boys went back to
their respective schools under Admiral Seldon's escort. At least he went
as far as Front Royal with Athol and Archie, leaving them at that point
to go on by themselves while he accompanied Beverly to Leslie Manor. He
was minded to have a few words with Miss Woodhull and know something more
of the lady's character than he already knew. The outcome of that
interview left a good deal to be desired upon the Admiral's part. He
returned to Woodbine "with every gun silenced," and the lady triumphant
in her convictions that _her_ methods of conducting a school for girls
were quite beyond criticism. It would be utterly impossible for Beverly
to even think of visiting her brother at Kilton Hall, she said, nor could
she consent to Athol visiting Leslie Manor. She did not wish to establish
a precedent. As to Archie _ever_ coming there, _that_ idea was
preposterous. Why every boy for miles around would feel at liberty to
call upon her pupils and they would be simply besieged. She had conducted
her school successfully for many years under its present methods and
until she saw more cogent reasons for changing she should continue to do
so.

Had not the Admiral made arrangements for the year it is safe to surmise
that Beverly would have returned to Woodbine with him, and his frame of
mind, and the remarks to which he gave utterance, as he drove back to the
junction, elicited more than one broad grin or chuckle from Andrew J.
Jefferson as he drove. But Beverly did not know anything about it.

So the weeks sped by until the Christmas recess drew near and the girls
were once more planning to scatter, far and wide, for their two-weeks
holiday.

Now be it known that Petty had returned from her Thanksgiving trip to
Annapolis in a more sentimental frame of mind than ever, and filled as
full of romance as an egg is of meat.

Each day brought a letter always addressed in a feminine handwriting, to
be sure, or there would have been little chance of said letter ever
reaching Petty. They were, she confided to every girl in the school under
strictest promises of secrecy, re-addressed for "Reggy" by "darling
mamma," for mamma, knowing how desperate was their devotion to each
other, just simply could not help acting as a go-between. And she knew
very well too that she, Petty, would not have remained at school a single
day unless she did this. Why, mamma, herself, had eloped with papa before
she was sixteen. One whole year younge