Marjorie Dean, College Soph.o.m.ore.

by Pauline Lester.

CHAPTER I

THE RETURN.

"Hamilton, at last!" Marjorie Dean's utterance expressed her satisfaction of the journey's near end.

"Yes; Hamilton, at last," repeated Muriel Harding. "This September it doesn't matter a particle whether or not we are met at the station. We are soph.o.m.ores. We know what to do and where to go without the help of the celebrated Sans Soucians." Muriel's inflection was one of sarcasm.

"All the help they ever gave us as freshmen can be told in two words: _no help_. Forget the Sans. I hate to think of them. I hope not one of them is back. The station platform will look beautiful without them."

Jerry Macy delivered herself of this uncomplimentary opinion as she began methodically to gather up her luggage.

"How very sad to see two Hamiltonites so utterly lacking in college spirit." Veronica Lynne simulated pained surprise.

"Yes; isn't it?" retorted Jerry. "Whose fault is it that Muriel and I haven't last year's trusting faith in reception committees? Recall how we stood on the station platform like a flock of dummies with no one to bid us the time of day or say a kind word to us. No wonder my love for the Sans is a minus quant.i.ty."

"You aren't following your own advice," calmly criticized Lucy Warner.

"You said 'Forget the Sans' and went right on talking about them."

"'And thou, too, Brutus!'" Jerry dramatically struck her hand to her forehead. "It is getting to the point where one can't say a single word around here without being called to account for it. This distressing state of affairs must stop." She frowned portentously at Lucy, who merely giggled. "You may blame Ronny for egging me on to further cutting remarks about the Sans. I was prepared to forget them until she undertook to call Muriel and I down. Then I simply had to defend our position."

"What position?" innocently queried Ronny. "I was not aware that you and Muriel----"

"The train has stopped. Didn't you know it?" was Marjorie's amused interruption. "Stop squabbling and come along." She was already in the aisle and impatient to be on the move. "Helen Trent is out on the platform, Jeremiah. I just caught a glimpse of her. I hope Leila and Vera are out there, too. Let me a.s.sist you into the aisle." Marjorie playfully gripped Jerry's arm in a vain effort to draw her to her feet.

"Thank you. I can a.s.sist myself. I am not yet aged enough to require your services. You may carry my suitcase, if you like. It's as heavy as lead."

"Charmed, but unfortunately I have one to carry equally heavy," Marjorie hastily declined. "I only offered to haul you up from the seat. My offer didn't include luggage carrying."

"You are a fake." Jerry rose and prepared to follow Marjorie down the aisle. As she went she peered anxiously out of the car windows for a first glimpse of her particular friend, Helen Trent.

The eyes of the other four Lookouts were also turned eagerly toward the station platform in search of their Hamilton friends.

A year had elapsed since first the Five Travelers, as the quintette of Sanford girls had named themselves, had set foot in the Country of College. Each was recalling now how very strangely she had felt on first glimpsing Hamilton station with its bevy of laughing, chatting girls, not one of whom they knew. Then they had been entering freshmen, with everything to learn about college. Now they were soph.o.m.ores, with a year of college experience to their credit. What befell Marjorie Dean and her four Lookout chums as freshmen at Hamilton College has already been recounted in "Marjorie Dean, College Freshman."

"Hooray!" rejoiced Jerry, from the top step of the train, waving her handbag, a magazine and a tennis racket, all of which she clutched in her right hand. This vociferous greeting was for Helen, who was making equally vociferous signals of jubilation at the descending travelers.

Marjorie had also caught sight of Leila Harper and Vera Mason, and was waving them a welcome. Lucy's eyes were fixed on Katherine Langly, whom she knew had come down to the station especially to meet her. Veronica and Muriel were exchanging gay hand salutations with a group of Silverton Hall girls prior to greeting them on the platform. An instant and the Five Travelers were free of the train and surrounded.

"And is it yourself?" Leila Harper was hugging Marjorie in an excess of true Irish affection. "Vera had a hunch this morning that you would be here today. I said it was too early; that you wouldn't be here until the first of next week. She would have it her way, so we drove down to meet this train. Now I know she has the gifted eye and the seeing mind, as we Irish say."

"It is a good thing for us that she had that hunch," declared Marjorie, turning to Vera and holding out both hands. "I was hoping you would both be here to meet us. I would have wired you, Leila, but was not sure that you would be back at Hamilton so early. We are here a week earlier than last year. We wanted to be at home as long as we could, but we felt that, as soph.o.m.ores, we ought to come back earlier to help the freshies.

We had such a lonesome time on our freshman appearance at Hamilton, you know."

"Yes, I know," returned Leila significantly. "That was one of the Sans'

performances which was never explained. Away with them. This is no time to think of them. The rest of your Lookouts are running off and leaving you, Beauty." This last had been Leila's pet name for Marjorie since the latter had won the t.i.tle at a beauty contest given the previous year at the freshman frolic.

"They'd better not run far. I am going to take you all back to college in my car," Vera hospitably informed Marjorie. "Leila brought Helen Trent, Katherine, Ethel Laird and Martha Merrick to the station in her car. Ethel expects a freshman cousin from Troy, New York. Martha came along because she had nothing else to do. She said she would like to see if my hunch came true. She had never yet heard of one that amounted to a row of pins. She was sure you would not be on the 5.50 train. Oh, wait until I catch sight of her! She's circulating around the platform somewhere."

