e older pupils of Pinewood were grouped.

"Here's a little 'greeny' who has come among us hungry," laughed the
senior, urging Nancy into a chair and beckoning to one of the
waitresses.

The other big girls were kind to the newcomer; but they had interests of
their own and what they chatted about was all "Greek" to Nancy Nelson.
So she gave her strict attention to the food.

The dinner was nicely served and was much better than the food usually
put on the table at Higbee School. By this time Nancy _was_ hungry, and
she did full justice to the repast. Meanwhile an occasional brisk fire
of conversation between Corinne and her friends penetrated to Nancy's
rather confused understanding.

"Are all the nice boys back at Clinton Academy this half, do you know,
Corinne?"

"Don't ask me! I can't keep run of _all_ Dr. Dudley's boys," laughed
Miss Pevay.

"Well, I hope Bob Endress has come. He's certainly one nice boy," cried
another of the seniors.

"Why! he's only a child!" drawled another young lady. "If he is back
this fall it is only to begin his junior year."

"I don't care," said Corinne. "He really _is_ a nice boy. I agree with
Mary."

"Say! the Montgomery girl told me Bob came near being drowned this
summer. What do you know about that?"

"Oh, Carrie!"

"She had all the details, so I guess it's so. He is some sort of a
distant relative of hers----"

"I'd want the relationship to be mighty distant if I were Bob," laughed
the girl named Mary.

"Quite so," said the teller of the tale. "However, he went automobiling
with the Montgomerys through to Chicago. And on the road he fell into
some pond, or river, and he can't swim----"

"But he can skate--beautifully," sighed Corinne. "I hope there'll be
good skating this winter on Clinton River."

"Me, too! And me! Oh, I adore skating!" were the chorused exclamations
from the group.

Corinne now noted that Nancy had finished.

"Come! I've got to stow little 'greeny' away for the night," she said,
pinching Nancy's plump cheek. "Come on, kid! It'll soon be bedtime for
first-readers."

Nancy did not mind this playful reference to her juvenile state, it was
said so pleasantly. She followed Corinne docilely up the broad flight
into the west wing of the great building. Once it had been a private
residence; but it was big enough to be called a castle.

The rooms on the lower floor had not been much changed when Pinewood
Hall became a preparatory school for girls.