Beverly Gray

Title page illustration of Beverly Gray

The Beverly Gray Mystery Stories, comprising 26 novels published between 1934 and 1955, were written by Clair Blank, pen name of Clarissa Mabel Blank Moyer. The series began as a series of school stories, and followed Beverly's progress through college, her various romances, and a career as a reporter before becoming strictly a mystery series.

Beverly is portrayed as an extraordinarily determined individual: "There was a driving ambition in her heart that would not let her idle her life away."

Clair Blank

File:1900 - Herbst Elementary School.jpg

Herbst Elementary School, which Blank attended before moving to Philadelphia

Clarissa Mabel Blank was born on August 5, 1915, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the only surviving child of Bessie Hickman and Edgar Henry Blank. Her father worked as a loom fixer at a silk mill, before finding employment at a clothing plant in Germantown; in 1920, 1930 and 1940, his occupation was listed as a "knitter." Clair attended Herbst Elementary School until she was about ten, when her family moved to the Olney section of Philadelphia. In contrast to her parents, who each completed nine years of schooling, at the age of 18 Clair had graduated from Olney High School with honors and seen the first four books in the Beverly Gray series published.

Blank attended the Peirce School of Business Administration and took a job in Philadelphia as a typist for the Keystone Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of the Atlantic Refining Company. By 1940 she had become a secretary there, and, still living with her parents, earned about $1,500 a year. She joined the American Women's Voluntary Services during World War II, driving Army officers around when they came to town. In 1941 George Elmer Moyer, whom Clair had known growing up in Allentown, moved to Philadelphia; the two married in 1943. Moyer attained the rank of sergeant while serving in the Army for two years, from February 1944 to February 1946, with a year in foreign service bookended by two six-month periods in domestic service. A "skilled welder," he was employed at the Budd Company after his military service, working on automobiles, tank construction, Chevrolet fenders, and plastics until his retirement. He also studied mechanical engineering, taking night classes at Drexel University. Blank gave birth to two sons, Robert G. and John C. Moyer, who were born in 1947 and 1953. She died on August 15, 1965; her husband died on February 27, 1998.

Other works

Blank wrote four published novels in addition to the Beverly Gray books. The first three, comprising the Adventure Girls Series, were published in 1936 by A. L. Burt, Blank's then publisher for the Beverly Gray series. Though later reprinted by Saalfield, no new Adventure Girls works were ever published. In 1940, Gramercy published Blank's one and only adult novel, Lover Come Back.

At least two manuscripts written by Blank went unpublished. In December 1941 she sent an unsolicited manuscript, Linda Ross at Hamilton, to Grosset & Dunlap. It was rejected for publication four months later, for "there seems to be a strong prejudice against starting a new mystery series with a school background." Blank also wrote an unpublished Beverly Gray novel to follow the final volume, Beverly Gray's Surprise. This work was never printed, as the series was cancelled in 1955. It is possible that a fourth Adventure Girls book was also written, to be titled The Adventure Girls on Vacation. This book was advertised at the end of the third and final book in the series; it is unclear whether Blank actually wrote it, or merely intended it, before the series was cancelled.

The Adventure Girls

A trilogy by default, The Adventure Girls series was published by A. L. Burt in 1936 and never continued. All works were copyrighted on April 27, 1936, the same day as Beverly Gray on a World Cruise. Although a fourth work was advertised at the end of the third, it was never published; where the Beverly Gray series survived and prospered following the publication of its four part "breeder set," The Adventure Girls series was unable to catch on. Purchased by Saalfield in 1937, the series was entirely shelved until being reissued in the fall of 1942. None of the books had their copyright renewed, and all have thus passed into the public domain.

#	Title	Copyright
1	The Adventure Girls at K Bar O*	1936
2	The Adventure Girls in the Air	1936
3	The Adventure Girls at Happiness House	1936
4†	(The Adventure Girls on Vacation)	N/A

* Errantly referred to as "K-Bar-O" on the dust jacket

^† Advertised by name at the end of the third book, but never published

The Adventure Girls at K Bar O

File:1936-39 See America poster.png

Ca. 1936–39 "See America" poster promoting National Parks tourism.

The Adventure Girls at K Bar O introduces the six titular heroines, to wit, Gale Howard, Carol Carter, Janet Gordon, Phyllis Elton, Madge Reynolds, and Valerie Wallace. Rising seniors at Marchton High School, the girls arrive at the K Bar O Ranch in northern Arizona at the invitation of Gale's cousin, Virginia Wilson. Virginia's father owns the ranch, "one of the biggest in the state," with "large" cattle herds "of the finest stock." A weeks-long camping trip on horseback pits the girls, along with Virginia's older brother Tom and ranch hand Jim, against a band of rustlers that has driven Mr. Wilson close to the point of "ruin." Seen as a product of its time, K Bar O reflects a depression-era focus on domestic tourism. Americans "spent nearly half a billion dollars abroad" in 1932, and it was feared that "America was failing to exploit its touristic potential." Stimulus programs targeted "a variety of road-building programs and highway improvements," while "a series of promotions" such as the "See America" campaign was launched "to encourage travel within the United States." By the time K Bar O was published in 1936, domestic tourism had become "the second biggest industry" in the United States. Blank certainly understood how western tourism fit into the zeitgeist of 1930s America. Looking out at the desert, Carol declares "I'm overwhelmed! . . . From now on I shall be a strong advocate of See America First!"

Scenery combines with adventure in K Bar O, but usually takes a back seat. Chapter nine sees the girls tour the Colorado River and Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, Monument Valley (and "El Capitan" therein), and the ruins of the Betatakin cliff dwellings. Throughout the rest of the book, various assemblages of girls foil a bank robbery (chapter 1); get uncomfortably close to a rattlesnake (chapter 3); get lost in a cave with the (recently escaped) bandits (chapter 5); narrowly avoid being turned into "pancakes" by a boulder (chapter 7); get kidnapped (chapters 7–8); get shot at, and shoot a bandit, during escape from said kidnapping (chapter 8); rope and kill an attacking cougar (chapter 9); get kidnapped again (chapter 11); survive a ride on a runaway horse (chapter 16); get kidnapped for a third time after the bandits escape for a second time (chapter 17); and avoid another bullet (chapter 18). Tom is not quite as lucky, with chapter 19 seeing him get shot in the arm as he and the cook, Loo Wong, capture the bandits for the third and final time. For their efforts the Adventure Girls are awarded $1,000 by the sheriff. This is promptly bestowed upon Bobby, a destitute boy of "about eight," such that he can pursue a formal education. Adventures and good deeds concluded, the girls depart back East.

For their part, the six cattle rustlers are barely distinguishable. Three are originally introduced as bank robbers (one "short" and "dark haired," a second "tall," the third an unseen getaway driver), before later being shown to be rustlers also. Three other bandits are later introduced; of the five that are white, one is named "Mike" and another "Shorty," but all remain almost entirely interchangeable. It is never made clear whether "Mike" and "Shorty" are the "short" and "tall" bank robbers, two of the other three bandits, or some combination thereof. The only bandit who is clearly differentiated is the sixth, Pedro. Referred to by name 25 times, as "the Mexican" or "a Mexican" 36 times, and as a "half-breed" or "the breed" 3 times, he is presented in exceptionally stereotyped fashion. Vicious and with a "slurring accent" (e.g., "I weel fin' you and wit' my knife I weel slash"), a "long scar ran down his cheek, making his profile even more repulsive than it would ordinarily have been."

The only other minority character in the book is similarly stereotyped. Loo Wong, "a very fine Chinese cook" employed by the ranch, is as simple as Pedro is vicious. Instructed by Gale and Valerie on how to make fudge (despite being a cook, "when it came to candy he wasn't so artful"), he "bowed low" to the girls with "hands hidden in voluptuous sleeves" and "the grin of a delighted child on his face." More overtly, Loo Wong has a "yellow face" with "oriental pride," and a locution marked by the addition of unnecessary 'l's. "'Missy alle same fline cook,'" he proclaims before the fudge-making lesson. "'You teach Loo Wong?'" Although generally referred to by his proper name ("Loo Wong" 45 times, and "Wong" 6 times), in five instances he is instead "the Chinaman." As with the term "half-breed," in 1936 "Chinaman," while still seeing contemporary usage, was declining in popularity as it became more commonly thought of as a slur.

The Adventure Girls in the Air

The Adventure Girls in the Air picks up with the six girls in their senior year at Marchton High School. The book involves two distinct narrative arcs. The first nine chapters involve the attempt by Brent Stockton, a pilot and inventor, to perfect a new airplane motor, and the attempts by enemies to steal his designs. Chapters ten through sixteen detail a plane crash resulting in Gale's disappearance, amnesia, and rediscovery. The book then concludes with five chapters narrating the end of the school year and preparations for college.

The novel opens on the beach, where the girls and three male companions—Bruce Latimer, David Kimball, and Peter Arnold—watch a "shining red monoplane" doing aerobatics above the Atlantic Ocean. After it crashes on nearby Cloudy Island (chapter 1), Gale, Phyllis and Bruce rush over, discovering a pilot with a sprained ankle and desire to remain for some weeks, anonymously, in a log cabin on the island. Brent Stockton, as it turns out, is a pilot and inventor of about "twenty-three" who is developing a "more or less foolproof" airplane motor that will be more fuel efficient and "most economical." An unknown competitor has attempted three times to steal Brent's plans, including "a bold attempt on [his] life." The following chapters involve more such attempts, leading to Bruce being punched (chapter 4) and the airplane hangar being subject to a bomb attempt (chapter 6) and an armed break-in by two men (chapter 7). These attempts are to no avail. Brent's plane wins a race, setting him up to "sell his patent to the [United States] government" and accept a job in Washington, D.C. with the Transcontinental Air Line Company. His enemies, meanwhile, "after that one last attempt, seemed to fade into obscurity." Except for one glancing reference at the end of the ninth chapter ("The plane had come through and defeated all Brent's enemies"), they are inexplicably never mentioned again.

The disappearance of Brent's enemies, and their complete lack of mention thereafter, brings about a dramatic plot shift. Brent flies Gale and her father, a "successful" lawyer, to visit a client in Quebec. Gale and Brent return the next day while Mr. Howard stays behind for another night. Despite being "one of the best pilots there is," Brent forgets to fill up on gas before leaving Quebec and crashes in the woods (chapter 10). He leaves to get help for a trapped and unconscious Gale, who, it develops, now suffers from amnesia. She is discovered and taken in by François and Antoinette Bouchard, French Canadian siblings living in a small "farmhouse" in the woods. While Gale's friends search frantically for her, the Bouchards are unable to alert the world to her presence. As François explains it, "I injured my foot [splitting logs], and I have not been able to go to the village to notify the authorities. My sister knows very little about such things." This does not prevent Antoinette from taking Gale into the village; rather, she simply avoids telling anyone about Gale's background, and apparently nobody thinks to ask who the stranger is. Gale is eventually discovered (chapter 13), but this still leaves time for her to spend a night lost in the woods (chapter 15) and have her memory restored by a fall off a 20-foot cliff (chapter 16). Once back in Marchton, Gale accepts Brent's proposal at Senior Prom (chapter 19), and the girls trick Phyllis's "positive tyrant" of an aunt into allowing Phyllis to attend college at Briarhurst with the other five (chapter 20). The next and final chapter sees Gale and Bruce trapped on Cloudy Island during a storm, and the book ends on an anti-climactic note as they await rescuers from the mainland.

