CHAPTER V--FIRST DAYS AT SCHOOL
Polly and her friends had moved into the Studio and were recovering fromthe orgy of the house-warming given them by the Evans and Latimers theprevious evening, when the two boys came to say good-by.
"Ah, come on, Nolla--bring Polly and see us to the train," coaxed Jim,watching the clock on the mantel.
"But, Jim, we honestly haven't the time! If you _knew_ all we had to dothis week!" sighed Eleanor.
"Why, we could have _been_ there in the time you have taken to explainhow busy you are," grumbled Jim.
"Then get out! If I have wasted so much precious time it is because youstand there and make me. Good-by, old pal, now scat!" Eleanor held outher hand and laughed. But Jim was not so easily daunted.
"Where's Ken all this time? Oh, I say, Ken! Come on!"
"I think Ken and Polly went down the street while you two were out inthe garden hunting for the grass," said Mrs. Stewart, without a smile.
Jim laughed. And Eleanor caught up her hat from the divan and ran to thedoor. "If they go away like that, then you and I will, too."
Having reached the corner, however, Jim and Eleanor saw Ken and Pollyintently studying something held in the latter's palm.
"Come on--we will see what it is they caught?" said Eleanor.
"Oh, Nolla, see what Ken gave me for a keep-sake. We found it over atOld Izaac's," exclaimed Polly, holding out the strange trinket for herfriend to admire.
"Why, it's a real scarab. Isn't it a beauty," said Eleanor, thensuddenly wishing Jim had thought of giving her a keep-sake.
"That's why I wanted you to come out with me. I told Ken you girls'dforget about us the minute we were out of sight, unless you hadsomething to remind you of us," explained Jim.
"Come on, then, and let Nolla pick out what she wants," added Ken,laughingly.
"I'll take the queen's pearl necklace!" and young hearts made merry ofthe pearls that had cost so many lives and so much misery.
Eleanor selected a peculiar seal set in a strange stone. "There, I willuse it on the first letter I write you," she said.
"Now that you are here, you may as well jump on the car and take us tothe train," begged Jim.
And this time he had his way. But they did not catch the four o'clockexpress to New Haven, as it was four-ten when they reached the gates andfound them closed.
"Now we'll have to sit and talk until five," laughed Jim, exultantly.
"We'll do nothing of the sort! I told you we had no time to waste on youboys, and we only came thus far to be polite in exchange for thekeep-sakes. But you can have them back if you think it gives you theright to order me around."
Eleanor held out the seal, but Jim looked forlorn. Then she laughedbecause he felt bad at her teasing.
"Come now, Jimmy, say good-by like an old dear, and tell Polly and me torun home."
"I wish you were my sister!" sighed Jim.
"Your sister? What good would that do you?" asked Eleanor.
"Because you'd let me kiss you good-by!" retorted he.
They all laughed merrily, and Polly said: "You'd never want to kiss herif she was a sister. You wouldn't even have asked her to come to thestation with you."
"You're right, Poll! Now I'm going--good-by, boys!" and Eleanor heldforth both hands--one to each boy.
After many repeated good-bys, the girls left and slowly walked down theavenue. When they had reached the parkway that runs over the car-tunnel,and is known by the name of Madison avenue, Polly said: "Why wouldn'tyou wait for the train, Nolla?"
"Because, Polly, I like both those boys and I don't want to lose them sosoon. If a male thinks we females will run at beck and call for them,they quickly weary of such a game. It is the one who refuses to be woundabout a finger, that always keeps the beaux on a string."
Polly laughed. "You are too worldly-wise for me. Now I never should havedreamed of such a thing."
"Well, I'm right! One reason Bob never has a beau is just because sheshows how anxious she is for one."
"Oh, no, Nolla! The reason Bob hasn't any beaux is on account of herdisposition--you know that!"
"That, too, Polly. But mostly, because she throws herself at the head ofany eligible man. I tell you, a man won't have it so!"
"Never mind, Nolla. You and I are never going to have beaux, so weshould worry! We will marry our profession!" said Polly.
The following Monday, Anne escorted her two charges to the school onWest End avenue. It was a wonderful Autumn day and the girls picturedhow beautiful the mountains about Pebbly Pit must look on such a clearday.
As the Fifth avenue bus was most convenient for Polly and hercompanions, boarding it at Thirtieth street and leaving it at the cornerof Seventy-second street where West End avenue started northward, theyhad but a short walk to reach the school.
Eleanor had been most particular with Polly's, and her own appearance,that morning. "For," said she, "first impressions are lasting. We mustbe sure and make a favorable dent in these girls."
"But we don't know one of them, Nolla," argued Polly.
