MILESTONES
"Sh-h-h! No giggles. If you don't creep along as still as mice she'll
hear you," warned a sibilant whisper.
Five young women, headed by Emma Dean, smoothed the laughter from their
faces and stole, cat-like, up the green lawn to the wide veranda at the
rear of Harlowe House. One by one they noiselessly mounted the steps.
Emma, finger on her lips, cast a comical glance at the maid, who
tittered faintly; then the stealthy procession crept down the hall in
the direction of Grace Harlowe's little office. There was an instant's
silent rallying of forces of which the young woman at the desk, who sat
writing busily, was totally unconscious, then, of a sudden, she heard a
ringing call of "Three cheers for Loyalheart!" and sprang to her feet
only to be completely hemmed in by friendly arms.
"You wicked girls! I mean, you dear things," she laughed. "How nice of
you to descend upon me in a body. I must kiss every one of you. Patience
and Kathleen, when did you set foot in Overton? I've been watching and
waiting for you. Mary Reynolds, this _is_ a surprise. I didn't expect
you until next week, and Evelyn, too, looking lovelier than ever. As for
Emma, she's a continual surprise and pleasure." Grace embraced one after
another of the five girls.
"I'm so glad I thought of this nice surprise," beamed Emma, craning her
neck, and pluming herself vaingloriously. "I have another beautiful
thought, too, seething in my fertile brain. Let's go down to Vinton's
and celebrate."
"I knew some one was sure to propose that," laughed Patience. "I
intended to be that some one, but Emma forestalled me."
"I'm as busy as can be, but I can't resist the call to my old haunts,"
laughed Grace. "Besides, it's such a perfect day. Leave your bags in the
living room, girls. I feel highly honored to know that you and Kathleen
came straight to me, Patience."
"The old case of the needle and the magnet," explained Patience with a
careless wave of her hand.
"Oh, Miss Harlowe I'm so glad to see you," was Mary Reynolds' fervent
tribute.
"So am I," declared Evelyn Ward, with an emphatic nod of her golden
head. "I've had a perfectly wonderful summer, Miss Harlowe. I loved my
part. It hasn't been very hot in New York City, either, and I spent my
Sundays and some of my week days with the Southards at their Long
Island summer home. I have thought of you many times. I hope you'll
forgive me for not writing you oftener. Kathleen and I came down on the
same train." She poured forth all this information almost in a breath.
"Of course I'll forgive you," returned Grace. "I'm a very lax
correspondent, too. I'm so glad you've been well, and that you liked
your part."
"You should have seen her in it, Grace," put in Kathleen. "She made an
adorable Constance Devon, and her gowns were beautiful. The girl who
understudied her, and who will play the part on the road, isn't half so
stunning. Patience saw her, too."
"She was a credit to herself and Overton," verified Patience.
"I thank you, most grave and reverend seniors." Evelyn, her eyes shining
with the pleasure of well-earned praise, made a low bow to Patience and
Kathleen.
"'Most grave and reverend seniors,'" repeated Grace, slipping in between
her two friends, her hand on an arm of each.
Kathleen's sharp black eyes grew tender with the love she bore Grace.
"Yes," came her soft answer, "Patience and I are seniors at last. We've
reached Senior Lane, and I hope to leave some milestones as we pass
through it. Dear as the others have been, I'd like to rise to greater
heights this year. I don't know just what I'd like to do," she flushed
and laughed at her own enthusiasm, "but I'd like to do something worth
while."
"So would I," murmured Evelyn Ward.
"I want to be friends with every one, and not be conditioned," was Mary
Reynolds' modest petition.
"_I_ don't know just what sort of milestones I'd like to leave. Only
decorative ones, of course. I wish to keep my lane free from weeds and
ugly, jagged rocks." This from Patience.
"You might begin at once and leave a milestone at Vinton's, for being a
willing, little reveler," suggested Emma with meaning.
"Come on, girls," rallied Kathleen. "We must show Emma just how willing
we are. Allow me, my dear Miss Dean," she offered her arm to Emma, and
they paraded down the hall, out the door and down the steps with great
ceremony. Mary, Grace, Patience and Evelyn followed. Patience walked
with Evelyn, while Grace and Mary brought up the rear.
"Oh, Miss Harlowe," began Mary, with intense earnestness, "you haven't
any idea of how much Kathleen--she likes me to call her Kathleen--has
done for me this summer. I knew last spring that I must earn my living
through the summer, in some way, but I never dreamed that it would be
in such a nice way."
"I am anxious to hear all about it," returned Grace. "When you wrote me
that Kathleen had secured work for you on her paper I was so pleased."
