| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | “The Grapes that Hang High” | [ 1] |
| II. | Larry’s “Coming Out” Party | [ 11] |
| III. | Great-Grandmother Lomis’ Corals | [ 23] |
| IV. | The Sacrifice | [ 32] |
| V. | The “Water Wagtail” | [ 40] |
| VI. | An Adventure in Midstream | [ 48] |
| VII. | Cynthia Fogg | [ 61] |
| VIII. | Queer Talk | [ 68] |
| IX. | Rivercliff Landing | [ 74] |
| X. | A New World | [ 91] |
| XI. | “The Glass of Fashion” | [ 102] |
| XII. | Finding Her Place | [ 111] |
| XIII. | The Sunny Side | [ 123] |
| XIV. | A Great Deal to Learn | [ 133] |
| XV. | The Red Masque | [ 142] |
| XVI. | No Martyr’s Crown | [ 152] |
| XVII. | Flint and Steel | [ 162] |
| XVIII. | Another Barrier | [ 171] |
| XIX. | Mr. Dennis Montague | [ 181] |
| XX. | Something Unexpected | [ 191] |
| XXI. | The Burial of Friendship | [ 204] |
| XXII. | A Renewed Resolve | [ 211] |
| XXIII. | Suspicion Hovers | [ 225] |
| XXIV. | The Traitor’s Blow | [ 235] |
| XXV. | Before the Judgment Seat | [ 242] |
| XXVI. | Rounding Out Another Year | [ 249] |
| XXVII. | The Ice Carnival | [ 258] |
| XXVIII. | Miss Freylinghausen | [ 274] |
| XXIX. | The “Perfect Number” in Aunts | [ 283] |
| XXX. | Vocational | [ 301] |
THE GIRLS OF RIVERCLIFF SCHOOL
CHAPTER I
“THE GRAPES THAT HANG HIGH”
“Beth! Beth Baldwin! Oh, B. B.! Do, for pity’s sake, stop! Do you expect me to chase you all over town such a hot day as this? It’s cruelty to animals to make me run in this awful sun,” and Mary Devine finally reached Elizabeth Baldwin’s side, and clung to her school friend’s arm, panting.
“Cruelty to how many animals, Mary?” asked Beth, laughing. “Are you a whole menagerie? You remind me of our Marcus when he was a little fellow. There was a ‘cat concert’ in our back yard one night, and Marcus put his head out of the door to see the participants.
“‘Oh, Mamma!’ he called, ‘there’s a million cats out here,’ and when mamma reproved him for exaggerating, he defended himself by saying: ‘Well, anyway, there’s our old cat and another one!’”
Mary had regained her breath now, and giggled over Beth’s little story, but was not to be sidetracked. She had something to tell. News was Mary Devine’s over-mastering passion. To know what went on all over Hudsonvale, and to distribute her information generously, “free, gratis, for nothing,” was the height of her enjoyment.
Mr. Baldwin said one evening, after Mary had been calling on Beth: “They did think some of starting a local paper here in Hudsonvale; but they heard of that Devine girl and gave it up. No need of a newspaper with her in town.”
Now Mary gasped to her friend:
“Oh, Beth! I’ve got something to tell you. You’d never guess!”