noon
Let me know , my dear , if there is anything you need . '' Mary Louise went to her room and was promptly pounced upon by Dorothy Knerr and Sue Finley , who roomed just across the hall from her and were delighted to find she was to become a regular boarder . They asked numerous questions as they helped her to unpack and settle her room , but accepted her conservative answers without comment . At the noon luncheon Mary Louise was accorded a warm reception by the assembled boarders and this cordial welcome by her school-mates did much to restore the girl to her normal condition of cheerfulness . She even joined a group in a game of tennis after luncheon and it was while she was playing that little Miss Dandler came with , a message that Mary Louise was wanted in Miss Stearne 's room at once . `` Take my racquet , '' she said to Jennie Allen ; `` I 'll be back in a minute . '' When she entered Miss Stearne 's room she was surprised to find herself confronted by the same man whom she and her grandfather had encountered in front of Cooper 's Hotel the previous afternoon -- the man whom she secretly held responsible for this abrupt change in her life .