At the farther end of the corridor, a crowd had gathered, and the three girls hurrying there, found that the commotion issued from Charlotte Graves’s room.

Charlotte was explaining; “It was my exasperating lamp. It has always been wobbly, and tonight, when I chanced to hit the table, it went over. I might have known enough to pull a blanket off the bed, and smother it; but, of course, I just stood here and screamed. Then Margaret Hamilton came in and put it out. That’s what it is to have presence of mind! I always was a fool when there was anything to be done. I tell you what, Miss Hamilton, those freshmen knew what they were doing when they elected you class president. If I’m not brilliant myself, I can recognize a good thing when I see it.”

“Miss Graves, I tell you what you must do in sheer gratitude to the freshmen–invite us all in and get out those delicious cakes and pickles of yours. You ought to treat.”“That is certainly so, come along, all of you. Sit on the floor if you can’t find any other place to sit,” and after the girls had properly bestowed themselves, she got out her jars and boxes, for Charlotte was fond of good things and always kept an unlimited supply on hand.

“I trust you understand,” she said severely, “that the rest of you freshmen are only here out of compliment to your president. I don’t for a moment consider the rest of you her equal in anything. As she has the misfortune, however, to belong to the class of ’09 instead of ’08, we must put up with the rest of you, I suppose, for her sake.”

There was a chorus of groans from the freshmen, and Charlotte’s voice was drowned in an outburst of animated retorts. Under cover of the fun, Abby Dunbar said to Dolly, who chanced to be sitting next to her on the window ledge; “One can see that Margaret is a true aristocrat. It shows in every move she makes, and every word she says.”

“Do you think so?”

“Why, yes, indeed. Surely you have noticed it? Mamma is always so careful about my associates, but she cannot help being perfectly delighted with Margaret. Don’t you like her?”

“I certainly do.”

“I thought you must, for you were so good last fall at the time of our class elections. Margaret has made an ideal president.”

Then the conversation became general again, much to Dolly’s relief. In some way the subject branched off to military men, and Margaret was appealed to.

“Were any of your relatives army men, Miss Hamilton? And don’t you think that they are the finest men in the world?”

“I have not been blessed with many relations, Miss Fox, and so I have not had the chance to have military men in my own family and to know them intimately, as some of you have done. Of course, I admire them. Some of my ancestors were in the wars of 1776 and 1812, but I never saw them. My own father was anxious to be a military man and he entered West Point. He had a splendid record there, and was in love with the life, when he met with an accident out yachting that ruined his health, left him a trifle lame, and forced him to give up all thoughts of a military life. He never got over the disappointment.”

There was a general expression of sympathy, and Margaret found herself the target for more questions than she cared to answer. In such a babel of voices, however, it was easy to disregard any which she did not choose to hear, so that she extricated herself serenely from a position which Dolly knew to be rather trying.

It was late, and as Charlotte’s cakes and pickles had been demolished, the girls separated presently.

“You think that Margaret’s story was quite true?” Beth asked as they slowly paced the corridor on the way back to their rooms.

“I’m sure of it. Of course, her ancestors may have been privates in the wars of 1776 and 1812, but still they would have been soldiers all the same.”

“But about her father?”

“I imagine that he won his West Point cadetship by a competitive examination. You know those appointments are given in that way. He may have been very poor, indeed, but if he stood highest in the examination, he would certainly receive the appointment. When he left West Point he evidently had no friends to help him to a good position, and so he took the first honest work that he could find, at least, I imagine that such was the case.”

“You are about right, I’m sure. Poor Margaret. I don’t know why I pity her, though. She seems quite capable of holding her own. She is worth a score of Abby Dunbars.”

“Miss Dunbar will either be a freshman next year, again, or else become a special student. I understand that the stupid ones who fail in their examinations, usually linger on for a year or two as ‘specials,’ so that they can say they have been at Westover.”

“And Miss Dunbar has failed?”

“Flatly.”

“I’m glad that we got through, Beth, and Mary is all right, too. I was rather worried about Mary’s mathematics, to tell the truth, but her aunt gave her some coaching at the last. She is so thankful that she will not have to take them next year.”“And I like mathematics better than anything else. I shall take an extra course in it.”

