and all he could say was
that Mr. Gordon went on in his usual way.

"He lives in an old-fashioned hotel over on the West Side," said Scorch,
"and I've been in his rooms two or three times. But it don't look to me
as though he could hide the papers there anywhere."

"Hide what papers?" demanded Nancy.

"Why, there's always papers hidden away that would tell the heiress all
she wants to know--if she could get at 'em," declared Scorch, nodding.

"You ridiculous boy! You've got your head full of paper-covered story
books!" exclaimed Nancy. "Did you ever hear his like, Jennie?"

"Maybe he's right, just the same," observed her chum, slowly. "Mr.
Gordon isn't likely to tell you anything himself. If you ever find out
about your folks it will be in some such way as Scorch says."

Bye and bye it was time to go back to Pinewood Hall again. Nancy had
remained the whole summer with the Bruces, and she had enjoyed every day
of that time. Yet she was glad, too, to go back to her studies.

"And so would _I_ be, if I had a chance of standing anywhere near you in
classes," agreed Jennie. "But I'm always falling down just when I think
I'm perfect in a recitation."

But there was much more dignity in the bearing of both Nancy and Jennie
when they approached Pinewood Hall on this occasion. They were
full-fledged sophomores, and they could not help looking down with
amused tolerance on the "greenies" who were timidly coming to the school
for the first time.

It was "great," as Jennie confessed, to be able to tell "those children"
where to go, and what to do, and to order them about, as was the soph.
privilege.

But when Nancy found that certain of her class were hazing the
new-comers in a serious way, she took the class to task for it. She
called a meeting and reminded them that it would displease both the new
captains of the school--Mary Miggs on the West Side and Polly Hyams on
the East--as well as Madame Schakael herself, if hazing of the new girls
continued.

"Let's do unto others as we would have been glad to have others do to us
when we came a year ago," said Nancy.

"Well, the sophs. drilled us, all right!" cried Jennie, who was a bit
obstreperous on this point, for she liked to play practical jokes on the
younger girls.

"And so," said Nancy, gravely, "we know how mean it was of them. This
class wants to have a better record than the class above it--eh?"

"Talk for yourself, Miss Nancy!" snapped Cora Rathmore. "You'r