sixteen frightened girls (without counting Ruth and Helen)
could not be expected to keep such a mystery as this a secret among
themselves. That the marble harp had been sounded--that the ghost of
the campus had returned to haunt the school--was known among the
students of Briarwood Hall before breakfast time. Jennie Stone was
quite full of it, although Ruth knew from the unimpeachable testimony
of Jennie's nose that _she_ was not among the hazers; and the sounding
of the mysterious harp-strings in the middle of the night really
endangered Heavy's appetite for breakfast.

The members of the Upedes who had been so pleasant with them at the
evening meeting seemed rather chary of speaking to Ruth and Helen how;
and, anyway, the chums had enough to do to get their boxes unpacked and
their keepsakes set about the room, and to complete various
housekeeping arrangements. They enjoyed setting up their "goods and
chattels" quite as much as they expected to; and really their school
life began quite pleasantly despite the excitement and misunderstanding
on the first night of their arrival.

If the crowd that Ruth was so sure had hazed them were slow about
attending on the two Infants in the West Dormitory (as their building
was called) there were plenty of other nice girls who looked into the
duet in a friendly way, or who spoke to Ruth and Helen on the campus,
or in the dining room. Miss Polk and Madge Steele were not the only
Seniors who showed the chums some attention, either; and Ruth and Helen
began secretly to count the little buttons marked "F. C." which they
saw, as compared with the few stars bearing the intertwined "U" and "D"
of the Upedes.

Just the same, Helen Cameron's leaning toward the lively group or girls
in their house who had (it seemed) formed their club in protest against
the Forward Club, was still marked. The friends heard that the last
named association was governed by the Preceptress and teachers almost
entirely. That it was "poky" and "stuffy." That some girls (not
altogether those who formed the membership of the Upedes) considered it
"toadying" to join the Forward Club. And on this second day Ruth and
Helen saw that the rivalry for membership between the clubs was very
keen indeed. A girl couldn't have friends among the members of both
the F. C.'s and the Upedes--that was plain.

Many new girls arrived on this day--mostly from the Lumberton
direction. That was another reason, perhaps, why