"We look as well as most of them," said Doris, though rather doubtfully, as she looked admiringly at a tall girl who was strolling by with a youth as tall as she. They were laughing and talking and the girl was wearing a silk dress as pretty and stylish, as light in color and as good, as Betty's "Sunday frock," Doris said.

"Yes," said Betty, "but there's every sort, and our pretty summer dresses that Mother made look all right. Theresee that awfully pretty girl, Doris. Her green dress is trimmed with white organdy exactly like your blue one!"

The two younger children left Betty to go around to the entrance of their own separate building. Betty handed each of them the envelope with the respective credits and grades and then went up the steps with her own in her hand. Mercy, what a babel of voices! Betty stopped still and looked around. Good! There were all sorts of notices posted. She read them. That long line of boys and girls must lead to the "office."

"Freshmen go to a.s.sembly Hall," she read. Now where was the "a.s.sembly Hall?" Oh, that must be it, where all those younger looking boys and girls were going. She followed, joining the stream of boys and girls that in groups or singly entered the wide doors.

Oh, what a fine, big hall! Was this really a public school? Facing her was the wide stage with its handsome velvet curtains, and my, all those pipes must be of a big pipe organ! Yes, there was the place for the organist at the side.

Betty slipped into a seat. Some one was reading names and telling them what to do. She would sit there and listen. It was pleasantly cool in the immense hall. Although it was morning, the September day was already warm. Betty felt a little confused, but soon concentrated her attention upon what was going on. Girls and boys were leaving the hall at times.

Finally she bethought herself of the fact that her name could not possibly be read out, since they had never heard of her. A girl who sat beside her looked friendly. She would ask. Yes, these were the names of all the freshmen who were coming in from other schools or the junior high right here. They had turned in their credits and were a.s.signed to "home rooms and so forth."

Now what were "home rooms," and what did "and so forth" include? She could not ask the person who was reading the names. She hated to ask questions of any other pupil near her. She would seem like such a "dummy." But she must find out what to do. She would go out and see if she should go to the "office" first.

Quietly Betty slipped out of the seat and went out into the noisy hall.

She went near the door and peeped into the office. Some one in the line thought that she was going to get by and nodded in the direction of the rear. It was a "snippy" sort of a look, Betty thought, that this girl directed toward her. Betty merely looked at her with a contemplative gaze and nodded in understanding. She would not say anything either. She could see what was going on. That was the princ.i.p.al, she supposed, busy with students. There were several teachers or a.s.sistants of some sort there. Yes, this must be what she must do; besides, her father had told her to go to the office. It was that sign that mislead her. My, what a long line. Would she ever get any attention from the princ.i.p.al? But Betty walked back and took her place in line, intending to ask some one in it what this line was "supposed to be waiting for."

But there were two or three boys, perfectly strange to her, of course, just ahead of her. And behold, two very tall lads walked up and took their places behind her. The first one was such a fine-looking boy, with a good face, indeed, rather striking features, clear grey eyes, "almost blue," Betty thought, as she gave him a quick glance. He was dressed suitably and neatly, yet looked "very stylish," Betty thought, and a silk handkerchief peeped from his pocket. The conversation of the two boys helped Betty through the first part of her wearisome wait.

"Going in for athletics this year, Ted?" asked the "other boy," who was not quite so interesting, Betty thought, though he had a pleasant boyish, face, too. He was coatless and had his shirt sleeves rolled up above his elbows. But a neat tie finished his soft collar and he looked as fresh and clean as possible.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, Harry, swimming, of course, and the usual gym work, perhaps. But Mother wants me to be in the orchestra this year and that takes a lot of time. To tell the truth, I'd like to have a little time for my lessons!"

"I've _got_ to have," a.s.sented Harry. "I worked my freshman year, but last year wasn't so good, and Dad says he won't stand for it. My grades weren't so bad, but you should have heard the razzing I got! Dad took the card and went through the grades out loud.

"'That grade in English from the son of a teacher!'

"'Eighty in Latin, when you ought to have had ninety at least!'

"I mustered up grit enough to tell him that Latin was hard and that eighty was a pretty good grade and that I hadn't failed in anything. But did that stop him? It did not.

"'Fail! Fail? Hum! Mathematics, not so bad. Pretty respectable showing in science,''well, make a better showing next year or I might have to put you to work.' He gave me a quizzical smile, at least that is what Mother called it, and handed me back my card. Gee, sometimes I wish he _would_ put me to work, but after all, if you can get by with, your lessons, the old place here looks pretty good."

"I'll say it does today. How long do you suppose we'll have to stand here?"

"Until after lunch time, that's what."

Betty, who had scarcely been able to keep from laughing out when "Harry"

had been impersonating his father, so good and funny a performance he had made of it, now sighed. She was tired already. It was worse than waiting in line at the one moving picture house that their little town had boasted. She changed her weight, a light one, from one foot to the other. She fiddled with the long white envelope in her hand and once opened it to peep inside and make sure that its contents were still there.

But that was just the beginning. She held her place in line, wondering what the two boys to whose conversation she had listened were there to do. Perhaps there had to be some change in their work. But they talked about everything else. Finally Betty thought she would "just have to go and sit down somewhere to rest," but she kept standing in spite of her real fatigue. She was toward the end of the line and only two or three persons had followed the boys at first; then a few scattered additions had been made. A few in front had dropped out.

Finally some one came from the office to make an announcement to the line. Only a few more would be interviewed before lunch; and after lunch, those who were new would be seen first. Others need not take their place in line until later, as all changes of schedule would be handled later in the day.

