Grace Harlowes Fourth Year at Overton College | Page 3

anywhere. Come on, Marian and Elizabeth, you are the hostesses now.
Shall we head for Livingstone Hall?"
"No, indeed," smiled Marian. "Bess and I are not so lucky. It is
Vinton's for ours. But we can assure you that you won't be disappointed
in the layout."
One of the features of the luncheon was the fact that no one knew until
the moment of serving what the various courses were to be. When it
was discovered that Marian and Elizabeth had ordered fried chicken,
for which Vinton's was famous, with potatoes au gratin and tiny French
peas, there was general rejoicing. It took the better part of an hour to
eat these good things, and the guests, feeling that they were on familiar
ground, enjoyed themselves hugely.
"Oh, dear!" groaned Elfreda, "I know I have gained a pound since I
started out this afternoon. I haven't eaten so much at one time for ages.
There is still the salad and dessert to come. I can't possibly miss either
one of them."
"Never mind, Elfreda," soothed Emma Dean; "we won't invite you to
the next luncheon, then you can----"
"Just try leaving me out and see what happens," retorted Elfreda
threateningly. "You may find yourself locked in your room on that
self-same day with the key missing."
"Be good, both of you," admonished Miriam, "or I'll see that neither of
you get any dessert."
"Grace and Anne wouldn't be so mean," returned Elfreda with supreme
self-assurance.
"How could we blast such touching faith?" laughed Anne.

"There, what did I tell you?" asked Elfreda, turning triumphant eyes on
Emma. "Now, leave me out if you dare."
"I don't dare. I don't want to," declared Emma affably. "I was merely
trying to be pleasant and helpful. If you were not invited to the spread,
naturally you wouldn't eat, and if you didn't eat, then you wouldn't have
to worry about that extra pound. It is all very simple."
"Very!" agreed Elfreda, with such scathing emphasis that the exchange
of words ended in a general giggle at Emma's expense.
"Now that you've all finished laughing at me," she declared
good-naturedly, "I hereby invite all of you, even Elfreda, to Martell's
for the salad, which is my part of the ceremony."
"Oh, goody, it's Waldorf!" exclaimed Elfreda delightedly, as, seated
about the big corner table at Martell's, perhaps twenty minutes later,
they saw the salad brought on. "You knew what we liked, didn't you,
Emma?"
"I did, in spite of my simple tendencies," murmured Emma.
"That was a well merited thrust," laughed Elfreda, laying her hand
lightly over her heart.
"And now Wayne Hall and our humble apartment await you,"
proclaimed Grace when the last vestige of salad had disappeared.
"Anne and I extend you a pressing invitation to dessert and
conversation. Although this is to be a strictly informal session of the
club, we may wish to discuss certain club business. The evening is
before us. We ought to make good use of it."
"And so we shall," returned Emma Dean, as they rose to go. "The
affairs of the nation shall be discussed and adjusted to-night."
"And the world will be upside down forever after," predicted Elfreda.
"Don't croak," reproved Emma. "Who knows what this night may bring

forth? It may engender indigestion, or a stern injunction to make less
noise on the part of Mrs. Elwood, but whatever the future has in store
for us, we shall have had at least one luncheon worth remembering."
CHAPTER II
THE LAST FRESHMAN
It was ten minutes past seven when the club settled down to the frozen
custard and delicious cakes that Grace and Anne had provided for them.
Then Elfreda, who had taken upon herself the making and serving of
the coffee, returned after a brief absence with a percolator of steaming
coffee, Miriam following with the sugar and cream.
"Isn't it too bad we never thought of doing this before?" said Marian
Cummings.
"Something had to be left for our senior year," said Anne Pierson.
"Do you know, I am anything but joyful at being a senior," announced
Elfreda Briggs. "Of course, it is a satisfaction to know that one has
weathered the last three years' examinations and is practically on Easy
Street as far as studies go, but every now and then comes the awful
feeling, 'only a little while and it will all be over'--college, I mean."
"'Yet a few days, and thee the all-beholding sun shall see no more.'"
quoted Emma Dean lugubriously.
"Not quite so bad as that," returned Elfreda with an appreciative grin.
"Even we juniors feel more or less that way," said Laura Atkins. "I
never had any real fun until I came to Overton. The time has gone so
fast I can't believe that it is two years