Page:Ruth Fielding at Lighthouse Point.djvu/96

86 "Then you prefer to go under a false name—even among your friends?" asked the girl from the Red Mill.

"How do I know you're my friends?" demanded Nita, promptly.

"We can't very well be your enemies," said Helen, in some disgust.

"I don't know. Anybody's my enemy who wants to send me back—well, anyone who wants to return me to the place I came from."

"Was it an institution?" asked Mary Cox, quickly.

"What's that?" demanded Nita, puzzled. "What do you mean by an 'institution'?"

"She means a sort of school," explained Ruth.

"Yes!" exclaimed The Fox, sharply. "A reform school, or something of the kind. Maybe an almshouse."

"Never heard of 'em," returned Nita, unruffled by the insinuation. "Guess they don't have 'em where I come from. Did you go to one, Miss?"

Heavy giggled, and Madge Steele rapped The Fox smartly on the shoulder. "There!" said the senior. "It serves you right, Mary Cox. You're answered."

"Now, I tell you what it is!" cried the strange girl, sitting up in bed again and looking rather