“That’s the most select club on the Hill. Lily’s mother belongs, and Mrs. Agnew, and all those folk.”
“And why not me?” demanded her mother. “We’ve got as much money——”
“Hush! Stop talking about money if you want to be popular in the New Century Club,” said her daughter, who had learned a thing or two herself of late. “That is what is the matter with us—we’re proud of our money.”
“And why not? When Henry began with a shoestring.”
“Well, don’t be telling of it!” cried Hester. “These other people got their money so long ago that they’ve forgotten how they got it. We want to forget, too.”
But Hester was learning lessons fast. It had amazed her to see how people—and nice people, too—thought that what she had done for Johnny Doyle was of serious importance; while her lavish expenditure of money among her mates had heretofore won her few friends.
The fact that she had saved a man from the burning woods and carried the warning of the forest fire, had made her friends, too. When she had jumped into the sewer-basin after Johnny, Dr. Agnew seemed for the first time pleased with her.
It was unselfishness that counted!
Hester Grimes had never thought of it before. She had never thought out logically why Laura Belding was so popular, why Nellie Agnew was liked so well, and what made the other girls cluster about harum-scarum Bobby Hargrew. They were all unselfish girls, thoughtful in their several ways for the comfort of others.
Hester was learning what really paid in life—especially in the life of school and athletics. A good temper, a tongue without a barb to it, and thoughtfulness for the comfort of others. Those attributes won out among the girls of Central High—as they are bound to win out in every walk in life.