Ruth Fielding at Briarwood Hall; or, Solving the Campus Mystery

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Ruth Fielding at Briarwood Hall; or, Solving the Campus Mystery Page 7

by Alice B. Emerson


  CHAPTER VII

  THE UPEDES

  It was all so new and strange to Helen and Ruth that neither hadconsidered the possibility of homesickness. Indeed, how could they behomesick? There was too much going on at Briarwood Hall for thenewcomers to think much of themselves.

  The plump girl next to Ruth seemed of a friendly disposition, for whenshe had satisfied the first cravings of her appetite--oh, long beforeshe came to the cup-custard!--she said:

  "Which are you--Cameron, or Fielding? I'm Stone--Jennie Stone."

  Ruth told her their names and asked in return:

  "Are you on our corridor, too? I know you are rooming in the samebuilding as Helen and I."

  "Yes," said the fat girl. "I'm in a quartette with Mary Cox, LluellaFairfax and Belle Tingley. Oh, you'll see plenty of us," said Heavy."And I say! you're going to the Upede meeting to-night; aren't you?"

  "Why--yes. Do you all belong?"

  "Our quartette? Sure," said the plump girl in her off-hand way."We'll show you some fun. And I say!"

  "Well?" asked Ruth.

  "How often are they going to send you boxes from home?"

  "Boxes from home?" repeated the girl from the Red Mill.

  "Yes. You know, you can have 'em sent often if you keep up with yourclasses and don't get too many demerits in deportment. I missed twoboxes last half because of black marks. And in French and deportment,too. _That_ was Picolet's doing--mean thing!"

  "I had no idea that one would be allowed to receive goodies," saidRuth, who of course expected nothing of the kind from home, but did notwish to say so.

  "Well, you want to write your folks that you can receive 'em rightaway. A girl who gets things from home can be very popular if shewants to be. Ah! here's the custard."

  Ruth had difficulty in keeping from laughing outright. She saw plainlythat the nearest way to Miss Jennie Stone's heart lay through herstomach.

  Meanwhile Helen had become acquainted with the girl on the other sidewho had called them "Infants." But she was a good-natured girl, too,and now Helen introduced her to her chum as Miss Polk. She was adark-haired, plain-faced girl and wore eye-glasses. She was a Juniorand already Helen had found she belonged to the F. C.'s.

  "I guess most of the stiff and starched ones belong to that ForwardClub," whispered Helen to her chum. "But the jolly ones are Upedes."

  "We'll wait and see," advised Ruth.

  Supper was over then and the girls all rose and strolled out of theroom in parties. Ruth and Helen made their way quietly to the exit andlooked for the office of the Preceptress. The large building with thetower--the original Briarwood Hall--was partly given up to recitationsand lecture rooms and partly to the uses of the Tellinghams and theteachers. Besides this great building there were two dormitorybuildings, the gymnasium, the library building, and a chapel which hadbeen built only the year before by subscriptions of the graduates ofthe school and of the parents of the scholars then attending. But itwas growing dusk now and the two friends could not see much of thebuildings around the campus.

  Mrs. Grace Tellingham and her husband (the Doctor never by any chancecame first in anybody's mind!) had started the school some years beforein a small way; but it had grown rapidly and was, as we have seen, verypopular. Many girls were graduated from the institution to the biggirls' colleges, for it was, in fact, a preparatory school.

  The chums went in at the broad door and saw a library at the right handinto which a tidy maid motioned them, with a smile. It was a largeroom, the walls masked by bookshelves, all filled so tightly that itdid seem as though room for another book could not be found. But Mrs.Tellingham was not there.

  Bending over the table, however, (and it was a large, leather-coveredtable with a great student lamp in the center, the shade of which threwa soft glow of light in a circle upon it) was a gentleman whoseshoulders were very round and who seemed to be so near-sighted that hisnose must have been within an inch or so of the book which he read. Hewas totally unconscious of the girls' presence, and he read in a halfwhisper to himself, like a child conning a lesson.

  Ruth and Helen looked at each other, each thinking the same question.Could this be Doctor Tellingham, the great historian? They glancedagain at the hoop-shouldered man and wondered what his countenance waslike, for they could not see a feature of it as he read. But Ruth_did_ notice one most surprising fact. The stooping gentleman wore awig. It was a brown, rather curly wig, while the fringe of naturalhair all around his head was quite white--of that yellowish-white thatproclaims the fact that the hair was once light brown, or sandy incolor. The brown wig matched the hair at one time, without doubt; butit now looked as though two gentlemen's heads had been merged inone--the younger gentleman's being the upper half of the presentapparition.

