THE CHALLENGE
Nan Harrison met the insolent look of Kate Speed steadily. Presently a
smile touched the corners of her mouth.
"All right," she said. "Try to do it!"
Kate might have said more, probably would have done so, had not
the train just then slowed down. They were nearing the station at
Waterville.
Kate gave a little scream and rushed to her seat to gather luggage and
wraps.
Lily Darrow followed patiently after, handing Kate her belongings
before she ventured to look for her own.
"Of all the unpleasant people that Kate Speed is the worst!" fumed Nan,
as the chums pulled their grips down from the rack.
"Sh!" warned Sadie. "She'll hear you."
"Hope she does!" grumbled Nan, though it might be noticed that she
lowered her voice. "Wallop me, will she? I'll show her!"
Jo chuckled.
"Go to it, Nan! I'm crazy to see the first match between you and Speedy
Kate!"
There was no time for further conversation as the train was already
drawing in at the station.
In the excitement of leaving the train and embarking on the steamer
that was to take them down the lake to Laurelton, the Woodford girls
temporarily lost sight of Kate Speed and Lily Darrow.
"Though how Speedy Kate thinks we are going to find our way to Laurel
Hall without her is a mystery," chuckled Sadie.
"To hear her talk you'd think we needed a governess," Nan agreed
disgustedly. "I only hope I don't have to see a great deal of that
girl. I don't know how much of her I could stand!"
With a crowd of other people the three girl chums bordered the lake
steamer and found comfortable places near the rail. From where they sat
the beautiful waters of Twin Mountain Lake stretched invitingly before
them. The sun, reflected in its rippling surface, shone dazzlingly.
The irregular line of the shore, the numerous islands, black and
mysterious, that bulked against the sparkling water seemed to beckon
the girls on to new experiences, new adventures.
"We're off," cried Jo as the deck quivered beneath their feet with the
throb of the engine. "If I'm dreaming, girls, please don't wake me up!"
There were several other girls of about their own age on the steamer,
and the chums guessed that these were either students or, like
themselves, prospective students of Laurel Hall.
Naturally these groups of young people interested the Woodford girls
immensely, and the six-mile trip down the lake to Laurelton proved
unexpectedly short.
Once they caught a glimpse of Kate Speed in a group of girls, talking
animatedly. She never once glanced in their direction! But for this the
chums were thankful.
"She seems to have fallen in with some old acquaintances. Naturally we
are nothing to her now," said Nan, with a chuckle.
"She was peeved at the way you answered her tennis challenge," added
Jo, laughing. "From the look on her face, I imagine you made a very
dear enemy just then, Nan Harrison!"
"I'd a lot rather have some people for enemies than friends," retorted
Nan.
When the steamer puffed up to the dock at Laurelton the girls
disembarked like a group of chattering magpies.
For the most part they were nice-looking girls with eager, happy young
faces that spoke of healthy minds and bodies, of good homes, and loving
care.
"A pretty good crowd," Sadie whispered to Jo. "And they don't look at
all like the sort Kate Speed said they were."
"We'll not take Kate Speed's word for anything," replied Jo. "I don't
suppose she knows everything, even if she thinks she does."
Laurelton was an ordinary small country village with its main street,
its few modest stores, and its unassuming cottages set well back from
the street in ample grounds.
It was pretty in its way, but the girls were too intent upon "following
the crowd" and finding the autobus to Laurel Hall to see much of the
village on that first day.
There was a bus line that went straight past the gates of the school.
Into one of the busses the girls crowded, the trio from Woodford
feeling elatedly that they had at last embarked on the final stage of
their journey.
The trunks and other luggage of the girls that had made the trip
successfully with their owners were to remain in the custody of the
boat company at the wharf until such time as the school truck should be
dispatched for them.
It was a short ride from the village to Laurel Hall, almost too short
for the three girl chums, who enjoyed every moment of the trip.
Kate Speed was in the rear seat of the bus with Lily Darrow and two
other girls, who seemed to be very much of her own type.
