CHAPTER II—PREPARATIONS
CHAPTER III—LOST
CHAPTER IV—FIRST IMPRESSIONS
CHAPTER V—NEW ACQUAINTANCES
CHAPTER VI—GETTING SETTLED
CHAPTER VII—AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE
CHAPTER VIII—BRAVE VICTORIA
CHAPTER IX—STRANGE DISAPPEARANCES
CHAPTER X—MABEL FINDS A FAMILY
CHAPTER XI—MABEL STAYS HOME
CHAPTER XII—A GROWING GIRL
CHAPTER XIII—MANY SMALL MYSTERIES
CHAPTER XIV—UNPOPULAR MARJORY
CHAPTER XV—A SURPRISING FESTIVAL
CHAPTER XVI—MORE MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS
CHAPTER XVII—HENRIETTA IS WORRIED
CHAPTER XVIII—A STRING OF BLUE BEADS
CHAPTER XIX—SALLIE’S STORY
CHAPTER XX—A JOYFUL SURPRISE
CHAPTER XXI—A GIRL LEAVES SCHOOL
CHAPTER XXII—A MYSTERY CLEARED
CHAPTER XXIII—PIG OR PORK?
CHAPTER XXIV—STILL NO NEWS
CHAPTER XXV—AN EXCITING FATHER
CHAPTER XXVI—HENRIETTA IS MYSTERIOUS
CHAPTER XXVII—SALLIE’S PRESENT
[Illustration: A twin baby carriage containing weary infants, propelled
by a perspiring young person, was coming in the gate]
CARROLL W. RANKIN
The Adopting of Rosa Marie
The Castaways of Pete’s Patch
The Cinder Pond
The Girls of Gardenville
Dandelion Cottage
Girls of Highland Hall
GIRLS OF HIGHLAND HALL
Further Adventures of the Dandelion Cottagers
BY CARROLL WATSON RANKIN
Author of “Dandelion Cottage,” “The Girls of
Gardenville,” “The Cinder Pond,” Etc.
New York
Henry Holt and Company
1921
Copyright, 1921
BY
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
First printing, August, 1921
Second printing, May, 1922
Third printing, September, 1925
TO
MRS. CELIA K. NORTHROP
To whom I am indebted for
much friendly encouragement.
THE PERSONS OF THE STORY
Bettie Tucker Once of Dandelion Cottage,
Jean Mapes now of Highland Hall.
Marjory Vale
Mabel Bennett
Henrietta Bedford Their Best Friend.
Peter Black Bettie’s Best Friend.
The Rhodes Family Of Highland Hall.
Miss Woodruff A Stern Teacher.
Maude Wilder Her Most Incorrigible Pupil.
Miss Blossom A Timely Flower.
Madame Bolande Who Bathed in Perfume.
Gladys de Milligan The Daughter of a Foolish Mother.
Abbie A Sad Example to All Boarding School Orphans.
Sallie Dickinson A Boarding School Orphan.
Elisabeth Wilson The Lofty Seniors.
Eleanor Pratt
Beatrice Holmes
Victoria Webster A Brave Maiden.
Isabelle Carew Who Is Sentimental.
Augusta Lemon A Timid Girl.
Cora Doyle A Growing Girl.
Various Teachers, Girls and Fathers—Especially Fathers.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A twin baby carriage containing weary infants, propelled by
a perspiring young person, was coming in the gate
“My beads!” shrieked Hazel, pouncing on the necklace
It looked very much as if all the mysteries were solved
“For goodness’ sake keep still,” growled Mabel
GIRLS OF HIGHLAND HALL
CHAPTER I
ON THE WAY
The time was almost noon of a warm September day. The place was State
Street, Chicago. The persons were six, and four of them were seeing
Chicago for the first time. They walked two by two in a little
procession. There were other persons in State Street too, probably
somewhere between a thousand and a million; but we don’t need to worry a
great deal about those others, though of course if they hadn’t been
there there would have been more room for our friends.
