[Illustration: “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”] BETTY WALES & CO. A STORY FOR GIRLS _by_ MARGARET WARDE AUTHOR OF BETTY WALES FRESHMAN BETTY WALES SOPHOMORE BETTY WALES JUNIOR BETTY WALES SENIOR BETTY WALES B.A. ILLUSTRATED BY EVA M NAGEL THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY PHILADELPHIA MCMIX COPYRIGHT 1909 BY THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY INTRODUCTION MANY of the girls who will read this book have already made the acquaintance of Betty Wales, and know all about her adventures at Harding College, from her rollicking freshman days to the time when she was a “grave and reverend senior”--and was always being mistaken for a freshman, nevertheless. Mary Brooks graduated from Harding a year before Betty, and she always considered that this gave her the privilege of patronizing her friends in 19--, Betty’s class. Madeline joined 19-- in its sophomore year, and Babbie Hildreth (she and her friends Babe and Bob were known collectively as the three B’s) was another of the shining lights of that famous class. She and Madeline and Betty planned the tea-room, though only in fun, during a trip abroad that came as a grand finale to their college days. You can read all about that in “Betty Wales, B. A.,” which also tells about Mary Brooks’s “impromptu” wedding. But you will have to go back to “Betty Wales, Senior,” to find out how Mary’s “little friends” discovered that she was interested in Professor Hinsdale. There are a lot of other things that you will want to know about Betty and her friends--if you like them--in “Betty Wales, Freshman,” “Betty Wales, Sophomore,” and “Betty Wales, Junior.” MARGARET WARDE. CONTENTS I. UNPLEASANT DISCOVERIES 9 II. BETTY WALES, “M. A.” 24 III. THAT TEA-ROOM AGAIN 39 IV. PLANS AND PARTIES 56 V. THE REAL THING 74 VI. EUGENIA FORD’S LUNCHEON 97 VII. MARY, THE PERFECT PATRON 113 VIII. YOUNG-MAN-OVER-THE-FENCE 128 IX. AN ORDER FOR A PARTY 145 X. UNEXPECTED VISITORS 162 XI. THE ADVENT OF THE PLOSHKIN 181 XII. A TRAGIC DISAPPEARANCE 198 XIII. MORE “SIDE-LINES” 221 XIV. THE REVOLT OF THE “WHY-GET-UPS” 236 XV. A SEA OF TROUBLES 252 XVI. THE MYSTERY SOLVED 270 XVII. A MAGNATE TO THE RESCUE 291 XVIII. A ROMANCE AND A BURGLARY 307 XIX. THE AMAZING MR. SMITH AND OTHER AMAZEMENTS 329 XX. A FINAL EXCITEMENT 346 Illustrations PAGE