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Grace Harlowe's Junior Yearat High School
OR
Fast Friends in the Sororities
ByJESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M.
Author of Grace Harlowe's Plebe Year at High School, Grace Harlowe's Sophomore Year at High School, Grace Harlowe's Senior Year at High School, etc.
Illustrated
PHILADELPHIA HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY HOWARD E. ALTEMUS
Grace Snatched Off the White Mask. _Frontispiece--High School Girls No. 3._]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. A NEW ARRIVAL 7
II. CONFIDENCES 20
III. AN AUTUMN WALKING EXPEDITION 30
IV. GRACE MAKES A DISCOVERY 42
V. THE PHI SIGMA TAU 53
VI. A VISIT TO ELEANOR 68
VII. THE CLAIM OF THE "ARTISTIC TEMPERAMENT" 78
VIII. ELEANOR THROWS DOWN THE GAUNTLET 85
IX. THE RESCUE PARTY 96
X. JULIA PERFORMS A SACRED DUTY 106
XI. WORRIES AND PLANS 121
XII. A RECKLESS CHAUFFEUR 129
XIII. A THANKSGIVING FROLIC 137
XIV. ELEANOR FINDS A WAY 145
XV. A WOULD-BE "LARK" 150
XVI. THE JUNIORS FOREVER 163
XVII. THE LAST STRAW 173
XVIII. THE PLAY'S THE THING 182
XIX. THE TRY OUT 191
XX. THE ANONYMOUS LETTER 199
XXI. BREAKERS AHEAD 208
XXII. AS YOU LIKE IT 215
XXIII. THE JUNIOR PICNIC 235
XXIV. CONCLUSION 252
Grace Harlowe's Junior Year at High School
CHAPTER I
A NEW ARRIVAL
"Next to home, there is really nothing quite so satisfying as ourdear old High School!" exclaimed Grace Harlowe, as she entered thelocker-room and beamed on her three friends who stood near by.
"It does seem good to be back, even though we have had such a perfectlyglorious summer," said Jessica Bright. "We are a notch higher, too.We're actually juniors. This locker-room is now our property, althoughI don't like it as well as the one we had last year."
"We'll get accustomed to it, and it will seem like home inside of twoweeks," said Anne Pierson philosophically. "Everything is bound tochange in this world, you know. 'We must put ourselves in harmony withthe things among which our lot is cast.'"
"Well, Marcus Aurelius, we'll try to accept your teaching," laughedGrace, who immediately recognized the quotation as coming from a tiny"Marcus Aurelius Year Book" that Anne kept in her desk and frequentlyperused.
"I wonder what school will bring us this year?" mused Nora O'Malley, asshe retied her bow for the fifth time before the mirror and criticallysurveyed the final effect. "We had a stormy enough time last year,goodness knows. Really, girls, it is hard to believe that Miriam Nesbitand Julia Crosby were at one time the banes of our existence. They comenext to you three girls with me, now."
"I think that we all feel the same about them," replied Grace. "Miriamis a perfect dear now, and is just as enthusiastic over class matters aswe are."
"It looks as though everything were going to be plain sailing thisyear," said Jessica. "There isn't a disturbing element in the class thatI know of. Still, one can never tell."
"Oh, here come Eva Allen and Marian Barber," called Grace delightedly,and rushed over to the newcomers with outstretched hands.
By this time girls began to arrive rapidly, and soon the locker-roomhummed with the sound of fresh, young voices. Coats of tan were comparedand newly acquired freckles deplored, as the girls stood about ingroups, talking of the delights of the summer vacation just ended.
To the readers of "GRACE HARLOWE'S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL," and"GRACE HARLOWE'S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL," the girl chums havebecome familiar figures. It will be remembered how Grace Harlowe and herfriends, Nora O'Malley and Jessica Bright, during their freshman year,became the firm friends of Anne Pierson, the brilliant young girl who wonthe freshman prize offered each year to the freshmen by Mrs. Gray. Thereader will recall the repeated efforts of Miriam Nesbit, aided by MissLeece, the algebra teacher, to disgrace Anne in the eyes of the faculty,and the way each attempt was frustrated by Grace Harlowe and herfriends. Mrs. Gray's house party, the winter picnic in Upton Wood, andAnne Pierson's struggles to escape her unworthy father all contributedtoward making the story stand out in the reader's mind.
In "GRACE HARLOWE'S SOPHOMORE YEAR," the girl chums were found leadingtheir class in athletics. Here, Miriam Nesbit, still unsubdued, endeavoredonce more to humiliate Anne Pierson, and to oust Grace from her positionas captain of the basketball team, being aided in her plan by JuliaCrosby, captain of the junior team, against whom the sophomores hadengaged to play a series of three games. Grace's brave rescue of JuliaCrosby during a skating party and the latter's subsequent repentancerestored good feeling between the two classes, and the book ended withthe final conversion of Miriam after her long and stubbornly nursedenmity.
David Nesbit's trial flight in his aeroplane, Grace's encounter with theescaped lunatic, who imagined himself to be Napoleon Bonaparte, wereamong the features which made the book absorbing from start to finish.