"All the more reason why we should take the head of the line!" retortedEleanor, tossing her head.
Anne laughed, and thought to herself, "They will surely take the head ineverything, for I never saw two such live girls."
But to Eleanor's chagrin the examinations classed Polly with girls offifteen to sixteen, while she was placed with girls of fourteen years.This caused the temperamental girl to feel discouraged and she began toblame her ill-health for her backwardness.
In every other way, Polly and she ranked equal; and not a girl in thewhole exclusive school could boast of better or more fashionable dressesthan these two western scholars. Eleanor was most talkative, describingher home in Chicago and the people the Maynards knew. Then shewhispered, covertly, how rich Polly Brewster was--she owned a great goldmine all in her own rights. She spoke thrillingly of Rainbow Cliffs andthe tons upon tons of rare stones to be found there, until every girlsighed in envy. But Eleanor failed to mention that the stones would haveto be cut and polished before they would be of any use to anyone.
A few stray sentences of these conversations reached Anne's ears, andshe felt puzzled to know what was best to do. Eleanor was not braggingbecause she needed place or power in the group, but the teacherunderstood that she was exaggerating for Polly's sake. She wanted allthe girls to look up to Polly as a subject would to a queen. She knewhow Barbara had felt toward the simple ranch people, and these girlswere of the same ilk--society's pets. And they could make life unhappyfor Polly, or a dream of joy.
That afternoon, as school closed, Anne overheard one of the girlsrepeating Eleanor's words, but they had not lost in the repetition. Infact, Anne was sure Eleanor did not say quite all that she was creditedwith. On the way to the Studio, therefore, she determined to speak toEleanor about the matter.
"Eleanor, you seemed to make a bushel of friends without any trouble,"said Anne.
"I always do. It's best to have done with it, and then you can sift outthose you don't like, afterward," laughed Eleanor.
"How about you, Polly?" questioned Anne.
"I was too busy with my lessons to bother about anyone, but I thoughtthe girls acted rather queer this afternoon. I caught some of themwhispering about me, and some were casting envious glances my way. Ican't understand why they should?"
Eleanor gasped. Here was a danger she had not thought of. She wouldn'trisk Polly's peace or popularity for anything in the world, but she mayhave unconsciously done just that very thing!
"I heard some of the girls talking of your gold mine and Rainbow Cliffs,and I wondered if you had made such close friends, so soon," venturedAnne, guilefully.
"Oh, _I_ did that! Nothing like putting on a lot of 'dog' if you want tomake a splash in the puddle," hastily explained Eleanor.
Anne felt like laughing but she hid her face, and Polly turned pale withannoyance.
"Why, Nolla! How could you? You know I'd rather be considered a nobody
than stand in a false light. Now what can I do to clear this up?"
"It isn't false light at all, Polly. You can't do anything now withoutmaking me out a fibber," retorted Eleanor.
"You are acting just like your sister Bob might have done! That's theworst thing I can say to _you_," scorned Polly.
"And I did it all for you, too!" whimpered Eleanor.
"Didn't I tell you, back at Pebbly Pit, that I wanted to cut my owncloth? For goodness' sake, don't interfere in my private life again!"
"But you've got to let folks know you're someone, or you will neverclimb to the top of the heap," argued Eleanor, stubbornly.
"I have my own method of reaching the top, Eleanor, and it is not _that_way. I was Polly Brewster before you ever knew me and I am that samePolly Brewster even after having a gold mine and a mile of lava-jewelsthrust down my throat. Don't say another word!"
Polly turned her back and went to the end seat on the bus, leaving Anneto console poor Eleanor.
"Look'a here, Anne--did I do anything so awful?"
"You made a serious mistake, Nolla, when you talked to those strangegirls about Polly. You tried to make her appear as if she approved ofyour method of bragging about the mine and money."
"W-h-y, I never dreamed of such a thing! I only wanted these New Yorkgirls to get it straight from the start that our Polly of Pebbly Pit was'some punkins';" Eleanor tried to laugh.
"And you succeeded in not only humiliating Polly, but me also, because Iam responsible for both of you, to a certain degree."
"Humiliate Polly and you!" gasped Eleanor.
"Exactly what you did. I have been placed in command of this littlefamily, and the first day at school, you deliberately thrust yourselfforward--take my place, so to speak--and tell all the strangers therewho Polly is, and who you and I are. In fact, you give out informationthat should come only from me."
"I'm sorry, but for goodness' sake let's drop it, now."
