the entrance of the
other pupils: "My goodness, if Miss Carter had ever spoken like that to
us, we should have fallen flat, shouldn't we?"

Ruth sat upon one side, and Edith upon the other, and it did not take the
new girls long to discover that the dinner hour must be one of the
pleasantest of the day, for all talked and chatted in the liveliest
manner, discussing various happenings, and again and again appealing to
Miss Preston, who was not one whit behind in the spirit of good-fellowship
which prevailed.

There were six tables, each accommodating ten people, and a teacher sat at
the head of each. In every instance a teacher who was wise enough not to
observe _too_ much, but who in reality saw everything, although she could
laugh and joke with the girls, put them at their ease, and at the same
time set them so perfect an example that few girls would have cared to
fail in following it. Far from exercising a restraining influence, they
proved the jolliest of companions, as the repeated appeals to their
opinions, or the requests for some anecdote or amusing story, evidently
old favorites, amply testified.

When the pleasant dinner was ended the girls gathered in the big hall,
where Toinette and Cicely were introduced to many of the others.

"What have we to do now?" asked Toinette, whose sharp eyes had been
observing everything worth observing, and whose active mind had received
more impressions within the past hour than it had been called upon to
receive in a year. It is needless to add that she was quick enough to
profit by them, and to appreciate that in _this_ school were taught more
surprising things than chemistry or science.

"Do?" asked Ruth.

"Yes; isn't there some RULE to be observed after dinner?" and a rather
ironical tone came into Toinette's voice.

"Yes; come along, and Edith and I'll show you the rule, as you call it,"
answered Ruth, as she caught up the big basket-ball lying upon one of the
chairs in the hall, flew through the door with it, across the piazza and
into the gymnasium beyond.

After an instant's hesitation the two girls followed, joining her and
Edith, who had run Ruth a lively race.

"You don't mean to say that the teachers let you run and romp like this,
do you?" demanded Cicely.

"Let us!" cried Edith in surprise. "Why shouldn't they? We aren't doing
any harm, are we?"

"No, I don't suppose there is any harm, but if we had done such a thing at
Miss Carter's, what do you thi