touch of her imagination
made golden, so now it was easy to close her eyes and conjure up a
make-believe chum that for the time was as good as a real one.

Absorbed in her book, Ethelinda read on until the signal sounded for
lights out. Never before accustomed to such restrictions, she looked up
impatiently. She had forgotten where she was for the moment in the
interest of her book. When her glance fell on the umbrella, spread over
Mary's bed like a tent, she raised herself on her elbow with a look of
astonishment. It took her some time to understand why it had been put
there.

Never having roomed with any one before, and never having had to
consider any one's convenience besides her own, it had not occurred to
her that she might be making Mary uncomfortable. The mute umbrella
called attention to the fact more eloquently than any protest could have
done. Ethelinda had endured having a room-mate as she endured all the
other disagreeable requirements of the school. Now for the first time it
dawned upon her that there might be two sides to this story, also that
this strange girl who seemed so eager to intrude herself on her notice
might be worth knowing after all. If Mary could have seen her bewildered
stare and then the amused expression which twitched her mouth for an
instant, she would have had hopes that the thawing out process had
begun.

CHAPTER IV

"AYE, THERE'S THE RUB!"

True to the course she had laid out for herself, Mary was as dumb next
morning as if she had really lost the power of speech. Judging from her
manner one would have thought that she was alone in the room, and that
she was having a beautiful time all by herself. She was waiting for
Ethelinda to make the advances this time, and as she did not see fit
even to say good-morning, the dressing proceeded in a silence so
profound that it could almost be felt.

There was a broad smile on Mary's face most of the time. She was ready
to laugh outright over the absurd situation, and from time to time she
cast an amused glance at Lloyd's picture, as if her amusement were
understood and shared. It was wonderful how that life-like picture
seemed to bring Lloyd before her and give her a delightful sense of
companionship, and she fell into the way of "thinking to it," as she
expressed it. The things she would have said aloud had Lloyd been with
her, she said mentally, finding a satisfaction in this silent communion
that a less imaginative person could