"We'd better settle the matter once for all, Nolla, before we drop it.If Polly and you are to continue the wonderful friendship begun thisSummer at the ranch, you must never again say, or do anything, thattrespasses on her rights. Remember that each one of us has an individualright to impart what we like about our private affairs--be it family orfortune. But the moment another speaks for us, then it becomes gossipand scandal on the part of that impertinent one.
"I do not propose having my time and thoughts disturbed by any inharmonyrising between you two girls, and if another occasion comes up, whenPolly and you disagree as you have to-day, I'll wire to your father tocome and take you home. If Polly is to blame, then I'll send her home.But, thus far, it is you who trespassed on Polly's rights.
"If you'll think this over quietly, and without prejudice, I'm sureyou'll agree that I am just and right in my stand."
That evening, Eleanor apologised to Anne and Polly for her thoughtlessimpulse that day, and fervently prayed that she never be tempted to openher lips again.
It was not Polly's nature to sulk or remember unpleasant episodes, soeverything went along smoothly after that first day at school.
Tuesday evening Mr. Fabian called, and was welcomed to his erstwhilefireside. During that visit, it developed that he had accepted an offerwhich several of his friends had urged upon him. He was to teach, threetimes a week, a class in art designing at Cooper Union Institute. Andbefore he said good-night to the ladies, it had been suggested andsettled, that Polly and Eleanor were to join the evening classes on thethree nights a week that their friend taught at the school.
Mrs. Stewart worried lest the girls would be wearing themselves out withtoo much study. But it was found that the work in the art classes underMr. Fabian's watchful eye, was a pleasure rather than a study or work.
Thus they started to build on a firm foundation, and by degrees theymastered the rudiments of geometrical drawing, then went on toornamental designing, next taking up the study of architecture in so faras it applied to interior decorating, and at the end of the year theywere drawing free hand and perspective sketches. But that was not untilthe school term was almost over.
By the end of the first week at Mrs. Wellington's school, the girls hadchosen their friends for the term. It was most interesting to Anne tonote that a certain social element looked up to Eleanor as their naturalleader, while the quiet persistent sort silently fell in line withPolly. Both girls were admired and heartily liked, by teachers as wellas scholars, but there was one disturbing young lady who resented theusurping of her former undisputed sway in the school by the twonew-comers.
Elizabeth Dalken was the pretty, but vain daughter of a superficialsociety woman who thought of nothing but self-indulgence, leaving thetraining of her child to Fate. Hence, Elizabeth was the usual product:selfish, proud, arrogant and hypocritical. She was but fifteen, yet shecould slyly cheat at bridge, smoke her mother's cigarettes, and flirtwith the men who frequented her home, as cleverly as her mother could.
For two previous years she had taken the reins of leadership atWellington's school and she had returned the third Fall fully expectingto resume her authority.
To learn that a western ranch-girl without a record in "Who's Who," anda mere _Chicago_ Miss, governed her former subjects, turned Elizabethwhite with rage. She could say nothing about it, however, withoutstarting her school friends' teasing and laughing at her downfall. Andshe could not leave the school, because her mother had deserted herhusband. He was the cashier for all the luxuries Mrs. Dalken and herdaughter indulged themselves in, and he had selected Wellington's schoolfor the girl, and had paid the tuition fee in advance, so it stood toreason that he would not consent to a change, now, on account of herjealousy.
So on that first Friday evening, upon leaving school, Elizabeth promisedherself that she would "get square" with those "two nobodys" in shortorder! She would show those other girls at Mrs. Wellington's just who_she_ was, and why they should have kept her as their leader!
But the western girls were not shamming their lovable characters, and astime went on, their companions appreciated, more and more, the sterlingqualities in their chosen leaders. Thus Elizabeth found it no easy taskto influence the girls against them.
October passed and November began, with the girls at Mrs. Wellington'splanning for a Thanksgiving entertainment to close their school for theholiday. Here Polly was discounted, as she had never taken part inamateur theatricals, and knew nothing about them. Had anyone asked herto differentiate between the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian orComposite order of classic periods of architecture, she could havedescribed either, or all of them, almost as well as Mr. Fabian himselfcould do. But the scholars at Mrs. Wellington's never dreamed of Polly'sambition and knowledge along such lines of study.
So Elizabeth found herself the one to whom everyone appealed aboutcostumes, parts, and the general management of affairs. Eleanor resentedthe obvious fact that _she_ was completely ignored when the variousimportant parts were distributed, but Polly never gave it a thought.
"We couldn't accept a part, anyway, Nolla, with all the time we haveplanned to give to exhibitions and lectures, this month," Polly remindedher.
"And your Daddy will be visiting New York that last week, Nolla, and youmust devote your spare time to his entertainment--not be fussing with alot of girls over a silly poem," added Anne.
