[Illustration: THE STREAM OF GIRLS DESCENDED]

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BETTY WALES SENIOR

by

MARGARET WARDE

_author of_

BETTY WALES, FRESHMANBETTY WALES, SOPHOMOREBETTY WALES, JUNIORBETTY WALES, B. A. BETTY WALES & CO. BETTY WALES ON THE CAMPUSBETTY WALES DECIDES

ILLUSTRATED BY EVA M. NAGEL

THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA 1919

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COPYRIGHT 1907 BY THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY

Betty Wales, Senior

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INTRODUCTION

For the information of those readers who have not followed Betty Walesthrough the first three years of her college career, as described in"Betty Wales, Freshman, " "Betty Wales, Sophomore, " and "Betty Wales, Junior, " it should be explained that most of Betty's little circle beganto be friends in their freshman year, when they lived off the campus atMrs. Chapin's, and Mary Brooks, the only sophomore in the house, ruledthem with an autocratic hand. Betty found Helen Adams a comical andsometimes a trying roommate. Rachel Morrison and Katherine Kittredgewere also at Mrs. Chapin's, and Roberta Lewis, who adored Mary Brooksand was desperately afraid of every one else in the house, though BettyWales guessed that shyness was at the bottom of Roberta's haughtymanner. Eleanor Watson was the most prominent member of the group thatyear and part of the next. Betty admired her greatly but found her avery difficult person to win as a friend, though in the end she provedworthy of all the trouble she had cost. 

At the beginning of sophomore year the Chapin House girls moved to thecampus, and "the B's" and Madeline Ayres, who explained that she livedin "Bohemia, New York, " joined the circle. In their junior year Bettyand her friends organized the "Merry Hearts" society, and Georgia Ames, a freshman friend of Madeline's, amused and mystified the whole collegeuntil she was finally discovered to be merely one of Madeline's manydelightful inventions. But the joke was on the "Merry Hearts" when areal Georgia Ames entered college. It was when they were juniors, too, that the "Merry Hearts" took a vacation trip to the Bahamas andincidentally manoeuvred a romance for two of their faculty friends--whichcaused Mary Brooks to rename their society the Merry Match-makers. 

And now if any one wishes to know what Betty Wales and her friends didafter they left college, well--there's something about it in "BettyWales, B. A. , " "Betty Wales & Co. , " "Betty Wales on the Campus, " and"Betty Wales Decides. "

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

 I "BACK TO COLLEGE AGAIN" 9 II A SENIOR CLASS-MEETING 25 III THE BELDEN HOUSE "INITIATION PARTY" 49 IV AN ADVENTUROUS MOUNTAIN DAY 69 V THE RETURN OF MARY BROOKS 86 VI HELEN ADAMS'S MISSION 106 VII ROBERTA "ARRIVES" 126 VIII THE GREATEST TOY-SHOP ON EARTH 143 IX A WEDDING AND A VISIT TO BOHEMIA 169 X TRYING FOR PARTS 189 XI A DARK HORSE DEFINED 211 XII CALLING ON ANNE CARTER 230 XIII GEORGIA'S AMETHYST PENDANT 250 XIV THE MOONSHINERS' BACON-ROAST 269 XV PLANS FOR A COOPERATIVE COMMENCEMENT 291 XVI A Hoop-Rolling and a Tragedy 308 XVII BITS OF COMMENCEMENT 325 XVIII THE GOING OUT OF 19-- 350 XIX "GOOD-BYE!" 366

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ILLUSTRATIONS

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The Stream of Girls Descended _Frontispiece_

"Here Are Some Perfectly Elegant Mushrooms" 76

"Oh, I Beg Your Pardon, " 132

"I Do Care About Having Friends Like You, " She Said 171

"Well, We've Found Our Shylock, " He Said 224

The Girls Watched Her in Bewilderment 318

"Ladies, Behold the Preceptress of the Kankakee Academy" 373

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BETTY WALES, SENIOR

CHAPTER I

"BACK TO THE COLLEGE AGAIN"

"Oh, Rachel Morrison, am I too late for the four-ten train?"

Betty Wales, pink-cheeked and breathless, her yellow curls flying underher dainty lingerie hat, and her crisp white skirts held high to escapethe dust of the station platform, sank down beside Rachel on a steamertrunk that the Harding baggage-men had been too busy or tooaccommodating to move away, and began to fan herself vigorously with avery small and filmy handkerchief. 

"No, you're not late, dearie, " laughed Rachel, pulling Betty's hatstraight, "or rather the train is late, too. Where have you been?"

Betty smiled reminiscently. "Everywhere, pretty nearly. You know thatcunning little freshman that had lost her trunks----"

"All those that I've interviewed have lost their trunks, " interpolatedRachel. 

Betty waved a deprecating hand toward the mountain of baggage that waspiled up further down the platform. 

"Oh, of course, in that lovely mess. Who wouldn't? But this girl losthers before she got here--in Chicago or Albany, or maybe it was Omaha. She lives in Los Angeles, so she might have lost them almost anywhere, you see. "

"And of course she expected Prexy or the registrar to go back and lookfor them, " added Rachel. 

Betty laughed. "Not she. Besides she doesn't seem to care a bit. Sheseems to think it's a splendid chance to go to New York next week andbuy new clothes. But what she wanted of me was to tell her where shecould get some shirt waists--just enough to last until she's perfectlysure that the trunks are gone for good. I didn't want to stick aroundhere from three to four, so I said I'd go and show her Evans's and thatlittle new shirt waist place. Of course I pointed out all the objects ofinterest along the way, and when I mentioned Cuyler's, she insistedupon going in to have ices. "

"And how many does that make for you to-day?" demanded Rachel severely. 

"Well, " Betty defended herself, "I treated you once, and you treated meonce, and then we met Christy Mason, and as you couldn't go back withher I had to. But I only had lemonade that time. And this child was socomical, and it was such a good idea. "

"What was such a good idea?" inquired Rachel. 

"Oh, didn't I tell you? Why, after we'd finished at Cuyler's, she askedme if there weren't any other places something like it, and she said shethought if we tried them all in a row we could tell which was best. Butwe couldn't, " sighed Betty regretfully, "because of course things tastebetter when you're hungriest. But anyhow she wanted to keep on, becausenow she can give pointers to other freshmen, and make them think she isa sophomore. "

"How about the shirt waists?"

"Oh, she had just got to that when I had to leave her. " Betty rose, sighing, as a train whistled somewhere down the track. "Do you supposeGeorgia Ames will be on this one?"

"Who can tell?" said Rachel. "There'll be somebody that we know anyway. Wasn't that first day queer and creepy?"

"Yes, " agreed Betty, "when nobody got off but freshmen frightened topieces about their exams. And that was only two days ago! It seems twoweeks. I've always rather envied the Students' Aid Society seniors, because they have such a good chance to pick out the interestingfreshmen, but I shan't any more. "

"Not even after to-day?"

Betty frowned reflectively. "Well, of course to-day has been prettygrand--with all those ices, and Christy, and the freshmen all socheerful and amusing. And then there's the eight-fifteen. Won't it befun--to see the Clan get off that? Yes, I think I do envy myself. Can aperson envy herself, Rachel?" She gave Rachel's arm a sudden squeeze. "Rachel, " she went on very solemnly, "do you realize that we can't everagain in all our lives be Students' Aid Seniors, meeting poor littleHarding freshmen?"

Rachel hugged Betty sympathetically. "Yes, I do, " she said. "Why at thistime next year I shall be earning my own living 'out in the wide, wideworld, ' as the song says, miles from any of the Clan. "

Betty looked across the net-work of tracks, to the hills that make acircle about Harding. "And miles from this dear old town, " she added. "But we can write to each other, and make visits, and we can come backto class reunions. But that won't be the same. "

Rachel looked at the pretty, yellow-haired child, and wondered if sherealized how different her "wide, wide world" was likely to be fromKatherine's or Helen Chase Adams's--or Rachel Morrison's. To some of theClan Harding meant everything they had ever known in the way of cultureand scholarly refinement, of happy leisure and congenial friendship. Itwas comforting somehow to find that girls like Betty and the B's, whohad everything else, were just as fond of Harding and were going to bejust as sorry to leave it. Rachel never envied anybody, but she liked tothink that this life that was so precious to her meant much to all herfriends. It made one feel surer that pretty clothes and plenty ofspending-money and delightful summers at the seashore or in themountains did not matter much, so long as the one big, beautiful fact ofbeing a Harding girl was assured. All this flashed through Rachel's mindmuch more quickly than it can be written down. Aloud she saidcheerfully, "Well, we have one whole year more of it. "

"I should rather think so, " declared Betty emphatically, "and we mustn'twaste a single minute of it. I wish it was evening. It seems as if Icouldn't wait to see the other girls. "

"Well, there's plenty to do just now, " said Rachel briskly, as thefour-ten halted, and the streams of girls, laden with traveling bags, suit-cases, golf-clubs, tennis-rackets, and queer-shaped bulky parcelsthat had obviously refused to go into any trunk, began to descend fromit. 

Rachel hurried forward at once, eager to find someone who needed help ordirections or a friendly word of welcome. But Betty stood where she was, just out of the crowd, watching the old girls' excited meetings and thenew girls' timid progresses, which were sure to be intercepted beforelong by some white-gowned, competent senior, anxious to miss no possibleopportunity for helpfulness. 

Betty had done her part all day, and in addition had taken Rachel'splace earlier in the afternoon, to give her a free hour for tutoring. She was tired now and hot, and she had undoubtedly eaten too many ices;but she was also trying an experiment. Where she stood she could watchboth platforms from which the girls were descending. Her quick glanceshot from one to the other, scanning each figure as it emerged from theshadowy car and stopped for an instant, hesitating, on the platform. Thetrain was nearly emptied of its Harding contingent when all at onceBetty gave a little cry and darted forward to meet a girl who was makingan unusually careful and prolonged inspection of the crowd below her. She was a slender, pretty girl, with yellow hair, which curled aroundher face. She carried a trim little hand-bag and a well-filled bag ofgolf-clubs. 

"Can I help you in any way?" asked Betty, holding out a hand for thegolf-bag. 

The pretty freshman turned a puzzled face toward her, and surrenderedthe bag. "I don't know, " she said doubtfully. "I'm to be a freshman atHarding. Father telegraphed the registrar to meet me. Could you pointher out, please?"

"I knew it, " laughed Betty, gleefully. Then she turned to the girl. "Theregistrar is up at the college answering fifty questions a minute, andI'm here to meet you. Give me your checks, and we'll find an expressman. Oh, yes, and where do you board?"

The pretty freshman answered her questions with an air of pleasedbewilderment, and later, on the way up the hill, asked questions of herown, laughed shamefacedly over her misunderstanding about the registrar, was comforted when Betty had explained that it was not an originalmistake, and invited her new friend to come and see her with thatparticular sort of eager shyness that is the greatest compliment onegirl can pay to another. 

"Dear old Dorothy, " thought Betty, when she had deposited the freshman, considerably enlightened about college etiquette, at one of thepleasantest of the off-campus houses, and was speeding to the Beldenfor tea. "What a little goose she must have thought me! And what a dearshe was! I wonder if this freshman will ever really care about me thatway. I do mean to try to make her. Oh, what a lot of things seniors haveto think about!"

But the only thing to think about that evening was the arrival of theeight-fifteen train, which would bring Eleanor, the B's, Nita Reese, Katherine Kittredge, Roberta Lewis, and Madeline Ayres, together withtwo-thirds of the rest of the senior class back to Harding. It was suchfun to saunter down to the station in the warm twilight, to wait, relieved of all responsibilities concerning cabs, expressmen, andbelated trunks, while the crowded train pulled in, and then to dashfrantically about from one dear friend to another, stopping to shakehands with a sophomore here, and there to greet a junior, but beinggladdest, of course, to welcome back the members of "the finest class. "Betty and Rachel had arranged not to serve on the reception committeefor freshmen that evening, and it was not long before the reunited"Merry Hearts" escaped from the pandemonium at the station toreassemble on the Belden House piazza for what Katherine called a "highold talk. "

How the tongues wagged! Eleanor Watson had come straight from herfather's luxurious camp in the Colorado mountains, where she and Jim hadbeen having a house-party for some of their Denver friends. 

"You girls must all come out next summer, " she declaredenthusiastically. "Father sent a special invitation to you, Betty, andhe and--and--mother"--Eleanor struggled with the new name for thejudge's young wife--"are coming on to commencement, and then of courseyou'll all meet them. Mother is so jolly--she knows just what girlslike, and she enters into all the fun, just like one of us. Of courseshe is absurdly young, " laughed Eleanor, as if the stepmother's youthhad never been her most intolerable failing in her daughter's eyes. 

Babbie had been abroad, on an automobile trip through France. She lookedmore elegant than ever in a chic little suit from Paris, with a toque tomatch, and heavy gloves that she had bought in London. 

"I've got a pair for each of you in my trunk, " she announced, "andhere's hoping I didn't mix up the sizes. "

"Sixes for me, " cried Bob. 

"Five and a-half, " shrieked Babe. 

"Six and a-half, " announced Katherine, "and you ought to have brought metwo pairs, because I wear mine out more than twice as fast as anybodyelse. "

"What kind of a summer have you had, K?" asked Babe, who never wroteletters, and therefore seldom received any. 

"Same old kind, " answered Katherine cheerfully. "Mended twenty dozenstockings, got breakfast for seven hungry mouths every morning, playedtennis with the boys and Polly, tutored all I could, sent out father'sbills, --oh, being the oldest of eight is no snap, I can tell you, but, "Katherine added with a chuckle, "it's lots of fun. Boys do like you soif you're rather decent to them. "

"I just hate being an only child, " declared Bob hotly. "What's the useof a place in the country unless there are children to wade in thebrook, and chase the chickens and ride the horses? Next summer I'm goingto have fresh-air children up there all summer, and youtwo"--indicating the other B's--"have got to come and help save themfrom early deaths. "

"All right, " said Babe easily, "only I shall wade too. "

"And you've got to wash them up before I can touch them, " stipulated thefastidious Babbie. "Where have you been all summer, Rachel?"

"Right at home, helping in an office during the day and tutoringevenings. And I've saved enough so that I shan't have to worry onesingle bit about money this year, " announced Rachel triumphantly. 

"Good for old Rachel!" cried Madeline Ayres, who had spent the summernursing her mother through a severe illness and looked worn and thin inconsequence. "Then you're as glad to get back to the grind as I am. Betty here, with her summer on an island in Lake Michigan, and Eleanor, and these lucky B's with their childless farms, and their Parisianraiment, don't know what it's like to be back in the arms of one'sfriends. "

"Don't we!" cried a protesting chorus. 

"Don't you what?" called a voice out of the darkness, and the realGeorgia Ames, cheerful and sunburned and self-possessed shook hands allaround, and found a seat behind Madeline on the piazza railing. 

"You were all so busy talking that you didn't see me at the train, " sheexplained coolly. "A tall girl with glasses asked if there was anythingshe could do for me, and I said oh, no, that I'd been here before. Thenshe asked me my name, and when I said Georgia Ames, I thought she wasgoing to faint. "

"She took you for a ghost, my dear, " said Madeline, patting her double'sshoulder affectionately. "You must get used to being treated that way, you know. You're billed to make a sensation in spite of yourself. "

"But we're going to make it up to you all we can, " chirped Babbie. 

"And you bet we can, " added Bob decisively. 

"Let's begin by escorting her home, " suggested Babe. "There's just abouttime before ten. "

"I saw Miss Stuart yesterday about her coming into the Belden, "explained Betty, after they had left Georgia at her temporary off-campusboarding place. "She was awfully nice and amused about it all, and shethinks she can get her in right away, in Natalie Smith's place. Natalie's father has been elected senator, you know, and she's going tocome out this winter in Washington. "

"Fancy that now!" said Madeline resignedly. "There's certainly noaccounting for tastes. "

"I should think not, " declared Katherine hotly. "If my father waselected President, I'd stay on and graduate with 19-- just the same. "

"Of course you would, " agreed Babbie. "You can come out in Washingtonany time--or if you can't, it doesn't matter much. But there's only one19--. "

"And yet when we go we shan't be missed, " said Katherine sadly. "Thecollege will go on just the same. "

"Oh, and I've found out the reason why, " cried Betty eagerly. "It'sbecause all college girls are alike. Miss Ferris said so once. She saidif you waited long enough each girl you had known and liked would comeback in the person of some younger one. But I never really believed ituntil to-day. " And Betty related the story of her successful hunt forthe freshman who was like herself. 

Everybody laughed. 

"But then, " asserted Babbie loyally, "she's not so nice as you, Betty. She couldn't be. And I don't believe there are freshmen like all of us. "

"Not in this one class, " said Rachel. "But it's a nice idea, isn't it?When our little sisters or our daughters come to Harding they can havefriends just as dear and jolly as the ones we have had. "

"And they will be just as likely to be locked out if they linger ontheir own or their friends' door-steps after ten, " added Madelinepompously, whereat Eleanor, Katherine, Rachel and the B's rushed fortheir respective abiding places, and the Belden House contingent marchedup-stairs singing

 "Back to the college again, "

a parody of one of Kipling's "Barrack-Room Ballads" which MadelineAyres had written one morning during a philosophy lecture that boredher, and which the whole college was singing a week later. 

CHAPTER II

A SENIOR CLASS-MEETING

It was great fun exercising all the new senior privileges. One of thefirst and most exciting was occupying the front seats at morning chapel. 

"Although, " complained Betty Wales sadly, "you don't get much good outof that, if your name begins with a W. Of course I am glad there are somany of 19--, but they do take up a lot of room. Nobody could tell thatEleanor and I were seniors, unless they knew it beforehand. "

"And then they wouldn't believe it about you, " retorted Madeline, thetease. 

Madeline, being an A, was one of the favored front row, who were nearenough "to catch Prexy's littlest smiles, " as Helen Adams put it, andwho were the observed of all observers as they marched, two and two, down the middle aisle, just behind the faculty. Madeline, being tall andgraceful and always perfectly self-possessed, looked very impressive, but little Helen Adams was dreadfully frightened and blushed to theroots of her smooth brown hair every morning. 

"And yet I wouldn't give it up for anything, " she confided to Betty. "Imean--I'll exchange with you any time, but I do just love to sit there, although I dread walking out so. It's just the same when I am talking toMiss Raymond or Miss Mills. I wish I weren't such a goose. "

"You're a very dear little goose, " Betty reassured her, wondering why inthe world the clever Helen Adams was afraid of people, while she, whowas only little Betty Wales, without much brains and with no big talent, felt perfectly at home with Dr. Hinsdale, Miss Raymond, and even thegreat "Prexy" himself. 

"I suppose that is my talent, " she decided at last, --"not being afraid, and just plunging right in. Well, I suppose I ought to be glad that Ihave anything. "

Another senior privilege is the holding of the first class-meeting. Fresh indeed is the freshman class which neglects this order ofprecedence, and in deference to their childish impatience the seniorsalways hold their meeting as early in the term as possible. Of course19--'s came on a lovely afternoon, --the first after an unusually longand violent "freshman rain. "

"Coming, Madeline?" asked Betty, passing Madeline's single on her wayout. 

"Where?" inquired Madeline lazily from the depths of her Morris chair. 

"To the class-meeting of course, " explained Betty. "Now don't pretendyou've forgotten and made another engagement. I just heard Georgia Amestelling you that she couldn't go walking because of an unexpectedwritten lesson. "

Madeline wriggled uneasily. "What's the use?" she objected. "It's toonice a day to waste indoors. There'll be nothing doing for us. Weelected Rachel last year, and none of the rest of the crowd will do forclass officers. "

"What an idea!" said Betty loftily. "I'm thinking of nominating Babe fortreasurer. Besides Rachel is going to wear a cap and gown--it's a newidea that the council thought of, for the senior president to wearone--and Christy and Alice Waite are going to make speeches about thecandidates. And I think they're going to vote about our ten thousanddollars. "

Madeline rose despondently. "All right then, for this once. By the way, whom are they going to have for toastmistress at class-supper? Theyelect her to-day, don't they?"

"I suppose so. I know the last year's class chose Laurie at their firstmeeting. But I haven't heard any one mentioned. "

"Then I'm going to nominate Eleanor Watson, " declared Madeline. "She'snever had a thing from the class, and she's by far the best speaker wehave except Emily Davis. "

"And Emily will be class-day orator of course, " added Betty. "Oh, Madeline, I'm so glad you thought of Eleanor. Won't it be splendid tohave a 'Merry Heart' for toastmistress?"

Madeline nodded carelessly. She was thinking more about a letter fromhome, with news that her father and mother were to sail at once forItaly, than about matters of class policy. She loved the Italian sea andthe warm southern sunshine; and the dear old "out-at-elbows" villa onthe heights above Sorrento was the nearest thing she had known to ahome. Father had told her to come along if she liked--ever since shecould remember she had been allowed to make her own decisions. But then, as Babbie had said, there was only one 19--, and with plenty of "passedup" courses to her credit she could work as little as she pleased thisyear and never go to a class-meeting after to-day. 

"Let's stop for the B's, " she suggested, as they went out into theSeptember sunshine. "Bob hates meetings as much as I do. I'm not goingto be the only one to be disciplined. "

Before they had reached the Westcott, the B's shouted to them from theirhammocks in the apple-orchard, which they reluctantly abandoned to go tothe meeting. Bob had just had an exciting runaway--her annual spillswere a source of great amusement to her friends and of greater terror toher doting parents--and she was so eager to recount her adventures anddisplay her bruises, that nothing more was said about Madeline's planfor Eleanor. 

The class-meeting was large and exciting. The election of a seniorpresident is as thrilling an event at Harding as the coronation of aCzar of all the Russias to the world at large. It was a foregoneconclusion that Marie Howard would be the unanimous choice of the class, but until the act was fairly consummated--and indeed until Marie hadbeen dined at Cuyler's and overwhelmed with violets to the satisfactionof her many friends--the excitement would not abate. There was apleasant uncertainty about the other class officers. Six avowedcandidates for the treasurership quarreled good naturedly over theirrespective qualifications for the position, each one in her secret soulintending to withdraw in favor of her dearest friend among the otherfive. In another corner of the room an agitated group discussed the bestdisposition of the ten thousand dollar fund. 

"I don't think we ought to dispose of it hastily, " Christy Mason wassaying. "It's a lot of money and we ought to consider very carefullybefore we decide. "

"Besides, " added Emily Davis flippantly, "as long as we delay ourdecision, we shall continue to be persons of importance in the eyes ofthe faculty. It's comical to see how deferential they all are. I tookdinner at the Burton Sunday, and afterward Miss Raymond invited a few ofus into her room for coffee. She didn't mention the money, --she's tooclever for that, --but she talked a lot about the constant need for newbooks in her department. 'You can't run an English department properlyunless you can give your pupils access to the newest books'--that wasthe burden of her refrain. Marion Lustig was quite impressed. I thinkshe means to propose endowing an English department library fund. "

"Dr. Hinsdale wants books for his department, and a lot of psychologicaljournals--all about ghosts and mediums--that college professors look upabout, you know, " Nita Reese ended somewhat vaguely. 

"And Miss Kent is hoping we'll give the whole sum to her to spend foranother telescope, " added Babe, whose specialty, if one might dignifyher unscholarly enthusiasms by that name, was astronomy. 

"Every one of the faculty wants it for something, " said Christy. 

"Naturally. They're all human, aren't they?" laughed Emily Davis, justas Rachel appeared in the doorway, looking very dignified andimpressive in a cap and gown. 

"Is the tassel right?" she whispered anxiously, as she passed a group ofgirls seated near the platform steps. 

"No, put it the other side--unless you're a Ph. D. , " returned RobertaLewis in a sepulchral whisper. "Father has one. He lectures at JohnsHopkins, " she added, in answer to nudges from her neighbors andawestruck inquiries as to "how she knew. "

Then Rachel called the meeting to order. She thanked the class for thehonor they had done her, and hoped she had not disappointed them. 

"I've tried not to consider any clique or crowd, " she said--"not tothink anything about the small groups in our class, but to find out whatthe whole big, glorious class of 19-- wanted"--Rachel's voice rang outproudly--"and then to carry out its wishes. I believe in publicsentiment--in the big generous feeling that makes you willing to give upyour own little plans because they are not big and fine enough to suitthe whole class. I hope the elections to-day may be conducted in thatspirit. We each want what we all want, I am sure. We know one anotherpretty well by this time, but perhaps it will help us in choosing theright persons for senior officers if some of the candidates' friendsmake brief nominating speeches. It is now in order to nominate some onefor the office of senior president. "

Christy was on her feet in an instant, nominating Marie Howard, in agraceful little speech that mentioned her tact and energy and classspirit, recalled some of the things she had done to make the class of19-- proud of her, and called attention to the fact that she had neverhad an important office before. 

"And she wouldn't be having one now if we hadn't succeeded in throwingoff the rule of a certain person named Eastman and her friends, "muttered Bob sotto voce. 

Alice Waite seconded the nomination. 

"I can't make a real speech like Christy's, " she stammered, blushingprettily, "but I want to call attention to Marie's--I mean to MissHoward's sparkling sense of humor and strong personal magnetism. And--and--I am sure she'll do splendidly, " ended little Alice, forgetting her set phrases and sitting down amidst a burst of amusedapplause. 

Rachel called for other nominations but there were none, so Marie waselected unanimously, and with tremendous enthusiasm. 

After she had assumed the cap and gown, taken the chair, and thanked herclassmates, Barbara Gordon, one of Christy's best friends, was madevice-president. Babe, to her infinite annoyance, found herself thevictor in the treasurer's contest, and Nita Reese was ensconced besideMarie in the secretary's chair. 

"And you said none of 'The Merry Hearts' would do for officers, " Bettywhispered reproachfully to Madeline. 

"Well, will they think we are office-grabbers, if I put up Eleanor?"asked Madeline. 

"Oh, no, " declared Betty eagerly. "You see Babe's such a generalfavorite--she's counted into half a dozen crowds; and Nita is really aHill girl, only she never would go to class-meetings when she was afreshman and so she was never identified with that set. You will proposeEleanor, won't you?"

"Honor bright, " promised Madeline, and returned once more to the pagesof a new magazine which she had insisted upon bringing, "in case thingsare too deadly slow. "

"The next business, " said Marie, consulting the notes that Rachel hadhanded her with the cap and gown, "the next business is to dispose ofour ten thousand dollars. "

Instantly a dozen girls were on their feet, clamoring for recognition. Marion Lustig urged the need of books for the English department. ClaraMadison, who after two years of amazement at Harding College in generaland hatred of the bed-making it involved in particular, had suddenlyawakened to a tremendous enthusiasm for microscopic botany, made a funnylittle drawling speech about the needs of her pet department. Two orthree of Miss Ferris's admirers declared that zoölogy was the mostimportant subject in the college curriculum, and urged that the moneyshould be used as a nest egg for endowing the chair occupied by thatpopular lady. The Spanish and Italian departments, being newlyestablished, were suggested as particularly suitable objects forbenevolence. Dr. Hinsdale's department, the history and the Greekdepartments were exploited. 19-- was a versatile class; there wassomebody to plead for every subject in the curriculum, and at least halfa dozen prominent members of the faculty were declared by their specialadmirers to stand first in 19--'s affections. 

"Though that has really nothing to do with it, " said Jean Eastmantestily, conscious that her plea for the modern language departments hadfallen on deaf ears. "We're not giving presents to the faculty, but tothe college. I like Miss Raymond as well as any one----"

"Oh, no, you don't, " muttered Bob, who had caught Jean in the act ofreading an English condition at the end of Junior year. 

Jean heard, understood, and flashed back an acrimonious retort aboutMiss Ferris's partiality for Bob's work. 

The newly elected president, whose tact had been extolled by EmilyDavis, found it speedily put to the test. "Don't you think, " she began, "that we ought to hear from the girl who had most to do with our gettingthis money? Before we act upon the motion to refer the matter to acommittee who shall interview the president and the faculty and find outhow the rest of the money is to be spent and where ours seems to be mostneeded, I want to ask Miss Betty Wales for an expression of heropinion. "

Betty gave a little gasp. Parliamentary law was Hebrew to her, andspeech-making a fearful and wonderful art, which she never essayedexcept in an emergency. But she recognized Marie's distress, and rosehesitatingly, to pour oil on the troubled waters if possible. 

"I certainly think there ought to be a committee, " she began slowly. "And I'm sure I know less than any one who has spoken about the needs ofthe different courses. I'm--well, I'm not a star in anything, you see. Iagree with Jean that we ought not to make this a personal matter, andyet I am sure that the head of whatever department we give the money towill be pleased, and I don't see why we shouldn't consider that andchoose somebody who has done a lot for 19--. But there are so many whohave done a lot for us. " Betty frowned a perplexed little frown. "I wishtoo, " she went on very earnestly, "that we could do something that islike us. You know what I mean. We stand for fair play and a good timefor everybody--that was why we had the dresses simple, you know. " Thefrown vanished suddenly and Betty's fascinating little smile came intoview instead. "I wonder--of course Prexy is always saying the college ispoor, and the faculty are always talking about not having books enough, but I haven't noticed but that they find enough to keep us busy lookingup references. " ("Hear, hear!" chanted the B's. ) "It seems to me thatHarding College is good enough as it is, " went on Betty, lookingreproachfully at the disturbers. "The thing is to let as many girls aspossible come here and enjoy it. Do you suppose the man who gave themoney would be willing that we should use our share of it forscholarships? Four one hundred dollar scholarships would help four girlsalong splendidly. Of course that isn't a department exactly, --andperhaps it's a silly suggestion. " Betty slipped into her seat besideMadeline, blushing furiously, and looking blankly amazed when her speechbrought forth a round of vigorous applause, and, as soon asparliamentary order would permit, a motion that 19-- should, with theconsent of the unknown benefactor of the college, establish four annualscholarships. 

"I name Miss Wales as chairman of the committee to interview thepresident, " said Marie, beaming delightedly on her once more harmoniousconstituents. "The other two members of the committee I will appointlater. The next and last business of this meeting is to elect atoastmistress for our class-supper. She is always chosen early, youknow, so that she can be thinking of toasts and getting material forthem out of all the events of the year. Nominations are now in order. "

"I nominate Eleanor Watson, " said Madeline promptly, reluctantly closingher magazine and getting to her feet. "I needn't tell any of you howclever she is nor how well she speaks. Next to one or two persons whoseduties at commencement time are obvious and likely to bearduous"--Madeline grinned at Emily Davis, who was sure to beclass-orator, and Babe leaned forward to pat Marion Lustig, who wasequally sure to be class-poet, on the shoulder--"next to these one ortwo geniuses, Eleanor is our wittiest member. Of course ourclass-supper will be the finest ever, --it can't help being--but withEleanor Watson at the head of the table, it will eclipse itself. Toquote the great Dr. Hinsdale, do you get my point?"

Kate Denise seconded the nomination with a heartiness that made Eleanorflush with pleasure. Betty watched her happily, half afraid she wouldrefuse the nomination, as she had refused the Dramatic Club's election;but she only sat quite still, her great eyes shining like stars. She wasthinking, though Betty could not know that, of little Helen Adams andher "one big day" when she was elected to the "Argus" board. 

"I know just how she felt, " Eleanor considered swiftly. "It's afteryou've been left out and snubbed and not wanted that things like thisreally count. Oh, I'm so glad they want me now. "

"Are there any other nominations?" asked Marie. There was a littlesilence, broken by a voice saying: "Let's make it unanimous. Ballotstake so long, and everybody wants her. "

Then a girl got up from the back row, --a girl to whom KatherineKittredge had once given the title of "Harding's champion blunderbuss. "She could no more help doing the wrong thing than she could helpbreathing. She had begun her freshman year by opening the door into Dr. Hinsdale's recitation-room, while a popular senior course was insession. "I beg your pardon, but are you Miss Stuart?" she had asked, looking full at the amazed professor, and upon receiving a gaspingdenial she had withdrawn, famous, to reappear now and then during hercourse always in similar rôles. It happened that she had never heard ofEleanor Watson's stolen story until a week before the class-meeting, when some one had told her the unvarnished facts, with no palliation andno reference to Eleanor's subsequent change of heart or renunciation ofone honor after another. Virtuous indignation and pained surprisestruggled for expression upon her pasty, immobile face. 

"Madam president, " she began, and waited formally for recognition. 

"Oh, I say, it's awfully late, " said somebody. "I've got fiverecitations to-morrow. "

This speech and the laugh that followed it put new vigor into theChampion's purpose. "I hope I am not trespassing on any one's timeunduly, " she said, "by stating that--I dislike to say it here, but ithas been forced upon me. I don't think Miss Watson is the girl to hold19--'s offices. Miss Wales said that we stood for fair play. " TheChampion took her seat ponderously. 

The room was very still. Marie sat, nonplused, staring at the Champion'sdefiant figure. Madeline's hands were clenched angrily. "I'd like toknock her down, the coward, " she muttered to Betty, who was lookingstraight ahead and did not seem to hear. 

Hardly a minute had gone by, but more slowly than a minute ever wentbefore, when Eleanor was on her feet. She had grown suddenly white, andher eyes had a hunted, strained look. "I quite agree with MissHarrison, " she said in clear, ringing tones, her head held high. "I amnot worthy of this honor. I withdraw my name, and I ask Miss Ayres, as apersonal favor, to substitute some one's else. "

Eleanor sat down, and Marie wet her lips nervously and looked atMadeline. "Please, Miss Ayres, " she begged. 

"As a personal favor, " returned Madeline slowly, "because Eleanor Watsonasks me, I substitute"--she paused--"Christy Mason's name. I am surethat Miss Mason will allow it to be used, as a personal favor to everyone concerned. "

"Indeed I----" began Christy impetuously. Then she met Eleanor'sbeseeching eyes. "Very well, " she said, "but every one here except MissHarrison knows that Miss Watson would be far better. "

It took only a minute to elect Christy and adjourn the ill-fatedmeeting. 

"I thought she'd feel like hurrying home, " said Katherine sardonically, as the Champion, very red and militant, rushed past her toward the door. 

Betty looked wistfully after the retreating figure. "I would rather haveleft college than had her say that. It doesn't seem fair--aftereverything. "

"Serves me right, anyhow, " broke in Madeline despondently. "I wasdreaming about castles in Italy instead of tackling the business inhand. If I had thought more I should have known that some freak wouldseize the opportunity to rake up old scores. Don't feel so bad, Betty. It was my fault, and I'll make it up to her somehow. Come and help metell Christy that she's a trump, and that I truly wanted her, next toEleanor. "

When they had pushed their way through to Christy's side, Eleanor, stillwhite but smiling bravely, was shaking hands. "It was awfully good ofyou not to mind the little awkwardness, " she was saying. "The girlsalways want you--you know that. " She turned to find Betty standingbeside her, looking as if her heart was broken. 

"Why, Betty Wales, " she laughed, "cheer up. You've made the speech ofthe day, and three of your best friends are waiting to be congratulated. Tell Christy how pleased you are that she's toastmistress and then comedown town with me. "

Once out of the crowded room Eleanor grew silent, and Betty, too hurtand angry to know what to offer in the way of comfort, left her to herown thoughts. They had crossed the campus and were half way down thehill when Eleanor spoke. 

"Betty, " she said, "please don't care so. If you are going to feel thisway, I don't think I can bear it. "

Betty stared at her in astonishment. "Why Eleanor, it's you that I careabout. I can't bear to have you treated so. "

Eleanor smiled sadly. "And can't you see--no, of course you can't, foryou never did a mean or dishonorable thing in your life. If you had, youwould know that the worst part of the disgrace, is that you have toshare it with your friends. I don't mind for myself, because what MissHarrison said is true. "

"No, it's not, " cried Betty hotly. "Not another girl in the whole classfeels so. "

"That, " Eleanor went on, "is only because they are kind enough to bewilling to forget. But to drag you in, and dear old Madeline, and all'The Merry Hearts'! You'll be sorry you ever took me in. "

"Nonsense!" cried Betty positively. "Everybody knows that you'vechanged--everybody, that is, except that hateful Miss Harrison, and someday perhaps she'll see it. "

That evening Betty explained to Helen, who had never heard a word of the"Argus" matter, why Eleanor had not been made an editor. 

"Do you think there were any others to-day who didn't want her?" sheasked anxiously. 

Helen hesitated. "Ye-es, " she admitted finally. "I think that MissHarrison has some friends who feel as she does. I heard them whisperingtogether. And one girl spoke to me. But I am sure they were about theonly ones. Most of the girls feel dreadfully about it. "

"Of course no one who didn't would say anything to me, " sighed Betty. "Oh, Helen, I am so disappointed. "

"Well, " returned Helen judicially, "it can't be helped now, and in a wayit may be a good thing. Eleanor will feel now that everybody who countsfor much in the class understands, and perhaps there will be somethingelse to elect her for, before the year is out. "

Betty shook her head. "No, it's the last chance. She wouldn't takeanything after this, and anyway no one would dare to propose her, andrisk having her insulted again. "

"I guess we shan't any of us be tempted to do anything dishonest, " saidHelen primly. "Doesn't it seem to you as if the girls were getting moreparticular lately about saying whether they got their ideas from booksand giving their authorities at the end of their papers?"

"Yes, " said Betty, "it does, and I think it's a splendid thing. I wentto a literary club meeting with Nan last Christmas and one of the paperswas copied straight out of a book I'd just been reading, almost word forword. I told Nan and she laughed and said it was a very common way ofdoing. I think Harding girls will do a good deal if they help put a stopto that kind of thing. But that won't be much comfort to Eleanor. "

When Helen had gone, Betty curled up on her couch to consider the day. "Mixed, " she told the little green lizard, "part very nice and partperfectly horrid, like most days in this world, I suppose, even in yourbest beloved senior year. I wonder if Prexy will like the scholarshipidea. I straightened out one snarl, and then I helped make a worse one. And I shall be in another if I don't set to work this very minute, "ended Betty, reaching for her Stout's Psychology. 

CHAPTER III

THE BELDEN HOUSE "INITIATION PARTY"

Lucile Merrifield, Betty's stately sophomore cousin, and Polly Eastman, Lucile's roommate and dearest friend, sat on Madeline Ayres's bed andmunched Madeline's sweet chocolate complacently. 

"Wish I had cousins in Paris that would send me 'eats' as good as this, "sighed Polly. 

"Isn't it just too delicious!" agreed Lucile. "I say, Madeline, I'm onthe sophomore reception committee and there aren't half enoughsophomores to go round among the freshmen. Won't you take somebody?"

"I? Hardly. " Madeline shrugged her shoulders disdainfully. "Don't youknow, child, that I detest girl-dances--any dances for that matter. Askme to do something amusing. "

"You ought to want to do something useful, " said Polly reproachfully. "Think of all those poor little friendless freshmen!"

"What kind of a class is it this year?" inquired Madeline, lazily, breaking up more chocolate. "Any fun?"

"The chief thing I've noticed about them, " said Lucile, "is that they'reso horribly numerous. "

"Fresh?" asked Madeline. 

"Yes, indeed, " declared Polly emphatically, "dreadfully fresh. Butsomehow, --I'm on the grind committee, you know, --and they don't doanything funny. They just do quantities and quantities of stupid, commonplace things, like mistaking the young faculty for freshmen andexpecting Miss Raymond to help them look up their English references. Ijust wish they'd think of something original, " ended Polly dolefully. 

"Why don't you make up something?" asked Madeline. 

Polly stared. "Oh, I don't think that would do at all. The grinds aresupposed to be true, aren't they? They'd be sure to find out and thenthey'd always dislike us. " Polly smiled luminously. "I've got a goodmany freshmen friends, " she explained. 

"Which means violet-bestowing crushes, I suppose, " said Madelineseverely. "You shouldn't encourage that sort of thing, Polly. You're tooyoung. "

"I'm not a bit younger than Lucile, " Polly defended herself, "and theyall worship her. " Polly giggled. "Only instead of violets, they send herGibson girls, with touching notes about her looking like one. "

"Come now, " said Lucile calmly. "That's quite enough. Let Madeline tellus how to get some good grinds. "

Madeline considered, frowning. "Why if you won't make up, " she said atlast, "the only thing to do is to lay traps for them. Or no--I'll tellyou what--let's give an initiation party. "

"A what?" chorused her guests. 

