“And all seven sent their respects to you, Madam,” declared Molly.
“They are very kind. Will you introduce these others, Miss Granger?”
She glanced swiftly from Beth to Cynthia and back again as she asked the question.
“This is Miss Beth Baldwin,” Molly said. “She comes from Hudsonvale. I met her on the boat. We are chums already, Madam Hammersly.”
The madam nodded and smiled at Beth; but the latter did not feel that she was expected to take the lady’s hand, nor was it offered.
“She enters the first-grade, you know, Madam. Can’t she have the room next to mine?” begged Molly. “You see, she has no friend here but me, and has never been away from home before.”
“I will think of that,” promised the madam. Then she looked inquiringly at Cynthia Fogg.
“And this, Madam Hammersly,” Molly said, stepping nearer to the lady, “is a girl we met who is quite needy. She is looking for work. Her name is Cynthia Fogg. I am very sure she is a nice girl. She came up from Hudsonvale and shared my friend, Beth’s, stateroom. I told her I would introduce her to your notice, Madam. She really needs work.”
The madam looked askance at Jolly Molly for an instant. “This is scarcely the time,” she began, but Molly interrupted:
“I know, Madam. I hope you will forgive me. But she had nowhere to go—no friends and no money. She had a ticket to Jackson City, where she was going to look for work; but she had nothing in view there, and no more friends than she has here. Not so many, for Beth and I are her friends.”