“Oh! you poor little lonesome Queen Baltimore! I’m Winifred Christie; this freckle face is Fannie Dimock; Annie Dow wears that blue bow in her hair; Florita Sheraton is the fat one; Ernesta Smith the thin; Bessie Walters—well, no need to point out Bessie. She’s the nimblest girl in the gym. We here extend the freedom of the Lower House; and all in favor of grabbing this Yankee into our set before the other set catches her, say—Aye!”
“Aye—aye—aye!” endorsed the motion and Dorothy clapped her hands over her ears, to keep out the ear-splitting shouts. How these girls dared make such an uproar amazed her; but she did not yet know that in the “long recess,” now passing, much liberty was permitted and that a noise which did not interfere with study hours was not reprimanded.
“It’s the overflow of natural spirits and inevitable in the young,” was one of the Bishop’s beliefs, and not even the Lady Principal disputed his authority.
“Come on, Queenie, and be put through your paces!” cried Winifred, throwing her arm around Dorothy’s shoulders and forcibly racing her out of doors and across the lawn toward the gymnasium.
But arrived there only one or two of the group attempted any exercise. The rest settled around Dorothy, whom the athletic Winifred had tossed upward upon the back of the wooden horse, and, with her arms folded upon the newcomer’s knees, this leader of the “Commons” proceeded to cross-question her victim.
“PROCEEDED TO CROSS-QUESTION HER VICTIM.”
Dorothy at Oak Knowe.
“It’s the cast-iron rule of our set to find out everything about anybody we receive into it. Begin at the date of your birth and proceed in a seemly manner until you come up to date. Where were you born? What sort of baby were you—good, bad, or indifferent? Begin!”
Entering into the spirit of the thing Dorothy gave her simple life history in a few sentences. But when the questions came as to the events of the last few days her face grew serious and her voice faltered.