"Oh, you know--hazing, the men would call it; only of course we'll havenice little amusing stunts that couldn't frighten a fly. Is anythingdoing to-night?"

"In the house, you mean?" asked Lucile. "Not a thing. But if you wantour room----"

"Of course we do, " interposed Madeline calmly. "It's the onlydecent-sized one in the house. Go and straighten it up, and let this bea lesson to you to keep it in order hereafter. Polly, you invite thefreshmen for nine o'clock. I'll get some more sophomores and seniors, and some costumes. Come back here to dress in half an hour. "

"Goodness, " said the stately Lucile, slipping out of her nest ofpillows. "How you do rush things through, Madeline. "

Madeline smiled reminiscently. "I suppose I do, " she admitted. "Eversince I can remember, I've looked upon life as a big impromptu stunt. Igot ready for a year abroad once in half an hour, and I gave theAmerican ambassador to Italy what he said was the nicest party he'd everbeen to on three hours' notice, one night when mother was ill and fatherwent off sketching and forgot to come in until it was time to dress. Oh, it's just practice, " said Madeline easily, --"practice and being of anaturally hopeful disposition. Run along now. "

"I thought I'd better not tell them, " Madeline confided to the genius ofher room, when the sophomores were safely out of earshot, "that I haven'tthe faintest notion what to do with those freshmen after we get themthere. Being experienced, I know that something will turn up; but they, being only sophomores, might worry. Now what the mischief"--Madelinepulled out drawer after drawer of her chiffonier--"can I have done withthose masks?"

The masks turned up, after the Belden House "Merry Hearts" had searchedwildly through all their possessions for them, over at the Westcott inBabbie Hildreth's chafing dish, where she had piled them neatly forsafe-keeping the June before. 

"Madeline said for you each to bring a sheet, " explained Helen Adams, who had been deputed to summon the B's and Katherine. "They're to dressup in, I guess. She said we couldn't lend you the other ones of ours, because they might get dirty trailing around the floors, and we musthave at least one apiece left for our beds. "

The B's joined rapturously in the preparations for Madeline's mysteriousparty. Katherine could not be found, and Rachel and Eleanor were bothengaged for the evening; but that was no matter, Madeline said. It oughtto be mostly a Belden House affair, but a few outsiders would helpmystify the freshmen. 

Promptly at quarter to nine Polly, Lucile, and the rest of the BeldenHouse contingent arrived, each bringing her sheet with her, andpresently Madeline's room swarmed with hooded, ghostly figures. 

"Is that you, Polly?" whispered Lucile to somebody standing near her. 

"No, it's not, " squeaked the figure, from behind its little black mask. 

"Why, we shan't even know each other, after we get mixed up a little, "giggled somebody else, as the procession lined up for a hasty dashthrough the halls. 

"Now, don't forget that you've all got to help think up things for themto do, " warned Madeline, "especially you sophomores. "

"And don't forget to remember the things for grinds, " added PollyEastman lucidly. "That's what the party is for. "

"If the freshmen find out that you had to get us to help you, you'llnever hear the last of it, " jeered Babe. 

"Now Babe, we're their natural allies, " protested Babbie. "Of course wealways help them. "

"Sh!" called a scout, sticking her head into the room. "Coast's clear. Make a rush for it. "

The last ghost had just gotten safely into the room, when two freshmen, timid but much flattered by Polly's cordial invitation, knocked on thedoor. 

"Come in, " called Polly in her natural voice, and once unsuspectinglyinside, they were pounced upon by the army of ghosts, and escorted toseats as far as possible from the door. The other guests luckily arrivedin a body headed by Georgia Ames, who, having come into the house onlythe day before, was already an important personage in the eyes of herclassmates. What girl wouldn't be who called Betty Wales by her firstname, and wasn't one bit afraid to "talk back" to the clever Miss Ayres?

Georgia's attitude of amused tolerance therefore set the tone for thefreshmen's behavior. "Don't you see that it's some sophomore joke?" shedemanded. "Might as well let the poor creatures get as much fun out ofus as they can, and then perhaps they'll give us something good to eatby and by. "

"We'll give you something right away, " squeaked a ghost. "Georgia Amesand Miss Ashton, stand forth. Now kneel down, shut your eyes and openyour mouths. "

"Don't do it. It will be some horrid, peppery mess, " advised asour-tempered freshman named Butts. 

But Georgia and her companion stood bravely forth, to be rewarded by twodelicious mouthfuls of Madeline's French chocolate. After this pleasantsurprise, the freshmen, all but Miss Butts and one or two more, grewmore cheerful and began to enter into the spirit of the occasion. 

"Josephine Boyd, you are elected to scramble like an egg, " announced atall ghost. 

Josephine's performance was so realistic that it evoked peals oflaughter from ghosts and freshmen alike. 

"We'll recommend you for a part in the next menagerie that the house orthe college has, " said the tall ghost, who seemed to be mistress ofceremonies. "The Dutton twins are now commanded to push matches acrossthe floor with their noses. You'll find the matches on the table by thewindow. Somebody tie their hands behind them. Now start at the door andgo straight across to Georgia Ames's chair. The one that wins the racemust send Polly some flowers, " added the tall ghost maliciously as thetwins, blushing violently at this barefaced reference to their rivalryfor Polly's affections, took their matches, and at Georgia's signaled"One, two, three, go!" began their race. 

Pushing a match across a slippery floor with one's nose looked so easyand proved so difficult that both ghosts and freshmen, as they cheeredon the eager contestants, longed to take part in the enticing sport. Thefluffy-haired twin kept well ahead of her straight-haired sister, until, when her match was barely a foot from Georgia's chair it caught in acrack and broke in two. 

"Oh, dear!" sighed the fluffy-haired twin forlornly, trying to singleout her divinity from among the sheeted ghosts. 

Her despair was too much for soft-hearted Polly. "Never mind, " she saidkindly "The race is hereby called off. "

"And we can both send you flowers, can't we?" demanded thestraight-haired twin, jumping up, flushed and panting from herexertions. 

Every one waited eagerly to hear what the next stunt would be. 

"This is for you, Miss Butts, " announced the tall ghost, after awhispered colloquy with her companions, "and as you don't seem veryhappy to-night we've made it easy. Tell the name of your most particularcrush. Now don't pretend you haven't any. "

"I won't tell, " muttered Miss Butts sullenly. 

"Then you'll have to make up Lucile Merrifield's bed for two weeks as apenalty for disobeying our decrees. Now all the rest of you may tellyour crushes' names. I will explain, as some of you look a little dazedabout it, that your crush is the person you most deeply adore. "

Some of the freshmen meekly accepted the penalty rather than divulgetheir secret affections, one declared that she hadn't a crush, one, remembering the legend of Georgia Ames, made up a sophomore's name andafter she had been safely "passed" exulted over the simplicity of hervictims. A few, including Georgia, calmly confessed their divinities'names and gloated over the effect their announcements had upon some ofthe ghosts. 

When this entertainment was exhausted, the ghosts held anotherconference. "Carline Dodge, get under the bed and develop like a film, "decreed the leader finally. 

"Oh, not under mine, " cried a tall, impressive-looking ghostplaintively. "My botany and zoölogy specimens are under it. She'd besure to upset the jars. "

"There!" said Georgia Ames complacently. "That makes six of you that weknow. Polly Eastman and now Lucile have given themselves away. BabbieHildreth crumpled all up when Carline Dodge called out her crush's name. If she's here, the other two that they call the B's are, and MadelineAyres is directing the job. It's easy enough to guess who the rest ofyou are, so why not take off those hot things and be sociable?"

"Go on, Carline Dodge, " ordered the tall ghost imperturbably. 

"But I don't get the idea of the action, " objected the serious-facedfreshman, and looked amazed that everybody should laugh so uproariously. 

"That's so funny that we'll let you off, " said Madeline, when the mirthhad subsided. "I foresee that you've invented a very useful phrase. "

And sure enough Carline's reply was speedily incorporated into Harding'sspecial vocabulary, and its author found herself unwittingly famous. 

"Now, " said Madeline cheerfully, "you may all chase smiles around theroom for a while, and when I say 'wipe, ' you are to wipe them off on acrack in the floor. Then we'll have a speech from one of you and youwill be dismissed. "

Most of the freshmen entered gaily into the "action" of chasing smiles, and caught a great many on their own and each other's faces. That frolicended, Madeline called upon a quiet little girl who had hardly been seento open her mouth since she reached Harding, to make a speech. To everyone's surprise she rose demurely, without a word of objection or theleast appearance of embarrassment, and delivered an original monologuesupposed to be spoken by a freshman newly arrived and airing herimpressions of the college. It hit everybody with its absurd humor, which no one enjoyed better, apparently, than the quiet little freshmanherself. 

"Encore! Encore! Give us another!" shouted the freshmen when she hadfinished; but their quiet little classmate only shook her head, andassuming once more the mincing, confidential tone she had been using inthe monologue, remarked: "Do you know, there are some girls in our classthat will forget their heads before long. Why, when they're being hazed, they forget it and think they're at a real party. "

Everybody laughed again, and the tall ghost made the little freshmanblush violently by saying, "You'll get a part in the house play, mychild, and if you can write that monologue down I'll send an 'Argus'editor around after it. "

The little freshman, whose name was Ruth Howard, pinched herself softly, when no one was looking, to make sure that she was awake. Like MotherHubbard she felt a little doubtful of her identity, as she noticed theadmiring glances cast upon her by even the haughtiest of the freshmen. She had been rather lonely during these first weeks, and it was verypleasant now to find that the things she could do were going to make aplace for her in this big, busy college world. 

"A hazing party isn't a half-bad idea, is it?" said Georgia Ames, reflectively. "It's got us all acquainted a lot faster than anythingelse would, I guess, --even if there wasn't any food. "

"Considering that we've done everything else, you children might findthe food----" began one of the ghosts, but a bell in the corridorinterrupted her. 

"Is that the twenty-minutes-to or the ten o'clock?" asked another ghostanxiously. 

"Ten, " said a freshman. "The other rang while we were chasing smiles. "

"Then we're locked out, " cried a small ghost tragically, and threesheeted figures rushed down the hall, tripping over their flowing robesand struggling with their masks as they ran. 

"My light is on. Will they report it?" asked little Ruth Howard shylyof Georgia Ames. 

"Mine will be reported all right before I've done with it, " declared aghost gloomily. "I've got to study for a physics review. I oughtn't tohave come near this festive function. "

"Same here. "

"Come on, Carline. Don't you know the action of going home?"

"Jolly fun though, wasn't it?"

The initiation party dissolved noisily down the dusky corridors. 

Next day the college rang with the report that hazing was now practicedat Harding. Strange accounts of the Belden House party were passed fromgroup to group of excited freshmen who declared that they were "justscared to death" of the sophomores and wouldn't for the world be outalone after dark, and of amused upper-classmen who allowed forexaggerations and considered the whole episode in the light of a goodjoke. But a particularly susceptible Burton House freshman, who sat atMiss Stuart's table and burned to make a favorable impression upon thataugust lady, repeated the story to her at luncheon. Miss Stuart receivedit in silence, wondered what the truth of it was, and asked some of herfriends about it that afternoon at a faculty meeting. Of course some ofthe wrong people heard about it and took it up officially, as a mattercalculated to ruin the spirit of the college. The result was that MissFerris and Dr. Hinsdale were furnished with the names of some of theoffenders and requested to interview them on the subject of theirmisdemeanors. Miss Ferris unerringly selected Madeline Ayres as thering-leader of the affair and Betty Wales as the best person to make anappeal to, if any appeal was needed, and set an hour for them to comeand see her. 

Madeline, who never looked at bulletin-boards, did not get her note ofsummons, and Betty, who had taken hers as a friendly invitation to havetea with her friend, went over to the Hilton House alone and in thehighest spirits. But Miss Ferris was not serving tea, and Dr. Hinsdaleshowed no intention of leaving them in peace to indulge in one of thoselong and delightful talks that Betty had so anticipated. Indeed it washe, with his coldest expression and his dryest tone, who introduced thesubject of the initiation party and demanded to know why Madeline Ayreshad neglected Miss Ferris's summons. Betty had no trouble in explainingthat to everybody's satisfaction, but she longed desperately forMadeline's support, as she listened to Dr. Hinsdale's stern arraignmentof the innocent little gathering. 

"It's not lady-like, " he asserted. "It's aping the men. Hazing is adiscredited practice anyhow. All decent colleges are dropping it. Wecertainly don't want it here, where the aim of the faculty has alwaysbeen to encourage the friendliest relations between classes. The membersof the entering class always find the college life difficult at first. It's quite unnecessary to add to their troubles. "

Betty listened with growing horror. What dreadful thing had sheunwittingly been a party to? And yet, after all, could it have been sovery dreadful? If Dr. Hinsdale had been there, would he have felt thisway about it? A smile wavered on Betty's lips at this thought. Shelooked at Miss Ferris, who smiled back at her. 

"Say it, Betty, " encouraged Miss Ferris, and Betty began, explaining howMadeline had happened to think of the hazing, relating the absurditiesthat she and the rest had devised, dwelling on Ruth Howard's cleverimpersonation and Josephine Boyd's effective egg-scrambling. GraduallyDr. Hinsdale's expression softened, and when she repeated CarlineDodge's absurd retort, he laughed like a boy. 

"Do you think it was so very dreadful?" Betty inquired anxiously, whereupon her judges exchanged glances and laughed again. 

"There's another thing, " Betty began timidly after a moment. "I don'tknow as I should ever have thought of it myself, but it did certainlywork that way. " And Betty explained Georgia Ames's idea of thehazing-party as a promoter of good-fellowship. "It's awfully hard to getacquainted with freshmen, you see, " she went on. "We have our ownfriends and we are all busy with our own affairs. But since that nightwe've been just as friendly. That one evening took the place of lots ofcalls and formal parties. We know now what the different ones can do. Ofcourse, " Betty admitted truthfully, "it didn't help Miss Butts any, unless it showed her that at Harding you've got to do your part, if youwant a good time. She's certainly been a little more agreeable since. But Ruth Howard now--why it would have been ages--oh, I mean months, "amended Betty blushingly, "before we should have known about her, unlessMadeline had called for that speech. "

Again the judges exchanged amused glances, and Dr. Hinsdale cleared histhroat. "Well, Miss Wales, " he said, "you've made your point, I think. You've found the legitimate purpose for a legitimate and distinctlyfeminine kind of hazing. And now, if Miss Ferris will excuse me, I havean engagement at my rooms. "

So Betty had her talk and her tea, after all, and went away loving MissFerris harder than ever. For Miss Ferris, by the mysterious process thatbrought all college news to her ken, had heard about Eleanor Watson andthe Champion Blunderbuss, and she was looking out for Eleanor, who, shewas sure from a number of little things she had noticed and piecedtogether, was now quite capable of looking out for herself. Thisconfirmation of her own theory encouraged Betty vastly, and she was ableto feel a little more charitable toward the Champion, who, as MissFerris had pointed out, was really the one most to be pitied. 

CHAPTER IV

AN ADVENTUROUS MOUNTAIN DAY

"The 19-- scholarships, providing aid to the approximate sum of onehundred dollars for each of four students, preferably members of anupper class"--thus the announcement was to appear formally in thecollege catalogue. The president and the donor had both heartilyapproved of Betty's scheme, and the scholarships were an accomplishedfact. It had been the donor's pleasant suggestion that 19-- should keepin perpetual touch with its gift to the college by appointing acommittee to act with one from the faculty in disposing of thescholarships. Betty Wales was chairman, of course. 19-- did not intendthat she should forget her connection with those scholarships. Bettytook her duties very seriously. She watched the girls at chapel, in therecitation halls, on the campus, noted those with shabby clothes andworried faces, found out their names and their boarding-places, and settactful investigations on foot about their needs. The enormous number ofher "speaking acquaintances" became a college joke. 

"Bow, Betty, " Katherine would whisper, whenever on their long countrywalks, they met a group of girls who looked as if they might belong tothe college. And then, "Is it possible I've found somebody you don'tknow? Better look them up right away. "

"It's splendid training for your memory, " Betty declared, and it was, and splendid training besides in helpfulness and social service, thoughBetty did not put it so grandly. To her it was just trying to takeDorothy King's place, and not succeeding very well either. 

In looking up strangers, Betty did not forget her friends. Nobody couldbe more deserving of help than Rachel Morrison. Her hard summer's workhad worn on her and made the busy round of tutoring and study seemparticularly irksome. But Rachel, while she was pleased to think thatshe had been the joint committee's first choice, refused the money. 

"I could only take it as a loan, " she said, "and I don't want to have adebt hanging over my head next year. I'm not so tired now as I was whenI first got back, and I can rest all next summer. Did I tell you thatBabbie Hildreth's uncle has offered me a position in his school for nextfall?"

Emily Davis, on the other hand, was very glad to accept ascholarship, --"As a loan of course, " she stipulated. She had practicallysupported herself for the whole four years at Harding, and the strainand worry had begun to tell on her. A little easier time this year wouldmean better fitness for the necessarily hard year of teaching that wasto follow, without the interval of rest that Rachel counted upon. Emily's mother was dead now, and her father made no effort to help hisambitious daughter. She might have had a place in the woolen mills, where he worked years before, he argued; since she had not taken it, shemust look out for herself. 

But with the serious side of life was mixed, for Betty and the rest, plenty of gaiety. 19-- might not be greatly missed after they had goneout into the wide, wide world, but while they stayed at Hardingeverybody seemed bent on treating them royally. 

"You know this is the last fall you'll have here, " Polly Eastman wouldsay, pleading with Betty to come for a drive. "There's no such beautifulautumn foliage near Cleveland. "

Or, "You must come to our house dance, " Babbie Hildreth would declare. "Just think how few Harding dances there are left for us to go to!"

Even the most commonplace events, such as reading aloud in the parlorsafter dinner, going down to Cuyler's for an ice, or canoeing in Paradiseat sunset took on a new interest. Seniors who had felt themselvessuperior to the material joys of fudge-parties and scorned the cruditiesof amateur plays and "girl-dances, " eagerly accepted invitations toeither sort of festivity. 

"And the moral of that, as our dear departed Mary Brooks would say, "declared Katherine, "is: Blessings brighten as diplomas come on apace. Between trying not to miss any fun and doing my best to distinguishmyself in the scholarly pursuits that my soul loves, I am well nighdistraught. Don't mind my Shakespearean English, please. I'm on thesenior play committee, and I recite Shakespeare in my sleep. "

Dearest of all festivities to the Harding girl is Mountain Day, andthere were all sorts of schemes afoot among 19--'s members for makingtheir last Mountain Day the best of the four they had enjoyed so much. Horseback riding was the prevailing fad at Harding that fall, and everygirl who could sit in a saddle was making frantic efforts to get a horsefor an all-day ride among the hills. Betty was a beginner, but she hadbeen persuaded to join a large party that included Eleanor, Christy, Madeline, Nita, and the B's. They were going to take a man to look afterthe horses, and they had planned their ride so that the less experiencedequestrians could have a long rest after luncheon, and taking across-cut through the woods, could join the others, who would leave thepicnic-place earlier and make a long detour, so as to have their gallopout in peace. 

It was a sunny, sultry Indian summer day, --a perfect day to ride, driveor walk, or just to sit outdoors in the sunshine, as Roberta Lewisannounced her intention of doing. She helped the horseback riders toadjust their little packages of luncheon, and looked longingly afterthem, as they went cantering down the street, waving noisy farewells totheir friends. 

"I wish I weren't such a coward, " she confided to Helen Adams, who wasstarting to join Rachel and Katherine for a long walk. "I love horses, but I should die of fright if I tried to ride one. "

"Oh, they have a man with them, " said Helen easily, "and it's a perfectday for a ride. "

Roberta, who almost lived outdoors, and was weatherwise in consequence, looked critically at the western horizon. "I shouldn't be a bitsurprised if it rained before night, " she said. "You'd better decide tolaze around in Paradise with me. "

But Helen only laughed at Roberta's caution and went on, whereat RobertaLewis was very nearly the only Harding girl who was not drenched to theskin before Mountain Day was over. 

The riding-party galloped through the town and stopped at the edge ofthe meadows for consultation. 

"Let's go by the bridge and come back by the ferry, " suggested Madeline. "Then we shall have the prettiest part of the ride saved for sunset. "

"And you'll have a better road both ways, miss, " put in the groompractically. 

So the party crossed the long toll-bridge, the horses steppinghesitatingly and curveting a little at the swish of the noisy water, climbed the sunny hills beyond, and dipped down to a level stretch ofwood, in the heart of which they chose a picnic-ground by the side of amerry little brook. 

"We must have a fire, " announced Bob, who had fallen behind theprocession, and now came up at the trot, just as the others weredismounting. 

"But we haven't anything to cook, " objected Eleanor. 

"Coffee, " grinned Bob jubilantly. "I've got folding cups stuffed aroundunder my sweater, and I stopped at that farmhouse back by the fork inthe road to get a pail. "

"And there are marshmallows to toast, " added Babe. "That's what I'vegot in my sweater. "

"I thought you two young ladies had grown awful stout on a sudden, "chuckled the groom, beginning to pile up twigs under an overhangingledge of rock. 

"And here are some perfectly elegant mushrooms, " declared Madeline, whohad been poking about among the fallen leaves. "We can use the pail forthose first, and have the coffee with dessert. "

All the girls had brought sandwiches, stuffed eggs, cakes, and fruit, sothat, with the extras, the picnic was "truly elegant, " as Babe put it. They sang songs while they waited for the coffee to boil, and toastedBabe's marshmallows, two at a time, on forked sticks, voting Babe atrump to have thought of them. 

Then they lay on the green turf by the brook, talking softly to thebabbling accompaniment of its music. 

Finally Eleanor shivered and sat up. "Where is the sun?" she asked. "Oughtn't we to be starting?"

[Illustration: "HERE ARE SOME PERFECTLY ELEGANT MUSHROOMS"]

The sky was not dark or threatening, only a bit gray and dull. The groomwas to stay with the novices--Christy, Babe and Betty--who, as soon asthe rest had mounted, raced down the road to get warm and also to returnthe pail that Bob had borrowed, to its owner. By the time they got back, after making a short call on the farmer's wife, the sun was strugglingout again, but the next minute big drops began to patter down throughthe leaves. 

The groom considered the situation. "I guess you'll jest have to waitand git wet. Miss Hildreth's horse is skittish on ferries. I wouldn'twanter go on with you an' leave her to cross alone. "

So they waited, keeping as dry as possible under a pine tree, until thetime appointed for starting to the rendezvous. It was raining steadilynow. Babe's horse objected to getting wet, and pulled on the reinssullenly. The sky was fairly black. Altogether it was an uncomfortablesituation. 

The road to the river was damp and slippery, and most of it was a steepdown-grade. There was nothing to do but walk the horses, Babe's dancingsidewise in a fashion most upsetting to Betty's nerves. By the time theyhad reached the ferry, darkness seemed to have settled, and there werelow growlings of thunder. Babe's horse reared, and she dismounted andstood at his head while they waited for the ferry to cross to them. 

"I guess there's goin' to be a bad shower, " volunteered the groom. "Iguess we'd better wait over in that barn till it's over. Animals don'tlike lightning. "

The ferry seemed to crawl across the river, but it arrived at last, andeach girl led her horse on board. They were all frightened, but nobodyshowed the "white feather. " Babe's cheeks were pale, though, as shepatted her restive mount, and laughed bravely at Madeline's futileefforts to feed sugar to her tall "Black Beauty, " who jerked his noseimpatiently out of her reach each time she tried. 

"Beauty must be awfully upset if he doesn't want sugar, " said Babbie, who was standing next the groom. "He's the greed----" The next minuteBetty found herself holding her own and the groom's horse, while heplunged after Babbie's, who was snorting and kicking right into themidst of everything. It had lightened, and between the lightning andthe water Babbie's high-spirited mare was frantic, and was fastcommunicating her excitement to the others. 

A minute later there was a tremendous jolt which set all the horses tojumping. 

"I swan, " said the apathetic ferryman who had paid no attention to theprevious confusion. "We're aground. "

The girls looked at one another through the gathering shadows. 

"How are we going to get off?" asked the groom desperately. 

The ferryman considered. "I dunno. "

Babbie's horse plunged again. 

"Can we wade to shore?" asked the groom, when something like order wasrestored. 

"Easy. You see I knew the river was awful low, but I s'posed----"

"The only thing that I can think of, " interrupted the groom, "is for usto leave you girls with the horses, while we get to shore. Then you send'em off one by one, and we'll catch 'em. Miss Hildreth, you send yoursfirst. No, Miss Wales, you send mine first, then Miss Hildreth's mayfollow better. I'm awfully sorry to make you young ladies so muchtrouble. "

"Oh, it doesn't matter, " said Babbie bravely, shaking the water out ofher eyes. "Only--do hurry, please. "

The "easy wading" proved to be through water up to a man's shoulders, and it lightened twice, with the usual consequences to Babbie's horse, before the groom signaled. His horse went off easily enough, butBabbie's balked and then reared, and Betty's lay down first and thenkicked viciously, when she and Babbie between them had succeeded ingetting him to stand up. Finally Madeline broke her crop in getting himover the side, and when Black Beauty had also been sent ashore the ferrylurched a little and floated. 

"Do you suppose we shall ever get dry again?" asked Eleanor lightly, while they waited for the ferryman to come back to them. 

Babbie touched her black coat gingerly. "Am I wet?" she whispered toBetty. "Of course I am, but I'd forgotten it. " The reins had cut one ofher hands through her heavy glove, but she had forgotten that too, asshe shivered and clung to the railing that Black Beauty had splinteredwhen he went over. All she could think of was the horror of riding thatplunging, foam-flecked horse home. 

The ferryman took them to his house, which was the nearest one to thelanding; and while he and the groom rubbed down the horses, his wife andlittle daughter made more coffee for the girls and helped them wring outtheir dripping clothes. 

Babe pretended to find vast enjoyment in watching the water trickle offher skirts and gaiters. Christy, who rode bare-headed, declared that shehad gotten a beautiful shampoo free of charge. Even Babbie smiledfaintly and called attention to the "mountain tarn" splashing about inthe brim of her tri-corn hat. 

"I tell ye, them girls air game, " declared the ferryman watching themride off as soon as the storm was over. "That little slim one on the baymare is a corker. Her horse cut up somethin' awful. They all offered tochange with her, but she said she guessed she could manage. Look at theway she sets an' pulls. She's got grit all right. I guess I'll have tomake out to have you go to college, Annie. "

Whereupon little Annie spent a rapturous evening dreaming of the timewhen she should be a Harding girl, and be able to say bright, funnythings like Miss Ayres. She resolved to wear her hair like Miss Watsonand to have a pleasant manner like Miss Wales, and above all to be"gritty" like Miss Hildreth. For the present evening the fiercest steedshe could find to subdue was an arithmetic lesson. Annie hatedarithmetic, but in the guise of a plunging bay mare, that it took gritto ride, she rather enjoyed forcing the difficult problems to come outright. 

Meanwhile the riding party had reached the campus, a little later and alittle wetter than most of their friends, and they were provided withhot baths and hot drinks, and put to bed, where they lay in sleepycomfort enjoying the feeling of being heroines. 

Very soon after dinner Betty got tired of being a heroine, and whenGeorgia Ames appeared and announced that a lot of freshmen were makingfudge in her room and wished Betty would come and have some and tellthem all about her experiences, she looked anxiously at Helen Adams, whowas the only person in the room just then. 

"It's awfully good fudge--got marshmallows in it, and nuts, " urgedGeorgia. "They want Miss Adams too. "

"Can I come in a kimono?" asked Betty. "I'm too tired to dress. "

"Of course. Only----" Georgia hesitated. 

"There's a man in the parlor, calling on Polly Eastman. And the foldingdoors are stuck open. I wish my room wasn't down on that floor. You haveto be so careful of your appearance. "

Betty frowned. "I want awfully to come. Can't you two think of a way?"

"Why of course, " cried Georgia gleefully, after a moment'sconsideration. "We'll hold a screen around you. The man will know thatsomething queer is inside it, but he can't see what. "

So the procession started, Helen and Georgia carrying the screen. At thetop of the last flight, they adjusted it around Betty, and began slowlyto make the descent. At the curve Georgia looked down into the hall andstopped, in consternation. 

"They've moved out into the hall, " she whispered. "No--this is LucileMerrifield and another man. We've got to go right past them. "

"Let's go back, " whispered Betty. 

"But they've seen us, " objected Helen, "and you'd miss the fudge. "

A moment later, three girls and a Japanese screen fell through Georgia'sdoor into the midst of an amazed freshmen fudge party. 

"Goodness, " said Georgia, when she had recovered her breath. "Did youhear that horrid Lucile? 'A regular freshman trick'--that's what shesaid to her man. They blame everything on us. "

"Well if this fudge is regular freshman fudge, it's the best I evertasted, " said little Helen Adams tactfully. 

Later in the evening Betty trailed her red kimono into Helen's room. "Helen, " she began, "did I have on my pearl pin when we starteddown-stairs to-night? I can't find it anywhere. "

"I don't think you did, " said Helen, thoughtfully, "but I'll go andsee. You might have dropped it off when we all landed in a heap on thefloor. "

But the freshmen had not found the pin and diligent search of Georgia'sroom, as well as of the halls and stairways, failed to reveal it. 

"Oh, well, I suppose it will turn up, " said Betty easily. "I lost itonce last year, and ages afterward I found it in my desk. I shan't worryyet awhile. I didn't have it on this morning, did I?"

This time Helen remembered positively. "No, you had on your luckypin--the silver four-leaved clover that I like so much. I noticedparticularly. "

"All right then, " said Betty. "I saw it last night, so it must be aboutsomewhere. Some day when I'm not so lame from riding and so sleepy, I'llhave a grand hunt for it. "

CHAPTER V

THE RETURN OF MARY BROOKS

All through the fall Mary Brooks's "little friends" had been hoping fora visit from her, and begging her to come soon, before the fine weatherwas over. Now she was really and truly coming. Roberta had had theletter of course, by virtue of being Mary's most faithful satellite; butit was meant for them all. 

"The conquering heroine is coming, " Mary wrote. "She will arrive at fouron Monday, and you'd better, some of you, meet the train, becausethere's going to be a spread along, and the turkey weighs a ton. Don'tplan any doings for me. I've been to a dance or a dinner every night fortwo weeks and I'm already sick of being a busy bud, though I've onlybeen one for a month--not to mention having had the gayest kind of atime all summer. So you see I'm coming to Harding to rest andrecuperate, and to watch you children play at being seniors. I know howbusy you are, and what a bore it is to have company, but I shall justtake care of myself. Only get me a room at Rachel's little house aroundthe corner, and I won't be a bit of trouble to anybody. "

"Consider the touching modesty of that now!" exclaimed Katherine. "As ifwe weren't all pining for a sight of her. And can't you just taste thespread she'll bring?"

"We must make her have it the very night she gets here, " said Bettypractically. "There's a lot going on next week, and as soon as peoplefind out that she's here they'll just pounce on her for all sorts ofthings. "

"I hereby pounce upon her for our house dance, " announced BabbieHildreth hastily. "Isn't it jolly that it comes this week? I had apresentiment that I'd better save one of my invitations. "

"You needn't have bothered, " said Babe enviously. "I guess there'llalways be room for Mary Brooks at a Westcott House dance--as long as19-- stays anyway. "

"Don't quarrel, children, " Madeline intervened. "Your dance is onWednesday. Is there anything for Tuesday?"

"A psychology lecture, " returned Helen Adams promptly. 

"Cut it out, " laughed Katherine. "Mary isn't coming up here to go topsychology lectures. "

"But she does want to go to it, " declared Roberta, suddenly waking up tothe subject in hand. "I thought it was queer myself, but she speaksabout it particularly in her letter. Let me see--oh, here it is, in thepostscript. It's by a friend of Dr. Hinsdale, she says; and somebodymust have written her about it and offered her a ticket, because shesays she's already invited and so for us not to bother. Did you writeher, Helen?"

"No, " said Helen, "I didn't. The lecture wasn't announced untilyesterday. There was a special meeting of the Philosophical Club toarrange about it. "

"It's queer, " mused Katherine. "Mary was always rather keen onpsychology----"

"On the psychology of Dr. Hinsdale you mean, " amended Madelineflippantly. "But that doesn't explain her inside information about thislecture. We'll ask her how she knew--that's the quickest way to findout. Now let's go on with our schedule. What's Thursday?"

"The French Club play, " explained Roberta. "I think she'd like that, don't you?"

Madeline nodded. "Easily. It's going to be awfully clever this time. Then that leaves only Friday. Let's drive out to Smuggler's Notch in theafternoon and have supper at Mrs. Noble's. "

"Oh, yes, " agreed Betty. "That will make such a perfectly lovely end-upto the week. And of course we shall all want to take her to Cuyler's andHolmes's. May I have her for Tuesday breakfast? I haven't any classuntil eleven, so we can eat in peace. "

"Then I'll take lunch on Tuesday, " put in Katherine hastily, "because Iam as poor as poverty at present, and a one o'clock luncheon preceded bya breakfast ending at eleven appeals to my lean pocketbook. "

"I should like to take her driving that afternoon, " put in Babbie. 

"You may, if you'll take me to sit in the middle and do the driving, "said Bob, "and let's all have dinner at Cuyler's that night--a grandaffair, you know, ordered before hand, at a private table with a screenaround it, and a big bunch of roses for a centre piece. Old girls likethat sort of thing. It makes them feel important. "

"With or without food?" demanded Madeline sarcastically, but no one paidany attention to her, in the excitement of bidding for the remainingdivisions of Mary's week. 

All the Chapin House girls and the three B's met her at the station and"ohed" and "ahed" in a fashion that would have been disconcerting toanybody who was unfamiliar with the easy manners of Harding girls, atthe elegance of her new blue velvet suit and the long plumes that curledabove her stylishly dressed hair, and at the general air of "worldly andbud-like wisdom, " as Katherine called it, that pervaded her smallperson. 

They had not finished admiring her when her trunk appeared. 

"Will you look at that, girls!" cried Katherine, feigning to be quiteoverpowered by its huge size. "Mary Brooks, whatever do you expect todo with a trousseau like that in this simple little academic village?"

Mary only smiled placidly. "Don't be silly, K. Some of the spread is inthere. Besides, I want to be comfortable while I'm here, and this autumnweather is so uncertain. Who's going to have first go at carrying theturkey?"

"I've got a runabout waiting, " explained Babbie. "I'm going to drive himup. There'll be room for you too, Mary, and for some of the others. "

The seat of a runabout can be made to hold four, on a pinch, and thereis still standing-room for several other adaptable persons. The rest ofthe party walked, and the little house around the corner was soon thescene of a boisterous reunion. 

Mary's conversation was as abundant and amusing as ever, and she did notshow any signs of the weariness that her letter had made so much of. 

"That's because I have acquired a society manner, " she announcedproudly. "I conceal my real emotions under a mask of sparkling gaiety. "

"You can't conceal things from us that way, " declared Katherine. "Howunder the sun did you hear about that psychology lecture?"

"Why, a man I know told me, " explained Mary innocently. "He's also afriend of the lecturer. We were at dinner together one night last week, and he knew I was a Harding-ite, and happened to mention it. Anyobjections?"

"And you really want to go?" demanded Madeline. 

"Of course, " retorted Mary severely. "I always welcome every opportunityto improve my mind. "

But to the elaborate plans that had been made for her entertainment Maryoffered a vigorous protest. "My dears, " she declared, "I should be wornto a frazzle if I did all that. Didn't I tell you that I'd come up torest? I'll have breakfast with anybody who can wait till I'm ready toget up, and we'll have one dinner all together. But it's really too coldto drive back from Smuggler's Notch after dark, and besides you know Inever cared much for long drives. But we'll have the spread to-night, anyway, just as you planned, because it's going to be such a full week, and I wouldn't for the world have any of you miss anything on myaccount. "

"And you don't care about the French play?" asked Roberta, who had movedheaven and earth to get her a good seat. 

"No, dear, " answered Mary sweetly. "My French is hopelessly rusty. "

"Then I should think you'd go in for improving it, " suggested Babe. 

"There's not enough of it to improve, " Mary retorted calmly. 

"Well, you will go to our house-dance, won't you?" begged Babbie. 

"Oh, you must, " seconded Bob. "I've told piles of people you werecoming. "

"We shall die of disappointment if you don't, " added Babe feelingly. 

Mary laughed good-naturedly. "All right, " she conceded, "I'll come. Onlybe sure to get me lots of dances with freshmen. Then I can amuse myselfby making them think I'm one, also, and I shan't be bored. "

On the way back to the campus the girls discussed Mary's amazingattitude toward the pleasures of college life. 

"She must be awfully used up, " said Roberta, solemnly. "Why, she used tobe crazy about plays and dances and 'eats. '"

"No use in coming up at all, " grumbled Katherine, "if she's only goingto lie around and sleep. "

"She doesn't look one bit tired, " declared Betty, "and she seems glad tobe back, only she doesn't want to do anything. It's certainly queer. "

"She must be either sick or in love, " said Madeline. "Nothing else willaccount for it. "

"Then I think she's in love, " declared little Helen Adams sedately. "Shehas a happy look in her eyes. "

"Bosh!" jeered Bob. "Mary isn't the sentimental kind. I'll bet she feelsdifferent after the spread. "

But though the spread was quite the grandest that had ever been seen atHarding, and though Mary seemed to enjoy it quite as heartily as herguests, who had conscientiously starved on campus fare for the weekbefore it, it failed to arouse in her the proper enthusiasm for collegefunctions. 

On Tuesday "after partaking of a light but elegant noontide repast onme, " as Katherine put it, Mary declared her intention of taking a nap, and went to her room. But half an hour later, when Babbie tiptoed up toask if she really meant to waste a glorious afternoon sleeping, and toput the runabout at her service, the room was empty, and Mary turned upagain barely in time for the grand dinner at Cuyler's. 

"We were scared to death for fear you'd forgotten us, " said Madeline, helping her off with her wraps. "Where have you been all this time?"

"Why, dressing, " explained Mary, wearing her most innocent expression. "It takes ages to get into this gown, but it's my best, and I wanted todo honor to your very grand function. "

"That dress was lying on your bed when I stopped for you exactly fifteenminutes ago, " declared Bob triumphantly. "So you'll have to think ofanother likely tale. "

Mary smiled her "beamish" smile. 

"Well, I came just after you'd gone and isn't fourteen minutes to wasteon dressing an age? If you mean where was I before that, why my napwasn't a success, so I went walking, and it was so lovely that Icouldn't bear to come in. These hills are perfectly fascinating afterthe city. "

"You little fraud, " cried Madeline. "You hate walking, and you can't seescenery----"

"As witness the nestle, " put in Katherine. 

"So please tell us who he is, " finished Madeline calmly. 

"The very idea of coming back to see us and then going off fussing withWinsted men!" Babe's tone was solemnly reproachful. 

But Mary was equal to the situation. "I haven't seen a Winsted man sinceI came, " she declared. "I was going to tell you who was with me thisafternoon, but I shan't now, because you've all been so excessively meanand suspicious. " A waitress appeared, and Mary's expression grewsuddenly ecstatic. "Do I see creamed chicken?" she cried. "Girls, Idreamed about Cuyler's creamed chicken every night last week. I was soafraid you wouldn't have it!"

Her appreciation of the dinner was so delightfully whole-hearted thateven Roberta forgave her everything, down to her absurd enthusiasm overa ponderous psychology lecture and the very dull reception that followedit. At the latter, to be sure, Mary acted exactly like her old self, forshe sat in a corner and monopolized Dr. Hinsdale for half an hour by theclock, while her little friends, to quote Katherine Kittredge, "champedtheir bits" in their impatience to capture her and escape to morecongenial regions. 

The next night at the Westcott House dance Mary was again her gay andsportive self. If she was bored, she concealed it admirably, and that inspite of the fact that her little scheme of playing freshman seemeddoomed to failure. Mary had walked out of chapel that morning with thefront row, and, even without the enormous bunch of violets which none ofher senior friends would confess to having sent her, she was not afigure to pass unnoticed. So most of the freshmen on her card recognizedher at once, and the few who did not stoutly refused to be taken in byher innocent references to "our class. "

She had the last dance but one with the sour-faced Miss Butts, who neverrecognized any one; but Mary did not know that, and being rather tiredshe swiftly waltzed her around the hall a few times and then suggestedthat they watch the dance out from the gallery. 

