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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..02948dd --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #69478 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69478) diff --git a/old/69478-0.txt b/old/69478-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 217a8d0..0000000 --- a/old/69478-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8847 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The girls of Rivercliff School, by Amy -Bell Marlowe - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The girls of Rivercliff School - Beth Baldwin's resolve - -Author: Amy Bell Marlowe - -Release Date: December 4, 2022 [eBook #69478] - -Language: English - -Produced by: David Edwards, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRLS OF RIVERCLIFF -SCHOOL *** - - - - - -THE GIRLS OF RIVERCLIFF SCHOOL - - - - -BOOKS FOR GIRLS - -_By_ AMY BELL MARLOWE - -12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume, 60 cents, postpaid - - - THE OLDEST OF FOUR - Or Natalie’s Way Out - - THE GIRLS OF HILLCREST FARM - Or the Secret of the Rocks - - A LITTLE MISS NOBODY - Or With the Girls of Pinewood Hall - - THE GIRL FROM SUNSET RANCH - Or Alone in a Great City - - WYN’S CAMPING DAYS - Or The Outing of Go-Ahead Club - - FRANCES OF THE RANGES - Or The Old Ranchman’s Treasure - - THE GIRLS OF RIVERCLIFF SCHOOL - Or Beth Baldwin’s Resolve - - - GROSSET & DUNLAP - PUBLISHERS NEW YORK - - - - -[Illustration: MABEL POURED FROM A WASTE-BASKET A VERITABLE SHOWER OF -SMALL PARCELS] - - -[Illustration: “SHAME! SHAME!” CRIED A DOZEN VOICES. - - Frontispiece (Page 150)] - - - - - THE GIRLS OF - RIVERCLIFF - SCHOOL - - OR - - BETH BALDWIN’S RESOLVE - - BY - AMY BELL MARLOWE - - AUTHOR OF - A LITTLE MISS NOBODY, THE GIRLS OF - HILLCREST FARM, ETC. - - Illustrated - - NEW YORK - GROSSET & DUNLAP - PUBLISHERS - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY - GROSSET & DUNLAP - - _The Girls of Rivercliff School_ - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. “THE GRAPES THAT HANG HIGH” 1 - - II. LARRY’S “COMING OUT” PARTY 11 - - III. GREAT-GRANDMOTHER LOMIS’ CORALS 23 - - IV. THE SACRIFICE 32 - - V. THE “WATER WAGTAIL” 40 - - VI. AN ADVENTURE IN MIDSTREAM 48 - - VII. CYNTHIA FOGG 61 - - VIII. QUEER TALK 68 - - IX. RIVERCLIFF LANDING 74 - - X. A NEW WORLD 91 - - XI. “THE GLASS OF FASHION” 102 - - XII. FINDING HER PLACE 111 - - XIII. THE SUNNY SIDE 123 - - XIV. A GREAT DEAL TO LEARN 133 - - XV. THE RED MASQUE 142 - - XVI. NO MARTYR’S CROWN 152 - - XVII. FLINT AND STEEL 162 - - XVIII. ANOTHER BARRIER 171 - - XIX. MR. DENNIS MONTAGUE 181 - - XX. SOMETHING UNEXPECTED 191 - - XXI. THE BURIAL OF FRIENDSHIP 204 - - XXII. A RENEWED RESOLVE 211 - - XXIII. SUSPICION HOVERS 225 - - XXIV. THE TRAITOR’S BLOW 235 - - XXV. BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT 242 - - XXVI. ROUNDING OUT ANOTHER YEAR 249 - - XXVII. THE ICE CARNIVAL 258 - - XXVIII. MISS FREYLINGHAUSEN 274 - - XXIX. THE “PERFECT NUMBER” IN AUNTS 283 - - XXX. VOCATIONAL 301 - - - - -THE GIRLS OF RIVERCLIFF SCHOOL - - - - -CHAPTER I - -“THE GRAPES THAT HANG HIGH” - - -“Beth! Beth Baldwin! Oh, B. B.! Do, for pity’s sake, stop! Do you -expect me to chase you all over town such a hot day as this? It’s -cruelty to animals to make me run in this awful sun,” and Mary Devine -finally reached Elizabeth Baldwin’s side, and clung to her school -friend’s arm, panting. - -“Cruelty to how many animals, Mary?” asked Beth, laughing. “Are you -a whole menagerie? You remind me of our Marcus when he was a little -fellow. There was a ‘cat concert’ in our back yard one night, and -Marcus put his head out of the door to see the participants. - -“‘Oh, Mamma!’ he called, ‘there’s a million cats out here,’ and when -mamma reproved him for exaggerating, he defended himself by saying: -‘Well, anyway, there’s our old cat and another one!’” - -Mary had regained her breath now, and giggled over Beth’s little -story, but was not to be sidetracked. She had something to tell. News -was Mary Devine’s over-mastering passion. To know what went on all -over Hudsonvale, and to distribute her information generously, “free, -gratis, for nothing,” was the height of her enjoyment. - -Mr. Baldwin said one evening, after Mary had been calling on Beth: -“They did think some of starting a local paper here in Hudsonvale; but -they heard of that Devine girl and gave it up. No need of a newspaper -with her in town.” - -Now Mary gasped to her friend: - -“Oh, Beth! I’ve got something to tell you. You’d never guess!” - -“That’s good of you, dear,” Beth said, her black eyes dancing. “I hate -conundrums. Tell me.” - -“Larry Haven has hired an office in the Hudsonvale block.” - -“Why, Mary! that certainly is news,” Beth cried. “I never would have -guessed that. Has he hung out his shingle?” - -“He’s going to,” declared Mary, who knew all about it, for her father -was janitor of Hudsonvale’s one brick office building. “He’s taken the -room next to Dr. Coldfoot’s, the dentist’s, suite. Larry told father -that the screams of the dentist’s patients would not bother him, for he -expected his clients would scream quite as loud when he separated them -from their money,” and Mary giggled again. “And oh, Beth! he’s just as -handsome!” - -“Who is--Dr. Coldfoot?” asked her friend, innocently. - -“Goodness no! You are well aware, Beth Baldwin, that I meant the -village pride, Mr. Lawrence Haven, just returned from the law school -with his sheepskin.” - -Beth laughed again. “I do hope he’ll be successful,” she said. “His -father was a prominent lawyer, you know.” - -“Goodness! _I_ hope he can dance,” responded Mary. “There’s a great -dearth of good dancers among the boys here in Hudsonvale. You know, -Beth, at graduation last month we girls had to dance together at our -party. Oh dear! I wish we were going to have it over again! What fun!” - -“Larry Haven is no longer a boy,” Beth said slowly. - -Mary laughed. “Of course not. He’s an old man,” she said saucily. “He’s -twenty-two.” - -“That is seven years our senior,” said Beth, reflectively. - -“_Six_, in my case, if you please,” said Mary, smartly. “And what’s six -years in a boy? He could be a lawyer forty times over and _I_ wouldn’t -be afraid of him.” - -“You have more assurance than most, Mary,” said Beth, smiling. “I don’t -know that I shall dare even speak to Larry now.” - -“Humph! you and he used to be as ‘sticky’ on each other as two molasses -cocoanut balls--you know you used. He was the white-headed little boy -who used to pull you to school on his sled,” said Mary, airily. - -“But that was a long time ago,” said Beth, with laughter. “I haven’t -seen Larry since last winter’s holidays--and then scarcely more than to -wave my hand to him. He’s grown quite away from us Hudsonvale girls and -boys since his sophomore year at college.” - -“My! how he _did_ puff himself and walk turkey his first two years at -college,” said the slangy Mary. “The only boy from Hudsonvale who ever -went to a real, big school, I guess.” - -“But Larry wasn’t spoiled,” Beth hastened to say. “He’s so -sweet-tempered.” - -“Oh! _you_ know how sweet he is if anybody does,” chuckled Mary. “Well! -I must turn off here. Where are you going, Beth?” - -“Just across town on an errand,” her friend said evasively; for it was -the gossipy girl’s nature to repeat to the next person she talked with -anything she had learned from her previous companion, no matter how -trivial. - -“Not that I would mind if the whole town knew I was going to old Mrs. -Crummit’s for a dozen fresh eggs,” thought Beth, with inward laughter. -“But I _do_ wish Mary Devine was not such a ‘Babbling Bess.’” - -The girl’s mind, however, was filled with thoughts springing from -the bit of news her school friend had told her. She and Mary had but -recently graduated from the high school. And Larry Haven, the only son -of the widowed Mrs. Euphemia Haven, had recently returned to his home -with his diploma as a lawyer. Beth knew he had already been admitted to -the county bar. - -Beth’s mother and Euphemia Griswold had been bosom friends in girlhood. -At first, after Euphemia Griswold had married Mr. Haven, the leading -lawyer of the county and a scion of one of the oldest, if not one of -the wealthiest, families in the State, she and Priscilla Baldwin, who -had married a foreman in the Locomotive Works, remained very good -friends. - -The Haven baby carriage was often pushed along the pleasantly shaded -walks of Hudsonvale side by side with the more plebian carriage -containing the Baldwins’ first little one, who later had died. The two -young women remained inseparable friends for some years. - -Then had come the death of her first child, and for a long period of -time after this Mrs. Baldwin mingled but little with her friends. This -was followed by a long illness. But, after a few years, Beth, now the -oldest of her brood, came to give the foreman’s wife a new and better -interest in life. - -Meanwhile, her old-time chum had grown away from her. Mr. Haven had -become a corporation lawyer and was fast growing rich. He and his -family had always had entrance into the most exclusive society of the -State. Had he not died suddenly when Larry was ten years old, he might -have been a national figure in politics. - -In dying, he had left Mrs. Euphemia Haven and her only child fairly -well-to-do. The property had to be conserved with some shrewdness, -perhaps; but the widow lived in one of the finest old houses in -Hudsonvale, entertained well, and seemed to have everything her heart -desired. Larry was given an excellent education; and it was understood -that he was to follow in his father’s footsteps, for he must earn his -own living now that he was of age, his mother having full rights in the -property as long as she lived. - -Mrs. Haven was not a snob. Although now the acknowledged leader of -such society as there was in Hudsonvale (which was really a sprawling -river-town surrounding the Locomotive Works and coal-tar Dye Factory), -she had often come to see her old friend, Mrs. Baldwin, while Larry -was still small. So it was that the soft-spoken, gentle boy, with the -watchful gray eyes and firm mouth, came to be a companion of Beth -Baldwin’s while she was little. - -He took her to school on her first day; and sat beside her and held -her plump little hand for an hour, too, because she was afraid. He had -drawn Beth to school on his sled, as Mary Devine said. Larry was as -much at home in the Baldwin house when a child as he was in his own. -Perhaps more at home, for there was more gaiety in the little cottage -on Bemis Street, which soon began to be crowded with young life after -Beth was born. - -There was Marcus, two years Beth’s junior; Ella, now a flyaway child of -eleven; Prissy--named after her mother--as sweet and loving as a child -could be; and Fred and Ferd, the twins, six years old. They had all -looked on Larry Haven as almost an elder brother. - -For two years, however, as Beth had intimated to Mary Devine, Larry had -not been much at the Baldwin home. Indeed, he had been in Hudsonvale -but seldom. His summers had been spent in preparing for the law school, -for he was very desirous to get ahead. His exceeding industry had -brought results. He was a very young man, indeed, to have succeeded in -securing his diploma and entering upon public life as he now had. - -As Beth Baldwin went her way, these thoughts weaved through her mind. -And, too, she compared her own lot to that of her whilom playmate -and confidant. When Beth learned that Larry was to go to college and -finally enter the law school, she had expressed her intention of -getting the maximum amount of education to be secured by a girl--and -Larry had encouraged her to try for it. - -Beth had stood well in her classes all through her high-school course. -She had graduated among the first ten pupils in the class. She -possessed a deep longing to continue her course. But---- - -“There’s about as much chance of my going to Rivercliff as there is of -my getting an aeroplane and soaring in it to the Heights of Parnassus,” -Beth told herself, with a little laugh and a little sigh. She was not -of a melancholy disposition, and even the seriousness of her desire to -learn and to achieve, in her way, as much as Larry had achieved in his, -could not make her gloomy. - -Mr. Baldwin earned three dollars and seventy-five cents a day as -foreman of the erecting shop in the Hudsonvale Locomotive Works. The -family had often “figured and refigured” that sum; but they could not -make it come to more than twenty-two dollars and fifty cents a week. - -Marcus, although but thirteen, was already talking bravely about going -to work. In another half year he could get his certificate and become -an aid in the family’s support. - -“While I,” thought Beth, shaking her head, “am desirous of adding to -its burdens for three years to come. But then--if I only _could_--I -know I could pay them all back,” she sighed. - -It was Beth’s desire to take a normal and teacher’s course in a very -thorough boarding school up the river. Having a diploma from Rivercliff -would enable her to obtain a certificate to teach in the State schools. -That was her aim--to be self-supporting, as well as to obtain an -education the equal of that Larry Haven had secured. - -She had surreptitiously dipped into Larry’s college textbooks when he -was at home during his freshman and sophomore years, and she was sure -that such studies were not beyond her comprehension. - -“Dear me,” thought Beth, “the grapes that hang highest are always the -sweetest. How am I ever going to get admission to Rivercliff School; -or, once admitted, how am I to remain there the necessary three years? -Dear me! if Larry----” - -Just then she looked up before crossing the street and gazed directly -into the calm, rather proud face of Larry’s mother who, in her little -electric runabout, was just drawing in to the opposite curb. - -Mrs. Euphemia Haven was tall, of good figure, with beautiful hair, -beginning to be touched with gray, that her maid dressed more -becomingly than was any other woman’s hair in Hudsonvale. She had a -good complexion, with a tinge of natural pink in the cheeks and lips. -Her teeth were even and white, without the defects of gold showing the -handiwork of the dentist. She dressed exquisitely, Beth thought. - -Mrs. Haven drove her runabout with the assurance of a boy. She had -steady nerves, a cordial laugh, a smile that was charming, and knew -always how to put one at his ease. She beckoned now to Beth as the -latter crossed the street, crying: - -“Elizabeth! Beth! Come here, please! You are just the person I must -see.” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -LARRY’S “COMING OUT” PARTY - - -Mrs. Euphemia Haven was very careful in her choice of words. Not that -her diction was better or worse than most people’s; but she was very -exact in saying just what she meant to say. - -Instead of calling to Beth Baldwin that she “wished” to see her or -“needed” to see her, she said “I must.” Behind that expression lay a -rather sharp controversy between her son, Larry, and herself at the -breakfast table that very morning. It was seldom that there was any -friction at all between Mrs. Haven and her son, for she was a very -indulgent mother and Larry was quite unspoiled, despite every chance in -the world for his having been so affected. - -She never interfered with his pleasures, seldom with his associates, -and never balked his plans. He, on the other hand, never gave his -mother a moment’s uneasiness, for she was assured that he was a Haven -and would do nothing to smirch the family name. - -Mrs. Haven did not blame her son for having been so friendly with the -family on Bemis Street. She, herself, had loved Priscilla Lomis with -all her rather narrow heart when they were young. That Priscilla had -married a mechanic was her mistake; and Mrs. Euphemia had condoned that -mistake for years. But now she had to think of her son’s future. There -were some past associations which she felt might better be ignored by -him now that he was a man. The silly plans in her own and Priscilla -Baldwin’s heads when they were young married women, each with a brand -new baby to think of and talk about, Mrs. Haven long since had thought -best forgotten. - -She feared, however, that Priscilla might have remembered. Of course, -that first dear little girl baby of her old friend’s had died; but here -was another girl born into the family of the mechanic---- - -“And goodness!” thought Mrs. Haven, as Beth Baldwin crossed the street -and drew near at her call, “what a perfect little beauty she is growing -to be!” - -Mrs. Euphemia Haven was one of those women who manage a lorgnette very -well indeed. She caught it up now and looked at Beth through it--not -because she really needed this aid to sight, but to cover a sudden -slight confusion that she felt. - -“Mercy, Beth! how really pretty you have grown!” was her first audible -comment. “And what a big girl! The other day you were only a little -thing and Larry was playing nurse-girl to you. I expect he remembers -you now as the little black-eyed tot he used to be so devoted to.” - -“I presume so, Mrs. Haven,” replied Beth, composedly. - -“Why, you must be through school,” went on Mrs. Haven. “Are you working -or do you help your mother?” - -“It is work helping in a family of eight, Mrs. Haven,” laughed Beth. “I -have finished high school. But I hope to go to a more advanced school -in the fall.” - -“That will be rather difficult, will it not?” suggested Mrs. Haven, -with raised eyebrows. - -Beth knew that it was an intimation that Mrs. Haven fully understood -the Baldwin’s financial circumstances. It was not said unkindly; yet, -somehow, Beth felt that it was antagonistic. Her pretty head came up -and she looked rather proudly into the fine eyes of Larry’s mother. - -“Yes; it will be very difficult,” she admitted. “But I mean to get -a better education if I have to earn the money myself to pay my way -through school.” - -“Dear me!” said Mrs. Haven, smiling. “What a very determined girl! -But--in your case, my dear--is an advanced education really worth -while?” - -“I think it is,” and this time Beth flushed. She recognized the -critical note in her questioner’s voice, and she knew what it meant. -“Don’t you think it was worth while for Larry to go to college?” - -“Oh!” ejaculated the startled lady. “He--he is a boy.” - -“And _I_ am a girl,” Beth laughed. “But I think I have just as much -ambition as any boy.” - -The lady laughed too, and said: - -“That brings me to the reason I had for hailing you, my dear. Now that -Larry is home for good I want to give him a nice party. The young folk -of Hudsonvale, I am afraid, have almost forgotten him. And, too, he is -ambitious to take his father’s place in the community as a lawyer. We -must introduce him to the older generation likewise. So, when we were -talking it over this morning, he remembered you and told me to be sure -to invite ‘that little Baldwin girl.’ Why!” and Larry’s mother laughed -easily, as though she did not know she had conveyed a sting, “he will -scarcely know you, you have grown so.” - -“How kind of him to remember me,” Beth said sweetly. - -“Oh, Larry has always looked upon you as a little sister, I -fancy--having been denied any of his own. Now, you will come, of -course? Next Tuesday evening. There will be dancing.” - -Mrs. Haven had managed to make Beth feel that she was being patronized; -but the girl was too sensible to take offence. She believed Larry -had really said that he wanted her at his party, and she would not -disappoint her old playfellow. - -“I will surely come, Mrs. Haven. Thank you,” she said, as the lady’s -car started. - -As Beth told her mother when she arrived home with the eggs, she had -nothing but her graduation dress to wear to Larry’s “coming out” party, -as Beth laughingly designated it, and that frock had been made with the -view to its being her “best-Sunday-go-to-meeting” attire for two years -to come. A new dress was an event in the Baldwin household. - -“It’s not just the thing for an evening party, Mamma,” she said -cheerfully. “But we’ll make it do.” - -“I really would like to have you look your best when you go to Euphemia -Haven’s,” Mrs. Baldwin answered. - -“Of course! I shall scrub my face real clean and comb all the tangles -out of my hair, Mother mine,” laughed Beth. “Why strive to amaze Mrs. -Haven with my fine appearance more than anybody else?” - -“Why? Oh well! I want her to see what a very nice girl you are.” - -“Thank you, Mamma! She has already told me I am pretty,” and Beth made -a little face at the thought of Mrs. Euphemia Haven’s patronizing way. - -Nevertheless, Beth had a desire to look her best if she attended the -“coming out” party. But she wished to astonish another person rather -than the rather haughty Mrs. Euphemia Haven. - -That dress had to be thought about--and there were only four days -before the date of the party. Beth was glad she had worn it only on -graduation day. It would not be familiar to anybody but her classmates; -and she fancied that if any of them were at Larry’s party they would be -likely to appear in their graduation dresses, too. For Hudsonvale was -not a very fashionable place. - -The frock in question was of a good quality of cream-colored -poplin--then a very popular fabric. It had been made high in the neck, -for low-cut frocks for day wear were not approved in Hudsonvale. -Evening wear was different. Decolleté was expected of any one who was -invited to an evening party. - -For a girl of her age Beth Baldwin’s taste was admirable. Yet, -because of her complexion, she could “carry off” oddities in style and -colorings that scarcely any other girl in the village would have dared -attempt. - -She was handy, too, with her needle, and she decided to make some -changes and adapt her dress for evening wear. She removed the long -sleeves, and her mother gave her the lace out of her own wedding -gown--so long laid away in camphor--with which she fashioned a soft, -full, puff-like sleeve which reached only half way to her elbow. After -removing the collar and the vest of the frock, she filled in over -the shoulders and across the bust with some of the same pretty lace. -Between the lace and the material of the dress she put beading, and in -this she ran narrow cherry-colored ribbon. She put a rosette on each -shoulder, a large one with streamers over her heart, other ribbons with -very tiny rosettes to tie the puff-like sleeves, and made ready a sash -of broad ribbon of the same hue. - -The effect might be a trifle bizarre; but it was very becoming, indeed, -to Beth, and when she put on the frock Monday evening and “tried it -out” on the family, they thought her charming. - -“Some class to you,” said the slangy Marcus. “Cricky! you’re the -niftiest looking girl in the town--isn’t she, Pop?” - -“She’s what her mother was over again,” said Mr. Baldwin, proudly, -lowering his paper to “peck” at his pretty daughter’s cheek. - -“Oh, Mamma! I don’t see why you didn’t have _me_ a dark and delirious -beauty,” groaned Ella, “instead of a washed-out, flaxen-haired, -inconsequential looking little _dowdy_! I hate to go anywhere with our -Beth; she makes me look like _just nothing_.” - -The family laughed at the flyaway’s plaint, and Ella added: - -“Anyway, I hope Beth will get married long before I get any beaux. I -know I couldn’t keep ’em a minute if they came here and saw Beth.” - -“Mercy, Ella!” gasped her mother. “What are you talking about--a child -of eleven?” - -Mr. Baldwin laughed heartily. He usually did at his flaxen-haired -daughter’s nonsense. But Ella added: - -“I don’t care, Mamma. It should be against the law for one sister to be -so much prettier than the others. Poor little Prissy and me--why, we -haven’t any chance at all!” - -“‘Handsome is as handsome does,’ daughter,” quoted Mrs. Baldwin, -contemplating her eldest child with her head on one side. - -[Illustration: SHE SNAPPED THE BEAUTIFULLY CARVED NECKLACE AROUND - BETH’S THROAT. - Page 21.] - -“Oh, yes! that’s what Mr. Monkey said to the poor little Hippopotamus -baby. He found little Hippo crying beside a still pool,” said the -vivacious Ella, “and asked him what the matter was. - -“‘Oh, nuffin,’ said the Hippo, ‘only I never saw myself in a mirror -before!’ - -“And, of course, Mr. Monkey said just what you did now, Mamma. But poor -little Hippo knew that he couldn’t act handsome enough in a thousand -years to overcome the handicap of the awful looks Nature had given him.” - -Through the laughter of Mr. Baldwin and Marcus, Ferd, the blond twin, -spoke up stoutly: - -“I don’t care if they _do_ call me ‘Blondy.’ I wouldn’t be black, like -Fred.” - -“I’m certainly glad I’m a bruin, like our Beth,” said his twin, loftily. - -“‘Bruin!’” - -“A bear that boy certainly is!” - -“Goodness, Frederick,” said Ella, amid the laughter of the family. “You -mean brunette.” - -Fred did not take laughter kindly. “I know what I mean,” he growled. -“I’m glad my complexion is like Beth’s.” - -“Goodness, it isn’t!” cried the flyaway sister, suddenly. “You haven’t -washed your face since supper, Frederick Baldwin! Come out to the -kitchen sink with me this very minute!” - -Mrs. Baldwin had left the room while this conversation was in progress. -Now she returned with a little square box that the children seldom -saw. It was usually locked away in the safe in the bedroom occupied by -Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin. - -“Oh, Mamma!” gasped Beth, suspecting what was coming. - -“Hello, Mother!” said Mr. Baldwin, with twinkling eye. “Getting out the -‘family jewels?’” - -“Oh, Mamma!” shrieked Ella, racing in from the kitchen, dragging Fred -with one hand and waving the washcloth in the other like a very limp -banner. “_Not Great-grandmother Lomis’ corals?_” - -Beth flushed and paled, her eyes shining like stars as she watched -her mother unlock the little box with the key that always hung about -her neck under her gown. Great-grandmother Lomis’ corals was the one -heirloom that had been handed down to Mrs. Baldwin’s generation. They -were as precious in the eyes of her daughters as the Queen of Sheba’s -pearls. - -“You’re never going to let me wear _those_ to Larry’s ‘coming out’ -party?” Beth finally gasped. - -Her mother’s face was serious. “You are the eldest, my dear. The -corals will be yours some day--yours to do with just what you please. -Great-grandmother Lomis declared in her will that the corals should -always be given to the eldest daughter, and from her to _her_ eldest -daughter. This is an entail that the male heirs have nothing to do -with,” and she laughed. - -“They may be sold or otherwise disposed of for the benefit of the -eldest daughter of each generation. If Beth wants to wear them to -Euphemia’s---- There!” - -She snapped the thin, beautifully carved, blood-red necklace around -Beth’s throat. The deeper hue of the corals contrasted beautifully with -the brighter ribbons, and against the dark loveliness of Beth’s skin -the necklace had never shone to better advantage. - -There was a pin, too; and Mrs. Baldwin swiftly snipped off the big -rosette at Beth’s bosom and caught the filmy lace together there with -the beautiful pin instead. - -The corals set off the girl’s beauty wonderfully. There was an -alluring, Eastern quality to it that now, enhanced by the old-fashioned -jewelry, made Beth seem more mature than she really was. - -Yet she was only a simple, sweet child, after all. She possessed -a better figure than most girls of her age, and had a demure, -self-possessed manner that might have led strangers to think her older -than she was. In mind and heart, however, though thoughtful to a -degree, Beth was a child. - -“That’s mighty scrumptious--that’s what _I_ call it,” declared Marcus. - -Perhaps Mr. Baldwin thought so too; for the next evening, when Beth was -ready to start for the Haven house, a taxicab stopped at the door. - -“Papa Baldwin! What extravagance!” exclaimed his wife. - -“It’s not considered quite the thing, I believe,” he said drily, “for -a young lady to walk to a party wearing three or four hundred dollars’ -worth of jewelry.” - -Not until then did Mrs. Baldwin wonder if she were doing wrong to -allow Beth to wear the family heirloom. But it was too late to say no. -Beth kissed her hand to the watching family from the taxicab--the man -shut the door, and in a moment the machine rolled away from the little -cottage on Bemis Street. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -GREAT-GRANDMOTHER LOMIS’ CORALS - - -Beth Baldwin felt that this was really her first “grown-up” party. She -knew that few of the girls who had graduated with her from high school -had been invited to the Haven house on this evening; and few of the -younger guests would be brought to the door, she was likewise sure, in -any vehicle. There were but four taxicabs in the town. - -Beth knew that to the very nicest parties in town most people went -afoot, carrying their dancing slippers under their arms. But now the -girl was set down before the Haven door, under an awning and on a -well-worn strip of carpet, both of which led up to the wide-open and -brilliantly lighted doorway of the mansion. - -The Haven place was a fine old house; there was none better for the -purpose of entertaining in town. Almost the whole of the lower floor -could be used for dancing. The broad stairway, bordered by potted -plants, offered plenty of “nestling corners” for tired dancers; palms -hid the rear of the reception hall where the musicians were stationed. -Already, when Beth timidly entered, the lights, the moving couples, the -tinkle of music, the murmur of voices, were quite confusing. - -She saw Mrs. Euphemia Haven’s stately figure just within the -drawing-room doorway. A few couples swung in time to the music across -the hall in the huge dining-room, from which all the furniture had been -taken. There were people going up and down the stairway whom she had -never even seen before. She had not stopped to think until now that, -after all, Larry Haven lived in a world quite apart from the Baldwins. - -Her mother’s very good cravanette hid Beth’s frock from throat to -slippers. She wore no head-covering save the waves of her pretty black -hair. For Beth was one of those fortunate girls who possess soft -looking, wavy hair, adaptable to any style of hair-dressing. - -She was directed to the dressing rooms above, and mounted the stairs. -There a maid showed her to one of the large bedrooms, now set apart for -the women to use as a dressing room. - -Five minutes later Beth descended the stairway. She saw at its foot -a group of people looking up at her. Mrs. Haven was not one of them. -Indeed, Beth thought she knew none of the group--at least, none of the -women. - -She imagined that they were whispering about her. The suspicion -heightened the color in her cheeks; but she could not afford to be -panic-stricken now. Beyond this group--wavering a little in her sight -because Beth saw her through a mist--she knew Mrs. Haven stood. - -She stepped from the lower tread of the stairway, and---- Who was this -who met her, both hands outstretched, lips smiling, gray eyes dancing? -Such a tall young man, strikingly handsome, Beth thought, in his -evening clothes, his shock of straw-colored hair brushed back from his -brow, giving him a remarkably wide-awake appearance. - -“Larry!” she said, almost in a whisper, giving him her hands. - -“You howling little beauty!” he responded, in a tone equally -confidential. “Mother did not prepare me for _this_ change. Goodness, -Beth! you’ve grown up!” - -“No, no. But _you_ have,” she said, flutteringly. - -He laughed. Then he tucked Beth’s plump little hand under his arm and -led her into the drawing-room. - -“Mater,” he said, for she chanced to be alone at the moment, “I -introduce you to the ‘belle of the ball.’ What do you know about our -little ‘Saint Elizabeth?’ Hasn’t she grown up?” - -“Mercy, child!” murmured Mrs. Haven, and the lorgnette came into play -to rescue her from absolute confusion. “I told you, Larry, how really -pretty she had grown. In a few years, Beth, you will set the young -men’s hearts aflame. Introduce her to some of the others--do, Larry. So -she will not feel lonesome,” and the lady patted Beth’s arm with her -lorgnette. - -“And your Great-grandmother Lomis’ corals. I always envied your mother -those beauties,” said the matron. “But I had no idea Priscilla had kept -them all these years.” - -“Why,” gasped Beth, finally stung to self-defense, “they are heirlooms!” - -“Oh--yes--of course,” Mrs. Haven said. “But it isn’t every one who can -afford to keep heirlooms, you know.” - -Beth felt the sting in every word Larry’s mother uttered. She knew Mrs. -Haven was antagonistic to her. Why? - -“Do introduce her to some of the young folk, Larry,” his mother said -impatiently. - -“Not till I’ve danced once with her myself, Mater,” said the young man, -laughing. “I can see plainly that if I don’t take my chance to do so -right now, I’m likely to have none. Our little Beth is going to cut a -wide swath to-night.” - -“Mercy!” murmured his mother. “What are these children coming to?” - -“You must not treat me as though I were grown up, Larry,” Beth said, -laughing, as the orchestra struck up again. - -“Know this?” he asked quickly. - -“Oh, yes,” said Beth, glad she had learned some of the new steps. - -“Then come on--and tell me all about yourself while we dance,” Larry -rejoined. - -“Oh no! _You_ are the interesting subject just now. Think! a -full-fledged lawyer,” she told him. - -“Yes--‘full-fledged,’ indeed,” he agreed. “And likely to get well -plucked the first time I appear in court.” - -“Does the thought of your first case scare you?” she asked roguishly. - -“No. The fear that there won’t be a first case is what is troubling me. -They tell me fledgling lawyers sometimes starve to death and are swept -up with the dust in their offices and thrown out.” - -“I’ll have Mary Devine watch over you. Her father is janitor of the -block, you know. If you are seen to become emaciated, we will try to -smuggle you in some food,” laughed Beth. - -“I don’t know how long I shall be at it,” the young man said, with -more seriousness; “but I mean if possible to make the name of Haven -known--and respected--as it used to be among the ‘legal lights.’” - -“Oh, I hope so, Larry!” she declared, with warmth. “We all at our -house will ‘boost’ for you.” - -“And all the kids are well?” he asked, looking down at her with frank -admiration. - -“Lovely. And fast growing up. You should see Ella! She is going to be a -regular ash-blonde.” - -“I never did fancy light-complexioned people,” said Larry, laughing at -her. “You suit me, Beth.” - -“‘Thank you kindly, sir, she said,’” returned Beth, courtesying. “But -remember, please, that my mother considers me a child.” - -“Pooh! pooh! and a couple of fudges! You are a stunner, Beth.” - -“I am a schoolgirl; you must not turn my head with compliments.” - -“Got through the high, Elizabeth?” he asked. - -“Yes.” - -“And going in for the higher-ed., of course?” - -“Just as sure--as sure!” she said firmly. “I don’t know just how, yet; -but I mean to go to Rivercliff in the autumn.” - -“Whew! That’s some school. I met some girls at college who had been -there. Co-eds, you know.” - -“Nice girls?” - -“Awfully nice,” he declared. “They took two years at Rivercliff after -high and then came to college. But the full course up there would put -you ahead a whole lot, Beth. These girls I speak of were preparing for -particular lines of work. If a girl wanted to be a teacher----” - -“That is my goal, Larry,” Beth interrupted, so earnestly that she -missed her step. “I _must_ be a teacher. You know--papa isn’t rich. We -have to scrimp a good deal. If I could teach I could help a lot.” - -“Sure you could,” he agreed, with answering enthusiasm. “And, besides, -a girl doesn’t get anywhere at all now if she hasn’t a pretty good -education. You know how it is--a fellow likes to talk to a girl that -can discuss the same things he can, and discuss them intelligently. -Why, Beth,” and he laughed, “our great-grandmothers, who only knew how -to sew and knit and bake and be domestic, would never get a chance to -marry nowadays.” - -“What nonsense you talk,” said Beth, dimpling. “Papa says that the -nearest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I fancy that not -_all_ young men of our generation are dyspeptic and have to live on -predigested health foods.” - -“That is all right,” Larry said seriously. “But a fellow can hire a -cook. He wants a wife who can be his mental companion.” - -“Good-ness me!” drawled Beth. “Hear the boy! When are you going to get -married, Larry Haven? How soon?” - -“Just as soon as I find the right girl,” he returned, laughing at her. - -“Do you expect her to starve to death in your law offices, too?” she -demanded, quizzically. - -The question brought him to a stop. He gazed down at her for a moment. -“Got me there, Elizabeth--got me there,” he admitted. “I didn’t think -of that. She will have to be supported--the future Mrs. Haven--won’t -she?” - -“And a cook hired for her, too,” Beth responded wickedly. “By the time -you are able to do that, Larry Haven, on your income as an attorney, I -shall be principal of a young ladies’ seminary at five thousand a year.” - -He laughed delightedly. She was just as bright as he remembered her to -have been when she was little. - -He handed her over to Major Whipple after this dance. The major, -although a bachelor of over fifty, still possessed a discriminating eye -for beauty. And he could dance well, too. Beth was enjoying herself. -Larry did not let her sit idle a single dance. And the boys, young men, -middle-aged men, were all ready to be partners with her. - -Larry said to his mother: “What did I tell you, Mater? Beth is the -belle of the evening.” - -“You will turn that child’s head, Larry. I warn you,” his mother said -seriously. - -“Well! she talks a whole lot more sensibly than most of the young women -I have talked with this evening,” he declared. - -“Ah! she is wiser than I thought,” murmured Mrs. Haven. “And I _would_ -like to own those corals of her Great-grandmother Lomis.” - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE SACRIFICE - - -“But why did she try to make me appear so young?” Beth asked her -mother, as they sat side by side busily sewing the afternoon following -Larry’s party. “Really, I felt hurt. I cannot understand Mrs. Haven.” - -Mrs. Baldwin looked at her eldest daughter thoughtfully--as though, -however, her mind were a great way off. - -“Why did she, Mother?” repeated Beth. - -“I can understand Euphemia,” said Mrs. Baldwin, quietly. “You must not -mind her, my dear.” - -“But I cannot see why she wants me to seem childish, even if you do, -Mother mine,” the girl said, somewhat impatiently. - -“I fear one meaning is, that Euphemia feels that Larry would better -remember you only as his playfellow when he, too, was a child,” Mrs. -Baldwin said. “He is a man now, you know, and must have a man’s -feelings as he has a man’s duties to perform.” - -“Why, what nonsense, Mother!” exclaimed the girl, throwing back her -head and laughing delightedly. “He is only a great, big boy--that’s all -Larry Haven is.” - -Mrs. Baldwin shook her head, gravely. “You do not understand the -difference between fifteen and twenty-two,” she said. - -“Yes, Ma’am, I do,” the girl responded smartly. “I know my arithmetic. -It’s seven years--just seven years, Mother mine.” - -“That is not the real difference, Beth,” her mother pursued. “The -difference is not to be measured by time----” - -“No! One would think it were eternity to hear you,” laughed Beth. - -Her mother laughed too; yet she was more serious than Beth could see -any occasion for. - -“There is a freshness and a boyishness about young men--and some men -when they become older--that make them seem less mature than quite -young girls,” Mrs. Baldwin said, finding it a little difficult to -impress her daughter with the change in her whilom playmate. - -“Larry Haven has stepped over the line from boyhood to manhood, whether -you realize it or not, Beth. There is a vast difference now between -you two. You look forward to study and the acquirement of text-book -knowledge----” - -“Oh! how much!” murmured Beth. - -“While he looks back upon his school course. The difference between -knowledge wished for, and knowledge attained, is vast. It isn’t -measured by mere time, as I said before. It is a difference in the -attitude of one’s mind toward most things in the world. However much -Larry may seem just the same as he used to be, he is not the same. He -is a man grown, and you are only a girl.” - -“Oh, Mamma! That is a sharp one,” said Beth, laughing placidly. “I -really can’t see that being fifteen instead of twenty-two makes much -difference between Larry and me. I can still make him say just the -thing I want him to say--I always could. And I can still get the best -of him in an argument.” - -Mrs. Baldwin had to laugh, although it was not a very cheerful laugh. -“Your being able to argue did not come from your studies in school, -child, that is sure. You have always been good at that. You would argue -now that you and Larry were equal.” - -“Oh! I realize our inequality, Mamma,” Beth said sadly. “It’s the -difference in our education, not our ages, that troubles me. He may be -only a boy, but he’s got something in his head that I haven’t. And oh, -Mamma! I want it so!” - -“My dear girl!” - -“I know. It is wicked, but I must say it. I told Larry last night that -I meant to go to Rivercliff this September. And I mean to! It seems to -me that I would sacrifice almost anything for the chance to go there. I -_must_ go!” - -“My dear!” - -“Yes. It sounds dreadful, doesn’t it? I just get desperate when I think -of how badly I want to learn. And if I don’t become a teacher, what is -to become of me? Am I to go into the dye factory to earn my living? -Dear Mother! I must earn my living somehow. The children are getting -bigger, and need more and more. They must be educated, too. If I could -get my teacher’s certificate in three years I could help you all.” - -“I know--I know, child,” said her mother. “You would help us if you -could.” - -“Now I’ve made you cry! I’m so sorry! Do forgive me! But it isn’t that -I would help the family if I _could_. It is that I _must_! Don’t you -see it, Mamma? Papa is getting no younger. Already Marcus talks of -going to work. Am I better than my brother? The family needs my help as -much as it needs his. And I should be able to do more than he.” - -“But, my dear----” cried Mrs. Baldwin, surprised by the girl’s -earnestness. She began to doubt if her daughter was quite as childish -as she had supposed. - -“At least,” went on Beth, ignoring her mother’s half-spoken protest, -“you must let me go to work this summer to see if I can earn enough, -somehow, to pay for my first half, if no more, at Rivercliff.” - -“And what after that, daughter?” asked Mrs. Baldwin. - -“I don’t know. I am reckless--or inspired!” and Beth laughed shakingly. -“A way may be opened. I’ll take a chance.” - -“Where can you get work for the summer?” her mother asked gravely. - -“Well--I would go into the factory for a short time----” - -“Oh, no! what would Larry say? You cannot do that,” her mother cried, -with an energy that quite surprised Beth. - -“Indeed!” sniffed the girl. “I guess you mean, what would Larry’s -mother say? I am not beholden to Mrs. Haven.” - -“No,” said Mrs. Baldwin, seriously. “But you would not wish to offend -Larry’s mother.” - -Beth showed herself puzzled. “Why, not deliberately,” she said. -“Of course not. Nor Larry either. But why worry about them more -than our other friends? Lots of folks who know us, and in no better -circumstances than we are, either, will turn up their noses at me if -I go to work in the dye factory. But you know how it is, Mamma. A -position in a store or an office is awfully hard to find in Hudsonvale. -You wouldn’t want me to go to a summer hotel to be a waitress or a -chambermaid?” - -“Mercy me, Beth! What are you thinking of?” almost screamed Mrs. -Baldwin. - -“I’m thinking of making money to pay for my schooling at Rivercliff,” -laughed her daughter. “I’ve read of lots of girls who earn their -tuition fees by doing those things.” - -“But you!” - -“Who am I?” asked Beth. “Better than other girls? You’ve taught me to -sweep, to dust, to make beds, and to be tidy.” - -“Oh, yes,” Mrs. Baldwin hastened to say. “Every girl should learn the -domestic duties.” - -Beth began to giggle at that. “Larry says not. He’s going to hire a -cook when he gets married. He forgets that the cook may leave suddenly. -I believe they have a way of doing that.” - -“For goodness’ sake!” gasped her mother. “What didn’t you and Larry -talk about last night?” - -“Why--lots of things. We didn’t have much time to really talk. We’ll -wait till he comes here to see us to have a really old-fashioned confab -together,” Beth said laughing. “But he’s a funny boy!” - -“I tell you he is a boy no longer,” Mrs. Baldwin said, a little worried. - -“Oh, wait till you see him. He’s just the same old sixpence of a Larry. -You’ll see, Mamma. But he is handsome in his dress suit. Doesn’t look -at all like an undertaker.” - -Mrs. Baldwin, shaking her head, rejoined: - -“For you to go to work at any domestic service is out of the question. -And your father would never hear to your working in the factory.” - -“What shall I do then, Mamma? Peddle? Be an agent? Go from house to -house and try to make people buy what they don’t want and don’t need -and really would be better off without?” and Beth laughed gaily. “Or -shall I go right out with a mask and a club and become a highway -robber?” - -Her mother had to laugh again at this suggestion. Really, Beth was -practical in her ideas. “Much more so than most girls of her age,” -thought the troubled mother, with a sigh. - -She could not but be impressed with the earnestness of Beth’s desire -for an education. She had already had quite as much schooling as Mrs. -Baldwin--and Mrs. Euphemia Haven--had been given when they were girls. - -“But the world is different now,” sighed the foreman’s wife. “And more -is expected of girls. If Euphemia----” - -She did not finish her speech--there were some things she could not -admit even to herself. But the next afternoon she dressed herself and -went out. “Calling,” she told the curious girls. But she refused to say -on whom she was to call. - -After a sleepless night Mrs. Baldwin had made up her mind that Beth -should have her desire if it were possible. By a sacrifice that she -could not bring herself to tell even Mr. Baldwin about, she would raise -sufficient money to pay for Beth’s first year at Rivercliff. She was -quite sure Euphemia Haven would buy her Grandmother Lomis’ corals. For -years she had wanted them. And Euphemia would give four hundred dollars -for them. - -“It is Beth’s sacrifice, not mine,” the mother thought, wiping her eyes -before she mounted the walk to the Haven mansion. “And it is to benefit -Beth. I am sure the child would rather have a year at school than the -jewelry.” - -She rang the bell and was admitted by the butler. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE “WATER WAGTAIL” - - -“I obtained the money from a friend. Payment of the loan need not be -considered until your education at Rivercliff is finished, Beth. This -sum will carry you through your first year in comfort. Meanwhile, as -you say yourself, a way may be opened for you to continue your course -there. ‘Sufficient unto the day.’ Ask no questions.” - -Thus said Mrs. Baldwin, in family assembled, when the outcry was made -regarding the suddenly and mysteriously acquired funds with which Beth -was to storm the heights of Rivercliff School. - -Mr. Baldwin looked at his wife oddly, but he asked no question--then -or at any subsequent time. When Mrs. Baldwin was as firm as she looked -now, the others dared not be inquisitive. - -But as delighted as Beth was at the sudden opening of her prospects, -she felt that a sacrifice of some kind had been made. She feared her -mother and father had done some hard thing for which they might be -troubled all through her school years. She had no suspicion of the -truth--not for a moment. - -“But I will learn from other girls at school how to earn money to pay -my way. And I’ll pay mamma back, too,” Beth thought, with but faint -appreciation, after all, of how huge a sum four hundred dollars is, and -how long it would take to earn and save it in any way open to a girl of -fifteen. - -Of course, the whole of it did not have to go for tuition and board. -There would be a small sum for what Ella called her older sister’s -“trousseau,” and for pocket-money and incidentals. Rivercliff was a -more expensive school than one or two others Beth had thought of and -she wished she could gain the advantages she craved in some other -institution. - -However, a girl with a diploma from Rivercliff had a distinct advantage -over applicants from other schools with the State Board of Education. -And for good reason. Rivercliff was more than a preparatory school -in the usual acceptation of the term. A girl who faithfully took the -courses laid down by Miss Hammersly, the principal, was well fitted for -most places in life. - -The summer was not spent idly by Beth. She had not merely resolved to -obtain an education at her parents’ expense. She was ready and willing -to do all in her power to help bring the much desired thing to pass. - -She obtained the opportunity of posing on several occasions for an -illustrator for the magazines, who came each summer to a rustic studio -she had built near Hudsonvale. Beth had done this work before, and the -artist paid her fifty cents an hour. It was not an easily won fifty -cents by any means. Retaining the poses as was desired strained the -muscles and tired the mind more than most other work Beth had ever done. - -She could crochet, too; but the payment she received for a baby’s -bootees “a fly would starve to death on,” Ella declared--and with -some apparent truth. However, Beth kept busy and happy. That is, she -told herself she was quite, quite happy. But there was one thing that -troubled her mind in secret. Larry Haven had never come to the little -cottage on Bemis Street to see her. - -From Mary Devine Beth heard much about Larry. He had established -himself in the office next to Dr. Coldfoot, and---- - -“Such scrumptious furniture, Beth, you never _did_ see. They say his -mother made him a present of it all--furnished his office right up -to the minute. And he’s got a very splendid sign,” added Mary, with -enthusiasm. - -Beth had seen the sign. - -“And he comes downtown as brisk as a drug clerk every morning,” giggled -Mary, “and shuts himself into that office--oh, dreadfully busy, he is!” - -“I hope he will be,” said Beth, laughing. - -Nobody said anything to her about Larry’s not coming to the house. The -children were all busy, and had become so used to his absence that they -did not note its continuance after Larry returned from the law school. - -That her old playmate was busy might be an excuse for his seldom -calling; but there was absolutely no excuse, that Beth could imagine, -for his never coming to see them. After the first fortnight following -his party, Beth ceased to mention Larry in the family’s hearing. She -was a girl who could hide her deeper feelings if she so chose; and she -chose now to lead her mother to believe that thought of Larry never -troubled her mind. - -However, it did. More than once tears wet her pillow at night while she -lay and wondered why Larry had forsaken her. She did not believe it -could be the seven years’ difference in their ages. - -“I don’t care if he does think me a little girl,” she told herself; “he -might, at least, be polite.” - -But, in truth, she laid the defection of Larry Haven to his mother. The -why of this was no more clear to her girlish mind than Larry’s neglect; -but she had felt Mrs. Haven’s antagonism so deeply that she could not -fail to take it into consideration now. - -Beth was one of those loyal souls who seldom make friends save after -due consideration, and who cling to their friendships, once made, -through fair weather and foul. She felt about Larry just as she would -have felt about an older brother. He was just as necessary to her -complete happiness as Marcus was. - -After their intimate talk at the party, Beth felt that her mind and -Larry’s were a good deal in accord--especially on the question of the -advancement of her schooling. So she hoped he would continue to show -his interest in the wonderful (to her) prospect of Rivercliff. She had -no assurance that Larry even knew she was surely going to school until -the afternoon came for her departure from Hudsonvale. - -It was an event, indeed, for one of the Baldwins to go away by the -river boat. The _Water Wagtail_ was one of the finest of the fleet -plying up and down the Nessing River, and Mr. Baldwin had obtained for -Beth one of the staterooms for the trip. - -The county paper, which ran a page of Hudsonvale news (“in spite of -Mary Devine,” Mr. Baldwin said), had printed a note of Beth’s proposed -departure for school, and the date. Was that how Larry knew? For when -Beth went down to the dock and aboard the _Water Wagtail_, the steward -had just taken a box of cut flowers to her stateroom. - -“I declare for’t, Missy,” said the shining-faced negro, “yo’ friend -suttenly has sent yo’ a heap o’ posies.” - -“Let me see the card, steward,” she said quickly. - -It was Larry’s, and Beth knew that flowers like these grew only in his -mother’s garden--in Hudsonvale, at least. - -Her family had trooped aboard after her--with Mary Devine and a dozen -other girls who had been Beth’s friends at the high school. They made -a noisy and jolly party. And how they wondered and exclaimed over the -flower-filled stateroom. - -“Why!” cried Mary Devine, “it’s just like a bridal tour you’re starting -on. Aren’t you lucky, B. B.?” - -“I surely am,” admitted Beth, smiling. - -“But where’s the groom?” asked one of the other girls, slily. “Did he -send the flowers?” - -“How ridiculous!” rejoined Mary, scornfully. “It’s the best man who -sends the flowers, not the groom. He has to help smell ’em!” - -The party remained on deck while the freight was being run aboard -below. Beth’s glance often swept the littered dock as she talked gaily -to her friends or to the children or to her mother and father. Suddenly -her eyes fixed their gaze upon a tall figure striding down to the dock -from Water Street. - -It was Larry. Beth’s heart leaped and the color came and went in her -cheeks. Had there not been so much going on, her excitement must have -been noticed. As it happened, however, not even the girls chanced to -see Larry till he was aboard the boat and was approaching the group. - -By that time Beth had quite regained her self-control. She welcomed -Larry with just the degree of warmth her mother displayed--by no means -as joyfully as did Mary Devine. He had to be introduced to the other -girls--re-introduced in some cases. With Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin he was -delightfully cordial. The children--even the twins--welcomed Larry -nicely. Nothing was said about his previous neglect. - -When the warning whistle sounded and the party arose to leave, Larry -manoeuvered to get Beth by herself for a moment. They took the outer -deck on one side of the glass-enclosed cabin, while the rest of the -party went the other way to the stair-well. - -“Go to it, Beth. I glory in your resolve,” Larry said, in reference -to her plunge into boarding-school life. “Get all there is for you at -Rivercliff.” - -“I mean to, Larry,” she said composedly. “And thank you for the -flowers--they are beautiful.” - -“Oh, they were the Mater’s idea,” he said hurriedly. “But I have -something here----” - -He fumbled in his pocket and brought forth a little box--a jeweler’s -box, Beth knew. - -“You won’t want to wear those jolly old corals that belonged to your -Great-grandmother Lomis at every party you go to up there,” Larry said, -more boyish in his confusion than ever, Beth thought. “Here’s something -you can wear right along--to remember me by.” - -He thrust the box into her hand. The children came racing to join them. -Beth hid the box quickly in her bag--she knew not why. - -She pressed Larry’s hand in farewell. She kissed her mother, her -father, and “all the tribe,” as Ella called the family. The girls waved -their handkerchiefs from the shore. - -Larry did not wait as the _Water Wagtail_ pulled out into the stream. -It was his tall form, however, striding up the dock when the steamboat -was really under way that Beth last saw. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -AN ADVENTURE IN MIDSTREAM - - -Beth had left the door of her stateroom wide open. When she went into -the passage out of which it opened, she saw a girl looking in at the -flowers, admiringly. - -She was a merry-eyed girl, with short, fine, brown hair that had been -blown about her face by the fresh, river breeze. This fact made her -seem a little untidy; but she had a winning smile, was well dressed, -and Beth found herself interested in the stranger even before the merry -one spoke. - -“How jolly!” she cried. “You certainly must have heaps and heaps of -friends.” - -“Why so?” asked Beth, demurely. - -“Because they’ve just about filled your room with flowers. Or were they -so glad to see you go that they over-speeded the parting guest?” added -the girl, roguishly. - -Beth laughed as she went by the other into the room and seized a bunch -of roses. “Here,” she said, thrusting the flowers into the strange -girl’s hands. “I must divide with somebody. And my friends were not -speeding the parting guest. I am going to school.” - -“Bless us! so am I,” said the other, burying her rather retroussé nose -in the fragrant blossoms. “But they didn’t waste any lovely flowers on -poor little Molly--nay, nay, Pauline!” - -“My name is not ‘Pauline,’” interposed Beth, her eyes dancing. “It’s -Beth.” - -“Oh, how jolly!” cried the other. “I never knew a girl named Beth -outside of a story-book.” - -“It’s my real name,” Beth said demurely. - -“And are you going to school?” - -“Yes.” - -“Not to Rivercliff?” - -“Yes; I am,” Beth said, her own eagerness increasing. “Are you?” - -“How jolly!” ejaculated this rather exclamatory girl. “I certainly am -going to Miss ’Ammersly’s hestablishment, as it would have been called -in ‘dear hold Hengland,’ had she remained there to conduct her school.” - -“Oh! is the principal English?” asked Beth. - -“The nicest kind. And Madam Hammersly! Wait till you see her! She wears -the cunningest caps.” - -“Who is she?” asked the puzzled Beth. - -“Miss Hammersly’s mother. And such a dear! She is really the -housekeeper and general manager--and, oh! so particular! No end! But -she’s a jolly old dear, at that.” - -Beth saw that this girl overworked at least one word in the English -language. But it was impossible to look at her without thinking of that -very word. She was jolly, indeed. - -Naturally, Beth Baldwin was greatly interested in this, the first of -her future schoolmates whom she met and not a little curious about her. -She learned at once that Molly Granger had been to Rivercliff for two -years already, having entered what Miss Hammersly called the “primary -department.” - -“But I shall be a full-fledged first-grade with you ‘freshies’ this -fall. I shall be in your classes,” she said cheerfully. “I believe I am -going to like you a lot, Beth. And that’s more than I can say for some -of the girls who have been with me as ‘primes’ and now will be in our -grade too. There’s Maude Grimshaw, for instance. _That_ girl would try -the patience of a Jobess.” - -“A _what_?” gasped Beth. - -“A Jobess. Female for Job. Isn’t that right?” asked Molly, her eyes -dancing. - -Beth laughed. Then she said suddenly: - -“Oh, wait!” and, seizing some more of the flowers from Mrs. Euphemia -Haven’s garden, she darted out of the stateroom. She had been watching -for several moments a girl who stood in plain view in the cabin and who -had been staring at the flowers. - -She was a slim, freckled girl, rather oddly dressed, Beth thought; but -her big, dark eyes expressed a longing for the flowers that could not -be mistaken. - -“You’ll have some, won’t you?” demanded Beth, offering the flowers to -this stranger, as she had to Molly Granger. “I have so many of them!” - -Then she realized that the freckled girl’s eyes were blue. A shadow -seemed to lift from them as she smiled. Whereas they had been dusky -before, they shone as she looked first at the flowers and then at Beth. - -“Oh, thank you!” she said, and her voice was delightfully -gentle--“cultured,” Beth would have said, had that expression not -so badly fitted the strange girl’s appearance. She wore a very odd -combination of garments. - -Her smile and her speech repaid Beth for her act. The freckled-faced -girl crossed the cabin--she walked gracefully--and sat down upon a -divan with the flowers. Before Beth turned back to her new friend, -Molly Granger, the blue eyes had become clouded again and the tall -figure of the girl drooped over the handful of flowers. Beth whispered -to Molly: - -“I wonder who she is?” - -“Haven’t the first idea,” said the jolly girl, carelessly. - -“Do you think she is going to school with us?” - -“To Rivercliff? I should say not!” gasped Molly. “Say! you don’t know -what you’re up against there, Beth. Why, we girls of Rivercliff stand -for the ‘acme of style.’ The only magazines we read are the fashion -magazines--and we only look at the pictures in those. Maude Grimshaw -could wear diamonds to each class recitation--and royal ermine, I -presume, too--whatever that is,” and Molly laughed. - -“Oh!” exclaimed Beth, greatly taken aback. - -“Only, you see, Miss Hammersly won’t have it. She is for plain frocks -in school. What the girls wear in the evenings or on holidays does not -so much bother her. We’re all supposed to be from families who roll in -wealth--whatever that may mean,” and Molly giggled again. - -“Are--are _you_?” asked Beth, somewhat timidly. - -“Am I what, my dear?” returned Molly. - -“From a rich family?” - -“Goodness, no! My aunts send me to Rivercliff. I’m a poor, lone orphan. -My poor, dear mother must have taken one look at me, have seen what -an awful, ugly little sprite I was, and thankfully ceased to live. -My father was a missionary and died of fever in Canton. There you -have my history, saving that seven aunts--all my father’s sisters (do -you wonder he went missionarying?)--took upon themselves the task -of bringing up and educating ‘poor lil’ Molly.’ If I hadn’t a well -developed sense of the ridiculous, it would have killed me long ago.” - -Molly rattled on so recklessly that Beth was more than a little -startled at first. Then it began to impress the girl from Hudsonvale -that here was a person who had really never had a mother or a father, -and had never learned the actual need of parents. Therefore, she could -talk so indifferently about them. - -Another thought was, however, buzzing in Beth’s brain. - -“What do you suppose these wealthy girls at Rivercliff will say to my -dresses?” she asked. “I’ve only one better than this--and that’s for -evening wear.” - -“Goodness! How long is a string?” demanded the other girl. - -“What?” - -“How long is a string?” repeated Molly, laughing. “You might as well -ask me that as to ask me how Maude Grimshaw and that tribe will look -on you and your clothes. And I guess there’s no answer to that old -wheeze.” - -“Oh, yes there is,” said Beth, laughing too. “My sister Ella says the -answer is ‘from here to there.’” - -It did not take much to keep these two new friends laughing. And, at -the moment, it did not seem a great trouble to Beth whether the wealthy -girls at Rivercliff liked her and her clothes or not. - -She carried most of Larry’s donation of flowers out into the cabin and -told the stewardess to arrange them on one of the writing tables. Then -she locked her stateroom door and went with Molly on a tour of the boat. - -“You see, I’ve been up and down the river on this boat a dozen times,” -said the jolly orphan. “I come from Hambro, ’way down the river. -I started early this morning. We’ll get to the Rivercliff landing -to-morrow evening--if the freight traffic isn’t too heavy. The _Water -Wagtail_ staggers from one side to the other of the river, picking up -freight at the landings, and sometimes the trip is delayed long beyond -sched. But never mind! school doesn’t really open till Monday. We’ve -got three perfectly good days before us.” - -Twice Beth noticed the freckled girl as they passed through the cabin. -She still sat in her melancholy attitude, and the flowers had dropped -into her lap. Beth knew she must be in some trouble or sorrow; but she -scarcely saw how she could help the stranger. - -Molly Granger kept up a running fire of comment upon everybody and -everything. The steamboat stopped at two small towns before dark, and -the new chums watched the busy scenes on the docks and talked about -the new faces they saw. Beth found Molly the very best of company; for -while she was light-hearted and full of fun and mischief, she was sound -at the root and had no unkindness or meanness in her make-up. Indeed, -Beth Baldwin had never met one of her own age before whom she liked so -well on such short acquaintance. - -Left to herself for a short while, Beth was going over in her mind -all the adventures of this busy and exciting day. How much had -happened--and how much unexpected--since she had started from the -little cottage on Bemis Street. - -Then, for the very first time since she had slipped it into her bag, -Beth thought of Larry’s present. Something in a jeweler’s box! How had -she forgotten it for so long? - -“That proves that this has been an exciting time,” murmured the girl, -getting her bag and opening it. “Ah! here is the box.” - -It was neatly wrapped and tied, and her fingers were engaged in untying -the string for a minute or so. Then she opened the box. A puffy mass of -pink cotton met her gaze. She pulled this aside. - -“Oh! O-o-o-oh!” she breathed. “The beauty! The _beauty_!” - -She took out the pin. It was delicately wrought of platinum and studded -with diamond chips and tiny half-pearls. It was not very expensive; but -it showed skilled workmanship and was an ornament that would surely -attract attention. Yet it was simple enough to look well if worn by a -young girl. - -Larry Haven’s taste could not be criticized. If he had selected the -pin himself (and Beth believed he had, from what he had said at -its presentation), it showed that he thought of her--that he still -considered Beth his little friend and comrade. - -Yet, if so, why had he neglected coming to the Bemis Street cottage all -summer? This still puzzled and troubled the girl. - -At supper time Beth and Molly went up to the saloon deck and the -captain of the waiters found the two friends seats at a pleasant table. -Beth looked for the freckled girl but did not see her. Yet Beth was -sure she had not gone ashore at either of the landings. - -While the girls ate and enjoyed their supper, a mist arose and -enfolded the steamboat and enshrouded the face of the river. When they -came out on the open deck again, the clammy breath of the mist fanned -their cheeks, and all they could see of the banks on either hand were -occasional twinkling lights--either on scattered farmsteads or in tiny -villages or ferry-houses. - -“B-r-r-r-r! It’s going to be a nasty night,” said Molly Granger. “I -shall go to bed early. No fun sitting up unless the moon shines. Then -it is lovely to be out here and watch the shores. The old steamer won’t -stop again till we reach Marbury--about midnight.” - -“I was hoping for a moonlit night,” said Beth, disappointedly. - -“Better to get a good sleep, for to-morrow will be a long day,” said -Molly, showing a streak of good sense that Beth had not known she -possessed. “We may not get to bed to-morrow night till late; for we may -be delayed in reaching Rivercliff. I’ve been as late as eleven o’clock -getting off this boat at that landing.” - -“I guess you know best, Molly,” agreed Beth. - -But she was not sleepy herself--not even when Molly bade her a warm -good-night and went into her own stateroom, which was not far from -Beth’s. The latter encircled the outer main deck again. The _Water -Wagtail_ was in midstream. She was a side-wheeler, and the splashing -of her buckets and the creak of her walking-beam, added to the hiss! -hiss! of the spray from overside, played an accompaniment to Beth’s -thoughts. - -Her first night away from home! Never had she slept from under her -parents’ roof before. Her own little room, shared with Ella, was the -only chamber in which the girl had ever spent the night. - -Little wonder that she felt nervous, if not apprehensive. There were -two berths in her room--an upper and lower. She would have been glad to -share the stateroom with Molly Granger; but she shrank from admitting -to even that easy-going, jolly chum that she felt the need of company -at night. - -She shrank, too, from going to her stateroom and locking herself in. - -Instead, she wandered about the boat again. She spent more than two -hours going from deck to deck--sitting a while in one place, then -getting up and wandering about, wrapped well in her raincoat to keep -out the thick mist. - -Several times she saw the freckled-faced girl. Either she had no -stateroom, or else, with Beth, she did not feel like going to it. And -her expression of countenance and deeply despondent manner troubled the -girl from Hudsonvale. - -“I wish I could do something for her,” thought Beth. “She must be -poverty poor with that get-up. Dear me! I haven’t any too much money -myself; but if a little would help her----” - -She finally started toward the strange girl, determined to accost her; -but just then the latter arose from her seat and approached one of the -uniformed officers of the boat, then just passing through the cabin. - -“Are we near Brakelock, yet?” Beth heard the girl ask. - -“We’re not far from that landing, Miss; but we stop there only on the -down trip unless we’re signalled to take passengers. Nothing doing -to-night, Miss.” - -“Thank you,” said the girl, quietly. - -The man went about his business. The girl immediately descended the -stairs to the lower, or freight, deck. Beth, hesitating whether she -should speak to her or not, followed unobserved. - -Nobody seemed to be about. The way was open aft to the outer deck -behind the paddle-wheels. The tall girl went swiftly to the port side, -slid open one of the doors, and stepped out upon the misty, open deck. -Beth went out by another door. There was nobody aft but herself and -that other girl--not another soul. - -The girl did not see Beth and the latter hesitated again. What should -she say to her? How accost her? - -And then--the discovery set Beth’s heart to beating madly--she saw that -the strange girl was leaning far over the rail of this lower deck, so -close below which the black water hissed and gurgled. In a moment she -had a knee upon the flat top of the rail, flinging up her tight skirts -with an impatient kick to free her limbs of their entanglement. - -She was teetering--almost head downward--on the rail, about--it -seemed--to plunge into the swift current of the river! - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -CYNTHIA FOGG - - -Beth had learned something about vigorous play at basket-ball under -the direction of the instructor in physical culture at the Hudsonvale -high school. Besides, she had not played with Marcus and the other -boys--even with Larry in years gone by--without learning what is meant -by a low tackle. - -So, when she jumped for the girl who seemed about to throw herself into -the river from the stern of the _Water Wagtail_, she “tackled low.” She -seized the reckless girl about her knees, locking her legs tightly in -her arms. - -“You can’t! I sha’n’t let you!” Beth gasped, as the other struggled. -“Oh! what a wicked thing you are doing!” - -The freckled girl squealed--no other word could exactly express the -startled sound she made when Beth seized her. Then she attempted to -turn around and face her rescuer, as the latter dragged her down and -away from the rail. - -“What are you doing? Stop it!” sputtered the tall girl. “Goodness! how -strong you are! Do let me be!” - -“I won’t!” cried the excited Beth. “I won’t! You sha’n’t do such a -dreadful thing! I’ll shout for help!” - -“Oh! don’t do that,” begged the other girl. “They’ll do something awful -to me.” - -“Then promise you won’t do _that_----” - -“What?” - -“It would be dreadful----” - -“What would be dreadful?” repeated the strange girl, in some heat. -“They’d have got the boat back again. I wasn’t going to steal it.” - -“Steal it?” murmured Beth, startled and confused. - -“Yes. I’d have left it tied along shore there. No harm would have come -to it.” - -“Oh, my dear!” gasped Beth. “Is there a boat there?” - -“Of course there is. Didn’t you see it dragging just astern? They -forgot to hoist it in. I noticed it before dark. Say!” exclaimed the -other, her strange eyes suddenly shining in the mist as she stared at -Beth. “What did you think I was trying to do when I was hauling in on -that painter?” - -“I--I thought you wanted to drown yourself,” whispered the confused -Beth. - -“My aunt!” exclaimed the girl, and laughed shortly. “No. I’m not quite -so desperate as all that.” - -“But you might fall overboard getting into that boat,” said Beth. - -“I can swim. But the current’s swift here in midstream,” and she -shuddered. “Now you’ve knocked the courage all out of me. Oh, dear!” - -“Why do you want to leave the boat in such a crazy fashion?” demanded -Beth, regaining her self-possession. - -“I’ve got to get away before the _Water Wagtail_ stops at Marbury,” -said the other, hastily. - -“Why?” repeated Beth. - -“Oh--because!” - -“But you wouldn’t dare take that boat. You might fall overboard from -it. You would be lost in this fog,” Beth urged. - -“I know. I wouldn’t dare now,” said the other, gloomily. - -“If I hadn’t stopped you something dreadful might have happened.” - -“Nothing more dreadful than will happen when we reach Marbury.” - -“What do you mean?” asked the curious and sympathetic Beth. - -“They know I am on this boat,” confessed the girl, with sudden -desperation. “And they’ll come aboard of her and take me back.” - -“Back where?” - -“I can’t tell you. It’s awful! I haven’t a living soul I can call my -own--not a real relative----” - -“You are an orphan?” asked Beth, thinking at once of an asylum or -an institution to which she supposed poor girls without parents or -relatives have to go. Besides, the awful clothing this girl wore bore -out this supposition of Beth’s--that she had run away from a charitable -establishment of some kind. - -“Of course, I’m an orphan,” said the other girl, quickly. - -“Can’t I help you?” suggested the sympathetic Beth. - -“How?” - -“What is your name, please?” asked Beth. “Mine is Beth Baldwin.” - -“Cynthia--Cynthia Fogg,” mumbled the other girl, and so hesitatingly -that Beth half believed that the last name, at least, was born of the -thick river mist out into which the wonderful blue eyes were staring. -Nevertheless, Beth said nothing to betray her doubt. - -“You say these--these people will search the boat for you?” she asked. - -“Yes.” - -“People from the--the institution from which you have run away?” - -Cynthia turned her head quickly so that Beth could no longer see her -face, replying in a muffled tone: “Yes; from the institution.” - -“How do you know they are on board?” continued the practical Beth. - -“Somebody that knows me saw me at that last landing--just as the -steamboat was pulling out,” replied Cynthia. “I know he’ll telephone up -the river to Marbury. And I’ll never get away from them now.” - -“You may escape them,” said Beth, kindly. When Cynthia looked back at -the dragging boat, she added hastily: “Oh, not by that means. There -must be a less perilous way.” - -Without any thought of the possible consequences, Beth had given her -heart and hand to the strange girl’s cause. It meant little to her that -this girl had run away from some public institution. She did not stop -to ask why she had run away. - -“How, I’d like you to tell me?” said Cynthia. - -“Surely those who look for you will not arouse the passengers and make -a disturbance in the middle of the night? We don’t get to Marbury till -midnight, I understand.” - -“That’s right.” - -“Then,” said the generous Beth, “why not come to my stateroom?” - -“Yours? Why! you don’t know me,” said the other girl, rather astounded. - -“Surely, we’ve just introduced ourselves,” laughed Beth. “I am alone in -my stateroom. There are two berths. They’ll never look for you there.” - -“Oh, my aunt!” ejaculated Cynthia Fogg, with such sudden animation, -that her strange eyes sparkled again. “That would be great!” - -Beth thought the girl an odd combination of characteristics. One moment -she was morose; the next she brightened up and was all life and gaiety. -But the girl from Hudsonvale was bent only on helping Cynthia. - -“Will you come to my room?” she repeated. - -“Surely I will--if you think they’ll let me.” - -“Who?” - -“Why, the steamboat people,” said Cynthia. - -“I guess they won’t stop us. But we’d better not let anybody see us -together. When the boat gets to Marbury, somebody may remember having -seen you with me, and then they’ll suspect where you are hidden,” said -the practical Beth. - -“My aunt! so they will,” admitted Cynthia. - -“So we’ll go singly. Don’t let the stewardess see you,” said Beth, -warningly. “I’ll go first. You’ll surely follow?” - -“Of course I will,” said the other girl, warmly. - -“And no trying to go overboard--into a boat or not?” added Beth, -smiling. - -“I’m afraid now,” confessed the other. “You’ve scared me.” - -“Then I’ll take care of you,” promised Beth, laughing again. - -“You _are_ a nice little thing,” repeated Cynthia Fogg. - -“Thank you. My room is Number Fifty-three.” - -“I know,” said the other. “I saw those flowers. I’ll wait till you get -there before I come upstairs.” - -Beth re-entered the enclosed part of the boat and went up to the main -deck at once. She had been in her stateroom ten minutes before she -heard a quiet little rustle outside her door. She had left it unlocked, -but now she turned the knob invitingly. - -The freckled girl pushed it open and glided in, closing it noiselessly -behind her. - -“Here I am,” she said. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -QUEER TALK - - -The dress of this unfortunate in whose fate Beth had taken such a -strong interest, had already made the girl from Hudsonvale wonder. Such -a shocking combination of color and tawdry finery Beth had seldom seen, -even in a mill village, which Hudsonvale was. - -Yet the tall, freckled girl wore the incongruous garments with utter -unconsciousness. She never seemed to give her dress a thought. - -On a green straw hat of the season’s mode, was a purple feather, which -had plainly seen service in the rain. She wore a ragged feather boa and -a rather soiled brown silk waist much worn under the arms and evidently -originally built for a much fuller figure. - -A black serge skirt of very narrow proportions seemed shrunk upon her, -and was spotted and shiny. Low brown shoes and spats completed the -costume. - -“I suppose these awful garments are better than the uniform of the -institution she fled from,” thought Beth. Then she asked aloud: “What -did you think of doing when you ran away?” - -Cynthia’s face blossomed into one of her unexpected smiles. “Just -thinking of running away,” she said. - -“But how did you propose to live?” asked the practical Beth. - -“By drawing my breath--the same as usual,” and the strange girl went -off into a spasm of laughter which Beth thought showed rather poor -taste to say the least. - -“But we all must do something besides breathing to live,” she said -shortly. - -“True,” said Cynthia. “Eat. And to eat we must have money, eh?” - -“Yes,” said Beth, still with gravity. - -“I intend to work,” said the older girl, composedly enough now. - -“What kind of work can you do?” - -Cynthia hesitated. She put her head on one side. Her eyes grew dark and -unfathomable again. - -“I ought to get a job at housework, oughtn’t I?” she said. - -“I don’t know,” said Beth, thoughtfully. “Wherever you apply for work -you will have a better chance of obtaining it if you look--look a -little more like other girls, don’t you think?” - -“What?” questioned Cynthia, evidently puzzled. - -“Why--your dress, I mean. Perhaps we can help you make your appearance -nicer.” - -“You mean my clothes are ugly?” asked Cynthia, bluntly. - -“And not altogether clean,” added Beth, quietly. - -“Well, housemaids don’t have to dress very fancy, do they?” demanded -the refugee. “I got these things I am wearing from a girl who worked as -a maid and waitress, and I paid---- Well! I paid enough for them.” - -“Of course,” mused Beth, “you couldn’t risk going out on the street in -your uniform.” - -“My what?” exclaimed Cynthia. - -“Why--uniform. Didn’t you all dress alike in that place where you were?” - -Cynthia turned her face from Beth suddenly. “Oh--yes,” she said, in a -muffled tone. “I see. I just had to get different clothes.” - -“Well, maybe we can fix you up a little better.” - -“Who’s ‘we?’” demanded Cynthia, quickly and sharply. - -“There is a friend here who is going to school too.” - -“Are you on your way to school?” asked Cynthia. - -“Yes,” Beth replied. - -“What school?” - -“Rivercliff.” - -“And is that other girl I saw you with?” - -“Yes. We had just met. She is an awfully nice girl. Maybe she can help.” - -“What do you mean? To give me some of your clothes? Bless you, child!” -and this strange girl laughed heartily. “Both of you are chunky and I -am tall. Your clothes never would fit me in the world. I don’t want -skirts half way to my knees. Make me look like a giraffe reaching for -the highest branches of a cocoanut palm!” - -She laughed again, and Beth joined her--but rather ruefully. To tell -the truth, Beth thought her strangely particular for a poor girl--a -runaway from an orphans’ home, or something of the kind. - -But she did not prolong the argument with her guest. Cynthia Fogg (if -such was her name) was frankly yawning. - -“We will talk of it in the morning,” Beth said, with sympathy. “I see -you are tired. You may take either berth----” - -“Oh! I could never climb into an upper,” gasped Cynthia. “If I have to -sleep in such a place it has to be in the lower berth.” - -Evidently the runaway was used to taking the best there was to be -had--whatever that best might be. She seemed quite careless of other -people’s needs or desires. She took Beth’s kindness in offering her the -choice of the berths quite as a matter of course. - -Naturally, there was not much room in the stateroom for two people. -Cynthia seemed so tired that Beth sat back on a stool and allowed her -to undress first. The girl from Hudsonvale could not help noticing that -the stranger’s under-clothing was very good and spotlessly clean. These -did not match her outside apparel in the least. Beth Baldwin could not -help but think this strange. - -“Well, I didn’t suppose I’d be sleeping in a stateroom to-night,” said -Cynthia, with a careless laugh, as she got into the wider lower berth. -“I didn’t have much money left after I bought these clothes of that -girl.” - -Beth wanted to ask how she had obtained money at all at the orphan -asylum; but she did not wish to appear too curious. Perhaps they -allowed the girls there to earn money by outside work. Cynthia spoke as -though she had been bred to domestic service. - -Beth, who was not unobservant, had looked more than once at the strange -girl’s hands. They were white and soft, well kept, and slenderly -formed--not at all the hands of a girl who had dabbled in dish-water or -used the mop and scrubbing brush. Her clean-cut features, too, and her -low, cultivated voice, certainly belied the thought that she had spent -her life in domestic service. - -Beth began slowly to coil her hair for the night, having slipped out -of her shirt waist. Cynthia blinked at her for a moment, yawned twice -(showing very even, strong looking teeth, likewise perfectly kept) and -then--deep, even breathing from the lower berth warned the other girl -that Cynthia was asleep. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -RIVERCLIFF LANDING - - -Beth was roused from her reverie by the mournful tooting of the _Water -Wagtail’s_ whistle for the landing at Marbury. Here Cynthia Fogg -expected her pursuers would come aboard to search the boat for her; but -she was a sound sleeper and did not arouse at all while the steamer was -at the dock, discharging and receiving freight. - -Nor did Beth hear anything outside her stateroom door that indicated -a search of the passengers’ quarters for the runaway girl. Beth was a -little worried, now she stopped to think of the matter more seriously. -What would the authorities do to her if it was learned that she had -hidden Cynthia away? - -She wondered about another thing, too. If Cynthia safely escaped her -pursuers, what was to be done with her? Beth wondered whether or not -she should take Molly Granger into the secret. She felt that she ought -to advise with somebody, and Molly seemed the only person at hand. - -Yet she realized that the laughing, joking, careless Molly might not -be just the best sort of individual to advise with in any important -emergency. - -Somehow, Beth felt that Cynthia Fogg was one of those persons who are -apt to trust implicitly in the suggestions or help of others rather -than themselves exert mind or body in an emergency. Having given -herself into Beth’s hands, the runaway had gone to sleep as peacefully -as a baby, leaving her hostess to think out her future course--if she -would. - -The steamboat finally got under way again, and nobody disturbed the -occupants of stateroom Number 53. Beth then undressed, said her -prayers, put Larry’s present and her purse under her pillow, and -climbed gingerly into bed, being careful not to awaken the slumbering -Cynthia. - -She did not expect to sleep much, the situation being so strange and -the day such an exciting one. But scarcely was her head comfortably -settled on the pillow than she was off. - -One o’clock was a late hour for Beth Baldwin to be awake. Therefore, -the early morning stir upon the boat--even its stopping at several -small landings--did not arouse her. But a fist pounding vigorously on -the door of Number 53 did finally awaken her. - -“Beth Baldwin! Beth Baldwin! For the sake of goodness! Do you die at -night and have to be resurrected every morning?” - -“Is--is that you, Molly Granger?” yawned Beth. - -“It is. Get up!” - -“Isn’t it _dreadfully_ early?” - -“No. It’s only cloudy. The day is broke, my child--dead broke, by the -looks of it, I should say. A nasty day! and I so wanted it to be nice.” - -Beth had reached down and was fumbling at the key in the lock. Now she -turned it and Molly bounced in. - -“Well! you lazy girl!” cried Miss Granger, who was fully dressed. -“You’ll learn to get up more promptly than this at Rivercliff. Miss -Hammersly believes in early hours. So does the madam.” - -“I did not go to sleep till after the boat left Marbury,” said Beth, -yawning frankly again. - -“Mercy! and I never even knew we stopped there,” laughed Molly. Then -suddenly she uttered a suppressed shriek and fell back from the berths. - -“What’s the matter?” demanded the startled Beth, sitting up wildly and -bumping her head. - -“What--what’s _that_?” asked the other girl, pointing. - -“Oh! Ow! Ouch!” groaned Beth, placing both hands tenderly on her poor, -bruised crown. “What is the matter with you, Molly Granger?” - -Then she remembered Cynthia Fogg and carefully crept down from her -berth. In the lower berth, the freckled runaway was wound up in the -blanket like an Egyptian mummy in its wrappings, quite unconscious of -what was going on about her. - -“For mercy’s sake!” repeated Molly. “Did that grow there in the night?” - -“Oh dear me, no!” gasped Beth, between laughing and weeping, for the -bump hurt. “That’s Cynthia.” - -“What?” - -“Cynthia Fogg.” - -“Goodness! Did you have her in your bag? Was that why I didn’t see her -before?” asked Molly Granger. - -“Why--don’t you see? It’s the girl I gave flowers to. Don’t you -remember?” - -Molly was staring wonderingly about the stateroom. She spied the green -hat and purple feather. - -“Cracky-me!” she sighed. “That dowdy?” - -“Sh!” began Beth, but Molly interrupted: - -“She’s dead, isn’t she? Nothing less than Gabriel’s trump will wake her -up. Tell me about it--do! A strange girl in your stateroom? I shouldn’t -have thought you’d dare.” - -“Why--I never thought there was the least harm in her,” Beth said, -wonderingly. “And she was in trouble.” - -“What sort of trouble?” - -In whispers Beth told Molly all about it. The jolly girl laughed when -she heard how Beth thought the freckled girl was about to commit -suicide; but she listened to the remainder of the story with some -seriousness. - -“I don’t see how you dared do it,” repeated Molly. “To take her right -into your stateroom!” - -“But she’s only a girl like ourselves.” - -“But from a public institution of some kind!” - -“Is that different from a boarding school?” demanded Beth, with some -warmth. “Only the girls, I suppose, are all poor and don’t have very -much fun.” - -“Cracky-me!” exclaimed Molly again. “Maybe she’s from some place where -they send really bad girls. Perhaps she’s escaped from a reform school.” - -“Nonsense!” laughed Beth. “She’s nicely spoken and is very ladylike. -And has such wonderful eyes!” - -“I noticed those eyes last evening,” said Molly, reflectively. “And she -is older than we are.” - -“Not much.” - -“Maybe she has been with people who are not nice. To think of the risk -you took, Beth Baldwin! And she admitted the authorities were after -her.” - -“Yes.” - -“Suppose a policeman had come right here to this room and demanded -her--and taken you to jail, too?” - -But Molly’s eyes twinkled, and Beth laughed again. “You can’t scare me, -Molly Granger. I don’t believe there is a mite of harm in Cynthia Fogg.” - -“Well, what are you going to do with ‘Cynthia-of-the-minute?’” asked -Molly. - -“That’s what I want to talk to you about,” said Beth, seriously. - -“With me? Goodness! Am I going to be in this?” - -“Of course. We’re chums, aren’t we?” laughed Beth, roguishly, as she -drew on her stockings. “Sit down on the edge of the berth, Molly, and -we’ll talk. I don’t think Cynthia means to wake up.” - -“She wouldn’t awaken if the upper berth fell down,” declared Molly -Granger. “Well now! what is it, Beth Baldwin? I believe you are going -to get me into trouble.” - -“Not a bit of it. But we both must help this poor girl.” - -“Why must we? I don’t like that word, anyway,” confessed Molly. - -“But if we can help folks in this world, we ought to, oughtn’t we?” - -“That is, if we find a convict, for instance, escaping, we should aid -him rather than the police?” giggled Molly. - -“Hush! I tell you I have every confidence in Cynthia’s being a good -girl. But she is a poor girl, and she needs some better looking clothes -than those she has. And then, she needs work.” - -“What kind of work?” asked Molly, wide-eyed. “We couldn’t find her work -to do.” - -“I don’t know whether we could or not. She speaks as though she were -used to domestic service.” - -But Beth refrained from mentioning the fact that the appearance of -Cynthia’s hands did not bear this out. - -“Might introduce her to Madam Hammersly,” said Molly, really thinking -about the situation now. “She is always hiring and discharging maids -and waitresses. She is awfully particular.” - -“But we’d want to get Cynthia a permanent position,” said Beth. - -“Oh! if the madam liked her--if this girl could suit her--she would -have a good situation. Madam pays well, I believe,” said Molly. - -Just then the bundle of blankets on the berth began to heave, and a -voice came from out of it, saying: - -“’Nuff said! I take the job! Ow--yow! yow! Is it morning? Who’s this -girl sitting on me, anyway?” - -Molly got up in a hurry. Beth laughed, saying to the girl in the berth: - -“How do you know the position will suit you, Cynthia?” - -“Why, any position suits one if one has no money--isn’t that so?” said -the philosophical one. Her clear, low voice made Molly think more -favorably of her--the jolly girl showed this in her expression of -countenance. - -“How jolly!” she exclaimed, and throwing all her previous caution to -the winds. “It would be great fun to take you to Rivercliff with us.” - -“To school, you mean?” yawned Cynthia Fogg. - -“To school. But to work for Madam Hammersly. She is housekeeper and -general manager. Why! there are twenty or more girls on her staff.” - -“They don’t have to take lessons, do they?” demanded Cynthia, -apparently rather startled by the idea. - -“Oh no!” giggled Molly. “I should say not.” - -“Then I’m willing to try it,” said Cynthia, swinging her slender limbs -out of bed. “But, Miss Baldwin, you didn’t tell me this girl’s name?” - -“So I didn’t. Pardon!” said Beth. “Miss Granger.” - -“All right. Now, there isn’t much room in here, Miss Granger, for us to -dress. So if you’ll go out while Miss Baldwin and I are about it, it -will facilitate matters--don’t you think so?” - -“Well, I like that!” gasped Molly, in a tone that showed she did not -like it at all. - -But Beth only laughed. That the strange girl assumed the right to give -orders did not trouble the even temper of Beth Baldwin. She said: - -“Cynthia is right, Molly. It is close quarters in here. And please run -and see if you haven’t a collar or a collarette that you can spare, and -that will help out on this shirt waist I am going to ask Cynthia to -wear instead of that brown one.” - -“Huh!” grunted Molly. - -“My! you girls are awfully particular about the way I look,” Cynthia -Fogg declared. - -“If you want to go to Rivercliff with us,” Beth said firmly but -pleasantly, “you must look neat. Mustn’t she, Molly?” - -“Yes indeed!” exclaimed the girl questioned. - -“If I look too nice will they think I need the job?” Cynthia asked, -bluntly. - -“Cracky-me!” ejaculated Molly, losing her momentary “grouch.” “Madam is -awfully particular! She’d judge your ability to keep her things neat -by the neatness of your own apparel--sure she would!” - -She ran away cheerfully to find things in her suitcase to help bedeck -the runaway. - -“If I could only get to my trunk!” Beth said to Cynthia. “I’ve a hat -there that----” - -“Why! mine is a perfectly good hat. Don’t you think it’s rather -striking?” asked Cynthia, with her face turned from Beth’s gaze. - -“Goodness, yes! That’s the very trouble,” gasped Beth, looking at the -green hat with the purple feather. - -“And the girl who wore it really worked as a maid and waitress,” -declared Cynthia, as though that settled the question of its -suitability. - -But Beth was puzzled. Cynthia spoke just as though she were playing a -part and was proud of the fact that she had dressed for it. Yet the -girl from Hudsonvale could not put her finger upon one word Cynthia had -said or one thing that she had done which really bore out the suspicion -that she was not exactly what she pretended to be--a fugitive from some -institution where girls without home and friends were confined. - -There was nothing vulgar or mean in the strange girl’s speech or -actions. She was abrupt and rather impolite at times. But that -abruptness seemed to spring from a frank character repressed, rather -than from a lack of appreciation of proper behavior. Indeed, Beth -fancied that Cynthia felt no social inferiority and was used to -treating others as her equals in that respect. Or was it that she felt -herself naturally superior to most of those whom she met? - -A strange combination was Cynthia Fogg, that was sure. - -Beth finished dressing first and went in search of Molly Granger. The -jolly girl demanded first of all: - -“Isn’t that the strangest girl you ever met, Beth Baldwin?” - -Beth sighed. “I don’t know,” she said. “Either she does not know when -she offends good taste or she does not care. She is an odd-acting girl -for one in her position.” - -“Yet,” said Molly, reflectively, “there is something taking about her.” - -“That’s what I say,” said Beth, brightening up. “Anyway, we’ll see if -we can get her taken on by Madam Hammersly. My! she is so abrupt. I -wonder what the madam will say to her?” - -“Will she even give her an interview?” asked Beth. - -“Sure. We’ll get her a chance to see the madam,” said Molly. - -“You must do that,” said Beth. “I am a stranger.” - -“Leave it to me,” said the other girl, with assurance. “But that hat! -If we could only lose it!” - -“I’d gladly give her another,” Beth cried. - -“Jolly! leave it to me,” Molly said, again nodding. “I know what to do.” - -They went back together to Number Fifty-three. Cynthia was completely -dressed, and Beth said to her: - -“Come on now. We’ll go to breakfast.” - -“But I’ve no money!” exclaimed the freckled girl. - -“I have invited you to go with me,” said Beth. - -“With us,” put in Molly Granger. “You will be our guest to-day. How far -up the river is your fare paid?” - -“To tell you the truth, I had a ticket--er--given me to Jackson City,” -replied the other, speaking slowly. - -“All right,” said Molly, quickly. “That’s beyond Rivercliff. You can -get a stop-over.” - -“Well!” said Cynthia Fogg, with a burst of emotion. “You are good to -me!” - -“Let’s go out on deck for a breath of fresh air first,” Molly suggested. - -The trio went outside, through one of the sliding doors. The deck was -wet and the mist stood congealed in drops upon the railing. Into the -fog their gaze could not penetrate a dozen yards. All they could see -was a portion of the steamboat itself, and the grayish, muddy water -lapping alongside and below them. - -“Ugh, how nasty!” said Cynthia Fogg with a shudder, leaning over the -wet rail. - -“Oh!” squealed Molly, and fell heavily against the taller girl. -In grabbing at her own hat, her elbow struck Cynthia’s topheavy -“creation,” and the abomination flew off the freckled girl’s head. - -“What _are_ you doing?” demanded Cynthia, in some heat, although her -voice remained low and well modulated. - -“How awkward!” gasped Molly. “Will you forgive me, Miss Fogg?” - -The hat had dropped into the water and now danced astern. Cynthia -cried, rather wildly: - -“How shall I ever recover it?” - -“Hat overboard!” exclaimed Molly, giggling now. “Call all hands!” - -“Well--it’s my only hat! I don’t believe you care,” said Cynthia, -eyeing Molly doubtfully. - -“Well, never mind!” Molly said. “No use crying over spilled milk.” - -“That isn’t milk,” said the freckled one. “It was a perfectly good hat.” - -“Oh!” gasped Molly. - -“What’s the matter, Miss Granger?” asked the tall girl, suspiciously. -“Don’t you suppose I paid good money for that hat?” - -“I--I don’t know,” giggled Molly. “Only if you did, you must have been -color blind.” - -At that Cynthia Fogg burst into a low, agreeable laugh. Her blue eyes -brightened and twinkled. Under her usual demure manner there certainly -was some sense of fun in this strange girl. - -“If I could only get to my trunk,” Beth began, but Molly cried: - -“She’ll look all right bareheaded.” - -“They will take me for an immigrant,” said Cynthia. - -“That’s better than looking like a scarecrow,” said the saucy Molly. -“Jolly! if you’d worn that freak hat up to the school, and the girls -had seen you----” - -“But I sha’n’t mix with the young ladies who attend Rivercliff School,” -said Cynthia Fogg, demurely. - -“You won’t mind going without a hat for one day--and on this boat?” -said Beth. - -“Of course she won’t!” cried Molly. - -“I’ll leave mine in the stateroom, too,” suggested Beth. - -“So will I,” the jolly girl declared. - -Cynthia laughed again. “I never saw girls like you two before,” she -said. “Go ahead, I’ll do whatever you say. I’m in your hands.” - -Beth secretly thought that Cynthia had made a very honest confession in -this statement. She seemed perfectly satisfied to allow her friends to -go ahead and plan for her. - -They went upstairs to the saloon deck to breakfast, and had a very -pleasant meal, despite the gloominess of the day. Beth noted that -Cynthia had surely been well brought up. She was quite used to good -form in table manners. She was not on her guard against mistakes; the -proper table etiquette was as natural to this runaway girl as breathing. - -The _Water Wagtail_ plodded up the river through the thick mist all -the forenoon, stopping now and then at misty landings. But at noon the -weather cleared suddenly and then the beauty of the banks was revealed -to Beth Baldwin, who had never before been so far from Hudsonvale. - -During the forenoon two girls came aboard the steamboat whom Molly -Granger introduced to Beth. They were Stella Price and Lil Browne. - -“Notice the ‘e,’ please, at the end of Lil’s name,” said the jolly -girl. “That is why she is a ‘Brownie’--and we all call her that, don’t -we, Brownie?” - -“Of course _we_ do, Jolly Molly,” returned the new girl, laughing. - -So Beth learned that, quite in keeping with her language and character, -her new chum was known by everybody at Rivercliff as “Jolly Molly” -Granger. - -Cynthia Fogg stayed in the stateroom most of the day. She did not -put herself forward or try to take advantage of the other girls’ -consideration for her. She kept to herself, either from a feeling that -she was not of the class of these girls going to Rivercliff to school, -or because--because---- - -“Can it be that she feels herself _above_ us?” thought the puzzled Beth. - -But she did not whisper this thought, even to Molly Granger. - -The day was spent pleasantly enough by Beth and the other girls. The -banks of the river were an ever-changing panorama of beauty; the small -landings and the larger towns came in rapid succession, for it was a -thickly inhabited part of the State. - -Late in the day Rivercliff came into view. Molly pointed it out to the -Hudsonvale girl with pride. - -There was a small landing at the foot of a high, gray bluff. The -village on the river’s immediate bank did not number fifty houses. A -road, plainly marked, wound up the face of the bluff, to which several -little houses clung like limpets to a rock. On the brow of the bluff -was a huge, brick house, with towers at the two front corners, and -wings thrown out on either side. There were several smaller buildings -that evidently belonged to the school, too. - -To tell the truth, Beth Baldwin, at first view, thought Rivercliff -School rather ugly. