Grace Harlowes First Year at Overton College | Page 6

hunt the dining car and buy food. I haven't
had anything to eat since eight o'clock this morning."
J. Elfreda rose hurriedly, and stumbling over her bag and Grace's feet,
landed in the aisle with more speed than elegance. "You'd better come
along," she advised. "They serve good meals on this train. Besides, I
don't want to eat alone." With that she stalked down the aisle and into
the car ahead.
"It looks as though we were to have plenty of entertainment for the rest
of our journey," remarked Anne.
"I prefer not to be entertained," averred Miriam dryly. "Personally, I am
far from impressed with J. Elfreda. She strikes me as being entirely too
fond of her own comfort. Now that she has vacated your seat, you had
better take it, Grace, before she comes back."
Grace shook her head. "I don't dislike riding backward," she said, "if
you don't mind having her sit beside you. Perhaps some one will leave
the train by the time she comes back; then she will leave us."
"No such good fortune," retorted Miriam. "She prefers our society to
none at all. I think her advice about luncheon isn't so bad, though.
Suppose we follow it?"
Five minutes later the three girls repaired to the dining car and seated
themselves at a table directly across the aisle from their new
acquaintance. J. Elfreda sat toying with her knife and fork, an impatient
frown on her smug face. "These people are the limit," she grumbled. "It
takes forever to get anything to eat. If I'd ordered it yesterday, I'd have
some hopes of getting it to-day." Then, apparently forgetting the
existence of the three girls, she sat with eyes fixed hungrily on the door
through which her waiter was momentarily expected to pass. By the
time that the chums had given their order to another waiter, J. Elfreda's
luncheon was served and she devoted herself assiduously to it. When

Grace and her friends had finished luncheon, however, the stout girl
still sat with elbows on the table waiting for a second order of dessert.
"Good gracious!" remarked Miriam as they made their way back to
their seats. "No wonder J. Elfreda is stout! I suppose I shouldn't refer to
her, even behind her back, in such familiar terms, but nothing else suits
her. I'm not charitable like you, Grace. I haven't the patience to look for
the good in tiresome people like her. I think she's greedy and selfish
and ill-bred and I wouldn't care to live in the same house with her."
"You're a very disagreeable person, Miriam, in your own estimation,"
laughed Grace, "but fortunately we don't take you at your own
valuation, do we, Anne?"
"Miriam's a dear," said Anne promptly. "She always pretends she's a
dragon and then behaves like a lamb."
"What time is our train due at Overton?" asked Miriam, ignoring
Anne's assertion.
"We are scheduled to arrive at Overton at five o'clock," answered
Grace. "I wish it were five now. I'm anxious to see Overton College in
broad daylight."
At this juncture J. Elfreda made her appearance and sinking into the
seat declared with a yawn that she was too sleepy for any use. "I'm
going to sleep," she announced. "You girls can talk if you don't make
too much noise. Loud talking always keeps me awake. You may call
me when we get to Overton." With these words she bent over her bag,
opened it, and drew out a small down cushion. She rose in her seat,
removed her hat, and, poking it into the rack above her head, sat down.
Arranging her pillow to her complete satisfaction, she rested her head
against it, closed her eyes and within five minutes was oblivious to the
world.
The three travelers obligingly lowered their voices, conversing in low
tones, as the train whirled them toward their destination. Their hearts
were with those they had left, and as the afternoon began to wane, one

by one they fell silent and became wrapped in their own thoughts.
Grace was already beginning to experience a dreadful feeling of
depression, which she knew to be homesickness. It was just the time in
the afternoon when she and her mother usually sat on their wide, shady
porch, talking or reading as they waited for her father to come home to
dinner, and a lump rose in her throat as she thought sadly of how long it
would be before she saw her dear ones again.
Far from being homesick, self-reliant Miriam was calmly speculating
as to what college would bring her, while Anne, who had quite
forgotten her own problems, sat eyeing Grace affectionately and
wondering how soon her friend would make her personality felt in the
little world which she was about to enter.