"Why, I have a sister in the third grade too!" exclaimed Sylvia, much
struck by this second propitious coincidence. "Her name is Judith and
she's a darling. Wouldn't it be nice if she and Cécile should be
good friends _too_!" She put her arm about her new comrade's waist,
convinced that they were now intimates of long standing. They ran
together to take their places at the sound of the bell; all during
the rest of the morning session she smiled radiantly at the new-comer
whenever their eyes met.

She planned to walk part way home with her at noon, but she was
detained for a moment by the teacher, and when she reached the front
gate, where Judith was waiting for her, Camilla was nowhere in sight.
Judith explained with some disfavor that a surrey had been waiting for
the Fingál girls and they had been driven away.

Sylvia fell into a rhapsody over her new acquaintance and found to her
surprise (it was always a surprise to Sylvia that Judith's tastes and
judgments so frequently differed from hers) that Judith by no means
shared her enthusiasm. She admitted, but as if it were a matter of no
importance, that both Camilla and Cécile were pretty enough, but she
declared roundly that Cécile was a little sneak who had set out from
the first to be "Teacher's pet." This title, in the sturdy democracy
of the public schools, means about what "sycophantic lickspittle"
means in the vocabulary of adults, and carries with it a crushing
weight of odium which can hardly ever be lived down.

"_Judith_, what makes you think so?" cried Sylvia, horrified at the
epithet.