Altogether the day seemed only too short.
As they went out of the gate at ten o'clock, Mr. Agnew following, lo! a dark figure emerged from behind a tree and joined Clover.
It was Clarence!
"I thought I'd just walk this way," he explained, "the house has been dreadfully dull all day without you."
Clover was immensely flattered, but Mrs. Page's astonishment next day knew no bounds.
"Really," she said, "I have hopes of Clarence at last.
I never knew him volunteer to escort anybody anywhere before in his life."
"I say," remarked Clarence, the evening before the girls went back to school,—"I say, suppose you write to a fellow sometimes, Clover."
"Do you mean yourself by 'a fellow'?" laughed Clover.
"You don't suppose I meant George Hickman or that donkey of an Eels, did you?" retorted Clarence.
"No, I didn't.
Well, I've no objection to writing to a fellow, if that fellow is you, provided the fellow answers my letters.
Will you?"
"Yes," gruffly, "but you mustn't show 'em to any girls or laugh at my writing, or I'll stop.
Lilly says my writing is like beetle tracks.
Little she knows about it though! I don't write to her!
Promise, Clover!"
"Yes, I promise," said Clover, pleased at the notion of Clare's proposing a correspondence of his own accord.
Next morning they all left for Hillsover.
Clarence's friendship and the remembrance of their day with the Agnews were the pleasantest things that the girls carried away with them from their autumn vacation.
CHAPTER X.
A BUDGET OF LETTERS.
"Hillsover, October 21st.
Dearest Elsie,—I didn't write you last Saturday, because that was the day we came back to school, and there hasn't been one minute since when I could.
We thought perhaps Miss Jane would let us off from the abstracts on Sunday, because it was the first day, and school was hardly begun; and, if she had, I was going to write to you instead, but she didn't.
She said the only way to keep girls out of mischief was to keep them busy.
Rose Red is sure that something has gone wrong with Miss Jane's missionary during the vacation,—she's so dreadfully cross.
Oh, dear, how I do hate to come back and be scolded by her again!
"I forget if I told you about the abstracts.
They are of the sermons on Sunday, you know, and we have to give the texts, and the heads, and as much as we can remember of the rest.
Sometimes Dr. Prince begins:
'I shall divide my subject into three parts,' and tells what they are going to be.
When he does that, most of the girls take out their pencils and put them down, and then they don't listen any more.
Katy and I don't, for she says it isn't right not to listen some.
Miss Jane pretends that she reads all the abstracts through, but she doesn't; for once Rose Red, just to try her, wrote in the middle of hers,
'I am sitting by my window at this moment, and a red cow is going down the street.
I wonder if she is any relation to Mrs. Seccomb's cow?' and Miss Jane never noticed it, but marked her 'perfect' all the same.
Wasn't it funny?
"But I must tell you about our journey back.
Mr. Page came all the way with us, and was ever so nice.
Clarence rode down in the carriage to the depot.
He gave me a real pretty india-rubber and gold pencil for a good-by present.
I think you and Dorry would like Clarence, only just at first you might say he was rather rude and cross.
I did; but now I like him ever so much.
Cousin Olivia gave Katy a worked collar and sleeves, and me an embroidered pocket-handkerchief with clover leaves in the corner.
Wasn't it kind?
I'm sorry I said in my last letter that we didn't enjoy our vacation.
We didn't much; but it wasn't exactly Cousin Olivia's fault.
She meant we should, but she didn't know how.
Some people don't, you know.