HALLOW-E’EN, WITH OTHER EVENTS.
In a boarding school full of bright girls, the most ordinary weeks
contain something new and interesting, but the last week of October in
this opening of the year at Greycliff was full of plans and more or less
exciting events. First came the arrival of the butterfly pins. They came
on the morning mail, addressed to Cathalina, who, on finding them with
her mail, immediately called a meeting of the Psyche Club in Lakeview
Suite. “Come as soon as you get through with your recitations this
afternoon,” she said. “I’ll not open the box till everybody is there,
and then we shall know whether we are to be terribly disappointed or
perfectly delighted!”
Promptly the girls arrived at a time when they judged that the last one
would be through. Eager with anticipation, they watched Cathalina open
the larger box in which they came and take out the small individual
boxes marked each with the name of the girl for which it was intended.
“How nicely they have fixed everything!” said Hilary.
“This firm knows how to do it just right,” answered Cathalina.
Then came the O’s and ah’s of the girls as they took out the exquisite
little pins. “O, Cathalina! what perfect beauties!” exclaimed one.
“I didn’t dream even from your design that they would be as lovely as
this,” said Juliet. Cathalina looked pleased.
“Look on the back, everybody,” said Lilian, “and see how prettily they
have our names and ‘Greycliff,’ and the date.”
“O-oo-oo!” cried Isabel, “I am just so happy over it that I don’t know
what to do. Do you see those tiny jewels just in the right place? O, I’m
so glad you girls let me belong to the Psyche Club!”
“Why shouldn’t we? It is yours as much as anybody’s,” replied Cathalina.
But Isabel, who was sitting by Cathalina, gave her a hug and whispered,
“I know who I owe being in this club to,—whom, I mean!”
Cathalina laughed. “I think that you are decidedly mixed, not only in
grammar but in facts!”
The pins were exactly the right size, the girls thought, neither large
nor too small. The engraving by necessity had to be quite small, beneath
the body of the butterfly. The pin was of gold, delicate, the main part
of the wings with open spaces, but the tips or edges filled in with bits
of enamel in butterfly colors, and on the elongated tips downward were
the “tiniest” sets of sapphires and diamonds. Two wee jewels were
supposed to be the eyes of the insect. The girls tried them on, as girls
do, running to the mirror to see the effect.
“I didn’t want to try too many colors,” said Cathalina. “I wanted it to
suggest one of those big, handsome blue butterflies, you know, and that
blue enamel with the bit of black to set it off, with the gold, too,
seems to give the right effect.”
“Now the bill, Cathalina,” suggested Pauline. “Everything has to be paid
for, you know.”
“The bill is—just nothing,” announced Cathalina.
Loud protests began at once.
“See here, Cathalina, that simply can not be,” said Lilian. “We could
not think of allowing you to meet such a bill as this must be, and you
must not ask us to.”
“I should think not!” exclaimed Eloise.
Cathalina was smiling during all this. “Now, girls, if you will only
give me a chance to tell you about it,—”
“Hear what she has to say,” said Betty, who was the only one that knew
what Cathalina wanted.
“All right, Cathalina, speak up or else forever hold your peace,” said
Isabel.
“Now of course, girls, having made the design, you know, I did want it
worked out exactly as I wanted it. You don’t blame me, do you?”
“Not a bit of it.”
“On the other hand, it costs a good deal to have a particular design
made up, or might, anyway, and I did not want to have you girls put to a
great expense. I really wanted to have the privilege of presenting the
pins to you, but when I consulted with Betty about it she was quite
doubtful. Still, I think it would be mean for me not to do what I want,
when I was so self-sacrificing in making that design!” Cathalina’s smile
beamed on them as she said that, for all of them knew what fun it had
been to her to work out the idea. Various expressions were on the faces
of the girls. Eloise sat with her face in her hands, chin uptilted, her
elbows on her knees, her bright eyes fixed on Cathalina.
“Make your argument good, Cathalina,” said the judge’s daughter, “if you
expect to convince us of anything we don’t want to do.”
“I’m hoping that you will _want_ to do it, Lilian,” replied Cathalina,
“by the time I get through, besides wanting to congratulate me!”
“Mercy! She’s engaged to the jeweler, perhaps! He couldn’t let such a
designer go!”
“You haven’t come so far from it, Lil, after all,” said Cathalina. “The
jeweler wrote about the designs—you know I made several—and offered to
make the pins and give me fifty dollars besides if I would give him the
exclusive right to the designs!”
