“Hurrah! hurrah! oh, jubilation!Two more days and then vacation;No more Latin, no more French,No more sitting on a hard wooden bench.”
“Hurrah! hurrah! oh, jubilation!
Two more days and then vacation;
No more Latin, no more French,
No more sitting on a hard wooden bench.”
She turned suddenly and caught an expression of utter homesickness and loneliness on her room-mate’s face. Beth was looking hard and bitter, a look that Dolly had come to know and dread. She mentally anathematized herself for talking of home before these two girls. Then a brilliant thought struck her.
“I have a bit of news for you,” she announced briefly. “It may be of interest to you. The fact is, you are both going home with me on Wednesday.”
Her companions stared at her. “Don’t be a goose, Dolly. ’Tis very good of you to propose it, but your father and mother, to say nothing of that brother of yours, will want all of your time. They will not care to have strangers there whom they must entertain.”
“They will not entertain you, my dear.I am taking you to entertain a couple of boys whom Fred proposes taking home. Don’t you see how useful you can make yourselves?”
“Elizabeth could,” Mary Sutherland replied quietly, but with a certain wistfulness. “I would be no help at all. I never could talk to boys; then, I have no clothes to wear, and you would be ashamed of me.”
“If you cannot entertain boys, you must learn to do it before you are a week older. No one expects college girls to have many clothes, so that part of the question is disposed of. I am going to send an extra telegram to Mother now, so that she will be sure to get a large turkey. I don’t want you to go hungry when you eat your Thanksgiving dinner with me.”
“But, Dolly–”
“Oh, will you please be still? Both of you? You interrupt me.”
“You are wasting your money by sending that telegram, and your strength in writing it,” said Beth coolly, “for I, at least, am not going.”
But Dolly had a very persuasive way of her own, and in the end both Beth and MarySutherland succumbed, the latter, however, not without sundry misgivings. “You know that my dresses are old-fashioned and I cannot afford any new ones. Will you not be ashamed of me?”
“Of course not,” and while that was perfectly true, Dolly knew that she could not take the same pride in introducing Mary that she could in introducing stylish, winning Beth; for Beth, despite her red hair, was strikingly pretty. Her freckles had disappeared with the summer, and her gowns always fitted to perfection. She could play and sing and act. There was no doubt, at all, but that she would prove very popular with Fred’s chums. Beth was small and slender, her eyes were a marvelously deep blue and her complexion fair. Mary was tall, dark and awkward. Her hair was thick, and, properly arranged, showed its full beauty. But Mary knew nothing of the art of dressing. She felt it, and did not want her friend to be ashamed of her. She went to the point directly, which was characteristic of her, when she had once made up her mind on a point.
“Will you tell me what dresses to take,and can you give me any hints about fixing my things up? Of course, I have not the clothes that you and Elizabeth have, but if you will help me, I will try to do the best I can with my limited wardrobe.”
Dolly studied a moment in silence. “White always looks well, even if it is simple. You have a couple of white dresses. They are laundered, I know. Take both of them along, you will need them for dinner dresses. Father always likes us to dress a little for dinner. He says it rests him to come home and see Mother and me with something pretty on, and we are quite ready to humor him. Then–I think–yes–I am sure that you had better wear your blue for a travelling dress. You’ll not need anything else, for we shall be gone such a little time. Have you bright ribbons? Never mind if you haven’t. We shall all draw on Mother’s stock, she is used to that sort of thing, and doesn’t mind a bit.”
“I must go down town today to buy a hat. Would you very much mind going with me to help?”
“Not at all. I just love to buy things, but Beth and I have been down town so oftenlately that Miss Newton may refuse permission.”
“I’ll fix that part,” Mary said quietly.
“You will? How confidently you say that. Professor Newton is very nice, my dear, and I adore her, but I don’t imagine that she is very easily ‘fixed.’”
Miss Sutherland looked amused. “I will go and speak to her now,” was all she said.
She came back with the desired permission, and the two went off gaily, while Beth went to her room to write to Roy. To Beth’s great surprise, Roy had answered that first letter of hers very promptly, and though his letter had been the short, unsatisfactory kind that boys always write, especially boys as young as Roy, Beth had been touched and pleased at his evident delight over the fact that she had written to him. Since then her missives went regularly. She felt sorry for the homesick lad. “I wonder if Dolly’s father would have sent Fred off at that age,” she said to herself. “I am anxious to see Dolly’s people. Shall I like them? Well, the vacation is not long, anyway.”
No, it would not be long, and yet therewould be plenty of time in it for the happening of various things of more or less importance to the college lassies.
Whenthe train on Wednesday evening halted for a moment at the first suburban station outside Dolly’s city home, she gave a little shriek of surprise and delight. A moment later three young men entered the Pullman where Dolly and her friends were seated.
One of the young men was instantly pounced upon by Dolly and given an enthusiastic reception; meanwhile his two companions stood back smilingly, and proceeded to scrutinize Dolly’s companions very closely.
“Oh, dear, where shall we begin with the introductions? We have all got to be introduced, I see. Well, this is my brother, Fred, Miss Newby and Miss Sutherland. He is really very nice, girls. I have brought him up quite properly.”
“The bringing up was altogether the other way, as I chance to be a couple of years my sister’s senior. Now, boys, come forward.” A moment later and the girls had formallymade the acquaintance of “Mr. Martin” and “Mr. Steele.”
“I told the mater to let us meet you, and she finally consented, though she made us promise not to loiter on the way. We got here this morning, you know.”
“How jolly, Fred, and oh! how good it is to be at home once more,” Dolly said, as the train came to a standstill in the great station. “Let us walk up, we can get there in ten minutes and we can talk so much better that way. Tell me about your friends, Fred.”
“There’s not time to tell you very much, but I’ll give you the main points. Steele is working his way through college. He is one of the most popular men there. He hasn’t a near relation in the world. He was born somewhere out West. His father took a claim; dry seasons, big mortgage and prairie fires killed the mother and the father, too. There wasn’t a cent left for Bob. He has done about everything that a boy could do, I guess, and he has lived in every large city between here and Kansas. He was three years in Chicago, and managed to graduatefrom the High School there. Did jobs for some millionaire night and morning for his board and a dollar a week. Wherever he lived he went to school. That’s how he managed to prepare for college.”