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -A NEW WORLD - - -Beth Baldwin had always supposed that all girls were “just girls.” Her -experience in the public schools of Hudsonvale had taught her that most -of her companions were, as Ella sometimes said, “made by the piece and -cut off by the yard.” - -That is, after all was said and done, there was not much variety in -girls’ characters as displayed by the girl pupils of the Hudsonvale -schools. There were the nice, quiet girls, and the wild, “giggly” ones; -the vain girls, as well as the meek, inconsequential girls; with a -scattering of smart, up-to-the-minute girls, as well as some lovable, -cheerful girls whom it was a delight to know; and, of course, there -were a few downright mean girls who were best left alone. - -In fact, Beth, before coming to Rivercliff School, had thought of girls -as “sorts,” rather than as individuals. She was now to learn that one -of the things that a well conducted boarding school does to a girl, -is to bring out her individuality, and if she has any color to her -character at all to deepen that color and develop her distinctive -traits. - -Molly Granger was just a little different from any girl Beth had ever -before known. Despite her jolly, careless, cheerful disposition she was -certainly different, for instance, from Beth’s friend, Mary Devine. -There was a self-confidence in Molly that no girl could possess without -having been out in the world for some time. Yet she was not bold. - -Stella Price and “Brownie,” as Beth found all the other girls called -Lilian Browne, were likewise distinctly dissimilar. Both were in -the grade above that which Beth would enter. They called themselves -“sophomores.” - -Stella was a strangely aloof girl--one of those persons whose minds -seem traveling afar most of the time, without being dreamers. Oh no! -there was nothing idealistic in Stella Price’s character. But, if a -member of a group of girls, she was always the one who appeared to be -listening and who seemed to have little in common with the rest of the -crowd. - -“You’d think,” was Molly Granger’s comment upon Stella, “that she was -as wise as an owl. The appearance of wisdom fairly trickles out of -her lineaments right now, doesn’t it? And I wager she’s thinking of -nothing more important than whether she’ll have two or four rows of -stitching on the hem of her skirt.” - -[Illustration: A TALL, MASTERFUL GIRL STOOD AT THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO - WELCOME THEM. - Page 93.] - -“Oh, Molly!” laughed Beth. - -“Fact. As for Brownie--she’s just a nice, cuddly girl, and I love her. -But she’s the most obstinate toad in the whole school!” - -This conversation had been held on the boat. Of course, Beth had -little chance to see many of her schoolmates that first evening. She -and Molly, with the two sophomores and Cynthia Fogg, piled into an -automobile bound for the school. Molly put Cynthia beside the driver. -Stella and Brownie were very curious about Cynthia. - -“Who is she, Molly?” whispered Brownie. “She’s never coming to the -school?” - -“Not as a pupil. I’m going to try to get her a place with Madam -Hammersly.” - -“Goodness! The poor thing,” sighed Stella, commiseratingly. - -Evidently, the girls considered the principal’s mother a good deal of a -Tartar. Beth herself had an opportunity for judging almost as soon as -they arrived at Rivercliff, regarding the important person in question. - -A tall, masterful girl stood at the main entrance to the great school -building to welcome the arrivals. - -“Just report yourselves at the office, Stella and Brownie and Jolly -Molly. Who’s the freshie?” she asked, halting Beth. - -“Beth Baldwin,” she was told. - -“All right. You for the madam’s room.” - -“I’ll see to her, Miss Teller,” said Molly, very respectfully, to this -senior. “I’m going with Miss Baldwin to the madam.” - -“And who’s this?” demanded the monitor, stopping the hatless Cynthia. - -“I am going to take her to the madam, too,” whispered Molly. “She’s a -girl looking for work as parlor-maid or waitress or something.” - -“We-ell. You know this isn’t the entrance for them. And madam is -dreadfully particular,” said Miss Teller, doubtfully. “Come back and -tell me if she’s to stay, Molly.” - -“All right,” agreed the other, and she with her two protégées went in. - -The entrance hall of Rivercliff School was a revelation to Beth. She -had been in two or three of the better houses of Hudsonvale besides -that of Mrs. Euphemia Haven; but none of them had been on a scale with -this, nor of such style. - -The ceiling was very lofty. There were several very good paintings on -the walls, and they were properly hung. The furniture was heavy and -of substantial appearance, rather than ornate. The upholstery and -hangings were in soft tones and of rich fabrics which gave an air of -splendor to the place that almost awed the newcomer. She felt very much -like the country mouse visiting his city relative. - -“Isn’t it scrumptious?” whispered Molly, who appreciated just how the -new girl felt. “I tell you, this and the two drawing-rooms are the show -places of Rivercliff.” - -“And this beautiful staircase,” murmured Beth, gazing up the polished -spiral that ascended in the middle of the great room. - -“Do you know,” giggled Molly, “this reception hall and that staircase -were what brought me here to school?” - -“No!” - -“Yes,” exclaimed the jolly girl, but with more seriousness. “Aunt Celia -came here first and saw it. Then Aunt Catherine journeyed up the river -to behold its wonders. Next, Auntie Cora and Aunt Carrie thought they -must see it--and they did so. - -“I came to school for the first term, and Aunt Charlotte got so -lonesome for a sight of me, so she said, that she came up to visit. But -I found her here, every chance she got, just soaking her mind in the -artistic atmosphere of this reception hall,” giggled Molly. - -“After that Aunt Cassie and Aunt Cyril simply _had_ to see it----” - -“But, Molly!” almost shrieked Beth, in amazement, seizing the other -girl by her arm. “Every one of your aunts’ names begins with ‘C’!” - -“Yes. I know it.” - -“But--but---- Isn’t that funny?” - -“No. Only alliterative,” said Molly, wide-eyed. - -Cynthia’s low, mellow laugh broke out suddenly. “And their parents -never even thought of my name, I suppose?” she said. - -“I don’t know. At least, grandmother had no other girls to name. She -liked the ‘C,’ I suppose, because all her forebears were mariners,” -declared Molly, with great seriousness. - -“Did you ever hear the like?” murmured Cynthia Fogg. - -“I wonder how much we can really believe of what Molly says?” said -Beth, pinching the culprit’s ear. “All this about your aunts--and seven -of them!--make me doubt if you have any aunts at all.” - -“Cracky-me!” ejaculated Molly. “Wait till you see ’em.” - -“Shall I ever?” said Beth Baldwin. - -“I have their pictures--drawn by myself--in my room,” said Molly, -solemnly. - -“Come, Jolly Molly!” warned the tall senior behind them, “take the -freshies along with you to the madam.” - -Molly marched briskly in the lead toward the rear of the great hall. -Beth saw several girls looking over the balustrade above; but they -popped back in a hurry, laughing, when they saw themselves observed. -There was, however, from somewhere above, the hum of voices. - -It was after the supper hour. There must be, Beth thought, a recreation -room on the second floor where the pupils gathered in the evening. - -Molly was knocking with gloved knuckles on a door at the rear of -the hall. A brisk voice said, “Come in!” and the girls entered a -very plainly furnished, yet pleasant room. It was a contrast to the -luxurious entrance hall of the school; but everything was good and very -comfortable. - -There was revealed, when the door swung open, a lady in black, with a -white lace collar on her old-fashioned, full-skirted gown and a white -cap on her iron-gray curls. She was sitting in a high-backed chair at -a small desk, on which was an account book. She stood up promptly, in -quite a military fashion, and looked at the trio of youthful visitors -through her eyeglasses. - -She was a small, slight woman, in reality; yet she stood so straight, -and looked so stern and unbending, that she seemed to Beth to be at -least six feet tall. - -“Good evening, young ladies. Miss Granger, I am glad to see you back. -How did you leave your aunts?” - -“All seven of them, Madam?” asked Jolly Molly, roguishly. -“Collectively, do you mean, or shall I give their individual symptoms?” - -“I see you are determined to wear the cap and bells,” said Madam -Hammersly; yet she smiled. “I fancy all seven are reasonably well.” - -“And all seven sent their respects to you, Madam,” declared Molly. - -“They are very kind. Will you introduce these others, Miss Granger?” - -She glanced swiftly from Beth to Cynthia and back again as she asked -the question. - -“This is Miss Beth Baldwin,” Molly said. “She comes from Hudsonvale. I -met her on the boat. We are chums already, Madam Hammersly.” - -The madam nodded and smiled at Beth; but the latter did not feel that -she was expected to take the lady’s hand, nor was it offered. - -“She enters the first-grade, you know, Madam. Can’t she have the room -next to mine?” begged Molly. “You see, she has no friend here but me, -and has never been away from home before.” - -“I will think of that,” promised the madam. Then she looked inquiringly -at Cynthia Fogg. - -“And this, Madam Hammersly,” Molly said, stepping nearer to the lady, -“is a girl we met who is quite needy. She is looking for work. Her name -is Cynthia Fogg. I am very sure she is a nice girl. She came up from -Hudsonvale and shared my friend, Beth’s, stateroom. I told her I would -introduce her to your notice, Madam. She really needs work.” - -The madam looked askance at Jolly Molly for an instant. “This is -scarcely the time,” she began, but Molly interrupted: - -“I know, Madam. I hope you will forgive me. But she had nowhere to -go--no friends and no money. She had a ticket to Jackson City, where -she was going to look for work; but she had nothing in view there, and -no more friends than she has here. Not so many, for Beth and I are her -friends.” - -Cynthia Fogg flashed the jolly girl a single wondering glance. That -anybody should show particular interest in her seemed to amaze her. - -“I--don’t--know,” said Madam Hammersly, slowly, looking at the -applicant thus introduced with her very sharp eyes. “You may sit down, -girl. I will see you after I have finished with the young ladies.” - -She at once made a sharp distinction between the pupils of the school -and the applicant for work. Cynthia calmly turned to seat herself in a -chair in a retired corner of the room. Madam Hammersly looked again at -Beth, and with more interest. - -“And this is Miss Baldwin?” she asked. - -“Beth Baldwin, Madam,” said Molly, naively. “And she’s awfully nice.” - -“I do not doubt it,” said the lady, kindly. “I hope you will find -Rivercliff a pleasant home and school, Miss Baldwin. You will not -see Miss Hammersly until morning. Then you may go to her office for -examination after prayers, which immediately follow breakfast. Miss -Granger can tell you all about the rules of the school--not because she -never breaks them, however,” she added, with grim pleasantry. - -“Go to Miss Small for your supper, Miss Granger. Later I will see if I -can do as you wish about Miss Baldwin’s room. Have your trunks come?” -she suddenly asked Beth. - -“My trunk and bag came with me, Madam,” answered Beth. - -“The remainder of your baggage will come later, I presume?” said madam. - -“Why, that trunk is all I have!” Beth blurted out. - -“Ah? Your parents do not believe in an extensive wardrobe for a -schoolgirl. Perhaps they are quite right,” the lady said placidly. “I -will see, Miss Granger, if I can assign Miss Baldwin to the room of -which you speak. You mean Number Eighty, of which Miss Purcell was the -last occupant?” - -“Yes, Madam.” - -“I will see. You may now go. I wish you both good-night. I hope you -will find your place in this--to you--new world, Miss Baldwin, and find -it easily.” - -Beth thanked her, and then turned to Cynthia before she left the room -in Molly’s wake. “I do hope you will be successful in pleasing her,” -she whispered, warmly squeezing the freckled girl’s hand. - -Then she hurried out. She felt that the madam’s stern eyes were upon -her. This was, indeed, a new world to Beth Baldwin, and she had much -besides book-lessons to learn in it. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -“THE GLASS OF FASHION” - - -The two girls had supper in Miss Small’s room. Miss Small was the under -housekeeper, and a very excellent woman. Beth liked her at once. - -While they were still at the table, a set of Japanese gongs, somewhere -in the corridor, rung by electricity, sounded. This marked half-past -eight. - -“No chance to show you off to the girls to-night, Beth,” said Jolly -Molly. “That’s the signal for us all to retire to our rooms. Of course, -‘lights out’ is not sounded for an hour yet; but visiting back and -forth in the final hour before bedtime is frowned upon by the ‘powers -that be.’ That is why I hope the madam will give you Number Eighty. I -have Eighty-one. There’s a door between and we have the sole use of a -private bathroom. It’s scrumptious!” - -Just then a lady entered whom Beth had not seen before--a -pleasant-faced lady with youthful features but very white hair. Miss -Carroll owned a baby-fair, pink and white complexion. Her lovely hair, -massed high upon her small head, made her look queenly--something, Beth -whispered to Molly, in the style of Marie Antoinette! - -“Is this Miss Baldwin, Molly?” asked the lady. - -“Yes, Miss Carroll,” Jolly Molly said. “She is my new chum.” - -“Yes? She is to occupy Eighty. I hope we shall have only good reports -this half from Eighty and Eighty-one.” - -“My goodness!” whispered Molly to Beth. “It’s fairly uncanny the way -they seem to expect bad reports from us! Madam hinted at it. I don’t -see how they all came to have such a doubtful opinion of you, Bethesda -Elizabeth!” - -“Of me?” gasped the new girl. - -“Why--yes--of course. They _know_ me,” said Molly, demurely. - -Beth laughed. She was sure her new chum had not a spark of real -wickedness in her. But Molly Granger was full of mischief. Beth now -asked about Miss Carroll. - -“Oh, she’s math and Eng--and an awfully nice sort, too.” - -“‘Math’ and ‘Eng?’” repeated Beth, laughing. “Is that her religion and -politics?” - -“No. What she teaches. Mathematics and English.” - -“Oh!” - -“She’s altogether lovely,” Molly said. “That cannot be said of all -the instructors--no, indeed! Good-night, Miss Small,” she added, in a -louder key to the under housekeeper. “Come along, Bethesda! We’ll go up -and say ‘how-do’ to our rooms. Have our bags been sent up, Miss Small?” - -“Jonas has them on the lift, Miss,” the housekeeper said. - -“We’ll walk,” said Molly to Beth. “I don’t like that elevator, -anyway--just because they call it a ‘lift.’ That’s too awfully -‘Henglish’ for me, you know. I am a true-blue American girl--a regular -‘jingoess.’ I shout for the Stars and Stripes, and scream with the -eagle----” - -“Or at a mouse?” suggested Beth, wickedly. - -“Ugh! Yes! Who doesn’t?” - -“I wonder if Cynthia Fogg was hired by Madam Hammersly?” Beth said -aloud, as they mounted the main stairway. - -“I’d really like to know, too,” agreed Molly. - -“You don’t suppose that Cynthia was turned out? Put right out of doors, -I mean, if the madam did not like her looks?” - -“Sh!” whispered Molly. “That’s why I sprang Cynthia on the madam the -way I did. She’s really the most tender-hearted thing you ever saw or -heard of. She only appears stern. And when she understands that that -girl has no home and friends----” - -“You think she will be kind to her?” - -“Sure she will! She’s kind to all the girls who work for her. Only -she’s awfully particular. You ought to see her going around after them -when they sweep and dust. Oh! if they leave a speck of dust---- M-m-m!” - -“I hope she’ll take Cynthia on,” sighed Beth, as they reached the top -of the stairs. - -Two corridors branched away, right and left, from the gallery around -the hall. - -“I tell you how we’ll find out about Cynthia--maybe,” said Molly. -“We’ll ask Jonas. Come on! We want our bags, too. He’ll be waiting at -the elevator in the south wing.” - -She started along the corridor into the wing in question, and then -mounted ahead of Beth another flight to the third floor. They met no -other girls, although some of the doors were open and Beth caught -glimpses of pleasant interiors and groups of gossiping girls. - -They finally came, panting, to the elevator cage, where a shiny-faced -negro boy sat on his stool inside the car, with the bags belonging to -the two girls at his feet. - -“I’m yere, Miss Molly,” he said, grinning at the girl he knew. - -“I see you, Jonas,” she said, collecting her suitcase and bag. “I’ve -had my eyes treated while I was home and I can see pretty well now, -Jonas.” - -“He! he!” giggled the black boy. - -“Say, Jonas! Tell me something.” - -“Yes’m,” said Jonas promptly, as he saw Molly fumbling in her purse. - -“Who is the new girl the madam has just hired?” - -“Lawsy!” chuckled Jonas. “How’d you knowed she hired that girl?” - -“She was in madam’s room while we were,” said Molly, composedly. - -“You mean that tall, freckled-faced girl, don’t you?” asked Jonas. - -“Yes. What is her name?” - -“Cynthie. Dat wot Miss Small called her when she brought her -downstairs,” said Jonas. - -The two girls exchanged satisfied glances. Molly put a small coin in -the boy’s palm. “Come on, Beth,” she said. “Eighty and Eighty-one are -right around this way.” - -A side corridor brought them, followed by Jonas with the bags, to two -doors not far from each other and with the two numbers in question -painted on the lintels. Other doors were open on the corridor and Molly -Granger was hailed by other girls. - -“Hullo, Jolly Molly!” - -“How are the seven pussy cats?” was one mysterious greeting. - -“How’s tricks, Molly?” demanded one girl. “Full of new ones?” - -“Sh! don’t ruin my reputation right at the start,” begged Molly, of -this last girl. - -Beth was peering into the open door of Number Eighty--her room, where -Jonas had already left her bag. Suddenly a voice drawled behind her: - -“Who is that with you, Molly Granger?” - -“My new chum,” said Molly, sharply; and Beth turned to see who had -first spoken. - -A girl stood at the open door directly across the hall from Number -Eighty. She was a pale girl in a light blue kimono of heavy, beautiful -silk, with silver dragons worked upon it--a most beautiful garment, -Beth thought. The girl herself was languid in her manner, had pale -eyelashes and hair as well as bloodless complexion. Indeed, she looked -as though some pigment was lacking in her system entirely, she was so -positively colorless. - -“What’s her name, Molly?” drawled this apparition. - -“This is Miss Beth Baldwin. Miss Maude Grimshaw, Beth. You live right -opposite to each other,” whispered Molly, in conclusion, “and, believe -me! you have opposite natures.” - -Miss Grimshaw had given Beth a cold little nod and had gone back into -her room. - -“What a beautiful kimono that is she wears,” Beth said calmly. - -“Maude is the one of whom I told you,” Molly sniffed. “Our ‘glass of -fashion and mold of form.’” - -“Oh! the dreadfully fashionable girl?” - -“Fashion is no name for it!” groaned Molly. “She sports the finest -frocks at Rivercliff. She turns all our heads. Oh! she’s a charmer.” - -“Why,” said Beth, “I fancy you don’t like her, Molly.” - -“Cracky-me!” ejaculated Molly, round-eyed. “How did you come to guess -that?” - -Beth saw that her friend felt rather keenly on this subject, so she did -not probe deeper. She had not seen Miss Grimshaw long enough, herself, -to judge the pale girl. But Molly seemed to be such a universal -favorite, and so kind and merry with everybody else, that Beth wondered -about Maude Grimshaw. As it chanced, Beth was soon to learn just what -her neighbor in the blue silk kimono was. - -At the present time, however, the girl from Hudsonvale was more -interested in the room she was to occupy. There were small girls -in the school who roomed together--“a whole raft of primes in each -dormitory,” Molly explained--but the older pupils of Rivercliff had -each a room of her own and they could live as privately as they could -at home. And when she had seen them, Beth thought Numbers Eighty and -Eighty-one must be the nicest rooms in the whole school. - -“Which they are--about,” Molly said, when Beth expressed this belief. -“I expected to have to fight for Eighty-one when I came back this fall. -You see, Greba Purcell had your room for four years. She left in June -just before graduation. Right away Princess Fancyfoot----” - -“Who?” gasped Beth. - -“That’s what I sometimes call Maude Grimshaw. She wanted a couple of -her ‘Me toos’ to have Eighty and Eighty-one----” - -“What do you mean by ‘Me toos?’” - -“Why, girls who agree always with Princess Fancyfoot. There are ‘sich,’ -my dear, though you mightn’t suppose it,” Molly said, laughing. -“‘For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered -together.’” - -“Oh, Molly! I wouldn’t speak so,” begged Beth. - -“Oh, pshaw! _Grim_-shaw, I might say,” chuckled Molly. “You don’t know -her yet.” - -But there was so much to see and so many new ideas to grasp, that -Beth did not that evening give much thought to the possibility of an -unpleasant neighbor. Her own room was of good size with two windows. -The bathroom between Number Eighty and Eighty-one was tiled and had a -shower. - -“You see,” explained Molly, “Greba’s father had this bath put in at -his own expense for her particular use. Miss Process, who had my room -before I got it, enjoyed Miss Purcell’s friendship, too. Oh! Greba -was an awfully nice girl--and her father could have bought and sold -Princess Fancyfoot’s father half a dozen times over and never missed -the money. The Purcells are a different breed of rich folks from the -Grimshaws--believe me! - -“And say! we’re two lucky girls to get these rooms. First grades don’t -usually get their pick of accommodations. No, indeedy!” - -It was not until the next day, however, that Beth realized the truth -of this statement of Molly’s--and learned, too, what a very unpleasant -neighbor she had in Maude Grimshaw. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -FINDING HER PLACE - - -In each corridor was a set of the Japanese gongs, and Beth Baldwin lay -awake the next morning and listened to the electrically rung bells -beginning at the top of the great house and in both wings, and repeated -all down the line. They were mellow bells and pleasant to hear--and -Beth did not mind rising at seven o’clock. - -Although lessons did not begin until Monday, and not more than half -the girls had yet arrived, the discipline of the school began on this -Saturday morning. Breakfast was at eight; prayers three-quarters of -an hour later. After this general gathering in the general hall, Beth -found her way to the office, and to her first interview with the -principal of Rivercliff. - -Miss Hammersly was of small stature like her mother. But there was -scarcely anything else in the principal’s appearance, Beth thought, -that reminded the new pupil of the stern and military madam. - -Miss Hammersly had curly hair, it is true, as had her mother. Possibly -she might have been very pretty as a girl; but the duties and trials of -her position had marred her forehead with lines of care, and had tinged -her hair with gray. She had very bright eyes like the madam’s own; but -they often softened and became dreamy as she spoke--the eyes of a truly -imaginative person. - -Imagination was the root of Miss Hammersly’s success. Had she not -possessed it, and in abundance, she could never have brought this great -school (and that twenty years before) to a standard of excellence quite -remarkable. - -Fortunately, she had obtained the patronage of wealthy people from the -start. Without sacrificing her standard of excellence that put her -graduates considerably above those from other preparatory schools of -the State, Miss Hammersly managed to satisfy the parents of girls on -whom much more money than was good for them was spent. - -Not that all her pupils’ parents were like Maude Grimshaw’s. Miss -Hammersly had to coax Maude and her kind along the thorny paths of -learning. Yet some of the brightest girls at the school were daughters -of extremely wealthy people. Wealth was not a barrier which it was -impossible to hurdle! - -“I wrote to your principal at the Hudsonvale high school,” Miss -Hammersly said to Beth Baldwin, “and he gave me an excellent report -of you. He likewise tells me that you are striving to earn a part of -the money to pay for your courses here at Rivercliff. Is this so, Miss -Baldwin?” - -“Yes, Miss Hammersly,” Beth said, rather flutteringly. - -“I am glad to have such independent girls as you with us,” the lady -said, smiling kindly. “We have too many of the ‘parasite’ class in this -world. Welcome to the producer! Be something and do something in the -world; that is a good motto. - -“There are ways open to bright girls to earn money, not only in -vacation time, but during the semester. Later, when you have proved -your ability, there may be pupil teaching. Some of our primary pupils -are not forward children and they need the encouragement of older -girls. I shall be glad to make use of you in this way, Elizabeth -Baldwin, if you prove yourself capable.” - -The lady spoke very kindly to Beth all through this interview, -evidently wishing to convince the new pupil that she was just as -welcome to Rivercliff School as those girls from wealthier homes. Yet -Beth had already gained an impression that the tone of the school was -one of fashion and idle show. - -At prayers, better than at breakfast, Beth had been able to gain a view -of the school--or of such of its membership as was present--and she -saw that there was scarcely a girl among them all as plainly dressed as -she. - -Even Molly Granger seemed very fancifully clothed beside Beth. Beth’s -traveling dress was a very good one. As she had confessed to Molly, -that, and the poplin she had worn to Larry Haven’s party, were her two -best gowns. The other frocks Mrs. Baldwin had made for her daughter -were of good wearing material, but inexpensive. - -“My, but you look like a quiet little brown mouse!” Molly had said that -morning, when she saw Beth dressed to go down to breakfast. - -And even that pleasant comment was a criticism, Beth now realized. This -was truly a new world to her. She had no idea that girls from fourteen -to eighteen could be so fashionable. - -There was a rustle of silk petticoats as the girls took seats beside -her in the hall; the laces displayed were real; the ribbons flaunted -were of the very best quality; and almost every girl she saw wore more -or less jewelry. - -Beth tried the effect of Larry’s present at the collar of her simple -gingham when she went back to Number Eighty after her interview with -Miss Hammersly, and saw immediately that the pin did not go at all with -such a frock. Even Larry knew more about what girls wore at a school -like Rivercliff than she and her mother had known! It was a very -pretty pin; but to wear it with a gingham dress was certainly not the -thing. - -Jolly Molly said nothing to her about her appearance save that first -comment. But Beth began to be afraid that her commonplace garments -would shame her new chum before the other girls. Molly did not dress -in such expensive gowns as many of the girls; but her seven aunts -certainly did not restrict their niece to plain clothing. Beth saw her -chum’s two trunks unpacked in wonder. - -It did not take Beth long to unpack her trunk. It was a small affair -at best, and she had had hard work to find enough to fill it properly -before leaving home. She hung her dresses in the closet very quickly -and shut the door. She was actually ashamed to have Molly or any of the -other girls examine her possessions. - -The girls were continually running back and forth from room to room, -chattering and displaying their new possessions, and having a good time -generally. For, there being no lessons on this day, there was naturally -more freedom allowed than usual. - -Molly, Beth found, had a wealth of ornaments, photographs, pennants, -Indian beadwork, a real Navajo blanket, cushions galore, and a -multitude of other articles for the adornment of Number Eighty-one. -Many of these possessions she had left in the school storeroom during -the vacation months, and now brought them forth. - -Beth had brought with her photographs of the home folk, of course. -She had also her own pretty toilet set and various nicknacks that she -fancied particularly. But Number Eighty looked like a poor place indeed -beside Molly’s room. - -“Oh, it takes a year or two at school for a girl to collect sufficient -‘lares and penates’ for her room to look real homey,” declared Molly, -when Beth mentioned this difference in the appearance of their rooms. - -“It’s really scarcely worth while my spreading around my poor little -possessions,” laughed Beth. “There are not enough of them to make a -show in this big room.” - -“Quite true, Miss Baldwin,” drawled a voice at the open door of Number -Eighty. “And, therefore, before you unpack any more of your things I’ve -a proposal to make to you.” - -“Hullo! here’s Princess Fancyfoot,” muttered Molly Granger. - -“Good morning, Miss Grimshaw,” said Beth, placidly, to the girl from -across the hall. - -“I want you to know my friend, Miss Laura Hedden,” went on Maude, with -a most patronizing air. “Miss Baldwin, Laura.” - -Laura was a very dark girl--as dark as Maude was fair. Instead of -having Beth’s brilliant brunette coloring, however, Laura had a muddy -complexion. Her straight hair was black and her sharp eyes suspicious. -She had not a word to say for herself, but nodded to Beth rather -sullenly. - -“We’ve come to talk to you, Miss Baldwin,” said Maude Grimshaw, looking -significantly at Molly. - -“Cracky-me!” cried the latter. “Is anything you have to say ever a -secret, Maude?” - -“Not if you get hold of it, Molly,” said the other girl, promptly. -“That is why I have inquired of Miss Baldwin if we may speak with her -alone.” - -“Well, I declare!” ejaculated Molly, and before Beth could interfere -her chum had flounced into the passage between the two rooms and banged -shut the door. - -“Now that you have driven my friend away,” Beth said, rather sharply, -“perhaps you will be kind enough to tell me what you want, Miss -Grimshaw?” - -“Shut that door behind you, Laura,” said Maude, looking at the hall -door by which she and her friend had just entered. “She may come around -to listen if it is open. Oh, Miss Baldwin, don’t look at me in that -way. We know Molly Granger rather better than you do, I fancy. I -understand that you only met her on the boat coming up to school?” - -“That is true,” admitted Beth, quietly. - -“So Brownie said. Well! we know Molly. Don’t we, Laura?” - -“Oh! don’t we!” echoed the dark girl, and immediately Beth guessed that -Laura Hedden must be one of the “Me toos” of whom Molly had spoken. She -was Maude Grimshaw’s satellite. - -“Is--is it Molly you have come to speak about?” asked Beth. “For if it -is, I shall call her in. I would not discuss any friend in such a way -as this.” - -Maude laughed, but her pale eyes flashed. “Oh, no. It is your own -affairs of which I wish to speak.” - -“Thank you for your interest, Miss Grimshaw,” said Beth. “But I do not -understand.” - -“Well!” exclaimed the rather exasperated Maude. “You came up the river -with another girl--a girl whom the madam has hired as maid. Isn’t that -so?” - -“Yes.” - -“She’s a friend of yours, of course?” - -“Cynthia? Certainly.” - -“Then I presume--by that and other unmistakable marks--that you are -not from very well-to-do people, Miss Baldwin?” demanded Maude, -complacently. - -“My father earns three dollars and seventy-five cents a day; my mother -made my dresses; I expect to pay for a part of my tuition here by some -work--of what kind I do not yet know.” Beth said it all defiantly, her -black eyes flashing. - -“Quite so,” Maude rejoined, as though all this was pleasing to her. -“Very commendable on your part, I’m sure, too, Miss Baldwin. And I can -show you how you may at once aid yourself--and nobody be the wiser.” - -Beth looked at her curiously, but said nothing. - -“I have always wanted one of my friends to have Number Eighty,” Maude -hurried on to say. “I’d like to get Eighty-one for another, too; but -Molly Granger is a regular dog in a manger. You, however, have more -sense, I should suppose.” - -“Thank you, Miss Grimshaw,” said Beth, but in a tone that did not seem -entirely grateful. - -“Now, you see what we’re after, Miss Baldwin,” said Maude, coolly. “I -want you to exchange rooms with Laura. Really, she has a very nice room -in the other wing; but she is too far away. She is quite necessary -to my comfort--really, she is,” continued the girl. “And I am sure -you will find the girls over there quite as pleasant as those on this -corridor.” - -“Thank you, Miss Grimshaw. I do not care to change,” Beth said, quite -calmly. “Of course, you will excuse me?” - -“But you haven’t heard my proposal yet,” Maude hastened to say. “I -expect to pay you for the accommodation. One doesn’t get something for -nothing in this world--I have found that out!” and she laughed rather -scornfully. - -“I do not understand you,” said Beth, sharply. - -“Why, you will do something or other for money to help pay your tuition -here. I don’t suppose it much matters what as long as it is not too -hard. We have had girls like you at Rivercliff before, Miss Baldwin. -Miss Hammersly rather prides herself upon having about so many each -year, I believe,” she added, carelessly. - -“Still I do not understand you!” cried Beth again, her eyes flashing. - -“No? Really? I fancied I spoke plainly enough. I will pay you for the -exchange you make with Laura, Miss Baldwin,” said Maude, rather sharply. - -“I do not care to make the exchange.” - -“But I will pay you for it--don’t you understand?” demanded the other -girl, exasperated. - -“You cannot pay me for it--for I refuse,” said Beth. “I like this room. -I like my neighbors--all but you, Miss Grimshaw. I do not care to make -the exchange. Now, am I plain enough?” - -“My goodness me!” giggled Maude, her pale face suddenly reddening in -a very ugly way. “Nobody would call you pretty I should hope, Miss -Baldwin.” - -“Then I am quite understood?” repeated Beth, ignoring this remark. - -“I suppose you think your room is worth more than we can afford to -pay?” sneered Maude. - -“You have struck it--exactly,” said Beth, with flashing eyes. “You -think that I have a price,” she continued. “Perhaps you have been in -the habit of dealing with girls who will sell anything they possess for -money. I have made Molly my friend. If I exchanged in this way it would -look as though I did not appreciate her friendship----” - -“Pooh!” exclaimed Maude. “You don’t know her as well as we do. Does -she, Laura?” - -“I should say not,” sniffed the “Me too.” - -“I am glad I do not know Molly in the way you seem to think you know -her,” Beth said, so angry that her voice shook now. “Will you please -go? The room will remain mine as long as Miss Hammersly allows me to -keep it.” - -“Oh, come on!” snapped Maude, finally, grabbing Laura Hedden by the arm -and marching with her out of Number Eighty. - -Beth was glad to see her go; but she wanted a few moments to recover -herself. This was an unexpectedly unpleasant incident, and the girl -from Hudsonvale shed tears over it--and shed them frankly. As the door -had closed she had heard a muttered “show such girls their place.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -THE SUNNY SIDE - - -“Peek-a-boo!” - -Beth started from her chair, hastily wiped her eyes, and turned to see -Molly Granger peering in at the door of the passage between the two -rooms. - -“Oh, my dear!” cried Beth, with half a sob. “I thought you had gone.” - -“Did you hear me bang the door?” demanded Molly, standing culpritwise -before her chum with her hands behind her back. “Well! when that door -is banged _it doesn’t latch_! There was method in my madness.” - -“Goodness!” - -“So you thought I had truly gone and wouldn’t hear all that nasty -Princess Fancyfoot had to say?” - -“Why--why---- Did you?” - -“Did I what?” asked Molly. - -“Hear her?” - -“I listened,” proclaimed Molly, unblushingly. “I glory in the fact. I -am an eavesdropper. By so doing I learned good instead of evil about -myself. And I learned something else.” - -Beth was silent. - -“I learned what a perfectly loyal friend you are, Beth Baldwin! You are -a dear!” and Molly flung her arms about the other’s neck and kissed her -warmly. Beth returned the caress; she had never met a girl before whom -she found as dear as this jolly creature. - -“What a really hateful thing that Maude Grimshaw is!” said the new -pupil, after a pause. - -“What did I tell you?” cried Molly. “And so sneering! Not that what she -says can hurt _us_. Maybe she would have given you a tidy sum to change -rooms with Laura Hedden.” - -Beth laughed and tossed her head. “I’ll get money other ways--or go -without,” she said. - -“Is it really a fact that you need to earn money if you stay here -in school? Are your folks as poor as you told Maude?” asked Molly, -hesitatingly. - -“I’m all right for a year. But after that--the deluge!” Beth replied. - -“Well! that is too far ahead to worry about. Lots of things can happen -in a year,” agreed the happy-go-lucky Molly. “Maybe some rich old uncle -will die and leave you money.” - -“But there isn’t any rich uncle--nor any uncle of any kind,” laughed -Beth. - -“Well! that’s good, too,” declared the optimistic Molly. “There won’t -be any poor uncle, then, to come and live on your folks. Always be -thankful!” - -Jolly Molly’s sunny disposition was just the tonic Beth needed after -her interview with Maude Grimshaw. In fact, a naturally serious and -thoughtful girl like Beth easily found her counterpart in Molly Granger. - -“We live on the sunny side of the street,” Molly frequently proclaimed. -“So why not smile? Send dull Grouch flying to the tall timber. ‘Eat, -drink, and be merry, for to-morrow’--there are lessons!” - -Which was not literally true, for this was said on a Saturday. That day -Molly spent in introducing her new chum to all the nice girls she knew. -As, after all, “nice” was a very elastic word with Molly Granger, the -girls Beth met were of all sorts. - -Yet they had one thing in common. They were all well dressed. Beth saw -plainly that her simple wardrobe, prepared by her mother with such -tender care and love, was going to set her a little apart from the -other girls, and mark her as from another world than theirs. Some of -the good friends of Molly, even, looked askance at Beth’s gingham. - -However, Beth determined to say nothing in her letter, which she -retired to her own room to write, about this condition of affairs. She -put nothing but love and happiness in the epistle to the family at -home, although she had overheard one girl ask Molly: - -“Say! does she wear that ugly calico because she likes it or on a bet?” - -The jolly girl, however, had foreseen the comments and the amazement -of her friends over Beth’s plain clothes; and wherever she could, she -repeated (and the story lost nothing in her telling) the interview Beth -had had with Maude Grimshaw. - -“That’s the sort of girl Beth Baldwin is,” Molly said, out of her new -chum’s hearing, of course. “She is true blue, she is! And it isn’t that -she doesn’t need the money. She does. She’s only got enough to pay for -this first year’s schooling, she tells me; and she is determined to -get three years at Rivercliff in order to teach. I know she’s the kind -of girl who will succeed. Most of us here at Rivercliff are a lazy -pack----” - -“Speak for yourself, Jolly Molly!” cried one. - -“That’s all right, Bertha Pilling. I don’t have to hire a prime to come -in every morning and put a cold key down the neck of my nightgown to -get me out of bed in time for breakfast,” shot back Molly, and the -other girls giggled delightedly, for Bertha was a lie-abed. - -“At any rate,” Molly continued, “Beth wants to earn all she can toward -her next year’s tuition in these two semesters.” - -“Why! what can a girl like her do?” demanded a senior. “Fancy trying to -earn money at Rivercliff. She might borrow it.” - -“Beth Baldwin isn’t of the borrowing kind,” said Molly, staunchly. -“She’s earned some money this summer. She told me so.” - -“What doing? Picking berries?” cried one girl. “She comes from the -country, doesn’t she? I have a cousin who lives on a farm, and she -earned six dollars one summer picking berries. Her father put enough -more to it to pay for a piano and Madge is always telling about her -piano that she earned by picking berries!” - -When the laughter over this story had passed, Molly said: - -“Why, Beth Baldwin posed for an artist. She told me the woman used her -in painting a magazine cover.” - -“What magazine?” demanded the senior, suddenly diving for the magazine -shelf of her study table. “I thought I’d seen that face before.” - -“Yes,” said Molly, whimsically. “Beth wears her face in front at -present.” - -“Smarty! Miss Baldwin has rather a striking phiz.” - -“Hasn’t she?” cried the enthusiastic Molly. - -“And here she is!” exclaimed another girl, who had likewise been going -over the magazines. “No mistaking it for anybody else. That’s Miss -Baldwin, sure enough,” and she showed the cover of the magazine so that -all could see. - -“How clever!” drawled another girl. “Fancy posing for a famous artist.” - -Molly was delighted that she had interested these girls--some of the -wealthiest in the school--in her chum. But a very unpleasant experience -was to arise out of the event for Beth. That, however, was in the -future. - -Beth had time in this first very busy day at the school to think of -Cynthia Fogg; but it was not until Sunday morning that she saw the -freckled girl again. - -On Sunday morning the rising bells rang an hour later than on other -days. Beth, having entirely recovered from the weariness caused by her -journey and her broken sleep on the boat, awoke at her usual time--and -they had been early risers at the little cottage on Bemis Street. Mr. -Baldwin always went to the locomotive works at half-past six. - -The sun was just peering above the eastern hills. Beth’s windows faced -the south and the farther shore of the river. Mist was rising from the -surface of the stream, and the few boats plying up and down the current -were scarcely outlined in it. - -Up on the bluff the air was clear enough, and the banks of red and -yellow branches across the river were beautiful in appearance. -Up-stream Beth could see tall pillars of smoke rising through the fog -from the factory chimneys at Jackson City--not as many of them smoking -as usual, however, because of the day. - -The air was too sharp for her to stand at the window for long; she went -about her bath and her dressing so as not to arouse Molly in the next -room. She put on the dress she had traveled in. She thought she would -wear that on Sundays. Then she ventured out of her room and along the -corridors to the front stairway. - -She saw nobody, nor did she hear anybody until she had descended to the -second floor, and there, as she started down the staircase, she heard a -mighty yawn from the hall below. - -Beth peered over the balustrade. There was somebody stirring below -and in a moment she caught sight of a girl in cap and apron, waving a -feather-duster at the pictures as though she expected, by so doing, to -conjure the dust off of them. - -Beth went down quietly, intending to go out by the front door; but at -the bottom of the flight of stairs she came face to face with the maid, -and saw that it was Cynthia Fogg. - -“My aunt!” ejaculated the freckled girl, smiling as though she really -was glad to see Beth. “Isn’t this the greatest place you were ever in?” - -“I think it’s quite wonderful,” admitted Beth. - -“So many girls! I never dreamed of so many before--never!” laughed -Cynthia. - -Beth wondered what kind of asylum it was from which Cynthia had run -away. - -“How do they treat you, Beth Baldwin?” asked the maid, curiously. - -“Oh, very nicely--those to whom I have been introduced,” Beth replied. - -“Don’t you find them proud and stuck up at all?” was the shrewd query -that followed. - -“Well--there may be some who are addicted to that sin,” laughed Beth. - -“They tell me there are none but rich girls here,” went on Cynthia -Fogg. “Philo Grimshaw’s daughter is one. Philo Grimshaw, you know, -is the big soap manufacturer. The Grimshaws never let people forget -that they have money, and people can never forget how the money is -obtained,” and Cynthia’s mellow laugh did not sound as kind as usual. - -Beth thought it not right to discuss the characters of the girls with -one of the maids. Perhaps Miss Hammersly or the madam would not like -it. So the girl from Hudsonvale said: - -“Do you like the madam, Cynthia?” - -Cynthia looked up from her dusting, and there was a queer look on her -features. “Hist!” she said. “Here she comes. Watch her.” - -Beth had not heard her coming, but looking upward she saw the madam at -the head of the stairs. She had not met her since the first evening -when she and Molly, with Cynthia Fogg, had had their interview with -her. Now, while Madam Hammersly was descending the staircase, Beth had -a better opportunity to scrutinize her. - -She certainly was a very prim old lady. She was dressed in rustling -silk, every fold of which lay just so. Her cap was wonderful in its -starchiness; the lace at her throat and wrists was beautiful. In one -hand she carried a fine cambric handkerchief which, now and then as -she descended the stairs, she touched to the spindles of the railing -or flirted into the carvings, glancing at it sharply through her -eyeglasses to see if any dust lurked there. - -Cynthia winked drolly at Beth. “If she catches us leaving anything -undone,” whispered the freckled girl, “good-night!” - -Beth stepped aside, waiting to greet the madam when she reached the -hall. The lady greeted her with a smile. - -“Good morning, Miss Baldwin. You are an early riser,” she said. - -“Yes, Madam. I am used to getting up early. May I go out upon the -grounds?” Beth asked. - -“Surely. Take a run about the estate. There is just frost enough in the -air to make it invigorating.” - -Then, as Beth turned toward the door, she heard the madam say to -Cynthia: - -“There is dust on the balustrade. See my handkerchief, girl? Begin at -the top of the flight and come down carefully. I will have thoroughness -from you girls, or I will have nothing.” - -Beth heard Cynthia utter a faint groan. Then she slipped out of the -door into the open air. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -A GREAT DEAL TO LEARN - - -Molly Granger possessed at least one talent besides the ability to -extract fun out of most things. She could draw quite remarkably for a -girl who had had so little instruction; and made many really clever -cartoons in black and white. - -Over her dressing-table was a long study in feline humor; as Beth -called it when she first observed the piece, “a yard of cats.” - -“Isn’t it cute?” she cried. “You never did it?” - -“Yes, I did. From life,” Molly said, smiling at the row of kittens -tenderly. - -“From _life_? Nonsense! How could you get cats to pose for you? And -they are too, too funnily human!” - -“Didn’t get the cats to pose. But my aunts did. I flatter myself I have -hit off the characteristics of the dears.” - -“Your aunts?” gasped Beth, horrified. - -“Yes, my dear. All seven of them.” - -“There are seven of the cats,” admitted Beth, weakly. “But you never -deliberately caricatured your aunts like that?” - -“They’re not caricatures. My aunts are regular tabbies, anyway; they -don’t mind. They begin to look upon my talent for drawing cats as a -‘gift.’ You see, Bethesda,” said Molly, laughing again now, “I can draw -cats, and I can’t draw folks. If I ever attempt your portrait, you’ll -have to appear as a cat. Whatever artistic talent I have, I’ll never be -a portrait painter. So I told the aunts I wanted to draw them in black -and white, and they all sat for me.” - -Beth was as much amazed as she was amused. - -“The grave looking cat at the end, with spectacles and a book, is Aunt -Celia; the next with the knitting and goloshes on her feet is Aunt -Catherine. She always either wears overshoes or carries them. Auntie -Cora is the cute little blue kitten with the fan. - -“Aunt Carrie stands there in her wedding finery--she still has hopes. -She is engaged to a sea captain who comes home for three weeks about -once in three years. Doesn’t she look too sweet for anything? Aunt -Charlotte is the sly, plump one--you _know_ she’s just lapped up all -the cream. Aunt Charlotte manages to get the best of everything. - -“Aunt Cassie is the one in furs and mittens; she’s always cold. I -believe she’d get chilblains in July. On the end is Aunt Cyril--you can -see she is an aristocrat, the dear! I’m quite proud of my aunties--but -nobody ever called them a yard of cats before,” and Molly giggled. - -Beth Baldwin’s introduction to Rivercliff School was not all fun -and frolic. On Monday came lessons--the beginning of the fall and -winter semester. Miss Hammersly and her teachers were quite firm in -their intention of making the students of Rivercliff work. And few of -them--lazy or otherwise--cared to have a monthly report go home, across -which was printed “defective.” - -Miss Hammersly’s idea was that girls came to her to study--and for no -other reason. This was not a boarding school where the pupils could -work or not, as they pleased. “Ours is not an institution for the -encouragement of girls lacking in gray-matter,” Miss Hammersly was wont -to say. “I am very sorry for the defectives; but three such reports -send them home.” - -Beth found that the working hours of the school were fully occupied, -and that the recreation hours were not long enough for any of the -students to get very deeply into mischief. - -Even jolly Molly had to repress her super-abundant spirits; or rather, -after being under the ministrations of the instructors of Rivercliff -School all day, by supper time the most spirited girl in the school was -subdued. - -“Goodness!” confessed Molly to her chum, coming wearily into Number -Eighty and dropping an armful of books on Beth’s study table, “I -feel like a wornout dishcloth that’s been drawn sixty times through -a knothole! Miss Carroll has just about finished me this time, Beth -Baldwin. If I don’t get up to-morrow morning, just write my seven -aunties that I died in a good cause--in an attempt to acquire all the -knowledge in the world within an infinitesimal length of time.” - -“Oh, Molly! it’s not so bad as all that,” Beth said, laughing, though -rather ruefully, for she found the system followed at Rivercliff -entirely different from that at the Hudsonvale high school. Larry -had been right. Three years at this establishment--if she could keep -up--would put her a long lap ahead in education. - -Her own end of the table was piled high with books, for the two chums -studied each evening together--and preferably in Number Eighty. -Eighty-one was too apt to be the Mecca of girls who desired to scamp -their work and barely get through on the monthly reports “by the skin -of their teeth.” - -“Which is a perfectly proper expression, and _not_ slang, Beth Baldwin, -no matter what Miss Carroll may say,” Molly declared. “Who was it said -it--Job or the psalmist?” - -“That is your question--you answer it,” replied Beth. “But what do you -make out of this awful passage Miss Felice has given us to construe? -It’s a heart-breaker, isn’t it?” - -They set to work. They were not the only studious girls on the -corridor; but there was a good deal of noise outside, and Beth closed -the door to shut some of it out. Having retired to Number Eighty, Molly -hoped her old friends would not annoy her. - -“I am determined to delight the aunts this year,” Molly said. “I’ve -told them I have a new chum and that she is studious. Maybe it’s -catching.” - -This evening was within the first fortnight of the term. Naturally, -Beth had not made many friends as yet. The girl who attends strictly -to her lessons in a boarding school is slower in making friendships -than she who is careless of her standing on the reports. So the gay -ones were not apt to come and pound on the door of Number Eighty for -admittance. - -Not that Beth did not take plenty of recreation. Indeed, that was -compulsory to a certain extent. There was a physical instructor and -a splendid gymnasium--the latter a handsome building, the gift of a -wealthy graduate of Miss Hammersly’s establishment. - -There was a splendid athletic field, too, with a cinder track, courts -for basket-ball and tennis; and at the foot of the bluff, which was -reached in the school wagonette, was a boathouse with a number of two, -four, and eight-oared shells, as well as canoes and a power launch of -some size. - -Nothing was neglected that would add to the physical development, as -well as the mental well-being, of the girls. Miss Hammersly did not -graduate weaklings in any particular. - -Save Maude Grimshaw, such girls as had spoken to Beth had been -kind. But except Molly and a few of her intimate friends, nobody at -Rivercliff had paid very much attention to her. She had been popular in -Hudsonvale, and she missed Mary Devine and her other schoolmates who -had deferred to her there. - -She did not even have an opportunity of talking with Cynthia Fogg, the -strange girl who had come up to Rivercliff with her on the steamboat. -She saw Cynthia now and then, going about her duties. She waited at -a neighboring table to Beth’s in the dining-room. But there could be -no communication of any extended character between the “young lady -students” and the maids employed at the school. Madam Hammersly’s eye -was too sharp. - -This night, while Beth and Molly were deeply engaged in their books, -both suddenly looked up to see an unexpected figure standing in the -doorway of the passage into Molly’s room. It was that of a girl in -a kimono with a red bag over her head, masking her completely, for -there were only two little holes in the bag to see through. It was a -startling apparition, and Molly exclaimed: - -“Cracky-me! How you scared us! Go away--do!” - -The girl behind the mask of turkey-red giggled. Then she stalked -forward and placed two folded red bags, like her own, on the study -table. - -“Number Sixty-two. Ten-thirty,” she said, in a sepulchral voice, and -immediately marched out again by the way she had come. - -“Well!” gasped Beth. - -But Molly began to giggle now. “It’s just awful--this trying to be -a ‘grind.’ My poor, poor Bethesda! your chum’s former reputation is -against our ever being the twin Minervas of Rivercliff School.” - -“But what does this mean?” demanded Beth, trying on one of the bags. - -“Kimono party--sometimes called red-head party. You can see what the -bags are for. Unless you are familiar with the kimonos of the whole -school, you can’t be sure of who is at the party--save the legal -occupant of the room in which the party is held. And sometimes the -girls exchange kimonos. So that helps.” - -“Helps! How?” - -“Why, if we are caught, and can run, the teacher or monitor who catches -us can’t see who we are with the bags over our heads. And those who are -captured can’t tell on the rest, for everybody’s masked and we can’t be -sure. See?” - -“Are you going to-night?” Beth asked. - -“What number did she say?” rejoined Molly. - -“Sixty-two.” - -“Let’s! That’s Mamie Dunn’s,” cried Beth. - -“Aren’t there two Sixty-twos?” - -“Oh, the kimono parties have to be wing affairs. Guests can’t slip over -from one wing to the other. They have to be localized.” - -“Why?” asked the curious Beth. - -“Why, there’s always somebody on watch at the top of the main flight of -stairs--and there’s no other way to go from wing to wing than by that -cross-corridor.” - -“On watch all night, do you mean?” - -“Sure. For fire protection; likewise if anybody should be taken sick in -the night.” - -“I suppose,” said Beth, reflectively, “that these after-hours parties -are against the rules of the school?” - -“I suppose they are,” admitted Molly, with serious mouth but twinkling -eyes; “but I never really asked.” - -Beth laughed. “Did you ever get caught at one of these parties?” - -“Never mind about that! We’ll go to-night. All work and no play makes -Jill just as dull as her brother.” - -“We’ll do our tasks first, dear,” said Beth. - -She was not a prude; but she felt herself in honor bound to keep up -with all her lessons. She had been at Rivercliff long enough to know -that she could not earn her diploma in any easy way. To fall back one -recitation would mean hard effort to make it up. There were no delays -for the slow and inattentive under Miss Hammersly. - -Beth, of course, had written home several times. She had told the -home folk of all the interesting things she had encountered thus far -in her school life, and about her teachers and the students as she -had met them with the one exception of Maude Grimshaw. She had not -mentioned that haughty and purse-proud girl. Beth hoped she would never -be obliged to come in contact with Maude again. She thought that, by -letting her unpleasant neighbor strictly alone, Maude would let her -alone. - -She was yet to learn the fallacy of this belief--as well as much else -that Beth could never have learned anywhere but at Rivercliff School. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -THE RED MASQUE - - -The two chums working in Number Eighty, South Wing, Rivercliff School, -closed their books before the retiring bell rang at nine-thirty, fully -satisfied with what they had accomplished. - -“No use climbing into bed, Bethesda,” said Molly, with a yawn. “Just -get into something comfortable--of course, your kimono--and we’ll put -out the lights at the proper time.” - -“Why--will anybody look in?” - -“Perhaps. You never can tell. It is according to who is on watch -to-night. We never know whose duty it is. Miss Crouch is perfectly -sneaking----” - -“Oh, Molly!” - -“Yes, she is. She wears sneaks when she is on guard, and she often -opens our doors and looks in. And if you lock your door she is likely -to rap on it and wake you up. Says she wants to be sure you are all -right.” - -“Are we supposed to leave our doors unlocked?” Beth asked. - -“Why, you can do as you please. But if Miss Crouch feels like looking -into your room in the middle of the night, she’ll get you up to open -the door. She’s a suspicious creature.” - -“For no reason, I suppose?” laughed Beth. - -“Never mind!” Then Molly’s voice dropped to a whisper: “I’ll show you -how to fool Miss Crouch.” - -“What about?” asked Beth. - -“If she should feel it necessary to look in while we are gone--see -here!” - -Molly rolled the extra blanket which lay upon the foot of Beth’s bed -into the semblance of a human figure and put it under the bedclothes. -There it looked like a person asleep, wrapped head and heels in the -coverings. Then she made the same masquerade in her own bed. - -They sat in the dark and told each other “giggly” stories in whispers -until it was about half-past ten and the whole school seemed buried in -sleep. But there is scarcely anything more uncertain than a boarding -school between retiring hour and the first bell in the morning. That is -an axiom known to all instructors of experience. - -When the two chums ventured out with the red bags pulled down to their -shoulders, there were other “red-heads” flitting about the corridors. -They slipped in and out of the various doors like red-topped ghosts. -It was evidently to be a large party in Mamie Dunn’s room. - -“Sh! Who’s on watch?” one unknown asked Beth. - -“Oh! I’m sure I don’t know,” returned the new girl, and at once the -girl asking the question laughed, and said: - -“So you’re the new one, aren’t you? I thought I’d know your voice. And -now I’ll know your kimono.” - -“That’s Stella--didn’t you hear?” said Molly. “She caught you.” - -“Oh! aren’t you supposed to know each other?” asked Beth. - -“Just as well if we’re not identified. I’ve got on a new kimono. I’m -just going to keep it for these red-head parties. You get one, and then -we’ll fool ’em.” - -The question was repeated several times before the chums reached -Sixty-two: - -“Who’s on watch?” - -“I wager it’s Miss Crouch,” jolly Molly said, but nobody would have -recognized her voice. - -“Is that you, Phoebe Mills?” - -“No. It’s Phoebe’s sister,” said Molly, solemnly. “Don’t try to catch -me, honey!” - -“Well, if Miss Crouch is on watch or not, I dare you to look,” giggled -the inquisitive girl. - -“Not me,” declared Molly, shaking her head vigorously. “Get that crazy -Molly Granger to run and look.” - -“I’m looking for her,” admitted the other girl, going away from the -chums. - -Molly giggled. “What a chance! That was Izola Pratt, I believe. She’s a -‘Me too.’” - -“You mean one of Maude’s friends?” - -“Just so,” said Molly, nodding. “I wonder why they are all trying to -identify us? Maybe Princess Fancyfoot has some scheme up her sleeve.” - -“You don’t mean that she would report us to the teachers?” asked Beth, -in some alarm. - -“I’d like to see her! That would just about settle Maude Grimshaw in -this school. If her father had as much money as King Midas, and Maude -lived to be as old as Methuselah, she could never live down such a -thing. No indeed! There! here’s Sixty-two.” - -Beth knew Mamie Dunn, but she did not know who welcomed her into the -room. Everybody in the apartment wore a red mask, and at first the new -girl was not able to recognize any one. - -It was a chafing-dish party. A tall girl in a striking red and -black kimono (somehow Beth thought she must be the senior, Miss -Teller)--the kimono itself well fitted to clothe one who did deeds of -magic--presided over a cheese dish warranted, as Molly said, to give -everybody “dreams of the rabbit fiend.” - -There was bottled ginger ale and tea and coffee. Such a combination to -go into one’s stomach at such a late hour would ruin the digestion of -anybody but a boarding-school girl. - -Beth, even at this party, could not but compare her own state with that -of the other twenty-five or thirty girls present. There were all sorts -and conditions of kimonos; but all were of very much richer material -than her own pretty, but cheap, cotton crêpe. - -She was really sure of the identity of nobody save Molly at first. But -she began to enjoy herself, for she was not left alone. She tried to -disguise her voice in answering questions, and so puzzle the others. - -The laughter was subdued, although the walls were thick and the doors -sound-proof. One girl frequently ventured into the corridor to peer -about. There was a delicious feeling of uncertainty and peril that -spiced this “red-head” party. - -The guessing of each other’s identity was a popular pastime, and when -they held a mock court, with the tall girl in the red and black kimono -as judge, and appointed two guards to bring culprits before the bar for -identification, the fun waxed boisterous. - -Sometimes the girls guessed who the prisoner was very quickly; at other -times they shot broad of the mark, as was attested by the gaiety of the -one under examination. - -But when Beth was seized and forced before the girl in the red and -black kimono, there fell a little hush of expectation. It seemed to the -new girl as though many of these present had been waiting for just this -event. - -“Here is a stranger in our midst,” said the red and black kimono, in a -sepulchral voice. “Who can she be?” - -“It’s plain to be seen she’s a person of note,” said one, demurely. - -“And a person of quality,” added a sharp voice. “Note the gown she has -on. It must have cost ‘trippence’ a yard, as Miss Small would say,” and -there was a rising giggle from a group of masks in one corner. - -Beth flashed a glance that way. She felt the enmity of these masked -girls in the very air. Had she known how to escape she would have done -so before the mock examination went any further. - -In that particular group of girls Beth suddenly recognized Maude -Grimshaw’s blue and silver kimono. And it was from the wearer of this -beautiful garment that the next unkind observation fell: - -“We are advertised by this young person. Oh! she is an acquisition to -Rivercliff, undoubtedly.” - -“You’re not!” snapped Molly Granger’s voice from behind Beth. - -But Maude had her speech ready, and was not to be sidetracked. - -“I suppose this girl began by being photographed as a patent-food baby. -Then she advertised a brand of soap as she grew older, until now she -has arrived at the dignity of being flaunted in seven colors on the -cover of a cheap magazine.” - -There was a murmur of objection from some of the hooded girls; but -there was laughter, too. - -“She will doubtless become famous,” went on Maude, scornfully, “and -make Rivercliff famous, by winding up as the exponent of a toothwash, -or illustrating the use of a pair of shoulder braces.” - -The whole company was now in ungovernable laughter. Beth knew that -she should have laughed herself had the victim been some other girl. -Indeed, she could have laughed with them at the fun poked at her, had -it not been so venomously done. - -“Beth Baldwin!” somebody shouted. “Discovered! She must pay a forfeit.” - -Beth heard Molly sputtering angrily behind her; but she realized that -if she took offence, or if Molly was allowed to do so, it would only -make her the more ridiculous. One decision Beth made, however, right -then and there. It was a decision bound to change the tenor of her -whole career at Rivercliff School. - -“Unmask! You’re caught,” ordered the “judge.” - -Beth did so and managed to show a smiling, if flushed, countenance to -the assembly. - -“Well, I think it’s mighty clever of her,” drawled one girl, “if she -can earn money posing for her picture.” - -The others were, however, clamoring for Beth to pay a forfeit. The -judge was supposed to accept suggestions for that. Maude’s sharp voice -was ready: - -“Oh, it doesn’t really matter what she does, I fancy. As long as -there’s anything to be earned by it, Miss Baldwin is prepared to do it. -Like our politicians, she is ‘out for the dough.’” - -“How very vulgar, Maude!” said the “judge,” tartly. “Suppose Miss -Carroll should hear that?” - -“It’s the truth!” snapped the angry girl. “We, who are well-to-do, are -exploited for the benefit of these--these paupers that Miss Hammersly -allows to come here to Rivercliff. At least, she should have the -decency to put them in a department by themselves, and have their -sleeping quarters with the servants.” - -“Shame! Shame!” cried a dozen voices. - -“You go too far, Maude,” declared the “judge.” - -“That’s what is the matter with Maude Grimshaw,” ejaculated Molly, -boiling over in her wrath, finally. “She wanted Miss Baldwin’s room for -one of her ‘Me toos’--and Miss Baldwin wouldn’t make _that_ exchange -for money. Nasty thing!” - -“Girls! stop this!” ordered the girl in red and black, rising from her -seat. - -Suddenly Mamie Dunn herself took a hand in the discussion. She stood up -and plucked off her red bag. She was a plain, rather unattractive girl -who seldom asserted herself; but now she was quite indignant. - -“Stop, Maude Grimshaw. You are the meanest girl in Rivercliff School--I -don’t care if you are the richest. This is my room and I declare I’ll -never invite you into it again.” - -She turned swiftly to Beth and put a protecting arm about her. “You are -a girl I am proud to have for a friend, Miss Baldwin--I don’t care what -others may say. I know I wouldn’t have the pluck to try to work my way -through school, providing I could get an education in no other way. -I--I hope you’ll forgive me for inviting you here to-night where you -have been so insulted and abused by my other guests. I assure you, it -was not with my connivance.” - -“Oh, I am confident of that, Miss Dunn,” faltered Beth, for Mamie’s -kindness touched her more deeply than Maude Grimshaw’s unkind speech. -“I thank you, Miss Dunn. I--I can’t stay. I see very clearly now that I -should not have come in the first place.” - -“Don’t say that!” cried somebody whom Beth thought was Brownie, and who -was sobbing, frankly. - -“Yes,” Beth said, more calmly now, “I see that I was wrong in accepting -the invitation. I am different from you other girls. I want to get an -education, and I must get it in my own way. My way is not yours. I hope -that hereafter I shall not be led into accepting invitations that lead -to friction and make everybody concerned unhappy.” - -“You’re all right, Baldwin!” said the girl behind the judge’s mask, -huskily. - -“I am going to ask you, Miss Dunn, to excuse me,” Beth proceeded. “I -quite appreciate your kindness, and all you meant to do for me in -inviting me to your party. But--you see yourself--it is not wise.” - -She stammered this--halted at last in her speech, chokingly--and then -made swiftly for the door. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -NO MARTYR’S CROWN - - -Beth bolted both the doors, once having entered Number Eighty, and -refused to open either, though she knew that it must be Molly Granger -who came and softly tapped upon the panel. - -It was some time after Beth had got into bed that Molly tried to get -in. The party in Mamie Dunn’s room could not have immediately broken up -on Beth’s departure. - -The latter lay quietly in her bed and thought matters out, coolly. She -did not weep. She realized that she had done a foolish thing in trying -to become the comrade of these girls who had so much more of this -world’s goods than she could ever hope to possess. - -“I am different from them all--different, even, from Molly,” she told -herself. “I can keep dear Molly’s friendship--I prize it too highly to -lose it for any cause; but I cannot be even her social equal. - -“I have come here with the avowed intention of earning part of my -expenses. That immediately puts me on a different plane from the girls -who never have to think of money--only how to spend it! Maude Grimshaw, -hateful as she is, is more than half right. My place is with Cynthia -Fogg. - -“I have a year before me in which to get established here in my proper -place. I can be helpful to many of these girls. I _must_ be helpful. -And I must be helpful for money. There are things I can do, and that -they need done, and for which they will willingly pay me. I am not -ashamed of any decent means to earn money--why should I be? - -“Such time as I have aside from the study and recitation hours and such -physical exercises as I need, must be devoted to earning money. Why! -there are thousands and thousands of girls situated just as I am, who -are making their way through school and college. Just because I happen -to be in a school for wealthy girls, should make no difference. What -will be the odds, whether they like me or not, a hundred years from now? - -“Nor will I sport the willow,” declared Beth, “nor wear the martyr’s -crown! - -“That Maude Grimshaw is half right on another point, too. I must -do anything--anything that is decent--for money. I can’t be too -particular. - -“I won’t dawdle around here like an abused chicken, looking for -sympathy. I don’t need sympathy. What did I come to Rivercliff School -for, anyway? - -“Why! I came to _work_--in two ways. I’ve taken hold of my lessons all -right, I flatter myself,” went on Beth, answering her own question, -“and now I must think of taking up my other branches. I am to take -a special course of training--learning to make money. I’ll begin -to-morrow.” - -And with this resolve she finally went to sleep, and slept soundly. -Beth Baldwin was blessed with a strain of _practical, common sense_. - -She could be hurt as easily as most naturally refined girls. She was -by no means thick-skinned. Only, she could grit her teeth and go at a -thing that had to be done, and without weeping over it. - -In the morning, almost before Beth had her bath and was dressed, Molly -burst in--but in no jolly mood, as was plain. - -“Oh, my dear! Oh, my dear!” she wailed, seizing Beth about the neck. -“I haven’t slept half the night for thinking of you. That nasty, mean, -horrid Maude Grimshaw----” - -“_And_ a cup of tea!” interposed Beth, laughing. “No more of _that_, -Molly--if you love me. In the language of my younger brothers, ‘forget -it!’” - -“But it isn’t to be forgotten. And I told them all after you came away -last night----” - -“Now, Molly dear, if you tell so much you’ll be completely empty and -will collapse--sure,” declared Beth, laughing. - -“But, Beth!” - -“But, Molly!” mocked Beth. - -“Don’t you care, Beth Baldwin?” cried Molly. - -“If I do, I don’t want to wear the martyr’s crown,” and Beth smiled. -“Come, my dear! ‘What can’t be cured must be endured.’ And it had -better be endured cheerfully--don’t you think?” - -“But it can be cured, I tell you!” cried Molly, very much excited. “Do -you suppose the really nice girls of Rivercliff are going to allow a -little clique of stuck-up things to insult and abuse a girl who has -positively done no wrong? We think too much of our school itself to -allow such a blot to stand----” - -“That sounds very fine, dear,” said Beth, calmly, “although your -metaphor is hazy. And it is awfully nice of you and your friends to -stand up for me. But there is something to be said on the other side, I -guess.” - -“On whose side--yours?” - -“No. I fancy I have very little standing in the premises, when it comes -to the facts,” and Beth laughed again, though rather bitterly. “I mean -on the side of Maude Grimshaw and her crowd.” - -“Oh, them!” sniffed Molly, disgustedly, as well as ungrammatically. -“What about Princess Fancyfoot?” - -“She can claim to hold the welfare of Rivercliff quite as high as you -and your friends do,” Beth said argumentatively. “She believes that the -school is for a certain class of girls--and for no other. And, really, -the girls themselves bear out her claim, don’t they? Am I not about the -only poor girl here?” - -“Well, I’m sure!” exclaimed Molly, “I’m not rich.” - -“What! with seven aunts to support you?” laughed Beth, bound to keep a -cheerful tone in all the argument. - -“But that has nothing to do with it.” - -“Yes it has. If I were Maude Grimshaw I should probably feel just as -she does. I am an interloper. But I am here,” added Beth, with vigor, -“and I mean to stay and get what I came to Rivercliff for.” - -“Hurrah!” cried Molly. “Then you will fight ’em?” - -“Fight? Certainly not. I have no reason to. I tell you, dear, that I -was in the wrong--besides being _in_ wrong! I should not have gone to -Miss Dunn’s party. I tell you I am not one of you, and cannot be one -of you, save in my standing in classes.” - -“Oh, Beth! What do you mean?” wailed Molly. - -“I am going to keep to myself--‘flock together,’ as it were,” and again -Beth laughed, and this time quite cheerfully. “No, no, Molly! It’s of -no use to try to get me into your class in society. I should merely be -a ‘hanger-on’--and I should positively hate myself for such sycophancy. - -“Let me be myself. I am poor; no getting around it. Girls from whom I -hope to earn money won’t treat me as their equal. At least, not these -girls at Rivercliff, for the true feeling of ‘equality in knowledge’ -has never become a tenet of this institution, as it has in so many -colleges.” - -“Goodness!” cried Molly. “You mean we are a school of snobs?” - -“Very near it! very near it!” returned Beth, allowing herself some -small display of malice for the moment. “But, yet, you are not to be -blamed.” - -“I am sure, Beth Baldwin, you cannot accuse me----” began Molly, when -Beth swooped down upon her, seized her in her arms, and cried: - -“Don’t be hurt, dear! You are the lovingest girl that ever lived. But -you are not ‘the whole push,’ as Marcus would say. You mean well, and -you could influence some of the other girls, I know; but I would merely -cause a schism in the school if I went your way.” - -“What do you mean?” - -“A few of your nice girls would always be taking up cudgels for me. -That would cause friction and do me more harm than good. I must quietly -withdraw from too much publicity. Let me go my own placid way. I -positively will not accept any invitations to private parties of any -kind,” and Beth laughed. “Never again!” - -“Oh, Beth! That’s just what we intended to do. Every girl that likes -you agreed to invite you, one after another, to little parties, and so -show those stuck-up things that you were more and more popular.” - -“I thought so!” exclaimed Beth, and she smiled through her tears now. -“It is very lovely of you--and of your friends. But I am going to -excuse myself from all such affairs. Yes, I mean it. This is my room. -Those girls who like me can always find me here at a proper time. But I -shall make it a rule to attend no other private social ‘orgies.’” - -“Oh, Beth!” wailed Molly, again. “You are shutting yourself off from -everything!” - -“Oh no, dear.” - -“Oh yes, you will!” - -“No. I shall not be shutting myself off from the most necessary thing -in my life here at Rivercliff School,” Beth declared firmly. - -“For pity’s sake! what is that?” - -“Work. If I am not socially connected with any clique of girls I shall -stand a better chance of getting work from all.” - -“Cracky-me! What work?” gasped Molly. - -“You didn’t think I was in earnest!” cried Beth. - -“But--but--you have a whole year to think of work.” - -“No. I have a whole year--or, almost--to earn what I need for next -year. I must take opportunity by the forelock, for he will certainly be -shaved close for me behind. A regular ‘Riley cut,’ to quote my slangy -brother again. I must not let the first opportunity get by me.” - -Nevertheless, this expected and much longed-for opportunity, did not -at once appear, as Beth hoped. She proved to her own satisfaction, -however--and in time to Molly’s--that her attitude toward the other -girls was the wiser one. - -She refused every invitation that came to her, explaining quietly why -in each case. If the girls wanted her, they were welcome in her room -during the short time in the day when visiting back and forth was -permissible. - -Many learned to like her--some to admire her--in that first month of -school. Some offered help that Beth could not accept; but they meant it -kindly. Some few had suggestions that led to the new girl earning small -sums; but nothing regularly. - -Indeed, it was her own bright mind and thought that opened the -first really broad path to a certain independence. She seized this -opportunity by its forelock at the first monthly social evening of the -whole school, arranged by Miss Hammersly. - -All through the school year these monthly socials in the huge -drawing-rooms were the principal events of the kind. There was music -and dancing and a collation. Sometimes there were visitors. The girls -looked forward to the parties with delight. - -And as she sat in her pretty poplin in the great reception hall, quite -popular enough, she thought, Beth had an idea. This season skirts were -worn very short, but the high boots had not come in. As she glanced up -the stairway she had a continual panorama of silk-clad ankles, as the -girls tripped up and down. - -She already had heard some of the girls complain of the hard wear their -silk stockings received. Every girl in the school (including herself) -wore some quality of silk hose. The pair she had on were darned; but -so neatly that it would have taken very close inspection to discover -the mended place. - -That was one thing Mrs. Baldwin had taught Beth--how to darn neatly. -She sat now, with the music and confusion about her, and an endless -procession of silk stockings paraded before her mental vision. - -The very next day she sent off for silks of all shades, needles, -stocking feet of good quality, and other necessities, and in a week she -put Molly’s artistic ability to the test. Molly demurred at first; then -she entered into the idea hopefully. She did her very best in lettering -the card Beth tacked up outside of Number Eighty: - - SILK STOCKING HOSPITAL - - _Major & Minor Operations Performed_ - -“Well, there’s some fun in _that_,” admitted the jolly one. “At least, -the sign will make ’em laugh.” - -But Beth looked for more serious returns than mere amusement. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -FLINT AND STEEL - - -Meanwhile letters had passed frequently between Beth and the little -cottage on Bemis Street, Hudsonvale. Ella was Beth’s most frequent -correspondent. The flyaway sister was eager to learn every particular -about Beth’s new environment. - -But Beth was very careful to say nothing in her letters to those at -home to lead them to suspect that all was not fair sailing for her at -Rivercliff. Having resolved to bear bravely such trials as she had, -Beth was not the girl to weaken. - -She was glad to get the home letters, and those from Mary Devine and -the other girls; but the letter that secretly pleased her most came -from Larry Haven. - -To her surprise she had learned that Larry, immediately after she -had departed for school, had taken up his old habit of dropping in -frequently at the Baldwin cottage. - -Ella’s letters were full of “Larry says this” and “Larry did that” when -he was at the house last. Beth knew he had obtained clients almost at -once. He even would try a case--his maiden case--at the October Court. - -So his letter, when it came, did not surprise Beth; and it was -evidently written in the first exuberance of his victory. - - “‘_Hail to the chief who in triumph advances---- - Who falls off his saddle whene’er his steed prances!_’” - -the letter began. “‘_In hoc signo vinces_,’ likewise ‘_E pluribus -Unum_’ and all hands around! I have arrived. Believe me, Mrs. Euphemia -Haven’s son is being congratulated on the street by the Elders. - -“A certain man in our town, Who was not wondrous wise, Jumped into a -legal bramble bush, And scratched out both his eyes. I made him see his -eyes were out, So, with all his might and main, He jumped into another -bush, And scratched them in again! - -“That, my dear Beth Baldwin, is the sole and only meaning of ‘going to -law.’ A man goes mad and runs, frothing at the mouth, to another chap, -to whom the law schools and local bar have given the right to separate -him from his money without giving laughing-gas. Old Coldfoot, next door -to me, is lots nicer to his victims than I am. - -“Well, the chap with the sheepskin shows the mad man a perfectly -obvious thing to do--and charges him for the advice; and he collects a -second fee when thirteen other men tell the mad man the obvious thing -is correct. - -“This is what I have done, Beth Baldwin. Congratulate me! All hands -think it is wonderful. So it must be. And I feel that I should have -been broken-hearted if the other side had beaten us. - -“Oh! I _was_ scared before the issue. I thought I must go to extremes -to convince the jury that the other side hadn’t a leg to stand on. I -prepared a very touching appeal in which I should have begged the jury -for mercy and the Court for clemency for my client, as though he were -convicted of a capital crime. - -“In the end--oh! let me confess it--our opponent’s witnesses made out -our case for us. I put in no testimony but our answer, got up and said -ten words, the jury did not leave its seats, and the good old judge -congratulated me upon having more sense than most fledgling lawyers -because I did not insist upon making a speech. - -“Honestly, Beth, I was greatly relieved when it was all over. They say -I have won my spurs; but _I_ don’t think the rowels are very sharp yet.” - - * * * * * - -There was more to the jolly letter and Beth read it over and over -again. She was delighted to hear from Larry; she was delighted, too, -to know that he had succeeded in winning his first case. Still she -wondered. Why had Larry been silent and kept away from the house during -the summer, and now had become such a steady visitor at the Bemis -Street cottage? - -She knew she had her parents’ sanction to write to Larry, and she did -so in reply to his letter. She told him much about the school and -Molly, and something about the other girls. She wrote of what she -studied and how she took hold of athletics. But one thing she did not -mention. She said nothing about the “Silk Stocking Hospital.” She was -not ashamed of working to earn money for her schooling; yet, somehow, -she shrank from discussing that point with Larry. - -The hospital, so-called, had become an established institution long -before the holidays. Beth sometimes found it difficult to keep up -with the principal activities of her school life--her lessons, the -compulsory athletic work, and her stocking darning. - -Miss Hammersly was sharper with her, Beth thought, than with the other -girls, for the very reason that Beth was striving to do extra work. - -“I want to see you succeed, Miss Baldwin,” the principal said to her -on one occasion; “but in earning money for your tuition, you must not -lose any of the advantages which the money is supposed to pay for. I -approve of your attempt at independence only in so far as you neglect -no lessons or other activities that a normal schoolgirl is supposed to -obtain in an establishment of this kind. You must retain your interest -in every item of school life and work, or your course here will fail of -its end.” - -Beth took this advice to heart. She neglected nothing which she -believed was for her mental or physical benefit. With Molly she won a -place on the Second Five at basket-ball; and before Christmas week she -had proved herself the superior of most of the girls on the ice. - -The river was frozen from the docks to the bend soon after -Thanksgiving, and now Beth and Molly Granger usually ran down the bluff -and spent the hours between daylight and dark, and before supper, on -their skates. Molly admitted the exercise woke her up after the long -day in classes and gave her spirit for the study hour before bedtime. - -Beth was not allowed to sit up later than the other girls, so she -usually disappeared right after supper and sat in Number Eighty, -working, with her darning-basket beside her, until the half-past eight -bell. Then she joined Molly in studying for the next day’s recitations. - -She lost that general social hour between supper and the first bell; -so it was true her personal acquaintanceship among her fellow-students -did not rapidly expand. Yet many came to her for help in the “hosiery -department.” - -“That Baldwin girl in the South Wing darns so nicely,” one girl said to -another. “Why throw these perfectly good stockings away?” - -“What is it some philosopher said?” Beth asked her chum, laughingly. -“If a man does some one thing better than anybody else, the world will -beat a path to his door?” - -“Yes,” grunted Molly. “But how about the man who goes in for raising -skunks? Guess the world will beat it the other way from his door, won’t -it?” - -It was not that Beth deprived herself of all social intercourse with -her fellows, but she would not be tempted to put herself forward or be -led into situations where girls of Maude Grimshaw’s type could snub -her. Since that unlucky night of the first red masque of the term, Beth -had been able to escape Maude’s particular notice. - -Yet Maude sat directly opposite Beth at table. The meals at Rivercliff -School were social to a degree. The girls filed into the dining-room in -perfect order and were seated. At once a hum of conversation arose. The -big dining-room sounded like a hive of bees. There was no attempt by -the teachers or monitors to quench cheerful talk and moderate laughter; -but even the primes in their corner could not be boisterous. - -Maude Grimshaw gave many exhibitions of her boorishness; but usually -such occurrences escaped the notice of the teachers. Having put Beth -in what the rich girl considered “her place,” Maude did not trouble -herself further about the girl from Hudsonvale. - -Sometimes the waitresses came in for a taste of Miss Grimshaw’s sharp -tongue. She seemed to have taken a special dislike to Cynthia Fogg, -possibly because she believed Beth to be a friend of the freckled -girl’s, or because the latter had a perfectly detached and untroubled -way of receiving Miss Grimshaw’s strictures. - -Beth once heard Maude say to Laura Hedden: - -“I even dislike the face of that Fogg girl--‘Cynthie,’ do they call -her? Do you know, she has the impudence to look like a very dear friend -of mine.” - -“It can’t be!” drawled Laura. “That waitress?” - -“Yes. She really does look something like Miss Freylinghausen. You’ve -heard of the Freylinghausens, of course. Emeline is an heiress half -a dozen times over. She is traveling in Europe just now. Oh! we -are very good friends. An old Philadelphia family, you know, the -Freylinghausens. One of the very oldest.” - -So Beth thought that perhaps Cynthia’s unfortunate resemblance to the -heiress of the Freylinghausen millions was rather a drawback. Maude -evidently did her best, on every occasion, to be unpleasant to this -particular waitress. - -One evening at supper she called across the table to Beth and Molly, -who sat side by side: - -“Say! one of you see if you can wake up that dummy behind you and get -some butter passed this way. It’s a shame how inattentive that girl is!” - -“Whom are you speaking of?” demanded Molly, coolly. - -“Oh, I forgot! She is a friend of a friend of yours, Miss Granger,” -rejoined Maude, sneeringly. “I mean that big-footed dummy standing -there--in a _fog_, of course, as usual.” - -Laura Hedden and one or two other “Me toos” giggled. Beth could not see -Cynthia, but her own face flushed. Maude looked scornfully across the -table, taking in all three of the girls she disliked in this glance. - -“I believe you are the very meanest girl who ever walked on -sole-leather!” exclaimed Molly, but quite low, so that none of the -teachers would hear. “If I were Cynthia I’d box your ears.” - -“I’d like to see her try it!” cried Maude, her pale face turning red, -as it did in a very ugly fashion whenever she was angry. “I’d teach her -her place----” - -“Are you sure, Miss Grimshaw, that you can teach me anything?” -Cynthia’s low, cultivated voice broke in, and she laughed, as though -the rich girl’s spitefulness only amused her. - -“How dare you speak to me?” demanded Maude, starting up. “I’ll report -you for this.” - -“And if you dare, Miss Grimshaw,” said Beth, quietly, “I shall tell -madam just what you said to her.” - -“So will I,” broke in Molly, eagerly. “And glad to do it!” - -Maude hesitated, then sat down. She knew that with two against her no -story she could tell the madam would hurt Cynthia Fogg. - -“Well, anyway,” she grumbled, at last, “let her pass the butter.” - -At that there was general, if subdued, laughter all about the table; -for most of the girls had heard a part of the controversy. For some -time thereafter, whenever Maude Grimshaw threatened to fly into one of -her tantrums, somebody would be sure to say: - -“Well, anyway, let her pass the butter!” - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -ANOTHER BARRIER - - -Beth went home to Hudsonvale for the winter holidays, which lasted till -the middle of the first week in the new year. Molly went with her on -the train, as, of course, navigation on the river had ceased, keeping -on to Hambro--and the seven aunts--farther down the stream. - -Beth was delighted to see her father and mother and the children. And -many of her old schoolmates beside Mary Devine came to see her. - -But she did not see Larry. She had heard from him again, after that -first letter; and he had told her he would be away over the holidays. -Mrs. Euphemia had expressed a sudden wish to go to Old Point Comfort -and had insisted that Larry go with her. - -“And what the Mater says, goes,” he had written to Beth. “She’s been -awfully good to me--especially since I came home from the law school. -Why! I never could have afforded such a fancy office if it hadn’t been -for her. She’s bribed me to take this trip; but I don’t really see how -the local bar is going to get along without me for a fortnight or -three weeks.” - -Nevertheless, Beth felt distinctly disappointed that Larry was not in -Hudsonvale. There was something lacking in her holiday. - -She had but one other source of worriment. And that she was not sure -should be a worriment. - -She noticed that her father was thinner, grayer, and that his walk -seemed to have less springiness. She asked him if he did not feel well, -and he laughed at her. Yet the laugh was not convincing. - -She would not whisper to her mother or to the other children her fears -for him. Mr. Baldwin had always been a thin and wiry man--one of the -kind, as he often said, that wears out, but does not rust out. - -The holidays, however, were gay. Besides a party given for her young -friends by her mother on Christmas Eve, Beth went to the usual -midwinter ball at the Town House--a very popular affair, indeed. She -wore the poplin, and she danced many times with the men and boys who -remembered her from the night of Larry Haven’s “coming out” party. - -There was one little thing that, strangely enough, rather marred Beth’s -enjoyment of the evening. She had never put on her pretty frock at -Rivercliff without wishing that she had her Great-grandmother Lomis’ -corals to wear; and now she suggested to her mother that she be given a -second chance to display her heirloom. - -Mrs. Baldwin suddenly looked troubled--exceedingly troubled. -Hesitatingly, she said: “My daughter, I do not think it would be wise. -You are really too young to wear such things yet. It caused, I believe, -some comment before.” - -Beth laughed. She would not show her mother how deeply she was -disappointed. “I guess it’s because Mrs. Haven or Larry will not be -there, isn’t it? You wanted to show me off before them. Now confess, -Mother mine!” - -Her mother seemed unable to laugh at this pleasantry. But Beth -cheerfully put Larry’s present into the lace at her bosom and went to -the ball. No taxicab this time, although there was snow on the ground. -She carried her slippers, like most Hudsonvale people, under her arm. - -The holidays slipped away and Beth soon boarded the train again, -finding jolly Molly Granger, by agreement, in one of the parlor cars. -Molly had a warm invitation for Beth to spend a part of the summer -vacation at Hambro. - -“We’ll neither of us get home at Easter, you know,” Molly declared. -“It’s too far to travel, and the time’s too short. And, as I tell the -aunties, we’ve got to work.” - -“I shall have to work, that is sure,” proclaimed Beth. “I’m afraid I -spent too much money for Christmas presents. Oh dear!” - -“How much money have you earned altogether?” demanded the curious Molly. - -“I wouldn’t dare tell you. It might arouse your cupidity. And there’s -only a door between us at school,” laughed Beth. “But I’ll tell -you this: I put twenty-five dollars in the postal savings bank at -Rivercliff before we came away.” - -“Oh, cracky-me! What a lot!” cried Molly. “You’ll be a millionairess -yet.” - -“Not much, considering what I shall have to earn before next fall when -Rivercliff opens again. We have to pay half the year’s fees in advance, -you know.” - -“I suppose it does mean a lot of work for you. My! the aunties think -you are wonderful to do it.” - -“Haven’t done it yet,” sighed Beth. “But I hope to.” - -“Oh, I hope we’ll both have a better half year this time than the last.” - -Beth looked forward with equal hope, too; but it proved to be dashed -within the month. Her fears for Mr. Baldwin were realized. Her mother -wrote that he was ill. - -Beth was in some suspense for several days, for the information at -first was very meager. But finally she learned the particulars. Her -father had been taken with a hemorrhage in the shops--a strain had -brought on the attack, the doctors said. But the trouble was deeper -than that. - - “He must stop all indoor work for months--perhaps he can never go - back to the Locomotive Works,” Mrs. Baldwin wrote. “It is a sad - loss; of course, they will not hold his situation open. They never - do, no matter how long or how faithfully a man has worked for that - corporation. - - “My dear, you must make the most of this year’s schooling that we - have paid for. I am afraid it will be your last. You cannot look - forward to being a teacher, my poor dear. Marcus has already got a - situation--‘job,’ he calls it. He insisted. He declares he is going - to be the man of the house till papa gets well. - - “I am sorry for you, Daughter--after all your high hopes. But - there must be some good reason for it and He will not put upon our - shoulders a harder trouble than we can bear.” - -Beth could not agree with this doctrine of her mother’s. Either she was -not sufficiently orthodox, or she had a clearer vision. She knew her -father had been warned years before by physicians that his work was -not suited to his constitution. And Mr. Baldwin had made no attempt to -change it. - -“It isn’t fair,” thought the young girl, “to lay it on God. I could -not believe that He is love, if we suffered such trouble because He -willed it. We have brought it on ourselves--and I guess it’s our work -to hustle around and get the best of this trouble. Poor papa!” - -She wasted no time in useless worry. First of all, she drew fifty -dollars from the bank and sent it home. - -“I will not be behind brave, little Marcus,” she wrote her mother. “I -want you to use this. I can earn more--a lot more. And I’ll earn all I -can before I come home for the summer.” - -She confided in nobody but Molly--and to her under promise of secrecy. -Beth shrank from the casual sympathy of others. Sympathy of that -quality is so apt to be mixed with curiosity. - -Molly was heart-broken. “Beth Baldwin! you’ll never leave Rivercliff -before your three years are finished--never! Don’t tell me such a -horrid thing!” - -“I don’t see how it can be helped,” her chum said. “It is a dreadful -blow to my hopes. Don’t say much about it, Molly dear, or I shall cry.” - -Molly was already frankly sobbing. She ran into her own room and came -back again in a moment with her purse. The contents of this she dumped -into Beth’s lap. - -“There!” she sobbed. “You can have all I’ve got--only say you’ll stay. -There’s most as much as you sent home. I’ll willingly go without -bonbons and ice-cream sodas and furbelows and all the rest of it, if -you’ll take it, dear, and say you’ll stay the three years out. I’ll -give you _all_ my pocket-money!” - -“You dear goosie!” cried Beth, hugging her closely in her arms. “Oh! -how glad I am that I have such a friend. But I can’t take your money, -Molly. It would be right for neither you nor for me. You need bonbons -and furbelows just as much as I need money for other expenses. No, no, -dear! ‘Take back thy gold!’ I am Independent Elizabeth--and you must -not tempt me.” - -Resolved, as before, to earn all the money possible, Beth did not -neglect her studies. Even Miss Hammersly had to admit that her standing -averaged better and better as the months went on. She was among the few -first students in the so-called freshman class. - -In Easter week Beth made seventeen dollars by mending and repairing -lace and silk hose. The news that one of the girls did fine mending -spread outside of the school. Between Rivercliff School and the town -of Jackson City was a suburban district occupied by many wealthy -and well-to-do people. Some orders began to come to Beth from these -households. - -The girl sent for a special thread and began to make a specialty of -repairing the fine lingerie of her more fortunate fellow-students. And -this work increased steadily. - -Saturday afternoon at Rivercliff was always free. Beth, as the -spring advanced, began to refuse to spend this holiday with Molly -and her friends. “Four whole hours to myself!” she proclaimed to her -disappointed chum. “I cannot spare them, my child. I must make hay -while the sun shines.” - -“But the sun isn’t shining to-day,” said Molly, pouting. - -“The more reason, then, that I should get my cured hay in the barns,” -declared Beth, with a grim little nod. “‘Avaunt! Avaunt! I scorn thy -gold, likewise thy pedigree; I am betrothed to Ben-ja-min, who sails -upon the sea,’” quoted Beth from a burlesque verse that they were fond -of. “Tempt me not, I tell you.” - -And on this very Saturday afternoon something happened that made Beth -very glad she had remained in her own room, working. A pair of very -plump bay horses, drawing an old-fashioned family carriage, came to -the main door of the school, and a footman as fat as the horses, who -sat beside the coachman fatter still, got stiffly down and puffed up -the steps. - -He bore a card which he gave to Miss Small, who chanced to be in the -hall at the moment. The card read: - - MRS. RICARDO SEVERN - -“Does Miss Baldwin live here?” asked the fat footman, asthmatically. - -“There is such a student,” the under housekeeper said, wonderingly. - -“My missus sent me for her,” said the man, blinking sleepily. - -“Mrs. Severn?” repeated Miss Small. - -“Oh! who does Mrs. Severn want?” cried Maude Grimshaw, who chanced to -be passing through the hall and saw the footman’s gorgeous livery, as -well as heard the lady’s name mentioned. - -She came swiftly to the under housekeeper’s side and whispered: “Mrs. -Severn is the e-nor-mously rich old lady who lives on the Boulevard, in -the stone house, with the parrot and a whole raft of servants. Who does -she want, dear Miss Small?” - -“Miss Baldwin,” puffed the footman, gloomily. - -“Oh!” gasped Maude, taken aback. Then her venomous tongue came to her -rescue: “Of course! She has heard that one of the girls of Rivercliff -goes out to service, I presume,” and she went away, laughing scornfully. - -But Miss Small sent Mrs. Severn’s card up to Beth’s room. However, -Maude wrote home that day and told about the ridiculous way in which -Miss Hammersly was allowing “a pauper girl named Beth Baldwin to go out -to work by the day like a common servant.” - -As it chanced, Maude’s equally light-headed mother read this part of -her foolish daughter’s letter to a caller. That caller made inquiries -and learned that Beth came from Hudsonvale. She knew Mrs. Euphemia -Haven of Hudsonvale--had recently met her at Old Point Comfort. - -Immediately, this mutual friend wrote Mrs. Haven what Maude had written -to her mother. And something came of that! - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -MR. DENNIS MONTAGUE - - -Molly Granger had not left Number Eighty-one when the maid knocked at -her chum’s door with Mrs. Severn’s card and the message. Beth was not -only surprised, but uncertain as to what she should do. - -“What is it?” whispered Molly, very curious. “A visitor?” - -“Who is Mrs. Ricardo Severn?” - -“Oh! I know who she is,” cried Molly. “Such fun! Doesn’t she want you -to come down to the carriage?” - -“No. To go to her house, so the footman said,” explained the maid. -“Mrs. Severn isn’t in the carriage.” - -“But who is she?” repeated Beth Baldwin. - -“Just the oddest person you ever saw,” Molly cried. “You _must_ go, -Beth.” - -“But, why?” - -“She’s got something for you to do, of course,” Molly said. “And depend -upon it, it will be work that pays well. They say Mrs. Severn’s house -is just crowded with beautiful things. She’s heard of you through Mrs. -Pepper--you know, the woman who brought you the baby’s lace dress to -mend that the puppy tried to eat up.” - -“Query: Did the puppy try to eat up the dress, the baby, or Mrs. -Pepper?” demanded Beth, solemnly. - -“Never mind splitting scholastic hairs,” cried Molly. “You must go!” -and she hurried Beth into her coat and tam-o-shanter. - -When Beth saw the old-fashioned carriage, she laughed to herself. It -was queer. But she noted that the upholstering of the carriage was very -elegant, indeed, and that the vehicle swung on behind the fat horses in -a very easy fashion. - -She was solemnly deposited at the big stone house on the Boulevard -within a short space of time. The big footman presented her at the -front door where a second footman, in still more gorgeous livery, -passed her into the house and up the first flight of stairs. - -Here a maid received Beth, looked her over carefully as though she -feared the girl might have dynamite concealed about her person, and -doubtfully announced her as “Miz Baldwig.” - -The great room into which Beth was ushered--really a suite of rooms -which had been thrown into one vast apartment--tapered away from a -first appearance of dim grandeur to a sunny point, where sat a huge old -woman, in a huge morris chair, with her gouty feet in huge slippers on -a stool, while a green and red parrot, hanging upside down from its -perch, was in a big gilded cage in the bow window. - -Mrs. Severn was a broad-faced woman, with several small wens on her -cheeks, who would have been very coarse-featured, indeed, had it not -been for the cheerful smile with which she welcomed Beth. - -But she could welcome her in no other way at first, for as the girl -marched down the long room the parrot, still upside down, sang out: - -“Here comes the bride!” and then, in the shrillest possible whistle, -and much out of tune, vented the Bridal March in a most deafening -fashion. - -Beth could see that its mistress was trying to quiet the parrot. She -could see Mrs. Severn’s lips move, and a frown came upon her brow, -above which both her “false front” and her cap were awry. - -Finally, losing all patience, she seized a handy cushion and flung it -with evidently practised hand at the parrot’s cage. The bird broke off -short in his whistling. - -“Drat you, Mr. Montague! Shut up!” cried Mrs. Severn. - -“Shut up yourself--and see how _you_ like it,” croaked the parrot; but -he desisted after that and his mistress and Beth could talk. - -“Mercy!” was the lady’s first comment as Beth stood before her. “You -are only a child!” - -“But grown-up folks are not taught at Rivercliff School, Mrs. Severn,” -Beth returned, with a smile. - -“I suppose that is so,” agreed Mrs. Severn, laughing. “But they say you -are quite wonderful at mending.” - -“Oh, no,” Beth replied. “Only painstaking.” - -“Why! I guess that must be wonderful in this day and generation,” and -the lady smiled one of her rare smiles again. “How pretty you are, -child.” - -“Thank you, Mrs. Severn.” - -“I had much your style of looks and figure when I was your age, my -dear,” said Mrs. Severn, complacently. - -Beth trembled. Then she remembered that, by no possibility, was there -any blood relationship between her and Mrs. Severn, so there was -hope that she might not, in the end, acquire the good lady’s present -personal appearance. - -“I did not know that any of the students of Rivercliff had gumption -enough to do anything useful,” went on Mrs. Severn, nodding her head. - -“Take a seat, my dear. Don’t come too near my gouty foot. Gout runs in -our family--and we date back to William the Conqueror.” - -“Oh! the noble Duke of York--he had ten thousand men!” began the -parrot, as though feeling that something was expected of him to -substantiate his mistress’ appeal to ancient history. - -“Shut up, Mr. Montague!” commanded Mrs. Severn. Then to Beth: “He is a -dreadfully saucy bird. His full name is Mr. Dennis Montague----” - -“Dennis Mudd! Dennis Mudd!” shrieked the parrot. - -“There! that wicked nephew of mine taught him that. Roland Severn -has no regard for the dignity of our family name and history, and -Montague----” - -“Piffle!” growled the parrot, still swinging upside down. - -Secretly, Beth thought the parrot and the nephew were probably both -right. But she, nevertheless, liked Mrs. Severn. The lady proceeded to -show Beth that she approved of her at once. - -“Now, I want your time each Saturday afternoon--oh, for some weeks. -Until the end of this term, at least,” said the lady. “I have a number -of table-throws and bureau scarfs and the like, made in the Irish -convents, and the carelessness of my maid in putting them aside and -having them laundered by people who did not know their business, has -almost ruined some of the pieces. It is very particular work.” - -“Perhaps I cannot suit you on such fine work, Mrs. Severn,” said Beth. -“But I will try, if you like.” - -“That is the right answer,” declared Mrs. Severn, gaily. “From what -Mrs. Pepper showed me I know you will suit.” - -“Thank you.” - -“And you will give me each Saturday afternoon?” - -“Yes--until supper time. We have to report at that hour unless we have -a special permit from Miss Hammersly.” - -“Very strict, is she?” asked Mrs. Severn. - -“Oh, yes. She has to be, with two hundred girls under her care.” - -“Quite so. Well, under that cloth you will find some of the articles to -be repaired. Look at them and tell me what you think?” - -“Oh, but I have nothing with me to work with,” said Beth. “You see, I -did not know what was wanted of me.” - -“Of course not. That makes no difference. I have you for the afternoon. -Is two dollars for each afternoon you come, too little, my dear?” - -“I should make more than that in my room, Mrs. Severn,” said Beth, -quietly. “I am a rapid worker, and the girls bring me a great deal of -their mending to do. I should be glad to come to you each Saturday from -half-past one till half-past five for three dollars. I could not do it -for less.” - -“My! that seems a lot for a child to charge,” murmured the lady. - -“You can try me one afternoon if you like, and decide yourself if -my work--and the amount I do--is satisfactory,” the girl said, with -dignity. - -“Well,” chuckled the lady, suddenly, “I suppose I want your company as -much as I want anything. You can talk while you work, can’t you?” - -“Oh yes!” laughed Beth, her face brightening. “Conversation will not be -charged for extra.” - -Mrs. Severn laughed. Immediately Mr. Dennis Montague began to cackle, -and went into a veritable spasm of laughter which drowned all other -sounds for the nonce. The parrot was a jealous bird. He cared only to -hear his own voice. Again he was quenched (for the moment) by a cushion -and the undignified command to “shut up!” - -Beth saw that Mrs. Severn’s hands and fingers were swollen with -the gout, too--called by more plebian patients, “rheumatism.” Beth -wondered if she was ever able to get the several costly rings which -were imbedded in the flesh off those swollen fingers. Mrs. Severn wore, -too, an old-fashioned “sunburst” of considerable value. - -“Now, don’t go,” said the lady, when Beth rose, considering the bargain -completed. “You begin your work here to-day.” - -“But really, Mrs. Severn, I have nothing with me to work with. And I do -not suppose you have the proper thread?” - -“Never mind that!” exclaimed the lady. “You can talk without a needle -and thread in your fingers?” - -Beth laughed. “Oh yes. But three dollars for just talking would be -rather an overcharge, wouldn’t it? And I cannot afford to give my time.” - -“You are not supposed to,” said Mrs. Severn. “I admire you for knowing -your own mind and sticking to it. I shall pay for your time this -afternoon just the same if you do not work. Tell me, Miss Baldwin, why -do you have to do this sort of thing? For I suppose you have to. No -person of your age would rather work than play.” - -“Oh no,” said Beth, hesitating to take the lady into her complete -confidence on such brief acquaintance. “I do not do it from choice.” - -“Until Mrs. Pepper told me, I had no idea that one of the girls at -Rivercliff ever did anything useful.” - -“Oh, Mrs. Severn! that is hard. We are all learning.” - -“Oh yes. They stuffed me when I was young with a lot of nonsense at -school. But if the chief end of a girl’s existence is to get married, -what good do books do her?” - -“Why, that isn’t the chief end of girls of to-day, Mrs. Severn,” -laughed Beth. “At least, not of the girls I know.” - -“You do not know many of your fellow-students very well, do you?” asked -Mrs. Severn, shrewdly. “I know that class of young ladies pretty well. -They haven’t, as a rule, a practical idea once in a year. But you are -evidently different.” - -“I am different in that my people are not well-to-do,” confessed Beth. -“I had money enough to get through one year at Rivercliff. I hoped to -earn enough to pay for two more years. That is why I began mending for -the other girls.” - -“And don’t you expect to accomplish your purpose?” asked the interested -lady. - -“It does not look so now,” said Beth, sadly. “My father has been taken -ill. His income has stopped. Had my school fees not been paid until the -end of the term I should have gone home at once. But I am earning all I -can to take home in June with me and try to repay the folks for some -of the money they have spent on me.” - -Beth then turned the current of the conversation skilfully and got off -the subject of herself and her poverty. Mrs. Severn was really an idle -woman who craved amusement. She had little within herself to occupy her -mind, and had never learned to occupy her hands. - -Beth extracted some enjoyment out of the afternoon, however; but when -she went the parrot screamed after her: “I don’t care if you _never_ -come back!” - -She thought, too, that the foreign maid looked at her with a frown -as she watched her through the hall and down the stairs. There were -evidently two jealous individuals in the great stone house that did not -care to see the mistress of it become interested in a stranger. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -SOMETHING UNEXPECTED - - -Success in life comes from putting to use that gift, or those gifts, -which the individual possesses and developing such talent to the -highest degree of excellence. That is what Beth had done in her small -way. - -The opportunity to darn silk hose had come her way, and she had a -natural taste for such work and ability in it, as well as considerable -training from her mother. Out of the “silk stocking hospital” had grown -the other mending. She was in a fair way to earn sufficient money -during the year, in the vacation and all, to carry her through the -subsequent two school years which she had originally resolved to obtain -at Rivercliff. - -But Mr. Baldwin’s illness seemed to preclude such an event. Beth kept -bravely on with her work, but with a new resolve. - -She wanted to carry home with her in June as much money as she could -possibly earn with which to repay the loan she supposed her mother had -made before Beth entered Rivercliff School. - -In writing home Beth said very little about future plans, or even about -her immediate work. That she was very busy, both with her books and -outside work, they knew. Twice a week she heard from either her mother -or Ella. Sometimes Marcus wrote. - -Marcus was particularly proud of the fact that he had obtained a paying -“job.” He brought his four dollars home each Saturday night, and felt -himself to be a man. - - “He is getting to be insufferably important,” Ella wrote. “If he - could raise whiskers there would be no living in the house with him. - I believe he has been pricing safety razors at the cutlery store. I - tell him he will first have to lather his face with cream and let the - cat lick it off.” - -To tell the truth, Beth felt sometimes that Marcus was doing much -more for the family than she ever could--and she was so much older. -Of course, if she could have carried through her plans, in the end -she might have been the family’s main support if her father’s illness -continued. Now---- - -All her plans had tumbled. She could not see ahead. Living from day to -day was not an easy thing for Beth Baldwin. - -Soon after her father was taken ill she heard from Larry. He expressed -his sorrow for Mr. Baldwin’s condition; and Beth knew he was at the -Bemis Street cottage just as frequently as before the holidays. But -Larry said nothing in his letter regarding the change the event of her -father’s illness must make in Beth’s plans for an education. - - Ella wrote: “Larry comes and potters around with papa in the old - shop, sometimes for a whole afternoon at a time. I guess his clients - aren’t keeping him so awfully busy. He isn’t so much fun as he used - to be. But the other night he took all us kids to the picture show.” - -Mr. Baldwin was up and about; but his strength did not return and the -doctor would not hear of his attempting any regular work. Beth knew -her father had half a dozen different inventions partly finished--Mr. -Baldwin laughingly called them “dinkuses”--in the old shop in the -back yard, over which he sometimes worked. He never expected to make -anything of the machines. - -It was several weeks after Beth began to work for Mrs. Ricardo Severn -on Saturday afternoons that she heard again from Larry, and that in a -most unexpected way. But first something happened to Cynthia Fogg. - -All this time Beth had sought Cynthia from time to time when -opportunity afforded, and showed the girl that she felt more than an -ordinary interest in her. Cynthia was not of a particularly grateful -disposition, perhaps; or else she did not consider that she needed the -interest or sympathy of anybody. But with Beth she was always much -franker than with any one else. - -That she made a good waitress or maid it could not be said with truth. -She did not, indeed, seem to care whether she really suited madam or -not. Yet the madam, so particular and exact with every other girl on -her staff, seemed rather lenient with Cynthia. - -Was it because she felt Cynthia Fogg to be, somehow, different from the -other maids in her employ? - -Beth retained her habit of early rising. Sometimes, indeed, she worked -a little before the first bell--especially as the days grew longer. - -But almost always when she was up an hour or more before the rising -bell rang, she took a run out of doors--a very excellent practice, -indeed, for one working as hard as she did. - -As, at that hour, only the front door was unlocked, Beth usually ran -down that way. So she frequently saw Cynthia Fogg and spoke to her, as -the latter dusted the furniture and woodwork. - -Madam Hammersly, with her cambric handkerchief, which all her maids -learned to fear, was always up early, and many a little talk did the -madam and Beth have together. Sometimes, too, would Beth hear her -complain to Cynthia of her lack of attention to her duties. - -“I can never teach you the importance of trifles, Cynthia,” the madam -said in Beth’s hearing on one occasion. “How many months have you been -with me?” - -“Almost nine now, Madam,” said Cynthia, briskly. “We ought to know each -other pretty well, don’t you think so?” - -“Girl! it is only necessary that you should know your work. My -character has nothing to do with the matter,” said the madam, stiffly. - -“Goodness!” drawled Cynthia. “Don’t you see that it has? If you were -not so particular----” - -“Cynthia! how dare you?” - -“Madam?” replied the freckled girl, raising her eyebrows and turning -the full battery of her saucy blue eyes on Madam Hammersly. - -“If you were not a homeless and friendless orphan----” - -“Who has saved almost a hundred dollars out of her wages these past -eight months, Madam, so don’t let that bother you,” interposed the -girl, flippantly. - -“You are discharged!” exclaimed Madam Hammersly, finding the girl’s -impudence past bearing. - -“You dear!” retorted Cynthia, in her very pleasantest tone of voice. - -“You shall go at once, girl--this very day!” and the angry madam almost -sputtered. - -“I just love you for it!” said Cynthia. “You don’t know how I have -fairly hungered to be discharged!” - -She tossed the feather-duster on one of the great settees, her cap and -apron after it, and, humming a tune, departed for the rear premises. -Beth, who stood by with coat and hat on, had been horrified. - -The madam was really in tears--none the less sad to see because they -were tears of rage. Beth could not forgive Cynthia Fogg for her -callousness and flippancy. But at first she dared not speak. - -When, however, she saw the madam pick up the duster and attempt to -reach the top of the pictures with it, Beth interfered. She took off -her cap and coat and laid them on a chair. Then she took the duster -from the lady with a decisive hand. - -“Let me finish here, Madam Hammersly. I shall like to,” said Beth. “And -I’ll put on Cynthia’s apron and cap, and do it in style. I am sorry she -has acted so, Madam--and after all your kindness to her,” added Beth. -“But I dare you to find any dust after I get through,” and she finished -with a laugh, giving the madam a chance to recover her wonted calm. - -“But, my dear Miss Baldwin,” Madam Hammersly finally said weakly, -“what--what will my daughter--and the instructors--say?” - -Beth looked over her shoulder roguishly. “I don’t believe they will see -me,” she whispered, “for they are none of them up.” - -“But the other young ladies?” put forth the madam. - -“I might say the same about most of them,” laughed Beth. “But I will -say instead: What if they should see me?” - -“It--it might cause comment,” said the madam, doubtfully. - -Meanwhile, the substitute parlor-maid was going briskly about the work -Cynthia Fogg had left undone. Madam Hammersly ceased objecting, sat -down upon one of the hall chairs, smoothed out her black silk dress, -and watched Beth. - -In twenty minutes the reception hall was finished, baseboards wiped, -and the walls brushed as high up as Beth could reach with the feather -duster. Then the girl went over the polished balustrade of the stairway -again with the soft dustcloth. - -“There!” she said, with satisfaction. “I don’t think you will find any -dust here now, Madam. Try your handkerchief.” - -“No, my child,” sighed the lady, nodding her head. “I have watched -you. That is sufficient. You are thorough. You see the importance of -trifles. I wish I had a girl to train like you.” - -“Do you think I could suit you, Madam?” asked Beth, demurely. - -“Indeed, I am sure of it,” cried Madam Hammersly, vigorously. - -“By getting to work at half-past five and working till seven, I could -dust the stairway and hall and one of the drawing-rooms each morning. -Then, in the hour between three and four in the afternoon except -Saturdays, when I could start half an hour earlier in the morning, I -could do the other drawing-room.” - -“Goodness me, child!” exclaimed the madam, rising quickly. “What are -you saying?” - -“I am applying for the position that I see is open, Madam,” said Beth, -laughing. “If you think I’d suit----” - -“But, child!” gasped the madam. “Can you do it with your manifold other -duties?” - -“Why,” said Beth, laughing outright, “my mother says that the only -people in the world who find time to do extra work are the busy -people.” - -“Perhaps she is correct,” agreed the lady, though somewhat slowly. -“I--I do not know what to say, my dear.” - -“Say yes. I will go right ahead and do the south drawing-room this -morning. Then this afternoon, in my free hour, I will do the north -room. Is it agreed?” - -The madam showed weakness at that moment. She believed Beth would make -a “perfect treasure” of a parlor-maid. So she said: “Yes.” - -Beth ran upstairs just as the rising bell rang, and removed the cap -and apron in her room. She hid them away and said nothing about the -dusting, not even to Molly. - -By “grapevine telegraph” Maude Grimshaw learned before breakfast that -Cynthia Fogg was going. She was delighted. - -“What did I tell you?” she asked loudly, at the table. “I told you I -would not stand that impudent waitress remaining here. No, indeed!” and -she tossed her head as though it were by her influence that Cynthia had -received her discharge. - -“Pass the butter!” said somebody, in a sepulchral voice, and the whole -table tittered, while Miss Grimshaw flushed red, leaving the table -abruptly. - -Molly learned that Cynthia would not leave the premises till afternoon. -The down boat stopped at the Rivercliff landing at four-thirty. So -Beth took her time about seeing the departing girl. - -Of course, Cynthia was her senior, and, after all, a much more -sophisticated girl than Beth. Yet the latter felt somewhat responsible -for the freckled one. - -At least, had it not been for her and Molly, Cynthia Fogg would not -have come to Rivercliff School to work. And it hurt Beth to think that -she was going away under such circumstances. - -She believed the madam must have really liked the strange girl, or she -would never have kept her so long; for Cynthia had done none of her -work well. Miss Small whispered that Cynthia had been the slowest and -most careless girl that had ever worked in the house--and yet Madam -Hammersly had borne with her. - -When Beth saw Cynthia to bid her good-bye she did criticize the -freckled girl’s course. “You might have tried to please the madam--she -was so kind to you,” Beth said. - -“Goodness me!” smiled Cynthia. “Are housemaids ever grateful? I didn’t -know it. And, to tell the truth, Miss Baldwin, I don’t think they have -much to be grateful for. - -“I was put at the top of the house to sleep, in a stuffy little room -with a window that would open only a few inches at the bottom, and with -the coarsest of bed clothing, and a rag of a carpet on the floor. We -were expected to keep our rooms neat, and there was little pleasure in -doing so, for they were so ugly--and everything in them so ugly--that -one could not make them livable. My bureau had only three legs and the -mirror was cracked. And in the cold weather! Why, the halls up there -are barely warm. You can’t tell me anything about what maids have to -put up with hereafter. When I go back----” - -“Go back where?” asked Beth, pointedly. “To the institution you ran -away from?” - -“Well! And if I did it would be no worse, at least,” and Cynthia’s -wonderful eyes smiled again, lighting up her freckled face and making -it very attractive for the moment. - -“But don’t you worry over what is to become of me, dear girl! I have -nearly a hundred dollars, and it will last me a long time. I am all -right. I will write you when I get settled.” - -That afternoon Beth stole down in Cynthia’s discarded cap and apron, -opened the north drawing-room and began her dusting. The madam was -on hand, evidently to see if Beth kept her part of the contract, and -hardly had Beth begun her work when Cynthia, dressed for departure, -appeared in the reception hall. - -“Oh, Madam Hammersly!” she said cheerfully, “I must bid you good-bye -before I go. I hope you will get another girl to suit you better than I -could---- What! Beth Baldwin? Are you doing my work?” - -“No, Cynthia, I am doing my own work,” laughed Beth. - -“And much better than I could ever do it, I warrant,” laughed the older -girl. “Well, Madam, I know that you will be perfectly satisfied with -Miss Baldwin. Good-bye!” - -“That is not the door for the serving people to use, and you know it -well, Cynthia,” said the madam, her voice shaking. - -“Bless your dear heart! I know it,” and Cynthia’s laugh was mellow -and her manner unruffled. “But I came in this way and I might as well -depart like a lady too.” - -Suddenly she seized the madam around the neck and planted a warm kiss -upon either of her wrinkled cheeks. “You are a dear!” she repeated. -“Good-bye!” - -The next moment she had flashed through the open door and out over the -porch and down the steps--just as a motor-car stopped before the door. -Madam Hammersly stood, actually thunderstruck at the liberty Cynthia -had taken, so only Beth saw the young man who alighted from the car. - -The chauffeur was about to start again when Cynthia spoke to him, and -then stepped into the tonneau and was whisked away. For a servant she -certainly was departing in style from Rivercliff School. - -But Beth was looking at somebody besides Cynthia. She saw the young man -turn and stare after the departing girl; then he came slowly up the -steps. - -It was Larry Haven. He caught sight of Beth standing just inside the -hall door and his face brightened. He sprang forward, exclaiming: - -“Beth! Why, Beth Baldwin! How lucky to see you at once!” and Beth met -him quite as warmly, forgetting all about Madam Hammersly’s presence, -and put both her hands--one still holding the dustcloth--in Larry’s -gloved ones. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -THE BURIAL OF FRIENDSHIP - - -Both the young people were for the moment quite unconscious of Madam -Hammersly’s presence. They shook hands longer than was necessary, and -burbled inconsequential questions and answers, as most people do to -hide their deepest feelings. Beth’s black eyes sparkled through a film -of teardrops and Larry’s blue eyes expressed all the admiration they -were capable of showing. - -But he said: “How nice to see you again, Beth. Say! is there a girl -going to school here named Freylinghausen?” - -“Freylinghausen?” repeated Beth, puzzled, yet feeling that the name -struck some chord of memory. - -“Yes. Miss Freylinghausen, of Philadelphia. No end of a swell----” - -“We have plenty of that kind here, Larry,” said Beth, her eyes -twinkling and the dimples coming into her cheeks at the call of -mischief. “But I do not think that a girl of that name attends -Rivercliff School.” - -“Why! I just saw her come out. She passed me on the steps. She took the -car I rode up in just now,” cried Larry, rather excitedly. “I met her -once with a party of Philadelphians that came to New York----” - -“Oh, my dear!” laughed Beth. “That was Cynthia Fogg.” - -“Who was? The girl I met in New York?” - -“No. The girl who just went out. She--she--she has been doing -parlor-maid’s work here, and has just been discharged.” - -She said this so low that Madam Hammersly could not hear it. Then she -wheeled and led Larry toward the austere looking lady in the background. - -“I beg your pardon, Madam Hammersly,” Beth said. “This is my very -oldest friend, Mr. Lawrence Haven. He is just like an elder brother to -me, and comes from my home.” - -The madam welcomed Larry with some cordiality. She evidently liked the -young man’s appearance. After a minute or two of conversation, Beth -asked, placidly: - -“May Larry sit down here in the drawing-room, Madam, while I finish my -dusting? We can talk just as well.” - -“Why--yes, child. I see no objection,” replied the madam, yet looking -at Beth oddly. “Would you not rather postpone the--er--assistance you -were so kindly rendering me until your guest has gone?” - -“Oh, no, Madam,” Beth said brightly. “Can’t afford to put it off till -later. Mother always says, ‘Later never strikes by our clock.’ And -Larry has often bothered me while I did housework.” - -Larry said nothing. His face, however, was a study. He followed Beth -with some hesitation into the north room. The madam, who believed in -the proprieties, remained just out of earshot. - -“Now tell me about everything and everybody, Larry,” Beth said -blithely, recommencing her dusting. “You may sit in that corner by the -door. I have dusted there.” - -“But, Beth!” gasped Larry. “What does this mean?” - -“What does what mean?” - -“This--er--masquerade?” he said, pointing to her cap and apron. - -“I’ll have you know, sir, this is no masquerade,” cried the girl, -laughing. “This cap and apron are the badges of independence.” - -“Independence!” - -“Yes, sir. I have taken Cynthia Fogg’s place. She did not suit. I am -going to earn real money by doing parlor-maid’s work--if I can satisfy -Madam Hammersly.” - -“But, Beth!” Larry repeated. “What--what will people say?” - -“What people?” - -“The--the young ladies here at school?” - -“Why, they don’t care who keeps the furniture polished,” and Beth -laughed again, but she shot her friend a penetrating glance. - -“How about Miss Hammersly--the principal? I should think she would not -allow such a thing. Why, Beth! it is dreadful!” - -“What is dreadful?” she asked him, with sudden tenseness in her tone. -“My earning money in an honorable way? Why, Larry, you know I came to -Rivercliff with that expectation.” - -“But this--er--domestic service,” he said faintly. Then, with sudden -heat: “And is it true that you go out--by the day--to people’s -houses--to do such work?” - -“Not just like this, Larry,” said the girl, gently, and still watching -him covertly. - -“But it seems too dreadful! Does your mother know it?” - -“I presume she has her suspicions,” and Beth laughed shortly. - -“I don’t mean to offend you----” - -“Then let us talk of something else, dear Larry, for I see that we -never shall agree in this matter. I will tell you that mother borrowed -from some one four hundred dollars to pay for my first year at school -here. I must pay that sum back, for, with father out of work, my -education must cease with the completion of the term paid for. Now! we -will drop it. How is father?” - -Larry, too, tried his best to get away from the subject, and to talk -pleasantly of home affairs. But how could he ignore Beth’s domestic -activities when she kept on busily dusting all through his visit? - -The drawing-room was finished, Larry’s call came to an end, and her -free hour was over, all at the same time. She went composedly with him -to the front door, removing her cap and apron as she heard the girls -come out of the lecture room above. Madam Hammersly had stolen away and -left them alone. - -“Good-bye, Larry,” Beth said calmly, giving him her hand. “Remember me -to everybody at home.” - -Larry looked away. He coughed, tried to clear his throat, attempted to -say something, and then suddenly looked around to find his hand empty -and that the door had been gently closed behind him. - -Beth went trippingly up to her next recitation, appeared as usual at -supper, and spent some time at her mending afterward. When Molly came -upstairs, the two chums spent an hour conning the problems for the -next day, and Beth showed no shadow of the pain that throbbed within -her with every beat of her pulse. - -When the lights were out, however, and a wind-driven moon peered in at -the window of Number Eighty, South Wing, it caught Beth Baldwin lying -wide-awake upon her pillow, and that pillow wet with bitter, bitter -tears. She was busily engaged in burying a friendship that had begun -with her very first childish remembrances. - -This day--the one on which Cynthia Fogg departed and Larry Haven -called--was the last day of mark for Beth in this year at Rivercliff -School. - -Of course, other important things happened--very important, indeed, -to Miss Hammersly’s graduating class. But little save lessons and the -usual grind of daily duties seemed to stir the life of the freshmen and -the sophomores. - -Beth continued to mend and patch for her clientele up to the very last -week of school. She would carry home nearly one hundred dollars with -her. - -Mrs. Ricardo Severn had continued to be Beth’s very good friend. -Although the girl earned quite all she was paid at the big stone house -on the Boulevard in mending Mrs. Severn’s drawn-work and laces, she was -really of the most value through her cheering presence. - -But the foreign maid and the parrot continued to look askance at the -pretty schoolgirl, whom the former continued to announce as “Miz -Baldwig.” As for Mr. Dennis Montague, or “Dennis Mudd,” as the bird -preferred to call himself, he stared always at Beth with little, evil, -red eyes, and the girl was careful never to go too near when the cage -door was open. - -“And, my dear,” begged Mrs. Severn, “don’t ever ask him if he wants a -cracker. That always throws Mr. Montague into a rage!” - -Beth saw Mrs. Severn the Saturday afternoon before school closed for -the year. The lady dismissed her kindly, making Beth promise that, if -she should come back to Rivercliff for another term, she would take up -her work at Severn Lodge just where she laid it down. - -The parrot yelled after her for the last time, “I don’t care if you -_never_ come back!” The foreign maid scowled her down the grand -stairway; and Beth went away feeling really sorry to be parted from -Mrs. Severn. - -The next few days were those of hurry and bustle incident to the -closing of any large school; and finally Beth and Molly were off on the -_Water Wagtail_ again for their trip down the river--and home. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -A RENEWED RESOLVE - - -Beth only half promised to go to Hambro later in the summer to visit -Molly Granger and the seven aunts. She was not at all sure that she -could accomplish it, for she did not know exactly how she should find -things at home. - -Molly said: “If you don’t come, Bethesda, I’ll advance on Hudsonvale -some day soon, with all the aunts at my back, and like a crew of -brigands we will capture you and carry you bodily away.” - -There was more cheerfulness in the atmosphere at home than Beth -expected to find. Mr. Baldwin had obtained some light work that paid a -few dollars every week, Marcus had been raised by his employer to five -dollars, and the family in the Bemis Street cottage was getting along -fairly well. - -Of course, there were no new dresses, and Mrs. Baldwin was doing her -own washing and ironing with the smaller girls’ help, while what came -upon the table was very plain. “We fortunately have no rent to pay, and -the taxes are small,” Mrs. Baldwin said. - -When Beth produced the hundred dollars she had saved, her mother really -seemed more troubled than amazed. - -“Why--why, Beth! you are quite wonderful. I will put it with that other -fifty you sent----” - -“Haven’t you used that?” cried her daughter. - -“No, my dear. We have not had to.” - -“We’ve nearly half the sum you borrowed for me, and can soon pay it all -back, for I shall get more work this summer,” Beth declared briskly. “I -shall start right out to call upon the folks in town and show them the -work I can do mending lace and silk hose and the like. I can make more -at such work, if I can get enough of it to do, than I possibly could in -a store or at the factory.” - -“But, my dear child----” - -“It is my duty to do it, Mamma--and I love it,” Beth said firmly. “The -money you borrowed was spent for me. I’ll make up the whole in time.” - -“It was not a loan to be paid back--at once,” said Mrs. Baldwin, -desperately. - -“Why, Mamma! what do you mean? All loans must be paid.” - -“At least,” the troubled mother hastened to add: “You are not to try -to repay it. This hundred and fifty dollars you have earned so bravely -in your school year, must be kept to help pay your next year’s fees at -Rivercliff.” - -“Oh, Mother! I cannot do it,” cried Beth. “I must help you here. It is -only right that I should.” - -“Let me be the judge of that, Daughter,” Mrs. Baldwin said. “I thought -you had resolved to win your teacher’s certificate--and at Rivercliff?” - -“But, how can I?” murmured Beth. “It is impossible.” - -“It seems to me,” and Mrs. Baldwin’s eyes twinkled a little now, “that -you have proved quite the contrary. I am proud of you. You have done so -well according to your school reports, and been able to earn so much -money, too, that I feel you are to be highly commended. I wonder what -Euphemia will say?” - -Beth looked at her mother sharply. In that moment she guessed half her -mother’s secret. The four hundred dollars had been loaned by Larry’s -mother! - -She felt that she could say nothing to her mother about it. The subject -of the supposed loan and her possible return to Rivercliff in the -autumn was avoided by both of them for a time. Meanwhile, however, Beth -thought deeply about it. - -If there was anybody in the world to whom Beth did not wish to feel -indebted, it was to Mrs. Euphemia Haven. She could scarcely have told -why had she been taxed with the question. She certainly had no dislike -for Larry’s mother; only she always felt that the lady was patronizing -her and trying to push her aside. - -She might have guessed before, Beth told herself, that Mrs. Haven was -the only person her mother could possibly have borrowed four hundred -dollars from--and without security. So that was how, the summer before, -Larry had known that she was going away to school and when, and so had -filled her stateroom aboard the _Water Wagtail_ with flowers. - -Beth suspected, from what Larry let drop when he called at Rivercliff, -that he had come there for the special purpose of learning if reports -his mother had evidently heard of Beth’s work were true. - -“And he got his answer--with a vengeance,” sighed Beth. - -She believed that now Mrs. Haven must be sorry that she had lent the -money to pay for the first year’s expenses at Rivercliff. “Of course, -my earning money in the way I do has disgusted her. And Larry----” - -She could not bear to think of her old friend. Never--till the day she -died--could she have just the same measure of affection for a friend -that she had for Larry Haven! - -He must have known that his mother had loaned the four hundred dollars -which Beth had mentioned at their last interview--the day Larry called -at Rivercliff School. He knew then that Beth was intent upon paying -that loan with the money she earned. And here was her mother desiring -her to go on with her education, and so necessarily postponing the evil -day of payment into the future. - -Beth did not know what to do. It was evident her mother did not wish to -discuss the loan--did not wish to be questioned about it. Beth had been -brought up too strictly to doubt her parents’ judgment. - -And now, soon after her return home, came kind Mr. Lomax, the principal -of the high school, to congratulate her on her standing at Rivercliff. - -He brought with him, too, a letter he had received from Miss Hammersly. -Although that good woman had said nothing to Beth before she came -home for the summer, in this letter she begged Mr. Lomax to use his -influence with Beth’s family, that they would allow her to complete her -course at Rivercliff. - - “I do not approve, as a general rule, of my girls working as many - hours or as hard as Miss Baldwin does to earn money to pay school - expenses,” wrote Miss Hammersly. “Usually, the girls who have to - struggle so to achieve the bare necessities through school and - college, are the ones who, after all, gain but a superficial benefit - from the educational courses. The work they must do to live comes - first with them, as is natural. They fall behind in their school - work. Not so with Miss Baldwin. I am proud of her and I want to see - her finish her course so auspiciously begun.” - -“Somehow, Mrs. Baldwin,” Mr. Lomax said to Beth’s mother, “you must -push Elizabeth on. She must continue her course at Rivercliff. Why! it -will be a distinct loss to the educational community if she does not -become a teacher.” - -“I do not know how that may be,” said Mrs. Baldwin, quietly; “but I do -know that I want Beth to continue at the school. At first, when Mr. -Baldwin was taken ill, I did not see how we could accomplish it. But -now, by her own exertions, she has proved that it is possible. Why! -she has already in hand enough to pay the first half of next year’s -expenses.” - -So it was settled. Beth renewed her resolve and, as Marcus said, -“buckled down to work.” - -She had cards printed, and with them she went from house to house in -the better residential sections of Hudsonvale and the neighboring -towns, showing samples where she could of her really beautiful work. -Both Mrs. Baldwin and Beth had a “sleight,” as old-fashioned people -called it, with the needle--especially on such fine work as Beth now -essayed. - -“You work up a good trade this summer, Daughter,” said the practical -Mrs. Baldwin, “and I’ll hold it for you until next long vacation. Ella -is getting such a big girl now, and Prissy is so helpful, that I can do -it.” - -Beth had already shown her own capability in getting ahead. She was not -afraid to ask for work, and where she was allowed to show specimens of -mending she was almost sure of being engaged for similar tasks. - -One thing she would not do, and her mother suggested it only once--and -that faintly. Beth refused to take her samples of work to the Haven -place and ask Mrs. Haven to recommend her to her friends. - -Everybody who could afford it in Hudsonvale went away for at least -a fortnight in the summer, and Mrs. Haven and her son went to some -northern resort soon after Beth came home from Rivercliff; so it was -not strange that Beth saw little of Larry, even in the most casual way, -during the vacation. - -She was once during the summer at a simple evening party, dressed -in the poplin, refurbished with new ribbons, and Larry unexpectedly -dropped in. He devoted himself to her entertainment for a part of the -evening and, quite as a matter of course, saw her home. - -Both talked very fast, and about perfectly uninteresting matters, all -the way--both too nervous and excited to know afterward just what -either had said--and parted with a handclasp at Beth’s gate. - -Several times, however, during the later summer, Larry was at the Bemis -Street cottage to see Mr. Baldwin. Beth’s father and the young man -usually remained closeted together for some time, and once Mr. Baldwin -came into the sitting room after such an interview, smiling broadly. - -“Let me tell you,” he said, “that young chap has got something in his -head that didn’t have to be put there by a surgical operation!” But -just what he meant by this commendation he did not explain. - -Beth was very successful that summer, and for a girl, earned a good -deal of money with her nimble fingers. It was a fact that she had -remarkable talent for the occupation she had taken up. People who own -nice laces and the like, are only too glad to pay a commensurate price -for their restoration by skilful workwomen. - -She had put her acceptance of Molly Granger’s invitation to Hambro off -as late in the summer as she could. But now, finally, Molly threatened -so seriously to lead a pirate band of aunts into the Bemis Street camp, -that it was decided Beth must go to her chum’s. And she welcomed the -diversion, too. - -She went to Hambro by boat, of course; and the day of her departure on -this outing she received a letter from long silent Cynthia Fogg. It was -rather a queer letter, too--just as queer as the girl herself! - - “Are you going to return to Rivercliff School?” was a part of the - epistle. “I’ve heard your father is ill and that you are not going - back there. Tell me if this is so at once.... I have a good job and - all is well with me.” - -There was something so insistent about that question that Beth wrote -at once, reassuring her strange friend, that she was to return to -Rivercliff. Cynthia’s address was on Dekalb Avenue, Philadelphia. Beth -wondered what part of the city that was--whether it was in the wealthy -residential portion, where presumably Cynthia had secured her “good -job,” or among the poor of the Quaker metropolis. Beth did not believe -that it could be at the orphanage in which Cynthia presumably had been -brought up. - -Beth had looked forward to her visit to Molly and the seven aunts with -a great deal of satisfaction and curiosity; nor was she disappointed. -It proved interesting and she made seven very lovely friends. The aunts -and Molly lived together in a big house in the better residential -section of Hambro, and were, indeed, quite the most important people, -socially, in the whole town. - -Aunt Celia liked Beth because she really was a student and loved books. -Molly’s eldest aunt spent her days in a comfortable chair in her own -sitting room, reading--and reading the solid, not to say stolid works -of certain English authors who have mostly gone out of fashion in this -day. - -Aunt Catherine--almost always suffering from a cold in the head and -never by any possibility going out of doors without overshoes--was -considered delicate by all the family. She confided to Beth her -favorite remedies for most diseases, from cholera to housemaid’s knee. - -Auntie Cora was society’s devotee--a little, bustling woman, who was -the cheerfulest company and never talked of anything that amounted -(so Aunt Celia said) to “a row of beans.” She took Beth and Molly to -afternoon teas to show them off, and drove with them in borrowed coupés -behind stiff-backed coachmen and footmen through the pleasant roads -around Hambro. - -Aunt Carrie, the maritime one, took Beth to her room and displayed for -her admiration much of the wedding finery she had been preparing with -her own hands through a series of heart-hungering years, against the -time when her captain should come home and settle down. - -“John has not had his own ship very long. He must first lay aside a -competence--and for years he had a father and a mother to support. But -this voyage to the East and one more will ‘complete the tally,’ he -says,” and she blushed very prettily, for she was a sweet maiden lady -with all the modesty of a girl. - -On a teakwood table in a corner of her room--a present from the -captain, of course--was a mariner’s chart on which every day was -faithfully pricked the possible course of the ship _Rollingsgate_--a -huge fourmaster. - -“I correct it by John’s letters,” Aunt Carrie said. “And really, it is -quite surprising to see how close I come to it--sometimes.” - -She had learned the elements of navigation, too, so as to know more -about John’s calling. To Beth’s mind this romance of the maiden lady -was the very sweetest of which she had ever heard. - -Aunt Charlotte, the plump, capable aunt, was housekeeper, and was of a -much more practical nature than the other “Granger girls,” as Hambro -people knew them. Aunt Cassie actually had an attack of croup while -Beth was in the house. - -“And if you can beat that in August, I wish you’d tell me!” Molly -exclaimed. - -Aunt Cassie’s whole existence, it seemed, had been one series of coughs -and colds. Aunt Cyril was very kind to Beth, but rather aloof. She -could not wholly approve of a girl who did housework for her school -tuition. Yet she was too sweet and lovable to snub her niece’s chum. - -“They are just the sweetest, lovingest dears that ever lived--all of -them!” Beth Baldwin declared to her mother, when she returned from this -visit. “And the house is full of cats--both living ones and those Jolly -Molly has drawn. The aunts are too tender-hearted to have a single -kitten drowned, or to destroy even one of Molly’s attempts at feline -portraiture.” - -Beth was not in Hudsonvale long this time. The semester would soon open -at Rivercliff, and she took the boat again for the twenty-four hour -journey up the river. - -Beth bade Larry good-bye the evening before she departed for school, -and in full family assembled. The heart-high courage and happiness that -had attended her first departure for school was lacking when the _Water -Wagtail_ left the Hudsonvale landing. - -But Beth had many things to think of now that she had not dreamed of -the year previous. She was much older, too--much more than a year -older! And hers was not a nature that “hugged sorrow to its bosom.” She -had too many plans for the future. - -She wished to get to Rivercliff, get settled, and put out her -“hospital” sign. Molly had painted a new one with an added line: - - “_First Aid to Lingerie_” - -She had counted on Mrs. Severn’s work as a solid asset for her school -campaign. Arriving at Rivercliff on Friday, Saturday afternoon Beth -called at Severn Lodge at her usual hour. - -The gorgeously liveried footman let her in--but she thought his look -was doubtful. Before she could mount the stairs the foreign maid -appeared at the top of the flight. - -“Miz Baldwig iz to vait below,” she hissed. - -Beth stepped back in surprise. The foreign person disappeared--then -reappeared again. She brought a folded note downstairs and extended it -at arm’s length to Beth. - -“Ze compliments of madam,” said the maid. Beth unfolded and looked at -the note, quite stunned. It read: - - “Mrs. Severn will not again require Miss Baldwin’s assistance.” - -It was written and signed in the upright, old-fashioned hand of the -lady herself. - -As Beth left the house she almost thought she heard the parrot -shrieking after her: - -“I don’t care if you _never_ come back!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -SUSPICION HOVERS - - -Fortunate it was that lessons began on Monday, and that there were -certain preparations to be made for them. Likewise, there was some work -for Beth’s nimble fingers, for some of the girls who had arrived at -Rivercliff first, had actually brought their summer’s mending with them. - -“For you do it much nicer than I can get it done at home, Baldwin,” -cried one. - -“I tell you, Beth, you are an institution,” Mamie Dunn declared. “I -don’t know what we should do without you. I, for one, would go in rags.” - -So Beth did not have much time to worry over Mrs. Severn’s odd action. -She merely comforted herself by saying that rich old ladies--especially -with parrots and foreign maids--are apt to be fanciful. - -Miss Hammersly called Beth into her office for a special interview on -one of the days soon after the opening of the term. - -“I am pleased to see you with us for another year, Beth,” she said, -with that shade of cordiality with which she always received her -second year pupils. “You have come, I presume, fully prepared to take -up your studies with renewed vigor and a steady application?” - -“Oh yes, Miss Hammersly,” Beth said cheerfully. “I love to study.” - -“And you will--ahem!--make no engagements which will interfere with -recitations or study hours?” - -“No,” and Beth flushed a little. “Madam Hammersly tells me she has -engaged a girl to do my dusting.” - -“Yes; at my suggestion,” said the principal. “Besides, I think it -debarred you from proper physical exercise--which you need, Beth.” - -“Yes, Miss Hammersly. I will try to make it up in some other way,” said -the girl, doubtfully. With both Mrs. Severn’s work and the dusting -lost, Beth was worried about the future. - -“By the way,” Miss Hammersly said. “Do you help Mrs. Ricardo Severn -this fall?” - -For some reason Beth could not keep from blushing. “No, Miss -Hammersly,” she said. “I expected to, and I went to her home on -Saturday prepared to do so; but I was informed that my services were -not wanted any more.” - -“By whom were you so informed?” the principal asked quickly. - -“Why, Mrs. Severn really told me herself--in writing. She sent down a -note,” said Beth, somewhat surprised at the interest the principal of -Rivercliff displayed in the matter. - -“You--are you familiar with Mrs. Severn’s handwriting?” questioned Miss -Hammersly. - -“Oh, yes. She has sent me notes before.” - -“Do you not think it strange, Beth?” - -“Ye-es; in a way. But I know she is notional.” - -“Did you know that she sent here after you in June--the very day after -the school closed?” - -“Sent for me?” cried Beth, in amazement. - -“Yes.” - -“Why--how odd! She knew I was going away. I bade her good-bye.” - -“Of course, you can imagine no reason for her treating you so now?” - -“None at all. Unless she may have found somebody else to amuse her. I -do not really think,” confessed Beth, flushing again, and dimpling, -“that it was my work she cared for so much as my chatter. She likes to -be amused.” - -Miss Hammersly smiled--yet her gravity returned instantly. “Very well,” -she said, tapping on her desk with her pencil in a thoughtful way. “You -may go, Beth.” - -Beth continued at times to wonder about Mrs. Severn’s refusal to see -her when she called. That she could not understand. She believed that -the foreign maid did not like her and might have influenced Mrs. Severn -against Beth herself by some means, although the girl could not imagine -how. - -The opening of a new school year is like the picking up of scattered -stitches with a knitting needle. Not only must the mind become attuned -to lessons and to discipline again, but one’s former friends must be -greeted, new friendships made, and--unfortunately--old enmities and -feuds attended to. - -Rivalries always will exist where youths congregate--in school, or -elsewhere. The very system of education followed at Rivercliff fostered -rivalries. And a healthy competition between students is always of -benefit. - -Warped and selfish natures, however, can never enter into any struggle -and play the game with fairness. The “give and take” of the playground -can never please these. - -Although Miss Hammersly and her instructors watched the two hundred and -more girls at Rivercliff School as closely as was wise, they could not -foresee all feuds nor could they break them up when once started. Maude -Grimshaw and her friends continued at times to vent upon Beth their -spleen; and occasionally they succeeded in ruffling the placid surface -of Beth’s life. - -Ordinarily, “Princess Fancyfoot,” as Molly called Maude, was content to -lift her sharp nose to a more acute angle when she noticed Beth or to -cast a slurring remark or two in her direction. These attentions Beth -did not allow to trouble her soul. - -She seldom came in direct contact with Maude. To tell the truth, Maude -was not a brilliant scholar. Beth and Molly were forging far ahead of -the heiress to the Grimshaw millions. Molly had been fired by Beth’s -example and wished to become self-supporting, too; and was preparing -herself to teach. - -“I don’t care what Aunt Cyril says,” Molly announced. “She thinks it -beneath a Granger to earn money at any occupation. Aunt Charlotte is -more practical. She tells me she will take the money I earn teaching -and invest it for me so that it will earn at least seven per cent. -Then, she says, I will have something to make me independent in my old -age. For, you see, Bethesda, my father spent all his patrimony on the -heathen, so I have nothing but what the aunts give me. - -“It looks as though Aunt Charlotte had an uncanny belief that I shall -remain an old maid like all the other ‘Granger girls,’” and she made a -little face at the thought. - -With all her hard work at her books and in the “hospital,” Beth -went in for at least one relaxation. She played an excellent game at -basket-ball, and there was great rivalry at Rivercliff in this athletic -pastime. - -Beth and Molly had won places on the second basket-ball team and, now -that a class had graduated, there was an opening on the first team. -This team played championship games against club teams in Jackson City -and other first school teams about the State. Basket-ball was a game of -which Miss Hammersly herself particularly approved. - -The rivalry for the post of honor on the first team waxed high during -the first four weeks of the term. The first regular game of the season, -with a team from the Jackson City Academy, was to be played on one of -the Rivercliff courts. - -The chums in Numbers Eighty and Eighty-one, Maude Grimshaw, who could -be active if she so chose, Stella Price, and a girl named Pratt, were -the contestants for the place of honor on the first team. - -Between Beth and Molly it was just a zestful rivalry for first -place; the chums were, of course, good natured about it. There was -some acerbity between the others, perhaps. In the case of Maude, she -naturally fought “tooth and nail,” as Molly said, and was as unpleasant -about it as possible. - -The physical instructor, Miss Crossleigh, and the other members of the -first basket-ball team, decided by vote for the girl who was to make -the team. Each candidate who was passed by Miss Crossleigh, was tried -out in practice games before the last Saturday in September. - -On that day Molly came to the breakfast table a little late, both -flushed and excited. - -“Well! it’s all over, girls,” she confided to the table in general. - -“What’s all over--the sky?” giggled one of her hearers. - -“The contest for the first team. Miss Crossleigh has just written up -the names on the gym board. It’s all over but the shouting.” - -“Oh! who’s got it?” cried two or three at once. - -Maude stopped eating and flashed a look at Molly. “I’d like to know -what you know about it?” she demanded. - -“I tell you Miss Crossleigh has just written up the names of the girls -who will play Jackson City next week.” - -“Who’s the new one? Not you, Molly, I’ll be bound,” cried Stella Price. - -Molly could no longer control her smiles. Yet she said, a bit ruefully: - -“Not guilty! Poor lil’ Molly wins not, of course. She never does.” - -“Who is it?” demanded Maude, eagerly. - -“Why, Maude! who could it be?” drawled Molly, wickedly. “There was -never but one girl of us that really had a chance from the start.” - -Maude’s complacent and conscious expression was delightful. - -“Of course, I knew----” she began, with a toss of her head, when Molly -interposed with: - -“We all knew! Hail to the chieftainess! Beth! get up and bow. _You’re -elected._” - -“_What?_” shrieked Maude. - -“How horrid!” exclaimed Laura Hedden, loyally. - -A general laugh went around the table. “Speech! Speech!” clamored the -girls. - -Beth got up, flushing, and bowed with mock solemnity. “I am -overpowered,” she said. “You must excuse me. Besides, I am hungry.” - -“Well! if that isn’t the very meanest thing!” hissed Maude Grimshaw. -“That pauper has no more right to the place than--than----” - -“Pass the butter!” advised Mamie Dunn, springing the old joke on Maude. - -Maude, however, was not to be so easily silenced on this occasion. She -rose up haughtily, her usually colorless face ugly with splotches of -red. - -“Let me tell you--all you smarties,” she said, greatly enraged--“that -this has been a most unfairly conducted contest. You all know it. -Success has not gone to the best player, but to one who is, in some -mysterious way, momentarily popular. Perhaps it is out of pity for her -poverty that Miss Baldwin has been given the place on the first team, a -place that belongs to a better player.” - -“Yourself, for instance?” drawled Molly. “With two fumbles and three -interferences to your credit when you were last tried out?” - -“Not my fault!” snapped back Maude. - -“Oh, hush, Grimshaw!” advised a senior. “You’re making yourself -ridiculous; don’t you know that? And Miss Carroll is looking this way.” - -“Let Miss Carroll hear,” hissed Maude. “All the teachers had better -hear. We are supposed to be decently honest in this school; but all of -us are not.” - -“Hear! hear!” interposed somebody, _sotto voce_. “Confession is good -for the soul.” - -“You think you are smart!” flared up Maude, looking around without -identifying the speaker. “But perhaps it would be just as well if some -inquiry were made as to why this new member of the first basket-ball -team came to be turned out of Severn Lodge and forbidden even to go -there again. Oh! I know what I am talking about--and so does she.” - -With this last phrase spoken in a most insolent way, Maude stalked -from the table. Molly jumped up to follow her, “spitting like a bad -firecracker,” as somebody said; but Beth pulled her back into her seat. - -“Now Maude’s exploded again,” said Stella, wearily. “Don’t follow her -example please, Molly Granger.” - -“Pshaw! she is not worth worrying about, Miss Baldwin,” declared -another girl. - -But a whisper went around the table. It had an echo, too, in Beth’s -heart: - -“What did Maude mean about Severn Lodge?” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -THE TRAITOR’S BLOW - - -Beth really had her heart and mind so full these days that there should -not have been room for worry over anything that a girl like Maude -Grimshaw could say. The fact remained, however, that Beth was disturbed -by Maude’s innuendo. - -Molly had asked: “What could that nasty thing mean, Beth, about Mrs. -Severn?” - -“I don’t know,” her chum honestly replied. “I can’t imagine.” - -“Humph! just some of her spleen, I guess. She’s heard you weren’t -working there any more on Saturdays and so just made something up out -of whole cloth.” - -So they passed it over. Molly evidently heard no more about it during -the next week, for she did not broach the subject again to Beth. But -the latter felt that there was a cabal of some nature against her among -Maude’s “Me toos.” - -Beth practised with the first basket-ball team every day, and Miss -Hammersly herself came to watch the play and pronounce judgment. She -was very much pleased with the smooth work of the five and applauded -vigorously. - -The whole school took a deep interest in the practice games; but the -general applause grew noticeably fainter day after day, when Beth -chanced to make a good play. Molly Granger and a number of her close -friends, who were frequently on the side lines together, cheered Beth -to the echo. But they finally became quite alone in their applause. - -Beth herself had noticed the coldness of her fellow-students before -this. She discovered it in other ways besides the lack of applause on -the basket-ball court. - -A girl who had promised her some work did not bring it to Number Eighty -and Beth asked her about it. - -“Miss Rice, I can mark those handkerchiefs for you now, if you like,” -Beth said. “Shall I come for them, or will you bring them to me?” - -The girl spoken to flushed and hesitated. “Oh--I--well--I’ve changed -my mind, Miss Baldwin,” she stammered. “I guess I won’t have them done -just now.” - -“Oh, dear me!” laughed Beth, “if it is a matter of a lack of the -essential pin-money just now, I’ll trust you. I have to do such work -when I can, you know, and often we girls have spent all our immediate -allowances.” - -“No, Miss Baldwin. I don’t want the handkerchiefs done at all,” said -Miss Rice, tartly. “I prize them rather highly--they were sent to me -from Paris. I don’t think I care to risk them out of my own possession.” - -Nothing could be plainer than this. Beth was aware that Miss Rice was -frequently in Maude Grimshaw’s company. The lesson to be drawn was -obvious. - -All the girls of Rivercliff were not followers of “Princess Fancyfoot.” -Yet it was plain enough before the day of the game between the school’s -first team and the one from Jackson City, that Beth was not a favorite -on the basket-ball team. - -Whether Miss Crossleigh, the instructor, noticed it or not, she -said nothing. Teachers cannot always take note of girlish feuds and -rivalries. - -A match game between the teams of rival schools brought to the -Rivercliff athletic field many friends of the girls. Miss Hammersly had -had a grand stand erected to overlook both the basket-ball and tennis -courts, which were inside the cinder path. The weather was fine, the -sport was popular, and the field made a brilliant picture on this crisp -October afternoon. - -Beth’s mates on the basket-ball team showed her frank good -fellowship--that was one good thing. Otherwise, she could not have -played as brilliantly as she did that day. The opposition to her that -developed among her own fellow-students as the game went on only served -to spur her to greater efforts. - -In the first half the Rivercliff team was outmatched. There was a weak -spot in the home team, but not in Beth Baldwin’s corner. Yet almost the -whole school was unfriendly toward her. - -“All ready?” demanded the referee, and at the signal the ball was -thrown into play. - -Although the play was fast and furious from the very start, at first -neither side scored. Then the umpire halted the play with: - -“Foul on Rivercliff for over guarding!” - -It was really a shock to the school five. “Do get together, girls!” -begged Maxine Laval, the captain. - -But their opponents got the ball and shot it basketward. Right from -the field the Jackson City Academy five made a basket. And following -it--within a half minute--they made a second. - -“Break it up, guards! Do!” groaned Maxine. - -Maxine herself made a brilliant play the next moment, and her friends -on the benches and side lines showed their approval wildly. And then a -basket was made splendidly by Beth. - -Silence. For a moment, dead silence. Then Molly led a weak and forlorn -applause. But the snub of the little brunette beauty, who was playing -so well and vigorously, was so plain that the entire audience marked it. - -Whispering among the elders, laughter among the girls, followed the -incident. The whistle called the half with the home five badly behind. -The visitors scored six points over them. - -In the dressing room allotted to the Rivercliff five, Miss Crossleigh -thanked them for their work and encouraged them. - -“There seems to be some schoolgirl foolishness afoot,” the instructor -added, rather sharply. “One of us seems to be unpopular----” - -“Miss Crossleigh,” said Beth, quickly, “if you think that I had better -retire and let a substitute take my place----” - -“No, no!” the other girls of the team cried. - -“Why, Beth Baldwin!” Maxine said, warmly, “you have done better than -any of us. Isn’t that so, Miss Crossleigh?” - -“I will not say that,” said the lady, smiling. “You have each done your -best, I believe, and I want you to keep at it. Show them that although -they may win this game from us you are all good sports. Of course, Miss -Baldwin will finish the game.” - -And cheered somewhat by this, when the whistle announced the game was -on for the second half, Beth went out with renewed vigor. Almost at -once she got another basket. This time there was a pronounced hiss -from one group on the benches. Needless to say Maude Grimshaw was the -central figure of that group. - -But the friends of the visiting girls began to understand the -opposition to Beth by her own party. They applauded Beth themselves, -and when the game was over (and it was not such a bad beating the -Rivercliff team received, after all, thanks to Beth’s good playing), -every member of the opposing team insisted upon shaking hands with the -girl who had fought them the hardest. - -Almost everybody was late to supper that evening; but notably the -losing team in the afternoon’s game, and Maude Grimshaw and several of -her “Me toos.” In fact, Maude herself did not appear at all, and Miss -Carroll slipped into her place at table. - -“That table would have just buzzed if Carroll hadn’t sat there,” Molly -Granger announced, when the meal was over and the girls were trooping -upstairs to the general recreation room on the second floor. - -The elements of the game that afternoon were busily discussed; but -as several of the teachers were present right up to the time the -half-past eight bell rang, when the girls retired to their rooms, any -particular talk regarding Beth had to be postponed by either friends or -enemies. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT - - -As for Beth herself, when she left the table, Miss Carroll spoke to her: - -“See Miss Hammersly in the office at once, Miss Baldwin. It is -imperative.” - -“Yes, Miss Carroll,” Beth said, and went to the interview with apparent -calmness. - -Miss Hammersly was sitting under the shaded light at her desk, making -notes upon a tablet. As Beth entered, the school principal arose -quickly so that the shadow fell across her face, while the girl stood -in the full glare of the lamp. - -“Beth!” - -“Yes, Miss Hammersly.” - -“I have called you here upon a serious matter.” - -“Yes.” - -“Do you know the meaning of this afternoon’s exhibition of disloyalty -and bad taste on the athletic field?” - -Beth did not dodge the issue. “I understand, Miss Hammersly,” she said, -“that some of the girls say I am dishonest. It has something to do -with Mrs. Severn. What it means, I do not know.” - -Beth’s lips were quivering, but she spoke bravely. Miss Hammersly -stared straight at her for fully a minute. She saw the black eyes dim, -lose their sparkle, and overflow with slow tears that found their -courses, one by one, down the girl’s cheeks. - -The principal of Rivercliff School was not given to sentiment--as a -practice. But she suddenly came close to Beth and put both arms about -her in a motherly way. - -“My poor child!” she said. “You are much to be pitied, I believe. I -know that you are maligned. You have no knowledge at all of what this -exhibition against you on the part of your schoolmates means?” - -“Not at all, Miss Hammersly.” - -“We will see Mrs. Severn together and find out the facts,” declared the -principal. - -“Mrs. Severn!” - -“Yes. Some of your schoolmates have got hold of something that -evidently had its origin at Severn Lodge. It came by way of the back -stairs, of course--from one servant to another. It is disgraceful -enough,” continued Miss Hammersly with indignation, “that any of my -girls should listen to servants’ gossip; and worse still that they -should allow it to influence their minds against a fellow-student. - -“We cannot call on Mrs. Severn to-night, Beth. She is a semi-invalid -and probably retires early. But we will go to-morrow afternoon.” - -“Oh, Miss Hammersly! It is so kind of you----” - -“No, Beth. I cannot claim any such virtue in the case. I must defend -the characters of my pupils for my own sake--for the school’s sake. And -in this case, my dear, I will defend you for your sake; for I am sure -you are guiltless of any intended wrong.” - -Miss Hammersly and Beth went together in an automobile the following -afternoon to Mrs. Severn’s home. It was true that, when they entered, -the footman seemed to place himself before Beth as though to ward her -from the stairs, while the ever-watchful foreign maid hissed from the -head of the stairs: - -“Miz Baldwig ees not to come up, Jeems!” - -But Miss Hammersly handed her card to the footman, saying sternly: - -“Announce me to your mistress. Give that card to nobody else!” - -The maid, casting a malevolent glance at Beth, backed out of sight. -The big footman started up the stairs, the very calves of his legs in -their silk stockings trembling in indignation. But the school principal -and Beth were immediately ushered into the presence of the mistress of -Severn Lodge. - -Mr. Montague, upside down as usual, shrieked a greeting in his most -appalling fashion. The gouty one threw a cushion at his cage; but -possibly owing to nervousness, she missed it. - -“Shut up, Mr. Dennis Montague!” she cried. - -“Dennis Mudd! Dennis Mudd!” screamed the parrot. Then, soulfully: - - “The noble Duke of York, - He had ten thousand men, - He marched them up a hill one day, - Then he marched them down-- - Too-roo-lal-roo-lal-larry! Johnny come home to tea!” - -After this long speech the creature was breathless, and the lady of the -mansion and Miss Hammersly could converse. The former asked neither of -her guests to sit down, nor did she, indeed, glance at Beth. - -“I do not understand this call, Miss Hammersly!” said Mrs. Severn, -haughtily. - -“I propose to explain myself very quickly, Madam,” said the school -principal, quite as haughtily. “When you sent to inquire of me -regarding Miss Baldwin last June, after she had gone home, why did you -not explain your reason for so doing? Why leave me to find out this -calumny against one of my pupils, Mrs. Severn, until now, and through -such mean channels?” - -“What do you mean, Miss Hammersly, by ‘mean channels,’ pray?” croaked -Mrs. Severn. - -“Pray! Pray, I say!” croaked the parrot, in a voice scarcely less harsh. - -“Shut up, Mr. Montague!” - -“Shut up yourself!” returned the parrot, who had now come out of the -cage and was walking along the mopboard of the room, pecking at the -carpet. - -“I do not think I need explain,” said Miss Hammersly. “Through your -servants the story has reached my serving people, and, of course, some -of the more thoughtless of my girls. Miss Baldwin does not know now of -what you accuse her.” - -“She should be glad I did not send a policeman after her!” cried Mrs. -Severn, in weak rage. - -“You should be glad, Madam, that I do not institute suit for slander -against you on Miss Baldwin’s behalf--and that I certainly will do if -you continue to repeat your accusation.” - -“Oh, Miss Hammersly!” begged Beth, in tears now. “Of what am I -accused?” - -“Of stealing a diamond sunburst. She says it is missing since the last -Saturday you were here in June.” - -Beth’s gaze flashed to the neck of Mrs. Severn’s gown. The -old-fashioned pin she usually wore was missing. - -“Oh! that is awful!” the girl murmured. - -“No, it is not,” Miss Hammersly said sternly. “It is merely unjust--and -actionable. I have come here to tell you, Mrs. Severn, that you must -write Miss Baldwin an apology, stating that you have no evidence -that she had anything to do with the disappearance of your pin. This -disavowal I will read to my girls. And I will send home any one of them -who dares repeat the calumny upon Miss Baldwin’s character.” - -Mrs. Severn, very angry, tried to be dignified, while the parrot went -into a spasm of laughter in the corner of the bay window. But Miss -Hammersly had been managing people--and getting her own way with them, -too--for twenty years. She and Beth finally left the house with just -the paper the school principal had demanded. - -On Monday morning after prayers, Miss Hammersly gave the entire school -a lecture on the evils of gossip and read Mrs. Severn’s written -acknowledgment of the wrong she had done Beth. Maude Grimshaw was very -much subdued just at this time. If the story of the lost pin and -the accusation against Beth was repeated, it was done so in secret, -thereafter. - -The wound, however, remained open in Beth’s soul. It was hard for even -such a sweet nature as hers to overlook and forgive the treatment she -had received at the hands of many of her schoolmates. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI - -ROUNDING OUT ANOTHER YEAR - - -It may have been well for Beth Baldwin’s advancement in her studies and -for her financial prosperity, that the foregoing incidents had taken -place. It shut the young girl more within herself and left her mind -freer for study and work. - -Those girls who were sorry and ashamed because of countenancing a mean -act, even to a slight degree, tried at first to shower favors upon -the occupant of Number Eighty, South Wing; at least, they all brought -her work for her needle. But Beth knew her friends now--there was no -question of that. They were few, and they were loyal, but they took up -very little of Beth’s time. - -As the term progressed she secured other and better paying occupation -for her free hours, and outside of school. But she heard nothing more -from Mrs. Ricardo Severn nor of the lost sunburst. - -Molly and she sometimes talked about it. The mystery, if not the -suspicion, still overhung Beth. She was inclined to believe that the -foreign maid might know more about the disappearance of the sunburst -than anybody else. - -“She may not have stolen it because she wished to profit financially by -the deed,” Beth said to Molly. “But for some reason she always showed -her dislike for me, and she may have done this deliberately to ruin me -in Mrs. Severn’s estimation.” - -“I don’t know who else would have done it--unless it was that parrot -you tell about,” Molly said, laughing shortly. - -Beth did not go home for the Christmas holidays because of her outside -work, and at Easter, the intermission was too short to make a visit to -Hudsonvale worth while. - -News from home continued to be encouraging throughout the school year. -Mr. Baldwin steadily improved in health, for he worked out of doors. He -never went back to the Locomotive Works, but the family managed very -well, indeed. There was hope of something being done with one of his -inventions. Larry Haven had an interest in that, and Beth knew that -Larry had supplied the funds for the patent fees and other necessary -expenses connected with the matter. - -On her part, Beth was doing splendidly. Miss Hammersly was vastly -pleased with her standing in her classes. From the time they had -visited Mrs. Ricardo Severn--and Mr. Montague--together, Beth and the -school principal had been very good friends, indeed. Miss Hammersly -seldom displayed so much affection for any pupil as she did for Beth. - -Molly was doing well, too, and at the close of the second year in June -Beth stood first in her class and Molly was not far down on the roster. - -“But it never _would_ have happened, Bethesda, if it hadn’t been for -you. I was ashamed to be left so far behind a girl who had so much on -her hands when I had so little. But I am afraid it has made me very -serious-minded,” and she shook her head gloomily. - -“Oh, nonsense, Jolly Molly!” laughed Beth. “You will never be a ‘grave -and reverend seignior’--and because of more than the disbarment of sex. -A _senior_ you will be; but always a jolly one.” - -“Nay, nay, my child!” quoth Molly. “When I come back to Rivercliff -next autumn, I shall begin signing myself, ‘J. Molly Granger.’ I shall -abandon my full name, and let my jocundity be represented by an initial -only.” - -When Beth went to Hambro that second summer, however, for a brief visit -with Molly and the aunts, she could not descry much change in her chum. - -The summer was a busy one and a happy one for Beth. Her mother had held -together the customers Beth had obtained the year previous. Indeed, -there was a neat sign on the front door of the Bemis Street cottage, -and almost daily carriages and automobiles from the better residential -section of the town stopped before the house. Ella was learning to help -in the work, too, and little Prissy was becoming a perfect housewife. -The twins, Ferd and Fred, were sturdy youngsters, going to school and -being helpful in vacation time in the garden. Marcus was a manly fellow -and--whisper!--he had actually bought a safety razor! - -That summer Beth found that she was more popular than ever in her home -town. Mr. Lomax asked her to meet his class of girls who would graduate -from the high school the next year, and tell them something about what -it meant to attend a boarding school. It was at a lawn party, and a -good many older people were present. - -Beth did her best to inspire the girls with a desire to do as she -had done. Some of them would have to follow her methods to a certain -extent, for their parents were too poor to pay their full tuition at -any school or seminary. - -“I believe the prize is worth the work entailed, however,” Beth said, -in the course of her simple address. “If I could not go back for my -final year at Rivercliff I should feel well repaid for my struggle thus -far. But if I am allowed to finish my course, I know I shall be better -able to face the world and make my own way in it than I possibly could -do if I had been prepared by any other means. - -“The business college course is cheap and quickly gained; but the -classical and English courses in a properly conducted school which -confers an academic degree fit one for a better and higher position in -business or professional life.” - -Rather to her chagrin, but to Ella’s great delight, the county paper -printed Beth’s speech in part. The flyaway sister went around repeating -extracts from it, and proclaiming to all who would listen that Beth was -bound to be an orator. - -“A lecturer, anyway,” she insisted. “Our Beth will soon adorn the -platform. In spectacles and a cap and gown, she will lead her sisters -in charges for women’s rights, lecture on the noise nuisance, plead -before legislatures for freedom from the trammels of fashion---- - -“By the way, B. B., Larry says that frock of yours is just stunning.” - -“Oh, does he?” returned her sister, placidly. - -“Yes. I think you are snubbing Larry.” - -“I have no time for boys,” responded Beth. - -“Boys! No less!” - -“Larry is a boy to me,” Beth declared, in her very haughtiest way. - -“I don’t care,” said Ella, mischievously. “He is beginning to come to -me for comfort when you throw him down.” - -It really did seem as though Larry Haven was striving to show Beth -that he had not lost his interest in her or in her career. When Beth -first came home that second summer, Larry was frequently at the Baldwin -cottage. Whether Beth actually snubbed him, or not, as Ella said, he -disappeared soon after, going away for a long outing with Mrs. Haven; -so the Baldwins did not see him again until Beth had gone back to -Rivercliff in September. - -Rather to Beth’s surprise, Larry wrote to her soon after she reached -school--something he had not done for fully a year and a half. The -letter sounded just as though their old intimacy had never been broken, -and that the young lawyer was still quite as much her friend and -well-wisher as ever. - -She was, for some time, undecided whether to answer or not, and how to -answer. But finally she replied in a pleasant, brief letter. Larry’s -epistle was like himself--exuberant: - - “The Mater lugged me around from one watering place to another this - summer--there was no getting away from her, poor dear!