Grace Harlowes Senior Year at High School | Page 5

Anne Pierson."

"I am very pleased to know you," responded the stranger. "It is so
sweet to know that you thought of me."
"Miss Harlowe was the first to reach you, after your accident," said
Anne, knowing that Grace herself would avoid mentioning it. "She held
your head in her lap until the doctor came."
"Then I am deeply indebted to you," returned the patient, again taking
Grace's hand in hers, "and I hope to know you better. I dearly love
young girls."
She motioned them to a broad settee near her chair.
"There!" she exclaimed. "Now I can look at all of you at the same time.
I am far more able to appreciate you to-day than I was at this time
yesterday. It was all so dreadful," she shuddered slightly, then
continued.
"I have never before been in an accident. I had been spending a week
with some friends of mine who have a place a few miles from here
called 'Hawk's Nest.' Perhaps you know of it?"
The three girls exchanged glances. "Hawk's Nest" was one of the finest
estates in that part of the state, and the Gibsons who owned it had
unlimited wealth.
"I was summoned to New York on business and had barely time to
make my train. Mrs. Gibson's chauffeur had been running the car at a
high rate of speed, and just as we reached the little incline above the
station, the machine skidded, and we crashed into that tree. I felt a
frightful jar that seemed to loosen every bone in my body, and
remembered nothing further until I came back to earth again, here in
the hospital."
"You opened your eyes, once, before the ambulance came," said Grace.
"Did I!" smiled the stranger. "I do not remember it. But, really, I am
very rude! I have not told you my name."

"It's coming," thought Grace, unconsciously bracing herself. Nora and
Anne had also straightened up, their eyes fastened on the speaker.
"My name is Allison," said the woman, wholly unaware of the
bombshell she had exploded. "I am a widow and quite alone in the
world. My husband died a number of years ago."
"I knew it, I knew it," muttered Grace.
"What did you say, my dear?" asked Mrs. Allison.
But Grace was silent. The woman was too nervous as yet to hear the
news. Perhaps after all the name was a mere coincidence.
Anne, understanding Grace's silence, hurriedly took up the
conversation.
"Are you familiar with this part of the country?" she asked.
"I have not been here for a number of years," replied Mrs. Allison,
"although my friends, the Gibsons, have sent me repeated invitations.
Mrs. Gibson and I went through Vassar together."
"We expect to go to college next year," said Grace. "We are seniors in
Oakdale High School."
"The years a young girl spends in college are usually the happiest of
her whole life," said Mrs. Allison, with a sigh. "Everything is rose
colored. She forms high ideals that help to sweeten life for her long
after her college career is over. The friendships she forms are usually
worth while, too. Mrs. Gibson and I have kept track of one another
even since graduation. We have shared our joys and sorrows, and in my
darkest hours her loyal friendship and ready sympathy have been a
heaven-sent blessing to me."
"We three girls are sworn friends," said Grace, "and we have another
chum, too. She was very sorry that she could not come to- day. She will
be glad to know that you are so much better. Her name is Jessica Bright.

She was with us at the station yesterday."
"I should like to meet her," said Mrs. Allison, "and I thank her for her
interest in me. I really feel as though I had known you three girls for a
long time. I wish you would tell me more of yourselves and your
school life."
"There isn't much to tell," laughed Grace. "The life of a schoolgirl is
not crowded with many stirring events."
"You have no idea of how much has happened to Grace, Mrs. Allison,
since we began High School," interposed Nora. "She never will talk
about the splendid things she has done for other people. She is the
president of her class, the captain of the senior basketball team, too, and
the most popular girl in Oakdale High School."
"I refuse to plead guilty to the last statement!" exclaimed Grace.
"Believe me, Mrs. Allison, there are a dozen girls in High School who
are far more popular than I."
"There is only one Grace Harlowe," said Anne, with conviction.
"It is a case of two against one, Miss Grace," laughed Mrs. Allison. "I
insist upon hearing about some of your good works."
"It's really time