“But how does he do now?”
“He won a scholarship, and then he is steward of our club. He does private tutoring and half a dozen other things. He’ll get along. He had more invitations for Thanksgiving, I’ll wager, than any other fellow in college.”
“And Mr. Martin? Talk fast. We are almost home. You know all about the girls, for I told you all that I could think of in my letters.”
“There isn’t so much to tell about Martin, Dolly. He comes from one of the oldest families in Boston, has lots of money, and plenty of brains, but he is fearfully lazy. What he needs–”
But Fred’s sentence was destined to remain unfinished, for just then the sextette came in sight of Dolly’s home, and Dolly spied in the doorway the person whom she most loved on earth. With one spring she vanishedup the walk and darted into her mother’s arms.
It was all a merry hubbub for a time. Dolly’s mother seemed to Beth just an older and more mature type of Dolly herself. Dolly’s father was there, too, and the greeting given the two strange girls was cordial enough to make them feel at home and to dispel all restraint.
“You boys must try to amuse yourselves without us for a little while,” said Mrs. Alden, her arm still around Dolly. “I am going to take the girls upstairs now, and by the time we come down, dinner will be served.”
“Your old room is ready for you, Dolly, just as you left it; I have put your friends in the two little rooms across the hall. I supposed that you would want to be near each other.”
“You are correct, as usual, Motherdie. Come in and help me dress now. You always used to put the finishing touches on for me, you know. Leave your doors open, girls, so that we can talk to one another.”
“I like your friends,” Dolly’s mother said quietly, when the two found themselves alonelater. “Miss Newby doesn’t look very happy, and there is an expression on her face that I do not like to see on so young a girl. I think that Miss Sutherland has latent possibilities about her.”
“Yes, and they are almost all latent as yet, but you can help to bring them out, I know. By the way, Mother, I want to brighten her up a bit. She must make a good impression on the boys this first night. Have you any rose-colored ribbons? Just put them on her, won’t you? There’s a dear. She cannot tie a bow any more than a sparrow can.”
“You do not need me any more?”
“No, thanks. Oh, it is so blessed to be home, Mother. I’m going to your room at bedtime for a long talk. Will I do?”
“Very well,” and Mrs. Alden looked with pardonable pride on the tall, graceful figure of her daughter, straight as an arrow; the fair, happy face, sunny and sweet, the light curling hair, the dainty white dress and the knots of blue ribbon scattered over it, made a picture of which any mother might well feel proud.
When Dolly went into Mary’s room, shestopped in genuine surprise. “How pretty you do look, Mary. I am proud of you.” And yet “pretty” was hardly the correct adjective to apply to her room-mate. Mary’s face was fine, and now that she was dressed with some taste, the possibilities of future beauty became apparent. But it was by no means a handsome face, though it might become so in later years.
Beth came in trailing a white cashmere behind her. Dolly laughed mischievously. “Beth thinks that she can add several inches to her height by wearing long dresses. She does it on every possible occasion.”
Beth retorted merrily, and the four went downstairs, where they found the three boys as well as Dolly’s father awaiting them rather impatiently.
There was plenty of lively conversation, in which everyone took part. It was easy to see that Dolly was the light of the house, and that she was woefully missed by her home people.
Rob Steele proved to be a good talker. He had been through so much in the course of his short life, that he had an endless fund ofstories on hand for almost any occasion. He was not at all conceited, but he talked well and easily.
“You must have acquaintances all over the United States,” Beth exclaimed at last. “Aren’t you always seeing people that you know?”
“Not often; you see, I was hardly in a position to make acquaintances, Miss Newby. I was doing all sorts of odd jobs, and while I will doubtless remember the faces of the persons for whom I worked, they will not recall me, and would certainly not claim acquaintanceship. However, I did see a young lady on your train whose face was so familiar to me that I bowed involuntarily.”
“I noticed you speaking to that stunning girl all dressed in brown. Who is she, Bob?”
“Her name is Hamilton–Miss Margaret Hamilton. I knew her just casually in Chicago, where I stayed longer than I ever did in any other place after Father died. We were in the same class, that is, we graduated the same year. I saw nothing much of her at school, but I frequently caught glimpses of her when I was sent to old Worthington’s on some errand.”
“Was she a relation of that rich old Worthington who died two years ago?”
“No relation, she was the daughter of his housekeeper, a very nice girl, too. Rather proud, I fancied, but thoroughly free from nonsense and silly sentimentalism.”
It was some moments before Dolly dared to glance at her friends.
There were significant glances interchanged, but no comments were made, and Dolly’s people did not surmise then, that the young woman under discussion had been Dolly’s successful rival for the class presidency.
There were music and singing later in the evening, and Beth felt that she knew for the first time, perhaps, what home-life might really mean.
After the girls had slipped into their dressing-gowns that night, they ran over to Dolly’s room to discuss the subject that was just then uppermost in the minds of them all–Margaret Hamilton. They halted at the door, however, for there was Dolly enjoying a comfortable chat with her mother.
There were music and singing later in the evening.
There were music and singing later in the evening.
“Come in, girls, I’ve just been telling Mother all about Margaret. I always tell her everything, you know, and she has just asked if Margaret ever made any statements at variance with the real truth about herself. It is no disgrace to be poor, and I hope that we are not snobs enough to care for that part of it; but has she been trying to pass herself off for something that she is not?”
There was a little silence. Mary Sutherland was the first to speak. “I never saw much of Miss Hamilton, and so I do not know what she is in the habit of saying about herself. The only time that I ever heard her mention the past, was when Miss Raymond asked her where she lived. She replied that her home had been in Chicago, but that death had broken it up. There was nothing more said.”
