Dorothy Dainty at Glenmore | Page 5

said, hotly. "It cost
ever so much more than the teenty little cards on the other doors did."
Patricia rated everything by its cost.
"They knew that big card looked fine, and they certainly could see that
the lettering was showy," she continued; "so why did they stand outside
the door giggling?"
"How do I know?" Arabella said.
"Open the door, and we'll look at it again, and see if--"
A smart tap upon the door caused Arabella to stop in the middle of the
sentence.
"S'pose it's those same girls?" whispered Patricia. "If I thought it was I

wouldn't stir a step."
A second rap, louder, and more insistent than the first brought both
girls to their feet, and Patricia flew to open the door.
Miss Fenler glared at them through her glasses.
"Why did you not answer my first rap?" she asked.
"We didn't know it was you," said Patricia.
Ignoring the excuse, Miss Fenler continued: "I called to tell you to
remove that great card, and put a small one in its place with only your
names upon it, and in regard to your efforts to obtain work, you can not
have any such notice upon your door. Instead you must leave your
names at the office and I will see if any of the pupils will patronize
you."
"I don't know what you mean!" cried Patricia, flushed and angry.
For answer Miss Fenler pointed to a line penciled on the lower edge of
the placard which read:
_Patching and mending done at reasonable prices._
"We never wrote that!" cried Arabella, "and we don't want to be
patronized."
"The red-haired girl, and the black-haired girl that are always together,
stopped at the door and did something, and then went down stairs
laughing all the way," screamed Patricia. "'Twas one of those two who
wrote that."
"I must ask you to talk quietly," Miss Fenler said, "and as to the writing,
I'll look into that. In the meantime I'll get a small card for you to put in
place of that large one."
She left the room, and as soon as she was well out of hearing, Patricia
vowed vengeance upon the two girls who had written the provoking

legend.
"I'll get even with them!" she said.
"How will you?" Arabella asked.
"I don't know yet, but you'd better believe I'll watch for a chance!"
"I'll watch, too!" cried Arabella.
It was the custom at Glenmore to hold a little informal reception on an
evening of the third week after the school had opened.
Its purpose was to have pupils of all the classes present so that those
who never met in the recitation-rooms might become acquainted.
When the announcement appeared upon the bulletin board it caused a
flurry of excitement.
Dorothy and Nancy had already found new friends, and were eager to
meet others whose agreeable ways had interested them.
"It's such a pleasant place," Dorothy said one morning as she stood
brushing her hair, "and so many pleasant faces in the big class-room. I
saw at least a dozen I'd like to know, when we were having the
morning exercises, and there's ever so many more that we have yet to
meet."
"And Tuesday evening is sure to be jolly. There'll be a crowd to talk
with, and one of the girls told me to-day that there's almost sure to be
some music, either vocal or instrumental, and she said that last year
they often had fine readers at the receptions," Nancy concluded.
They were on their way to the class-room, when Patricia and Arabella
joined them.
"Is the social to be a dressy affair?" Patricia asked, adding: "I hope it is,
because I shall be dressy, whether any one else is or not."

They had reached the class-room door so that there was no time for
either Dorothy or Nancy to reply to the silly remark if they had cared to
do so.
* * * * *
At eight o'clock nearly all the pupils had assembled in the big
reception-room, and the hum of voices told that each was doing her
best to outdo her neighbor. Near the center of the room a group of girls
stood talking. It was evident that the theme of their conversation was
not engrossing, for twice their leader, Betty Chase, had replied at
random while her eyes roved toward the door, and Valerie Dare
remarked that her chum had been reading such a romantic story, that
she was eagerly looking for a knight in full armor to appear.
"Be still!" cried Betty. "You know very well what I'm looking for."
"I do indeed," Valerie admitted. "Say, girls! You all know the two that
are always together, the one with goggles that we've dubbed the
'medicine chest,' and her chum who wears