"Oh, I am sure she will be here," Jane added, as they edged along with the throng, threading their way out into the open space under the great glass canopy of the New York Central. The magnitude of the building seemed to dwarf the lines and group of persons, filing in and out, and coming and going--as the old man said, like people without any homes.
"There she is!" exclaimed Jane as she caught sight of the dignified Mrs. Weatherbee, director of Wellington. "And she has a young girl with her."
"Our Helka!" exclaimed Judith, jamming into a haughty woman with the perpetual poodle under her arm. "Oh, I am sure that is our little artist," as the slight young girl, in very dark costume advanced with Mrs. Weatherbee.
There was no time for a reply from Jane, for the smiling Wellington lady and her companion now caught sight of the girls, and were advancing quickly.
"Just in time," Mrs. Weatherbee exclaimed with more precision than originality. "How splendidly you both look!"
Then the usual hand shaking, and exchange of courtesies included the introduction to Miss Helka Podonsky.
So the girls at last beheld the object of their long outstanding guesses and conjectures!
Yes, Helka was pretty--she was different, and she was surely attractive. Her hair tangled around her ears and made the most adorable little puffs. Its shade was dark, not black, but more dark than brown. All of these details were easily observed, and the girls absorbed them, but the color of her eyes--Jane thought they blue, Judith thought them brown, and neither knew how to classify the flashes and "volts" the little stranger shot out from under the long curly lashes. But that she was lovely each silently agreed.
"This is our friend who is coming with us to Wellington," Mrs. Weatherbee explained, in that formal way "the faculty" always take to say unnecessary things. "She is delighted with the prospect," another superfluous banality.
"Oh, yes, it will be very--nice," spoke Helka, and her accent betrayed the slightest foreign tinge. Her words seemed carefully chosen, but she did not hiss her "s" nor choke her "e." Jane was glad the voice and accent would not excite undue prejudice.