"What class are you?" asked Miss Butts, when they were establishedthere. "My card doesn't say. "

"Doesn't it?" said Mary idly, watching the kaleidoscope of gay colorsmoving dizzily about beneath her. "Then suppose you guess. "

Miss Butts considered ponderously. "You aren't a freshman, " she saidfinally, "nor a sophomore. "

"How are you so sure of that?" asked Mary. "I was just going to say----"

"You're a junior, " announced Miss Butts, calmly disregarding theinterruption. 

Mary shook her head. 

"Senior, then. "

Mary shook her head again. 

"I didn't think you looked old enough for that, " said Miss Butts. "ThenI was mistaken and you're a sophomore. "

"No, " said Mary firmly. 

Miss Butts stared. "Freshman?"

"No, " said Mary, who considered the befooling of Miss Butts beneath her. "I graduated last year. "

"Oh, I don't believe that: I believe you're a freshman after all, "declared Miss Butts. "You started to say you were a few minutes ago. "

"No, I graduated last June, " repeated Mary, a trifle sharply. "Here'sMiss Hildreth coming for my next dance. You can ask her. I'm her guestthis evening. Didn't I graduate last year, Babbie?"

Babbie stared uncomprehendingly for a moment. Then she remembered Mary'splan. 

"Why, you naughty little freshman!" she cried reprovingly. "Have youbeen telling her that?"

Miss Butts looked dazedly from the amused and reproachful Babbie toMary, whose expression was properly cowed and repentant. 

"Are you really a freshman?" she asked. "Why, I don't believe you are. I--I don't know what to believe!"

Mary smiled at her radiantly. "Never mind, " she said, "you'll know thetruth some day. Next fall at about this time I'll invite you to dinner, and then you'll know all about me. Now good-bye. "

Babbie regarded this speech as merely Mary's convenient little way ofgetting rid of the stupid Miss Butts, who for her part promptly forgotall about it. But Mary remembered, and she declared that the sight ofMiss Butts's face on the occasion of that dinner-party, with all itsrather remarkable accessories, was worth many evenings of boredom at"girl dances. "

It was not until Friday, that Mary's "little friends" caught herred-handed, in an escapade that explained everything from the size ofher trunk to the puzzling insouciance of her manner. They all, andparticularly Roberta, had begun to feel a little hurt as the days wentby and Mary indulged in many mysterious absences and made unconvincingexcuses for refusing invitations that, as Katherine Kittredge said, wereenough to turn the head of a crown-princess. Friday, the day that hadbeen reserved for the expedition to Smuggler's Notch, dawned crisp andclear, and some girls who had had dinner at Mrs. Noble's farm the nightbefore brought back glowing reports of the venison her brother had senther from Maine, and the roaring log fire that she built for them in thefireplace of her new dining-room. So Roberta and Madeline hurried overbefore chapel to ask Mary to reconsider. But she was firm in herrefusal. She had waked with a headache. Besides, she had letters towrite and calls to make on her faculty friends and the people she knewin town. 

The embassy returned, disconsolate, and reported its failure. 

"It's just a shame, " said Eleanor. "We've been saving that trip all thefall, so that Mary could go. "

"Let's just go without her, " suggested Katherine rebelliously. "Therecan't be many more nice days. "

But Betty shook her head. "We don't want to hurt her feelings. She's adear, even if she does act queerly this week. Besides, every one of usbut Roberta and Madeline has that written lesson in English 10to-morrow, and we ought to study. I'm scared to death over it. "

"So am I, " agreed Katherine sadly. "I suppose we'd better wait. "

"But we can go walking, " said Madeline to Roberta, and Roberta, morehurt than any of the rest by her idol's strange conduct, silentlyassented. 

They were scuffling gaily through the fallen leaves on an unfrequentedroad through the woods, when they heard a carriage coming swiftly upbehind them and turned to see--of all persons--Mary Brooks, who hateddriving, and Dr. Hinsdale. Mary was talking gaily and looked quitereconciled to her fate, and Dr. Hinsdale was leaving the horses verymuch to themselves in the pleasant absorption of watching Mary's face. Indeed so interested were the pair in each other that they almost passedthe two astonished girls standing by the roadside, without recognizingthem at all. But just as she whirled past, Mary saw them, and leanedback to wave her hand and smile her "beamish" smile at the unwittingdiscoverers of her secret. 

It was dusk and nearly dinner time before Dr. Hinsdale drew his horsesup in front of the house around the corner, but Mary's "little friends"gave up dressing, without a qualm, and even risked missing their soup tosit, lined up in an accusing row on her bed and her window-box, ready togreet her when she stumbled into her dark room and lit her gas. 

"Oh, girls! What a start you gave me!" she cried, suddenly perceivingher visitors. "I suppose you think I'm perfectly horrid, " she went onhastily, "but truly I couldn't help it. When a faculty asks you to godriving, you can't tell him that you hate it--and I couldn't for thelife of me scrape up a previous engagement. "

"Speaking of engagements"--began Madeline provokingly. 

"All's fair in love, Mary, " Katherine broke in. "You're perfectlyexcusable. We all think so. "

"Who said anything about love?" demanded Mary, stooping to brush animaginary speck of dust from her skirt. 

"Next time, " advised Rachel laughingly, "you'd better take us into yourconfidence. You've given yourself a lot of unnecessary bother, and usquite a little worry, though we don't mind that now. "

"Why didn't you tell us that he spent the summer at the same place thatyou did?" asked little Helen Adams. 

Mary started. "Who told you that?" she demanded anxiously. 

"Nobody but Lucile, " explained Betty in soothing tones. "She visitedthere for a week, and this afternoon just by chance she happened tospeak of seeing him. It fitted in beautifully, you see. She doesn't knowyou were there too, so it's all right. "

Mary gave a relieved little sigh, and then, turning suddenly, fell uponthe row of pitiless inquisitors, embracing as many as possible andsmiling benignly at the rest. "Oh, girls, he's a dear, " she said. "He'sworth twenty of the gilded youths you meet out in society. " She drewback hastily. "But we're only good friends, " she declared. "He's beendown a few times to spend Sunday--that was how I heard about thelecture--but he comes to see father as much as to see me--and--and youmustn't gossip. "

"We won't, " Katherine promised for them all. "You can trust us. Wealways seem to have a faculty romance or two on our hands. We'regetting used to it. "

"But it's not a romance, " wailed Mary. "He took me walking and drivingbecause mother asks him to dinner. We're nothing but jolly goodfriends. "

"Nothing but jolly good friends--"

That was the last thing Mary said when, late the next afternoon, her"little friends" waved her off for home. 

"Isn't she just about the last person you'd select for a professor'swife?" said Helen, as Mary's stylish little figure, poised on the rearplatform of the train, swung out of sight around a curve. 

"No, indeed she isn't, " declared Roberta loyally. "She'll be a fine one. She's awfully clever, only she makes people think she isn't, because sheknows how to put on her clothes. "

"And it's one mission of the modern college girl, " announced Madelineoracularly, "to show the people aforesaid that the two things can gotogether. Let's go to Smuggler's Notch Monday to celebrate. "

CHAPTER VI

HELEN ADAMS'S MISSION

The particular mission that Madeline had discovered for the moderncollege girl was one that Helen Chase Adams would never probably do muchto fulfil. But Helen had a mission of her own--the mission of beingqueer. Sometimes she hated it, sometimes she laughed at it, always itseemed to her a very humble one, but she honestly tried to live up toits responsibilities and to make the most of the opportunities itoffered. 

The loneliness of Helen's freshman year had made an indelible impressionon her. Even now that she was a prominent senior, an "Argus" editor, anda valued member of Dramatic Club, she never seemed to herself to"belong" to things as the other girls did. She was still an outsider. Anunexplainable something held her aloof from the easy familiarities ofthe life around her, and made it inevitable that she should be, as shehad been from the first, an observer rather than an actor in the dramaof college life. And from her vantage point of observation she saw manystrange things, and made her own little queer deductions and commentsupon them. 

On a certain gray and gloomy afternoon in November Helen sat alone inthe "Argus" sanctum. She loved that sanctum--the big oak table strewnwith books and magazines, the soft-toned oriental rugs, and theshimmering green curtains between which one could catch enchantingglimpses of Paradise River and the sunsets. She liked it as much as shehated her own bare little room, where the few pretty things that she hadserved only to call attention to the many that she hadn't. But to-dayshe was not thinking about the room or the view. It was "make-up" dayfor the sketch department--Helen's department of the "Argus. " In half anhour she must submit her copy to Miss Raymond for approval--not that theexact hour of the day was specified, but if she waited until nearerdinner-time or until evening Miss Raymond was very likely to be at home, and Helen dreaded, while she enjoyed a personal interview with herdivinity. Curiously enough she was more than ever afraid of MissRaymond since she had been chosen editor of the "Argus. " She was surethat Miss Raymond was responsible for her appointment, but she had nevergotten up courage to thank her, and she was possessed by the fear thatshe was disappointing Miss Raymond in the performance of her officialduties. So she preferred to find Miss Raymond's fascinating sitting-roomvacant when she brought her copy, to drop it swiftly on the tablenearest the door, and stopping only for one look at the enticingprospect of new books heaped on old mahogany, to flee precipitately likea thief in the night. 

The copy for this month was all ready. There was Ruth Howard'smonologue, almost as funny to read as it had been in the telling, next, by way of contrast, a sad little story of neglected childhood by ajunior who had never written anything good before, and a humorous essayon kittens by another junior that nobody had suspected of beingliterary. There was also a verse, or rather two verses; and it was thesethat caused the usually prompt and decisive Helen to hesitate and evento dawdle, wasting a precious afternoon in a futile attempt to squareher conscience and still do as she pleased about those verses. One ofthem was Helen's own. It was good; Miss Raymond had said so withemphasis, and Helen wanted it to go into the "Argus. " She had ratherexpected that Jane Drew would ask for it for the main department of themagazine; but she hadn't, and her copy had gone to Miss Raymond the daybefore. The other verses were also stamped with Miss Raymond's heartiestapproval, and like the rest of the articles that Helen had collected, they were the work of a "nobody. " Helen's vigorous unearthing ofundiscovered talent was a joke with the "Argus" staff, and her own greatpride. But to-day she was not in a benevolent mood. She had refused allthrough the fall to have anything of her own in the "Argus"; she did notbelieve in the editors printing their own work. But these verses weredifferent; she loved them, she wanted people to see them and to knowthat they were hers. 

She had thought of consulting Jane or Marion Lustig, who waseditor-in-chief, but she knew beforehand what either of them would say. "Put in your own verse, silly child! Why didn't you say you'd like itused in the other department? We've got to blow our own horns if we wantthem blown. Use the others next time--or give them back. "

But by next month there might be an embarrassment of good material, andas for giving them back, Jane could do it easily enough, but Helen, being queer, couldn't. For who knew how much getting into the "Argus"might mean to that unknown other girl? Helen had never so much as heardher name before, though she was a sophomore. She had a premonition thatshe was queer too, and lonely and unhappy. The verses were very sad, andsomehow they sounded true. 

"Perhaps she'll be an editor some day, " Helen sighed. "Anyway I'll giveher a chance. "

She put on her coat and gathered up her manuscripts, first folding herown verses and pushing them vindictively into the depths of her ownparticular drawer in the sanctum table. 

When she reached the Davidson she noticed with relief that MissRaymond's windows were dark. She was in time then. But when she knockedon the half-opened door she was taken aback to hear Miss Raymond's voicesaying, "Come in, " out of the shadows. 

"Oh, excuse me!" began Helen in a frightened voice. "I've brought youthe material for the sketch department. Please don't bother about alight. I mustn't stay. "

But Miss Raymond went on lighting the lamp on her big table. As shestood for a moment full in the glare of it, Helen noticed that shelooked worn and tired. 

"I'm very sorry that I disturbed you, " she said sadly. "You wereresting. "

Miss Raymond shook her head. "Not resting. Thinking. Do you like tothink, Miss Adams?"

"Why--yes, I suppose so, " answered Helen doubtfully. "Isn't that whatcollege is supposed to teach us to do?"

"I shouldn't like to guarantee that it would in all cases, " said MissRaymond smilingly. "Has it taught you that?"

"Yes, " said Helen. "I don't mean to be conceited, Miss Raymond, but Ithink it has. "

"And you find it, as I do, rather a deadly delight, " went on MissRaymond, more to herself than to Helen. "And sometimes you wish you hadnever learned. When people tell you sad things, you wish you needn't goover and over them, trying to better them, trying to reason out the whysand wherefores of them, trying to live yourself into the places of thepeople who have to endure them. And when they don't tell you, you haveto piece them out for yourself just the same. " Miss Raymond came sharplyback to the present and held out her hand for Helen's bundle ofmanuscript. 

Helen gave it to her in puzzled silence, and watched her as she lookedrapidly through it. 

"Ruth Howard?" she questioned, when she reached the signature of themonologue. "Do I know her? Oh, a freshman, is she? She sounds verypromising. Ellen Lacey--yes, I remember that story. Cora Wentworth--oh, I'm very glad you've got something of hers. She needs encouragement. Anne Carter--oh, Miss Adams, how did you know?"

"How did I know?" repeated Helen in bewilderment. 

Miss Raymond looked at her keenly. "So you didn't know, " she said. "Itis a mere coincidence that you are going to print her verses. "

"I don't know anything about her, " Helen explained. "I heard you readthe verses in your theme class last week. And at the close of the hour Iasked you to let me have them and several other things. I used thesefirst because I had all the prose I needed for this time. "

"I see, " said Miss Raymond. "Have you told her yet that you want them?"

"No, " said Helen, guiltily. "I was going to write her a note as soon asI got home. I didn't suppose she would care. "

"I presume you noticed that they are very remarkable. "

Helen blushed, thinking how she had hesitated between these and her ownproduction, which she was sure could not be considered at all"remarkable. " "I--well, I went mostly by what you said. I don't believeI am a good judge of poetry--of verses, I mean. "

"You needn't be afraid to call these verses poetry. But I don't blameyou for not fully appreciating them. No girl ought to understand thetragedy of utter defeat, which is their theme. "

Miss Raymond paused, and Helen wondered if she ought to go or stay. 

"Miss Adams, " Miss Raymond went on again presently, "the author of thoseverses was in my room just before you came. She wanted to return a bookthat I lent her early in the term, by way of answering some questionthat she had brought up in my sophomore English class. She says that thebook and the word of appreciation that went with it are the onlykindness for which she has to thank Harding college, and that I am theonly person to whom she cares to say good-bye. I don't know why sheshould except me. I had quite forgotten her. I associated nothingwhatever with the name on those verses until I looked at it again justnow. I considered the tragic note in them merely as a literary triumph. I never thought of the girl behind the tragedy. " She waited a moment. "She's going to leave college, " she went on abruptly. "She says that ayear and a half of it is a fair trial. I couldn't deny that. She saysthat she has made no friends, leaves without one regret or one happymemory. Miss Adams, would you be willing, instead of writing her a note, to tell her personally about this?"

"Why, certainly, " said Helen, "if you think she'd like it better. "

"Yes, I am sure she would. You won't find her at all hard to get onwith. She has a dreadful scar on one cheek, from a cut or a burn, thatgives her face a queer one-sided look. I suspect that may be at thebottom of her unhappiness. "

On the way across the campus Helen had an inspiration, which led her alittle out of her way, to the house where Jane Drew, the literary editorof the "Argus" lived. 

"I'm so relieved that my department is all made up, " she told Janeartfully, "that I feel like celebrating. Won't you meet me at Cuyler'sfor supper?"

Jane promised, a good deal surprised, for Helen was not in the habit ofasking her to supper at Cuyler's; and Helen, after arranging to meet herguest down-town, hurried on to the address that Miss Raymond had givenher, one of the most desirable of the off-campus houses. 

Miss Carter was in, the maid said, and a moment later she appeared tospeak for herself. She flushed with embarrassment when she saw Helen, and her dreadful, disfiguring scar showed all the more plainly on herreddened cheek. 

"Oh, I supposed it was the woman with my washing, " she said. "I don'thave many calls. You must excuse this messy shirt waist. Please sitdown. "

"Won't you take me up to your room?" asked Helen, trying to think howBetty Wales would have put the other girl at her ease. "We can talk somuch better there. "

Miss Carter hesitated. "Why, certainly, if you prefer. It's in greatconfusion. I'm packing, or getting ready to pack, rather, " and she ledthe way up-stairs to a big room that, even in its half-dismantledcondition, looked singularly attractive and quite different somehow fromthe regulation college room. 

"I have a dreadful confession to make, " said Helen gaily, when they wereseated. 

"I've taken your verses for the 'Argus. ' I've already sent them in toMiss Raymond, and now I've come to ask if you are willing. I do hope youare. "

"Why certainly, " said Miss Carter quietly. "You are perfectly welcome tothem of course. You needn't have taken the trouble to come away up hereto ask. "

Then she relapsed into silence. Helen could not tell whether she waspleased or not. She had an uncomfortable feeling that she was beingdismissed; but she did not go. Never in her life had she worked so hardto make conversation as she did in the next ten minutes. The "Argus, "the new chapel rules, Miss Raymond and her theme classes, the sophomoreelections, --none of them evoked a responsive chord in the strange girlwho sat impassive, with no thought apparently of her social duties andresponsibilities. 

"She must think I don't know how to take a hint, " reflected Helen, "butI don't care. I'm going to keep on trying. "

Presently she noticed that from Miss Carter's window could be seen Mrs. Chapin's house and the windows of her and Betty's old room. 

"That was where I lived when I first came to Harding, " she beganawkwardly, pointing them out. Then she looked at the girl opposite, readthe misery in her big gray eyes, and opened her heart. Betty Wales, whohad worked so hard to get at a little of the story of Helen's freshmanyear would have been amazed at the confidences she poured out so freelyto this stranger. Indeed Helen was surprised herself at the ease withwhich she spoke and the dramatic quality that she managed to put intoher brief account of the awkward, misfit, unhappy freshman. 

Miss Carter listened at first apathetically, then with growing interest. 

"Thank you, " she said gravely, when Helen had finished. "I thought I wasthe only one who felt so. "

"Oh, no, you aren't, " said Helen brightly. "There are lots of others, Iguess. "

"No one with a thing like this, " said the girl, with a swift, passionategesture toward her scar. 

"Don't, " said Helen gently. "Please don't think about it. No one elsedoes, I'm sure. "

"I got it just before I came here, " went on the girl, speaking almostfiercely. "It came in a horrible way, but it's horrible just of itself. I entered Harding because I thought the college life--the girls and thegood times and the work--would help me to forget it--or to get used tobeing so ugly. "

Helen considered a moment in silence. "I guess we're even more alikethan I thought, " she said at last. "We both expected college to do itall for us, while we--just sat. But I can tell you--do you playbasket-ball? Anyhow you've seen it played. Well, you've got to keep youreye on the ball, and then you've got to jump--hard. Have you noticedthat?"

Miss Carter laughed happily at Helen's whimsical comparison. "No, " shesaid, "I've never been much interested in basket-ball. I'm afraid I've'just sat' or jumped the wrong way. "

Helen considered again, her small face wrinkled with the intensity ofher thought. "You mean you've jumped away from the very things you weretrying to get hold of, " she said. "You've expected things to come toyou. They won't. You've got to do your part. You've got to jump veryoften, and as if you meant it. "

The girl nodded. "I see. "

"You can do one thing right away, " said Helen briskly, rising andbuttoning her coat. "Do you know Jane Drew? Well, she's an awfullyclever senior and an editor. She's going to have dinner with me atCuyler's, and I'd like you to come too. You see one of the things youhave jumped into already is being a star contributor to the 'Argus, ' andwe always want to meet our star contributors. "

Miss Carter hesitated. 

"Never mind your waist, " Helen urged tactfully. "It looks perfectlyfresh to me, but you can keep your coat on if you'd rather. "

"All right, I'll come, " said Miss Carter bravely. 

And having yielded, she kept to the spirit, as well as the letter, ofher promise. Jane, who was a very matter-of-fact young person, treatedher with the same off-hand cordiality that she would have bestowed onany other chance acquaintance with interesting possibilities. The girlswho stopped at the table to speak to Jane or Helen, smiled and noddedaffably when they were introduced. Some of them stared a little, at theunusual combination of two prominent seniors and an obscureunderclassman, but Miss Carter did not flinch. After dinner, when Janehad gone to speak to some friends at another table, she leaned forwardtoward her hostess. "I want to thank you, " she said shyly, "for tellingme about yourself and for bringing me here. Do you know, I was going toleave college, but I'm not now. I'm going to stay on--and try jumping, "she ended quickly as Jane reappeared. 

So Helen felt that her dinner had been a success, even though she shouldhave to borrow largely from her next month's meagre allowance to pay forit. 

On her way through the campus she met Miss Raymond, hurrying to meet animportant engagement. But she stopped to inquire about Miss Carter. 

"I knew you'd manage it, " she said, when she had heard Helen's briefstory of her adventures. "You're a person of resources. That's why wewanted you on the 'Argus' board. "

Helen fairly danced the rest of the way to the Belden. "Perhaps I shan'tbe afraid of her next time, " she thought. "I'd rather she'd say thatthan have sixty verses in the 'Argus. ' Oh, what a selfish pig I wastrying to be! I don't deserve to have it all come out so beautifully. And--oh, dear, I'm late for the meeting of the house play committee, andBetty said it was awfully important. "

She found the committee in riotous and jubilant session in Madeline'sroom. 

"Three cheers for Sara Crewe!" shrieked Polly Eastman, when Helenappeared. 

"Goodness, I'm not Sara, " gasped Helen. 

"Oh, I mean the play, not the character, " explained Polly impatiently. "It's going to be simply great. What do you suppose we've got now, Helen?"

"I don't know, " said Helen, sitting down on the floor, since the bed andall the chairs were fully occupied. 

"Well guess, " commanded Polly, tossing her a cushion. 

"A lot of Turkish-looking things for Mr. Carrisford's study. "

"Nonsense! We can get those all right when the time comes. "

"Josephine Boyd has learned her part. "

"Then she's done a tall lot of work on it since last rehearsal, " saidPolly serenely. "I'm sure I hope she has, but this is something anyamount nicer. "

"Then I give up. "

"Well, it's a monkey, " cried Polly triumphantly, "a real live monkeythat belongs to a hand-organ man in Boston. The Italian bootblack at thestation knows him, and--did he promise fair and square to get them uphere, Lucile?"

"Fair and square, " repeated Lucile promptly. "I said we'd give him fivedollars and his fare up from Boston. It's well worth it. A cat wouldhave been too absurd when everybody knows the story. "

"I hope Sara won't mind carrying a live monkey across the stage, " saidBetty. "I should be dreadfully afraid it would bite. "

"She ought to have thought of that when she took the part, " saidMadeline. "She can't flunk now. "

"Let's hurry it through and have the organ-man play for a danceafterward, " suggested the ingenious Georgia Ames. "He'd surely throwthat in for the five dollars. "

"Better have him play between the acts too, " put in somebody else. "There's nothing like getting your money's worth. "

"And we'll pay him all in pennies, " added Polly gleefully. "We can taketurns handing them out to the monkey. How many pennies will there be infive dollars and a fare from Boston, Lucile?"

Helen listened to their gay banter, wondering, as many thoughtful peoplehave wondered before her, at the light-hearted abandon of these othergirls. "It must be fun to be like that, " she reflected, "but I don'tbelieve I should want to change places with any of them. They only seetheir own little piece of things, and they don't even know it'slittle, --like the man who didn't know anything about the forest he waswalking through, because he got so interested in the trees. My tree isjust a scraggly, crooked little sapling that won't ever amount to much, but I can see the whole big forest, and hear it talk, and that makesup. I'm glad I'm one of the kind that college teaches to think, " endedHelen happily. 

A moment later she made an addendum. "Betty Wales is a kind by herself, "she decided. "She doesn't exactly think, but she knows. And she's reallyresponsible for to-day. I wish I could tell her about it. "

CHAPTER VII

ROBERTA "ARRIVES"

It was dress rehearsal night for the Belden House play, and the hall inthe Students' Building, where the big house-plays are performed was thescene of a tremendous bustle and excitement. The play was to be "SaraCrewe, " or rather "The Little Princess, " for that is the title of theregular stage version of Mrs. Burnett's story which the Belden House wasgiving by the special permission of the Princess herself. The prettyyoung actress who had "created" the part was a friend of Madeline'sfather, and Madeline, being on the committee to choose a play, declaredthat she was tired to death of seeing the girls do Sheridan andGoldsmith and the regulation sort of modern farce, and boldly wrote tothe Princess for permission to act her play, because it seemed soexactly suited to the capabilities of college girls. The Princess hadnot only said yes, but she had declared that she should be very muchinterested in the success of the play, and when Madeline, writing tothank her, had suggested that the Belden House would be only toodelighted if she came up to see their performance, she had acceptedtheir invitation with enthusiasm. Of course the committee and the castwere exceedingly flattered, but they were also exceedingly frightenedand nervous, and even the glorious promise of a live monkey, with ahand-organ man thrown in, did not wholly reassure them. 

To-night everything seemed to be at sixes and sevens. Though most of thecommittee had toiled over it all the afternoon, the stage resembledpandemonium rather than the schoolroom of Miss Minchen's SelectSeminary, which was to be the scene of the first act. The committee weretired and, to speak frankly, cross, with the exception of Madeline, whowas provokingly cool and nonchalant, though she had worked harder thanany one else. The cast were infected with that irresponsible hilaritythat always attacks an amateur company at their last rehearsal. Theydanced about the stage, getting in the way of the committee, shriekingwith laughter at their first glimpses of one another's costumes, andmaking flippant suggestions for all sorts of absurd and impossibleimprovements. 

Meanwhile, regardless of the fact that the rehearsal ought to have begunhalf an hour before, the committee and Mr. Carrisford's three Hinduservants were holding a solemn conclave at the back of the stage. Thechef-d'oeuvre of their scenic effects was refusing to work; thebagdads that were to descend as if by Hindu magic and cover the barewalls of Sara's little attic bedroom when the good fairies, in the guiseof the aforesaid servants, effected its transformation in the secondact. There weren't enough of the draperies for one thing, and some ofthem wouldn't unroll quickly, while others threatened to tumble down onthe servants' devoted heads. 

"Well, we'll just have to let them go for to-night, " said Nita Reesedejectedly at last. She was chairman of the committee. "To-morrow we'llfix them all up again, the way Madeline says is right, and you threemust come over and do that part of the scene again. Is everybody ready?"

"Miss Amelia Minchen isn't, " said Betty, "She just came in carrying hercostume. "

"Then go and help her hurry into it, " commanded Nita peremptorily. "Madeline, will you fix Ram Dass's turban? He's untwisted it again ofcourse. Georgie Ames, line up the Seminary girls and the Carmichaelchildren, and see whether any of their skirts are too long. Take themdown on the floor. Everybody off the stage, please, but thescene-shifters. "

"Oh, Nita, " cried Polly Eastman, who had just come in, rushingbreathlessly up to the distracted chairman, "I'm so sorry to be late, but some people that I couldn't refuse asked me down-town to dinner. Iate and ran, really I did. And Nita, what do you think----"

"I'm much too tired to think, " returned Nita, wearily. "What's happenednow?"

"Why, nothing has actually happened, only I was at the station thisafternoon, and I asked the shoe-shine man about the monkey, and hehasn't heard, but he told the organ-man that the play began at half-pasteight, and all the trains have been horribly late to-day, so if he shouldplan to get in on the eight-fifteen----"

"Have him telegraph that it begins at six, " said Nita, firmly. "Go andsee to it now. "

"Why, I did tell him to, " said Polly, sighing at the prospect of goingout again. "Only he's so irresponsible that I think we ought todecide----"

"Go and stand over him while he telegraphs, " said Nita with finality. "We can't understudy a monkey. Josephine Boyd, come here and go throughyour long speech. I want to be sure that you get it right. It didn'tmake sense the way you said it yesterday. "

"Oh, Nita. " It was Lucile Merrifield holding out a yellow envelope. 

Nita clutched it frantically. "Perhaps she's not coming. Wouldn't I berelieved!"

"It's not a telegram, " explained Lucile, gently, "only the proof of theprograms that the printer has taken this opportune moment to send up. The boy says if you could look at it right off, why, he could wait andtake it back. They want it the first thing in the morning. "

"Give it to Helen Adams, " said Nita, turning back to Josephine. "She canmark proof. Go on Josephine, I'm listening, and don't stop again foranybody. "

Josephine, who was the father of the large and irrepressible Carmichaelfamily, had just finished declaiming her longest speech withpraiseworthy regard for its meaning, when somebody called out, "Ermengarde St. John isn't here yet. "

Nita sank down in Miss Amelia Minchen's armchair with a little moan ofdespair. "Somebody go and get her, " she said. "Betty Wales, you'd bettergo. You can dress people fastest. "

It seemed to Betty, as she hurried down-stairs and over to the Belden, that she had toiled along the same route, laden with screens, rugs andcouch-covers, at least a hundred times that afternoon. She was tired andexasperated at this final hitch, and she burst into the room of the fatfreshman who had Ermengarde's part with scant ceremony. What was heramazement to find it quite empty. 

"Oh, she can't have forgotten and gone off somewhere!" wailed Betty. "Why, every one was talking about the rehearsal at dinner time. "

The cast and committee included so many members of the house that it wasalmost depopulated, and none of the few girls whom Betty could find knewanything about the missing Ermengarde. 

"I must have passed her on the way here, " Betty decided at last, andrushed down-stairs again. As she went by the matron's door she almostran into that lady, hurrying out. 

"Oh, I beg your pardon, Mrs. Kent, " she said. "You haven't seenErmengarde--that is, I mean Janet Kirk, have you?"

"No, not yet, " said Mrs. Kent briskly. "I only heard about it fiveminutes ago. I'm just getting ready now to go up and take the poor childsome things she's sent for. "

"But she isn't in her room, " said Betty, bewildered but certain thatMrs. Kent's apparent affection for the irresponsible Janet was veryill-bestowed. 

"Of course not, my dear, " returned Mrs. Kent, serenely. "She's at theinfirmary with a badly sprained ankle. She'll have to keep off it for amonth at least, the doctor says. "

[Illustration: "OH, I BEG YOUR PARDON"]

"Oh, Mrs. Kent!" wailed Betty. "And she's Ermengarde St. John in thehouse-play. What can we do?"

Mrs. Kent shook her head helplessly. "You'll have to do without Janet, "she said. "That's certain. She was on her way home to dinner when sheslipped on a piece of ice near the campus-gate. She lay there severalminutes before any one saw her, and then luckily Dr. Trench came alongand drove her straight to the infirmary. She fainted while they werebandaging her ankle. "

"I'm very sorry, " said Betty, her vision of a possible hasty recoverydispelled by the last sentence. After a moment's hesitation she decidednot to go back to the Students' Building to consult Nita. It would bebetter to bring some one over from the house to read the part forto-night. It was important, but luckily it wasn't very long, andsomebody would have to learn it in time for the play the next evening. 

So she hurried up-stairs again and the first person she met was RobertaLewis, marching down the corridor with a huge Greek dictionary under herarm. 

"Put that book down, Roberta; and come over to the rehearsal, "commanded Betty. "Ermengarde St. John has sprained her ankle, and goneto the infirmary and everybody's waiting. "

"You mean that you want me to go and get her?" asked Roberta doubtfully. "Because I think it would take two people to help her walk, if she'svery lame. She's awfully fat, you know. "

"We want you to read Janet's part, " explained Betty, "just for to-night, until the committee can find some one to take it. " And she gave a littlemore explicit account of the state of affairs at the rehearsal. 

"Yes, indeed, I'll be glad to, " said Roberta readily. She was secretlydelighted to be furnished with an excuse for seeing the dress rehearsal. She had longed with all her soul to be appointed a member of theplay-committee, but of course the house-president had not put her on;she was the last person, so the president thought, who would be usefulthere. And Roberta could not screw her courage up to the point of tryingfor a place in the cast. So no one knew, since she had never told anyone, that she thought acting the most interesting thing in the worldand that she loved to act, in spite of the terrors of having anaudience. But she had let slip her one chance--the offer of a part inMary's famous melodrama away back in her freshman year--and she hadnever had another. 

And now, because she was Roberta Lewis, proud and shy and dreadfullyafraid of pushing in where she wasn't wanted, she did not think itnecessary to mention to Betty that she had borrowed a copy of the playfrom little Ruth Howard, who was Sara, and that she had read it overuntil she knew almost every line of it by heart. 

Of course the committee were thrown into a state bordering upon panic bythe news of Janet's accident, but Madeline comfortingly reminded themthat the worse the last rehearsal was, the better the play was sure tobe; and there was certainly nothing to do now but go ahead. 

So they began to rehearse at last, almost an hour late, and the firstact went off with great spirit, in spite of the handicap of a strangeErmengarde, who had to read her part because she was ashamed to confessthat she knew it already, and who was supposed not to be familiar withher "stage business. " To be sure, she had not very much to do in thisscene, but at the end everybody thanked her effusively and Ruth Howarddeclared that she never saw anybody who "caught on" so fast. 

"You ought to take the part to-morrow night, " she said. 

"Oh, oh!" Roberta cautioned her, in alarm and embarrassment. "They'regoing to have Polly Eastman. I heard Nita say so. Besides, I wouldn'tfor anything. "

Ermengarde's chance comes in the second act, where, half in pity andhalf in admiration for the queer little Sara Crewe, she comes up to makefriends with her, and, finding to her horror that Sara is actuallyhungry, decides to bring her "spread" up to Sara's attic. There, later, the terrible Miss Minchen finds her select pupils gathered, andwrathfully puts an end to their merry-making. 

At the opening of this scene the attic was supposed to be lighted by onesmall candle, and consequently the stage was very dim. 

"I don't believe Roberta can manage with that light, " whispered Nita toBetty who was standing with her in one of the wings. 

"Don't let's change unless we have to, " Betty whispered back. "You knowwe wanted to get the effect of Miss Minchen's curl papers and night-cap. Why, Nita, Roberta hasn't any book. She's saying her part right off. "

"No!" Nita was incredulous. "Why, Betty Wales, she is, and she's doingit splendidly, fifty per cent, better than Janet did. "

Sure enough Roberta, becoming engrossed in the play, had forgotten toconceal her unwarranted knowledge of it. She realized what she had donewhen a burst of applause greeted her exit, and actors and committeealike forgot the proprieties of a last rehearsal to make a unitedassault upon her. 

"Roberta Lewis, " cried Betty accusingly, "why didn't you tell me thatyou knew Ermengarde's part?"

"Oh, I don't know it, " protested Roberta. "I only know snatches of ithere and there. Polly can learn it in no time. "

"She won't have the chance, " said Nita decisively. "You must take it, Roberta. Why didn't you tell people that you could act like that?"

"I shall have stage-fright and spoil everything, " declared Robertaforlornly. 

"Nonsense, " said Nita. "You'd be ashamed to do anything of the kind. "

"Yes, " agreed Roberta solemnly, "I should. " Whereupon everybody laughed, and Nita hugged Roberta and assured her that there was no way out of it. 

"Somebody go and get Janet's costume, " she ordered, "and any one who hasa spare minute can be fitting it over. We shall have to have an extrarehearsal to-morrow of the parts where Ermengarde comes in. Go on now, Sara. Use Lucile's muff for the monkey. "

When at last act three was finished it was ten o'clock and Nita gave asigh of utter exhaustion. "If Madeline's rule holds, " she said, "thisplay ought to go like clockwork to-morrow. "

And it did, despite the rather dubious tone of the chairman's prophecy. The Princess arrived duly just after luncheon, and everybody except thecast, who would do their share later, helped to entertain her. This wasnot difficult. She wasn't a college girl, she explained, and she hadnever known many of them. She just wanted to hear them talk, see theirrooms, and if it wasn't too much trouble she should enjoy looking on ata game of--what was it they played so much at Harding? Basket-ball, somebody prompted. Yes, that was it. The sophomore teams which had justbeen chosen were proud to play a game for her, and they even suggested, fired by her responsive enthusiasm, that they should teach her to playtoo. 

"I should love it, " she said, "if somebody would lend me one of thosebecoming suits. But I mustn't. " She sighed. "The newspapers would besure to get hold of it. Besides they're giving a tea for me at theBelden. It begins in five minutes. Doesn't time just fly at Harding?"

The monkey also arrived in good season, whether thanks to or in spite ofPolly's exertions was not clear, since his master spoke no English andnot even Madeline could understand his Italian. The bagdads workedbeautifully. The new Ermengarde was letter-perfect, and nobody butherself had any fear that she would be stage-struck, even though thePrincess would be sitting in the very middle of the fourth row. Janet'sname was still on the program, for Roberta had sternly insisted that itshouldn't be crossed out; and as neither of the two Ermengardes was verywell known to the college in general, only a few people noticed thechange. But the part made a hit. 

"Isn't she just like some little girl who used to go to school withyou--that funny, stupid Ermengarde?" one girl would say to another. "They're all natural, but she's absolutely perfect. "

"Sara's a dear, " said the Princess, "but I want to talk to Ermengarde. Mayn't I go behind? We actor people always like to do that, you know. "

So she was escorted behind the scenes, and it was the proudest moment ofRoberta's life when the Princess, having asked particularly for her, said all sorts of nice things about her "real talent" and "artisticmethods. "

"That settles it, Roberta, " said Betty, who was behind the scenes in hercapacity of chief dressing-maid and first assistant to the make-up man. "You've got to try for senior dramatics. "

"Do you really think I could get a part?" asked Roberta coolly. 

"I think you might, " said Betty, amazed beyond words by Roberta's readyacquiescence. "You probably won't get anything big, " she addedcautiously. "There are such a lot of people in our class who can act. But the girls say that the only way to get a small part is to try for abig one. Don't you remember how Mary Brooks tried for the hero and theheroine and the villain and then was proud as a peacock to be a page andsay two lines, and Dr. Brooks and her mother and two aunts and sixcousins came to see her do it. "

"Dear me, " said Roberta in frightened tones, "do you suppose my fatherand my cousin will feel obliged to come?"

"I don't know, " laughed Betty, "but I feel obliged to remind you thatthe third act of Sara Crewe is on and you belong out there where you canhear your cue. "

"I hope Roberta won't be disappointed about getting a part in the seniorplay, " Betty confided to Madeline, as they parted afterward in theBelden House hall. "She did awfully well to-night, but I think she takesit too seriously. She doesn't realize what tremendous competition thereis for the parts in our plays, nor what lots of practice some of thegirls have had. "

"Oh, I wouldn't worry, " said Madeline easily. "If she doesn't getanything, she'll have to do without. She'll have plenty of company. Sheprobably won't try when the time comes. "

"Yes, " said Betty, "she will, and she's so sensitive that she'll hateterribly to fail. So, as I started her on her mad career as an actress, I feel responsible. "

"You always feel responsible for something, " laughed Madeline. "Whileyou're in the business why don't you remember that you're responsiblefor a nice little slice of to-night's performance. Miss Ferris says it'sthe best house-play she's seen. "

"I know. Isn't it just splendid?" sighed Betty rapturously. "And isn'tthe Princess a dear? But Madeline, you haven't any idea how my feetache. "

CHAPTER VIII

THE GREATEST TOY-SHOP ON EARTH

"No, " said Betty, "I haven't found it, and now I'm almost sure I shan't, because Nita's lost hers. "

"What has Nita lost?" asked Madeline from her nest of pillows. It wasthe evening after the play, and the Belden House felt justified intaking life easily. "She lost her head last night, " chuckled Madeline, without waiting for Betty's answer. "Did you hear her imploring theorgan-man in her most classic English not to let me take the monkey outin front to show to the President? As if I really would!"

"You've done just as crazy things in your time, dear, " retortedKatherine Kittredge, who had come over to borrow one of Betty'snotebooks and had found the atmosphere of elegant leisure that pervadedthe room irresistible. 

