“Oh!” wailed Betty Burd. “That’s not counting me in.”
“Shh! Don’t interrupt,” some one whispered, and Mrs. Doring continued:
“In fact I have room for eight more girls, as a very pleasant wing has just been completed. There are four double rooms, light and airy, overlooking the gardens and the orchard.
“If they prefer, the young ladies may have their uniforms made here at Linden. Since the fall term is already started, it would be better for them to come without delay.
“If this is convenient for you, please wire and I will have the school bus at the station to meet the young ladies next Saturday at four in the afternoon.”
“There!” Rosamond announced. “See how wise I was to begin packing my trunk!”
“We will go to our homes this instant and pack ours,” Peggy Pierce declared, for the next day would be Saturday.
“Gertrude,” Adele said when the other girls were gone, “I would be perfectly happy if only you were going with us.”
“I, too, wish that I might go, Della,” Gertrude said, returning her friend’s embrace, “but a minister’s salary is not princely, and there are so many of us. It won’t be long till Christmas, however, and then you and I will meet again.”
But they were to meet much sooner than that, and in a way they little dreamed.