There was a dark-haired girl in the seat next to Nan, and between
Laurelton and Laurel Hall these two struck up quite a friendship.
The strange girl's name was Jessie Robinson, and she, like Kate Speed,
had completed one year at Laurel Hall.
But there all resemblance ceased, for Jessie was a jolly, friendly girl
who dressed in quiet good taste and appeared to be the exact opposite
in every way of the flashy Kate Speed.
"Since you are new at the hall, I'd be glad to show you around if you
like," she offered. "I know most of the girls and I can introduce you
to some of them. It will sort of break the ice for you, anyway."
Nan promptly accepted the offer in the spirit in which it was made. She
liked Jessie Robinson and found herself hoping that there were many
more of her type at the Hall.
The auto bus swung round a curve in the road and revealed to view two
immense stone pillars between which a wrought iron gate was hung.
This gate now stood open, and as the horn of the bus blew a sharp
warning several girls in bright-colored frocks ran through the entrance
and down to the road.
"Laurel Hall!" cried Sadie in great excitement, and clutched at Jo's
arm. "Look Jo--there it is standing up on the hill. Isn't it the most
beautiful building in the world?"
"Looks like some sort of castle, with its turrets and towers and
ivy-grown walls," Jo agreed.
"All out for Laurel Hall!" boomed the driver of the bus, and brought
his vehicle to a stop at the side of the road.
The girls scrambled out, dragging bags and other small luggage after
them.
Some were greeted by acquaintances who had arrived before them at
the Hall. Others went directly toward the school building as though
they already knew their way about; while still others, evidently new
arrivals, looked about them vaguely as though they were at a loss just
what to do next.
The three chums from Woodford would have been among this last group had
not Jessie Robinson come to their rescue.
"Do you know what rooms you've been assigned to?" she asked, as she led
them up the broad drive past chattering groups of girls toward the Hall.
"Not the least in the world," Jo answered for her chums.
"We asked for a large room with three single beds in it so that we
could be together," Sadie added.
"But whether we get it or not is another matter!" finished Nan.
Jessie laughed.
"Well, of course you take what you get and feel yourself lucky enough
to get anything, with the waiting list we have," she said. "Miss Jane
is fair, though," she added. "She always tries to give the girls what
they want and everybody loves her. Just wait till you see her and you
won't wonder why!"
Jessie was besieged at the school steps by a flood of acquaintances.
She laughingly disengaged herself, however, and managed to reach the
door of the Hall with her three new friends.
"Come up to my room later," she called back to the merry group. "We'll
have a good pow-wow. I've loads to tell you."
Just inside the door was the office of Miss Jane Romaine, the head of
Laurel Hall.
"There's Miss Jane now," whispered Jessie Robinson. "We'll have to go
in and report, and then she'll tell you about your rooms."
The room was beautifully furnished with a heavy-pile rug, mahogany desk
and chairs.
"It looks more like a sitting room than an office," Nan whispered to
Jo. "Dad's office never looked like this!"
Jo nodded, but a sudden unhappy thought left its shadow on her face.
Nan had reminded her of her own father and of his grave trouble.
However, Miss Jane Romaine looked up from her papers just then, and
with a smile beckoned the girls closer.
"Well, Jessie," said the tall, thin lady with the beautiful dark eyes
and white hair, "I am glad to welcome you back, my dear. I rather
expected you among the girls who arrived yesterday."
"I was delayed a day by sickness at home," Jessie explained, and drew
her new friends forward.
Miss Romaine's manner to the newcomers was cordial, friendly, simple.
She asked their names, welcomed them both officially and personally to
Laurel Hall and assigned them their rooms.
"Because you want to occupy a room together I have made a special
concession in your favor," she told them with her pleasant smile. "I am
going to give you the big north room overlooking the lake. It has an
alcove, and you should be very comfortable there."
There was a stir in the rear of the room and a girl elbowed her way
through a group of newcomers who were waiting to see Miss Romaine.
"The north room!" cried this girl, in a high, strident voice. "Why,
they can't have that room! It belongs to me!"