the morning and unpack."

But the rising-bell had been sounding some seconds when Blue Bonnet
opened her eyes to the light the next morning. She sprang out of bed
with a bound, and dragged forth Carita, who still clung to her slumbers.

"Get up, Carita," she said. "That's some kind of a bell ringing for
something or other--goodness knows what! Maybe it's breakfast. I don't
know."

A look at her watch reassured her. Seven o'clock. Breakfast was at
seven-thirty--she remembered hearing that somewhere.

"Oh, Blue Bonnet, I could have slept twenty minutes yet," Carita wailed
sleepily. "I can dress for a party in ten minutes. Yes, I can,
honestly!"

"Maybe--in Texas! You're in Boston now. Boston means a cold bath with a
good rub, and getting into your clothes for the day--all of which takes
time."

At seven-thirty they were dressed, waiting for the breakfast-bell to
ring.

The dining-room at Miss North's was not large, but it was cheerful and
inviting. There were some five or six tables and at the head of each sat
a teacher.

Miss North met Blue Bonnet and Carita at the door and took them to her
own table. When the meal was over she assigned them to their regular
places, and again Blue Bonnet found to her dismay that she and Carita
were separated.

As they left the dining-room Mary Boyd came along and took Carita off
peremptorily.

"I'll take care of her," Mary announced, with a wave and a smile.
"She'll be in a lot of my classes." They passed on, arm in arm.

Blue Bonnet was feeling a bit forlorn and neglected when a voice, soft
and sweet, said at her elbow:

"Miss North has asked me to show you about this morning."

Blue Bonnet turned and looked into the face of the Southern girl she had
admired the first day she visited the school.

"Perhaps you don't remember me, but we were introduced. My name is
Annabel Jackson."

"Oh, I remember you--yes, indeed; and I'm Blue Bonnet Ashe."

"We have prayers the first thing," Annabel said, leading the way to the
chapel. "The gong will ring in five minutes. I reckon we won't be too
early if we go now."

"Dear me, do you have a gong to breathe by?" Blue Bonnet asked
laughingly. "Seems to me one rings every five minutes."

"Not quite; but that little electric hammer runs the school--with Miss
North behind it."

Miss North's school was supposed to be non-sectarian, so far as
religious government went; but in expression it was very much
Episcopalian.

Blue Bonne