“I suppose,” went on Rose-Mary, “Dorothy is about this moment trimming the hair of her hero. Did you notice the cut?”
“Notice it!” shrieked Ned. “Why, it called to us—wouldn’t let us pass. That cut is termed ‘Christy,’ after the man who discovered maps.”
The girls had congregated in the alcove of the upper hall. It was a pleasant fall evening and some proposed a game of “hide and seek” out of doors.
This old-fashioned game was always a favorite pastime with the Glenwood girls, and as the grounds afforded ample opportunity for discoveries and hiding places, “hide and seek” ever had the preference over other games as an after-tea amusement.
Promptly as the word had been passed along, the girls raced to the campus, and were soon engrossed in the sport.
But Dorothy and Tavia were not with their companions. Instead, they were walking with the strange boy along the quiet path, that was separated from the school grounds by a row of close cedars. Dorothy was urging, and so was Tavia.
“But if you go away from here, and out into the woods again,” said Dorothy, “you will run a greater risk. Why not stay around, and help with the outside work, as Mrs. Pangborn had proposed, until we can hear from Aunt Winnie. Then, if everything is all right, you could go back to the—”
“I’ll never go back!” interrupted the boy. “I would starve first.”
“No need to starve,” said Tavia. “Surely, with Dorothy anxious to help you, you ought to listen and be reasonable.”
“Yes, I know that,” assented the boy, “but if you had to run and sneak the way I have been doing, for the past two weeks, you wouldn’t—feel so gay, either.”