  For several minutes the chums stood timidly in the room and the oldgentleman went on whispering to himself, and occasionally nodding hishead. But at length he looked up, and in doing this he saw the girlsand revealed his own countenance.

  "Ah-ha!" he ejaculated, and stood upright. He was not a small man, buthe was very bony. He had a big, long, smoothly-shaven face, on whichhis beard had sprouted in patches only, and these shaven patches weregray, whereas the rest of his face was smooth and dead-white. Indeedhe had so much face, and it was so bald, that if the brown wig hadchanced to tumble off Ruth thought that his appearance would have beenactually terrifying.

  "Ah-ha!" he said again, and smiled not unkindly. The thick spectacleshe wore hid his eyes, however, and to look into his big face was likelooking at the white wall of a house with the windows all shuttered."You want something!"

  He said it as though he had made a most profound discovery. Indeed,they found afterward that Doctor Tellingham always spoke as though hewere pronouncing a valedictory oration, or something quite as importantas that. The doctor never could say anything lightly. His mind wasgiven up entirely to deep subjects, and it seldom strayed from his work.

  "You want something," he repeated. "Stop! never mind explaining. Ishouldn't be able to aid you. Mrs. Tellingham--my wife, my dears--willbe here anon."

  He at once bobbed down his head, revealing nothing to the eyes of thetwo girls but the brown wig and the hair that didn't match, and went onwhispering to himself. Helen and Ruth exchanged glances and Helen haddifficulty in keeping from laughing outright.

  In a moment more Mrs. Tellingham came into the room. At close viewRuth saw that she was even more attractive than she had seemed at adistance. Her countenance was firm without being stern--the humorabout the mouth relieved its set expression.

  "My dear! my dear!" ejaculated the Doctor, raising his head so that thelong, bald expanse of his face came into view again for a moment,"somebody to see you--somebody wants something."

  Mrs. Tellingham approached Helen first and took her hand. Herhandclasp was firm, her manner one to put the girl at her ease.

  "You are Mr. Macy Cameron's daughter?" she questioned. "We are glad tosee you here. You have found your room?"

  "Yes, Mrs. Tellingham," replied Helen.

  The Preceptress turned to Ruth and shook hands with her. "And you areRuth Fielding? Do as well this first half as your last teacher tellsme you did, and we shall be good friends. Now, girls, sit down. Letus talk a bit."

  She had a quick, bright way of speaking; yet her words were notwasted--nor her time. She did not talk idly. Nor did the two chumshave much to say but "Yes" and "No." In the course of her remarks shesaid:

  "This is your first experience, I understand, away from home and in aschool of this character? Yes? Ah, then, many things will be new andstrange to you, as well as hard to bear at first. Among two hundredgirls there are bound to be girls of a good many different kinds," andshe smiled. "You will find some thoughtless and careless--forgettingwhat they have been sent to the school for. Avoid that class. Theywill not aid you in your own intention to stand well in the classes.

  "Keep before you the fact that your friends
have sent you here forimprovement--not to kill time. All girls like fun; I hope you willfind plenty of innocent amusement here. I want all my girls happy andcontent. Use the advantages of our gym; join the walking club; we makea point of having one of the best basketball teams in this part of theState. Tennis is a splendid exercise for girls, and we have an indooras well as outdoor courts. Yes, do not neglect the good times. Butremember, too, that amusement isn't the main issue of life at BriarwoodHall. Let nothing interfere with the study hour. Keep the rules--westrive to have as few as possible, so that there may be less temptationto break them," and the Preceptress smiled her quick, understandingsmile again.

  "By the way, there are social clubs in the school. To-night--have youbeen invited to any gathering?"

  "Both the Forward Club and the Up and Doings have invited us to attendtheir meetings," said Ruth, quietly.

  "Ah!"

  "We are going to the Up and Doings, Mrs. Tellingham," said Helen.

  "Ah!" was again the lady's comment, and they learned nothing from hercountenance. Nevertheless, Ruth thought it better to explain:

  "We were very kindly received by Miss Cox, and shown our room by her,and she invited us to her club first of all."

  "Indeed! We shall be glad to have you come to our club, too, beforeyou make up your minds to join any," said Mrs. Tellingham, with anaccent on one word that made both Ruth and Helen mark it well. The F.C.'s were plainly approved by the Preceptress.

  "There!" she continued, nodding smilingly at the chums. "I am sure weshall get on together. You will become acquainted with both yourschool-fellows and your instructors in course of time. There are notso many at Briarwood Hall but that we are still one great family. Onething girls come away from home for, to an institution like this, is tolearn self-control and self-government. If you need help do not beafraid to go to your instructors, or come to me. Confide in us. But,on the other hand, you must learn to judge for yourself. We do notpunish an act of wrong judgment, here at Briarwood." And so thePreceptress bade them good-evening.