"Do you really think so?" asked Madeline amiably. "Well, before we gointo that I want to know what else Nita has lost. "

"Why, a pin, " explained Betty, --"that lovely one with the amethyst inthe centre and the ring of little pearls in a quaint old setting. Itused to be her great-grandmother's. Mine wasn't much to lose, and I feltsure until to-day that it would turn up, but it hasn't, and now I'mafraid it was really stolen. "

"Have you looked all through that?" asked Madeline, pointing to themiscellaneous assortment of books, papers, dance-cards and bric-a-bracthat littered Betty's small desk to the point of positive inundation. 

Betty assented with dignity. "And I haven't had time since to put itback in the pigeon-holes. When Nita told me about her pin, I got worriedabout mine--mother gave it to me and I couldn't bear to lose it forgood--so I went through my desk and all my drawers and it wassweeping-day, so I asked Belden House Annie to look too. It's not here. "

"Is Nita sure hers was stolen?" asked Katherine. 

Betty nodded. "As sure as she can be without actually seeing it taken. She left it on her cushion yesterday when she came down to luncheon, andwhen she got back from physics lab, it was gone. "

"What a shame!" said Madeline. "She ought to tell Mrs. Kent right away. I should strongly suspect the new table-girl. "

"Oh, but she's a cousin of Belden House Annie's, " explained Betty, "andI'm sure Annie would look after her. We all know that she's as honest asthe day herself, and all the other maids have been here for years andyears. "

"It's queer, " said Katherine, "if it was an outsider--a more or lessprofessional thief, I mean--that he or she should come to this housetwice, several weeks apart, and each time take so little. If it was acollege girl now----"

"Oh, don't, Katherine, " begged Betty. "I can't bear to think that anyHarding girl would do such a thing. I'd ten times rather never know whoit was than to find it was that way. "

Just then the B's appeared airily attired in kimonos concealed underrain-coats, and laden with a huge pan of marshmallow fudge, which theyhad made, they explained, in honor of Roberta's successful début. 

"What are you all looking so solemn about?" demanded Bob, when Babbiehad gone in search of Roberta. 

Betty told her, and Babe and Bob exchanged glances. 

"It's not necessarily any one in this house who's responsible, I guess, "said Babe. "Babbie's lost a valuable pin too, and Geraldine Burdett haslost a ring. Oh, about two weeks ago Gerry's was taken, and Babbie'sbefore that. They've been keeping dark and trying to get up a clue, butthey can't. They'll be all off when they hear about these otherrobberies. "

"There was one awfully queer thing about Babbie's thief, " put in Bob. "Her little gold-linked purse was on the chiffonier right beside her pinand it wasn't touched, though it was just stuffed with bills. That makesthem afraid it was some girl who's awfully fond of jewelry and can'tafford any. "

"It isn't right to leave our lovely things around so, is it?" said Bettyseriously. "It's just putting temptation in the way of poor girls. "

"Exactly, " agreed Madeline. "We go off for hours, never locking upanything, leaving our money and other valuables in plain sight, and ifwe do miss anything we can't be sure it's stolen and we don't have timeto investigate for weeks after. It's a positive invitation todishonesty. "

"But it's such a nuisance to lock up, " complained Babe, "and if I hidethings I can't ever find them again, so I might as well not bother. "

"I haven't any golden baubles, " said Bob, "but I'm going to keep mymoney in 'Love's Labor Lost. ' You'll find it there if you ever want toborrow. "

"'Much Ado about Nothing' would be the most appropriate place for mine, "laughed Katherine, "so I choose that. You probably won't find any if youwant to borrow. "

"But seriously, girls, let's all be more careful, " advised Betty, "andlet's ask other people to be. Think how perfectly awful it is to makechances for girls to forget themselves. But I shan't believe it's aHarding girl, " she added decisively. "It would be perfectly easy forany dishonest young woman to go through the houses without beingquestioned. Perhaps she got frightened and didn't notice Babbie's moneyon that account or didn't have time to snatch up anything but the pin. "

Just then Babbie appeared, bringing Roberta and Rachel Morrison who hadmet them in the hall, and in the general attack upon the fudge pan moreserious issues were forgotten. 

It was now the busiest, gayest part of the long fall term. Flying faston the heels of the house play came Thanksgiving Day. 

"And just to think of it!" wailed Bob. "Only two days vacation thisyear, and Miss Stuart and the president dropping the most awful hintsabout what will happen if you cut over. Nobody can go home. I hope thefaculty will all eat too much and have horrible attacks of indigestion. "

"Well, we may as well have as much fun as we can out of it, " said Babbiephilosophically. "I've written home for a spread; so we shan't die ofhunger. "

"Mrs. Kent says she's going to give us the best Thanksgiving dinner weever ate, " announced Betty cheerfully. 

"I hope our matron will be seized with the same lofty ambition, " saidKatherine. "If she is, and if the skating holds, I shan't mind stayinghere. "

"Weren't you going to stay anyway?" asked Helen Adams. 

"Being a resident of the remote village of Kankakee, Illinois, and nothaving been urged to visit any of my Eastern friends, I was, " admittedKatherine, solemnly, "but that doesn't make it any the nicer to have towork all day Saturday. "

The skating did last, and the man at the rink, being taken in hand bythe B's, sympathized heartily with their wrongs, and promised them athree days' ice carnival, which meant search-lights, bonfires and a bigband on the ice every evening. There is nothing in the world moreexhilarating than skating to good music. The rink was thronged withHarding girls and Winsted men, and the proprietor could not easilyregard himself as a bona fide philanthropist. 

The paper-chase, to get up an appetite on Thanksgiving morning, wasKatherine Kittredge's idea and the basket-ball game in the afternoonbetween the Thanksgiving Dinners and the Training Tables was toofantastic to have originated with any one but Madeline Ayres. 

Georgia Ames, dressed as a huge turkey gobbler, captained theThanksgiving Dinners, who were gotten up as bunches of celery and moundsof cranberry jelly. The captain of the Training Table simulated a bigbottle labeled "Pure Spring Water, " and the members of her team weretastefully trimmed with slices of dry bread. Being somewhat lessspectacular than their rivals, they were a little more agile and theywon the game, which was so funny that it sent two of the faculty intohysterics. 

"And that's almost as bad as indigestion, " said Babe, who was a bunch ofcelery. At least she had been one until she came into collision with thewater bottle and lost most of her trimmings. 

It was really the Thanksgiving game that precipitated the plans for thesenior entertainment for the library fund. The fire the year before hadnot only damaged the library considerably, but it had brought itsshortcomings and the absurdly small number of its volumes, compared withthe rapidly increasing number of the girls who used them, to theattention of the public. Somebody had offered fifty thousand dollars fora library fund provided the college raised an equal amount. The alumnæwere trying to get the money, and because they had helped theundergraduates with their beloved Students' Building, they wanted theundergraduates to help them now. 

On the very evening of the game Marie Howard, the senior president, caught Madeline on the way to Babbie's spread and laid the matter beforeher. 

"The alums want us to subscribe to the fund, " she explained, "and thenthey think each class ought to give an entertainment. Not a bit nervy, are they? Well, of course 19-- has got to take the lead, and I've fairlyracked my brains to think what we can do. Now it's no trouble to you tohave lovely, comical ideas, and if you'll only help me out with thisentertainment, I'll be your friend for life. "

"Why don't you appoint a committee to take charge of it?" inquiredMadeline, serenely. 

Marie gave her a mournful look. "I suppose you think I haven't tried. The girls are all willing to help, but they insist upon having the ideato start with. I know you hate committees, Madeline, and I'm not askingyou to be on one--"

"You'd better not, " interpolated Madeline, darkly, remembering thedrudgery she had submitted to to make the Belden House play a success. 

"Just think up the idea, " Marie went on, persuasively, "and I'll make acommittee do the rest. I don't care what we have, so long as it's newand taking--the sort of thing that you always seem to have in your head. That's what we want. Plays and lectures are too commonplace. "

"Marie, " said Madeline, laughingly, "you talk as if ideas were cabbagesand my head was a large garden. I can't produce ideas to order any morethan the rest of you can. But if I should think of anything, I'll letyou know. "

"Thank you, " said Marie, sweetly, and went back to her room, where shegave vent to some forcible remarks about the "exasperatingness" ofclever people who won't let themselves be pinned down to anything. 

It was Betty Wales who, dancing into Madeline's room the next afternoon, gave, not Madeline, but Eleanor Watson, --who had been having tea withMadeline and listening to her absurd version of Marie's request, --aninspiration. 

"I wish it wasn't babyish to like toys, " she sighed. "I've beendown-town with Bob, and they've opened a big toy-shop in the store nextCuyler's, just for the holidays, I suppose. Bob got a Teddy bear, and Ibought this box of fascinating little Japanese tops for my baby sister. They're all like different kinds of fruit and you spin them likepennies, without a string. I just love toy-stores. "

"So do I. So does everybody, " said Madeline, oracularly, clearing aplace on the polished tea-table and emptying out the miniature tops. "They renew your youth. Let's get all these things to spinning at once, Betty. "

"Why don't you have a toy-shop for your senior entertainment?" askedEleanor, watching the two absorbed faces. 

"How do you mean?" asked Madeline, absently, trying to make the purpleplum she was manipulating stay upright longer than Betty's peach. 

"Why, with live toys, something on the plan of the circus that you andMary got up away back in sophomore year, " explained Eleanor. "I shouldthink you might work it up beautifully. "

Madeline stared at her for a moment, her eyes half-closed. "Eleanor, "she declared at last, "you're a genius. We could. I can fairly see myfriends turning into toys. You and Betty and the rest of the classbeauties are French dolls of course. Helen Adams would make a perfectjumping-jack--she naturally jerks along just like one. "

"And Bob can be a jack-in-the-box, " cried Betty eagerly, gettingMadeline's idea. 

"Or a monkey that climbs a rope, " suggested Eleanor. "Don't you thinkBabe would pop out of a box better?"

"And that fat Miss Austin will be just the thing for a top, " put inMadeline. "We can ask five cents for a turn at making her spin. " AndMadeline twirled the purple plum vigorously, in joyous anticipation oftaking a turn at Miss Austin. 

"Then there could be a counter of stuffed animals, " suggested Eleanor, "with Emily Davis to show them off. "

"Easily, " agreed Madeline, "and a Noah's ark, if we want it, and a Punchand Judy show. Oh, there's no end to the things we can have! Let's goover and tell Marie about it before dinner. "

"You and Betty go, " objected Eleanor. "I really haven't time. "

"Nonsense, " said Madeline firmly. "It's long after five now, and--Eleanor Watson, are you trying to crawl out of yourresponsibilities? It was you that thought of this affair, remember. "

"Please don't try to drag me in, " begged Eleanor. "I'll be a doll, ifyou like, or anything else that you can see me turning into. But Mariedidn't ask me to suggest, and she might feel embarrassed and obliged toask me to be on the committee, and--please don't try to drag me in, Madeline. "

Madeline looked at her keenly, for a moment. "Eleanor Watson, " she begansternly, "you're thinking about last fall. Don't you know that thatstupid girl didn't stand for anybody but her own stupid self?"

"She was in the right, " said Eleanor simply. 

"Not wholly, " objected Madeline, "and if she was this isn't a parallelcase. In making you toastmistress 19-- was supposed to be doing you anhonor. You're doing her a favor now, and a good big one. "

"And if we tell Marie about the toy-shop, we shall tell her that youthought of it, " put in Betty firmly. 

"And we shall also say that you hate committee meetings as much as Ido, " put in Madeline artfully, "but that we are both willing to help inany way that we can with ideas and costumes. "

Eleanor looked pleadingly from one to the other. 

"We won't give in, " declared Betty, "so it's no use to make eyes at uslike that. "

"Either we suppress the whole idea and 19-- goes begging for another, orit stands as yours, " said Madeline in adamant tones. 

"Well, then, of course, " began Eleanor slowly at last. 

"Of course, " laughed Betty, jumping up to hug her. "I knew you'd see itsensibly in a minute. Come on, Madeline. We haven't any time to lose. "

"Do you remember what she was like two years ago, Betty?" asked Madelinethoughtfully when Eleanor had left them, persisting that she really hadan engagement before dinner. 

"I even remember what she was like three years ago, " laughed Bettyhappily. 

"Fancy her giving up a chance like this then!" mused Madeline. "Fancyher contributing ideas to the public good and trying to escape takingthe credit for them. Why, Betty, she's a different person. "

"I'm so glad you're friends now, " said Betty, squeezing Madeline's armlovingly. 

"That's so, " Madeline reflected. "We weren't two years ago. I used tohate her wire-pulling so. And now I suppose I'm pulling wires for hermyself. Well, I'm going to be careful not to pull any of them down onher head this time. I say, Betty, wouldn't the Blunderbuss make a superbjack-in-the-box? I'm sure everybody would appreciate the symbolic effectwhen she popped, and perhaps we could manage to smother her by mistakebetween times. "

The toy-shop took "like hot-cakes, " to borrow Bob's pet comparison. Everybody told Madeline that it was just like her, and Madeline assuredeverybody gaily that she had always known she was misunderstood and thatanyhow Eleanor Watson was responsible for the toy-shop. Having spent thebetter part of a day in spreading this information Madeline rushed offto New York on a vague and mysterious errand that had something to dowith sub-letting the apartment on Washington Square. 

 * * * * *

"I remembered after I got down here, " she wrote Betty a week later, "that I couldn't eat my solitary Christmas dinner in the flat if I letit. Besides my prospective tenants are bores, and bores never appreciateold furniture enough not to scratch it. But I'm staying on to overseethe fall cleaning, and we haven't had one for a good while, so it willtake another week. I'm sorry not to be on hand for the toy-shop doings(don't you let them put it off, Betty, or I can never make up my work), but I send a dialogue--no, it's for four persons--on local issues forthe Punch and Judy puppets. If they can't read it, tell them tocultivate their imaginations. I'll print the title, 'The Battle of theClasses, ' to give them a starter. 

 "Miss me a little, "MADELINE. 

"P. S. How are the wires working?"

If Eleanor suspected any hidden motive behind Madeline's suddendeparture she had no way of confirming her theory, and when Bettyescorted the entertainment committee, all of whom happened to besplendid workers but without a spark of originality among them, toEleanor's room, and declaring sadly that she couldn't remember half thefeatures of the toy-shop that they had discussed together, claimedEleanor's half-promise of help, why there was nothing for Eleanor to dobut redeem it. Nothing at least that the new Eleanor Watson cared to do. It was plain enough that the committee wanted her suggestions, and whatother people might think of her motive for helping them really matteredvery little in comparison with the success of 19--'s entertainment. Thusthe new Eleanor Watson argued, and then she went to work. 

"The wires are all right so far, " Betty wrote Madeline. "The girls areall lovely, and they'd better be. Eleanor has arranged the dearest playfor the dolls, all about a mad old German doll-maker who has a shop fullof automatons and practices magic to try to bring them to life. Somevillage girls come in and one changes clothes with a doll and he thinkshe's succeeded. Eleanor saw it somewhere, but she had to change it allaround. 

"Alice Waite wanted the dolls to give Ibsen's 'Doll's House. ' She didn'tknow what it was about of course, or who wrote it. She just went by thename. The other classes have got hold of the joke and guy us to death. 

"You'd better come back and have some of the fun. Besides, nobody canthink how to make a costume for the mock-turtle. It's Roberta, and it'sgoing to dance with the gryphon for the animal counter's side-show. Eleanor thought of that too. "

But Madeline telegraphed Roberta laconically: "Gray carpet paper shell, mark scales shoe-blacking, lace together sides, " and continued tosojourn in Washington Square. 

Late in the afternoon of the toy-shop's grand opening she appeared inthe door of the gymnasium and stood there a moment staring at thecurious spectacle within. 

The curtain was just going down on the dolls' pantomime, and theaudience was applauding and hurrying off to make the rounds of the otherattractions before dinner time. In clarion tones that made themselvesheard above the din Emily Davis was advertising an auction of heranimals, beginning with "one perfectly good baa-lamb. "

"Hear him baa, " cried Emily, "and you'll forget that his legs arewobbly. "

"This way to the Punch and Judy, " shouted Barbara Gordon hoarselythrough a megaphone. "Give the children a season of refined andeducating amusement. Libretto by our most talented satirist. Don't missit. "

"Hello, Madeline, " cried Lucile Merrifield, spying the new arrival. "When did you get back? Come and see the puppets with me. They say yourshow is great. "

"It all looks good to me, " said Madeline, "but--is there a top to spin?"

Lucile laughed and nodded. "That fat Miss Austin has taken in twodollars already at five cents a spin. She says she used to love makingcheeses, and that she hasn't had such a good time since she grew up. "

"That's where I want to go first, " said Madeline decisively; but on herway to the tops the doll counter beguiled her. 

"Betty Wales, " she declared, "when you curl in your lips and starestraight ahead you look just like the only doll I ever wanted. I saw herin a window on Fifth Avenue, and the one time in my life that I evercried was when daddy wouldn't buy her for me. Where's Eleanor?"

"I don't know, " said Betty happily. "She was here a minute ago playingfor the dolls' pantomime. But she's all right. Everybody has beenthanking her and praising the pantomime, and she's so pleased about itall. She told me that she had felt all this year as if everybody waspointing her out as a disgrace to the class and the college, and thatshe was beginning to think that her whole life was spoiled. And now--"

"Why, Madeline Ayres, " cried Katherine Kittredge hurrying up to them, her hair disheveled and her hands very black indeed. "I'm awfully gladyou've come. There's a class meeting to-morrow to decide on the seniorplay and I want--"

"You want tidying up, " laughed Madeline. "What in the world have youbeen doing?"

"Being half of a woolly lamb, " explained Katherine. "The other halfcouldn't come back this evening, so Emily has been selling us--or it, whichever you please--at auction. Now listen, Madeline. You don't knowanything about this play business. "

Madeline had heard Katherine's argument, spun Miss Austin, and seen the"Alice in Wonderland" animals dance before she found Eleanor, and bythat time an interview with Jean Eastman had prepared her for the hurtlook in Eleanor's eyes and the little quiver in her voice, as shewelcomed Madeline back to Harding. 

Jean was one of the few seniors who had had no active part in thetoy-shop. "So I'm patronizing everything regardless, " she exclaimed, sauntering up to Madeline and holding out a bag of fudge. "It's adecided hit, isn't it? Polly says the other classes are in despair atthe idea of getting up anything that will take half as well. "

"It's certainly a lovely show, " said Madeline, trying the fudge. 

"And a big feather in Eleanor Watson's cap, " added Jean carelessly. "Shealways was the cleverest thing. I'd a lot rather be chairman of the playcommittee, or even a member of it, for that matter, than toastmistress. I suppose you know that there's a class-meeting to-morrow. "

"Have you said that to Eleanor?" asked Madeline coldly. 

"Oh, I gave her my congratulations on her prospects, " said Jean with ashrug. "We're old friends, you know. We understand each otherperfectly. "

Madeline's eyes flashed. "It won't be the least use to tell you so, " shesaid, "but lobbying for office is not the chief occupation of humanityas you seem to think. Neither Eleanor Watson nor any of her friends hasthought anything about her being put on the play committee. I made themistake once of supposing that our class as a whole was capable ofappreciating the stand she's taken, and I shan't be likely to forgetthat I was wrong. But this affair was entirely her idea, and shedeserves the credit for it. "

"Oh, indeed, " said Jean quickly. "I suppose you didn't send telegrams--"

But Madeline, her face white with anger was half way across the bighall. 

Jean watched her tumultuous progress with a meaning smile. "Well, I'vefixed that little game, " she reflected. "If they did intend to put herup, they won't dare to now. They'll be afraid of seeing me do theBlunderbuss's act with variations. She'd have been elected fast enough, after this, and there isn't a girl in the class who could do half aswell on that committee. But as for having her and that insufferablelittle Betty Wales on, when I shall be left off, I simply couldn't standit. "

Madeline found Betty taking off her doll's dress by dim candle-light, which she hoped would escape the eagle eye of the night-watchman. "I'vecome to tell you that the wires are all down again, " she began, and wenton to tell the story of Jean's carefully timed insinuations. 

"I almost believe that the Blunderbuss was the tool of the Hill crowd, "she said angrily. "At any rate they used her while she served, and nowthey're ready to take a hand themselves. "

Betty stared at her in solemn silence. "What an awful lot it costs tolose your reputation, " she said sadly. 

"And it costs a good deal to be everybody's guardian angel, doesn't it, dearie?" Madeline said affectionately. "I oughtn't to have bothered you, but I seem to have made a dreadful mess of things so far. "

"Oh, no, you haven't, " Betty assured her. "Eleanor knows how queer Jeanis, and what horrid things she says about people who won't follow herlead. None of that crowd would help about the toy-shop except KateDenise, but every one else has been fine. And I know they haven'tthought that Eleanor was trying to get anything out of them. "

Madeline sighed mournfully. "In Bohemia people don't think that sort ofthing, " she said. "It complicates life so to have to consider it always. Good-night, Betty. "

"Good-night, " returned Betty cheerfully. "Don't forget that the senior'Merry Hearts' have a tea-drinking to-morrow. "

"I'm not likely to, " laughed Madeline. "Every one of them that I've seenhas mentioned it. They're all agog with curiosity. "

"They'll be more so with joy, when I've told them the news, " declaredBetty, holding her candle high above her head to light Madeline throughthe hall. 

"Dear me! I wish there could be a class without officers and committeesand editors and commencement plays, " she told the green lizard a littlelater. "Those things make such a lot of worry and hard feeling. But thenI suppose it wouldn't be much of a class, if it wasn't worth worryingabout. And anyway it's almost vacation. "

CHAPTER IX

A WEDDING AND A VISIT TO BOHEMIA

Betty and Madeline went to their class meeting on the followingafternoon very much as a trembling freshman goes to her first midyears, but nothing disastrous happened. 

"I fancy that Jean has taken more than Eleanor and me into herconfidence, " Madeline whispered. Besides, the Blunderbuss was in herplace, her placid but unyielding presence offering an effectual reminderto the girls who had been admiring Eleanor's executive ability andresourcefulness that it would be safer not to mention her name inconnection with the play committee. 

But before that was elected the preliminary committee, which, to quoteKatherine Kittredge, had been hunting down the masterpieces of WillyShakespeare ever since the middle of junior year, made its report. Themembers had not been able to agree unanimously on a play, so thechairman read the majority's opinion, in favor of "As You Like It, " andthen Katherine Kittredge explained the position of the minority, whowanted to be very ambitious indeed and try "The Merchant of Venice. "There was a spirited debate between the two sets of partisans, afterwhich, to Katherine's infinite satisfaction, 19-- voted to give "TheMerchant of Venice" at its commencement. 

Then the committee to manage the play was chosen, and Betty Wales wasthe only person who was much surprised when she was unanimously electedto the post of costume member. 

"I on that committee!" she exclaimed in dismay. "Why, I don't knowanything about Shakespeare. "

"You will before you get through with this business, " laughed BarbaraGordon, who had been made chairman. "The course begins to-morrow at twoin my room. No cuts allowed. "

[Illustration: "I DO CARE ABOUT HAVING FRIENDS LIKE YOU, " SHE SAID. ]

Betty's pleasure in this unexpected honor was rather dampened by thefact that Jean Eastman had proposed her name, making it seem almost asif she were taking sides with Eleanor's enemies. But Madeline onlylaughed at what she called Jean's neat little scheme for getting thelast word. 

"Ruth Ford was all ready to nominate you, " she said, "but Jean dashed inahead of her. She wanted to assure me that I hadn't silenced her forlong. "

So Betty gave herself up to the happy feeling of having shown herselfworthy to be trusted with part of 19--'s most momentous undertaking. 

"I must write Nan to-night, " she said, "but I don't think I shallmention the costume part. She would think I was just as frivolous asever, and Barbara says that all the committee are expected to help withthings in general. "

Whereupon she remembered her tea-drinking, and hurried home to find mostof the guests already assembled, and Eleanor, who had not gone to theclass meeting but who had heard all about it from the others, waiting onthe stairs to congratulate her. 

"I don't care half as much about being on the committee as I do abouthaving friends like you to say they're glad, " declared Betty, huggingEleanor because there were a great many things that she didn't know howto say to her. 

"Yes, friends are what count, " said Eleanor earnestly, "and Betty, Ithink I'm going to leave Harding with a good many. At least I've madesome new ones this week. "

And that was all the reference that was ever made to the way Eleanor'soldest friend at Harding had treated her. 

"Well, " said Betty, when everybody had congratulated her and Rachel, whose appointment on all 19--'s important committees had come to be aforegone conclusion, "I hope Nita and Rachel and K. Won't be sorry theycame. You three aren't so much mixed up in it as the rest of us, but Ithought I'd ask you anyway. "

"Do you mean that I can't have my usual three slices of lemon?" demandedKatherine indignantly. 

"Hush, material-minded one, " admonished Nita. "There's more than tea andlemon in this. There's a great secret. Of course we shall be interestedin it. Fire away, Betty. "

"And everybody stop watching the kettle, " commanded Babbie, who hadtaken it in charge, "and then perhaps it will begin to boil. "

"What I wanted to tell you, " began Betty, impressively, "is that MissHale is going to be married this vacation. "

"Good for Miss Hale!" cried Bob, throwing up a pillow. "Did her sisterget well?"

"Yes, " said Betty. "She was dreadfully ill all summer, and then she hadto go away for a change. Ethel wanted to wait until she was perfectlystrong, because she had looked forward so to being maid-of-honor. "

"I think we ought to send Miss Hale a present, " said Babe, decisively. "Madame President, please instruct the secretary---- Why, we haven't anypresident now, " ended Babe in dismay. 

"Let's elect Betty, " suggested Nita. 

"She's too young for such a responsible position, " objected Bob. "It'sonly the dramatics committee that takes infants. "

"And besides, her hair curls, " added Madeline, reaching out to pull oneof the offending ringlets. "Curly-haired people don't deserve to beelected to offices. "

"Let's have Babe, " suggested Rachel. 

"She's older than her name, her hair has always been straight----"

"Except once, " put in Katherine, and everybody shrieked with laughter atthe recollection of Babe's one disastrous experience with a marcellewave. 

"And then she looked like a wild woman of Borneo, " went on Rachel, "soit shouldn't count against her. Furthermore this society was organizedto give her a chance. "

"All right, " agreed Nita. "I withdraw my nomination. Babe, you'reelected. Instruct the secretary to cast a unanimous ballot foryourself. "

"Very well, " said Babe with much dignity. "Please do it, Madeline, andthen I appoint you and Betty and Eleanor to choose a present for MissHale. I was just going to say, when I interrupted myself to remark uponthe extraordinary absence of a presiding officer"--Babe coughed anddropped her presidential manner abruptly--"I was going to say that I'mall for a stuffed turtle, like those we got in Nassau. I think a rippingbig one would be the very thing. "

"Babe!" said Babbie scornfully. "Imagine how a turtle would look amongher wedding presents. "

"I think it would look stunning, " persisted Babe, "and it would be soappropriate from us. "

"Don't be dictatorial, Babe, " advised Rachel. "It isn't seemly in apresident. Perhaps your committee can think of something appropriatethat won't be quite so startling as a turtle. When is the wedding, Betty?"

"The thirty-first of December at half-past eight, " explained Betty. 

"New Year's eve--what a nice, poetical time, " interposed Babbie, thoughtfully. "I think that if I ever marry----"

"Hush, Babbie, " commanded Nita. "You probably never will. Do let Bettyfinish her story. "

"Well, it's to be a very small wedding, " went on Betty, hastily, "withno cards, but announcements, but Ethel wrote me herself and she wants usall--the Nassau ones, I mean--and Mary Brooks, to come. "

"Jolly for Miss Hale!" cried Bob, tossing up two pillows this time. 

"How perfectly dear of her!" said Babbie. 

"The biggest turtle we can get won't be a bit too good for her, "declared Babe. 

"But where could we stay over night?" asked Helen, the practical-minded. 

"You don't give me a chance to tell you the whole of anything, "complained Betty, sadly. "We're invited guests--specially invited, Imean, and it's all arranged where we are to stay. Ethel is going to haveher sister and four bridesmaids to walk with her, and she wants us girlsto hold a laurel rope along the line of march of the wedding-party, asthey go through the rooms. "

"Jolly, " began Babe, but she was promptly suppressed by Madeline, whotumbled her flat on her back and held her down with a pillow while sheordered Betty to proceed. 

"I'll read you what else she says, " went on Betty, triumphantlyproducing Miss Hale's letter. "She says, 'There won't be many people toget in the way of the procession, but the aisle effect will be pretty, and besides I want my match-makers to have a part in the granddénouement of all their efforts. Will you ask the others and write MaryBrooks, whose address I don't know. My uncle's big house next door tous will have room for you all, and you must come in time for mybridesmaids' luncheon and a little dance, both on the thirtieth. ' Nowisn't that splendid?"

"Perfectly splendid, " echoed her auditors. 

"Why, we shall be almost bridesmaids, " said Roberta Lewis in awestrucktones. "Does Mary know?"

Betty nodded. "She hasn't had time to answer yet, but she can certainlygo, as she lives so near Ethel. "

"The only difficulty about our going, " said Babe, "is what to do withthe few days between the wedding and the opening of college. "

"And that's easily settled, " said Madeline promptly. "Miss Hale livesjust out of New York, doesn't she? Well, you are all to come and stay inthe flat with me. Hasn't it just been beautifully cleaned? And aren'tyou all longing for a glimpse of Bohemia?"

That was the climax of the tea drinking. The Merry Match-Makers spentthe evening writing home to their parents for permission to go to thewedding and considering momentous problems of dress. For Roberta's bestevening-gown was lavender and Babbie's was pink, and the question washow to distribute Betty, Babe and Helen in white, Bob in blue, Eleanorin her favorite yellow, Madeline in ecru, and Mary in any one of abewildering number of possible toilettes, so as to justify Ethel's hopethat the aisle would be ornamental as well as useful. 

How the days flew after that! For besides the wedding there were theluncheon and the dance to anticipate and plan for, as well as theunknown joys of Bohemia, New York, not to mention the regular excitementof going home, the fun of tucking Christmas presents into the corners ofhalf-packed trunks, and the terrors of the written lesson that someinhuman member of the faculty always saves for the crowded last week ofthe term. 

On the afternoon of the twenty-ninth the Merry Match-Makers met in NewYork. Babbie had sent a sad little note to Miss Hale and a tearful oneto Betty to say that her mother, who was a good deal of an invalid, had"looked pretty blue over my running off early, and so of course I won'tleave her;" and Helen Adams had decided that considering all the extraexpenses of senior year she couldn't afford the trip to New York. Sothere were only seven "almost bridesmaids, " as Roberta called them, or"posts, " which was Bob's name for them, to fall upon one another as ifthey had been separated for years, instead of a week, say thank you forthe presents that were each "just what I wanted, " and exclaim excitedlyover Betty's new suit, Mary's fur coat, and the sole-leather kit-bagthat Santa Claus had brought Roberta. 

"It's queer, " said Bob. "I feel as if I'd had one whole vacationalready, and ought to be unpacking and digging on psychology 6 andhistory 10. Whereas in reality I'm just beginning on another wholevacation. It's like having two Thanksgiving dinners in one year. "

"Not quite like that, I hope, " laughed Eleanor, as they started off toinspect the wedding present, a beautiful pair of tall silvercandlesticks. Madeline had ransacked New York to find them, and everyone but Babe, who clung to her turtle as far superior to any "musty oldantiques, " thought them just odd and distinctive enough to pleaseEthel's fastidious taste. And after that there was barely time to catchthe train they had arranged to take out to Ethel's home. 

Interest in the bride and in their own part of the wedding ceremony hadcaused the "Merry Hearts" to forget Dr. Eaton, and they had never onceconsidered that of course his college chum, John Alison, would leave therailroad he was building in Arizona and come east to be Dr. Eaton's bestman. And it was Mr. John Alison who had "finished" Georgia Ames. Heinquired for her at once and so did his brother Tom, who was an usher, and who explained that he had been invited to keep John in order, and tointercede for him with the "posts. "

"And in return for my services as peacemaker, " he said solemnly, "Iexpect to be treated with special consideration by everybody. "Subsequent events seemed to show that the special consideration referredto meant a chance to see as much as possible of Betty Wales. 

Even more surprising to three of the posts was the presence of Mr. Richard Blake in the wedding-party--Richard Blake, editor of "TheQuiver, " and one-time lecturer at Harding on the tendencies of moderndrama. 

Eleanor's face was a study when she recognized him, but before Miss Halecould begin any introductions Madeline greeted him enthusiastically andgot him into a corner, where they exchanged low-toned confidences for amoment. 

"I'm particularly glad to meet you again, Miss Watson, " he said in atone of unmistakable sincerity, when he was presented. "We had a jollydinner together once, didn't we?"

"Dick's such an old dear, " Madeline whispered to Betty half an hourlater. "He confided to me just now that the first evening he saw Eleanorhe thought her the most fascinating girl he had ever met, and then hehastened to assure me that that had absolutely nothing to do with hisdeciding to keep dark about her story. I don't doubt him for amoment--Dick perfectly detests cheating. But he can't make me believethat he's being nice to her now just on my account. "

There were plenty of other men at the wedding. "We're the only girls inthe whole family, " Charlotte, Ethel's younger sister explained, "and wehave thirty own cousins, most of them grown-up. "

"Was that one of the thirty that you were sitting on the stairs with atthe dance?" inquired Mary Brooks sweetly. 

Charlotte blushed and Bob flew to her rescue. "We all know why Maryisn't monopolizing any one, " she said. "Are you taking notes for futureuse, Mary?"

Mary shrugged her shoulders loftily. "I scorn to answer such nonsense, "she retorted. "I'm going to be an old maid and make matches for all myfriends. "

"We'll come and be posts for you any time after commencement, " Babeassured her amiably. "Did you know, girls, that Mary can't stay overwith Madeline because her mother is giving a New Year's dinner-party. Who do you suppose will be there?"

The wedding festivities were over at last. "It was all perfectlyscrumptious, " Babe wrote Babbie enthusiastically, "and I'm bringing youa little white satin slipper like those we had filled with puffed ricefor luncheon favors, and a lovely pin that Miss Hale wants you to havejust as if you had come. The nicest thing of all is that vacation isn'tover yet. Is it two weeks or two years since I saw you?"

And next came Bohemia. Before they had quite reached Washington SquareMadeline tumbled her guests hastily off their car. 

"I forgot to tell Mrs. McLean when to expect us, " she explained. "She isour cook. So we'll hunt her up now and we might as well buy the luncheonas we go along. "

So first they found Mrs. McLean, a placid old Scotch woman who was notat all surprised when Madeline announced that she was giving ahouse-party for five and had forgotten to mention it sooner. She had adelicious Scotch burr and an irresistible way of standing in thedining-room door and saying, "Come awa', my dears, " when she had serveda meal. Like everything else connected with the Ayres establishment, shewas always there when you wanted her; between times she disappearedmysteriously, leaving the kitchen quite clear for Madeline and herguests, and always turning up in time to wash the fudge-pan or thechafing-dishes. 

From Mrs. McLean's they went down a dirty, narrow street, stopping at anumber of funny, foreign-looking fruit and grocery shops, where theybought whatever anybody wanted. 

"Though it doesn't matter what you have to eat, " said Roberta later, pouring cream into her coffee from an adorable little Spanish jug, "aslong as you have it on this lovely old china. "

They had their coffee in the studio, sitting around the open fire, andwhile they were drinking it people began to drop in--Mr. Blake, whoroomed just across the Square, a pretty, pale girl, who was evidently anartist because every one congratulated her on having some things "on theline" somewhere, three newspaper men from the flat above, who being on amorning daily had just gotten up and stopped in to say "Happy New Year"on their way down to Park Row, and a jolly little woman whom the otherscalled Mrs. Bob. 

"She's promised to chaperon us, " Madeline explained to her guests. "Shelives down-stairs, so we can't go in or out without falling into herterrible clutches. "

Mrs. Bob, who was in a corner playing with the little black kitten thatseemed to belong with the house, like Mrs. McLean, stopped long enoughto ask if they had heard about the theatre party. They had not, so Mr. Blake explained that by a sudden change of bill at one of the theatresMr. Sothern and Miss Marlowe were to give "The Merchant of Venice" thatevening. 

"And I understand from Miss Watson that you people are particularlyinterested in that play, " he added, "so I've corraled some tickets andMrs. Bob and a bunch of men. "

"And the Carletons will have an early dinner, " put in Mrs. Bob. "Oh, Iforgot. You don't know about that either. Mrs. Carleton won't be backfrom the country until four o'clock, so she asked me to give you theinvitation to have New Year's dinner with them. "

"But did she know there were six of us?" asked Betty anxiously, whereupon everybody laughed and Mrs. Bob assured her that Mrs. Carletonhad mentioned seven to her, and hadn't seemed in the least worried. 

That was the way things went all through their visit. Mrs. Bob tookthem shopping, with frequent intermissions for cakes and tea at queerlittle tea-rooms, with alluring names like "The London Muffin Room, " orthe "Yellow Tea-Pot. " Her husband escorted them to the east-sidebrass-shops, assuring them solemnly that it wasn't everybody he showedhis best finds to, and mourning when their rapturous enthusiasmprevented his getting them a real bargain. The newspaper men gave a"breakfast-luncheon" for them--breakfast for themselves, and luncheonfor their guests--which was so successful that it was continued thatsame evening by a visit to a Russian puppet-show and supper in a Chineserestaurant. The pretty artist sold one of her pictures and invited themto help her celebrate, just as if they were old friends, who knew howhard she had struggled and how often she hadn't had money enough to buyherself bread and butter, to say nothing of offering jam--in the shapeof oysters on the half-shell and lobster Newburg--to other people. 

It was all so gay and light-hearted and unexpected--the way thingshappened in Bohemia. Nobody hurried or worried, though everybody workedhard. It was just as Madeline had told them, only more so. The girlssaid a sorrowful good-bye to Mrs. Bob, Mrs. McLean and the little blackkitten and journeyed back to Harding sure that there never had been andnever would be another such vacation for them. 

"How can there be?" said Bob dejectedly. "At Easter we shall all have toget clothes, and after that we shan't know a vacation from mid-yearweek. "

"Which delightful function begins in exactly fourteen days, " saidKatherine Kittredge. "Is there anybody here present whose notes on Hegelhave the appearance of making sense?"

19-- took its senior midyears gaily and quite as a matter of course, lectured its underclass friends on the evils of cramming, and kept upits spirits by going coasting with Billy Henderson, ProfessorHenderson's ten-year-old son, who had admired college girls ever sincehe found that Bob Parker could beat him at steering a double-runner. Between times they bought up the town's supply of "The Merchant ofVenice, "--"not to learn any part, you know, but because we'reinterested in our play, " each purchaser explained to her friends. 

For there is no use in proclaiming your aspirations to be a Portia or aShylock until you are sure that your dramatic talent is going to beappreciated. Of course there were exceptions to this rule, but the girlwho said at a campus dinner-table, "If I am Portia, who is there tallenough for Bassanio?" became a college proverb in favor of keeping yourhopes to yourself, and everybody was secretly delighted when she decidedthat she "really didn't care" to be in the mob. 

CHAPTER X

TRYING FOR PARTS

"Teddie Wilson has gone and got herself conditioned in psych. , "announced Bob Parker, bouncing unceremoniously through Betty's half-opendoor. 

"Oh, Bob!" Betty's tone was fairly tragic. "Does that mean that shecan't try for a part in the play?"

Bob nodded. "Cast-iron rule. And she'd have made a perfect Gobbo, youngor old, and a stunning Gratiano. Well, her being out of it will give K. A better chance. "

"But I'm sure Katherine wouldn't want her chance to come this way, " saidBetty sadly. "Besides--oh, Bob, have you looked at the bulletin-boardthis afternoon?"

"Babe did, " said Bob with a grin, "so you needn't worry yet, my child. Ted says she ought to have expected it, because she'd cut a lot and letthings go awfully, --depended on the--faculty--knowing--us--well--enough--by--this--time--to--pass--over--any small--deficiencies, and all thatsort of talk. And this just shows, she says, how well they do know her. She's awfully plucky about it, but she cares. I didn't suppose Ted hadit in her to care so about anything, " declared Bob solemnly. "But ofcourse it's a lot to lose--the star comedy part that was going to behanded out to her by her admiring little classmates, who think thatnobody can act like Teddie. I wish I was as sure of a part in the mob. "

"What are you going to try for, Bob?" asked Betty sympathetically. 

