Girls New and Old

Transcriber's Note: This cover has been created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
THEY ALL BROUGHT KATE O'CONNOR BACK IN TRIUMPH.
BY L. T. MEADE AUTHOR OF BETTY, A SCHOOL GIRL, A SWEET GIRL GRADUATE, WILTON CHASE, FOUR ON AN ISLAND, BASHFUL FIFTEEN, RED ROSE AND TIGER LILY, PALACE BEAUTIFUL, RING OF RUBIES, POLLY, A NEW-FASHIONED GIRL, A WORLD OF GIRLS, OUT OF THE FASHION, GOOD LUCK, A GIRL IN TEN THOUSAND, ETC., ETC. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. WILLIAMSON NEW YORK THE MERSHON COMPANY PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1895, by THE CASSELL PUBLISHING CO. All rights reserved.

GIRLS NEW AND OLD.
IT was an autumn evening when Molly Lavender first arrived at Redgarth. This large school for girls was situated in a certain well-known district in the north of England. It adjoined a cathedral town of great beauty, and was in the neighborhood of those wide downs and far-reaching moors for which this part of the country is justly famed. The school itself was inclosed in spacious gardens, occupying several acres of land. The houses of residence surrounded the great hall and lecture rooms, where the work of education was carried on. There were eight houses of residence, and from forty to fifty girls lived in each.
It had been the dream of Molly Lavender's life to go to Redgarth. Her education hitherto had been conducted partly at home, and partly in a small school; she longed to enter a wider world, and looked forward with much enthusiasm to the comradeship and esprit de corps which would form part of the education of her new life. A vacancy had been offered her at St. Dorothy's, one of the most popular of the houses, and when her cab drew up there on this lovely evening, a very eager and excited young face peeped out.
Molly was fifteen, just the age when girls can be shy. She had lived in a whirl of excited feeling during all her long journey from London; but now that she had really arrived at Redgarth, a sense of unexpected timidity assailed her, and although she was not such a coward as to wish to run away, she heartily desired the first evening to be well over.