashed across J. Elfreda's eyes as she stood looking into the faces +of these friends, whom she loved so truly, yet saw so seldom. "Missing +people has been my greatest cross this year," she said, her voice not +quite steady. "There's no use in making a fuss, though. I'm beginning to +learn that." + +A brief silence fell upon the three classmates. + +"Have you had your breakfast, Elfreda?" asked Grace, almost abruptly. + +"Are there waffles?" counter-questioned Elfreda. + +"There can be. The Harlowe House kitchen boasts of waffle irons, bought +with this occasion in view." + +"Then I am heart and soul for breakfast," avowed Elfreda. "I ate my usual +sumptuous repast of half a grape fruit and a piece of dry toast, plus one +small cup of black coffee, on the train. I haven't had a waffle since I +was here in August. I wonder how they would taste," she added innocently. + +"You'll know before long," promised Grace. "Emma take Elfreda upstairs to +our room, while I ask Sarah to make the waffles." + +Half an hour later they sat around the breakfast table, a contented trio. +After Emma had left them to go to her work, Grace and Elfreda had a long +confidential conversation over their coffee. The noon train brought Mabel +Ashe, Arline and Ruth, while from off the afternoon trains stepped Anne +and Miriam, the smiling Emerson twins, Elizabeth Wade, Marian Cummings and +Elsie Wilton. + +It was a congenial and talkative company that, as Elfreda's guests, graced +Vinton's at six o'clock dinner that night. Kathleen West, who had been +prevailed upon to spend at least one Thanksgiving at Overton, instead of +on duty on her paper, was one of three guests of honor, Mabel Ashe and +Patience Eliot were the others. By special arrangement a table that would +seat fifteen persons had been set in their favorite rendezvous, the +mission alcove. Elfreda, Grace, Anne and Miriam, rejoicing in their +reunion, had made a tour of the stores together that afternoon, and +gleefully carrying the fruits of their shopping to Vinton's had decorated +the table with flowers, ribbons and funny little favors. + +The Overton girls that happened to drop into Vinton's that night smiled +appreciatively at the gay little company in the alcove. A glance in that +direction on the part of the upper class girls was sufficient. They knew +that Semper Fidelis, the darling of the Overton clubs, was making merry. +The freshmen, however, had to have matters explained to them by their +friends. + +"That Semper Fidelis club was the life of Overton," Althea Parker +explained to Evelyn Ward. "That's one reason I asked you to come here with +me to-night. I wanted you to see them together." The two were seated at a +small table not far from that of the Sempers. + +Evelyn made no response. Her eyes were fixed upon the mission alcove. She +knew, only too well, that Althea's invitation to dinner had not been +disinterested. She had learned to know that Althea was not only snobbish, +but self-seeking as well. For whatever she gave she demanded value +received. Evelyn had been in the living-room when Grace and Elfreda +returned from their shopping. She had heard them discussing the dinner, +and had lost no time in slipping on her wraps and carrying the news to +Althea, who, as she had hoped, had at once invited her to dinner at +Vinton's. + +"Althea thinks I'll attract the attention of those girls," Evelyn had +speculated shrewdly. + +Meanwhile the girls in the alcove, quite unconscious of the discussion +going on about them at the other tables, were in their element. One after +another the dear wraiths of their Overton days were summoned, to be +laughingly and lovingly reviewed, then lingeringly laid to rest again. + +"Girls, do you remember the dinner we gave here after the ghost party?" +asked Mabel Ashe, her brown eyes alight with mischief. "Some of you girls +weren't here that night, but at least half of you were." + +"I ought to remember it," declared Elfreda significantly. + +"Yes, Elfreda, it was in honor of you, I believe," laughed Arline. The +dinner to which Mabel referred belonged to Elfreda's freshman year at +Overton. + +"It was indeed," affirmed Anne Pierson. "Every one of our four years +brought its own parties." + +"And its own problems," supplemented Miriam. + +"Of whom we were which," murmured J. Elfreda. + +Every one laughed at this naive assertion. + +"But we've all turned out creditably," smiled Miriam Nesbit, "thanks to +our Loyalheart. She opened the way to good comradeship for me, long ago, +in my high school days." + +"She found my father for me!" said Ruth Denton, her eyes eloquent. + +"She stood by me when I needed her most," said Anne. + +"Girls, I won't--" Grace half rose from her chair, but was gently shoved +into it again. + +"Sit still and hear the rest of your misdeeds," commanded Mabel. "Go on, +Arline." + +"She helped me to be unselfish and to think of others," was Arline's sweet +tribute. + +"She made me over," asserted Elfreda with emphasis. + +"She taught me college spirit," said Kathleen softly. + +"Sara and I didn't like college and never had much fun until Grace asked +us to join the Sempers," declared Sue Emerson. + +"She was the first to welcome me to Overton, and has given me countless +good times since then," said Patience. + +"She taught me to look for the best rather than the worst, even in my +enemies," declared Mabel Ashe. + +Elizabeth Wade, Marian Cummings and Elsie Wilton each added their tribute. + +"Girls, if you only knew how terribly this embarrasses me," pleaded Grace. +"Every one of you have done the nicest sort of things for me. I think--" + +"You are not allowed to think," put in Miriam. "We will do the thinking +for the next two minutes. Besides J. Elfreda has something to say. Go +ahead, Elfreda." + +"Grace, you've heard what we all had to say about you, but there is a +whole lot that we can never find words for. Each of us knows best what +you've been to us, as individuals, and we all know that there will never +be any other girl quite as dear, and true, and loyal as you are to us. So +we decided to give our Loyalheart a loyalty token, and here it is. Hold +out your arm," commanded Elfreda. + +Grace held out her pretty, bare arm in obedient bewilderment. Something +shining slipped over her wrist. She stared at it in fascination. + +"How beautiful!" she gasped. "It can't be for me!" The bracelet was a wide +band of dull gold, chased with a pattern of tiny leaves, and, at +intervals, its golden circle was starred with small diamonds. It was the +most expensive piece of jewelry Grace had ever owned. + +"Every one of our initials is inside," informed Elsie Wilton triumphantly. +Grace slipped the band off her arm and peered into it. Sure enough there +were rows of tiny initials inscribed on the smooth gold. + +"And now let us drink a toast to our Loyal-heart and go up to the +Tourraine," proposed Elfreda, after the excitement attending the +presentation of the bracelet had died out. "Here's to our Loyalheart! +Drink her down!" + +The emptied lemonade glasses were set on the table and the party rose to +go. + +As they were passing out, Grace and Anne walked with linked arms, +determined to make the most of their brief hour together. + +"Oh, Grace, I almost forgot to ask you," began Anne, "who was that +beautiful girl at the next table to the alcove? I saw you speak to her. +She was with Miss Parker, that little girl of 19-- who has so much money." + +"That was Evelyn Ward, Anne, and thereby hangs a tale which I'll entertain +you with tomorrow. One thing about her will interest you. She wants to +become an actress. She thinks you are the wonder of this century. I'll +introduce her to you to-morrow." + +"She is beautiful," commented Anne, "and if she is really sincere in her +ambition I might help her to attain her ambition." + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE INTERRUPTED CONFIDENCE + + +The days that lay between Thanksgiving and Christmas passed swiftly and +uneventfully for Grace. As the holiday vacation drew near she was divided, +however, between her desire to go home and her duty to Harlowe House. It +was Emma Dean who finally settled the question by announcing that she did +not intend to go home for Christmas and would gladly look after things +during Grace's absence. The trip home was too expensive, Emma had stated +frankly, and her railroad fare would be quite a help when added to the +Dean housekeeping fund. Once she had made her decision to stay at Overton +she began to lay plans for a happy holiday season for the Harlowe House +girls, who, without exception, were also to remain in Overton for their +vacation. Two days before Christmas Grace left Overton for Oakdale, with +many injunctions to Emma to take things easy and to telegraph her at once +if she needed her. + +Once at home a round of merry parties began. True to their promise Jessica +and Reddy had come back to Oakdale for Christmas. The only missing member +of the Eight Originals was Anne, and the Sunday morning following +Christmas Day she walked into the Harlowe's living room accompanied by +Everett Southard and his sister. She could not bear to allow the holidays +to pass without seeing her friends, so she and the Southards had taken the +midnight train for Oakdale, determined to spend at least one day there. +That evening a contented, happy company gathered at the Nesbits, as +Miriam's and David's guests, at a dinner given in honor of the unexpected +arrivals. After a short, but exceedingly earnest, confab in a cosy corner +just off the hall, Anne and David had appeared arm in arm, and, to an +accompaniment of meaning smiles, had announced their engagement. Although +Miriam Nesbit was entirely unaware of it, four pairs of eyes, belonging to +the feminine half of the Eight Originals had kept a lynx-like watch upon +her and Everett Southard. Afterward Grace confided to Anne that she +believed Miriam did like Mr. Southard a little, and it was quite plain to +be seen that Mr. Southard cared for her, while Jessica and Nora were +wagging their heads in secret agreement of the same belief. + +Only one thing marred Grace's pleasure in being at home and that was the +thought that she was making Tom Gray unhappy. Outwardly he was the same +sunny, smiling Tom she had known for so many years, but there were times +when the mask of cheerfulness fell away and Grace read in his eyes a look +of pain and longing that caused her to reproach herself. Then her honest +nature would reassert itself and she would vow never to promise to marry +Tom out of sympathy. Unless there came a time when she was absolutely +convinced that he meant more to her than her work she and Tom would have +to go on in the same old way. + +But aside from this one cloud it seemed to Grace that she had never before +so fully appreciated her father and mother. "You grow dearer every +minute," she assured them on her last night at home. She sat between them +on a little stool, holding a hand of each. "If you don't put me out on the +steps to-morrow morning with my luggage, and lock the door in my face, I +know I'll never, never have the courage to go away from you. It is really +a tragedy, this wanting to be in two places at once." + +"Dear child," said her mother softly, while her father stroked her shining +hair and wondered how he ever managed to get along without her during the +long months she spent at Overton. "We hate to give you up, Gracie," he +said, "but we love you all the more for your faithfulness to your work." + +And that was the thought which Grace took back with her to Overton. She +smiled to herself as she swung briskly through the quiet streets. Their +approbation had quickened her spirit to put forth fresh effort. She felt +as though she could remove mountains if they happened to rise suddenly in +her path. And in this state of mental exhilaration she ran up the steps of +Harlowe House and, after a second's fumbling with her latchkey, let +herself in. + +It was almost six o'clock in the afternoon, and the darkness of early +January had settled down upon the landscape. A wet, discouraging snow, +which made the streets a slush-covered menace to pedestrians, was falling, +and Grace gave a soft sigh of satisfaction as she stepped into the cheery, +well-lighted hall. Knowing that she was quite likely to find Emma in her +room she hurried up the stairs. Her hand was on the door knob when she +heard what sounded suspiciously like a sob. Grace flung open the door and +rushed into her room, her face alive with concern. What could possibly +have happened to make jolly, self-reliant Emma Dean cry? She exclaimed in +quick surprise, however, for, other than herself, the room held no +occupant. "I'm sure I heard some one crying," she murmured. She listened +intently. A moment later the same doleful sound was again borne to her +ears. Walking quickly into the bathroom she stood by the door that opened +into Evelyn Ward's room. + +"It comes from Miss Ward's room," was her second surmisal. "I wonder what +I ought to do. She is so easily offended that, if I go