The clang of the first bell broke in upon the chattering groups, andobedient to its summons, the girls moved slowly out of the locker-roomand down the corridor, talking in subdued tones as they strolled towardthe study hall.
Miss Thompson stood at her desk, serene and smiling, as the girls filedin.
"How well Miss Thompson looks," whispered Grace to Anne as they nearedtheir seats. "Let's go up and see her when this session is over. It'ssure to be short this morning."
It was customary on the opening of school for the members of the variousclasses to take their seats of the previous year. Then the sections wererearranged, the seniors taking the seats left by the graduates, and theother classes moving up accordingly. The first day of school amounted toreally nothing further than being assigned to one's seat and gettingused to the idea of school again. Miss Thompson usually addressed thegirls on the duty of High School students, and the girls went forth fullof new resolutions that last for at least a week.
Grace looked curiously about her. She wondered if there were to be manynew girls that year. The present freshmen, direct from the GrammarSchools, sat on the front seats looking a trifle awed at the idea ofbeing academic pupils, and feeling very strange and uncomfortable underthe scrutiny of so many pairs of eyes.
Her glance wandered toward the new sophomore class, as though in searchof some one, her eyes brightening as she caught sight of the brown-eyedgirl who had won the freshman prize the previous June. The latter lookedas helpless and friendless as when Grace first saw her step up on theplatform to receive her money. "I shall certainly find out more aboutthat child," she decided. "What is her name? I heard it at commencement,but I have forgotten it."
Taking a leaf from a little note-book that she alway
s carried, Gracewrote: "Do you see the freshman-prize girl over among the sophomores?What is her name? I can't remember." Then, folding the paper, she tossedit to Anne, who nodded; then wrote, "Mabel Allison," and handed it tothe girl sitting opposite her, who obligingly passed it over to Grace.
With a nod of thanks to Anne, Grace glanced at the paper and then at theowner of the name, who sat with her hands meekly folded on her desk,listening to Miss Thompson as though her life depended upon hearingevery word that the principal uttered.
"I want all my girls to try particularly this year to reach a higherstandard than ever before," Miss Thompson concluded, "not only in yourstudies, but in your attitude toward one another. Be straightforwardand honorable in all your dealings, girls; so that when the day comesfor you to receive your diplomas and bid Oakdale High School farewell,you can do so with the proud consciousness that you have been to yourschoolmates just what you would have wished them to be to you. I know ofno better preparation for a happy life than constant observation of thegolden rule.
"And now I hope I shall have no occasion to deliver another lectureduring the school year," said the principal, smiling. "There can be noformation of classes to-day, as the bulletins of the various subjectshave just been posted, and will undoubtedly undergo some changes. Itwould be advisable, however, to arrange as speedily as possible aboutthe subjects you intend to take, as we wish to begin recitations byFriday at the latest, and I dare say the changes made in the schedulewill be slight."
Then the work of assigning each class to its particular section of thestudy hall began. The seniors moved with evident pride into the placesreserved for the first class, while the freshmen looked visibly relievedat having any place at all to call their own. Immediately after this theclasses were dismissed, and a general rush was made to the end of thegreat room, where the bulletins were posted.
Grace, Nora, Anne and Jessica wished to recite in the same classes asfar as could be arranged, and a lively confab ensued as to what wouldbe best to take. They all decided on solid geometry and English reading,as they could be together for these classes, but the rest was not soeasy, for Nora, who loathed history, was obliged to take ancient historyto complete her history group, the other girls having wisely completedtheirs the previous year. Jessica wanted to take physical geography,Anne rhetoric, and Grace boldly announced a hankering for zooelogy.
"How horrible," shuddered Jessica. "How can you bear to think of cuttingup live cats and dogs and angleworms and things."
"Oh, you silly," laughed Grace. "You're thinking of vivisection. I wouldn'tcut up anything alive for all the world. The girls did dissect crabs andlobsters, and even rabbits, last year, but they were dead long beforethey ever reached the zooelogy class."
"Oh," said Jessica, somewhat reassured, "I'm glad to hear that, at anyrate."
"That makes three subjects," said Nora. "Now we want one more. Are anyof you going to be over ambitious and take five?"
"Not I," responded Grace and Jessica in chorus.
"I shall," said Anne quietly. "I'm going to learn just as much as I canwhile I have the chance."
"Well," said Jessica, "you're different. Five studies aren't any harderfor you than four for us."
"Thank the lady prettily for her high opinion of your ability, Anne,"said Grace, laughing. "She really seems to be sincere."
"She's too sincere for comfort," murmured Anne, who hated compliments.
"We haven't settled on that fourth subject yet," interposed Nora.
"Why don't you all take French, it is such a beautiful language," saida soft voice behind them. "I'm sure you'd like it."
The four girls turned simultaneously at the sound of the strange, softvoice, to face a girl whose beauty was almost startling. She was atrifle taller than Grace and beautifully straight and slender. Her hairwas jet black and lay on her forehead in little silky rings, while shehad the bluest eyes the girls had ever seen. Her features were small andregular, and her skin as creamy as the petal of a magnolia. She stoodregarding the astonished girls with a fascinating little smile that wasirresistible.