“Very possibly all of that was strictly true,” Mrs. Alden said thoughtfully, “and she certainly was under no special obligation to tell every student at Westover her private affairs. But how does she have the means to go through college? Dolly tells me that she dresses very nicely, although not extravagantly. I can see how she would prefer to keep some facts to herself. Girlsare not as tolerant as boys in some particulars. Mr. Steele is popular at Harvard, despite his poverty and struggles; but you know very well that a girl, with similar experiences, would be unmercifully snubbed at Westover.”
“And you think–”
“I do not know your friend, or perhaps I should say your classmate, as I see Miss Newby frowning over the word ‘friend’ so it is not easy for me to draw conclusions, but if she has merely kept still, and been reticent on her past life, I do not see that she is open to censure. Of course, if she has been pretending to be what she is not, that is a totally different affair.”
“She has always been very careful, Mrs. Alden, to say as little as possible about herself. I noticed it, and commented on the fact to Dolly, but I do not imagine that anyone else noticed it. As far as my observation has gone, she has told no untruths. But she certainly did seem accustomed to all the little luxuries that rich people have. One could notice it at table and in a hundred little ways.”
“Doubtless she was accustomed to manyof those things, if her mother was housekeeper for Mr. Worthington. He was one of the richest men in the West, and Miss Hamilton would have had an opportunity in his house, if she were at all adaptable, of becoming thoroughly familiar with all such little niceties. Even at the housekeeper’s table there was certainly plenty of opportunity for Miss Hamilton to grow perfectly familiar with the ways of the rich.”
“But where is her mother, and where did her money come from?”
“Those are questions that we can’t answer, so we might as well drop them. I wonder where she was going?”
“Oh, didn’t you know? Helen Raymond asked her to spend the Thanksgiving vacation at her home.”
Mrs. Alden leaned forward, a serious look on her face. “Girls, if I were you, I should not mention this subject at school. Miss Hamilton is your class president, she will be your president for a year to come. You want everything smooth and harmonious, don’t you?”
“Of course we do, Mrs. Alden, and wewill keep perfectly mum, but if Dolly had only been sensible and voted for herself, there would not be any such situation as there is at present.”
Dolly laughed. “Beth never will learn to recognize some facts; now, for instance, that subject was finally settled long, long ago.”
“I don’t see–” began Beth.
But Mrs. Alden rose hastily to her feet. “You girls must all get to bed and to sleep as soon as possible. The boys have plans for every moment of the day, and you will want to feel fresh tomorrow. Dolly, you may come over to my room for just a few minutes.”
The next morning there was a drive through the lovely suburbs of the city, then they came back to the Thanksgiving dinner; in the evening there was a fine concert to which Mr. Alden took them all. Friday and Saturday were full of fun and pleasure. Sunday evening came all too soon. Dolly was having a quiet chat in the library with Fred and her mother. The rest were all in the drawing-room.
“I have been very much astonished at the way our guests paired off. Naturally, one wouldthink that Mr. Steele would care to talk to Mary rather than to Beth. Mary knows what hard work and life on a farm mean. She would not be at college now, if some aunt were not paying her tuition; she told me so. I supposed that she and Mr. Steele would have ever so many things in common, but I never see them talking together at all. Mr. Martin seems really to find Mary very attractive, and Mr. Steele devotes most of his time to Beth, who is certainly his opposite in every particular.”
“That is just the reason Steele likes her, I presume,” Fred rejoined with an air of superior wisdom. “The attraction of opposites, you know; though, for that matter, Steele quite approves of you. He thinks you are a remarkably nice little girl, for he told me so.”
“How horribly condescending of him,” Dolly said, tilting her chin upward.
Fred laughed. It was great fun to tease Dolly. “He thinks you did a remarkably fine thing in throwing the class presidency to that classmate of yours who voted for herself. By the way, her name was Hamilton, I remember; she wasn’t that girl of whom Bob was talking the other night, was she?”
Dolly flushed. “Tell Fred the whole story, dear, you can trust your brother.”
So Dolly told it, and whatever Fred thought, he kept to himself, merely promising not to mention the affair to anyone. Mrs. Alden sent the girls off to bed at an early hour, for, as Beth said, they must be awake at a most unearthly time. The boys set their alarm clock in order to be up to see the girls off. They, themselves, were not obliged to go until a later train.
“We have had just a beautiful time, Mrs. Alden,” Beth declared that evening. “I can’t tell how much it has meant to me. I want Dolly to go home with me as soon as you can spare her, but I suppose you will want her at Christmas?”
“Perhaps we could arrange a compromise,” Mrs. Alden returned smilingly; “you might stop here for a week, and then wemightagree to loan you Dolly for the remaining time.”
“I do wish you would. I would be more glad than I can tell you. I am going to consider that point settled, and I thank you a thousand times. Dolly, I want to tell you something about that room-mate of minewhen we get upstairs. I’ve meant to do it all vacation, and our jolly times have just crowded it out of my head.”
Butit was not until they were on the train the next day, that an opportunity came for Beth to tell her story. There had been a jolly, sleepy crowd that had eaten the early breakfast and then gone down to the station. The boys had supplied them well with magazines, flowers and boxes of candy. To Mary Sutherland it was all like a new world–the handsome house, the elegant furnishings, the plenty and comfort that pervaded the whole atmosphere, and while that part was nothing at all new to Beth, she, too, felt as if she were in a new world, for it was a world in which the home-atmosphere was sweet and wholesome, blessed as it was with love and mutual forbearance.
The good-byes were all said at last, and Dolly had to wink hard to keep back the tears. “Do you remember how homesick I was in September, Beth, and how you came to the rescue like a good angel? What should I have done without you? It will be only amonth now until the Christmas holidays, and I certainly ought to be able to stand it four weeks without getting lonesome.”
“You should have seen what a forlorn object she was, Mary,” interrupted Beth. “She sat on the edge of her bed looking as if she had not a friend in all the world.”
“In all the college, you mean, and I had not, either, until you walked in. I shall bless you forever for that deed of humanity. Even my room-mate was missing then; you stayed for the marriage of a sister, did you not, Mary?”
