Josephine Chase

“ At the sound of girlish voices, Marian rose, a look of intense annoyance on her face, which deepened as the Phi Sigma Tau trooped into the room, and laughingly surrounded her.
"How are you, Marian?" they cried. "You wouldn't come to us, so we planned a little surprise."
"So I see," replied Marian stiffly. "I am sorry, but I really must go, Eva. You should have told me that the girls were coming."
"Why, Marian Barber, what are you talking about?" asked Nora O'Malley in pretended surprise. "Why should you run away from the members of your own sorority?" ”

“ Grace stood as close as she dared, Nora, Anne and Jessica at her side.
"Oh, do, do save our gymnasium!" she shrieked, as several firemen hurried past her.
"Can't do it, miss," replied one of them. "It's a goner. If we save the school we'll do well, let alone the gymnasium."
Long and strenuously the firemen fought the hungry flames. The wind was in the wrong direction, and helped to fan the blaze. One of the gymnasium walls fell in with a terrific crash, almost carrying with it two firemen who had been playing a stream from the rung of a ladder that leaned against it. ”

“ Skidded, I suppose."
"Come on, girls," said Anne. "There is no use in staying here any longer. We've had excitement enough for one day."
"I should say so," shuddered Jessica. "I hope that woman doesn't die. We must go to the hospital to-morrow and inquire for her."
"Of course," responded Anne. "What a sweet face she had, and her eyes were such a beautiful brown, but they haunted me. There is something so familiar about them."
"Why, that's just what I thought, too!" cried Grace. "Who is it she resembles?"
"Give it up," said Nora. ”

“ Suddenly an idea popped into Anne's head that was a positive inspiration.
"Why not ask him to come down for our concert?" she said, amazed at her own audacity in suggesting such a thing. "Eleanor need not know about him at all. She is to play at the concert, you know. If he hears her play he will realize more fully that she is really his own flesh and blood, and if he has any real fatherly feeling for her it will come to the surface. That will be the psychological moment in which to bring them together."
"Anne, you're a genius!" cried Grace. ”

“ David preferred to keep Anne the little High School girl he had known for the past three years. Theatrical stars were somewhat out of his firmament.
"Don't worry," Anne assured him. "It's only for three more weeks. I'll be back in Oakdale in plenty of time to finish up my senior year with the girls."
"Anne, you haven't any idea of how much we have missed you," cried Nora. "We can't get used to being without you."
"I've missed you, too," responded Anne who stood with Grace's arm around her, smiling lovingly at her little circle of friends. ”

“ At one side of the tree stood a graceful figure clad in a white robe that glittered and sparkled as though covered with diamonds. She wore a gilt crown on her head and carried a scepter, while over her shoulder trailed a long garland of holly fastened with scarlet ribbons. It was Grace Harlowe in a robe made of cotton wadding thickly sprinkled with diamond dust, gotten up to represent the spirit of Christmas.
On the other side of the tree lay old Father Time, apparently fast asleep, his sickle by his side. ”

“ For the next hour the girls stood eagerly watching the gallant work of the firemen. A dense crowd, composed largely of High School boys and girls, packed the campus, while people blocked the streets outside the gates. Intense excitement prevailed, and when it became evident that the main building was safe a mighty cheer went up from the crowd.
"Bless their hearts!" exclaimed Grace. "They are just as fond as we are of Oakdale High School. But, oh, girls, where are we going to play basketball!"
The girls looked at each other in dismay.
"What is life without basketball?" said Nora sadly. ”

“ I had cherished vain hopes that she wouldn't favor us with the light of her countenance this year, even though she did inform Grace of her laudable desire to stay with the seniors for pure spite."
"Never mind, Nora," said Jessica, "I don't believe she'll worry herself about us, even though she did make dire threats."
"Remember what I told you last year, girls," said Grace in a tone of admonition. "Be careful what you do and say whenever she is near. She despises the Phi Sigma Tau and would revenge herself upon us at the slightest opportunity. She comes of a race who swear vendettas." ”

“ I have always wanted to go behind the scenes of a New York theatre," remarked Mrs. Gibson.
"I have the dearest dressing room," said Anne, with enthusiasm. "Mr. and Miss Southard are going to carry you off to their house after the performance to-night. I almost forgot to tell you. So don't make any other plans."
"We are in the hands of our friends," said Hippy, with an exaggerated bow.
"You'll be in the hands of the law if you don't mend your ways," prophesied Reddy. "If we get you safely into the theatre without official assistance it will surprise me very much." ”

