" said another and
more thoughtful girl.

"And she won't pack up in a hurry," drawled Jennie, still eating.
"Remember all those bags and that enormous trunk she brought?"

"But, say," began Helen, slowly, "where are all the frocks and things
she was supposed to bring with her? We supposed she'd be the peacock of
the class, and I don't believe I've seen her in more than three
different dresses and only two hats, including that indescribably
brilliant tam."

Ruth said nothing. She was thinking. She planned to get out of the
dining hall at the same time Rebecca did, but just as the dessert was
being passed the odd girl rose quickly, bowed her excuses to the
housekeeper, and almost ran out of the hall.

"She was crying!" gasped Ruth, feeling both helpless and sympathetic.

"I wager she bit her tongue, then," remarked Jennie.

Ruth hurried through her dessert and left the dining hall ahead of most
of the girls. She glanced through the long windows and saw that it was
still snowing.

"I wonder if that girl is over on the island yet?" she reflected as she
ran upstairs.

Her first thought just then was of an entirely different girl. She went
to Rebecca's door and knocked. She knocked twice, then again. But no
answer was returned. No light came through the keyhole, or from under
the door; yet Ruth felt sure that Rebecca Frayne was in the room, and
weeping. It was a situation in which Ruth Fielding longed to help, yet
there seemed positively nothing she could do as long as the stubborn
girl would not meet her half way. With a sigh she went to the study she
and Helen jointly occupied.

Before switching on the light she went to one of the windows that looked
out on the lake. Bliss Island was easily visible from this point. The
snow was still falling, but not heavily enough to obstruct her vision
much. The white bulk of the island rose in the midst of the field of
snow-covered ice. It seemed nearer than it ordinarily appeared.

As Ruth gazed she saw a spark of light on the island, high up from the
shore, but evidently among the trees, for it was intermittent. Now it
was visible and again only a red glow showed there. She was still gazing
upon this puzzling light when Helen opened the door.

"Hello, Ruthie!" she cried. "All in the dark? Oh! isn't the outside
world beautiful to-night?"

She came to the window and put her arm about Ruth's waist.

"See how solemnly the snow is falling--and the whole world is white,"
mur