ncestors had done. It was in the blood to respond
thus.

The hunter's horn on the terrace outside, sounding the call to
recreation, roused her from her day-dreams, and she came to herself with
a start. But before she hurried away to the office where the mail was
being distributed, she made a quick survey of the H's. To her surprise
the name of Hurst was not among them. She fairly ran down the stairs to
report her discovery to Elise.

When the invitations for the evening were all distributed Mary went up
stairs wailing out her consternation to A.O. She was to be escorted by
Jane Ridgeway, the most dignified senior in the school.

"She's the kind that knows such an awful lot, and you have to be on your
p's and q's with her every single minute. Cornie says her father is in
the Cabinet, and her mother is a shining intellectual light. And now
that I've been warned beforehand, I'll not be able to utter a syllable
of sense; I know that I'll just gibber."

When she went to her room to dress for the occasion that night there
was a great hunch of hot-house roses waiting for her with Jane's card.
She knew from the other girls' description of this opening festivity
that the seniors spared no expense on this occasion, but it rather
overawed her to receive such an extravagant offering. She looked across
at the modest bunch of white and purple violets which had come from the
Warwick Hall conservatory for Ethelinda, and wondered if there had not
been some mistake. Then to her surprise, Ethelinda, who had noticed her
glance, spoke to her.

"Sweet, aren't they! Miss Berkeley sent them, or rather Lady Evelyn, I
should say. She is to be my escort to-night."

It was Mary's besetting sin to put people right whom, she thought were
mistaken, so she answered hastily, "Oh, no! You oughtn't to call her
Lady Evelyn. She doesn't like it. She wants to be just like the other
girls as long as she is in an American school."

Ethelinda drew herself up with a stare, and asked in a patronizing tone
that nettled Mary:

"May I ask how _you_ happen to know so much about her?"

Equally lofty in her manner, and in a tone comically like Ethelinda's,
Mary answered, "You may. Miss Lewis gave me that bit of information,
and for the rest I looked her up in Burke's Peerage. She comes of a very
illustrious and noble family, so of course she feels perfectly sure of
her position, and doesn't have to draw the lines about herself to
preserve her dignity as som