Bob blushed. "Oh, I don't know, " she said, with a fine assumption ofindifference. "Everybody says that you ought to begin at the top andthen the grateful committee won't forget to throw you a crumb when theyget to passing out the 'supers. '" Bob paused and her air of unconcerndropped from her like a mask. "I say, Betty, I do want my family to beproud of me for once. Promise you won't laugh if I come up forBassanio. "

"Of course I won't, " said Betty indignantly. "I'm sure you'll make lovebeautifully. Do you know who's going to try for Shylock?"

"Only Jean Eastman, " said Bob, "and Christy and Emily are thinking ofit. I came up from down-town with Jean just now. She thinks she's got asure thing, though of course she isn't goose enough to say so. If KateDenise gets Portia, as everybody seems to think she will, it will bequite like freshman year, with the Hill crowd on top all around. I thinkJean has been aiming for that, and I also think--you don't mind if I sayit, Betty?"

"I haven't the least idea what you're going to say, " laughed Betty, "butI don't believe I shall mind. "

"Well, " said Bob earnestly, "I think Jean's counting on you to help herwith her Shylock deal. "

"I help her!" said Betty in bewilderment. "How could I?"

"What a little innocent you are, Betty Wales, " declared Bob. "Have youforgotten that you are on the all-powerful play-committee, and that youfive and Miss Kingston, head of the elocution department, practicallydecide upon the cast?"

"Oh!" said Betty slowly. "But I can't see why Jean should expect me topush her, of all people. "

"She'll remind you why, " said Bob, "or perhaps she expects me to do itfor her. Can't you honestly think of anything that she might make ahandle of?"

Betty considered, struggling to recall her recent meetings with Jean. "She has been extra-cordial lately, " she said, "but she hasn't doneanything in particular--oh, Bob, I know what you mean. She expects me tohelp her because she nominated me for the committee. "

Bob nodded. "As if fifty other people wouldn't have done it if shehadn't. I may be wrong, Betty, but she had a lot to say all the way upfrom Cuyler's about how glad she was that you were on the committee, howshe felt you were the only one for the place and was glad the girlsagreed with her, how hard she had talked you up beforehand, and soon, --all about her great and momentous efforts in your behalf. I toldher that Miss Ferris said once that you had a perfect command of the artof dress and that every one knew you planned the costumes for the Beldenplay and for the Dramatic Club's masque last spring, also that BarbaraGordon particularly wanted you on if she was chairman, so I didn't seethat you needed any great amount of talking up. But she laughed herhorrid, sarcastic little laugh and said she guessed I hadn't had muchexperience with class politics. "

Betty's eyes flashed angrily. "And in return for what she did, sheexpects me to work for her, no matter whether or not I think she wouldmake the best Shylock. Is that what you mean, Bob?"

"Yes, but perhaps I was mistaken, " said Bob soothingly, "and any way Idoubt if she ever says anything to you directly. She'll just dropjudicious hints in the ears of your worldly friends, who can be trustedto appreciate the debt of gratitude you owe her. "

"Bob. " Betty stared at her hard for a moment. "You don't think--oh, ofcourse you don't! The parts in the play ought to go to the ones who cando them best and the committee ought not to think of anybody or anythingbut that. "

"And I know at least one committee woman who won't think of anybody oranything but that, " declared Bob loyally. "I only thought I'd tell youabout Jean so that, if she should say anything, you would be ready forher. Now I must go and study Bassanio, " and Bob departed murmuring, "'What find I here? Fair Portia's counterfeit?'"

in tones so amorous that Belden House Annie, who was sweeping on thestairs, dropped her dust-pan with a clatter, declaring that she was"jist overcome, that she was!"

"Which was the only compliment my acting of Bassanio ever got, " Bob toldher sadly afterward. 

Betty was still hot with indignation over Bob's disclosures when RobertaLewis knocked on the door. Roberta was wrapped up in a fuzzy redbath-robe, a brown sweater and a pink crêpe shawl, and she looked thepicture of shivering dejection. 

"What in the world is the matter?" demanded Betty, emptying her historynotebooks out of the easy-chair and tucking Roberta in with a green andyellow afghan, which completed the variegated color scheme toperfection. 

"Please don't bother about me, " said Roberta forlornly. "I'm going backin a minute. I've lost my wedding-pin--Miss Hale's wedding-pin--well, you know what I mean, --and caught a perfectly dreadful cold. "

"You don't think that your pin was stolen?" asked Betty quickly. Therehad been no robberies in the college since Christmas, and the girls werebeginning to hope that the mysterious thief had been discouraged bytheir greater care in locking up their valuables, and had gone off insearch of more lucrative territory. 

"Yes, I do think so, " said Roberta. "I almost know it. You see I hadn'tbeen wearing my pin. I only took it out to show Polly Eastman, becauseshe hadn't happened to see one. Then K. Came and we went off to walk. Ileft the pin right on my dressing-table and now it's gone. But thequeerest part is that Georgia Ames was in my room almost all the time, because hers was being swept, and before that she was in Lucy Mann's, with the door wide open into the hall, and my door open right opposite. And yet she never saw or heard anything. Isn't it strange?"

"She was probably busy talking and didn't notice, " said Betty. "Peopleare everlastingly tramping through the halls, until you don't thinkanything about it. Have you looked on the floor and in all your drawers?It's probably tumbled down somewhere and got caught in a crack under thedressing-table or the rug. "

"No, I've looked in all those places, " said Roberta with finality. "Youknow I haven't as many things to look through as you. "

"Please don't be sarcastic, " laughed Betty, for Roberta's belongingswere all as trim and tailor-made as herself. "How did you get yourcold?"

"Why K. And I got caught in a miserable little snow flurry, " explainedRoberta, pulling the pink shawl closer, "and--I got my feet wet. Mythroat's horribly sore. It won't be well for a week, and I can't try forthe play. "

Roberta struggled out of the encumbering folds of the green afghan andtrailed her other draperies swiftly to the window, whose familiar viewshe seemed to find intensely absorbing. 

"Oh, yes, you can, " said Betty comfortingly. "Why, your throat may beall right by to-morrow, and anyway it's only the Portia and Shylocktrials that come then. Were you going to try for either of those parts?"

"Yes, " gulped Roberta thickly. 

Behind Roberta's back Betty was free to pucker her mouth into a funnylittle grimace that denoted amusement, surprise and sympathy, alltogether. "Then I'll ask Barbara Gordon to give you a separate triallater, " she said kindly. "Nothing will be really decided to-morrow. Weonly make tentative selections to submit to Mr. Masters when he comes upnext week. He's the professional coach, you know. "

But Roberta turned back from the window to shake her head. "I wouldn'thave you do that for anything, " she said, brushing away the tears. "I'lltry for something else if I get well in time. I'm going to bed now. Willyou please ask Annie to bring up my dinner? And Betty, don't ever say Imeant to try for Shylock. I don't know why I told you, except that youalways understand. "

Betty felt that she didn't quite understand this time, but she promisedto tell Annie and come in late herself to conduct another search forthe missing pin. She had just succeeded in dismissing Ted, Jean andRoberta from her mind and concentrating it on the next day's historylesson, when Helen Adams appeared. 

"Helen, " began Betty solemnly, "if you've got any troubles connectedwith trying for parts in the play, please don't divulge them. I don'tbelieve I can stand any more complications. "

"Poor thing!" said Helen compassionately. "I know how you feel from thetimes I have with the 'Argus. ' Well, I shan't bother you about tryingfor a part. I should just love to act, but I can't and I know it. I onlywanted to borrow some tea, and to tell you that Anne Carter has come toreturn my call. You know you said you'd like to meet her. "

So Betty brushed her curls smooth and, stopping to pick up Madeline onher way, went in to meet Miss Carter, whose shyness and silence meltedrapidly before Betty's tactful advances and Madeline's appreciativereferences to her verses in the last "Argus. "

While Helen made the tea, Miss Carter amused them all with a drollaccount of her efforts to learn to play basket-ball, "because MissAdams says it throws so much light on the philosophy of college life. "

"Then you never played before you came here?" asked Betty idly, stirringher tea. 

Miss Carter shook her head. "I prepared for college in a convent inCanada. The sisters would have been horribly shocked at the idea of ourtearing about in bloomers and throwing a ball just like the boys. "

"Oh!" said Betty, with a sudden flash of recognition. "Then it was atthe convent where you got the beautiful French accent that mademoiselleraves over. You're in my senior French class. I ought to have rememberedyou. "

"I'm glad you didn't, " said Miss Carter bitterly, and then she flushedand apologized. "I'm so ugly that I'm always glad not to be rememberedor noticed. But I didn't mean to say so, and I do hope you'll come tosee me, both of you, --if seniors ever do come to see sophomores. "

The girls laughingly assured her that seniors did sometimes condescendso far, and she went off with a happy look in her great gray eyes. 

"We must have her in the 'Merry Hearts, '" said Madeline. "She's our kindif she can only get over that morbid feeling about her scar. "

"But we must be very careful, " Helen warned them, with a vividremembrance of her first interview with Miss Carter. "We mustn't ask herto join until most of us have been to see her and really made friends. She would just hate to feel that we pitied her. "

"We'll be careful, " Betty promised her. "I'll go to see her, for one, the very first of next week, " and she skipped gaily off to dress fordinner. After all there were plenty of things in the world besides theclass play with its unhappy tangle of rivalries and heartburnings. 

"And what's the use of borrowing trouble?" Betty inquired the nextevening of the green lizard. "If you do, you never borrow the rightkind. "

Jean, to be sure, had done a good deal to justify Bob's theory. She hadremembered an urgent message from home which must be delivered to Pollyimmediately after luncheon, and she kept her innocent little cousinbusily engaged in conversation in the lower hall of the Belden Houseuntil Betty appeared, having waited until the very last minute in thevain hope of avoiding Jean. But when they opened the door there wasBarbara Gordon, also bound for Miss Kingston's office, and much relievedto find that her committee were not all waiting indignantly for theirchairman's tardy arrival. So whatever Jean had meant to say to Betty inprivate necessarily went unsaid. 

And then, after all her worriment, Jean was the best Shylock!

"Which is perfectly comical considering Bob's suspicions, " Betty toldthe green lizard, the only confidant to whom she could trust the playcommittee's state-secrets. 

All the committee had been astonished at Jean's success, and most ofthem were disappointed. Christy or Emily Davis would have been so muchpleasanter to work with, or even Kitty Lacy, whom Miss Kingstonconsidered very talented. But Emily was theatrical, except in funnyparts, Christy was lifeless, and Kitty Lacy had not taken the troubleto learn the lines properly and broke down at least once in every longspeech, thereby justifying the popular inversion of her name to LazyKitty, a pseudonym which some college wag had fastened upon her early inher freshman year. 

"And because she's Kitty, it isn't safe to give her another chance, "said Miss Kingston regretfully, when the fifteen aspiring Shylocks hadplayed their parts and the committee were comparing opinions. "Yes, Iagree with Barbara that Jean Eastman is by far the most promisingcandidate, but----"

"But you don't think she's very good, now do you, Miss Kingston?" askedClara Ellis, a rather lugubrious individual, who had been put on thecommittee because she was a "prod" in "English lit. , " and not becauseshe had the least bit of executive ability. 

Miss Kingston hesitated. "Why no, Clara, I don't. I'm afraid she won'twork up well; she doesn't seem to take criticism very kindly. But it'stoo soon to judge of that. At present she certainly has a much betterconception of the part than any of the others. "

"You don't think we've been too ambitious, do you, Miss Kingston?" askedBarbara, anxiously. Barbara knew Jean well and the prospect of managingthe play with her capricious, selfish temperament to be catered to atevery turn was not a pleasant one. 

"I've thought so all along, " put in Clara Ellis, decidedly, before MissKingston had had a chance to answer. "I think we ought to have made sureof a good Shylock before we voted to give this play. It will beperfectly awful to make a fizzle of it, and everything depends ongetting a good Shylock, doesn't it, Miss Kingston?"

"A great deal certainly depends on that, " agreed Miss Kingston. "Butit's much too early to decide that you can't get a good Shylock. "

"Why, who else is there?" demanded Clara, dismally. "Surely everypossible and impossible person has tried to-day. "

Nobody seemed ready to answer this argument, and Betty, glancing at thedoleful faces of her fellow-workers felt very much depressed until a newidea struck her. 

"Miss Kingston, " she said, "there have been fifteen senior plays atHarding, haven't there? And hasn't each one been better than any ofthose that came before it?"

"So each class and its friends have thought, " admitted Miss Kingston, smiling at Betty's eagerness, "and in the main I think they have beenright. "

"Then, " said Betty, looking appealingly at Clara and Barbara, "I guesswe can safely go on thinking that our play will be still better. 19-- isthe biggest class that ever graduated here, and it's certainly one ofthe brightest. "

Everybody laughed at this outburst of patriotism and the atmospherebrightened immediately, so Betty felt that perhaps she was of some useon the committee even if she couldn't understand all Clara's easyreferences to glosses and first folio readings, or compare Booth'sinterpretation of Shylock with Irving's as glibly as Rachel did. 

Just then there was a smothered giggle outside the door and six lustyvoices chanted, "By my troth, our little bodies are a-weary of thesehard stairs, " in recognition of which pathetic appeal the committeehastily dismissed the subject of Shylock in order to hear what theimpatient Portias had to say. They did so well, and there was such alively discussion about the respective merits of Kate Denise, BabbieHildreth and Nita Reese that the downcast spirits, of the committee werefully restored, and they went home to dinner resolved not to lose heartagain no matter what happened, which is the most sensible resolutionthat any senior play committee can make. 

When Betty got home she found a note waiting for her on the hall tableaddressed in Tom Alison's sprawling hand and containing an invitation toYale commencement. 

"I'm asking you early, " Tom wrote, "so that you can plan for it, and beso much the surer not to disappoint me. Alice Waite is coming with DickGrayson, and some of the other fellows will have Harding girls. Mymother is going to chaperon the bunch. 

"Do you remember my kid roommate, Ashley Dwight? He's junior presidentthis year. He's heard a lot about Georgia Ames, real and ideal, and he'scrazy to see what the visible part of her is like. I think he meditatesasking her to the prom, and making a sensation with her. Can't I bringhim up to call on you some day when the real Miss Ames will probably bewilling to amuse Ashley?"

As Betty joyously considered how she should answer all this, sheremembered the four box tickets for the Glee Club concert that LucileMerrifield had promised to get her--Lucile was business manager of themandolin club this year. Betty had intended to invite Alice Waite andtwo Winsted men, but there was no reason why she shouldn't ask Georgia, Tom, and the junior president instead. So she went straight to Georgia'sroom. 

"All right, " said Georgia calmly, when Betty had explained her project. "I was going to stand up with a crowd of freshmen, but they won't care. "

"Georgia Ames, " broke in her roommate severely, "I should like to seeyou excited for once. Don't you know the difference between goingstand-up with a lot of other freshmen, and sitting in a box with MissWales and two Yale men?"

"Of course I know the difference, " said Georgia, smiling good-naturedly. "Didn't I say that I'd go in the box? But you see, Caroline, if you areonly a namesake of Madeline Ayres's deceased double you mustn't get toomuch excited over the wonderful things that happen to you. Must you, Betty?"

"I don't think you need any pointers from me, Georgia, " said Bettylaughingly. "Has Caroline seen you studying yet?"

"Once, " said Georgia sadly. 

"But it was in mid-year week, " explained the roommate, "the night beforethe Livy exam. She mended stockings all the evening and then she saidshe was going to sit up to study. She began at quarter past ten. "

"Propped up in bed, to be quite comfortable, " interpolated Georgia. 

"And at half-past ten, " went on her roommate, "she said she was sosleepy that she couldn't stand it any longer. So she tumbled the booksand extra pillows on the floor and went to sleep. "

"Too bad you spoiled your record just for those few minutes, " laughedBetty, "but I'll take you to the concert all the same, " and she hurriedoff to dress. 

At dinner she entertained her end of the table with an account ofGeorgia's essay at cramming. 

"But that doesn't prove that she never studies, " Madeline defended herprotégée. "That first floor room of theirs is a regular rendezvous forall the freshmen in the house, so she's very sensible to keep away fromit when she's busy. "

"Where does she go?"

"Oh, to the library, I suppose, " said Madeline. "Most of the freshmenstudy there a good deal, and she camps down in Lou Waterson's room, afternoons, because Lou has three different kinds of lab. To go to, soshe's never at home. "

"Well, it's a wonder that Georgia isn't completely spoiled, " said NitaReese. "Just to think of the things that child has had done for her!"

And certainly if Georgia's head had not been very firmly set on hersquare shoulders, it would have been hopelessly turned by her meteoriccareer at Harding. For weeks after college opened she was a spectacle, ashow-sight of the place. Old girls pointed her out to one another in afashion that was meant to be inobtrusive but that would have flatteredthe vanity of any other freshman. Freshmen were regaled with storiesabout her, which they promptly retailed for her benefit, and then senther flowers as a tribute to her good luck and a recognition of theamusement she added to the dull routine of life at Harding. Seniors whohad been duped by the phantom Georgia asked her to Sunday dinner andintroduced her to their friends, who did likewise. Foolish girls wantedher autograph, clever ones demanded to know her sensations at findingherself so oddly conspicuous, while the "Merry Hearts" amply fulfilledtheir promise to make up to her for unintentionally having forced herinto a curious prominence. But Georgia took it all as a mere matter ofcourse, smiled blandly at the stories, accepted the flowers and theinvitations, wrote the autographs, and explained that she guessed hersensations weren't at all remarkable, --they were just like any otherfreshman's. 

"All the same, " Madeline declared, whenever the subject came up, "she'sabsolutely unique. If the other Georgia had never existed, this onewould have made her mark here. "

But just how she would have done it even Madeline could not decide. Thereal Georgia was not like other girls, but in what fundamental way shewas different it was difficult to say. Indeed now that the "MerryHearts" came to know her better, she was almost as much of a puzzle tothem as the other Georgia had been to the rest of the college. 

CHAPTER XI

A DARK HORSE DEFINED

"Did you see Mr. Masters in chapel this morning with Miss Kingston?"

This was the choice tid-bit of news that 19-- passed from hand to handas it took its way to its various nine o'clock classes. 

"I thought he wasn't coming until to-morrow, " said Teddie Wilson, whofollowed every move of the play committee with mournful interest. 

"He wasn't, " explained Barbara Gordon, "but he found he could get offbetter to-day. It's only for the Shylocks and Portias, you know. Wecan't do much until they're definitely decided, so we can tell who isleft for the other parts. "

"Gratiano and the Gobbos will come in the next lot, " sighed Teddie. "Seems as if I should die to be out of it all!"

Jean Eastman was just ahead of them in the crowd. "Poor Teddie!" Barbarabegan, "I only wish---" She broke off abruptly. She didn't want Jeanfor Shylock, but it would have been the height of impropriety to leteven Teddie, whose misfortunes made her a privileged person, know it. "It's a perfect shame, " she went on hastily. "You don't feel half so badabout it as we do. "

Ted stared incredulously. "Don't I? I say, Barbara, did you know therewas a girl in last year's cast who had had a condition at midyears? Shekept still and somehow it wasn't reported to Miss Stuart until verylate, and by that time it would have made a lot of trouble to take herout. So they hushed it up and she kept her part. A last year's girlwrote me about it. "

"I don't believe she had much fun out of it, do you, Ted?" askedBarbara. "Anyhow I'm sure you--"

"Oh, of course not, " interrupted Ted with emphasis. 

"What in the world are you two talking about?" demanded Jean Eastmancuriously, dropping back to join them. 

"Talking play of course!" laughed Barbara, trying to be extra cordialbecause she had so nearly said a disagreeable thing a minute before. 

Meanwhile Ted, who felt that she should break the tenth commandment toatoms if she stayed in Jean's neighborhood another minute, slipped offdown a side hall and joined a group of her classmates who were boundlike herself for Miss Raymond's English novelists. They were talkingplay too, of course, --it was in the air this morning, --and they welcomedTed joyously and deferred to her opinion as that of an expert. 

"Who'll be Shylock, Teddie?" demanded Bob Parker. "That's the only thingI'm curious about. "

"Jean, " returned Ted calmly, "or at least the committee think so. I cantell by the way Barbara looks at her. "

"Beastly shame, " muttered Bob. "Why couldn't Emily and Christy havebraced up and got it themselves?"

"Now, Bob, " Nita Reese remonstrated, "don't you think you're a bit hardon Jean this time? I know she's a good deal of a land-grabber, but nowshe's gone into an open competition just like any one else, and if shewins it will be because she deserves to. "

"Ye-es, " admitted Bob grudgingly. "Yes, of course it will. I know thatas well as you do, Nita Reese. Just the same she's never any good inGest and Pant, is she, Teddie?"

"In what?" demanded Helen Adams and Clara Madison together. 

"Gest and Pant--short for Gesture and Pantomime, senior course inelocution, " explained Teddie rapidly. "Oh, I don't know. I think she'sdone some pretty good things once in a while. And anyhow she can't foolthe committee and Mr. Masters. "

"Of course not, " agreed Bob. 

"Just the same, " said Madeline Ayres, who had come up in time to hearthe end of the argument, "we'll stand for her if she gets the part, butuntil she does we can hope against hope for a dark horse, can't we, Bob?"

"What's a dark horse?" asked Clara Madison in her funny, slow drawl. 

"Your vocabulary's getting a big increase this morning, isn't it, Clara?" said Madeline quizzically. "Gest and Pant, short for Gesture andPantomime; dark horse, short for a person like---- Girls, run in, quick. She's begun calling the roll. "

It was a long morning. The committee watched its hours go bycomplacently enough. They had heard Jean again and liked her better; andthe two girls who were to compete with her had improved, too, on secondtrial. There was no doubt that the Portias were good. They were alsonervous. Kate Denise didn't even pretend to "Take notes, young ladies, "though Dr. Hinsdale looked straight at her when he said it, and BabbieHildreth made herself the butt of endless jibes by absent-mindedlymentioning Nerissa instead of Napoleon in History 10. Jean, on the otherhand, was as cool as possible. She sat beside Teddie Wilson inphilosophy, much to the annoyance of that unhappy young person, andadded insult to injury by trying to discuss the play. Teddie was asunresponsive as she thought consistent with the duty of being lady-like, but Jean didn't seem to mind, for she went off to lunch smiling asatisfied, triumphant little smile that seemed to say she had gottenjust what she wanted out of Teddie. 

At two o'clock Mr. Masters and Miss Kingston met the play committee inMiss Kingston's office, and the Shylock trials began. At ten minutesbefore three the great Mr. Masters appeared in the door of the officeand tossing a careless "Back at four-thirty sharp" over his shoulder, ran down the stairs as lightly as though he were not leaving riot andruin behind him. A minute later Barbara Gordon came to the door andexplained to the Portias who were waiting to come on at three, that ithad been found necessary to delay their appearance until evening. Barbara always looked calm and unruffled under the most tryingcircumstances, but she shut the door unnecessarily hard and the Portiasexchanged amazed glances. 

"Something's happened, " declared Babe, sagely. 

"'Oh, wise young judge!'" quoted Nita. "Why don't you tell us what itis?"

"I must go if we have to come back this evening, " said Kate Denise, andhurried off to find Jean, who had promised to meet her in the library. 

Kate understood Jean very well and often disapproved of her, but she hadknown her a long time and was genuinely fond of her and anxious for hersuccess. Jean had complained of a headache at luncheon and seemednervous and absent-minded. Kate wondered if she could possibly havebroken down and spoiled her chance with Mr. Masters, thus disarrangingthe committee's plans. 

But Jean scoffed at this idea. "I did my best, " she declared, "and hewas awfully nice. You'll like him, Katie. I suppose he had anengagement, or was tired and wanted to go off somewhere and smoke. Hegets up plays all the time, you know. It must be horribly boring. "

Meanwhile Miss Kingston and the play committee sat in mournful conclave. Nobody had much to say. Clara Ellis looked "I told you so" at the rest, and the rest looked back astonishment, dismay and annoyance at Clara. 

"Is he generally so--so decided and, well, --so quick to make up hismind?" asked Betty, finally. 

Miss Kingston laughed at Betty's carefully chosen adjectives and shookher head. "He's generally very patient and encouraging, but to-daysomething seems to have spoiled his temper. I don't believe, though, that his irritability has affected his judgment. I agree perfectly withwhat he said about Miss Eastman. "

"Yes, " agreed Barbara, "he put into words what we all felt when we firstheard her. Afterward we wanted so much to think she was good that weactually cheated ourselves into thinking so. "

"Do tell me what happened, " begged Rachel Morrison. She had been kept athome by a belligerent sophomore who insisted upon being tutored at herregular hour, and had arrived only just in time for Mr. Masters'sdramatic exit. 

"Why, he was perfectly calm while the Shylocks were performing, "explained Barbara. "We had Jean come last because we thought that wouldgive them all the best chance. He smiled blandly while she was goingthrough her part and bowed her out as if she had been a second Booth. Then he sat back and looked at me and said 'Well?' and I said, 'Do youlike her best, Mr. Masters?' He glared at me for a minute and then beganto talk about the seriousness of giving a Shakespearean play and theconfidence he'd felt in us to advise us to give this one, and thereasons why none of the girls he'd heard would do at all for Shylock. When he was through he just picked up his hat and coat and told us to goand get the other girls who tried, as he'd be ready to see them athalf-past four. After that he apologized to Miss Kingston if he'd been'in the least abrupt'--and went. "

"And what are we to do now?" demanded Clara, wearily. 

"Get them--the forlorn hopes, as he called them, " said Barbara, determined to be cheerful, "and hope that we shall be happilydisappointed in them. Somebody's got to be Shylock, you know. Betty, will you go for these three girls on Main Street?" She handed Betty aslip of paper. "Clara, will you try to find Emily Davis? Rachel, youlook tired to death. Go home and rest. Josephine and I can manage thecampus people. "

"There's no use in your getting the Miller girls, " said Clara, decisively. "One lisps and the other stammers. "

"That's true, " agreed Barbara, cheerily. "We'll leave them out, andKitty Lacy has gone home ill. I wish we could think of some promisingpeople who haven't tried at all. Eleanor Watson used to act verycleverly. Betty, do you suppose she would be willing to come and readthe part?"

Betty shook her head. "I don't think she would take a part under anycircumstances, but certainly not if she had to compete with Jean. They're such old friends. "

"How about Madeline Ayres?"

"She's set her heart on being the Prince of Morocco, " laughed Betty, "because she wants to be blackened up. Anyway I don't think--"

"No, I don't either, Betty, " interposed Miss Kingston. "Miss Ayrescouldn't do a part like Shylock. "

"Then I don't believe there is any one else who didn't try before, " saidBarbara. "We must just hope for the best, that's all. "

Betty had opened the door preparatory to starting on her rounds when shehappened to remember Roberta and her exaggerated disappointment overmissing the last week's trials. 

"Barbara, " she began timidly, closing the door again, "I know some onewho intended to try but she was sick with the grippe and couldn't. It'sRoberta Lewis. She told me not to speak of her having wanted to try, butI don't see why she shouldn't have a chance now, do you? She couldn't beworse than some of them. "

"She certainly couldn't, " laughed Barbara. 

"She did awfully well in that little girl play you had, " said ClaraEllis, condescending to show a little real interest in the question atissue. "Did you see it, Miss Kingston?"

Miss Kingston hadn't seen "The Little Princess" and didn't know Roberta;but she agreed that there was no reason why any girl who was willing totake it shouldn't have a chance to show what she could do towardsatisfying Mr. Masters. 

"But it isn't that I think she will do particularly well, " Bettyexplained, honestly. "Only I was sorry for her because she seemed tocare such a lot. Shall I stop and ask her on my way?"

Barbara said yes and Betty hurried over to the Belden. Roberta was out, but a neat sign pinned to her door promised that she would be "Back in afew minutes, " so Betty scribbled a hasty note to explain matters andhurried off again. She had not much idea that Roberta would care to tryfor Shylock now, but she was glad she had thought of giving her thechance. Roberta was so quiet and self-contained and so seldom expresseda wish or a preference that it was worth while taking a little troubleto please her. 

"Even if there isn't much sense in what she wants, " thought Betty, asshe tramped up Main Street. 

The Main Street Shylocks all lived in the same house and not one of themwas in. Betty pursued them back to the campus, caught one at the libraryand another in chemistry "lab. , " and followed the third down town whereshe was discovered going into Cuyler's for an ice. As this last captivehappened to be the most promising Shylock, next to the ones that Mr. Masters had already seen, Betty led her back to the campus in triumph, too thankful at having her safe to notice that it was fully a quarter tofive before they reached college hall. 

Roberta was sitting by herself on a low window-seat near Miss Kingston'sdoor. She looked pale and frightened and hardly smiled in answer toBetty's gay little nod and wave of the hand. 

"Goodness, I hope she'll do decently, " thought Betty, and was openingthe door as softly as possible when somebody gave it a quick push fromthe other side. It was the great Mr. Masters coming out again. 

"Oh, Miss Lewis, " he called over to Roberta, "have you learned thePortia scenes too? I forgot to ask you. Well, suppose you come over andread them to-night. We should all like to hear you. "

Betty stared in amazement; so did the Shylocks who crowded the stairsand windowledges. There was no mistaking the fact that this time thegreat Mr. Masters was genuinely pleased. He held the door open for Bettyto pass into the office, assured Roberta once more that he should expectto see her in the evening, and went inside himself, leaving a buzz ofexcitement behind him and meeting a similar buzz that hushed politely ashe came forward. 

"Well, Miss Kingston, " he said, rubbing his hands together with an airof supreme satisfaction, "we've found our Shylock. I'm glad you let herin first this time. I was really getting worried. May I ask why youyoung ladies kept her up your sleeves so long?"

Barbara explained. 

"But you must have known about her, " Mr. Masters persisted. "Why, she'smarvelous. She'd save your play for you, single-handed. Hasn't she takenpart in any of your college performances?"

Barbara explained about that too. 

"Then how did she happen to come to light at all?" he demanded. 

This time Barbara looked at Betty, who blushed and murmured, "I didn'tsuppose she could act very much. I really didn't. "

Mr. Masters laughed heartily at this. "Well, she seems to be a thoroughmystery, " he said. "And now the only question is where we need her most, in case I don't like your first choice in Portias any better than I didyour Shylocks. We ought to have these other people in, I suppose. Ofcourse there's no question about Miss Lewis, but we'd better know whatthey can all do, especially if there are any more of Miss Wales's darkhorses among them. "

[Illustration: "WELL, WE'VE FOUND OUR SHYLOCK, " HE SAID. ]

By dinner time the astonishing news had spread over the campus. RobertaLewis was going to be Shylock. She hadn't been in but one play since sheentered college and then she took somebody's place. Nobody had thoughtshe would get it. Nobody knew she could act except Betty Wales. Bettyfound out about her somehow--she was always finding out what peoplecould do, --and she got her in at the last minute because Mr. Mastersdidn't like Jean's acting, --or somebody didn't. Roberta's wasmagnificent. They wanted her for Portia too. Mr. Masters had said it wasa great pity there weren't two of her. How did she take it? Why, sheacted shy and bored and distant, just as usual. She seemed to haveexpected to be Shylock!

But she wasn't "just as usual. " She was sitting by her window in thedark, with Mary Brooks's picture clutched tightly in one hand and herfather's in the other, and she was whispering soft little messages tothem. 

"Dear old daddy, you were in all the fraternities and societies, and onall the college papers and the 'varsity eight. Well, I'm on one thingnow. You'll have one little chance to be proud of me, perhaps, after allthese four years. 

"Now, Mary Brooks, do you see what I can do? I couldn't write and Icouldn't be popular or prominent or a 'star' in any of the classes. I'mnot that kind. But after all I shall be something but just one of theClan before I leave. 

"Oh, I wonder if Mary and father would like to sit together at theplay. "

While Roberta was considering the probability that they would, Bettyknocked her soft little knock on the door. Roberta always knew Betty'sknock. 

"Come, " she called in a queer, trembly voice. How was she ever going tothank Betty for seeing what no one else saw, and helping her to stick toit and get her chance in a nice quiet way that wouldn't make her feelawkward if she failed?

But Betty didn't give her time to open her mouth. "You dear old thing!"she cried. "Oh, I am so happy! I never thought you'd get it. Honestly, Ididn't. I just thought you might as well try. Roberta, you ought tohear the things Mr. Masters has been saying about you. "

Roberta laughed happily. "It's nice, isn't it?" she said. "Didn't youthink I could get a part? You were the one who told me I ought to try. "

"Yes, " said Betty solemnly, "I thought you'd get one of the Salsprobably--you know the ones I mean, --Solanio, and the others that soundlike him. We call them the Sals for short, I never dreamed of your beingShylock, any more than I planned for you to be Ermengarde. You did itevery bit yourself, Roberta Lewis, by just happening to come around atthe right times. "

"And by coming to the right person, " added Roberta. 

But Betty only laughed at her. "It's bad enough to be blamed for thingsyou've done, " she said. "I simply won't be praised for things I haven'tdone. I never was so pleased in my life. Roberta, Miss Kingston saysyou're a genius. To think of my knowing a genius! I must go and tellHelen Chase Adams. "

Down-stairs Madeline was telephoning to Clara Madison, who, owing to herstrong prejudice against bed-making, still lived off the campus. "A darkhorse, " she explained, "is a person like Roberta Lewis. I didn't havetime to tell you this morning. Good-b----Oh! haven't you heard? She'sgoing to be Shylock. No, the committee haven't announced it yet, but Mr. Masters shouted it aloud in the corridor at college hall. Don't forgetwhat a dark horse is, Clara. "

The B's, innocently supposing that Roberta was out because her windowswere dark, were celebrating in Nita's room, while they awaited herreturn. This meant that Babbie was doing a cake-walk with an imaginarypartner, Babe a clog-dance, and Bob a highland fling, while Nita huggedher tallest vase and her prettiest teacup and besought them to stopbefore Mrs. Kent came to see who was tearing the house down. 

Bob stopped first, though not on account of Nita's bric-a-brac or apossible visit from Mrs. Kent. 

"Nita, " she demanded breathlessly, "did you say Betty thought ofRoberta?"

"Yes, " Nita assented. "Nobody else on the committee knows her at allexcept Rachel, and she is as surprised as the rest of us. "

"Gee!" Bob's tone was deep with meaning. "Then I know who won't likeit. "

"Who?" Babe ended her dance to ask. 

"Jean Eastman, " said Bob solemnly. 

Babe gave her a disdainful glance. "How much brains do you think ittakes to find that out, Bob Parker? Of course she won't like it. "

But Bob only smiled loftily and declared that if Roberta hadn't come inby this time they must all go straight home to dinner. 

CHAPTER XII

CALLING ON ANNE CARTER

Pleasant things generally submerged the unpleasant ones at Harding, soBetty's delight in Roberta's unexpected success quite wiped out herremembrance of Bob's theories about Jean, until, several days after theShylock trials, Jean herself confirmed them. 

"I want to be sure that you know I'm going to try for Bassanio, " shesaid, overtaking Betty on the campus between classes, "so you can haveplenty of time to hunt up a rival candidate. I can't imagine who it willbe unless you can make Eleanor Watson believe that it's her duty to theclass to try. But this time I hope you'll come out into the open andplay fair, or at least as nearly fair as you can, considering that youought to be helping me. I may not be much on philanthropy, but I don'tthink I can be accused of entirely lacking a sense of honor. "

"Why Jean, " began Betty, trying to remember that Jean was hurt anddisappointed and possibly didn't mean to be as rude as her wordssounded, "please don't feel that way. It wasn't that I didn't want youfor Shylock. Of course Roberta is one of my best friends and I'm glad tohave her get the big part in the play, because she's never had anythingelse; but I didn't dream that she would get it. "

"Then why did you drag her in at the last minute?"

Betty explained how that had happened, but Jean only laugheddisagreeably. "I consider that it was a very irregular way of doingthings, " she said, "and I think a good many in the class feel the sameway about it. Besides--but I suppose you've entirely forgotten that itwas I who got you on the play committee. "

"Listen, Jean, " Betty protested, anxious to avoid a discussion thatwould evidently be fruitless. "It was Mr. Masters, and not I or any ofthe other girls, who didn't like your acting, or rather your acting ofShylock. And Mr. Masters himself suggested that you would make a betterBassanio. Didn't Barbara tell you?"

"Oh, yes, " said Jean, "she told me. That doesn't alter the fact that ifyou hadn't produced Roberta Lewis when you did, Mr. Masters might havedecided that he liked my Shylock quite well enough. "

"Jean, " said Betty, desperately, "don't you want the play to be as goodas it possibly can?"

"No, " retorted Jean, coolly, "I don't. I want a part in it. I imaginethat I want one just as badly as Roberta Lewis did. And if I don't getBassanio, after what Barbara and Clara Ellis have said to me, I shallknow whom to blame. " She paused a moment for her words to take effect. "My father says, " she went on, "that women never have any sense ofobligation. They don't think of paying back anything but invitations toafternoon tea. I must tell him about you. He'll find you such a splendidillustration. Good-bye, or I shall be late to chemistry. " Jean sped offin the direction of the science building. 

"Oh, dear, " thought Betty, sadly, "I wish I weren't so stupid and someek. Madeline can always answer people back when they're disagreeable, and Rachel is so dignified that Jean wouldn't think of saying thingslike that to her. "

Then she smiled in spite of herself. It was all such a stupid tangle. Jean insisted on blaming her, and Roberta and the committee had insistedon praising her for finding 19-- a Shylock, when she never intended orexpected to do anything of the kind. "It just shows, " thought Betty, "that the things that seem like deep-laid schemes are very often justhappenings, and the simple-looking ones are the schemes. Well, Icertainly hope Jean will get Bassanio. Eleanor's window is open. Iwonder if she can hear me. "

"Oh, Eleanor, " she called, when the window had been opened wider inresponse to her trill, "there isn't any committee meeting thisafternoon. Don't you want to go with me to see Anne Carter? Let's startearly and take a walk first. It's such a lovely glitter-y day. "

The "glitter-y" day foregathered with a brisk north wind after luncheon, and it was still mid-afternoon when Betty and Eleanor ran up MissCarter's front steps, delighted at the prospect of getting in out ofthe cold. At the door they hesitated. 

"It's so long since I've regularly called on anybody in college, "laughed Betty, "that I've forgotten how to act. Don't we go right up toher room, Eleanor?"

"Why yes. That's certainly what people used to do to us in our freshmanyear. Don't you remember how we were always getting caught with ourkimonos on and our rooms fixed for sweep-day by girls we'd never seen?"

"I should think so. " Betty smiled reminiscently. "Helen Adams used toget so fussed when she was caught doing her hair. Then let's go rightup. We want to be friendly and informal and make her feel at home. Shehas the front room on the second floor. Helen spoke of its being so bigand pretty. I do hope she's in. "

She was in, for she called a brisk "come" in answer to Betty's knock. She was sitting at a table-desk by the window, with her back to herdoor, and when it opened she did not turn her head. Neither did JeanEastman who sat beside her, their heads together over the same book. Jean was reading aloud in hesitating, badly accented French, and paideven less attention to the intruders than Miss Carter, who calledhastily, "In just one minute, Miss Harrison, " and then cautioned Jeannot to forget the elisions. 

"But we're not Miss Harrison, " said Betty laughingly, amazed andembarrassed at the idea of meeting Jean here. 

At the sound of her voice both the girls turned quickly and Miss Cartercame forward with a hearty apology for her mistake. "I was expectingsome one else, " she said, "and I thought of course it was she who camein. It was very stupid of me. Won't you sit down?"

"But aren't we interrupting?" asked Betty, introducing Eleanor. 

"Nothing more important than the tail end of some French, " answered JeanEastman curtly, going to get her coat, which hung over a chair near thedoor. As she passed Miss Carter she gave her a keen, questioning lookwhich meant, so Betty decided, that Jean was as much surprised to findthat this quiet sophomore knew Betty Wales and her crowd, as Betty hadbeen to see Jean established in Miss Carter's room on a footing ofapparent intimacy. 