to her, she may +resent my call and think me meddlesome and interfering." Grace continued +to listen uneasily to the unmistakable sounds of grief that came from the +next room. + +"Something serious has certainly happened. I can't stand it to hear her +cry so. I'll take the risk of being misunderstood," she decided with a +grim little smile. + +Stepping out of her room into the hall she knocked softly on Evelyn's +door, receiving no answer. Her second and rather more emphatic knock +elicited a faint, "Who is there?" + +"Miss Harlowe," answered Grace. "May I come in for a moment, Miss Ward?" + +She heard Evelyn moving about the room for a moment, then the door was +opened slowly, and with apparent reluctance on the part of the pretty +freshman, who had evidently dried her tears for the time being. + +"How do you do, Miss Harlowe?" she said in a queer, strained voice. "I did +not know that you had returned from your vacation." She did not offer her +hand to Grace. In her blue eyes lay a look of positive fear. + +"I came in not more than ten minutes ago," returned Grace, stepping into +the room and closing the door after her. Then with her usual directness +she said, "Miss Ward, I heard you crying. I came to see if I could help +you." + +The look of fear in Evelyn's eyes deepened. She continued to regard Grace +intently, as though trying to discover whether there could be any other +motive for her visit. In spite of the effort she was making to be natural +her face expressed absolute consternation. + +"It--was--nothing," she stammered, at last. "I am not feeling very well." + +Grace was not deceived. She knew that Evelyn was not the kind of girl to +cry hysterically over a slight illness. Still she could not force this +perverse young woman to tell that which she did not choose to tell. + +"I am sorry you won't let me help you. Are you sure that I can't be of +service to you." + +"_You._" Evelyn laughed shortly. "No; I am quite sure that _you_ +can't be." + +"Very well." Grace was about to leave the room. + +"Wait a minute!" Evelyn's voice rang out sharply. "I--I--will tell you my +trouble, Miss Harlowe. It's about--my college fees. I paid part of the +money when I came here. My--my--sister has been very ill and can't send +the rest of the money. She made a special arrangement with the registrar +to make the other payment in November. I've received two notices. I don't +know what to do. I can't bear to leave Overton." + +"Why didn't you come to me before?" asked Grace with gentle reproach. "I +can help you in this matter through the Semper Fidelis fund." + +Grace went on to explain the purpose of the Semper Fidelis Club. "We lend +the students the money rather than give it to them, because they like to +feel that they are proceeding on a strictly business basis. It takes away +the slightest idea of charity and makes the girls quite responsible for +themselves." + +"I see," murmured Evelyn. "But suppose I borrowed the money and then found +that I couldn't return it for ever so long?" + +"There is neither time limit set nor interest charged on any reasonable +sum of money a girl may wish to borrow," returned Grace. "We have the +utmost confidence in our borrowers. The very fact that they come to us for +help is an avowal of their honesty. How much money do you wish to borrow, +Miss Ward?" + +Evelyn rather hesitatingly named a sum considerably in excess of that +needed for her college fees. "It--will--pay my expenses for the year and +leave me a little besides for emergencies," she explained apologetically. +"Then poor Ida can get well and won't have to worry. I am sure I can work +at something this summer and pay at least part of the money back to the +club." + +She swept a swift, speculative glance at Grace from under her eyelashes +which quite belied her earnest tones. Grace, however, absorbed for a brief +moment in her own thoughts, failed to see it. When she looked at Evelyn +the latter's face bore a sweetly grateful expression that made her wonder +if she had not been mistaken in her estimate of the, hitherto, troublesome +freshman. Her apparent anxiety to relieve her sister of worry over +financial difficulties was distinct evidence of an affection of which +Grace had not believed Evelyn capable. "I have misjudged her," was Grace's +thought. "She really cares for her sister." + +Aloud she said, "I will write at once to Miss Thayer, who is the president +of the Semper Fidelis Club, and in whose name the account stands, telling +her the circumstances. Thus far we have not received many calls for help +since college opened, so there is quite a little money in bank. It is +during the last half of the year that we make the greatest number of +loans. I am sorry that your sister has been ill. If you will give me her +address I will write to her tonight." + +Evelyn flushed hotly. "Oh, no, you mustn't!" she exclaimed sharply. "That +is--I mean you--mustn't put yourself--to so much trouble for me," she +added lamely. + +"It won't be a particle of trouble," assured Grace. "I should like to do +so." + +Evelyn's confusion deepened. "I--can't--" she floundered. + +Grace regarded her with quiet, searching eyes. But before she had time to +go on from wonder at Evelyn's strange objection to her writing her sister +to actual suspicion, Evelyn interposed eagerly, "I'll give you the +address, with pleasure, Miss Harlowe. Wait a moment." She sprang to her +open writing desk and seizing a piece of paper and a pencil wrote +energetically for a moment. + +"Here it is." + +She laid it before Grace, who picked it up and read, "Miss Ida Ward, 320 +Duverne Street, Albany, N.Y." + +A puzzled frown wrinkled Grace's forehead. "I thought your sister told me +she lived in Burton. I must have misunderstood her." + +"So we did," put in Evelyn hurriedly, "but Ida is spending the winter with +my aunt in Albany. She went there just before she was taken ill. We may +never go back to Burton again to live. Of course I am not sure of that. +Perhaps I can find work in a large city during my summer vacation." + +"That reminds me," began Grace. "I had a talk with Miss Pierson when she +was here about your going on the stage. She saw you at Vinton's, and when +I told her you had stage ambitions she said she was quite sure she could +find work for you during the summer in a stock company. She will try to +take you with her." + +"Really!" Evelyn sprang to her feet, her blue eyes glittering with +excitement. "Oh, Miss Harlowe, if I could, if she would take me! I'd work +so hard and pay every penny of everything I owe." + +"But you don't owe anything yet," reminded Grace, smiling. + +Evelyn did not answer. It was doubtful whether she heard Grace's last +words. She stood perfectly still, a curious look on her beautiful face. +Suddenly she said in a low, halting tone, "Miss Harlowe, if you knew +how--" + +A knock on the door interrupted her speech. Without finishing, she stepped +to it and turned the knob. "Hello, Mary," she said indifferently. + +"Oh, Miss Harlowe, I didn't know that you had come home," cried Mary +Reynolds. "We have all missed you dreadfully, haven't we, Evelyn?" + +"Yes," replied Evelyn in her usual indifferent fashion. Then as Grace +turned to go she said sweetly, "Thank you so much for your kindness to me, +Miss Harlowe." + +But Grace reflected disappointedly as she went slowly into her own room +that Mary Reynolds' innocent interruption had occurred just in time to +prevent the establishment with Evelyn of the very footing which she had +been trying all year to gain. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A WEEK-END IN NEW YORK + + +True to her promise Grace wrote to Arline Thayer that very evening +concerning the sum of money which Evelyn wished to borrow, and three days +later she opened a fat letter from the president of Semper Fidelis from +which fell the magic slip of paper which, for Evelyn, meant the way out of +her difficulties. Grace pounced with delight upon the letter and was soon +deep in its contents. + +"We saw Anne as 'Ophelia' last Friday night," Arline wrote. "After the +play father gave a little supper for her at our house and invited the +Southards, Mabel and Mr. Ashe, Elfreda, Miriam Nesbit and her brother. +Miriam came to New York to visit and shop, and it is not hard to guess why +her brother came with her. We were all so surprised to see her, and so +delighted. She is staying with the Southards, and, Grace, I do believe +Everett Southard is in love with her. It is hard to say whether she +returns his love, for she doesn't manifest the slightest sign of it. +Wouldn't it be splendid if they did decide to go through life together? He +is so clever, and a great actor too. Mabel's lawyer has won the most +difficult case he ever fought for. He has persuaded Mabel to wear his +ring. Their engagement is to be announced next week. I suppose you will +hear from Mabel before many days. How I wish you were here. We all miss +you so. Can't you come to New York for a week end before Easter? Do try to +arrange it. I have so many things to tell you. It would take an age to +write them. Think it over and decide to come. With my dearest love, + +"Arline" + +Grace finished the letter with a happy sigh. She would try to manage to +run down to New York for a week end. She wondered how long Miriam intended +to stay in the city and she smiled faintly over Arline's comment regarding +Miriam and Everett Southard. It was not news to her. Consulting the +calendar that hung above the desk, she decided to go the first week in +February, and began to plan her work accordingly. + +In spite of her secret fears that everything was too perfect to last, not +only was her varied household serene, but prospering as well. From the +time the Harlowe House girls became a self-governing body the question of +putting money in the treasury had been continually agitated. One way and +another had been suggested, but it was not until the Christmas holidays +that the inspiration had come in the shape of a most toothsome batch of +caramels which Louise Sampson had descended into the kitchen and made, one +snowy, blustery evening when the club had assembled in the living-room for +a social session. The caramels were a signal success, and when Cecil +Ferris eyed one of the delicious brown squares lovingly before popping it +into her mouth, then asked reflectively, "Why couldn't we make caramels +and sell them to the Overton girls?" the idea was hailed with cries of +"Great," "A good idea." "We could easily sell pounds of them." + +With one accord they had besieged Louise Sampson with curious questions as +to how she had made the caramels and the cost of the ingredients. Louise +had laughingly refused to tell her recipe. + +After talking things over Louise had sworn Cecil, Mary Reynolds and one +other girl to secrecy, imparted the precious recipe to them, and on the +next Saturday afternoon they had made their first candy. A gay little +poster, drawn by one of the girls, advertised their wares. It was tacked +to one side of the college bulletin board, and by nine o'clock on Saturday +night the last caramel had gone its destined way, while the success-crowned +merchants counted their money and lamented because they had not +made half enough caramels. From then on, caramel-making occupied the +spare moments of Louise and her faithful band and the "Harlowe House +Caramels" rapidly gained favor. With her usual kindly interest in the +success of others Grace, on her return from the Christmas holidays, +entered into the candy making with spirit and energy, doing much to help +fill the rush of orders. Try as they might the caramel supply was always +running out, for the students found the delicious home-made caramels quite +to their taste and they grew daily more popular. + +The Harlowe House girls were extremely proud of the growing fund in the +treasury. One and all, with the exception of Evelyn Ward, they begged so +earnestly to be initiated into the mysteries of caramel making that they +were sworn to secrecy at a special meeting of the club and divided into +caramel-making squads. It was also decided to make candy only twice a +week, on Wednesday and Friday evenings, and set Thursday and Saturday as +the days for selling the caramels, which were put up in neat half-pound +and pound boxes. + +But while this little enterprise was being carried on with a will Evelyn +was merely an indifferent onlooker. True she belonged to one squad of the +candy makers, but she usually managed to be absent when they worked. +Apparently she was not interested in the financial affairs of the Harlowe +House Club. For a week or more after the check from Semper Fidelis had +been handed to her she had maintained toward Grace an attitude of sweet +gratitude, too flattering to be wholly sincere. It had gradually +disappeared, however, and the old Evelyn had come to the surface again. +Although she was now careful not to offend openly, Grace felt that +underneath the thin veneer of reluctant gratitude lay the old dislike +which she was sure Evelyn felt for her. In spite