--and kept me - at it so late that you had flitted from the home nest on Bemis Street - when I got back to Hudsonvale and my clamoring clients. I never go - away on a vacation without expecting to find the heaped-up bodies - of exhausted and desperate clients before my office door in the - Hudsonvale Block. However, all I found were several insistent roaches - from the bakery downstairs and heaps of dust, for I declare, Devine - had not been in to clean up for a month! - - “What I started to tell you about, Beth, was a girl I met at - Saratoga. Fact is, it was the second time I had met her. I am almost - tempted to declare it was the third. I spoke to you once of Miss - Emeline Freylinghausen. Do you remember the girl who passed me coming - out of Rivercliff School when I was going in the day I called to see - you? Do you remember her? You said she was a servant, just discharged. - - “Well, if you could once see Miss Freylinghausen, you’d say she was - the speaking image of that person--that maid-servant! I had met Miss - Freylinghausen in New York; and now I have seen a good bit of her at - Saratoga. She is an odd girl--frank, I should say, and rather blunt - in speech--but not at all the sort of girl that one could put this - question to: ‘Have you ever been a servant-maid?’ Ha! ha! Ho! ho! and - likewise He! he! Fancy asking that of one of the Freylinghausens of - Philadelphia! - - “Yet, to tell the truth, Beth, that was exactly what I was tempted - to ask. Not particularly because Miss Freylinghausen looks so much - like that discharged maid I saw at Rivercliff, but because the - Philadelphia heiress has taken up what she calls a serious work in - life. It’s quite the fad, I believe, nowadays for girls like her to - do social work and the like. She has a hobby, and has interested the - Mater in it, too. At least, I hear that Miss Freylinghausen is to - appear at Hudsonvale some time this coming winter to prance a little - on her hobby-horse for the delectation of the Hudsonvale ladies.” - -A good deal more there was in the same strain in Larry’s sprightly -letter; and it was all interesting to Beth. But this about Miss -Freylinghausen and her resemblance to Cynthia Fogg, was what impressed -Beth the most; for she chanced to remember now that it was Maude -Grimshaw who had first noticed that resemblance between Cynthia and the -heiress to the Freylinghausen millions. - -Beth had not heard from Cynthia since the year before. That odd girl -seemed to have quite dropped out of her life; yet somehow Beth had a -feeling that they would meet again. Madam Hammersly had told Beth once -that no holiday went by but that she received a card or some little -remembrance from Cynthia; but an address was never added to the strange -girl’s signature. - -As for Maude Grimshaw, she did not appear at Rivercliff at the opening -of this fall semester. It was whispered that her marks had been so low -the spring previous that she could not have gone on with her class -without many conditions, and would have been dropped before Christmas. - -So there passed out of Beth’s school life a very unpleasant and -annoying influence. Yet, who was to say that Maude Grimshaw’s treatment -of the girl from Hudsonvale had not been good discipline for the -latter? - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII - -THE ICE CARNIVAL - - -Beth entered her senior year in high feather and with her affairs at -full sea. She had saved more than enough money to pay for her full -year’s tuition. There would be less time during her senior course to -devote to the earning of money; but what she could accumulate these -coming nine months would go toward the payment of that supposed loan of -four hundred dollars that had always been a burden on her mind. - -Beth had met Mrs. Euphemia Haven once the preceding summer, and all the -time the girl was in Mrs. Haven’s company, her cheeks burned as she -thought that she was beholden to Larry’s mother. - -“If I ever owe anybody again, or use money borrowed from anybody, -no matter who,” Beth told Molly, who was her confidant; “it will be -because I am lame in both feet, like Jonathan’s son, because I have as -many boils as Job, and am as bald as Elijah must have been.” - -“Goodness, Beth! don’t say such dreadful things,” begged Molly. “And -out of the Scriptures, too. It sounds irreverent.” - -Beth’s standing in class naturally gave her a long lead for the -presidency of the seniors. Not that mere scholarship counts high for -that honored position; but Beth had been steadily growing in popularity -with the students in general of Rivercliff School, and with her own -classmates in particular. - -Without Maude Grimshaw to form a cabal against her, there really was -little opposition to Beth when “J. Molly Granger,” as the jolly one -signed her name to the typewritten notice on the board, launched her -chum’s boom. Laura Hedden, Izola Pratt, Miss Rice, and several others -who had been Maude’s most faithful “Me toos,” failed to raise much of -a barrier against the rising flood of Beth’s popularity. Besides, they -could not settle upon an opposing candidate. - -Therefore, six weeks after the term opened, Beth was elected to the -class presidency. The senior class entertained the other older pupils -in the drawing-rooms. There was music, and dancing, and---- - -“Real _men_ for partners!” sighed Molly, ecstatically. “Think of it! We -seniors may dance with the male visitors--if we are asked!” - -Beth had a new dress--black and silver. Molly said it was “a dream.” -And certainly her brunette chum did look lovely in it. Although Beth -and Mrs. Baldwin had made it themselves, it was a gown with which any -professional dressmaker might have been satisfied. - -There was just one thing missing. Beth had told Mrs. Baldwin -there would be when the frock was tried on before she left home. -Great-grandmother Lomis’ corals would have given just the touch needed -to make Beth, as Ella declared, “fairly splendiferous.” - -But Mrs. Baldwin had not seemed to see it Beth’s way. The latter -felt that she was now old enough to wear the heirloom. She felt hurt -that her mother did not get it for her; but she contented herself -on the occasion of this first senior reception, by wearing a band -of coral-hued velvet about her throat. Her dusky shoulders gleamed -exquisitely under the black lace that a wealthy customer had given her; -her silver-figured, short-waisted gown hung gracefully about her as she -walked. She was all a-sparkle when, just as the music for the first -dance struck up, she appeared before Miss Hammersly, who, with several -of the teachers, was receiving. - -“My dear Beth,” said the principal, tapping Beth’s bare arm with her -fan, “I have a partner for you. He has been begging the honor and I -cannot refuse--although his name may cause you an unpleasant thought. -But that is all over now, I hope.” - -Beth looked startled for a moment. The very good looking young man -beside the principal was quite unknown to her. - -“Mr. Severn,” said Miss Hammersly, “Miss Baldwin. Mr. Severn is Mrs. -Ricardo Severn’s nephew.” - -“Oh! the nephew who renamed the parrot!” gasped the blushing Beth. - -“Right!” cried the young fellow, his eyes twinkling. “Really, we, as a -family, are insufferably snobbish. So I determined to save Mr. Montague -from that sin.” - -“Dennis Mudd!” laughed Beth. “Dear me! I think he hated me.” - -“He does not love me,” confessed Mr. Severn, “though I did finish his -education.” - -“And that foreign person----” - -“You mean Saronie, the maid?” - -“Yes; she seemed fairly to hate me. I wonder why?” - -“We have much in common,” declared the young man, “you and I, Miss -Baldwin. Saronie does not fancy me. I think it is because Mrs. Ricardo, -when she shuffles off this mortal coil, will have much personal -property to give away.” - -Beth found young Mr. Severn a very amusing person. She danced three -times with him, and then refused him as a partner for the rest of the -evening. “Why, you’re as bad as Mr. Montague,” she told him. “You want -everything and everybody your own way.” - -The reception was an unqualified success, and Beth was established in -the popularity of her class. Even the wealthiest and dressiest girls -had to admit that “Baldwin shines with the best.” - -Beth was destined to see more of Roland Severn. Usually young men did -not ruffle the sheltered waters of Rivercliff School life. They were -looked upon by Miss Hammersly and the madam as pirate craft, and were -warned off the shoals quite gallantly by the whole faculty of the -school. - -But this was the winter that the Nessing River froze over so solidly -that all navigation as high up as Rivercliff ceased before the first -day of December. There was no snow, and the surface of the broad stream -was like glass. The girls of Rivercliff School were on the ice every -hour they could spare from their studies. - -The bend, between the landing and the point on this side of the river, -was free of ice boats at all times, for in rounding the point sailing -in either direction, the scooters and larger craft had to make a wide -detour. - -This bend proved to be the best stretch of ice on the river, and -Jackson City people came down, strung colored electric lamps along the -shore, erected booths and shelters, and on moonlight evenings the scene -at the foot of the bluff on which Rivercliff School stood was a gay -one, indeed. - -The ice carnival lasted several weeks, and attracted visitors from far -and near. Miss Hammersly was very careful about allowing the girls, -even the seniors, to go on the ice in the evening; never allowing -more than ten to go together, and always with one of the teachers for -chaperon. - -It was on these occasions that Beth met Roland Severn. Beth always had -Molly with her. The latter began to write her name with the letters F. -W. after it. - -“For pity’s sake, Molly Granger! what do they mean?” asked somebody in -Beth’s hearing. - -“Fifth Wheel,” announced Molly, gravely. - -“‘Fifth Wheel?’” - -“Yes. Don’t you see how much use I am when we go skating? Mr. Severn -looks at me, sometimes, as though I were something the cat had brought -in.” - -But who could have carried tales of Roland Severn’s attentions to Beth -as far as Hudsonvale? After about a fortnight of this sport at the ice -carnival a tall young man with light hair, a fur cap and huge gloves, -who could skate almost as well as the professional teacher who gave -exhibitions each evening after nine o’clock, appeared. - -“Larry Haven!” cried Beth, fairly falling into his arms to save herself -from a tumble, she was so surprised. - -Questions and answers volleyed from each. Larry claimed to have come up -to Jackson City “on a case.” Every one was well. He was going to stay -at a hotel for several days and expected to have each evening free. - -Molly Granger tapped Mr. Severn softly on the sleeve. “Come away, -little Roland,” she whispered. “That is a sure-enough lawyer-man who -used to pull Beth to school on his sled. You and I are still school -children. Come away from here--and I will weep with you.” - -Beth bore Larry off to Miss Carroll, who chanced to be with the party -on this evening; and the young lawyer came to Rivercliff School by -appointment, was welcomed by the madam, who graciously remembered him, -and was introduced to Miss Hammersly herself. - -Larry remained much in evidence until the school broke up for the -Christmas and New Year holidays. But it cannot be said that Beth -bestowed any great amount of attention upon him, after all. The other -girls pronounced him “just dear.” - -Beth was in training for the skating races that the skating committee, -with the help of Miss Crossleigh, of the school had arranged for. -Skating had always been popular at Rivercliff; and now that it had -gained such general approval there was not much else talked about -outside of study hours and the classroom. - -Beth, in her first winter at Rivercliff, had shown her superiority -in skating over many of her classmates; but now she had a number of -rivals. Both the long distance and short distance races were going to -be hotly contested. As for the exhibitions of fancy skating, Beth did -not participate in them at all. She saved her strength, skill and wind -for the real work on the races. - -Miss Hammersly lent her support to the affair, as she did to everything -in the way of athletics that was of physical benefit to her girls. - -The races were at night, for it was then that there could be the most -brilliant display upon the ice. A thousand electric lamps, the power -supplied from the trolley company’s plant up the river, aided a cold -and brilliant December moon in illuminating the icefield that night. - -Other races had been held before, and hockey games and other sports; -but nothing previously arranged drew so great a crowd as the Rivercliff -School ice sports. The school was the most popular establishment in -that part of the State, and the largest. The sports drew the friends -of the school for many miles around, as well as hundreds from Jackson -City, and practically all of the hamlet at Rivercliff landing that -could get to the riverside without the aid of crutches. - -Larry had remained for this event. Indeed, it being but two days to -the closing of the term, he had planned a surprise for Beth--and that -surprise had been confided only to Miss Hammersly, for her permission -had to be obtained. - -First came the races, however; and that glorious night would long be -remembered in the annals of Rivercliff School. “It will be sung in song -and story,” Molly Granger proclaimed, afterward. - -“How can it be ‘sung in story,’ Granger?” demanded one carping critic. - -“In recitative,” responded Molly, quickly. - -Molly herself was a contestant in several of the events of the evening. -She was not a very rapid skater; but she was sure on her skates, and -she had learned many fancy strokes. One of her best feats was when she -and Stella Price waltzed very prettily together on the ice. - -It was the fifty and the one hundred yard dashes, and the two-mile race -around a measured oval on the ice, that held the deepest attention of -the throng that had come to view these trials of speed. The dashes -were from a flying start, of course. In the fifty yard Beth was second; -in the hundred yard she was first--by a good lead. Later, when the -contestants for the two-mile race were started, she was one of the -favorites. - -There were twenty starters, and they were all good skaters. The little, -dark, ugly girl, Laura Hedden, who had been such a friend of Maude -Grimshaw, was next to Beth in the line. - -Spitefulness breeds spitefulness. Laura could not have told why she -“hated that Baldwin girl;” but she had been so well taught by the -absent Maude that she considered Beth her particular enemy now. - -As they got off, Laura’s left skate clashed with Beth’s right. Both -girls might have been thrown; but Beth recovered herself instantly on -the other foot and darted off--only a stroke behind the best of the -starters. Laura began to shriek: - -“Foul! Foul! Baldwin fouled me! ’Tisn’t fair!” - -As it chanced, Miss Crossleigh and one of the official starters had -seen the accident. - -“You are the one who fouled, Miss Hedden,” said the instructor, tartly. -“You may race or not as you please. I do not think it was intentional -on your part.” - -But Laura had wasted so much time calling aloud that she was injured, -it was useless for her to attempt the race. Most of the skaters were -already half a lap away. But Laura found friends among the other girls -and some in the crowd of spectators, to hold up her contention that she -had been fouled by Beth Baldwin. - -Luckily, Beth knew nothing about this at the time. In her short, -close-fitting sweater and cap, with her scant skirt, her gloved hands -clenched, she had shot away in the immediate wake of the other girls, -scarcely noticing her clash of skates with Laura. - -At the far turn on the first lap she “crossed the bows” of several of -the other contestants, and took the inside of the course. She knew -enough about fancy skating to take short turns without faltering, and -in such a brief race as two miles she believed the struggle would be -close all the way. - -And it was. At the second turn (it was two laps to the mile), Beth was -among the leaders--seven of the best skaters in the school. Every girl -tried to do her best. - -The end of the first mile saw Beth and Miss Rice elbow to elbow. There -were others near; but the race was really between these two from this -point to the end. - -[Illustration: THERE WAS A WHITE LINE BEFORE HER! IT WAS THE TAPE. - - Page 269.] - -Sometimes Beth would forge a foot or two ahead; sometimes Miss Rice -would make a spurt. - -It was grilling work. Beth could not shake off her rival and began to -feel her own strength waning. She had to arouse all her energy and -determination when she came into the home stretch, the last half lap of -the two miles, for she was well spent. - -The cheering and encouragement came to her ears faintly. Luckily, she -could not hear what Laura Hedden and her supporters were saying. - -It seemed to Beth as though all her strength had gone--as though her -limbs below her knees were merely wooden props which she could barely -push on. - -She lost sight of the crowd; and the lights around the course, which -were strung on iron pikes driven into the ice, seemed to stand still. -She heard heavy breathing--seemingly at her very ear. Was it Rice? Or -was another contestant overtaking her? - -Then she realized that it was her own breathing she heard. Her lungs -were pumping savagely. Only a well-trained body, untrammeled by -improper dress, could have stood that strain. - -There was a white line before her! It was the tape. - -Where was Rice? Where---- - -She dashed against the tape, and the next moment Molly and Miss -Crossleigh caught her. Miss Rice was six yards behind! - -“One of the fastest two miles ever skated on this river, bar none, Miss -Baldwin,” the official scorer, the sporting editor of the Jackson City -_Daily Mail_, announced. “That last half lap you made was a wonder.” - -But Beth’s abundant success could not completely smother the objections -of the small part of the school that was opposed to her. It was not the -last spiteful exhibition of prejudice against Beth that ever raised its -head at Rivercliff. - -Now that she was breathing easily again and the pulse had stopped -pounding in her ears, Beth could hear something besides applause. The -congratulations of her friends did not entirely quench the criticisms -of those who sided with Laura Hedden. - -The latter was furious. The fact that Miss Crossleigh would pay no -attention to her announcement of unjust treatment urged the stubborn -and ill-natured girl to claim still greater injury than she had in the -first place. Indeed, the grievance that she herself had manufactured -against Beth had grown to mountainous proportions. - -All the way up to the school, after the carnival broke up, Beth heard -hints and innuendoes regarding the unfairness shown in the conduct -of the two-mile race. At first she did not understand it; she only -realized that, despite her high standing in her class and with most -of the girls and the teachers, there were still those who considered -her little less than the “forward pauper” that Maude Grimshaw had once -called her. - -Although Maude had left Rivercliff, her spirit had not been quenched -among certain of the older girls. “The ill men do lives after them,” -is a trite and true saying. The bad influence Miss Grimshaw had gained -over her “Me toos” still existed, and hatred of Beth was fostered by -Laura Hedden and girls of her type. - -In this incident of the race the little, dark, unpleasant girl had a -personal reason for being angry with Beth. She was really a very good -skater; and had she not stopped at the beginning of the race to wrangle -over the “foul,” she would have stood just as good a chance of winning -as Beth. - -“But who could win _anything_ at this school when all the teachers are -prejudiced in the favor of just one person?” Laura demanded loudly, as -the crowd climbed the hilly street to the school. - -“You are quite right, Laura,” agreed another girl, who thought she had -some cause for enmity to the president of the senior class. - -“Oh, you can’t beat that Beth Baldwin!” laughed a third, nastily. “What -do you say, Rice? Was that race fairly won?” - -Miss Rice thought she had reason for disliking Beth, too. It dated back -to the time when she had so hurt and insulted the girl from Hudsonvale -by refusing to trust her handkerchiefs in Beth’s possession. Of course, -when one has ill-treated another, unless one acknowledges his fault, -the ill-feeling remains. Miss Rice had never owned up to her wrong -attitude toward Beth. - -And now that she had been beaten by her in this very close race, she -was thoroughly disappointed and angry. - -“You can’t expect Miss Crossleigh to be fair when Miss Hammersly’s pet -is involved, can you?” scoffed Miss Rice. “Twice Beth Baldwin skated -right in front of me. It would have been called a foul on the part of -any other contestant.” - -Beth, who was within earshot, said nothing. She was thankful that Larry -and the other boys had not been allowed to walk up from the ice with -the Rivercliff girls. - -Miss Crossleigh and the other teachers were well out of hearing, but -Molly Granger was at hand. - -“Cracky-me!” she blurted out. “What ever are you talking about, Rice? -Don’t you know that every knock is a boost? You were beaten fairly -enough, and you’ll only make yourself the laughing stock of the whole -school if you say such things. Of course Beth skated in front of you. -Especially at the end of the race.” - -This caused some of the other girls to laugh; and, naturally, the -“knockers” were not pleased. - -“No matter what Beth Baldwin did, Molly Granger, _you’d_ back her up,” -said Laura Hedden, spitefully. - -“You bet I would!” cried the slangy Molly. “I’m one good little backer, -_I_ am! I’d back up Nero if I heard _you_ running him down. I’d know -for sure that there had been a mistake made in history.” - -“‘R-r-rebecca! don’dt fight!’” sing-songed Mamie Dunn, through her -nose. “You’re as bad as the rest of them, Molly. Let it drop.” - -But Laura Hedden and her personal friends, as well as Miss Rice and her -chums, had no intention of giving up their point of view. - -There was a well-defined “party of the opposition” to the senior class -president and to her supporters, organized during these few final days -of the term. Beth Baldwin went home with the feeling that on her return -she would have to face the active enmity of a not inconsiderable number -of her classmates. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII - -MISS FREYLINGHAUSEN - - -Larry’s surprise included a novel way for Beth and a dozen of her girl -friends to get home for the holidays. These girls, besides Beth and -Molly, lived in the river towns strung along the Nessing between the -school and Hudsonvale. Larry secured a huge sleigh in Jackson City and -a team of well sharpened horses with a sober driver to take them down -the river on the ice. Miss Hammersly approved of the party starting -early in the morning so as to make Hudsonvale before night. - -The girls could drop off at their several home towns, while Molly -would remain over night with Beth and go on to Hambro--and the seven -aunts--the next day. Larry was to sit on the driver’s seat and act as -courier for the party. - -It was an exciting and novel ride, and all the girls pronounced it a -lovely adventure. They thanked Beth as their hostess, for all seemed to -take it for granted that had it not been for Beth, Larry Haven would -not have done such a thing. - -There was a crowd to see them off when the the sleigh slid down upon -the ice, and in it Molly saw Mr. Roland Severn. She beckoned to him to -come close, and whispered: - -“Grieve not, brave youth! There are other fish in the sea quite as good -as those already hooked.” - -“Thank you, Miss Granger. I am quite sure of it,” he returned, with -gravity. “I shall be in Hambro before New Year. May I call?” - -“Cracky-me!” Molly was startled into exclaiming. “I wasn’t looking upon -myself in the light of a fish, nor do I wish to be so considered.” - -But she had to admit to Beth that Mr. Severn was quick at repartee. “It -isn’t often that anybody gets the best of lil’ Molly. I wonder if I -could draw a portrait of him--as a cat, of course--or perhaps a fish!” - -It was a gay and busy holiday time for Beth. The family seemed -particularly glad to see her. And Beth found a new spirit of -hopefulness in the little cottage. - -Marcus had been taking a business course at an evening school for some -time. Young as he was, he had been advanced by his employer to the -typewriter and was drawing eight dollars a week. Mr. Baldwin seemed -very cheerful, too, and Beth thought he seemed a hundred per cent. -better. - -Larry and she had been acting the part of very good friends for nearly -a fortnight; but for two days after her return home Beth did not see -the young lawyer at all. - -“Was he going to withdraw into his shell again?” she queried. She -scarcely knew what to make of Larry in some of his moods; and she was -old enough now to resent such conduct. - -But on the third evening Larry appeared at the Bemis Street cottage, -and evidently in high spirits. He brought from his mother a particular -and written invitation for Beth to be present at an evening function at -Mrs. Haven’s, scheduled to occur in the week between Christmas and New -Year. - -“You ought, really, to have a new dress,” Mrs. Baldwin said, all of a -flutter. “Euphemia always has such nice people at her evening parties.” - -“Tempt me not!” laughed Beth. “I have been hobnobbing with the rich -so long, that Mrs. Haven’s dressiest affairs have no terrors for me. -Besides, I can’t afford it. Moreover, the black lace and silver is new -here in Hudsonvale.” - -“Likewise,” said Ella, with her head on one side like a saucy sparrow, -“Larry has never seen her in that.” - -Beth drove her out of the room then; but it was for another reason. She -asked, frankly: “Mamma Baldwin, don’t you think I am old enough now to -wear Great-grandmother Lomis’ corals?” - -Her mother fairly gasped. She sat down suddenly and looked up into her -eldest daughter’s face with almost a pleading expression in her own. - -“My dear Beth!” she whispered. - -“Mother dear! what is the matter?” demanded the girl, a little -frightened by her mother’s air. - -“I--I shrink from telling you. Those beautiful corals! Been in the -family so long! And you had been led to expect them!” - -Mrs. Baldwin was actually sobbing. Her daughter put both arms around -her and hugged her close. - -“There, there, dear! Never mind! If you don’t want me to wear them----” - -“But I’d be glad to have you wear them, if----” - -“If what?” - -“If they were yours to wear!” - -“What--what do you mean?” stammered Beth. - -“They had to be sold, my child! I had to sell the heirloom that had -been so long in our family. You will never be able to wear the corals -again, dear Beth.” - -Beth actually swallowed something that seemed to choke her. “Oh, my -dear!” she said. “I might have known you poor folks at home were having -a worse time than you let selfish me know.” - -“No, no, Beth!” cried Mrs. Baldwin. “They were sold before your father -left the Works. They were sold to pay your first year’s tuition!” - -“_What?_” almost shouted Beth. - -“Yes, my dear. Forgive me----” - -“Forgive you?” cried the deliriously happy Beth, trying to dance her -mother about the room. “Why, darling little Mumsy! you have freed my -heart of a great burden of woe! I’m glad to go to Mrs. Haven’s party -to-night----” - -“What are you saying, child?” - -“Oh, well! I can look everybody straight in the eye and tell each and -every one---- Well! never mind! I am happy--_so_ happy!” - -“But, my dear child! Are you crazy? Your Great-grandmother’s corals----” - -“Goodness me, Mother mine!” interposed Beth. “What do you suppose I -care about the old corals--really? This that you tell me lifts a load -off my mind. Then you didn’t borrow money to send me to Rivercliff?” - -“No-o.” - -“And the four hundred dollars hasn’t got to be paid back?” - -“No-o.” - -“Well then! why not happiness instead of woebegoneness?” cried the -girl. “I am delighted. Only, Mother mine, I wish you had told me this -long, long ago.” - -“Why--dear----” - -“I should have felt so much happier,” declared Beth. “So very much -happier.” - -Another thing happened that day besides Mrs. Euphemia Haven’s -reception. Beth received a letter from Madam Hammersly. The madam wrote -rather a queer letter, containing this important question: - -“Is Cynthia Fogg with you in your town? I have received from her a -Christmas present--expressed direct from Hudsonvale--a very beautiful -_lavaliere_ that could not have cost less than ten pounds.” Madam -Hammersly steadfastly refused to think in anything but English money. - -It was plain to be seen that Madam Hammersly feared her one-time -parlor-maid had become possessed of the valuable trinket dishonestly. - -“What do you suppose that can mean?” Beth asked her mother; but, of -course, Mrs. Baldwin was quite as ignorant as Beth herself of the -whereabouts of Cynthia Fogg. - -Beth wondered if she ought to make a house-to-house canvass of -Hudsonvale for the elusive Cynthia. And if the girl was in the village, -why had she not been to the cottage on Bemis Street? Cynthia knew -Beth’s address. - -Beth went to the Haven house that evening with several interesting -matters in her busy mind--and she went again in a taxicab. Marcus paid -for it out of his own pocket. He rode along with her, “so as to get his -money’s worth,” he said. - -To tell the truth, Beth was rather disappointed when she found it was -not merely an evening dance--for she “adored balls,” so she said. The -larger dancing floor at Mrs. Haven’s was littered with chairs and -benches, and, at first, when the guests came down from the dressing -rooms, they were officiously herded into the rows of seats by ushers. - -Mrs. Haven addressed her guests in her very best platform style. -Larry’s mother was president of two clubs, vice-president of another, -and principal speaker at most of their meetings. So she had pat the -public speaker’s manner. - - “I have brought you together this evening, dear friends, to be first - entertained in a rather novel way. Afterward we shall have dancing. - I met not long ago a very bright young lady from Philadelphia, who - interested me very much in a subject now coming largely before the - public, and I felt the wish to have her come here to talk to us of - Hudsonvale, who may be helped by her experience. - - “The question of domestic service has of late years become of grave - importance. This brave young lady--whose name you will all recognize, - and whose social position you all know--had the temerity to go forth - and gain information at first hand regarding the real conditions - of such service, and of the characters of the girls who enter into - domestic service. I take great pleasure in introducing to you, ladies - and gentlemen, Miss C. Emeline Freylinghausen, of Philadelphia, my - guest for the holidays.” - -A lithe girl, in a perfect evening gown, her hair piled high on her -head, a plentiful sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her nose, -and wonderfully compelling blue eyes, stepped forward and bowed. When -she began to speak it was a pleasure to listen to her--whether or not -one believed in her theories or cared about her subject. - -Beth was seated far from the speaker and to one side. Was it----? Could -it be----? - -Beth heard the speaker’s tongue arraign mistresses who ill-treated -their servants or were careless of their comfort. Her biting sarcasm -was just what one would expect from Cynthia Fogg’s lips. - -But, Miss Freylinghausen, of Philadelphia, the heiress to millions, to -houses and lands; and Cynthia Fogg, of whose green hat with the purple -feather which Molly had knocked overboard from the _Water Wagtail_, -Beth still retained a very vivid memory---- - -“Why, it is impossible!” gasped Beth, aloud, and forgot to applaud when -the little, earnest talk was over. She sat in her seat, unable to rise, -or even think connectedly, when the talk had ended. - -Suddenly, the charming figure came down from the dais and seized Beth -in her arms. - -“Well, Chicken Little! who told you the sky had fallen?” demanded Miss -C. Emeline Freylinghausen, shaking Beth, playfully. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX - -THE “PERFECT NUMBER” IN AUNTS - - -Beth had something really wonderful to tell Molly Granger when the -winter vacation was over and she met that young lady on the train bound -for Rivercliff School. - -And Molly listened in as rapt amazement as Beth had experienced -when she listened to the public talk of “Miss Cynthia Emeline Fogg -Freylinghausen,” as Molly ever after insisted upon calling their -mysterious friend. - -“And cracky-me!” giggled Molly. “If only Maude Grimshaw could know -this! She was such a close personal friend of the heiress of the -Freylinghausen millions. Oh, my aunt! as Cynthia herself would say. In -my case--oh, my seven aunts! And Bethesda! They are all coming to our -graduation.” - -“Who are?” demanded the surprised, not to say startled, Beth. Molly did -jump about so from one subject to another. - -“My aunts. They have promised. Yea, verily, they have threatened. Do -you suppose, if I tell Miss Hammersly they are coming, that she will -feel it necessary to limit us all to fewer friends on graduation day?” - -But that fondly-looked-forward-to day still seemed a long, long way -ahead to Beth and her class at Rivercliff School. First, much chatter -and wonder had to be expressed over the discovery that Cynthia Fogg was -a “millionairess”--Molly’s designation, of course. - -Madam Hammersly was really the most amazed person who ever wore a cap. -She exclaimed to Beth once: - -“Miss Baldwin, to think of my scolding that young lady so--and actually -discharging her for incompetence!” - -“But she was incompetent, wasn’t she?” laughed Beth. “Whatever Cynthia -learned about the theory of domestic service, she certainly did not -learn much about the actual practice thereof.” - -“But--Miss Freylinghausen!” murmured the good lady, who had all the -middle-class Englishwoman’s awe for riches and position. - -Cynthia, at Mrs. Haven’s party, had been quite confidential with Beth. -The latter learned that Cynthia had by no means started out with the -intention of informing herself concerning the theory of domestic -service. She was merely an idle, disappointed, rich girl, disgusted -with her life. - -She had actually run away from home--not from an institution--when the -chums met her on the _Water Wagtail_. She was not then of age, and she -had a guardian who had insisted on her going to Europe with his wife -and daughters. It was he whom Cynthia (as Beth and Molly continued to -call her) feared would follow her. - -To hide her escapade the guardian announced that she had gone to -Europe. Meanwhile, Cynthia was bothering the good madam at Rivercliff -School. - -“The dear thing!” she told Beth. “I shall always love and pity her, for -I did make her so much trouble!” - -“But my dear Miss Freylinghausen!” gasped Mrs. Haven, who was listening -frankly to all this. “You do not mean to say that you were at that -school with Beth?” - -“Not in the literary department--in the domestic department,” laughed -Cynthia. “Beth was really instrumental in getting me the job. And at -that I could not keep it. I couldn’t suit Madam Hammersly--and I really -tried, too. But Beth suited her. Beth showed herself to be the ‘better -man of us two.’” - -Miss Freylinghausen’s evident liking for Beth--her admiration for her, -in fact--made its impression upon Mrs. Haven. - -That lady’s eyes were often fixed upon the brilliant beauty of her old -friend’s daughter during the remainder of the evening--and with a new -expression in her own countenance. - -But all this was “ancient history” now. Back at Rivercliff, Beth -Baldwin had altogether too much of really vital importance to think -of to be bothered by reflections upon either Larry’s mother or Larry -himself. - -As she had feared, the girl from Hudsonvale returned to school to face -pronounced opposition in her own class. It did not so much matter about -the dislike expressed by girls in the lower grades; but it was in the -power of Laura Hedden, Miss Rice, and a few others of the seniors, to -make Beth’s existence very unhappy indeed. - -And the worst of it was, it did not seem to be a situation that -Beth could control. She could not take affairs into her own hands, -as she had on that long past occasion of the Red Masque. She could -not withdraw herself now from the remainder of her class. Being its -president, and a leader in all its activities, it would have been -beneath her even to notice many of the slights and insults aimed at -her. The sting of them was quite as sharp, however. This situation was -harder to endure than any of Maude Grimshaw’s old-time persecutions. - -At every business meeting of the senior class (and these became -frequent as time went on), the schism against Beth was shown to be -stronger. It did not do for her to propose the simplest thing; at once -some girl jumped up with an objection or a counter-proposal. - -“Why,” said the usually jolly Molly, quite seriously now, “I believe if -we had to discuss right now whether ‘two and two make four,’ Hedden or -Rice or somebody, would jump up and claim it didn’t. What’s the matter -with you all, anyway?” - -“Well, you’re not going to have everything all your own way, Molly -Granger, so there!” said one of the obstructionists. - -“No,” said another. “Too many things have been cut and dried for us. -_We_ want to have something to say about what the senior class does.” - -“Who’s we?” demanded Molly, warmly. - -“Point of order!” drawled one girl. “Has Miss Granger been called to -the chair, _pro tem_?” - -Beth began heartily to wish that Molly was chairman at these disorderly -meetings--or somebody besides herself. When the opposition could not -gain its point, very often the quarrelsome girls were so noisy that the -session adjourned without having accomplished the object for which it -had been called. - -Of course, her inability to control the meetings counted against Beth. -Reports of them circulated through the school and quickly reached the -ears of the teachers. Miss Hammersly would be the last to know about -the friction in the senior class; but she must know in time, and she -would then call the class president to account. - -Long as the time seemed to June, the days passed only too swiftly. -The senior class of Rivercliff considered itself, of course, quite a -wonderful body of young ladies. And Miss Hammersly did all in her power -to inspire them with the belief that the whole world lay open before -them to be conquered. - -Beth kept busily at work with both her books and her needle. She was -piling up quite a little sum of money--there was a new object in view. - -Mr. Baldwin was doing very well with one of his inventions, and a -second one promised to make both him and Larry Haven moderately -wealthy. The family was not likely to need her financial aid after all. -When she began to teach, her salary would be her own. - -And now that she had so much money saved, Beth wished to try to recover -Great-grandmother Lomis’ corals. She had learned from her mother who -had the heirloom; she was sure Mrs. Haven never wore the corals; she -desired very much to buy them back from Larry’s mother. - -For, after all, Beth was a real girl and loved jewelry and the like -just as much as any other girl. - -This hope, however, was not the first thought in her mind. She -neglected none of her senior class tasks for the sake of earning more -money. She had even passed a good deal of her work over to another -girl in a lower class, who needed to help herself through school. The -doctrine of independence was beginning to be established at Rivercliff -School in spite of such girls as Laura Hedden. - -Social affairs were always of more importance to the senior class than -to any of the other girls. The members of the senior class being really -the hostesses at the monthly “hop,” considerable time and thought had -to be given by the social committee to these occasions. - -Beth, as class president, was chairman of this social committee; but -she saw so much opposition arrayed against her that she feared the good -times of the other girls would be spoiled if she did not withdraw. Her -act in doing this--with the excuse that she was too busy to fulfil the -duties attached to the chairmanship--did not please either her own -friends or the opposition. - -“Say! what do you do that for?” Molly Granger demanded. “Want to ‘crab -the film?’ We need you to suggest ideas--and carry ’em out, too. Now, -you just see! The hop this week will be a fizzle.” - -“Oh, be an optimist, honey,” Beth said, laughing. “Look on the bright -side.” - -“That’s all right. I know how to be an optimist,” Molly returned, -though still resentfully. “It’s like the old fellow with the two teeth.” - -“Who was he?” asked her chum. - -“Why, this poor old chap could only eat the plainest kind of food, and -couldn’t read anything, or play anything, or make anything. Just the -same he seemed pretty cheerful and thought this world a pretty fine -place to live in. - -“‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I’m goin’ on eighty-two. I’ve been bald-headed thirty -years, a widower for twenty-five, had indigestion nearly all my life, -can’t hear unless folks holler at me, can’t see to read, ain’t reliable -on my feet any more, and I’ve only got two teeth left--but, thank God, -they hit!’ - -“That’s an optimist,” concluded jolly Molly. “But there’s nothing very -optimistic in the outlook for our evening parties if you back out, -Bethesda. I can’t see what you are thinking of.” - -Beth dared not tell her chum just what she really was thinking of. It -seemed to Beth Baldwin that the only way to stop friction in the senior -class was for her to resign as class president. - -Larry Haven seemed to have considerable business to see to for his -clients at Jackson City or in the vicinity that spring. And he came -frequently to Rivercliff to call. On the other hand, Mr. Roland Severn -was quite a favorite with Miss Granger. One or the other, sometimes -both, were at the senior receptions all those last months of Beth and -Molly’s stay at Rivercliff. - -On the very evening to which Molly looked forward so apprehensively, -both Larry and Roland Severn appeared as guests of the senior class. -Beth had considered retiring to Number Eighty after supper and not -coming down for the party at all; but she was glad she had not done -this when she saw the boys. Larry would have been sure to make -inquiries and that would have called attention to the trouble in the -senior class. - -That the opposition to Beth as president was really increasing, was -plain to all the observant girls. If Beth chanced to pass certain -groups the laughter and chatter ceased instantly. At other times -scornful glances and sharp speeches were flung at the class president. - -With two such gallants as Larry and Roland (for both hovered about Beth -and Molly), neither of the girl chums could feel neglected. Indeed, -jolly Molly would not have been neglected in any case, for she was -popular with almost everybody, despite her partizanship in Beth’s -cause. - -If there were any boys at these parties at all, they were sure to give -Molly Granger plenty of attention. Her tongue was the smartest of all -her class--and she could say funny and bright things without putting -any sting into them. - -Some of the other seniors were popular with the visitors, too; but not -all. Miss Rice, for instance, although one of the best dressed girls in -the school, was almost sure to be a wallflower. She danced now and then -with some other girl; the remainder of the time she either sat alone, -or joined some equally neglected group. - -That is, unless Larry Haven or Roland Severn asked for the honor of -being her partner. Always, if they were present, these young men each -danced with Miss Rice at least once. There were, likewise, other -wallflowers with whom these two danced. - -Though a good skater, Miss Rice was not a good dancer. And she -possessed no flow of small talk and few of the graces that are supposed -to attract young men. Besides, she was downright homely. - -Nevertheless, Miss Rice had a bright mind--too bright to believe, for a -moment, that her own personal attractions caused the two young men to -put themselves out solely for her pleasure. - -Of course, as Miss Hammersly would not have allowed any of her girls -to dance continually with the same partners, Larry and Roland could not -hover about Beth and Molly all the evening. But they could easily have -found more attractive girls than the ones they often selected when Beth -and Molly were dancing with other partners. - -On this particular evening Miss Rice retired to Madam Hammersly’s room -to repair a small tear in the lace of her skirt. The door was not -closed; but there was a heavy portière between the room and the hall -and anybody outside would not have guessed the girl’s nearness. - -“Well, Severn, old boy, have you done your duty among the ‘overlooked -ladies’ this evening?” asked a masculine voice. - -“I should hope so,” was Roland’s reply. “And twice with Miss Rice.” - -“You’ve nothing on me there,” said Larry Haven. “I shouldn’t want -to displease Beth, but sometimes it’s a bore to dance with these -wallflowers.” - -“Now you’ve said it!” young Severn agreed, with feeling. - -“But Beth says I can’t come at all to these ‘shindigs’ if I don’t help -give the unpopular girls a good time. And she picks the ones I must -dance with, too,” and Larry chuckled rather ruefully. - -“She said as much to me,” Roland Severn acknowledged. “She’s an -awfully thoughtful, kind-hearted girl.” - -“She’s a dear,” agreed Larry, warmly. “Beth was always just the best -ever. Thinks about others more than she does of herself.” - -The two young men walked away. Miss Rice remained in the semi-darkness -of the madam’s room for some time--long enough to feel that her cheeks -were cool again and that the tears were gone from her eyes. - -The thoughtless words of the two careless young men served an -unexpected purpose. For once good grew from evil--sweet from the -bitter. Ill-tempered as Miss Rice had shown herself to be, she was not -shallow like Laura Hedden and some of the others who were opposed to -Beth Baldwin in school affairs. - -She saw at once that Beth, without suspecting that Miss Rice or the -other wallflowers would ever know about it, had used her influence with -the two most popular young men attending the school dances to insure -the neglected members of the senior class the pleasure of having male -partners. - -Of course, as a member of the social committee, it had been Beth’s duty -to see that all were made happy if possible; but Miss Rice well knew -that it was something besides duty that had suggested to the class -president this particular way of aiding in the pleasure of the social -occasion for all in the senior class. - -To girls in general, and of the age of Beth’s classmates, the -attentions of young men are as pleasing and satisfactory as anything in -life. It gives even an awkward girl more confidence in herself to be -singled out as a dancing partner by young men. - -The chums, however, really had little time for “boys,” as Molly -scoffingly called them. “Too much to do. And seven aunts to see me duck -from under the scholastic yoke,” added the jolly one. - -Miss Rice’s discovery, made as she mended her torn lace in the madam’s -room, bore fruit. She was really a serious-minded girl. - -She could recall now many thoughtful and helpful things Beth Baldwin -had proposed for the good of the senior class. Many of these -suggestions Miss Rice, herself, and the Laura Hedden crowd had opposed -with both vigor and venom. - -In fully a dozen cases the awakened girl had to admit that Beth -Baldwin’s plans had proved wise. Her withdrawal now from the -chairmanship of the social committee was likely to be a real -catastrophe. - -After all, Miss Rice was loyal to Rivercliff; and she believed that -others of the obstructionists were, too. Was their opposition to the -will of the majority of the senior class--and especially to Beth -Baldwin--going to be of any good in the end? - -“Even if we make her resign the presidency,” she told some of her -confidants the day following the evening party, “it will create a -terrible row. And Miss Hammersly will be just as hurt as she can be.” - -“Let her be!” snapped one of Laura Hedden’s particular friends. “What -business has she to let a pauper come to Rivercliff, anyway?” - -“Now, that’s all nonsense, and we know it,” said Miss Rice, boldly. -“In the first place, it’s been awfully handy to have a girl like Beth -Baldwin here to do mending and sewing and the like, for us lazy ones. I -don’t like the girl, that’s all.” - -“Then what are you fussing about her for?” demanded another of the -party. - -“Because I see we’re fighting the best interests of the class and the -school. And for another thing,” added Miss Rice, turning a fiery red. - -“What’s that?” was the general cry. - -“Well--just because Beth Baldwin is a whole lot more decent and -forgiving than I would ever be if I were in her place,” blurted out -Miss Rice. “What do you think?” - -Heatedly and baldly, she told of the discovery she had made the evening -before. It was not an easy thing for a girl to confess--that she was -unattractive, a veritable wallflower. And some of these very girls she -talked to were in that same class. But having spurred her courage up, -Miss Rice went through with her confession. - -“And that’s the sort of girl Baldwin is,” she concluded, rather -breathlessly. “I know I shouldn’t have done it. I’m pretty sure there -isn’t a girl here who would have so secretly heaped coals of fire on -her enemy’s head. - -“Come, now! let us be honest--let us be fair. I don’t like -poverty-stricken girls, or girls who come to Rivercliff as Beth Baldwin -did, any better than heretofore. But she has beaten me. I don’t mean -only in that skating race. She has beaten me in _being decent_! - -“I admit that Miss Hammersly seems to favor her, and the teachers are -always boosting Baldwin. But I guess there is good reason for their -doing so. I have been acting the dog-in-the-manger part. Never again; -I’m going to bury the hatchet right here and now.” - -“Bury the hammer, I guess you mean, Rice,” giggled one of her hearers, -nervously. - -“All right. I’m going to stop knocking. Just as sure as you live, as -Molly Granger says, ‘every knock is a boost.’ We might as well stop -fighting Beth Baldwin.” - -Of course, they did not all agree with the girl whose conscience had -been awakened. Laura Hedden was by no means of the same type as Miss -Rice. Laura managed to hold some of the opposition together. - -But before the month rolled around and the date of another of the -school parties approached, a paper was circulated in the senior class -for signatures, asking Beth Baldwin to reconsider her resignation from -the chairmanship of the social committee. The first signature on the -paper was that of Miss Rice, followed by the names of several of the -former “party of the opposition.” - -“So, ‘all’s well that ends well,’” quoted jolly Molly Granger, happily. -“You’ve just _got_ to get back into harness, Bethesda. The ranks of the -enemy are broken. It just proves what I’ve always said, my dear: You -are the most popular girl who ever came to school here at Rivercliff.” - -“I wonder!” murmured Beth. - -“You wonder what?” questioned her chum. - -“I wonder how Rice came to change so.” - -But unless Beth Baldwin chances to read this narrative of Rivercliff -School, she is likely never to be enlightened regarding this particular -mystery. And at this time there was so much else of moment going on -that she had little leisure to give to it. - -The days were being counted at last. Such a fluttering in the dove-cote -as graduation drew nigh! Dresses to try on, last examinations to take, -trips to the milliner and shoe stores, theses to write, conditions to -make up, letters to write to friends and relatives, enclosing tickets -to the formal exercises and invitations to the various receptions and -teas. - -“Seven tickets to Hambro,” groaned Molly. “I tried to get Miss -Hammersly to have a booth, or private box, built for my aunts. But what -do you suppose she said to me, girls?” groaned Molly. - -“What did she say?” was the response. - -“‘Do you suppose you are the only person who has aunts, Miss Granger?’” - -“Never mind, my dear,” said Stella. “Perhaps all of them won’t come to -the exercises.” - -“Not all come?” cried Molly. “That would be awful. Seven is the perfect -number in aunts. I could not spare one of the dears. Why, if Aunt -Celia, Aunt Catherine, Auntie Cora, Aunt Carrie, Aunt Charlotte, Aunt -Cassie and Aunt Cyril did not appear at Rivercliff to see me graduate, -I--I---- Well! I should not feel as though I were graduated, that’s -all!” - -All this only a day or two before the great occasion. Beth was taking -home to one of her best customers the last piece of work she would do -at Rivercliff School. As she crossed the Boulevard she was suddenly -conscious of an old-fashioned family equipage, a pair of fat bay -horses, a fat footman and a fatter coachman, which drew across her -line of vision and stopped. And there was a fat brown hand, on which -sparkled several diamonds, waving to her from the carriage window. - -It was Mrs. Ricardo Severn. She beckoned Beth to come near. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX - -VOCATIONAL - - -“My dear child! How well you are looking!” drawled Mrs. Severn, just -as though she had seen Beth only the week before and that their -intercourse had been quite calm and placid. - -Beth did not know just what to say; so, as Ella would have remarked, -“she said it with a vengeance!” She stood perfectly still. - -“My nephew, Roland, keeps me posted regarding you, my dear,” continued -the lady. - -“Ah--indeed? I have not seen Mr. Severn for a fortnight, I believe,” -said Beth, feeling vastly uncomfortable. - -“Oh, my dear! Then you haven’t heard the news,” cried Mrs. Severn. - -“What news?” asked Beth. - -“About poor Mr. Montague. About my poor parrot,” said the lady. - -“I have heard nothing about the parrot--no,” admitted Beth. - -“Why, we took up that heavy carpet in my room ten days ago and what do -you think?” - -“Oh, Mrs. Severn!” exclaimed Beth, suddenly interested and excited. -“Did you find----?” - -“Ever so many things I had missed--yes,” said the lady, complacently. -“The poor dear had been taking and hiding things under the edge of the -carpet, along the mopboard under the windows. That sunburst of mine was -found right under the bay window. Wasn’t that funny?” - -Beth thought of the grief and shame the loss of the sunburst had caused -her, and she could not, for the life of her, extract an iota of humor -from the fact. - -“But that was just like the wretched creature,” went on Mrs. Severn. -“Will you believe it? That parrot had deceived me for years and years. -Quite twenty years I have owned him. But now I have sent him away for -good.” - -And the selfish old woman drove away, leaving Beth something to be -thankful for, but feeling that Mrs. Ricardo Severn was a very unfeeling -person. - -The graduation of Beth and her classmates was really a very pretty -occasion; Miss Hammersly declared (as usual) that no finer class of -girls had ever left her rooftree. - -Rivercliff was crowded on that day, and the great central room of the -gymnasium was used for the dance and reception at night. Of course, -everybody was present--including the perfect number in aunts. -Likewise, Mrs. Baldwin came as the guest of Mrs. Haven. - -Really, to see and hear Mrs. Haven one might have thought that “our -Beth” was her daughter instead of Priscilla Baldwin’s oldest child. - -“And do you remember, Priscilla,” said Larry’s mother, wiping her eyes -when the blue-ribboned diplomas were given out, “how we planned, years -and years ago, that my Larry and your eldest girl should marry?” - -“That was a long time ago,” said Mrs. Baldwin, rather primly. - -“But they do make a wonderfully good looking couple together,” -whispered Mrs. Haven a little later, when Larry stood with a group of -the girls, which included another of the graduation day guests--Miss -Freylinghausen. Cynthia had one arm around Beth and another around -Molly, and looked to be enjoying herself. - -Before the dancing began that evening, Larry sent up word to Number -Eighty where Beth had served tea, to ask that the occupant of that room -would give him a few moments of her time. And Beth tripped down in her -new evening frock in answer to the summons. Evidently, Larry had laid -his plans with wit and judgment. He led her into the madam’s room--and -it was empty. - -“See what I have for you to-night, Beth,” he said, eyeing her -laughingly, yet admiringly. He opened the box he carried and displayed -its contents. - -“With the compliments and love,” he said, his voice shaking a little, -“of Mrs. Euphemia Haven--God bless her! Your Great-grandmother’s -corals, Beth. They are to be yours again. She never intended to keep -them for herself, but wants you to have them back now to wear--and for -your very own.” - -Beth looked at him--looked away--tried to say something, and Larry -added, softly: - -“You can’t refuse them, Beth--you can’t. You would quite break the -Mater’s heart, dear--and mine!” - - * * * * * - -“How long are you really going to teach school, Beth?” demanded Ella -some weeks later, after Beth had been to the State capital and passed -her examination before the school board. - -“Two years at least, my dear.” - -“My goodness! do you suppose Larry will ever wait that long?” - -“Larry will have to wait, my dear,” said the elder sister, firmly. -Then her eyes suddenly sparkled. “He must wait, at least, until he can -accomplish one particular thing.” - -“What is that?” the flyaway sister demanded. - -“Until he can afford to pay the cook’s wages out of his earnings as a -‘limb o’ the law.’” - -It was about this time, too, in the lazy summer following Beth’s -graduation that she received a letter from Molly Granger, in which was -the following: - - “So he agrees we are to wait till Captain John comes home to marry - Aunt Carrie, and then we shall have a double wedding. At least two of - ‘the Granger girls’ will not die old maids. - - “I am awfully glad, Beth Baldwin, that you went to work for Mrs. - Ricardo Severn. Otherwise, I am quite sure that I would never expect - soon to sign myself, ‘Mrs. Roland Severn, née J. Molly Granger, no - longer F. W.’” - -“What’s the good, I want to know,” said Marcus Baldwin, one night, -evidently having thought hard and long upon the problem, “for you girls -to go in for the highbrow ed. and then get married right smack off?” - -“Not marrying ‘right smack off!’” denied Ella, vigorously. “Our Beth is -going to teach at least two years.” - -“Well, that jolly girl isn’t.” - -“She’s going to teach after she is married, and so is Mr. Severn,” -laughed Beth, “unless Mrs. Ricardo Severn remembers him very liberally -indeed.” - -“Well, a whole lot of you higher-ed. girls do marry right off,” -repeated Marcus. - -“And why not? We’re better fitted for life, no matter what it brings -to us, if we have had a good education. Oh,” declared Beth, now quite -grown up, “I am not sorry that I fulfilled my resolve.” - - -THE END - - - - - SOMETHING ABOUT - AMY BELL MARLOWE - AND HER BOOKS FOR GIRLS - - -In these days, when the printing presses are turning out so many books -for girls that are good, bad and indifferent, it is refreshing to come -upon the works of such a gifted authoress as Miss Amy Bell Marlowe, who -is now under contract to write exclusively for Messrs. Grosset & Dunlap. - -In many ways Miss Marlowe’s books may be compared with those of Miss -Alcott and Mrs. Meade, but all are thoroughly modern and wholly -American in scene and action. Her plots, while never improbable, are -exceedingly clever, and her girlish characters are as natural as they -are interesting. - -On the following pages will be found a list of Miss Marlowe’s books. -Every girl in our land ought to read these fresh and wholesome tales. -They are to be found at all booksellers. Each volume is handsomely -illustrated and bound in cloth, stamped in colors. Published by Grosset -& Dunlap, New York. A free catalogue of Miss Marlowe’s books may be had -for the asking. - - -THE OLDEST OF FOUR - -“I don’t see any way out!” - -It was Natalie’s mother who said that, after the awful news had been -received that Mr. Raymond had been lost in a shipwreck on the Atlantic. -Natalie was the oldest of four children, and the family was left with -but scant means for support. - -“I’ve got to do something--yes, I’ve just got to!” Natalie said to -herself, and what the brave girl did is well related in “The Oldest of -Four; Or, Natalie’s Way Out.” In this volume we find Natalie with a -strong desire to become a writer. At first she contributes to a local -paper, but soon she aspires to larger things, and comes in contact with -the editor of a popular magazine. This man becomes her warm friend, and -not only aids her in a literary way but also helps in a hunt for the -missing Mr. Raymond. - -Natalie has many ups and downs, and has to face more than one bitter -disappointment. But she is a plucky girl through and through. - -“One of the brightest girls’ stories ever penned,” one well-known -author has said of this book, and we agree with him. Natalie is a -thoroughly lovable character, and one long to be remembered. Published -as are all the Amy Bell Marlowe books, by Grosset & Dunlap, New York, -and for sale by all booksellers. Ask your dealer to let you look the -volume over. - - -THE GIRLS OF HILLCREST FARM - -“We’ll go to the old farm, and we’ll take boarders! We can fix the old -place up, and, maybe, make money!” - -The father of the two girls was broken down in health and a physician -had recommended that he go to the country, where he could get plenty of -fresh air and sunshine. An aunt owned an abandoned farm and she said -the family could live on this and use the place as they pleased. It was -great sport moving and getting settled, and the boarders offered one -surprise after another. There was a mystery about the old farm, and a -mystery concerning one of the boarders, and how the girls got to the -bottom of affairs is told in detail in the story, which is called, “The -Girls of Hillcrest Farm; Or, The Secret of the Rocks.” - -It was great fun to move to the farm, and once the girls had the scare -of their lives. And they attended a great “vendue” too. - -“I just had to write that story--I couldn’t help it,” said Miss -Marlowe, when she handed in the manuscript. “I knew just such a farm -when I was a little girl, and oh! what fun I had there! And there was a -mystery about that place, too!” - -Published, like all the Marlowe books, by Grosset & Dunlap, New York, -and for sale wherever good books are sold. - - -A LITTLE MISS NOBODY - -“Oh, she’s only a little nobody! Don’t have anything to do with her!” - -How often poor Nancy Nelson heard those words, and how they cut her -to the heart. And the saying was true, she _was_ a nobody. She had -no folks, and she did not know where she had come from. All she did -know was that she was at a boarding school and that a lawyer paid her -tuition bills and gave her a mite of spending money. - -“I am going to find out who I am, and where I came from,” said Nancy -to herself, one day, and what she did, and how it all ended, is -absorbingly related in “A Little Miss Nobody; Or, With the Girls of -Pinewood Hall.” Nancy made a warm friend of a poor office boy who -worked for that lawyer, and this boy kept his eyes and ears open and -learned many things. - -The book tells much about boarding school life, of study and fun mixed, -and of a great race on skates. Nancy made some friends as well as -enemies, and on more than one occasion proved that she was “true blue” -in the best meaning of that term. - -Published by Grosset & Dunlap, New York, and for sale by booksellers -everywhere. If you desire a catalogue of Amy Bell Marlowe books send to -the publishers for it and it will come free. - - -THE GIRL FROM SUNSET RANCH - -Helen was very thoughtful as she rode along the trail from Sunset Ranch -to the View. She had lost her father but a month before, and he had -passed away with a stain on his name--a stain of many years’ standing, -as the girl had just found out. - -“I am going to New York and I am going to clear his name!” she -resolved, and just then she saw a young man dashing along, close to the -edge of a cliff. Over he went, and Helen, with no thought of the danger -to herself, went to the rescue. - -Then the brave Western girl found herself set down at the Grand Central -Terminal in New York City. She knew not which way to go or what to do. -Her relatives, who thought she was poor and ignorant, had refused to -even meet her. She had to fight her way along from the start, and how -she did this, and won out, is well related in “The Girl from Sunset -Ranch; Or, Alone in a Great City.” - -This is one of the finest of Amy Bell Marlowe’s books, with its -true-to-life scenes of the plains and mountains, and of the great -metropolis. Helen is a girl all readers will love from the start. - -Published by Grosset & Dunlap, New York, and for sale by booksellers -everywhere. - - -WYN’S CAMPING DAYS - -“Oh, girls, such news!” cried Wynifred Mallory to her chums, one day. -“We can go camping on Lake Honotonka! Isn’t it grand!” - -It certainly was, and the members of the Go-Ahead Club were delighted. -Soon they set off, with their boy friends to keep them company in -another camp not far away. Those boys played numerous tricks on the -girls, and the girls retaliated, you may be sure. And then Wyn did a -strange girl a favor, and learned how some ancient statues of rare -value had been lost in the lake, and how the girl’s father was accused -of stealing them. - -“We must do all we can for that girl,” said Wyn. But this was not so -easy, for the girl campers had many troubles of their own. They had -canoe races, and one of them fell overboard and came close to drowning, -and then came a big storm, and a nearby tree was struck by lightning. - -“I used to love to go camping when a girl, and I love to go yet,” said -Miss Marlowe, in speaking of this tale, which is called, “Wyn’s Camping -Days; Or, The Outing of the Go-Ahead Club.” “I think all girls ought to -know the pleasures of summer life under canvas.” - -A book that ought to be in the hands of all girls. Issued by Grosset & -Dunlap, New York, and for sale by booksellers everywhere. - - - - -THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH SERIES - -By GERTRUDE W. MORRISON - -12mo. CLOTH, ILLUSTRATED. PRICE PER VOLUME 40 CENTS, POSTPAID - - -Here is a series full of the spirit of high school life of to-day. The -girls are real flesh-and-blood characters, and we follow them with -interest in school and out. There are many contested matches on track -and field, and on the water, as well as doings in the classroom and on -the school stage. There is plenty of fun and excitement, all clean, -pure and wholesome. - - -THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH - -Or Rivals for all Honors. - -A stirring tale of high school life, full of fun, with a touch of -mystery and a strange initiation. - - -THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON LAKE LUNA - -Or The Crew That Won. - -Telling of water sports and fun galore, and of fine times in camp. - - -THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH AT BASKETBALL - -Or The Great Gymnasium Mystery. - -Here we have a number of thrilling contests at basket-ball and in -addition, the solving of a mystery which had bothered the high school -authorities for a long while. - - -THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON THE STAGE - -Or The Play That Took the Prize. - -How the girls went in for theatricals and how one of them wrote a play -which afterward was made over for the professional stage and brought in -some much-needed money. - -THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON TRACK AND FIELD - -Or The Girl Champions of the School League - -This story takes in high school athletics in their most approved and -up-to-date fashion. Full of fun and excitement. - - -THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH IN CAMP - -Or The Old Professor’s Secret. - -The girls went camping on Acorn Island and had a delightful time at -boating, swimming and picnic parties. - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK - - - - -THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES - -By LAURA LEE HOPE - -AUTHOR OF THE EVER POPULAR “BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS” - -12mo. CLOTH ILLUSTRATED PRICE PER VOLUME 40 CENTS, POSTPAID - - -These tales take in the various adventures participated in by several -bright, up-to-date girls who love outdoor life. They are clean and -wholesome, free from sensationalism, absorbing from the first chapter -to the last. - - -THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE - -Or Camping and Tramping for Fun and Health. - -Telling how the girls organized their Camping and Tramping Club, how -they went on a tour, and of various adventures which befell them. - - -THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE - -Or Stirring Cruise of the Motor Boat Gem. - -One of the girls becomes the proud possessor of a motor boat and at -once invites her club members to take a trip with her down the river to -Rainbow Lake, a beautiful sheet of water lying between the mountains. - - -THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR - -Or The Haunted Mansion of Shadow Valley. - -One of the girls has learned to run a big motor-car, and she invites -the club to go on a tour with her, to visit some distant relatives. On -the way they stop at a deserted mansion, said to be haunted and make a -most surprising discovery. - - -THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP - -Or Glorious Days on Skates and Ice Boats. - -In this story, the scene is shifted to a winter season. The girls have -some jolly times skating and ice boating, and visit a hunters’ camp in -the big woods. - - -THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA - -Or Wintering in the Sunny South. - -The parents of one of the girls have bought an orange grove in Florida, -and her companions are invited to visit the place. They do so, and take -a trip into the wilds of the interior, where several unusual things -happen. - - -GROSSET & DUNLAP, 526 WEST 26th ST. NEW YORK - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - - Archaic or variant spelling has been retained. - - The cover image for this eBook was created by the transcriber and is - entered into the public domain. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRLS OF RIVERCLIFF -SCHOOL *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The girls of Rivercliff School</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>Beth Baldwin's resolve</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Amy Bell Marlowe</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 4, 2022 [eBook #69478]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: David Edwards, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRLS OF RIVERCLIFF SCHOOL ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter hide"><img src="images/coversmall.jpg" width="450" alt=""></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h1>THE GIRLS OF RIVERCLIFF SCHOOL</h1> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="bbox"> - -<p class="ph2">BOOKS FOR GIRLS</p> - -<p class="ph1"><i>By</i> AMY BELL MARLOWE</p> - -<p class="center">12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price per volume,<br> -60 cents, postpaid</p> - -<p> </p> -<p>THE OLDEST OF FOUR<br> -<span class="indent4">Or Natalie’s Way Out</span><br> -<br> -THE GIRLS OF HILLCREST FARM<br> -<span class="indent4">Or the Secret of the Rocks</span><br> -<br> -A LITTLE MISS NOBODY<br> -<span class="indent4">Or With the Girls of Pinewood Hall</span><br> -<br> -THE GIRL FROM SUNSET RANCH<br> -<span class="indent4">Or Alone in a Great City</span><br> -<br> -WYN’S CAMPING DAYS<br> -<span class="indent4">Or The Outing of Go-Ahead Club</span><br> -<br> -FRANCES OF THE RANGES<br> -<span class="indent4">Or The Old Ranchman’s Treasure</span><br> -<br> -THE GIRLS OF RIVERCLIFF SCHOOL<br> -<span class="indent4">Or Beth Baldwin’s Resolve</span></p> - -<p> </p> - -<p class="center"><span class="large">GROSSET & DUNLAP</span><br> -PUBLISHERS <span class="gap"> NEW YORK</span></p> -</div></div></div></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/frontis1.jpg" alt=""></div> -<p class="caption"><span class="smcap">Mabel Poured from a Waste-basket a Veritable<br> -Shower of Small Parcels</span></p> -</div> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/frontis2.jpg" alt=""></div> -<p class="caption">“SHAME! SHAME!” CRIED A DOZEN VOICES.<br> -<span class="illoright">Frontispiece (Page <a href="#Page_150">150</a>)</span></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/titlepage.jpg" alt=""></div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> -<div class="titlepage"> -<p><span class="xxlarge">THE GIRLS OF<br> -RIVERCLIFF<br> -SCHOOL</span></p> - -<p>OR</p> - -<p><span class="xlarge">BETH BALDWIN’S RESOLVE</span></p> - -<p>BY<br> - -<span class="xlarge">AMY BELL MARLOWE</span><br> - -AUTHOR OF<br> -A LITTLE MISS NOBODY, THE GIRLS OF<br> -HILLCREST FARM, ETC.</p> - -<p><span class="large">Illustrated</span></p> - -<p>NEW YORK<br> -<span class="large">GROSSET & DUNLAP</span><br> -PUBLISHERS</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"> -<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1916, by</span><br> -GROSSET & DUNLAP<br> -<br> -<i>The Girls of Rivercliff School</i></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[v]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table> - -<tr><td class="tdr"><small>CHAPTER</small></td><td class="tdr" colspan="2"> <small>PAGE</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">I.</td><td> “<span class="smcap">The Grapes that Hang High</span>”</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1"> 1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">II.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Larry’s “Coming Out” Party</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_11"> 11</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">III.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Great-Grandmother Lomis’ Corals</span>     </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_23"> 23</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">IV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Sacrifice</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_32"> 32</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">V.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The “Water Wagtail”</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_40"> 40</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">An Adventure in Midstream</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_48"> 48</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Cynthia Fogg</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_61"> 61</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Queer Talk</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_68"> 68</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">IX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Rivercliff Landing</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_74"> 74</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">X.</td><td> <span class="smcap">A New World</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_91"> 91</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XI.</td><td> “<span class="smcap">The Glass of Fashion</span>”</td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_102"> 102</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Finding Her Place</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_111"> 111</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Sunny Side</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_123"> 123</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">A Great Deal to Learn</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_133"> 133</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Red Masque</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_142"> 142</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">No Martyr’s Crown</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_152"> 152</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Flint and Steel</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_162"> 162</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Another Barrier</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_171"> 171</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Mr. Dennis Montague</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_181"> 181</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[vi]</span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Something Unexpected</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_191"> 191</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Burial of Friendship</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_204"> 204</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">A Renewed Resolve</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_211"> 211</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Suspicion Hovers</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_225"> 225</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXIV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Traitor’s Blow</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_235"> 235</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXV.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Before the Judgment Seat</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_242"> 242</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXVI.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Rounding Out Another Year</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_249"> 249</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXVII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The Ice Carnival</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_258"> 258</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXVIII.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Miss Freylinghausen</span> </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_274"> 274</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXIX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">The “Perfect Number” in Aunts</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_283"> 283</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXX.</td><td> <span class="smcap">Vocational</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_301"> 301</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span> - -<p class="ph3">THE GIRLS OF RIVERCLIFF SCHOOL</p> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER I<br> - -<small>“THE GRAPES THAT HANG HIGH”</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Beth!</span> Beth Baldwin! Oh, B. B.! Do, for -pity’s sake, stop! Do you expect me to chase you -all over town such a hot day as this? It’s cruelty -to animals to make me run in this awful sun,” and -Mary Devine finally reached Elizabeth Baldwin’s -side, and clung to her school friend’s arm, panting.</p> - -<p>“Cruelty to how many animals, Mary?” asked -Beth, laughing. “Are you a whole menagerie? -You remind me of our Marcus when he was a little -fellow. There was a ‘cat concert’ in our back yard -one night, and Marcus put his head out of the -door to see the participants.</p> - -<p>“‘Oh, Mamma!’ he called, ‘there’s a million -cats out here,’ and when mamma reproved him -for exaggerating, he defended himself by saying: -‘Well, anyway, there’s our old cat and another -one!’”</p> - -<p>Mary had regained her breath now, and giggled -over Beth’s little story, but was not to be sidetracked.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span> -She had something to tell. News was -Mary Devine’s over-mastering passion. To know -what went on all over Hudsonvale, and to distribute -her information generously, “free, gratis, -for nothing,” was the height of her enjoyment.</p> - -<p>Mr. Baldwin said one evening, after Mary had -been calling on Beth: “They did think some of -starting a local paper here in Hudsonvale; but -they heard of that Devine girl and gave it up. No -need of a newspaper with her in town.”</p> - -<p>Now Mary gasped to her friend:</p> - -<p>“Oh, Beth! I’ve got something to tell you. -You’d never guess!”</p> - -<p>“That’s good of you, dear,” Beth said, her -black eyes dancing. “I hate conundrums. Tell -me.”</p> - -<p>“Larry Haven has hired an office in the Hudsonvale -block.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Mary! that certainly is news,” Beth -cried. “I never would have guessed that. Has -he hung out his shingle?”</p> - -<p>“He’s going to,” declared Mary, who knew all -about it, for her father was janitor of Hudsonvale’s -one brick office building. “He’s taken the -room next to Dr. Coldfoot’s, the dentist’s, suite. -Larry told father that the screams of the dentist’s -patients would not bother him, for he expected his -clients would scream quite as loud when he separated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span> -them from their money,” and Mary giggled -again. “And oh, Beth! he’s just as handsome!”</p> - -<p>“Who is—Dr. Coldfoot?” asked her friend, -innocently.</p> - -<p>“Goodness no! You are well aware, Beth Baldwin, -that I meant the village pride, Mr. Lawrence -Haven, just returned from the law school with -his sheepskin.”</p> - -<p>Beth laughed again. “I do hope he’ll be successful,” -she said. “His father was a prominent -lawyer, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness! <i>I</i> hope he can dance,” responded -Mary. “There’s a great dearth of good dancers -among the boys here in Hudsonvale. You know, -Beth, at graduation last month we girls had to -dance together at our party. Oh dear! I wish -we were going to have it over again! What fun!”</p> - -<p>“Larry Haven is no longer a boy,” Beth said -slowly.</p> - -<p>Mary laughed. “Of course not. He’s an old -man,” she said saucily. “He’s twenty-two.”</p> - -<p>“That is seven years our senior,” said Beth, reflectively.</p> - -<p>“<i>Six</i>, in my case, if you please,” said Mary, -smartly. “And what’s six years in a boy? He -could be a lawyer forty times over and <i>I</i> wouldn’t -be afraid of him.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span>“You have more assurance than most, Mary,” -said Beth, smiling. “I don’t know that I shall -dare even speak to Larry now.”</p> - -<p>“Humph! you and he used to be as ‘sticky’ on -each other as two molasses cocoanut balls—you -know you used. He was the white-headed little -boy who used to pull you to school on his sled,” -said Mary, airily.</p> - -<p>“But that was a long time ago,” said Beth, with -laughter. “I haven’t seen Larry since last winter’s -holidays—and then scarcely more than to -wave my hand to him. He’s grown quite away -from us Hudsonvale girls and boys since his sophomore -year at college.”</p> - -<p>“My! how he <i>did</i> puff himself and walk turkey -his first two years at college,” said the slangy -Mary. “The only boy from Hudsonvale who ever -went to a real, big school, I guess.”</p> - -<p>“But Larry wasn’t spoiled,” Beth hastened to -say. “He’s so sweet-tempered.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! <i>you</i> know how sweet he is if anybody -does,” chuckled Mary. “Well! I must turn off -here. Where are you going, Beth?”</p> - -<p>“Just across town on an errand,” her friend -said evasively; for it was the gossipy girl’s nature -to repeat to the next person she talked with anything -she had learned from her previous companion, -no matter how trivial.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span>“Not that I would mind if the whole town knew -I was going to old Mrs. Crummit’s for a dozen -fresh eggs,” thought Beth, with inward laughter. -“But I <i>do</i> wish Mary Devine was not such a ‘Babbling -Bess.’”</p> - -<p>The girl’s mind, however, was filled with -thoughts springing from the bit of news her school -friend had told her. She and Mary had but recently -graduated from the high school. And Larry -Haven, the only son of the widowed Mrs. Euphemia -Haven, had recently returned to his home -with his diploma as a lawyer. Beth knew he had -already been admitted to the county bar.</p> - -<p>Beth’s mother and Euphemia Griswold had been -bosom friends in girlhood. At first, after Euphemia -Griswold had married Mr. Haven, the leading -lawyer of the county and a scion of one of the -oldest, if not one of the wealthiest, families in the -State, she and Priscilla Baldwin, who had married -a foreman in the Locomotive Works, remained -very good friends.</p> - -<p>The Haven baby carriage was often pushed -along the pleasantly shaded walks of Hudsonvale -side by side with the more plebian carriage containing -the Baldwins’ first little one, who later had -died. The two young women remained inseparable -friends for some years.</p> - -<p>Then had come the death of her first child, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span> -for a long period of time after this Mrs. Baldwin -mingled but little with her friends. This was -followed by a long illness. But, after a few years, -Beth, now the oldest of her brood, came to give -the foreman’s wife a new and better interest in -life.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, her old-time chum had grown away -from her. Mr. Haven had become a corporation -lawyer and was fast growing rich. He and his -family had always had entrance into the most exclusive -society of the State. Had he not died suddenly -when Larry was ten years old, he might have -been a national figure in politics.</p> - -<p>In dying, he had left Mrs. Euphemia Haven -and her only child fairly well-to-do. The property -had to be conserved with some shrewdness, -perhaps; but the widow lived in one of the finest -old houses in Hudsonvale, entertained well, and -seemed to have everything her heart desired. -Larry was given an excellent education; and it was -understood that he was to follow in his father’s -footsteps, for he must earn his own living now that -he was of age, his mother having full rights in the -property as long as she lived.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Haven was not a snob. Although now the -acknowledged leader of such society as there was -in Hudsonvale (which was really a sprawling -river-town surrounding the Locomotive Works<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span> -and coal-tar Dye Factory), she had often come to -see her old friend, Mrs. Baldwin, while Larry was -still small. So it was that the soft-spoken, gentle -boy, with the watchful gray eyes and firm mouth, -came to be a companion of Beth Baldwin’s while -she was little.</p> - -<p>He took her to school on her first day; and sat -beside her and held her plump little hand for an -hour, too, because she was afraid. He had drawn -Beth to school on his sled, as Mary Devine said. -Larry was as much at home in the Baldwin house -when a child as he was in his own. Perhaps more -at home, for there was more gaiety in the little -cottage on Bemis Street, which soon began to be -crowded with young life after Beth was born.</p> - -<p>There was Marcus, two years Beth’s junior; -Ella, now a flyaway child of eleven; Prissy—named -after her mother—as sweet and loving as -a child could be; and Fred and Ferd, the twins, -six years old. They had all looked on Larry -Haven as almost an elder brother.</p> - -<p>For two years, however, as Beth had intimated -to Mary Devine, Larry had not been much at the -Baldwin home. Indeed, he had been in Hudsonvale -but seldom. His summers had been spent in -preparing for the law school, for he was very -desirous to get ahead. His exceeding industry had -brought results. He was a very young man, indeed,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span> -to have succeeded in securing his diploma -and entering upon public life as he now had.</p> - -<p>As Beth Baldwin went her way, these thoughts -weaved through her mind. And, too, she compared -her own lot to that of her whilom playmate and -confidant. When Beth learned that Larry was to -go to college and finally enter the law school, she -had expressed her intention of getting the maximum -amount of education to be secured by a girl—and -Larry had encouraged her to try for it.</p> - -<p>Beth had stood well in her classes all through -her high-school course. She had graduated among -the first ten pupils in the class. She possessed a -deep longing to continue her course. But——</p> - -<p>“There’s about as much chance of my going to -Rivercliff as there is of my getting an aeroplane -and soaring in it to the Heights of Parnassus,” -Beth told herself, with a little laugh and a little -sigh. She was not of a melancholy disposition, -and even the seriousness of her desire to learn and -to achieve, in her way, as much as Larry had -achieved in his, could not make her gloomy.</p> - -<p>Mr. Baldwin earned three dollars and seventy-five -cents a day as foreman of the erecting shop in -the Hudsonvale Locomotive Works. The family -had often “figured and refigured” that sum; but -they could not make it come to more than twenty-two -dollars and fifty cents a week.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span>Marcus, although but thirteen, was already talking -bravely about going to work. In another half -year he could get his certificate and become an aid -in the family’s support.</p> - -<p>“While I,” thought Beth, shaking her head, -“am desirous of adding to its burdens for three -years to come. But then—if I only <i>could</i>—I know -I could pay them all back,” she sighed.</p> - -<p>It was Beth’s desire to take a normal and teacher’s -course in a very thorough boarding school up -the river. Having a diploma from Rivercliff -would enable her to obtain a certificate to teach -in the State schools. That was her aim—to be -self-supporting, as well as to obtain an education -the equal of that Larry Haven had secured.</p> - -<p>She had surreptitiously dipped into Larry’s -college textbooks when he was at home during his -freshman and sophomore years, and she was sure -that such studies were not beyond her comprehension.</p> - -<p>“Dear me,” thought Beth, “the grapes that -hang highest are always the sweetest. How am I -ever going to get admission to Rivercliff School; -or, once admitted, how am I to remain there the -necessary three years? Dear me! if Larry——”</p> - -<p>Just then she looked up before crossing the -street and gazed directly into the calm, rather -proud face of Larry’s mother who, in her little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span> -electric runabout, was just drawing in to the opposite -curb.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Euphemia Haven was tall, of good figure, -with beautiful hair, beginning to be touched with -gray, that her maid dressed more becomingly than -was any other woman’s hair in Hudsonvale. She -had a good complexion, with a tinge of natural -pink in the cheeks and lips. Her teeth were even -and white, without the defects of gold showing -the handiwork of the dentist. She dressed exquisitely, -Beth thought.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Haven drove her runabout with the assurance -of a boy. She had steady nerves, a cordial -laugh, a smile that was charming, and knew -always how to put one at his ease. She beckoned -now to Beth as the latter crossed the street, crying:</p> - -<p>“Elizabeth! Beth! Come here, please! You -are just the person I must see.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER II<br> - -<small>LARRY’S “COMING OUT” PARTY</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mrs. Euphemia Haven</span> was very careful in -her choice of words. Not that her diction was -better or worse than most people’s; but she was -very exact in saying just what she meant to say.</p> - -<p>Instead of calling to Beth Baldwin that she -“wished” to see her or “needed” to see her, she -said “I must.” Behind that expression lay a rather -sharp controversy between her son, Larry, and -herself at the breakfast table that very morning. -It was seldom that there was any friction at all -between Mrs. Haven and her son, for she was a -very indulgent mother and Larry was quite unspoiled, -despite every chance in the world for his -having been so affected.</p> - -<p>She never interfered with his pleasures, seldom -with his associates, and never balked his plans. -He, on the other hand, never gave his mother a -moment’s uneasiness, for she was assured that he -was a Haven and would do nothing to smirch the -family name.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Haven did not blame her son for having<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span> -been so friendly with the family on Bemis Street. -She, herself, had loved Priscilla Lomis with all -her rather narrow heart when they were young. -That Priscilla had married a mechanic was her -mistake; and Mrs. Euphemia had condoned that -mistake for years. But now she had to think of -her son’s future. There were some past associations -which she felt might better be ignored by -him now that he was a man. The silly plans in -her own and Priscilla Baldwin’s heads when they -were young married women, each with a brand -new baby to think of and talk about, Mrs. Haven -long since had thought best forgotten.</p> - -<p>She feared, however, that Priscilla might have -remembered. Of course, that first dear little girl -baby of her old friend’s had died; but here was -another girl born into the family of the mechanic——</p> - -<p>“And goodness!” thought Mrs. Haven, as Beth -Baldwin crossed the street and drew near at her -call, “what a perfect little beauty she is growing to -be!”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Euphemia Haven was one of those women -who manage a lorgnette very well indeed. She -caught it up now and looked at Beth through it—not -because she really needed this aid to sight, -but to cover a sudden slight confusion that she -felt.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span>“Mercy, Beth! how really pretty you have -grown!” was her first audible comment. “And -what a big girl! The other day you were only -a little thing and Larry was playing nurse-girl to -you. I expect he remembers you now as the little -black-eyed tot he used to be so devoted to.”</p> - -<p>“I presume so, Mrs. Haven,” replied Beth, -composedly.</p> - -<p>“Why, you must be through school,” went on -Mrs. Haven. “Are you working or do you help -your mother?”