"I've been here ever since luncheon, " Jean went on, "and I was justgoing, wasn't I, Miss Carter? Oh, no, you're not driving me away--not inthe least. I should be delighted to stay and talk to you both if I hadtime. " And with a disagreeable little laugh Jean pinned on her hat, swept up her books, and started for the door. 

Strange to say, Miss Carter seemed to take her hasty departure as amatter of course and devoted herself entirely to her other visitors, until, just as Jean was leaving, she turned to her with a question. 

"Oh, Miss Eastman, I don't remember--did you say to-morrow at four?"

For a full minute Jean stared at her, her expression a queer mixture ofanger and amused reproach. "No, I said to-morrow at three, " she answeredat last and went off down the stairs, humming a gay little tune. 

Betty and Eleanor exchanged wondering glances. Jean was notorious forknowing only prominent girls. Her presence here and her peculiar mannertogether formed a puzzle that made it very difficult to give one's fullattention to what Miss Carter was saying. There was also Miss Harrison. Was she the senior Harrison, better known as the Champion Blunderbuss?And if she was coming, why didn't she come?

Betty found herself furtively watching the door, which Jean had leftopen, and she barely repressed a little cry of relief when theChampion's ample figure appeared at the head of the stairs. 

"I'm terribly late, " she called out cheerfully. "I thought you'dprobably get tired of waiting and go out. Oh, " as she noticed MissCarter's visitors, "I guess I'd better come back at five. I can as wellas not. "

But Betty and Eleanor insisted that she should do nothing of the kind. 

"We'll come to see you again when you're not so busy, " Betty promisedMiss Carter, who gave them a sad little smile but didn't offer anyobjection to their leaving the Blunderbuss in possession. 

"Well, haven't we had a funny time?" said Eleanor, when they wereoutside. "Did you know that Miss Carter tutored in French?"

"No, " answered Betty. "Helen never gave me the impression that she waspoor. Her room doesn't look much as if she was helping to put herselfthrough college, does it?"

"Not a bit, " agreed Eleanor, "nor her clothes, and yet Miss Harrisoncertainly acted as if she had come on business. "

"Yes, exactly like Rachel's pupils. They always come bouncing in late, when she's given them up and we're all having a lovely time. Miss Carteracted businesslike too. She seemed to expect us to go. "

"Well then, what about Jean?" asked Eleanor. "I couldn't make her out atall. Has she struck up some sort of queer friendship with Miss Carter orwas she being tutored too?"

Betty gave a little gasp of dismay. "Oh, I don't know. I hoped youwould. You see--she's trying for a part in the play. "

"Then she can't be conditioned, " said Eleanor easily. "Teddie Wilson hasadvertised the rule about that far and wide, poor child. "

"And you don't think Jean could possibly not have heard of it?" Bettyasked anxiously. 

"Why, I shouldn't think so, but you might ask her to make sure. Shecertainly acted very much as if we had caught her at something she wasashamed of. Would you mind coming just a little way down-town, Betty? Iwant to buy some violets and a new magazine. "

Betty was quite willing to go down-town, but she smiled mournfully atEleanor's careless suggestion that she should speak to Jean. Asking JeanEastman a delicate question, especially after the interview they had hadthat morning, was not likely to be a pleasant task. Betty wondered ifshe needed to feel responsible for Jean's mistakes. She certainly oughtto know on general principles that conditions keep you out of everythingnice from the freshman team on. 

A visit from Helen Adams that evening threw some new light on thematter. 

"Betty, " Helen demanded, "isn't Teddie Wilson trying for a part in ourplay?"

"Helen Chase Adams, " returned Betty, severely, "is it possible you don'tknow that she got a condition and can't try?"

"I certainly didn't know it, " said Helen meekly. "Why should I, please?"

"Only because everybody else does, " said Betty, and wondered if Jeancould possibly belong with Helen in the ignorant minority. It seemedvery unlikely, but then it seemed a sheer impossibility that Helenshould have sat at the Belden House dinner-table day after day and nothave heard Teddie's woes discussed. At any rate now was her chance toget some information about Miss Carter. 

"While we are talking about conditions, " she began, "does your friendAnne Carter tutor in French?"

Helen nodded. "It's queer, isn't it, when she has so much money? Shedoesn't like to do it either, but mademoiselle made her think it was herduty, because all the French faculty are too busy and there was no othergirl who took the senior course that mademoiselle would trust. Annethinks she'll be through by next week. "

"Were many people conditioned in French?" asked Betty. 

"Why, I don't know. I think Anne just said several, when she told meabout it. "

"What I mean is, are all those she tutors conditioned?"

"Why, I suppose so, " said Helen, vaguely. "Seniors don't generally tutortheir last term unless they have to, do they? There wouldn't be muchobject in it. Why are you so interested in Anne's pupils, Betty?"

"Oh, for no reason at all, " said Betty, carelessly. "Eleanor and I wentup to see her this afternoon, and some one came in for a lesson, as Iunderstood it, so of course we didn't stay. "

"What a shame! You'll go again soon, won't you?"

"Not until after she gets through tutoring, " said Betty, decidedly. 

"I wish Helen Adams had never seen that girl, " she declared savagely tothe green lizard after Helen had gone. "Or at least--well, I almost wishso. Whatever I do will go wrong. If I ask Jean whether she knows aboutthe rule, she'll be horribly disagreeable, but if she gets Bassanio andthen Miss Stuart reports her condition she'll probably come and tell methat I ought to have seen she was conditioned and warned her. Anyway Ishall feel that I ought. It's certainly much kinder to speak to her thanto ask Barbara to inquire of Miss Stuart. Eleanor can't speak to her. Noone can but me. " The lizard didn't even blink, but Betty had aninspiration. "I know what. I'll write to her. "

Betty spent a long time and a great deal of note-paper on that letter, but at last it read to her satisfaction:

 * * * * *

"DEAR JEAN:

"After you left this afternoon Miss Harrison came in, evidently to betutored. So I couldn't help wondering if you could possibly have had thebad luck to get a condition, and if so, whether you know the rule aboutthe senior play, --I mean that no one having a condition can take part. Please, please don't think that I want to be interfering ordisagreeable. I know you would rather have me ask you now than to haveanything come out publicly later. 

 "BETTY. "

 * * * * *

Two days later Jean's answer appeared on the Belden House table. 

"If you thought I had a condition in French, why didn't you go and askmademoiselle about it? She would undoubtedly have received you with openarms. Yes, I believe that Miss Carter, whom you seem to know sointimately all of a sudden, tutors the Harrison person. Just why youshould lump me with her, I don't see. I know the rule about conditionsand the play as well as you do, but being without either a condition ora part, I can't see that it concerns me particularly. 

 "Yours most gratefully, "JEAN REAVES EASTMAN. "

 * * * * *

Betty read this note through twice and consigned it, torn into verysmall pieces, to her waste-basket. But after thinking the whole matterover a little more carefully she decided that Jean had had ample groundsfor feeling annoyance, if not for showing it, and that there would bejust time before dinner to find her and tell her so. 

Jean looked a good deal startled and not particularly pleased when shesaw Betty Wales standing in her door; but Betty, accepting Jean'sattitude as perfectly natural under the circumstances, went straight tothe point. 

"I've come to apologize for my mistake, Jean, " she said steadily, "andto tell you how glad I am that it is a mistake. I don't suppose I canmake you understand why I was so sure--or at least so afraid----"

"Oh, we needn't go into that, " said Jean, with an attempt atgraciousness. "I suppose Miss Carter said something misleading. You arequite excusable, I think. "

"No, " said Betty, "I'm not. I've studied logic and argument and I oughtto know better than to depend on circumstantial evidence. I'm very, verysorry. "

Jean looked at her keenly. "I suppose you and Eleanor have discussedthis affair together. What did she think?"

"I haven't mentioned it to her since the afternoon we were at MissCarter's, and she doesn't know that I wrote you. That day we both feltthe same--that is, we didn't know what to think. If you don't mind, Ishould like to tell her that it's all right. "

"Why in the world should you bother to do that?" asked Jean curiously. 

"Because she'll be so glad to know, and also because I think it's nomore than fair to all of us. You did act very queerly that afternoon, Jean. "

"Oh, did I?" said Jean oddly. "You have a queer idea of fairness. Youwon't work for me when I've put you on a committee for that expresspurpose; but no matter how disagreeable I am to you about it, you won'ttake a good chance to pay up, and you won't let Eleanor take hers. "

"Let Eleanor take hers?" repeated Betty wonderingly. 

"Yes, her chance to pay up her score. She owes me a long one. You know agood many of the items. Why shouldn't she pay me back now that she has agood chance? You haven't forgotten Mary Brooks's rumor, have you?Eleanor could start one about this condition business without halftrying. "

"Well, she won't, " Betty assured her promptly. "She wouldn't think ofmentioning such a thing to anybody. But as long as we bothmisunderstood, I'm going to tell her that it's all right. Good-bye, Jean, and please excuse me for being so hasty. "

"Certainly, " said Jean, and Betty wondered, as she ran down-stairs, whether she had only imagined that Jean's voice shook. 

The next afternoon Mr. Masters and the committee, deciding that Jean'sBassanio was possibly just a shade more attractive than Mary Horton's, gave her the part. Kate Denise was Portia, and everybody exclaimed overthe suitability of having the lovers played by such a devoted pair offriends. As for Betty, she breathed a sigh of relief that it was allsettled at last. Jean had won the part strictly on her merits, and shefully understood Betty's construction of a committee-woman's duty to theplay. Nevertheless Betty felt that, in spite of all their recentcontests and differences of opinion, they came nearer to being friendsthan at any time since their freshman year, and she wasn't sorry thatshe had gone more than halfway in bringing about this happy result. 

Meanwhile the date of the Glee Club concert was fast approaching. Georgia Ames came in one afternoon to consult Betty about the importantmatter of dress. 

"I suppose that, as long as we're going to sit in a box, I ought to wearan evening gown, " she said. 

"Why, yes, " agreed Betty, "if you can as well as not. It's a very dressyoccasion. "

"Oh, I can, " said Georgia sadly. "I've got one all beautifully spick andspan, because I hate it so. I never feel at home in anything but ashirt-waist. Beside my neck looks awfully bony to me, but mother saysit's no different from most people's. The men are coming, I suppose?"

"Oh, yes, they're coming, " assented Betty gaily, "and between us we'vebeen asked to every tea on the campus, I should think. So they ought tohave a good time in the afternoon, and college men are always crazy overour concerts. "

"Your man will be all right, " said Georgia admiringly, "and I'll do mybest for the other one. Truly, Betty, I am grateful to you. I think it'sawfully good of you to ask me. Even if you asked me because I'm theother Georgia's namesake, you wouldn't do it if you didn't like me alittle for myself, would you?"

"Of course not, you silly child, " laughed Betty. 

"I want you to have my reserved seat for the basket-ball game, " went onGeorgia. "The subs each have one seat to give away, and I've swappedmine with a sophomore, so you can sit on your own side. "

"I shall clap for you, though, " Betty told her, "and I hope you'll get achance to play. The other Georgia wasn't a bit athletic, so yourbasket-ball record will never be mixed with hers. "

Betty repeated Georgia's remark about being nothing but the otherGeorgia's namesake to Madeline. "I think she really worries about it, "she added. 

Madeline only laughed at her. "She hasn't seemed quite so gaylately--that probably means warnings from her beloved instructors atmidyears. It must be awfully hard work to keep up the freshman grindwith everybody under the sun asking you to do things. Georgia hates tosnub people, so she goes even when she'd rather stay at home. Twicelately I've met her out walking with the Blunderbuss. I must talk to herabout the necessity of being decently exclusive. "

CHAPTER XIII

GEORGIA'S AMETHYST PENDANT

"Has your man come yet, Lucy?"

"Mine hasn't, thank goodness! He couldn't get off for the afternoon. "

"Mine thought he couldn't and then he changed his mind after I'd refusedall the teas. "

"Oh, I wouldn't miss the teas for anything. They're more fun than theconcert. "

"Of course she wouldn't miss them, the dressy lady, with violets to wearand a new white hat with plumes. "

"The Hilton is going to have an orchestra to play for dancing. Isn'tthat pretty cute?"

"But did you hear about Sara Allen's men? They both telegraphed her lastevening that they could come, --both, please note. And now she hasn't anyseats. "

So the talk ran among the merry crowd of girls who jostled one anotherin the narrow halls after morning chapel. For it was the day of theGlee Club concert. The first installment of men and flowers was alreadybeginning to arrive, giving to the Harding campus that air of festiveexpectancy which it wears on the rare occasions when the Harding girl'shighest ambition is not to shine in her classes or star in thebasket-ball game or the senior play, but only to own a "man. "

Tom Alison and his junior roommate arrived at the Belden soon afterluncheon. Tom looked so distinguished in a frock coat and high hat thatBetty hoped her pride and satisfaction in taking him around the campusweren't too dreadfully evident. 

Ashley Dwight was tall, round-shouldered, and homely, except when hesmiled, which he did very seldom because he was generally too busymaking every one within hearing of his low voice hysterical withlaughter over his funny stories. He took an instant fancy to Georgia, and of course Georgia liked him--everybody liked Ashley, Tom explained. So Betty's last worriment vanished, leaving nothing to mar theperfection of her afternoon. 

The Hilton girls' brilliant idea of turning their tea into a dance hadbeen speedily copied by the Westcott and the Belden, and the otherhouses "came in strong on refreshments, cozy-corners, and conversation, "as Ashley put it. So it was six o'clock before any one dreamed that itcould be so late, and the men went off to their hotels for dinner, leaving the girls to gloat over the flower-boxes piled high on thehall-table, to gossip over the afternoon's adventures, and then hurryoff to dress, dinner being a superfluity to them after so many saladsand sandwiches, ices and macaroons, all far more appetizing than acampus dinner menu. 

"I'll come down to your room in time to help you finish dressing, " Bettypromised Georgia. "My things slip on in a minute. "

But she had reckoned without a loose nail in the stair-carpet, which, apparently resenting her hasty progress past it, had torn a yard offilmy ruching off her skirt before she realized what was happening. 

"Oh, dear!" she mourned, "now I shall have to rush just as usual. HelenChase Adams, the gathering-string is broken. Have you any pink silk? Ihaven't a thing but black myself. Then would you try to borrow some? Andplease ask Madeline to go down and help Georgia. Her roommate is goingrush to the concert, so she had to start early. "

Helen had just taken the last stitches in the ruffle and Betty wasputting on her skirt again, when Tom's card came up to her. By the timeshe got down-stairs they were all waiting in the reception-room and Mr. Dwight was helping Georgia into her coat and laughing at the chiffonscarf that she assured him was a great protection, so that Betty didn'tsee Georgia in her hated evening gown until they took off their wraps atthe theatre. 

"Awfully sorry I couldn't come to help you, " she whispered, as they wentout to the carriage, "but I know you're all right. "

"I did my little best not to disgrace you, " Georgia whispered back. "Myneck is horribly bony, no matter what mother thinks; but I covered someof it up with a chain. "

When they got to the theatre, almost every seat was filled and a prettylittle usher hurried them through the crowd at the door, assuring themimportantly over her shoulder that the concert would begin in oneminute and she couldn't seat even box-holders during a number. Sureenough, before they had fairly gotten into their places, the Glee Clubgirls began to come out and arrange themselves in a rainbow-tintedsemicircle for the first number. They sang beautifully and looked sopretty that Tom gallantly declared they deserved to be encored on thataccount alone; and he led the applause so vigorously that everybodylooked up at their box and laughed. Alice Waite had the other seats init, and as the three men were friends and all in the highest spirits, itwas a gay party. 

"There's Jerry Holt, " Tom would say, "see him stare at our elegance. "

"Oh, we're making the rest of the fellows envious all right, " Ashleywould answer. "Who's the stunning girl in the second row, next theaisle? We don't miss a thing from here, do we?"

"Prettiest lay-out I've ever seen, this concert is, " Alice's escortwould declare fervently. "Sh, Tommie, the banjo club's going to play. "

And then they would settle themselves to watch the stage and listen tothe music for a while. 

"It's all good, but what I'm looking forward to is this, " said AshleyDwight, pointing out the Glee Club's last number on his program. "Ican't wait to hear 'The Fames of Miss Ames. '"

"The what?" asked Betty, consulting her card. "Why, Georgia Ames, is itabout you? Did you know they were going to have it?"

Georgia nodded. "The leader came and asked me if I cared. She seemed tothink it would take, so I told her to go ahead. But I didn't realizethat this concert was such a big thing, " she added mournfully, "and Ididn't know I was going to sit in a box. "

"Pretty grand to be sitting in a box with the celebrity of the evening, isn't it, Ashley?" said Tom. 

And Ashley said something in a low voice to Georgia, which made herlaugh and blush and call him "too silly for anything. "

Finally, after the Mandolin Club had played its lovely "Gondolier'sSong, " and the Banjo Club its amusing and inevitable "Frogville Echoes, "the Glee Club girls came out to sing "The Fames of Miss Ames, " which aclever junior had written and a musical sophomore had set to a catchymelody. A little, short-haired girl with a tremendous alto voice sangthe verses, which dealt in witty, flippant fashion with the career ofthe two Georgias, and the whole club came in strong on the chorus. 

 "And now she's come to life, (Her double's here). And speculation's rife, (It's all so queer). The ghost associations, Hold long confabulations, And the gaiety of nations Is very much enhanced by Georgia dear!"

It was only shameless doggerel, but it took. Topical songs always takewell at Harding, and never had there been such a unique subject as thisone. Between the verses the girls clapped and laughed, nodded atGeorgia's box, and whispered explanations to their escorts; and when atlast the soloist answered their vociferous demands for more with asmiling head-shake and the convincing statement that "there wasn't anymore--yet, " they laughed and made her sing it all over. 

This time Georgia asked one of the men to change seats with her, andslipped quietly into the most secluded corner of the box, behind Betty'schair, declaring that she really couldn't stand it to be stared at anylonger. She looked positively pretty, Betty thought, having a chance forthe first time to get a good look at her. The sparkle in her eyes andthe soft color in her cheeks that the excitement and embarrassment hadput there were very becoming. So was the low dress, in spite of the factthat Georgia was undoubtedly right in considering herself a "shirt-waistgirl. " Her neck wasn't particularly thin, or if it was the lovely oldchain that she wore twisted twice around it kept it from seeming so. Betty turned to ask her something about the song and noticed the pendantthat hung from her chain. It was of antique pattern--an amethyst in aring of little pearls, with an odd quaint setting of dull gold. Itlooked familiar somehow. It was--yes, it was just like Nita Reese's lostpin--the one that belonged to her great grandmother and that haddisappeared just before the Belden House play--one of the first theftsto be laid to the account of the college robber. Only, instead of a pinthis was a pendant, fastened to the chain by a tiny gold ring. That wasthe only difference, for--yes, even the one little pearl that Nita hadlost of the circle was missing here. 

Betty didn't hear Georgia's answer to her question. She turned back tothe stage, which swayed sickeningly as she watched it. At last the songended, and while she clapped mechanically with the rest she gave herselfa little shake, and told herself sternly that she was being a goose, that it was absurd, preposterous, even wicked--this thought that hadflashed into her head. Nita's pin wasn't the only one of its kind; theremight be hundreds just like it. Georgia's great grandmother probably hadhad one too. 

Betty talked very fast on the way up to the Belden. She was thankfulthat Tom and his friend were going back to New Haven that night andwould have time for only the hastiest of good-byes. 

"See you later, Miss Ames, " Ashley Dwight called back as he ran down thesteps after Tom. 

"He's asked me to the prom, Betty. Think of that!" explained Georgia, her eyes shining. 

"How--nice, " said Betty faintly. "I'm awfully tired, aren't you?"

"Tired!" repeated Georgia gaily. "Not a bit. I should like to begin allover again this minute. I'm hot though. We walked pretty fast up thehill. " She threw back her coat and unwound the scarf that was twistedover her hair and around her throat. It caught on the amethyst pendantand Georgia pulled it away carefully, while Betty watched in fascinatedsilence, trying to make up her mind to speak. She might never have agood chance again. Ordinarily Georgia wore no jewelry, --not a pin or aring. She had certainly never worn this pendant before at Harding. Itwould be so easy and so sensible to say something about it now and sether uncomfortable thoughts at rest. 

Betty wet her lips nervously, made an heroic effort, and began. 

"What a lovely chain that is, Georgia. " She hoped her voice sounded morenatural to Georgia than it did to herself. "Is it a family heirloom?"

Georgia put up her hand absently, and felt of the chain. "Oh, that, --yes, it is. It really belongs to mother, but she let me bring ithere. She's awfully fond of old jewelry, and she has a lot. I hate allkinds, but this covers my bones so beautifully. "

"The pendant is lovely too, " put in Betty hastily, as Georgia moved offtoward her room. "Is that old too?"

"I don't know, " said Georgia stiffly. "That isn't a family thing. It wasgiven to me--by somebody I don't like. "

"The somebody must like you pretty well, " said Betty, trying to speaklightly, "to give you such a stunning present. "

Georgia did not answer this, except by saying, "Good-night. I believe Iam tired, " as she opened her door. 

Up in her own corridor Betty met Madeline Ayres. "Back so soon?" saidMadeline, who refused to take Glee Club concerts seriously. "I've hadthe most delicious evening, reading in solitary splendor and eatingapples that I didn't have to pass around. I'm sure your concert wasn'thalf so amusing. How did Georgia's song go?"

"Finely, " said Betty without enthusiasm. "Did she tell you about itwhile you helped her dress?"

"No, for I didn't help her. I went over to the Hilton right afterdinner. Lucile told me, in a valiant attempt to persuade me that I wasfoolish to miss the concert. "

"Oh, " said Betty limply, opening her own door. 

Madeline hadn't seen the pendant then. Probably some freshman who didn'tknow about Nita's loss had helped Georgia to dress. Well, what did thatmatter? She had Georgia's own word that the pin was a gift. Besides itwas absurd to think that she would take Nita's pin and wear it righthere at Harding. And yet--it was just the same and the one little pearlwas gone. But a person who would steal Nita's pin, wouldn't make apresent of it to Georgia. Then the pin couldn't be Nita's. 

"I'm getting to be a horrid, suspicious person, " Betty told the greenlizard. "I won't think about it another minute. I won't, I won't!"

And she didn't that night, for she fell asleep almost before her headtouched the pillow. Next morning she woke in the midst of a longcomplicated dream about Georgia and the green lizard. Georgia had stolenhim and put a ring around his tail, and the lizard was protestingvigorously in a metallic shriek that turned out, after awhile, to be theBelden House breakfast-bell jangling outside her door. 

"They never ring the rising-bell as loud as that, " wailed Betty, whenshe had consulted her clock and made sure that she had slept over. Before she was dressed Georgia Ames appeared, bringing a deliciousbreakfast tray. 

"Helen said that you have a nine o'clock recitation, " she exclaimed, "and I thought you probably hadn't studied for it and would be in adreadful hurry. "

Betty thanked her, feeling very guilty. Georgia was wearing a plainbrown jumper dress, with no ornament of any kind, not even a pin tofasten her collar; and she looked as cool and self-possessed andcheerful as usual. In the sober light of morning it seemed even morethan absurd to suppose that she was anything but a nice, jolly girl, like Rachel and K. And Madeline, --the sort of girl that you associatedwith Harding College and with the "Merry Hearts" and asked to boxparties with a nice Yale man, who liked her and invited her to his prom. 

In the weeks that followed Betty saw a great deal of Georgia, who seemedintent on showing her gratitude for the splendid time that Betty hadgiven her. Betty, for her part, felt that she owed Georgia far more thanGeorgia owed her and found many pleasant ways of showing her contritionfor a doubt that, do her best, she couldn't wholly stifle. The more shesaw of Georgia, the more clearly she noticed that there was somethingodd about the behavior of the self-contained little freshman, and alsothat she was worrying a good deal and letting nobody know the reason. 

"But it's not conditions or warnings or anything of that sort, "Georgia's round-eyed roommate declared solemnly to Betty, in a burst ofconfidence about the way she was worrying over Georgia. "She sits andthinks for hours sometimes, and doesn't answer me if I speak to her. Andshe says she doesn't care whether she gets a chance to play in the biggame or not. Just imagine saying that, Miss Wales. "

"She's tired, " suggested Betty loyally. "She'll be all right aftervacation. "

Meanwhile, in the less searching eyes of the college world, Georgiacontinued to be the spoiled child of fortune. She came back from theprom, with glowing tales of the good times she had had, and whether ornot she cared about it she was the only "sub" who got a chance to playin the big game. She made two goals, while Betty clapped for herfrantically and her class made their side of the gallery actuallytremble with the manifestations of their delight. 

It was just as Betty was leaving the gym on the afternoon of the gamethat Jean Eastman overtook her. 

"Could you come for a walk?" she asked abruptly. "There is something Iwant to get settled before vacation. It won't take long. It's aboutBassanio, " she went on, when they had gotten a little away from thecrowd. "I want to give up my part. Do you suppose Mary Horton would takeit now?"

"You want to give up Bassanio?" Betty repeated wonderingly. 

"Yes. There's no use in mincing matters. I did have a condition inFrench, and Miss Carter was tutoring me, just as you thought. I hadworked it off the day I answered your note, but of course that doesn'talter anything. They say mademoiselle never hands in her records for onesemester until the next one is almost over, so nothing would have cometo light until it was too late for a new person to learn the part. Don'tlook so astonished, Betty. It's been done before and it may be doneagain, but I don't care for it myself. " Then, as Betty continued tostare at her in horrified silence, "If you're going to look like that, Imight as well have kept the part. The reason I decided to give it up wasbecause I didn't think I should enjoy seeing your face at the granddénouement. You see, when you and Eleanor came in that afternoon Ithought you'd guessed or that Barbara Gordon and Teddie Wilson, who knewof a similar case, had, and had sent you up to make sure. But afteryou'd apologized for your note and squared things with Eleanor, I--well, I didn't think I should enjoy seeing your face, " ended Jean, with alittle break in her voice. "I--told you I had a sense of honor, and Ihave. "

Betty put out her hand impulsively. "I'm glad you changed your mind, Jean. It's too bad that you can't have a part, but you wouldn't want itin any such way. "

"I did though, " said Jean, blinking back the tears. "I knew it wouldcome out in the end, --I counted on that, and I shouldn't have mindedMiss Stuart's rage or the committee's horror. But you're so dreadfullyon the square. You make a person feel like a two-penny doll. I don'twonder that Eleanor Watson has changed about a lot of things. Anybodywould have to if they saw much of you. "

Betty's thoughts flew back to Georgia. "I wish I thought so. "

"Well, " said Jean fiercely, "I do. That's why I've always hated you. Ipresume I shall hate you worse than ever to-morrow. Meanwhile, will youplease tell Barbara? I can't help what they all think, and I don't care. I only wanted you to see that I've got a little sense of obligationleft and that after I've let a person apologize--Don't come any further, please. "

Jean ran swiftly down the steep path leading to the lower level of theback campus and Betty turned obediently toward home, feeling very smalland useless and unhappy. Jean's announcement had been so sudden and soamazing that she didn't know what she had said in response to it, andshe was quite sure that she hadn't done at all what Jean expected. Thenthis confirmation of her suspicions about Jean gave her an uneasyfeeling about Georgia. That baffling young person was just leaving thegym as Betty got back to it, and the sight of her surrounded by a bevyof her admiring friends reassured Betty wonderfully. Nevertheless shedecided to go and see Miss Ferris. There was something she wanted to askabout. 

After half an hour spent in Miss Ferris's cozy sitting-room, she startedout to find Barbara, armed with the serene conviction that everythingwould come out right in the end. 

"How do people influence other people?" she had demanded early in hercall. "There is some one I want to influence, if I could, but I don'tknow how to begin. "

"That's a big question, Betty, " Miss Ferris assured her smilingly. "Ingeneral I think the best way to influence people is to be ourselves thethings we want them to be--honest and true and kind. "

Betty mused on this advice as she crossed the campus. "That was a gooddeal what Jean said. I guess I must just attend to my own affairs andwait and let things happen, the way Madeline does. This about Jean justhappened. "

She passed Georgia's door on her way up-stairs. The room was full ofgirls, listening admiringly to their hostess's reminiscences of theafternoon. "That sophomore guard was so rattled. She kept saying, 'Iwill, I will, I will, ' between her teeth and she was so busy saying itthat she forgot to go for the ball. But she didn't forget to stick herelbow into me between times--not she. I wanted to slug her a little justfor fun, but of course I wouldn't. I perfectly hate people who don'tplay fair. "

Betty went on up the stairs smiling happily. She wanted to hug Georgiafor that last sentence. 

CHAPTER XIV

THE MOONSHINERS' BACON-ROAST

Jean's sudden retirement from the cast of "The Merchant of Venice" wasthe subject of a good deal of excited conjecture during the few daysthat remained of the winter term. Betty explained it briefly to Barbara, who in turn confided Jean's story to the rest of her committee. All ofthem but Clara Ellis thought better of Jean than they ever had beforefor the courage she had shown in owning herself in the wrong. TeddieWilson, being in Jean's French division, remembered her letter from thelast year's girl and made a shrewd guess at the true state of affairs;but realizing just how sorely Jean had been tempted she was generousenough not to ask any questions or tell anybody what she thought. So theHarding world was divided in its opinions, one party asserting thatJean's acting had proved a disappointment, the other declaring that shehad wanted to manage the whole play, and finding that she couldn't hadresigned her part in it. Jean herself absolutely refused to discuss thesubject, beyond saying that she was tired and had found it necessary todrop something, and she was so sarcastic and ill-tempered that even herbest friends began to let her severely alone. Toward Eleanor her mannerwas as contemptuous as ever, and she kept haughtily aloof from Betty. But one day when two of the Hill girls, gossiping in her room, made someslighting remarks about Betty's prominence in class affairs, Jeanflashed out an indignant protest. 

"She's one of the finest girls in 19--, and if either of you amounted toa third as much, you could be proud of it. No, I don't like her at all, but I admire her immensely, so please choose somebody else to criticisewhile you're in here. "

Meanwhile the winter term had ended, the spring vacation come and gone, and the lovely spring term was at full tide in Harding. If you were afreshman, it made you feel sleepy and happy and utterly regardless ofthe future terrors of the conditioned state in comparison with thepresent joys of tennis and canoeing or the languorous fascination of ahammock on the back campus, --where one goes to study and remains todream. If you were a senior it made a lump come in your throat, --thefleeting loveliness of this last spring term, when all the trials ofbeing a Harding girl are forgotten and all the joys grow dearer thanever, now that they are so nearly past. 

"But it's not going to be any daisy-picking spring-term for 19--, " BobParker announced gaily to a group of her friends gathered for anafter-luncheon conference on the Westcott piazza. "Isn't that a niceexpression? Miss Raymond used it in class this morning. She wanted toremind us, she said, that the Harding course is four full years long. Then she gave out a written lesson on Jane Austen for Friday. "

"What a bother!" lamented Babbie, who hadn't elected English novelists. "Now I suppose we can't have either the Moonshiners' doings or the'Merry Hearts' meeting on Thursday. "

"Who on earth are the Moonshiners?" asked Katherine Kittredge curiously. 

"Learn to ride horseback and you can be one, " explained Babbie. "They're just a crowd of girls, mostly seniors, who like to ridetogether in the cool of the evening and make a specialty of moonlight. We're going to have a bacon-roast the first moonlight night thateverybody can come. "

"Which will be the night after never, " declared Madeline Ayres sagely. 

"What's the awful rush about that bacon-roast?" asked Babe. "I shouldthink it would be nicer to wait awhile and have it for a sort of grandend-up to the riding season. "

"Why, there isn't but one more moon before commencement, " explainedBabbie, "and if we wait for that it may be too hot. Who wants to go on abacon-roast in hot weather?"

"The 'Merry Hearts' are going to decide about passing on the society, aren't they?" asked Rachel. "That's a very important matter and we oughtto get it off our hands before too many other things come up. Girls, doyou realize that commencement is only five weeks off?"

"Oh, please don't begin on that, " begged Babe, who hated sentiment andwas desperately afraid that somebody would guess how tear-y she feltabout leaving Harding. "I'll tell you how to settle things. Let's goover all the different afternoons and evenings and see which ones arevacant. Most of the 'Merry Hearts' are here and several Moonshiners. Wecan tell pretty well what the other girls have on for the differentdays. "

"I'll keep tab, " volunteered Katherine, "because I belong to only one ofthese famous organizations. Shall I begin with to-morrow afternoon? Whocan't come then to a 'Merry Hearts' meeting?"

"We can't. Play committee meets, " chanted Rachel and Betty together. 

"Mob rehearsal from four to six, " added Bob. 

"Helen Adams has to go to a conference with the new board of editors, "put in Madeline. "I heard her talking to Christy about it. It beginsearly and they're going to have tea. "

"To-morrow evening--Moonshiners' engagements please, " said Katherinebriskly. 

"Class supper committee meets to see about caterers, " cried Babe. "Wecan't put it off either. Last year's class has engaged Cuyler'salready, --the pills! That committee takes out me and Nita and AliceWaite. "

"Rehearsal of the carnival dance in the play, " added Babbie promptly, "and Jessica, alias me, has to go. "

"Thursday as I understand it is to be devoted to picking, not daisies, but the flowers of Jane Austen's thought for Miss Raymond. " Katherinelooked at Babbie for directions. "Shall I go on to Friday afternoon?"

"Class meeting, " chanted several voices at once. 

"It won't be out a minute before six, " declared Bob. "We've got to electthe rest of our commencement performers----"

"Which isn't very many, " interposed Madeline. 

"Well, there'll be reports from dozens and dozens of committees, "concluded Bob serenely, "and there'll be quantities of things todiscuss. 19-- is great on discussions. "

"In the evening, " Betty took her up, "Marie is going to assign thejunior ushers to the various functions, and she's asked most of us toadvise her about it, hasn't she?"

Several girls in the circle nodded. 

"Then we come to Saturday, " proclaimed Katherine. "Evening's out, Iknow, for Dramatic Club's open meeting. "

"I'm on the reception committee, " added Betty. "We shall have to trim upthe rooms in the afternoon. "

"All the play people have rehearsals Saturday. "

"Saturday seems to be impossible, " said Katherine. "How about Mondayafternoon?"

"The Ivy Day committee has a meeting, " announced Rachel in apologetictones. "But don't mind me, if the rest can come then. "

"The Prince of Morocco has a special audience granted him by MissKingston for Monday at five, " said Madeline. "But don't mind him. "

"Dear me, " laughed Betty. "I hadn't any idea we were such busy ladies. Is everybody in 19-- on so many committees, do you suppose?"

"Of course not, simple child, " answered Bob. "We're prominentseniors, --one of the leading crowds in 19--. I heard Nan Whipple callus to a freshman that she had at dinner last Sunday. "

"And all of us but Madeline work early and late to keep up theposition, " added Babbie grandly. 

"The Watson lady is an idler too, " put in Madeline, with quick tact, remembering that Eleanor had mentioned no engagements. "We're content tobask in the reflected glory of our friends, aren't we, Eleanor?"

Eleanor nodded brightly and Babbie returned to the matter in hand. "Weshall never get a date this way, " she declared. "Let's put all the daysof next week after Monday into Bob's cap. The first one that K. Drawsout will be the 'Merry Hearts' afternoon; and the next the Moonshiners'evening. Those that can't come at the appointed times will have to stayat home. "

Everybody agreed to this, and Madeline gallantly sacrificed a leaf fromher philosophy note-book to write the days on. 

"Friday, " announced Katherine, drawing out a slip, "and Thursday. "

"Those are all right for me, " said Madeline. 

"And for me. "

"Same here. "

"And here. "

"We'd much better have drawn lots in the first place, " said Babbie. "Nowif it only doesn't rain on Thursday and spoil the full moon! Tell theothers, won't you, girls? I'm due at the Science Building this veryminute. "

It didn't rain on Thursday. Indeed the evening was an ideal one for along gallop, with an open-air supper to follow. This was to be cookedand eaten around a big bonfire that would take the chill off the springair and keep the mosquitoes at a respectful distance. Most of theMoonshiners belonged to the Golf Club, and they had gotten permission tohave their fire in a secluded little grove behind the course. Babbie, who had organized the Moonshiners and was their mistress of ceremonies, held many secret conferences with Madeline Ayres and the two spent along afternoon sewing behind locked doors, on some dark brown stuff, which Babbie subsequently tied into a big, untidy parcel and carried upto Professor Henderson's. So the Moonshiners expected a "feature" inaddition to the familiar delights of a bacon-roast, and they turned outin such numbers that Bob had to ride a fat little carriage horse andBabbie bravely mounted the spirited mare "Lady, " who had frightened herso on Mountain Day. But there was no storm this time to agitate Lady'snerves, and they kept clear of the river and the ferries; so everythingwent smoothly and the Moonshiners cantered up to the Club house at halfpast eight in the highest possible spirits. 

They could see the grove as they dismounted and every one but Babbie wassurprised to find the fire already lighted. The dishes and provisionshad been carried out in big hampers in the afternoon, and the woodgathered, so there was nothing to do now but stroll over to the fire andbegin. 

"Why, somebody's there, " cried Betty suddenly. She was walking aheadwith Alice Waite. "I can see two people. They're stooping over the fire. Why, Alice, it's two dear little brown elves. "

"Just like those on my ink-stand, " cried Alice, excitedly. "How queer!"

Everybody had seen the picturesque little figures by this time, and thefigures in their turn had spied the riding-party and had begun to dancemerrily in the fire-light. They were dressed in brown from head to foot, with long ears on their brown hoods and long, pointed toes curling up atthe ends of their brown shoes. They looked exactly like the little ironfigures of brownies that every Harding girl who kept up with theprevailing fads had put on her desk that spring in some useful orornamental capacity. They danced indefatigably, pausing now and then toheap on fresh wood or to poke the fire into a more effective blaze, andlooking, in the weird light, quite fantastic enough to have come out ofthe little hillside behind the fire, tempted to upper earth by themoonlight and the great pile of dry wood left ready to their hands. Fora few minutes after the Moonshiners' arrival the trolls resolutelyrefused to speak. 

"'Cause now you'll know we ain't real magic, " explained Billy Hendersonindignantly, when his chum had fallen a victim to Bob's wiles anddisclosed his identity. 

The fire was so big and so hot by this time that it threatened to burnup the whole grove, so the small boys were persuaded to devote theirenergies to toasting thin slices of bacon, held on the ends of longsticks, and later to help pass the rolls and coffee that went with thebacon, and to brown the marshmallows, which, with delicious littlenut-cakes, made up the last course. 

The Moonshiners had spent so much time admiring Babbie's brownies thatthey had to hurry through the supper and even so it bid fair to be afterten before they reached the campus. Betty, Bob, and Madeline happened toget back to the horses first and were waiting impatiently for the restto come when Bob made a suggestion. 

"Mr. Ware is helping stamp out the fire. Let's get on and start for homeahead of the others. Then we can let most of them in if they're late. Our matron will rage if she catches us again this week. "

"All right, " agreed Madeline. "Mr. Ware said he had told a man to be atthe Westcott, ready to take some of the horses. Let's not tell any one. They'll be so surprised to find three horses gone. "

"We shall have to hurry then, " whispered Betty. "They'll be here anyminute. "

"On second thought, " said Madeline, "I don't believe I can pick out myown horse. It's inky dark here under the trees. " Madeline had ridden allher life but she seldom went out at Harding, and so hadn't a regularmount, like most of the other Moonshiners. 

"Of course you can, Madeline, " scoffed Betty. "You rode Hero, that bigblack beast hitched to the last post, next to my horse. Don't youremember tying him there?"

Bob backed her sturdy cob out from between two restless companions, andwith much laughter and whispering and many injunctions to hurry and tobe "awfully still, " the three conspirators mounted and walked theirhorses quietly down the drive. 

"My stirrups seem a lot too long, " Betty whispered softly, as theypassed down the avenue, dusky with the shadows of tall elms. "Whoa, Tony! Wait just a minute, girls. Why--oh, Bob, Madeline, --I've got thewrong horse. Somebody must have changed them around. This is Lady. "

Whether it was Betty's nervous clutch on the reins as she made this dirediscovery and remembered Lady's antics on the ferry-boat, or whether thesaucy little breeze which chose that moment to stir the elm branches andset the shadows dancing on the white road, was responsible, is a matterof doubt. At any rate Lady jerked back her pretty head impatiently, asif in answer to her name, shivered daintily, reared, and ran. She dodgedcat-like, between Bob and Madeline and out through the narrow gateway, turned sharply to the right, away from Harding, and galloped off up thelevel road that lay white in the moonlight, between the Golf Club and apine wood half a mile away. 