The Adventure Girls in the Air was written extremely quickly, possibly in less than three weeks. A January 17, 1936 letter from A. L. Burt acknowledges receipt of the manuscript for The Adventure Girls at K Bar O, and asks "how soon could we have two additional stories . . . ?" 25 days later, on February 11, another letter declared The Adventure Girls in the Air "an absolutely interesting story, and especially delightful [is] the description of life in the Canadian woods." This breakneck pace perhaps explains some of the plot holes and oversights in the story. The book features a series of narrative arcs, which are concluded and forgotten in succession; Brent's enemies disappear halfway through the book, and, after Gale's amnestic saga, the book turns to the more mundane aspects of high school life. Lines are repeated, and sometimes contradict each other. "The wheels were sticking grotesquely up into the air" is used twice, verbatim, to describe the plane crash in the first chapter and that in the tenth; incidentally, this line is itself taken almost verbatim from Blank's 1934 work Beverly Gray, Senior, where a car crash leaves "the four wheels sticking grotesquely up into the air." A contradiction arises when Gale attests to Brent's prodigious aviation skills in the eighth chapter, asking "[d]idn't he fly that anti-toxin up to Alaska to those Eskimos last year and save hundreds of lives?" Three chapters later, Peter suggests the pilot was someone else: “Airplanes have saved hundreds of lives. Look at the time that aviator flew that serum to those Eskimos up north.” Meanwhile, Gale spends much of chapter 18, "Studies," attempting to learn poetry, which previously "awoke no interest in her whatever." Yet despite the fact that before this point "[s]he had not liked any of the poets," when talking about love with Brent in chapter six she quotes the poem How Do I Love Thee?. "'[D]id you ever read Elizabeth Browning?'" Gale asks Brent. "'She says—"I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life!" I always thought—maybe—I should love someone like that some day.'" Blank's trilogy was slated "for early spring publication," and it was written on a tight schedule. After The Adventure Girls in the Air was reviewed on February 11, A. L. Burt asked for the third volume to be ready "a little sooner" than the first week of March. The trilogy was evidently ready by the end of April; it seems that editing, by both author and publisher, was de-emphasized to make this happen.

The Adventure Girls at Happiness House

The Adventure Girls at Happiness House is the third and final published work in this series. The book finds the six girls at Briarhurst College, where they have just arrived to begin their first year. The college has an unpopular new dean, and the main plot revolves around the efforts of an unknown individual to hurt or possibly kill her. A subplot center on Phyllis, who breaks her leg and needs an operation to be able to walk again, and on her unknown father, who is discovered to be a famous surgeon. The book's title refers to the name of the Omega Chi sorority house where Gale and Phyllis live.

After arriving at Briarhurst College, the girls soon learn that newly instated Dean Travis is an unpopular force on campus. Opposition to her plans, which include "new laboratories for the Chemistry classes, a new organ for the chapel, stables and horses to teach the girls riding and a few other such things," seems to be highest among the girls who enjoyed "special privileges" under the old dean, but at least one person is particularly violent. Gale's introduction to the new dean comes when she saves her canoe, rope cut and set adrift, from going over a waterfall (chapter 2). Suspicious events continue. Chapter 4 alone sees the dean sent poisoned candy, have her curtains set on fire, and, with Gale, narrowly avoid a vial of acid tossed from a window. Two chapters later, college funds are reported stolen from the safe and a typewritten note warning the girls "Do not interfere in affairs that are none of your concern" is slipped under Gale's door.

A number of characters are initially suggested as suspicious. "I heard that one of the Chemistry teachers is sending the Dean candy and flowers," says Janet, and Phyllis tries to draw a link between a professor and the poisoned candy: “Chemistry Professor, acid, poisoned candy—they all fit together.” Gale exerts her efforts by turning "all the girls into Sherlock Holmeses" to find the typewriter used to create the warning note. Coming back to her room one day, she discovers her room to have been ransacked. “Someone was hunting for that note, I’ll wager," she opines. The mystery deepens when Gale tests the dean's own typewriter and finds it to produce type identical to that on the warning note. Meanwhile, while walking on campus at night she is surprised by a "man’s figure" with "hat pulled low . . . and a long overcoat with collar turned up completely." Seeing Gale, the man flees.

As the mystery continues, Phyllis breaks her leg during the Freshman-Junior field hockey game and spends weeks convalescing in the college infirmary. Her healing is interrupted and her leg "crushed" some five weeks later when she saves Gale and the dean from a pile of falling lumber. (Although this incident is initially described as suspicious, Gale later declares that "I believe that really was an accident.") At first this is cast as a minor setback. "I am afraid your friend is right where she was five weeks ago," the doctor tells Gale. Phyllis's leg was "[n]ot too badly crushed but enough to undo the healing of these past weeks." Yet this prognosis is suddenly and inexplicably reversed in the very next chapter, entitled "Bad News." The doctor's new diagnosis is that Phyllis "will never walk again," at least "not as other girls," without an operation by "the best [surgeon] in the East." Gale accepts this news at face value and "seeks funds from Phyllis's aunt to pay for the operation. Described most kindly as "aloof" and "stern," and most damningly as "a female Simon Legree," she initially refuses to help without explanation. Christmas break brings more opportunities for Gale's overtures, however, and eventually Mrs. Fields divulges that she is not truly Phyllis's aunt. Her tale is, fittingly, "a story as incredible and fantastic as any fiction":

"Years ago I was secretary to a Doctor. He had a wife and a little girl. One day his wife was killed in a bad railroad accident. Before she died she made me promise to stay with Phyllis. The Doctor was heart-broken and partly to forget, partly to further his ambition, he decided to go to Europe to study surgery. He left his little girl with me and enough money to keep her until he should return and longer. . . . I lived in his house with Phyllis for two years. Then one day I received a wire that he was returning. I thought of all sorts of things—that I might be discharged—I might never see Phyllis again. I was lonely—I had no family, and I had grown to love the little girl like my own daughter. . . . I brought Phyllis here. I've hidden her all these years . . . He[r father] returned to Europe after a few years—when he didn't find us. I've always been afraid someone would discover who she was—that is why I didn't want Phyllis to make friends—I was afraid."

So begins the effort to find Phyllis's father, revealed to be the celebrated surgeon Doctor Philip Elton. Brent Stockton, Gale's fiancé, resolves to lead this search, for, famous as the surgeon is, his location remains unknown.

Before the search for Doctor Elton can get far, Dean Travis's enemy is unmasked by Gale. Visiting the chemistry department "to see Professor Lukens about our Chemistry assignment," she observes the dean's secretary, Miss Horton, taking a vial from a locked cabinet. Gale follows her back to the dean's office and catches her mixing the substance into a glass of water and telling someone over the phone that "Sarah—you will be Dean of Briarhurst someday." Confronted, the secretary confesses. "Yes, I meant to poison [the dean]," she says. "'If it hadn't been for her my sister would be Dean of Briarhurst. She worked years to have the position, she studied in Europe, everything to fit herself for this. Then [Dean Travis] came along . . . and [was] appointed. It nearly broke my sister's heart.'" She then adds as an aside that she was also the one who stole money from the safe. "I meant to put it back," she says, "but I couldn't right away. Now you will probably send me to prison." The dean, despite nearly having been murdered, is forgiving. She "smiled in sympathetic understanding. 'No, but if you return the money, pack your things and leave tonight, we will forget the whole incident.'" The mystery is thus solved, and indeed forgotten. Left unresolved is both the question of whether (and if so, why) Miss Horton really was earlier poisoned by candy intended for the dean, and also the identity of the mysterious man in "a long overcoat." As to the latter, "we will probably never know," Gale declares. Miss Horton "must have had someone with her."

With the discovery of Miss Horton acting in flagrante, the plot turns once again to Phyllis, her need for an operation, and the search for her father. His location is partly determined as soon as the girls leave Dean Travis's office for their sorority house. Passing a radio, they happen to hear a relevant bulletin: “Flash! An unconfirmed report has just been received that Doctor Philip Elton, the world renowned surgeon, is lost in the jungles of Brazil. Doctor Elton sailed from Liverpool, England, a month ago for a vacation cruise on his yacht, the Tornado." Brent calls to say that he and David Kimball, a friend from Marchton, are flying to Brazil to join "a searching party" sent by the "South American government" (whatever that is). A few pages later Gale receives "a thick letter from Brent" declaring the doctor found. As with Miss Horton and her mysterious accomplice, Doctor Elton's Brazilian adventure quickly passes from all mention with no details ever related of his time lost in the wilderness.

Doctor Elton is flown to Briarhurst once he is found. The necessary operation is performed, Phyllis is informed of the "fantastic fairy story" of her upbringing, and familial harmony is restored. The final chapters relate the more day to day aspects of life at Briarhurst College. Janet is thrown from a horse (chapter 16), Gale pretends to drown to coax Phyllis from her wheelchair (chapter 17), and Phyllis rescues horses from a burning stable, collapses, and is rescued in turn by Gale (chapter 19). The final chapter sees the girls after their final classes discussing summer plans, for which Doctor Elton has offered the use of his yacht. No fourth book was ever published, but The Adventure Girls at Happiness House closes with a promise for more adventure:

"Suppose we leave the Adventure Girls here, discussing their plans for the summer. We shall join them again for more excitement in The Adventure Girls on Vacation."