“You will be sure to win the senior prize for that branch, Beth. I am a little like Mary, however. I shall not take more mathematics than I absolutely must.”

“We’ll not take mathematics, or anything else, for three blessed months.”

“We shall have jolly times, my dear, see if we don’t.”

And they certainly did. In Dolly’s eyes, at least, the evening spent in Professor Newton’s room was more important than the commencement exercises themselves. Professor Newton had taken a quiet moment to thank Dolly for her real kindness to Mary during the year, and Dolly thereupon had summoned courage to beg Professor Newton to visit her during the summer at the Thousand Isles. The invitation had been accepted, and Dolly felt that her cup of happiness was running over.

Mrs. Newby was very glad to accede to Beth’s wishes for the summer; and the girls had a delightful time, for Mr. Newby was fortunate enough to secure the cottage adjoining the one which Dolly’s father had taken.

Fred brought a crowd of college chums again, and there was plenty of yachting and fishing. In the evenings there were lovely rows on the St. Lawrence, and music and singing.

The girls were provided with kodak cameras, and every week they sent a group of pictures to Mary. She had started for her home on the day that college closed, but she wrote regularly, and her letters, which seemed at first quite stiff and formal, grew toward the end of the vacation to be as chatty and bright as those sent her by Beth and Dolly.

Professor Newton’s visit had been postponed until the last fortnight, and when she came, she found a comparatively small crowd at the Alden cottage. All of Fred’s former visitors had left, but Dick Martin and Bob Steele had come down for the last part of the vacation. The former had spent his time in the woods of Maine, while Robert Steele had been doing hard work in a law office in Boston; for he had fully made up his mind that he would be a lawyer. He would have a hard time, but he was becoming accustomed to hard times, and his innate grit and indomitable pluck would doubtless carry him triumphantly through.

Roy had grown brown and healthy during the summer outing, and Mrs. Newby declared every day, that she was under infinite obligations to Dolly for suggesting their coming to the place.

Beth and her stepmother had grown to know each other well, and Beth was devoted to Mrs. Newby. It seemed as if she were anxious to make up in some way, for those miserable years that were lost to them through a wretched misunderstanding. Mr. Newby seemed younger and brighter than Beth had ever known him before. While he said but little, his wife realized that he, too, had paid a heavy penalty during those years, and that now he was rejoicing in the real family love and good fellowship that pervaded his home.

Professor Newton looked at them all with interested eyes. It seemed strange enough to her that Robert Steele, whose history she knew, should find Beth so congenial. While there was plenty of depth to Beth, she usually showed strangers only the froth and sparkle of her character. However, the two seemed to understand each well, and to be the best of friends. One day Professor Newton heard Mr. Newby suggesting that Rob spend the next summer in Philadelphia and read law in his office. Naturally enough, the young man grasped the opportunity eagerly. It was a chance which many young men of wealth and social position coveted, and it had come to him unsolicited. Professor Newton could not help wondering if Mr. Newby quite realized what he was doing, but she had no right to interfere, and she was not even sure that she would have interfered if she had had the right.

Despite the happy summer-time, the girls were not sorry to return to college. They were sophomores now, and could afford to look down on the green freshmen who seemed so forlorn and lonesome. Beth and Dolly fixed up their rooms in a gorgeous and artistic manner. Dolly’s chafing-dish still held a conspicuous place. Beth had one, too, this year, and their room bade fair to be one of the most popular in the building.

Mary was next door, and just beyond was Professor Newton’s sitting-room; for the girls had been able to carry out the plan that Mary had proposed at the close of the freshmen year.

Margaret Hamilton looked into their room as they were giving the finishing touches.

“May I come in, or are you too busy to talk?”

“As if we were ever too busy to talk to our president,” said Dolly promptly, pushing her guest down into an easy chair.

“I shall not be president after this week, you know, and that is what brought me here. Who is your candidate for the place?”

“Not Dolly,” said Beth promptly. “I have set my heart on her being president during our senior year.”