"Yes, I was the assistant on the woman's page," related Mary. "Of course
my work wasn't so very important. It was mostly clipping things from
other papers, but I used to write the paragraph under the fashion
drawings, and sometimes I went out to the big department stores to look
for interesting new fads and fashions for women. Three times I wrote
short articles, so you see I actually appeared in print. Kathleen made
me take half of her room, and so my board wasn't very expensive. My
salary was fifteen dollars a week. I have enough new clothes to last me
all winter, and I've saved eighty-five dollars. That will help pay my
tuition this year, and Kathleen is sure she can sell some children's
stories I've written. Wouldn't it be glorious, Miss Harlowe, if some day
I'd become a writer?" Mary's eyes shone with the distant prospect of
future honors.
"It looks to me as though you were on the right road," encouraged Grace.
"The only thing to do is to keep on writing. The more you write the
easier it will become--that is, if you are really gifted. Kathleen has
great faith in you. You must show her that it is well founded."
"How inspiring you are, Miss Harlowe." Mary looked her gratitude at
Grace's hopeful words; then she added in a slightly lower tone: "I'm so
glad everything went so beautifully for Evelyn. I saw her twice in 'The
Reckoning.' She looked _beautiful_, and her acting was so clever.
She--she told me of her own accord about"--Mary hesitated--"things. It
would have hurt me dreadfully if Evelyn had not come back to Overton. I
love her dearly."
Grace nodded sympathetically. She understood the remarkable effect of
Evelyn's beauty upon Mary. Still, she reflected, it had not been potent
enough to lure Mary from standing by her colors at the crucial moment.
Grace realized that this poor orphan girl, whose only home was Harlowe
House, possessed a steadfast, upright nature that must in time win her
not only scores of loyal friends, but the respect of all who knew her,
as well.
A sudden trill from Kathleen caused them to quicken their steps. The
others were standing in front of Vinton's, waiting for them. Once inside
the pretty tea room that had been the scene of so many of their revels,
with one accord they made for the alcove table.
"Shades of Arline Thayer," laughed Emma. "I am haunted by her. I can see
her sitting in that chair, her little hands folded on the table, saying,
'What are we going to eat, girls?' She loved this alcove and every stick
and stone of Vinton's. She never cared so much for Martell's."
By this time they had seated themselves at the round table and begun to
order their luncheon. Vinton's was productive of reminiscences, and they
were soon deep in the discussion of past events, grave and gay, that had
dotted their college life. Evelyn and Mary were for the most part
listeners, but Grace, Patience, Emma and Kathleen fairly bubbled over
with by-gone college history.
"I love to hear about the things that happened to Miss Harlowe and Miss
Dean when they were students," confided Mary to Evelyn under cover of a
general laugh over one of Emma Dean's ridiculous reminiscences.
"So do I," nodded Mary, then she added in a still lower tone, "Have you
noticed the girl at the table near the door, Evelyn. She came in about
ten minutes ago, and she's watched this table every second since she
came."
"Yes, I noticed her. She's pretty, isn't she? That's a stunning suit she
is wearing. Her hat is miles above reproach, too." Evelyn could not
repress her admiration for beautiful clothes.
At that moment Kathleen spoke to her and she turned to answer the
latter's question. When next her eyes turned toward the pretty girl it
was just as they were leaving the tea shop. Evelyn was the last member
of the sextette to pass the table. She glanced at the girl only to note
that she was searching a small leather bag frantically, a look of
indescribable alarm in her eyes. "It's gone," she said, half aloud.
Something prompted Evelyn to halt. "Good afternoon," she said. "I
heard--that is--can I help you?"
A shade of annoyance darkened the stranger's face. It was replaced by an
expression of fright. "I've lost my money," she said in a dazed voice.
"It was all I had. I can't pay for my luncheon. I don't know what to
do." Her voice rose to an anxious note.
"Give me your check," said Evelyn quietly. "I'll pay the cashier. You
can pay me later."
"Oh, thank you," breathed the girl. "You don't know how I hated the idea
of going to the cashier and telling her I had no money. I'm _so_ worried
about my purse. I had over a hundred dollars in it. I haven't seen it
since I left the train. Just before we reached Overton I went into the
lavatory to fix my hair. I laid my bag down. There was another woman
there at the mirror. She must have slipped her fingers into my bag and
taken my purse, for when I picked up the bag it was open. I snapped it
shut and paid no attention to it then. I didn't think of it until I
reached for my purse to count out the money for my luncheon."
"What a shame!" exclaimed Evelyn, sympathetically. "I know just how
worried you must feel. Just wait a second." She picked up the check,
which was for a small amount, went over to the desk, and paid the bill.
Then she hurried back to her companion. "Everything is all right now,"
she declared, "but if you have no money you had better come with me. I
will introduce you to Miss Harlowe. My name is Evelyn Ward."
"Miss Harlowe, of Harlowe House?" interrupted the girl.
"Yes, do you know her?"
"I don't know her yet, but I'm going to live at Harlowe House. So I
expect to know her. My name is Jean Brent. Perhaps you've heard of me. A
friend of mine helped me to get the chance to live at Harlowe House."
"Have I heard of you?" laughed Evelyn. "I should say I had. Isn't it
funny how things happen? Why, you are to be my roommate."