Characters in The Adventure Girls

The Adventure Girls at K Bar O			The Adventure Girls in the Air			The Adventure Girls at Happiness House
Gale Howard	Adventure Girls
Carol Carter
Janet Gordon
Phyllis Elton
Madge Reynolds
Valerie Wallace
Virginia Wilson	Gale's cousin		Brent Stockton	Pilot/inventor		Brent Stockton
Henry Wilson	K Bar O owner		Bruce Latimer	Friend of girls		Bruce Latimer†
Mrs. Wilson*	Virginia's mother		David Kimball	Friend of girls		David Kimball
Tom	Virginia's brother		Peter Arnold	Friend of girls		Doctor Philip Elton	Phyllis's father
Jim	K Bar O cowboy		Stubby	Brent's mechanic		(Unnamed)*	Nurse at operation
Loo Wong	K Bar O cook		Melba Fields	Phyllis's aunt		Melba Fields
Lem	Lazy K cowboy		Minnie*	Mrs. Fields's maid		Minnie†
Lem's partner	Lazy K cowboy		(Unnamed)	Enemy 1		Mrs. Grayson*	Sorority house mother
Sheriff Colman	Sheriff		(Unnamed)*	Enemy 2		Adele Stevens	Sorority president
Bert	"Special deputy"		Janet's sister*	(Younger)		(Unnamed)	Sorority senior
Hank Cordy†	In sheriff's posse		David's father†			(Unnamed) (2)*	Sorority juniors
(Unnamed) (3+)*	Deputies		Mr. Howard	Gale's father		Marcia Marlette	Sorority junior
Bobby	Poor boy		Mrs. Howard	Gale's mother		Ulrich 'Ricky' Allen	Sorority freshman
Bobby's mother†			Dr. Miller*	Howard family doctor		Gloria Manson	Sorority freshman
Pedro	Bandit		Miss Relso	Gale's English teacher		Miss Relso†
Mike	Bandit		Coach Garis†	Football coach		Professor Harris†	Former dean
"Shorty"	Bandit		Mark Sherwin*	Football player		Dean Travis	New dean
(Unnamed)	Bandit		Antoinette Bouchard	Québécois woman		(Unnamed)*	Dean's maid
(Unnamed)	Bandit		François Bouchard	Antoinette's brother		Miss Horton	Dean's secretary
(Unnamed)	Bandit		Toto	Bouchards' dog		Sarah†	Miss Horton's sister
Bank teller*	Shot in robbery		Brent's chauffeur*	In Quebec		Doctor Norcot	School physician
2 unnamed men*	Detain robbers		"Frenchman"	In Québécois village		Professor Lukens	Chemistry teacher
The Johnsons†	Family in Coxton					Professor Powell*	Asst. chem teacher
"Liza"	Girls' car					(Unnamed)†	Chemistry teacher
						(Unnamed)†	Chemistry teacher
						(Unnamed)	Gymnastics teacher
						(Unnamed)*	Equestrian instructor
						(Unnamed)*	School janitor
						(Unnamed)†	School caretaker
						(Unnamed)	Stable attendant 1
						(Unnamed)†	Stable attendant 2
						(Unnamed)*	School nurse
						(Unnamed)	Briarhurst bus driver
						White Star	Briarhurst horse
						"Lizzie"	Briarhurst College bus

* No speaking lines in book

^† Mentioned in book, but does not appear or speak

Lover Come Back

Lover Come Back dust jacket (Gramercy, 1940)

Representing Blank's short lived foray into adult literature, Lover Come Back was published in 1940 by Gramercy. It does not appear to have ever been reprinted in novel form, although notifications in The Pittsburgh Press suggest that it was printed in a "Complete Novel Section" therein on April 13, 1941. As a result of this limited print run, Lover Come Back is Blank's scarcest published novel.

Lover Come Back echoes the Beverly Gray series in both plot and writing style. Just as Beverly Gray is a successful screenwriter, playwright, novelist and reporter for the Herald Tribune, Beverly Norcot shares the same vocations (and success) and reports for "the Times" (likely The New York Times). Lover Come Back features a plot driven by events and coincidence. "In its series of mini-climaxes strung together, the book is a soap opera." The book's "major ingredients" consist of:

Dust Jacket Blurb

Gordon Norcot had been so generous during his life that when he died his sole assets consisted of two lovely daughters. Phyllis continued her schooling via the scholarship route, and Beverly took a position on the Times. Tony Andrews sent the young reporter orchids and gave her a taste of the life she had left behind. But young David Garrett offered romance, and she gladly prepared to give up the orchids for it.

Then David misunderstood Beverly's feeling for Tony and left for South America. She knew fame and fortune thereafter, but she continued to keep her heart free for the man who had sailed away.

Clair Blank, Lover Come Back

"3 auto accidents (2 human, 1 canine)
2 shootings
1 emergency appendectomy
3 witnessing[s] by jealous suitor of girlfriend embracing another man
3 reversals of fortune (1 downward, 2 upward)
2 sudden disappearances of boyfriends out of the country
4 unexpected reunions of same with girls
numerous reversals of feeling between lovers
frequent dashing around by characters in cars, ships, and a plane
multiple rendezvous at society parties [and] swanky nightclubs"

Beverly Gray, too, leads "such a life of adventure as would tax the resources of any soap opera heroine." Across the series, Beverly is "kidnapped no less than twenty-six times, attacked by wild animals seven times, trapped in three violent storms, imperiled by three earthquakes, shot at twice (wounded once)." She also suffers "a car crash, flowing lava, a flood, a drugging, a rampaging fire, a plane crash and other assorted tribulations."

Books

#	Title	Copyright
1	Beverly Gray, Freshman	1934
2	Beverly Gray, Sophomore	1934
3	Beverly Gray, Junior	1934
4	Beverly Gray, Senior	1934
5	Beverly Gray's Career	1935
(6)*	Beverly Gray at the World's Fair	1935
6/7	Beverly Gray on a World Cruise	1936
7/8	Beverly Gray in the Orient	1937
8	Beverly Gray on a Treasure Hunt	1938
9	Beverly Gray's Return	1939
10	Beverly Gray, reporter	1940
11	Beverly Gray's Romance	1941
12	Beverly Gray's Quest	1942
13	Beverly Gray's Problem	1943
14	Beverly Gray's Adventure	1944
15	Beverly Gray's Challenge	1945
16	Beverly Gray's Journey	1946
17	Beverly Gray's Assignment	1947
18	Beverly Gray's Mystery	1948
19	Beverly Gray's Vacation	1949
20	Beverly Gray's Fortune	1950
21	Beverly Gray's Secret	1951
22	Beverly Gray's Island Mystery	1952
23	Beverly Gray's Discovery	1953
24	Beverly Gray's Scoop	1954
25	Beverly Gray's Surprise	1955

*This title was dropped from the series in 1938

Beverly Gray, Freshman

With a last desperate effort, Beverly stumbled out into the night.

Beverly Gray, Freshman, is the first book in the Beverly Gray series. Published concurrently in 1934 with Sophomore, Junior, and Senior, it introduces Beverly as a freshman at Vernon College. College life and excitement fills up the majority of the work, but leaves time for a winter break interlude in which Beverly becomes lost in a snowstorm and is kidnapped by a "hermit women."

Beverly makes her first appearance as she steps off the train carrying her to Vernon College from her hometown, Renville. Anne White, "a dainty blonde girl" and childhood friend, accompanies her. Both are "young, intelligent, and actively modern" girls of "nineteen" who "had wanted a more modern college, co-ed preferred," but were made to follow in their mothers' footsteps instead. For Anne, this burden is never suggested to be more than simple matriculation and graduation; for Beverly, whose mother is described as "the patron saint of Vernon College," the legacy is more burdensome. Helen Chadwick Gray is "the symbol of all that is good and beautiful," a "wonderful" and "fine, noble woman" who is not only "the college heroine" and the "glorious ideal of womanhood" "love[d] and respect[ed]" by "everyone connected in any way with Vernon College," but also "the personification of graciousness, loyalty, and courage." To the extent that any tangible qualities or achievements are mentioned, "her father construct[ed] Chadwick Hall for Vernon."

The two girls settle into life at Vernon College, where Beverly's paternal surname affords her relative anonymity as she attempts to make good "on her own merits, not under another's colors." Three of the other four freshmen in Chadwick Hall—Lenora Whitehill, Rosalie Arnold, and Anne's roommate Lois Mason—prove friendly, while Beverly's roommate Shirley Parker is "aloof" and "patronizing." These girls variously join Beverly in the seven chapters preceding winter break, where they break curfew to view a movie (chapter 2: "She was going to break a rule!"); are caught (chapter 3); are "initiated" on Halloween when the sophomores and juniors put them "though various antics such as picking pennies out of a dish of flour with their teeth, rescuing a knife submerged in a tub of water, also with their teeth, and equally difficult tasks," then compel them though a haunted house (chapter 4); gain "revenge" by crashing the junior and sophomore "masquerade dance" and winning the costume contest (chapter 5); scrape through an "important" geometry examination administered by "Professor Adams, old Eagle-eye, as she was fondly (?) called by her students" (Chapter 6); and come back from a 17–22 halftime deficit to beat the juniors 27–22 in basketball (chapter 7). Beverly, "the star player" in high school, is equal to the task at college, where in games she "was over the floor like streaked lightning [to appear] at the right spot just at the crucial moment to wrest victory from defeat."

Winter break sees Beverly and Anne reunite the "Lucky Circle," a collection of eight childhood friends: the two Vernon girls, Jim Stanton and Tommy Chandler, both "in their third year at Yale," Gordon Brewster and Boyd Marshall, both "freshmen at Harvard," and Joan Roberts and Barbara West, who both "had gone to Smith." These halcyon days are cut short when Beverly is kidnapped while returning from Cedarbook, "a camping spot about seven miles north of Renville." As the group returns home, they become disoriented by a "raging blizzard" and take "the wrong road." The boys head in search of "familiar landmarks" and Beverly heads in search of the boys. She sprains her ankle, catapults "headlong" down a hill, and awakes to the sight of a "woman, easily over six feet in height, clad in tattered clothing and with wild, disordered hair." The "hermit woman of Dunnsville," as she is generally known, or "Big Bertha," as she calls herself, is an "insane" woman with a homicidal bent. "Once, when the authorities had sent guards to take her to an institution, she had killed one of the guards. That had been years ago, and since then the authorities had tried time and time again to catch her, but every time, with a vicious cunning, she had eluded them." Bertha believes Beverly to be her dead daughter, whose death ("from what Beverly did not know") "had strengthened the woman's insanity and caused her to look with suspicion and hate on every other living person." Bertha thus sets about "treating Beverly's ankle" while muttering "incoherent phrases": "Couldn't take you away—kill 'em—hurts, does it, dearie?—Big Bertha'll fix it—my girl—crazy, am I? . . . Never be like your mother—big and strong, I am—strong as an ox, the village folks say—I'll kill 'em—take my girl away—but you've come back—Bertha won't let 'em hurt you—nobody'll find us—hid away here for a year—nobody comes up here in the hills."

Beverly's eventual rescue is delayed by a bear attack. During the second night of her captivity she sneaks out while Bertha sleeps, attempting to use "the Star of Bethlehem" to navigate her way home. She falls through snow and earth into a bear trap while crossing a clearing in the woods, and, following a prolonged struggle to pull herself free, sinks into "a half doze" on the surface and emerges to the "hot breath on her cheek" of a "big black bear." "Would these terrible adventures never cease? First had been the blizzard, then the hermit woman, then the bear pit, and now—the bear!" Curious at first, "Mr. Bruin" becomes threatening when Beverly tries to get away and swats her with "an unexpected blow from his paw." Before any more harm can be done, Bertha arrives with hunting knife in hand. So ensues a "battle between two wild primitive creatures." "Over and over in the snow they rolled. The strong arm of the hermit woman shot in and out, the knife dancing against the black shaggy coat as she tried to keep the bear's teeth from sinking into her throat." Bertha emerges unscathed from the "long and bloody struggle"; a "scowl of malevolence" on her face, she escorts Beverly back to the cabin. Beverly is held little longer, however, waking waking from a nap to the sight of her father and Jim through the window. They hurry towards the cabin as Beverly "leap[s] for the door," this time bolting it behind her. Beverly is taken home, and when Bertha is next heard from, it is to say that she has "escaped the authorities again." Alerted by John Gray, "the sheriff and his men arrived at the little hut [to find] the door hanging ajar and the woman gone."

