“Everything in?” shouted Angela. “Steamer rugs and food?”
“Yes, all in,” answered Betty, who was patting the horses’ noses.
Polly and Lois were standing just around the corner of the house and out of sight of the other girls.
“Now’s the time to get it in,” whispered the latter. She used the same mysterious tone of voice in which Polly had spoken of the express-room earlier in the day.
A few minutes later, under the hurry and excitement of starting, they smuggled a large box, unnoticed, under the driver’s seat.
“Safe and sound, and nobody saw,” Lois whispered softly. “Every one in?” she called out. “All aboard.”
The Seniors were each seated beside a Freshman, Louise Preston was between Lois and Polly. Miss Stuart and Miss Porter, who were chaperoning the party, sat beside the driver, where all good chaperons ought to sit.
As the barge rolled out of the school grounds, the girls sang the favorite Seddon Hall song, which ended in the words:
“It’s the only school in the wide, wide world.”
At first, things were a little dull. There was a big distance between the oldest and youngest classes of the upper school, but after a while the Seniors forgot their dignity and the Freshmen their respect.