CHAPTER VII
MISS WALTERS
In spite of their eagerness to reach their destination, the ride seemedall too short to the boys and girls. They started when the guard calledout, "Molata, next stop!"
Hardly knowing what she was doing, Billie found her hat and coat, putthem on, and then sat on the very edge of her seat with her gladstonebag grasped tightly in one hand. Then she looked around at Laura who wassitting in the seat beside her.
It was then she got her surprise. For Laura was sitting in almost thesame position as herself, perched on the edge of the seat, bag tightlygripped in one hand, pocketbook in the other and--this was the fact thatmade Billie chuckle--Laura's hat was very much over one eye.
Laura looked up at the sound of the chuckle and giggled as her eyes metBillie's.
"I'm so excited," she whispered in Billie's ear, "that my knees aretrembling. I'm afraid I'll never be able to walk out."
"Well, you needn't expect me to carry you," said Billie, reaching up andputting Laura's hat on straight. "Because I'm going to have all I can doto manage myself. Goodness, what's that?"
It was merely the train stopping, but by the tone of Billie's voice onemight have thought it was the end of the world.
"Say, are you girls all ready?" asked Ferd, leaning over the back oftheir seats.
The girls nodded nervously.
"Well, then let's go," Teddy chimed in, grabbing his suitcase and cap."Come on, pick up your hats, girls, and don't forget your feet."
"Oh, isn't he funny?" gibed Laura making a face at him. Then she grabbedwildly at her bag as one of the excited girls seemed bent upon carryingit off with her. "Say, come back with that," she cried. "Isn't oneenough for you?"
However, they did succeed at last in getting themselves safely on thestation platform. It was a pretty station, and this being their firstglimpse of the place where they were going to spend so much time, theylooked about them with interest.
Molata was the nearest town to Three Towers Hall and Boxton MilitaryAcademy. Both of these schools were situated on Lake Molata, for whichthe town had been named. Most of the inhabitants of Molata were wealthy,and the estates in and about the town were magnificent. There was alsoa large hotel, filled during the summer season.
Even the station was in keeping with the general air of prosperity. Inthe minute the girls had to look about them, they saw a stone-builtwaiting room with a red-tiled roof. A beautiful green velvety lawncompletely surrounded the station on three sides, while on one side abeautiful fountain sent its sparkling spray high into the clear air. Andfurther back through the trees they caught glimpses of beautifulestates.
They found themselves being hustled toward the other end of the stationwhere two conveyances, one from Three Towers Hall and the other fromBoxton Military Academy, were waiting to take the girls and boys totheir destination.
Two attendants tended to the trunks and deposited the luggage inside thecabs, while the girls and boys said excited good-byes to each other onthe platform.
"We'll be only a little over a mile away from you," Chet called out."And when we get an afternoon off we'll row down the lake and get yougirls."
"Oh, won't that be fun!" cried Vi, her eyes dancing. "I'm just crazy toget out on the lake."
"Goodness, we haven't even seen it yet," Laura reminded her.
"Yes, and if we're going to," Billie added, "I guess we'd better getstarted. Come on, girls. Everybody's in but us. Good-bye, Chet!Good-bye, Ferd and Teddy! Please be good and don't get sent home thefirst week--we wouldn't have anybody to give us that row, you know.Good-bye--good-bye----"
Laura and Vi had already clambered into the long, car-like machine with_Three Towers Hall_ painted in gold letters on the outside and wereimpatiently commanding Billie to follow them.
As soon as she was inside the boys rushed to the car with _BoxtonMilitary Academy_ painted in gold letters on the outside, and thegood-byes were over.
As they left the station and swung into a wide smooth road on their wayto Three Towers Hall the girls relaxed with a sigh of happiness.
"Isn't this a wonderful road?" said Billie, screwing her head around sothat she could look out the window. The machine had two long seats oneither side, running from the front to the back of it so that, inturning, Billie accidentally stuck her elbow into the girl next to her.
She had not noticed the girl, but now, when the latter spoke, Billieturned around quickly. The girl was Eliza Dilks, Amanda Peabody's chum,and beside her sat Amanda herself looking on with her usual sneeringgrin.
"Say, if you haven't got room enough," Eliza said in a thin high voice,"I can move over to the other side of the car."
For a minute Billie just stared, while several girls about them pausedin their own conversations to listen. Vi was aghast and Laura wasfurious.
"Well," said Billie at last, letting her gaze travel from Eliza's meanface to her ill-fitting shoes--somewhere Billie had heard that peoplehate to have you look at their feet--"maybe you'd better move. There'slots more room on the other side."
The girls chuckled. Laura said: "Good for you, Billie," under herbreath, and Eliza flushed angrily. She seemed about to speak, but asBillie was still gazing steadily at her feet she looked down at themherself and thereby lost the battle.
However, the incident had made them miss some of the prettiest sceneryin Molata, and it was almost with a feeling of regret that the girls sawthe majestic three towers of Three Towers Hall rise before them.
Their regret did not last long, however; and when the car started up thebroad driveway the girls strained their eyes for a better view.
It was a beautiful place. The hall itself was built of rough,greenish-gray stone, and over the whole front of it, twining round thewindows, hanging over the doors, grew clinging, bright green ivy.
A smooth velvety lawn sloped down straight to the water, and the girlscried out at this, their first glimpse of Lake Molata. Through thetrees, the water of the lake glistened and shimmered and danced whilethe soft rippling sound of tiny wavelets lapping at the bank seemed tocall to them invitingly.
"Oh, g-girls, it's lovelier even than we pictured it!" cried Laura,stammering in her eagerness. "Aren't you just c-crazy to get out on thatwater?"
"Yes. But look!" cried Billie, grasping her arm and pointing to thefront door of Three Towers Hall. "There's the president, I suppose,waiting to welcome us."
For in the doorway was standing a slender figure in white, evidentlywaiting, as Billie had said, to welcome the girls to Three Towers Hall.
Other girls had noticed her, too, and as the attendant came around andopened the door, they all scrambled down in a flurry of excitement.
"It's Miss Walters," the whisper went around, and Billie felt a thrillof excitement.
"Miss Walters!" Always she had seemed to Billie a person to be looked upto--a sort of goddess set apart from ordinary mortals. For Miss SaraWalters had been head of Three Towers Hall for a number ofyears--always, it seemed to Billie. And now Billie was actually going tosee her, talk to her, perhaps even make her take notice of her, Billie,above the others!
As she rather breathlessly ascended the steps to the entrance of ThreeTowers with the other girls she studied this slim, straight woman whohad been the heroine of so many of her day dreams.
And what she saw satisfied even Billie.
Miss Walters was only thirty-five, but her hair was snow white andframed her face in thick wavy masses. Her complexion was pink and white,and her dark violet eyes looked almost black under their dark lashes.And her figure was that of a girl of twenty.
"Isn't she wonderful?" Vi whispered in her ear; but Billie squeezed herarm warningly.
"Sh-h," she said. "She might hear us."
"I wouldn't care if she did," said Violet with unusual spirit, and inher heart Billie could not blame her.
A moment more and Miss Walters was speaking to them, saying a few wordsto each of them, welcoming them to Three Towers Hall.
Then she turned
and led the way into the building, the girls crowdingafter her eagerly.
"And her voice," said Billie, adoringly in Laura's ear, "is the verysweetest part of her!"