  "Isn't she nice?" whispered Ruth, as she and Helen made their exit fromthe room.

  "Ye-es," admitted her chum. "But you can see she is dreadfully'bossy.'"

  At that Ruth laughed heartily. "You foolish child!" she said, shakingher chum a little. "Isn't she here to 'boss'? My goodness! you didn'texpect to do just as _you_ pleased here at Briarwood; did you?"

  Helen Cameron had been used to having her own way a good deal. Beingnaturally a sweet-tempered girl, she was not much spoiled. But Mrs.Murchiston had been unable to be very strict with the twins when Mr.Cameron was so indulgent himself.

  Mary Cox and "Heavy" Stone were waiting on the steps for the friends asthey came out. There was another group of girls on the path, too, whoeyed Ruth and Helen interestedly as the latter came down the steps withthe two Juniors. "'The Fox' has been in the poultry yard again, andhas caught two chickabiddies," laughed one of these idle girls.

  Ruth flushed, but Helen did not hear the gibe, being much interested inwhat Mary Cox was saying to her. Ruth walked beside the good-naturedJennie Stone.

  "My, my!" chuckled that damsel, "aren't those Fussy Curls jealous?They had to take the teachers into their old club so as to be morenumerous than the Upedes. But I guess Mary Cox will show 'em! She_is_ a fox, and I guess she always will be!"

  "Is that what they call Miss Cox?" asked Ruth, not a little troubled.

  "Oh, she's foxy, all right," said this rather slangy young lady. "Shewill beat the Fussy Curls every time. She's President of the Upedes,you know."

  Ruth was still troubled, and she hastened to say:

  "You know, we haven't been asked to join the club, Miss Stone. And mychum and I are not sure that we wish to join any of the school clubs atfirst. We--we want to look around us, you know."

  "That's all right," said Jennie Stone, cordially. "You'll be put upfor membership when you want to be. But we'll show you some fun. Nouse getting in with those poky F. C.'s. You'll never have a bit of funif you train with them."

  They went back to the building in which they had supped and upstairs toone of the assembly rooms. The stairway and hall were well filled withgirls now, and several of them nodded smilingly to Ruth and Helen; buttheir escorts did not let the chums stop at all, ushering them at onceinto the room where the Up and Doing clan was gathering.

  Mary Cox left Heavy to introduce the newcomers while she went at onceto the rostrum and with two or three of the other girls--who wereevidently officers of the club, likewise--held a short executivesession in secret. By and by Mary rapped on the desk for order, andthe girls all took seats. Ruth, who was watchful, saw that the companynumbered scarcely a score. If these were all the members of the club,she wondered how many of the Briarwood girls belonged to the rivalassociation.

  The meeting, as far as the business went, was conducted briskly and tothe point. Then it was "thrown open" and everybody--but thevisitors--talked just as they pleased. Helen and Ruth were made tofeel at home, and the girls were most lively and good-natured. Theyheard that the Upedes were to have a picnic at a grove upon the shoreof Lake Triton on the Saturday week, and that Old Dolliver and hisramshackle stage, and another vehicle of the same caliber, were engagedfor the trip.

  "But beware of black marks, girls," warned Mary Cox. "Picolet will bewatching us; and you know that, this early in the term, two black markswill mean an order to remain on the school premises. That old cat willcatch us if she can."

  "Mean little thing!" said Heavy, wheezily. "I wish anybody but MissPicolet lived in our house."

  From this Ruth judged that most of these Up and Doings were in thedormitory in which she and Helen were billeted.

  "I don't see what Mrs. Tellingham keeps Picolet for," complainedanother girl.

  "For a spy," snapped Mary Cox. "But we'll get the best of her yet.She isn't fit to be a teacher in this school, anyway."

  "Oh, she's a good French teacher--of course. It's her native tongue,"said one of the other girls, who was called Belle Tingley.

  "That's all very well," snapped Mary. "But there's something secretand underhand about her. She claims to have nobody related to her inthis country; but if the truth were known, I guess, she has reason tobe ashamed of her family and friends. I've heard something----"

  She stopped and looked knowingly at Ruth and Helen. The former flushedas she remembered the man in the red waistcoat who played the harpaboard the steamboat. But Helen seemed to have forgotten the incident,for she paid no attention to Mary's unfinished suggestion.

  It worried Ruth, however. She heartily wished that her chum had saidnothing to the Cox girl about the man who played the harp and hisconnection with the little French teacher.

 

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