you will, Rebecca!"

"I--I will. Why, yes, I can do that," Rebecca agreed.

"Goody! I'll tell the girls. And you'll be as welcome as the flowers in
May, lamp or no lamp," she cried, kissing Rebecca again and bustling out
of the room.

CHAPTER XVIII

BEARDING THE LIONS

Ruth had shown a very cheerful face before Rebecca Frayne, but when she
was once out of the room the girl of the Red Mill did not show such a
superabundance of cheerfulness.

She knew well enough that Rebecca had become so unpopular that public
opinion could not be changed regarding her in a moment.

Besides, there were the two upper classes to be considered. Their order
regarding the freshmen's head-covering had been flagrantly disobeyed,
and would have to be disobeyed for some time to come. A girl cannot
crochet a tam-o'-shanter in a minute.

Having undertaken to straighten out Rebecca Frayne's troubles, however,
Ruth did not publicly shrink from the task. She was one who made up her
mind quickly, and having made it up, set to work immediately to carry
the matter through.

Merry Dexter, the first senior she had met upon coming to Ardmore, was
kindly disposed toward her, and Ruth knew that Miss Dexter was an
influential member of her class. Therefore, Ruth took her trouble--and
Rebecca's--directly to Miss Dexter.

Yet, she did not feel that she had a right to explain, even to this one
senior, all that Rebecca Frayne had confided to her. She realized that
the girl, with her false standards of respectability and social
standing, would never be able to hold up her head at college if her real
financial situation were known to the girls in general. Ruth was bound,
however, to take Miss Dexter somewhat into her confidence to obtain a
hearing. She put the matter before the senior as nicely as possible,
saying in conclusion:

"And she will knit herself a tam of the proper color just as soon as
possible. No girl, you know, Miss Dexter, likes to admit that she is
poor. It is dreadfully embarrassing. So I hope that this matter will be
adjusted without her situation being discussed."

"Goodness! _I_ can't change things," the senior declared. "Not unless
that girl agrees to do as she is told--like the rest of you freshies."

"Then my opinion of your class, Miss Dexter," Ruth said firmly, "must be
entirely wrong. I did not believe that they ordered us to wear baby blue
tams just out of an arbitrary desire to make us obey. Had I believed
_that_