Anne laughed, and thought to herself, “They will surely take the head in everything, for I never saw two such live girls.”
But to Eleanor’s chagrin the examinations classed Polly with girls of fifteen to sixteen, while she was placed with girls of fourteen years. This caused the temperamental girl to feel discouraged and she began to blame her ill-health for her backwardness.
In every other way, Polly and she ranked equal; and not a girl in the whole exclusive school could boast of better or more fashionable dresses than these two western scholars. Eleanor was most talkative, describing her home in Chicago and the people the Maynards knew. Then she whispered, covertly, how rich Polly Brewster was—she owned a great gold mine all in her own rights. She spoke thrillingly of Rainbow Cliffs and the tons upon tons of rare stones to be found there, until every girl sighed in envy. But Eleanor failed to mention that the stones would have to be cut and polished before they would be of any use to anyone.
A few stray sentences of these conversations reached Anne’s ears, and she felt puzzled to know what was best to do. Eleanor was not bragging because she needed place or power in the group, but the teacher understood that she was exaggerating for Polly’s sake. She wanted all the girls to look up to Polly as a subject would to a queen. She knew how Barbara had felt toward the simple ranch people, and these girls were of the same ilk—society’s pets. And they could make life unhappy for Polly, or a dream of joy.
That afternoon, as school closed, Anne overheard one of the girls repeating Eleanor’s words, but they had not lost in the repetition. In fact, Anne was sure Eleanor did not say quite all that she was credited with. On the way to the Studio, therefore, she determined to speak to Eleanor about the matter.
“Eleanor, you seemed to make a bushel of friends without any trouble,” said Anne.
“I always do. It’s best to have done with it, and then you can sift out those you don’t like, afterward,” laughed Eleanor.
“How about you, Polly?” questioned Anne.
“I was too busy with my lessons to bother about anyone, but I thought the girls acted rather queer this afternoon. I caught some of them whispering about me, and some were casting envious glances my way. I can’t understand why they should?”
Eleanor gasped. Here was a danger she had not thought of. She wouldn’t risk Polly’s peace or popularity for anything in the world, but she may have unconsciously done just that very thing!