Beverly leads a "pampered" existence for the remainder of winter break, which soon yields to the spring term at Vernon College. There Shirley remains as incorrigible as before, rebuffing all attempts at and repeatedly "sneaking out late at night." Following her one night, Beverly discovers that she is meeting with a man named Tom. "So Shirley had come out to meet a man! Beverly half turned to go back to Chadwick Hall. It was no business of hers if Shirley wanted to meet a man. But she didn't turn back." Shirley laments her life at Vernon to Tom, who exhorts her to run away with him. "I'm sick of everything—sick of college, sick of studies, of seeing the same people every day," Shirley declares. "I have everything money can buy. Yet I've never been truly happy in my life. [My parents] were too busy to bother with their little girl." Tom, who admits that he "was born on the wrong side of the railroad tracks," proposes they "go to New York. I'll take you to theaters, dances. . . . Travel to far countries, see gay lights, hear music. . . . I can show you how to live—really live, not merely exist, as you are doing here." Tom overcomes her objections, and Shirley "miserably" agrees to go the next night. Beverly gets together the next afternoon with Anne, Lenora, Lois and Rosalie to decide the best way to change Shirley's mind, eventually settling on direct confrontation. The resulting struggle, over the key to the room which Beverly has pocketed, causes Beverly to slip on the "polished hardwood" floors, "striking her head against the desk" and falling unconscious. Hesitating for a moment, Shirley "pick[s] up her coat and her suitcase," and lets "herself out into the night." Six pages later Shirley returns, "relief" and "the longing for sympathy" in her "gray eyes," and slips into bed.

Shirley is a new woman upon her return. She starts "being friendly with the other girls," accompanying them to on trips to town and trying out for the part of Juliet in the freshman play. Yet if no longer cold towards Beverly, she "remain[s] aloof." Her aloofness dissipates only when a fire in Chadwick Hall, deus ex machina, allows Beverly to come to her rescue and claim her friendship. "A dull red haze" hangs above the hall as Beverly returns from a late dinner, and she soon realizes that Shirley, "a very heavy sleeper," has slept through the attendant pandemonium. Beverly rushes inside—"Would this girl who had gone so gallantly and bravely to rescue her comrade succeed, or would she too be trapped? She was almost certainly doomed to failure."—and spends a chapter battling heat, smoke and fire before ultimately carrying Shirley's unconscious form outside, illustrated on the dust jacket, and collapsing. For the third time in the book, Beverly wakes up from misadventure to someone tending to her wounds. This time she is in the college infirmary, where her mother, eyes "wet with proud and thankful tears," watches over her. Shirley visits to make amends ("'Oh Beverly!' the other sobbed. 'Can you ever forgive me?'"), and the two resolve to be friends.

The remainder of Beverly's first year passes quickly. Shirley, playing Juliet, shows herself to be "a born actress," giving "the rôle a sweetness and dignity that were wistfully appealing. No one could have played the part with greater perfection;" "some day she might be as famous as Katharine Cornell or even Ethel Barrymore." Her performance attracts the attention of Andrew T. Crandall, "president of the Forest Theater Guild," who asks her to join the company over the summer. Shirley declines, with a promise to be in touch after graduation. Tom was also in the audience, but is coldly rebuffed when he again attempts to woo Shirley away. He returns as Beverly and Shirley walk back to their dormitory, confronting them with a revolver and demanding "ten thousand dollars" from Shirley's father, "the great Parker of Riverside Drive and Park Avenue," lest he sell newspapers the "story of the rich Shirley Parker who was going to run away with a thief." Shirley calls his bluff, Beverly whacks his wrist with "a heavy stick," Tom leaves, and Shirley keeps the revolver "as a memento of how foolish I once was." All that remains is a going-away party at "Weller's, the favorite ice-cream salon of the college students." Beverly's "closest friends" and "Miss Wilder, the dean of the college," join together for a fête in Beverly's honor. The dean leads the toast:

"At the beginning of this term a young lady came to our college. Her mother had been here before her and everyone connected in any way with Vernon College loves and respects Helen Chadwick. Her daughter came to me and asked that her identity as the daughter of my friend be kept secret. Not that she was in any way ashamed of the fact, but in fear that she might not prove worthy of her mother's name. She knew with what awe and expectancy the daughter of the college heroine would be met. She desired to be known only as Beverly Gray, another of the many students. If she made many friends, as she has done, she wanted it to be on her own merits, not under another's colors. I need not tell you that Beverly Gray has proven herself more than the daughter of Helen Chadwick.

In sports and in studies Beverly ranks among the finest. But more than that, in a crucial moment she proved to the world that she has the great courage given only to a few. Courage to risk her life for another, and so avert what might have been the saddest of tragedies. Utterly regardless of what the consequences to herself might be, she dared all she had to save the life of her friend. Surely, as the Great Teacher said, 'Greater love hath no man.'

What she did will long remain glorious in the eyes of we who saw it. We have no adequate way of expressing how we felt toward this brave girl, but I am sure she understands."

Beverly is presented with "a dainty, sparkling wrist watch" as "a small token" of "gratitude and friendship," engraved "To Beverly Gray, for extraordinary heroism." Thank yous and good byes follow, and Freshman is concluded.

Beverly Gray, Sophomore

The two girls ran all the way from Chadwick Hall.

Beverly Gray, Sophomore is the second work in the Beverly Gray series, and parallels the trajectory of college life and excitement set out in the first. The book further explores the mystery that the series would become known for. Beverly spends most of her year investigating a seemingly haunted mansion used by drug smugglers. She also manages to foil a jewel theft over winter break, survive a plane crash, and solve the theft of a set of history examination questions.

Sophomore picks up where Freshman left off; now in their second year at Vernon College, the six main girls reunite in Beverly's room. The first order of business for Beverly, Shirley, Anne, Lenora, Lois, and Rosalie is to bond themselves into an ad hoc sorority. This they term the "Alpha Delta Sorority," choosing a Greek name as a "suitable" appellation for a society meant "to last years from now"; "Sunshine Club," "Mischief Makers," "Vernon Girls," and "Rainbow Girls" are first shot down in search of "something more dignified." The "aim" of the society is "[a]nything that is fun . . . or entertaining," although it practice it serves more as a lasting reference point for the girls' continuing friendship.

Beverly soon joins "the staff of the Comet," the college paper. "Her position as a reporter on the Comet was the first step in the literary career she planned for herself. After college she had dreams of being a reporter on a large newspaper; perhaps eventually she might be a foreign correspondent, reporting stories from Europe, Asia, the South Seas—who knew?" The Comet's editor, Alison Cox, assigns Beverly an investigation into "strange lights and figures moving about" in the abandoned Horler Mansion. Built by Andrew Horler in 1870 and auctioned after his son died without heir, the mansion was "put up for auction" and sold to "an old man" and "figure of mystery" who "lived the secluded life of a hermit." Rumors spread that he had "a large chest of gold and precious loot that had been taken off a pirate ship," until "one dark and stormy night, a marauder broke in"; the next day, "an inquisitive neighbor found the front door swinging open" and "the body of the old man . . . with a knife sticking right through his heart." The mansion faded into legend and ruin, until the observation of strange activities at night resurrects rumors of its haunting.

Ghosts prove elusive at the Horler Mansion, but sinister figures are easier to find. In her first trip to the house Beverly encounters a man, hair "straggling and unkempt," shirt "dirty" and "trousers creaseless," with a "long, evil-looking scar [running] from the point of his chin to the tip of his left ear." The man warns Beverly of "ghosts," introduces himself as "the head ghost" and escorts her "roughly" to the door. A back window gives Beverly reentry, during which she find "pink packets filled with a finely ground powder" in the attic. Beverly abandons her find—without taking a sample—to make it back in time for dinner, and when she returns three days later "all the boxes [are] gone." The mystery deepens when various Alpha Delta girls observe "a skeleton dance" on successive nights, where ten skeletons move in "queer jerky steps" about two lanterns in the mansion while "making chill-provoking groans and murmurs." Beverly's next trip inside the house finds her face to face with a "handsome" "younger man" with "laughing blue eyes," "dazzling smile," and "a tanned face beneath a mop of rich chestnut hair," carrying "an aviator's helmet and goggles in his hand." Larry remains mysterious to Beverly, who can't figure out whether he is one of the "ghosts" or not, yet he quickly becomes an interest of her affection. On Halloween he crashes the sophomore dance—the same one that Beverly herself crashed the previous year—in a Robin Hood costume; claiming to be there to "ask questions about the Horler Mansion," he manages to capture two dances with Beverly in the process.

On Beverly's next visit to the Horler Mansion, she encounters another sinister character. Through the window a "face appeared—and such a face! Beverly pressed the back of her hand across her mouth to keep from screaming aloud. Small, slanting, bead-like eyes peered in at her. The thin cruel lips parted in a toothless grimace. The black hair was straggled and matted over the yellow face. A Chinaman!" Beverly continues exploring when the man does not reappear, but upon making her way back to the attic, is locked in by "the head ghost." "We'll let you stay up here and keep the rats company for a while," he warns her. "Maybe it will teach you not to butt into other people's business." Larry arrives to pull her out through the skylight, and the two make their way "slowly, slipping, sliding," across the roof, through a window, and out of the house. Two days later it is Lenora who does not return from the mansion, and Beverly and Shirley who go after her. In the scene theoretically depicted on the dust jacket they run from "Chadwick Hall the Second"—built to replace the Chadwick Hall which burned the previous year—to the mansion, where they find Lenora unconscious in the cellar. They determine that she tripped on a "broken step and fell," while Larry happens on by and aids the girls as they take Lenora back to campus.

Thanksgiving comes, and with it a football game between Yale and Jackson College. Beverly and Anne are at the Yale Bowl to witness Jim Stanton, a childhood friend and member of the Lucky Circle "in love with Beverly ever since he was a boy in the third grade at school and she in first," score on an 85-yard interception return, and Tommy Chandler, another childhood friend and Lucky Circle member, kick the go-ahead extra point. Yale wins 7–6, and at that night's "big dance in honor of the two football teams," Jim "quite suddenly [bends] over and kisse[s]" Beverly. "'Why, Jim!'" she exclaims, "taken utterly aback by surprise." Jim defends himself, "'[p]lease Beverly, don't be angry. You looked so sweet and—lovely that—I had to see if you were real!'" The chapter concludes, as does all mention of Jim for the rest of Sophomore. The girls return to Vernon College to hear that an "unidentified man was shot . . . close to the Horler Mansion" while they were away. Although an investigating "policeman insists he saw a Chinaman poking about in the front room," when he entered the room "there was no one there."

