"I thought she said she wanted the shawl to put over her _ears_!"

"She did say that," declared Patricia, "and won't she look fine; besides, how could she get them on when twenty of us are packed into that sleigh?"

"Oh, I'll help her with them," cried Betty Chase, with a laugh.

"So will I," chimed in Valerie.

"Here she comes now. Well, as I live, she _has_ brought two shawls,"

said Betty.

"One for each ear," said Valerie.

Laughing and chattering they ran down the path, and soon were comfortably seated, very close to be sure, but very warm.

Arabella said that the two shawls were to wear later if it became colder, whereat, Betty begged her to sit upon them.

"You take up room enough for three with a big shawl under each arm,"

said Betty. "Stand up and I'll fold them so you can sit on them."

Arabella meekly did as she was told. If any other girl had done the same thing, she would have obstinately rebelled, but Betty had a way that was compelling, and Arabella, after she was seated, wondered why she had been so meek.

Patricia Levine had brought a big box of fudge, and she now pa.s.sed it around. Arabella said she knew it would make her sick, but she took two pieces instead of one, lest the box might not come around again.

The route took them over a long roadway that had been cut through a forest, and on either side the great trees towered above them, their branches heaped with snow. The underbrush was beautified with what looked like patches of swan's-down, and a tiny, ice-bound brook wound its way in among the giant trees, disappearing behind a clump of evergreens.

It had been possible to see all these things because the road had been so rough that Marcus had been obliged to drive rather slowly.

Now, as they emerged from the wood-road, he touched the whip to the flank of one of his horses, and with one accord they sprang forward, giving the chattering occupants of the sleigh a decided "bounce," and stopping Elf Carleton in the middle of the story that she was telling.

"O dear! Where was I when that jolt came?" she asked.

"I don't know what you were telling," said Vera, "but it's my turn now, and I'm going to tell how awfully you acted this morning.

"Girls, Mrs. Marvin was perfectly lovely. She just talked and talked about how good I _ought_ to be, but I didn't mind that, so long as she didn't say she was going to send me home. She never said a single word about that, but I didn't know she was going to be such a perfect dear. I woke before daylight, and much comfort Elf was to me! I tell you truly, girls, I poked her, I called to her, I shook her, but couldn't get her enough awake to say a word.

"Well, we're about even, for one morning last week when I kept telling her my tooth was aching, she paid no attention until I gave her an outrageous poke, and shouted into her ear, 'My tooth aches!'

"She didn't open her eyes, but what she said was a great comfort."

"What did she say?" questioned Betty.

"She said it might stop aching if I kept my mouth closed," said Vera, "and it took me five minutes to realize that her advice was more for her benefit than mine. She wanted another nap, and closing my mouth to shield my aching tooth would also prevent my talking. Trust Elf for making sure--Oh, look, girls!"

Every head turned.

A big red pung was coming toward them at top speed. It was crowded with more boys than could be seated, and those who stood carried long poles.

From the top of each pole a broad, gayly colored streamer waved. As the pung pa.s.sed a big boy in the center shouted: "Three cheers for the Glenmore girls!" and they were given with a will.

"How do they know that we are Glenmore girls?" said Elf.

"Three cheers for the 'What-you-call 'em' boys!" screamed Betty, and even Arabella added a faint "Hurrah!" to the general clamor.

Two of the boys produced a pair of cymbals, but while they were clashing Betty brought forth a huge gong and nearly stunned those near her with the noise that she made as with all her might she smote it.

"Hoo_ray_!" shouted a small boy.

"Hoo_raw_!" howled Valerie Dare, and no one could have decided which laughed the harder, the pung-load of boys, or the lively girls in the Glenmore sleigh.

"Yo'-all behave like tomboys," commented Marcus. "Lor', but Mis' Marvin would 'a' been some s'prised ef she'd been here ter hear ye carry on."

"Well, if Miss Fenler had been here she'd have had forty fits," cried Vera Vane, "but, Marcus, what they don't know won't worry them, and you needn't tell them."

"And Marcus, you can forget all about the racket before you get home,"

said Elf.

"Sh.o.r.e, Miss, I's got a powerful short mem'ry. Gid 'ap!"

"Dorothy Dainty cheered as loud as any of us," said Arabella Correyville.

"Well, why shouldn't she?" Patricia asked.

"Oh, she's always so--oh, I don't know,--correct, I guess is what I meant to say," responded Arabella.

"I like fun as well as any one does," said Dorothy who had overheard the remark.

"Oh, but Dorothy, you aren't even the least bit rude," declared Valerie.

"It's not rude to cheer," Dorothy said with a laugh. "I think we were very polite to return their salute."

"Nancy Ferris cheered, too," said a girl who had been very quiet during the hubbub.

Nancy laughed.

"I cheered because Dorothy did," she said, "but, Betty, how did you get that gong in here without any one noticing it?"

"It was under this long coat," said Betty, "and I'll tell you all how I happened to bring it.

"Monday, when I was down in the village, I met a boy that I know, and he told me that over at the boys' private school in the next town they'd heard about our sleigh-rides, and he told me that one of the boys, Bob Chandler, had bought a pair of old cymbals at an antique shop. They were planning their first sleigh-ride for the same day as ours, and they thought we'd have no noise-maker with us. I meant to get even with them, so I brought the big gong that hung in my room, and I guess we made as much noise as they did. I've a number of curios that my uncle brought home from abroad. Why didn't I think to bring along that funny little horn? You could have tooted on that, Valerie."

"Oh, I'm satisfied. We had noise enough," said Hilda Fenton.

At that moment there was a commotion on the rear seat.

Some one was twisting around so persistently that many were made quite uncomfortable.

Dorothy turned to see what it was all about. She laughed softly, and touched Nancy's arm.

"It's Arabella," whispered Dorothy.