Thus the sharp sting was withdrawn and Eleanor forgot all about herinjured feelings. But Elizabeth Dalken believed she was merelypretending that she felt no grudge against the Director of the Play. Andit gave Elizabeth great satisfaction to believe she had actuallyoffended the two popular western girls.
During November afternoons, and on several evenings, Mr. Fabian took thethree friends to the Metropolitan Museum where wonderful exhibits ofprivate collections were given. Here every New Yorker was admitted freeto see genuine antiques of furniture, paintings, tapestries and rugs,plate and ornaments. And with such a marvelous judge to escort themabout and explain details that might have escaped other than his knowingeye, Anne
and her two charges felt well repaid for their time. It provednot only instructive but very absorbing--these personal talks with Mr.Fabian about the rare and ancient articles.
Valuable volumes treating on subjects which most aspirants of art areacquainted with, began to fill the shelves in the rooms on the firstfloor of the stable-studio; and quite often, Mr. Fabian brought in a"treasure" he had picked up at a second-hand book shop. He would readaloud in a cultivated voice, such bits as he thought would interestyoung and ambitious girls. Then, after he had bid his hostessesgood-night, he generally left the volume behind.
Perhaps the very fact that Polly and Eleanor seemed to be apart from theother school-girls and their pastimes, made them all the more desirableto court. Not but that the two western girls liked fun and frolic asmuch as anyone, but they seemed always to have engagements with peoplethe school-girls had never met, nor heard of.
Now and then, Mrs. Wellington took her girls to a matinee, and thenPolly and Eleanor laughed and enjoyed the play as heartily as theothers. But while other school-girls were foolishly mincing up and downthe Peacock Allies of the large hotels, and sipping tea in company withyoung men, the two girl chums were eagerly listening to a lecture givenat one of the art buildings, or admiring a private collection only opento the public for a few afternoons.
A few days before Thanksgiving, Mr. Maynard arrived and then the routineof the girls' daily life suddenly changed.
Eleanor insisted upon her father taking her room while she went toPolly's chamber to sleep upon the day-bed there. Mr. Maynard wanted toremain at the hotel to save the girls any inconvenience, but the girlswould not hear of his being away from Eleanor.
The school play was scheduled for the Tuesday evening beforeThanksgiving Day. But all the ball-rooms and other auditoriums, had beenengaged weeks before November, so Mrs. Wellington had to take what shecould get, or postpone the date of the play. Elizabeth Dalken wasdetermined to have it on the evening set, and so the poor lady startedagain, to seek for some available hall, with Elizabeth accompanying her.Finally they secured a small assembly hall near Central Park West, butit was far from being desirable for the girls.
The dirty walls had to be hidden beneath flags and bunting, and thetarnished gas chandeliers had to be covered with crepe paper. The crudestage was decorated with pine branches and palms, and in places wherethe doors or windows were located, (minus the doors,) the girls groupedpalms and evergreens, so that the hall looked quite inviting beforeevening.
A bevy of happy girls superintended the decorations while butlers,grooms, and even the chauffeurs, did the hard work. Polly and Eleanorjoined the merry group and instantly offered to work, but ElizabethDalken scorned their assistance.
"People who live in a _stable_ can know nothing about decorating!" shesaid, insultingly.
Polly sent her a glance of pity, but Eleanor retorted: "Stable! Well,the richest and most respected banker of Chicago is visiting us in thatstable! And he is my very own father, too! If you were out there, now,I'd hate to think of what we'd do to _you_!"
Elizabeth sneered and was about to reply, but Polly dragged her friendaway, forcibly, and they were soon leaving the room.
Mrs. Wellington had been thoroughly enjoying her conversation with thepleasant banker from Chicago, and now she smilingly said: "I can readilysee where Eleanor gets her common sense and pleasing manners."
Mr. Maynard laughed and watched the two girls hurry over to join him. Aglance at his daughter's face, however, told him that something had gonewrong, but Mrs. Wellington hoped to check the complaint at that moment.She suddenly turned her head, seemed to hear someone call, and thenspoke to Polly.
"Come with me, dears, I believe we are wanted in the dressing rooms."
Once out of ear-shot of Mr. Maynard, she whispered: "Oh, do not allowEleanor to say one word to her father that will spoil everything. I willlook into this matter myself after to-night. But so much depends on thisplay going smoothly, and how can it if some one causes an explosion?"
Polly felt sorry for poor Mrs. Wellington, for she really did have ahard life of it, trying to keep peace continually where so many girlswere concerned. And she promised to try and calm Eleanor's fury anddetermination to oust Elizabeth Dalken from the Wellington School forYoung Ladies.