“Yes, and I am afraid that I was not much comfort to you after Ididappear. I didn’t mean to be dictatorial and horrid, but I am afraid that–”
“You were nothing but what was all right, Mary,” Dolly interrupted. “We were not acquainted at first, that was all.”
“I was not nice, but I meant to be, and I’ll try to fit in better hereafter. You should have had Beth for a room-mate, though I’m too selfish to propose any change this year.”
“We can all three be good friends, Mary, so far as that goes, but I certainly wish that someother room-mate had been allotted to me than Margery Ainsworth.”
“You were going to tell us something about her, Beth; now is a good opportunity.”
“Very well, only you girls must understand that I am telling this in confidence, because I want your advice. I don’t know whether it is my duty to say anything or not. Of course, girls don’t like to be tell-tales any more than boys do, but it seems to me that the good name of the college is more or less concerned in this, and we cannot afford to have any girl do things which would bring us into disrepute.”
“Of course not,” Dolly said energetically. “Well, what is it?”
“In the first place, she systematically breaks all of the rules. I cannot room with her, of course, and not know that. She probably depends upon my good nature or sense of honor not to give her away. She never reports any broken rule, and she goes downtown whenever she feels inclined, and only once a month or so gets permission. I imagine that she goes for some reason instead of shopping, for she never has any bundlessent home. The worst thing, in my mind, was a couple of Sundays ago. She pretended to go to church with the rest of us, but she did not; she went off some place else and appeared again just as church was over. She went back to the college with the rest of us. I did ask her what she had been doing that time.”
“What did she say?”
“Nothing very satisfactory. She wanted to know if I would like an outline of the sermon, and she proceeded to give me the text and some of the leading points. Of course, she heard all of the girls discussing it at the table, for it was the day that Dr. Hyde preached, and we were all intensely interested.”
“Where do you suppose she was?” It was Mary Sutherland who asked the question.
“I really have not the faintest idea. I know, though, that she was some place where, of course, she could not have gotten permission to go, had she asked, for otherwise she would never have run the risk she ran. The faculty do not overlook that sort of thing readily.”
“She would certainly be suspended at the least.”
“Well, I cannot go and tell any one of the professors what she does, but I wish something would happen to make her more careful. I don’t like to have the college girls talked about. I feel jealous of our good name.”
Beth looked perplexed and worried. All three of the girls knew that Margery Ainsworth had violated one of the strictest rules, and she could only have done it in order to achieve some end which the faculty would never have countenanced. It was not pleasant for Beth to room with a girl as utterly devoid of principle as Margery Ainsworth daily proved herself to be. It was inevitable that they should be thrown more or less together. Margery was no student at all, and she and Beth really had no ideas in common.
“This is the second secret that has come our way this vacation,” Dolly said. “Such secrets are not nice. I hope we shall not be compelled to hear any more. First, we learned more about our president’s life than she would probably care to have us know, andnow comes this, which is, of course, a thousand times worse. As far as I am concerned, I have no suggestions to offer.”
“As I understand the matter, you want her forced to obey the rules, but at the same time you are not going to tell any member of the faculty about her.”
“Of course I am not,” Beth said indignantly. “That is simply out of the question.”
“And yet, for her own sake, it would be much better if the faculty knew something of her doings. She cannot go into town so often for any good purpose. She may be getting into mischief that she will repent all of her after-life.”
“Very true, still I can say nothing.”
“Will you let me see what I can do?”
“That would be the same as doing it myself, Mary, and then trying to sneak out of a mean act by putting it on your shoulders.”
“If you are willing to trust me, I will not tell anything definite. I will not mention your name, or tell what Miss Ainsworth has done. I shall merely make sure that she will be so warned and hedged in hereafter, that she will not dare to break the rules again.And this ought to be done, Elizabeth, both for her own sake and the sake of the college.”
“My dear infant, do you suppose for a moment that you could make the indefinite statement which you propose, to any member of the faculty, and not have a full explanation demanded at once of everything that has been done?”
“That would be true, usually, I know–”
“But–” Beth’s voice sounded a trifle impatient–“do you think you could manage the professors better than the rest of us?”
“Not all of them,” Mary returned serenely, “but I probably can Professor Newton, because, you see, she is my aunt.”
“What!” The amazement in her companions’ voices made Mary leap back and burst into laughter.
“It is true. She is Mother’s sister. I really do not know why I told no one at first. I took a notion that I didn’t want the girls to know, and Aunt Mary humored me. I am her namesake.”
“And that is where you have been evenings when I wondered so where you were,” Dolly broke out a trifle incoherently.
“Yes, I was up in her room. I can go there any time I wish. I thought that I would leave you and Beth an opportunity to talk and study in our sitting-room.”
“Professor Newton must have a high opinion of me,” Dolly interjected discontentedly, “if she thinks that I drive you away.”
“You needn’t worry about Aunt Mary. She knows how lovely you have been to an awkward, green girl from the western prairies, and she is very grateful. Now you see, don’t you, that I can say just enough to her confidentially to warrant her in warning Miss Ainsworth that the faculty will expect different behavior from her in the future? That is all that will be necessary, I am sure, only, of course, she will be watched after this. I will not mention a single name, and I will not tell anything that she has done in the past. If she behaves herself after the warning, she will be all right. There will be no harm done, but lots of good will have been accomplished. If she doesn’t choose to take heed–”
“She will deserve to suffer the full consequences,” declared Beth. “Yes, go ahead, that is the best plan. Truly, I am not thinkingentirely of the college either, when I say it. While I care nothing, personally, for Margery Ainsworth, I do not want her to ruin her whole life by some piece of folly.”
The girls talked the subject over more fully, and the matter was finally left entirely in Mary’s hands.
A sudden recollection struck Dolly. “No wonder that you did not care to have me introduce you to Professor Newton that first evening; do you remember? And of course she had saved a place at her table purposely for you. Mary Sutherland, if I supposed you repeated to her all the nonsense that you have heard me talk about her, I should never let you return to college alive.”
