CHAPTER VI
A DISTURBING NOTE
Miriam and Grace sprang to their feet, regarding the sobbing, moaninggirl in blank amazement.
"What on earth is the matter, Elfreda," said Miriam.
The answer was another long wail that made the girls glanceapprehensively toward the door.
"She'll have to be more quiet," said Grace, "or else every girl in thehouse will hear her and come in to inquire what has happened." Goingover to the couch, she knelt beside Elfreda and said almost sharply,"Elfreda, stop crying at once. Do you want all the girls in the house tohear you?"
"I don't care," was the discouraging answer, but in a lower tone,nevertheless; but she continued to sob heart-brokenly.
"Tell me about it, Elfreda," said Grace more gently, taking one of thegirl's limp hands in hers. "Something dreadful must have happened. Haveyou had bad news from home?"
"No-o-o," gasped the stout girl. "It's the sophomores. I can't go to thereception. They won't let me." Her sobs burst forth afresh.
Grace rose from her knees, casting a puzzled glance toward Miriam. "Iwonder what she means." Then placing her hands on Elfreda's shouldersshe raised her to a sitting position on the couch and dropping downbeside her put one arm over her shoulder. Miriam promptly sat down onthe other side, and being thus supported and bolstered by theirsympathetic arms, Elfreda gulped, gurgled, sighed and then said withquivering lips, "I wish I had taken your advice, Grace."
"About what?" asked Grace. Then, the same idea occurring to themsimultaneously, Miriam and Grace exchanged dismayed glances. Elfreda hadcome to grief through reporting the two mischievous sophomores to theregistrar.
"About telling the registrar," faltered Elfreda, unrolling herhandkerchief from the ball into which she had rolled it and wiping hereyes.
"I'm so sorry," Grace said with quick sympathy.
"You're not half so sorry as I am," was the tearful retort. "I'll writeto Pa and Ma that I want to go home next week. They'll make a fuss, butthey'll send for me."
"Are your father and mother very anxious that you should stay here?"asked Miriam.
"A good deal more anxious than I am," responded Elfreda. "Ma picked outOverton for me long before I left high school. She thinks it the onlycollege going and so does Pa."
"Then, of course, they will be disappointed if you go home without eventrying to like college."
"I can't help that," whined Elfreda. "I can't stay here and have thewhole college down on me, and that's what will happen. You girls don'tknow how serious it is."
"I think you had better begin at the beginning and tell us everything,"suggested Miriam, a trifle impatiently.
"It was the night of the freshman hop that they began to be so mean,"burst forth Elfreda. "I went to the dance with Virginia Gaines, thatsophomore who sits next to me at the table."
"Who do you mean by 'they'?" asked Grace.
"Alberta Wicks, the tall red-haired girl, and Mary Hampton, the shortdark one. They took me over to the court house," was the prompt answer."The registrar reported them to the dean. She sent for them the very dayof the dance and gave them an awful talking to and they were perfectlyfurious with me for telling. They found out that Virginia had invited meto the dance, and told her the whole story. She was horrid to me, andhardly spoke to me all the way to the gymnasium or coming home. Theymust have told every girl I know, for not one of them would come nearme. I had to sit around all evening, for I didn't know half a dozengirls, and you three were too busy to look at me. You can imagine I hada slow old time, and I was glad to get home. Maybe you noticed I wasn'tvery talkative that night after we got back to the house, Miriam?"
Miriam nodded.
"After that, Virginia and I didn't speak. I didn't care much anyhow, forshe made me tired," continued Elfreda. "But when the talk about thesophomore reception began I saw that they were going to hand me a wholeblock of ice. It was bad enough to have them cut me in classes and onthe street, but I had set my heart on the reception and wrote to Ma tosend me a new dress. It came yesterday. It's pale blue with pearltrimmings and it's a dream. But what good does it do me now?" She staredgloomily ahead of her for an instant, then went on:
"Of course, I knew no one would invite me, but I made up my mind to askif I could go along with you folks, and I was going to ask you to-night,when just before dinner a boy came here with this note." From the insideof her white silk blouse she drew forth an envelope addressed to "MissJ. Elfreda Briggs." Handing it to Grace she said briefly: "Read it."
Grace drew a sheet of paper from the envelope, unfolded it and read:
"Miss Briggs:
"In reporting to the registrar two members of the sophomore class youhave offended not merely those members, but the class as well. You haveshown yourself so entirely incapable of understanding the firstprinciples of honor, that Overton would be much better off without you.Do not attempt to attend the sophomore reception. If you are wise youwill leave Overton and enter some other college.
"The Sophomore Class."
Grace handed the note to Miriam.
"What do you think of it?" asked Miriam, looking up from the last line.
"I don't know what to think," rejoined Grace. "It doesn't seem as thougha whole class would rise up to settle what is really a personal affair.Even though the sophomores are angry, they have no right to threatenElfreda and advise her to leave Overton. If the dean knew of this affairI am afraid there would be war indeed."
"Shall I tell her?" asked Elfreda eagerly. "I think I'd better; thenthey won't dare to make me leave college."