of her efforts to judge +this strange selfish girl dispassionately Grace knew in her heart that she +still disapproved of Evelyn. + +The first week in February found Grace looking forward to her week end in +New York City. She had arranged to leave Overton on Friday at noon, and on +Friday morning she opened her eyes with that feeling of exultation over +something delightful just around the corner from her. Then she remembered. +In a few hours she would again be with her beloved friends. She went about +her work that morning humming under her breath. As she was to take the +eleven-thirty train she had said a regretful good-bye to Emma before the +latter went to her classes. "How I wish you were going with me, Emma," she +had sighed. Emma's eyes had grown wistful for an instant, then she had +launched forth into a multitude of pompous and wholly ridiculous reasons +why her presence was needed at Harlowe House that made Grace laugh, and, +for the time, banished the shadow from her face. + +Later as she climbed into the taxicab that was to take her to the station, +Emma's face, with its funny little twisted smile, rose before her, and she +experienced fresh regret at leaving her behind. It was hardly fair that +she should have so much and Emma so little. How bravely Emma had stepped +into the breach made by her father's sudden reverse of fortune. So deep +was Grace in her own thoughts that she did not realize that they had +reached the station until the car came to a sudden stop and the driver +stood holding open the door. Handing him her suit case and traveling bag +Grace stepped out of the car, and tendering the man her fare, gathered up +her luggage and headed for the station. Seating herself on one of the +wooden benches inside the station, she placed her traveling effects on the +floor beside her and compared her watch with the station clock. Then she +rose and going to the ticket window, which had just opened, purchased her +ticket and inquired as to whether the train were on time. + +"Fifteen minutes late," was the brief reply. + +Grace went back to her bench, and, seating herself, opened a magazine she +had brought with her. She was turning the leaves interestedly when a +sudden banging of the station door caused her to glance up. Her eyes were +riveted in surprise upon Evelyn Ward, who, suit case in hand, hurried over +to her with, "Oh, Miss Harlowe, I wonder if you would mind my going to New +York with you. I am invited to Althea Parker's for the week end, but she +had to go down last night. I tried to see you at Harlowe House, but you +had already gone. I would have spoken to you last night about going, but I +wasn't quite sure whether I could make it or not." Evelyn's tones were far +from concerned. + +"You are quite welcome to ride with me," returned Grace briefly. She +hardly liked the situation, yet she made it a rule not to interfere with +the amusements of the Harlowe House girls. When she had lived at Wayne +Hall Mrs. Elwood had never questioned the comings and goings of her girls. +Still Grace was not pleased with Evelyn's careless manner of passing over +her evident intention to go without even informing Grace of her departure. + +Once on the train the two kept up a desultory conversation. But little +sympathy existed between them, and the situation grew momentarily more +strained. Grace caught Evelyn taking sly peeps at the magazine which she +still held. With her usual good nature, Grace hailed the boy who passed +through the train with magazines and candy and bought another magazine. + +"There is an article in this number which Miss Dean says is worth +reading," she explained. "Keep my magazine if you like, and I'll read +this." + +For the next two hours not a word was exchanged. The two girls read on and +on. As the afternoon began to wane Evelyn finished her magazine, took off +her hat, and, leaning her head against the high green velvet back of the +seat, closed her eyes. At last Grace laid aside her reading, and idly +watched, with half dreaming eyes, the fleeting landscape. Occasionally her +gaze wandered, in unwilling admiration, to Evelyn's lovely, tranquil face. +Why was such great beauty coupled with such tantalizing perversity of +spirit? was the thought that sprang unbidden to her mind. + +It was long after dark when the two young women passed through the iron +gates of the station to where their friends awaited them. Anne, David, +Miriam and Arline stood eagerly watching for Grace. At almost the same +moment Evelyn spied Althea. On seeing Evelyn's companions, Althea hurried +forward in time to receive the much-coveted introduction to Arline Thayer, +Anne and the Nesbits. After a brief exchange of courtesies Grace's friends +bowed themselves off, gleefully escorting Grace to David's car. + +Althea stared moodily after them. "I think they are awfully snobbish," she +remarked resentfully. "How did you manage to get away, Evelyn?" + +"Don't ask me," Evelyn made a gesture of deprecation. "All I hope is that +I'm not found out. I'm glad I overheard Miss Harlowe talking last night +about going to-day. If worse comes to worst, I'll say I came down here +with her." + +"But what if she denies it?" + +Evelyn shrugged her shoulders. "Ten chances to one I shall not be missed, +but if there is any trouble I'll appeal to her generosity of spirit to +help me. She pretends to be so helpful, let her demonstrate her +helpfulness by standing between me and Miss Sheldon." + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +A HUMILIATING REPRIMAND + + +To Grace forty-eight hours with her chums seemed hardly longer than +forty-eight minutes, and she found it an exceedingly difficult task to +divide her time equally among them. She went directly to the Southards for +dinner, and to the theater that night with David, Miriam and Miss Southard +to see Everett Southard and Anne as the ill-fated king and queen in +"Macbeth." To her delight she discovered that the opposite box held +Elfreda, Arline, Ruth, Mabel Ashe, Mr. Ashe and Mr. Thayer, and after the +play they were Mr. Ashe's guests at supper. + +On Saturday the devoted little band gathered at Arline's home at nine +o'clock in the morning, determined to crowd every possible bit of pleasure +into the hours that were theirs. On Sunday it was Mabel Ashe who played +hostess, and on Sunday night a goodly company saw Grace to the station and +safely on her way. + +It was eleven o'clock when she let herself into Harlowe House, and hurried +upstairs, anxious to relax and be comfortable after her long ride. As she +had expected, on opening the door of her room, she saw Emma, her tall, +thin figure wrapped in the folds of a gay crepe kimono, seated before the +table, industriously looking over, and marking, themes. + +"Hello, Gracious," she caroled amiably, laying down the sheet of paper she +held in her hand and making a quick dive for Grace. "I began to thing you +weren't coming home tonight. How are you, and how is everybody? In spite +of being fairly swamped with themes, I managed to arise in my might and +make cocoa. It's in the chocolate pot and there are some extra fine +Dean-made sandwiches to match. Now say, 'Emma, you are one in a million, +and a cook besides.' Give me your coat and hat. Your kimono and slippers +await you." + +"What a dear you are, Emma," declared Grace, as she handed her wraps to +Emma and began to unhook her skirt. "How I wish you had been with us. The +girls were so sorry you couldn't come. Elfreda says she is going to +descend upon you some Friday and carry you off for a week end, regardless +of howls and protests." + +Emma's expressive face lighted with whimsical tenderness. "J. Elfreda +never forgets, does she? Here's your cocoa, Grace. Help yourself to +sandwiches." + +Seating themselves opposite each other at the oak center table, the plate +of sandwiches and the chocolate pot between them, the two young women +settled themselves for a talk which lasted until after midnight. + +"We are setting a fearful example for our girls," remarked Grace yawning, +as they finally arose to prepare for bed. "I hope we haven't disturbed Miss +Ward. I haven't heard a sound from her room. She must be asleep. I wonder +when she came back." + +"Came back from where?" asked Emma. + +"From New York City. She took the same train that I took and sat with me +all the way there." + +"She did!" exclaimed Emma. "That doesn't tally with what I heard in the +registrar's office Friday afternoon. I'm afraid she didn't ask permission +to go, Grace." + +"Oh, she must have had permission!" A look of surprise, mingled with +consternation, sprang into Grace's eyes. + +"Did she tell you she had the joyful sanction of the registrar?" quizzed +Emma. + +"No--o. She made a half apology for not telling me that she was going to +New York. She said she was not sure of going until the last minute. I +supposed, of course, that she had permission. Why will she persist in +disobeying the rules of the college?" asked Grace despairingly. "What was +said in the registrar's office, Emma, or aren't you at liberty to tell +me?" + +"Of course I am, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it," declared Emma. +"Friday afternoon I went over to Overton Hall to see Miss Sheldon. Just as +I stepped into her office I met Evelyn coming out looking like a young +thunder cloud. I wondered what had happened to upset her sweet, even +disposition," Emma's tones were distinctly ironical, "and without asking +any questions I soon found out. Miss Sheldon herself looked anything but +pleased and said: 'That Miss Ward is the most insolent girl with whom I +have ever come in contact. I refused to allow her to go to New York City +for the week end and she made some extremely impertinent remarks to me. +She has a condition to work off. I felt justified in refusing her.'" + +"And she disregarded that refusal and went?" questioned Grace wonderingly. +"We would never have dreamed of defying the registrar, would we, Emma?" + +"Hardly," returned Emma. "Even Laura Atkins in her most anarchistic moods, +or Kathleen West with all her thorns set, would have stopped short of +that. I hope the high and mighty Evelyn won't try to drag you into this +affair." + +"How can she?" demanded Grace. "I had nothing to do with it." + +"Yes, but you rode down to New York City on the same train and in the same +seat with her. She is quite likely to tell the registrar that you +countenanced her going even though Miss Sheldon didn't." + +"Oh, she couldn't!" burst forth Grace. + +"Why couldn't she?" demanded Emma. + +Grace shook her head. + +"I think you are a trifle hard on her, Emma. I know she is selfish, but I +don't believe she is malicious." + +"I wish I had your faith in people, Grace," said Emma sincerely. "You +always believe them honest until they prove themselves villains, don't +you?" + +When the next afternoon, Grace received a curt note from Miss Sheldon +asking her to come to her office at five o'clock, Emma's prophesy loomed +large before her. + +"It must be something else," reflected the troubled house mother, as she +prepared for her call on Miss Sheldon. Once in the registrar's office, a +quick glance at the older woman's face, set in lines of annoyance, was +enough to convince Grace that Emma's conjecture had been only too true. +Evelyn had in some way managed to make her a party to her disobedience. + +"Good afternoon, Miss Harlowe," said Miss Sheldon stiffly. There was no +trace of her usual friendly manner. "I sent for you this afternoon for the +purpose of clearing up any misunderstanding you may have in regard to your +authority here at Overton. The students in the various houses are in every +instance subject to the rules of Overton College, and it is the purpose of +the faculty to see that these rules are enforced. You have no authority to +grant a student leave of absence, particularly after that permission has +been refused by me." + +Then there followed a further sharp reprimand to which Grace listened +gravely, her calm, gray eyes never for an instant leaving Miss Sheldon's +face. Something in the younger woman's composure had its effect upon the +registrar, who, on first seeing Grace, had allowed her displeasure free +rein. She looked searchingly into the quiet face before her and said more +gently, "Perhaps I should have asked you to tell me your side of the +story, before condemning you, Miss Harlowe." + +Ah, so there was another side of the story! It was apparently as Emma had +said. + +Tears of hurt pride burned behind Grace's eyes, but they never fell. With +a brave effort she steadied her voice. "I do not know what has been said +to you, Miss Sheldon, but I do know that I have never given any girl at +Harlowe House leave of absence from Overton. I would not presume to do +so. I hope I understand the limit of my authority too clearly to overstep +it." + +"Then you did not take Miss Ward with you to New York City last Friday +afternoon?" + +"Miss Ward was with me on the train and shared my seat, but until I met +her in the station I had not the remotest idea that