Judith and Jane were waiting for them at the dining
hall door.
“Truants,” said Jane, “where have
you been? We have been planning to send a bell
boy after you. My famous dad has just written
he is coming through New York and wants to take me
and my stepsister home with me. You know who
he thinks bears that relationship to me, of course?”
They knew she referred to the scholarship girl, and
Sally looked dumb while Shirley looked startled.
“Oh, that would be lovely,” said Shirley
with marked evasion, “but— "
“My dad never entertains a but,” said
Jane, “so I hope, Bobbie, you will hurry up
your plans to come out and ride a real horse on a real
ranch in Montana. Won’t she look stunning
on a bronco, Sally?”
But the invitation, alluring as it was, did not seem
to add zest to the appetite of Bobbie. It had
simply swept her off her trustworthy feet, and Sally
seemed little better. Another corner to escape
from!
A SURPRISE IN RECORDS
Holidays, holidays! The air was full of them,
and it seemed all the girls in Jane’s group
were to spend the big Christmas event away from Wellington.
Jane’s letter from her father, that which suggested
she bring “the little country girl” back
to Montana with her for the holidays, seemed like
an answer to her own secret wish. She wanted to
bring Bobbie home with her, but very much preferred
the invitation would come from headquarters.
Jane, like Bobbie, did not wish to appear too ingratiating,
also she did not want to make the girl feel she was
in any way patronizing her.
The bulletin boards in all “dorms” bore
the notice of special assembly in the study hall,
and thither the students were now progressing.
“This is where we get all that is coming to
us,” said Bobbie more literally than elegantly.
“I believe the idea is, we are to know before
we leave, where we will be put when we come back.”
She was talking to Sally as they walked out from Lenox.
“Yes, and I wish, Bobbie, we might have escaped
it. Think of hearing all the reports read and
not being able to take up our exams?”
“If only we didn’t have to take them I
would feel better. Of course you are safe,”
said Bobbie ruefully.
“Perhaps it is better to have this one last
spasm of courage,” replied Sally, although her
whimsical expression did not register anything “better”;
it bespoke the condition as “worse.”
The assembly was well filled up when the two conspiring
freshmen took their places as near the door as seats
could be found. The biting wintry air permeated
the big auditorium, and when the restless shuffling
of feet had finally come down to a murmur of soft
sporadic shiftings—some girls never could
keep their feet still— then the dean, Miss
Rutledge, made her annual announcement.
No girl was ever dropped from Wellington without having
first received due warning, she told the classes;
also she announced that ratings given at this time
would afford students opportunity to make the next
half year’s plans while at home with their families.
