“She must have gone down with her room-mate,” said Miss Landis. “Never mind; you can come with me. I’ll find you a place.”
The dining-room was brilliantly lighted. Seven long tables were placed in various parts of the room. The girls, most of them in light summer dresses, were crowding in and sitting down anywhere, as the regular seats were not yet assigned. Marjorie noticed that one teacher sat at each table.
“Where would you like to sit?” asked Miss Landis.
Just then Marjorie spied Ruth sitting beside Ethel Todd, at the farthest table under the window.
“I want to sit over there, near the window, with Ruth!”
“I am sorry,” said Miss Landis, “but I wouldn’t advise you to sit there without an invitation. All those girls belong to ΦΑΒ,—(Phi Alpha Beta)—the sorority—except the freshmen who have been invited there by them; and you wouldn’t want to sit there without an invitation.”
At that moment Marjorie felt all the bitterness of the outcast. “Ruth will make the sorority, and I won’t,” she thought. But she gave her attention to Miss Landis, who introduced her to some other freshmen.
When supper was over, Marjorie asked some of her new friends to her room. They did visit her for a few minutes; but they were all tired, and left early. Marjorie went to bed without even bothering to unpack, or to make any attempt to see Ruth.
“Never run after the sorority girls,” Miss Landis had advised, and Marjorie intended to profit by the advice.