"Please excuse me for breaking in upon you, but I saw you from afar, andyou looked awfully good to me." Her clear enunciation made the slangphrase sound like the purest English. "I have just been with yourprincipal in her office. She told me to come here and look over the listof subjects. Do you think me unpardonably rude?" She looked appealinglyat the four chums.
"Why, of course not," said Grace promptly, recovering in a measure fromher first surprise. "I suppose you are going to enter our school, areyou not? Let me introduce you to my friends." She named her three chumsin turn, who bowed cordially to the attractive stranger.
"My name is Grace Harlowe. Will you tell me yours?"
"My name is Eleanor Savell," replied the new-comer, "and I have justcome to Oakdale with my aunt. We have leased a quaint old house in thesuburbs called 'Heartsease.' My aunt fell quite in love with it, soperhaps we shall stay awhile. We travel most of the time, and I get verytired of it," she concluded with a little pout.
"'Heartsease'?" cried the girls in chorus. "Do you live at 'Heartsease'?"
"Yes," said the stranger curiously. "Is there anything peculiar aboutit?"
"Oh, no," Grace hastened to reply. "The reason we are interested isbecause we know the owner of the property, Mrs. Gray, very well."
"Oh, do you know her?" replied Eleanor lightly. "Isn't she a dainty,little, old creature? She looks like a Dresden shepherdess grown old.For an elderly woman, she really is interesting."
"We call her our fairy godmother," said Anne, "and love her so dearlythat we never think of her as being old." There had been something aboutthe careless words that jarred upon Anne.
"Oh, I am sure she is all that is delightful," responded Miss Savell,quickly divining that Anne was not pleased at her remark. "I hope toknow her better."
"You are lucky to get 'Heartsease,'" said Grace. "Mrs. Gray has refusedover and over again to rent it. It belonged to her favorite brother, whowilled it to her when he died. She has always kept it in repair. Eventhe furniture has not been changed. I have been there with her, andI love every bit of it. I am glad to know that it has a tenant at last."
"Mrs. Gray knew my aunt years ago. They have kept up a correspondencefor ever so long. It was due to her that we came here," said Eleanor.
"Is your aunt Miss Margaret Nevin?" asked Anne quietly.
"Why, how did you know her name?" cried Eleanor, apparently mystified."'This is getting curiouser and curiouser.'"
The four girls laughed merrily.
"Anne is Mrs. Gray's private secretary," explained Jessica. "She tendsto all her correspondence. I suppose you have written more than oneletter to Miss Savell's aunt, haven't you, Anne!"
"Yes, indeed," replied Anne. "Her name is very familiar to me."
"What class are you girls in?" said Eleanor, abruptly changing thesubject. "Or aren't you all in the same class?"
"We are all juniors," laughed Nora, "and proud of it. Our green andcallow days are over, and we have entered into the realm of the upperclasses."
"Then I shall enter the junior class, too, for I choose to hob-nob withyou girls. Don't say you don't want me, for I have made up my mind; andit is like the laws of the Medes and Persians, unchangeable."
"We shall be glad to welcome a new classmate, of course," respondedGrace. "I hope you will soon be one of us. Did Miss Thompson say thatyou would have to take examinations?"
"She did, she did," answered Eleanor ruefully. "Still I'm not muchafraid. I've studied with a tutor, so I'm pretty well up in mathematicsand English. I can speak French, German, Italian and Spanish almost aswell as English. You know I've lived most of my life abroad. I'll manageto pass somehow."
"I should think you would," exclaimed Anne admiringly. "I hope you pass,I'm sure. Perhaps you'll be too far advanced for our class."
"Never fear, my dear," said Eleanor. "My heart is with the juniors, andleave it to me not to land in any other class. But,
really, I've botheredyou long enough. I must go back to your principal and announce myselfready to meet my fate. I hope to know you better when examinations haveceased to be a burden and the weary are at rest. That is, if I survive."
With a gay little nod, and a dazzling smile that revealed almost perfectteeth, she walked quickly down the long room and out the door, leavingthe girl chums staring after her.
"What an extraordinary girl!" said Jessica. "She acts as though she'dknown us all her life, and we never set eyes on her until she marched inand calmly interrupted us ten minutes ago."
"It doesn't seem to make much difference whether or not we like her. Shehas decided she likes us, and that settles it," said Grace, smiling."What do you think of her, Anne? You are a pretty good judge ofcharacter."
"I don't know yet," replied Anne slowly. "She seems charming. She mustbe awfully clever, too, to know so many languages, but----"
"But what?" queried Nora.
"Oh, I don't know just what I want to say, only let's proceed slowlywith her, then we'll never have anything to regret."
"Come on, girls," said Jessica impatiently. "Let's hurry. You know wepromised to meet the boys as soon as school was over."
The girl chums walked out of the study hall, each with her mind so fullof the new girl, who had so suddenly appeared in their midst, that theproposed call upon Miss Thompson was entirely forgotten.