Mary smiled, not very much overcome by the threat. “You always say nice things about her; now, if it had been Professor Arnold–you really don’t like her at all.”
“Of course I don’t. An angel from heaven couldn’t suit Professor Arnold when it comes to a Latin translation. But just to think how I have gushed over Professor Newton. Mary Sutherland, have you ever told her the silly things I have said?”
“You might know that I would not repeat anything that would displease Aunt Mary.”
Dolly looked at her sharply. “You are evading my questions, Mary Sutherland. I just know that you have told Professor Newton how I have gushed over her, and how deeply in love with her I am. Don’t try to fool me. I will never, never tell anything to you again. Don’t talk to me about unsophisticated girls from the country, they are deeper than any city girl I ever saw.”
And Dolly settled back in her seat with a look of vengeance in her eyes, that did not disturb Mary in the least. It was very true that Dolly had fallen deeply in love with Professor Newton, after the harmless fashion that students have. Her lessons for Professor Newton were faultlessly prepared, and while she was a good student in all her chosen studies, she absolutely shone in Professor Newton’s classes. There was something very attractive about this teacher. She understood girls and knew how to deal with them.
She had written a couple of textbooks herself, and it was generally understood amongthe students that she had supported herself when attending college. Yet she had not become hard or bitter. Her face was strong, but sweet, and her own experience made her very tender toward those girls who were trying to win an education against great odds. It was to this aunt that Mary Sutherland went, knowing that she could trust her implicitly to do the very best for all concerned.
Beth knew that her room-mate was summoned to the president’s room the following Wednesday, and that she came back looking very angry and half frightened as well. Evidently, whatever had been said to her was of such a nature that she did not suspect Beth in the least. In fact, the president (alluding, of course, to Professor Newton) had said that “one of the members of the faculty had told her that Miss Ainsworth was proving herself untrustworthy.” Then there had followed a serious talk in which Margery said as little as she could. She surmised that she had probably been seen by some one of the professors on one of her many escapades; on which one it might have been, shehad no means of knowing, and she was afraid of saying too much in extenuation or excuse, lest she might inadvertently admit some misdemeanor of which the president was ignorant up to this time. Therefore, she returned to her room both wrathful and alarmed.
Beth reported later to Dolly, that her room-mate was doing more studying and paying more attention to the rules, than she ever had before.
“Will it last, do you think?” queried Dolly anxiously.
“I have my doubts. In my humble opinion, she is simply trying to throw them off their guard now, and to induce them to believe that she does not need watching. From several little things that have happened, however, I am perfectly positive that the faculty is keeping a very wide-awake eye on her. We have not many rules here, you know, but it goes hard with any girl who attempts to break those few.”
“Yes, the mere fact that we are on our honor to a great extent, ought to make the girls behave. I feel like being doubly careful.”
“My dear, you are hardly the same typeof girl as Margery Ainsworth. She is the sort to take advantage of any privilege. She is so very quiet now, that I cannot help thinking there is some special reason why she is endeavoring to throw them off their guard before the Christmas holidays.”
“They are only a week distant. Remember that you are going to eat Christmas dinner with me, Beth. Mary will go, too, and Fred has invited Mr. Martin and Mr. Steele for the holidays, so that we shall have the same crowd we did at Thanksgiving time.”
“That will be jolly, but you must go home with me after Christmas. I don’t pretend that you will have as good a time in Philadelphia with me, as I did at your home, but I want you to come. I asked Mary to go, too, because I knew she could not afford to go way out to her own home, but she said that she was to take a little trip with her aunt, and so I shall have you all to myself. I’m rather glad of it, to tell the truth.”
“Yet you like Mary?”
“More than I ever imagined that I could. I am getting to know her better, for one thing. Of course, I shall never care forher as much as I do for you, but she is thoroughly genuine. There is nothing mean or underhanded about her.”
“No, there certainly is not, and hasn’t she improved wonderfully in personal appearance since she came?”
“You are responsible for that. Since she allows you to superintend her purchases, and tell her what colors to wear, she looks more like a girl, and less like a relic of some former geological era.”
“Poor child, she had no opportunity to learn on the farm, and very little money to spend for anything, I fancy.”
“All very true, and Professor Newton is a trump for giving her forlorn namesake this chance. Of course, she pays all Mary’s expenses.”
“Yes, and Mary is going to be a credit in the end to all her relatives and friends. I wish I could say as much of your room-mate.”
“You can’t. The most I dare hope in that direction is that Margaret will not do anything to make us ashamed of her.”
But the next week proved that this hope would not be realized.
OnThursday the girls would leave for their Christmas vacation. Dolly, as well as Beth and Mary Sutherland, had passed their examinations in a very satisfactory manner, and could enjoy the holidays with clear consciences. The freshmen had been getting up a musical extravaganza under the energetic direction of their president. There was no denying the fact that Margaret Hamilton made a fine class president. She had insisted upon Dolly’s having a prominent part. Margaret, herself, had a fine contralto voice, and by common vote, another of the principal parts was given to her. Beth had a minor part, and Mary appeared only in the choruses.
A number of the other girls had remarkably fine voices, and all of the leading parts were well carried. The class president seemed unusually elated and happy. The entertainment would be given by the freshmen in the College Hall on Wednesday evening.The faculty was invited, of course, as well as the sophomores, juniors and seniors. It was the first entertainment that the freshmen had given, and everyone was eager to see what they could do.
Professor Newton had been admitted to the last rehearsal, and she assured the girls that it was the best thing that she had ever seen done by any freshman class. “There wasn’t a flaw in it. The idea is unique, the costuming fine and the solo work was absolutely superb. You must have worked hard. It will be something for all the classes to talk about for years to come. Just do as well as you did at this rehearsal, and you will find yourselves covered with glory, if you do not attempt anything else in your entire college course.”
“It is all due to our president,” said one of the group who surrounded Professor Newton. “It was her idea in the first place; she adapted the extravaganza to our class, and it is she who has made us work so hard at it.”
