"If you had been as poor as I, how much influence would you have had? I am not ungrateful to you--please do not think that--but I have been treated to such a succession of slights all of my life, that I cannot help feeling a wee bit bitter. I was not elected tonight because of any gratitude or liking that the girls have for me, but merely because you--Constance Van Gerder, who will one day be one of the richest women in this country--have chosen to befriend me, and so asked those girls to vote for me. If it were not a cowardly thing to do, I should go away from here to some other college. I would take care to proclaim my full history the very first day I was there, and I would not attempt to make a single friend." "That would be a cowardly thing to do. Next year neither Abby Dunbar nor Grace Chisholm will be here. They will never manage to get through the sophomore work. They are the only ones who are your active enemies, and they are such, merely through spite and jealousy. You are a good student, Meg; do your best for your mother's sake and for mine, too. I want you to carry off some honors on Commencement Day." "I will do my best for you; you have done so much for me that I could not refuse to try, at least. I think I shall get permission to run down and see my mother for an hour. Professor Newton may think it too late to go, but I would like to tell Mother that I was elected. I should not have let you propose my name at all, if it had not been for her." "Then you would have been a big simpleton. I am positive, Meg, that Professor Newton will not listen to your going out tonight, but you can telephone to your mother. Will not that do?" "And have Abby Dunbar and all the other girls hear me? I couldn't possibly. If the telephone were not just inside the reception room where the entire college can hear what is said, I might do that." "I see. Don't trouble yourself. It is out of the question for you to go to town tonight at this hour. Professor Newton would consider you crazy to ask, but I can appreciate your mother's anxiety, and I am going to telephone to her. It will give me great pleasure to do this, and the more of Abby's friends that are within hearing, the better." "You are very kind, but--" Constance had gone unceremoniously, and Margaret's expostulation was cut short. As Constance had predicted, the little tempest created by the revelation of Margaret's family history soon died down. Of course, it was only Constance's strong influence which brought about this result; none of the girls wished to cut themselves off absolutely from her acquaintance, and Constance made it very plain that those who showed the least discourtesy to Margaret were no friends of hers. Poor Mrs. Hamilton had been almost heartbroken when she first learned of Margaret's troubles, but Margaret herself had made as light as possible of them, and the fact that she was now Constance's room-mate, reconciled Mrs. Hamilton to everything.