</p> - -<p>“It is work helping in a family of eight, Mrs. -Haven,” laughed Beth. “I have finished high -school. But I hope to go to a more advanced -school in the fall.”</p> - -<p>“That will be rather difficult, will it not?” suggested -Mrs. Haven, with raised eyebrows.</p> - -<p>Beth knew that it was an intimation that Mrs. -Haven fully understood the Baldwin’s financial -circumstances. It was not said unkindly; yet, -somehow, Beth felt that it was antagonistic. Her -pretty head came up and she looked rather proudly -into the fine eyes of Larry’s mother.</p> - -<p>“Yes; it will be very difficult,” she admitted. -“But I mean to get a better education if I have to -earn the money myself to pay my way through -school.”</p> - -<p>“Dear me!” said Mrs. Haven, smiling. “What<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span> -a very determined girl! But—in your case, my -dear—is an advanced education really worth -while?”</p> - -<p>“I think it is,” and this time Beth flushed. She -recognized the critical note in her questioner’s -voice, and she knew what it meant. “Don’t you -think it was worth while for Larry to go to college?”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” ejaculated the startled lady. “He—he -is a boy.”</p> - -<p>“And <i>I</i> am a girl,” Beth laughed. “But I think -I have just as much ambition as any boy.”</p> - -<p>The lady laughed too, and said:</p> - -<p>“That brings me to the reason I had for hailing -you, my dear. Now that Larry is home for -good I want to give him a nice party. The young -folk of Hudsonvale, I am afraid, have almost forgotten -him. And, too, he is ambitious to take his -father’s place in the community as a lawyer. We -must introduce him to the older generation likewise. -So, when we were talking it over this morning, -he remembered you and told me to be sure to -invite ‘that little Baldwin girl.’ Why!” and Larry’s -mother laughed easily, as though she did not -know she had conveyed a sting, “he will scarcely -know you, you have grown so.”</p> - -<p>“How kind of him to remember me,” Beth said -sweetly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span>“Oh, Larry has always looked upon you as a -little sister, I fancy—having been denied any of -his own. Now, you will come, of course? Next -Tuesday evening. There will be dancing.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Haven had managed to make Beth feel -that she was being patronized; but the girl was -too sensible to take offence. She believed Larry -had really said that he wanted her at his party, -and she would not disappoint her old playfellow.</p> - -<p>“I will surely come, Mrs. Haven. Thank you,” -she said, as the lady’s car started.</p> - -<p>As Beth told her mother when she arrived home -with the eggs, she had nothing but her graduation -dress to wear to Larry’s “coming out” party, as -Beth laughingly designated it, and that frock had -been made with the view to its being her “best-Sunday-go-to-meeting” -attire for two years to -come. A new dress was an event in the Baldwin -household.</p> - -<p>“It’s not just the thing for an evening party, -Mamma,” she said cheerfully. “But we’ll make -it do.”</p> - -<p>“I really would like to have you look your best -when you go to Euphemia Haven’s,” Mrs. Baldwin -answered.</p> - -<p>“Of course! I shall scrub my face real clean -and comb all the tangles out of my hair, Mother -mine,” laughed Beth. “Why strive to amaze Mrs.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span> -Haven with my fine appearance more than anybody -else?”</p> - -<p>“Why? Oh well! I want her to see what a -very nice girl you are.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Mamma! She has already told -me I am pretty,” and Beth made a little face at -the thought of Mrs. Euphemia Haven’s patronizing -way.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, Beth had a desire to look her best -if she attended the “coming out” party. But she -wished to astonish another person rather than the -rather haughty Mrs. Euphemia Haven.</p> - -<p>That dress had to be thought about—and there -were only four days before the date of the party. -Beth was glad she had worn it only on graduation -day. It would not be familiar to anybody but her -classmates; and she fancied that if any of them -were at Larry’s party they would be likely to appear -in their graduation dresses, too. For Hudsonvale -was not a very fashionable place.</p> - -<p>The frock in question was of a good quality -of cream-colored poplin—then a very popular -fabric. It had been made high in the neck, for -low-cut frocks for day wear were not approved in -Hudsonvale. Evening wear was different. Decolleté -was expected of any one who was invited to -an evening party.</p> - -<p>For a girl of her age Beth Baldwin’s taste was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span> -admirable. Yet, because of her complexion, she -could “carry off” oddities in style and colorings -that scarcely any other girl in the village would -have dared attempt.</p> - -<p>She was handy, too, with her needle, and she -decided to make some changes and adapt her dress -for evening wear. She removed the long sleeves, -and her mother gave her the lace out of her own -wedding gown—so long laid away in camphor—with -which she fashioned a soft, full, puff-like -sleeve which reached only half way to her elbow. -After removing the collar and the vest of the -frock, she filled in over the shoulders and across -the bust with some of the same pretty lace. Between -the lace and the material of the dress she -put beading, and in this she ran narrow cherry-colored -ribbon. She put a rosette on each -shoulder, a large one with streamers over her -heart, other ribbons with very tiny rosettes to tie -the puff-like sleeves, and made ready a sash of -broad ribbon of the same hue.</p> - -<p>The effect might be a trifle bizarre; but it was -very becoming, indeed, to Beth, and when she put -on the frock Monday evening and “tried it out” -on the family, they thought her charming.</p> - -<p>“Some class to you,” said the slangy Marcus. -“Cricky! you’re the niftiest looking girl in the -town—isn’t she, Pop?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span>“She’s what her mother was over again,” said -Mr. Baldwin, proudly, lowering his paper to -“peck” at his pretty daughter’s cheek.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mamma! I don’t see why you didn’t have -<i>me</i> a dark and delirious beauty,” groaned Ella, -“instead of a washed-out, flaxen-haired, inconsequential -looking little <i>dowdy</i>! I hate to go anywhere -with our Beth; she makes me look like <i>just -nothing</i>.”</p> - -<p>The family laughed at the flyaway’s plaint, and -Ella added:</p> - -<p>“Anyway, I hope Beth will get married long -before I get any beaux. I know I couldn’t keep -’em a minute if they came here and saw Beth.”</p> - -<p>“Mercy, Ella!” gasped her mother. “What -are you talking about—a child of eleven?”</p> - -<p>Mr. Baldwin laughed heartily. He usually did -at his flaxen-haired daughter’s nonsense. But -Ella added:</p> - -<p>“I don’t care, Mamma. It should be against -the law for one sister to be so much prettier than -the others. Poor little Prissy and me—why, we -haven’t any chance at all!”</p> - -<p>“‘Handsome is as handsome does,’ daughter,” -quoted Mrs. Baldwin, contemplating her eldest -child with her head on one side.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/p018.jpg" alt=""></div> -<p class="caption">SHE SNAPPED THE BEAUTIFULLY CARVED NECKLACE<br> -AROUND BETH’S THROAT.<br> - -<span class="illoright2">Page <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, yes! that’s what Mr. Monkey said to the -poor little Hippopotamus baby. He found little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span> -Hippo crying beside a still pool,” said the vivacious -Ella, “and asked him what the matter was.</p> - -<p>“‘Oh, nuffin,’ said the Hippo, ‘only I never saw -myself in a mirror before!’</p> - -<p>“And, of course, Mr. Monkey said just what -you did now, Mamma. But poor little Hippo -knew that he couldn’t act handsome enough in a -thousand years to overcome the handicap of the -awful looks Nature had given him.”</p> - -<p>Through the laughter of Mr. Baldwin and Marcus, -Ferd, the blond twin, spoke up stoutly:</p> - -<p>“I don’t care if they <i>do</i> call me ‘Blondy.’ I -wouldn’t be black, like Fred.”</p> - -<p>“I’m certainly glad I’m a bruin, like our Beth,” -said his twin, loftily.</p> - -<p>“‘Bruin!’”</p> - -<p>“A bear that boy certainly is!”</p> - -<p>“Goodness, Frederick,” said Ella, amid the -laughter of the family. “You mean brunette.”</p> - -<p>Fred did not take laughter kindly. “I know -what I mean,” he growled. “I’m glad my complexion -is like Beth’s.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness, it isn’t!” cried the flyaway sister, -suddenly. “You haven’t washed your face since -supper, Frederick Baldwin! Come out to the -kitchen sink with me this very minute!”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Baldwin had left the room while this -conversation was in progress. Now she returned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span> -with a little square box that the children seldom -saw. It was usually locked away in the safe in -the bedroom occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mamma!” gasped Beth, suspecting what -was coming.</p> - -<p>“Hello, Mother!” said Mr. Baldwin, with -twinkling eye. “Getting out the ‘family jewels?’”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mamma!” shrieked Ella, racing in from -the kitchen, dragging Fred with one hand and -waving the washcloth in the other like a very limp -banner. “<i>Not Great-grandmother Lomis’ corals?</i>”</p> - -<p>Beth flushed and paled, her eyes shining like -stars as she watched her mother unlock the little -box with the key that always hung about her neck -under her gown. Great-grandmother Lomis’ corals -was the one heirloom that had been handed -down to Mrs. Baldwin’s generation. They were -as precious in the eyes of her daughters as the -Queen of Sheba’s pearls.</p> - -<p>“You’re never going to let me wear <i>those</i> to -Larry’s ‘coming out’ party?” Beth finally gasped.</p> - -<p>Her mother’s face was serious. “You are the -eldest, my dear. The corals will be yours some -day—yours to do with just what you please. -Great-grandmother Lomis declared in her will that -the corals should always be given to the eldest -daughter, and from her to <i>her</i> eldest daughter.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span> -This is an entail that the male heirs have nothing -to do with,” and she laughed.</p> - -<p>“They may be sold or otherwise disposed of -for the benefit of the eldest daughter of each generation. -If Beth wants to wear them to Euphemia’s—— There!”</p> - -<p>She snapped the thin, beautifully carved, blood-red -necklace around Beth’s throat. The deeper -hue of the corals contrasted beautifully with the -brighter ribbons, and against the dark loveliness -of Beth’s skin the necklace had never shone to better -advantage.</p> - -<p>There was a pin, too; and Mrs. Baldwin swiftly -snipped off the big rosette at Beth’s bosom and -caught the filmy lace together there with the beautiful -pin instead.</p> - -<p>The corals set off the girl’s beauty wonderfully. -There was an alluring, Eastern quality to it that -now, enhanced by the old-fashioned jewelry, made -Beth seem more mature than she really was.</p> - -<p>Yet she was only a simple, sweet child, after -all. She possessed a better figure than most girls -of her age, and had a demure, self-possessed manner -that might have led strangers to think her -older than she was. In mind and heart, however, -though thoughtful to a degree, Beth was a child.</p> - -<p>“That’s mighty scrumptious—that’s what <i>I</i> call -it,” declared Marcus.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span>Perhaps Mr. Baldwin thought so too; for the -next evening, when Beth was ready to start for -the Haven house, a taxicab stopped at the door.</p> - -<p>“Papa Baldwin! What extravagance!” exclaimed -his wife.</p> - -<p>“It’s not considered quite the thing, I believe,” -he said drily, “for a young lady to walk to a party -wearing three or four hundred dollars’ worth of -jewelry.”</p> - -<p>Not until then did Mrs. Baldwin wonder if she -were doing wrong to allow Beth to wear the family -heirloom. But it was too late to say no. Beth -kissed her hand to the watching family from the -taxicab—the man shut the door, and in a moment -the machine rolled away from the little cottage on -Bemis Street.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER III<br> - -<small>GREAT-GRANDMOTHER LOMIS’ CORALS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Beth Baldwin</span> felt that this was really her -first “grown-up” party. She knew that few of the -girls who had graduated with her from high -school had been invited to the Haven house on this -evening; and few of the younger guests would be -brought to the door, she was likewise sure, in any -vehicle. There were but four taxicabs in the town.</p> - -<p>Beth knew that to the very nicest parties in -town most people went afoot, carrying their dancing -slippers under their arms. But now the girl -was set down before the Haven door, under an -awning and on a well-worn strip of carpet, both -of which led up to the wide-open and brilliantly -lighted doorway of the mansion.</p> - -<p>The Haven place was a fine old house; there -was none better for the purpose of entertaining -in town. Almost the whole of the lower floor -could be used for dancing. The broad stairway, -bordered by potted plants, offered plenty of “nestling -corners” for tired dancers; palms hid the rear -of the reception hall where the musicians were stationed.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span> -Already, when Beth timidly entered, the -lights, the moving couples, the tinkle of music, the -murmur of voices, were quite confusing.</p> - -<p>She saw Mrs. Euphemia Haven’s stately figure -just within the drawing-room doorway. A few -couples swung in time to the music across the hall -in the huge dining-room, from which all the furniture -had been taken. There were people going -up and down the stairway whom she had never -even seen before. She had not stopped to think -until now that, after all, Larry Haven lived in a -world quite apart from the Baldwins.</p> - -<p>Her mother’s very good cravanette hid Beth’s -frock from throat to slippers. She wore no head-covering -save the waves of her pretty black hair. -For Beth was one of those fortunate girls who -possess soft looking, wavy hair, adaptable to any -style of hair-dressing.</p> - -<p>She was directed to the dressing rooms above, -and mounted the stairs. There a maid showed her -to one of the large bedrooms, now set apart for -the women to use as a dressing room.</p> - -<p>Five minutes later Beth descended the stairway. -She saw at its foot a group of people looking up -at her. Mrs. Haven was not one of them. Indeed, -Beth thought she knew none of the group—at -least, none of the women.</p> - -<p>She imagined that they were whispering about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span> -her. The suspicion heightened the color in her -cheeks; but she could not afford to be panic-stricken -now. Beyond this group—wavering a little -in her sight because Beth saw her through a -mist—she knew Mrs. Haven stood.</p> - -<p>She stepped from the lower tread of the stairway, -and—— Who was this who met her, both -hands outstretched, lips smiling, gray eyes dancing? -Such a tall young man, strikingly handsome, -Beth thought, in his evening clothes, his shock of -straw-colored hair brushed back from his brow, -giving him a remarkably wide-awake appearance.</p> - -<p>“Larry!” she said, almost in a whisper, giving -him her hands.</p> - -<p>“You howling little beauty!” he responded, in -a tone equally confidential. “Mother did not prepare -me for <i>this</i> change. Goodness, Beth! you’ve -grown up!”</p> - -<p>“No, no. But <i>you</i> have,” she said, flutteringly.</p> - -<p>He laughed. Then he tucked Beth’s plump little -hand under his arm and led her into the drawing-room.</p> - -<p>“Mater,” he said, for she chanced to be alone -at the moment, “I introduce you to the ‘belle of -the ball.’ What do you know about our little -‘Saint Elizabeth?’ Hasn’t she grown up?”</p> - -<p>“Mercy, child!” murmured Mrs. Haven, and -the lorgnette came into play to rescue her from absolute<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span> -confusion. “I told you, Larry, how really -pretty she had grown. In a few years, Beth, you -will set the young men’s hearts aflame. Introduce -her to some of the others—do, Larry. So she -will not feel lonesome,” and the lady patted Beth’s -arm with her lorgnette.</p> - -<p>“And your Great-grandmother Lomis’ corals. I -always envied your mother those beauties,” said -the matron. “But I had no idea Priscilla had kept -them all these years.”</p> - -<p>“Why,” gasped Beth, finally stung to self-defense, -“they are heirlooms!”</p> - -<p>“Oh—yes—of course,” Mrs. Haven said. “But -it isn’t every one who can afford to keep heirlooms, -you know.”</p> - -<p>Beth felt the sting in every word Larry’s mother -uttered. She knew Mrs. Haven was antagonistic -to her. Why?</p> - -<p>“Do introduce her to some of the young folk, -Larry,” his mother said impatiently.</p> - -<p>“Not till I’ve danced once with her myself, -Mater,” said the young man, laughing. “I can -see plainly that if I don’t take my chance to do so -right now, I’m likely to have none. Our little -Beth is going to cut a wide swath to-night.”</p> - -<p>“Mercy!” murmured his mother. “What are -these children coming to?”</p> - -<p>“You must not treat me as though I were grown<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span> -up, Larry,” Beth said, laughing, as the orchestra -struck up again.</p> - -<p>“Know this?” he asked quickly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes,” said Beth, glad she had learned some -of the new steps.</p> - -<p>“Then come on—and tell me all about yourself -while we dance,” Larry rejoined.</p> - -<p>“Oh no! <i>You</i> are the interesting subject just -now. Think! a full-fledged lawyer,” she told him.</p> - -<p>“Yes—‘full-fledged,’ indeed,” he agreed. “And -likely to get well plucked the first time I appear -in court.”</p> - -<p>“Does the thought of your first case scare you?” -she asked roguishly.</p> - -<p>“No. The fear that there won’t be a first case -is what is troubling me. They tell me fledgling -lawyers sometimes starve to death and are swept -up with the dust in their offices and thrown out.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll have Mary Devine watch over you. Her -father is janitor of the block, you know. If you -are seen to become emaciated, we will try to smuggle -you in some food,” laughed Beth.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know how long I shall be at it,” the -young man said, with more seriousness; “but I -mean if possible to make the name of Haven -known—and respected—as it used to be among -the ‘legal lights.’”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I hope so, Larry!” she declared, with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span> -warmth. “We all at our house will ‘boost’ for -you.”</p> - -<p>“And all the kids are well?” he asked, looking -down at her with frank admiration.</p> - -<p>“Lovely. And fast growing up. You should -see Ella! She is going to be a regular ash-blonde.”</p> - -<p>“I never did fancy light-complexioned people,” -said Larry, laughing at her. “You suit me, Beth.”</p> - -<p>“‘Thank you kindly, sir, she said,’” returned -Beth, courtesying. “But remember, please, that -my mother considers me a child.”</p> - -<p>“Pooh! pooh! and a couple of fudges! You -are a stunner, Beth.”</p> - -<p>“I am a schoolgirl; you must not turn my head -with compliments.”</p> - -<p>“Got through the high, Elizabeth?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“And going in for the higher-ed., of course?”</p> - -<p>“Just as sure—as sure!” she said firmly. “I -don’t know just how, yet; but I mean to go to -Rivercliff in the autumn.”</p> - -<p>“Whew! That’s some school. I met some girls -at college who had been there. Co-eds, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Nice girls?”</p> - -<p>“Awfully nice,” he declared. “They took two -years at Rivercliff after high and then came to -college. But the full course up there would put<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span> -you ahead a whole lot, Beth. These girls I speak -of were preparing for particular lines of work. -If a girl wanted to be a teacher——”</p> - -<p>“That is my goal, Larry,” Beth interrupted, so -earnestly that she missed her step. “I <i>must</i> be a -teacher. You know—papa isn’t rich. We have -to scrimp a good deal. If I could teach I could -help a lot.”</p> - -<p>“Sure you could,” he agreed, with answering enthusiasm. -“And, besides, a girl doesn’t get anywhere -at all now if she hasn’t a pretty good education. -You know how it is—a fellow likes to talk -to a girl that can discuss the same things he can, -and discuss them intelligently. Why, Beth,” and -he laughed, “our great-grandmothers, who only -knew how to sew and knit and bake and be domestic, -would never get a chance to marry nowadays.”</p> - -<p>“What nonsense you talk,” said Beth, dimpling. -“Papa says that the nearest way to a man’s heart -is through his stomach. I fancy that not <i>all</i> young -men of our generation are dyspeptic and have to -live on predigested health foods.”</p> - -<p>“That is all right,” Larry said seriously. “But -a fellow can hire a cook. He wants a wife who -can be his mental companion.”</p> - -<p>“Good-ness me!” drawled Beth. “Hear the -boy! When are you going to get married, Larry -Haven? How soon?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span>“Just as soon as I find the right girl,” he returned, -laughing at her.</p> - -<p>“Do you expect her to starve to death in your -law offices, too?” she demanded, quizzically.</p> - -<p>The question brought him to a stop. He gazed -down at her for a moment. “Got me there, Elizabeth—got -me there,” he admitted. “I didn’t -think of that. She will have to be supported—the -future Mrs. Haven—won’t she?”</p> - -<p>“And a cook hired for her, too,” Beth responded -wickedly. “By the time you are able to -do that, Larry Haven, on your income as an attorney, -I shall be principal of a young ladies’ seminary -at five thousand a year.”</p> - -<p>He laughed delightedly. She was just as bright -as he remembered her to have been when she was -little.</p> - -<p>He handed her over to Major Whipple after -this dance. The major, although a bachelor of -over fifty, still possessed a discriminating eye for -beauty. And he could dance well, too. Beth was -enjoying herself. Larry did not let her sit idle a -single dance. And the boys, young men, middle-aged -men, were all ready to be partners with her.</p> - -<p>Larry said to his mother: “What did I tell you, -Mater? Beth is the belle of the evening.”</p> - -<p>“You will turn that child’s head, Larry. I warn -you,” his mother said seriously.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span>“Well! she talks a whole lot more sensibly than -most of the young women I have talked with this -evening,” he declared.</p> - -<p>“Ah! she is wiser than I thought,” murmured -Mrs. Haven. “And I <i>would</i> like to own those -corals of her Great-grandmother Lomis.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IV<br> - -<small>THE SACRIFICE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">But</span> why did she try to make me appear so -young?” Beth asked her mother, as they sat side -by side busily sewing the afternoon following Larry’s -party. “Really, I felt hurt. I cannot understand -Mrs. Haven.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Baldwin looked at her eldest daughter -thoughtfully—as though, however, her mind were -a great way off.</p> - -<p>“Why did she, Mother?” repeated Beth.</p> - -<p>“I can understand Euphemia,” said Mrs. Baldwin, -quietly. “You must not mind her, my dear.”</p> - -<p>“But I cannot see why she wants me to seem -childish, even if you do, Mother mine,” the girl -said, somewhat impatiently.</p> - -<p>“I fear one meaning is, that Euphemia feels -that Larry would better remember you only as his -playfellow when he, too, was a child,” Mrs. Baldwin -said. “He is a man now, you know, and -must have a man’s feelings as he has a man’s duties -to perform.”</p> - -<p>“Why, what nonsense, Mother!” exclaimed the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span> -girl, throwing back her head and laughing delightedly. -“He is only a great, big boy—that’s -all Larry Haven is.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Baldwin shook her head, gravely. “You -do not understand the difference between fifteen -and twenty-two,” she said.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Ma’am, I do,” the girl responded smartly. -“I know my arithmetic. It’s seven years—just -seven years, Mother mine.”</p> - -<p>“That is not the real difference, Beth,” her -mother pursued. “The difference is not to be -measured by time——”</p> - -<p>“No! One would think it were eternity to -hear you,” laughed Beth.</p> - -<p>Her mother laughed too; yet she was more -serious than Beth could see any occasion for.</p> - -<p>“There is a freshness and a boyishness about -young men—and some men when they become -older—that make them seem less mature than -quite young girls,” Mrs. Baldwin said, finding it -a little difficult to impress her daughter with the -change in her whilom playmate.</p> - -<p>“Larry Haven has stepped over the line from -boyhood to manhood, whether you realize it or -not, Beth. There is a vast difference now between -you two. You look forward to study and the acquirement -of text-book knowledge——”</p> - -<p>“Oh! how much!” murmured Beth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span>“While he looks back upon his school course. -The difference between knowledge wished for, -and knowledge attained, is vast. It isn’t measured -by mere time, as I said before. It is a difference -in the attitude of one’s mind toward most things -in the world. However much Larry may seem -just the same as he used to be, he is not the same. -He is a man grown, and you are only a girl.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mamma! That is a sharp one,” said -Beth, laughing placidly. “I really can’t see that -being fifteen instead of twenty-two makes much -difference between Larry and me. I can still make -him say just the thing I want him to say—I always -could. And I can still get the best of him in an -argument.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Baldwin had to laugh, although it was not -a very cheerful laugh. “Your being able to argue -did not come from your studies in school, child, -that is sure. You have always been good at that. -You would argue now that you and Larry were -equal.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! I realize our inequality, Mamma,” Beth -said sadly. “It’s the difference in our education, -not our ages, that troubles me. He may be only -a boy, but he’s got something in his head that I -haven’t. And oh, Mamma! I want it so!”</p> - -<p>“My dear girl!”</p> - -<p>“I know. It is wicked, but I must say it. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span> -told Larry last night that I meant to go to Rivercliff -this September. And I mean to! It seems to -me that I would sacrifice almost anything for the -chance to go there. I <i>must</i> go!”</p> - -<p>“My dear!”</p> - -<p>“Yes. It sounds dreadful, doesn’t it? I just -get desperate when I think of how badly I want -to learn. And if I don’t become a teacher, what is -to become of me? Am I to go into the dye factory -to earn my living? Dear Mother! I must earn -my living somehow. The children are getting -bigger, and need more and more. They must be -educated, too. If I could get my teacher’s certificate -in three years I could help you all.”</p> - -<p>“I know—I know, child,” said her mother. -“You would help us if you could.”</p> - -<p>“Now I’ve made you cry! I’m so sorry! Do -forgive me! But it isn’t that I would help the -family if I <i>could</i>. It is that I <i>must</i>! Don’t you -see it, Mamma? Papa is getting no younger. -Already Marcus talks of going to work. Am I -better than my brother? The family needs my -help as much as it needs his. And I should be able -to do more than he.”</p> - -<p>“But, my dear——” cried Mrs. Baldwin, surprised -by the girl’s earnestness. She began to -doubt if her daughter was quite as childish as she -had supposed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span>“At least,” went on Beth, ignoring her mother’s -half-spoken protest, “you must let me go to work -this summer to see if I can earn enough, somehow, -to pay for my first half, if no more, at Rivercliff.”</p> - -<p>“And what after that, daughter?” asked Mrs. -Baldwin.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. I am reckless—or inspired!” -and Beth laughed shakingly. “A way may be -opened. I’ll take a chance.”</p> - -<p>“Where can you get work for the summer?” -her mother asked gravely.</p> - -<p>“Well—I would go into the factory for a short -time——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no! what would Larry say? You cannot -do that,” her mother cried, with an energy that -quite surprised Beth.</p> - -<p>“Indeed!” sniffed the girl. “I guess you mean, -what would Larry’s mother say? I am not beholden -to Mrs. Haven.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Mrs. Baldwin, seriously. “But you -would not wish to offend Larry’s mother.”</p> - -<p>Beth showed herself puzzled. “Why, not deliberately,” -she said. “Of course not. Nor -Larry either. But why worry about them more -than our other friends? Lots of folks who know -us, and in no better circumstances than we are, -either, will turn up their noses at me if I go to -work in the dye factory. But you know how it is,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span> -Mamma. A position in a store or an office is -awfully hard to find in Hudsonvale. You wouldn’t -want me to go to a summer hotel to be a waitress -or a chambermaid?”</p> - -<p>“Mercy me, Beth! What are you thinking of?” -almost screamed Mrs. Baldwin.</p> - -<p>“I’m thinking of making money to pay for my -schooling at Rivercliff,” laughed her daughter. -“I’ve read of lots of girls who earn their tuition -fees by doing those things.”</p> - -<p>“But you!”</p> - -<p>“Who am I?” asked Beth. “Better than other -girls? You’ve taught me to sweep, to dust, to -make beds, and to be tidy.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes,” Mrs. Baldwin hastened to say. -“Every girl should learn the domestic duties.”</p> - -<p>Beth began to giggle at that. “Larry says not. -He’s going to hire a cook when he gets married. -He forgets that the cook may leave suddenly. I -believe they have a way of doing that.”</p> - -<p>“For goodness’ sake!” gasped her mother. -“What didn’t you and Larry talk about last -night?”</p> - -<p>“Why—lots of things. We didn’t have much -time to really talk. We’ll wait till he comes here -to see us to have a really old-fashioned confab together,” -Beth said laughing. “But he’s a funny -boy!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span>“I tell you he is a boy no longer,” Mrs. Baldwin -said, a little worried.</p> - -<p>“Oh, wait till you see him. He’s just the same -old sixpence of a Larry. You’ll see, Mamma. -But he is handsome in his dress suit. Doesn’t look -at all like an undertaker.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Baldwin, shaking her head, rejoined:</p> - -<p>“For you to go to work at any domestic service -is out of the question. And your father would -never hear to your working in the factory.”</p> - -<p>“What shall I do then, Mamma? Peddle? Be -an agent? Go from house to house and try to -make people buy what they don’t want and don’t -need and really would be better off without?” and -Beth laughed gaily. “Or shall I go right out with -a mask and a club and become a highway robber?”</p> - -<p>Her mother had to laugh again at this suggestion. -Really, Beth was practical in her ideas. -“Much more so than most girls of her age,” -thought the troubled mother, with a sigh.</p> - -<p>She could not but be impressed with the earnestness -of Beth’s desire for an education. She had -already had quite as much schooling as Mrs. Baldwin—and -Mrs. Euphemia Haven—had been given -when they were girls.</p> - -<p>“But the world is different now,” sighed the -foreman’s wife. “And more is expected of girls. -If Euphemia——”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>She did not finish her speech—there were some -things she could not admit even to herself. But -the next afternoon she dressed herself and went -out. “Calling,” she told the curious girls. But -she refused to say on whom she was to call.</p> - -<p>After a sleepless night Mrs. Baldwin had made -up her mind that Beth should have her desire if -it were possible. By a sacrifice that she could not -bring herself to tell even Mr. Baldwin about, she -would raise sufficient money to pay for Beth’s first -year at Rivercliff. She was quite sure Euphemia -Haven would buy her Grandmother Lomis’ corals. -For years she had wanted them. And Euphemia -would give four hundred dollars for them.</p> - -<p>“It is Beth’s sacrifice, not mine,” the mother -thought, wiping her eyes before she mounted the -walk to the Haven mansion. “And it is to benefit -Beth. I am sure the child would rather have a -year at school than the jewelry.”</p> - -<p>She rang the bell and was admitted by the butler.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER V<br> - -<small>THE “WATER WAGTAIL”</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">I obtained</span> the money from a friend. Payment -of the loan need not be considered until your -education at Rivercliff is finished, Beth. This sum -will carry you through your first year in comfort. -Meanwhile, as you say yourself, a way may be -opened for you to continue your course there. -‘Sufficient unto the day.’ Ask no questions.”</p> - -<p>Thus said Mrs. Baldwin, in family assembled, -when the outcry was made regarding the suddenly -and mysteriously acquired funds with which Beth -was to storm the heights of Rivercliff School.</p> - -<p>Mr. Baldwin looked at his wife oddly, but he -asked no question—then or at any subsequent -time. When Mrs. Baldwin was as firm as she -looked now, the others dared not be inquisitive.</p> - -<p>But as delighted as Beth was at the sudden opening -of her prospects, she felt that a sacrifice of -some kind had been made. She feared her mother -and father had done some hard thing for which -they might be troubled all through her school -years. She had no suspicion of the truth—not -for a moment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>“But I will learn from other girls at school how -to earn money to pay my way. And I’ll pay -mamma back, too,” Beth thought, with but faint -appreciation, after all, of how huge a sum four -hundred dollars is, and how long it would take -to earn and save it in any way open to a girl of -fifteen.</p> - -<p>Of course, the whole of it did not have to go -for tuition and board. There would be a small -sum for what Ella called her older sister’s “trousseau,” -and for pocket-money and incidentals. -Rivercliff was a more expensive school than one -or two others Beth had thought of and she wished -she could gain the advantages she craved in some -other institution.</p> - -<p>However, a girl with a diploma from Rivercliff -had a distinct advantage over applicants from -other schools with the State Board of Education. -And for good reason. Rivercliff was more than -a preparatory school in the usual acceptation of -the term. A girl who faithfully took the courses -laid down by Miss Hammersly, the principal, was -well fitted for most places in life.</p> - -<p>The summer was not spent idly by Beth. She -had not merely resolved to obtain an education at -her parents’ expense. She was ready and willing -to do all in her power to help bring the much desired -thing to pass.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span>She obtained the opportunity of posing on several -occasions for an illustrator for the magazines, -who came each summer to a rustic studio she had -built near Hudsonvale. Beth had done this work -before, and the artist paid her fifty cents an hour. -It was not an easily won fifty cents by any means. -Retaining the poses as was desired strained the -muscles and tired the mind more than most other -work Beth had ever done.</p> - -<p>She could crochet, too; but the payment she received -for a baby’s bootees “a fly would starve to -death on,” Ella declared—and with some apparent -truth. However, Beth kept busy and happy. -That is, she told herself she was quite, quite -happy. But there was one thing that troubled her -mind in secret. Larry Haven had never come to -the little cottage on Bemis Street to see her.</p> - -<p>From Mary Devine Beth heard much about -Larry. He had established himself in the office -next to Dr. Coldfoot, and——</p> - -<p>“Such scrumptious furniture, Beth, you never -<i>did</i> see. They say his mother made him a present -of it all—furnished his office right up to the minute. -And he’s got a very splendid sign,” added -Mary, with enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>Beth had seen the sign.</p> - -<p>“And he comes downtown as brisk as a drug -clerk every morning,” giggled Mary, “and shuts<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span> -himself into that office—oh, dreadfully busy, he -is!”</p> - -<p>“I hope he will be,” said Beth, laughing.</p> - -<p>Nobody said anything to her about Larry’s not -coming to the house. The children were all busy, -and had become so used to his absence that they -did not note its continuance after Larry returned -from the law school.</p> - -<p>That her old playmate was busy might be an -excuse for his seldom calling; but there was absolutely -no excuse, that Beth could imagine, for his -never coming to see them. After the first fortnight -following his party, Beth ceased to mention -Larry in the family’s hearing. She was a girl who -could hide her deeper feelings if she so chose; -and she chose now to lead her mother to believe -that thought of Larry never troubled her mind.</p> - -<p>However, it did. More than once tears wet -her pillow at night while she lay and wondered -why Larry had forsaken her. She did not believe -it could be the seven years’ difference in their -ages.</p> - -<p>“I don’t care if he does think me a little girl,” -she told herself; “he might, at least, be polite.”</p> - -<p>But, in truth, she laid the defection of Larry -Haven to his mother. The why of this was no -more clear to her girlish mind than Larry’s neglect; -but she had felt Mrs. Haven’s antagonism so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span> -deeply that she could not fail to take it into consideration -now.</p> - -<p>Beth was one of those loyal souls who seldom -make friends save after due consideration, and -who cling to their friendships, once made, through -fair weather and foul. She felt about Larry just -as she would have felt about an older brother. -He was just as necessary to her complete happiness -as Marcus was.</p> - -<p>After their intimate talk at the party, Beth felt -that her mind and Larry’s were a good deal in accord—especially -on the question of the advancement -of her schooling. So she hoped he would -continue to show his interest in the wonderful (to -her) prospect of Rivercliff. She had no assurance -that Larry even knew she was surely going -to school until the afternoon came for her departure -from Hudsonvale.</p> - -<p>It was an event, indeed, for one of the Baldwins -to go away by the river boat. The <i>Water -Wagtail</i> was one of the finest of the fleet plying -up and down the Nessing River, and Mr. Baldwin -had obtained for Beth one of the staterooms for -the trip.</p> - -<p>The county paper, which ran a page of Hudsonvale -news (“in spite of Mary Devine,” Mr. -Baldwin said), had printed a note of Beth’s proposed -departure for school, and the date. Was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span> -that how Larry knew? For when Beth went down -to the dock and aboard the <i>Water Wagtail</i>, the -steward had just taken a box of cut flowers to her -stateroom.</p> - -<p>“I declare for’t, Missy,” said the shining-faced -negro, “yo’ friend suttenly has sent yo’ a heap o’ -posies.”</p> - -<p>“Let me see the card, steward,” she said -quickly.</p> - -<p>It was Larry’s, and Beth knew that flowers like -these grew only in his mother’s garden—in Hudsonvale, -at least.</p> - -<p>Her family had trooped aboard after her—with -Mary Devine and a dozen other girls who -had been Beth’s friends at the high school. They -made a noisy and jolly party. And how they wondered -and exclaimed over the flower-filled stateroom.</p> - -<p>“Why!” cried Mary Devine, “it’s just like a -bridal tour you’re starting on. Aren’t you lucky, -B. B.?”</p> - -<p>“I surely am,” admitted Beth, smiling.</p> - -<p>“But where’s the groom?” asked one of the -other girls, slily. “Did he send the flowers?”</p> - -<p>“How ridiculous!” rejoined Mary, scornfully. -“It’s the best man who sends the flowers, not the -groom. He has to help smell ’em!”</p> - -<p>The party remained on deck while the freight<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span> -was being run aboard below. Beth’s glance often -swept the littered dock as she talked gaily to her -friends or to the children or to her mother and -father. Suddenly her eyes fixed their gaze upon a -tall figure striding down to the dock from Water -Street.</p> - -<p>It was Larry. Beth’s heart leaped and the color -came and went in her cheeks. Had there not been -so much going on, her excitement must have been -noticed. As it happened, however, not even the -girls chanced to see Larry till he was aboard the -boat and was approaching the group.</p> - -<p>By that time Beth had quite regained her self-control. -She welcomed Larry with just the degree -of warmth her mother displayed—by no -means as joyfully as did Mary Devine. He had -to be introduced to the other girls—re-introduced -in some cases. With Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin he -was delightfully cordial. The children—even the -twins—welcomed Larry nicely. Nothing was said -about his previous neglect.</p> - -<p>When the warning whistle sounded and the -party arose to leave, Larry manoeuvered to get -Beth by herself for a moment. They took the -outer deck on one side of the glass-enclosed cabin, -while the rest of the party went the other way to -the stair-well.</p> - -<p>“Go to it, Beth. I glory in your resolve,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span> -Larry said, in reference to her plunge into boarding-school -life. “Get all there is for you at -Rivercliff.”</p> - -<p>“I mean to, Larry,” she said composedly. “And -thank you for the flowers—they are beautiful.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, they were the Mater’s idea,” he said hurriedly. -“But I have something here——”</p> - -<p>He fumbled in his pocket and brought forth a -little box—a jeweler’s box, Beth knew.</p> - -<p>“You won’t want to wear those jolly old corals -that belonged to your Great-grandmother Lomis -at every party you go to up there,” Larry said, -more boyish in his confusion than ever, Beth -thought. “Here’s something you can wear right -along—to remember me by.”</p> - -<p>He thrust the box into her hand. The children -came racing to join them. Beth hid the box -quickly in her bag—she knew not why.</p> - -<p>She pressed Larry’s hand in farewell. She -kissed her mother, her father, and “all the tribe,” -as Ella called the family. The girls waved their -handkerchiefs from the shore.</p> - -<p>Larry did not wait as the <i>Water Wagtail</i> -pulled out into the stream. It was his tall form, -however, striding up the dock when the steamboat -was really under way that Beth last saw.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VI<br> - -<small>AN ADVENTURE IN MIDSTREAM</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Beth</span> had left the door of her stateroom wide -open. When she went into the passage out of -which it opened, she saw a girl looking in at the -flowers, admiringly.</p> - -<p>She was a merry-eyed girl, with short, fine, -brown hair that had been blown about her face -by the fresh, river breeze. This fact made her -seem a little untidy; but she had a winning smile, -was well dressed, and Beth found herself interested -in the stranger even before the merry one -spoke.</p> - -<p>“How jolly!” she cried. “You certainly must -have heaps and heaps of friends.”</p> - -<p>“Why so?” asked Beth, demurely.</p> - -<p>“Because they’ve just about filled your room -with flowers. Or were they so glad to see you go -that they over-speeded the parting guest?” added -the girl, roguishly.</p> - -<p>Beth laughed as she went by the other into the -room and seized a bunch of roses. “Here,” she -said, thrusting the flowers into the strange girl’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span> -hands. “I must divide with somebody. And my -friends were not speeding the parting guest. I am -going to school.”</p> - -<p>“Bless us! so am I,” said the other, burying her -rather retroussé nose in the fragrant blossoms. -“But they didn’t waste any lovely flowers on poor -little Molly—nay, nay, Pauline!”</p> - -<p>“My name is not ‘Pauline,’” interposed Beth, -her eyes dancing. “It’s Beth.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, how jolly!” cried the other. “I never -knew a girl named Beth outside of a story-book.”</p> - -<p>“It’s my real name,” Beth said demurely.</p> - -<p>“And are you going to school?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Not to Rivercliff?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; I am,” Beth said, her own eagerness increasing. -“Are you?”</p> - -<p>“How jolly!” ejaculated this rather exclamatory -girl. “I certainly am going to Miss ’Ammersly’s -hestablishment, as it would have been -called in ‘dear hold Hengland,’ had she remained -there to conduct her school.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! is the principal English?” asked Beth.</p> - -<p>“The nicest kind. And Madam Hammersly! -Wait till you see her! She wears the cunningest -caps.”</p> - -<p>“Who is she?” asked the puzzled Beth.</p> - -<p>“Miss Hammersly’s mother. And such a dear!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span> -She is really the housekeeper and general manager—and, -oh! so particular! No end! But she’s -a jolly old dear, at that.”</p> - -<p>Beth saw that this girl overworked at least one -word in the English language. But it was impossible -to look at her without thinking of that very -word. She was jolly, indeed.</p> - -<p>Naturally, Beth Baldwin was greatly interested -in this, the first of her future schoolmates whom -she met and not a little curious about her. She -learned at once that Molly Granger had been to -Rivercliff for two years already, having entered -what Miss Hammersly called the “primary department.”</p> - -<p>“But I shall be a full-fledged first-grade with -you ‘freshies’ this fall. I shall be in your classes,” -she said cheerfully. “I believe I am going to like -you a lot, Beth. And that’s more than I can say -for some of the girls who have been with me as -‘primes’ and now will be in our grade too. There’s -Maude Grimshaw, for instance. <i>That</i> girl would -try the patience of a Jobess.”</p> - -<p>“A <i>what</i>?” gasped Beth.</p> - -<p>“A Jobess. Female for Job. Isn’t that right?” -asked Molly, her eyes dancing.</p> - -<p>Beth laughed. Then she said suddenly:</p> - -<p>“Oh, wait!” and, seizing some more of the -flowers from Mrs. Euphemia Haven’s garden, she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span> -darted out of the stateroom. She had been watching -for several moments a girl who stood in plain -view in the cabin and who had been staring at the -flowers.</p> - -<p>She was a slim, freckled girl, rather oddly -dressed, Beth thought; but her big, dark eyes expressed -a longing for the flowers that could not be -mistaken.</p> - -<p>“You’ll have some, won’t you?” demanded -Beth, offering the flowers to this stranger, as she -had to Molly Granger. “I have so many of -them!”</p> - -<p>Then she realized that the freckled girl’s eyes -were blue. A shadow seemed to lift from them -as she smiled. Whereas they had been dusky before, -they shone as she looked first at the flowers -and then at Beth.</p> - -<p>“Oh, thank you!” she said, and her voice was -delightfully gentle—“cultured,” Beth would have -said, had that expression not so badly fitted the -strange girl’s appearance. She wore a very odd -combination of garments.</p> - -<p>Her smile and her speech repaid Beth for her -act. The freckled-faced girl crossed the cabin—she -walked gracefully—and sat down upon a divan -with the flowers. Before Beth turned back to -her new friend, Molly Granger, the blue eyes had -become clouded again and the tall figure of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span> -girl drooped over the handful of flowers. Beth -whispered to Molly:</p> - -<p>“I wonder who she is?”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t the first idea,” said the jolly girl, -carelessly.</p> - -<p>“Do you think she is going to school with us?”</p> - -<p>“To Rivercliff? I should say not!” gasped -Molly. “Say! you don’t know what you’re up -against there, Beth. Why, we girls of Rivercliff -stand for the ‘acme of style.’ The only magazines -we read are the fashion magazines—and we only -look at the pictures in those. Maude Grimshaw -could wear diamonds to each class recitation—and -royal ermine, I presume, too—whatever that -is,” and Molly laughed.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” exclaimed Beth, greatly taken aback.</p> - -<p>“Only, you see, Miss Hammersly won’t have -it. She is for plain frocks in school. What the -girls wear in the evenings or on holidays does not -so much bother her. We’re all supposed to be -from families who roll in wealth—whatever that -may mean,” and Molly giggled again.</p> - -<p>“Are—are <i>you</i>?” asked Beth, somewhat timidly.</p> - -<p>“Am I what, my dear?” returned Molly.</p> - -<p>“From a rich family?”</p> - -<p>“Goodness, no! My aunts send me to Rivercliff. -I’m a poor, lone orphan. My poor, dear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span> -mother must have taken one look at me, have seen -what an awful, ugly little sprite I was, and thankfully -ceased to live. My father was a missionary -and died of fever in Canton. There you have my -history, saving that seven aunts—all my father’s -sisters (do you wonder he went missionarying?)—took -upon themselves the task of bringing up and -educating ‘poor lil’ Molly.’ If I hadn’t a well -developed sense of the ridiculous, it would have -killed me long ago.”</p> - -<p>Molly rattled on so recklessly that Beth was -more than a little startled at first. Then it began -to impress the girl from Hudsonvale that here -was a person who had really never had a mother -or a father, and had never learned the actual need -of parents. Therefore, she could talk so indifferently -about them.</p> - -<p>Another thought was, however, buzzing in -Beth’s brain.</p> - -<p>“What do you suppose these wealthy girls at -Rivercliff will say to my dresses?” she asked. -“I’ve only one better than this—and that’s for -evening wear.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness! How long is a string?” demanded -the other girl.</p> - -<p>“What?”</p> - -<p>“How long is a string?” repeated Molly, laughing. -“You might as well ask me that as to ask<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span> -me how Maude Grimshaw and that tribe will look -on you and your clothes. And I guess there’s no -answer to that old wheeze.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes there is,” said Beth, laughing too. -“My sister Ella says the answer is ‘from here to -there.’”</p> - -<p>It did not take much to keep these two new -friends laughing. And, at the moment, it did not -seem a great trouble to Beth whether the wealthy -girls at Rivercliff liked her and her clothes or not.</p> - -<p>She carried most of Larry’s donation of flowers -out into the cabin and told the stewardess to -arrange them on one of the writing tables. Then -she locked her stateroom door and went with -Molly on a tour of the boat.</p> - -<p>“You see, I’ve been up and down the river on -this boat a dozen times,” said the jolly orphan. -“I come from Hambro, ’way down the river. I -started early this morning. We’ll get to the Rivercliff -landing to-morrow evening—if the freight -traffic isn’t too heavy. The <i>Water Wagtail</i> staggers -from one side to the other of the river, picking -up freight at the landings, and sometimes the -trip is delayed long beyond sched. But never -mind! school doesn’t really open till Monday. -We’ve got three perfectly good days before us.”</p> - -<p>Twice Beth noticed the freckled girl as they -passed through the cabin. She still sat in her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span> -melancholy attitude, and the flowers had dropped -into her lap. Beth knew she must be in some -trouble or sorrow; but she scarcely saw how she -could help the stranger.</p> - -<p>Molly Granger kept up a running fire of comment -upon everybody and everything. The steamboat -stopped at two small towns before dark, -and the new chums watched the busy scenes on the -docks and talked about the new faces they saw. -Beth found Molly the very best of company; for -while she was light-hearted and full of fun and -mischief, she was sound at the root and had no unkindness -or meanness in her make-up. Indeed, -Beth Baldwin had never met one of her own age -before whom she liked so well on such short acquaintance.</p> - -<p>Left to herself for a short while, Beth was going -over in her mind all the adventures of this busy -and exciting day. How much had happened—and -how much unexpected—since she had started -from the little cottage on Bemis Street.</p> - -<p>Then, for the very first time since she had -slipped it into her bag, Beth thought of Larry’s -present. Something in a jeweler’s box! How had -she forgotten it for so long?</p> - -<p>“That proves that this has been an exciting -time,” murmured the girl, getting her bag and -opening it. “Ah! here is the box.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span>It was neatly wrapped and tied, and her fingers -were engaged in untying the string for a minute -or so. Then she opened the box. A puffy mass of -pink cotton met her gaze. She pulled this aside.</p> - -<p>“Oh! O-o-o-oh!” she breathed. “The beauty! -The <i>beauty</i>!”</p> - -<p>She took out the pin. It was delicately wrought -of platinum and studded with diamond chips and -tiny half-pearls. It was not very expensive; but -it showed skilled workmanship and was an ornament -that would surely attract attention. Yet it -was simple enough to look well if worn by a young -girl.</p> - -<p>Larry Haven’s taste could not be criticized. If -he had selected the pin himself (and Beth believed -he had, from what he had said at its presentation), -it showed that he thought of her—that he -still considered Beth his little friend and comrade.</p> - -<p>Yet, if so, why had he neglected coming to the -Bemis Street cottage all summer? This still puzzled -and troubled the girl.</p> - -<p>At supper time Beth and Molly went up to the -saloon deck and the captain of the waiters found -the two friends seats at a pleasant table. Beth -looked for the freckled girl but did not see her. -Yet Beth was sure she had not gone ashore at -either of the landings.</p> - -<p>While the girls ate and enjoyed their supper,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span> -a mist arose and enfolded the steamboat and enshrouded -the face of the river. When they came -out on the open deck again, the clammy breath -of the mist fanned their cheeks, and all they could -see of the banks on either hand were occasional -twinkling lights—either on scattered farmsteads -or in tiny villages or ferry-houses.</p> - -<p>“B-r-r-r-r! It’s going to be a nasty night,” said -Molly Granger. “I shall go to bed early. No -fun sitting up unless the moon shines. Then it is -lovely to be out here and watch the shores. The -old steamer won’t stop again till we reach Marbury—about -midnight.”</p> - -<p>“I was hoping for a moonlit night,” said Beth, -disappointedly.</p> - -<p>“Better to get a good sleep, for to-morrow will -be a long day,” said Molly, showing a streak of -good sense that Beth had not known she possessed. -“We may not get to bed to-morrow night till late; -for we may be delayed in reaching Rivercliff. I’ve -been as late as eleven o’clock getting off this boat -at that landing.”</p> - -<p>“I guess you know best, Molly,” agreed Beth.</p> - -<p>But she was not sleepy herself—not even when -Molly bade her a warm good-night and went into -her own stateroom, which was not far from Beth’s. -The latter encircled the outer main deck again. -The <i>Water Wagtail</i> was in midstream. She was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span> -a side-wheeler, and the splashing of her buckets -and the creak of her walking-beam, added to the -hiss! hiss! of the spray from overside, played an -accompaniment to Beth’s thoughts.</p> - -<p>Her first night away from home! Never had -she slept from under her parents’ roof before. -Her own little room, shared with Ella, was the -only chamber in which the girl had ever spent the -night.</p> - -<p>Little wonder that she felt nervous, if not apprehensive. -There were two berths in her room—an -upper and lower. She would have been glad -to share the stateroom with Molly Granger; but -she shrank from admitting to even that easy-going, -jolly chum that she felt the need of company at -night.</p> - -<p>She shrank, too, from going to her stateroom -and locking herself in.</p> - -<p>Instead, she wandered about the boat again. -She spent more than two hours going from deck -to deck—sitting a while in one place, then getting -up and wandering about, wrapped well in her raincoat -to keep out the thick mist.</p> - -<p>Several times she saw the freckled-faced girl. -Either she had no stateroom, or else, with Beth, -she did not feel like going to it. And her expression -of countenance and deeply despondent manner -troubled the girl from Hudsonvale.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span>“I wish I could do something for her,” thought -Beth. “She must be poverty poor with that get-up. -Dear me! I haven’t any too much money -myself; but if a little would help her——”</p> - -<p>She finally started toward the strange girl, -determined to accost her; but just then the latter -arose from her seat and approached one of the -uniformed officers of the boat, then just passing -through the cabin.</p> - -<p>“Are we near Brakelock, yet?” Beth heard the -girl ask.</p> - -<p>“We’re not far from that landing, Miss; but -we stop there only on the down trip unless we’re -signalled to take passengers. Nothing doing to-night, -Miss.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” said the girl, quietly.</p> - -<p>The man went about his business. The girl -immediately descended the stairs to the lower, or -freight, deck. Beth, hesitating whether she should -speak to her or not, followed unobserved.</p> - -<p>Nobody seemed to be about. The way was -open aft to the outer deck behind the paddle-wheels. -The tall girl went swiftly to the port -side, slid open one of the doors, and stepped out -upon the misty, open deck. Beth went out by another -door. There was nobody aft but herself and -that other girl—not another soul.</p> - -<p>The girl did not see Beth and the latter hesitated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span> -again. What should she say to her? How -accost her?</p> - -<p>And then—the discovery set Beth’s heart to -beating madly—she saw that the strange girl was -leaning far over the rail of this lower deck, so -close below which the black water hissed and -gurgled. In a moment she had a knee upon the -flat top of the rail, flinging up her tight skirts with -an impatient kick to free her limbs of their entanglement.</p> - -<p>She was teetering—almost head downward—on -the rail, about—it seemed—to plunge into the -swift current of the river!</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VII<br> - -<small>CYNTHIA FOGG</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Beth</span> had learned something about vigorous -play at basket-ball under the direction of the instructor -in physical culture at the Hudsonvale high -school. Besides, she had not played with Marcus -and the other boys—even with Larry in years gone -by—without learning what is meant by a low -tackle.</p> - -<p>So, when she jumped for the girl who seemed -about to throw herself into the river from the -stern of the <i>Water Wagtail</i>, she “tackled low.” -She seized the reckless girl about her knees, locking -her legs tightly in her arms.</p> - -<p>“You can’t! I sha’n’t let you!” Beth gasped, as -the other struggled. “Oh! what a wicked thing -you are doing!”</p> - -<p>The freckled girl squealed—no other word -could exactly express the startled sound she made -when Beth seized her. Then she attempted to -turn around and face her rescuer, as the latter -dragged her down and away from the rail.</p> - -<p>“What are you doing? Stop it!” sputtered the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span> -tall girl. “Goodness! how strong you are! Do -let me be!”</p> - -<p>“I won’t!” cried the excited Beth. “I won’t! -You sha’n’t do such a dreadful thing! I’ll shout -for help!”</p> - -<p>“Oh! don’t do that,” begged the other girl. -“They’ll do something awful to me.”</p> - -<p>“Then promise you won’t do <i>that</i>——”</p> - -<p>“What?”</p> - -<p>“It would be dreadful——”</p> - -<p>“What would be dreadful?” repeated the -strange girl, in some heat. “They’d have got the -boat back again. I wasn’t going to steal it.”</p> - -<p>“Steal it?” murmured Beth, startled and confused.</p> - -<p>“Yes. I’d have left it tied along shore there. -No harm would have come to it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my dear!” gasped Beth. “Is there a boat -there?”</p> - -<p>“Of course there is. Didn’t you see it dragging -just astern? They forgot to hoist it in. I noticed -it before dark. Say!” exclaimed the other, her -strange eyes suddenly shining in the mist as she -stared at Beth. “What did you think I was trying -to do when I was hauling in on that painter?”</p> - -<p>“I—I thought you wanted to drown yourself,” -whispered the confused Beth.</p> - -<p>“My aunt!” exclaimed the girl, and laughed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span> -shortly. “No. I’m not quite so desperate as all -that.”</p> - -<p>“But you might fall overboard getting into that -boat,” said Beth.</p> - -<p>“I can swim. But the current’s swift here in -midstream,” and she shuddered. “Now you’ve -knocked the courage all out of me. Oh, dear!”</p> - -<p>“Why do you want to leave the boat in such a -crazy fashion?” demanded Beth, regaining her -self-possession.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got to get away before the <i>Water Wagtail</i> -stops at Marbury,” said the other, hastily.</p> - -<p>“Why?” repeated Beth.</p> - -<p>“Oh—because!”</p> - -<p>“But you wouldn’t dare take that boat. You -might fall overboard from it. You would be lost -in this fog,” Beth urged.</p> - -<p>“I know. I wouldn’t dare now,” said the other, -gloomily.</p> - -<p>“If I hadn’t stopped you something dreadful -might have happened.”</p> - -<p>“Nothing more dreadful than will happen when -we reach Marbury.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?” asked the curious and -sympathetic Beth.</p> - -<p>“They know I am on this boat,” confessed the -girl, with sudden desperation. “And they’ll come -aboard of her and take me back.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span>“Back where?”</p> - -<p>“I can’t tell you. It’s awful! I haven’t a living -soul I can call my own—not a real relative——”</p> - -<p>“You are an orphan?” asked Beth, thinking at -once of an asylum or an institution to which she -supposed poor girls without parents or relatives -have to go. Besides, the awful clothing this girl -wore bore out this supposition of Beth’s—that -she had run away from a charitable establishment -of some kind.</p> - -<p>“Of course, I’m an orphan,” said the other girl, -quickly.</p> - -<p>“Can’t I help you?” suggested the sympathetic -Beth.</p> - -<p>“How?”</p> - -<p>“What is your name, please?” asked Beth. -“Mine is Beth Baldwin.”</p> - -<p>“Cynthia—Cynthia Fogg,” mumbled the other -girl, and so hesitatingly that Beth half believed -that the last name, at least, was born of the thick -river mist out into which the wonderful blue eyes -were staring. Nevertheless, Beth said nothing to -betray her doubt.</p> - -<p>“You say these—these people will search the -boat for you?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“People from the—the institution from which -you have run away?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span>Cynthia turned her head quickly so that Beth -could no longer see her face, replying in a muffled -tone: “Yes; from the institution.”</p> - -<p>“How do you know they are on board?” continued -the practical Beth.</p> - -<p>“Somebody that knows me saw me at that last -landing—just as the steamboat was pulling out,” -replied Cynthia. “I know he’ll telephone up the -river to Marbury. And I’ll never get away from -them now.”</p> - -<p>“You may escape them,” said Beth, kindly. -When Cynthia looked back at the dragging boat, -she added hastily: “Oh, not by that means. There -must be a less perilous way.”</p> - -<p>Without any thought of the possible consequences, -Beth had given her heart and hand to -the strange girl’s cause. It meant little to her that -this girl had run away from some public institution. -She did not stop to ask why she had run -away.</p> - -<p>“How, I’d like you to tell me?” said Cynthia.</p> - -<p>“Surely those who look for you will not arouse -the passengers and make a disturbance in the middle -of the night? We don’t get to Marbury till -midnight, I understand.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right.”</p> - -<p>“Then,” said the generous Beth, “why not come -to my stateroom?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span>“Yours? Why! you don’t know me,” said the -other girl, rather astounded.</p> - -<p>“Surely, we’ve just introduced ourselves,” -laughed Beth. “I am alone in my stateroom. -There are two berths. They’ll never look for -you there.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my aunt!” ejaculated Cynthia Fogg, with -such sudden animation, that her strange eyes -sparkled again. “That would be great!”</p> - -<p>Beth thought the girl an odd combination of -characteristics. One moment she was morose; -the next she brightened up and was all life and -gaiety. But the girl from Hudsonvale was bent -only on helping Cynthia.</p> - -<p>“Will you come to my room?” she repeated.</p> - -<p>“Surely I will—if you think they’ll let me.”</p> - -<p>“Who?”</p> - -<p>“Why, the steamboat people,” said Cynthia.</p> - -<p>“I guess they won’t stop us. But we’d better -not let anybody see us together. When the boat -gets to Marbury, somebody may remember having -seen you with me, and then they’ll suspect where -you are hidden,” said the practical Beth.</p> - -<p>“My aunt! so they will,” admitted Cynthia.</p> - -<p>“So we’ll go singly. Don’t let the stewardess -see you,” said Beth, warningly. “I’ll go first. -You’ll surely follow?”</p> - -<p>“Of course I will,” said the other girl, warmly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span>“And no trying to go overboard—into a boat -or not?” added Beth, smiling.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid now,” confessed the other. “You’ve -scared me.”</p> - -<p>“Then I’ll take care of you,” promised Beth, -laughing again.</p> - -<p>“You <i>are</i> a nice little thing,” repeated Cynthia -Fogg.</p> - -<p>“Thank you. My room is Number Fifty-three.”</p> - -<p>“I know,” said the other. “I saw those flowers. -I’ll wait till you get there before I come upstairs.”</p> - -<p>Beth re-entered the enclosed part of the boat -and went up to the main deck at once. She had -been in her stateroom ten minutes before she -heard a quiet little rustle outside her door. She -had left it unlocked, but now she turned the knob -invitingly.</p> - -<p>The freckled girl pushed it open and glided in, -closing it noiselessly behind her.</p> - -<p>“Here I am,” she said.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VIII<br> - -<small>QUEER TALK</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> dress of this unfortunate in whose fate -Beth had taken such a strong interest, had already -made the girl from Hudsonvale wonder. Such -a shocking combination of color and tawdry finery -Beth had seldom seen, even in a mill village, which -Hudsonvale was.</p> - -<p>Yet the tall, freckled girl wore the incongruous -garments with utter unconsciousness. She never -seemed to give her dress a thought.</p> - -<p>On a green straw hat of the season’s mode, was -a purple feather, which had plainly seen service in -the rain. She wore a ragged feather boa and a -rather soiled brown silk waist much worn under -the arms and evidently originally built for a much -fuller figure.</p> - -<p>A black serge skirt of very narrow proportions -seemed shrunk upon her, and was spotted and -shiny. Low brown shoes and spats completed the -costume.</p> - -<p>“I suppose these awful garments are better than -the uniform of the institution she fled from,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span> -thought Beth. Then she asked aloud: “What did -you think of doing when you ran away?”</p> - -<p>Cynthia’s face blossomed into one of her unexpected -smiles. “Just thinking of running away,” -she said.</p> - -<p>“But how did you propose to live?” asked the -practical Beth.</p> - -<p>“By drawing my breath—the same as usual,” -and the strange girl went off into a spasm of -laughter which Beth thought showed rather poor -taste to say the least.</p> - -<p>“But we all must do something besides breathing -to live,” she said shortly.</p> - -<p>“True,” said Cynthia. “Eat. And to eat we -must have money, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Beth, still with gravity.</p> - -<p>“I intend to work,” said the older girl, composedly -enough now.</p> - -<p>“What kind of work can you do?”</p> - -<p>Cynthia hesitated. She put her head on one -side. Her eyes grew dark and unfathomable -again.</p> - -<p>“I ought to get a job at housework, oughtn’t I?” -she said.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Beth, thoughtfully. -“Wherever you apply for work you will have a -better chance of obtaining it if you look—look a -little more like other girls, don’t you think?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span>“What?” questioned Cynthia, evidently puzzled.</p> - -<p>“Why—your dress, I mean. Perhaps we can -help you make your appearance nicer.”</p> - -<p>“You mean my clothes are ugly?” asked Cynthia, -bluntly.</p> - -<p>“And not altogether clean,” added Beth, -quietly.</p> - -<p>“Well, housemaids don’t have to dress very -fancy, do they?” demanded the refugee. “I got -these things I am wearing from a girl who worked -as a maid and waitress, and I paid—— Well! I -paid enough for them.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” mused Beth, “you couldn’t risk -going out on the street in your uniform.”</p> - -<p>“My what?” exclaimed Cynthia.</p> - -<p>“Why—uniform. Didn’t you all dress alike in -that place where you were?”</p> - -<p>Cynthia turned her face from Beth suddenly. -“Oh—yes,” she said, in a muffled tone. “I see. I -just had to get different clothes.”</p> - -<p>“Well, maybe we can fix you up a little better.”</p> - -<p>“Who’s ‘we?’” demanded Cynthia, quickly and -sharply.</p> - -<p>“There is a friend here who is going to school -too.”</p> - -<p>“Are you on your way to school?” asked Cynthia.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span>“Yes,” Beth replied.</p> - -<p>“What school?”</p> - -<p>“Rivercliff.”</p> - -<p>“And is that other girl I saw you with?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. We had just met. She is an awfully -nice girl. Maybe she can help.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean? To give me some of -your clothes? Bless you, child!” and this strange -girl laughed heartily. “Both of you are chunky -and I am tall. Your clothes never would fit me -in the world. I don’t want skirts half way to my -knees. Make me look like a giraffe reaching for -the highest branches of a cocoanut palm!”</p> - -<p>She laughed again, and Beth joined her—but -rather ruefully. To tell the truth, Beth thought -her strangely particular for a poor girl—a runaway -from an orphans’ home, or something of the -kind.</p> - -<p>But she did not prolong the argument with her -guest. Cynthia Fogg (if such was her name) was -frankly yawning.</p> - -<p>“We will talk of it in the morning,” Beth said, -with sympathy. “I see you are tired. You may -take either berth——”</p> - -<p>“Oh! I could never climb into an upper,” -gasped Cynthia. “If I have to sleep in such a -place it has to be in the lower berth.”</p> - -<p>Evidently the runaway was used to taking the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span> -best there was to be had—whatever that best -might be. She seemed quite careless of other -people’s needs or desires. She took Beth’s kindness -in offering her the choice of the berths quite -as a matter of course.</p> - -<p>Naturally, there was not much room in the -stateroom for two people. Cynthia seemed so -tired that Beth sat back on a stool and allowed -her to undress first. The girl from Hudsonvale -could not help noticing that the stranger’s under-clothing -was very good and spotlessly clean. -These did not match her outside apparel in the -least. Beth Baldwin could not help but think this -strange.</p> - -<p>“Well, I didn’t suppose I’d be sleeping in a -stateroom to-night,” said Cynthia, with a careless -laugh, as she got into the wider lower berth. “I -didn’t have much money left after I bought these -clothes of that girl.”</p> - -<p>Beth wanted to ask how she had obtained money -at all at the orphan asylum; but she did not wish -to appear too curious. Perhaps they allowed the -girls there to earn money by outside work. Cynthia -spoke as though she had been bred to domestic -service.</p> - -<p>Beth, who was not unobservant, had looked -more than once at the strange girl’s hands. They -were white and soft, well kept, and slenderly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span> -formed—not at all the hands of a girl who had -dabbled in dish-water or used the mop and scrubbing -brush. Her clean-cut features, too, and her -low, cultivated voice, certainly belied the thought -that she had spent her life in domestic service.</p> - -<p>Beth began slowly to coil her hair for the night, -having slipped out of her shirt waist. Cynthia -blinked at her for a moment, yawned twice (showing -very even, strong looking teeth, likewise perfectly -kept) and then—deep, even breathing from -the lower berth warned the other girl that Cynthia -was asleep.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IX<br> - -<small>RIVERCLIFF LANDING</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Beth</span> was roused from her reverie by the -mournful tooting of the <i>Water Wagtail’s</i> whistle -for the landing at Marbury. Here Cynthia Fogg -expected her pursuers would come aboard to -search the boat for her; but she was a sound -sleeper and did not arouse at all while the steamer -was at the dock, discharging and receiving freight.</p> - -<p>Nor did Beth hear anything outside her stateroom -door that indicated a search of the passengers’ -quarters for the runaway girl. Beth was a -little worried, now she stopped to think of the -matter more seriously. What would the authorities -do to her if it was learned that she had hidden -Cynthia away?</p> - -<p>She wondered about another thing, too. If -Cynthia safely escaped her pursuers, what was to -be done with her? Beth wondered whether or not -she should take Molly Granger into the secret. -She felt that she ought to advise with somebody, -and Molly seemed the only person at hand.</p> - -<p>Yet she realized that the laughing, joking, careless<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span> -Molly might not be just the best sort of individual -to advise with in any important emergency.</p> - -<p>Somehow, Beth felt that Cynthia Fogg was one -of those persons who are apt to trust implicitly in -the suggestions or help of others rather than themselves -exert mind or body in an emergency. Having -given herself into Beth’s hands, the runaway -had gone to sleep as peacefully as a baby, leaving -her hostess to think out her future course—if she -would.</p> - -<p>The steamboat finally got under way again, and -nobody disturbed the occupants of stateroom -Number 53. Beth then undressed, said her prayers, -put Larry’s present and her purse under her -pillow, and climbed gingerly into bed, being careful -not to awaken the slumbering Cynthia.</p> - -<p>She did not expect to sleep much, the situation -being so strange and the day such an exciting one. -But scarcely was her head comfortably settled on -the pillow than she was off.</p> - -<p>One o’clock was a late hour for Beth Baldwin -to be awake. Therefore, the early morning stir -upon the boat—even its stopping at several small -landings—did not arouse her. But a fist pounding -vigorously on the door of Number 53 did finally -awaken her.</p> - -<p>“Beth Baldwin! Beth Baldwin! For the sake<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span> -of goodness! Do you die at night and have to -be resurrected every morning?”</p> - -<p>“Is—is that you, Molly Granger?” yawned -Beth.</p> - -<p>“It is. Get up!”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t it <i>dreadfully</i> early?”</p> - -<p>“No. It’s only cloudy. The day is broke, my -child—dead broke, by the looks of it, I should -say. A nasty day! and I so wanted it to be nice.”</p> - -<p>Beth had reached down and was fumbling at -the key in the lock. Now she turned it and Molly -bounced in.</p> - -<p>“Well! you lazy girl!” cried Miss Granger, who -was fully dressed. “You’ll learn to get up more -promptly than this at Rivercliff. Miss Hammersly -believes in early hours. So does the -madam.”</p> - -<p>“I did not go to sleep till after the boat left -Marbury,” said Beth, yawning frankly again.</p> - -<p>“Mercy! and I never even knew we stopped -there,” laughed Molly. Then suddenly she uttered -a suppressed shriek and fell back from the -berths.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” demanded the startled -Beth, sitting up wildly and bumping her head.</p> - -<p>“What—what’s <i>that</i>?” asked the other girl, -pointing.</p> - -<p>“Oh! Ow! Ouch!” groaned Beth, placing both<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span> -hands tenderly on her poor, bruised crown. -“What is the matter with you, Molly Granger?”</p> - -<p>Then she remembered Cynthia Fogg and carefully -crept down from her berth. In the lower -berth, the freckled runaway was wound up in the -blanket like an Egyptian mummy in its wrappings, -quite unconscious of what was going on about her.</p> - -<p>“For mercy’s sake!” repeated Molly. “Did -that grow there in the night?”</p> - -<p>“Oh dear me, no!” gasped Beth, between laughing -and weeping, for the bump hurt. “That’s -Cynthia.”</p> - -<p>“What?”</p> - -<p>“Cynthia Fogg.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness! Did you have her in your bag? -Was that why I didn’t see her before?” asked -Molly Granger.</p> - -<p>“Why—don’t you see? It’s the girl I gave -flowers to. Don’t you remember?”</p> - -<p>Molly was staring wonderingly about the stateroom. -She spied the green hat and purple -feather.</p> - -<p>“Cracky-me!” she sighed. “That dowdy?”</p> - -<p>“Sh!” began Beth, but Molly interrupted:</p> - -<p>“She’s dead, isn’t she? Nothing less than Gabriel’s -trump will wake her up. Tell me about it—do! -A strange girl in your stateroom? I -shouldn’t have thought you’d dare.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span>“Why—I never thought there was the least -harm in her,” Beth said, wonderingly. “And she -was in trouble.”</p> - -<p>“What sort of trouble?”</p> - -<p>In whispers Beth told Molly all about it. The -jolly girl laughed when she heard how Beth -thought the freckled girl was about to commit suicide; -but she listened to the remainder of the story -with some seriousness.</p> - -<p>“I don’t see how you dared do it,” repeated -Molly. “To take her right into your stateroom!”</p> - -<p>“But she’s only a girl like ourselves.”</p> - -<p>“But from a public institution of some kind!”</p> - -<p>“Is that different from a boarding school?” demanded -Beth, with some warmth. “Only the girls, -I suppose, are all poor and don’t have very much -fun.”</p> - -<p>“Cracky-me!” exclaimed Molly again. “Maybe -she’s from some place where they send really bad -girls. Perhaps she’s escaped from a reform -school.”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!” laughed Beth. “She’s nicely -spoken and is very ladylike. And has such wonderful -eyes!”</p> - -<p>“I noticed those eyes last evening,” said Molly, -reflectively. “And she is older than we are.”</p> - -<p>“Not much.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe she has been with people who are not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span> -nice. To think of the risk you took, Beth Baldwin! -And she admitted the authorities were after -her.”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Suppose a policeman had come right here to -this room and demanded her—and taken you to -jail, too?”</p> - -<p>But Molly’s eyes twinkled, and Beth laughed -again. “You can’t scare me, Molly Granger. I -don’t believe there is a mite of harm in Cynthia -Fogg.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what are you going to do with ‘Cynthia-of-the-minute?’” -asked Molly.</p> - -<p>“That’s what I want to talk to you about,” -said Beth, seriously.</p> - -<p>“With me? Goodness! Am I going to be in -this?”</p> - -<p>“Of course. We’re chums, aren’t we?” laughed -Beth, roguishly, as she drew on her stockings. -“Sit down on the edge of the berth, Molly, and -we’ll talk. I don’t think Cynthia means to wake -up.”</p> - -<p>“She wouldn’t awaken if the upper berth fell -down,” declared Molly Granger. “Well now! -what is it, Beth Baldwin? I believe you are going -to get me into trouble.”</p> - -<p>“Not a bit of it. But we both must help this -poor girl.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span>“Why must we? I don’t like that word, anyway,” -confessed Molly.</p> - -<p>“But if we can help folks in this world, we -ought to, oughtn’t we?”</p> - -<p>“That is, if we find a convict, for instance, escaping, -we should aid him rather than the police?” -giggled Molly.</p> - -<p>“Hush! I tell you I have every confidence in -Cynthia’s being a good girl. But she is a poor -girl, and she needs some better looking clothes -than those she has. And then, she needs work.”</p> - -<p>“What kind of work?” asked Molly, wide-eyed. -“We couldn’t find her work to do.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know whether we could or not. She -speaks as though she were used to domestic service.”</p> - -<p>But Beth refrained from mentioning the fact -that the appearance of Cynthia’s hands did not -bear this out.</p> - -<p>“Might introduce her to Madam Hammersly,” -said Molly, really thinking about the situation -now. “She is always hiring and discharging maids -and waitresses. She is awfully particular.”</p> - -<p>“But we’d want to get Cynthia a permanent position,” -said Beth.</p> - -<p>“Oh! if the madam liked her—if this girl could -suit her—she would have a good situation. -Madam pays well, I believe,” said Molly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span>Just then the bundle of blankets on the berth -began to heave, and a voice came from out of it, -saying:</p> - -<p>“’Nuff said! I take the job! Ow—yow! yow! -Is it morning? Who’s this girl sitting on me, anyway?”</p> - -<p>Molly got up in a hurry. Beth laughed, saying -to the girl in the berth:</p> - -<p>“How do you know the position will suit you, -Cynthia?”</p> - -<p>“Why, any position suits one if one has no -money—isn’t that so?” said the philosophical one. -Her clear, low voice made Molly think more favorably -of her—the jolly girl showed this in her -expression of countenance.</p> - -<p>“How jolly!” she exclaimed, and throwing all -her previous caution to the winds. “It would be -great fun to take you to Rivercliff with us.”</p> - -<p>“To school, you mean?” yawned Cynthia Fogg.</p> - -<p>“To school. But to work for Madam Hammersly. -She is housekeeper and general manager. -Why! there are twenty or more girls on her staff.”</p> - -<p>“They don’t have to take lessons, do they?” -demanded Cynthia, apparently rather startled by -the idea.</p> - -<p>“Oh no!” giggled Molly. “I should say not.”</p> - -<p>“Then I’m willing to try it,” said Cynthia, -swinging her slender limbs out of bed. “But,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span> -Miss Baldwin, you didn’t tell me this girl’s name?”</p> - -<p>“So I didn’t. Pardon!” said Beth. “Miss -Granger.”</p> - -<p>“All right. Now, there isn’t much room in -here, Miss Granger, for us to dress. So if you’ll -go out while Miss Baldwin and I are about it, it -will facilitate matters—don’t you think so?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I like that!” gasped Molly, in a tone -that showed she did not like it at all.</p> - -<p>But Beth only laughed. That the strange girl -assumed the right to give orders did not trouble -the even temper of Beth Baldwin. She said:</p> - -<p>“Cynthia is right, Molly. It is close quarters -in here. And please run and see if you haven’t a -collar or a collarette that you can spare, and that -will help out on this shirt waist I am going to ask -Cynthia to wear instead of that brown one.”</p> - -<p>“Huh!” grunted Molly.</p> - -<p>“My! you girls are awfully particular about the -way I look,” Cynthia Fogg declared.</p> - -<p>“If you want to go to Rivercliff with us,” Beth -said firmly but pleasantly, “you must look neat. -Mustn’t she, Molly?”</p> - -<p>“Yes indeed!” exclaimed the girl questioned.</p> - -<p>“If I look too nice will they think I need the -job?” Cynthia asked, bluntly.</p> - -<p>“Cracky-me!” ejaculated Molly, losing her momentary -“grouch.” “Madam is awfully particular!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span> -She’d judge your ability to keep her things -neat by the neatness of your own apparel—sure -she would!”</p> - -<p>She ran away cheerfully to find things in her -suitcase to help bedeck the runaway.</p> - -<p>“If I could only get to my trunk!” Beth said -to Cynthia. “I’ve a hat there that——”</p> - -<p>“Why! mine is a perfectly good hat. Don’t -you think it’s rather striking?” asked Cynthia, -with her face turned from Beth’s gaze.</p> - -<p>“Goodness, yes! That’s the very trouble,” -gasped Beth, looking at the green hat with the -purple feather.</p> - -<p>“And the girl who wore it really worked as a -maid and waitress,” declared Cynthia, as though -that settled the question of its suitability.</p> - -<p>But Beth was puzzled. Cynthia spoke just as -though she were playing a part and was proud of -the fact that she had dressed for it. Yet the girl -from Hudsonvale could not put her finger upon -one word Cynthia had said or one thing that she -had done which really bore out the suspicion that -she was not exactly what she pretended to be—a -fugitive from some institution where girls without -home and friends were confined.</p> - -<p>There was nothing vulgar or mean in the -strange girl’s speech or actions. She was abrupt -and rather impolite at times. But that abruptness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span> -seemed to spring from a frank character repressed, -rather than from a lack of appreciation of -proper behavior. Indeed, Beth fancied that Cynthia -felt no social inferiority and was used to treating -others as her equals in that respect. Or was -it that she felt herself naturally superior to most -of those whom she met?</p> - -<p>A strange combination was Cynthia Fogg, that -was sure.</p> - -<p>Beth finished dressing first and went in search -of Molly Granger. The jolly girl demanded first -of all:</p> - -<p>“Isn’t that the strangest girl you ever met, Beth -Baldwin?”</p> - -<p>Beth sighed. “I don’t know,” she said. “Either -she does not know when she offends good taste or -she does not care. She is an odd-acting girl for -one in her position.”</p> - -<p>“Yet,” said Molly, reflectively, “there is something -taking about her.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I say,” said Beth, brightening up. -“Anyway, we’ll see if we can get her taken on -by Madam Hammersly. My! she is so abrupt. -I wonder what the madam will say to her?”</p> - -<p>“Will she even give her an interview?” asked -Beth.</p> - -<p>“Sure. We’ll get her a chance to see the -madam,” said Molly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span>“You must do that,” said Beth. “I am a -stranger.”</p> - -<p>“Leave it to me,” said the other girl, with assurance. -“But that hat! If we could only lose it!”</p> - -<p>“I’d gladly give her another,” Beth cried.</p> - -<p>“Jolly! leave it to me,” Molly said, again nodding. -“I know what to do.”</p> - -<p>They went back together to Number Fifty-three. -Cynthia was completely dressed, and Beth -said to her:</p> - -<p>“Come on now. We’ll go to breakfast.”</p> - -<p>“But I’ve no money!” exclaimed the freckled -girl.</p> - -<p>“I have invited you to go with me,” said Beth.</p> - -<p>“With us,” put in Molly Granger. “You will -be our guest to-day. How far up the river is -your fare paid?”</p> - -<p>“To tell you the truth, I had a ticket—er—given -me to Jackson City,” replied the other, -speaking slowly.</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Molly, quickly. “That’s beyond -Rivercliff. You can get a stop-over.”</p> - -<p>“Well!” said Cynthia Fogg, with a burst of -emotion. “You are good to me!”</p> - -<p>“Let’s go out on deck for a breath of fresh air -first,” Molly suggested.</p> - -<p>The trio went outside, through one of the sliding -doors. The deck was wet and the mist stood<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span> -congealed in drops upon the railing. Into the fog -their gaze could not penetrate a dozen yards. All -they could see was a portion of the steamboat itself, -and the grayish, muddy water lapping alongside -and below them.</p> - -<p>“Ugh, how nasty!” said Cynthia Fogg with a -shudder, leaning over the wet rail.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” squealed Molly, and fell heavily against -the taller girl. In grabbing at her own hat, her -elbow struck Cynthia’s topheavy “creation,” and -the abomination flew off the freckled girl’s head.</p> - -<p>“What <i>are</i> you doing?” demanded Cynthia, in -some heat, although her voice remained low and -well modulated.</p> - -<p>“How awkward!” gasped Molly. “Will you -forgive me, Miss Fogg?”</p> - -<p>The hat had dropped into the water and now -danced astern. Cynthia cried, rather wildly:</p> - -<p>“How shall I ever recover it?”</p> - -<p>“Hat overboard!” exclaimed Molly, giggling -now. “Call all hands!”</p> - -<p>“Well—it’s my only hat! I don’t believe you -care,” said Cynthia, eyeing Molly doubtfully.</p> - -<p>“Well, never mind!” Molly said. “No use -crying over spilled milk.”</p> - -<p>“That isn’t milk,” said the freckled one. “It -was a perfectly good hat.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” gasped Molly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span>“What’s the matter, Miss Granger?” asked the -tall girl, suspiciously. “Don’t you suppose I paid -good money for that hat?”</p> - -<p>“I—I don’t know,” giggled Molly. “Only if -you did, you must have been color blind.”</p> - -<p>At that Cynthia Fogg burst into a low, agreeable -laugh. Her blue eyes brightened and -twinkled. Under her usual demure manner there -certainly was some sense of fun in this strange -girl.</p> - -<p>“If I could only get to my trunk,” Beth began, -but Molly cried:</p> - -<p>“She’ll look all right bareheaded.”</p> - -<p>“They will take me for an immigrant,” said -Cynthia.</p> - -<p>“That’s better than looking like a scarecrow,” -said the saucy Molly. “Jolly! if you’d worn that -freak hat up to the school, and the girls had seen -you——”</p> - -<p>“But I sha’n’t mix with the young ladies who -attend Rivercliff School,” said Cynthia Fogg, demurely.</p> - -<p>“You won’t mind going without a hat for one -day—and on this boat?” said Beth.</p> - -<p>“Of course she won’t!” cried Molly.</p> - -<p>“I’ll leave mine in the stateroom, too,” suggested -Beth.</p> - -<p>“So will I,” the jolly girl declared.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span>Cynthia laughed again. “I never saw girls like -you two before,” she said. “Go ahead, I’ll do -whatever you say. I’m in your hands.”</p> - -<p>Beth secretly thought that Cynthia had made a -very honest confession in this statement. She -seemed perfectly satisfied to allow her friends to -go ahead and plan for her.</p> - -<p>They went upstairs to the saloon deck to breakfast, -and had a very pleasant meal, despite the -gloominess of the day. Beth noted that Cynthia -had surely been well brought up. She was quite -used to good form in table manners. She was not -on her guard against mistakes; the proper table -etiquette was as natural to this runaway girl as -breathing.</p> - -<p>The <i>Water Wagtail</i> plodded up the river -through the thick mist all the forenoon, stopping -now and then at misty landings. But at noon the -weather cleared suddenly and then the beauty of -the banks was revealed to Beth Baldwin, who had -never before been so far from Hudsonvale.</p> - -<p>During the forenoon two girls came aboard the -steamboat whom Molly Granger introduced to -Beth. They were Stella Price and Lil Browne.</p> - -<p>“Notice the ‘e,’ please, at the end of Lil’s -name,” said the jolly girl. “That is why she is -a ‘Brownie’—and we all call her that, don’t we, -Brownie?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span>“Of course <i>we</i> do, Jolly Molly,” returned the -new girl, laughing.</p> - -<p>So Beth learned that, quite in keeping with her -language and character, her new chum was known -by everybody at Rivercliff as “Jolly Molly” -Granger.</p> - -<p>Cynthia Fogg stayed in the stateroom most of -the day. She did not put herself forward or try -to take advantage of the other girls’ consideration -for her. She kept to herself, either from a feeling -that she was not of the class of these girls going -to Rivercliff to school, or because—because——</p> - -<p>“Can it be that she feels herself <i>above</i> us?” -thought the puzzled Beth.</p> - -<p>But she did not whisper this thought, even to -Molly Granger.</p> - -<p>The day was spent pleasantly enough by Beth -and the other girls. The banks of the river were -an ever-changing panorama of beauty; the small -landings and the larger towns came in rapid succession, -for it was a thickly inhabited part of the -State.</p> - -<p>Late in the day Rivercliff came into view. -Molly pointed it out to the Hudsonvale girl with -pride.