an be better imagined than
described. Grace had purposely made an engagement to spend the evening
with them, and under pretense of having Alberta Wicks try over a new
song, had inveigled them to the living room, where the company of girls
had trooped in upon them, and a merry evening had ensued.

Wholly unused to friendly attentions from their classmates, Alberta and
Mary, formerly self-assured even to arrogance, did the honors of the
occasion with a touch of diffidence that went far toward establishing
them on an entirely new basis at Overton, and they said good-night to
their guests with a delightful feeling of comradeship that had never
before been theirs.

It had been agreed upon by the Semper Fidelis girls that they should
extend the right hand of fellowship as often as possible to the two
seniors during the short time left them at Overton. It was Grace who had
proposed this. "We must do all we can to help them fill the last of
their college days with good times. Then they can never forget what a
great honor it is to call Overton 'Alma Mater,'" she had argued with an
earnestness that could not be gainsaid.

Now that this particular shadow had lifted, Grace was still concerned
over her utter failure to keep her word to Mabel Ashe regarding the
newspaper girl. When Kathleen had discovered that Alberta Wicks and Mary
Hampton now numbered themselves among Grace's friends, she religiously
avoided the two seniors as well as the Semper Fidelis girls. She became
sullen and moody, apparently lost all interest in breaking rules and
studied with an earnestness that evoked the commendation of the faculty,
and caused her to be classed with the "digs" by the more
frivolous-minded freshmen. Her reputation for dashing off clever bits of
verse also became established, and her themes were frequently read in
the freshman English classes and occasionally in sophomore English, too.
In spite of her literary achievements, however, she remained as
unpopular as ever. To the girls who knew her she was too changeable to
be relied upon, and her sarcastic manner discouraged those who ventured
to be friendly.

"If I haven't been able to keep my word to Mabel it isn't because I have
not tried," Grace Harlowe murmured half aloud, as she walked toward her
favorite seat under a giant elm at the lower end of the campus, an
unopened letter in her hand. Grace tore open the envelope and
immediately became absorbed in the contents of the letter. "I