Before the mysteries surrounding Horler Mansion can be investigated any further, the six Alpha Delpha girls decamp to Shirley's New York home for the Christmas holidays. The girls are met at Grand Central Station by the Parkers' "liveried chauffeur," and are awed by the "grandeur" of her home. Shirley's parents prove "too taken up, her father with his business and her mother with society"; her father briefly thanks Beverly for saving Shirley the previous year before excusing himself with "important work to do," while her mother "discharges [the chauffeur] about three times a week" for minor grievances. Time is taken up by sightseeing and a variety of parties thrown by members of "society's four hundred. . . . The girls were overwhelmed by the importance of the famous writers, politicians, and society folk that they met." At one of these events Beverly is approached by Charlie Blaine; she a first year reporter on her college newspaper, and he a reporter for the Herald Tribune, they find themselves on similar footing. "Her own desire to become a newspaper writer provided a basis for their friendship, and they found much to talk about. She told him about her position on the college paper, and he provided interesting experiences he had had as a reporter." The following afternoon he takes the girls sightseeing, first to the Empire State Building and then to Chinatown. "Down crooked streets and past darkened alleyways where crime rears its ugly head, through smoky Chinese restaurants, Charlie Blaine showed them how squalidly the people of the underworld lived." Not only do the girls see a man who "has committed two murders [and] is only twenty-three" resting "indolently in a doorway," they happen upon the "head ghost" from the Horler Mansion. The man is "Pete," Charlie explains, "commonly known as a smuggler."

Beverly has just enough time to thwart a jewel theft before heading back to Vernon. Charlie Blaine calls two days after his tour of Manhattan, inviting Beverly to a ball in honor of the "Duke of Abernethy" to help "gather the material" for "the society column in the morning paper." The ball features "a couple of counts . . . a lord or two [and] maybe even a prince" in addition to one Mrs. Cathelwaite with "her famous emerald, worth about a quarter of a million dollars" and one Madame deFreigne with "a diamond set in a bracelet that is worth a half million." Beverly dances with "the Comte de Bourgeine, of the French nobility," who seems particularly "fond of jewels," and soon after Charlie claims the next dance a "woman's scream [rings] out"; Madame deFreigne's bracelet has been stolen "in the center of the dance floor, amid a hundred people or more." Beverly sees the count slip away, and overhears him on the telephone, French accent forgotten, declaring that "I've got it." While Charlie leaves to get the police Beverly confronts the thief, scuffling with him long enough for two officers to arrive and throw "themselves upon the bogus count." In the morning "the story of how Beverly had prevented the thief from escaping and so saved the famous DeFreigne diamond bracelet [is] in prominent print on the front page of the Herald Tribune." Holiday adventures at an end, that afternoon the girls take the train back to Vernon.

The return train ride, shared with "the head ghost," Pete, foreshadows more mystery at the Horler Mansion. On Beverly's next trip to the house she again encounters "that evil-looking Chinaman," who warns her away in broken English. "When the man advanced toward her, his hands, coming from the enveloping sleeves [of his blouse], disclosed a long, sharp knife. Beverly turned and ran." Her next stop is to Inspector Dugan of the Vernon police, who suggests that "the most logical explanation" is that the men are "smuggling drugs into this country" from "the Orient." After she puts in a good word for a handcuffed Larry, who was "arrested yesterday on suspicion" for "poking about the mansion, trying to get in," the inspector leaves to search for the men in the mansion. This they do to no avail, but when Beverly follows later, she conveniently sees "the Chinaman" entering, and leaving, a space hidden behind the front room fireplace. Newly wise to the entry mechanism—a spring triggered by pressing on "the baseboard . . . about ten inches to the left of the fireplace"—she enters the hidden room, discovering a smoky den with an "uneven" dirt floor, a table with a "dirty deck of playing cards," and boxes presumably filled with drugs. Unfortunately, it does not dawn on Beverly until the door closes that "she did not know the location of the spring" in the hidden room. "She would have to stay here until she found it or until someone found her." Searching for the exit does not seem to occupy her for long. Beverly "searched for a spring that would release the fireplace. She could find none and had to give up." She instead elects to play solitaire while waiting for the return of "the head ghost and the Chinaman"; in the resulting confrontation the latter man is introduced as "Wah Fang," and Pete threatens to put Beverly "on a boat bound for China." Larry and Inspector Dugan arrive to break down the dividing wall, but not before Wah Fang chokes Beverly unconscious with his "yellow fingers." He then turns his knife upon Larry, but is shot by the policeman before inflicting any harm. Back at "the inspector's office" the next day, Beverly's throat "sore and bruised," the final details of the mystery are cleared up. Larry is employed by the Secret Service and has been "chasing smugglers and thieves ever since [he] graduated from college three years ago," including a "new gang of smugglers" importing "illicit drugs . . . from the Orient on a steamer called the Tamara." His partner is revealed to have been the unknown man who was shot, a crime to which Pete confesses. Other smugglers were also involved (although Pete and a recovering Wah Fang "won't tell who they are"), and the dancing skeletons are explained by the men donning "black suits" with "bones in phosphorescent paint" in order "to keep the people hereabouts scared away from the house."

The mysterious goings on at the Horler Mansion may be over, but the same cannot be said for Sophomore. Beverly's adventures continue in a plane crash with Larry, who has promised to take her "sky riding" in his "red monoplane," the "Red Bird." Initial engine trouble is forestalled with an unscheduled stop at an airport, but after "an hour or two" a mechanic, dubbed Sir Galahad "because they could conceive no one who might look less like the famous knight," clears them for re-flight. This is proven to be a mistake when the Red Bird is "caught in the midst of a terrific storm" and loses power to its engine. "The Red Bird slipped, slid, and circled down. [They] could do nothing but wait for the crash. The earth loomed up dark and mysterious under them. . . . There came the whistle of the wind, the crack of the wings as the Red Bird dove into the trees, a deafening, splintering crash, and then—silence, while the storm raged on." Beverly and Larry are "thrown clear" of the wreckage, sustaining "a broken rib" and "a broken arm" respectively. A hike through the surrounding woods takes them to a "rough wagon road" and the "crude" house of poor farmers. Jake and his wife, Mrs. Thompson, call for the doctor, who in turn calls for Beverly's friends. Shirley, Lenora and Inspector Dugan come calling in the inspector's car, and next Beverly and Larry are heard from, it is to say that they have "completely recovered."

The final excitement in Beverly Gray, Sophomore, comes when a history examination is stolen from the office of Professor Leonard. Beverly and Shirley happen to be looking out their window at the right time to see the movements of the thief, a girl "gliding silently and mysteriously from dark shadow to shadow across the campus." They retrace her steps from Courtney Hall, a dormitory, to Penfield Hall, site of their history class, even going so far as to climb through a window above "a box half hidden in the shrubbery" used by the thief to stand on. That evening Shirley is accused of stealing the test, and it is revealed that her "silver bracelet, with her name engraved on it, was found just inside the window." Professor Leonard, an "old buzzard" and "cold, calculating man," is especially suspicious of Shirley, for despite being "a wizard at geometry" and knowing "her literature from beginning to end," she is a "dunce" when it comes to history. As Shirley "pack[s] her trunk, so certain was she that she would be expelled," the remaining Alpha Delta girls look for the true culprit. Their suspicions center on "snobbish May Norris," the professor's assistant and "teacher's pet," conveniently introduced the page before the thief is seen though the window. Not only was she "as low in her marks as Shirley was, if not lower," but she "lives in Courtney Hall," and each time she passes the girls keeps "her eyes from meeting theirs" as "color [rises] to her cheeks." Beverly's suspicions are confirmed when Alison Cox, who also lives in Courtney Hall, tells her that May "prowls about awf'ly mysterious at night," and that on the night of the theft, "I met May in the hall. She looked awf'ly surprised and startled, . . . as thought as though I had caught her in the midst of a crime." Beverly, "determined" to talk to May, knocks on her door and waits outside when there is no answer, declaring to a passing Alison that "I'm waiting for a story, and if I get it there will be a sensation about Vernon." Her persistence is rewarded when May "cautiously" leaves her room with "a roll of papers under her arm," one of which falls to the floor. Beverly grabs "May's arm in a firm grip" even before looking at the paper, which, she declares, "looks like history exam questions." A tête-à-tête in May's room ensues. "No one at Vernon ever knew just what took place inside that room during the fifteen minutes that Beverly was with May," but the end result is that May admits her theft to the dean. Beverly leaves Shirley, next seen "on her knees before her trunk, packing," unawares until the dean personally delivers the news later that day. Shirley, despite her close brush with expulsion, forgives May, appearing "before the faculty and ask[ing] for leniency." Adventure and mystery finally over, the girls depart depart for their summer break.

Beverly Gray, Junior

Anselo stopped close to the window and continued his playing.

Opening on the first day of term, Beverly Gray, Junior is the story of Beverly's third year at Vernon College. College life is only thinly featured, with the bulk of the book covering the kidnapping of Beverly by a group of gypsies. Her rescue does come in time, however, for a few parting adventures: Winter break sees Beverly and Shirley suffer skiing and ice skating injuries, while the attempts by May Norris to sabotage Shirley's role as Hamlet in the school play ultimately effect her redemption.

The new term at Vernon brings with it the news that a "band of gypsies" are "camped on the outskirts" of Vernon. In "covered wagons" and "dressed just like you see them in the movies—gold rings in their ears [and] everything," their disrepute means they must camp "across the train tracks." "The townspeople wouldn't hear of the gypsies' coming any closer. . . . Gypsies are considered taboo by all the respectable citizens of Vernon." The six Alpha Delta girls nonetheless walk over after dinner to have their fortunes told. They are met at the camp by Orlenda, "the oldest one of [the] tribe," who is said to be "look far into the future and see . . . what is hidden in the mysterious veil of the days to come." Lenora is told of "a blond young man" with "much money" in her future, while Rosalie receives "much the same forecast." Shirley is told she will "some day be a great actress." Coming last, Beverly is warned of a forthcoming "dark period" where she "will be in great danger." "There will be a dark young man in your life," Orlenda goes on. "I see two, three men—each one loves you. . . . But the dark clouds will pass. The sun will shine again, and you shall return to your friends." Returning to campus, the girls notice "a slinking figure . . . stealing from Chadwick Hall." Moonlight reveals him to be a "dark and swarthy" gypsy. "Do you suppose he has stolen anything?" asks Anne. "Course he has," says Lenora. "A gypsy wouldn't miss the chance." The man denies the accusation once surrounded by the girls, but then runs away, "completely bowling over" Lenora and Lois. The "sudden rush" knocks money and jewelry from his grasp, revealed to have been stolen from the office safe of Mrs. Dennis, "house mistress" of Chadwick Hall.