“Why, Cathalina! You little old artist! What a pity that you aren’t poor
enough to be ‘saved from starvation’ or something!” So said Isabel.
“O, I’m crazy about the money!” said Cathalina, to the girls’ great
surprise. “It’s the first money I ever earned, and while I think that
art is above all money, I can’t help be glad that mine is good enough to
be wanted and have some money value!”
“Well, maybe we aren’t proud of you!” said Lilian. “Tell us what you
want and it is yours to the half of our kingdoms!”
“Just this, girls; you see that the pins haven’t really cost me a cent,
that making the designs has brought me something unexpected both in
money and ‘fame,’ and so I would feel dreadful if you all could not have
some share in the good fortune too.”
“We’ll think about it,” said Pauline.
“No, I want it decided now. How would I feel having you hand me cash for
these pins?”
“What do you think, Betty?” asked Eloise.
“Her heart’s set on it girls, and I think she’ll be about killed if you
insist on paying anything for the pins.”
“All right, then,” said Pauline, “let’s do it before we repent,—all in
favor of accepting the pins as our unearned share in Cathalina’s
well-earned good luck, say ay!”
“You are dears,” said Cathalina. “A load has rolled off my mind and I’m
positively dippy about the sale of those designs. The moral of that is,
do something you love to do, for people you love to do it for, and other
folks will want it too.”
“It’s almost wicked, though, Cathalina, for us to wear these pins before
the other girls, they’ll want some too.”
“Well, they can have butterfly pins. But the jeweler promised me not to
make pins _exactly_ like these for anybody, so these are our very own
Psyche pins!”
“Our ‘inspiration’ pins,” added Betty. “Now let’s decide what we’re
going to do on Hallow-e’en.”
Sometimes Greycliff girls gave a masquerade party all together, but this
year it was thought best merely to allow the girls to get up small
parties or not, just as they pleased.
“What day does it come on?” asked Hilary.
“In a few days, anyhow; I haven’t looked up the calendar. The question
is whether we shall have the Psyche Club only, or the literary society,
or some other kind of a party.”
“If we have a Shakespearean Society Masquerade we could have the hall
and try all kinds of Hallow-e’en doings, have one end curtained off, and
have the girls toss apple-peelings to see what initials they form, you
know,—”
“Yes, and the back stairs and steps are right there, you know. We could
go down backward with a candle and a looking glass and see our future
husband’s face and all that!”
“It wouldn’t be necessary to be masked, would it?” asked Juliet.
“No,” said Cathalina, “but it would be more fun, wouldn’t it?—more
mysterious. I brought some costumes from home, thinking of Hallow-e’en.
I have a pretty pansy costume for Betty. I always think of a dark purple
pansy when Betty looks up with those eyes and lashes of hers.”
“Listen to that, Betty; did she ever tell you that?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“I’ve been saving it till the right time,” said Cathalina smiling at her
chum. “Then I brought several others that I will show you, girls. One
belongs to Ann Maria, my cousin, and another to Louise, another cousin.
I happened to think of our needing something sometimes and asked the
girls if I might not bring them. You remember Ann Maria and Louise,
Hilary, don’t you?”
“Indeed I do.”
“I’m all right with a gypsy costume that I can get up from what I have,”
said Hilary.
“Cathalina thinks I have purple eyes!” pouted Betty, in fun.
“‘I never saw a purple cow,’” quoted Pauline.
“‘I never hope to see one,—’”
“I did not mean the color, Betty,” laughed Cathalina, “but I’ll admit
that I did not make that very clear.”
“Well, then, let’s _have_ the society party, no eats except apples,
nuts, fudge and cider,” said Juliet.
“That would be clevah,” remarked Helen. “Can you get the ciduh?”
“We had some last year on several occasions. We’ll have to order it
right away, and be sure to specify _sweet_ cider. They had to throw away
some that came once.”
“May we invite a few outside of the society?” asked Avalon. “I was
thinking that Virgie’s roommate will be here tomorrow and it would be
too bad not to have her.”
“O, of course, in a case like that it would be all right,” said Hilary.
“Besides, it may be that some of the girls have made plans with other
groups for some other party.”
It happened that the first written tests of the year came at the last of
October, which added to the tensity of the week, and the girls found
little time to fuss with costumes until the mystic night arrived.
Meantime, Virginia Hope’s roommate materialized.
