fourteen until one
`` Of course , '' Laura returned . There was no time to spare when they reached the station , but Miss Grandis ' last word was of Elizabeth and her great need . Laura was at the station early the next day , and would have recognised the Poor Thing even if she had not been the only girl leaving the train at that place . Elizabeth was seventeen , but she might have been taken for fourteen until one looked into her eyes -- they seemed to mirror the pain and privation of half a century . Laura 's heart went out to her in a wave of pitying tenderness , but the girl drew back as if frightened by the warm friendliness of her greeting . All the way back to camp she sat silent , answering a direct question with a nod or shake of the head , but never speaking ; and when , at the camp , a crowd of girls came to meet the newcomer , she looked wildly around as if for refuge from all these strangers . Seeing this , Laura , with a whispered word , sent the girls away , and introduced Elizabeth only to Mrs. Royall and Anne Wentworth .