Western prairie-girl Peggy Montfort, first introduced in Laura E. Richards' Three Margarets, which told the story of three cousins, all with the same given name, who met up for the first time during a visit to the ancestral family home - the continuation of Margaret's story, which precedes this book, is to be found in Margaret Montfort, while Rita's, which comes fourth in the series, can be read in Rita - comes east in this charming school story, which sees her enrolled at Miss Russell's boarding school for girls, in Pentland. With her initial clumsiness, and a forthright manner quite different from that of her more sophisticated peers, Peggy is something of a fish-out-of-water at first, but although she makes enemies, while defending timid fellow freshman Lobelia Parkins, she also makes friends. From the two "Owls" - juniors Bertha Haughton, known as the "Fluffy Owl," and Gertrude Merryweather, sporting the sobriquet "Snowy Owl" - who are the unofficial leaders of the school, to the self-described "Scapegoat" Grace Wolfe, who leads the rebellious rule-breakers known as "The Gang," Peggy is soon deeply involved with her fellow students, and with the life of the school. Gradually, through trials and tribulations, but also through good times and fun, Peggy, who has earned herself the nickname "The Innocent," has a good effect on those around her...

I enjoyed this third entry in The Margaret Series immensely, and found that I had far more affection for Peggy, as she is portrayed in this book, than I did when I first encountered her in Three Margarets. I liked the fact that she is a mix of strength and weakness, of virtue and flaw - she is a bit of a dunce at rhetoric, but an accomplished mathematician; she sometimes needs to run away and have a cry, but will forget her own troubles, in sticking up for others - as this makes her an engaging heroine, both sympathetic and realistic. Many common school story themes - the despised outsider who becomes an important member of the student body (this role seems often to have been fulfilled by girls from various Commonwealth nations, in the British school story, and Peggy's status as a westerner seems to function in a similar fashion in this American example of the genre); the rebellious "wild girl" who really has a heart of gold, if she can just be reached by well-meaning staff and fellow pupils; the saintly headmistress (or Principal, in this case) who always seems to know her girls, even if she has never spoken to them before; the importance placed on the honor of the school; and the obligatory accident/illness which leads to a resolution of some crisis, or brings about either reformation or justice - are to be seen here, and made the reading experience quite entertaining. I also appreciated the fact that there is more crossover in Peggy with the characters from Richards' Hildegarde Series, not just in the figure of Gertrude Merryweather (first seen in Hildegarde's Neighbors), but in the chapter devoted to describing Hildegarde's wedding to Roger Merryweather.

All in all, this was a strong follow-up to Three Margarets and Margaret Montfort - I even found the conclusion, despite its rather heavy-handed moralizing, poignant. I look forward to becoming better acquainted with the third and last Margaret Montfort, in Rita! ( )