That night, after returning the stolen items and leaving to mail letters from town, Beverly fails to return. Her disappearance is met with increasing alarm, and both her parents and Inspector Dugan are notified. Chapters four through seven narrate from the perspective of Beverly's friends. Her father being "an important something or other in the government," her picture is seemingly "put in every newspaper in the country." The first purported news is that a "girl matching Beverly's description" was in a Vernon art shop the night of her disappearance, when it was robbed by a man "believed to be a gypsy." He had stolen the girls wristwatch, and she had given chase. Although the shop owner offers conflicting descriptions and "doesn't know his own mind," the girls know Beverly is attached to her watch, which was presented to her at the end of her first year "for extraordinary heroism." The inspector for his part, is "positive" that Beverly has been kidnapped, since "there have been so many kidnapings in the country," and holds the gypsies responsible. Meanwhile, Jim Stanton and Larry Owens, "two straight, clean, strong young men," arrive at approximately the same time to aid in the search. Two days later comes the news that the gypsies "are camped about five miles directly to the south," causing the boys to take flight in Larry's "red autogiro Red Bird II," replacement for the Red Bird that crashed in Sophomore. Larry and Jim land on a road near the camp, feigning engine trouble; after giving a curious member of the group "the most thrilling experience in his life" with an airplane ride, they solicit an invitation to the camp. There they observe "one wagon, standing apart from the rest, that [is] shut up tight" with two "most protective" men sitting on its steps. Soon thereafter Inspector Dugan and his men arrive at the camp, having been delayed by "a flat tire." Armed with a warrant, they search every wagon, including the one that is closed off. Protestations that the officers not disturb the "sick grandmother" of one member are only good enough to allow two members to enter beforehand "for a few moments" to "prepare the old woman for the disturbance." The inspector is inside "but a moment" before declaring "[n]othing there," leading the police, Larry and Jim to decamp back to Vernon empty-handed. "Three more days pass" before Gerry Foster, a friend from Freshman who graduated the previous year and is now living with her aunt in Pennsylvania, writes Shirley to tell her of seeing Beverly at the County Fair. "I spied a young man and woman standing across the midway. As sure as I live, I am sure that the girl was Beverly. [She] must have felt me looking at her, for she looked up suddenly and met my gaze. She recognized me, I am sure. Indeed, she even smiled a trifle. Then she gave one glance at the young man with her, and they both turned away. I was across the road in two shakes of a lamb's tail, but when I got to where they had been standing, they had disappeared."

As Larry and Jim make haste to the Red Bird II to fly to the fair, the narration turns back some nine days to tell Beverly's story. On her way to mail letters she passes by an art shop, where her gaze settles on "a pair of book ends, carved into the form of white elephants." She goes to purchase them—they turn out to be the last of 25 pairs—when a "dark and swarthy" man enters with his right hand pushed "insinuatingly" forward "in his coat pocket." He takes the money from the register, then, seeing Beverly's "expensive" watch, tears it from her wrist. Beverly steals after him, but, upon catching up, finds the tables turned; he pins "her arms to her sides" and carries her "through the bushes" by the street and into a "gypsy wagon." There she is met by Orlenda, the "toothless and weather stained" woman who warned Beverly earlier in the day about a coming "great danger." The "horrible old creature" suggests to Dimiti, Beverly's kidnapper, that she might fetch them "much gold," and on this premise they elect to hold Beverly prisoner as the group leaves town. The wagon "rumble[s] to a halt" in the morning, and Orlenda and Dimiti return to dye Beverly's skin with a "mysterious brown substance." As Dimiti explains it to her, "since you are to be our guest for a time, it is well that we should—disguise you The liquid is to make your skin darker so, if anyone should see you, you could pass for one of us." A dash for the exit yields only seizure by Dimiti and a slap to the face by Orlenda, who then "generously" daubs Beverly with liquid until her skin becomes "as dark now as any of the gypsies'."

Although the gypsies are almost universally described as unpleasant—marked as "ruthless," with "dusty and wrinkled" clothes, "evil grimace[s]," and, frequently, "swarthy" skin—there is one that does not fit the mold. Anselo is "refined." He carries "the bearing of a gentleman," and with it "a touch of Old World gallantry." He is also a violinist extraordinaire, serenading Beverly from outside the wagon where she is held prisoner. "He could get more music from a violin than anyone Beverly had every heard. He should certainly be in a great orchestra, never wasting his talent here in a gypsy camp. . . . He played until the moon was high in the heavens and the gypsy came fire was dying low." Between nocturnes he reunites Beverly with her wristwatch, somehow obtained from Dimiti. The next day Anselo takes Beverly for a walk in the woods, during which he suggests she has "the gypsy heart." Beverly admits that "the roving life fascinates me"; indeed, Sophomore saw her quoting Bliss Carman to the effect that "there is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir," awaking "dreams of what she hoped to be some day, dreams of places she hoped to visit and sights she longed to see." She nevertheless rejoins that "Gypsies don't like to work. . . . That is why they are so restless. They roam about, living on what the earth produces." The back and forth abates when they hear an airplane overhead, which Beverly realized is the Red Bird II. Anselo refuses to go see it, admitting that "Dimiti had word that the police would search our camp today," and that "to avert bloodshed" he had suggested taking Beverly from the camp. "He was her friend, but all the same he was a gypsy, and his loyalty to his tribe came first."

Freedom remains at bay only a little longer for Beverly, who is spotted the next day by Gerry Foster. Anselo proposes to take her to the County Fair where the gypsies have stopped, making her promise not to run away. Though they would object if they knew of the plan, "Orlenda is telling fortunes, and Dimiti is trading horses" (they are apparently operating openly despite the fact that Inspector Dugan "has the police in every state on the lookout for the gypsies"). Past "the fat lady, the sword swallower, the fire eater, [and] the snake charmer" the two wander, but just as Gerry makes eye contact with Beverly from across the road, so too does Dimiti spot her. Anselo takes Beverly back to her wagon, where she is joined that afternoon by an irate Dimiti. He claims to have "slashed" Anselo with a knife, and advances on Beverly ("We could be such good friends") with outstretched hand "to stroke her arm." Beverly grasps his knife; Dimiti makes "a sudden lurch" at her; she thrusts the knife "deep into the flesh of his upper arm"; and he responds by knocking her unconscious.

By the next night the gypsies have moved once again, this time to "a regular camping place in the hills." Beverly, Anselo and Dimiti have all recovered, the latter two with bandaged woulds. Larry and Jim, meanwhile, arrive at the fair and are directed towards the camping grounds. With plans to "sneak up on the tribe under cover of the night," they are revealed when the camp fire shows them "skulking along in the shadows." In the ensuing scuffle they fight "like tigers, and more than one gypsy disclosed a black eye or a broken tooth where he had come in contact with a flying fist." A gypsy with "a large club" ends the fight; Larry and Jim are bound, and thrown in "a cave on the hillside." Watching from her wagon, Beverly implores Anselo to help them escape, but to tell them "to leave the camp alone. Tell them that I am not here—tell them anything, but make them go before Dimiti kills them!" Anselo enters the cave under cover of darkness to slash their bindings, yet tells them Beverly can be found in "that wagon to one side of the camp." His parting request is that they tell her "Anselo wishes her happiness always." The opening of Beverly's wagon door causes her to tense—"Was it Dimitri? . . . What did her mean, coming to her wagon now when everyone in the camp was asleep?"—but upon recognizing Jim she throws herself on him. Fanfare accompanies the trio's exit when "a misstep on Larry's part" sends a rock crashing down the hills, but, dodging "[t]hrowing knives" and carrying Beverly after she sprains her ankle, they reach the Red Bird II safely.

Beverly's kidnapping may have only lasted some two weeks, but the fall term yields to winter break a mere chapter after her return. The gypsies "disappear," eluding capture; Larry proposes to Beverly; Jim "smile[s] broadly in relief" when Beverly declines, then leaves to take an engineering job in Wyoming; and Shirley, parents "off to Europe" for the holidays, is invited to Renville. Assuring Beverly that despite being from New York she will not find Renville small, Shirley hints at the premise for The Adventure Girls at K Bar O when she declares that "I spent one summer on a ranch in Arizona." Beverly, Shirley and Anne thus leave shortly before Christmas for home, where the Lucky Circle (sans Jim) is reunited. The usual celebrations and gaiety intersperse themselves among several close calls. "A bad accident" is "narrowly averted" when Shirley and Beverly barely avoid crashing into Anne and Joan's "wrecked sled." Shirley learns to ski over the course of the next three days, only to be knocked unconscious at the bottom of a hill "ending abruptly in a sheer drop of twenty-five feet or more." She is "fit as a fiddle" the next day, and accompanies the Lucky Circle ice skating on "the lake front." When Bucky Harris, "a chubby little fellow" who "lives across the street from" Beverly, falls through thin ice, Shirley inches towards him and herself falls in. Shirley pushes Bucky back on the ice, then is lulled unconscious by the cold; Beverly, "rope securely about her waist," falls in after Shirley; and the Lucky Circle pulls them to safety. A "heavy cold" for Shirley and "a slight attack of the sniffles" for Beverly, the doctor prescribes cold medicine for both and "several days in bed" for Shirley. The girls nevertheless prove none the worse for wear, and the next afternoon their friends come by to anoint Shirley "an honorary member of the Lucky Circle." Thanks are also bestowed by Bucky "fer rescuin' me," and, by "the time the day dawned when [Shirley and Beverly] were to start back to Vernon, they were their old healthy selves again."

