books! And--and----"

The tragic voice of Jennie Stone reached their ears: "Oh, girls! I've lost
in the dreadful fire the only belt I could wear. It's a forty-two."

There was little laughter in the morning, however, when the girls went
out-of-doors and saw the gaunt ruins of the dear old West Dormitory.

The roof had fallen in. Almost every pane of glass was broken. The walls
had crumbled in places, and over all was a sheet of ice where the cascades
from the firemen's hose had blanketed the ruins.

It needed only a glance to show that to repair the building was out of the
question. The West Dormitory must be constructed as an entirely new
edifice.

CHAPTER XI

ONE THING THE OLD DOCTOR DID

Every girl in Briarwood Hall was much troubled by the result of the fire.
The old rivalry between the East and the West Dormitories, that had been
quite fierce at times and in years before, had died out under Ruth
Fielding's influence.

Indeed, since the inception of the Sweetbriars a better spirit had come
over the entire school. Mrs. Tellingham in secret spoke of this as the
direct result of Ruth's character and influence; for although Ruth
Fielding was not namby-pamby, she was opposed to every form of rude
behavior, or to the breaking of rules which everyone knew to be important.

The old forms of hazing--even the "Masque of the Marble Harp," as it was
called--were now no longer honored, save in the breach. The initiations of
the Sweetbriars were novel inventions--usually of Ruth's active brain; but
they never put the candidate to unpleasant or risky tasks.

There certainly were rivalries and individual quarrels and sometimes
clique was arrayed against clique in the school. This was a school of
upwards of two hundred girls--not angels.

Nevertheless, Mrs. Tellingham and the instructors noted with satisfaction
how few disturbances they had to settle and quarrels to take under
advisement. This class of girls whom they hoped to graduate in June were
the most helpful girls that had ever attended Briarwood Hall.

"The influence of Ruth and some of her friends has extended to our next
class as well," Mrs. Tellingham had said. "Nettie Parsons and Ann Hicks
will be of assistance, too, for another year. I wish, however, that Ruth
Fielding's example and influence might continue through _my_ time----I
certainly do."

The girls of the East Dormitory held a meeting before breakfast and passed
resolutions requesting Mrs