It was perhaps as well for Virginia that she had had this opportunity to
adapt herself to the new surroundings before any girl was placed with
her. Perhaps Miss Randolph had thought of this. Virginia was much
concerned in fitting herself properly into the Greycliff environment and
manners. Quick to observe, she avoided making what she considered fatal
mistakes in table etiquette and other matters, taking one of the girls,
Lilian, in fact, as her model in deportment. Having obtained clothes
which were inconspicuous because suitable, she felt more at ease, and
devoted herself chiefly to her lessons in those first weeks. She would
have been lonely if it had not been for Isabel and Avalon, but they
dropped into her room at all hours and kept her feeling that she had
companionship.
Remembering how much kindness had meant to her upon her arrival, she
decided beforehand to be responsive and helpful to her roommate, whether
she really liked her or not, but it was a real relief when Alma brought
up a pleasant, attractive girl, of about her own age, and introduced her
as Olivia Holmes from New Orleans. Alma promptly disappeared, leaving it
to Virginia to do the honors. But it was easy to entertain Olivia. In
less than ten minutes the two girls were talking as if they had known
each other for years, and Virginia was helping Olivia put away her
clothes in one of the two closets with which the room was supplied. The
janitor had seen to the delivery of the trunk at once.
“I saved these drawers for you,” said Virginia. “If you would prefer any
of those that I have my clothes in, just say so and it will be easy
enough to change.”
“Mercy, no; why take any more trouble than necessary?” replied
easy-going Olivia. “This is a nice big closet. See my new fur coat? I’m
simply delighted to be up north where I shall see snow.”
“Haven’t you ever seen it?” asked the amazed Virginia.
“No, I’ve never been north before. Father and Mother have gone out to
California to visit my sister and the new baby and will probably stay
there all winter. My sister isn’t very strong and Mother has been crazy
to get there. I had to be sent to school somewhere, so I begged to be
sent here. I heard of it through one of the girls at home, and sent for
a catalogue. Do you like it?”
“O, yes! You haven’t made any mistake in choosing your school, unless
it’s too cold for you!”
Olivia laughed and tossed her head. “No danger of that, I reckon; I
could hardly wait, though, till I got my fur coat. Mother said I had all
the things I’d ever need for a trip to Alaska! I’m sure I’ll not be
homesick, because the folks are away from home anyway.”
“You will miss them, won’t you?”
“Yes, indeed; but they were abroad for a year once and left me with my
aunt. We travel a good deal in our family.”
All this was very interesting to Virginia, who wrote to her father that
night telling him how exciting it was to live with a girl from New
Orleans. “This is a very cosmopolitan place, as one of the teachers said
in chapel,” wrote Virginia. “We have a Chinese girl, and a French girl
is coming soon. Miss Randolph spoke of it to us all and said that we are
not to ask her any questions because she was terribly frightened when
the Germans made their first advance and just escaped in time. It seems
like living in a story, Father, and I can’t thank you enough for letting
me come here.”
Olive was very happy that she should be invited at once to a party and
took more interest, if the truth must be told, in getting a costume and
mask ready, than in catching up with her lessons. Cathalina helped her,
from the supply which she had brought, and such trying on of costumes
and deciding on characters as there were! Isabel burst into Virgie’s
room on the afternoon of the party with a whoop of satisfaction. “Look
here, girls, what do you think of this? I had a bright idea and made my
Bluebeard’s blue beard of cotton and colored it with ink. Isn’t it
ferocious?” she inquired, adjusting it to her rosy face.
The hall was decorated with pumpkin lanterns, black cats, witches,
broomsticks and the like in various forms as they come for such
purposes. One end was curtained off for the trying of fortunes and
different Hallow-e’en performances, and the sum of five cents was
charged for the privilege of taking part. TRY YOUR FORTUNE, FIND OUT
WHOM YOU ARE TO WED, AND HELP THE SOCIETY BUY ITS FURNITURE, was printed
in large if shaky letters on a banner fastened across the curtain. From
the shouts of laughter which came from behind the curtain it was evident
that something funny was taking place, and tickets could scarcely be
given out fast enough. The door at one end of the hall, or society room,
was included behind the curtain, and through this door girls, clad as
witches were sending their patrons, equipped with candle and mirror.
Just around the corner was a short flight of stairs to the back door and
the stars.
“Come on, Betty, try it,” urged Cathalina and Eloise, who were two of
the witches.
