Mr. Tom Cameron and our
Ben brought her in, all white and fainty-like."

The girls had to hurry on or be late to dinner. But the very first thing
Ruth did when she reached their rooms in Dare Hall was to look up Aunt
Alvirah's letter and see when it was dated and mailed.

"It's obvious," Ruth told herself, "that Maggie could have reached here
almost as soon as the letter if she had wished to. But why come at all?
If it was Maggie over on that island, why was she there?"

Of course, these ruminations were all in private. Ruth knew better than
to take her two close friends into her confidence. If she did the
mystery would have been the chief topic of conversation after dinner,
instead of the studies slated for that evening.

An incident occurred, however, at dinner which served to take Ruth's
mind, too, from the mystery. There were a number of seniors and juniors
quartered at Dare Hall. Nor were all the seniors table-captains at
dinner.

This evening the dining hall had filled early. Perhaps the brisk air and
their outdoor exercise had given the girls sharper appetites than usual.
It had the three girls from Briarwood. They were wearied after their
long skate around the island and as ravenous as wolves. They could
scarcely wait for Miss Comstock, at the head of their particular table,
to begin eating so they might do so, too.

And just at this moment, as the pleasant bustle of dinner began, and the
lightly tripping waitresses were stepping hither and yon with their
trays, the door opened and a single belated girl entered the dining
hall.

As though the entrance of this girl were expected, a hush fell over the
room. Everybody but Jennie looked up, their soup spoons poised as they
watched Rebecca Frayne walk down the long room to her place at the
housekeeper's table.

"Sh!" hissed Helen, admonishing Jennie Stone.

"What's the matter?" demanded the fleshy girl in surprise. "Is my soup
noisy? I'll have to train it better."

But nobody laughed. All eyes were fastened on the girl who had made
herself so obnoxious to the seniors and the juniors of Ardmore. She sat
down and a waitress put her soup before her. Before poor Rebecca could
lift her spoon there was a stir all over the room. Every senior and
junior (and there were more than half a hundred in the dining hall)
arose, save those acting as table-captains or monitors. The rustle of
their rising was subdued; they murmured their excuses to the heads of
their sever