she intended to go. I +dislike to tell you this, Miss Sheldon, but since you have asked me this +question I can only tell you the truth." + +"I am sorry I spoke so hastily, Miss Harlowe," apologized Miss Sheldon, +"but I was greatly displeased. I have sent for Miss Ward. Will you wait +until she comes? You need not unless you wish to do so." + +"Thank you," said Grace, a shade of offended dignity in her voice, "but I +must go back to Harlowe House. It is almost dinner time. Good evening, +Miss Sheldon." + +Once outside Overton Hall her composure took wings and she brushed the +thick-gathering tears from her eyes as she hurried blindly across the +snow-covered campus in the gray twilight. She was still smarting under the +hurt of the registrar's sharp words. It was unspeakably humiliating to be +told that she had overstepped her authority. She had thought that Miss +Sheldon knew her too well for that. It merely served to show how little +one knew persons, she reflected bitterly. As for Evelyn, the angry color +dyed Grace's cheeks afresh as she thought of the girl's treachery, and she +made a resentful vow that Evelyn Ward should not be admitted to Harlowe +House for her sophomore year. + +The brisk walk across the campus in the crisp winter air cooled her anger, +and by the time she had reached the house she felt her resentment, in a +measure, vanishing. + +"You were right, Emma," she announced as she walked into their room where +Emma sat plodding laboriously through her weekly mending. + +"About Evelyn?" + +"Yes." + +Emma finished the sleeve of the blouse she was mending with a flourish. +Then, casting a swift, upward glance at Grace, she began singing +dolorously. + + "Mend, mend, mend, + On the waist that's weary and worn. + Stitch, stitch, stitch, + Each tatter so jagged and torn. + Collar and cuffs and sleeves, + Cobble and darn and baste, + Before they gape in a ghastly row, + And shriek the dirge of the waist." + +Grace's gloomy expression changed to a faint smile which broadened as +Emma's chant went on. At the end of the verse she laughed outright. + +"I couldn't be sad for long with you about, Emma," she said +affectionately. "How can you think of such funny things on the spur of the +moment?" + +"Oh, I don't know," drawled Emma. "Tell me about everything, Gracious." + +"I will," nodded Grace, "but I must run downstairs to the kitchen for a +minute. I'll be back directly." + +It was fifteen minutes before she returned. Emma had finished her mending +and was on her knees before the chiffonier putting her waists away. + +"Now I'll tell you," began Grace. + +Emma turned her head to listen, but before Grace had time to begin the +door was flung violently open and Evelyn Ward rushed in, her blue eyes +bright with anger. "How could you tell Miss Sheldon that I didn't go to +New York with you? You could have helped me and she wouldn't have said a +word to Miss Wilder. Now I shall be expelled from college and it is all +your fault. You are--" + +At this juncture, however, Emma Dean took a hand. Without giving Grace an +opportunity to say a word she marched over to the excited Evelyn. "Miss +Ward, leave this room instantly, and do not come into it again until you +have asked Miss Harlowe to pardon you." + +In contrast to Evelyn's half-screamed denunciation Emma's voice was low +and even, but it vibrated with stern command. + +"I--she--" began Evelyn, but the look in Emma's eyes was too much for +her. With a half-sobbing cry of anger she rushed from the room. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +AN UNINTENTIONAL LISTENER + + +"Delightful young person," commented Emma dryly, as the resounding slam of +the door echoed through the room. + +Grace walked slowly over to the chair which she had been occupying when +Evelyn had made her tempestuous entrance, and sat down. There was a brief +silence, then, "Do you suppose Miss Wilder will send Evelyn home?" + +"Grace, you aren't going to try to intercede for that hateful girl after +this," Emma's tones quivered with vexation. + +"I don't know. I suppose it wouldn't be of much use. Miss Wilder won't +tolerate out and out disobedience. I--yes, Emma, I'm going to see if I can +save her. I'm going now." + +Grace sprang from her chair and began slipping into her wraps. + +Emma eyed her moodily, struggling between approval and disapproval, but +saying nothing. + +"Good-bye, dear," called Grace over her shoulder as she hurried out the +door. "I'm afraid I'll be late for dinner. Don't wait for me." + +Outside the house she paused, glanced toward Overton Hall, then set off in +the opposite direction toward Miss Wilder's home. + +"I hope she's at home," was Grace's anxious thought as she rang the bell. + +"Miss Wilder's in the library, miss. I'll call her," informed the maid. +"Come in. It's Miss Harlowe wants to see her, isn't it?" + +"Yes," Grace smiled in pleasant appreciation of the maid's remembrance of +her. + +"Good evening, Miss Harlowe." Miss Wilder rose to greet her unexpected +visitor and offered her a chair. + +Grace returned the greeting, then seated herself directly opposite the +dean. + +"Miss Wilder, I came to see you," she burst forth, "to ask you if there +is--if you could give Miss Ward another chance. She came to me to-night +and said that she was to be sent home for what happened last Saturday. I +am sorry that she has put herself in such an unpleasant position, but I am +more sorry still for her sister, who has made so many sacrifices to give +her a college education. I never told you much about Miss Ward, Miss +Wilder. Let me tell you now." + +Miss Wilder listened attentively to Grace's eager outpouring. + +"Miss Ward's case has not yet been settled," she said slowly. "It rests +with me whether she shall remain at Overton. I will think over what you +have told me. I am not prepared to give you an answer now. Come to my +office at four o'clock to-morrow afternoon and bring Miss Ward with you." + +"Thank you, Miss Wilder. Good night." + +Feeling that there was nothing more to be said, Grace rose and held out +her hand to the dean. The older woman took the hand in both of hers and +looked deep into Grace's honest eyes. + +"You are a true house mother," she said gently. "I know something of how +greatly Miss Ward has tried your patience, and if I do decide to give her +an opportunity to begin over again it will be largely because you have +asked me." + +When Grace let herself into Harlowe House a little later a hasty glance +into the dining-room revealed the fact that dinner was over. "I'll come +down and get mine after awhile," she decided, and ran upstairs to her own +room. + +"Well?" inquired Emma as Grace entered. + +"Pretty well," retorted Grace. "I won't know positively until to-morrow. +Is Miss Ward in her room?" + +"She is," stated Emma, "and, judging from the sounds, packing is in full +swing. I have heard her trunk lid banging frequently and wickedly, and she +is opening and shutting the drawers of her chiffonier in an anything but +gentle manner." + +"I must see her," declared Grace. + +"Then prepare to be greeted with an icy blast," predicted Emma. + +The next moment found Grace knocking on Evelyn's door. + +There was a rush of steps, the door was flung open and Evelyn faced her, +white and defiant. + +"Miss Wilder wishes you to be in her office at four o'clock to-morrow +afternoon. It will be to your interest to do as she requests," stated +Grace briefly. Without giving Evelyn an opportunity for speech she turned +and walked down the hall to her room. + +"Back so soon and no bones broken," commented Emma. + +Grace laughed a little in spite of herself. "Really, Emma, this is a +serious matter," she declared. "I'm not at all sure that Miss Wilder will +give Miss Ward another chance." + +"Don't think about it and she will. Worry over it and you'll defeat your +own hope. Think about your dinner instead. It's downstairs keeping hot for +you. I'll go down with you and entertain you while you eat. I have a +letter from Elfreda which I've been keeping as a surprise. There is +something in it that you will be glad to know." + +The "something" was Elfreda's announcement that Miriam had invited her to +go to Oakdale for the Easter holidays. + +"That settles it, Emma, you simply must come home with me!" exclaimed +Grace. "You know you delight in J. Elfreda." + +"I do, I do," solemnly agreed Emma. "I'll think it over, Gracious, and if +my finances can be stretched to cover my railroad fare I'll be 'wid yez.' +But who will look after the Harlowites if I fold my tents like the Arabs +and set sail for Oakdale?" + +"I don't know yet. Louise Sampson, perhaps. She is so capable and the +girls not only like her but respect her as well. I must talk with her +first. She may not wish to assume the responsibility. Then again she may +have other Easter plans. We shall manage, somehow, to arrange things +satisfactorily." + +Louise Sampson had no definite Easter plans, so she said, when Grace +broached the subject to her the following day. With never-failing +good-nature she readily agreed to take charge of Harlowe House during the +absence of Grace and Emma, provided Grace felt confident that she was able +to measure up to her responsibility. + +"I'm so thankful that's arranged," sighed Grace as Louise left her office +after luncheon to return to her classes. "I wish some other things could +be as easily disposed of." + +As she dressed that afternoon to go to Miss Wilder's office she was far +from joyous. She disliked the idea of meeting Evelyn in the dean's office. +She was confident that Miss Wilder would state frankly to Evelyn why she +had been spared. + +Her conjecture was only too well grounded. When Evelyn appeared in the +dean's office at precisely four o'clock, half anxious, half defiant, Miss +Wilder read her a lecture, the cutting severity of which caused Evelyn to +flush and pale with humiliation and anger. "Remember, Miss Ward," she +emphasized, "it is solely due to Miss Harlowe's intercession in your +behalf that I have decided to allow you to remain at Overton." + +"Oh, dear, I hope she isn't going to make Evelyn apologize to me," was +Grace's thought. "Why did Miss Wilder ask me to come here to-day?" + +As if in answer to her unspoken question, Miss Wilder went on to say, +"Miss Harlowe came to me last night and asked me not to send you home. I +requested her to be present to-day to hear what I wished to say to you. I +trust, Miss Ward, that, hereafter, you will see fit to observe the rules +of Overton College and live up to them, as a second infringement of this +nature will mean instant dismissal from Overton. That is all, I believe." + +Thus dismissed Evelyn left the room without a word. + +Grace lingered for a moment's conversation with Miss Wilder, then left the +office and started across the campus for Harlowe House. Half way there she +glanced at her watch. It was not yet five o'clock. She would have time to +do a little shopping before dinner. Turning her steps in the opposite +direction she was soon hurrying along Overton's main business +thoroughfare. + +It was ten minutes to six when, her shopping done, she came within sight +of Harlowe House. She wondered if Evelyn were at home. Of late she had +been more intimate than ever with Althea Parker. As Grace walked into the +house and slowly up the stairs the pale face of Ida Ward rose before her. +She was glad that she had been able to avert the disastrous consequences +of Evelyn's disobedience so that Evelyn alone should suffer. + +Entering her room she took off her wraps and began rearranging her hair +preparatory to going downstairs to dinner. The sound of footsteps in the +hall, the opening of Evelyn's door, then Evelyn's voice declaring +excitedly, "You can do it if you want to," caused Grace to lay down her +brush and involuntarily listen for a reply. + +It came, and in Mary Reynolds' distressed tones. "Oh, really, I couldn't, +Evelyn. Please, please don't ask me." + +"You must," Evelyn's command broke forth sharply. + +"I won't," Mary refusal gathered strength. "You have no right to ask me +and I have no right to do it." + +"Then you are not my friend if you don't do as I ask," flung back Evelyn, +"and I shall never speak to you again. Please go away and don't ever come +to this room again." + +"I am your friend," quivered Mary, "that's why I refuse to do something +which will surely make trouble for you." + +"How can it make trouble for me?" demanded Evelyn. "You know as well as +I--" + +But Grace, coming to a sudden realization that she was listening to +something not intended for her ears, sprang from her seat before her +dressing-table and went downstairs, wondering not a little what it all +meant. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A DOUBLE PUZZLE + + +Mary Reynolds slipped into her place at dinner that night with red eyelids +and a woebegone expression on her small face. Evelyn did not enter the +dining-room until after the others had began their meal. Despite the air +of careless indifference with which she took her seat, Grace fancied she +saw a gleam of anxiety in her eyes. From the few words she had overheard +she understood not only the meaning of Mary's dejection, but also of +Evelyn's anxious look. But what was it that Evelyn had required of Mary +and that Mary had bluntly refused to do? Suppose Evelyn had involved +herself in some fresh difficulty. To Grace the thought was distinctly +disturbing. Still she felt that it was not within her province to +interfere. After all it might be nothing of vital importance, merely a +girls' disagreement. + +Resolutely dismissing the matter from her mind, Grace thought no more of +it. That evening Evelyn came to her as she sat reading in the living room +and, in her most distant manner, notified Grace that she intended to go to +the dance to be given by the Gamma Kappa Phi, a Willston fraternity, at +their fraternity house. Miss Hilton, a member of the Overton faculty, +would chaperon her. There were four other freshmen besides herself +invited. + +Grace made no objection to Evelyn's announcement. After the severe +reprimand she had received it was hardly probable that Evelyn would again +misrepresent matters. Quite by accident the next day she encountered Miss +Hilton upon the campus, and the teacher confirmed Evelyn's story by +mentioning the dance and inquiring if Grace had been asked to do chaperon +duty. "I am surprised that you weren't," had been Miss Hilton's comment +when Grace answered that her services had not been solicited. + +Grace had smiled to herself as she went on her way. She was not in the +least surprised at not being invited by Evelyn to play chaperon. She was +glad that she had not been asked. She decided that she would not have +accepted. The dance was to be held on the Friday evening of the following +week, and on the Saturday morning after she would be on her way to +Oakdale. + +How long and yet how short the days seemed that lay between her and home. +Long because of her impatience to see her father and mother, short because +of the multifold details to be attended to in Harlowe House. + +"I'm so tired," she sighed when, at seven o'clock on Friday evening, she +saw her trunk and Emma's safely in the hands of the expressman. "Thank +goodness our packing is done and gone and out of the way. Let's do +recreation stunts to-night, Emma. Suppose we call upon Kathleen and +Patience. Incidentally we can pay our respects to Laura Atkins and Mildred +Taylor. If they aren't busy we might have a quiet celebration just for +auld lang syne at Vinton's. We can be home by ten o'clock." + +"All right," agreed Emma, who knelt on the floor, her glasses pushed above +her forehead, wrestling valiantly with a refractory strap of her suit +case. A moment and she had buckled it into place with a triumphant cluck. +"There, that won't have to be done at the last minute. Shall I telephone +the girls that we are coming? It's after seven now." + +"Yes, do." + +Emma left the room returning shortly. + +"They are all at home. The sooner we reach Wayne Hall the sooner the +celebration will begin," she reminded. + +"Then we'll go at once." + +Five minutes later the two young women were on their way across the +campus. As they neared Wayne Hall a limousine passed containing Miss +Hilton, Althea Parker and a freshman friend of Evelyn's. Althea was +driving. She bowed curtly to Grace and Emma as her car whizzed by them. + +"They are going for Evelyn, I suppose," commented Emma. + +"Yes. Oh, bother!" exclaimed Grace, "I've forgotten a letter to Arline +which I must mail to-night. Will you wait until I go back for it?" + +With light feet Grace sped across the campus, letting herself into the +house with her latch key. As she stepped into the hall, a buzz of voices +caused her eyes to be fixed on the living-room. Through the parted +curtains she saw a dazzling figure which was standing in the middle of the +living room, surrounded by a group of admiring girls. + +It was Evelyn, looking like some wonderful fairy vision in a gown of +apricot satin and chiffon, embroidered with exquisite little sprays of +tiny rosebuds. The excitement of wholesale admiration had deepened the +blue of her eyes to violet and her usual expression of bored indifference +had changed to one of intense animation, due to her love of adulation. +Grace watched her fascinatedly for a moment, then, remembering that Emma +was waiting for her, she hurried on upstairs for her letter and out of the +house, unobserved by the group of girls in the living room. + +"Was I gone long?" she asked as she rejoined her friend. "I stopped for a +minute in the hall to look at Evelyn Ward. She was posing in the middle of +the living room for the benefit of an admiring populace. She is going to +the Gamma Kappa Phi dance. Miss Hilton and Miss Parker and some of our +girls composed the populace. I suppose I ought to have gone in and spoken +to them instead of slipping out like a criminal, but I didn't wish to lose +time. Really, Emma, I can't begin to tell you how beautiful Evelyn +looked!" + +"Her white silk evening gown is a work of art. I wish I had a sister Ida +to sew for me," commented Emma. + +"Oh, she wasn't wearing her white silk. Her gown was apricot satin and--" +Grace came to an abrupt stop. "Why--she--that was a new gown. How could +she--" + +"Have a new gown when her sister is too ill to make it," supplemented Emma +dryly. + +Two pairs of eyes exchanged questioning glances. + +"She may have brought it with her when she came to Overton," said Grace. +"She is very secretive, you know. All along she may have been saving it +for some such occasion as this dance." + +"True enough," admitted Emma. "Always take people at their face value +until you find they haven't any," she added cheerfully. + +"I shall," declared Grace. "I'm not going to spoil my Easter vacation by +worrying over something that is really Evelyn's own affair." + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE PUZZLE DEEPENS + + +Grace experienced a pleasure in being at home for Easter so deep as to be +akin to pain. When as a student at Overton she had traveled happily home +for her Christmas and Easter vacations there had been a difference. Then, +her classmates had much to do with making it easier to be away from her +adored father and mother. But now that she had bravely launched her boat +on the tempestuous sea of work, she found that home was a far distant +shore, for whose cheery lights she often yearned. To be sure Emma was a +never-failing source of consolation, but there were more times than one +when the clutching fingers of homesickness were at her throat. + +To Mr. and Mrs. Harlowe, Emma Dean was an unfailing source of amusement +and delight. In Hippy, too, she found a kindred spirit, and when Elfreda +arrived the funny trio was complete, It seemed to Grace that she had not +laughed so much in years. Anne, Jessica and Reddy had not been able to +join their friends for the Easter holidays and were loudly mourned and +sorely missed. Tom Gray managed to come on for a two days' visit and +cause Grace the only unhappy moments she spent at home by again asking her +to give up her beloved work to marry him. + +"I'm so sorry for Tom," she confided to her mother, on the night before +leaving home to return to Overton, "but I can't give up my work, even for +him. Really and truly, mother, I wish I did love Tom in the way he wants +me to love him, but I don't. I feel toward him just as I felt when I first +met him. He's a good comrade; nothing more." + +"If you loved Tom, your father and I would be glad to welcome him as our +son, Grace," was her mother's quiet reply. "He is a remarkably fine type +of young man, but unless you reach the point where you are certain that he +is, and always will be, the one man in the world for you, you would be +doing not only yourself but him too, the greatest possible injury if you +promised to marry him." + +"That is just it!" exclaimed Grace. "I told him so, but I know that didn't +console him. Last June when I came home from Overton I thought perhaps I +might say 'yes' later on. But now that I've been working for almost a year +I find I'd rather keep on working. It would be dreadful, of course, if +some day I should suddenly discover that I did love him enough to marry +him and then he shouldn't ask me. That isn't likely to happen. I don't +believe I could give up my work for any man. My whole heart is in it." + +In spite of her declaration of unswerving loyalty to her work, more than +once, Tom's fine resolute face rose before Grace on the return journey to +Overton. During the afternoon Emma, usually loquacious, became absorbed in +a book, so that Grace, who could not settle herself to read, had +altogether too much opportunity for reflection. + +She was inwardly thankful when the lights of Overton twinkled into view. +Emma was still deep in her book. "We are almost there, Emma," she +reminded. + +Emma glanced out of the window, then closed her book and began to gather +up her belongings. + +"I wonder how things are at Harlowe House," mused Grace, as they crossed +the station platform. "Come on, Emma. There's a taxicab just turning into +the station driveway." + +Three minutes later they were speeding through the silent streets. It was +after nine o'clock and there were few persons passing. + +"No place like home," caroled Emma as they let themselves into Harlowe +House. In the living-room they found Louise Sampson and half a dozen +girls. At sight of Grace and Emma, Louise came quickly forward. + +"We thought you would come!" she exclaimed, "so we decided to watch for +you. We have hot chocolate and sandwiches. Do say you're hungry." + +"We are ravenous," assured Emma, "and as soon as we make a trip upstairs +and dispossess ourselves of our goods and chattels we'll come to the +party." + +"Everything has gone beautifully," Louise confided to Grace, when later +she dropped down on the window seat beside her, where the latter had +established herself with a sandwich and a cup of chocolate. "Only one +thing bothered me, and that was the way Miss Reynolds moped. She and Miss +Ward had a quarrel and poor Miss Reynolds still goes about looking like a +red-eyed little ghost. No one can find out her trouble and no one seems to +be able to comfort her. One day last week I almost thought I saw Miss Ward +crying too, but I must have been mistaken. She is too proud to cry over +anything. There are several letters for you, Miss Harlowe. I put them in +the top drawer of your desk in the office." + +At the word "letters" Grace had risen to her feet. "You'll excuse me if I +go for them at once, won't you?" she asked. + +"Of course," smiled Louise. + +A goodly pile of letters met her eyes as she opened the drawer. Grace ran +through the envelopes with eager fingers. The square thin envelope with +the foreign postmark meant a letter from Eleanor Savelli. There was one +from Mabel Ashe and another from Mabel Allison, Arline Thayer and Ruth +Denton were also represented in the collection and on the very bottom of +the pile lay a square envelope addressed in Anne's neat hand. + +Grace pounced upon it joyfully, and, laying the others on the slide of her +desk, tore it open and became immediately absorbed in the closely written +sheets. When she had finished reading the letter she laid it down, then +picking it up again turned to a paragraph on the last sheet. + +"I promised to try to help Miss Ward," wrote Anne. "Well, I have +practically secured an engagement for her with Mr. Forest. It is an +ingenue part in 'The Reckoning,' which is to run in New York City all +summer, at his theater. If she can come to New York as soon as college +closes Mr. and Miss Southard wish her to stay at their home. We can soon +tell whether she can play the part or not. If she can't, Mr. Southard will +be able to give her 'bits' in his company, but the other part is by far +the best engagement if she can make good in it. Both Mr. and Miss Southard +say, however, that they must have a letter of consent from her sister +before they will undertake launching her in the theatrical world. They +will write her if Miss Ward wishes them to do so. It is a really great +opportunity for her. You know how easily and delightfully I earned my way +through college. Let me know as soon as you can, Grace, what she wishes to +do." + +Grace read this paragraph half a dozen times. Her other letters lay +unheeded before her. Finally she gathered them up and, with the open +letter in her hand, went slowly upstairs. At Evelyn's door she paused and +listened. She heard the sound of some one moving about within. Yes, Evelyn +was still up. Grace rapped boldly on the door. + +A moment and it swung open. Evelyn stood staring blankly at Grace. She was +wrapped in the folds of a pale blue silk kimono. Her hair hung in loose +golden waves far below her waist and she reminded Grace of the beautiful +Rapunzel of fairy tale fame who was shut up in a tower by a wicked witch +and forced each night to let down her golden hair so that her dreadful +jailer might climb up and into the tower window. + +"Miss Ward," began Grace, without giving Evelyn time to utter a word, "I +am sorry to disturb you so late in the evening, but I have very good news +for you. Miss Pierson has all but secured an engagement for you in 'The +Reckoning,' a new play which is to run in New York City all summer. Read +what she says." + +Grace handed the sheet of paper to Evelyn. + +The girl stretched forth her hand mechanically for it. She still regarded +Grace dully. Then to Grace's utter amazement she burst into tears. "I +can't--take--the--engagement," she sobbed. "I'm--not--coming--back--to-- +Overton--next year." + +"What can have happened to her!" wondered Grace. Aloud she said: "Don't +decide too hastily, Miss Ward. Take three or four days in which to think +things over. I'll come in and see you to-morrow." + +Evelyn made some incoherent response, unintelligible to Grace. The latter +realized that in her present state Evelyn could not be comforted. It was +best to leave her entirely alone until she had had her cry out. To-morrow +would be time enough to try again to try to discover what had happened. