Only that day she had complained to Miriam that it had been years since she had indulged in a good run.

Miriam had laughingly accused her of still being a tomboy, and had proposed that they take a long tramp on Saturday.

"You can run up and down the road to your heart's content when we get far enough away from Overton so that no one will see you and think you have suddenly gone crazy," Miriam had declared good-naturedly.
Bounding up the steps two at a time, Grace reached the front door of Wayne Hall without drawing a laboring breath.

"I'm certainly in good condition," she laughed to herself, inhaling deeply and inflating her chest.

"I hope I'll be chosen to play on the team this year." She rang a third time before the door was opened by Emma Dean, who grumbled at her repeated ringing and then announced that she had rung six times that afternoon before any one had condescended to let her in.