</p> - -<p>There was a small landing at the foot of a high, -gray bluff. The village on the river’s immediate -bank did not number fifty houses. A road, plainly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span> -marked, wound up the face of the bluff, to which -several little houses clung like limpets to a rock. -On the brow of the bluff was a huge, brick house, -with towers at the two front corners, and wings -thrown out on either side. There were several -smaller buildings that evidently belonged to the -school, too.</p> - -<p>To tell the truth, Beth Baldwin, at first view, -thought Rivercliff School rather ugly.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER X<br> - -<small>A NEW WORLD</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Beth Baldwin</span> had always supposed that all -girls were “just girls.” Her experience in the public -schools of Hudsonvale had taught her that -most of her companions were, as Ella sometimes -said, “made by the piece and cut off by the yard.”</p> - -<p>That is, after all was said and done, there was -not much variety in girls’ characters as displayed -by the girl pupils of the Hudsonvale schools. -There were the nice, quiet girls, and the wild, “giggly” -ones; the vain girls, as well as the meek, inconsequential -girls; with a scattering of smart, -up-to-the-minute girls, as well as some lovable, -cheerful girls whom it was a delight to know; and, -of course, there were a few downright mean girls -who were best left alone.</p> - -<p>In fact, Beth, before coming to Rivercliff -School, had thought of girls as “sorts,” rather -than as individuals. She was now to learn that -one of the things that a well conducted boarding -school does to a girl, is to bring out her individuality, -and if she has any color to her character at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span> -all to deepen that color and develop her distinctive -traits.</p> - -<p>Molly Granger was just a little different from -any girl Beth had ever before known. Despite -her jolly, careless, cheerful disposition she was -certainly different, for instance, from Beth’s -friend, Mary Devine. There was a self-confidence -in Molly that no girl could possess without having -been out in the world for some time. Yet she was -not bold.</p> - -<p>Stella Price and “Brownie,” as Beth found all -the other girls called Lilian Browne, were likewise -distinctly dissimilar. Both were in the grade -above that which Beth would enter. They called -themselves “sophomores.”</p> - -<p>Stella was a strangely aloof girl—one of those -persons whose minds seem traveling afar most of -the time, without being dreamers. Oh no! there -was nothing idealistic in Stella Price’s character. -But, if a member of a group of girls, she was -always the one who appeared to be listening and -who seemed to have little in common with the rest -of the crowd.</p> - -<p>“You’d think,” was Molly Granger’s comment -upon Stella, “that she was as wise as an owl. The -appearance of wisdom fairly trickles out of her -lineaments right now, doesn’t it? And I wager -she’s thinking of nothing more important than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span> -whether she’ll have two or four rows of stitching -on the hem of her skirt.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/p092.jpg" alt=""></div> -<p class="caption">A TALL, MASTERFUL GIRL STOOD AT THE MAIN ENTRANCE<br> -TO WELCOME THEM.<br> - -<span class="illoright2">Page <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, Molly!” laughed Beth.</p> - -<p>“Fact. As for Brownie—she’s just a nice, cuddly -girl, and I love her. But she’s the most obstinate -toad in the whole school!”</p> - -<p>This conversation had been held on the boat. -Of course, Beth had little chance to see many of -her schoolmates that first evening. She and -Molly, with the two sophomores and Cynthia -Fogg, piled into an automobile bound for the -school. Molly put Cynthia beside the driver. -Stella and Brownie were very curious about Cynthia.</p> - -<p>“Who is she, Molly?” whispered Brownie. -“She’s never coming to the school?”</p> - -<p>“Not as a pupil. I’m going to try to get her a -place with Madam Hammersly.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness! The poor thing,” sighed Stella, -commiseratingly.</p> - -<p>Evidently, the girls considered the principal’s -mother a good deal of a Tartar. Beth herself -had an opportunity for judging almost as soon as -they arrived at Rivercliff, regarding the important -person in question.</p> - -<p>A tall, masterful girl stood at the main entrance -to the great school building to welcome the -arrivals.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span>“Just report yourselves at the office, Stella and -Brownie and Jolly Molly. Who’s the freshie?” -she asked, halting Beth.</p> - -<p>“Beth Baldwin,” she was told.</p> - -<p>“All right. You for the madam’s room.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll see to her, Miss Teller,” said Molly, very -respectfully, to this senior. “I’m going with Miss -Baldwin to the madam.”</p> - -<p>“And who’s this?” demanded the monitor, -stopping the hatless Cynthia.</p> - -<p>“I am going to take her to the madam, too,” -whispered Molly. “She’s a girl looking for work -as parlor-maid or waitress or something.”</p> - -<p>“We-ell. You know this isn’t the entrance for -them. And madam is dreadfully particular,” said -Miss Teller, doubtfully. “Come back and tell me -if she’s to stay, Molly.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” agreed the other, and she with her -two protégées went in.</p> - -<p>The entrance hall of Rivercliff School was a -revelation to Beth. She had been in two or three -of the better houses of Hudsonvale besides that of -Mrs. Euphemia Haven; but none of them had -been on a scale with this, nor of such style.</p> - -<p>The ceiling was very lofty. There were several -very good paintings on the walls, and they were -properly hung. The furniture was heavy and of -substantial appearance, rather than ornate. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span> -upholstery and hangings were in soft tones and of -rich fabrics which gave an air of splendor to the -place that almost awed the newcomer. She felt -very much like the country mouse visiting his city -relative.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t it scrumptious?” whispered Molly, who -appreciated just how the new girl felt. “I tell you, -this and the two drawing-rooms are the show -places of Rivercliff.”</p> - -<p>“And this beautiful staircase,” murmured Beth, -gazing up the polished spiral that ascended in the -middle of the great room.</p> - -<p>“Do you know,” giggled Molly, “this reception -hall and that staircase were what brought me here -to school?”</p> - -<p>“No!”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” exclaimed the jolly girl, but with more -seriousness. “Aunt Celia came here first and saw -it. Then Aunt Catherine journeyed up the river -to behold its wonders. Next, Auntie Cora and -Aunt Carrie thought they must see it—and they -did so.</p> - -<p>“I came to school for the first term, and Aunt -Charlotte got so lonesome for a sight of me, so -she said, that she came up to visit. But I found -her here, every chance she got, just soaking her -mind in the artistic atmosphere of this reception -hall,” giggled Molly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span>“After that Aunt Cassie and Aunt Cyril simply -<i>had</i> to see it——”</p> - -<p>“But, Molly!” almost shrieked Beth, in amazement, -seizing the other girl by her arm. “Every -one of your aunts’ names begins with ‘C’!”</p> - -<p>“Yes. I know it.”</p> - -<p>“But—but—— Isn’t that funny?”</p> - -<p>“No. Only alliterative,” said Molly, wide-eyed.</p> - -<p>Cynthia’s low, mellow laugh broke out suddenly. -“And their parents never even thought of -my name, I suppose?” she said.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. At least, grandmother had no -other girls to name. She liked the ‘C,’ I suppose, -because all her forebears were mariners,” declared -Molly, with great seriousness.</p> - -<p>“Did you ever hear the like?” murmured Cynthia -Fogg.</p> - -<p>“I wonder how much we can really believe of -what Molly says?” said Beth, pinching the culprit’s -ear. “All this about your aunts—and seven -of them!—make me doubt if you have any aunts at -all.”</p> - -<p>“Cracky-me!” ejaculated Molly. “Wait till -you see ’em.”</p> - -<p>“Shall I ever?” said Beth Baldwin.</p> - -<p>“I have their pictures—drawn by myself—in my -room,” said Molly, solemnly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span>“Come, Jolly Molly!” warned the tall senior -behind them, “take the freshies along with you to -the madam.”</p> - -<p>Molly marched briskly in the lead toward the -rear of the great hall. Beth saw several girls -looking over the balustrade above; but they -popped back in a hurry, laughing, when they saw -themselves observed. There was, however, from -somewhere above, the hum of voices.</p> - -<p>It was after the supper hour. There must be, -Beth thought, a recreation room on the second -floor where the pupils gathered in the evening.</p> - -<p>Molly was knocking with gloved knuckles on -a door at the rear of the hall. A brisk voice said, -“Come in!” and the girls entered a very plainly -furnished, yet pleasant room. It was a contrast -to the luxurious entrance hall of the school; but -everything was good and very comfortable.</p> - -<p>There was revealed, when the door swung open, -a lady in black, with a white lace collar on her old-fashioned, -full-skirted gown and a white cap on -her iron-gray curls. She was sitting in a high-backed -chair at a small desk, on which was an account -book. She stood up promptly, in quite a -military fashion, and looked at the trio of youthful -visitors through her eyeglasses.</p> - -<p>She was a small, slight woman, in reality; yet -she stood so straight, and looked so stern and unbending,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span> -that she seemed to Beth to be at least six -feet tall.</p> - -<p>“Good evening, young ladies. Miss Granger, -I am glad to see you back. How did you leave -your aunts?”</p> - -<p>“All seven of them, Madam?” asked Jolly -Molly, roguishly. “Collectively, do you mean, or -shall I give their individual symptoms?”</p> - -<p>“I see you are determined to wear the cap and -bells,” said Madam Hammersly; yet she smiled. -“I fancy all seven are reasonably well.”</p> - -<p>“And all seven sent their respects to you, -Madam,” declared Molly.</p> - -<p>“They are very kind. Will you introduce these -others, Miss Granger?”</p> - -<p>She glanced swiftly from Beth to Cynthia and -back again as she asked the question.</p> - -<p>“This is Miss Beth Baldwin,” Molly said. -“She comes from Hudsonvale. I met her on the -boat. We are chums already, Madam Hammersly.”</p> - -<p>The madam nodded and smiled at Beth; but the -latter did not feel that she was expected to take -the lady’s hand, nor was it offered.</p> - -<p>“She enters the first-grade, you know, Madam. -Can’t she have the room next to mine?” begged -Molly. “You see, she has no friend here but me, -and has never been away from home before.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span>“I will think of that,” promised the madam. -Then she looked inquiringly at Cynthia Fogg.</p> - -<p>“And this, Madam Hammersly,” Molly said, -stepping nearer to the lady, “is a girl we met who -is quite needy. She is looking for work. Her -name is Cynthia Fogg. I am very sure she is a -nice girl. She came up from Hudsonvale and -shared my friend, Beth’s, stateroom. I told her -I would introduce her to your notice, Madam. -She really needs work.”</p> - -<p>The madam looked askance at Jolly Molly for -an instant. “This is scarcely the time,” she began, -but Molly interrupted:</p> - -<p>“I know, Madam. I hope you will forgive me. -But she had nowhere to go—no friends and no -money. She had a ticket to Jackson City, where -she was going to look for work; but she had nothing -in view there, and no more friends than she -has here. Not so many, for Beth and I are her -friends.”</p> - -<p>Cynthia Fogg flashed the jolly girl a single wondering -glance. That anybody should show particular -interest in her seemed to amaze her.</p> - -<p>“I—don’t—know,” said Madam Hammersly, -slowly, looking at the applicant thus introduced -with her very sharp eyes. “You may sit down, -girl. I will see you after I have finished with the -young ladies.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span>She at once made a sharp distinction between -the pupils of the school and the applicant for -work. Cynthia calmly turned to seat herself in -a chair in a retired corner of the room. Madam -Hammersly looked again at Beth, and with more -interest.</p> - -<p>“And this is Miss Baldwin?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Beth Baldwin, Madam,” said Molly, naively. -“And she’s awfully nice.”</p> - -<p>“I do not doubt it,” said the lady, kindly. “I -hope you will find Rivercliff a pleasant home and -school, Miss Baldwin. You will not see Miss -Hammersly until morning. Then you may go -to her office for examination after prayers, which -immediately follow breakfast. Miss Granger can -tell you all about the rules of the school—not because -she never breaks them, however,” she added, -with grim pleasantry.</p> - -<p>“Go to Miss Small for your supper, Miss -Granger. Later I will see if I can do as you wish -about Miss Baldwin’s room. Have your trunks -come?” she suddenly asked Beth.</p> - -<p>“My trunk and bag came with me, Madam,” -answered Beth.</p> - -<p>“The remainder of your baggage will come -later, I presume?” said madam.</p> - -<p>“Why, that trunk is all I have!” Beth blurted -out.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span>“Ah? Your parents do not believe in an extensive -wardrobe for a schoolgirl. Perhaps they are -quite right,” the lady said placidly. “I will see, -Miss Granger, if I can assign Miss Baldwin to the -room of which you speak. You mean Number -Eighty, of which Miss Purcell was the last occupant?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Madam.”</p> - -<p>“I will see. You may now go. I wish you both -good-night. I hope you will find your place in -this—to you—new world, Miss Baldwin, and find -it easily.”</p> - -<p>Beth thanked her, and then turned to Cynthia -before she left the room in Molly’s wake. “I do -hope you will be successful in pleasing her,” she -whispered, warmly squeezing the freckled girl’s -hand.</p> - -<p>Then she hurried out. She felt that the madam’s -stern eyes were upon her. This was, indeed, a -new world to Beth Baldwin, and she had much besides -book-lessons to learn in it.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XI<br> - -<small>“THE GLASS OF FASHION”</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> two girls had supper in Miss Small’s -room. Miss Small was the under housekeeper, -and a very excellent woman. Beth liked her at -once.</p> - -<p>While they were still at the table, a set of -Japanese gongs, somewhere in the corridor, rung -by electricity, sounded. This marked half-past -eight.</p> - -<p>“No chance to show you off to the girls to-night, -Beth,” said Jolly Molly. “That’s the signal -for us all to retire to our rooms. Of course, -‘lights out’ is not sounded for an hour yet; but -visiting back and forth in the final hour before -bedtime is frowned upon by the ‘powers that be.’ -That is why I hope the madam will give you Number -Eighty. I have Eighty-one. There’s a door -between and we have the sole use of a private -bathroom. It’s scrumptious!”</p> - -<p>Just then a lady entered whom Beth had not -seen before—a pleasant-faced lady with youthful -features but very white hair. Miss Carroll<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span> -owned a baby-fair, pink and white complexion. -Her lovely hair, massed high upon her small head, -made her look queenly—something, Beth whispered -to Molly, in the style of Marie Antoinette!</p> - -<p>“Is this Miss Baldwin, Molly?” asked the lady.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Miss Carroll,” Jolly Molly said. “She -is my new chum.”</p> - -<p>“Yes? She is to occupy Eighty. I hope we -shall have only good reports this half from Eighty -and Eighty-one.”</p> - -<p>“My goodness!” whispered Molly to Beth. -“It’s fairly uncanny the way they seem to expect -bad reports from us! Madam hinted at it. I -don’t see how they all came to have such a doubtful -opinion of you, Bethesda Elizabeth!”</p> - -<p>“Of me?” gasped the new girl.</p> - -<p>“Why—yes—of course. They <i>know</i> me,” said -Molly, demurely.</p> - -<p>Beth laughed. She was sure her new chum had -not a spark of real wickedness in her. But Molly -Granger was full of mischief. Beth now asked -about Miss Carroll.</p> - -<p>“Oh, she’s math and Eng—and an awfully nice -sort, too.”</p> - -<p>“‘Math’ and ‘Eng?’” repeated Beth, laughing. -“Is that her religion and politics?”</p> - -<p>“No. What she teaches. Mathematics and -English.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span>“Oh!”</p> - -<p>“She’s altogether lovely,” Molly said. “That -cannot be said of all the instructors—no, indeed! -Good-night, Miss Small,” she added, in a louder -key to the under housekeeper. “Come along, -Bethesda! We’ll go up and say ‘how-do’ to our -rooms. Have our bags been sent up, Miss Small?”</p> - -<p>“Jonas has them on the lift, Miss,” the housekeeper -said.</p> - -<p>“We’ll walk,” said Molly to Beth. “I don’t -like that elevator, anyway—just because they call -it a ‘lift.’ That’s too awfully ‘Henglish’ for me, -you know. I am a true-blue American girl—a -regular ‘jingoess.’ I shout for the Stars and -Stripes, and scream with the eagle——”</p> - -<p>“Or at a mouse?” suggested Beth, wickedly.</p> - -<p>“Ugh! Yes! Who doesn’t?”</p> - -<p>“I wonder if Cynthia Fogg was hired by -Madam Hammersly?” Beth said aloud, as they -mounted the main stairway.</p> - -<p>“I’d really like to know, too,” agreed Molly.</p> - -<p>“You don’t suppose that Cynthia was turned -out? Put right out of doors, I mean, if the madam -did not like her looks?”</p> - -<p>“Sh!” whispered Molly. “That’s why I sprang -Cynthia on the madam the way I did. She’s really -the most tender-hearted thing you ever saw or -heard of. She only appears stern. And when she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span> -understands that that girl has no home and -friends——”</p> - -<p>“You think she will be kind to her?”</p> - -<p>“Sure she will! She’s kind to all the girls who -work for her. Only she’s awfully particular. -You ought to see her going around after them -when they sweep and dust. Oh! if they leave a -speck of dust—— M-m-m!”</p> - -<p>“I hope she’ll take Cynthia on,” sighed Beth, -as they reached the top of the stairs.</p> - -<p>Two corridors branched away, right and left, -from the gallery around the hall.</p> - -<p>“I tell you how we’ll find out about Cynthia—maybe,” -said Molly. “We’ll ask Jonas. Come -on! We want our bags, too. He’ll be waiting at -the elevator in the south wing.”</p> - -<p>She started along the corridor into the wing -in question, and then mounted ahead of Beth another -flight to the third floor. They met no other -girls, although some of the doors were open and -Beth caught glimpses of pleasant interiors and -groups of gossiping girls.</p> - -<p>They finally came, panting, to the elevator -cage, where a shiny-faced negro boy sat on his -stool inside the car, with the bags belonging to the -two girls at his feet.</p> - -<p>“I’m yere, Miss Molly,” he said, grinning at -the girl he knew.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span>“I see you, Jonas,” she said, collecting her suitcase -and bag. “I’ve had my eyes treated while I -was home and I can see pretty well now, Jonas.”</p> - -<p>“He! he!” giggled the black boy.</p> - -<p>“Say, Jonas! Tell me something.”</p> - -<p>“Yes’m,” said Jonas promptly, as he saw Molly -fumbling in her purse.</p> - -<p>“Who is the new girl the madam has just -hired?”</p> - -<p>“Lawsy!” chuckled Jonas. “How’d you -knowed she hired that girl?”</p> - -<p>“She was in madam’s room while we were,” -said Molly, composedly.</p> - -<p>“You mean that tall, freckled-faced girl, don’t -you?” asked Jonas.</p> - -<p>“Yes. What is her name?”</p> - -<p>“Cynthie. Dat wot Miss Small called her when -she brought her downstairs,” said Jonas.</p> - -<p>The two girls exchanged satisfied glances. -Molly put a small coin in the boy’s palm. “Come -on, Beth,” she said. “Eighty and Eighty-one are -right around this way.”</p> - -<p>A side corridor brought them, followed by -Jonas with the bags, to two doors not far from -each other and with the two numbers in question -painted on the lintels. Other doors were open -on the corridor and Molly Granger was hailed -by other girls.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span>“Hullo, Jolly Molly!”</p> - -<p>“How are the seven pussy cats?” was one mysterious -greeting.</p> - -<p>“How’s tricks, Molly?” demanded one girl. -“Full of new ones?”</p> - -<p>“Sh! don’t ruin my reputation right at the -start,” begged Molly, of this last girl.</p> - -<p>Beth was peering into the open door of -Number Eighty—her room, where Jonas had already -left her bag. Suddenly a voice drawled behind -her:</p> - -<p>“Who is that with you, Molly Granger?”</p> - -<p>“My new chum,” said Molly, sharply; and -Beth turned to see who had first spoken.</p> - -<p>A girl stood at the open door directly across -the hall from Number Eighty. She was a pale -girl in a light blue kimono of heavy, beautiful -silk, with silver dragons worked upon it—a most -beautiful garment, Beth thought. The girl herself -was languid in her manner, had pale eyelashes -and hair as well as bloodless complexion. Indeed, -she looked as though some pigment was lacking -in her system entirely, she was so positively -colorless.</p> - -<p>“What’s her name, Molly?” drawled this -apparition.</p> - -<p>“This is Miss Beth Baldwin. Miss Maude -Grimshaw, Beth. You live right opposite to each<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span> -other,” whispered Molly, in conclusion, “and, believe -me! you have opposite natures.”</p> - -<p>Miss Grimshaw had given Beth a cold little -nod and had gone back into her room.</p> - -<p>“What a beautiful kimono that is she wears,” -Beth said calmly.</p> - -<p>“Maude is the one of whom I told you,” Molly -sniffed. “Our ‘glass of fashion and mold of -form.’”</p> - -<p>“Oh! the dreadfully fashionable girl?”</p> - -<p>“Fashion is no name for it!” groaned Molly. -“She sports the finest frocks at Rivercliff. She -turns all our heads. Oh! she’s a charmer.”</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Beth, “I fancy you don’t like her, -Molly.”</p> - -<p>“Cracky-me!” ejaculated Molly, round-eyed. -“How did you come to guess that?”</p> - -<p>Beth saw that her friend felt rather keenly on -this subject, so she did not probe deeper. She -had not seen Miss Grimshaw long enough, herself, -to judge the pale girl. But Molly seemed -to be such a universal favorite, and so kind and -merry with everybody else, that Beth wondered -about Maude Grimshaw. As it chanced, Beth was -soon to learn just what her neighbor in the blue -silk kimono was.</p> - -<p>At the present time, however, the girl from -Hudsonvale was more interested in the room she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span> -was to occupy. There were small girls in the -school who roomed together—“a whole raft of -primes in each dormitory,” Molly explained—but -the older pupils of Rivercliff had each a room -of her own and they could live as privately as they -could at home. And when she had seen them, -Beth thought Numbers Eighty and Eighty-one -must be the nicest rooms in the whole school.</p> - -<p>“Which they are—about,” Molly said, when -Beth expressed this belief. “I expected to have -to fight for Eighty-one when I came back this fall. -You see, Greba Purcell had your room for four -years. She left in June just before graduation. -Right away Princess Fancyfoot——”</p> - -<p>“Who?” gasped Beth.</p> - -<p>“That’s what I sometimes call Maude Grimshaw. -She wanted a couple of her ‘Me toos’ to -have Eighty and Eighty-one——”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean by ‘Me toos?’”</p> - -<p>“Why, girls who agree always with Princess -Fancyfoot. There are ‘sich,’ my dear, though you -mightn’t suppose it,” Molly said, laughing. “‘For -wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles -be gathered together.’”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Molly! I wouldn’t speak so,” begged -Beth.</p> - -<p>“Oh, pshaw! <i>Grim</i>-shaw, I might say,” chuckled -Molly. “You don’t know her yet.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span>But there was so much to see and so many new -ideas to grasp, that Beth did not that evening give -much thought to the possibility of an unpleasant -neighbor. Her own room was of good size with -two windows. The bathroom between Number -Eighty and Eighty-one was tiled and had a shower.</p> - -<p>“You see,” explained Molly, “Greba’s father -had this bath put in at his own expense for her -particular use. Miss Process, who had my room -before I got it, enjoyed Miss Purcell’s friendship, -too. Oh! Greba was an awfully nice girl—and -her father could have bought and sold Princess -Fancyfoot’s father half a dozen times over and -never missed the money. The Purcells are a different -breed of rich folks from the Grimshaws—believe -me!</p> - -<p>“And say! we’re two lucky girls to get these -rooms. First grades don’t usually get their pick -of accommodations. No, indeedy!”</p> - -<p>It was not until the next day, however, that -Beth realized the truth of this statement of -Molly’s—and learned, too, what a very unpleasant -neighbor she had in Maude Grimshaw.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XII<br> - -<small>FINDING HER PLACE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> each corridor was a set of the Japanese -gongs, and Beth Baldwin lay awake the next -morning and listened to the electrically rung bells -beginning at the top of the great house and in both -wings, and repeated all down the line. They were -mellow bells and pleasant to hear—and Beth did -not mind rising at seven o’clock.</p> - -<p>Although lessons did not begin until Monday, -and not more than half the girls had yet arrived, -the discipline of the school began on this Saturday -morning. Breakfast was at eight; prayers -three-quarters of an hour later. After this general -gathering in the general hall, Beth found her -way to the office, and to her first interview with -the principal of Rivercliff.</p> - -<p>Miss Hammersly was of small stature like her -mother. But there was scarcely anything else in -the principal’s appearance, Beth thought, that reminded -the new pupil of the stern and military -madam.</p> - -<p>Miss Hammersly had curly hair, it is true, as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span> -had her mother. Possibly she might have been -very pretty as a girl; but the duties and trials of -her position had marred her forehead with lines -of care, and had tinged her hair with gray. She -had very bright eyes like the madam’s own; but -they often softened and became dreamy as she -spoke—the eyes of a truly imaginative person.</p> - -<p>Imagination was the root of Miss Hammersly’s -success. Had she not possessed it, and in abundance, -she could never have brought this great -school (and that twenty years before) to a standard -of excellence quite remarkable.</p> - -<p>Fortunately, she had obtained the patronage of -wealthy people from the start. Without sacrificing -her standard of excellence that put her graduates -considerably above those from other preparatory -schools of the State, Miss Hammersly managed -to satisfy the parents of girls on whom much -more money than was good for them was spent.</p> - -<p>Not that all her pupils’ parents were like Maude -Grimshaw’s. Miss Hammersly had to coax -Maude and her kind along the thorny paths of -learning. Yet some of the brightest girls at the -school were daughters of extremely wealthy people. -Wealth was not a barrier which it was impossible -to hurdle!</p> - -<p>“I wrote to your principal at the Hudsonvale -high school,” Miss Hammersly said to Beth Baldwin,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span> -“and he gave me an excellent report of you. -He likewise tells me that you are striving to earn -a part of the money to pay for your courses here -at Rivercliff. Is this so, Miss Baldwin?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Miss Hammersly,” Beth said, rather flutteringly.</p> - -<p>“I am glad to have such independent girls as -you with us,” the lady said, smiling kindly. “We -have too many of the ‘parasite’ class in this world. -Welcome to the producer! Be something and do -something in the world; that is a good motto.</p> - -<p>“There are ways open to bright girls to earn -money, not only in vacation time, but during the -semester. Later, when you have proved your ability, -there may be pupil teaching. Some of our -primary pupils are not forward children and they -need the encouragement of older girls. I shall be -glad to make use of you in this way, Elizabeth -Baldwin, if you prove yourself capable.”</p> - -<p>The lady spoke very kindly to Beth all through -this interview, evidently wishing to convince the -new pupil that she was just as welcome to Rivercliff -School as those girls from wealthier homes. -Yet Beth had already gained an impression that -the tone of the school was one of fashion and idle -show.</p> - -<p>At prayers, better than at breakfast, Beth had -been able to gain a view of the school—or of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span> -such of its membership as was present—and she -saw that there was scarcely a girl among them all -as plainly dressed as she.</p> - -<p>Even Molly Granger seemed very fancifully -clothed beside Beth. Beth’s traveling dress was -a very good one. As she had confessed to Molly, -that, and the poplin she had worn to Larry Haven’s -party, were her two best gowns. The other -frocks Mrs. Baldwin had made for her daughter -were of good wearing material, but inexpensive.</p> - -<p>“My, but you look like a quiet little brown -mouse!” Molly had said that morning, when she -saw Beth dressed to go down to breakfast.</p> - -<p>And even that pleasant comment was a criticism, -Beth now realized. This was truly a new world -to her. She had no idea that girls from fourteen -to eighteen could be so fashionable.</p> - -<p>There was a rustle of silk petticoats as the girls -took seats beside her in the hall; the laces displayed -were real; the ribbons flaunted were of the -very best quality; and almost every girl she saw -wore more or less jewelry.</p> - -<p>Beth tried the effect of Larry’s present at the -collar of her simple gingham when she went back -to Number Eighty after her interview with Miss -Hammersly, and saw immediately that the pin -did not go at all with such a frock. Even Larry -knew more about what girls wore at a school like<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span> -Rivercliff than she and her mother had known! -It was a very pretty pin; but to wear it with a -gingham dress was certainly not the thing.</p> - -<p>Jolly Molly said nothing to her about her appearance -save that first comment. But Beth began -to be afraid that her commonplace garments -would shame her new chum before the other girls. -Molly did not dress in such expensive gowns as -many of the girls; but her seven aunts certainly -did not restrict their niece to plain clothing. Beth -saw her chum’s two trunks unpacked in wonder.</p> - -<p>It did not take Beth long to unpack her trunk. -It was a small affair at best, and she had had hard -work to find enough to fill it properly before leaving -home. She hung her dresses in the closet very -quickly and shut the door. She was actually -ashamed to have Molly or any of the other girls -examine her possessions.</p> - -<p>The girls were continually running back and -forth from room to room, chattering and displaying -their new possessions, and having a good time -generally. For, there being no lessons on this -day, there was naturally more freedom allowed -than usual.</p> - -<p>Molly, Beth found, had a wealth of ornaments, -photographs, pennants, Indian beadwork, a real -Navajo blanket, cushions galore, and a multitude -of other articles for the adornment of Number<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span> -Eighty-one. Many of these possessions she had -left in the school storeroom during the vacation -months, and now brought them forth.</p> - -<p>Beth had brought with her photographs of the -home folk, of course. She had also her own -pretty toilet set and various nicknacks that she -fancied particularly. But Number Eighty looked -like a poor place indeed beside Molly’s room.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it takes a year or two at school for a girl -to collect sufficient ‘lares and penates’ for her -room to look real homey,” declared Molly, when -Beth mentioned this difference in the appearance -of their rooms.</p> - -<p>“It’s really scarcely worth while my spreading -around my poor little possessions,” laughed Beth. -“There are not enough of them to make a show in -this big room.”</p> - -<p>“Quite true, Miss Baldwin,” drawled a voice at -the open door of Number Eighty. “And, therefore, -before you unpack any more of your things -I’ve a proposal to make to you.”</p> - -<p>“Hullo! here’s Princess Fancyfoot,” muttered -Molly Granger.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, Miss Grimshaw,” said Beth, -placidly, to the girl from across the hall.</p> - -<p>“I want you to know my friend, Miss Laura -Hedden,” went on Maude, with a most patronizing -air. “Miss Baldwin, Laura.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span>Laura was a very dark girl—as dark as Maude -was fair. Instead of having Beth’s brilliant brunette -coloring, however, Laura had a muddy complexion. -Her straight hair was black and her -sharp eyes suspicious. She had not a word to say -for herself, but nodded to Beth rather sullenly.</p> - -<p>“We’ve come to talk to you, Miss Baldwin,” -said Maude Grimshaw, looking significantly at -Molly.</p> - -<p>“Cracky-me!” cried the latter. “Is anything -you have to say ever a secret, Maude?”</p> - -<p>“Not if you get hold of it, Molly,” said the -other girl, promptly. “That is why I have inquired -of Miss Baldwin if we may speak with her -alone.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I declare!” ejaculated Molly, and before -Beth could interfere her chum had flounced -into the passage between the two rooms and -banged shut the door.</p> - -<p>“Now that you have driven my friend away,” -Beth said, rather sharply, “perhaps you will be -kind enough to tell me what you want, Miss Grimshaw?”</p> - -<p>“Shut that door behind you, Laura,” said -Maude, looking at the hall door by which she and -her friend had just entered. “She may come -around to listen if it is open. Oh, Miss Baldwin, -don’t look at me in that way. We know Molly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span> -Granger rather better than you do, I fancy. I -understand that you only met her on the boat coming -up to school?”</p> - -<p>“That is true,” admitted Beth, quietly.</p> - -<p>“So Brownie said. Well! we know Molly. -Don’t we, Laura?”</p> - -<p>“Oh! don’t we!” echoed the dark girl, and immediately -Beth guessed that Laura Hedden must -be one of the “Me toos” of whom Molly had -spoken. She was Maude Grimshaw’s satellite.</p> - -<p>“Is—is it Molly you have come to speak -about?” asked Beth. “For if it is, I shall call -her in. I would not discuss any friend in such a -way as this.”</p> - -<p>Maude laughed, but her pale eyes flashed. “Oh, -no. It is your own affairs of which I wish to -speak.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you for your interest, Miss Grimshaw,” -said Beth. “But I do not understand.”</p> - -<p>“Well!” exclaimed the rather exasperated -Maude. “You came up the river with another -girl—a girl whom the madam has hired as maid. -Isn’t that so?”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“She’s a friend of yours, of course?”</p> - -<p>“Cynthia? Certainly.”</p> - -<p>“Then I presume—by that and other unmistakable -marks—that you are not from very well-to-do<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span> -people, Miss Baldwin?” demanded Maude, complacently.</p> - -<p>“My father earns three dollars and seventy-five -cents a day; my mother made my dresses; I expect -to pay for a part of my tuition here by some -work—of what kind I do not yet know.” Beth -said it all defiantly, her black eyes flashing.</p> - -<p>“Quite so,” Maude rejoined, as though all this -was pleasing to her. “Very commendable on your -part, I’m sure, too, Miss Baldwin. And I can -show you how you may at once aid yourself—and -nobody be the wiser.”</p> - -<p>Beth looked at her curiously, but said nothing.</p> - -<p>“I have always wanted one of my friends to -have Number Eighty,” Maude hurried on to say. -“I’d like to get Eighty-one for another, too; but -Molly Granger is a regular dog in a manger. You, -however, have more sense, I should suppose.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Miss Grimshaw,” said Beth, but -in a tone that did not seem entirely grateful.</p> - -<p>“Now, you see what we’re after, Miss Baldwin,” -said Maude, coolly. “I want you to exchange -rooms with Laura. Really, she has a very -nice room in the other wing; but she is too far -away. She is quite necessary to my comfort—really, -she is,” continued the girl. “And I am sure -you will find the girls over there quite as pleasant -as those on this corridor.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span>“Thank you, Miss Grimshaw. I do not care -to change,” Beth said, quite calmly. “Of course, -you will excuse me?”</p> - -<p>“But you haven’t heard my proposal yet,” -Maude hastened to say. “I expect to pay you for -the accommodation. One doesn’t get something -for nothing in this world—I have found that out!” -and she laughed rather scornfully.</p> - -<p>“I do not understand you,” said Beth, sharply.</p> - -<p>“Why, you will do something or other for -money to help pay your tuition here. I don’t suppose -it much matters what as long as it is not too -hard. We have had girls like you at Rivercliff -before, Miss Baldwin. Miss Hammersly rather -prides herself upon having about so many each -year, I believe,” she added, carelessly.</p> - -<p>“Still I do not understand you!” cried Beth -again, her eyes flashing.</p> - -<p>“No? Really? I fancied I spoke plainly -enough. I will pay you for the exchange you -make with Laura, Miss Baldwin,” said Maude, -rather sharply.</p> - -<p>“I do not care to make the exchange.”</p> - -<p>“But I will pay you for it—don’t you understand?” -demanded the other girl, exasperated.</p> - -<p>“You cannot pay me for it—for I refuse,” said -Beth. “I like this room. I like my neighbors—all -but you, Miss Grimshaw. I do not care to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span> -make the exchange. Now, am I plain enough?”</p> - -<p>“My goodness me!” giggled Maude, her pale -face suddenly reddening in a very ugly way. “Nobody -would call you pretty I should hope, Miss -Baldwin.”</p> - -<p>“Then I am quite understood?” repeated Beth, -ignoring this remark.</p> - -<p>“I suppose you think your room is worth more -than we can afford to pay?” sneered Maude.</p> - -<p>“You have struck it—exactly,” said Beth, with -flashing eyes. “You think that I have a price,” -she continued. “Perhaps you have been in the -habit of dealing with girls who will sell anything -they possess for money. I have made Molly my -friend. If I exchanged in this way it would look -as though I did not appreciate her friendship——”</p> - -<p>“Pooh!” exclaimed Maude. “You don’t know -her as well as we do. Does she, Laura?”</p> - -<p>“I should say not,” sniffed the “Me too.”</p> - -<p>“I am glad I do not know Molly in the way you -seem to think you know her,” Beth said, so angry -that her voice shook now. “Will you please go? -The room will remain mine as long as Miss Hammersly -allows me to keep it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, come on!” snapped Maude, finally, grabbing -Laura Hedden by the arm and marching with -her out of Number Eighty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span>Beth was glad to see her go; but she wanted -a few moments to recover herself. This was an -unexpectedly unpleasant incident, and the girl from -Hudsonvale shed tears over it—and shed them -frankly. As the door had closed she had heard a -muttered “show such girls their place.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIII<br> - -<small>THE SUNNY SIDE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Peek-a-boo!</span>”</p> - -<p>Beth started from her chair, hastily wiped her -eyes, and turned to see Molly Granger peering -in at the door of the passage between the two -rooms.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my dear!” cried Beth, with half a sob. -“I thought you had gone.”</p> - -<p>“Did you hear me bang the door?” demanded -Molly, standing culpritwise before her chum with -her hands behind her back. “Well! when that -door is banged <i>it doesn’t latch</i>! There was -method in my madness.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness!”</p> - -<p>“So you thought I had truly gone and wouldn’t -hear all that nasty Princess Fancyfoot had to -say?”</p> - -<p>“Why—why—— Did you?”</p> - -<p>“Did I what?” asked Molly.</p> - -<p>“Hear her?”</p> - -<p>“I listened,” proclaimed Molly, unblushingly. -“I glory in the fact. I am an eavesdropper. By<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span> -so doing I learned good instead of evil about myself. -And I learned something else.”</p> - -<p>Beth was silent.</p> - -<p>“I learned what a perfectly loyal friend you -are, Beth Baldwin! You are a dear!” and Molly -flung her arms about the other’s neck and kissed -her warmly. Beth returned the caress; she had -never met a girl before whom she found as dear as -this jolly creature.</p> - -<p>“What a really hateful thing that Maude Grimshaw -is!” said the new pupil, after a pause.</p> - -<p>“What did I tell you?” cried Molly. “And so -sneering! Not that what she says can hurt <i>us</i>. -Maybe she would have given you a tidy sum to -change rooms with Laura Hedden.”</p> - -<p>Beth laughed and tossed her head. “I’ll get -money other ways—or go without,” she said.</p> - -<p>“Is it really a fact that you need to earn money -if you stay here in school? Are your folks as poor -as you told Maude?” asked Molly, hesitatingly.</p> - -<p>“I’m all right for a year. But after that—the -deluge!” Beth replied.</p> - -<p>“Well! that is too far ahead to worry about. -Lots of things can happen in a year,” agreed the -happy-go-lucky Molly. “Maybe some rich old -uncle will die and leave you money.”</p> - -<p>“But there isn’t any rich uncle—nor any uncle -of any kind,” laughed Beth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span>“Well! that’s good, too,” declared the optimistic -Molly. “There won’t be any poor uncle, then, -to come and live on your folks. Always be thankful!”</p> - -<p>Jolly Molly’s sunny disposition was just the -tonic Beth needed after her interview with Maude -Grimshaw. In fact, a naturally serious and -thoughtful girl like Beth easily found her counterpart -in Molly Granger.</p> - -<p>“We live on the sunny side of the street,” -Molly frequently proclaimed. “So why not smile? -Send dull Grouch flying to the tall timber. ‘Eat, -drink, and be merry, for to-morrow’—there are -lessons!”</p> - -<p>Which was not literally true, for this was said -on a Saturday. That day Molly spent in introducing -her new chum to all the nice girls she knew. -As, after all, “nice” was a very elastic word with -Molly Granger, the girls Beth met were of all -sorts.</p> - -<p>Yet they had one thing in common. They were -all well dressed. Beth saw plainly that her simple -wardrobe, prepared by her mother with such tender -care and love, was going to set her a little -apart from the other girls, and mark her as from -another world than theirs. Some of the good -friends of Molly, even, looked askance at Beth’s -gingham.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span>However, Beth determined to say nothing in -her letter, which she retired to her own room to -write, about this condition of affairs. She put -nothing but love and happiness in the epistle to -the family at home, although she had overheard -one girl ask Molly:</p> - -<p>“Say! does she wear that ugly calico because she -likes it or on a bet?”</p> - -<p>The jolly girl, however, had foreseen the comments -and the amazement of her friends over -Beth’s plain clothes; and wherever she could, she -repeated (and the story lost nothing in her telling) -the interview Beth had had with Maude -Grimshaw.</p> - -<p>“That’s the sort of girl Beth Baldwin is,” -Molly said, out of her new chum’s hearing, of -course. “She is true blue, she is! And it isn’t that -she doesn’t need the money. She does. She’s -only got enough to pay for this first year’s schooling, -she tells me; and she is determined to get three -years at Rivercliff in order to teach. I know she’s -the kind of girl who will succeed. Most of us -here at Rivercliff are a lazy pack——”</p> - -<p>“Speak for yourself, Jolly Molly!” cried one.</p> - -<p>“That’s all right, Bertha Pilling. I don’t have -to hire a prime to come in every morning and put -a cold key down the neck of my nightgown to get -me out of bed in time for breakfast,” shot back<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span> -Molly, and the other girls giggled delightedly, for -Bertha was a lie-abed.</p> - -<p>“At any rate,” Molly continued, “Beth wants -to earn all she can toward her next year’s tuition -in these two semesters.”</p> - -<p>“Why! what can a girl like her do?” demanded -a senior. “Fancy trying to earn money at Rivercliff. -She might borrow it.”</p> - -<p>“Beth Baldwin isn’t of the borrowing kind,” -said Molly, staunchly. “She’s earned some money -this summer. She told me so.”</p> - -<p>“What doing? Picking berries?” cried one -girl. “She comes from the country, doesn’t she? -I have a cousin who lives on a farm, and she -earned six dollars one summer picking berries. -Her father put enough more to it to pay for a -piano and Madge is always telling about her piano -that she earned by picking berries!”</p> - -<p>When the laughter over this story had passed, -Molly said:</p> - -<p>“Why, Beth Baldwin posed for an artist. She -told me the woman used her in painting a magazine -cover.”</p> - -<p>“What magazine?” demanded the senior, suddenly -diving for the magazine shelf of her study -table. “I thought I’d seen that face before.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Molly, whimsically. “Beth wears -her face in front at present.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span>“Smarty! Miss Baldwin has rather a striking -phiz.”</p> - -<p>“Hasn’t she?” cried the enthusiastic Molly.</p> - -<p>“And here she is!” exclaimed another girl, who -had likewise been going over the magazines. “No -mistaking it for anybody else. That’s Miss Baldwin, -sure enough,” and she showed the cover of -the magazine so that all could see.</p> - -<p>“How clever!” drawled another girl. “Fancy -posing for a famous artist.”</p> - -<p>Molly was delighted that she had interested -these girls—some of the wealthiest in the school—in -her chum. But a very unpleasant experience -was to arise out of the event for Beth. That, however, -was in the future.</p> - -<p>Beth had time in this first very busy day at the -school to think of Cynthia Fogg; but it was not -until Sunday morning that she saw the freckled -girl again.</p> - -<p>On Sunday morning the rising bells rang an -hour later than on other days. Beth, having entirely -recovered from the weariness caused by her -journey and her broken sleep on the boat, awoke -at her usual time—and they had been early risers -at the little cottage on Bemis Street. Mr. Baldwin -always went to the locomotive works at half-past -six.</p> - -<p>The sun was just peering above the eastern hills.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span> -Beth’s windows faced the south and the farther -shore of the river. Mist was rising from the surface -of the stream, and the few boats plying up -and down the current were scarcely outlined in it.</p> - -<p>Up on the bluff the air was clear enough, and the -banks of red and yellow branches across the river -were beautiful in appearance. Up-stream Beth -could see tall pillars of smoke rising through the -fog from the factory chimneys at Jackson City—not -as many of them smoking as usual, however, -because of the day.</p> - -<p>The air was too sharp for her to stand at the -window for long; she went about her bath and her -dressing so as not to arouse Molly in the next -room. She put on the dress she had traveled in. -She thought she would wear that on Sundays. -Then she ventured out of her room and along the -corridors to the front stairway.</p> - -<p>She saw nobody, nor did she hear anybody until -she had descended to the second floor, and there, -as she started down the staircase, she heard a -mighty yawn from the hall below.</p> - -<p>Beth peered over the balustrade. There was -somebody stirring below and in a moment she -caught sight of a girl in cap and apron, waving -a feather-duster at the pictures as though she expected, -by so doing, to conjure the dust off of -them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span>Beth went down quietly, intending to go out by -the front door; but at the bottom of the flight of -stairs she came face to face with the maid, and -saw that it was Cynthia Fogg.</p> - -<p>“My aunt!” ejaculated the freckled girl, smiling -as though she really was glad to see Beth. -“Isn’t this the greatest place you were ever in?”</p> - -<p>“I think it’s quite wonderful,” admitted Beth.</p> - -<p>“So many girls! I never dreamed of so many -before—never!” laughed Cynthia.</p> - -<p>Beth wondered what kind of asylum it was from -which Cynthia had run away.</p> - -<p>“How do they treat you, Beth Baldwin?” asked -the maid, curiously.</p> - -<p>“Oh, very nicely—those to whom I have been -introduced,” Beth replied.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you find them proud and stuck up at -all?” was the shrewd query that followed.</p> - -<p>“Well—there may be some who are addicted to -that sin,” laughed Beth.</p> - -<p>“They tell me there are none but rich girls -here,” went on Cynthia Fogg. “Philo Grimshaw’s -daughter is one. Philo Grimshaw, you know, is -the big soap manufacturer. The Grimshaws never -let people forget that they have money, and people -can never forget how the money is obtained,” -and Cynthia’s mellow laugh did not sound as kind -as usual.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span>Beth thought it not right to discuss the characters -of the girls with one of the maids. Perhaps -Miss Hammersly or the madam would not -like it. So the girl from Hudsonvale said:</p> - -<p>“Do you like the madam, Cynthia?”</p> - -<p>Cynthia looked up from her dusting, and there -was a queer look on her features. “Hist!” she -said. “Here she comes. Watch her.”</p> - -<p>Beth had not heard her coming, but looking upward -she saw the madam at the head of the stairs. -She had not met her since the first evening when -she and Molly, with Cynthia Fogg, had had their -interview with her. Now, while Madam Hammersly -was descending the staircase, Beth had a -better opportunity to scrutinize her.</p> - -<p>She certainly was a very prim old lady. She -was dressed in rustling silk, every fold of which -lay just so. Her cap was wonderful in its starchiness; -the lace at her throat and wrists was beautiful. -In one hand she carried a fine cambric handkerchief -which, now and then as she descended the -stairs, she touched to the spindles of the railing -or flirted into the carvings, glancing at it sharply -through her eyeglasses to see if any dust lurked -there.</p> - -<p>Cynthia winked drolly at Beth. “If she catches -us leaving anything undone,” whispered the -freckled girl, “good-night!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span>Beth stepped aside, waiting to greet the madam -when she reached the hall. The lady greeted her -with a smile.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, Miss Baldwin. You are an -early riser,” she said.</p> - -<p>“Yes, Madam. I am used to getting up early. -May I go out upon the grounds?” Beth asked.</p> - -<p>“Surely. Take a run about the estate. There -is just frost enough in the air to make it invigorating.”</p> - -<p>Then, as Beth turned toward the door, she -heard the madam say to Cynthia:</p> - -<p>“There is dust on the balustrade. See my handkerchief, -girl? Begin at the top of the flight and -come down carefully. I will have thoroughness -from you girls, or I will have nothing.”</p> - -<p>Beth heard Cynthia utter a faint groan. Then -she slipped out of the door into the open air.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIV<br> - -<small>A GREAT DEAL TO LEARN</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Molly Granger</span> possessed at least one talent -besides the ability to extract fun out of most things. -She could draw quite remarkably for a girl who -had had so little instruction; and made many really -clever cartoons in black and white.</p> - -<p>Over her dressing-table was a long study in -feline humor; as Beth called it when she first observed -the piece, “a yard of cats.”</p> - -<p>“Isn’t it cute?” she cried. “You never did it?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I did. From life,” Molly said, smiling -at the row of kittens tenderly.</p> - -<p>“From <i>life</i>? Nonsense! How could you get -cats to pose for you? And they are too, too funnily -human!”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t get the cats to pose. But my aunts did. -I flatter myself I have hit off the characteristics of -the dears.”</p> - -<p>“Your aunts?” gasped Beth, horrified.</p> - -<p>“Yes, my dear. All seven of them.”</p> - -<p>“There are seven of the cats,” admitted Beth, -weakly. “But you never deliberately caricatured -your aunts like that?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span>“They’re not caricatures. My aunts are regular -tabbies, anyway; they don’t mind. They -begin to look upon my talent for drawing cats as -a ‘gift.’ You see, Bethesda,” said Molly, laughing -again now, “I can draw cats, and I can’t draw -folks. If I ever attempt your portrait, you’ll -have to appear as a cat. Whatever artistic talent -I have, I’ll never be a portrait painter. So I told -the aunts I wanted to draw them in black and -white, and they all sat for me.”</p> - -<p>Beth was as much amazed as she was amused.</p> - -<p>“The grave looking cat at the end, with spectacles -and a book, is Aunt Celia; the next with the -knitting and goloshes on her feet is Aunt Catherine. -She always either wears overshoes or carries -them. Auntie Cora is the cute little blue kitten -with the fan.</p> - -<p>“Aunt Carrie stands there in her wedding finery—she -still has hopes. She is engaged to a sea -captain who comes home for three weeks about -once in three years. Doesn’t she look too sweet -for anything? Aunt Charlotte is the sly, plump -one—you <i>know</i> she’s just lapped up all the cream. -Aunt Charlotte manages to get the best of everything.</p> - -<p>“Aunt Cassie is the one in furs and mittens; -she’s always cold. I believe she’d get chilblains -in July. On the end is Aunt Cyril—you can see<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span> -she is an aristocrat, the dear! I’m quite proud -of my aunties—but nobody ever called them a yard -of cats before,” and Molly giggled.</p> - -<p>Beth Baldwin’s introduction to Rivercliff School -was not all fun and frolic. On Monday came -lessons—the beginning of the fall and winter -semester. Miss Hammersly and her teachers were -quite firm in their intention of making the students -of Rivercliff work. And few of them—lazy or -otherwise—cared to have a monthly report go -home, across which was printed “defective.”</p> - -<p>Miss Hammersly’s idea was that girls came to -her to study—and for no other reason. This was -not a boarding school where the pupils could work -or not, as they pleased. “Ours is not an institution -for the encouragement of girls lacking in gray-matter,” -Miss Hammersly was wont to say. “I -am very sorry for the defectives; but three such -reports send them home.”</p> - -<p>Beth found that the working hours of the school -were fully occupied, and that the recreation hours -were not long enough for any of the students to -get very deeply into mischief.</p> - -<p>Even jolly Molly had to repress her super-abundant -spirits; or rather, after being under the -ministrations of the instructors of Rivercliff -School all day, by supper time the most spirited -girl in the school was subdued.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span>“Goodness!” confessed Molly to her chum, -coming wearily into Number Eighty and dropping -an armful of books on Beth’s study table, “I feel -like a wornout dishcloth that’s been drawn sixty -times through a knothole! Miss Carroll has just -about finished me this time, Beth Baldwin. If I -don’t get up to-morrow morning, just write my -seven aunties that I died in a good cause—in an -attempt to acquire all the knowledge in the world -within an infinitesimal length of time.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Molly! it’s not so bad as all that,” Beth -said, laughing, though rather ruefully, for she -found the system followed at Rivercliff entirely -different from that at the Hudsonvale high -school. Larry had been right. Three years at -this establishment—if she could keep up—would -put her a long lap ahead in education.</p> - -<p>Her own end of the table was piled high with -books, for the two chums studied each evening together—and -preferably in Number Eighty. -Eighty-one was too apt to be the Mecca of girls -who desired to scamp their work and barely get -through on the monthly reports “by the skin of -their teeth.”</p> - -<p>“Which is a perfectly proper expression, and <i>not</i> -slang, Beth Baldwin, no matter what Miss Carroll -may say,” Molly declared. “Who was it said it—Job -or the psalmist?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span>“That is your question—you answer it,” replied -Beth. “But what do you make out of this -awful passage Miss Felice has given us to construe? -It’s a heart-breaker, isn’t it?”</p> - -<p>They set to work. They were not the only -studious girls on the corridor; but there was a -good deal of noise outside, and Beth closed the -door to shut some of it out. Having retired to -Number Eighty, Molly hoped her old friends -would not annoy her.</p> - -<p>“I am determined to delight the aunts this -year,” Molly said. “I’ve told them I have a new -chum and that she is studious. Maybe it’s catching.”</p> - -<p>This evening was within the first fortnight of -the term. Naturally, Beth had not made many -friends as yet. The girl who attends strictly to -her lessons in a boarding school is slower in making -friendships than she who is careless of her -standing on the reports. So the gay ones were -not apt to come and pound on the door of Number -Eighty for admittance.</p> - -<p>Not that Beth did not take plenty of recreation. -Indeed, that was compulsory to a certain extent. -There was a physical instructor and a splendid -gymnasium—the latter a handsome building, the -gift of a wealthy graduate of Miss Hammersly’s -establishment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span>There was a splendid athletic field, too, with a -cinder track, courts for basket-ball and tennis; and -at the foot of the bluff, which was reached in the -school wagonette, was a boathouse with a number -of two, four, and eight-oared shells, as well as -canoes and a power launch of some size.</p> - -<p>Nothing was neglected that would add to the -physical development, as well as the mental well-being, -of the girls. Miss Hammersly did not -graduate weaklings in any particular.</p> - -<p>Save Maude Grimshaw, such girls as had -spoken to Beth had been kind. But except Molly -and a few of her intimate friends, nobody at Rivercliff -had paid very much attention to her. She had -been popular in Hudsonvale, and she missed Mary -Devine and her other schoolmates who had deferred -to her there.</p> - -<p>She did not even have an opportunity of talking -with Cynthia Fogg, the strange girl who had come -up to Rivercliff with her on the steamboat. She -saw Cynthia now and then, going about her duties. -She waited at a neighboring table to Beth’s -in the dining-room. But there could be no communication -of any extended character between the -“young lady students” and the maids employed at -the school. Madam Hammersly’s eye was too -sharp.</p> - -<p>This night, while Beth and Molly were deeply<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span> -engaged in their books, both suddenly looked up -to see an unexpected figure standing in the doorway -of the passage into Molly’s room. It was that -of a girl in a kimono with a red bag over her -head, masking her completely, for there were only -two little holes in the bag to see through. It was -a startling apparition, and Molly exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Cracky-me! How you scared us! Go away—do!”</p> - -<p>The girl behind the mask of turkey-red giggled. -Then she stalked forward and placed two folded -red bags, like her own, on the study table.</p> - -<p>“Number Sixty-two. Ten-thirty,” she said, in a -sepulchral voice, and immediately marched out -again by the way she had come.</p> - -<p>“Well!” gasped Beth.</p> - -<p>But Molly began to giggle now. “It’s just -awful—this trying to be a ‘grind.’ My poor, poor -Bethesda! your chum’s former reputation is -against our ever being the twin Minervas of Rivercliff -School.”</p> - -<p>“But what does this mean?” demanded Beth, -trying on one of the bags.</p> - -<p>“Kimono party—sometimes called red-head -party. You can see what the bags are for. Unless -you are familiar with the kimonos of the whole -school, you can’t be sure of who is at the party—save -the legal occupant of the room in which the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span> -party is held. And sometimes the girls exchange -kimonos. So that helps.”</p> - -<p>“Helps! How?”</p> - -<p>“Why, if we are caught, and can run, the -teacher or monitor who catches us can’t see who -we are with the bags over our heads. And those -who are captured can’t tell on the rest, for everybody’s -masked and we can’t be sure. See?”</p> - -<p>“Are you going to-night?” Beth asked.</p> - -<p>“What number did she say?” rejoined Molly.</p> - -<p>“Sixty-two.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s! That’s Mamie Dunn’s,” cried Beth.</p> - -<p>“Aren’t there two Sixty-twos?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, the kimono parties have to be wing affairs. -Guests can’t slip over from one wing to the other. -They have to be localized.”</p> - -<p>“Why?” asked the curious Beth.</p> - -<p>“Why, there’s always somebody on watch at -the top of the main flight of stairs—and there’s -no other way to go from wing to wing than by that -cross-corridor.”</p> - -<p>“On watch all night, do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Sure. For fire protection; likewise if anybody -should be taken sick in the night.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose,” said Beth, reflectively, “that these -after-hours parties are against the rules of the -school?”</p> - -<p>“I suppose they are,” admitted Molly, with serious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span> -mouth but twinkling eyes; “but I never really -asked.”</p> - -<p>Beth laughed. “Did you ever get caught at one -of these parties?”</p> - -<p>“Never mind about that! We’ll go to-night. -All work and no play makes Jill just as dull as her -brother.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll do our tasks first, dear,” said Beth.</p> - -<p>She was not a prude; but she felt herself in -honor bound to keep up with all her lessons. She -had been at Rivercliff long enough to know that -she could not earn her diploma in any easy way. -To fall back one recitation would mean hard effort -to make it up. There were no delays for the slow -and inattentive under Miss Hammersly.</p> - -<p>Beth, of course, had written home several times. -She had told the home folk of all the interesting -things she had encountered thus far in her school -life, and about her teachers and the students as -she had met them with the one exception of Maude -Grimshaw. She had not mentioned that haughty -and purse-proud girl. Beth hoped she would never -be obliged to come in contact with Maude again. -She thought that, by letting her unpleasant neighbor -strictly alone, Maude would let her alone.</p> - -<p>She was yet to learn the fallacy of this belief—as -well as much else that Beth could never have -learned anywhere but at Rivercliff School.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XV<br> - -<small>THE RED MASQUE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> two chums working in Number Eighty, -South Wing, Rivercliff School, closed their books -before the retiring bell rang at nine-thirty, fully -satisfied with what they had accomplished.</p> - -<p>“No use climbing into bed, Bethesda,” said -Molly, with a yawn. “Just get into something -comfortable—of course, your kimono—and we’ll -put out the lights at the proper time.”</p> - -<p>“Why—will anybody look in?”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps. You never can tell. It is according -to who is on watch to-night. We never know -whose duty it is. Miss Crouch is perfectly sneaking——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Molly!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, she is. She wears sneaks when she is on -guard, and she often opens our doors and looks -in. And if you lock your door she is likely to rap -on it and wake you up. Says she wants to be sure -you are all right.”</p> - -<p>“Are we supposed to leave our doors unlocked?” -Beth asked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span>“Why, you can do as you please. But if Miss -Crouch feels like looking into your room in the -middle of the night, she’ll get you up to open the -door. She’s a suspicious creature.”</p> - -<p>“For no reason, I suppose?” laughed Beth.</p> - -<p>“Never mind!” Then Molly’s voice dropped -to a whisper: “I’ll show you how to fool Miss -Crouch.”</p> - -<p>“What about?” asked Beth.</p> - -<p>“If she should feel it necessary to look in while -we are gone—see here!”</p> - -<p>Molly rolled the extra blanket which lay upon -the foot of Beth’s bed into the semblance of a -human figure and put it under the bedclothes. -There it looked like a person asleep, wrapped head -and heels in the coverings. Then she made the -same masquerade in her own bed.</p> - -<p>They sat in the dark and told each other “giggly” -stories in whispers until it was about half-past -ten and the whole school seemed buried in -sleep. But there is scarcely anything more uncertain -than a boarding school between retiring hour -and the first bell in the morning. That is an -axiom known to all instructors of experience.</p> - -<p>When the two chums ventured out with the red -bags pulled down to their shoulders, there were -other “red-heads” flitting about the corridors. -They slipped in and out of the various doors like<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span> -red-topped ghosts. It was evidently to be a -large party in Mamie Dunn’s room.</p> - -<p>“Sh! Who’s on watch?” one unknown asked -Beth.</p> - -<p>“Oh! I’m sure I don’t know,” returned the new -girl, and at once the girl asking the question -laughed, and said:</p> - -<p>“So you’re the new one, aren’t you? I thought -I’d know your voice. And now I’ll know your -kimono.”</p> - -<p>“That’s Stella—didn’t you hear?” said Molly. -“She caught you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! aren’t you supposed to know each other?” -asked Beth.</p> - -<p>“Just as well if we’re not identified. I’ve got -on a new kimono. I’m just going to keep it for -these red-head parties. You get one, and then -we’ll fool ’em.”</p> - -<p>The question was repeated several times before -the chums reached Sixty-two:</p> - -<p>“Who’s on watch?”</p> - -<p>“I wager it’s Miss Crouch,” jolly Molly said, -but nobody would have recognized her voice.</p> - -<p>“Is that you, Phoebe Mills?”</p> - -<p>“No. It’s Phoebe’s sister,” said Molly, solemnly. -“Don’t try to catch me, honey!”</p> - -<p>“Well, if Miss Crouch is on watch or not, I -dare you to look,” giggled the inquisitive girl.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span>“Not me,” declared Molly, shaking her head -vigorously. “Get that crazy Molly Granger to -run and look.”</p> - -<p>“I’m looking for her,” admitted the other girl, -going away from the chums.</p> - -<p>Molly giggled. “What a chance! That was -Izola Pratt, I believe. She’s a ‘Me too.’”</p> - -<p>“You mean one of Maude’s friends?”</p> - -<p>“Just so,” said Molly, nodding. “I wonder why -they are all trying to identify us? Maybe Princess -Fancyfoot has some scheme up her sleeve.”</p> - -<p>“You don’t mean that she would report us to -the teachers?” asked Beth, in some alarm.</p> - -<p>“I’d like to see her! That would just about -settle Maude Grimshaw in this school. If her -father had as much money as King Midas, and -Maude lived to be as old as Methuselah, she could -never live down such a thing. No indeed! There! -here’s Sixty-two.”</p> - -<p>Beth knew Mamie Dunn, but she did not know -who welcomed her into the room. Everybody in -the apartment wore a red mask, and at first the -new girl was not able to recognize any one.</p> - -<p>It was a chafing-dish party. A tall girl in a -striking red and black kimono (somehow Beth -thought she must be the senior, Miss Teller)—the -kimono itself well fitted to clothe one who did -deeds of magic—presided over a cheese dish warranted,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span> -as Molly said, to give everybody “dreams -of the rabbit fiend.”</p> - -<p>There was bottled ginger ale and tea and coffee. -Such a combination to go into one’s stomach at -such a late hour would ruin the digestion of anybody -but a boarding-school girl.</p> - -<p>Beth, even at this party, could not but compare -her own state with that of the other twenty-five -or thirty girls present. There were all sorts and -conditions of kimonos; but all were of very much -richer material than her own pretty, but cheap, -cotton crêpe.</p> - -<p>She was really sure of the identity of nobody -save Molly at first. But she began to enjoy herself, -for she was not left alone. She tried to disguise -her voice in answering questions, and so puzzle -the others.</p> - -<p>The laughter was subdued, although the walls -were thick and the doors sound-proof. One girl -frequently ventured into the corridor to peer -about. There was a delicious feeling of uncertainty -and peril that spiced this “red-head” party.</p> - -<p>The guessing of each other’s identity was a popular -pastime, and when they held a mock court, -with the tall girl in the red and black kimono as -judge, and appointed two guards to bring culprits -before the bar for identification, the fun -waxed boisterous.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span>Sometimes the girls guessed who the prisoner -was very quickly; at other times they shot broad -of the mark, as was attested by the gaiety of the -one under examination.</p> - -<p>But when Beth was seized and forced before -the girl in the red and black kimono, there fell a -little hush of expectation. It seemed to the new -girl as though many of these present had been -waiting for just this event.</p> - -<p>“Here is a stranger in our midst,” said the red -and black kimono, in a sepulchral voice. “Who -can she be?”</p> - -<p>“It’s plain to be seen she’s a person of note,” -said one, demurely.</p> - -<p>“And a person of quality,” added a sharp voice. -“Note the gown she has on. It must have cost -‘trippence’ a yard, as Miss Small would say,” and -there was a rising giggle from a group of masks -in one corner.</p> - -<p>Beth flashed a glance that way. She felt the -enmity of these masked girls in the very air. Had -she known how to escape she would have done so -before the mock examination went any further.</p> - -<p>In that particular group of girls Beth suddenly -recognized Maude Grimshaw’s blue and silver -kimono. And it was from the wearer of this beautiful -garment that the next unkind observation -fell:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span>“We are advertised by this young person. Oh! -she is an acquisition to Rivercliff, undoubtedly.”</p> - -<p>“You’re not!” snapped Molly Granger’s voice -from behind Beth.</p> - -<p>But Maude had her speech ready, and was not -to be sidetracked.</p> - -<p>“I suppose this girl began by being photographed -as a patent-food baby. Then she advertised -a brand of soap as she grew older, until now -she has arrived at the dignity of being flaunted in -seven colors on the cover of a cheap magazine.”</p> - -<p>There was a murmur of objection from some of -the hooded girls; but there was laughter, too.</p> - -<p>“She will doubtless become famous,” went on -Maude, scornfully, “and make Rivercliff famous, -by winding up as the exponent of a toothwash, or -illustrating the use of a pair of shoulder braces.”</p> - -<p>The whole company was now in ungovernable -laughter. Beth knew that she should have laughed -herself had the victim been some other girl. Indeed, -she could have laughed with them at the -fun poked at her, had it not been so venomously -done.</p> - -<p>“Beth Baldwin!” somebody shouted. “Discovered! -She must pay a forfeit.”</p> - -<p>Beth heard Molly sputtering angrily behind her; -but she realized that if she took offence, or if -Molly was allowed to do so, it would only make<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span> -her the more ridiculous. One decision Beth made, -however, right then and there. It was a decision -bound to change the tenor of her whole career at -Rivercliff School.</p> - -<p>“Unmask! You’re caught,” ordered the -“judge.”</p> - -<p>Beth did so and managed to show a smiling, if -flushed, countenance to the assembly.</p> - -<p>“Well, I think it’s mighty clever of her,” -drawled one girl, “if she can earn money posing -for her picture.”</p> - -<p>The others were, however, clamoring for Beth -to pay a forfeit. The judge was supposed to accept -suggestions for that. Maude’s sharp voice -was ready:</p> - -<p>“Oh, it doesn’t really matter what she does, I -fancy. As long as there’s anything to be earned -by it, Miss Baldwin is prepared to do it. Like our -politicians, she is ‘out for the dough.’”</p> - -<p>“How very vulgar, Maude!” said the “judge,” -tartly. “Suppose Miss Carroll should hear that?”</p> - -<p>“It’s the truth!” snapped the angry girl. “We, -who are well-to-do, are exploited for the benefit of -these—these paupers that Miss Hammersly allows -to come here to Rivercliff. At least, she -should have the decency to put them in a department -by themselves, and have their sleeping quarters -with the servants.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span>“Shame! Shame!” cried a dozen voices.</p> - -<p>“You go too far, Maude,” declared the -“judge.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what is the matter with Maude Grimshaw,” -ejaculated Molly, boiling over in her -wrath, finally. “She wanted Miss Baldwin’s room -for one of her ‘Me toos’—and Miss Baldwin -wouldn’t make <i>that</i> exchange for money. Nasty -thing!”</p> - -<p>“Girls! stop this!” ordered the girl in red and -black, rising from her seat.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Mamie Dunn herself took a hand in -the discussion. She stood up and plucked off her -red bag. She was a plain, rather unattractive girl -who seldom asserted herself; but now she was -quite indignant.</p> - -<p>“Stop, Maude Grimshaw. You are the meanest -girl in Rivercliff School—I don’t care if you are -the richest. This is my room and I declare I’ll -never invite you into it again.”</p> - -<p>She turned swiftly to Beth and put a protecting -arm about her. “You are a girl I am proud to -have for a friend, Miss Baldwin—I don’t care -what others may say. I know I wouldn’t have the -pluck to try to work my way through school, providing -I could get an education in no other way. -I—I hope you’ll forgive me for inviting you here -to-night where you have been so insulted and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span> -abused by my other guests. I assure you, it was -not with my connivance.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I am confident of that, Miss Dunn,” faltered -Beth, for Mamie’s kindness touched her -more deeply than Maude Grimshaw’s unkind -speech. “I thank you, Miss Dunn. I—I can’t -stay. I see very clearly now that I should not -have come in the first place.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t say that!” cried somebody whom Beth -thought was Brownie, and who was sobbing, -frankly.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” Beth said, more calmly now, “I see that -I was wrong in accepting the invitation. I am different -from you other girls. I want to get an education, -and I must get it in my own way. My -way is not yours. I hope that hereafter I shall not -be led into accepting invitations that lead to friction -and make everybody concerned unhappy.”</p> - -<p>“You’re all right, Baldwin!” said the girl behind -the judge’s mask, huskily.</p> - -<p>“I am going to ask you, Miss Dunn, to excuse -me,” Beth proceeded. “I quite appreciate your -kindness, and all you meant to do for me in inviting -me to your party. But—you see yourself—it -is not wise.”</p> - -<p>She stammered this—halted at last in her -speech, chokingly—and then made swiftly for the -door.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XVI<br> - -<small>NO MARTYR’S CROWN</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Beth</span> bolted both the doors, once having entered -Number Eighty, and refused to open -either, though she knew that it must be Molly -Granger who came and softly tapped upon the -panel.</p> - -<p>It was some time after Beth had got into bed -that Molly tried to get in. The party in Mamie -Dunn’s room could not have immediately broken -up on Beth’s departure.</p> - -<p>The latter lay quietly in her bed and thought -matters out, coolly. She did not weep. She realized -that she had done a foolish thing in trying -to become the comrade of these girls who had so -much more of this world’s goods than she could -ever hope to possess.</p> - -<p>“I am different from them all—different, even, -from Molly,” she told herself. “I can keep dear -Molly’s friendship—I prize it too highly to lose it -for any cause; but I cannot be even her social -equal.</p> - -<p>“I have come here with the avowed intention -of earning part of my expenses. That immediately<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span> -puts me on a different plane from the girls -who never have to think of money—only how to -spend it! Maude Grimshaw, hateful as she is, -is more than half right. My place is with Cynthia -Fogg.</p> - -<p>“I have a year before me in which to get established -here in my proper place. I can be helpful -to many of these girls. I <i>must</i> be helpful. And I -must be helpful for money. There are things I -can do, and that they need done, and for which -they will willingly pay me. I am not ashamed of -any decent means to earn money—why should I -be?</p> - -<p>“Such time as I have aside from the study and -recitation hours and such physical exercises as I -need, must be devoted to earning money. Why! -there are thousands and thousands of girls situated -just as I am, who are making their way through -school and college. Just because I happen to be -in a school for wealthy girls, should make no difference. -What will be the odds, whether they like -me or not, a hundred years from now?</p> - -<p>“Nor will I sport the willow,” declared Beth, -“nor wear the martyr’s crown!</p> - -<p>“That Maude Grimshaw is half right on another -point, too. I must do anything—anything -that is decent—for money. I can’t be too particular.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span>“I won’t dawdle around here like an abused -chicken, looking for sympathy. I don’t need sympathy. -What did I come to Rivercliff School for, -anyway?</p> - -<p>“Why! I came to <i>work</i>—in two ways. I’ve -taken hold of my lessons all right, I flatter myself,” -went on Beth, answering her own question, -“and now I must think of taking up my other -branches. I am to take a special course of training—learning -to make money. I’ll begin to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>And with this resolve she finally went to sleep, -and slept soundly. Beth Baldwin was blessed with -a strain of <i>practical, common sense</i>.</p> - -<p>She could be hurt as easily as most naturally -refined girls. She was by no means thick-skinned. -Only, she could grit her teeth and go at a thing -that had to be done, and without weeping over it.</p> - -<p>In the morning, almost before Beth had her -bath and was dressed, Molly burst in—but in no -jolly mood, as was plain.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my dear! Oh, my dear!” she wailed, seizing -Beth about the neck. “I haven’t slept half the -night for thinking of you. That nasty, mean, horrid -Maude Grimshaw——”</p> - -<p>“<i>And</i> a cup of tea!” interposed Beth, laughing. -“No more of <i>that</i>, Molly—if you love me. In the -language of my younger brothers, ‘forget it!’”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span>“But it isn’t to be forgotten. And I told them -all after you came away last night——”</p> - -<p>“Now, Molly dear, if you tell so much you’ll be -completely empty and will collapse—sure,” declared -Beth, laughing.</p> - -<p>“But, Beth!”</p> - -<p>“But, Molly!” mocked Beth.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you care, Beth Baldwin?” cried Molly.</p> - -<p>“If I do, I don’t want to wear the martyr’s -crown,” and Beth smiled. “Come, my dear! -‘What can’t be cured must be endured.’ And it -had better be endured cheerfully—don’t you -think?”</p> - -<p>“But it can be cured, I tell you!” cried Molly, -very much excited. “Do you suppose the really -nice girls of Rivercliff are going to allow a little -clique of stuck-up things to insult and abuse a girl -who has positively done no wrong? We think too -much of our school itself to allow such a blot to -stand——”</p> - -<p>“That sounds very fine, dear,” said Beth, -calmly, “although your metaphor is hazy. And it -is awfully nice of you and your friends to stand -up for me. But there is something to be said on -the other side, I guess.”</p> - -<p>“On whose side—yours?”</p> - -<p>“No. I fancy I have very little standing in the -premises, when it comes to the facts,” and Beth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span> -laughed again, though rather bitterly. “I mean on -the side of Maude Grimshaw and her crowd.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, them!” sniffed Molly, disgustedly, as well -as ungrammatically. “What about Princess -Fancyfoot?”</p> - -<p>“She can claim to hold the welfare of Rivercliff -quite as high as you and your friends do,” Beth -said argumentatively. “She believes that the -school is for a certain class of girls—and for no -other. And, really, the girls themselves bear out -her claim, don’t they? Am I not about the only -poor girl here?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’m sure!” exclaimed Molly, “I’m not -rich.”</p> - -<p>“What! with seven aunts to support you?” -laughed Beth, bound to keep a cheerful tone in all -the argument.</p> - -<p>“But that has nothing to do with it.”</p> - -<p>“Yes it has. If I were Maude Grimshaw I -should probably feel just as she does. I am an interloper. -But I am here,” added Beth, with vigor, -“and I mean to stay and get what I came to Rivercliff -for.”</p> - -<p>“Hurrah!” cried Molly. “Then you will fight -’em?”</p> - -<p>“Fight? Certainly not. I have no reason to. -I tell you, dear, that I was in the wrong—besides -being <i>in</i> wrong! I should not have gone to Miss<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span> -Dunn’s party. I tell you I am not one of you, and -cannot be one of you, save in my standing in -classes.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Beth! What do you mean?” wailed -Molly.</p> - -<p>“I am going to keep to myself—‘flock together,’ -as it were,” and again Beth laughed, and this time -quite cheerfully. “No, no, Molly! It’s of no use -to try to get me into your class in society. I -should merely be a ‘hanger-on’—and I should positively -hate myself for such sycophancy.</p> - -<p>“Let me be myself. I am poor; no getting -around it. Girls from whom I hope to earn money -won’t treat me as their equal. At least, not these -girls at Rivercliff, for the true feeling of ‘equality -in knowledge’ has never become a tenet of this institution, -as it has in so many colleges.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness!” cried Molly. “You mean we are -a school of snobs?”</p> - -<p>“Very near it! very near it!” returned Beth, -allowing herself some small display of malice for -the moment. “But, yet, you are not to be -blamed.”</p> - -<p>“I am sure, Beth Baldwin, you cannot accuse -me——” began Molly, when Beth swooped down -upon her, seized her in her arms, and cried:</p> - -<p>“Don’t be hurt, dear! You are the lovingest -girl that ever lived. But you are not ‘the whole<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span> -push,’ as Marcus would say. You mean well, -and you could influence some of the other girls, I -know; but I would merely cause a schism in the -school if I went your way.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“A few of your nice girls would always be taking -up cudgels for me. That would cause friction -and do me more harm than good. I must quietly -withdraw from too much publicity. Let me go my -own placid way. I positively will not accept any -invitations to private parties of any kind,” and -Beth laughed. “Never again!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Beth! That’s just what we intended to -do. Every girl that likes you agreed to invite you, -one after another, to little parties, and so show -those stuck-up things that you were more and more -popular.”</p> - -<p>“I thought so!” exclaimed Beth, and she smiled -through her tears now. “It is very lovely of -you—and of your friends. But I am going to excuse -myself from all such affairs. Yes, I mean it. -This is my room. Those girls who like me can -always find me here at a proper time. But I shall -make it a rule to attend no other private social -‘orgies.’”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Beth!” wailed Molly, again. “You are -shutting yourself off from everything!”</p> - -<p>“Oh no, dear.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span>“Oh yes, you will!”</p> - -<p>“No. I shall not be shutting myself off from -the most necessary thing in my life here at Rivercliff -School,” Beth declared firmly.</p> - -<p>“For pity’s sake! what is that?”</p> - -<p>“Work. If I am not socially connected with -any clique of girls I shall stand a better chance of -getting work from all.”</p> - -<p>“Cracky-me! What work?” gasped Molly.</p> - -<p>“You didn’t think I was in earnest!” cried Beth.</p> - -<p>“But—but—you have a whole year to think of -work.”</p> - -<p>“No. I have a whole year—or, almost—to -earn what I need for next year. I must take opportunity -by the forelock, for he will certainly be -shaved close for me behind. A regular ‘Riley cut,’ -to quote my slangy brother again. I must not -let the first opportunity get by me.”</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, this expected and much longed-for -opportunity, did not at once appear, as Beth -hoped. She proved to her own satisfaction, however—and -in time to Molly’s—that her attitude -toward the other girls was the wiser one.</p> - -<p>She refused every invitation that came to her, -explaining quietly why in each case. If the girls -wanted her, they were welcome in her room during -the short time in the day when visiting back -and forth was permissible.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span>Many learned to like her—some to admire her—in -that first month of school. Some offered help -that Beth could not accept; but they meant it -kindly. Some few had suggestions that led to the -new girl earning small sums; but nothing regularly.</p> - -<p>Indeed, it was her own bright mind and thought -that opened the first really broad path to a certain -independence. She seized this opportunity by its -forelock at the first monthly social evening of the -whole school, arranged by Miss Hammersly.</p> - -<p>All through the school year these monthly socials -in the huge drawing-rooms were the principal -events of the kind. There was music and dancing -and a collation. Sometimes there were visitors. -The girls looked forward to the parties with delight.</p> - -<p>And as she sat in her pretty poplin in the great -reception hall, quite popular enough, she thought, -Beth had an idea. This season skirts were worn -very short, but the high boots had not come in. -As she glanced up the stairway she had a continual -panorama of silk-clad ankles, as the girls tripped -up and down.</p> - -<p>She already had heard some of the girls complain -of the hard wear their silk stockings received. -Every girl in the school (including -herself) wore some quality of silk hose. The pair<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span> -she had on were darned; but so neatly that it -would have taken very close inspection to discover -the mended place.</p> - -<p>That was one thing Mrs. Baldwin had taught -Beth—how to darn neatly. She sat now, with the -music and confusion about her, and an endless procession -of silk stockings paraded before her mental -vision.</p> - -<p>The very next day she sent off for silks of all -shades, needles, stocking feet of good quality, and -other necessities, and in a week she put Molly’s -artistic ability to the test. Molly demurred at -first; then she entered into the idea hopefully. She -did her very best in lettering the card Beth tacked -up outside of Number Eighty:</p> - -<p class="center">SILK STOCKING HOSPITAL<br> -<br> -<i>Major & Minor Operations Performed</i></p> - -<p>“Well, there’s some fun in <i>that</i>,” admitted the -jolly one. “At least, the sign will make ’em -laugh.”</p> - -<p>But Beth looked for more serious returns than -mere amusement.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XVII<br> - -<small>FLINT AND STEEL</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Meanwhile</span> letters had passed frequently between -Beth and the little cottage on Bemis Street, -Hudsonvale. Ella was Beth’s most frequent correspondent. -The flyaway sister was eager to learn -every particular about Beth’s new environment.</p> - -<p>But Beth was very careful to say nothing in her -letters to those at home to lead them to suspect -that all was not fair sailing for her at Rivercliff. -Having resolved to bear bravely such trials as she -had, Beth was not the girl to weaken.</p> - -<p>She was glad to get the home letters, and those -from Mary Devine and the other girls; but the -letter that secretly pleased her most came from -Larry Haven.</p> - -<p>To her surprise she had learned that Larry, -immediately after she had departed for school, -had taken up his old habit of dropping in frequently -at the Baldwin cottage.</p> - -<p>Ella’s letters were full of “Larry says this” and -“Larry did that” when he was at the house last. -Beth knew he had obtained clients almost at once.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span> -He even would try a case—his maiden case—at -the October Court.</p> - -<p>So his letter, when it came, did not surprise -Beth; and it was evidently written in the first exuberance -of his victory.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="first">“‘<i>Hail to the chief who in triumph advances——</i></div> -<div class="verse"><i>Who falls off his saddle whene’er his steed prances!</i>’”</div> -</div></div> - -<p>the letter began. “‘<i>In hoc signo vinces</i>,’ likewise -‘<i>E pluribus Unum</i>’ and all hands around! I have -arrived. Believe me, Mrs. Euphemia Haven’s -son is being congratulated on the street by the -Elders.</p> - -<p>“A certain man in our town, Who was not wondrous -wise, Jumped into a legal bramble bush, -And scratched out both his eyes. I made him see -his eyes were out, So, with all his might and main, -He jumped into another bush, And scratched them -in again!</p> - -<p>“That, my dear Beth Baldwin, is the sole and -only meaning of ‘going to law.’ A man goes mad -and runs, frothing at the mouth, to another chap, -to whom the law schools and local bar have given -the right to separate him from his money without -giving laughing-gas. Old Coldfoot, next door to -me, is lots nicer to his victims than I am.</p> - -<p>“Well, the chap with the sheepskin shows the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span> -mad man a perfectly obvious thing to do—and -charges him for the advice; and he collects a second -fee when thirteen other men tell the mad man -the obvious thing is correct.</p> - -<p>“This is what I have done, Beth Baldwin. Congratulate -me! All hands think it is wonderful. So -it must be. And I feel that I should have been -broken-hearted if the other side had beaten us.</p> - -<p>“Oh! I <i>was</i> scared before the issue. I thought -I must go to extremes to convince the jury that the -other side hadn’t a leg to stand on. I prepared a -very touching appeal in which I should have begged -the jury for mercy and the Court for clemency -for my client, as though he were convicted -of a capital crime.</p> - -<p>“In the end—oh! let me confess it—our opponent’s -witnesses made out our case for us. I put -in no testimony but our answer, got up and said -ten words, the jury did not leave its seats, and -the good old judge congratulated me upon having -more sense than most fledgling lawyers because I -did not insist upon making a speech.</p> - -<p>“Honestly, Beth, I was greatly relieved when -it was all over. They say I have won my spurs; -but <i>I</i> don’t think the rowels are very sharp yet.”</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>There was more to the jolly letter and Beth -read it over and over again. She was delighted to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span> -hear from Larry; she was delighted, too, to know -that he had succeeded in winning his first case. -Still she wondered. Why had Larry been silent -and kept away from the house during the summer, -and now had become such a steady visitor at the -Bemis Street cottage?</p> - -<p>She knew she had her parents’ sanction to write -to Larry, and she did so in reply to his letter. She -told him much about the school and Molly, and -something about the other girls. She wrote of -what she studied and how she took hold of athletics. -But one thing she did not mention. She -said nothing about the “Silk Stocking Hospital.” -She was not ashamed of working to earn money -for her schooling; yet, somehow, she shrank from -discussing that point with Larry.</p> - -<p>The hospital, so-called, had become an established -institution long before the holidays. Beth -sometimes found it difficult to keep up with the -principal activities of her school life—her lessons, -the compulsory athletic work, and her stocking -darning.