"It is fortunate for her that a belated freshman happened along," was Grace's serious reply.
"But most unfortunate for the freshman," added Elfreda. "However, this one looks perfectly capable of fighting her own battles."
CHAPTER III
AN ACCIDENT AND A SURPRISE
"Well, what do you think of her?" inquired Elfreda Briggs the following morning, poking her head in at Grace's door, a quizzical smile on her round face. Grace and Anne had left the breakfast table a few minutes before Elfreda, who had foregone finishing her breakfast and rushed upstairs to hear her friends' opinion of the tall freshman, who had seemed taller than ever as she stalked uncompromisingly into the dining room that morning in Kathleen West's wake. The newspaper girl looked anything but in a happy frame of mind, and after several covert glances in her direction, Grace decided that the new arrival had not been met with open arms on the part of Kathleen.
"What do I think of her?" repeated Grace. "A good many things, I should say. What do you think?"
"I think she is the most interesting and entertaining person I've seen in years," declared Elfreda exaggeratingly.
"Then her entertaining powers do not lie in speech," laughed Anne. "I heard her say three things this morning at the table. They were, 'yes,' 'thank you' and 'I believe so.'"
"She didn't talk, that's a fact," admitted Elfreda, "but she looked as though she was keeping up an awful thinking. Does any one know from whence she came, and why?"