d I was to
be paired with a little Miss Nobody."

"We ought to have our choice," sighed another of the girls.

"And Grace and I were going to have _such_ fun this half," declared
Cora.

One of the others giggled. "That's why you weren't allowed to be with
Montgomery," she remarked. "I heard Corinne talking about it."

"Oh, that Canuck! I hate her," said Cora, speaking thus disrespectfully
about the West Side captain.

"Well, if any of us was in her place, I reckon we'd be strict, too. It
means something to be captain of a side at Pinewood Hall," said Belle,
who, having been at the school longer than the others, had imbibed some
of that loyalty which is bound to impregnate the atmosphere of a
boarding school.

"A fine chance Montgomery, or Cora, would have to be captain," giggled
another.

"Yes! and who is going to be leader of the freshman class?" demanded
Cora. "The big girls have got something to say about that, I suppose?"

"Some of the teachers will have," laughed Belle. "You'll find that out.
Who are you rooting for, Cora?"

"Grace, of course! Why, her father's a senator, and she's got lots of
money. She's influential. She ought to be class president."

"All right; but the election isn't allowed until just before Christmas.
It will be the most popular girl then, you'll find. And she'll have to
be popular with the teachers as well as with you girls."

This conversation in Number 30, West Side, occurred something like a
fortnight after school had opened. The girls were all at work by that
time--those who _would_ work, at least.

Because she was so much alone, perhaps, Nancy Nelson's record was all
the better. But she did not sulk in her room.

Indeed, Cora had so much company--girls who usually ignored Nancy
altogether--that the orphan was glad to get out when they appeared. And
her refuge was the gym. There she became acquainted with the more
athletic girls of the school.

They found--even the sophs and juniors--that Nancy could play tennis and
other games. She swam like a fish, too, and was eager to learn to row.
The captain of the crew, the coach of the basketball team, and others of
the older girls, began to pay some attention to Nancy.

But with her own class she had not become popular. Nancy really had
little more than a speaking acquaintance with any other freshman.

Not being included in the group of girls who so often came to see Cora
Rathmore in Number 30, Nancy was debarred from other g