ost
sympathetic little thing. "It was my fault," she said, "I am such a
coward anyhow. And then when I ran past a rock, I imagined I saw
something move and jump toward me. I lost my wits and ran and ran and ran
till I twisted my ankle and fell. I must have struck my head on a stone.
I'm sorry. It was silly of me to run. Please don't worry."

"That will do for the present," said the doctor.

Then they carried her over to the infirmary. Lila and I walked out past
the crowd in front of the bulletin board. They were cheering.

"Listen, Lila," I said, "good news from somewhere."

"We promised to meet her," said Lila.

I hate regrets. "Well," I said, "that's all over and done with. There is
no use in bothering about it now. But the next promise we make----"

Berta rushed up to us. "Oh, girls!" she exclaimed, "did you catch that
last return? Reform is sweeping the country. Hurrah!"

CHAPTER VII

FOUR SOPHOMORES AND A DOG

The last recitation of the winter term was over, and the corridors were
alive with girls hurrying this way and that, pinning on their hats,
buttoning jackets, crowding into the elevator, unfurling umbrellas, and
chattering all the time.

"Hope you'll have the nicest sort of a time!" "Don't stay up too late!"
"Good-bye!" "Oh, good-bye!" "Be sure to get well rested this vacation!"
"Awfully, awfully sorry you wouldn't come home with me, Gertrude, you bad
child! But I know you won't suffer from monotony with Berta and Beatrice
in the same study." "Hurry, girls, there's the car now. Just hear that
bell jingle, will you!" "Good-bye, Gertrude, and don't let Sara work too
hard!" "Oh, good-bye!"

Gertrude felt the clutch of arms relax from about her neck, and managed
to breathe again. This was one of the penalties--pleasant enough,
doubtless, if a person were in the mood for it--of being a popular
sophomore. For a minute she lingered wearily in the vestibule to watch
the figures flying down the avenue to the Lodge gates. How their skirts
fluttered and twisted around them, and how their hats danced! Their
suit-cases bounded and bumped as they ran, and their umbrellas churned up
and down in choppy billows before the boisterous March wind. There! the
last one had vanished in a whirl of flapping ends and lively angles
beyond the dripping evergreens.

As she was turning languidly away, a backward glance espied two girls
emerging from one of the dormitories far across the flooded lawn. They
came skipp