“You have every reason to be proud of your work, Miss Hamilton,” Professor Newton said cordially.
“I am tremendously proud of the girls, Professor Newton. Of course, I could have done nothing at all if they had not been so willing.”
Just then the ringing of the gong summoned the majority of the girls to a recitation, and Margaret added in a lower tone, “I am only afraid of Ada Willing’s last solo.”
“But why, Miss Hamilton? That is one of the best things in the entire entertainment. It is so full of good-natured hits at the other classes and the faculty. It is sheer, pure fun; everyone will enjoy it, and Miss Willing has a magnificent voice.”
“But it is so uncertain. That solo should be sung well, for it is the most unique thing that we have. Sometimes Miss Willing does it superbly, and sometimes she does it miserably. Once or twice she has actually forgotten the opening words, they are pure nonsense, you know, and not very easy to remember, if a person be nervous.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Professor Newton advised kindly. “I am sure you will come out all right this evening. You should rest the balance of the day.”
“I want to go out for a little while, Professor Newton; then I shall surely take your advice.”
Dolly and Beth had been almost the only ones who had heard this conversation. As the two walked down the corridor, Beth said thoughtfully: “I would be willing to wager a peanut that our president has gone out merely to walk up Murray’s lane. She goes there every single day at this hour.”
“I don’t believe it is for any wrong purpose, Beth. The lane is within the limits that we are allowed to go. Some way I have faith in Miss Hamilton.”
“I am not saying that I have not. But certainly she is secretive. Of course, that is no sin, as we decided long ago; at the same time one cannot help speculating about her, more or less.”
“I have watched her rather closely ever since Thanksgiving, and she really has never said a word in my hearing that was untrue or false. Last week, in Miss Dunbar’s room, the subject of wealth and aristocracy came up in some way. Miss Hamilton was appealed to. I do not think you were present, butMiss Dunbar asked if Miss Hamilton did not consider good breeding and refinement inseparable from wealth and family position.”
“What a snob she is.”
“We all know that. I was rather curious to hear what our president would say. She did not say much. She is like Grant. She knows the wisdom of silence. She told Miss Dunbar that she did not agree with her at all. Then she made the first personal remark that I ever heard her make. She said that as far as she was concerned, she had no wealth, and while she was proud of her family, herself, she had no idea that Ward McAllister would ever have admitted them to his sacred list of four hundred.”
“Good for her. She told the truth, and yet the girls did not realize just how true it was, I presume. She has an air about her that seems to betoken wealth and distinction. How misleading appearances are.”
“Yes, aren’t they? Well, the facts will be sure to come out some day, for this world is small, after all, and what we learned, others will be sure to learn, too. There is no harm at all in it, but Miss Dunbar and that set ofgirls who fawn so around her, would never speak to her again. You’ll see.”
“I don’t like to think that you are a true prophet, Dolly, for the sake of our sex. Why should we be more ungenerous to Margaret Hamilton than the Harvard boys are to Mr. Steele?”
“There is no reason at all why we should be, and if the test ever comes, I, for one, shall stand by her.”
“And I, too,” said Beth. “Though I hope the necessity will never arise.” It did, however, and the two girls proved true to their promises.
College Hall was crowded that evening. Friends from the town had been invited, and everyone was anxious to see what the freshmen class could do. Whispers of something a little beyond the ordinary had gotten out, and all were expectant.
There was a spontaneous burst of applause when the curtain went up, and showed the picturesque setting of the first scene, representative of the grove in the college grounds. The girls were at their best, and everything went smoothly during the first three acts.The fourth act was the last, and the most difficult singing and acting came in it. All had gone perfectly so far, and the class president’s face began to look serene and confident.
Miss Willing’s solo was near the end. There had been no flaw up to that point, but when it came time for her to break in with the merry, half-saucy characterization of the other classes, there was an ominous silence. Dolly and Beth, glancing at her, and recalling what Margaret Hamilton had said, realized that the girl’s memory had failed her entirely, just through sheer nervousness. The president’s face turned pale. She had so wished this to be a most notable success; it seemed imperative to her, for many reasons. She wished to please one most dear to her, and then, too, if she could win these laurels for her class, no matter what might happen in the future, the girls could not be utterly ungrateful to her.
And now Ada Willing was turning her wonderful success in to a most disastrous defeat. It all meant so much to Margaret Hamilton. She recalled the words perfectly herself, and longed to take the solo into her own hands,but this was a soprano solo which she could not hope to compass with a contralto voice. She was tasting the full bitterness of defeat, when a voice broke out with the solo, clear, sweet, piquant–not Ada Willing’s voice, but Beth’s. And Beth put a verve and daring into the words which Miss Willing was perfectly incompetent to do.
Verse after verse flowed on, smoothly, triumphantly. The whole hall was shaking with unrestrained laughter. The president’s color came back to cheeks and lips. Beth had saved the day; she was doing better than Ada Willing could have done, for she was an inimitable actress, and in her song she rapidly personified sophomores, juniors and seniors, as well as professors, in a manner that was perfectly unmistakable.
The applause was so generous and long-continued, that Beth was forced to repeat some portions several times. When the curtain went down shortly after that, for the last time, Beth was surrounded by rapturous classmates who were ready to fall on her neck or carry her around the grounds, for thus saving their reputation.
“Come and meet my mother, will you not–you and Miss Alden?” Margaret Hamilton said after she had tried in a somewhat tremulous tone to thank Beth for her ready wit. “I would like to have you both meet her.”
“I did not know that she was here,” Dolly said in surprise. “I thought your home was in the West.”
“We did live in Chicago until recently. Now we have no home exactly. Mother and I are all there are in the family, and she will board here in town so as to be near me. She might as well, there is no reason why we should be separated by several hundred miles now.”
With much silent bewilderment, Beth and Dolly followed Miss Hamilton to one corner of the room, where they found Mrs. Hamilton engaged in conversation with Professor Newton.