"Listen to me, Elfreda," said Grace firmly. "No one can make you leavecollege unless you fail in your studies or do something reallyreprehensible, but there is one thing you must make up your mind to doif you wish to stay here, and have the girls like you."
"What is it?" inquired Elfreda suspiciously.
"You mustn't tell tales," was Grace's frank answer. "No matter what thegirls do or say to you, don't carry it to the officials of the college."
"Do you mean that I'm to submit to all kinds of insults and not take myown part?" demanded Elfreda, forgetting her grief and assuming abelligerent air.
"You are not fighting your own battles when you carry your grievances tothe dean, the registrar, or any other member of the faculty," said Gracegravely. "You are merely giving them unpleasant information to whichthey dislike to listen."
"Humph!" was the contemptuous ejaculation. "The dean made it hot for thegirls just the same. I guess she didn't object much to hearing aboutit."
"You are not looking at things in their true light, Elfreda," put inMiriam. "I'll venture to say that when the members of the faculty werestudents they were just as careful not to tell tales as are the girlshere to-day. Of course, if students are reported to them, they areobliged to take action in the matter, but I'm sure that they'd rathernot hear about the girls' petty difficulties."
"'Petty difficulties!'" almost screamed Elfreda. "Well, I like yourimpudence." Jerking herself from the girls' embrace she stood up andwalked to the other side of the room. Stumbling over one of her shoesshe kicked it viciously aside, then, leaning her head against the door,her sobs broke forth afresh.
In a twinkling Miriam was beside her. "Poor Elfreda," she soothed. "Youare tired and worn out. Take off your hat and coat and bathe your face.You'll feel ever so much better after you've done that. You mustn't becross with Grace and me. We are only trying to help you. While you arebathing your face, I'll make some chocolate and we'll have a cozy littletime. Won't that be nice?"
Elfreda nodded, winked back her tears, and slowly drawing the pins fromher hat, flung it on the foot of her bed. Her coat followed, and seizingher towel from the rack she stalked out of the room and down the hall tothe bath room.
"Miriam, you're a darling and a diplomat!" exclaimed Grace, closing thedoor, which the stout girl had left wide open. "Chocolate is the onething calculated to reduce J. Elfreda to reason. We will feed her, thenrenew our lectures on tale-bearing.
Never call me a reformer. I amcertain that before the year is over J. Elfreda won't know herself."
"Nonsense," scoffed Miriam. "She is an interesting specimen, andfurnishes variety, of a certain kind," she added with an impish grin,glancing comprehensively at the disordered room. "As long as I havetaken her unto myself as a roommate I might as well do what I can forher. What seems so strange to me is that with all her money she is socrude and slangy. She doesn't seem to have any ideals or much principleeither. Yet there is something sturdy and frankly independent about her,too, that makes one think she's worth bothering with after all."
"How did her father make his money?" asked Grace.
"Lumber," replied Miriam. "They own tracts of timber land in Michigan.Elfreda can have anything she asks for."
Grace sat down on Miriam's bed, her chin in her hands. She was thinkingof the note she had just read and wondering what had better be done.Miriam, despite her avowal that she was tired of picking up herroommate's scattered clothing, busied herself with reducing Elfreda'shalf of the room to some semblance of order. Going to the closet, shetook down an elaborate Japanese silk kimono and laid it across the footof Elfreda's bed.
"What had we better do about this note?" Grace asked, picking it up fromthe table and re-reading it.
"What do you think?" questioned Miriam.
"I think we had better ask the advice of some upper class girl," saidGrace. "I'm going to see Mabel Ashe to-morrow morning. I'll tell herabout it. Elfreda mustn't be cheated out of her right to go to thereception."
"But if the whole sophomore class objects to her, what then?"
"I don't believe the whole sophomore class does object to her," returnedGrace. "I have a curious conviction that not many of them know her evenby sight. I think that this note was written for spite."
"Do you think Miss Wicks and Miss Hampton wrote it?" queried Miriam.
"I don't want to accuse any one of writing it, but they are the onlystudents who would have an object in doing so," declared Grace. "I hearElfreda coming down the hall. Don't say anything more about it justnow," she added in a lower tone.
"My goodness, I forgot all about the chocolate!" exclaimed Miriam,scurrying to a little oak cabinet in one corner of the room and takingout the necessary ingredients. "Here, Grace, open this can of evaporatedcream with the scissors. You can use that paperweight for a hammer."
Fifteen minutes later, wrapped in the folds of her kimono, J. Elfredasat drinking chocolate and devouring cakes as though her very existencedepended upon it.
"You girls are ever so much nicer than I thought you'd be," she saidreflectively, between cakes. "I must say that I'm agreeably disappointedin you, Miriam. I was pretty sure you were a regular snob, but you'renothing like one. I couldn't help thinking about what you said, Grace,while I was bathing my face," she continued. "It made me mad for aminute, but I've come to the conclusion that you were talking sense, andfrom now on the faculty will have to go some to get any information fromme."