</p> - -<p>Miss Hammersly was sharper with her, Beth -thought, than with the other girls, for the very -reason that Beth was striving to do extra work.</p> - -<p>“I want to see you succeed, Miss Baldwin,” -the principal said to her on one occasion; “but -in earning money for your tuition, you must not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span> -lose any of the advantages which the money is -supposed to pay for. I approve of your attempt -at independence only in so far as you neglect no -lessons or other activities that a normal schoolgirl -is supposed to obtain in an establishment of -this kind. You must retain your interest in every -item of school life and work, or your course here -will fail of its end.”</p> - -<p>Beth took this advice to heart. She neglected -nothing which she believed was for her mental or -physical benefit. With Molly she won a place on -the Second Five at basket-ball; and before Christmas -week she had proved herself the superior of -most of the girls on the ice.</p> - -<p>The river was frozen from the docks to the -bend soon after Thanksgiving, and now Beth and -Molly Granger usually ran down the bluff and -spent the hours between daylight and dark, and -before supper, on their skates. Molly admitted -the exercise woke her up after the long day in -classes and gave her spirit for the study hour before -bedtime.</p> - -<p>Beth was not allowed to sit up later than the -other girls, so she usually disappeared right after -supper and sat in Number Eighty, working, with -her darning-basket beside her, until the half-past -eight bell. Then she joined Molly in studying for -the next day’s recitations.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span>She lost that general social hour between supper -and the first bell; so it was true her personal acquaintanceship -among her fellow-students did not -rapidly expand. Yet many came to her for help -in the “hosiery department.”</p> - -<p>“That Baldwin girl in the South Wing darns so -nicely,” one girl said to another. “Why throw -these perfectly good stockings away?”</p> - -<p>“What is it some philosopher said?” Beth asked -her chum, laughingly. “If a man does some one -thing better than anybody else, the world will -beat a path to his door?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” grunted Molly. “But how about the -man who goes in for raising skunks? Guess the -world will beat it the other way from his door, -won’t it?”</p> - -<p>It was not that Beth deprived herself of all -social intercourse with her fellows, but she would -not be tempted to put herself forward or be led -into situations where girls of Maude Grimshaw’s -type could snub her. Since that unlucky night of -the first red masque of the term, Beth had been -able to escape Maude’s particular notice.</p> - -<p>Yet Maude sat directly opposite Beth at table. -The meals at Rivercliff School were social to a -degree. The girls filed into the dining-room in -perfect order and were seated. At once a hum -of conversation arose. The big dining-room<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span> -sounded like a hive of bees. There was no attempt -by the teachers or monitors to quench cheerful -talk and moderate laughter; but even the -primes in their corner could not be boisterous.</p> - -<p>Maude Grimshaw gave many exhibitions of her -boorishness; but usually such occurrences escaped -the notice of the teachers. Having put Beth in -what the rich girl considered “her place,” Maude -did not trouble herself further about the girl from -Hudsonvale.</p> - -<p>Sometimes the waitresses came in for a taste of -Miss Grimshaw’s sharp tongue. She seemed to -have taken a special dislike to Cynthia Fogg, possibly -because she believed Beth to be a friend of -the freckled girl’s, or because the latter had a perfectly -detached and untroubled way of receiving -Miss Grimshaw’s strictures.</p> - -<p>Beth once heard Maude say to Laura Hedden:</p> - -<p>“I even dislike the face of that Fogg girl—‘Cynthie,’ -do they call her? Do you know, she -has the impudence to look like a very dear friend -of mine.”</p> - -<p>“It can’t be!” drawled Laura. “That waitress?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. She really does look something like Miss -Freylinghausen. You’ve heard of the Freylinghausens, -of course. Emeline is an heiress half -a dozen times over. She is traveling in Europe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span> -just now. Oh! we are very good friends. An old -Philadelphia family, you know, the Freylinghausens. -One of the very oldest.”</p> - -<p>So Beth thought that perhaps Cynthia’s unfortunate -resemblance to the heiress of the Freylinghausen -millions was rather a drawback. -Maude evidently did her best, on every occasion, -to be unpleasant to this particular waitress.</p> - -<p>One evening at supper she called across the -table to Beth and Molly, who sat side by side:</p> - -<p>“Say! one of you see if you can wake up that -dummy behind you and get some butter passed this -way. It’s a shame how inattentive that girl is!”</p> - -<p>“Whom are you speaking of?” demanded -Molly, coolly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I forgot! She is a friend of a friend of -yours, Miss Granger,” rejoined Maude, sneeringly. -“I mean that big-footed dummy standing -there—in a <i>fog</i>, of course, as usual.”</p> - -<p>Laura Hedden and one or two other “Me toos” -giggled. Beth could not see Cynthia, but her own -face flushed. Maude looked scornfully across the -table, taking in all three of the girls she disliked -in this glance.</p> - -<p>“I believe you are the very meanest girl who -ever walked on sole-leather!” exclaimed Molly, -but quite low, so that none of the teachers would -hear. “If I were Cynthia I’d box your ears.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span>“I’d like to see her try it!” cried Maude, her -pale face turning red, as it did in a very ugly -fashion whenever she was angry. “I’d teach her -her place——”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure, Miss Grimshaw, that you can -teach me anything?” Cynthia’s low, cultivated -voice broke in, and she laughed, as though the -rich girl’s spitefulness only amused her.</p> - -<p>“How dare you speak to me?” demanded -Maude, starting up. “I’ll report you for this.”</p> - -<p>“And if you dare, Miss Grimshaw,” said Beth, -quietly, “I shall tell madam just what you said -to her.”</p> - -<p>“So will I,” broke in Molly, eagerly. “And -glad to do it!”</p> - -<p>Maude hesitated, then sat down. She knew -that with two against her no story she could tell -the madam would hurt Cynthia Fogg.</p> - -<p>“Well, anyway,” she grumbled, at last, “let -her pass the butter.”</p> - -<p>At that there was general, if subdued, laughter -all about the table; for most of the girls had heard -a part of the controversy. For some time thereafter, -whenever Maude Grimshaw threatened to -fly into one of her tantrums, somebody would be -sure to say:</p> - -<p>“Well, anyway, let her pass the butter!”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XVIII<br> - -<small>ANOTHER BARRIER</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Beth</span> went home to Hudsonvale for the winter -holidays, which lasted till the middle of the first -week in the new year. Molly went with her on -the train, as, of course, navigation on the river -had ceased, keeping on to Hambro—and the seven -aunts—farther down the stream.</p> - -<p>Beth was delighted to see her father and mother -and the children. And many of her old schoolmates -beside Mary Devine came to see her.</p> - -<p>But she did not see Larry. She had heard -from him again, after that first letter; and he had -told her he would be away over the holidays. -Mrs. Euphemia had expressed a sudden wish to -go to Old Point Comfort and had insisted that -Larry go with her.</p> - -<p>“And what the Mater says, goes,” he had written -to Beth. “She’s been awfully good to me—especially -since I came home from the law school. -Why! I never could have afforded such a fancy -office if it hadn’t been for her. She’s bribed me -to take this trip; but I don’t really see how the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span> -local bar is going to get along without me for a -fortnight or three weeks.”</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, Beth felt distinctly disappointed -that Larry was not in Hudsonvale. There was -something lacking in her holiday.</p> - -<p>She had but one other source of worriment. -And that she was not sure should be a worriment.</p> - -<p>She noticed that her father was thinner, grayer, -and that his walk seemed to have less springiness. -She asked him if he did not feel well, and he -laughed at her. Yet the laugh was not convincing.</p> - -<p>She would not whisper to her mother or to the -other children her fears for him. Mr. Baldwin -had always been a thin and wiry man—one of the -kind, as he often said, that wears out, but does not -rust out.</p> - -<p>The holidays, however, were gay. Besides a -party given for her young friends by her mother -on Christmas Eve, Beth went to the usual midwinter -ball at the Town House—a very popular -affair, indeed. She wore the poplin, and she -danced many times with the men and boys who remembered -her from the night of Larry Haven’s -“coming out” party.</p> - -<p>There was one little thing that, strangely -enough, rather marred Beth’s enjoyment of the -evening. She had never put on her pretty frock -at Rivercliff without wishing that she had her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span> -Great-grandmother Lomis’ corals to wear; and -now she suggested to her mother that she be given -a second chance to display her heirloom.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Baldwin suddenly looked troubled—exceedingly -troubled. Hesitatingly, she said: “My -daughter, I do not think it would be wise. You -are really too young to wear such things yet. It -caused, I believe, some comment before.”</p> - -<p>Beth laughed. She would not show her mother -how deeply she was disappointed. “I guess it’s -because Mrs. Haven or Larry will not be there, -isn’t it? You wanted to show me off before them. -Now confess, Mother mine!”</p> - -<p>Her mother seemed unable to laugh at this -pleasantry. But Beth cheerfully put Larry’s present -into the lace at her bosom and went to the -ball. No taxicab this time, although there was -snow on the ground. She carried her slippers, like -most Hudsonvale people, under her arm.</p> - -<p>The holidays slipped away and Beth soon -boarded the train again, finding jolly Molly -Granger, by agreement, in one of the parlor cars. -Molly had a warm invitation for Beth to spend a -part of the summer vacation at Hambro.</p> - -<p>“We’ll neither of us get home at Easter, you -know,” Molly declared. “It’s too far to travel, -and the time’s too short. And, as I tell the aunties, -we’ve got to work.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span>“I shall have to work, that is sure,” proclaimed -Beth. “I’m afraid I spent too much money for -Christmas presents. Oh dear!”</p> - -<p>“How much money have you earned altogether?” -demanded the curious Molly.</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t dare tell you. It might arouse your -cupidity. And there’s only a door between us at -school,” laughed Beth. “But I’ll tell you this: -I put twenty-five dollars in the postal savings bank -at Rivercliff before we came away.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, cracky-me! What a lot!” cried Molly. -“You’ll be a millionairess yet.”</p> - -<p>“Not much, considering what I shall have to -earn before next fall when Rivercliff opens again. -We have to pay half the year’s fees in advance, -you know.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose it does mean a lot of work for you. -My! the aunties think you are wonderful to do -it.”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t done it yet,” sighed Beth. “But I -hope to.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I hope we’ll both have a better half year -this time than the last.”</p> - -<p>Beth looked forward with equal hope, too; but -it proved to be dashed within the month. Her -fears for Mr. Baldwin were realized. Her -mother wrote that he was ill.</p> - -<p>Beth was in some suspense for several days,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span> -for the information at first was very meager. But -finally she learned the particulars. Her father had -been taken with a hemorrhage in the shops—a -strain had brought on the attack, the doctors said. -But the trouble was deeper than that.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“He must stop all indoor work for months—perhaps -he can never go back to the Locomotive -Works,” Mrs. Baldwin wrote. “It is a sad loss; -of course, they will not hold his situation open. -They never do, no matter how long or how faithfully -a man has worked for that corporation.</p> - -<p>“My dear, you must make the most of this -year’s schooling that we have paid for. I am -afraid it will be your last. You cannot look forward -to being a teacher, my poor dear. Marcus -has already got a situation—‘job,’ he calls it. He -insisted. He declares he is going to be the man of -the house till papa gets well.</p> - -<p>“I am sorry for you, Daughter—after all your -high hopes. But there must be some good reason -for it and He will not put upon our shoulders a -harder trouble than we can bear.”</p> -</div> - -<p>Beth could not agree with this doctrine of her -mother’s. Either she was not sufficiently orthodox, -or she had a clearer vision. She knew her -father had been warned years before by physicians<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span> -that his work was not suited to his constitution. -And Mr. Baldwin had made no attempt to change -it.</p> - -<p>“It isn’t fair,” thought the young girl, “to lay -it on God. I could not believe that He is love, -if we suffered such trouble because He willed it. -We have brought it on ourselves—and I guess it’s -our work to hustle around and get the best of this -trouble. Poor papa!”</p> - -<p>She wasted no time in useless worry. First of -all, she drew fifty dollars from the bank and sent -it home.</p> - -<p>“I will not be behind brave, little Marcus,” she -wrote her mother. “I want you to use this. I can -earn more—a lot more. And I’ll earn all I can -before I come home for the summer.”</p> - -<p>She confided in nobody but Molly—and to her -under promise of secrecy. Beth shrank from the -casual sympathy of others. Sympathy of that -quality is so apt to be mixed with curiosity.</p> - -<p>Molly was heart-broken. “Beth Baldwin! -you’ll never leave Rivercliff before your three -years are finished—never! Don’t tell me such a -horrid thing!”</p> - -<p>“I don’t see how it can be helped,” her chum -said. “It is a dreadful blow to my hopes. Don’t -say much about it, Molly dear, or I shall cry.”</p> - -<p>Molly was already frankly sobbing. She ran<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span> -into her own room and came back again in a moment -with her purse. The contents of this she -dumped into Beth’s lap.</p> - -<p>“There!” she sobbed. “You can have all I’ve -got—only say you’ll stay. There’s most as much -as you sent home. I’ll willingly go without bonbons -and ice-cream sodas and furbelows and all -the rest of it, if you’ll take it, dear, and say you’ll -stay the three years out. I’ll give you <i>all</i> my -pocket-money!”</p> - -<p>“You dear goosie!” cried Beth, hugging her -closely in her arms. “Oh! how glad I am that I -have such a friend. But I can’t take your money, -Molly. It would be right for neither you nor -for me. You need bonbons and furbelows just -as much as I need money for other expenses. No, -no, dear! ‘Take back thy gold!’ I am Independent -Elizabeth—and you must not tempt me.”</p> - -<p>Resolved, as before, to earn all the money possible, -Beth did not neglect her studies. Even Miss -Hammersly had to admit that her standing averaged -better and better as the months went on. -She was among the few first students in the so-called -freshman class.</p> - -<p>In Easter week Beth made seventeen dollars -by mending and repairing lace and silk hose. The -news that one of the girls did fine mending spread -outside of the school. Between Rivercliff School<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span> -and the town of Jackson City was a suburban district -occupied by many wealthy and well-to-do people. -Some orders began to come to Beth from -these households.</p> - -<p>The girl sent for a special thread and began to -make a specialty of repairing the fine lingerie of -her more fortunate fellow-students. And this -work increased steadily.</p> - -<p>Saturday afternoon at Rivercliff was always -free. Beth, as the spring advanced, began to refuse -to spend this holiday with Molly and her -friends. “Four whole hours to myself!” she proclaimed -to her disappointed chum. “I cannot spare -them, my child. I must make hay while the sun -shines.”</p> - -<p>“But the sun isn’t shining to-day,” said Molly, -pouting.</p> - -<p>“The more reason, then, that I should get my -cured hay in the barns,” declared Beth, with a -grim little nod. “‘Avaunt! Avaunt! I scorn thy -gold, likewise thy pedigree; I am betrothed to -Ben-ja-min, who sails upon the sea,’” quoted Beth -from a burlesque verse that they were fond of. -“Tempt me not, I tell you.”</p> - -<p>And on this very Saturday afternoon something -happened that made Beth very glad she had remained -in her own room, working. A pair of -very plump bay horses, drawing an old-fashioned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span> -family carriage, came to the main door of the -school, and a footman as fat as the horses, who sat -beside the coachman fatter still, got stiffly down -and puffed up the steps.</p> - -<p>He bore a card which he gave to Miss Small, -who chanced to be in the hall at the moment. The -card read:</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Ricardo Severn</span></p> - -<p>“Does Miss Baldwin live here?” asked the fat -footman, asthmatically.</p> - -<p>“There is such a student,” the under housekeeper -said, wonderingly.</p> - -<p>“My missus sent me for her,” said the man, -blinking sleepily.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Severn?” repeated Miss Small.</p> - -<p>“Oh! who does Mrs. Severn want?” cried -Maude Grimshaw, who chanced to be passing -through the hall and saw the footman’s gorgeous -livery, as well as heard the lady’s name mentioned.</p> - -<p>She came swiftly to the under housekeeper’s side -and whispered: “Mrs. Severn is the e-nor-mously -rich old lady who lives on the Boulevard, in the -stone house, with the parrot and a whole raft of -servants. Who does she want, dear Miss Small?”</p> - -<p>“Miss Baldwin,” puffed the footman, gloomily.</p> - -<p>“Oh!” gasped Maude, taken aback. Then her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span> -venomous tongue came to her rescue: “Of course! -She has heard that one of the girls of Rivercliff -goes out to service, I presume,” and she went -away, laughing scornfully.</p> - -<p>But Miss Small sent Mrs. Severn’s card up to -Beth’s room. However, Maude wrote home that -day and told about the ridiculous way in which -Miss Hammersly was allowing “a pauper girl -named Beth Baldwin to go out to work by the -day like a common servant.”</p> - -<p>As it chanced, Maude’s equally light-headed -mother read this part of her foolish daughter’s -letter to a caller. That caller made inquiries and -learned that Beth came from Hudsonvale. She -knew Mrs. Euphemia Haven of Hudsonvale—had -recently met her at Old Point Comfort.</p> - -<p>Immediately, this mutual friend wrote Mrs. -Haven what Maude had written to her mother. -And something came of that!</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIX<br> - -<small>MR. DENNIS MONTAGUE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Molly Granger</span> had not left Number Eighty-one -when the maid knocked at her chum’s door -with Mrs. Severn’s card and the message. Beth -was not only surprised, but uncertain as to what -she should do.</p> - -<p>“What is it?” whispered Molly, very curious. -“A visitor?”</p> - -<p>“Who is Mrs. Ricardo Severn?”</p> - -<p>“Oh! I know who she is,” cried Molly. “Such -fun! Doesn’t she want you to come down to the -carriage?”</p> - -<p>“No. To go to her house, so the footman -said,” explained the maid. “Mrs. Severn isn’t -in the carriage.”</p> - -<p>“But who is she?” repeated Beth Baldwin.</p> - -<p>“Just the oddest person you ever saw,” Molly -cried. “You <i>must</i> go, Beth.”</p> - -<p>“But, why?”</p> - -<p>“She’s got something for you to do, of course,” -Molly said. “And depend upon it, it will be work -that pays well. They say Mrs. Severn’s house is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span> -just crowded with beautiful things. She’s heard -of you through Mrs. Pepper—you know, the -woman who brought you the baby’s lace dress to -mend that the puppy tried to eat up.”</p> - -<p>“Query: Did the puppy try to eat up the dress, -the baby, or Mrs. Pepper?” demanded Beth, solemnly.</p> - -<p>“Never mind splitting scholastic hairs,” cried -Molly. “You must go!” and she hurried Beth -into her coat and tam-o-shanter.</p> - -<p>When Beth saw the old-fashioned carriage, she -laughed to herself. It was queer. But she noted -that the upholstering of the carriage was very elegant, -indeed, and that the vehicle swung on behind -the fat horses in a very easy fashion.</p> - -<p>She was solemnly deposited at the big stone -house on the Boulevard within a short space of -time. The big footman presented her at the front -door where a second footman, in still more gorgeous -livery, passed her into the house and up the -first flight of stairs.</p> - -<p>Here a maid received Beth, looked her over -carefully as though she feared the girl might have -dynamite concealed about her person, and doubtfully -announced her as “Miz Baldwig.”</p> - -<p>The great room into which Beth was ushered—really -a suite of rooms which had been thrown -into one vast apartment—tapered away from a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span> -first appearance of dim grandeur to a sunny point, -where sat a huge old woman, in a huge morris -chair, with her gouty feet in huge slippers on a -stool, while a green and red parrot, hanging upside -down from its perch, was in a big gilded cage -in the bow window.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Severn was a broad-faced woman, with -several small wens on her cheeks, who would have -been very coarse-featured, indeed, had it not been -for the cheerful smile with which she welcomed -Beth.</p> - -<p>But she could welcome her in no other way at -first, for as the girl marched down the long room -the parrot, still upside down, sang out:</p> - -<p>“Here comes the bride!” and then, in the shrillest -possible whistle, and much out of tune, vented -the Bridal March in a most deafening fashion.</p> - -<p>Beth could see that its mistress was trying to -quiet the parrot. She could see Mrs. Severn’s lips -move, and a frown came upon her brow, above -which both her “false front” and her cap were -awry.</p> - -<p>Finally, losing all patience, she seized a handy -cushion and flung it with evidently practised hand -at the parrot’s cage. The bird broke off short in -his whistling.</p> - -<p>“Drat you, Mr. Montague! Shut up!” cried -Mrs. Severn.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span>“Shut up yourself—and see how <i>you</i> like it,” -croaked the parrot; but he desisted after that and -his mistress and Beth could talk.</p> - -<p>“Mercy!” was the lady’s first comment as Beth -stood before her. “You are only a child!”</p> - -<p>“But grown-up folks are not taught at Rivercliff -School, Mrs. Severn,” Beth returned, with a -smile.</p> - -<p>“I suppose that is so,” agreed Mrs. Severn, -laughing. “But they say you are quite wonderful -at mending.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no,” Beth replied. “Only painstaking.”</p> - -<p>“Why! I guess that must be wonderful in this -day and generation,” and the lady smiled one of -her rare smiles again. “How pretty you are, -child.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Mrs. Severn.”</p> - -<p>“I had much your style of looks and figure when -I was your age, my dear,” said Mrs. Severn, complacently.</p> - -<p>Beth trembled. Then she remembered that, by -no possibility, was there any blood relationship -between her and Mrs. Severn, so there was hope -that she might not, in the end, acquire the good -lady’s present personal appearance.</p> - -<p>“I did not know that any of the students of -Rivercliff had gumption enough to do anything useful,” -went on Mrs. Severn, nodding her head.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span>“Take a seat, my dear. Don’t come too near my -gouty foot. Gout runs in our family—and we date -back to William the Conqueror.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! the noble Duke of York—he had ten -thousand men!” began the parrot, as though feeling -that something was expected of him to substantiate -his mistress’ appeal to ancient history.</p> - -<p>“Shut up, Mr. Montague!” commanded Mrs. -Severn. Then to Beth: “He is a dreadfully saucy -bird. His full name is Mr. Dennis Montague——”</p> - -<p>“Dennis Mudd! Dennis Mudd!” shrieked the -parrot.</p> - -<p>“There! that wicked nephew of mine taught him -that. Roland Severn has no regard for the dignity -of our family name and history, and Montague——”</p> - -<p>“Piffle!” growled the parrot, still swinging upside -down.</p> - -<p>Secretly, Beth thought the parrot and the -nephew were probably both right. But she, nevertheless, -liked Mrs. Severn. The lady proceeded -to show Beth that she approved of her at once.</p> - -<p>“Now, I want your time each Saturday afternoon—oh, -for some weeks. Until the end of this -term, at least,” said the lady. “I have a number -of table-throws and bureau scarfs and the like, -made in the Irish convents, and the carelessness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span> -of my maid in putting them aside and having them -laundered by people who did not know their business, -has almost ruined some of the pieces. It is -very particular work.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I cannot suit you on such fine work, -Mrs. Severn,” said Beth. “But I will try, if you -like.”</p> - -<p>“That is the right answer,” declared Mrs. Severn, -gaily. “From what Mrs. Pepper showed me -I know you will suit.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you.”</p> - -<p>“And you will give me each Saturday afternoon?”</p> - -<p>“Yes—until supper time. We have to report -at that hour unless we have a special permit from -Miss Hammersly.”</p> - -<p>“Very strict, is she?” asked Mrs. Severn.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes. She has to be, with two hundred girls -under her care.”</p> - -<p>“Quite so. Well, under that cloth you will find -some of the articles to be repaired. Look at them -and tell me what you think?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, but I have nothing with me to work with,” -said Beth. “You see, I did not know what was -wanted of me.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not. That makes no difference. I -have you for the afternoon. Is two dollars for -each afternoon you come, too little, my dear?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span>“I should make more than that in my room, -Mrs. Severn,” said Beth, quietly. “I am a rapid -worker, and the girls bring me a great deal of -their mending to do. I should be glad to come to -you each Saturday from half-past one till half-past -five for three dollars. I could not do it for -less.”</p> - -<p>“My! that seems a lot for a child to charge,” -murmured the lady.</p> - -<p>“You can try me one afternoon if you like, and -decide yourself if my work—and the amount I -do—is satisfactory,” the girl said, with dignity.</p> - -<p>“Well,” chuckled the lady, suddenly, “I suppose -I want your company as much as I want anything. -You can talk while you work, can’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes!” laughed Beth, her face brightening. -“Conversation will not be charged for extra.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Severn laughed. Immediately Mr. Dennis -Montague began to cackle, and went into a -veritable spasm of laughter which drowned all -other sounds for the nonce. The parrot was a -jealous bird. He cared only to hear his own voice. -Again he was quenched (for the moment) by a -cushion and the undignified command to “shut -up!”</p> - -<p>Beth saw that Mrs. Severn’s hands and fingers -were swollen with the gout, too—called by more -plebian patients, “rheumatism.” Beth wondered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span> -if she was ever able to get the several costly rings -which were imbedded in the flesh off those swollen -fingers. Mrs. Severn wore, too, an old-fashioned -“sunburst” of considerable value.</p> - -<p>“Now, don’t go,” said the lady, when Beth rose, -considering the bargain completed. “You begin -your work here to-day.”</p> - -<p>“But really, Mrs. Severn, I have nothing with -me to work with. And I do not suppose you have -the proper thread?”</p> - -<p>“Never mind that!” exclaimed the lady. “You -can talk without a needle and thread in your fingers?”</p> - -<p>Beth laughed. “Oh yes. But three dollars for -just talking would be rather an overcharge, -wouldn’t it? And I cannot afford to give my -time.”</p> - -<p>“You are not supposed to,” said Mrs. Severn. -“I admire you for knowing your own mind and -sticking to it. I shall pay for your time this afternoon -just the same if you do not work. Tell me, -Miss Baldwin, why do you have to do this sort of -thing? For I suppose you have to. No person -of your age would rather work than play.”</p> - -<p>“Oh no,” said Beth, hesitating to take the lady -into her complete confidence on such brief acquaintance. -“I do not do it from choice.”</p> - -<p>“Until Mrs. Pepper told me, I had no idea<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span> -that one of the girls at Rivercliff ever did anything -useful.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mrs. Severn! that is hard. We are all -learning.”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes. They stuffed me when I was young -with a lot of nonsense at school. But if the chief -end of a girl’s existence is to get married, what -good do books do her?”</p> - -<p>“Why, that isn’t the chief end of girls of to-day, -Mrs. Severn,” laughed Beth. “At least, not -of the girls I know.”</p> - -<p>“You do not know many of your fellow-students -very well, do you?” asked Mrs. Severn, shrewdly. -“I know that class of young ladies pretty well. -They haven’t, as a rule, a practical idea once in a -year. But you are evidently different.”</p> - -<p>“I am different in that my people are not well-to-do,” -confessed Beth. “I had money enough to -get through one year at Rivercliff. I hoped to -earn enough to pay for two more years. That is -why I began mending for the other girls.”</p> - -<p>“And don’t you expect to accomplish your purpose?” -asked the interested lady.</p> - -<p>“It does not look so now,” said Beth, sadly. -“My father has been taken ill. His income has -stopped. Had my school fees not been paid until -the end of the term I should have gone home at -once. But I am earning all I can to take home in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span> -June with me and try to repay the folks for some -of the money they have spent on me.”</p> - -<p>Beth then turned the current of the conversation -skilfully and got off the subject of herself and her -poverty. Mrs. Severn was really an idle woman -who craved amusement. She had little within herself -to occupy her mind, and had never learned -to occupy her hands.</p> - -<p>Beth extracted some enjoyment out of the afternoon, -however; but when she went the parrot -screamed after her: “I don’t care if you <i>never</i> -come back!”</p> - -<p>She thought, too, that the foreign maid looked -at her with a frown as she watched her through the -hall and down the stairs. There were evidently -two jealous individuals in the great stone house -that did not care to see the mistress of it become -interested in a stranger.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XX<br> - -<small>SOMETHING UNEXPECTED</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Success</span> in life comes from putting to use that -gift, or those gifts, which the individual possesses -and developing such talent to the highest degree -of excellence. That is what Beth had done in -her small way.</p> - -<p>The opportunity to darn silk hose had come her -way, and she had a natural taste for such work -and ability in it, as well as considerable training -from her mother. Out of the “silk stocking hospital” -had grown the other mending. She was in -a fair way to earn sufficient money during the -year, in the vacation and all, to carry her through -the subsequent two school years which she had -originally resolved to obtain at Rivercliff.</p> - -<p>But Mr. Baldwin’s illness seemed to preclude -such an event. Beth kept bravely on with her -work, but with a new resolve.</p> - -<p>She wanted to carry home with her in June as -much money as she could possibly earn with which -to repay the loan she supposed her mother had -made before Beth entered Rivercliff School.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span>In writing home Beth said very little about -future plans, or even about her immediate work. -That she was very busy, both with her books and -outside work, they knew. Twice a week she heard -from either her mother or Ella. Sometimes Marcus -wrote.</p> - -<p>Marcus was particularly proud of the fact that -he had obtained a paying “job.” He brought his -four dollars home each Saturday night, and felt -himself to be a man.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“He is getting to be insufferably important,” -Ella wrote. “If he could raise whiskers there -would be no living in the house with him. I believe -he has been pricing safety razors at the -cutlery store. I tell him he will first have to lather -his face with cream and let the cat lick it off.”</p> -</div> - -<p>To tell the truth, Beth felt sometimes that Marcus -was doing much more for the family than she -ever could—and she was so much older. Of -course, if she could have carried through her -plans, in the end she might have been the family’s -main support if her father’s illness continued. -Now——</p> - -<p>All her plans had tumbled. She could not see -ahead. Living from day to day was not an easy -thing for Beth Baldwin.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span>Soon after her father was taken ill she heard -from Larry. He expressed his sorrow for Mr. -Baldwin’s condition; and Beth knew he was at the -Bemis Street cottage just as frequently as before -the holidays. But Larry said nothing in his letter -regarding the change the event of her father’s illness -must make in Beth’s plans for an education.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Ella wrote: “Larry comes and potters around -with papa in the old shop, sometimes for a whole -afternoon at a time. I guess his clients aren’t -keeping him so awfully busy. He isn’t so much -fun as he used to be. But the other night he took -all us kids to the picture show.”</p> -</div> - -<p>Mr. Baldwin was up and about; but his strength -did not return and the doctor would not hear of -his attempting any regular work. Beth knew her -father had half a dozen different inventions partly -finished—Mr. Baldwin laughingly called them -“dinkuses”—in the old shop in the back yard, over -which he sometimes worked. He never expected -to make anything of the machines.</p> - -<p>It was several weeks after Beth began to work -for Mrs. Ricardo Severn on Saturday afternoons -that she heard again from Larry, and that in a -most unexpected way. But first something happened -to Cynthia Fogg.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span>All this time Beth had sought Cynthia from -time to time when opportunity afforded, and -showed the girl that she felt more than an ordinary -interest in her. Cynthia was not of a particularly -grateful disposition, perhaps; or else she did not -consider that she needed the interest or sympathy -of anybody. But with Beth she was always much -franker than with any one else.</p> - -<p>That she made a good waitress or maid it could -not be said with truth. She did not, indeed, seem -to care whether she really suited madam or not. -Yet the madam, so particular and exact with every -other girl on her staff, seemed rather lenient with -Cynthia.</p> - -<p>Was it because she felt Cynthia Fogg to be, -somehow, different from the other maids in her -employ?</p> - -<p>Beth retained her habit of early rising. Sometimes, -indeed, she worked a little before the first -bell—especially as the days grew longer.</p> - -<p>But almost always when she was up an hour or -more before the rising bell rang, she took a run -out of doors—a very excellent practice, indeed, -for one working as hard as she did.</p> - -<p>As, at that hour, only the front door was unlocked, -Beth usually ran down that way. So she -frequently saw Cynthia Fogg and spoke to her, as -the latter dusted the furniture and woodwork.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span>Madam Hammersly, with her cambric handkerchief, -which all her maids learned to fear, was -always up early, and many a little talk did the -madam and Beth have together. Sometimes, too, -would Beth hear her complain to Cynthia of her -lack of attention to her duties.</p> - -<p>“I can never teach you the importance of trifles, -Cynthia,” the madam said in Beth’s hearing on -one occasion. “How many months have you been -with me?”</p> - -<p>“Almost nine now, Madam,” said Cynthia, -briskly. “We ought to know each other pretty -well, don’t you think so?”</p> - -<p>“Girl! it is only necessary that you should know -your work. My character has nothing to do with -the matter,” said the madam, stiffly.</p> - -<p>“Goodness!” drawled Cynthia. “Don’t you see -that it has? If you were not so particular——”</p> - -<p>“Cynthia! how dare you?”</p> - -<p>“Madam?” replied the freckled girl, raising her -eyebrows and turning the full battery of her saucy -blue eyes on Madam Hammersly.</p> - -<p>“If you were not a homeless and friendless orphan——”</p> - -<p>“Who has saved almost a hundred dollars out -of her wages these past eight months, Madam, so -don’t let that bother you,” interposed the girl, flippantly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span>“You are discharged!” exclaimed Madam -Hammersly, finding the girl’s impudence past bearing.</p> - -<p>“You dear!” retorted Cynthia, in her very pleasantest -tone of voice.</p> - -<p>“You shall go at once, girl—this very day!” -and the angry madam almost sputtered.</p> - -<p>“I just love you for it!” said Cynthia. “You -don’t know how I have fairly hungered to be discharged!”</p> - -<p>She tossed the feather-duster on one of the great -settees, her cap and apron after it, and, humming -a tune, departed for the rear premises. Beth, who -stood by with coat and hat on, had been horrified.</p> - -<p>The madam was really in tears—none the less -sad to see because they were tears of rage. Beth -could not forgive Cynthia Fogg for her callousness -and flippancy. But at first she dared not -speak.</p> - -<p>When, however, she saw the madam pick up -the duster and attempt to reach the top of the pictures -with it, Beth interfered. She took off her -cap and coat and laid them on a chair. Then she -took the duster from the lady with a decisive hand.</p> - -<p>“Let me finish here, Madam Hammersly. I -shall like to,” said Beth. “And I’ll put on Cynthia’s -apron and cap, and do it in style. I am -sorry she has acted so, Madam—and after all your<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span> -kindness to her,” added Beth. “But I dare you -to find any dust after I get through,” and she -finished with a laugh, giving the madam a chance -to recover her wonted calm.</p> - -<p>“But, my dear Miss Baldwin,” Madam Hammersly -finally said weakly, “what—what will my -daughter—and the instructors—say?”</p> - -<p>Beth looked over her shoulder roguishly. “I -don’t believe they will see me,” she whispered, -“for they are none of them up.”</p> - -<p>“But the other young ladies?” put forth the -madam.</p> - -<p>“I might say the same about most of them,” -laughed Beth. “But I will say instead: What if -they should see me?”</p> - -<p>“It—it might cause comment,” said the madam, -doubtfully.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, the substitute parlor-maid was going -briskly about the work Cynthia Fogg had left -undone. Madam Hammersly ceased objecting, -sat down upon one of the hall chairs, smoothed out -her black silk dress, and watched Beth.</p> - -<p>In twenty minutes the reception hall was finished, -baseboards wiped, and the walls brushed -as high up as Beth could reach with the feather -duster. Then the girl went over the polished balustrade -of the stairway again with the soft dustcloth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span>“There!” she said, with satisfaction. “I don’t -think you will find any dust here now, Madam. -Try your handkerchief.”</p> - -<p>“No, my child,” sighed the lady, nodding her -head. “I have watched you. That is sufficient. -You are thorough. You see the importance of -trifles. I wish I had a girl to train like you.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think I could suit you, Madam?” asked -Beth, demurely.</p> - -<p>“Indeed, I am sure of it,” cried Madam Hammersly, -vigorously.</p> - -<p>“By getting to work at half-past five and working -till seven, I could dust the stairway and hall -and one of the drawing-rooms each morning. -Then, in the hour between three and four in the -afternoon except Saturdays, when I could start -half an hour earlier in the morning, I could do the -other drawing-room.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness me, child!” exclaimed the madam, -rising quickly. “What are you saying?”</p> - -<p>“I am applying for the position that I see is -open, Madam,” said Beth, laughing. “If you -think I’d suit——”</p> - -<p>“But, child!” gasped the madam. “Can you -do it with your manifold other duties?”</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Beth, laughing outright, “my -mother says that the only people in the world who -find time to do extra work are the busy people.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span>“Perhaps she is correct,” agreed the lady, -though somewhat slowly. “I—I do not know -what to say, my dear.”</p> - -<p>“Say yes. I will go right ahead and do the -south drawing-room this morning. Then this -afternoon, in my free hour, I will do the north -room. Is it agreed?”</p> - -<p>The madam showed weakness at that moment. -She believed Beth would make a “perfect treasure” -of a parlor-maid. So she said: “Yes.”</p> - -<p>Beth ran upstairs just as the rising bell rang, -and removed the cap and apron in her room. She -hid them away and said nothing about the dusting, -not even to Molly.</p> - -<p>By “grapevine telegraph” Maude Grimshaw -learned before breakfast that Cynthia Fogg was -going. She was delighted.</p> - -<p>“What did I tell you?” she asked loudly, at the -table. “I told you I would not stand that impudent -waitress remaining here. No, indeed!” and -she tossed her head as though it were by her influence -that Cynthia had received her discharge.</p> - -<p>“Pass the butter!” said somebody, in a sepulchral -voice, and the whole table tittered, while -Miss Grimshaw flushed red, leaving the table abruptly.</p> - -<p>Molly learned that Cynthia would not leave the -premises till afternoon. The down boat stopped<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span> -at the Rivercliff landing at four-thirty. So Beth -took her time about seeing the departing girl.</p> - -<p>Of course, Cynthia was her senior, and, after -all, a much more sophisticated girl than Beth. -Yet the latter felt somewhat responsible for the -freckled one.</p> - -<p>At least, had it not been for her and Molly, -Cynthia Fogg would not have come to Rivercliff -School to work. And it hurt Beth to think that -she was going away under such circumstances.</p> - -<p>She believed the madam must have really liked -the strange girl, or she would never have kept her -so long; for Cynthia had done none of her work -well. Miss Small whispered that Cynthia had -been the slowest and most careless girl that had -ever worked in the house—and yet Madam Hammersly -had borne with her.</p> - -<p>When Beth saw Cynthia to bid her good-bye -she did criticize the freckled girl’s course. “You -might have tried to please the madam—she was -so kind to you,” Beth said.</p> - -<p>“Goodness me!” smiled Cynthia. “Are housemaids -ever grateful? I didn’t know it. And, to -tell the truth, Miss Baldwin, I don’t think they -have much to be grateful for.</p> - -<p>“I was put at the top of the house to sleep, in -a stuffy little room with a window that would open -only a few inches at the bottom, and with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span> -coarsest of bed clothing, and a rag of a carpet on -the floor. We were expected to keep our rooms -neat, and there was little pleasure in doing so, for -they were so ugly—and everything in them so -ugly—that one could not make them livable. My -bureau had only three legs and the mirror was -cracked. And in the cold weather! Why, the -halls up there are barely warm. You can’t tell -me anything about what maids have to put up with -hereafter. When I go back——”</p> - -<p>“Go back where?” asked Beth, pointedly. “To -the institution you ran away from?”</p> - -<p>“Well! And if I did it would be no worse, at -least,” and Cynthia’s wonderful eyes smiled again, -lighting up her freckled face and making it very -attractive for the moment.</p> - -<p>“But don’t you worry over what is to become -of me, dear girl! I have nearly a hundred dollars, -and it will last me a long time. I am all -right. I will write you when I get settled.”</p> - -<p>That afternoon Beth stole down in Cynthia’s -discarded cap and apron, opened the north drawing-room -and began her dusting. The madam -was on hand, evidently to see if Beth kept her -part of the contract, and hardly had Beth begun -her work when Cynthia, dressed for departure, -appeared in the reception hall.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Madam Hammersly!” she said cheerfully,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span> -“I must bid you good-bye before I go. I hope -you will get another girl to suit you better than I -could—— What! Beth Baldwin? Are you doing -my work?”</p> - -<p>“No, Cynthia, I am doing my own work,” -laughed Beth.</p> - -<p>“And much better than I could ever do it, I -warrant,” laughed the older girl. “Well, Madam, -I know that you will be perfectly satisfied with -Miss Baldwin. Good-bye!”</p> - -<p>“That is not the door for the serving people to -use, and you know it well, Cynthia,” said the -madam, her voice shaking.</p> - -<p>“Bless your dear heart! I know it,” and Cynthia’s -laugh was mellow and her manner unruffled. -“But I came in this way and I might as well depart -like a lady too.”</p> - -<p>Suddenly she seized the madam around the -neck and planted a warm kiss upon either of her -wrinkled cheeks. “You are a dear!” she repeated. -“Good-bye!”</p> - -<p>The next moment she had flashed through the -open door and out over the porch and down the -steps—just as a motor-car stopped before the -door. Madam Hammersly stood, actually thunderstruck -at the liberty Cynthia had taken, so only -Beth saw the young man who alighted from the -car.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span>The chauffeur was about to start again when -Cynthia spoke to him, and then stepped into the -tonneau and was whisked away. For a servant -she certainly was departing in style from Rivercliff -School.</p> - -<p>But Beth was looking at somebody besides Cynthia. -She saw the young man turn and stare after -the departing girl; then he came slowly up the -steps.</p> - -<p>It was Larry Haven. He caught sight of Beth -standing just inside the hall door and his face -brightened. He sprang forward, exclaiming:</p> - -<p>“Beth! Why, Beth Baldwin! How lucky to -see you at once!” and Beth met him quite as -warmly, forgetting all about Madam Hammersly’s -presence, and put both her hands—one still holding -the dustcloth—in Larry’s gloved ones.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXI<br> - -<small>THE BURIAL OF FRIENDSHIP</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Both</span> the young people were for the moment -quite unconscious of Madam Hammersly’s presence. -They shook hands longer than was necessary, -and burbled inconsequential questions and -answers, as most people do to hide their deepest -feelings. Beth’s black eyes sparkled through a -film of teardrops and Larry’s blue eyes expressed -all the admiration they were capable of showing.</p> - -<p>But he said: “How nice to see you again, Beth. -Say! is there a girl going to school here named -Freylinghausen?”</p> - -<p>“Freylinghausen?” repeated Beth, puzzled, yet -feeling that the name struck some chord of memory.</p> - -<p>“Yes. Miss Freylinghausen, of Philadelphia. -No end of a swell——”</p> - -<p>“We have plenty of that kind here, Larry,” -said Beth, her eyes twinkling and the dimples coming -into her cheeks at the call of mischief. “But -I do not think that a girl of that name attends -Rivercliff School.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span>“Why! I just saw her come out. She passed -me on the steps. She took the car I rode up in -just now,” cried Larry, rather excitedly. “I met -her once with a party of Philadelphians that came -to New York——”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my dear!” laughed Beth. “That was Cynthia -Fogg.”</p> - -<p>“Who was? The girl I met in New York?”</p> - -<p>“No. The girl who just went out. She—she—she -has been doing parlor-maid’s work here, -and has just been discharged.”</p> - -<p>She said this so low that Madam Hammersly -could not hear it. Then she wheeled and led -Larry toward the austere looking lady in the background.</p> - -<p>“I beg your pardon, Madam Hammersly,” -Beth said. “This is my very oldest friend, Mr. -Lawrence Haven. He is just like an elder brother -to me, and comes from my home.”</p> - -<p>The madam welcomed Larry with some cordiality. -She evidently liked the young man’s appearance. -After a minute or two of conversation, -Beth asked, placidly:</p> - -<p>“May Larry sit down here in the drawing-room, -Madam, while I finish my dusting? We can talk -just as well.”</p> - -<p>“Why—yes, child. I see no objection,” replied -the madam, yet looking at Beth oddly.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span> -“Would you not rather postpone the—er—assistance -you were so kindly rendering me until your -guest has gone?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, Madam,” Beth said brightly. “Can’t -afford to put it off till later. Mother always says, -‘Later never strikes by our clock.’ And Larry -has often bothered me while I did housework.”</p> - -<p>Larry said nothing. His face, however, was a -study. He followed Beth with some hesitation -into the north room. The madam, who believed -in the proprieties, remained just out of earshot.</p> - -<p>“Now tell me about everything and everybody, -Larry,” Beth said blithely, recommencing -her dusting. “You may sit in that corner by the -door. I have dusted there.”</p> - -<p>“But, Beth!” gasped Larry. “What does this -mean?”</p> - -<p>“What does what mean?”</p> - -<p>“This—er—masquerade?” he said, pointing to -her cap and apron.</p> - -<p>“I’ll have you know, sir, this is no masquerade,” -cried the girl, laughing. “This cap and apron are -the badges of independence.”</p> - -<p>“Independence!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir. I have taken Cynthia Fogg’s place. -She did not suit. I am going to earn real money -by doing parlor-maid’s work—if I can satisfy -Madam Hammersly.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span>“But, Beth!” Larry repeated. “What—what -will people say?”</p> - -<p>“What people?”</p> - -<p>“The—the young ladies here at school?”</p> - -<p>“Why, they don’t care who keeps the furniture -polished,” and Beth laughed again, but she shot -her friend a penetrating glance.</p> - -<p>“How about Miss Hammersly—the principal? -I should think she would not allow such a thing. -Why, Beth! it is dreadful!”</p> - -<p>“What is dreadful?” she asked him, with sudden -tenseness in her tone. “My earning money in -an honorable way? Why, Larry, you know I -came to Rivercliff with that expectation.”</p> - -<p>“But this—er—domestic service,” he said -faintly. Then, with sudden heat: “And is it true -that you go out—by the day—to people’s houses—to -do such work?”</p> - -<p>“Not just like this, Larry,” said the girl, gently, -and still watching him covertly.</p> - -<p>“But it seems too dreadful! Does your mother -know it?”</p> - -<p>“I presume she has her suspicions,” and Beth -laughed shortly.</p> - -<p>“I don’t mean to offend you——”</p> - -<p>“Then let us talk of something else, dear Larry, -for I see that we never shall agree in this matter. -I will tell you that mother borrowed from some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span> -one four hundred dollars to pay for my first year -at school here. I must pay that sum back, for, -with father out of work, my education must cease -with the completion of the term paid for. Now! -we will drop it. How is father?”</p> - -<p>Larry, too, tried his best to get away from the -subject, and to talk pleasantly of home affairs. -But how could he ignore Beth’s domestic activities -when she kept on busily dusting all through his -visit?</p> - -<p>The drawing-room was finished, Larry’s call -came to an end, and her free hour was over, all -at the same time. She went composedly with him -to the front door, removing her cap and apron as -she heard the girls come out of the lecture room -above. Madam Hammersly had stolen away and -left them alone.</p> - -<p>“Good-bye, Larry,” Beth said calmly, giving -him her hand. “Remember me to everybody at -home.”</p> - -<p>Larry looked away. He coughed, tried to clear -his throat, attempted to say something, and then -suddenly looked around to find his hand empty -and that the door had been gently closed behind -him.</p> - -<p>Beth went trippingly up to her next recitation, -appeared as usual at supper, and spent some time -at her mending afterward. When Molly came upstairs,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span> -the two chums spent an hour conning the -problems for the next day, and Beth showed no -shadow of the pain that throbbed within her with -every beat of her pulse.</p> - -<p>When the lights were out, however, and a wind-driven -moon peered in at the window of Number -Eighty, South Wing, it caught Beth Baldwin lying -wide-awake upon her pillow, and that pillow wet -with bitter, bitter tears. She was busily engaged -in burying a friendship that had begun with her -very first childish remembrances.</p> - -<p>This day—the one on which Cynthia Fogg departed -and Larry Haven called—was the last day -of mark for Beth in this year at Rivercliff School.</p> - -<p>Of course, other important things happened—very -important, indeed, to Miss Hammersly’s -graduating class. But little save lessons and the -usual grind of daily duties seemed to stir the life -of the freshmen and the sophomores.</p> - -<p>Beth continued to mend and patch for her clientele -up to the very last week of school. She would -carry home nearly one hundred dollars with her.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Ricardo Severn had continued to be Beth’s -very good friend. Although the girl earned quite -all she was paid at the big stone house on the -Boulevard in mending Mrs. Severn’s drawn-work -and laces, she was really of the most value through -her cheering presence.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span>But the foreign maid and the parrot continued -to look askance at the pretty schoolgirl, whom the -former continued to announce as “Miz Baldwig.” -As for Mr. Dennis Montague, or “Dennis -Mudd,” as the bird preferred to call himself, he -stared always at Beth with little, evil, red eyes, -and the girl was careful never to go too near when -the cage door was open.</p> - -<p>“And, my dear,” begged Mrs. Severn, “don’t -ever ask him if he wants a cracker. That always -throws Mr. Montague into a rage!”</p> - -<p>Beth saw Mrs. Severn the Saturday afternoon -before school closed for the year. The lady dismissed -her kindly, making Beth promise that, if -she should come back to Rivercliff for another -term, she would take up her work at Severn Lodge -just where she laid it down.</p> - -<p>The parrot yelled after her for the last time, -“I don’t care if you <i>never</i> come back!” The foreign -maid scowled her down the grand stairway; -and Beth went away feeling really sorry to be -parted from Mrs. Severn.</p> - -<p>The next few days were those of hurry and -bustle incident to the closing of any large school; -and finally Beth and Molly were off on the <i>Water -Wagtail</i> again for their trip down the river—and -home.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXII<br> - -<small>A RENEWED RESOLVE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Beth</span> only half promised to go to Hambro later -in the summer to visit Molly Granger and the -seven aunts. She was not at all sure that she could -accomplish it, for she did not know exactly how -she should find things at home.</p> - -<p>Molly said: “If you don’t come, Bethesda, I’ll -advance on Hudsonvale some day soon, with all -the aunts at my back, and like a crew of brigands -we will capture you and carry you bodily away.”</p> - -<p>There was more cheerfulness in the atmosphere -at home than Beth expected to find. Mr. Baldwin -had obtained some light work that paid a few -dollars every week, Marcus had been raised by his -employer to five dollars, and the family in the -Bemis Street cottage was getting along fairly well.</p> - -<p>Of course, there were no new dresses, and Mrs. -Baldwin was doing her own washing and ironing -with the smaller girls’ help, while what came upon -the table was very plain. “We fortunately have -no rent to pay, and the taxes are small,” Mrs. -Baldwin said.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span>When Beth produced the hundred dollars she -had saved, her mother really seemed more -troubled than amazed.</p> - -<p>“Why—why, Beth! you are quite wonderful. -I will put it with that other fifty you sent——”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t you used that?” cried her daughter.</p> - -<p>“No, my dear. We have not had to.”</p> - -<p>“We’ve nearly half the sum you borrowed for -me, and can soon pay it all back, for I shall get -more work this summer,” Beth declared briskly. -“I shall start right out to call upon the folks in -town and show them the work I can do mending -lace and silk hose and the like. I can make more -at such work, if I can get enough of it to do, than -I possibly could in a store or at the factory.”</p> - -<p>“But, my dear child——”</p> - -<p>“It is my duty to do it, Mamma—and I love it,” -Beth said firmly. “The money you borrowed was -spent for me. I’ll make up the whole in time.”</p> - -<p>“It was not a loan to be paid back—at once,” -said Mrs. Baldwin, desperately.</p> - -<p>“Why, Mamma! what do you mean? All loans -must be paid.”</p> - -<p>“At least,” the troubled mother hastened to -add: “You are not to try to repay it. This hundred -and fifty dollars you have earned so bravely -in your school year, must be kept to help pay your -next year’s fees at Rivercliff.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span>“Oh, Mother! I cannot do it,” cried Beth. “I -must help you here. It is only right that I should.”</p> - -<p>“Let me be the judge of that, Daughter,” Mrs. -Baldwin said. “I thought you had resolved to -win your teacher’s certificate—and at Rivercliff?”</p> - -<p>“But, how can I?” murmured Beth. “It is impossible.”</p> - -<p>“It seems to me,” and Mrs. Baldwin’s eyes -twinkled a little now, “that you have proved quite -the contrary. I am proud of you. You have done -so well according to your school reports, and been -able to earn so much money, too, that I feel you -are to be highly commended. I wonder what -Euphemia will say?”</p> - -<p>Beth looked at her mother sharply. In that -moment she guessed half her mother’s secret. The -four hundred dollars had been loaned by Larry’s -mother!</p> - -<p>She felt that she could say nothing to her -mother about it. The subject of the supposed loan -and her possible return to Rivercliff in the autumn -was avoided by both of them for a time. Meanwhile, -however, Beth thought deeply about it.</p> - -<p>If there was anybody in the world to whom -Beth did not wish to feel indebted, it was to Mrs. -Euphemia Haven. She could scarcely have told -why had she been taxed with the question. She -certainly had no dislike for Larry’s mother; only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span> -she always felt that the lady was patronizing her -and trying to push her aside.</p> - -<p>She might have guessed before, Beth told herself, -that Mrs. Haven was the only person her -mother could possibly have borrowed four hundred -dollars from—and without security. So that -was how, the summer before, Larry had known -that she was going away to school and when, and -so had filled her stateroom aboard the <i>Water -Wagtail</i> with flowers.</p> - -<p>Beth suspected, from what Larry let drop when -he called at Rivercliff, that he had come there for -the special purpose of learning if reports his -mother had evidently heard of Beth’s work were -true.</p> - -<p>“And he got his answer—with a vengeance,” -sighed Beth.</p> - -<p>She believed that now Mrs. Haven must be -sorry that she had lent the money to pay for the -first year’s expenses at Rivercliff. “Of course, my -earning money in the way I do has disgusted her. -And Larry——”</p> - -<p>She could not bear to think of her old friend. -Never—till the day she died—could she have just -the same measure of affection for a friend that she -had for Larry Haven!</p> - -<p>He must have known that his mother had loaned -the four hundred dollars which Beth had mentioned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span> -at their last interview—the day Larry -called at Rivercliff School. He knew then that -Beth was intent upon paying that loan with the -money she earned. And here was her mother desiring -her to go on with her education, and so -necessarily postponing the evil day of payment -into the future.</p> - -<p>Beth did not know what to do. It was evident -her mother did not wish to discuss the loan—did -not wish to be questioned about it. Beth had been -brought up too strictly to doubt her parents’ judgment.</p> - -<p>And now, soon after her return home, came -kind Mr. Lomax, the principal of the high school, -to congratulate her on her standing at Rivercliff.</p> - -<p>He brought with him, too, a letter he had received -from Miss Hammersly. Although that -good woman had said nothing to Beth before she -came home for the summer, in this letter she begged -Mr. Lomax to use his influence with Beth’s -family, that they would allow her to complete her -course at Rivercliff.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“I do not approve, as a general rule, of my -girls working as many hours or as hard as Miss -Baldwin does to earn money to pay school expenses,” -wrote Miss Hammersly. “Usually, the -girls who have to struggle so to achieve the bare<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span> -necessities through school and college, are the ones -who, after all, gain but a superficial benefit from -the educational courses. The work they must do -to live comes first with them, as is natural. They -fall behind in their school work. Not so with -Miss Baldwin. I am proud of her and I want to -see her finish her course so auspiciously begun.”</p> -</div> - -<p>“Somehow, Mrs. Baldwin,” Mr. Lomax said -to Beth’s mother, “you must push Elizabeth on. -She must continue her course at Rivercliff. Why! -it will be a distinct loss to the educational community -if she does not become a teacher.”</p> - -<p>“I do not know how that may be,” said Mrs. -Baldwin, quietly; “but I do know that I want Beth -to continue at the school. At first, when Mr. Baldwin -was taken ill, I did not see how we could accomplish -it. But now, by her own exertions, she -has proved that it is possible. Why! she has already -in hand enough to pay the first half of next -year’s expenses.”</p> - -<p>So it was settled. Beth renewed her resolve -and, as Marcus said, “buckled down to work.”</p> - -<p>She had cards printed, and with them she went -from house to house in the better residential sections -of Hudsonvale and the neighboring towns, -showing samples where she could of her really -beautiful work. Both Mrs. Baldwin and Beth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span> -had a “sleight,” as old-fashioned people called it, -with the needle—especially on such fine work as -Beth now essayed.</p> - -<p>“You work up a good trade this summer, -Daughter,” said the practical Mrs. Baldwin, “and -I’ll hold it for you until next long vacation. Ella -is getting such a big girl now, and Prissy is so -helpful, that I can do it.”</p> - -<p>Beth had already shown her own capability in -getting ahead. She was not afraid to ask for -work, and where she was allowed to show specimens -of mending she was almost sure of being -engaged for similar tasks.</p> - -<p>One thing she would not do, and her mother -suggested it only once—and that faintly. Beth -refused to take her samples of work to the Haven -place and ask Mrs. Haven to recommend her to -her friends.</p> - -<p>Everybody who could afford it in Hudsonvale -went away for at least a fortnight in the summer, -and Mrs. Haven and her son went to some northern -resort soon after Beth came home from Rivercliff; -so it was not strange that Beth saw little of -Larry, even in the most casual way, during the vacation.</p> - -<p>She was once during the summer at a simple -evening party, dressed in the poplin, refurbished -with new ribbons, and Larry unexpectedly dropped<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span> -in. He devoted himself to her entertainment for -a part of the evening and, quite as a matter of -course, saw her home.</p> - -<p>Both talked very fast, and about perfectly uninteresting -matters, all the way—both too nervous -and excited to know afterward just what either -had said—and parted with a handclasp at Beth’s -gate.</p> - -<p>Several times, however, during the later summer, -Larry was at the Bemis Street cottage to see -Mr. Baldwin. Beth’s father and the young man -usually remained closeted together for some time, -and once Mr. Baldwin came into the sitting room -after such an interview, smiling broadly.</p> - -<p>“Let me tell you,” he said, “that young chap -has got something in his head that didn’t have to -be put there by a surgical operation!” But just -what he meant by this commendation he did not -explain.</p> - -<p>Beth was very successful that summer, and for -a girl, earned a good deal of money with her nimble -fingers. It was a fact that she had remarkable -talent for the occupation she had taken up. People -who own nice laces and the like, are only too -glad to pay a commensurate price for their restoration -by skilful workwomen.</p> - -<p>She had put her acceptance of Molly Granger’s -invitation to Hambro off as late in the summer as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span> -she could. But now, finally, Molly threatened so -seriously to lead a pirate band of aunts into the -Bemis Street camp, that it was decided Beth must -go to her chum’s. And she welcomed the diversion, -too.</p> - -<p>She went to Hambro by boat, of course; and -the day of her departure on this outing she received -a letter from long silent Cynthia Fogg. It -was rather a queer letter, too—just as queer as the -girl herself!</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Are you going to return to Rivercliff School?” -was a part of the epistle. “I’ve heard your father -is ill and that you are not going back there. Tell -me if this is so at once.... I have a good job -and all is well with me.”</p> -</div> - -<p>There was something so insistent about that -question that Beth wrote at once, reassuring her -strange friend, that she was to return to Rivercliff. -Cynthia’s address was on Dekalb Avenue, -Philadelphia. Beth wondered what part of the -city that was—whether it was in the wealthy residential -portion, where presumably Cynthia had -secured her “good job,” or among the poor of -the Quaker metropolis. Beth did not believe that -it could be at the orphanage in which Cynthia presumably -had been brought up.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span>Beth had looked forward to her visit to Molly -and the seven aunts with a great deal of satisfaction -and curiosity; nor was she disappointed. It -proved interesting and she made seven very lovely -friends. The aunts and Molly lived together in a -big house in the better residential section of Hambro, -and were, indeed, quite the most important -people, socially, in the whole town.</p> - -<p>Aunt Celia liked Beth because she really was -a student and loved books. Molly’s eldest aunt -spent her days in a comfortable chair in her own -sitting room, reading—and reading the solid, not -to say stolid works of certain English authors who -have mostly gone out of fashion in this day.</p> - -<p>Aunt Catherine—almost always suffering from -a cold in the head and never by any possibility -going out of doors without overshoes—was considered -delicate by all the family. She confided to -Beth her favorite remedies for most diseases, from -cholera to housemaid’s knee.</p> - -<p>Auntie Cora was society’s devotee—a little, -bustling woman, who was the cheerfulest company -and never talked of anything that amounted (so -Aunt Celia said) to “a row of beans.” She took -Beth and Molly to afternoon teas to show them -off, and drove with them in borrowed coupés behind -stiff-backed coachmen and footmen through -the pleasant roads around Hambro.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span>Aunt Carrie, the maritime one, took Beth to her -room and displayed for her admiration much of -the wedding finery she had been preparing with her -own hands through a series of heart-hungering -years, against the time when her captain should -come home and settle down.</p> - -<p>“John has not had his own ship very long. He -must first lay aside a competence—and for years -he had a father and a mother to support. But -this voyage to the East and one more will ‘complete -the tally,’ he says,” and she blushed very -prettily, for she was a sweet maiden lady with all -the modesty of a girl.</p> - -<p>On a teakwood table in a corner of her room—a -present from the captain, of course—was a mariner’s -chart on which every day was faithfully -pricked the possible course of the ship <i>Rollingsgate</i>—a -huge fourmaster.</p> - -<p>“I correct it by John’s letters,” Aunt Carrie -said. “And really, it is quite surprising to see how -close I come to it—sometimes.”</p> - -<p>She had learned the elements of navigation, too, -so as to know more about John’s calling. To -Beth’s mind this romance of the maiden lady was -the very sweetest of which she had ever heard.</p> - -<p>Aunt Charlotte, the plump, capable aunt, was -housekeeper, and was of a much more practical -nature than the other “Granger girls,” as Hambro<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span> -people knew them. Aunt Cassie actually had an -attack of croup while Beth was in the house.</p> - -<p>“And if you can beat that in August, I wish -you’d tell me!” Molly exclaimed.</p> - -<p>Aunt Cassie’s whole existence, it seemed, had -been one series of coughs and colds. Aunt Cyril -was very kind to Beth, but rather aloof. She could -not wholly approve of a girl who did housework -for her school tuition. Yet she was too sweet and -lovable to snub her niece’s chum.</p> - -<p>“They are just the sweetest, lovingest dears that -ever lived—all of them!” Beth Baldwin declared -to her mother, when she returned from this visit. -“And the house is full of cats—both living ones -and those Jolly Molly has drawn. The aunts are -too tender-hearted to have a single kitten drowned, -or to destroy even one of Molly’s attempts at -feline portraiture.”</p> - -<p>Beth was not in Hudsonvale long this time. -The semester would soon open at Rivercliff, and -she took the boat again for the twenty-four hour -journey up the river.</p> - -<p>Beth bade Larry good-bye the evening before -she departed for school, and in full family assembled. -The heart-high courage and happiness -that had attended her first departure for school -was lacking when the <i>Water Wagtail</i> left the Hudsonvale -landing.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span>But Beth had many things to think of now that -she had not dreamed of the year previous. She -was much older, too—much more than a year -older! And hers was not a nature that “hugged -sorrow to its bosom.” She had too many plans -for the future.</p> - -<p>She wished to get to Rivercliff, get settled, and -put out her “hospital” sign. Molly had painted -a new one with an added line:</p> - -<p class="center">“<i>First Aid to Lingerie</i>”</p> - -<p>She had counted on Mrs. Severn’s work as a -solid asset for her school campaign. Arriving at -Rivercliff on Friday, Saturday afternoon Beth -called at Severn Lodge at her usual hour.</p> - -<p>The gorgeously liveried footman let her in—but -she thought his look was doubtful. Before she -could mount the stairs the foreign maid appeared -at the top of the flight.</p> - -<p>“Miz Baldwig iz to vait below,” she hissed.</p> - -<p>Beth stepped back in surprise. The foreign -person disappeared—then reappeared again. She -brought a folded note downstairs and extended it -at arm’s length to Beth.</p> - -<p>“Ze compliments of madam,” said the maid. -Beth unfolded and looked at the note, quite -stunned. It read:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span>“Mrs. Severn will not again require Miss Baldwin’s -assistance.”</p> -</div> - -<p>It was written and signed in the upright, old-fashioned -hand of the lady herself.</p> - -<p>As Beth left the house she almost thought she -heard the parrot shrieking after her:</p> - -<p>“I don’t care if you <i>never</i> come back!”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXIII<br> - -<small>SUSPICION HOVERS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Fortunate</span> it was that lessons began on Monday, -and that there were certain preparations to -be made for them. Likewise, there was some -work for Beth’s nimble fingers, for some of the -girls who had arrived at Rivercliff first, had actually -brought their summer’s mending with them.</p> - -<p>“For you do it much nicer than I can get it -done at home, Baldwin,” cried one.</p> - -<p>“I tell you, Beth, you are an institution,” Mamie -Dunn declared. “I don’t know what we should -do without you. I, for one, would go in rags.”</p> - -<p>So Beth did not have much time to worry over -Mrs. Severn’s odd action. She merely comforted -herself by saying that rich old ladies—especially -with parrots and foreign maids—are apt to be -fanciful.</p> - -<p>Miss Hammersly called Beth into her office for -a special interview on one of the days soon after -the opening of the term.</p> - -<p>“I am pleased to see you with us for another -year, Beth,” she said, with that shade of cordiality<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span> -with which she always received her second year -pupils. “You have come, I presume, fully prepared -to take up your studies with renewed vigor -and a steady application?”</p> - -<p>“Oh yes, Miss Hammersly,” Beth said cheerfully. -“I love to study.”</p> - -<p>“And you will—ahem!—make no engagements -which will interfere with recitations or study -hours?”</p> - -<p>“No,” and Beth flushed a little. “Madam -Hammersly tells me she has engaged a girl to do -my dusting.”</p> - -<p>“Yes; at my suggestion,” said the principal. -“Besides, I think it debarred you from proper -physical exercise—which you need, Beth.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Miss Hammersly. I will try to make it -up in some other way,” said the girl, doubtfully. -With both Mrs. Severn’s work and the dusting -lost, Beth was worried about the future.</p> - -<p>“By the way,” Miss Hammersly said. “Do you -help Mrs. Ricardo Severn this fall?”</p> - -<p>For some reason Beth could not keep from -blushing. “No, Miss Hammersly,” she said. “I -expected to, and I went to her home on Saturday -prepared to do so; but I was informed that my -services were not wanted any more.”</p> - -<p>“By whom were you so informed?” the principal -asked quickly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span>“Why, Mrs. Severn really told me herself—in -writing. She sent down a note,” said Beth, somewhat -surprised at the interest the principal of Rivercliff -displayed in the matter.</p> - -<p>“You—are you familiar with Mrs. Severn’s -handwriting?” questioned Miss Hammersly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes. She has sent me notes before.”</p> - -<p>“Do you not think it strange, Beth?”</p> - -<p>“Ye-es; in a way. But I know she is notional.”</p> - -<p>“Did you know that she sent here after you in -June—the very day after the school closed?”</p> - -<p>“Sent for me?” cried Beth, in amazement.</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Why—how odd! She knew I was going away. -I bade her good-bye.”</p> - -<p>“Of course, you can imagine no reason for her -treating you so now?”</p> - -<p>“None at all. Unless she may have found somebody -else to amuse her. I do not really think,” -confessed Beth, flushing again, and dimpling, “that -it was my work she cared for so much as my chatter. -She likes to be amused.”</p> - -<p>Miss Hammersly smiled—yet her gravity returned -instantly. “Very well,” she said, tapping -on her desk with her pencil in a thoughtful way. -“You may go, Beth.”</p> - -<p>Beth continued at times to wonder about Mrs. -Severn’s refusal to see her when she called. That<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span> -she could not understand. She believed that the -foreign maid did not like her and might have influenced -Mrs. Severn against Beth herself by some -means, although the girl could not imagine how.</p> - -<p>The opening of a new school year is like the -picking up of scattered stitches with a knitting -needle. Not only must the mind become attuned -to lessons and to discipline again, but one’s former -friends must be greeted, new friendships -made, and—unfortunately—old enmities and -feuds attended to.</p> - -<p>Rivalries always will exist where youths congregate—in -school, or elsewhere. The very system -of education followed at Rivercliff fostered rivalries. -And a healthy competition between students -is always of benefit.</p> - -<p>Warped and selfish natures, however, can never -enter into any struggle and play the game with -fairness. The “give and take” of the playground -can never please these.</p> - -<p>Although Miss Hammersly and her instructors -watched the two hundred and more girls at Rivercliff -School as closely as was wise, they could not -foresee all feuds nor could they break them up -when once started. Maude Grimshaw and her -friends continued at times to vent upon Beth their -spleen; and occasionally they succeeded in ruffling -the placid surface of Beth’s life.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span>Ordinarily, “Princess Fancyfoot,” as Molly -called Maude, was content to lift her sharp nose to -a more acute angle when she noticed Beth or to -cast a slurring remark or two in her direction. -These attentions Beth did not allow to trouble her -soul.</p> - -<p>She seldom came in direct contact with Maude. -To tell the truth, Maude was not a brilliant -scholar. Beth and Molly were forging far ahead -of the heiress to the Grimshaw millions. Molly -had been fired by Beth’s example and wished to -become self-supporting, too; and was preparing -herself to teach.</p> - -<p>“I don’t care what Aunt Cyril says,” Molly announced. -“She thinks it beneath a Granger to -earn money at any occupation. Aunt Charlotte is -more practical. She tells me she will take the -money I earn teaching and invest it for me so that -it will earn at least seven per cent. Then, she says, -I will have something to make me independent in -my old age. For, you see, Bethesda, my father -spent all his patrimony on the heathen, so I have -nothing but what the aunts give me.</p> - -<p>“It looks as though Aunt Charlotte had an uncanny -belief that I shall remain an old maid like -all the other ‘Granger girls,’” and she made a little -face at the thought.</p> - -<p>With all her hard work at her books and in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span> -“hospital,” Beth went in for at least one relaxation. -She played an excellent game at basket-ball, -and there was great rivalry at Rivercliff in this athletic -pastime.</p> - -<p>Beth and Molly had won places on the second -basket-ball team and, now that a class had graduated, -there was an opening on the first team. -This team played championship games against club -teams in Jackson City and other first school teams -about the State. Basket-ball was a game of which -Miss Hammersly herself particularly approved.</p> - -<p>The rivalry for the post of honor on the first -team waxed high during the first four weeks of -the term. The first regular game of the season, -with a team from the Jackson City Academy, was -to be played on one of the Rivercliff courts.</p> - -<p>The chums in Numbers Eighty and Eighty-one, -Maude Grimshaw, who could be active if she so -chose, Stella Price, and a girl named Pratt, were -the contestants for the place of honor on the first -team.</p> - -<p>Between Beth and Molly it was just a zestful -rivalry for first place; the chums were, of course, -good natured about it. There was some acerbity -between the others, perhaps. In the case of -Maude, she naturally fought “tooth and nail,” as -Molly said, and was as unpleasant about it as possible.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span>The physical instructor, Miss Crossleigh, and -the other members of the first basket-ball team, -decided by vote for the girl who was to make the -team. Each candidate who was passed by Miss -Crossleigh, was tried out in practice games before -the last Saturday in September.</p> - -<p>On that day Molly came to the breakfast table -a little late, both flushed and excited.</p> - -<p>“Well! it’s all over, girls,” she confided to the -table in general.</p> - -<p>“What’s all over—the sky?” giggled one of her -hearers.</p> - -<p>“The contest for the first team. Miss Crossleigh -has just written up the names on the gym -board. It’s all over but the shouting.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! who’s got it?” cried two or three at once.</p> - -<p>Maude stopped eating and flashed a look at -Molly. “I’d like to know what you know about -it?” she demanded.</p> - -<p>“I tell you Miss Crossleigh has just written up -the names of the girls who will play Jackson City -next week.”</p> - -<p>“Who’s the new one? Not you, Molly, I’ll be -bound,” cried Stella Price.</p> - -<p>Molly could no longer control her smiles. Yet -she said, a bit ruefully:</p> - -<p>“Not guilty! Poor lil’ Molly wins not, of -course. She never does.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span>“Who is it?” demanded Maude, eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Why, Maude! who could it be?” drawled -Molly, wickedly. “There was never but one girl -of us that really had a chance from the start.”</p> - -<p>Maude’s complacent and conscious expression -was delightful.</p> - -<p>“Of course, I knew——” she began, with a toss -of her head, when Molly interposed with:</p> - -<p>“We all knew! Hail to the chieftainess! -Beth! get up and bow. <i>You’re elected.</i>”</p> - -<p>“<i>What?</i>” shrieked Maude.</p> - -<p>“How horrid!” exclaimed Laura Hedden, loyally.</p> - -<p>A general laugh went around the table. -“Speech! Speech!” clamored the girls.</p> - -<p>Beth got up, flushing, and bowed with mock -solemnity. “I am overpowered,” she said. “You -must excuse me. Besides, I am hungry.”</p> - -<p>“Well! if that isn’t the very meanest thing!” -hissed Maude Grimshaw. “That pauper has no -more right to the place than—than——”</p> - -<p>“Pass the butter!” advised Mamie Dunn, -springing the old joke on Maude.</p> - -<p>Maude, however, was not to be so easily silenced -on this occasion. She rose up haughtily, her -usually colorless face ugly with splotches of red.</p> - -<p>“Let me tell you—all you smarties,” she said, -greatly enraged—“that this has been a most unfairly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span> -conducted contest. You all know it. Success -has not gone to the best player, but to one -who is, in some mysterious way, momentarily popular. -Perhaps it is out of pity for her poverty -that Miss Baldwin has been given the place on the -first team, a place that belongs to a better player.”</p> - -<p>“Yourself, for instance?” drawled Molly. -“With two fumbles and three interferences to your -credit when you were last tried out?”</p> - -<p>“Not my fault!” snapped back Maude.</p> - -<p>“Oh, hush, Grimshaw!” advised a senior. -“You’re making yourself ridiculous; don’t you -know that? And Miss Carroll is looking this -way.”</p> - -<p>“Let Miss Carroll hear,” hissed Maude. “All -the teachers had better hear. We are supposed -to be decently honest in this school; but all of us -are not.”</p> - -<p>“Hear! hear!” interposed somebody, <i>sotto -voce</i>. “Confession is good for the soul.”</p> - -<p>“You think you are smart!” flared up Maude, -looking around without identifying the speaker. -“But perhaps it would be just as well if some inquiry -were made as to why this new member of the -first basket-ball team came to be turned out of Severn -Lodge and forbidden even to go there again. -Oh! I know what I am talking about—and so -does she.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span>With this last phrase spoken in a most insolent -way, Maude stalked from the table. Molly -jumped up to follow her, “spitting like a bad firecracker,” -as somebody said; but Beth pulled her -back into her seat.</p> - -<p>“Now Maude’s exploded again,” said Stella, -wearily. “Don’t follow her example please, -Molly Granger.”</p> - -<p>“Pshaw! she is not worth worrying about, Miss -Baldwin,” declared another girl.</p> - -<p>But a whisper went around the table. It had -an echo, too, in Beth’s heart:</p> - -<p>“What did Maude mean about Severn Lodge?”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXIV<br> - -<small>THE TRAITOR’S BLOW</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Beth</span> really had her heart and mind so full -these days that there should not have been room -for worry over anything that a girl like Maude -Grimshaw could say. The fact remained, however, -that Beth was disturbed by Maude’s innuendo.</p> - -<p>Molly had asked: “What could that nasty thing -mean, Beth, about Mrs. Severn?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” her chum honestly replied. “I -can’t imagine.”</p> - -<p>“Humph! just some of her spleen, I guess. -She’s heard you weren’t working there any more -on Saturdays and so just made something up out -of whole cloth.”</p> - -<p>So they passed it over. Molly evidently heard -no more about it during the next week, for she did -not broach the subject again to Beth. But the -latter felt that there was a cabal of some nature -against her among Maude’s “Me toos.”</p> - -<p>Beth practised with the first basket-ball team -every day, and Miss Hammersly herself came to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span> -watch the play and pronounce judgment. She was -very much pleased with the smooth work of the -five and applauded vigorously.</p> - -<p>The whole school took a deep interest in the -practice games; but the general applause grew -noticeably fainter day after day, when Beth -chanced to make a good play. Molly Granger and -a number of her close friends, who were frequently -on the side lines together, cheered Beth to the -echo. But they finally became quite alone in their -applause.</p> - -<p>Beth herself had noticed the coldness of her -fellow-students before this. She discovered it in -other ways besides the lack of applause on the basket-ball -court.</p> - -<p>A girl who had promised her some work did not -bring it to Number Eighty and Beth asked her -about it.</p> - -<p>“Miss Rice, I can mark those handkerchiefs for -you now, if you like,” Beth said. “Shall I come -for them, or will you bring them to me?”</p> - -<p>The girl spoken to flushed and hesitated. “Oh—I—well—I’ve -changed my mind, Miss Baldwin,” -she stammered. “I guess I won’t have them -done just now.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear me!” laughed Beth, “if it is a matter -of a lack of the essential pin-money just now, I’ll -trust you. I have to do such work when I can, you<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span> -know, and often we girls have spent all our immediate -allowances.”</p> - -<p>“No, Miss Baldwin. I don’t want the handkerchiefs -done at all,” said Miss Rice, tartly. “I -prize them rather highly—they were sent to me -from Paris. I don’t think I care to risk them out -of my own possession.”</p> - -<p>Nothing could be plainer than this. Beth was -aware that Miss Rice was frequently in Maude -Grimshaw’s company. The lesson to be drawn -was obvious.</p> - -<p>All the girls of Rivercliff were not followers of -“Princess Fancyfoot.” Yet it was plain enough before -the day of the game between the school’s first -team and the one from Jackson City, that Beth -was not a favorite on the basket-ball team.</p> - -<p>Whether Miss Crossleigh, the instructor, noticed -it or not, she said nothing. Teachers cannot -always take note of girlish feuds and rivalries.</p> - -<p>A match game between the teams of rival -schools brought to the Rivercliff athletic field many -friends of the girls. Miss Hammersly had had a -grand stand erected to overlook both the basket-ball -and tennis courts, which were inside the cinder -path. The weather was fine, the sport was popular, -and the field made a brilliant picture on this -crisp October afternoon.</p> - -<p>Beth’s mates on the basket-ball team showed her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span> -frank good fellowship—that was one good thing. -Otherwise, she could not have played as brilliantly -as she did that day. The opposition to her that -developed among her own fellow-students as the -game went on only served to spur her to greater -efforts.</p> - -<p>In the first half the Rivercliff team was outmatched. -There was a weak spot in the home -team, but not in Beth Baldwin’s corner. Yet almost -the whole school was unfriendly toward her.</p> - -<p>“All ready?” demanded the referee, and at the -signal the ball was thrown into play.</p> - -<p>Although the play was fast and furious from -the very start, at first neither side scored. Then -the umpire halted the play with:</p> - -<p>“Foul on Rivercliff for over guarding!”</p> - -<p>It was really a shock to the school five. “Do -get together, girls!” begged Maxine Laval, the -captain.</p> - -<p>But their opponents got the ball and shot it -basketward. Right from the field the Jackson -City Academy five made a basket. And following -it—within a half minute—they made a second.</p> - -<p>“Break it up, guards! Do!” groaned Maxine.</p> - -<p>Maxine herself made a brilliant play the next -moment, and her friends on the benches and side -lines showed their approval wildly. And then a -basket was made splendidly by Beth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span>Silence. For a moment, dead silence. Then -Molly led a weak and forlorn applause. But the -snub of the little brunette beauty, who was playing -so well and vigorously, was so plain that the entire -audience marked it.</p> - -<p>Whispering among the elders, laughter among -the girls, followed the incident. The whistle -called the half with the home five badly behind. -The visitors scored six points over them.</p> - -<p>In the dressing room allotted to the Rivercliff -five, Miss Crossleigh thanked them for their work -and encouraged them.</p> - -<p>“There seems to be some schoolgirl foolishness -afoot,” the instructor added, rather sharply. “One -of us seems to be unpopular——”</p> - -<p>“Miss Crossleigh,” said Beth, quickly, “if you -think that I had better retire and let a substitute -take my place——”</p> - -<p>“No, no!” the other girls of the team cried.</p> - -<p>“Why, Beth Baldwin!” Maxine said, warmly, -“you have done better than any of us. Isn’t that -so, Miss Crossleigh?”</p> - -<p>“I will not say that,” said the lady, smiling. -“You have each done your best, I believe, and I -want you to keep at it. Show them that although -they may win this game from us you are all good -sports. Of course, Miss Baldwin will finish the -game.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[240]</span>And cheered somewhat by this, when the whistle -announced the game was on for the second half, -Beth went out with renewed vigor. Almost at -once she got another basket. This time there was -a pronounced hiss from one group on the benches. -Needless to say Maude Grimshaw was the central -figure of that group.</p> - -<p>But the friends of the visiting girls began to -understand the opposition to Beth by her own -party. They applauded Beth themselves, and -when the game was over (and it was not such a -bad beating the Rivercliff team received, after all, -thanks to Beth’s good playing), every member of -the opposing team insisted upon shaking hands -with the girl who had fought them the hardest.</p> - -<p>Almost everybody was late to supper that evening; -but notably the losing team in the afternoon’s -game, and Maude Grimshaw and several of her -“Me toos.” In fact, Maude herself did not appear -at all, and Miss Carroll slipped into her place -at table.</p> - -<p>“That table would have just buzzed if Carroll -hadn’t sat there,” Molly Granger announced, when -the meal was over and the girls were trooping upstairs -to the general recreation room on the second -floor.</p> - -<p>The elements of the game that afternoon were -busily discussed; but as several of the teachers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[241]</span> -were present right up to the time the half-past -eight bell rang, when the girls retired to their -rooms, any particular talk regarding Beth had to -be postponed by either friends or enemies.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXV<br> - -<small>BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">As</span> for Beth herself, when she left the table, -Miss Carroll spoke to her:</p> - -<p>“See Miss Hammersly in the office at once, Miss -Baldwin. It is imperative.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Miss Carroll,” Beth said, and went to -the interview with apparent calmness.</p> - -<p>Miss Hammersly was sitting under the shaded -light at her desk, making notes upon a tablet. As -Beth entered, the school principal arose quickly so -that the shadow fell across her face, while the girl -stood in the full glare of the lamp.