"So are my pals." Marjorie glanced about her, endeavoring to locate her chums. None of them were far away. Lucy and Katherine Langly were already approaching. Muriel and Ronny were still engaged with the group of Silverton Hall girls. Neither Robina Page nor Portia Graham were among them. It was quite likely they had not yet returned to Hamilton.

"Just as soon as we can collect your crowd, Marjorie, we'll spin you along to the Hall. Then, I beg to inform you, you are needed at a grand rally at Baretti's. Let us have faith in the stars that those four pals of yours have not recklessly accepted invitations to other celebrations.

And if they have, I shall be in a high temper. I warn you." Leila showed her white teeth in a smile that was certainly no indication of ill-temper.

"They haven't, Leila," Marjorie happily a.s.sured. She was thinking what a joy it was to see Leila again. "On the train we all agreed not to accept any invitations to dinner on this first evening. Our plan was to take you and Vera, Helen and Katherine and Hortense Barlow to Baretti's for a feast, provided you were all here. If some of you were missing, then we thought we would take those of you who had come back to the Colonial, and wait until you all arrived for the other celebration. You see, it is to be what you might call a 'first friends'' party. Helen was the first girl we met. Now she and Jerry are college pals. Katherine is Lucy's first friend. Muriel is so fond of Hortense, and Ronny and I look upon you and Vera as nearer than any of the others. I am fond of Robin Page, and Portia Graham, too. They really ought to be included. Are they here, and how long have you and Vera been back?"

Marjorie made her explanations and asked her questions almost in the same breath.

"We have been here three days. We have been really busy though. We had our unpacking to do, and we changed the furniture around in our room. We spent one whole afternoon playing golf. We both adore the Hamilton links. The time has gone fast, although we have missed our own particular cronies, especially in the evenings. Now we can have a few jollifications before college starts." Vera answered for Leila, who had turned to greet Lucy Warner.

Presently Muriel and Ronny joined them, to be warmly welcomed by the two juniors. Jerry and Helen Trent were the last to arrive. With their appearance among the group of staunch comrades, the entire party began a slow walk down the platform and toward the stairs which led away from the station.

"If you are in search of information as to who's where and when you may expect them, ask Helen. As I used to say of myself, 'I know everything about everybody,' I now pa.s.s on that same saying to my esteemed friend, Miss Trent." Jerry beamed on Helen with exaggerated admiration.

"Now, Jeremiah, don't you think that a rather sweeping statement? There may be just a _few_ students at Hamilton I don't happen to be informed about. You will give our friends here the impression that I am a busybody. Remember I am now a junior. Try to treat me with more respect." Helen smiled indolent good nature as she thus admonished Jerry.

"I'll try, but that's all the good it will do. The whole trouble is, you don't command my awe and respect," complained Jerry.

"Neither do you inspire such feelings in me," placidly returned Helen.

"We'll simply have to go on being disrespectful to each other," she ended, with a chuckle which Jerry echoed.

"Let us see." The little company had reached the place where Leila and Vera had parked their cars. Leila now cast speculative eyes over the group. "Martha is missing. Ethel must have found her cousin, surely. If she did not find her she was to go back to the campus with us. I lost track of her after the train whistled in. Martha is probably with Ethel; helping to impress the freshman cousin with junior estate," Leila made whimsical guess. "I think we are ready to start. Nine of us; that's four to your car and five to mine, Midget."

"All right," returned Vera. "Choose your five, or, better, let your five choose you. The sooner we start, the sooner we will reach the Hall. That means a longer time to celebrate tonight."

"Delighted to ride with either of you," a.s.sured Muriel. "The main feature of this occasion is the beautiful fact that we are cherished enough to be actually met at the station and asked to ride in folks'

automobiles."

"Muriel can't get over the freezing-out we met with last September,"

commented Ronny.

"Neither can I. I feel chilly every time I think of it. Br-r-r!" Jerry made pretense of shivering.

"Well, we all know whose fault that was," shrugged Leila.

"Precisely what I said just before we left the train," nodded Jerry. "We couldn't understand for a long time why those three Sans should have taken it upon themselves at all to meet our train. We have a clear idea now of why it was. Tonight, at the celebration, I'll hold forth on the subject. Let us not mar the sweet joy of meeting by gossiping," she ended with an irresistibly funny simper.

"No; let us not," echoed Leila dryly. "Be quick with your choosing now.

Time will keep on flying."

Five minutes later, Marjorie, Ronny, Helen and Jerry were leaving the station yard in Leila's car. Muriel, Lucy, Katherine and Vera occupied the latter's smart limousine. In comparison with the subdued almost sad little party they had been on the previous September, the Five Travelers were now a very merry company of adventurers in the Country of College.

On the front seat of Leila's roadster, beside Leila, Marjorie was silent for a little, as Leila skilfully guided the trim roadster in and out of the considerable traffic of Herndon Avenue, Hamilton's main thoroughfare.

"Have you seen any of the Sans yet, Leila?" she presently questioned.