Although little had been said regarding Lorraine, and though Patty had loyally refrained from disclaiming her as an intimate friend, yet Clementine and Adelaide both understood matters better now, and were quite ready to accept Patty on her own merits.
So it came about that she walked to school between Adelaide and Lorraine, and though her two companions had little to say to each other, Patty skilfully managed to be pleasant and sociable with both.
Of course the morning was entirely occupied with lessons, but at the noon hour Adelaide appropriated Patty and carried her off to join a group off girls who were merrily chatting together. Clementine was one of them, and in a few moments Patty discovered that they were all Gigs, and seemed proud of the appellation.
“It will be the most fun,” Flossy Fisher was saying; “I’ll manage the Elephant—I can always wind her around my finger—and she won’t know what it’s all about until she finds herself down cellar in front of the mirror. You’ll come to it, won’t you, Patty?”
“What is it, and where, and when, and how, and why?” asked Patty, laughing; “you see I’m a new girl, and a green one. But I suppose from your mention of the elephant, you’re talking about a circus.”
“It will be a circus,” said Clementine, “but a little private one of our own. The Elephant is our pet name for Miss Oliphant, and we Gigs are always playing tricks on her. She pretends she doesn’t like it, but I think she does, for often behind her frowning spectacles she hides a smiling face.”
“Isn’t Clementine the cleverest thing!” exclaimed Adelaide; “she can misquote from all the standard British and American authors. It’s a great thing to be the bright and shining light of the Literature class.”
“But tell me more about this elephant performance,” said Patty; “why are you going to put Miss Oliphant down cellar?”
“Sh! breathe it not aloud,” warned Clementine; “the Wild West must not hear it. It isn’t until Hallowe’en, you know, and then——”
The announcement of luncheon interrupted this conversation, and the girls started for the dining-room. Adelaide insisted that Patty should sit at their table, but for two reasons Patty hesitated about this.