Betty had presence of mind enough to dig her knees into Lady's sides, and so managed somehow, in spite of her mis-fit stirrups, to stay on atthe gate. She tugged hard at the reins as Lady flew along, and murmuredsoothing words into Lady's quivering ears. But it wasn't any use. Bettyhad wondered sometimes how it felt to be run away with. Now she knew. Itfelt like a rush of cold wind that made you dizzy and faint. Youthought of all sorts of funny little things that happened to you agesago. You wondered who would plan Jessica's costumes if anything happenedto you. You wished you weren't on so many committees; it would botherMarie so to appoint some one in your place. You made a neat little listof those committees in your mind. Then you got to the pine wood, andsomething did happen, for Lady went on alone. 

Madeline, straining her eyes at the gateway, waiting for Bob and Mr. Ware to come, couldn't see that. 

"She was still on the last I could see, " she told them huskily, and Mr. Ware whipped his horse into a run and rushed after Lady. 

Madeline looked despairingly at Bob. "Let's go too, " she said. "I can'tstand it to wait here. "

"All right. "

They rode fast, but it seemed ages before they got to the pines. Mr. Ware was galloping far ahead of them. 

"If she's gone so far she'll slow up gradually on that long hill, "suggested Bob, trying to speak cheerfully. 

"Isn't it--pretty--stony?" asked Madeline. 

"Yes, but after she'd run so far she wouldn't try to throw Betty. "

"Suppose we wait here. Oh, Bob, what shall we do if she's badly hurt?"

"She can't be, " said Bob with a thick sob. "Please come on, Madeline. I've got to know if she's----" Bob paused over the dreadful word. 

There was a little rustling noise in the bushes beside the road. "DidMr. Ware have a dog?" asked Madeline. 

"No, " gulped Bob. 

"There's something down there. Who's there?" called Madeline fearlessly, and then she whistled in case Bob had been mistaken about the dog. 

"It's I--Betty Wales, " answered a shaky little voice, with a reassuringsuggestion of mirth in it. "I'm so glad somebody has come. I'm down herein a berry-patch and I can't get up. "

Madeline was off her horse by this time, pushing through the briarsregardless of her new riding habit. 

"Where are you hurt, dear?" she asked bending over Betty and speakingvery gently. "Do you suppose you could let me lift you up?"

Betty held out her arms, with a merry laugh. "Why, of course I could. I'm not one bit hurt, except scratched. The ferns are just as soft as afeather bed down here, but the thorns up above are dreadful. I can'tseem to pull myself up. I'm a little faint, I guess. "

A minute later she was standing in the road, leaning against Madeline, who felt of her anxiously and asked again and again if it didn't hurt. 

"Hasn't she broken her collar-bone?" asked Bob, who was holding thehorses. "People generally do when they have a bad spill. Are her armsall right?"

"I suppose I didn't know how to fall in the proper way, " explainedBetty, wearily. "I can't remember how it happened, only all at once Ifound myself down on those ferns with my face scratched and smarting. IfMr. Ware went by ahead of you I suppose I must have been stunned, for Ididn't see him. "

"He's probably hunting distractedly for you on the hill, " said Bob, gladto have something definite to do. "I think he's caught Lady, and I'll goand tell him that we've caught you. "

Just then Professor Henderson's surrey drove up. It had come for Billy, and Babbie had thoughtfully sent it on to bring back "whoiver's hurted, "the groom explained. But he made no objection to taking in Betty, though, rather to Billy's disappointment, she did not come under thatcategory. 

"I never saw a broken arm, ner a broken leg, ner a broken anything, " hemurmured sleepily. "I thought I'd have a chance now. Say, can I pleaseput my head in your lap?"

"My, but your knees wiggle something awful, " Billy complained a minutelater. "Don't you think they're cracked, maybe?"

So Madeline put the sleepy elves in front with the driver and got inherself beside Betty. Curled up in Madeline's strong arms she cried alittle and laughed a good deal, never noticing that Madeline was crying, too. For just beyond the berry-patch there was a heap of big stones, which made everything that Bob and Madeline had feared in that dreadfultime of suspense seem very reasonable and Betty's escape from harmlittle short of a miracle. 

It was striking eleven when the riding party and the surrey turned upthe campus drive and the B's noticed with dismay that the Westcott wasbrilliantly lighted. 

"I know what's happened, " wailed Babe. "Our beloved matron has found usmissing and she's hunting for us under the beds and in all the closets, preparatory to calling in the police. Never mind! we've got a goodexcuse this time. "

But the Westcott was not burning its lights to accommodate the matron. The B's had not even been missed. Katherine met them in the hall andbarely listened to their excited accounts of their evening's adventure. 

"There's been plenty doing right here, too, " she said. 

"What?" demanded the three. 

"College thief again, but this time it's a regular raid. For some reasonnearly everybody was away this evening, and the ones who had anythingto lose have lost it--no money, as usual, only jewelry. Fay Ross thinksshe saw the thief, but--well, you know how Fay describes people. You'dbetter go and see what you've lost. "

Luckily the thief had neglected the fourth floor this time, so they hadlost nothing, but they sat up for an hour longer, consoling their lessfortunate friends, and listening to Fay's account of her meeting withthe robber. 

"I'm pretty sure I should know her again, " she declared, "and I'mperfectly sure that I've seen her before. She isn't very tall nor verydark. She's big and she looks stupid and slow, not a bit like a craftythief, or like a college girl either. She had a silk bag on her arm. Iwish I'd asked her what was in it. "

But naturally Fay hadn't asked, and she probably wouldn't see the thiefsoon again. Next morning Emily Lawrence telegraphed her father about herwatch with diamonds set in the back, and he sent up two detectives fromBoston, who, so everybody supposed, would make short work of findingthe robber. They took statements from girls who had lost theirvaluables during the year and from Fay, prowled about the campus and thetown, and finally went back to Boston and presented Emily's father witha long bill and the enlightening information that the case was apuzzling one and if anything more turned up they would communicate it. 

Georgia Ames displayed no unusual interest in the robbery. She happenedto tell Betty that she had spent the entire evening of the bacon-roastwith Roberta, and Betty, watching her keenly, was almost sure that sheknew nothing of the excitement at the Westcott until the B's came overbefore chapel to inquire for "the runaway lady" and brought the news ofthe robbery with them. The "runaway lady" explained that she wasn't evenvery lame and should have to go to classes just as usual. Then she hidher face for a minute on Bob's broad shoulder, --for though she wasn'tlame she had dreamed all night of Lady and stones and briars and brokencollar-bones, --and Bob patted her curls and told her that Lady was goingto be sold, and that she should have been frightened to pieces inBetty's place. After which Betty covered her scratches with a verybewitching white veil and went to chapel, just as if nothing hadhappened. 

CHAPTER XV

PLANS FOR A COOPERATIVE COMMENCEMENT

It was Saturday afternoon and time for the "Merry Hearts'" meeting, which had been postponed for a day to let every one recover fromThursday evening's excitement. 

"Come along, Betty, " said Roberta Lewis, poking her head in at Betty'shalf-open door. "We're going to meet out on the back campus, by Nita'shammock. "

"Could you wait just a second?" asked Betty absently, looking up from amuch crossed and blotted sheet of paper. "If I can only think of a goodway to end this sentence, I can inform Madeline Ayres that my'Novelists'' paper is done. She said I couldn't possibly finish it byfive. See my new motto. "

"'Do not let study interfere with your regular college career, '" readRoberta slowly. "What a lovely sentiment! Where did you get it?"

"Helen gave it to me for a commencement present, " said Betty, drawing avery black line through the words she had written last. "Isn't it justlike her?"

"Do you mean that it's like her to give you something for commencementthat you won't have much use for afterward?"

"Yes, " laughed Betty, "and to give it to me because she says I made hersee that it's the sensible way of looking at college, although shethinks the person who got up these mottoes probably meant it for a joke. She wishes she could find out for sure about that. Isn't she comical?"

"Yes, " said Roberta, "she is. You haven't written as much as you'vecrossed out since I came, Betty Wales. We shall be late. "

Betty shut her fountain pen with a snap, and tossed the much blottedpage on top of a heap of its fellows, which were piled haphazard in achair beside her desk. 

"Who cares for Madeline Ayres?" she said, and arm in arm the two friendsstarted for the back campus, where they found all the rest of the senior"Merry Hearts" waiting for them. Dora Carlson couldn't come, Eleanorexplained; and Anne Carter and Georgia thought that they were too new tomembership in the society to have any voice in deciding how it should beperpetuated. 

"It's rather nice being just by ourselves, isn't it?" said Bob. 

"It's rather nice being all together, " added Babbie in such asignificant tone that Babe gave her a withering glance and summarilycalled the meeting to order. 

The discussion that followed was animated, but it didn't seem to arriveanywhere. There were Lucile and Polly and their friends in the sophomoreclass who would be proud to receive a legacy from the seniors theyadmired so much; and there was a junior crowd, who, as K. Put it, were a"jolly good sort, " and would understand the "Merry Hearts'" policy andtry to keep up its influence in the college. Everybody agreed that, ifthe society went down at all, it ought to descend to a set of girls whowere prominent enough to give a certain prestige to its democraticprinciples, and who, being intimate friends, would enjoy working andplaying together as the first generation of "Merry Hearts" had, andwould know how to bring in the "odd ones" like Dora and Anne, whenopportunity offered. 

"But after all, " said Rachel dejectedly, "it would never be quite thesame. We are 'Merry Hearts' because we wanted to be. The idea justfitted us. "

"And will look like a rented dress suit on any one else, " added Madelinefrivolously. "Of course I'm not a charter member of 19--, and perhaps Iought not to speak. But don't you think that the younger classes willfind their own best ways of keeping up the right spirit at Harding? Ivote that the 'Merry Hearts' has done its work and had its little fling, and that it would better go out when we do. "

"Then it ought to go out in a regular blaze of glory, " said Bob, whenmurmurs of approval had greeted Madeline's opinion. 

"I know a way. " Betty spoke out almost before she thought, and then sheblushed vividly, fearing that she had been too hasty and that the "MerryHearts" might not approve of her plan. 

"Is it one of the things you thought of while you were being run awaywith?" asked Madeline quizzically. 

Betty laughed and nodded. "You'd better make a list of the things Ithought of, Miss Ayres, if the subject interests you so much. "

"Was there one for every scratch on your face?" asked Katherine. 

Betty drew herself up with a comical affectation of offended dignity. "Ialmost wish I'd broken my collar-bone, as Bob thought I ought to. Thenperhaps I should get a little sympathy. "

"And where would the costumes for the play have been, with you laid upin the infirmary for a month?" demanded Babbie with a groan. 

"Do you know that's the very thing I worried about most when Lady wasrunning, " began Betty, so earnestly that everybody laughed again. 

"Just the same it wouldn't have been any joke, would it, about thosecostumes, " said Bob, when the mirth had subsided, "nor about all theother committee work that you've done and that nobody else knows muchabout. "

"Not even to mention that we should hate to have anything happen to youfor purely personal reasons, " said Madeline, shivering in the warmsunshine as she remembered how that dreadful pile of white stones hadglistened in the moonlight. 

"I think this class would better pass a law: No more riding by prominentseniors, " declared Katherine Kittredge. "If Emily Davis should getspilled, there would go our good young Gobbo and our Ivy Day orator, besides nobody knows how much else. "

"Christy is toastmistress and Antonio. "

"Kate is chairman of the supper committee and Portia. "

"Everybody who's anything is a lot of things, I guess, " said littleHelen Adams. She herself was in the mob that made the background for thetrial scene in "The Merchant of Venice, " and she was as elated over herpart as any of the chief actors could possibly be over their leadingrôles. But that wasn't all. She was trying for the Ivy song, which ischosen each year by competition. She had been working on her song insecret all through the year, and she felt sure that nobody had cared somuch or tried so hard as she, --though of course, she reminded herselfsternly it took more than that to write the winning song and she didn'tmean to be disappointed if she failed. 

"Order please, young ladies, " commanded Babe, who delighted to exerciseher presidential dignities. "We are straying far from the subject inhand--to adapt the words of our beloved Latin professor. Betty Wales wasgoing to tell us how the 'Merry Hearts' could go out with a splurge. "

"I object to the president's English, " interrupted Madeline. "Theconnotation of the term splurge is unpleasant. We don't wish to splurge. Now go ahead, Betty. "

"Why, it's nothing much, " said Betty modestly, "and probably it's not atall what Bob is thinking of. It's just that, as Helen says, everybodywho is in anything is in a lot of things and most of the class are beingleft out of the commencement plans. I thought of it first that day wehad a lecture on monopolies in sociology. Don't you remember MissNorris's saying that there were classes and masses and excellentexamples of monopolies right here in college, and that we needn't waituntil we were out to have a chance to fight trusts and equalize wages. "

"Oh, that was just an illustration, " objected Bob blandly. "Miss Norrisdidn't mean anything by it. "

"She's a Harding girl herself, " Betty went on, "and it's certainly true, even if she didn't intend it to be acted on. Thursday night when I wentover the things I had to do about commencement and thought I couldn't doany of them I felt dreadfully greedy. "

"But Betty, " Rachel took her up, "don't you think it takes executiveability to be on committees and plan things? Commencement would be atsixes and sevens if the wrong girls had charge of it. "

"Yes, of course it would, " agreed Betty. "Only I wondered if all theleft-out people are the wrong kind. "

"Of course they're not, " said Madeline Ayres with decision. "What isexecutive ability, anyway?"

"The thing that Christy Mason has, " returned Bob promptly. 

"Exactly, " said Madeline, "and that is just practice in being at thehead of things, --nothing more. Christy isn't much of a pusher, she isn'tparticularly brilliant or particularly tactful; but she's been oncommittees as regularly as clockwork all through her course, and she'slearned when to pull and when to push, and when to sit back and make therest push. It's a thing any one can learn, like French or bookkeeping orhow to make sugar-cookies. I hate it myself, but I don't believe it's adifficult accomplishment. "

"Perhaps not, " protested Bob, "but it takes time, if it's anything likeFrench or cookies--I never tried the bookkeeping. We don't want to makeany experiments with our one and only commencement. "

"Why, I'm an experiment, " said Roberta hastily, as if she had justthought of it and felt impelled to speak. 

"Yes, but you're the exception that proves the rule, " said Nita Reesebrusquely. Nita's reputation for executive ability was second only toChristy's and she was badly overworked, and tired and cross inconsequence. "I don't think I quite get your idea, Betty. Do you wantK. , for instance, to give up her part in the play to Leslie Penrose, who was told she could have it at first and cried for a whole day whenshe found there had been a mistake?"

"Come, Nita, " said Madeline lazily, but with a dangerous flash in hergray eyes. "That's not the way to take our last chance to make more'Merry Hearts. ' Let Betty tell us exactly what she does mean. "

"Please do, Betty, " begged Nita, half ashamed already of herill-tempered outburst. 

"Of course I don't want K. To give up her part, " began Betty with agrateful look at Madeline and a smile for Katherine. "I only thoughtthat some of us are in so many things that we're tired and rushed allthe time, and not enjoying our last term half as much as we might. "

"My case exactly, " put in Nita repentantly. 

"Whereas there are girls in the class who've never had anything to dohere but study, and who would be perfectly delighted to be on somelittle unimportant commencement committee. "

"But they ought to realize, " said Babbie loftily, "that in a bigcollege like Harding very few people can have a chance to be at the headof things. Our commencement is pretty enough to pay our families forcoming even if the girls they are particularly interested in don't haveparts. Being on a committee isn't a part anyway. "

"Girls who are never on them think it is, " said Helen Adams. 

There was an ominous silence. 

At the end of it Babbie slipped out of the hammock and sat down besideBetty on the grass. "It's no use at all fighting you, Betty Wales, " shedeclared amiably. "You always twist the things we don't want to doaround until they seem simple and easy and no more than decent. Ofcourse it's true that we are all tired to death doing things that theleft-outs will be blissful at the prospect of helping us with. But it'sbeen so every year and no other class ever turned its play and itscommencement upside down. And yet you make it seem the only reasonablething to do. "

"Lucky our class-meeting happened to be postponed, " said Bob inmatter-of-fact tones, "Makes it easier arranging things. "

"A coöperative commencement will send us out with a splurge all right, "remarked Babe. 

Thus the B's made a graceful concession to the policy of trying moreexperiments with 19--'s commencement. 

"One man, one office--that's our slogan, " declared Katherine, when Babehad announced that the vote in favor of Betty's plan was unanimous. "Nohard and fast policy, but the general encouragement of passing aroundthe honors. I haven't but one myself, so I shall have to look on and seethat the rest of you do your duty. "

"Let's make a list of the vacancies that will probably occur in ourmidst, as it were, " suggested Rachel. 

"I wonder if we couldn't lengthen the Ivy Day program and make room fora few more girls in that way, " put in Eleanor. "The oration and the songdon't take any time at all. "

"Fine idea!" cried Madeline. "We have a lot of musical and literarytalent in the class that isn't being used anywhere. We'll turn it overto the Ivy Day committee with instructions to build their programaccordingly. "

"But we must manage things tactfully, " interposed Babbie, "as we didabout the junior usher dresses. We mustn't let the left-overs suspectthat we are making places for them. "

"By the way, " said Madeline, "have you heard that this year's juniorushers are going to keep up the precedent, out of compliment to us?"

"Pretty cute, " cried Babe. "I hope they'll manage to look as well as wedid. "

"And as we are going to again this year in our sweet simplicitycostumes, " said Babbie, with a little sigh of regret for the wonderfulimported gown that her mother had suggested buying as part of hercommencement present. 

It was growing late, so the "Merry Hearts" made a hasty outline ofprocedure, and delegated Rachel to see Marie Howard and ask her to helpwith the plan as far as she could at the approaching class-meeting. Luckily this was not until the following Tuesday, so there was plenty oftime to interview all the right people and get the coöperative campaignwell established before Marie rose at the meeting to read what wouldotherwise have seemed an amazing list of committee appointments. EmilyDavis gave up Gobbo at once and Christy, after weighing the relativeglories of being toastmistress and Antonio decided that she could helpmore at the class supper. Both girls declared that they were delightedto be relieved of part of their responsibilities. 

"Those toasts that I hadn't time to brown properly were getting on mynerves, " Christy declared. 

"And my Ivy oration was growing positively frivolous, it was so mixed upwith young Gobbo's irresponsible way of changing masters, " confessedEmily. "I've wanted to drop out of the play, but I was afraid the girlswould think me as irresponsible as Gobbo. Leslie Penrose knows my partand she can step into the place as well as not. "

It was a surprise to everybody when Kate Denise joined the movement, without even having been asked to do so. She gave up everything but herpart as Portia, and used her influence to make the rest of the Hillgirls do the same. 

"I guess she remembers how we did them up last year on the dressbusiness, " chuckled Bob. 

"She's a lot nicer than the rest of her crowd, " Babbie reminded her, "and I think she's tired of acting as if she wasn't. "

"I hate freaks, " said Babe, "but it is fun to see them bustle around, acting as if they owned the earth. Leslie's whole family is coming tocommencement, down to the youngest baby, and the fat Miss Austin isfairly bursting with pride just because she's on the supper committee. She has some good ideas, too. "

"Of course they're proud, " said little Helen Adams sententiously. "Things you've never had always look valuable to you. "

Helen had won in the song contest. Her family would see her name and hersong in print on the Ivy Day program, and May Hayward, a friend of hersand T. Reed's in their desolate freshman year, was to be in the mob inHelen's place. 

All the changes had been made without any difficulty and no one wasworrying lest experiments should prove the ruin of 19--'s commencement. Mr. Masters had protested hotly against Christy's withdrawal from theplay, but the new Antonio was proving herself a great success and evenMr. Masters had to admit that the whole play had gained decidedly theminute that the actors had dropped their other outside interests. Butthe great difference was in the spirit of good-fellowship that prevailedeverywhere. Everybody had something to do now, or if not, then her bestfriend had, and they talked it over together, told what Christy hadsuggested about the tables for class-supper, how Kate was having all herown dresses made for Portia and Nerissa couldn't afford to, so EleanorWatson had lent her a beautiful blue satin, or what the new Ivy Daycommittees had decided about the exercises. There was no longer amonopoly of anything in 19--. Incidentally, as Katherine pointed out, nobody was resting her nerves at the infirmary. 

Betty would have been perfectly happy if she hadn't felt obliged toworry a little about Georgia Ames. Ashley Dwight had been up to see hertwice since the prom. Betty felt responsible for their friendship andwondered if she ought to warn Tom that she really didn't know anythingabout Georgia. For suppose Georgia hadn't had anything to do with theWestcott house robbery; that didn't prove anything about her havingtaken Nita's pin in the fall. 

If Madeline had spoken to her protégée, as she intended to do, aboutexcluding the Blunderbuss from her acquaintance, Georgia had paid theadvice scant heed. The Blunderbuss came to see her more and more oftenas the term went on. To be sure Georgia was very seldom at home when thesenior called. Indeed her roommate was getting to feel decidedly injuredbecause Georgia never used her room except to sleep and dress in. 

CHAPTER XVI

A HOOP-ROLLING AND A TRAGEDY

19-- was having its hoop-rolling. This is the way a senior hoop-rollingis managed: custom decrees that it may take place on any afternoon ofsenior week, which is the week before commencement when the seniors'work is over though the rest of the classes are still toiling over theirJune exams. Some morning a senior who feels particularly young andfrolicsome suggests to her friends at chapel that, as the time-honoredofficial notice puts it, "The day has come, the seniors said, To have our little fling. Let's buy our hoops and roll them round, And laugh and dance and sing. "

If her friends also feel frolicsome they pass the word along, and unlesssome last year's girls have bequeathed them hoops, they hurry down-townto buy them of the Harding dealer who always keeps a stock on hand forthese annual emergencies. The seniors dress for luncheon in "littlegirl" fashion, skirts up and hair down, and the minute the meal is overthey rush out into the sunshine to roll hoop, skip rope, swing in thelong-suffering hammocks under the apple trees, and romp to their hearts'content. Freshmen hurrying by to their Livy exam, turn green with envy, and sophomores and juniors "cramming" history and logic indoors lean outof their windows to laugh and applaud, finally come down to watch thefun for "just a minute, " and forget to go back at all. 

19-- had its hoop-rolling the very first day of senior week. As MadelineAyres said when she proposed it, you couldn't tell what might turn up, in the way of either fun or weather, for the other days, so it was bestto lose no time. And such a gay and festive hoop-rolling as it was!First they had a hoop-rolling parade through the campus, and then somehoop-rolling contests for which the prizes were bunches of daisies, "presented with acknowledgments to Miss Raymond, " Emily Davis explained. When they were tired of hoops they ran races. When they were out ofbreath with running they played "drop the handkerchief" and "LondonBridge. " After that they serenaded a few of their favorite faculty. Thenthey had a reformed spelling-match, to prove how antiquated theirrecently finished education had already become. 

Finally they sat down in a big circle on the grass and had "stunts. "Babbie recited "Mary had a little lamb, " for possibly the thousandthtime since she had learned to do it early in her junior year. EmilyDavis delivered her famous temperance lecture. Madeline sang her Frenchsongs, Jane Drew did her ever-popular "hen-act, " and Nancy Simmons gave"Home, Sweet Home, " as sung into a phonograph by Madame Patti on hertenth farewell tour. 

Most of these accomplishments dated back as far as 19-- itself, and halfthe girls who heard them knew them by heart, but they listened to eachone in breathless silence and greeted its conclusion with prolonged andvigorous applause. It was queer, Alice Waite said, but some way younever, never got tired of seeing the same old stunts. 

When the long list of 19--'s favorites was finally exhausted and EmilyDavis had positively refused to give the temperance lecture for a thirdtime, the big circle broke up into a multitude of little ones. BobParker and a few other indefatigable spirits went back to skipping rope;the hammocks filled with exclusive twos and threes; larger coteries saton the grass or locked arms and strolled slowly up and down the broadpath that skirted the apple-orchard. 

Betty, Helen and Madeline were among the strollers. 

"One more of the famous last things over, " said Madeline with aregretful little sigh. "I'm glad we had it before the alums, and thefamilies begin to arrive and muddle everything up. "

"Did I tell you that Dorothy King is coming after all?" asked Betty, who, in a short white sailor suit, with her curls flying and her hoopclutched affectionately in one hand, looked at least eight years tooyoung to be a senior, and supremely happy. 

"Has she told you, Helen?" repeated Madeline dramatically. "She tells meover again every time I see her. When is Mary Brooks scheduled toarrive?"

"Thursday, " answered Betty, "so that she can see the play all threetimes. "

"Not to mention seeing Dr. Hinsdale between the acts, " suggestedMadeline. "What do you two say to a picnic to-morrow?"

Helen said, "How perfectly lovely!" and Betty decided that if Helen andMadeline would come to the gym in the morning and help with the lastbatch of costumes for the mob, she could get off by three o'clock in theafternoon. 

"That reminds me, " she added, "that I promised Nerissa to ask Eleanor ifshe has any shoes to match her blue dress. The ones we ordered aren'tright at all by gas-light. "

"There's Eleanor just going over to the Hilton, " said Helen. 

"Find out if she can go to the picnic, " called Madeline, as Bettyhurried off, shouting and waving her hoop. "We'll be asking the others. "

"El-ea-nor!" cried Betty shrilly, making frantic gestures with her hoop. But though Eleanor turned and looked back at the gay pageant under thetrees, she couldn't single out any one figure among so many, and afteran instant's hesitation she went on up the Hilton House steps. 

So Betty stepped across the campus alone, and being quite out of breathby the time she got indoors went slowly up-stairs and down the long hallto Eleanor's room. The house was very still--evidently its inmates wereall out watching the hoop-rolling. Betty found herself walking softly, in sympathy with the almost oppressive silence. Eleanor's door was ajar, so that Betty's knock pushed it further open. 

"May I come in?" she asked, hearing Eleanor, as she supposed, movingabout inside. Without waiting for an answer she walked straight in andcame face to face with--not Eleanor, but Miss Harrison, championBlunderbuss of 19--. 

"Why, what are you doing here?" she asked, her voice sharp withamazement. "I beg your pardon, " she added laughingly, "but I thought ofcourse it was Eleanor Watson. She came into the house just ahead of me. "

"She hasn't been in here yet, " said the Blunderbuss. She had beenstanding when Betty first caught sight of her. Now she dropped hastilyinto a chair by the window. "I was sure she'd be back soon and I wantedto speak to her for a minute. But I guess I won't wait any longer. Ishall be late to dinner. "

"Why, no, you won't, " said Betty quickly. "It isn't anywhere neardinner-time yet. " She didn't care about talking to the Blunderbuss whileshe waited for Eleanor, but she had a great curiosity to know what thegirl could want with Eleanor. "And I don't believe Eleanor will have anymore idea than I have, " she thought. 

But the Blunderbuss rose nervously. "Well, anyway, I can't wait, " shesaid. "I guess it's later than you think. Good-bye. "

Just at that minute, however, somebody came swiftly down the hall. Itwas Eleanor Watson, carrying a great bunch of pink roses. 

"Oh, Betty dear, " she cried, not noticing the Blunderbuss, who hadstepped behind a Japanese screen, "see what daddy sent me. Wasn't itnice of him? Why, Miss Harrison, I didn't see you. " Eleanor dropped herroses on a table and came forward, looking in perplexity first at MissHarrison and then around the room. "Betty, " she went on quickly, "haveyou been hunting for something? I surely didn't leave my bureau drawersopen like this. "

Betty's glance followed Eleanor's to the two drawers in the chiffonierand one in the dressing table which were tilted wide open, theircontents looked as if some one had stirred them up with a big spoon. Shehad been too much engrossed by her encounter with Miss Harrison tonotice any such details before. 

"No, of course I haven't been hunting for anything, " she answeredquickly. "I shouldn't think of doing such a thing when you were away. "

"I shouldn't have minded a bit. " Eleanor turned back to Miss Harrison. "Did you want to see me, " she asked, "or did you only come up withBetty?"

The Blunderbuss wet her lips nervously. "I--I wanted to ask you aboutsomething, but it doesn't matter. I'll see you some other time. You'llwant to talk to Miss Wales now. "

She had almost reached the door, when, to Eleanor's furtherastonishment, Betty darted after her and caught her by the sleeve. "MissHarrison, " she said, while the Blunderbuss stared at her angrily, "I'min no hurry at all. I can wait as well as not, or if you want to seeEleanor alone I will go out. But I think that you owe it to Eleanor andto yourself too to say why you are here. "

The Blunderbuss looked defiantly from Betty's determined face toEleanor's puzzled one. "I didn't know it was Miss Watson's room untilyou came in and asked for her, " she vouchsafed at last. 

"You didn't know it was her room?" repeated Betty coldly. "Why didn'tyou tell me that long ago? Whose room did you think you were in?"

"I thought--I didn't know whose it was. "

"Then, " said Betty deliberately, "if you admit that you were in herewithout knowing who occupied the room you must excuse me if I ask youwhether or not you were looking through Eleanor's bureau drawers justbefore I came in. "

There was a strained silence. 

"You can have all the things back, " said the Blunderbuss at last, ascoolly as if she were speaking of returning a borrowed umbrella; and outof the pockets of the child's apron which she still wore she pulled agold chain and a bracelet and held them out to Eleanor. "I don't wantthem, " she said when neither of the others spoke. "I don't know why Itook them. It just came over me that while all the others were out thereplaying it would be a good chance for me to go and look at their prettythings. "

"And to steal the ones you liked best, " added Betty scornfully. 

The Blunderbuss gave her a vaguely troubled look. "I didn't think of itthat way. Anyway it's all right now. Haven't I given them right back?"

"Suppose we hadn't come in and found you here, " put in Eleanor. "Wouldn't you have taken them away?"

"I--I presume so, " said the Blunderbuss. 

"So you are the person who has been stealing jewelry from the campushouses all through this year. " Betty's voice grew harder as sheremembered the injustice she had so nearly done Georgia and MissHarrison's self-righteous attack on Eleanor in that dreadfulclass-meeting. 

The Blunderbuss accepted the statement without comment. "They could havehad the things back if they'd asked for them, " she said. "I couldn'tvery well give them back if they didn't ask. "

"Will you give them back now?" asked Betty, astonishment at the girl'sstrange behavior gaining on her indignation. 

The Blunderbuss nodded vigorously. "Certainly I will. I'll bring themall here to-night. I don't want them for anything. I never wanted them. I'm sure I don't know why I took them. Oh, there's just one thing, " sheadded hastily, "that I can't bring. It isn't with the rest. But I've goteverything else all safe and I'll come right after dinner. Good-bye. "

[Illustration: THE GIRLS WATCHED HER IN BEWILDERMENT]

The girls watched her go in a daze of bewilderment. Just outside thedoor she evidently bumped into some one, and her clattering laugh andloud, "Goodness, how you scared me!" sounded as light-hearted andunconcerned as possible. 

"How did you ever guess that she was the one?" Eleanor asked at last. 

"It just came over me, " Betty answered. "But, why, she doesn't seem tocare one bit!"

"About running into me?" asked Jean Eastman, appearing suddenly in thedoorway. "Has she been doing damage in here, too?" No one answered andJean gave a quick look about the room, noticing the rummaged drawers, the girls' excited, tragic faces, and the jewelry that Eleanor still hadin her hand. Then she made one of her haphazard deductions, whoseaccuracy was the terror of her enemies and the admiration of herfollowers. 

"Oh, I see--it's more college robber. So our dear Blunderbuss is thethief. I congratulate you, Eleanor, on the beautiful poetic justice ofyour having been the one to catch her. "

"Yes, she's the thief, " said Betty, before Eleanor could answer. She hada sudden inspiration that the best way to treat Jean, now that sheguessed so much, was to trust her with everything. "And she acts sostrangely--she doesn't seem to realize what she has done, and shedoesn't care a bit that we know it. She said----" And between them theygave Jean a full account of their interview with Miss Harrison. 

Jean listened attentively. "It's a pathetic case, isn't it?" she said atlast, with no trace of her mocking manner. "I wonder if she isn't akleptomaniac. "

Betty and Eleanor both looked puzzled and Jean explained the long word. "It means a person who has an irresistible desire to steal oneparticular kind of thing, not to use, but just for the sake of takingthem, apparently. I heard of a woman once who stole napkins and piledthem up in a closet in her house. It's a sort of insanity or very nearlythat. Of course jewelry is different from napkins, but Miss Harrison hastaken so much more than she can use----"

"Especially so many pearl pins, " put in Betty, eagerly. "Haven't younoticed what a lot of those have been lost? She couldn't possibly wearthem all. "

"Perhaps she meant to sell them, " suggested Eleanor. 

"But her family are very wealthy, " objected Jean. "They spend theirsummers where Kate does, and she says that they give this girleverything she wants. She never took money either, even when it waslying out in plain sight, and her being so ready to give back the thingsseems to show that she didn't take them for any special purpose. "

"Then if she's a----" began Betty. 

"Kleptomaniac, " supplied Jean. 

"She isn't exactly a thief, is she?"

"No, I suppose not, " said Jean doubtfully. 

"But she isn't a very safe person to have around, " said Eleanor. 

"I'll tell you what, " said Betty, who had only been awaiting a favorableopening to make her suggestion. "It's too big a question for us to tryto settle, isn't it, girls? Let's go and tell Miss Ferris all that we'vefound out so far, and leave the whole matter in her hands. "

Then Jean justified the confidence that Betty had shown in her. "Youcouldn't do anything better, " she said, rising to leave. 

"I wish I'd known her well enough to talk things over with her, --notpublic things like this, I mean, but private ones. Betty, here's a notethat Christy Mason asked me to give you. That's what I came in for, originally. Of course this affair of Miss Harrison is yours, not mine, and I shan't mention it again, unless Miss Ferris decides to make itpublic, as I don't believe she will. By the way, I wonder if you knowthat Miss Harrison can't graduate with us. "

"You mean that she has been caught stealing before?" asked Eleanor. 

"Oh, no, but she couldn't make up the French that she flunked atmidyears, and she must be behind in other subjects, too. I heard rumorsabout her having been dropped, and last week I saw the proof of ourcommencement program. Her name isn't on the diploma list. "

"Oh, I believe I'm almost glad of that, " said Betty softly. "It'sdreadful to be glad that she has failed in every way, but I can't bearto think that she belongs in our class. "

So it was Miss Ferris who met the Blunderbuss in Eleanor's room thatnight, who managed the return of the stolen property to its owners, with a suggestion that it would be a favor to the whole college not tosay much about its recovery, and she who, finding suddenly that thenoise of the campus tired her, spent the rest of the term at MissHarrison's boarding place on Main Street, where she could watch over thepoor girl and minimize the risk of her indulging her fatal mania againwhile she was at Harding. She was nonchalant over having been caughtstealing, but her failure in scholarship had almost broken her heart. She had worked so hard and so patiently up to the very last minute inthe hope of winning her diploma that, on the very morning of thehoop-rolling, she had been granted the privilege of staying on throughcommencement festivities and so keeping her loss of standing as much aspossible to herself. After listening to Betty's and Eleanor's storiesand talking to Miss Harrison herself, Miss Ferris was fully convincedthat the Blunderbuss was not morally responsible for the thefts she hadcommitted, and so she was unwilling to send her home at once and thusexpose her to the double disgrace that her going just then wouldprobably have involved. So she found her hands very full until thegirl's mother could be sent for and the sad story broken to her asgently as possible. 

It was the one unrelieved tragedy in 19--'s history; there seemed to beabsolutely no help for it, --the kindest thing to do was to forget it assoon as possible. 

CHAPTER XVII

BITS OF COMMENCEMENT

But Betty Wales couldn't forget it yet. It stood out in the midst of thehappy leisure and anticipation of senior week like a skeleton at thefeast, --a gaunt reminder that even the sheltered little world of collegemust now and then take its share of the strange and sorrowful problemsthat loom so much larger in the big world outside. But even so, it hadits alleviating circumstances. One was Miss Ferris's hearty approval ofthe way in which Betty and Eleanor had managed their discovery, andanother was Jean Eastman's unexpected attitude of helpfulness. Sheassumed her full share of responsibility, discouraging gossip andspeculation about the thefts as earnestly and tactfully as Bettyherself, and taking her turn of watching the Blunderbuss at the timeswhen Miss Ferris couldn't follow her without causing too much comment. Betty and Eleanor tried to accept her help as if they had expectednothing else from her, and Jean for her part made no reference to thatphase of the matter except to say once to Betty, "If Eleanor Watson canstand by her I guess I can. Besides you stood by me, and I didn'tdeserve it any more than this poor thing does. Please subtract it fromall the times I've bothered you. "

Betty was very generous with the subtraction. She was in a generousmood, wanting to give everybody the benefit of the doubt that, with agood deal of a struggle, she had managed to give Georgia. Of course thevindicating of the little freshman was quite the happiest result of thewhole affair. It didn't take Betty long to identify the amethyst pendantas the one article which the Blunderbuss had said she couldn't return;and she was at once relieved and disappointed, on going over the stolenjewelry with Miss Ferris, to find that Nita's pin was certainly missing. Of course that left room for the possibility that the Blunderbuss hadnot taken it, and the next thing to do was to consult Georgia and makesure. Betty waited until after dinner that evening for a chance to seeher alone and then, unable to stand the suspense any longer, brokeabruptly away from her own friends and detached Georgia from a group oftired and disconsolate freshmen sympathizing over examinations. 

"Let's go for a walk all by ourselves, " she said. 

"No fair, running off to talk secrets, " Madeline called after the pair. 

"Curiosity killed a cat, " Betty chanted gaily back at her, leading theway to the back campus. 

"It's awfully nice of you to ask me to come, when so many people wantyou, " said Georgia shyly. 

"Oh, no, it's not, " protested Betty. "I shall have a whole week with theothers after you've gone. Besides, there's something I especially wantto talk to you about. Let's go and sit on the bank below theobservatory. "

They found comfortable seats among the gnarled roots of an old elm, where they could look across at Paradise and down on a bed of gorgeousrhododendrons, over which great moths, more marvelously colored thanthe flowers, flitted lazily in the twilight. Then Betty plunged intothe thick of things. 

"You remember the pendant that you wore on your chain the night of theGlee Club concert. You said it was a present. Would you mind telling mewho gave it to you? I have good reason for asking. "

Georgia flushed a little and made the answer that Betty had hoped for. "The senior Miss Harrison gave it to me last Christmas. I know you andMadeline don't like her, and I don't like her a bit better. But what canyou do, Betty, when some one takes a fancy to you? You can't snub herjust because she happens to be stupid and unpopular--not if you're a'Merry Heart, ' anyway. "

"No, " said Betty, "you can't. But if you don't like her you won't feelso bad about what I've got to tell you. "

Georgia listened to the story aghast. "But I'm not so dreadfullysurprised, " she said. "It explains so many things. She started to takeCaroline's class-pin one day in our room. I supposed she had picked itup without thinking, so when she went away I asked her for it and sheacted so funny when she gave it back. And then the way she happened togive me this pin. I went to call on her once last fall, after she hadasked me to dinner, and I noticed it shining under the edge of thecarpet. When I called her attention to it she didn't seem to understand, so I picked it up myself. She acted queer then too, and when I admiredit and said what a pretty pendant it would make she fairly insisted onmy taking it. Of course I wouldn't, but she had it fixed to go on achain and sent it to me for Christmas. " Georgia interrupted herselfsuddenly. "It was ages after the Glee Club concert before you found outabout Miss Harrison. What did you think of me all that time?"

