GRACE MEETS WITH A REBUFF
It was several days before the pleasant buzz of excitement created by
the bazaar had subsided. With a few exceptions the Overton girls who had
turned out, almost in a body, to patronize it, were loud in their
praises of the booths, and spent their money with commendable
recklessness. Outside the circus it was difficult to say which booth had
proved the greatest attraction. But late that evening, after the crowd
had gone home and the proceeds of the entertainment were counted, the
club discovered to their joy that they were nearly six hundred dollars
richer. Arline had laughingly proclaimed the Semper Fidelis Club as a
regular get-rich-quick organization with honest motives.
By the time the last bit of frivolous decoration had been removed from
the gymnasium, and the big room had recovered its usual business-like
air, the bazaar had become a bit of 19--'s history, and Thanksgiving
plans were in full swing. There had been two meetings of the club, but
to Grace's surprise no mention had been made of Kathleen West's
intentional betrayal of Emma Dean's identity. Grace felt certain that
the majority of the club had heard the story, and with a thrill of pride
she paid tribute to her friends, who, in ignoring the thrust evidently
intended for the club itself, had shown themselves as possessors of the
true Overton spirit. After Emma's one outburst to Grace against Kathleen
she said no more on the subject. Even Elfreda, who usually had something
to say about everything when alone with her three friends, was
discreetly silent on the subject of the newspaper girl. Long ago she had
delivered her ultimatum. To be sure, she went about looking owlishly
wise, but she offered no comment concerning Kathleen's unpleasant
attitude.
For the time being Grace had put aside all disturbing thoughts and
suspicions, and was preparing to make the most of the four days'
vacation. Mabel Ashe was to be her guest on Thanksgiving Day, and this
in itself was sufficient to banish everything save pleasurable
anticipations from her mind. Then, too, there was so much to be done.
The Monday evening preceding Thanksgiving Grace hurried through her
lessons and, closing her books before she was at all sure that she could
make a creditable recitation in any of her subjects, settled herself to
the important task of letter-writing.
"There," she announced with satisfaction, after half an hour's steady
work, "Father and Mother can't say I forgot them. Let me see, there are
Nora and Jessica, Mrs. Gray and Mabel Allison. Eleanor owes me a letter,
and, oh, I nearly forgot the Southards, and there is Mrs. Gibson. I
shall have to devote two nights to letter-writing," she added ruefully.
"I do love to receive letters, but it is so hard to answer them."
"Isn't it, though?" sighed Anne, who was seated at the table opposite
Grace, engaged in a similar task. "Now I wish we were going home, don't
you, Grace?"
"Yes," returned Grace simply. "But we can't, so there is no use in
wishing. However," she continued, her face brightening, "we are going to
have Mabel with us, and that means a whole lot. All Overton will be glad
to see her--that is, all the juniors and seniors and the faculty and a
few others."
"There is only one Mabel Ashe," said Anne softly. "Won't it be splendid
to have her with us?"
Grace nodded. Then, after writing busily for a moment, she looked up and
said abruptly: "There is just one thing that bothers me, Anne, and that
is the way Miss West is behaving. What shall I tell Mabel when she asks
me about her? In my letters I haven't made the slightest allusion to
anything."
"Tell Mabel the truth," advised Anne calmly. "By that I don't mean that
you need mention the Sphinx affair, but if you say to her frankly that
we have tried to be friendly with Miss West and that she appears
especially to dislike us, she will understand, and nine chances to one
she will be able to point out the reason, which so far no one seems to
know."
"I suppose I had better tell her," sighed Grace. "I hate to begin a
holiday by gossiping, but something will have to be done, or Mabel will
find herself in an embarrassing position, for I have a curious
presentiment that Miss Kathleen West will pounce upon her the moment she
sees her, just to annoy us."
Since the evening of the bazaar, when Kathleen had nodded curtly to
Grace at the entrance to the Sphinx's tent, she had neither spoken to
nor noticed the four girls who had in the beginning received her so
hospitably. No one of them quite understood the newspaper girl's
attitude, but as she was often seen in company with Alberta Wicks and
Mary Hampton, they were forced to draw their own conclusions. Grace
fought against harboring the slightest resemblance to suspicion against
the two seniors and their new friend.
"Does Miss West know that Mabel is coming to Overton for Thanksgiving?"
asked Anne.
"No," returned Grace, looking rather worried. "I suppose some one ought
to tell her."
"I'll tell her, if you like," proposed Anne quietly. "I think she is in
her room this evening. I heard her say to one of the girls at dinner
that she intended to study hard until late to-night."
"No," decided Grace, "it wouldn't be fair for me to shirk my
responsibility. Mabel wrote me about Kathleen West in the first place,
and I promised to look out for her. If she doesn't yearn for my society,
it isn't my fault. I'm not going to be a coward, at any rate. I'll go at
once, while my resolution is at its height. She can't do more than order
me from her room, and having been through a similar experience several
times in my life I shan't mind it so very much," concluded Grace grimly,
closing her fountain pen and laying it beside her half-finished letter.
"I'm going now, Anne. I hope she won't be too difficult."
Grace walked resolutely down the hall to the door at the end. It was
slightly ajar. Rapping gently, she stood waiting, bravely stifling the
strong inclination to turn and walk away without delivering her message.
She heard a quick step; then she and Kathleen West confronted each
other. Without hesitating, Grace said frankly: "Miss West, Miss Ashe is
to be my guest on Thanksgiving Day. Of late you have avoided me, and my
friends as well. But Mabel is our mutual friend. So I think, at least
while she is here, we ought to put all personal differences aside and
unite in making the day pleasant for her."
"Nothing like being disinterested, is there?" broke in the other girl
sneeringly, her sharp face looking sharper than ever. "I can quite
understand your anxiety regarding not letting Miss Ashe know how
shabbily you have treated me. Your promises to her didn't hold water,
did they? And now you are afraid she will find you out, aren't you?
Don't worry, I shan't tell her. She'll learn the truth about you and
your three friends soon enough."
"You know very well I had no such motive," cried Grace, surprised to
indignation. "Besides, I know of no instance in which either my friends
or I have failed in courtesy to you."
"How innocent you are!" mimicked Kathleen insolently. "You must think me
very blind. Remember, I haven't worked for four years on a newspaper
without having learned a few things."
Grace felt her color rising. The retort that rose to her lips found its
way into speech. "No doubt your newspaper work has taught you a great
deal, Miss West," she said evenly, "but I have not been in college for
over two years without having learned a few things, also, of which, if I
am not mistaken, you have never acquired even the first rudiments. I am
sorry to have troubled you. Good night."
With a proud little inclination of the head, Grace turned and walked
down the hall to her own room, leaving the self-centered Kathleen with
an angry color in her thin face and the unpleasant knowledge that though
she might be in college, she was not of it.