In the midst of the hilarity Ronny re-appeared and a fresh burst of welcoming began. Once or twice it occurred to Marjorie that they were making almost as much commotion as had the party of girls in Gussie’s room that afternoon. Freshmen occupied the rooms on either side of Ronny and Lucy. They were evidently less fussy than was Miss Monroe.
“Now tell us all about it,” Marjorie coaxed when Muriel had been fondly divested of coat and hat and established in the room’s most comfy chair.
“All about what?” Muriel pretended wide-eyed innocence.
“You know; just go right ahead and talk,” Jerry coolly invited. “No use in asking us questions.”
“Um-m-m. Perhaps you are right, my dear Jeremiah,” Muriel conceded sweetly. “Well, I thought it would be wonderful to be missed. I knew that neither you, Ronny, nor you, Jeremiah had proper regard for me. I had my doubts about Lucy. I knew Bean was a kindly creature who would at least think she missed me. But I wanted all of you to feel the heart-breaking sadness of not seeing me around and circulating merrily on the campus. So I decided to put you all to the test, and——”
“Fakir,” hissed Ronny making a serpentine dive for Muriel’s chair and landing on an arm of it. She promptly clapped a hand over Muriel’s mouth. “You sha’n’t say another word until you promise to tell us the real reason.”
Muriel uttered a series of unintelligible remarks behind Ronny’s hand. She held up her own right hand finally as a sign of compliance. Ronny reluctantly took away the barrier to speech.
“This is the truth, girls, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I almost got myself engaged to be married, but not quite.” Muriel’s pretty features grew rosy as she made this naive confession. “It was on that account I was so mysterious about coming back. It’s Harry Lenox, of course. I may marry him someday.” Muriel waved an indefinite hand. “Really, I didn’t know what I wanted to do until the last minute. After you girls were gone from Sanford I couldn’t bear to be left out of building the dormitory and switching around the campus as a venerable P. G. So here I am. Yours truly.” Muriel favored her audience with one of her wide captivating smiles.
“Much ado about nothing,” Jerry commented derisively.
“Precisely,” beamed Muriel. “Let me return the compliment. ‘Shallow brooks babble loudest.’”