“You know the conditions, Bob?  We went into this together and together we quit—­” said Sally, rather crudely for her.

“It’s a shame,” grumbled Bobbie.  “I just love it all now.”

“But you can remain!  Even your conditions are assured.”

“And as you said we went in together, etc.,” said Bobbie.

Jane Allen was at the door before they heard her step.

“Now,” she called out in announcement of her presence, “Bobbie, you have no excuse.  Even dad will be delighted, but he couldn’t feel as I do about it.  Bobbie, I’m just proud of you!” The dry lips moved but did not answer.

“Why don’t you trust me?” asked Jane flatly.  “I know you are planning something, of course.”

“Oh, we do trust you, indeed,” declared Sally with quivering lips, “and we both are too grateful to frame words in expression.”

“But you are not quite—­confidential,” pressed Jane.  Her eye was checking up the hat boxes and other evidences of “house cleaning” scattered around.

They had positively decided to write her a full explanation to be delivered after they left.  This was finally agreed upon as the one practical plan and neither would attempt to violate it now.  But this moment, with Jane’s affectionate manner as a lure, was indeed a strong temptation!  What might have happened did not happen, however, for a team of girls burst in at that very minute and put an abrupt end to the developing confidences.

They descended upon the serious ones with such exhilaration that even the neatly tied-up boxes were threatened with violence.

“We are going to give a ‘Dingus’ tonight,” shouted Betty, “and you are not going to spoil it as you did our ghost party.  Sally, this time you two will be left off the committee, then perhaps we can have our fun without your interference.  Not that we wouldn’t love to have you,” she hastened to temporize, “but we know how you do duck our sports, and this time we are bound to put one through.  We merely dropped in to invite you, and if you are not on hand be warned!”

“Be warned that we will drag you from your lair!” threatened Nellie Saunders.  “This is going to be one grand final rally, and we want above all the two famous members of the clan.”

“You may wear your kilts and whitewash brushes,” conceded Nellie.

“You should wear a laurel crown, Sally.  I suppose next half you will jump right in junior and skip us poor little sophs, at least I hope we’ll be sophs,” said Margie Winters.

Jane managed to hide her impatience, but she was disappointed.  She had expected to draw out the confidence of Sally and Bobbie, realizing she might help them if she but understood the mysterious predicament.  But there was no chance of further pressing that point, so she turned and fled, to leave the freshies to their own particular little affairs.

Judith was anxiously waiting to hear the outcome of her visit, as it had been planned between them.