I do n't want to invite Ruth Mannering home with me for the holidays , but I feel exactly as if I should not have a minute 's peace of mind all the time if I did n't . Mother would think it all right , of course . She would not mind if Ruth dressed in calico and never said anything but yes and no . But how the boys would laugh ! I simply wo n't do it , conscience or no conscience . '' In view of this decision it was rather strange that the next morning , Carol Golden went down to Ruth Mannering 's lonely little room on Corridor Two and said , `` Ruth , will you go home with me for the holidays ? Mother wrote me to invite anyone I wished to . Do n't say you ca n't come , dear , because you must . '' Carol never , as long as she lived , forgot Ruth 's face at that moment . `` It was absolutely transfigured , '' she said afterwards . `` I never saw anyone look so happy in my life . '' * * * * * A fortnight later unwonted silence reigned at Oaklawn . The girls were scattered far and wide , and Ruth Mannering and Carol Golden were at the latter 's home . Carol was a very much surprised girl . Under the influence of kindness and pleasure Ruth seemed transformed into a different person . Her shyness and reserve melted away in the sunny atmosphere of the Golden home . Mrs. Golden took her into her motherly heart at once ; and as for Frank and Jack , whose verdict Carol had so dreaded , they voted Ruth `` splendid . '' She certainly got along very well with them ; and if she did not make the social sensation that pretty Maud Russell might have made , the Goldens all liked her and Carol was content . `` Just four days more , '' sighed Carol one afternoon , `` and then we must go back to Oaklawn . Can you realize it , Ruth ? ''
XXXXX looked up from her book with a smile .
Carol Goldens Mannering Oaklawn Ruth afternoon days minute right shyness