The campus was a vast green velvet carpet and the pale green of the trees had not yet changed to that darker, dustier shade that belongs only to summer.  Back among the trees Overton Hall rose gray and majestic.  Grace’s heart swelled with pride as she gazed at the stately old building surrounded by its silent, leafy guard.  “Overton, my Alma Mater,” she said softly.  “May I be always worthy to be your child.”

“What are you mooning over?” asked Anne, who had slipped into her kimono and joined Grace at the window.

“I’m rhapsodizing,” smiled Grace, her eyes very bright.  “I love Overton, don’t you, Anne?”

Anne nodded.  “I’m glad we didn’t go to Wellesley or Vassar, or even Smith.  I’d rather be here.”

“So would I,” sighed Grace.  “Next to home there is no place like Overton.  I almost wish I were coming back here next fall as a freshman.”

“But it’s against the law of progress to wish one’s self back,” smiled Anne, “and being a sophomore surely has its rainbow side.”

“And it rests with us to find it,” replied Grace softly, placing her hand on her friend’s shoulder.

A little later, laden with bags and suit cases, the three Oakdale girls, accompanied by Elfreda, walked out of Wayne Hall as freshmen for the last time.

“When next we see this house it will be as sophomores,” observed Elfreda.  “I’m glad we are all going home on the same train.  Do you remember the day I met you?  I thought I owned the earth then.  But I have found out that there are other people to consider besides myself.  That is what being a freshman at Overton has taught me.”

“That’s a very good thing for all of us to remember,” remarked Grace.  “I’m going to try to practise it next year.”

“You won’t have to try very hard,” returned Elfreda dryly.  “How much time have we?”

“Almost an hour,” replied Miriam, looking at her watch.

“Then we’ve time to stop at Vinton’s for a farewell sundae.  It’s our last freshman treat.  Come on, everybody,” invited the stout girl.

“No more sundaes here until next fall,” lamented Miriam, as they sat waiting for their order.  “I shall miss Vinton’s.  There is nothing in Oakdale quite like it.”

“And I shall miss you girls,” declared Elfreda bluntly.

“Why don’t you pay us a visit, then?” suggested Miriam.  “We expect to be at home part of the time this summer.”

“Perhaps I will,” reflected Elfreda.  “But you must write to me at any rate.”

At the station groups of happy-faced girls stood waiting for the train.

“We are going to have plenty of company,” observed Anne.  “Do you remember how forlorn we felt when we were cast away on this station platform last fall?  We won’t feel so strange next September.”

“We shall feel very important instead,” laughed Miriam.  “It will be our turn to escort bewildered freshmen to their boarding places.”