Immediately the line ceased to be one, as its components vanished. Betty again went into the auditorium and sank into a seat to rest. What was it that tired her so standing in line? She was probably just sort of tired from everything, all the change and excitement and the responsibility of getting Amy Lou down on the train, though, that hadn't turned out to be so bad. Luckily some one near her was discussing lunch; for Betty was hungry and did not enjoy the thought of going without what had always been the family dinner. It had been easy enough in the village for her father to come home from his business and for the children to come from school, returning in plenty of time for the afternoon session. Now it would be different indeed. Mother had said that dinner would be at night, as Father would have his lunch down town; and on the street car it would take the children almost half an hour to reach home, to say nothing of extra street-car fare. There was to be lunch served at the school, they understood, but would there be any today?

"No," the girl behind her was saying in a low tone, though the names had long since been read out and the freshmen dismissed to the "home rooms."

Only scattered groups of resting pupils were here and there in the seats. Betty was in the next to the last row and three girls had just entered the last row together.

"I'm a wreck from standing in that line," said the first one, as she dropped into a seat. "Aren't they going to serve lunch today?"

Then came the answer, for which Betty listened. "No; don't you remember that we never have lunch at first?"

"Well, I've only one year to remember, May, and I never did get anything straight when I was a freshman, at first anyhow."

Betty's heart warmed with a fellow feeling.

"I certainly wish that we could have one of those good lunches, but I suppose it won't kill us to starve for once. Let's go down to you know where and get a Swiss chocolate sundae. We can get back in time."

"I'd rather not, May; besides I've only got my street-car fare and ten cents, I think."

"I'll lend you some more," suggested May.

"Can't possible this time; too tired, besides. There used to be a place opposite the school. What's become of that? I used to get chocolate bars and sandwiches there."

"New building across the street. Well, if you aren't going, I am. Shall I bring you something? Maybe I'll have a sandwich, too."

"If you can get one for ten centsno, here are some coppers. Hurrah!"

Evidently the girl behind Betty was emptying her store of small funds into the hand of the other girl. There was giggling and a scrambling after a copper that had dropped and rolled. Then one girl left and the other strolled over to join a group of girls by a window.

Betty wished that she had brought a chocolate bar which by the irony of fate she had taken out of her bag to leave it home! But she could go without a meal if she had to do it. She could get something to eat as soon as she reached home.

Rested now, she thought she would go over to the building which housed the junior high school and see if Doris and d.i.c.k were also waiting around. It was quite a little walk, or seemed so to Betty, but it was interesting when she reached the place and entered it. Scarcely any children were to be seen. She walked through vacant halls and decided that Doris and d.i.c.k had already gone home. She hoped that her mother would not be worried about her. There was no way of getting her word, though she had seen a telephone in the office. But of course she could not use that.

Time slipped by in some fashion. She went back to the auditorium, now about deserted. She watched the time, determined to be one of the first at the office door, and as all things come to an end at last, she found herself talking to a sober, dignified, yet kindly man in the office, arranging her schedule or, more properly, answering questions about the work she had covered, and receiving a "slip" to present to her "home room teacher" the next day.

It was all more or less puzzling to the young freshman from away; but she understood the next step and where she was to report on the following day. That would have to be enough. A somewhat breathless, excited, and very hungry Betty reached home at about two o'clock in the afternoon, welcomed by her mother as a returning prodigal and directed to where she would find the "fatted calf" or a more attractive subst.i.tute.

CHAPTER IV: A REAL FRESHMAN AT LAST

Mother suggested putting up a lunch for the children on the second morning of school, but d.i.c.k said that they would not need any. "One of the kids said that we get out the same time tomorrow," said he. And Betty corroborated d.i.c.k's statement.

"I'll not have to wait in line today, Mother," said Betty. "That's all attended to. I know just what to do. You go to your home room, do whatever you are told to do and I guess you report to your different teachers. We get out at twelve-thirty. After we really have cla.s.ses and two sessions there will be a place to get lunches, somewhere upstairs."

Back again in the echoing halls of the school building, Betty felt that the worst was over, yet she was both lonely and a little timid in regard to what was still before her. Oh for Janet or some one of the girls she knew! Other girls, who must have been in the eighth grade together, were walking arm in arm, or with arms around each other's waist as they approached the door of the same home room to which Betty's feet were carrying her. She wondered if poor little Doris felt the same way. She went into the school room with the others, finding its back seats well filled already. Accordingly she dropped into the nearest front seat, which was on the outside row near the door.

As it was not polite to stare, she believed, she did not look at the girls sitting around her except for glances here and there; but it was perfectly legitimate to gaze forward at the home room teacher. Was she going to like her?

Two teachers were standing, near the large desk in front and before the blackboard, which covered its appropriate s.p.a.ce on three walls. The fourth side of the room was devoted to windows. The teachers were laughing and talking together, apparently in the best of spirits. Then a gong rang, or something made a sound in the halls and a corresponding ring in the room. Immediately one of the ladies departed and the other turned to face the cla.s.s with a great change of countenance, not exactly stern, Betty thought, but it was quite obvious that her home room teacher was ready to handle any obstreperous little freshman who did not want to keep order.

But no one was disorderly this morning. It was an event to enter high school. The expectant faces met the dignified survey of the teacher. In due time she explained what was to be done. Cards were there from the office. Schedules had been made out for each one. They were to report to their respective teachers at the rooms whose numbers were given. Lockers could not be given for some time. They would be obliged to carry their books and take them home, but it was remarked that they would want to study at home in any event. Books would be given out on the next day.