“Thank you so much for looking after Mother a little, Professor Newton,” Margaret said gratefully. “I was in such haste that I did not have time to introduce her to anyone else before our entertainment,” and then she presented Beth and Dolly.
The girls scrutinized her closely. She wasdressed in black, but with a certain quiet style that convinced Dolly that Margaret had supervised the making of the gown. The face was not handsome, but it was good-natured, and denoted a large amount of practical common sense. The girls sat down on either side of her. They had their own reasons for wanting to know more of their class president’s mother. She was evidently brimming over with pride and love for Margaret. In the course of their conversation it became very evident that she knew nothing of “society’s small talk,” or of the subjects that college girls often bring up naturally in connection with their studies. Nevertheless, she could talk well and interestingly on many commonplace themes, especially when her subject of conversation related more or less closely to her daughter. Her grammar was good, and her language quite as choice as one usually meets with in a casual acquaintance.
Dolly and Beth, watching their classmate closely, noticed with secret relief that she introduced her mother to all the members of the faculty, as well as to Miss Dunbar and to the most exclusive girls of the class. Shedid it with a quiet, unassuming dignity which her two close critics could not but admire.
The evening was over, the entertainment was universally conceded to have been the most unique and successful affair ever given by any freshman class, and even the seniors owned frankly that they would be compelled to look to their laurels next term, or they would be quite outdone by the insignificant freshies.
Beth and Dolly had gone upstairs, the visitors had all departed, at least, so the girls thought. Dolly remembered a book which she needed from the library. They turned into the wing to get it, and Dolly ran on before to switch on the electric light which had just been turned off. Margaret’s voice, low but penetrating, reached them distinctly.
“I told several of the girls, Mother, that you were going to board in town so as to be near me.”
There was a startled exclamation from Mrs. Hamilton. “Indeed, Mother, I had to do it. Of course you want to see me, and I want to see you. If it is clearly known that you are boarding in town, I can readily get permissionto go and see you as often as I have time. And you can come and see me every evening. As it is, I feel as if I were guilty all the time of doing something wrong.”
“You haven’t broken a single rule, Margaret. I would be just as careful about that, as you would, yourself.”
“I know, but why should I sneak off up Murray’s lane to meet my mother, and why should you have to go there every day through the woods, when one might just as well meet openly? It has often been almost impossible for me to get off alone at the time you go there. Believe me, Mother, my way is the best. I am not ashamed of you. I should not deserve any success in life if I were.”
“I know all that, Margaret; at the same time, would you have been elected class president or invited to your friend’s house at Thanksgiving, if it were generally known that your mother had been a servant nearly all her life, and that your father had been merely a coachman? Of course, he had a good education, and if it had not been for that accident, we would have had our own little home.But when that happened, we just had to do the best we could, and he took a coachman’s position with Mr. Worthington because that was the first thing that offered. And he kept it all his life. But would your fine friends feel the same toward you if they knew that?”
“No, they would not, Mother,” Margaret answered in a low and rather sad tone. “It hardly seems fair, does it? I know that many of them would never speak to me again. I do not consider my affairs any business of theirs, and I promise you not to volunteer any information. On the other hand, Mother, I cannot meet you secretly any more. If you are really afraid that someone will recognize you here, you can stay in the town as quietly as you wish. I know that you are ambitious for me, Mother, and I will do the very best I can for us both. I want to succeed, too. If I am absolutely cornered, I shall tell no lies, though. I have not done it so far, and I shall not hereafter. I suppose the truth may naturally be known some day, but I am not going to be ashamed of either of my parents, and you would be ashamed of me if I were, Mother.”
“Yes, I suppose I would, Margaret, but if you can only get your education, now that Mr. Worthington made it possible, I shall be willing to stand in the background for four years. You were slighted all through the public schools as soon as anyone knew that you were just the daughter of Mr. Worthington’s housekeeper, and it would be worse here.”
“Well, never mind, Mother, if–”
And there, to the girls’ relief Mrs. Hamilton and her daughter passed out of hearing.
“Sheis true blue, no matter whether her blood is blue or not,” said Dolly softly. “Confess now, Beth dear, that you are glad she is our president.”
“She makes a good one,” Beth acknowledged, and then they separated, each going to her own room.
A moment later, however, there was a quick tap at Dolly’s door, and Beth’s excited face appeared.
“What do you think has happened, Dolly?”
“Whatis it, and has it anything to do with Mary? She isn’t here, and I haven’t the faintest idea where she is.”
“It has nothing to do with Mary, but I hope Mary may be able to explain to us. Professor Arnold is in our room, and Margery is packing up everything she owns. They are going to take the five o’clock train tomorrow morning for New York. You know Professor Arnold lives there, too. She called me into my room, and spoke to me privately. She asked if I would object to rooming with you tonight, as she would like to sleep in my room herself.”
“Just as if Margery were a prisoner and she the jailer,” said Dolly, in an awe-struck tone.
“That is just about the size of it, my dear. Of course, I said I was sure you would take me in. Evidently Margery tried to slip off tonight, thinking that amid all the excitement she would not be missed. I wonder what she did!”
“And they go on the five o’clock train? No Latin for us then. Professor Arnold did not intend to go, I know, until Friday. We were to have all of our regular lessons tomorrow morning.”
“We had better get to bed, or someone will be after us, even if today is an exceptional time.”
“That’s true, but whereisMary?”
“Here,” answered Mary’s own voice, as the sitting-room door opened.
“Where have you been? Give an account of yourself.”
“I have been hearing the true story of Elizabeth’s room-mate. I suppose you know by this time that she is to go home early tomorrow?”
Both girls nodded.
“After our entertainment I went upstairs to Aunt Mary’s room. We were talking, when Professor Arnold came to the door. She called Aunt Mary into the hall, and stood there for some time. I could not help hearing a part of what was said, so, when aunty came back, she told me the full story, and said that I might tell you. We are not torepeat it to the other girls, but, of course, they will be told in chapel that Miss Ainsworth has been sent home.”
“Yes, well?”
