“What sort of entertainment do you prefer?” Phil asked Jerry with polite solemnity.
“I don’t know. I am not used to being entertained,” giggled Jerry.
The quintette were animatedly mounting the steps, their merry voices and fresh, light-hearted laughter enlivening the vacation quiet which had hung over the hall during the long summer days in the absence of the Hamilton girls to whom it yearly gave canopy.
Barbara’s keen ears were quick to catch the hum of an approaching motor. “Oh, there’s another taxicab coming!” she called out. “This time let’s hope it is Miss Remson and the girls.”
A battery of expectant glances was turned upon the station taxicab as it sped up the drive toward the house. A concerted little shout of jubilation went up from the watchers as it stopped and Veronica stepped lightly from the machine followed by Miss Remson, whom she gallantly assisted to alight, and Muriel.
“Oh, frabjous day!” Muriel made a rush for the three returned Silvertonites. A joyful tumult ensued, during which the driver of the taxicab circled the laughing, chattering knot of women in an uneasy prance, anxious to collect his fares and be gone.
Through an open window of the long second-story hall the merry sounds of rejoicing floated to the ears of Julia Peyton, who had been conducting a tour of investigation up and down the hall for her own satisfaction. She went to the window which overlooked the front yard and drive. Standing well back from it she sourly watched the animated, laughing group gather on the gravelled space below. The instant she saw it begin to move toward the steps she darted away from the window and into her room.
“What’s the matter?” Clara Carter had already removed her hat and traveling coat and was lounging in a cushioned wicker chair. She turned pale blue curious eyes upon Julia as the latter fairly dashed into the room, closing the door.
“Nothing is the matter, except that I don’t choose to be out in the hall when that crowd of P. G.’s comes upstairs,” she said crossly. “I’ve made up my mind to one thing. This year I am not going to have any more silly crushes like the one I had on Doris Monroe. I’m going to make the dramatic club and be of importance on the campus.”