</p> - -<p>“Beth!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Miss Hammersly.”</p> - -<p>“I have called you here upon a serious matter.”</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know the meaning of this afternoon’s -exhibition of disloyalty and bad taste on the athletic -field?”</p> - -<p>Beth did not dodge the issue. “I understand, -Miss Hammersly,” she said, “that some of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span> -girls say I am dishonest. It has something to do -with Mrs. Severn. What it means, I do not -know.”</p> - -<p>Beth’s lips were quivering, but she spoke -bravely. Miss Hammersly stared straight at her -for fully a minute. She saw the black eyes dim, -lose their sparkle, and overflow with slow tears -that found their courses, one by one, down the -girl’s cheeks.</p> - -<p>The principal of Rivercliff School was not given -to sentiment—as a practice. But she suddenly -came close to Beth and put both arms about her in -a motherly way.</p> - -<p>“My poor child!” she said. “You are much to -be pitied, I believe. I know that you are maligned. -You have no knowledge at all of what this exhibition -against you on the part of your schoolmates -means?”</p> - -<p>“Not at all, Miss Hammersly.”</p> - -<p>“We will see Mrs. Severn together and find out -the facts,” declared the principal.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Severn!”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Some of your schoolmates have got hold -of something that evidently had its origin at Severn -Lodge. It came by way of the back stairs, of -course—from one servant to another. It is disgraceful -enough,” continued Miss Hammersly -with indignation, “that any of my girls should listen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[244]</span> -to servants’ gossip; and worse still that they -should allow it to influence their minds against a -fellow-student.</p> - -<p>“We cannot call on Mrs. Severn to-night, Beth. -She is a semi-invalid and probably retires early. -But we will go to-morrow afternoon.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Miss Hammersly! It is so kind of -you——”</p> - -<p>“No, Beth. I cannot claim any such virtue in -the case. I must defend the characters of my -pupils for my own sake—for the school’s sake. -And in this case, my dear, I will defend you for -your sake; for I am sure you are guiltless of any -intended wrong.”</p> - -<p>Miss Hammersly and Beth went together in an -automobile the following afternoon to Mrs. Severn’s -home. It was true that, when they entered, -the footman seemed to place himself before Beth -as though to ward her from the stairs, while the -ever-watchful foreign maid hissed from the head -of the stairs:</p> - -<p>“Miz Baldwig ees not to come up, Jeems!”</p> - -<p>But Miss Hammersly handed her card to the -footman, saying sternly:</p> - -<p>“Announce me to your mistress. Give that card -to nobody else!”</p> - -<p>The maid, casting a malevolent glance at Beth, -backed out of sight. The big footman started up<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[245]</span> -the stairs, the very calves of his legs in their silk -stockings trembling in indignation. But the school -principal and Beth were immediately ushered into -the presence of the mistress of Severn Lodge.</p> - -<p>Mr. Montague, upside down as usual, shrieked -a greeting in his most appalling fashion. The -gouty one threw a cushion at his cage; but possibly -owing to nervousness, she missed it.</p> - -<p>“Shut up, Mr. Dennis Montague!” she cried.</p> - -<p>“Dennis Mudd! Dennis Mudd!” screamed the -parrot. Then, soulfully:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="indent">“The noble Duke of York,</div> -<div class="indent2">He had ten thousand men,</div> -<div class="indent1">He marched them up a hill one day,</div> -<div class="indent2">Then he marched them down—</div> -<div class="verse">Too-roo-lal-roo-lal-larry! Johnny come home to tea!”</div> -</div></div> - -<p>After this long speech the creature was breathless, -and the lady of the mansion and Miss Hammersly -could converse. The former asked neither -of her guests to sit down, nor did she, indeed, -glance at Beth.</p> - -<p>“I do not understand this call, Miss Hammersly!” -said Mrs. Severn, haughtily.</p> - -<p>“I propose to explain myself very quickly, -Madam,” said the school principal, quite as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[246]</span> -haughtily. “When you sent to inquire of me regarding -Miss Baldwin last June, after she had -gone home, why did you not explain your reason -for so doing? Why leave me to find out this calumny -against one of my pupils, Mrs. Severn, until -now, and through such mean channels?”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean, Miss Hammersly, by -‘mean channels,’ pray?” croaked Mrs. Severn.</p> - -<p>“Pray! Pray, I say!” croaked the parrot, in a -voice scarcely less harsh.</p> - -<p>“Shut up, Mr. Montague!”</p> - -<p>“Shut up yourself!” returned the parrot, who -had now come out of the cage and was walking -along the mopboard of the room, pecking at the -carpet.</p> - -<p>“I do not think I need explain,” said Miss Hammersly. -“Through your servants the story has -reached my serving people, and, of course, some -of the more thoughtless of my girls. Miss Baldwin -does not know now of what you accuse her.”</p> - -<p>“She should be glad I did not send a policeman -after her!” cried Mrs. Severn, in weak rage.</p> - -<p>“You should be glad, Madam, that I do not institute -suit for slander against you on Miss Baldwin’s -behalf—and that I certainly will do if you -continue to repeat your accusation.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Miss Hammersly!” begged Beth, in tears -now. “Of what am I accused?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span>“Of stealing a diamond sunburst. She says it -is missing since the last Saturday you were here -in June.”</p> - -<p>Beth’s gaze flashed to the neck of Mrs. Severn’s -gown. The old-fashioned pin she usually -wore was missing.</p> - -<p>“Oh! that is awful!” the girl murmured.</p> - -<p>“No, it is not,” Miss Hammersly said sternly. -“It is merely unjust—and actionable. I have -come here to tell you, Mrs. Severn, that you must -write Miss Baldwin an apology, stating that you -have no evidence that she had anything to do with -the disappearance of your pin. This disavowal -I will read to my girls. And I will send home any -one of them who dares repeat the calumny upon -Miss Baldwin’s character.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Severn, very angry, tried to be dignified, -while the parrot went into a spasm of laughter in -the corner of the bay window. But Miss Hammersly -had been managing people—and getting -her own way with them, too—for twenty years. -She and Beth finally left the house with just the -paper the school principal had demanded.</p> - -<p>On Monday morning after prayers, Miss Hammersly -gave the entire school a lecture on the evils -of gossip and read Mrs. Severn’s written acknowledgment -of the wrong she had done Beth. Maude -Grimshaw was very much subdued just at this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[248]</span> -time. If the story of the lost pin and the accusation -against Beth was repeated, it was done so in -secret, thereafter.</p> - -<p>The wound, however, remained open in Beth’s -soul. It was hard for even such a sweet nature -as hers to overlook and forgive the treatment she -had received at the hands of many of her schoolmates.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[249]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXVI<br> - -<small>ROUNDING OUT ANOTHER YEAR</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">It</span> may have been well for Beth Baldwin’s advancement -in her studies and for her financial -prosperity, that the foregoing incidents had taken -place. It shut the young girl more within herself -and left her mind freer for study and work.</p> - -<p>Those girls who were sorry and ashamed because -of countenancing a mean act, even to a slight -degree, tried at first to shower favors upon the -occupant of Number Eighty, South Wing; at least, -they all brought her work for her needle. But -Beth knew her friends now—there was no question -of that. They were few, and they were loyal, but -they took up very little of Beth’s time.</p> - -<p>As the term progressed she secured other and -better paying occupation for her free hours, and -outside of school. But she heard nothing more -from Mrs. Ricardo Severn nor of the lost sunburst.</p> - -<p>Molly and she sometimes talked about it. The -mystery, if not the suspicion, still overhung Beth. -She was inclined to believe that the foreign maid<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span> -might know more about the disappearance of the -sunburst than anybody else.</p> - -<p>“She may not have stolen it because she wished -to profit financially by the deed,” Beth said to -Molly. “But for some reason she always showed -her dislike for me, and she may have done this deliberately -to ruin me in Mrs. Severn’s estimation.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know who else would have done it—unless -it was that parrot you tell about,” Molly -said, laughing shortly.</p> - -<p>Beth did not go home for the Christmas holidays -because of her outside work, and at Easter, -the intermission was too short to make a visit to -Hudsonvale worth while.</p> - -<p>News from home continued to be encouraging -throughout the school year. Mr. Baldwin steadily -improved in health, for he worked out of doors. -He never went back to the Locomotive Works, -but the family managed very well, indeed. There -was hope of something being done with one of -his inventions. Larry Haven had an interest in -that, and Beth knew that Larry had supplied the -funds for the patent fees and other necessary expenses -connected with the matter.</p> - -<p>On her part, Beth was doing splendidly. Miss -Hammersly was vastly pleased with her standing -in her classes. From the time they had visited -Mrs. Ricardo Severn—and Mr. Montague—together,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span> -Beth and the school principal had been -very good friends, indeed. Miss Hammersly seldom -displayed so much affection for any pupil as -she did for Beth.</p> - -<p>Molly was doing well, too, and at the close of -the second year in June Beth stood first in her -class and Molly was not far down on the roster.</p> - -<p>“But it never <i>would</i> have happened, Bethesda, -if it hadn’t been for you. I was ashamed to be left -so far behind a girl who had so much on her hands -when I had so little. But I am afraid it has made -me very serious-minded,” and she shook her head -gloomily.</p> - -<p>“Oh, nonsense, Jolly Molly!” laughed Beth. -“You will never be a ‘grave and reverend seignior’—and -because of more than the disbarment of -sex. A <i>senior</i> you will be; but always a jolly one.”</p> - -<p>“Nay, nay, my child!” quoth Molly. “When I -come back to Rivercliff next autumn, I shall begin -signing myself, ‘J. Molly Granger.’ I shall abandon -my full name, and let my jocundity be represented -by an initial only.”</p> - -<p>When Beth went to Hambro that second summer, -however, for a brief visit with Molly and -the aunts, she could not descry much change in her -chum.</p> - -<p>The summer was a busy one and a happy one -for Beth. Her mother had held together the customers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[252]</span> -Beth had obtained the year previous. Indeed, -there was a neat sign on the front door of -the Bemis Street cottage, and almost daily carriages -and automobiles from the better residential -section of the town stopped before the house. -Ella was learning to help in the work, too, and little -Prissy was becoming a perfect housewife. The -twins, Ferd and Fred, were sturdy youngsters, -going to school and being helpful in vacation time -in the garden. Marcus was a manly fellow and—whisper!—he -had actually bought a safety razor!</p> - -<p>That summer Beth found that she was more -popular than ever in her home town. Mr. Lomax -asked her to meet his class of girls who would -graduate from the high school the next year, and -tell them something about what it meant to attend -a boarding school. It was at a lawn party, and -a good many older people were present.</p> - -<p>Beth did her best to inspire the girls with a -desire to do as she had done. Some of them -would have to follow her methods to a certain extent, -for their parents were too poor to pay their -full tuition at any school or seminary.</p> - -<p>“I believe the prize is worth the work entailed, -however,” Beth said, in the course of her simple -address. “If I could not go back for my final -year at Rivercliff I should feel well repaid for my -struggle thus far. But if I am allowed to finish<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span> -my course, I know I shall be better able to face -the world and make my own way in it than I possibly -could do if I had been prepared by any other -means.</p> - -<p>“The business college course is cheap and -quickly gained; but the classical and English -courses in a properly conducted school which confers -an academic degree fit one for a better and -higher position in business or professional life.”</p> - -<p>Rather to her chagrin, but to Ella’s great delight, -the county paper printed Beth’s speech in -part. The flyaway sister went around repeating -extracts from it, and proclaiming to all who would -listen that Beth was bound to be an orator.</p> - -<p>“A lecturer, anyway,” she insisted. “Our Beth -will soon adorn the platform. In spectacles and -a cap and gown, she will lead her sisters in charges -for women’s rights, lecture on the noise nuisance, -plead before legislatures for freedom from the -trammels of fashion——</p> - -<p>“By the way, B. B., Larry says that frock of -yours is just stunning.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, does he?” returned her sister, placidly.</p> - -<p>“Yes. I think you are snubbing Larry.”</p> - -<p>“I have no time for boys,” responded Beth.</p> - -<p>“Boys! No less!”</p> - -<p>“Larry is a boy to me,” Beth declared, in her -very haughtiest way.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span>“I don’t care,” said Ella, mischievously. “He -is beginning to come to me for comfort when you -throw him down.”</p> - -<p>It really did seem as though Larry Haven was -striving to show Beth that he had not lost his interest -in her or in her career. When Beth first -came home that second summer, Larry was frequently -at the Baldwin cottage. Whether Beth -actually snubbed him, or not, as Ella said, he disappeared -soon after, going away for a long outing -with Mrs. Haven; so the Baldwins did not see him -again until Beth had gone back to Rivercliff in -September.</p> - -<p>Rather to Beth’s surprise, Larry wrote to her -soon after she reached school—something he had -not done for fully a year and a half. The letter -sounded just as though their old intimacy had -never been broken, and that the young lawyer was -still quite as much her friend and well-wisher as -ever.</p> - -<p>She was, for some time, undecided whether to -answer or not, and how to answer. But finally -she replied in a pleasant, brief letter. Larry’s -epistle was like himself—exuberant:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“The Mater lugged me around from one watering -place to another this summer—there was no -getting away from her, poor dear!—and kept me<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span> -at it so late that you had flitted from the home nest -on Bemis Street when I got back to Hudsonvale -and my clamoring clients. I never go away on a -vacation without expecting to find the heaped-up -bodies of exhausted and desperate clients before -my office door in the Hudsonvale Block. However, -all I found were several insistent roaches -from the bakery downstairs and heaps of dust, for -I declare, Devine had not been in to clean up for -a month!</p> - -<p>“What I started to tell you about, Beth, was a -girl I met at Saratoga. Fact is, it was the second -time I had met her. I am almost tempted to declare -it was the third. I spoke to you once of -Miss Emeline Freylinghausen. Do you remember -the girl who passed me coming out of Rivercliff -School when I was going in the day I called -to see you? Do you remember her? You said -she was a servant, just discharged.</p> - -<p>“Well, if you could once see Miss Freylinghausen, -you’d say she was the speaking image of -that person—that maid-servant! I had met Miss -Freylinghausen in New York; and now I have -seen a good bit of her at Saratoga. She is an odd -girl—frank, I should say, and rather blunt in -speech—but not at all the sort of girl that one -could put this question to: ‘Have you ever been a -servant-maid?’ Ha! ha! Ho! ho! and likewise<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[256]</span> -He! he! Fancy asking that of one of the Freylinghausens -of Philadelphia!</p> - -<p>“Yet, to tell the truth, Beth, that was exactly -what I was tempted to ask. Not particularly because -Miss Freylinghausen looks so much like that -discharged maid I saw at Rivercliff, but because -the Philadelphia heiress has taken up what she -calls a serious work in life. It’s quite the fad, I -believe, nowadays for girls like her to do social -work and the like. She has a hobby, and has interested -the Mater in it, too. At least, I hear that -Miss Freylinghausen is to appear at Hudsonvale -some time this coming winter to prance a little on -her hobby-horse for the delectation of the Hudsonvale -ladies.”</p> -</div> - -<p>A good deal more there was in the same strain -in Larry’s sprightly letter; and it was all interesting -to Beth. But this about Miss Freylinghausen -and her resemblance to Cynthia Fogg, was what -impressed Beth the most; for she chanced to remember -now that it was Maude Grimshaw who -had first noticed that resemblance between Cynthia -and the heiress to the Freylinghausen millions.</p> - -<p>Beth had not heard from Cynthia since the year -before. That odd girl seemed to have quite -dropped out of her life; yet somehow Beth had a -feeling that they would meet again. Madam<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[257]</span> -Hammersly had told Beth once that no holiday -went by but that she received a card or some little -remembrance from Cynthia; but an address was -never added to the strange girl’s signature.</p> - -<p>As for Maude Grimshaw, she did not appear at -Rivercliff at the opening of this fall semester. It -was whispered that her marks had been so low the -spring previous that she could not have gone on -with her class without many conditions, and would -have been dropped before Christmas.</p> - -<p>So there passed out of Beth’s school life a very -unpleasant and annoying influence. Yet, who was -to say that Maude Grimshaw’s treatment of the -girl from Hudsonvale had not been good discipline -for the latter?</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[258]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXVII<br> - -<small>THE ICE CARNIVAL</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Beth</span> entered her senior year in high feather -and with her affairs at full sea. She had saved -more than enough money to pay for her full year’s -tuition. There would be less time during her senior -course to devote to the earning of money; but -what she could accumulate these coming nine -months would go toward the payment of that supposed -loan of four hundred dollars that had -always been a burden on her mind.</p> - -<p>Beth had met Mrs. Euphemia Haven once the -preceding summer, and all the time the girl was -in Mrs. Haven’s company, her cheeks burned as -she thought that she was beholden to Larry’s -mother.</p> - -<p>“If I ever owe anybody again, or use money -borrowed from anybody, no matter who,” Beth -told Molly, who was her confidant; “it will be because -I am lame in both feet, like Jonathan’s son, -because I have as many boils as Job, and am as -bald as Elijah must have been.”</p> - -<p>“Goodness, Beth! don’t say such dreadful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span> -things,” begged Molly. “And out of the Scriptures, -too. It sounds irreverent.”</p> - -<p>Beth’s standing in class naturally gave her a -long lead for the presidency of the seniors. Not -that mere scholarship counts high for that honored -position; but Beth had been steadily growing -in popularity with the students in general of Rivercliff -School, and with her own classmates in particular.</p> - -<p>Without Maude Grimshaw to form a cabal -against her, there really was little opposition to -Beth when “J. Molly Granger,” as the jolly one -signed her name to the typewritten notice on the -board, launched her chum’s boom. Laura Hedden, -Izola Pratt, Miss Rice, and several others -who had been Maude’s most faithful “Me toos,” -failed to raise much of a barrier against the rising -flood of Beth’s popularity. Besides, they could -not settle upon an opposing candidate.</p> - -<p>Therefore, six weeks after the term opened, -Beth was elected to the class presidency. The senior -class entertained the other older pupils in the -drawing-rooms. There was music, and dancing, -and——</p> - -<p>“Real <i>men</i> for partners!” sighed Molly, ecstatically. -“Think of it! We seniors may dance with -the male visitors—if we are asked!”</p> - -<p>Beth had a new dress—black and silver. Molly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[260]</span> -said it was “a dream.” And certainly her brunette -chum did look lovely in it. Although Beth -and Mrs. Baldwin had made it themselves, it was -a gown with which any professional dressmaker -might have been satisfied.</p> - -<p>There was just one thing missing. Beth had -told Mrs. Baldwin there would be when the frock -was tried on before she left home. Great-grandmother -Lomis’ corals would have given just the -touch needed to make Beth, as Ella declared, -“fairly splendiferous.”</p> - -<p>But Mrs. Baldwin had not seemed to see it -Beth’s way. The latter felt that she was now old -enough to wear the heirloom. She felt hurt that -her mother did not get it for her; but she contented -herself on the occasion of this first senior -reception, by wearing a band of coral-hued velvet -about her throat. Her dusky shoulders gleamed -exquisitely under the black lace that a wealthy customer -had given her; her silver-figured, short-waisted -gown hung gracefully about her as she -walked. She was all a-sparkle when, just as the -music for the first dance struck up, she appeared -before Miss Hammersly, who, with several of the -teachers, was receiving.</p> - -<p>“My dear Beth,” said the principal, tapping -Beth’s bare arm with her fan, “I have a partner -for you. He has been begging the honor and I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span> -cannot refuse—although his name may cause you -an unpleasant thought. But that is all over now, -I hope.”</p> - -<p>Beth looked startled for a moment. The very -good looking young man beside the principal was -quite unknown to her.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Severn,” said Miss Hammersly, “Miss -Baldwin. Mr. Severn is Mrs. Ricardo Severn’s -nephew.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! the nephew who renamed the parrot!” -gasped the blushing Beth.</p> - -<p>“Right!” cried the young fellow, his eyes twinkling. -“Really, we, as a family, are insufferably -snobbish. So I determined to save Mr. Montague -from that sin.”</p> - -<p>“Dennis Mudd!” laughed Beth. “Dear me! -I think he hated me.”</p> - -<p>“He does not love me,” confessed Mr. Severn, -“though I did finish his education.”</p> - -<p>“And that foreign person——”</p> - -<p>“You mean Saronie, the maid?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; she seemed fairly to hate me. I wonder -why?”</p> - -<p>“We have much in common,” declared the -young man, “you and I, Miss Baldwin. Saronie -does not fancy me. I think it is because Mrs. Ricardo, -when she shuffles off this mortal coil, will -have much personal property to give away.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span>Beth found young Mr. Severn a very amusing -person. She danced three times with him, and -then refused him as a partner for the rest of the -evening. “Why, you’re as bad as Mr. Montague,” -she told him. “You want everything and -everybody your own way.”</p> - -<p>The reception was an unqualified success, and -Beth was established in the popularity of her class. -Even the wealthiest and dressiest girls had to admit -that “Baldwin shines with the best.”</p> - -<p>Beth was destined to see more of Roland Severn. -Usually young men did not ruffle the sheltered -waters of Rivercliff School life. They were -looked upon by Miss Hammersly and the madam -as pirate craft, and were warned off the shoals -quite gallantly by the whole faculty of the school.</p> - -<p>But this was the winter that the Nessing River -froze over so solidly that all navigation as high -up as Rivercliff ceased before the first day of December. -There was no snow, and the surface of -the broad stream was like glass. The girls of -Rivercliff School were on the ice every hour they -could spare from their studies.</p> - -<p>The bend, between the landing and the point -on this side of the river, was free of ice boats at -all times, for in rounding the point sailing in either -direction, the scooters and larger craft had to -make a wide detour.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span>This bend proved to be the best stretch of ice -on the river, and Jackson City people came down, -strung colored electric lamps along the shore, -erected booths and shelters, and on moonlight -evenings the scene at the foot of the bluff on which -Rivercliff School stood was a gay one, indeed.</p> - -<p>The ice carnival lasted several weeks, and attracted -visitors from far and near. Miss Hammersly -was very careful about allowing the girls, -even the seniors, to go on the ice in the evening; -never allowing more than ten to go together, and -always with one of the teachers for chaperon.</p> - -<p>It was on these occasions that Beth met Roland -Severn. Beth always had Molly with her. The -latter began to write her name with the letters -F. W. after it.</p> - -<p>“For pity’s sake, Molly Granger! what do they -mean?” asked somebody in Beth’s hearing.</p> - -<p>“Fifth Wheel,” announced Molly, gravely.</p> - -<p>“‘Fifth Wheel?’”</p> - -<p>“Yes. Don’t you see how much use I am when -we go skating? Mr. Severn looks at me, sometimes, -as though I were something the cat had -brought in.”</p> - -<p>But who could have carried tales of Roland Severn’s -attentions to Beth as far as Hudsonvale? -After about a fortnight of this sport at the ice carnival -a tall young man with light hair, a fur cap<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[264]</span> -and huge gloves, who could skate almost as well -as the professional teacher who gave exhibitions -each evening after nine o’clock, appeared.</p> - -<p>“Larry Haven!” cried Beth, fairly falling into -his arms to save herself from a tumble, she was -so surprised.</p> - -<p>Questions and answers volleyed from each. -Larry claimed to have come up to Jackson City -“on a case.” Every one was well. He was going -to stay at a hotel for several days and expected to -have each evening free.</p> - -<p>Molly Granger tapped Mr. Severn softly on -the sleeve. “Come away, little Roland,” she whispered. -“That is a sure-enough lawyer-man who -used to pull Beth to school on his sled. You and -I are still school children. Come away from -here—and I will weep with you.”</p> - -<p>Beth bore Larry off to Miss Carroll, who -chanced to be with the party on this evening; and -the young lawyer came to Rivercliff School by appointment, -was welcomed by the madam, who -graciously remembered him, and was introduced -to Miss Hammersly herself.</p> - -<p>Larry remained much in evidence until the -school broke up for the Christmas and New Year -holidays. But it cannot be said that Beth bestowed -any great amount of attention upon him, after all. -The other girls pronounced him “just dear.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span>Beth was in training for the skating races that -the skating committee, with the help of Miss -Crossleigh, of the school had arranged for. Skating -had always been popular at Rivercliff; and now -that it had gained such general approval there was -not much else talked about outside of study hours -and the classroom.</p> - -<p>Beth, in her first winter at Rivercliff, had shown -her superiority in skating over many of her classmates; -but now she had a number of rivals. Both -the long distance and short distance races were -going to be hotly contested. As for the exhibitions -of fancy skating, Beth did not participate in them -at all. She saved her strength, skill and wind for -the real work on the races.</p> - -<p>Miss Hammersly lent her support to the affair, -as she did to everything in the way of athletics -that was of physical benefit to her girls.</p> - -<p>The races were at night, for it was then that -there could be the most brilliant display upon the -ice. A thousand electric lamps, the power supplied -from the trolley company’s plant up the -river, aided a cold and brilliant December moon -in illuminating the icefield that night.</p> - -<p>Other races had been held before, and hockey -games and other sports; but nothing previously -arranged drew so great a crowd as the Rivercliff -School ice sports. The school was the most popular<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[266]</span> -establishment in that part of the State, and the -largest. The sports drew the friends of the school -for many miles around, as well as hundreds from -Jackson City, and practically all of the hamlet -at Rivercliff landing that could get to the riverside -without the aid of crutches.</p> - -<p>Larry had remained for this event. Indeed, it -being but two days to the closing of the term, he -had planned a surprise for Beth—and that surprise -had been confided only to Miss Hammersly, -for her permission had to be obtained.</p> - -<p>First came the races, however; and that glorious -night would long be remembered in the annals of -Rivercliff School. “It will be sung in song and -story,” Molly Granger proclaimed, afterward.</p> - -<p>“How can it be ‘sung in story,’ Granger?” demanded -one carping critic.</p> - -<p>“In recitative,” responded Molly, quickly.</p> - -<p>Molly herself was a contestant in several of the -events of the evening. She was not a very rapid -skater; but she was sure on her skates, and she -had learned many fancy strokes. One of her best -feats was when she and Stella Price waltzed very -prettily together on the ice.</p> - -<p>It was the fifty and the one hundred yard -dashes, and the two-mile race around a measured -oval on the ice, that held the deepest attention -of the throng that had come to view these trials<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span> -of speed. The dashes were from a flying start, -of course. In the fifty yard Beth was second; in -the hundred yard she was first—by a good lead. -Later, when the contestants for the two-mile race -were started, she was one of the favorites.</p> - -<p>There were twenty starters, and they were all -good skaters. The little, dark, ugly girl, Laura -Hedden, who had been such a friend of Maude -Grimshaw, was next to Beth in the line.</p> - -<p>Spitefulness breeds spitefulness. Laura could -not have told why she “hated that Baldwin girl;” -but she had been so well taught by the absent -Maude that she considered Beth her particular -enemy now.</p> - -<p>As they got off, Laura’s left skate clashed -with Beth’s right. Both girls might have been -thrown; but Beth recovered herself instantly on -the other foot and darted off—only a stroke behind -the best of the starters. Laura began to -shriek:</p> - -<p>“Foul! Foul! Baldwin fouled me! ’Tisn’t -fair!”</p> - -<p>As it chanced, Miss Crossleigh and one of the -official starters had seen the accident.</p> - -<p>“You are the one who fouled, Miss Hedden,” -said the instructor, tartly. “You may race or not -as you please. I do not think it was intentional on -your part.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span>But Laura had wasted so much time calling -aloud that she was injured, it was useless for her -to attempt the race. Most of the skaters were -already half a lap away. But Laura found friends -among the other girls and some in the crowd of -spectators, to hold up her contention that she had -been fouled by Beth Baldwin.</p> - -<p>Luckily, Beth knew nothing about this at the -time. In her short, close-fitting sweater and cap, -with her scant skirt, her gloved hands clenched, -she had shot away in the immediate wake of the -other girls, scarcely noticing her clash of skates -with Laura.</p> - -<p>At the far turn on the first lap she “crossed the -bows” of several of the other contestants, and took -the inside of the course. She knew enough about -fancy skating to take short turns without faltering, -and in such a brief race as two miles she believed -the struggle would be close all the way.</p> - -<p>And it was. At the second turn (it was two -laps to the mile), Beth was among the leaders—seven -of the best skaters in the school. Every girl -tried to do her best.</p> - -<p>The end of the first mile saw Beth and Miss -Rice elbow to elbow. There were others near; -but the race was really between these two from -this point to the end.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/p268.jpg" alt=""></div> -<p class="caption">THERE WAS A WHITE LINE BEFORE HER! IT WAS THE TAPE.<br> - -<span class="illoright">Page <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</span></p> - -<p>Sometimes Beth would forge a foot or two -ahead; sometimes Miss Rice would make a spurt.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span>It was grilling work. Beth could not shake off -her rival and began to feel her own strength waning. -She had to arouse all her energy and determination -when she came into the home stretch, the -last half lap of the two miles, for she was well -spent.</p> - -<p>The cheering and encouragement came to her -ears faintly. Luckily, she could not hear what -Laura Hedden and her supporters were saying.</p> - -<p>It seemed to Beth as though all her strength had -gone—as though her limbs below her knees were -merely wooden props which she could barely push -on.</p> - -<p>She lost sight of the crowd; and the lights -around the course, which were strung on iron -pikes driven into the ice, seemed to stand still. -She heard heavy breathing—seemingly at her very -ear. Was it Rice? Or was another contestant -overtaking her?</p> - -<p>Then she realized that it was her own breathing -she heard. Her lungs were pumping savagely. -Only a well-trained body, untrammeled by improper -dress, could have stood that strain.</p> - -<p>There was a white line before her! It was the -tape.</p> - -<p>Where was Rice? Where——</p> - -<p>She dashed against the tape, and the next moment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span> -Molly and Miss Crossleigh caught her. Miss -Rice was six yards behind!</p> - -<p>“One of the fastest two miles ever skated on -this river, bar none, Miss Baldwin,” the official -scorer, the sporting editor of the Jackson City -<i>Daily Mail</i>, announced. “That last half lap you -made was a wonder.”</p> - -<p>But Beth’s abundant success could not completely -smother the objections of the small part of -the school that was opposed to her. It was not -the last spiteful exhibition of prejudice against -Beth that ever raised its head at Rivercliff.</p> - -<p>Now that she was breathing easily again and -the pulse had stopped pounding in her ears, Beth -could hear something besides applause. The congratulations -of her friends did not entirely quench -the criticisms of those who sided with Laura -Hedden.</p> - -<p>The latter was furious. The fact that Miss -Crossleigh would pay no attention to her announcement -of unjust treatment urged the stubborn -and ill-natured girl to claim still greater -injury than she had in the first place. Indeed, the -grievance that she herself had manufactured -against Beth had grown to mountainous proportions.</p> - -<p>All the way up to the school, after the carnival -broke up, Beth heard hints and innuendoes regarding<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span> -the unfairness shown in the conduct of the -two-mile race. At first she did not understand -it; she only realized that, despite her high standing -in her class and with most of the girls and the -teachers, there were still those who considered -her little less than the “forward pauper” that -Maude Grimshaw had once called her.</p> - -<p>Although Maude had left Rivercliff, her spirit -had not been quenched among certain of the older -girls. “The ill men do lives after them,” is a -trite and true saying. The bad influence Miss -Grimshaw had gained over her “Me toos” still -existed, and hatred of Beth was fostered by Laura -Hedden and girls of her type.</p> - -<p>In this incident of the race the little, dark, -unpleasant girl had a personal reason for being -angry with Beth. She was really a very good -skater; and had she not stopped at the beginning -of the race to wrangle over the “foul,” she would -have stood just as good a chance of winning as -Beth.</p> - -<p>“But who could win <i>anything</i> at this school -when all the teachers are prejudiced in the favor -of just one person?” Laura demanded loudly, as -the crowd climbed the hilly street to the school.</p> - -<p>“You are quite right, Laura,” agreed another -girl, who thought she had some cause for enmity -to the president of the senior class.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span>“Oh, you can’t beat that Beth Baldwin!” -laughed a third, nastily. “What do you say, Rice? -Was that race fairly won?”</p> - -<p>Miss Rice thought she had reason for disliking -Beth, too. It dated back to the time when she -had so hurt and insulted the girl from Hudsonvale -by refusing to trust her handkerchiefs in -Beth’s possession. Of course, when one has ill-treated -another, unless one acknowledges his fault, -the ill-feeling remains. Miss Rice had never -owned up to her wrong attitude toward Beth.</p> - -<p>And now that she had been beaten by her in -this very close race, she was thoroughly disappointed -and angry.</p> - -<p>“You can’t expect Miss Crossleigh to be fair -when Miss Hammersly’s pet is involved, can -you?” scoffed Miss Rice. “Twice Beth Baldwin -skated right in front of me. It would have been -called a foul on the part of any other contestant.”</p> - -<p>Beth, who was within earshot, said nothing. -She was thankful that Larry and the other boys -had not been allowed to walk up from the ice with -the Rivercliff girls.</p> - -<p>Miss Crossleigh and the other teachers were -well out of hearing, but Molly Granger was at -hand.</p> - -<p>“Cracky-me!” she blurted out. “What ever are -you talking about, Rice? Don’t you know that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[273]</span> -every knock is a boost? You were beaten fairly -enough, and you’ll only make yourself the laughing -stock of the whole school if you say such -things. Of course Beth skated in front of you. -Especially at the end of the race.”</p> - -<p>This caused some of the other girls to laugh; -and, naturally, the “knockers” were not pleased.</p> - -<p>“No matter what Beth Baldwin did, Molly -Granger, <i>you’d</i> back her up,” said Laura Hedden, -spitefully.</p> - -<p>“You bet I would!” cried the slangy Molly. -“I’m one good little backer, <i>I</i> am! I’d back up -Nero if I heard <i>you</i> running him down. I’d know -for sure that there had been a mistake made in -history.”</p> - -<p>“‘R-r-rebecca! don’dt fight!’” sing-songed -Mamie Dunn, through her nose. “You’re as bad -as the rest of them, Molly. Let it drop.”</p> - -<p>But Laura Hedden and her personal friends, -as well as Miss Rice and her chums, had no intention -of giving up their point of view.</p> - -<p>There was a well-defined “party of the opposition” -to the senior class president and to her supporters, -organized during these few final days of -the term. Beth Baldwin went home with the feeling -that on her return she would have to face the -active enmity of a not inconsiderable number of -her classmates.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[274]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXVIII<br> - -<small>MISS FREYLINGHAUSEN</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Larry’s</span> surprise included a novel way for Beth -and a dozen of her girl friends to get home for the -holidays. These girls, besides Beth and Molly, -lived in the river towns strung along the Nessing -between the school and Hudsonvale. Larry secured -a huge sleigh in Jackson City and a team of -well sharpened horses with a sober driver to take -them down the river on the ice. Miss Hammersly -approved of the party starting early in the morning -so as to make Hudsonvale before night.</p> - -<p>The girls could drop off at their several home -towns, while Molly would remain over night with -Beth and go on to Hambro—and the seven aunts—the -next day. Larry was to sit on the driver’s -seat and act as courier for the party.</p> - -<p>It was an exciting and novel ride, and all the -girls pronounced it a lovely adventure. They -thanked Beth as their hostess, for all seemed to -take it for granted that had it not been for Beth, -Larry Haven would not have done such a thing.</p> - -<p>There was a crowd to see them off when the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[275]</span> -the sleigh slid down upon the ice, and in it Molly -saw Mr. Roland Severn. She beckoned to him -to come close, and whispered:</p> - -<p>“Grieve not, brave youth! There are other fish -in the sea quite as good as those already hooked.”</p> - -<p>“Thank you, Miss Granger. I am quite sure of -it,” he returned, with gravity. “I shall be in Hambro -before New Year. May I call?”</p> - -<p>“Cracky-me!” Molly was startled into exclaiming. -“I wasn’t looking upon myself in the light of -a fish, nor do I wish to be so considered.”</p> - -<p>But she had to admit to Beth that Mr. Severn -was quick at repartee. “It isn’t often that anybody -gets the best of lil’ Molly. I wonder if I -could draw a portrait of him—as a cat, of course—or -perhaps a fish!”</p> - -<p>It was a gay and busy holiday time for Beth. -The family seemed particularly glad to see her. -And Beth found a new spirit of hopefulness in the -little cottage.</p> - -<p>Marcus had been taking a business course at an -evening school for some time. Young as he was, -he had been advanced by his employer to the typewriter -and was drawing eight dollars a week. Mr. -Baldwin seemed very cheerful, too, and Beth -thought he seemed a hundred per cent. better.</p> - -<p>Larry and she had been acting the part of very -good friends for nearly a fortnight; but for two<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[276]</span> -days after her return home Beth did not see the -young lawyer at all.</p> - -<p>“Was he going to withdraw into his shell -again?” she queried. She scarcely knew what to -make of Larry in some of his moods; and she was -old enough now to resent such conduct.</p> - -<p>But on the third evening Larry appeared at the -Bemis Street cottage, and evidently in high spirits. -He brought from his mother a particular and written -invitation for Beth to be present at an evening -function at Mrs. Haven’s, scheduled to occur in -the week between Christmas and New Year.</p> - -<p>“You ought, really, to have a new dress,” Mrs. -Baldwin said, all of a flutter. “Euphemia always -has such nice people at her evening parties.”</p> - -<p>“Tempt me not!” laughed Beth. “I have been -hobnobbing with the rich so long, that Mrs. Haven’s -dressiest affairs have no terrors for me. Besides, -I can’t afford it. Moreover, the black lace -and silver is new here in Hudsonvale.”</p> - -<p>“Likewise,” said Ella, with her head on one side -like a saucy sparrow, “Larry has never seen her -in that.”</p> - -<p>Beth drove her out of the room then; but it was -for another reason. She asked, frankly: “Mamma -Baldwin, don’t you think I am old enough now to -wear Great-grandmother Lomis’ corals?”</p> - -<p>Her mother fairly gasped. She sat down suddenly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span> -and looked up into her eldest daughter’s -face with almost a pleading expression in her -own.</p> - -<p>“My dear Beth!” she whispered.</p> - -<p>“Mother dear! what is the matter?” demanded -the girl, a little frightened by her mother’s air.</p> - -<p>“I—I shrink from telling you. Those beautiful -corals! Been in the family so long! And you -had been led to expect them!”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Baldwin was actually sobbing. Her -daughter put both arms around her and hugged -her close.</p> - -<p>“There, there, dear! Never mind! If you -don’t want me to wear them——”</p> - -<p>“But I’d be glad to have you wear them, -if——”</p> - -<p>“If what?”</p> - -<p>“If they were yours to wear!”</p> - -<p>“What—what do you mean?” stammered Beth.</p> - -<p>“They had to be sold, my child! I had to sell -the heirloom that had been so long in our family. -You will never be able to wear the corals again, -dear Beth.”</p> - -<p>Beth actually swallowed something that seemed -to choke her. “Oh, my dear!” she said. “I might -have known you poor folks at home were having -a worse time than you let selfish me know.”</p> - -<p>“No, no, Beth!” cried Mrs. Baldwin. “They<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[278]</span> -were sold before your father left the Works. -They were sold to pay your first year’s tuition!”</p> - -<p>“<i>What?</i>” almost shouted Beth.</p> - -<p>“Yes, my dear. Forgive me——”</p> - -<p>“Forgive you?” cried the deliriously happy -Beth, trying to dance her mother about the room. -“Why, darling little Mumsy! you have freed my -heart of a great burden of woe! I’m glad to go -to Mrs. Haven’s party to-night——”</p> - -<p>“What are you saying, child?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well! I can look everybody straight in -the eye and tell each and every one—— Well! -never mind! I am happy—<i>so</i> happy!”</p> - -<p>“But, my dear child! Are you crazy? Your -Great-grandmother’s corals——”</p> - -<p>“Goodness me, Mother mine!” interposed Beth. -“What do you suppose I care about the old corals—really? -This that you tell me lifts a load -off my mind. Then you didn’t borrow money to -send me to Rivercliff?”</p> - -<p>“No-o.”</p> - -<p>“And the four hundred dollars hasn’t got to be -paid back?”</p> - -<p>“No-o.”</p> - -<p>“Well then! why not happiness instead of woebegoneness?” -cried the girl. “I am delighted. -Only, Mother mine, I wish you had told me this -long, long ago.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[279]</span>“Why—dear——”</p> - -<p>“I should have felt so much happier,” declared -Beth. “So very much happier.”</p> - -<p>Another thing happened that day besides Mrs. -Euphemia Haven’s reception. Beth received a -letter from Madam Hammersly. The madam -wrote rather a queer letter, containing this important -question:</p> - -<p>“Is Cynthia Fogg with you in your town? I -have received from her a Christmas present—expressed -direct from Hudsonvale—a very beautiful -<i>lavaliere</i> that could not have cost less than ten -pounds.” Madam Hammersly steadfastly refused -to think in anything but English money.</p> - -<p>It was plain to be seen that Madam Hammersly -feared her one-time parlor-maid had become possessed -of the valuable trinket dishonestly.</p> - -<p>“What do you suppose that can mean?” Beth -asked her mother; but, of course, Mrs. Baldwin -was quite as ignorant as Beth herself of the whereabouts -of Cynthia Fogg.</p> - -<p>Beth wondered if she ought to make a house-to-house -canvass of Hudsonvale for the elusive Cynthia. -And if the girl was in the village, why had -she not been to the cottage on Bemis Street? Cynthia -knew Beth’s address.</p> - -<p>Beth went to the Haven house that evening with -several interesting matters in her busy mind—and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[280]</span> -she went again in a taxicab. Marcus paid for it -out of his own pocket. He rode along with her, -“so as to get his money’s worth,” he said.</p> - -<p>To tell the truth, Beth was rather disappointed -when she found it was not merely an evening dance—for -she “adored balls,” so she said. The larger -dancing floor at Mrs. Haven’s was littered with -chairs and benches, and, at first, when the guests -came down from the dressing rooms, they were -officiously herded into the rows of seats by ushers.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Haven addressed her guests in her very -best platform style. Larry’s mother was president -of two clubs, vice-president of another, and principal -speaker at most of their meetings. So she -had pat the public speaker’s manner.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“I have brought you together this evening, dear -friends, to be first entertained in a rather novel -way. Afterward we shall have dancing. I met not -long ago a very bright young lady from Philadelphia, -who interested me very much in a subject now -coming largely before the public, and I felt the -wish to have her come here to talk to us of Hudsonvale, -who may be helped by her experience.</p> - -<p>“The question of domestic service has of late -years become of grave importance. This brave -young lady—whose name you will all recognize, -and whose social position you all know—had the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span> -temerity to go forth and gain information at first -hand regarding the real conditions of such service, -and of the characters of the girls who enter into -domestic service. I take great pleasure in introducing -to you, ladies and gentlemen, Miss C. Emeline -Freylinghausen, of Philadelphia, my guest for -the holidays.”</p> - -</div> - -<p>A lithe girl, in a perfect evening gown, her hair -piled high on her head, a plentiful sprinkle of -freckles across the bridge of her nose, and wonderfully -compelling blue eyes, stepped forward -and bowed. When she began to speak it was a -pleasure to listen to her—whether or not one believed -in her theories or cared about her subject.</p> - -<p>Beth was seated far from the speaker and to -one side. Was it——? Could it be——?</p> - -<p>Beth heard the speaker’s tongue arraign mistresses -who ill-treated their servants or were careless -of their comfort. Her biting sarcasm was -just what one would expect from Cynthia Fogg’s -lips.</p> - -<p>But, Miss Freylinghausen, of Philadelphia, the -heiress to millions, to houses and lands; and Cynthia -Fogg, of whose green hat with the purple -feather which Molly had knocked overboard from -the <i>Water Wagtail</i>, Beth still retained a very vivid -memory——</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[282]</span>“Why, it is impossible!” gasped Beth, aloud, -and forgot to applaud when the little, earnest talk -was over. She sat in her seat, unable to rise, or -even think connectedly, when the talk had ended.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, the charming figure came down from -the dais and seized Beth in her arms.</p> - -<p>“Well, Chicken Little! who told you the sky -had fallen?” demanded Miss C. Emeline Freylinghausen, -shaking Beth, playfully.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[283]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXIX<br> - -<small>THE “PERFECT NUMBER” IN AUNTS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Beth</span> had something really wonderful to tell -Molly Granger when the winter vacation was over -and she met that young lady on the train bound -for Rivercliff School.</p> - -<p>And Molly listened in as rapt amazement as -Beth had experienced when she listened to the public -talk of “Miss Cynthia Emeline Fogg Freylinghausen,” -as Molly ever after insisted upon calling -their mysterious friend.</p> - -<p>“And cracky-me!” giggled Molly. “If only -Maude Grimshaw could know this! She was such -a close personal friend of the heiress of the Freylinghausen -millions. Oh, my aunt! as Cynthia herself -would say. In my case—oh, my seven aunts! -And Bethesda! They are all coming to our graduation.”</p> - -<p>“Who are?” demanded the surprised, not to say -startled, Beth. Molly did jump about so from one -subject to another.</p> - -<p>“My aunts. They have promised. Yea, verily, -they have threatened. Do you suppose, if I tell<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[284]</span> -Miss Hammersly they are coming, that she will -feel it necessary to limit us all to fewer friends on -graduation day?”</p> - -<p>But that fondly-looked-forward-to day still -seemed a long, long way ahead to Beth and her -class at Rivercliff School. First, much chatter and -wonder had to be expressed over the discovery -that Cynthia Fogg was a “millionairess”—Molly’s -designation, of course.</p> - -<p>Madam Hammersly was really the most -amazed person who ever wore a cap. She exclaimed -to Beth once:</p> - -<p>“Miss Baldwin, to think of my scolding that -young lady so—and actually discharging her for -incompetence!”</p> - -<p>“But she was incompetent, wasn’t she?” laughed -Beth. “Whatever Cynthia learned about the -theory of domestic service, she certainly did not -learn much about the actual practice thereof.”</p> - -<p>“But—Miss Freylinghausen!” murmured the -good lady, who had all the middle-class Englishwoman’s -awe for riches and position.</p> - -<p>Cynthia, at Mrs. Haven’s party, had been quite -confidential with Beth. The latter learned that -Cynthia had by no means started out with the intention -of informing herself concerning the theory -of domestic service. She was merely an idle, disappointed, -rich girl, disgusted with her life.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[285]</span>She had actually run away from home—not -from an institution—when the chums met her on -the <i>Water Wagtail</i>. She was not then of age, and -she had a guardian who had insisted on her going -to Europe with his wife and daughters. It was -he whom Cynthia (as Beth and Molly continued -to call her) feared would follow her.</p> - -<p>To hide her escapade the guardian announced -that she had gone to Europe. Meanwhile, Cynthia -was bothering the good madam at Rivercliff -School.</p> - -<p>“The dear thing!” she told Beth. “I shall always -love and pity her, for I did make her so much -trouble!”</p> - -<p>“But my dear Miss Freylinghausen!” gasped -Mrs. Haven, who was listening frankly to all this. -“You do not mean to say that you were at that -school with Beth?”</p> - -<p>“Not in the literary department—in the domestic -department,” laughed Cynthia. “Beth was -really instrumental in getting me the job. And at -that I could not keep it. I couldn’t suit Madam -Hammersly—and I really tried, too. But Beth -suited her. Beth showed herself to be the ‘better -man of us two.’”</p> - -<p>Miss Freylinghausen’s evident liking for Beth—her -admiration for her, in fact—made its impression -upon Mrs. Haven.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[286]</span>That lady’s eyes were often fixed upon the brilliant -beauty of her old friend’s daughter during -the remainder of the evening—and with a new expression -in her own countenance.</p> - -<p>But all this was “ancient history” now. Back -at Rivercliff, Beth Baldwin had altogether too -much of really vital importance to think of to be -bothered by reflections upon either Larry’s mother -or Larry himself.</p> - -<p>As she had feared, the girl from Hudsonvale -returned to school to face pronounced opposition -in her own class. It did not so much matter about -the dislike expressed by girls in the lower grades; -but it was in the power of Laura Hedden, Miss -Rice, and a few others of the seniors, to make -Beth’s existence very unhappy indeed.</p> - -<p>And the worst of it was, it did not seem to be -a situation that Beth could control. She could -not take affairs into her own hands, as she had -on that long past occasion of the Red Masque. -She could not withdraw herself now from the remainder -of her class. Being its president, and a -leader in all its activities, it would have been beneath -her even to notice many of the slights and -insults aimed at her. The sting of them was quite -as sharp, however. This situation was harder -to endure than any of Maude Grimshaw’s old-time -persecutions.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[287]</span>At every business meeting of the senior class -(and these became frequent as time went on), the -schism against Beth was shown to be stronger. It -did not do for her to propose the simplest thing; -at once some girl jumped up with an objection or -a counter-proposal.</p> - -<p>“Why,” said the usually jolly Molly, quite seriously -now, “I believe if we had to discuss right -now whether ‘two and two make four,’ Hedden -or Rice or somebody, would jump up and claim it -didn’t. What’s the matter with you all, anyway?”</p> - -<p>“Well, you’re not going to have everything all -your own way, Molly Granger, so there!” said one -of the obstructionists.</p> - -<p>“No,” said another. “Too many things have -been cut and dried for us. <i>We</i> want to have something -to say about what the senior class does.”</p> - -<p>“Who’s we?” demanded Molly, warmly.</p> - -<p>“Point of order!” drawled one girl. “Has -Miss Granger been called to the chair, <i>pro tem</i>?”</p> - -<p>Beth began heartily to wish that Molly was -chairman at these disorderly meetings—or somebody -besides herself. When the opposition could -not gain its point, very often the quarrelsome girls -were so noisy that the session adjourned without -having accomplished the object for which it had -been called.</p> - -<p>Of course, her inability to control the meetings<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[288]</span> -counted against Beth. Reports of them circulated -through the school and quickly reached the -ears of the teachers. Miss Hammersly would be -the last to know about the friction in the senior -class; but she must know in time, and she would -then call the class president to account.</p> - -<p>Long as the time seemed to June, the days -passed only too swiftly. The senior class of Rivercliff -considered itself, of course, quite a wonderful -body of young ladies. And Miss Hammersly -did all in her power to inspire them with the belief -that the whole world lay open before them to be -conquered.</p> - -<p>Beth kept busily at work with both her books -and her needle. She was piling up quite a little -sum of money—there was a new object in view.</p> - -<p>Mr. Baldwin was doing very well with one of -his inventions, and a second one promised to make -both him and Larry Haven moderately wealthy. -The family was not likely to need her financial aid -after all. When she began to teach, her salary -would be her own.</p> - -<p>And now that she had so much money saved, -Beth wished to try to recover Great-grandmother -Lomis’ corals. She had learned from her mother -who had the heirloom; she was sure Mrs. Haven -never wore the corals; she desired very much to -buy them back from Larry’s mother.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[289]</span>For, after all, Beth was a real girl and loved -jewelry and the like just as much as any other -girl.</p> - -<p>This hope, however, was not the first thought in -her mind. She neglected none of her senior class -tasks for the sake of earning more money. She -had even passed a good deal of her work over to -another girl in a lower class, who needed to help -herself through school. The doctrine of independence -was beginning to be established at Rivercliff -School in spite of such girls as Laura Hedden.</p> - -<p>Social affairs were always of more importance -to the senior class than to any of the other girls. -The members of the senior class being really the -hostesses at the monthly “hop,” considerable time -and thought had to be given by the social committee -to these occasions.</p> - -<p>Beth, as class president, was chairman of this -social committee; but she saw so much opposition -arrayed against her that she feared the good times -of the other girls would be spoiled if she did not -withdraw. Her act in doing this—with the excuse -that she was too busy to fulfil the duties attached -to the chairmanship—did not please either -her own friends or the opposition.</p> - -<p>“Say! what do you do that for?” Molly -Granger demanded. “Want to ‘crab the film?’ -We need you to suggest ideas—and carry ’em out,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[290]</span> -too. Now, you just see! The hop this week will -be a fizzle.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, be an optimist, honey,” Beth said, laughing. -“Look on the bright side.”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right. I know how to be an optimist,” -Molly returned, though still resentfully. -“It’s like the old fellow with the two teeth.”</p> - -<p>“Who was he?” asked her chum.</p> - -<p>“Why, this poor old chap could only eat the -plainest kind of food, and couldn’t read anything, -or play anything, or make anything. Just the -same he seemed pretty cheerful and thought this -world a pretty fine place to live in.</p> - -<p>“‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I’m goin’ on eighty-two. I’ve -been bald-headed thirty years, a widower for -twenty-five, had indigestion nearly all my life, can’t -hear unless folks holler at me, can’t see to read, -ain’t reliable on my feet any more, and I’ve only -got two teeth left—but, thank God, they hit!’</p> - -<p>“That’s an optimist,” concluded jolly Molly. -“But there’s nothing very optimistic in the outlook -for our evening parties if you back out, -Bethesda. I can’t see what you are thinking of.”</p> - -<p>Beth dared not tell her chum just what she -really was thinking of. It seemed to Beth Baldwin -that the only way to stop friction in the senior -class was for her to resign as class president.</p> - -<p>Larry Haven seemed to have considerable business<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[291]</span> -to see to for his clients at Jackson City or in -the vicinity that spring. And he came frequently -to Rivercliff to call. On the other hand, Mr. Roland -Severn was quite a favorite with Miss -Granger. One or the other, sometimes both, were -at the senior receptions all those last months of -Beth and Molly’s stay at Rivercliff.</p> - -<p>On the very evening to which Molly looked -forward so apprehensively, both Larry and Roland -Severn appeared as guests of the senior class. -Beth had considered retiring to Number Eighty -after supper and not coming down for the party -at all; but she was glad she had not done this -when she saw the boys. Larry would have been -sure to make inquiries and that would have called -attention to the trouble in the senior class.</p> - -<p>That the opposition to Beth as president was -really increasing, was plain to all the observant -girls. If Beth chanced to pass certain groups the -laughter and chatter ceased instantly. At other -times scornful glances and sharp speeches were -flung at the class president.</p> - -<p>With two such gallants as Larry and Roland -(for both hovered about Beth and Molly), neither -of the girl chums could feel neglected. Indeed, -jolly Molly would not have been neglected in any -case, for she was popular with almost everybody, -despite her partizanship in Beth’s cause.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[292]</span>If there were any boys at these parties at all, -they were sure to give Molly Granger plenty of -attention. Her tongue was the smartest of all -her class—and she could say funny and bright -things without putting any sting into them.</p> - -<p>Some of the other seniors were popular with -the visitors, too; but not all. Miss Rice, for instance, -although one of the best dressed girls in -the school, was almost sure to be a wallflower. -She danced now and then with some other girl; -the remainder of the time she either sat alone, or -joined some equally neglected group.</p> - -<p>That is, unless Larry Haven or Roland Severn -asked for the honor of being her partner. Always, -if they were present, these young men each -danced with Miss Rice at least once. There were, -likewise, other wallflowers with whom these two -danced.</p> - -<p>Though a good skater, Miss Rice was not a -good dancer. And she possessed no flow of small -talk and few of the graces that are supposed to -attract young men. Besides, she was downright -homely.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, Miss Rice had a bright mind—too -bright to believe, for a moment, that her own -personal attractions caused the two young men to -put themselves out solely for her pleasure.</p> - -<p>Of course, as Miss Hammersly would not have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[293]</span> -allowed any of her girls to dance continually with -the same partners, Larry and Roland could not -hover about Beth and Molly all the evening. But -they could easily have found more attractive girls -than the ones they often selected when Beth and -Molly were dancing with other partners.</p> - -<p>On this particular evening Miss Rice retired to -Madam Hammersly’s room to repair a small tear -in the lace of her skirt. The door was not closed; -but there was a heavy portière between the room -and the hall and anybody outside would not have -guessed the girl’s nearness.</p> - -<p>“Well, Severn, old boy, have you done your -duty among the ‘overlooked ladies’ this evening?” -asked a masculine voice.</p> - -<p>“I should hope so,” was Roland’s reply. “And -twice with Miss Rice.”</p> - -<p>“You’ve nothing on me there,” said Larry -Haven. “I shouldn’t want to displease Beth, but -sometimes it’s a bore to dance with these wallflowers.”</p> - -<p>“Now you’ve said it!” young Severn agreed, -with feeling.</p> - -<p>“But Beth says I can’t come at all to these ‘shindigs’ -if I don’t help give the unpopular girls a good -time. And she picks the ones I must dance with, -too,” and Larry chuckled rather ruefully.</p> - -<p>“She said as much to me,” Roland Severn acknowledged.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[294]</span> -“She’s an awfully thoughtful, kind-hearted -girl.”</p> - -<p>“She’s a dear,” agreed Larry, warmly. “Beth -was always just the best ever. Thinks about others -more than she does of herself.”</p> - -<p>The two young men walked away. Miss Rice -remained in the semi-darkness of the madam’s -room for some time—long enough to feel that her -cheeks were cool again and that the tears were -gone from her eyes.</p> - -<p>The thoughtless words of the two careless -young men served an unexpected purpose. For -once good grew from evil—sweet from the bitter. -Ill-tempered as Miss Rice had shown herself to -be, she was not shallow like Laura Hedden and -some of the others who were opposed to Beth -Baldwin in school affairs.</p> - -<p>She saw at once that Beth, without suspecting -that Miss Rice or the other wallflowers would ever -know about it, had used her influence with the two -most popular young men attending the school -dances to insure the neglected members of the senior -class the pleasure of having male partners.</p> - -<p>Of course, as a member of the social committee, -it had been Beth’s duty to see that all were made -happy if possible; but Miss Rice well knew that -it was something besides duty that had suggested -to the class president this particular way of aiding<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[295]</span> -in the pleasure of the social occasion for all in the -senior class.</p> - -<p>To girls in general, and of the age of Beth’s -classmates, the attentions of young men are as -pleasing and satisfactory as anything in life. It -gives even an awkward girl more confidence in herself -to be singled out as a dancing partner by -young men.</p> - -<p>The chums, however, really had little time for -“boys,” as Molly scoffingly called them. “Too -much to do. And seven aunts to see me duck from -under the scholastic yoke,” added the jolly one.</p> - -<p>Miss Rice’s discovery, made as she mended her -torn lace in the madam’s room, bore fruit. She -was really a serious-minded girl.</p> - -<p>She could recall now many thoughtful and helpful -things Beth Baldwin had proposed for the -good of the senior class. Many of these suggestions -Miss Rice, herself, and the Laura Hedden -crowd had opposed with both vigor and venom.</p> - -<p>In fully a dozen cases the awakened girl had to -admit that Beth Baldwin’s plans had proved wise. -Her withdrawal now from the chairmanship of -the social committee was likely to be a real catastrophe.</p> - -<p>After all, Miss Rice was loyal to Rivercliff; and -she believed that others of the obstructionists -were, too. Was their opposition to the will of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[296]</span> -majority of the senior class—and especially to -Beth Baldwin—going to be of any good in the -end?</p> - -<p>“Even if we make her resign the presidency,” -she told some of her confidants the day following -the evening party, “it will create a terrible row. -And Miss Hammersly will be just as hurt as she -can be.”</p> - -<p>“Let her be!” snapped one of Laura Hedden’s -particular friends. “What business has she to let -a pauper come to Rivercliff, anyway?”</p> - -<p>“Now, that’s all nonsense, and we know it,” -said Miss Rice, boldly. “In the first place, it’s -been awfully handy to have a girl like Beth Baldwin -here to do mending and sewing and the like, -for us lazy ones. I don’t like the girl, that’s all.”</p> - -<p>“Then what are you fussing about her for?” -demanded another of the party.</p> - -<p>“Because I see we’re fighting the best interests -of the class and the school. And for another -thing,” added Miss Rice, turning a fiery red.</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” was the general cry.</p> - -<p>“Well—just because Beth Baldwin is a whole -lot more decent and forgiving than I would ever -be if I were in her place,” blurted out Miss Rice. -“What do you think?”</p> - -<p>Heatedly and baldly, she told of the discovery -she had made the evening before. It was not an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[297]</span> -easy thing for a girl to confess—that she was unattractive, -a veritable wallflower. And some of -these very girls she talked to were in that same -class. But having spurred her courage up, Miss -Rice went through with her confession.</p> - -<p>“And that’s the sort of girl Baldwin is,” she -concluded, rather breathlessly. “I know I -shouldn’t have done it. I’m pretty sure there isn’t -a girl here who would have so secretly heaped -coals of fire on her enemy’s head.</p> - -<p>“Come, now! let us be honest—let us be fair. -I don’t like poverty-stricken girls, or girls who -come to Rivercliff as Beth Baldwin did, any better -than heretofore. But she has beaten me. I -don’t mean only in that skating race. She has -beaten me in <i>being decent</i>!</p> - -<p>“I admit that Miss Hammersly seems to favor -her, and the teachers are always boosting Baldwin. -But I guess there is good reason for their -doing so. I have been acting the dog-in-the-manger -part. Never again; I’m going to bury the -hatchet right here and now.”</p> - -<p>“Bury the hammer, I guess you mean, Rice,” -giggled one of her hearers, nervously.</p> - -<p>“All right. I’m going to stop knocking. Just -as sure as you live, as Molly Granger says, ‘every -knock is a boost.’ We might as well stop fighting -Beth Baldwin.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[298]</span>Of course, they did not all agree with the girl -whose conscience had been awakened. Laura -Hedden was by no means of the same type as Miss -Rice. Laura managed to hold some of the opposition -together.</p> - -<p>But before the month rolled around and the -date of another of the school parties approached, -a paper was circulated in the senior class for signatures, -asking Beth Baldwin to reconsider her -resignation from the chairmanship of the social -committee. The first signature on the paper was -that of Miss Rice, followed by the names of several -of the former “party of the opposition.”</p> - -<p>“So, ‘all’s well that ends well,’” quoted jolly -Molly Granger, happily. “You’ve just <i>got</i> to get -back into harness, Bethesda. The ranks of the -enemy are broken. It just proves what I’ve always -said, my dear: You are the most popular girl -who ever came to school here at Rivercliff.”</p> - -<p>“I wonder!” murmured Beth.</p> - -<p>“You wonder what?” questioned her chum.</p> - -<p>“I wonder how Rice came to change so.”</p> - -<p>But unless Beth Baldwin chances to read this -narrative of Rivercliff School, she is likely never -to be enlightened regarding this particular mystery. -And at this time there was so much else of -moment going on that she had little leisure to give -to it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[299]</span>The days were being counted at last. Such a -fluttering in the dove-cote as graduation drew -nigh! Dresses to try on, last examinations to -take, trips to the milliner and shoe stores, theses -to write, conditions to make up, letters to write to -friends and relatives, enclosing tickets to the formal -exercises and invitations to the various receptions -and teas.</p> - -<p>“Seven tickets to Hambro,” groaned Molly. “I -tried to get Miss Hammersly to have a booth, or -private box, built for my aunts. But what do you -suppose she said to me, girls?” groaned Molly.</p> - -<p>“What did she say?” was the response.</p> - -<p>“‘Do you suppose you are the only person who -has aunts, Miss Granger?’”</p> - -<p>“Never mind, my dear,” said Stella. “Perhaps -all of them won’t come to the exercises.”</p> - -<p>“Not all come?” cried Molly. “That would be -awful. Seven is the perfect number in aunts. I -could not spare one of the dears. Why, if Aunt -Celia, Aunt Catherine, Auntie Cora, Aunt Carrie, -Aunt Charlotte, Aunt Cassie and Aunt Cyril did -not appear at Rivercliff to see me graduate, I—I—— Well! -I should not feel as though I were -graduated, that’s all!”</p> - -<p>All this only a day or two before the great occasion. -Beth was taking home to one of her best -customers the last piece of work she would do at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[300]</span> -Rivercliff School. As she crossed the Boulevard -she was suddenly conscious of an old-fashioned -family equipage, a pair of fat bay horses, a fat -footman and a fatter coachman, which drew across -her line of vision and stopped. And there was a -fat brown hand, on which sparkled several diamonds, -waving to her from the carriage window.</p> - -<p>It was Mrs. Ricardo Severn. She beckoned -Beth to come near.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[301]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXX<br> - -<small>VOCATIONAL</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">My</span> dear child! How well you are looking!” -drawled Mrs. Severn, just as though she had seen -Beth only the week before and that their intercourse -had been quite calm and placid.</p> - -<p>Beth did not know just what to say; so, as Ella -would have remarked, “she said it with a vengeance!” -She stood perfectly still.</p> - -<p>“My nephew, Roland, keeps me posted regarding -you, my dear,” continued the lady.</p> - -<p>“Ah—indeed? I have not seen Mr. Severn for -a fortnight, I believe,” said Beth, feeling vastly -uncomfortable.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my dear! Then you haven’t heard the -news,” cried Mrs. Severn.</p> - -<p>“What news?” asked Beth.</p> - -<p>“About poor Mr. Montague. About my poor -parrot,” said the lady.</p> - -<p>“I have heard nothing about the parrot—no,” -admitted Beth.</p> - -<p>“Why, we took up that heavy carpet in my room -ten days ago and what do you think?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[302]</span>“Oh, Mrs. Severn!” exclaimed Beth, suddenly -interested and excited. “Did you find——?”</p> - -<p>“Ever so many things I had missed—yes,” said -the lady, complacently. “The poor dear had been -taking and hiding things under the edge of the carpet, -along the mopboard under the windows. That -sunburst of mine was found right under the bay -window. Wasn’t that funny?”</p> - -<p>Beth thought of the grief and shame the loss of -the sunburst had caused her, and she could not, -for the life of her, extract an iota of humor from -the fact.</p> - -<p>“But that was just like the wretched creature,” -went on Mrs. Severn. “Will you believe it? That -parrot had deceived me for years and years. Quite -twenty years I have owned him. But now I have -sent him away for good.”</p> - -<p>And the selfish old woman drove away, leaving -Beth something to be thankful for, but feeling that -Mrs. Ricardo Severn was a very unfeeling person.</p> - -<p>The graduation of Beth and her classmates was -really a very pretty occasion; Miss Hammersly declared -(as usual) that no finer class of girls had -ever left her rooftree.</p> - -<p>Rivercliff was crowded on that day, and the -great central room of the gymnasium was used -for the dance and reception at night. Of course, -everybody was present—including the perfect number<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[303]</span> -in aunts. Likewise, Mrs. Baldwin came as the -guest of Mrs. Haven.</p> - -<p>Really, to see and hear Mrs. Haven one might -have thought that “our Beth” was her daughter -instead of Priscilla Baldwin’s oldest child.</p> - -<p>“And do you remember, Priscilla,” said Larry’s -mother, wiping her eyes when the blue-ribboned diplomas -were given out, “how we planned, years -and years ago, that my Larry and your eldest girl -should marry?”</p> - -<p>“That was a long time ago,” said Mrs. Baldwin, -rather primly.</p> - -<p>“But they do make a wonderfully good looking -couple together,” whispered Mrs. Haven a little -later, when Larry stood with a group of the girls, -which included another of the graduation day -guests—Miss Freylinghausen. Cynthia had one -arm around Beth and another around Molly, and -looked to be enjoying herself.</p> - -<p>Before the dancing began that evening, Larry -sent up word to Number Eighty where Beth had -served tea, to ask that the occupant of that room -would give him a few moments of her time. And -Beth tripped down in her new evening frock in -answer to the summons. Evidently, Larry had -laid his plans with wit and judgment. He led her -into the madam’s room—and it was empty.</p> - -<p>“See what I have for you to-night, Beth,” he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[304]</span> -said, eyeing her laughingly, yet admiringly. He -opened the box he carried and displayed its contents.</p> - -<p>“With the compliments and love,” he said, his -voice shaking a little, “of Mrs. Euphemia Haven—God -bless her! Your Great-grandmother’s corals, -Beth. They are to be yours again. She never -intended to keep them for herself, but wants you -to have them back now to wear—and for your -very own.”</p> - -<p>Beth looked at him—looked away—tried to -say something, and Larry added, softly:</p> - -<p>“You can’t refuse them, Beth—you can’t. You -would quite break the Mater’s heart, dear—and -mine!”</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>“How long are you really going to teach school, -Beth?” demanded Ella some weeks later, after -Beth had been to the State capital and passed her -examination before the school board.</p> - -<p>“Two years at least, my dear.”</p> - -<p>“My goodness! do you suppose Larry will ever -wait that long?”</p> - -<p>“Larry will have to wait, my dear,” said the -elder sister, firmly. Then her eyes suddenly sparkled. -“He must wait, at least, until he can accomplish -one particular thing.”</p> - -<p>“What is that?” the flyaway sister demanded.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[305]</span>“Until he can afford to pay the cook’s wages -out of his earnings as a ‘limb o’ the law.’”</p> - -<p>It was about this time, too, in the lazy summer -following Beth’s graduation that she received a -letter from Molly Granger, in which was the following:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“So he agrees we are to wait till Captain John -comes home to marry Aunt Carrie, and then we -shall have a double wedding. At least two of ‘the -Granger girls’ will not die old maids.</p> - -<p>“I am awfully glad, Beth Baldwin, that you -went to work for Mrs. Ricardo Severn. Otherwise, -I am quite sure that I would never expect -soon to sign myself, ‘Mrs. Roland Severn, née -J. Molly Granger, no longer F. W.’”</p> -</div> - -<p>“What’s the good, I want to know,” said Marcus -Baldwin, one night, evidently having thought -hard and long upon the problem, “for you girls to -go in for the highbrow ed. and then get married -right smack off?”</p> - -<p>“Not marrying ‘right smack off!’” denied Ella, -vigorously. “Our Beth is going to teach at least -two years.”</p> - -<p>“Well, that jolly girl isn’t.”</p> - -<p>“She’s going to teach after she is married, and -so is Mr. Severn,” laughed Beth, “unless Mrs. Ricardo<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[306]</span> -Severn remembers him very liberally indeed.”</p> - -<p>“Well, a whole lot of you higher-ed. girls do -marry right off,” repeated Marcus.</p> - -<p>“And why not? We’re better fitted for life, no -matter what it brings to us, if we have had a good -education. Oh,” declared Beth, now quite grown -up, “I am not sorry that I fulfilled my resolve.”</p> - -<p class="center">THE END</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p class="ph2"><small>SOMETHING ABOUT</small><br> -AMY BELL MARLOWE<br> -<small>AND HER BOOKS FOR GIRLS</small></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> these days, when the printing presses are -turning out so many books for girls that are good, -bad and indifferent, it is refreshing to come upon -the works of such a gifted authoress as Miss Amy -Bell Marlowe, who is now under contract to write -exclusively for Messrs. Grosset & Dunlap.</p> - -<p>In many ways Miss Marlowe’s books may be -compared with those of Miss Alcott and Mrs. -Meade, but all are thoroughly modern and wholly -American in scene and action. Her plots, while -never improbable, are exceedingly clever, and her -girlish characters are as natural as they are interesting.</p> - -<p>On the following pages will be found a list -of Miss Marlowe’s books. Every girl in our -land ought to read these fresh and wholesome -tales. They are to be found at all booksellers. -Each volume is handsomely illustrated and bound -in cloth, stamped in colors. Published by Grosset -& Dunlap, New York. A free catalogue of Miss -Marlowe’s books may be had for the asking.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph1">THE OLDEST OF FOUR</p> -</div> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">I don’t</span> see any way out!”</p> - -<p>It was Natalie’s mother who said that, after -the awful news had been received that Mr. Raymond -had been lost in a shipwreck on the Atlantic. -Natalie was the oldest of four children, and the -family was left with but scant means for support.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got to do something—yes, I’ve just got -to!” Natalie said to herself, and what the brave -girl did is well related in “The Oldest of Four; -Or, Natalie’s Way Out.” In this volume we -find Natalie with a strong desire to become a -writer. At first she contributes to a local paper, -but soon she aspires to larger things, and comes -in contact with the editor of a popular magazine. -This man becomes her warm friend, and not only -aids her in a literary way but also helps in a hunt -for the missing Mr. Raymond.</p> - -<p>Natalie has many ups and downs, and has to -face more than one bitter disappointment. But -she is a plucky girl through and through.</p> - -<p>“One of the brightest girls’ stories ever -penned,” one well-known author has said of this -book, and we agree with him. Natalie is a -thoroughly lovable character, and one long to be -remembered. Published as are all the Amy Bell -Marlowe books, by Grosset & Dunlap, New -York, and for sale by all booksellers. Ask your -dealer to let you look the volume over.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph1">THE GIRLS OF HILLCREST FARM</p> -</div> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">We’ll</span> go to the old farm, and we’ll take -boarders! We can fix the old place up, and, -maybe, make money!”</p> - -<p>The father of the two girls was broken down -in health and a physician had recommended that -he go to the country, where he could get plenty -of fresh air and sunshine. An aunt owned an -abandoned farm and she said the family could -live on this and use the place as they pleased. -It was great sport moving and getting settled, -and the boarders offered one surprise after another. -There was a mystery about the old farm, -and a mystery concerning one of the boarders, -and how the girls got to the bottom of affairs -is told in detail in the story, which is called, “The -Girls of Hillcrest Farm; Or, The Secret of the -Rocks.”</p> - -<p>It was great fun to move to the farm, and once -the girls had the scare of their lives. And they -attended a great “vendue” too.</p> - -<p>“I just had to write that story—I couldn’t help -it,” said Miss Marlowe, when she handed in the -manuscript. “I knew just such a farm when I -was a little girl, and oh! what fun I had there! -And there was a mystery about that place, too!”</p> - -<p>Published, like all the Marlowe books, by -Grosset & Dunlap, New York, and for sale wherever -good books are sold.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph1">A LITTLE MISS NOBODY</p> -</div> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Oh</span>, she’s only a little nobody! Don’t have -anything to do with her!”</p> - -<p>How often poor Nancy Nelson heard those -words, and how they cut her to the heart. And -the saying was true, she <i>was</i> a nobody. She had -no folks, and she did not know where she had -come from. All she did know was that she was -at a boarding school and that a lawyer paid her -tuition bills and gave her a mite of spending -money.</p> - -<p>“I am going to find out who I am, and where -I came from,” said Nancy to herself, one day, -and what she did, and how it all ended, is absorbingly -related in “A Little Miss Nobody; -Or, With the Girls of Pinewood Hall.” Nancy -made a warm friend of a poor office boy who -worked for that lawyer, and this boy kept his -eyes and ears open and learned many things.</p> - -<p>The book tells much about boarding school -life, of study and fun mixed, and of a great race -on skates. Nancy made some friends as well as -enemies, and on more than one occasion proved -that she was “true blue” in the best meaning -of that term.</p> - -<p>Published by Grosset & Dunlap, New York, -and for sale by booksellers everywhere. If you -desire a catalogue of Amy Bell Marlowe books -send to the publishers for it and it will come free.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph1">THE GIRL FROM SUNSET RANCH</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Helen</span> was very thoughtful as she rode along -the trail from Sunset Ranch to the View. She -had lost her father but a month before, and -he had passed away with a stain on his name—a -stain of many years’ standing, as the girl had just -found out.</p> - -<p>“I am going to New York and I am going to -clear his name!” she resolved, and just then she -saw a young man dashing along, close to the edge -of a cliff. Over he went, and Helen, with no -thought of the danger to herself, went to the -rescue.</p> - -<p>Then the brave Western girl found herself set -down at the Grand Central Terminal in New -York City. She knew not which way to go or -what to do. Her relatives, who thought she was -poor and ignorant, had refused to even meet her. -She had to fight her way along from the start, -and how she did this, and won out, is well related -in “The Girl from Sunset Ranch; Or, Alone in -a Great City.”</p> - -<p>This is one of the finest of Amy Bell Marlowe’s -books, with its true-to-life scenes of the plains -and mountains, and of the great metropolis. -Helen is a girl all readers will love from the -start.</p> - -<p>Published by Grosset & Dunlap, New York, -and for sale by booksellers everywhere.</p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph1">WYN’S CAMPING DAYS</p> -</div> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Oh</span>, girls, such news!” cried Wynifred Mallory -to her chums, one day. “We can go camping -on Lake Honotonka! Isn’t it grand!”</p> - -<p>It certainly was, and the members of the Go-Ahead -Club were delighted. Soon they set off, -with their boy friends to keep them company in -another camp not far away. Those boys played -numerous tricks on the girls, and the girls retaliated, -you may be sure. And then Wyn did -a strange girl a favor, and learned how some -ancient statues of rare value had been lost in the -lake, and how the girl’s father was accused of -stealing them.</p> - -<p>“We must do all we can for that girl,” said -Wyn. But this was not so easy, for the girl -campers had many troubles of their own. They -had canoe races, and one of them fell overboard -and came close to drowning, and then came a big -storm, and a nearby tree was struck by lightning.</p> - -<p>“I used to love to go camping when a girl, and -I love to go yet,” said Miss Marlowe, in speaking -of this tale, which is called, “Wyn’s Camping -Days; Or, The Outing of the Go-Ahead Club.” -“I think all girls ought to know the pleasures of -summer life under canvas.”</p> - -<p>A book that ought to be in the hands of all -girls. Issued by Grosset & Dunlap, New York, -and for sale by booksellers everywhere.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph2">THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL<br> -HIGH SERIES</p> -</div> - -<p class="ph1">By GERTRUDE W. MORRISON</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="double">12mo. CLOTH, ILLUSTRATED.       PRICE PER VOLUME 40 CENTS,       POSTPAID</span></p> - -<p> </p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>Here is a series full of the spirit of high school life of to-day. -The girls are real flesh-and-blood characters, and we follow -them with interest in school and out. There are many -contested matches on track and field, and on the water, as well -as doings in the classroom and on the school stage. There is -plenty of fun and excitement, all clean, pure and wholesome.</p> - -<p>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH<br> - -Or Rivals for all Honors.</p> - -<p><span class="indent3">A stirring tale of high school life, full of fun, with a touch -of mystery and a strange initiation.</span></p> - -<p>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON LAKE LUNA<br> - -Or The Crew That Won.</p> - -<p><span class="indent3">Telling of water sports and fun galore, and of fine times in camp.</span></p> - -<p>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH AT BASKETBALL<br> - -Or The Great Gymnasium Mystery.</p> - -<p><span class="indent3">Here we have a number of thrilling contests at basket-ball and in -addition, the solving of a mystery which had bothered the high -school authorities for a long while.</span></p> - -<p>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON THE STAGE<br> - -Or The Play That Took the Prize.</p> - -<p><span class="indent3">How the girls went in for theatricals and how one of them wrote -a play which afterward was made over for the professional stage -and brought in some much-needed money.</span></p> - -<p>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH ON TRACK AND -FIELD<br> - -Or The Girl Champions of the School League</p> - -<p><span class="indent3">This story takes in high school athletics in their most approved -and up-to-date fashion. Full of fun and excitement.</span></p> - -<p>THE GIRLS OF CENTRAL HIGH IN CAMP<br> - -Or The Old Professor’s Secret.</p> - -<p><span class="indent3">The girls went camping on Acorn Island and had a delightful -time at boating, swimming and picnic parties.</span></p> - -</div> -<p class="ph1"><span class="double"><span class="smcap">Grosset</span> & <span class="smcap">Dunlap,       Publishers,       New York</span></span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph2">THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES</p> -</div> - -<p class="ph1">By LAURA LEE HOPE</p> - -<p class="center">AUTHOR OF THE EVER POPULAR “BOBBSEY TWINS BOOKS”</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="double">12mo. CLOTH ILLUSTRATED       PRICE PER VOLUME 40 CENTS, POSTPAID</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p> </p> - -<p>These tales take in the various adventures participated in -by several bright, up-to-date girls who love outdoor life. They -are clean and wholesome, free from sensationalism, absorbing -from the first chapter to the last.</p> - -<p>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE<br> - -Or Camping and Tramping for Fun and Health.</p> - -<p><span class="indent3">Telling how the girls organized their Camping and Tramping Club, -how they went on a tour, and of various adventures which befell them.</span></p> - -<p>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE<br> - -Or Stirring Cruise of the Motor Boat Gem.</p> - -<p><span class="indent3">One of the girls becomes the proud possessor of a motor boat and -at once invites her club members to take a trip with her down the -river to Rainbow Lake, a beautiful sheet of water lying between the -mountains.</span></p> - -<p>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR<br> - -Or The Haunted Mansion of Shadow Valley.</p> - -<p><span class="indent3">One of the girls has learned to run a big motor-car, and she invites -the club to go on a tour with her, to visit some distant relatives. On -the way they stop at a deserted mansion, said to be haunted and make -a most surprising discovery.</span></p> - -<p>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP<br> - -Or Glorious Days on Skates and Ice Boats.</p> - -<p><span class="indent3">In this story, the scene is shifted to a winter season. The girls -have some jolly times skating and ice boating, and visit a hunters’ -camp in the big woods.</span></p> - -<p>THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA<br> - -Or Wintering in the Sunny South.</p> - -<p><span class="indent3">The parents of one of the girls have bought an orange grove in -Florida, and her companions are invited to visit the place. They do -so, and take a trip into the wilds of the interior, where several unusual -things happen.</span></p> -</div> - -<p class="ph1"><span class="double"><span class="smcap">Grosset</span> & <span class="smcap">Dunlap, 526 West</span> 26th <span class="smcap">St. New York</span></span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote"> -<p class="ph1">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:</p> - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p> - -<p>Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.</p> - -<p>Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.</p> - -<p>The cover image for this eBook was created by the transcriber and is entered into the public domain.</p> -</div></div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIRLS OF RIVERCLIFF SCHOOL ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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