a local
preparatory school. She was really a very well educated and bright
woman; only peculiar."

"And what happened when she came to Ardmore?" asked Ruth, interested,
"is she still here?"

"Oh, no. She remained only a short time. She found, she said, that her
mind was not nimble enough, at her age, to keep up with the classes.
Which was very probably true, you know. Unless one is constantly engaged
in hard mental labor, one's mind must get into ruts by the time one is
fifty. But she was very lovely, and quite popular--while she lasted."

Helen was more interested just then in the row of cottages occupied by
the members of the faculty, and here strung along the left side of the
highway. They were pretty houses, set in pretty grounds.

"Oh, look, Helen!" cried Ruth, suddenly.

"The lake!" responded Helen.

The dancing blue waters of Lake Remona were visible for a minute between
two of the houses. Ruth, too, caught a glimpse of the small island which
raised its hilly head in the middle of the lake.

"Is that Bliss Island?" she inquired of Miss Dexter.

"Yes. You can see it from here. That doesn't belong to the college."

"No?" said Ruth, in surprise: "But, of course, the girls can go there?"

"It is 'No Man's Land,' I believe. Belongs to none of the estates
surrounding the lake. We go there--yes," Miss Dexter told her. "The
Stone Face is there."

"What is that, please?" asked Ruth, interested. "What is the Stone
Face?"

"A landmark, Miss Fielding. That Stone Face was quite an important spot
last May--wasn't it, Purvis?" the senior asked the other girl.

"Oh, goodness me, yes!" said Miss Purvis. "Don't mention it. Think what
it has done to our Kappa Alpha."

"What do you suppose ever became of that girl?" murmured Miss Dexter,
thoughtfully.

"I can't imagine. It was a sorry time, take it all in all. Let's not
talk of it, Merry. Our sorority has a setback from which it will never
recover."

All this was literally Greek to Ruth, of course. Nor did she listen with
any attention. There were other things for her and Helen to be
interested in, for the main building of the college had come into view.

They had been gradually climbing the easy slope of College Hill from the
east. The main edifice of Ardmore did not stand upon the summit of the
eminence. Behind and above the big, winged building the hill rose to a
wooded, rounding summit, sheltering the whole estate from the north
winds.

Just upon the edg