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +TWO LETTERS + + +Shortly after Grace returned to her room Emma joined her. + +"Where did you go? You are not the only one whose correspondents rose +nobly to the occasion," she exulted, holding up several letters. "You +haven't read yours yet, have you. Let's get ready for bed, put on our +dressing gowns, and have a letter reading orgy." + +"All right," agreed Grace. "I've already opened one of mine. It was from +Anne. She sends her love to you, and what do you think, Emma?" Grace +lowered her voice. "She has secured a New York engagement for Evelyn Ward. +I saw Miss Ward to-night, but something is troubling her. When I went to +the door to tell her what Anne had done she began to cry. I couldn't find +out what ailed her, and the more I talked the harder she cried. She said, +however, that she couldn't accept Anne's offer. She thinks she won't come +back to Overton." + +"Happy Overton," commented Emma unsympathetically. "Now hurry into your +dressing gown and let's begin our letters." + +Evelyn appeared at breakfast the next morning looking weary and haggard. +Her face was very pale and her eyes were heavy. By night, however, she +seemed to have regained something of her old poise. Covertly watching her, +Grace noticed that for some unknown reason she was much subdued. Several +days afterward she came to Grace and finally refused Anne's offer. "But +are you quite certain that you are acting wisely, Miss Ward?" Grace asked +in perplexed amazement. "Last winter you were anxious to go into dramatic +work." + +"I have changed my mind," was Evelyn's sole reply. + +Grace wrote to Anne advising her of Evelyn's refusal, but adding that she +wished Anne would keep Evelyn in mind. "I can't help feeling that she is +acting against her real desires and that later she will realize her +mistake." + +The little that was left of April passed quickly. Life went on placidly +enough at Harlowe House, although Grace found few idle moments. With the +first of June she began a detailed report of her year's work to be +presented to the faculty and to Mrs. Gray. This report had not been +required of her. She was making it merely for her own satisfaction. With +her it was a matter of pride in having been a faithful steward. She had +tried to safeguard not only the interests of the girls under her roof, but +Mrs. Gray's interests as well. + +"I hope I've been a good house mother," she murmured wistfully, as, seated +in her office one bright Friday afternoon, she worked on her report. The +ring of the postman caused her to lay down her pen and hurry into the +hall. To her surprise she saw Evelyn Ward had forestalled her. She had +opened the door for the postman, and now stood rapidly going over the pile +of letters in her hand. Grace saw her separate two letters from the pile. +At this instant Evelyn glanced up. She uttered a sharp exclamation of +surprise when she saw Grace standing beside her. Two letters fell from her +hands. + +Grace stooped to pick them up. "Did I startle you, Miss Ward? I did not +mean to. I did not know you were in the house. I thought the girls had +gone to their classes." + +"I--I--am late," stammered Evelyn. "I'm going to my botany recitation in a +minute. I--expected a letter. Here is the mail." She thrust the letters +she had been holding into Grace's hand, and, turning, almost ran up the +stairs. + +For an instant Grace's eyes followed Evelyn's disappearing figure, then +she turned her attention to the letters. She still held the two she had +picked up from the floor in her one hand. Glancing at them she saw that +they were both addressed to her. No doubt Evelyn had intended to leave +them on her desk. Rapidly sorting the other letters she found another for +herself in Anne's handwriting. Placing the letters for the various members +of the household in the bulletin board Grace retired to her office to read +Anne's letter. + +"DEAREST GRACE: + +"Just a line to tell you that the part in 'The Reckoning' is still open. +Mr. Forest cannot find the type of girl he wishes for the part. She must +be dazzlingly, but naturally, blonde and very beautiful. I am sure if he +were to see Miss Ward he would engage her at once, even though she has had +no dramatic experience. Why not let her read this note? Perhaps she may +change her mind. She will never have a better opportunity. I am ready and +willing to help her. Am writing in a rush. It is almost time for me to go +on. With much love. Will write more fully later. + +"Yours as ever, ANNE." + +Grace laid down the letter with a slight frown. Since Evelyn's first +refusal to consider Anne's proposal Grace had held little communication +with her. Of late Evelyn had gone about her affairs with a curious air of +repression, which reminded Grace of the terrible calm that so often +precedes a storm. + +"I'll watch for her when she comes in from her classes and give her Anne's +letter," said Grace, half aloud. She picked up the next envelope and +looked curiously at the unfamiliar writing. The postmark was all but +obliterated. Tearing the envelope she drew forth the letter, unfolded it +and read: + +"DEAR MISS HARLOWE: + +"More than once I have planned to write and thank you for your goodness to +Evelyn, but I have been so very busy that the time has slipped by faster +than I realized. Fortunately, for Evelyn and me, I have had a great deal +of work to do and have been in exceptionally good health, so that it has +been easier than I thought to raise the money to pay her college fees. I +will enclose the second payment of her fee in a letter which I am writing +to her. I have mentioned in my letter to her that I have written to you. I +thank you many times for your goodness to my little sister and trust that +she has been truly appreciative of your kindness to her. Trusting that you +have been well and that you have met with the greatest success in your +year's work. With grateful thanks and best wishes. + +"Yours sincerely, + +"IDA WARD." + +Grace read the letter through three times. When she raised her eyes from +it her face wore an expression of mingled horrified suspicion and +unbelief. Surely it could not be possible, and yet--before her mental eyes +flashed the vision of that wet January afternoon when she had come back to +Harlowe House from her Christmas vacation and had been greeted by the +sound of Evelyn's sobs as she passed her door. How she had gone to +Evelyn's room and there heard the pitiful story of Ida Ward's illness and +her failure to send Evelyn's college fees, and of how, through the Semper +Fidelis Fund, she had come forward and bridged Evelyn's difficulty. + +What did it mean? "She must have--" muttered Grace. In her agitation she +spoke aloud. Then she stopped abruptly. She would not condemn Evelyn +without a hearing, but Evelyn would have to explain, if explanation were +possible. She laid the letter on her desk and turning away from it tore +open the last envelope, which bore the name of a business house in one +corner. It contained a bill from Hanford's, the largest department store +in Overton. At the bottom was written. "This account is long overdue. +Please remit at once." Grace had a charge account at Hanford's on which, +occasionally, she allowed certain girls in the house to buy goods, merely +as a matter of accommodation to them. Her gaze traveled down the list of +items in bewilderment. + +"Why!" she exclaimed. "I never bought a gown there that cost seventy-five +dollars, or silk stockings or a scarf. There must be some mistake. I know +that none of the girls have either. I haven't bought anything since +February. Let me see. It's only three o'clock. I think I'll walk down to +Hanford's and have the matter adjusted. I must see Evelyn too, as soon as +she comes in." + +Grace went upstairs for her hat and was soon on her way to the business +center of Overton. Her impatience to learn the truth received its first +check with the indifferent assurance of the clerk that Mr. Anderson, the +man in charge of the department of accounts, was busy upstairs. + +"Then I'll wait for him." With a sigh of resignation she sat down on the +oak seat just outside the office window to wait. + +It was twenty minutes past four when Mr. Anderson appeared. + +"I can't let you know about this at once," was the accountant's +discouraging response when Grace laid the matter before him. "We'll take +it up with the saleswoman, then write you." + +"Very well. I shall expect to hear from you within the next three days." +Grace turned away, far from satisfied. Yet there was nothing else to do. +Long since she had learned that the system employe of a department store +is a law unto himself, and as unchangeable in his methods as the most +stubborn Mede or Persian ever dreamed of being. + +And now for her interview with Evelyn. How could she best approach the +girl whom she suspected of having first shamefully betrayed her sister's +confidence, then purposely misrepresented matters to her? And what had +Evelyn done with the money? These and similar painful questions occupied +her thoughts so fully that she did not realize that she had reached +Harlowe House until she found herself ascending the front steps. + +Without giving herself time to consider delaying the disagreeable +interview, Grace hurried up the stairs. To her surprise Evelyn's door +stood partially open. She peered into the room, but it was empty of an +occupant. Stepping inside she glanced about her. Evelyn's hat was gone. +She had come in from her classes and gone out again. + +Grace went slowly downstairs. She was sorry that she had not been able to +have her talk with Evelyn before the others came in from their day's +recitations. She decided to wait until after dinner. When Evelyn went to +her room she would follow her there. The longer she delayed facing Evelyn +with her sister's letter the harder the task would become. But at dinner +time Evelyn's place was vacant. + +At ten o'clock that night she had not come in. + +Becoming alarmed Grace telephoned to Althea Parker to know if Evelyn were +with her. In reply to her anxious inquiry Althea declared she had not seen +Evelyn for two days. Uncertain as to the wisest course to pursue Grace +concluded to wait until Emma came in from an evening's visit with Patience +Eliot. + +It was almost eleven o'clock when Emma returned. + +"I'm so glad you've come," greeted Grace as her friend entered their room. +"Evelyn Ward hasn't come in yet and I'm worried about her. I saw her this +afternoon, but she hasn't been here since then." + +"Very likely she is with Miss Parker." Emma spoke in an unconcerned tone. + +"No she isn't. I telephoned Miss Parker. She hasn't seen Evelyn for two +days." + +"She hasn't?" Emma glanced at Grace in surprise. The ring of anxiety in +Grace's voice had not been lost upon her. "What's happened, Gracious!" she +asked. + +For answer Grace handed Ida Ward's letter to Emma. "Read it," she +commanded. + +Emma read the letter. "Do you think--" she began. + +"What do _you_ think?" interrupted Grace. "What can one think? Evelyn +received her letter from Ida Ward before I received this. She knew that +this letter was on the way. This afternoon I found her at the door sorting +the mail. She had two letters in one hand, which she had separated from +the others. When she saw me she dropped the two. I stooped to pick them +up. Both of them were for me. I said, 'Did I startle you, Miss Ward?' and +she stammered something about expecting a letter. She shoved the other +letters into my hands and ran upstairs. I haven't seen her since." + +"Who was the other letter from that she had picked out?" + +"Oh, it was a bill from Hanford's. I--" Grace stopped short and stared +at Emma. A horrible suspicion had seized her. She was afraid that she now +understood the meaning of the bill she had received. In one of those +curious, illumining flashes, which sometimes reveal in an instant what +seems hopelessly obscure, she had hit upon the