Having dismissed the taxicab, the three girls were now ascending the steps of the Hall. "Better wait here for me, girls, I'd rather have it out with Mrs. Weatherbee alone," she counseled. "I hope I sha'n't lose my temper," she added ruefully. Mentally bracing herself for the interview, Jane crossed the threshold of the Hall and walked serenely past the living-room to the matron's office just behind it. She was keeping a tight grip on herself and intended to keep it, if possible. She knew from past experience how greatly Mrs. Weatherbee's calm superiority of manner had been wont to irritate her. Jane loathed the idea of having a dispute with the matron the moment she entered Madison Hall. She had begun the first day of her freshman year in such fashion. Afterward it had seemed to her that most of the others had been stormy, as a consequence of a wrong start. She reflected as she walked slowly down the hall that this new trouble, was, at least, not of her making. She had the comforting knowledge that this time she was not at fault. CHAPTER IV THE REASON WHY Primed for the momentous interview, Jane was doomed to disappointment. The matron's office was empty of its usual occupant. "Oh, bother!" was her impatient exclamation. "I'll either have to wait for her or go and find her. I'll go back to the veranda and tell the girls," she decided. "Then I'll come here again. Mrs. Weatherbee may not be in the Hall for all I know." "Back so soon. What did she say?" Judith sprang eagerly from the wicker chair in which she had been lounging. "She is not there," returned Jane with a shadow of a frown. "I'm sorry. I wanted to see her and get it over with. Where's Ethel?" "Oh, she forgot that she had an appointment with Miss Howard. She rushed off in a hurry." "Mrs. Weatherbee has perhaps gone to make the call," suggested Adrienne.