“Did you see anything, girls?” asked Betty of Isabel and Virgie. Betty
in the pansy costume, her mask thrown back, was a pretty sight.
“No, not a thing, go on,” said Isabel.
“Sh, you’re not supposed to tell,” said Eloise.
“I’ll go, then,” said Betty, “you leave the door open, don’t you?”
“Yes, and a witch is behind the curtain at the top of the stairs. Don’t
forget to back down and look out for two steps outside the door.”
Betty started. It was pitch dark in the staircase, except for the feeble
candle, and sensible as Betty was, she felt the charm of Hallow-e’en
night and a bit of excitement as girls do. Slowly she backed down, out
the door, down two stairs more, her candle flickering in the breeze,
then she looked in the mirror,—O, a face! She gave a little cry, slipped
on a frosty leaf and would have fallen but for two strong hands at her
elbows. “Pardon me,” said a manly voice, and a quickly moving figure
disappeared in the darkness. Betty lost no time either, but flew
indoors, up the stairs, and whisked into the gay room again, as if all
the witches in poetry and prose were after her.
As she dropped, breathless, into a chair, Cathalina bent over her saying
in a hollow voice, “Only the witch may receive your message. What did
you see?”
“I’ll tell you afterward, Cathie,” whispered Betty, “I really did see
something, but don’t tell anybody.”
“The response is satisfactory. Depart. Take this memento of your
adventure,” and Cathalina pinned on Betty a black cat badge.
“Refreshments are served at the other end of the hall at the booth.”
Betty adjusted her mask and joined the other revelers outside the
curtained place of mysteries. Cider, doughnuts and fudge tasted good
after her last exciting adventure, and she parted with several more
nickels, for the girls had decided to meet the expense of their
refreshments in this way, except in the case of their guests, who were
to be served free. It was a pretty scene, the gay dresses, the yellow
and black decorations, the odd witches who were in charge, the movement
and life among the maskers.
Miss Randolph permitted later hours than usual, and it was a tired but
satisfied company of girls who left the society hall after the last
doughnut had been eaten and the last drop of sweet cider drained from
the little glass cups and the big “punch” bowl. Lilian had been a fairy,
and danced into Lakeview Suite as if she were just beginning the
evening.
“I couldn’t do that,” said Hilary, as Lilian whirled around two or three
times on her toes.
“Poor old Hilary; no wonder, with all the decorating you did, and served
all evening nearly in the booth.”
“I just loved my pansy costume, Cathalina; come and help me off with it,
and I will help you off with your witch’s garments. Good-night, Hilary,
and Lilian, ‘airy fairy Lilian’!”
“Good-night. Shall I set the alarm for six?”
“Yes, Hilary, please,” replied Cathalina, “we hate to, but we have to!”
“It isn’t so awfully late, and we need not talk long,” said Betty, as
the pansy costume was hung in the closet, “but I must tell you what
happened. It seems that I always have the queerest adventures! When I
got to the bottom of the steps, I held up the mirror according to
directions and the candle flickered and almost went out in the wind,—and
then I _did_ see a blurred face in the mirror! But it wasn’t the spirit
of my husband to be, not a bit of it. It was somebody real, for when I
squealed a bit and turned to run, my foot slipped and I would have
fallen if this young man had not put our his two hands and caught my
elbows!”
“A ‘young man,’ you think?”
“Yes, and I’ve been worrying ever since, for fear it was the same one
snooping around again. Do you think it could be?”
“Couldn’t you see the face the least bit, enough to know complexion, or
eyes, or anything?”
“Just two eyes, nose and mouth, yes, and a grin. You can imagine that
with that flickering little light, and my slipping right away, and being
so startled, I could not recognize anybody by that moment’s glance at a
reflection!”
“Didn’t he say a word?”
“O, yes; he said ‘Pardon me,’ as he caught me, and it was really very
nice of him to go away, under the circumstances.”
Cathalina laughed. “Yes, considering that you had gone out there to see
the face of your future husband in the mirror, it was wise indeed for
the young man to disappear as quickly as possible. But did his voice
sound anything like that of Louise’s brother?”
“I couldn’t tell. It didn’t seem so to me, if I can trust instinct, but
can I?”
“Don’t know, Betty dear. Let’s get to sleep as soon as possible and we
can think it out later. Another mystery: Who is Betty’s future husband,
the knight of Hallow-e’en?”