“It seems that Professor Graydon has noticed how very restless Margery has seemed this week. From several little things, she decided that Miss Ainsworth would try to slip away when we were all in the College Hall, and so she kept a careful watch on her. Patrick knew about it, too, and when he saw her slip out of the side gate and run off toward the city, he went after her. He met one of the maids and sent word back to Professor Graydon. Mrs. Carruther’s carriage was at the college, and Professor Graydon got into it and soon overtook Patrick. He was standing outside a boarding-house on Summit Avenue, looking as perplexed as he well could look. He didn’t like to go in and order Margery out; he had no right or business to do that, and, of course, it never would have done. So he just stood outside and wondered what was the right thing for him to do. I reckon” (Mary still lapsed into her favorite idioms at times) “that he was mightyglad when he saw Professor Graydon in the carriage. She rang the bell at once and asked for Miss Ainsworth. I imagine that there was a very stormy scene inside, but of course Professor Arnold was in too great a hurry to tell Aunt Mary all the details. Presently Professor Graydon came out with Margery and took her to the president’s room. They managed to get the full story out of Margery at last. It seems that there is a young lady at the boarding-house, a Miss Lampton, very proud and flashy and fast; Margery knew her in New York, and the two became quite intimate before Margery’s parents found out about it. The girl has been mixed up in several scandals. She went to Boston once in a smoking-car and smoked cigarettes all the way. You can imagine what sort of a girl she is from that.”
“I wouldn’t want to imagine,” broke in Dolly disgustedly. “How could Miss Ainsworth ever tolerate her?”
“Birds of a feather,” said Beth wisely. “But we must let Mary tell her story and then get to bed.”
“Yes, it is horribly late. Well, as soon asthe Ainsworths found out the sort of girl she was, they tried to break off the intimacy, but Margery kept contriving to meet her places, and there was a brother who was just as bad–worse, in fact. So, finally, Margery was sent here to college to get her away from them. She was told not to correspond with either, but there is no surveillance on the letters here, and Margery corresponded all last year with them both, though her parents never knew it. This fall Miss Lampton decided to come here and board for a while. She had just gotten into a scrape that was a little worse than usual in New York, and I suppose she thought she had better go away till the talk blew over.”
“Has the girl no parents?”
“No, only an aunt, who acts as sort of a figurehead, and who has no control over either Miss Lampton or her brother. So she came here to board last fall, and of course wrote to Miss Ainsworth as soon as she came. That is where Beth’s room-mate has gone whenever she has disappeared in town.”
“That is certainly bad enough, but it is not as bad as I feared it might be.”
“You haven’t heard the worst yet, Elizabeth. Every little while the brother came down, and at last he and Margery decided that they were in love with each other, and do you know that they had planned an elopement for this very night?”
The girls gave a cry of horror.
“Yes, that is absolutely true. If Elizabeth had not let me tell Aunt Mary, so that the faculty was on guard, you see what a dreadful thing would have happened. Now they have telegraphed to Mr. Ainsworth, and Professor Arnold will not leave Margery until she is safe with her father.”
“How dreadful it all is,” and then, despite the lateness of the hour, the girls talked the matter over until there came a light tap at their door.
Professor Arnold looked in. “We are not going to be very strict tonight with you freshmen, after you have just achieved such a triumph at your entertainment, but there is really reason in all things, and I advise you to have your light out and to be in bed within five minutes.”
“Yes’m,” three voices responded meekly,and then there was hurried scrambling and the freshmen settled down for the night.
The next afternoon saw the three girls at Dolly’s home. The following day brought Fred and his two friends, and there was a lively time until Christmas.
Christmas morning found them all down in the library, bright and early. The subject of Christmas gifts had troubled Dolly a little, because she feared lest Mary and Mr. Steele might feel that they had no part in the good times.
“You see, mamma, that I want to give Mary something as nice as I do Beth, but I know that Mary has hardly any money to spend for presents, and I do not want her to feel mean or awkward about it. And then there is Mr. Steele; he certainly cannot afford to do much in that line, either, and yet, of course, we want to remember him. What shall we do?”
“Just get what your good sense dictates, without thinking of their presents at all. You do not give for what will be given to you. You give for the pleasure of giving. Don’t think of that phase of the question. As forMr. Steele, I feel that we owe him more than we can ever repay.”
“How so, mamma?”
“He has great influence over Fred, and he has certainly helped him to keep steady at college.”
“Oh, mamma, you do not mistrust Fred?”
“I know how much Fred likes a good time, dear. Sometimes he takes it without thinking of consequences. I rather dreaded college for him; but he is growing much more independent and self-reliant.”
“Fred is a darling, and you know it, mamma.”
“Of course, but I can see his weaknesses, and so I am glad that he has taken a liking to Robert Steele. I intend to do my best to have this Christmas one that he will like to remember.”
There could be no doubt at all but that she succeeded. There was a load of pretty remembrances for everyone. Rob Steele had been bothered somewhat, too, over the question of gifts. Fortunately, while not an artist, he had some skill with brush and pencil, and after considerable cogitating, hedevoted his few spare moments to painting some dainty marine views in water colors; he had these inexpensively framed, and told himself that he would not worry; he had done the best he could, though, of course, his trifles were not to be mentioned in the same breath as the elegant presents which Martin would buy.
But on Christmas morning, Bob Steele found that his little gifts received much more attention than the handsome ones that Dick Martin had given. And even Mary Sutherland, with all her supersensitiveness, never thought of comparing the relative value of the inexpensive books she had given, with the very beautiful muff, handkerchiefs, ribbons and laces which she found in her Christmas corner.
There were no heart-burnings and no jealousies. The only drawback to the day, as Fred declared, was the thought that the party would be partially broken up on the morrow. Dick Martin was going back to Boston. Mary would join her aunt at college for a little trip, and Dolly and Beth would leave for Philadelphia. Fred grumbled considerably at such a scattering of the congenial party, but there was no help for it. Rob Steele would stay with him until Harvard reopened, and Dolly and Beth might be able to stay over night on their way back to Westover.