truth. + +Briefly she outlined the situation to Emma, who had long been her +confidante. + +"You'd better let matters rest till to-morrow," advised Emma. "It's too +late to try to find her to-night. We would only create comment and arouse +suspicion if we telephone to the houses where her friends live. It +wouldn't surprise me if she had left Overton for good and all." + +"We must find her," declared Grace with decision. + +"What will you do with her if you do find her?" + +"I don't know. That will depend entirely upon her. You are right, though, +about waiting until morning. We must protect her from the consequences of +her own foolishness. For she isn't wicked, Emma. She has been carried away +by vanity and love of dress. Perhaps if we gave her another chance she +would live all this down and be a different girl." + +"Perhaps," Emma's tone was skeptical. "For the sake of the community at +large let us hope for this much-to-be-desired metamorphosis." + +But the next morning brought news of Evelyn in the shape of a letter +addressed to Grace, which came on the first delivery of the mail for the +day. With eager fingers Grace opened it. A slip of blue paper fluttered to +the floor as she unfolded it. Picking it up she saw it was a money order +made payable to Evelyn Ward, then she read: + +"DEAR MISS HARLOWE: + +"When you receive this letter I shall be far away from Harlowe House. I +have done dreadful things and I cannot face you. All I can do is to go +away where no one knows me, and begin over again. I used the money Ida +sent me in the fall for my college fees to buy an evening dress. Then I +told you that she was ill. I cried purposely to gain your sympathy because +I knew about the Semper Fidelis Fund and was sure you would help me. I +meant to pay it all back to you, and so I am going to New York to get work +and do it, even though it takes me a long, long time. + +"But there is something still more dreadful to tell you. I wanted another +new evening gown to wear to the Willston dance. I had paid my college fees +for the year, so I thought I could take the money that Ida sent me for my +payment and buy a gown and other things which I wanted. But Ida wrote and +said she couldn't send the money just then, so I went to Hanford's +department store and bought the things. I had them charged to your +account. When the bill came I was terribly frightened. I thought they +wouldn't send it for a long time. I just happened to see it in the +bulletin board, so I took it out and tore it up. + +"Then I went to Mary Reynolds and tried to get her to lend me some of the +treasury money until my money came, but she wouldn't do it. That is why +she cried so often. When the first of May came I watched the bulletin +board and took the bill again. It had Hanford's address in one corner so I +knew it. All the time I kept hoping that Ida would send my money before it +was too late. Yesterday morning it came, but in her letter she said she +had written to you and told you how well she had been and about her work. +I knew it would be dreadful for me if you received her letter, but I did +not know when it would come, so I stayed away from my classes and watched +the mail. I had the letter from Ida and the bill from the store in my +hands when you surprised me this afternoon. You picked them up before I +had a chance to do so. Then I knew that there was just one thing to do and +that was to go away. + +"Please take the money order and pay the bill at the store. I will pay +Semper Fidelis as soon as I can. I will write Ida and tell her how badly I +have behaved, and when I go to work in New York I will send for my trunk. +It is packed and ready to be shipped. + +"Forgive me if you can. I am sorry for everything. I wish I had been +different. Goodbye and thank you for your great kindness to me. I did not +deserve it. Please don't try to find me. + +"Penitently, + +"EVELYN WARD." + +For a time Grace sat at her desk with the letter in her hand. Then she +stood up with the air of one who has come to a definite decision. "I'll go +to New York City to-day to look for her," she said half aloud. "I believe +she will try to get work at one of the theaters. Mr. Southard and Anne +will help me find her. She must come back to Overton. I feel sure that she +has suffered enough over this trouble to have learned her lesson." + +Grace ran upstairs and burst into her room with, "Emma, Evelyn has gone to +New York! I'm going to take the next train there. Read this letter. It +will tell you everything. I haven't time. I must make that 9.15 train." + +Grace was in the middle of a hasty toilet when a knock sounded on the +door. + +Emma answered it. + +"Here's a telegram for Miss Harlowe." The maid held out a yellow envelope. + +Grace tore it open. One glance at the telegram and she began a joyful +dance about the room, waving it over her head. "Hurrah for Kathleen West! +She found Evelyn! Read it." + +She held the telegram before Emma's eyes. + +"Evelyn with me. Return Overton Sunday. All well + +"KATHLEEN." + +read Emma aloud. Turning to Grace she quoted with whimsical tenderness, +"To Kathleen West, girls, drink her down." Then with twinkling eyes she +added, "There's only one thing that I can say to express my sentiments, +and, with my sincerest apologies to the august faculty which trustfully +engaged me to teach English, I say it with heartfelt fervor, 'Can you beat +it?'" + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +KATHLEEN WEST, CONFIDANTE + + +When Evelyn Ward left Grace Harlowe with the letters, which she had tried +so hard to obtain, in her possession, she had but one thought. That +thought was to leave Harlowe House before Grace realized the full meaning +of her guilt. For two days Evelyn's suit case had been packed for just +such an emergency. She had not been sure that she could stem the tide of +retribution that had set in against her, so she was prepared to slip away +if she failed to obtain the letters that meant her undoing. Hardly had +Grace reseated herself in her office when Evelyn, suit case in hand, her +hat on, the coat to her suit thrown over her arm, stole stealthily down +the stairs and let herself out of the house without a sound. Once clear of +the house she set off across the campus, almost at a run, in the direction +of the station. At four o 'clock there was a train to New York. She had a +little money. She would go there. Once there she would try to get into a +theatrical company. + +Arrived at the station she glanced fearfully about her. She did not wish +to meet any one she knew. Leaving her suit case in charge of the station +master she left the station and walked slowly up the street. She would +stroll about until almost train time. She had over an hour's wait. If she +encountered any of the students she knew on the street they would attach +no importance to seeing her. + +It was five minutes to four when she purchased her ticket to New York. To +her relief she had seen no one she knew. When the train pulled into the +station she was the first person to board it. She took a seat on the side +of the car farthest from the platform, so she did not see a slim hurrying +girl's figure rush madly down the platform, just as the train was about to +start, and swing herself up the car steps on the last second, heedless of +the warning expostulation of the porter. + +Torn with remorse for the past, fearful of the future, which, to her +overwrought imagination, crouched like a huge black monster ready to +spring upon her and engulf her in its cruel jaws, Evelyn watched the +swiftly passing landscape with unseeing eyes. When a voice from the seat +behind her suddenly addressed her with, "Good evening, Miss Ward," she +half sprang to her feet in blind terror. Turning, she found herself +looking into the keen, dark eyes of Kathleen West, the newspaper girl. + +"Oh--good evening," she faltered. + +"Going to New York?" was the brisk question. + +Evelyn nodded. + +"I'm coming into your seat. I hate riding alone in a train. I'm so glad +you are going the whole way." + +Evelyn made no reply. She wished Kathleen a thousand miles off. + +The newspaper girl scrutinized narrowly her companion's lovely set face. +Trained in the study of human nature she had learned to know the outward +signs of a perturbed spirit. Her straight brows knit in a puzzled frown. +Then, noting that Evelyn had colored hotly under the shrewd fixity of her +sharp eyes, she glanced carelessly away. + +Neither girl spoke for a little. Evelyn was wondering distractedly how she +could escape from Kathleen, when they reached New York, without arousing +suspicion on the part of the newspaper girl. Kathleen, whose intuition as +well as her eyes told her that all was not well with Evelyn, racked her +brain for the words which would tear down the wall of stony reticence +which this strange girl had built about herself. Try as she might she +could think of no effectual way to begin. Deciding to bide her time she +tried to rouse Evelyn's too-apparently flagging spirits by a crisp account +of a big newspaper story which she had run to earth during her Easter +vacation. At first she met with small success, but as she talked on Evelyn +grew interested in spite of herself and began asking half timid, half +eager questions about New York. Was it hard to get work there? Could a +girl live on six or seven dollars a week in a large city? How did these +girls go about it to find positions? In what section of the city did most +of the working girls, who had no homes, live? + +Kathleen answered her questions imperturbably, telling of her own +experience in New York as a beginner of newspaper work. Later Evelyn plied +her with countless questions regarding the stage, its advantages and +disadvantages. The throb of anxiety in her voice was stronger than her +elaborate pretense of indifference. Figuratively, Kathleen pricked up her +ears. It was only when they had exhausted the subjects of the working girl +and the stage that she launched at Evelyn the seemingly innocent question, +"Where are you going to stay in New York, Miss Ward?" + +"I--why--" stammered Evelyn. + +"Do you expect to be met at the station? It will be almost midnight when +we reach New York, you know." + +"I know," muttered Evelyn. Averting her face from Kathleen she stared out +the window. + +"It's now or never," decided Kathleen. Her strong supple fingers closed +suddenly over one of the limp white hands that lay so helplessly in +Evelyn's lap. "Miss Ward," she said in a low tense voice, "something +dreadful has happened to you. I want you to tell me about it. Remember +this. No matter what it is, I am your friend. I feel sure that you are +going blindly and alone, to the coldest, cruelest city in the world and I +should never forgive myself if I allowed you to do it." + +Into Evelyn's eyes leaped indescribable terror as Kathleen's hand closed +over hers. For an instant she stared wildly at the newspaper girl, then +the stony reserve, with which she had bolstered herself, gave away, and +tearing her hands free she covered her face with them. + +Kathleen waited patiently till the tearless storm which shook Evelyn had +subsided a little. "Now tell me all about it," she urged gently. + +Evelyn's hands dropped from her face. The tortured look in her blue eyes +aroused all Kathleen's sympathy. Haltingly, tremblingly, bit by bit, +Evelyn told of the temptation to use her sister's hard-earned money for +fine clothes, and the gulf of deception and dishonesty into which she had +plunged by yielding to it. + +Kathleen listened without comment. When Evelyn had finished she said, "You +must go back to Overton, Miss Ward, and to Grace Harlowe. She will forgive +everything and set you right with yourself again." + +"Oh, I couldn't," protested Evelyn wildly. "She knows already how +dishonest I've been. I can never go back to Overton. I must stay in New +York and work and never see Ida or any one again. I have forfeited all +claim to friendship or love." + +"Nonsense! Just get rid of that idea as fast as ever you can. You are +going to my boarding house with me to-night. To-morrow we will go and see +Anne Pierson. I know where the Southards live. We will ask her to get you +an engagement. Perhaps you can meet Mr. Forest." + +"Miss Harlowe told Miss Pierson about me, and she wrote and offered to get +me an engagement," faltered Evelyn, "but I knew I couldn't take it, so I +refused. There wouldn't be any chance for me now. That was several weeks +ago." + +"There is sure to be something for you. You are beautiful, you know," went +on Kathleen in an appraising, matter-of-fact tone. "You are sure to make +good. You must. You're going to pay Semper Fidelis back as soon as ever +you can and you'll have to work hard and save your money." + +Forgetting for the instant her remorse and humiliation Evelyn clasped her +hands in an eagerness born of the desire to make reparation. "Oh, I will!" +Then her face clouded. "Miss Pierson won't care to help me after the +dreadful things I've done." + +"Who is going to tell her about them? I'm not. I know Grace Harlowe won't. +It isn't necessary for you to tell her either. It shall be a secret among +we three. I know Grace will say so." + +The two girls, so strangely brought together and united in this new bond +of fellowship, talked on. It was ten minutes to twelve when they reached +New York City. At the station they were met by a tall clean-cut, young man +with keen blue eyes. "Got your wire, Kathleen." He stooped and kissed the +self-reliant Miss West, who turned very pink. "I'll have to explain," she +smiled as she introduced him to Evelyn. "Mr. Vernon is my fiance, but +don't you dare breathe it at Overton. Miss Ward won't be able to see the +persons she is to call upon until to-morrow. She's going to my boarding +house with me. You can call a taxi-cab and ride that far with us." The +newspaper girl's clever explanation bridged a yawning gap. + +Kathleen and Mr. Vernon kept up a steady conversation during the ride. +Evelyn sat silent, trying to realize just what had happened to her. She +experienced an immeasurable sense of relief, as though she had been +dragged, just in time, from the edge of a frightful precipice. Long after +Kathleen had gone to sleep that night she lay staring into the darkness, +wide-eyed and wondering at the goodness of this girl whom she hardly knew, +and into her heart crept a sudden revelation of what true fellowship meant +and was to mean to her forever afterward. