Blue Bonnet gave the hand in hers a little squeeze.
"A little spoiling won"t hurt you a bit. I doubt if a great deal would.
There are some people you can"t spoil."
"I wouldn"t advise you to try too hard," Carita laughed.
They stopped first at Blue Bonnet"s room, which was two floors below Carita"s.
"I don"t like your being so far away from me, at all," Blue Bonnet said, as she turned on the light and laid her coat and hat on the bed. "That"s a silly rule having the younger girls all together on one floor. They need the older girls to keep them straight."
"I fancy Fraulein can do that," Carita said resignedly, remembering the eagle-faced teacher in charge of the hall. "Mary Boyd says she"s a pill!"
"A--what?"
"A pill! I asked Mary what that meant, and she said a _dose_. You know--something you have to take and don"t like."
Blue Bonnet"s eyes roamed ceiling-ward and a queer expression curled her lips.
"You must introduce Mary to Aunt Lucinda, Carita. It would, perhaps, make her appreciate my vocabulary."
"I think I"m going to like her just the same."
"Aunt Lucinda?"
"Oh, no! I mean--that is--I like _her_, of course. I meant Mary Boyd, my room-mate. She"s awfully jolly."
Carita had arrived at the school in the afternoon and had been shown to her room immediately, while Blue Bonnet finished some shopping with Uncle Cliff and Aunt Lucinda.
"I think I"d like to see Mary Boyd. Let"s go up to your room now and get your things out of the trunk."
"Yes, we will, only my things are out. Mary helped me this afternoon while you were away. I"m all settled."
Nevertheless Blue Bonnet led the way to the floor above.
Mary Boyd opened the door herself. She was just coming out of the room, pitcher in hand, on the way to the bathroom for some cold water. She had on a gay little kimono and her hair was neatly brushed and braided for the night.
"Back again?" she said to Carita, with a smile.
"Yes, and this is my friend, Blue Bonnet Ashe."
"How do you do?" Mary said, pausing a moment. "First year here, too?"
"Yes, my first year."
Mary waved her hand toward the room.
"Make yourselves at home," she said hospitably. "Everything is in a muss, yet. I only got in myself this morning. I"ll be back in a minute."
"Don"t you think she"s nice?" Carita asked with enthusiasm, as soon as the door closed.
"She seems to be. You"re in luck, Carita. I wish you could see _my_ cross!"
"We Freshies haven"t any of the lugs you grown-ups sport," Mary said, entering the room with her pitcher of water. "There"s only one bathroom on this floor for six girls. Fancy! Getting a bath is a regular Sat.u.r.day night affair."
"This is your first year here, too, then," Blue Bonnet said with some surprise.
"No--second."
"And you are a Freshman?"
"Well, you see, I was out last year part of the time--typhoid fever--and--oh, I"m no high-brow, anyway! Mother thought I"d best take the year over again. She says I"ve plenty of time. I"m just fifteen."
She laughed good-naturedly, showing a set of teeth dazzling in their perfection and whiteness.
"I"m working hard this year, though. You see, I want a room with a bath, and you have to be a Soph.o.m.ore to get it."
"I see. An incentive, isn"t it?"
"This is a fairly good room, don"t you think? It"s the best on the floor. Carita"s lucky--that is, as far as the room goes. My room-mate was called home three weeks before Christmas. Her mother died. Poor little Nell!"
"I"m sorry for her," Carita said sympathetically, "but if she hadn"t gone I couldn"t have entered the school this year, it was so crowded."
Somewhere down the length of the hall a gong sounded.
"What"s that for?" Blue Bonnet asked.
"Bed. In a half hour another will ring and every light on this floor will go off instantly."
Blue Bonnet looked at her watch.
"You mean to say you have to be in bed at half-past nine o"clock?"
Mary nodded.
"Well, I reckon I"d better run. I haven"t unpacked yet."
"Oh, they aren"t so awfully particular the first day. School doesn"t really begin until to-morrow."
Blue Bonnet started to say good night to Carita. As she bent to kiss her she paused.
"Why don"t you come down and stay with me to-night?" she said. "My room-mate isn"t back yet. I shouldn"t be half so lonesome."
"All right--if--do you think they"d mind?"
Carita addressed Mary.
Mary took a look down the hall.
"Skip along," she said generously. "All"s serene on the Potomac. You"d better hurry though, while the coast"s clear."