“ You have done a very foolish and really criminal act, but your own remorse has punished you severely enough. None of us are infallible. The thing to do now, is to find a way to make up this money."
Marian wiped her eyes, and, leaving the lounge, walked over to Grace, and, putting her arms about Grace's neck, said, with agonized earnestness:
"Grace, can you and the girls ever forgive me for being so hateful?"
"Why, of course, we can. There is nothing to forgive. We have never stopped thinking of you as a member of our sorority. We wouldn't ask any one else to take your place." ”

“ As the time for Eleanor's first solo drew near, Anne and Grace felt their hearts beat a little faster. Nora was giving an encore to her first song. Eleanor was to follow her. As she stood in the wing her violin under her arm, Grace thought she had never appeared more beautiful.
Her gown was of some soft, white material and rather simply made. "I never like to wear fussy things when I play," she had confided to the girls. ”

“ The judge's guests, also, added their tribute of admiration to that of the judge.
"It was all so real. I could scarcely refrain from telling that poor young husband where his bride had hidden herself," laughed one old gentleman.
"Why don't you children have a little dance?" asked the judge. "This hall ought to make a good ball room, and you can take turns at the piano."
"Oh, may we, Judge?" cried Grace in delight. "I am simply dying to have a good waltz on this floor."
"I'll play for you for a while," volunteered Miriam, "then Eva and Jessica can take my place." ”

“ You are all coming home for Thanksgiving and the time will slip by before we realize it. It's our duty to send you boys away in good spirits, instead of making you feel blue and melancholy."
"Anne always thinks about her duty," laughed Jessica, "but she's right, nevertheless. Let's all be as cheerful as possible."
"I hear the train coming," cried Grace, always on the alert. "Do write to us, won't you, boys! Please don't forget to send us some pictures of the college."
"Yes, don't let that new Eastman of yours go to waste, Reddy," said Nora. ”

“ Mr. Hammond alone appeared unmoved. Grace fancied that she even detected a gleam of approval in his eyes as he glanced toward Marian.
"Shall we dine!" asked the judge, offering his arm to Grace, while Tom Gray escorted Miss Putnam, the other young men following with their friends.
The dinner passed off smoothly, although there was a curious constraint fell upon the young people that nothing could dispel.
Marian's gown had indeed proved a surprise to her young friends, and they could not shake off a certain sense of mortification at her lack of good taste. ”

“ Grace paused. A sudden suspicion entered her mind, that she instantly dismissed.
"You don't believe—" began Anne, but Grace stopped her.
"No, dear," she answered firmly. "We mustn't ever allow ourselves to entertain such a thought. Marian may have foolishly risked money of her own that we know nothing of, but as for anything else—Marian is still a member of our sorority and the honor of the Phi Sigma Tau is above reproach." ”

“ You can't always judge a man by his looks."
"You can this man," asserted Grace. "He is a polite villain of the deepest dye, and I know it."
It was after eleven o'clock when the train pulled into Oakdale. Mrs. Gibson's chauffeur awaited them with the big touring car, in which there was ample room for all of them.
"Keep a sharp lookout for that man," whispered Grace to Miriam. "I want to see if Oakdale is his destination."
The two girls lagged behind the others, eagerly scanning the platform.
"I think he must have gone on," said Miriam. "I don't see him. Don't worry any more about him, Grace." ”

“ There are lots of chance resemblances."
"Of course there are," consoled Grace. "When we go to the hospital to-morrow we'll find no doubt that our stranger is named 'Smith' or 'Brown' or anything except 'Allison.'"
"Don't worry, dear," said Anne, slipping her hand into Jessica's. "No one will take your one chicken from you."
"I don't know about that," responded Jessica gloomily. "I feel in my bones that something terrible is going to happen. I suppose you girls think me foolish about Mabel, but I've no mother or sister, and you know yourselves what a dear Mabel is." ”

“ Anne was chosen as class poet, and Jessica had composed both the words and music of the class song. Grace was to prophesy the futures of her various classmates, while Nora had been detailed to write the class grinds.
"To-day is the day of days," exclaimed Grace to her mother on Tuesday, as she smoothed out a tiny wrinkle in her class-day gown, which she lovingly inspected for the fifth time before putting it on. It was a pale blue marquisette embroidered in tiny daisies, and Grace declared it to be far prettier than her graduating gown of white organdie trimmed with fine lace. ”

