“Well, come on then; you belong to us and we all belong to the queen. Queen, what shall we call you? Where do you hail from?”
“My home is in Baltimore, and my name is Dorothy Calvert.”
“Then you must be a sort of ‘Peer’ after all. I hate history, but I remember about that, for Lord Baltimore and Calvert are the same thing, I fancy. I’m sorry. I hoped you belonged to our ‘set’ and weren’t an aristocrat.”
“But I’m not, I’m not!” protested Dorothy. “I do belong to you, I want to because you look so friendly and I need friends dreadfully. I’m so lonely, or I was. I’ve just come, you know.”
“Have you been ‘inquisitioned’ yet?”
“I don’t understand.”
The questioner explained, and Dorothy exclaimed:
“Oh! I think that’s cruel! Miss Hexam is perfectly lovely!”
“So do we think, course, and she doesn’t mind the nickname. It was first given her by a silly Seventh Form girl who thought she was all ready for the University yet failed to pass even a Fifth Form exam. I guess you’ll not be put to study to-day, so best come over to the gym with us. What stunts can you do?”
“None. But I’ve told you my name and you haven’t told yours. Thank you, though, for asking me. I’m so glad to go.”