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 ? '' Ruth looked up from her book with a smile . Even in appearance she had changed . There was a faint pink in her cheeks and a merry light in her eyes . `` I shall not be sorry to go back to work , '' she said . `` I feel just like it because I have had so pleasant a time here that it has heartened me up for next term .
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