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CONCLUSION + + +The following morning Kathleen took Evelyn to call on Anne Pierson at the +Southards. She gazed almost in awe at Everett Southard, while her feeling +of admiration for Anne was deep and abiding. Her undeniable beauty was not +lost upon Mr. Southard, who later confided to his sister and Anne that +Miss Ward was the most beautiful blonde girl he had ever seen. After an +hour's chat in the actor's big, comfortable library Mr. Southard proposed +that they call upon Mr. Forest that morning. Miss Pierson had written Miss +Harlowe about the part, he declared, to the complete mystification of both +Kathleen and Evelyn. He was glad Miss Ward had been able to come. He was +sure she would be exactly suited to the part in "The Reckoning." Kathleen +managed to shoot a warning glance at Evelyn not to betray herself. Later, +by adroitly questioning Anne, she managed to put herself in possession of +all the details concerning the letter Anne had written to Grace. + +Mr. Forest quite fulfilled Mr. Southard's prediction. He could not refrain +from showing his satisfaction with Evelyn. Within half an hour after +entering his office she had signed a contract to play the part of +'Constance Devon' in the forthcoming production of 'The Reckoning.' + +"First rehearsal July 2d. Here's the part. Study it. Make these hardened +barnstormers help you," declared Mr. Forest with a dry chuckle, as he +handed her the part. + +"But how does he know that I can do it?" she questioned, half fearfully, +as they left the office. + +"He is going to take a chance," explained Mr. Southard. "In his own mind +he thinks you will do. He knows we will help you. You must work hard and +prove to him that he is right." + +To Evelyn the rest of that eventful Saturday seemed like a marvelous +dream. She had never before been in a large city, but despite her interest +in the sights and sounds of New York she could not help thinking of how +different it might all have been if she had not met Kathleen. The busy, +endless streets terrified her and the more she saw of the great metropolis +the less confidence she felt in her own power to wrest a living from it, +single-handed and alone. + +After leaving Mr. Forest's office they took luncheon at the Southards. Mr. +Southard and Anne had a matinee in the afternoon. That evening they were +to give the final performance of their season, which had run later than +usual. Kathleen had an assignment for her paper for the afternoon, so Miss +Southard took Evelyn to a matinee at one of the theaters. That evening the +little party met at six o'clock in Mr. Southard's dressing room, where +their dinner was brought in and served to them. Afterward Kathleen, Miss +Southard and Evelyn sat in a box and saw Everett Southard and Anne in "The +Merchant of Venice." + +After the theater came a little supper at the Southards' home to which Mr. +Vernon, Kathleen's fiance, was also invited. Miss Southard had insisted +that Kathleen and Evelyn should be her guests for the remainder of their +stay in New York, and it was under the Southards' hospitable roof that +Evelyn fell asleep that night after one of the happiest, most eventful +days she had ever spent. + +Sunday morning soon slipped by. It seemed hardly half an hour from +breakfast until train time. The charming informality with which the actor +and his sister treated her made Evelyn feel as though she had known them +for a very long time. In the enjoyment of the moment she quite forgot the +real reason of her journey to New York, and it was only when Miss Southard +invited her to come to their home to live as soon as college was over, in +order that Mr. Southard might help her with her new part, that the +humiliating remembrance of her misdeeds returned to her with sickening +force. + +"You must write to your sister, my dear, and explain everything," said +Miss Southard. "If you will give me her address I will write to her too. +That is one point on which Everett is most particular. He would not +encourage a young girl to enter upon the life of the stage without the +full consent of her parents or guardian." + +When finally she and Kathleen had said good-bye to the Southards, who had +seen them to their train, and were settled for the long ride to Overton, +Evelyn faltered, "Kathleen, all the time I was with the Southards I felt +just like a traitor. Do you think I ought to have told them everything? +It's not fair to them to masquerade under false colors." + +Kathleen eyed her companion searchingly. Evelyn's conscience was no longer +sleeping. It was now wide awake and tormenting her. + +"I'm glad you feel as you do about it, Evelyn," was her blunt rejoinder. +"It shows that you are on the right road. I don't believe it is necessary +for you to tell the Southards anything. Still there is another person who +must decide that." + +"You mean Miss Harlowe?" + +Kathleen nodded. + +"I can't bear to face her." Evelyn's voice sank almost to a whisper. + +"You are not the only one who has said that." There was a curiously +significant ring in Kathleen's voice that made Evelyn look at her in mute +inquiry. + +"Let me tell you of another girl who had to face the same situation." +Kathleen began with her entrance into Overton as a freshman and told +Evelyn the story of her hatred of Grace and her betrayal of Grace's trust, +of how Elfreda had shown her the way to reparation and the gaining of true +college spirit, and of how she had tried in a small measure to redeem the +past by writing "Loyalheart" as a belated tribute to Grace. + +Evelyn listened with somber attentiveness. The past three days had taught +her more of life than had her entire eighteen years. She had lately begun +to see what college might mean to the girl who lived up to its traditions. +Until the moment of hearing Kathleen's story she had felt that Grace +Harlowe must despise her utterly. Now she fixed solemn blue eyes on +Kathleen. "Do you believe Miss Harlowe will ever forgive me?" was her +mournful question. + +"Of course she will. You don't know her as I do." + +Kathleen's emphatic assurance had a visibly cheering effect upon the other +girl. When they reached Overton, however, her dread of meeting Grace +returned with renewed force. "I can't face her to-night," she pleaded. + +"We are going to Harlowe House now. Come on." Kathleen grasped Evelyn's +arm and piloted her up the street at a brisk pace. Neither girl ever +forgot that walk across the campus. + +"Here we are." They had mounted the steps of Harlowe House. Kathleen rang +the bell. + +A moment's wait and the door opened. Grace stood peering out at the two +girls. "I knew you'd come. I've been watching for you," she cried. She +held out her hands to Evelyn, who dropped her suit case and grasped them +with a half smothered sob. + +"Come up to my room." Slipping her arm about Evelyn, Grace drew her toward +the stairs. + +"Good night, Grace, I'll see you to-morrow." The vestibule door closed +with a decided click. Kathleen did not wish to be a third party. Grace and +Evelyn were better off without her. + +Once in Grace's room Evelyn broke down. "Oh, Miss Harlowe, can you, will +you forgive me?" she sobbed. + +"You mustn't cry so, Miss Ward," soothed Grace. "Of course I forgive you. +If Miss West had not brought you home to me I intended to go to New York +City to look for you. Remember, you are, and I hope will be until your +college days are over, a Harlowe House girl." + +"You are too good to me," sobbed Evelyn. + +Grace led her gently to a chair. "Sit down," she urged. + +Evelyn sank into the chair. "I can't come back to Overton next year." Her +head drooped in shame and humiliation. + +"You must," said Grace simply, "for your own sake as well as your +sister's. She must never be worried with the slightest inkling of what has +happened. It is to be a secret. Outside of Miss Dean and Miss West no one +except ourselves knows." + +"Miss Pierson and Mr. Southard took me to see Mr. Forest. He engaged me to +play a part in his new play 'The Reckoning,'" began Evelyn. "I--I didn't-- +tell--the Southards--about--things. Kathleen wouldn't let me, but she +says I must tell them if you say so. I'd--rather. I--I want to be-- +honest--now--and--and always." Evelyn's voice shook with the intensity of +her feelings. + +"Kathleen was right in not allowing you to tell them. You have suffered +enough, Evelyn. You must look to the future. Your work this summer will +make it possible for you to pay the money you owe Semper Fidelis and your +college expenses too." + +Grace's sensible, practical, words, went far toward restoring Evelyn to +her normal self. The two young women talked long and earnestly. It was +after eleven o'clock when Evelyn rose to go to her room. + +"I'll prove to you that I am worthy of your trust," she said with shining +eyes. "I'll make you and Ida proud of me yet." + +After she had gone to her room Grace sat for a little, her hands idly +folded, her thoughts on the girl who had found herself after many false +starts. How glad she was that everything had turned out so beautifully, +thanks to Kathleen's chance meeting with Evelyn. What a power for good +Kathleen had become. Yes, college was really the place where one +eventually found oneself. And now her first year of work was almost over. +Another week and she would be back in dear old Oakdale. With the thought +of home Tom Gray's earnest, boyish face rose before her. It cast a faint +shadow on the pleasure of the coming reunion with her family and friends. +She hated to feel that she was making Tom unhappy, yet she was equally +certain that, with her, work still came first. + +"I can't give up my work," she said aloud. + +"Well, who said you should?" demanded Emma Dean's matter-of-fact tones. +The door stood partly open and Emma had entered just in time to hear +Grace's emphatic utterance. + +"Has the prodigal returned?" + +"She has," smiled Grace. Grace recounted what had taken place that +evening. "Isn't it wonderful how college helps these girls to find +themselves, Emma?" she asked when she had finished her recital. + +"College and Grace Harlowe," declared Emma. + +"You mustn't say that," Grace colored and shook her head in emphatic +denial. + +"Oh, yes, I must, because it is the truth," insisted Emma. "Dear +Loyalheart, your Highway of Life led you back into the Land of College, +didn't it?" + +Grace nodded. "I'm going to stay in the Land of College too, Emma. I was +just thinking about it when you came in. That was what made me say, 'I +can't give up my work.'" + +"Overton needs you, and Harlowe House needs you, and Emma Dean needs you, +but are you sure that some one else does not need you more than we do?" +questioned Emma slyly. + +"That's three to one, Emma, and the majority rules," evaded Grace. "Will +you be my roommate, mentor and comforter next year?" + +"Most Gracious Grace, I will, and there's my hand on it." + +How fully Emma Dean kept her promise and what Grace's second year on the +campus brought her will be told in "GRACE HARLOWE'S PROBLEM," the record +of her further college life at Harlowe House. + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton +Campus, by Jessie Graham Flower + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN *** + +This file should be named ghroc10.txt or ghroc10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, ghroc11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, ghroc10a.txt + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Ginny Brewer, Tom Allen, +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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