This small procession was headed by a well-dressed, moderately stout,
smooth-shaven gentleman with touches of white in his black hair and a
kindly, benevolent expression in his dark eyes and about his fine mouth.
A handsome man and a good man, as any one could see.
His companion was a little girl of perhaps thirteen years of age. She,
too, had big dark eyes with long lashes; and a nicely shaped mouth. Her
complexion was just exactly right and her short hair curled crisply
about the unusually pleasing countenance. Her name was Bettie and it
seemed to be a very good fit.
The second couple followed close at the heels of the first, presenting a
curious contrast. One of them, whose name was Jean, was instantly
attractive because of the serene loveliness of her expression. One knew
at a glance that she was a person to be trusted. The girl beside her,
all of two years younger, was very much smaller; a little sprite of a
girl, with bright, gray eyes and quantities of fluffy golden hair. She,
also, was a pretty child. Her small features were shapely and she
looked, as indeed she was, an unusually bright child. She was quick and
graceful in her movements and nothing in the shop windows escaped the
eager, birdlike glance of little Marjory Vale.
The third couple was erratic in its movements. Sometimes it damaged the
heels of Jean and Marjory by crowding too close. Sometimes it lagged so
far behind—the windows were _most_ attractive—that it had to run to
catch up. One of this couple, Mabel Bennett, was not built for running.
Mabel was the youngest and the broadest of the sextette; but her
undeniable plumpness did not detract from her looks. One couldn’t help
liking her honest blue eyes, the wholesome red and white of her fine
complexion, her sturdy, childlike figure, her dependable legs and the
rich bronze of her abundant hair. It was braided this morning in a
thick, uneven braid; from which numerous tendrils that curled in large,
loose, rather becoming rings escaped untidily. One guessed that
inexperienced Mabel had been her own decidedly unskilful hairdresser
that morning. Mabel’s partner in the procession was a girl of about
fifteen, so unusual in appearance that strangers turned to look at her.
Dark as a gipsy, with glowing crimson cheeks, bright black eyes with
curling lashes, soft black hair that grew naturally in pleasing curls
neatly tied back with a broad black ribbon; a shapely, graceful figure
possessing to an unusual degree an atmosphere of style. The girls were
all well dressed, mostly in blue serge, but this fifth young person,
Henrietta Bedford, wore _her_ clothes with a different air. One realized
that the serge in her smartly cut frock was a degree finer than that in
Mabel’s rumpled middy or in Marjory’s very brief skirt. Also Henrietta’s
scarlet silken tie was broader, more brilliant and of a heavier texture
than those of the other girls. One could easily see that there were
wealth and generations of cultivation back of Henrietta—and adventures
ahead of her.
One of the adventures was about to begin, but the kindly man who led the
procession was far from suspecting it. It was Mabel who started this
one.
“If I see another window just bursting with candy I’ll _die_,” said
Mabel. “I never _saw_ such windows. I wish I hadn’t left my money in my
suitcase.”
“Mr. Black has mine,” said Henrietta. “All but a dime that happened to
be loose in my pocket. But I tell you what. We’ll dart into the next
candy place and spend that—we can easily catch up. Here, come on in
here.”
The clerk, not realizing that the two girls were in a hurry, finished
leisurely with another customer before attending to Henrietta who was
impatiently tapping the counter with her dime.
“What’s all the rush,” drawled the young man, carefully weighing the
pink and white buttercups that Henrietta had chosen. “Catching a train?”
“Yes,” snapped Henrietta. “Don’t bother to tie it up. Come on, Mabel, we
must run, now, to catch up. That horrid clerk was dreadfully slow.”
They ran. They caught up with and passed a large number of persons but
not with Jean, nor Marjory of the yellow hair, nor Bettie with the
bobbing curls nor Mr. Black, who had innocently imagined himself
perfectly capable of introducing Chicago to five small maidens from the
wilds of Northern Michigan.
He had now lost two of them. He had missed them almost immediately and
had turned back to look for them, expecting to find them with their
noses against some fascinating window. And now they were well ahead of
him, screened from his view by hundreds of busy shoppers and running
with might and main.