A NEW ACQUAINTANCE
"This way," said their new acquaintance, turning to the right and
starting for the stairs. "Now for the second of the Dill Pickles. Long
may she wave!" she added gaily.
It was a new experience for Billie Bradley and for Laura and
Violet--that hour in the dining hall. The hall itself was an immense
room and seemed at first glance to be made up almost entirely of
windows. As Rose Belser afterward remarked to the girls, there was one
thing that no one at Three Towers Hall had to complain of, and that was
lack of light.
Three tables stretched almost the entire length of the hall, and
although they all bore snowy cloths there was only one of them that was
really "set for action," as Laura said.
Most of the girls had already assembled when the chums reached the
dining hall. They were standing around in little groups of two or three,
talking excitedly, and while the girls were hesitating which group to
join Miss Cora Dill swept into the room.
"Now you'd better mind your Ps and Qs," Rose whispered to them, and the
girls regarded with interest the second of the Dill twin sisters who had
been called by the disrespectful name of the "Twin Dill Pickles."
Miss Cora Dill was indeed Miss Ada's counter-part. There was the same
thin figure and straight back, the same black eyes and thin-lipped
mouth, the only difference being that where Miss Ada's hair was white,
Miss Cora's hair still retained some traces of its original brown color.
"Goodness, I'm glad there's some way we can tell them apart," said
Billie to Laura in an under-tone. "If they were just exactly alike we'd
have to do with them the way they do with twin babies--tie a blue ribbon
on one and a pink ribbon on the other."
The idea of tying a pink ribbon or any other kind of ribbon on the "Twin
Dill Pickles" was so ridiculous that the girls giggled aloud, thereby
causing Vi to nudge Billie sharply.
"Sh-h," she whispered. "Her Highness is about to speak."
Miss Cora carried some cards in her hands, and as the girls gathered
about her she asked them to answer when she called out their names.
Although there were a hundred students in Three Towers Hall, there were
only half a dozen who, like pretty Rose Belser, had spent the summer at
the school.
The rest of the girls were almost all from North Bend and the other
surrounding towns, although a few had come from a distance.
When the girls had all reported present, Miss Cora gave them their seats
at the table and took her own place at the head of it.
At first the girls were not at all sure whether they were supposed to
talk or not, for the presence of thin-lipped Miss Cora at the head of
the table threw rather a damper on both their enthusiasm and their
appetites.
However, when Rose Belser leaned across several girls to say something
to Billie the rest of the girls took courage and a little murmur of
conversation traveled around the table.
The lunch was a satisfying one, and the girls, beginning to recover from
their excitement and being really hungry from the long train trip, ate
heartily.
But every once in a while, when the talk and laughter about the table
threatened to become too hilarious, the girls were conscious of Miss
Cora's voice reminding them that the table was the "place for
decorum--not for rioting."
Billie and her chums were half way down the table, a fact for which they
were very thankful. Placed only two or three seats away from Miss Cora,
at the head of the table, was Nellie Bane. Nellie seemed to have struck
up a sudden friendship with one of the half dozen girls who had spent
the summer at the school, and the two were evidently having an
interesting conversation.
Billie, catching Nellie's eye, telegraphed to her by means of the sign
language the wish to see her some time after lunch, and Nellie, in the
same language, agreed.
At last lunch was over and the girls reluctantly left the table. But as
they were about to leave the room Miss Cora called them together again,
saying that she had something important to say to them.
"You will each find a set of rules on your dresser," she said. "And
before you do anything else it will be well for each girl to become
thoroughly acquainted with them and the penalties for breaking them.
After to-day any departure from the rules will meet with the proper
punishment."
"Anybody would think we were three years old," grumbled Laura, when they
were on their way back to the dormitories. "Goodness, I wonder who ever
let her in, anyway."
"Oh, you'll soon get used to her," Rose assured them. She seemed to have
attached herself definitely to the girls, who, although they found her
amusing and interesting, would rather have been left to themselves on
this first day. "Everybody dislikes her at first--and Miss Ada,
too--but they only laugh at them after awhile. You see," she finished as
if the girls must understand, "we have Miss Walters."
"Well, all I have to say," said Laura, whose temper had been
considerably ruffled by this second of the "Twin Dill Pickles," "is that
it's lucky Miss Walters and not Miss Cora is at the head of things."
When the girls reached the dormitory they looked for the rules, found
them, and sat down eagerly to read them over together. First of all they
found that the dormitories, eleven in all, were lettered. The letter of
their dormitory was "C."
There were the usual rules about late hours, going outside the grounds
without leave, neglecting to wear rubbers in the rain, all with the
usual penalties attached. But the one that most interested the girls was
the punishment given for keeping lights on after hours.
"Three days without recreation and isolation in the dormitory for the
duration of that period," read Billie indignantly. "Goodness! I wonder
if all that happens to you if you keep your light on five minutes after
hours."
"It does if Miss Cora or Miss Ada catches you," drawled Rose, from where
she was curled up again on the foot of the bed watching the girls with
lazy interest. "Some of the teachers are all right. There's Miss Harris,
and Miss Race the math teacher. If they catch you just a few minutes
over time they'll give you a lecture and let you off without reporting
it to Miss Walters. But if it's any of the others--look out, that's
all."
A few minutes later Nellie Bane came in, bringing her new friend with
her, and for a little while the girls forgot all about rules and "Twin
Dill Pickles" and everything else and just had a good time.
Nellie's new acquaintance was a small fluffy little blonde whom the
girls liked right away. Her name was Constance Danvers, called "Connie"
for short, and the name seemed to suit her exactly. Of course, she and
Rose Belser, having spent the preceding year together, knew each other
well, but Billie noticed that the two girls did not seem over friendly.
"I don't know," she thought to herself, "but I'm going to like Connie
better than Rose."
A little while later Rose suggested that she and Connie show the girls
about the Hall, to which the newcomers eagerly agreed.
"I wonder," said Vi suddenly, as they were about to leave the room,
"what has become of Amanda and Eliza Dilks. They haven't been up here
since lunch."
"Well, why should we care?" sang out Billie happily. "I only hope they
stay away."
"Probably up to some mean tricks," said Laura gloomily.
Connie and Rose were eager to hear more of Eliza and her friend, but the
chums could not be made to tell tales. The girls would have to find out
what Amanda was for themselves.
"Only," thought Billie to herself, as they ran down the stairs, "I would
like to know where those two sneaks are and why they didn't come back to
the dormitory. I know they'll _try_ to spoil all our fun, even if they
can't _do_ it."