Christmas holidays "weeks past," when they are next heard from the six Alphas are planning the junior production of Hamlet. Lenora is the director, Lois is cast as Ophelia, Beverly is "in charge of the scenery" with Anne her assistant, and Rosalie has "charge of the costumes." Shirley is to play the leading role, fulfilling a pledge made in Sophomore to pursue an acting career. This assignment comes at the expense of May Norris; "no friend of any of the Alphas" after Shirley was wrongfully accused of stealing examination questions the previous year, she has "her heart set on playing the lead" but must settle for understudy. When Josephine Carter breaks her arm falling down a flight of stairs to the storeroom, claiming afterwards that "[s]omebody pushed me," Lenora suspects May. Shirley had originally been asked to fetch an item from the room, leading to the suggestion that May "waited until she thought Shirley was on her way to the storeroom. May slipped into the basement after her. In the darkness she could not see that the girl she pushed wasn't Shirley, but Josephine." If Shirley "twisted [her] ankle, or broke [her] arm, as Josephine did, [she] couldn't play Hamlet, and that would give May her big chance. Beverly is tapped to replace Josephine as Queen, and "nothing ever [comes] to light about the 'accident.'" In the following weeks May acts friendly towards Shirley, a shift from her previous "violent dislike" of "all the Alpha girls." Her perfidy is revealed on the day of the play, when she convinces Shirley to investigate "[m]ysterious lights and figures that have been seen in the old Horler Mansion again." Shirley relents when May accuses her of being "afraid of the ghosts," and May promptly locks her in the attic where Beverly had been imprisoned the previous year. "'May!' Shirley tugged ineffectively at the trapdoor. 'Let me out of here!' 'Tomorrow, darling, tomorrow. I am going to play Hamlet tonight. . . . Let's see if your dear Alpha friends can find you now.'" Crossing campus in the right place at the right time, Beverly proves equal to this last challenge when she "unabashedly" eavesdrops on May and her roommate. "It wasn't a polite thing to do, she realized, but who thinks of the polite things to do when one is curious?" Once May "laughingly" relates her actions, all Beverly has to do is run to the mansion and open the offending trapdoor. Shirley returns with ten minutes to spare, just in time to wow with her performance. "As Hamlet, Shirley had portrayed a really tragic character. She had brought to the rôle a fine understanding and sympathetic strain that captured the audience completely. Even Lois' fine portrayal of Ophelia was overshadowed by Shirley's really brilliant performance." After the performance, "Mr. Forsythe, manager of the Forsythe Film Company" stops by the dressing room to tell of his intention "to make a motion picture [at Vernon College] next year." The star will come "from Hollywood, but there will be minor rôles to be taken by the girls of the school." He departs, and the girls leave to "report the news to the rest of the Chadwick Hall girls."

As the girls leave the auditorium, they notice "[l]ittle wafts of smoke" emitting from under May's dressing room door. The girls break down the door and extinguish the fire, discovering "a lighted cigarette in the ash tray." Knowing that May was the only one in the room who smokes, the girls confront her at her dormitory and threaten to inform the dean. May blanches. "If the news of May's smoking came up before the faculty board, she would be expelled." (Neither locking Shirley in the Horler Mansion, however, nor pushing Josephine down the stairs, is suggested to be sufficiently severe.) The threat is enough for May. "'I promise I won't [smoke again],' May said beseechingly. 'I know I haven't been the right kind of a student. I've broken a lot of rules and regulations—and I'm sorry, truly I am. I didn't dream that my carelessness might have serious results.'" The girls offer May a chance to "reform," tell the dean of the fire without mentioning May's involvement, and head back to Chadwick Hall to sleep.

By the concluding chapter is it June, "and time to part for the summer vacation." Beverly has been elected class president for the coming year. "She was so typically the American College Girl. Her warm-heartedness and sense of fair play and good sportsmanship had won for her an army of friends. It was no wonder, when everyone loved her, that she should have been chosen as their leader. It would have been more to wonder at if she didn't." Junior thus comes to an end, promising "new and exciting adventures" in Beverly Gray, Senior.

Beverly Gray, Senior

The man they were chasing drove like a madman.

Beverly's final chapter at Vernon College forms the basis for Beverly Gray, Senior, the fourth and final work in Clair Blank's 1934 breeder set. Sports related tribulations, commencement activities, and Shirley's fame-induced snobbishness form an undercurrent to the two main plot pieces. First, a film company's arrival at the college allows Beverly to produce a screenplay and Shirley to star in a movie, even as a second company attempts to sabotage the production. Second, Shirley is kidnapped after the filming and held for ransom; Beverly, although for the first time in the series not kidnapped herself, is briefly held at gunpoint during the rescue. Meanwhile, Anne becomes engaged, and, as the Alpha Delta girls prepare for graduation they induct a group of six Juniors, formerly rivals for campus popularity, providing that the sorority will live another year.

As promised the previous term, Senior opens with the arrival of the Forsythe Film Company at Vernon College to shoot a "college picture," in return for which the school will receive money to build "a new indoor swimming pool for the students." "Directors, actors, [and] cameramen" all descend upon the town, alongside the star Marcia Lyman, a "dark beauty" and "dazzling figure" fresh from Hollywood. The only thing left behind appears to be a screenplay; rather than using the creation of a professional screenwriter, the crew appears content to sit tight in Vernon for "two weeks" pending "an honorary competition contest" among the girls of the college, to be judged by a panel consisting of the dean, two faculty members, and Mr. Forsythe himself. "The winning story, if worthy, would be the one to be filmed on the campus" (though no contingency plans are mentioned should the entries all be unworthy). Each of the six Alpha Delta girls put pen to paper, with only Beverly and Lenora following through to completion. Beverly's screenplay, Stepping Stone, takes first place, while Lenora's A Senior's Dilemma, or They Shall Not Pass, "deserves honorable mention."

A snag hits Beverly's newfound fame the very next day, when Marcia Lyman leaves "the movie company flat" to take "a new contract with a much higher salary" from Cordial Pictures Company. Mr. Forsythe declares that "I guess there is nothing to do but to load our stuff back into our car and go to Hollywood," and crisis looms. "Then Lenora had a brilliant idea." Lenora suggests to Mr. Forsythe that Shirley "could do it," and he proclaims before even meeting her that she "might be material for a new star." This she is. Overcoming initial nervousness—"Don't be a Calamity Jane," Lenora urges—she takes the "screen test" in "Mr. Forsythe's improvised office in the private railway coach" and finds immediate success. "'My dear, let me congratulate you,' he said finally after the film had ended. 'You have the makings of a great star. You shall play the lead in this film, and we will draw up a contract for you to come to Hollywood.'" Star and story set, film production begins. "The story of the picture was the story of a young writer, played by the leading man, Conway Grant, who came to the little college town looking for material for his next novel. He met a college senior, played by Shirley, and various complications arose from their acquaintance. It was an interesting, adventurous plot, and the characters were vivid and alive. Other Vernon girls had small parts, and among them was Lois, who was to play the part of Shirley's chum."

The succeeding chapters reveal Shirley's success going to her head, and the remaining Alpha girls butting heads with a group of six juniors on campus. The "rush of success" is "a little too much for Shirley." Within two weeks she becomes "reserved, aloof, almost cross"; "[w]hether she considered herself above them they couldn't decide, but she acted as though she did." Hanging out more and more with the leading man, and less and less with her former friends, the newly "high-hat" Shirley threatens to "resign" from the Alpha Delta Sorority. A conciliatory Beverly receives nothing but a threat to "have my room changed." Meanwhile, a second campus sextet—Connie Elwood, Kathleen Ryan, Ada Collins, Evelyn DeLong, Virginia Harris, and Phyllis Tanner—"rival the Alphas in popularity" while creating "mischief" about the college. These "campus enemies" give Beverly a particular "headache," for in addition to being the senior class president, she is made "second in charge of [Chadwick] Hall" to Mrs. Dennis. Beverly must deal with their "fancied wrong[s]," and serve as enforcer when they threaten to break the rules. A freshman complains of them "playing pranks," and Beverly must interrupt a "rousing good time" causing an "uproarious racket." Beverly has "no real authority, just enough to make it difficult"; between her responsibilities and her strained relationships, she is "working too hard" and left exhausted.

The middle section of Senior is defined by a series of episodic events. A détente emerges between the six seniors and the six juniors, with Connie promising to "do our part" to "keep things peaceful." Shirley, who has apparently supplanted Beverly as the "shining light on the basketball team," refuses to let the senior-junior game interfere with her filming and subsequently watches from the stands as the seniors lose by a single point. Connie's contingent crashes the Halloween "Fiction Dance" dressed as "Robin Hood and five of his merry men," copying the Alphas' move from Freshman to prove themselves "worthy" of "membership in [the] august body." Jim, last seen leaving for an engineering job in Wyoming, returns to Renville from a job well done only to have his Christmas Eve proposal declined by Beverly. A movie "camera [is] mysteriously smashed"; Cordial Pictures Company is suspected of "trying to stop production on the picture"; Beverly and Lenora catch one "Mr. Smith" attempting to "climb in the window" of the Forsythe Film Company's railway coach; and the next day finds the door "broken open" and "three rolls of film" missing. Having followed Mr. Smith to the Wildon Hotel the previous night, Beverly and Lenora go back and gain entrance to his room through the fire escape. There they discover "three black boxes piled together . . . far back in one corner" of the closet. "'The film!' cried Lenora. 'We have saved the day!'" A brief detour beneath the bed, followed by a run "through the alley in back of the hotel" saves the girls from the "hotel authorities" and allows the film to be returned to Mr. Forsythe. "He must be Santa Claus in disguise," suggests Lenora, for he awards the school with "five thousand dollars above the amount for the swimming pool" in appreciation.

The "winter turn[s] to spring," and with it comes a new source of trouble: Shirley is kidnapped. Lost in thought while walking back to the college, thinking about how "utterly foolish" she had been and wishing "to be the best of friends with all of the Alphas once more," a car pulls to a stop in front of her. Shirley is no match for the two men who get out, "completely overpower" her, and "push[] her into the automobile," That night Beverly is in bed when something comes "hurtling through the window"; the piece of paper tied to a rock declares that Shirley has been kidnapped, and demands "ten thousand dollars from her parents." Beverly informs Lenora, Rosalie, Miss Wilder, Mrs. Dennis and the Parkers; beyond that they resolve to "circulate the word that Shirley is confined to her room with a cold." In two days time Beverly and Lenora place the ransom money in "a hollow tree stump" located "thirty paces to the east" of the Horler Mansion. They then hide in the house, watching the stump from the upstairs "side bedroom." The kidnappers arrive in a coupé, leaving it long enough for Beverly to depart the mansion and climb in the "large luggage carrier in the rear." "This certainly wasn't a comfortable way to ride." Over bumps and ruts the car travels "for hours," traveling "at least fifty miles from Vernon"; Beverly forces herself to remain "perfectly quiet," lest she be discovered and forced "to walk back to Vernon." An "old house," "three stories" tall with shades "drawn tight to shut out prying eyes," is the destination. Beverly waits for the men to enter, then follows through the back door. Inside she overhears the men gloating over their money and planning to "deliver another note demanding twenty-five thousand." Climbing the stairs, she encounters a locked room on the second floor. "Who is it? What do you want?" Shirley "tremble[s]" as Beverly unlocks the door. The two run descend the stairs, hiding in "the enveloping folds of a tapestry" when one of the kidnappers goes to check on Shirley. From there they dash to the car, driving off and leaving the men "dancing like wild Indians."

