emitted.

"What a joke!" exclaimed Bess.

"It's one of those jokes best kept secret," advised Amelia Boggs,
who, after all, possessed a fund of caution. "Mrs. Cupp will be
desperately moved when she finds it out."

"At least," Nan agreed, "Laura is right. Curfew will not ring
to-night. But Mrs. Cupp will find some other way of making it known
that retiring hour has arrived. We'd best get to work if we are
going to have a procession of the sawneys."

"Girls," suddenly asked Bess, "who ever started that lumberman's
slang of 'sawney' for 'greenhorn' up in this hall of acquired good
English?"

"Oh, come, Bess!" groaned Amelia, "the term hasn't really opened
yet. Don't make us delve into the past for the roots of our
language. It's us for the procession now!"

Nan Sherwood entered into the plan for the evening's hazing of
newcomers for a special reason. She had liked the girl from the
West, Rhoda Hammond, at first sight. Not for her beautiful
clothing, but for something Nan had seen in her countenance.

The former purposed to take an active part in whatever was done to
the newcomer because she believed she could influence the more
thoughtless girls to the extent that nothing very harsh would be
done to Rhoda.