Pretty frocks hung in the closet, all on one side. Shirley wondered who her room-mate was to be, but her head throbbed too unpleasantly now for her to do anything but make up her bed, take a hurried bath and crawl thankfully under the covers. Her room-mate, of course, would be surprised to find her there, but she couldn’t help that.
It happened that her room-mate did not come in or think of doing so until after the time for study hours to commence; for with the other girls she had gone out on the campus for a while, and meantime she heard that Shirley Harcourt had arrived. “You will find a little surprise in your room,” said Miss Schiff to Madge Whitney, whom she met as she went to dinner, through the flocks of girls that came from the dining hall.
“My room-mate’s come, has she, Miss Schiff? Why doesn’t she come to dinner?”
“She had a severe headache and wanted to get to bed. You might study in the library, Madge, or with Caroline again. I will give you permission.”
“Oh, thank you, Miss Schiff! My books are all in Cad’s room anyhow. Did she look like a nice girl?”
Miss Schiff laughed. “Yes, she looked like a very nice girl, so much like one, in fact, that you may find her more of a surprise than you think.” With an amused look, Miss Schiff hurried on.
“Now what did she mean by that?” asked Madge of her friend Caroline Scott. “Do you suppose that she is some precise prunes, prisms and persimmons creature that I won’t like at all? I’ve a great mind to run up and see!”
“And make a great hit right at the start!” Caroline suggested.
“That is so. If she has a headache, she may be in a warlike frame of mind. I’ll not risk it. Poor thing! It’s bad enough to be late getting to school, let alone having a headache ‘right at the start.’ Will you lend me a pencil, Cad? Then I’ll not have to go to the room at all till bedtime. Dear me,—if we only could have roomed together this year!”
“Yes; but I am not going to let rooming with Stella Marbury spoil my senior year. We get along all right, and she spends half her time away from the room practicing anyhow. It would never have done not to room with the girl from my home town.”