Over her showy dress she wore a long opera-cloak, so
that at first her splendors were not fully visible. This gaily dressed
little person entered a room full of sober people. The effect was
somewhat the same as though a gorgeous butterfly had flown into the
room. She lit up the dullness and made a centre of attraction--all eyes
were fastened upon her; for Kathleen in her well-made dress,
notwithstanding the gayety of its color, looked simply radiant. The
mischief in her dark eyes, too, but added to her charm. She glanced with
almost maliciousness at Alice, who, in the dowdiest of pale-gray
dresses, with her hair rather untidy and her face destitute of color,
was standing near one of the windows. And as Alice glanced at Kathleen
she felt that she almost hated the Irish girl.
CHAPTER IX.
CONSCIENCE AND DIFFICULTIES.
All the people who knew her were beginning to make a fuss over Ruth
Craven. She who had hardly ever been noticed during the early part of
her life, who was just her grandfather's darling and her grandmother's
idol, was now petted and made much of and fussed over by every one. It
was quite an extraordinary thing for the paying girls of the Great
Shirley School to be so interested and excited about a foundationer.
Cassandra Weldon was not the only girl who had taken Ruth up; some of
the best and nicest girls of the school began to patronize her. The fact
was that she was very modest and a perfect lady, and it was impossible
to feel anything but good-will towards her.
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