The twins and Sally were breathless when they reached the gate, but they
were in time to see two carriages coming down the turnpike.
"Two carriages!" Phyllis exclaimed.
"Maybe they're not both for here," Janet replied.
Sally smiled a broad smile.
"Oh, but they are," she said.
"What's the mystery?" Phyllis demanded.
"Wait and see," was all the satisfaction Sally would give them.
They watched the carriages as they crawled along. The little station of
Hillsdale did not boast taxicabs, but contented itself to the
old-fashioned surreys driven by talkative old negroes.
At last the first carriage turned in at the gate and the girls saw
Daphne and her mother sitting on the back seat. They jumped on the
steps, and Phyllis climbed in beside the driver.
Daphne at their unexpected appearance was so delighted that she fairly
danced, and Mrs. Hillis, who had feared Daphne's silence on the way up
from the station was the first sign of homesickness, was relieved.
Daphne had tight hold of Janet's hand. A year ago she had understood,
when things looked very black for Phyllis's twin. And now the tables
were turned, and in this new world of boarding school she looked to
Janet.
Janet gave her hand a tight squeeze.
"Taffy, it's so good to see you," she said.
"At first we were just sick that you couldn't come with us, but really,
it's more fun this way," Phyllis turned around in her seat as she spoke
and saw the other carriage still following.
"Why, look," she said. "That is coming here, too." But Sally interrupted
her.
"The twins are regular old girls now at Hilltop," she said to Daphne.
"Oh, isn't it great we're all four together!"
Mrs. Hillis smiled. Her laugh was a little like Daphne's.
"How happy you girls are," she said. "I was a little worried about
Daphne's coming so far away from home, but now I know Mrs. Ladd was
right. I can see by your faces that Hilltop is a vast improvement over
Miss Harding's."
The girls nodded an eager agreement.
"Here we are!" Sally exclaimed excitedly as they drew up before the
steps.
"What a beautiful place!" Mrs. Hillis said warmly.
"Don't you feel like the President in the White House when you walk up
and down these steps?" Daphne drawled.
"Well, you do feel awfully important," Janet agreed.
A maid met them at the door and took Daphne's bag.
"If you all-ll come dis way, I'll show you just where to go," she said.
Mrs. Hillis and Daphne followed her, and the girls waited in the square
hall.
"Who under the sun is in that next carriage?" Janet demanded.
"Wait and see," Sally replied provokingly.
"Oh, I know," Phyllis exclaimed. "It's another new girl. She's going to
be in the new wing. I heard Kitty and Alice talking about it in history
class today.
"Indeed," Sally asked politely.
The maid came back just as the other carriage stopped. A man and two
girls got out and came up the steps. Sally clutched each of the twins by
an arm and pulled them in to a sheltering window recess.
"Now don't scream when you see what's coming," she whispered.
The maid was taking the bags. They could hear the man's voice asking for
Miss Hull. The twins looked out from their hiding place.
Two girls stood in the doorway; the old lantern that swung from the
porch illuminated their faces. They had red hair and they were dressed
exactly alike.
"Twins!" Janet exclaimed in a muffled voice, and Phyllis looked
bewildered.
[Illustration: _"Twins!" Janet exclaimed in a muffled voice_]
"Isn't it a lark?" Sally demanded. "The minute the old wing gets a pair
of twins the new one has to follow suit."
They heard Daphne's voice and saw her with her mother and Miss Hull
coming down the hall. They went forward to meet them as the new twins
and their father followed the maid in the same direction, and under the
center light exactly in the middle of the hall they all met.
All four twins looked at each other. Janet and Phyllis saw that their
rivals were easily distinguishable one from the other. For although
their faces were exactly alike, one was considerably stouter than the
other.
It was Miss Hull's low musical laugh that broke the awkward silence.
"How did our little surprise turn out, Sally?" she asked.
"Oh, beautifully, Miss Hull," Sally laughed. "Jan and Phyl never guessed
for a minute."
Miss Hull smiled delightedly and turned to the gentleman who was waiting
for her.
"Mr. Ward," she said, holding out her hand.
Mr. Ward scowled.
"Yes'm. They're my twins; May and Bess," his abrupt way of speaking
contrasted oddly with his southern voice. "If you can take them right
now and let me get back and catch that next train for town I'll be
mighty obliged. I kept the carriage waiting."
"Certainly, Mr. Ward," Miss Hull replied, "You go right on. We'll take
care of May and Bess."
Mr. Ward bowed over her hand for a brief moment, nodded to his daughters
and strolled out of the front door.
The Ward twins's faces relaxed and they smiled. It was easy to see that
their father's departure was a relief rather than a sorrow.