such deception, but I shall treat them
exactly as I have always treated them."

With that she went back to her place. To her surprise Miss O'Day was not
there, having slipped away at the beginning of Elizabeth's talk.

The girls applauded heartily. Someone else arose to speak. Elizabeth's
enthusiasm having died suddenly away, she felt very limp and weak. She was
surprised at her own boldness.

"I'm going back to our room," she whispered to Mary Wilson. "I feel all
gone."

"Yes, I can sympathize with you. I felt just so the first time I got up
there. But you'll get over it and enjoy a scrap. I'll go with you. A cup
of cocoa will set you up all right."

Together they quitted the hall. As they crossed the campus, Mary
continued: "I was afraid you were going to get personal, and hurt someone
with your words; but you stopped just in time. One does not mind if the
whole set gets a slap in the face; but one does not like to be the only
one. It is just this way about the girls you meet at Exeter. We are like a
little town. There will be a few whom you will like well enough to be
genuine friends with; then there's a whole long line who will be pleasant
acquaintances; and some whom you will care nothing at all about, although
they will be good people in their way. Some here have opinions of their
own, and some are mere copies. A girl must learn to think for herself, and
express her opinion without getting angry or giving personal hits. The
moment that is done, Miss Cresswell will request the guilty one to leave
the room."

"Will they do it?"

"Do it? Haven't you learned that people generally do as Anna Cresswell
suggests? She's a very poor girl--too poor to come to Exeter. But her
influence over the younger set was so marked that they say Dr. Morgan
makes it worth her while to stay."

"What does she do? She seems very quiet."

"She is--and isn't. She's quiet when it's necessary to be. As to what she
does, if you keep your eyes open, you'll find her visiting the homesick
girls, introducing the shy ones, tutoring the backward ones."

"It is a wonder she did not call upon me earlier in the term then. I might
be classified under all three heads."

Mary tossed back her hair, and laughed. "But you had me, and when one has
me to look after her she does not need even Anna Cresswell."

"Especially when it comes to keeping rooms in order," added Elizabeth.

"You haven't forgiven me for that yet."

"Yes; I have--long ago."