"Why just at first I couldn't understand it, " said Betty truthfully, "but after I'd thought it over I was sure you weren't to blame and I'vebeen getting surer and surer all the time. But I am awfully glad to knowhow it all happened. "

"And I am awfully glad that it was you who saw it, " said Georgiafervently. "I never wore it but that once. I couldn't make her take itback, so I decided to send it to her after college was over--I knewmother wouldn't want me to take such a valuable present from a girl Iknew so slightly, and I thought Miss Harrison would be glad to have itback then. You see, " Georgia explained, "I think she did things for mein the hope that I would manage to get her in more with the girls Iknew. She has been awfully lonely here, I guess. Well, I felt ashamed ofhaving the pin and ashamed of knowing her, and the things Madeline saidabout her worried me dreadfully, but I couldn't seem to shake her off. Why, I've done everything I could, Betty, that wouldn't hurt herfeelings. I've fairly lived in other people's rooms, so that she'd neverfind me at home, and that hurt my poor little roommate's feelings, sothe other day I had to tell her what the matter was. I've never told anyone else--I hate people who talk about that sort of thing--but I've beenjust miserable over it, --indeed I have! And now it seems worse thanever. " Georgia's big brown eyes filled with tears. 

But she smiled again when Betty assured her that she thought it was muchbetter to be bothered and to have things come out all wrong than to bealways thinking just of yourself. 

"You see, " Georgia confessed, "the first time I met her she seemed niceenough and I accepted her first invitations without thinking, so whenshe wanted to be intimate I felt as if I had been partly to blame forletting her begin it. "

"Yes, you do have to be careful about not being too friendly at first, "said Betty soberly, "but I think there are a lot of mistakes worse thanthat. I'm sorry though, if this has spoiled your first year here. "

"Oh, it hasn't, " said Georgia, eagerly; "it has just spotted it alittle. It was a lucky thing, I guess, that I had something to botherme, or I should have been spoiled with all the good times you've givenme. I did try to be a good 'Merry Heart, ' Betty. Perhaps I shall havebetter luck next time. "

"I'm sure you will, " said Betty, heartily, and after they had arrangedfor the returning of Nita's pin in such a way as not to involve MissHarrison, they started back to the Belden, Georgia to begin her packingand Betty to join the rest of the "Merry Hearts, " who were spending theevening on the piazza. 

But after all Betty slipped past them and went on up-stairs. She was ina very serious mood. She realized to-night as she never had before thather college days were over. The talk with Georgia had somehow put aperiod to a great many things and she wanted to be alone and think themover. Her little room was stiflingly hot and she threw the window wideopen and sat down before it in the dark, leaning her elbows on the sill. The piazza was just below; she could hear the laughter and merriment, and occasionally a broken sentence or two drifted up to her. 

"There's nothing left to do now but commence, " declared Bob Parker, loudly. 

"And when we have commenced we shall be finished, " added Babe, andlaughed uproariously at her bad joke. 

That was just Betty's trouble, --"nothing left to do but commence, " whichwas quite enough if you happened to be a member of the play committee. But before you "began to commence" all the tangled threads of the fourhappy years ought to be laid straight, and they weren't, or at least onewasn't. Betty had always felt sure that before Eleanor graduated shewould get back her standing with the class. But if she had, there wasnothing to prove it; the feeling of her classmates toward her hadcertainly changed but nothing had happened that would take away thesting of the Blunderbuss's insult last fall and of Jean's taunts at thetime of the Toy Shop entertainment. Eleanor would go away feeling thaton the whole she had failed. Well, it was too late to do anything now. Betty lit her gas long enough to hunt up a scarf that would furnish atleast a lame apology for her delay, and went down to the gay group onthe piazza. When thoughts will only go round in a circle, the best thingto do is to stop thinking them. 

"I say, Betty, " cried Bob eagerly, "did you know that Christy had gonehome? I mean did you know she hasn't come back? She went just for seniorweek and now her mother is too ill to leave and she's got to stay. "

"Poor Chris!" said Betty, suddenly remembering Christy's note which, inthe excitement over the Blunderbuss she had forgotten to open. "Howlucky that she gave up Antonio. "

"Isn't it?" agreed Bob. "She's coming back for Tuesday of course to runthe supper and get her precious little sheepskin. Her mother isn'tdangerously sick, I guess, but there are lots of children and Christyseems to think she's the only one who can manage them. "

"Think of her missing the play!" said Madeline. 

"Perhaps she'll get back by Saturday night, " suggested Eleanor, hopefully. 

"I think she's a lot more likely not to come back at all, " declaredBabe, "but it's no use to worry about that yet. Who's going to meet MaryBrooks?"

"Everybody who isn't a 'star, ' or hasn't got to be made up early mustgo, " commanded Madeline. "She comes at four-ten, remember. Babbie andRoberta, go in out of this damp. "

Up in her room again Betty closed the window against the invadingJune-bug and hunted high and low for Christy's note. She hardly expectedto find it after so long a time, but it finally turned up hidden in thefolds of a crumpled handkerchief which she had stuffed carelessly intoher top drawer. And luckily it was not too late to do Christy'scommission. She merely told of her hasty departure and wanted Betty tobe sure that the supper cards, with the menu and toasts on them, wereready in time. The printer was about as dependable as Billy Henderson, Christy wrote; he needed reminding every morning and watching betweentimes. 

Betty dashed off a hasty note of sympathy and apology, promising to makethe printer's life a burden until he produced the supper-cards, and wentto bed. 

Next day commencement began in earnest. Gay young alumnæ carryingsuit-cases, older alumnæ escorting be-ribboned class-babies and theiranxious nurses, thronged the streets; inconsiderate families began toarrive a whole day before there was anything in particular for them todo. All the afternoon the "mob" people and the other "sups" besieged thestage door of the theatre waiting their turns to be made up, and then, donning heavy veils hurried back up the hill. It was tiresome being madeup so early and having to stay indoors all the hot afternoon, but itcouldn't be helped, for there was only one make-up man and he must saveplenty of time for the principal actors. 

So the campus dinner-tables were patronized by young persons withheavily penciled eyebrows and brightly rouged cheeks, who ate cautiouslyto avoid smearing their paint and powder, and than ran up-stairs to jeerat the masculine contingent whose beards and moustaches had condemnedthem to privacy and scanty fare. 

"I shall die of starvation, " wailed Bob Parker, when she reached thetheatre, confiding her sad story to Betty. "I said I didn't mind being aJew and having my toes stepped on when the Christians hustle me out ofcourt. But how can any one eat dinner with a thing like this, " and sheheld up her flowing beard disdainfully. 

"I'm sure I don't know, " said Betty absently, consulting a messymemorandum as if she expected to find directions for eating with a beardamong its items. "Bob, where is Roberta Lewis? The make-up man wants herthis minute. It takes ages to fix on her nose. "

"Portia is afraid she is going to be hoarse, " announced another "supe"importantly. 

"Then find the doctor, " commanded Barbara Gordon swiftly, as Bettydisappeared in search of Roberta. "Be careful, men. Look out for thatgondola when you move the flies. Rachel, please keep the maskers off thestage. "

"Why don't we begin?"

"Did you ever see such a mess?"

"Oh, it's going to be a horrible fizzle. I told you the scenery was tooelaborate. "

But two minutes later the "street in Venice" scene was ready andAntonio and "the Sals, " as the class irreverently styled his friends, were chatting composedly together in front of it. 

The house was packed of course and there was almost as much excitementin front as there was behind the scenes. Of course the under class girlsand alumnæ were delighted, but there was a distinguished critic from NewYork in the fifth row, and when Shylock appeared he was as enthusiasticas Mary Brooks herself. Even the cynical Richard Blake was pleased. Hehad come up to see the play and also, so he explained, to be a familyto the bereft Madeline; but as Madeline was behind the scenes EleanorWatson was obligingly looking after him. Her father and mother weren'tcoming until Saturday, and Jim could only make a flying trip between twoexaminations to spend Monday in Harding, so Eleanor had plenty of sparetime with which to help out her busier friends. 

"I'm going to make out a schedule of my hours, " she told Mr. Blakelaughingly, "for it would be dreadful if I should forget an engagementand promise to entertain two or three uncongenial people at the sametime. "

"Indeed it would, " agreed Mr. Blake soberly. "To-night, for instance, itwould have been fatal. I say, Miss Watson, keep an hour or two openMonday evening. If Madeline should urge me, I believe I'd run up againfor that outdoor concert. It must be no end pretty. Ah, the carnivalscene. I never saw that put on more effectively, Miss Watson. "

The next night the fathers and mothers and cousins and aunts went intoecstasies over "that lovely Portia" and "sweet little Jessica, " laughedat young Gobbo's every motion, and declared that Shylock was "just toowonderful for anything. " A funny little old lady who sat next toRoberta's father even went so far as to ask him timidly if he didn'tagree with her that Shylock was a man. "I've been telling my sister thatno college girl could act like that. I guess I know an old man when Isee one, " she said, and blushed scarlet when he answered in his courtlyway, "Pardon me, madam, but Shylock is my daughter. She will appreciateyour unstudied compliment. "

When the curtain finally went down on the last performance of the playthe committee were almost too tired to realize that they were through, and Katherine Kittredge, alias Gratiano, sank down on the nearest grassyknoll (made of green cambric) and expressed the universal sentiments ofthe cast. 

"Not for all the ducats in Belmont will I call Portia a learned judgeagain. "

"You needn't, K. , but please hop up, " said Barbara Gordon wearily. "They're singing to us. Get into the centre, Roberta. We've got to letthem see us again; they won't stop clapping till we do. "

And then you should have heard the noise!

"Three cheers for good old Shylock, " called somebody, and they weregiven with a will. Then they sang to her. 

 "Here's to you, Roberta Lewis, Here's to you, our warmest friend!"

Then they sang to Barbara and to Kate Denise, and to both the Gobbos. 

"I say, ain't you folks goin' home till mornin'?" shouted a jovialstage-hand, thrusting his head out from the wings. 

The crowd laughed and cheered him, then cheered everybody and went home, singing to Roberta all the way up the hill. 

"But you can't blame them, " said Betty Wales. "They don't realize howtired we are, and it's something pretty exciting to have given the playthat Miss Ferris and Mr. Masters both say is the best yet. "

"And to have had a perfectly marvelous Shylock, " added Kate Denisewarmly. 

"And a splendid Portia, " put in Roberta. 

"Oh, wise young judges, please don't forget to mention Gratiano, " saidKatherine Kittredge, and set them all to laughing. 

"It's been splendid fun, " said Barbara. "Don't you wish we could give itall over again?"

Then they sat down on the green knolls and the gondolas and Portia'sbest carved chairs, and talked and talked, until, as Babbie said, theyall felt so proud of themselves and each other and 19-- that the stagewouldn't hold them. Whereupon they remembered that to-morrow wasBaccalaureate Sunday and that most of their families had inconsideratelyinvited them out to breakfast, --two facts which made it desirable to gohome and to bed as speedily as possible. 

It always rains in the morning of Baccalaureate Sunday, but it generallyclears up in time for the service, which is in the afternoon; and evenif it doesn't the graduating class and its friends are willing to makethe best of a bad matter because it would have been so much worse if therain had waited for Ivy Day. 19--'s Baccalaureate was showery in anaccommodating fashion that permitted the class to sleep late in themorning because their families wouldn't want them to go out in therain, and cleared off just before and just after the service, so thatthey didn't need the carriages that they couldn't possibly have gotten, no matter how it poured. 

And it cleared off for Ivy Day. Helen Adams was up at five o'clockanxiously inspecting the watery sunshine to see if it would last. 

"For they can't plant the ivy in the rain, " she thought, "and if theydon't plant it how can they sing the song?"

But the sunshine lasted, Marie planted the ivy, --and the collegegardener carefully replanted it later, "'cause them gals will be thatdisapp'inted if it don't live, "--the class sang Helen's song, and theodes, orations and addresses were all duly delivered. 

Then, as Bob flippantly remarked, the fun began. For Mr. Wales hadchartered three big touring cars and invited the "Merry Hearts" to goout to Smugglers' Notch for luncheon, with Mrs. Adams, who had neverbeen in an auto before, for chaperon and himself, Will, and Jim Watsonas escorts and chauffeurs. 

By the time they got back the campus was festooned with Japaneselanterns, little tables ready for bowls of lemonade stood under all thebiggest trees, and a tarpaulin dotted with camp chairs covered aroped-off enclosure near the back steps of College Hall. 

"You've got tickets, father, " Betty explained, "so you can sit down inthere and listen to the music. Will, you're to call for me. "

"For Miss Ayres, " Will amended calmly. "Watson is going to take you. "

Judge and Mrs. Watson had seats too, so Eleanor and Mr. Blake, Betty andJim, and Madeline and Will wandered off together, two and two, enjoyingsnatches of the concert, exploring the campus, and engaging in a mostexciting "Tournament"--Madeline's idea of course--to see who could drinkthe most lemonade. Will was ahead, with Madeline a close second, when amysterious whistle sounded from the second floor of the Hilton. 

"Oh, good-bye, Dick, " said Madeline briskly, holding out her hand. "It'stime for you to go. Shall I see you to-morrow or not till I get to NewYork?"

"Have we really got to go so soon?" asked Will sadly. 

Betty nodded. "Or at least we've got to go and put on old dresses, so asto be ready to join in our class march. "

"Why can't we march too?" demanded Mr. Blake. 

"Because you're not Harding, 19--, " said Madeline with finality. 

And so, half an hour later, another procession assembled on the spotwhere the Ivy Day march had started that morning. But this time 19-- waswearing its oldest clothes and heaviest shoes and didn't care whether itrained or not. Four and five abreast they marched, round the campus, upMain Street and back, round and round the campus again. "Just as if wehadn't torn around all day until we're ready to drop, " Eleanor Watsonsaid laughingly. It is a perfectly senseless performance, this "classmarch, " which is perhaps the reason why every class revels in it. 

But the procession was moving more slowly and singing with rather lessenthusiasm, when a small A. D. T. Approached the leaders. "Is Miss MarieHoward in this bunch?" he demanded. "She orter be at the Burton, butshe ain't. "

"Yes, here I am, " called Marie quickly, and the small boy lit asputtering match, so that she could sign his book and read her telegram. It was from Christy: "Awfully sorry can't come for supper. Writing. "

"How perfectly dreadful, " cried Marie, repeating the message to Bob, whowas standing beside her. Bob passed on the bad news, and the processionbroke up into little groups to discuss it. 

"Why don't you appoint some one to take her place right now?" suggestedBob. "Then she can sit up all night and get her remarks ready. She won'thave much time to-morrow. "

Marie looked hastily around her and caught sight of Betty Wales standingunder a Japanese lantern that was still burning dimly. 

"Betty!" she called, and Betty hurried over to her. 

"I think we ought to fill Christy's place now, " whispered Marie. "ShallI appoint Eleanor Watson or have her elected?"

"Have her elected, " said Betty, as promptly as if she had thought itall out beforehand. 

"Then will you propose her?"

Betty shook her head. "That wouldn't do. Eleanor knows how I feel towardher. It must come from the people who haven't wanted her. They're allhere, I think. " Betty peered uncertainly through the gloom to make surethat Jean and her friends and the Blunderbuss were still out. "If thewhole class wants her badly enough, they'll think of her. "

Marie stepped out into the light of the one lantern and called the classto order. "It's a queer time to have a class-meeting, " she said, "andI'm not sure that it's constitutional, but who cares about that? You allknow about Christy and as Bob Parker says the new toastmistress ought tohave all the time there is left. So please make nominations. "

"Why don't you appoint some one, Marie?" called Alice Waite sleepily. 

"Because the toastmistress who presides over our supper ought to be thechoice of her class, " said Marie firmly. 

"Madam president, "--Jean Eastman's clear, sharp voice broke thesilence. "It's a good deal to ask of any one, to step in at the lastminute like this. Very few of us are capable of doing it, --of making asuccess of it, I mean. In fact I only know of one person that I shouldbe absolutely sure of. Fortunately no one deserves such an appointmentmore truly. I nominate Eleanor Watson. "

A little thrill swept over the "queer" class-meeting. Everybody hadknown more or less about the bitter feud between Jean and Eleanor, andvery few people had had the least suspicion that it had ended. Indeedeven Betty and Eleanor had not been sure how far Jean's friendlinesscould be counted upon. Betty, standing back in the shadows where Mariehad left her, gave a little gasp of amazement and clutched Bob's arm sohard that Bob protested. 

"I second that motion, Miss President. " It was the Blunderbuss, and herstolid face grew hot and red in the darkness, as she wondered if any onewho knew that she didn't belong to 19-- now would question her right totake part in the meeting. "But I was bound to do it, " she reflected. "Iguess she isn't the kind of girl I thought she was. Anyhow I didn'tmean to hurt her feelings before, and this will sort of make up. "

"Any other nominations?" inquired Marie briskly. 

There was silence and then somebody began to clap. In a minute the wholemeeting was clapping as hard as it could. 

"I guess we don't need ballots, " said Marie, when she could be heard. "All in favor say aye. "

There was a regular burst of ayes. 

"Those opposed?"

Silence again. 

"There's a unanimous vote for you, " cried Bob Parker eagerly. "Speechfrom the candidate! Betty, you're killing my arm!"

"Speech!" The class took up Bob's cry. 

"Where are you, Eleanor?" called Marie, and Eleanor, coming out frombehind a big bush said, "I'll try to do my best--and--thank you. " Itwasn't a brilliant speech to come from the girl who has often beencalled Harding's most brilliant graduate, but it satisfied everybody, even Betty. 

"I did it just to show you that I've got the idea, " Jean Eastmanmuttered sulkily, jostling Betty in the crowd; and that was satisfactorytoo. Indeed when Betty went to bed that night she confided to the greenlizard that she hadn't a single thing left to bother about at Harding. 

CHAPTER XVIII

THE GOING OUT OF 19--

Next morning came the really important part of commencement, --thegetting of your diploma, or, to speak accurately, the getting ofsomebody's else diploma, which you could exchange for your own later. 

"Let's stand in a big circle, " suggested Madeline Ayres, "and pass thediplomas round until each one comes to its owner. "

It wasn't surprising that Eleanor Watson, with her newly acquired dutiesas toastmistress, should keep getting outside the circle to consultvarious toasters and members of the supper committee; but it did seem asif Betty Wales might stay quietly in her place. So thought the girls whohad noticed that Carlotta Young, the last girl in the line that went upfor diplomas had not received any. Carlotta was a "prod"; it was onlybecause she came at the end of the alphabet that she was left out, butthanks to Betty's fly-away fashion of running off to speak to somejunior ushers, and then calling the Blunderbuss, whose mother wanted tosee her a minute, nobody could find out positively who it was that hadbeen "flunked out" of 19--. 

The next excitement took place when the class, strolling over to theStudents' Building to have luncheon with the alumnæ--why, they werealumnæ themselves now!--met a bright-eyed, brown-haired little girl, walking with a tall young man whose fine face was tanned as brown as anIndian's. 

"Don't you know me, 19--?" called the little girl gaily. 

"Why, it can't be--it is T. Reed!" cried Helen Adams, rushing forward. 

"And her Filipino, " shrieked Bob Parker wildly. 

"Of course I came. Do you think I'd have missed my own commencement?"said T. , shaking hands with four girls at once. "Frank, this is HelenAdams, my best friend at Harding. Miss Parker, Mr. Howard. I'm sorry, Bob, but he's not a Filipino. He's just a plain American who lives inthe Philippines. "

"Have you forgotten how to play basket ball, T. ?" called somebody. 

T. Gave a rapturous little smile. "Could we have a game this afternoon?That's what I came for, really. We meant to get here last week, but theboat was late. Yes, I'm sorry to have missed the play and the concert;but it's worth coming for, just to see you all. " T. 's bright eyes grewsoft and misty. "I tell you, girls, you don't know what it means to be aHarding girl until you've been half across the world for awhile. No, I'mnot sorry _I_ left, but it's great to be back!"

Mary Brooks, arrayed in a bewitching summer toilette, stood at the doorof the Students' Building, and managed to intercept Betty and Roberta, as they went in. 

"You may congratulate me now if you like, " she said calmly, leading themoff to a secluded corner behind a group of statuary, where theirdemonstrations of interest wouldn't attract too much attention. The newswasn't at all surprising, but Mary looked so pretty and so happy andassured them so solemnly that she had never dreamed of anything of thekind at Christmas, that there was plenty of excitement all the same. 

"And of course I must have posts at my wedding, " said Mary, whereatBetty hugged her and Roberta looked more pleased than she had when Mr. Masters called her a genius. "And bridesmaids, " added Mary, with theproper feeling for climax. "Laurie is going to be maid-of-honor, and ifyou two can come and be bridesmaids and the rest of the crowdalmost--bridesmaids, in the words of the poetical Roberta----"

She never finished her sentence for the rest of the crowd had discoveredher retreat, and guessing at the news she had for them bore noisily downupon her. 

"It's so convenient that she's going to be married this summer, " saidBabbie jubilantly. "We can have our first reunion at the wedding. Isimply couldn't have waited until June to see you all again. "

"We couldn't any of us have waited, " declared Bob. "Somebody else mustget married about Christmas time. "

"Why don't you?" asked Babbie nonchalantly, while Madeline looked hardat Eleanor and wished New York and Denver weren't so dreadfully farapart. For how could Dick Blake, busy editor of "The Quiver, " make loveto the most fascinating girl in the world when she lived at thatdistance. 

They had something to eat after a while, sitting on the stairs withMary, while Dr. Hinsdale beamed on them all and brought them salad andices. 

"You mustn't talk about it, you know, " Mary explained, "because it won'tbe announced until next week, and you mustn't think of running off andleaving us out here alone. "

"All right, " Katherine promised her. "We'll be the mossy bank for yourmodest violet act. Only do try not to look so desperately in love oreverybody who sees you will guess the whole thing, and it will look asif we told. "

Most of the seniors spent the afternoon at the station seeing theirfamilies off, but Betty left hers in Nan's care and went canoeing withDorothy King in Paradise. Dorothy was just as jolly and just as sweet asever. She wanted to know about everything that had happened at Hardingsince she left it, and especially all about Eleanor Watson. 

"You've pulled her through after all, haven't you?" she said. 

"No, she pulled herself through, " Betty corrected her. "I only helped alittle, and a lot of others did the same. Why even Jean helped, Dorothy. "

Dorothy laughed. "I can't imagine Jean in that rôle, " she said, "butI'll take your word for it. Let's go and see Miss Ferris. "

Miss Ferris was alone and delighted to see her visitors. 

"Everything has come out right, hasn't it?" she said, smiling intoBetty's radiant face. 

Betty nodded. "Just splendidly. Did you know about Eleanor's beingtoastmistress?"

"Yes, she came in to tell me herself. What has come over Jean Eastman, Betty?"

"I don't know, " said Betty with a tell-tale blush that made Miss Ferrislaugh and say, "I thought you were at the bottom of it. "

"Dorothy used to be the person who managed things of this kind, " shewent on. "Who's going to take your place, Betty?"

"According to what I hear nobody can do that, " said Dorothy quickly, andBetty blushed more than ever, until Miss Ferris took pity on her andasked about her plans for next year. 

Betty looked puzzled. "Why, I haven't any, I'm afraid. I never get achance to make plans, because the things that turn up of themselves takeall my time. I'm just going to be at home with my family. "

"Leave out the 'just, '" advised Miss Ferris. "So many of you seem tofeel as if you ought to apologize for staying at home. "

"Oh, I'm glad to hear you say that, " said Betty soberly. "A lot of girlsin our class who don't need to a bit are going to teach, and CarlottaYoung said to me the other day that she thought we all ought to test oureducation in some such way right off, so as to be sure it was reallyworth something. "

"And you are sure about yours without testing it?" asked Miss Ferrisquizzically. 

Betty smiled at her happily. "I'm sure I've got something, " she said. "I'm afraid Carlotta wouldn't call it much of an education and I know Iought to be ashamed that it isn't more, but I'm awfully glad I've gotit. "

"I'm glad you have, too, " said Miss Ferris so earnestly that Bettywondered what she meant. But she didn't get a chance to ask, forsomebody knocked just then and the two girls said good-bye and hurriedoff to dress for their respective class suppers. 

19--'s was held in the big hall of the Students' Building. The juniorushers had trimmed it with red and green bunting, and great bowls of redroses transformed the huge T-shaped table into a giant flower-bed. 

"I hope they haven't more than emptied the treasury for those flowers, "said Babe anxiously, when she saw them. 

"Hardly, " Babbie reassured her. "Judge Watson sent the whole lot, so youneedn't worry about your treasury. He consulted me about the color. Isn't he a dear?"

"Yes, he is, " said Bob, "and he evidently thinks his only daughter isanother. Where's the supper-chart?"

"Out in the hall, " explained Babbie, "with the whole class fighting fora chance at it. But I know where we sit. Betty thought we'd better keepthings lively down at the end of the T. "

"Well, I guess, we can do that, " said Babe easily. "Where is Betty, anyway?"

"Here, " answered Betty, hurrying up. "And girls, please don't sayanything about it, but non-graduates don't generally come to the suppersand the seating committee forgot about T. Reed, so she hasn't anyplace. "

"The idea!" cried Bob indignantly. "But she can have Eleanor's seat. "

Betty hesitated. "No, because they changed the chart after they heardabout Christy's not coming. But Cora Thorne is sick, so I'm going to letT. Have my seat, right among you girls that she used to know----"

"You're not going to do anything of the kind, " declared Babbie hotly. "Shove everybody along one place, or else put in a seat for T. "

"The chairs are too close together now and Cora's place is way around atthe other end. It would make too much confusion to move so many people. Here comes T. Now. I shall be almost opposite Eleanor and Katherine, andI don't mind one bit. "

So it happened that Betty Wales ate her class supper between ClaraMadison and the fat Miss Austin, and enjoyed it as thoroughly as if shehad been where she belonged, between Babbie and Roberta. The supperwasn't very good--suppers for two hundred and fifty people seldomare--but the talk and the jokes, the toasts and the histories, Eleanor'sradiant face at the head of the table, the spirit of jollity andgood-fellowship everywhere, --these were good enough to make up. Besides, it was the last time they would all be together. Betty hadn't realizedbefore how much she cared for them all--for the big indiscriminate massof the class that she had worked and played with these four years. Shehad expected to miss her best friends, but now, as she looked down thelong tables, she saw so many others that she should miss. Yes, sheshould miss them all from the fat Miss Austin who was so delighted to besitting beside her to the serious-minded Carlotta Young, with hertheories about testing your education. 

Katherine was reading the freshman history, hitting off the reception, with its bewildering gaiety and its terrifying grind-book, those firsthorrible midyears, made even more frightful by Mary Brooks's rumor, thebasket-ball game--when that was mentioned they made T. Reed stand on herchair to be cheered, and then they cheered the rest of the team, who, asKatherine said, "had marched so gallantly to a glorious defeat. " AsChristy wasn't there, somebody read her letter, which explained that hermother was better but that the twins had come down with the measles andChristy was "standing by the ship. " So they cheered the plucky letterand then they sang to its author. 

 "Oh, here's to our Christine, We love her though unseen, Drink her down, drink her down, Drink her down, down, down!"

When the team was finally allowed to sit down, Katherine went on to thejoys of spring-term, with its golf and tennis, its Mary-bird club andits tumultuous packing and partings. When she had finished and beenapplauded and sung to, and finally allowed to sit down and eat a verycold croquette, Betty looked over at Emily Davis and the next minutefor no reason at all she found herself winking back the tears. She hadhad such a good time that year and K. Had picked out just the comicallittle things that made you remember the others that she hadn'tmentioned. 

Little Alice Waite was toasting the cast. Alice was no orator. Shestammered and hesitated and made you think she was going to break down, but she always ended by saying or doing something that brought down thehouse. 

"I think you ought to have given this toast to somebody else, " she beganinnocently. "I can't act, and I can't speak either, as it happens. Besides words speak louder than actions. No, I mean actions speak louderthan words, so I will let the cast toast themselves. "

"Roast themselves, you mean, " said Katherine, pushing back her chair. 

And then began a clever burlesque of the casket scene in which Gratianoplayed Portia's part, Shylock was Nerissa, Gobbo Bassanio, and Jessicathe Prince of Morocco. Next Alice called for the Gobbos and Portia andthe Prince of Morocco "stood forth" and went through a solemn travestyof the scene between the father and son that left the class faint andspeechless with laughter. 

Then there were more toasts and when the coffee had been served theymade the engaged girls run around the table. Betty was sorry then thatshe wasn't in her own place, to help get Babbie Hildreth started. Herfriends were all sure that she was engaged and she had hinted that shemight tell them more about it at class-supper, but now she denied it asstoutly as ever. Finally Bob settled the question by getting up andrunning in her place, --a non-committal proceeding that delightedeverybody. 

After that came the last toast, "Our esprit de corps. " Kate Denise hadit, for no reason that Betty could see unless Christy had wanted to showKate that the class understood the difference between her and the otherHill girls. And then Kate was one of 19--'s best speakers and so coulddo justice to the subject. 

"I think we ought to drink this toast standing, " she began. "We've drunkto the cast and the team, to our presidents, our engaged girls, ourfaculty. Now I ask you to drink to the very greatest pride and honor ofthis class, --to the way we've always stood together, to the way we standtogether to-night, to the way we shall stand together in the future, nomatter where we go or what we do. It's not every class that can put thistoast on its supper-card. Not every class knows what it means to be run, not in the interest of a clique or by a few leading spirits, but by thegood-feeling of the whole big class. And so I ask you to drink one moretoast--to the girl who started this feeling of good-fellowship at acertain class-meeting that some of us remember, and who has kept it upby being a friend to everybody and making us all want to be friends. Here's to Betty Wales. "

When Betty heard her name she almost jumped out of her chair withamazement. She had been listening admiringly to Kate's eloquent littlespeech, never dreaming how it would end and now they were all clappingand pushing back their chairs again, and Clara Madison was trying tomake her stand up in hers. 

"Speech!" shouted the irrepressible Bob and the girls sat down again andthe big table grew still, while Betty twisted her napkin into a knot andsmiled bravely into all the welcoming faces. 

"I'm sure Kate is mistaken, " she said at last in a shaky little voice. "I'm sure every girl in 19-- wanted every other girl to have her shareof the fun just as much as I did. The class cup, that we won at tennisin our sophomore year is on the table somewhere. Let's fill it withlemonade and sing to everybody right down the line. And while they'refilling the cup let's sing to Harding College. "

It took a long time to sing to everybody, but not a minute too long. Betty watched the faces of the girls when their turns came--the girlswho were always sung to, like Emily Davis, and the girls who had neverbeen sung to in all the four years and who flushed with pride andpleasure to hear their names ring out and to feel that they too belongedto the finest, dearest class that ever left Harding. 

"Now we must have the regular stunts, " said Eleanor. There was ashuffling of chairs and she and Betty and the people who had had toastsslipped back to their own particular crowds, leaving the top of thetable for the stunt-doers. It was shockingly late, but they wanted allthe old favorites. Who knew when Emily Davis would be back to do hertemperance lecture or how long it would be before they could hear MadamePatti sing "Home, Sweet Home" through a wheezy gramophone?

"Was it all right?" Eleanor whispered to Betty as they hunted up theirwraps a little later. 

"Perfectly splendid, " said Betty with shining eyes. "The loveliestend-up to the loveliest commencement that ever was. "

"We haven't got to say good-bye yet, " said somebody. "There's a classmeeting to-morrow at nine, you know. "

"Half of us will probably sleep over, " said Babe in a queer, supercilious tone. Not for all the morning naps in the world would Babehave missed that good-bye meeting. 

CHAPTER XIX

"GOOD-BYE!"

"And after commencement packing, " said Madeline Ayres sadly, "and that'sno joke either, I can tell you. "

"Oh, I don't know, " said Babe airily. "Give away everything that youcan't sell, and you won't be troubled. That's what I've done. "

"I couldn't give up my dear old desk, " said Rachel soberly, "nor mybooks and pictures. "

"Oh, I've kept a few little things myself, " explained Babe hastily, "just to remember the place by. "

"My mother wanted to stay and help me, " laughed Nita. "She thought if weboth worked hard we might get through in a day. "

"Mary Brooks did hers in two hours, " announced Katherine, "and I guessI'm as bright as little Mary about most things, so I'm not worrying. "

"Isn't it time to start for class-meeting?" asked Betty, coming out onthe piazza with Roberta. 

"See them walk off together arm in arm, " chuckled Bob softly, "just asif they knew they were going to be elected our alumnæ president andsecretary respectfully. "

"Don't you mean respectively, Bob?" asked Helen Adams. 

"Of course I do, " retorted Bob, "but I'm not obliged to say what I meannow. I'm an alum. I can use as bad diction as I please and the long armof the English department can't reach out and spatter my mistakes withred ink. "

The election of officers didn't take long. It had all been cut and driedthe night before, and the nominating committee named Betty for presidentand Shylock for secretary without even going through the formality ofretiring to deliberate. Then Katherine moved that the surplus in thetreasury be turned over to "our pet philanthropy, the Students' Aid, "and Carlotta Young inquired anxiously whether the first reunion was tobe in one or two years. 

"In one, " shouted the assembly to a woman, and the meeting adjournedtumultuously. But nobody went home, in spite of the packing thatclamored for attention. 

"Good-bye, you dear old thing!"

"See you next June for sure. I'm coming back then, if I do live away outin Seattle. "

"You're going to study art in New York, you say? Oh, I'm there veryoften. Here, let me copy that address. "

"Going abroad for the summer, you lucky girl? Well, rather not! I'mgoing to tutor six young wigglers into a prep. School. "

"Wasn't last night fun? Don't you wish we could have it all overagain, --except the midyears and the papers for English novelists. "

"Good-bye!"

"Good-bye!"

"Good-bye!"

But these weren't the good-byes that came hardest; those would be saidlater in the dear, dismantled rooms or at the station, for very closefriends would arrange to meet again there. But the close friendshipswould be kept up in letters and visits, whereas these casualacquaintances might never again be renewed. 

"I've seen you nearly every day for three years, " Madeline Ayres toldlittle Miss Avery, whose name came next to hers on the class-list, "andnow you're going to live in Iowa and I'm going to Italy. The world is abig place, isn't it?"

But Nita Reese thought it was surprisingly small when she found thatEmily Davis was going to teach French in the little town where shelived, and Betty got a great deal of comfort from the fact that fourother 19-- girls lived in Cleveland. 

"Though I can't believe it's really over, " Betty confided to Bob. "Idon't feel a bit like an alum. "

"That's because you still look just like a freshman, " returned Bob, unfeelingly. "I'll bet you a trolley-ride to any place you choose thatyou'll be taken for one before you leave Harding. "

Sure enough Betty, hurrying across the campus a moment later tointercept the man who had promised to crate her desk and then never comefor it, was stopped by a timid little sub-freshman with her hair in abraid, who inquired if she was going to take the "major French"examination, and did she know whether it came at eleven or twelveo'clock?

"So we're all got to go off on a trolley-ride, " shouted Bob jubilantly, and though Betty protested and called Helen to witness that she hadn'tpromised Bob any trolley-ride whatever, everybody agreed that they oughtto have one last picnic somewhere before they separated. So they allhurried home to do what Katherine called "tall strides of work, " and atfour o'clock they were waiting, with tempting-looking bags and bundlestucked under their arms, for a car. 

"We'll take the first one that comes, " Bob decided, "and go until we seea nice picnic-y place. "

Generally no one place would have pleased everybody, but to-day no onesaid a word against Bob's first choice, --a steep, breezy hillside, witha great thicket of mountain laurel in full bloom near the summit and aflat rock, shaded by a giant elm-tree, for a table. 

[Illustration: "LADIES, BEHOLD THE PRECEPTRESS OF THE KANKAKEE ACADEMY"]

It was such a comical supper, for each girl had obeyed Bob's haphazardinstructions to bring what she liked best. So Roberta had nothing butginger-snaps and Babbie solemnly presented each guest with a bottle ofolives. Madeline had brought strawberries with sugar to dip them in, andHelen, Betty and Eleanor discovered to their amazement that they had allchosen chocolate éclairs. 

"It's not a very substantial supper, " said Madeliner "but we can stopat Cuyler's on our way back. "

"For a substantial ice, " jeered Bob. 

"Who's hungry anyway after last night?" asked Nita. 

"I am, " declared Eleanor. "They took away my salad before I was throughwith it, and K. Stole my ice. "

"Well, you're growing fat, " Katherine defended herself, "and you've gotto save your lovely slenderness until after Mary's wedding. She'll telleverybody that you're the college beauty and you must live up to thereputation or we shall be undone. "

Katherine knew that she couldn't come on from Kankakee for that wedding, and Helen and Rachel knew that they couldn't either, though they livednearer. And Madeline was sailing on Saturday for Italy, "to stay untildaddy's paint-box runs out of Italian colors. " But they didn't talkabout those things at the picnic, nor on the swift ride home across thedark meadows, nor even at Cuyler's, which looked empty and deserted whenthey tramped noisily in and ordered their ices. 

"Everybody else is too busy to go on picnics, " said Bob. 

"We always did know how to have the best kind of times, " declared Babbieproudly. 

"Of course. Aren't we 'Merry Hearts'?" queried Babe. "Being nice tofreaks was only half of being a 'Merry Heart. '"

"_Why_, girls, " cried Nita excitedly, "as long as we didn't give awaythe 'Merry Hearts, ' we can go on being them, can't we?"

"We couldn't stop if we tried, " said Madeline. "Remember, girls, two isa 'Merry Hearts' quorum. Whenever two of us get together they can have ameeting. "

They said good-night with the emphasis strongly on the last syllable, and went at the neglected packing in earnest. Betty's train didn't gountil nearly ten the next morning, but Helen left at nine and Madelineand Roberta ten minutes later, so there wouldn't be much time foranything but the good-byes, that, do what you might, could not be putoff any longer. 

But after all they were gay good-byes. Helen Adams, to be sure, almostbroke down When she kissed Betty and whispered, "Good-bye and thank youfor everything. " But the next minute they were both laughing at K. 'sridiculous old telescope bag. 

"It's a long rest and a good meal of oats the poor beastie shall have atthe end of this trip, " said Katherine. "Ladies, behold the preceptressof the Kankakee Academy. Father telegraphed me yesterday that I've gotthe place, and I hereby solemnly promise to buy a respectable suit-caseout of my first month's salary. "

"Oh, you haven't any of you gone yet, have you?" asked Babbie Hildreth, hurrying up with Eleanor and Madeline. "You see Babe kept more thingsthan she thought and it was too late to send for another packing-box, so she put them into a suit-case and a kit bag and a hat-box. And thecarriage didn't come for us, so she tried to carry them all from thecar, and of course she got stuck in the turn-stile. The girls aregetting her out as fast as they can. They sent us on ahead to find you. "

Just as Helen's train pulled in Bob appeared with the rest of the "MerryHearts" as escort and a small boy to help with her luggage; and they hada minute all together. 

"Well, " said Madeline lightly, "we're starting out into the wide, wideworld at last. I'll say it because I'm used to starting _off_ to queerplaces and I rather like it. "

"Here's hoping it's a jolly world for every one of us, " said Rachel. 

"Here's to our next meeting, " added Katherine. 

"Girls, " said Betty solemnly, "I feel it in my bones that we are goingto be together again some time. I don't mean just for a 19-- reunion, but for a good long time. "

"With me teaching in Boston, " laughed Rachel. 

"And me teaching in Kankakee, " put in Katherine proudly. 

"And Madeline in Italy, and the rest of you anywhere between New Yorkand Denver, " finished Rachel. "It doesn't look very probable. "

"It's going to happen though, --I'm sure of it, " persisted Betty gaily. 

"Oh, I do just hope so, " said little Helen Adams, stepping on board hertrain. 

"They say that what you want hard enough you'll get, " said Madelinephilosophically. "Come on, Shylock. Don't any of you forget to send mesteamer letters. "

"Wait! we're going on that train too, " cried Babe, clutching herparcels. 

"Babe can't make connections if we wait, " explained Babbie. 

"And she'd get lonely going so far without us, " added Bob. 

The four who were left stood where they could wave by turns at the twotrains until both were out of sight. 

Then Betty caught her three oldest friends into a big, comprehensivehug. "After all, " she said, "whether we ever get together or not, we'vehad this--four whole years of it, to remember all our lives. Now let'sgo and get one more strawberry ice before train-time. "

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The Books in this Series are:

BETTY WALES, FRESHMANBETTY WALES, SOPHOMOREBETTY WALES, JUNIORBETTY WALES, SENIORBETTY WALES, B. A. BETTY WALES & CO. BETTY WALES ON THE CAMPUSBETTY WALES DECIDES