“ Grace nodded silently. Her mind was busy with Marian's problem. She must get back the money that Henry Hammond had wheedled Marian into giving him. If the stranger had been apprehended and if Hammond were really his confederate, then the stranger might, under cross-examination, betray Hammond, who would at once be arrested.
Now that Eleanor had become her friend, Grace knew that she would never expose Marian in class meeting, but even with this menace removed, still nothing could disguise the fact that the judge's gift could not be honestly accounted for. ”

“ She pointed to a photograph that the Phi Sigma Tau had had taken the previous summer.
"Only one face missing to-night," said Grace in low tones as she drew her chair close to Anne's.
"Have you found out anything else?" asked Anne in the same guarded tones.
"Nothing very important," replied Grace. "Marian and Henry Hammond have had some sort of quarrel. Nora saw them pass the other day without speaking."
"That's a step in the right direction", said Anne. "Once she has dropped him for good and all, she'll begin to see her own folly. Then she'll come back and be her old self again." ”

“ The early stunt catches the cash, you know," concluded Nora slangily.
"Well, what would you suggest as a cash-catching stunt?" asked Anne. "You are generally a prize suggester."
"We might have a bazaar," said Nora after a moment's thought, "with ever so many different booths. We could have a gypsy camp, and tell fortunes, and we could have some Spanish dancers, and, oh, lots of things. We could have it in Assembly Hall and have tents with all these shows going on."
"Oh, splendid!" cried Grace. "And we could get the High School mandolin club for an orchestra. ”

“ Grace hurried through her dressing, and looking very sweet and wholesome in her dainty blue organdie, knocked at the door of the room occupied by Marian and Eva Allen.
"Come in," cried Eva's voice, and Grace entered, to find Eva completely dressed in a pretty white pongee, eyeing with great disfavor the tight-fitting princess gown of black silk that the maid was struggling to hook Marian into.
"Marian!" exclaimed Grace. "What ever made you have a black evening gown? It makes you look years older than you are." ”

“ They turned in seventy-five dollars."
"Eleanor certainly did work," observed Anne. "One feels as though one could forgive her all her sins after the success she made of her booth. It is a shame that so much ability and cleverness is choked and crowded out by wilfulness and temper."
"Did you hear about the quarrel that she and Edna Wright had, after she attacked us?" asked Eva Allen.
"Yes," answered Grace. "I understand, too, that it has completely broken up their sorority. They carried their part of the bazaar through together and then Eleanor told Edna that she was practically done with her." ”

“ She will be glad to know that you are so much better. Her name is Jessica Bright. She was with us at the station yesterday."
"I should like to meet her," said Mrs. Allison, "and I thank her for her interest in me. I really feel as though I had known you three girls for a long time. I wish you would tell me more of yourselves and your school life."
"There isn't much to tell," laughed Grace. "The life of a school-girl is not crowded with many stirring events." ”

“ I don't believe she'll pass, and she told Nora at the beginning of the year that if she failed in one study this year she wouldn't have enough credits to get through and graduate."
"Oh, she'll pull through, I think," said Grace. "She is really brilliant in mathematics, and always has kept up in other things."
"I know," persisted Anne, "but she has finished her mathematics' group, and her studies this year are things she doesn't care for, and consequently left them until the last. We wouldn't want a Phi Sigma Tau to fail, you know." ”

“ It was Miriam who had made this possible by inviting Eva Allen, James Gardiner, Arnold Evans, Marian Barber, and much against her will, Henry Hammond, to a dinner.
"Don't feel slighted at being left off my dinner list," she said to Grace, then added slyly, "Why don't the eight originals hold forth at Nora's?"
"You're a positive dear, Miriam," Grace replied. "We have been wanting to have an old-time frolic, but didn't wish to seem selfish and clannish."
"Opportunity is knocking at your gate, get busy," was Miriam's advice, which Grace was not slow to follow. ”

“ Marian had engaged the attention of Miss Putnam's maid for the greater part of an hour, and when she did appear the varied expressions upon the faces of her friends plainly showed that she had succeeded in creating a sensation.
"For goodness sake, what ails Marian!" growled Reddy Brooks in an undertone to David. "Can't the girls make her see that she looks like a fright beside them?"
"Anne told me that Grace and Eva have both talked to her," replied David in guarded tones. "Grace thinks Hammond has put this grown-up idea into her head." ”