Margaret’s brow cleared. “She would make a capital president for our last year, and I pledge myself to work for her. Now, as she is out of the question, for the present, I want to tell you that my candidate is Elizabeth Newby.”“How perfectly absurd!” That was Beth’s exclamation, of course.

“It is not absurd, and I want you, please, to listen to me. She can be elected, for the girls have not forgotten how grateful they were to her for saving our reputation at the entertainment last fall. There is no other strong candidate. Of course, ever so many names will be proposed in as large a class as ours, but the only one who will carry many votes is Hazel Fox.”

“Hazel Fox!” the girls both exclaimed aghast.

“Yes, and you see what I mean. She is not the person for the place. We could not feel proud of her in any way. She barely escaped conditions this year, and I don’t suppose she will ever get through the sophomore year with a clean record. The class is so grateful to Elizabeth, that she could be elected almost unanimously. What do you say?”

“Never mind what Beth says, I say that it is a ‘go.’ I’ll work for her with all my might and main. I’m sure she will be elected! Of course, you will be made chairman of the executive committee.” This was a position which the classes had uniformly given the retiring president.

“I do not know. The girls may want someone else elected.” And Dolly told herself that Margaret never felt sure of her hold on her classmates. She felt that Margaret would feel more secure if every bit of her history were known; probably, too, she would be happier.

They talked over the coming elections at some length, and had just decided upon the list of candidates whom they would favor when Mary entered. The news was told to her, and she endorsed Beth’s candidacy very heartily, despite the fact that Beth herself persisted in regarding the whole matter as a huge joke.

It was impossible, seemingly, for Beth to realize that she was actually popular with the girls, that her many little deeds of quiet kindness, and her bright ways, had won her a warm corner in every heart. The matter was talked over again after Mary’s entrance, and then Mary announced a bit of news herself.

“We have an addition to our class. Did you know it? Miss Van Gerder was a freshman two years ago, and was a fine student, I believe; but she was not here last year because her mother’s health was poor, and they went to Europe. We shall have one of the largest sophomore classes ever enrolled here. I am glad that she is to be one of us, aren’t you?”

“Do you know her first name and in what city she lives?” Margaret asked, ignoring Mary’s question.

“She lives in New York, and her first name is Constance.”

Something in Margaret Hamilton’s tone had caused all three of the girls to look at her intently. There was no disguising the fact that she was startled and dismayed. All of them realized that Miss Van Gerder must have known Margaret in the old days in Chicago, and all three felt sorry for her now. Her position was not enviable. She showed little of what she felt, however, and soon after returned to her own room.

Dolly and Beth were passing along the lower corridor to the dining-room that evening, when they heard someone exclaim; “Why, Margaret, how glad I am to see you! I did not know what had become of you after you left Chicago!”

The speaker was a tall, stylish girl, whom they knew to be Miss Van Gerder. At least, she appeared to like Margaret, and Dolly saw Abby Dunbar’s eyes sparkle at this unmistakable proof of her friend’s “aristocracy,” for Constance Van Gerder was the daughter of one of the richest men in the country, and neither Miss Dunbar, nor anyone else at the college could claim the wealth or social distinction of the Van Gerders. Her face was not handsome, but Dolly liked it; it was fine and clear-cut. A face that was too noble for petty motives or mean ambitions.

Margaret had no time to say more than a few words in reply, when the second gong hurried them to the dining-room. Dolly tried to gain Miss Van Gerder’s side and sit beside her at the table, for as yet the permanent places had not been assigned, and the students took whatever seats they wished.

Dolly found herself foiled, however, in this attempt, by Abby Dunbar, who had evidently determined to make the most of the opportunity, and who kept beside her new classmate until they took their seats at table. Beth and Dolly were opposite them, but Margaret was at another table at the far end of the room.

“Miss Van Gerder looks kind,” whispered Beth to Dolly. “If we only sat next to her, so as to prevent her saying anything during this meal, there would be no further danger. After dinner I shall carry her off to our room and tell her the whole story. Oh, yes! you needn’t look so surprised. I’m not acquainted with her, but I shall do it anyway. You must mount guard outside, during the scene, and not let anyone else come in.”

“If only she does not say something, all unconsciously, during the dinner! I feel on pins and needles myself. What must Margaret feel?”