“They’re all the same to me,” chuckled Sam, shuffling off without further reward.
When Trixy returned, Gloria was already aglow in her rose colored gown.
“Lovely!” pronounced the admiring Trixy. “If we don’t make an impression to-night it won’t be the fault of clothes. Just look at this. Isn’t it stunning?”
“Perfectly. Trix, you have such a modish way about you——”
“Oh, I don’t know. You are no dowdy yourself. You always look to me like Molly Dawn, or Betty Bangle, or some other quaint character, bound to smile and look darling.” An affectionate little squeeze illustrated this compliment, and presently both girls were being introduced to their fellow students. Gloria in rose color that heightened her sparkling dark beauty, and Trixy in French blue that beckoned the glints of her eyes.
It was a small school and boasted of the fact. Also, that its clientele would stand the “Social test,” whatever that uncertain measure is supposed to be, was conspicuously stated in the prospectus.
Gloria was secretly happy to be sponsored by the impressive Trixy. As a matter of fact, no one could doubt the latter’s standing. She was tall, a mellow blonde, the type softened with a tawny brown glow, and her mannerisms! It must have taken generations, thought Gloria humbly, to develop that smooth, irresistible ease and languid indifference toward irritating trifles.
But as a type Gloria, herself, was decidedly more pronounced. She was dark, with eyes that seemed to shoot sparks, with one dimple that always apologized for any pout the rather boyish mouth might affect, and withal Gloria had an air of independence sometimes mistaken for defiance.
As various as the characters they represented were the forms of greetings offered the new girls by those familiar with Altmount. Some “gushed,” impulsively generous in their squeezing handshakes and ebullient chatter, others were “stand off,” formal and “frozen,” as Gloria secretly classed the most conservative.
Pat Halliday explained her name as coming from the same Greek word Harriet was taken from.