before Elfreda, who had foregone finishing her breakfast and rushed
upstairs to hear her friends' opinion of the tall freshman, who had
seemed taller than ever as she stalked uncompromisingly into the dining
room that morning in Kathleen West's wake. The newspaper girl looked
anything but in a happy frame of mind, and after several covert glances
in her direction, Grace decided that the new arrival had not been met
with open arms on the part of Kathleen.

"What do I think of her?" repeated Grace. "A good many things, I should
say. What do you think?"

"I think she is the most interesting and entertaining person I've seen
in years," declared Elfreda exaggeratingly.

"Then her entertaining powers do not lie in speech," laughed Anne. "I
heard her say three things this morning at the table. They were, 'yes,'
'thank you' and 'I believe so.'"

"She didn't talk, that's a fact," admitted Elfreda, "but she looked as
though she was keeping up an awful thinking. Does any one know from
whence she came, and why?"

"I don't know anything about her," said Grace, shaking her head, "but I
am sure that you will find out everything worth knowing before night.
You will be able to see a great deal, you know."

"Don't flatter me," grinned Elfreda. "That's no joke, though," she added
hastily. "I'll find out, never fear, and then I'll tell you girls."

"What a comfort it is to have the latest news brought to one's door
every morning," jeered Anne.

"You'll find yourself without that comfort if you are not more
respectful," threatened Elfreda. "I'll carry my news to other doors
where it will be more highly appreciated."

"Your threats fail to impress me," retorted Anne. "You know that you
couldn't bear to ignore us."

"I know I shall be late to chapel, and that you will be later," replied
Elfreda significantly. "Tardiness is unbecoming in a senior. I am sorry
to be obliged to remind you of it."

"Save your sorrow and come along," called Miriam Nesbit from the
doorway. "Aren't you going to chapel this morning, Grace?"

"Not this morning," replied Grace, not raising her eyes from the book
over which she was poring. "This is psychology morning and I'm very
shaky on the lesson. I feel in my bones that I'll be called upon to
recite, so please go away, all of you, and don't bother me," she
finished with an affectionate smile that did not accord with her blunt
words.

"Going, going, gone!" flung back Elfreda over her shoulder as she l