Shirley's kidnappers do not waste much time dancing. Rather, they call the police in a neighboring "little suburban down," telling them to be on the lookout for a "stolen car." Shirley and Beverly are thus soon pulled over and informed that their "father told us you took the car and were running away," and that the police "are to hold you until he gets here." "It was a brilliant play on the kidnaper's part to have thought of having them arrested! It seemed like a chapter of a detective story. The villains of the play had gotten the police, unwittingly, it was true, to aid them in their plot." At the police station they decline to call Miss Wilder; despite her knowing of Shirley's situation, it is somehow figured that "if we call the school, it will mean a lot of publicity for it, and the Dean wouldn't like that." Some dallying ensues until Shirley convinces the policemen to call her father, now in Vernon. He is unable to arrive before the kidnappers "swagger" in, however, claiming to be "friends" of the girls "running away from [their] parents." One man talks to the police chief while the other walks to the girls, "a revolver in his hand," and threatens them to back up the story. Beverly instead says the truth to the chief—"'They want to kidnap us again,' Beverly said recklessly. 'The story we told you when the policeman brought us here is true. Every word of it! Right now this man is threatening me with a gun!'"—and jumps "violently to one side," narrowly escaping the bullet that goes "speeding harmlessly past her." Shirley's father arrives unseen but is overpowered. Beverly, Shirley, Mr. Parker and the police chief are thus held at gunpoint, until Beverly edges around the men, takes a flashlight from her pocket, and thrusts "it against the back of the man before her with a stern command to put up his hands." Mr. Parker and the chief use this distraction to throw themselves upon the kidnappers: one is handcuffed, and the other bolts for the exit.

The ensuing car chase is memorialized on the dust jacket. The kidnapper jumps into his car, most recently driven by Shirley and Beverly, while those girls, along with Mr. Parker, pile into the police chief's car. "Through the streets of the little town they raced, leaving pedestrians staring after them in bewilderment." Around corners and through intersections they follow; the chase only comes to an end when a truck looms "up out of the night," broadsiding the kidnapper's car and flipping it over. Behind it, the pursuing car crashes into a tree. The kidnapper is pulled out of the wreckage, and, "totally subdued," placed in the police car. "After several futile attempts the engine spluttered into action," and the car is guided back to the station. There the police chief departs with the kidnapper, leaving Mr. Parker to drive the girls back to Vernon. Shirley and Beverly regale with stories of "their exciting adventures" before going to "bed, tired but still a little thrilled at the thought of their evening's excitement."

Apologies, tennis, and commencement activities fill up the remainder of the spring term. Shirley gradually makes amends with the girls she had previously "snubbed" and "treated shamefully," apologizing for having been "the most conceited snob on campus." Beverly "resign[s] from the tennis team," ostensibly because she does not have "the time to devote to practice." The resignation is also for "other reasons," she admits; they remain unsaid, but are probably intended either to make Shirley feel better about having quit basketball the previous semester, or to get Shirley to acknowledge her mistake. Indeed, soon after Shirley entreats her not to "make the mistake I made," Beverly changes her tune and her resignation is forgotten. "'Yyppee!' Lenora tossed the pillows into the air. 'Make way for the champions!'" The "championship tennis match between Vernon College and Wayne Seminary" is thus won on "the first of June," two matches to one. Anne and Kathleen Ryan drop "the first preliminary match" 6–4, 6–5, 6–4, and after the next two Vernon girls win the second match, Beverly and Connie play a "final and deciding match." They drop their first two sets, then rally back in the third despite Beverly twisting her ankle. During the "seven-minute rest" between sets Shirley comes into the locker room to apologize for having "behaved like a tyrant," then leaves Beverly and Connie to finish up their match. The Wayne girls "had played hard and fast, never meaning the match to run the full five sets"; after dropping the fourth set it is Beverly's "slow net ball that barely skim[s] the net" that gives Vernon the championship "silver loving cup." The exertion is too much for Beverly, who briefly collapses afterwards, but "a few minutes' rest" and she is back on court to receive the trophy.

The six seniors and six juniors have all mended their ties by the end of the year, allowing the latter to join the Alphas as "full-fledged members." From there the chapter titles tell the story: The Senior Prom, Senior Dinner, Commencement, and Auld Lang Syne. Jim and Tommy join in for the former festivities, held in the "ballroom of the Vernon country club," where Beverly again rebuffs Jim's advances. "'Have—have you thought at all about what I told you on Christmas Eve?' he asked slowly. 'No,' she said promptly. 'I don't want to. Please Jim, I thought you promised not to mention it again.'" The senior dinner at Weller's features a speech by Shirley, reformed valedictorian, and a paean by Beverly to "the ideals and traditions" of Vernon College. Commencement ensues the following week, marking "the end of Senior Road." Beverly resolves to "devote my time to stories," perhaps "even try to write a play." Shirley's aim is to forsake the "endless teas and . . . boresome people" of society, seek out Andrew T. Crandall from Freshman, and see if he will offer "a part in his show." "Lois wants to sketch," while Rosalie "would like to go to a conservatory and continue her music."

The final chapter, Auld Lang Syne, opens back in Renville. Jim has "unenthusiastically" accepted "a job in South America" to construct a "canal of some sort," a commitment of up to a year that will prevent him from wooing Beverly. The department of love is more gracious to Tommy, who announces to the group that "Anne has promised to marry me." "Three weeks later the little church on the hill was the scene of the simple but impressive ceremony that joined the two young people together for all time." The newly expanded Alpha Delta Sorority, along with the Lucky Circle, all join in the festivities before Anne and Tommy depart on honeymoon to "the Golden west." "'I wonder who will be next?' Connie Elwood murmured, smiling on them. 'Not me!' declared Lenora with such vigor that the rest laughed. 'Me for the life of a sailor . . . you know, a girl in every port. My motto is a boy in every town.'"

Beverly Gray at the World's Fair

The girls went to see the show in the lagoon theater.

1933–34 Chicago World's Fair poster

Beverly Gray at the World's Fair, the sixth work by Blank, was issued for a short window from 1935 to 1938 before being dropped from the series. Because of fears that the book's setting would seem dated, publication of World's Fair was ceased after Grosset & Dunlap acquired the rights to the Beverly Gray books in 1938. Due to this limited printing run it is the scarcest of the 26 books.

World's Fair sees Beverly travel with a coterie of friends to the 1933–34 Chicago World's Fair. After Lois departs to Paris, where she has won "an art contest" with "a year's free study" as the prize, Lenora and Connie travel by train to visit Virginia, who lives in Chicago with her aunt and uncle. Although Beverly initially has to stay behind and work, the very next day her editor assigns her to write "a series of feature articles" on the fair for "the Sunday magazine section." She flies out that day with Larry, who is coincidentally headed to Chicago, "and then points West," for his work with the Secret Service.

Some days after joining forces in Chicago, the four girls witness the murder of a high diver, Paul Graham, during a show at the lagoon theater. Paul fails to surface following his "famous three somersault dive," and it emerges that he was "shot with a high powered air rifle." Suspicion falls on John Cummings, described as the "best friend" of the Grahams and their late uncle, and for whom Beverly harbors immediate misgivings. "There is something about him that makes me mistrust him," she tells Lenora. "He reminds me of a snake." Lenora resolves to "follow him like his shadow" with her "Cine-Kodak eight," and soon thereafter films him loosening the wires on a trapeze about to be used by Paul's sister, June. Before the girls can take the footage to the police, Paul's brother George is attacked by lion and suffers a "few scratches" after somebody "file[s] the lock" on a lion cage where he works as a trainer. (This is not the last lion attack in the book, for towards the end of the book another one manages to slip out and sink its claws "deep into [Beverly's] shoulder" before it can be subdued.) Despite the footage Cummings remains free, leading Beverly and Lenora to sneak into his hotel room in search of evidence. Hidden inside his chimney they discover a violin case, empty except for a single bullet. Cummings sees them as they depart, however, and that night warns Beverly that "[i]f you play with fire you must expect to get burned." These words prove prescient the next day when, relaxing at Lake Geneva, the girls have their motorboat "rammed" by another and are forced to swim an unconscious Beverly back to shore. Before impact Beverly catches "a clear, distinct glimpse of the face of the man at the wheel of the boat," and believes it to be Cummings. He is finally caught in the next chapter, after Beverly observes him leaving a pawn ticket in June's dressing room trunk. This appears to be an effort to frame her, for upon redemption of the ticket Beverly and Virginia are handed the murder weapon, "a gun, not small enough to be a revolver and not quite long enough for a rifle. . . . It looked like a sawed off shotgun." They take the gun to the police, where "[e]verything was carefully considered and they all agreed that Cummings was the murderer." He was left out of the will of the Grahams' uncle, it turns out, but stood to gain the share willed to Paul, June and George should anything have happened to all three. Officers are sent to arrest Cummings, who "confesse[s] when confronted with the evidences of his guilt," and Beverly "break[s] the news" for her paper.

Several subplots share space with the murder of Paul Graham in World's Fair. Significant ink is expended on the many wonders and exhibits at the fair, some of it copied word for word from the fair's official guidebook, and Shirley's acting career encounters both downfall and revival. Beverly runs into Shirley on her first day in Chicago, discovering her to be "out of a job," with "scarcely any money and no friends." She can ill afford to eat and is about to be evicted, yet refuses to take any money from Beverly and moves out when she discovers Beverly has spoken to her landlord and paid the rent. Shirley's luck seems to change for the better, however, for later on Beverly receives the money in the mail with a note saying only "Thanks so much," and Virginia spots Shirley in "a big limousine." Shirley turns out to be "Dale Arden," a former understudy who "stepped up and did the performance ten times better than the star" when "the star was suddenly taken ill on opening night." Later on Shirley herself is taken ill during a performance, collapsing due to exhaustion and overwork. Beverly prescribes her a trip to "get away" and "lounge lazily about in the sun," and Roger proposes "a trip around the world" on his yacht the Susabella. So is born the inspiration for Beverly Gray on a World Cruise, promising a "journey into alien lands" with "strange adventures amid new scenes and faces."

Originally published only a year after the fair ended, World's Fair brought to bear recent memories when released. By the time Grosset & Dunlap acquired the Beverly Gray series in 1938, however, the Chicago World's Fair was receding further into the past and preparations had begun for the 1939–40 New York World's Fair. "Because [Beverly Gray at the World's Fair] specifically referred to the Chicago Fair and work on the New York Fair was underway," Blank's editor wrote to her in a 1941 letter, "we felt that readers might be disappointed to discover that Beverly had been to the old fair – not the New York one." As a general policy, her editor went on, when Grosset foresaw "a long and steady sale," it sought to "avoid having anything in the stories that might date them." This policy would not prove to withstand the entry by the United States into World War II, but was sufficient to end publication of the original sixth work in the Beverly Gray series. The original seventh and eighth works, Beverly Gray on a World Cruise and Beverly Gray in the Orient, were renumbered 6 and 7. Beverly Gray on a Treasure Hunt, the first work published by Grosset, became book number 8.

For collectors of the Beverly Gray series, World's Fair is generally the most challenging and expensive book to acquire. Its expense, however, somewhat belies its true scarcity. World's Fair went through multiple printings by A. L. Burt from 1935 to 1937, and was thereafter reprinted by Blue Ribbon Books from 1937 to 1938. It is thus theoretically no scarcer than any other Beverly Gray A. L Burt or Blue Ribbon edition, (excepting the first four works, which began printing one year earlier), and considerably more common than certain other series published by A. L. Burt.

Plagiarism

It is no coincidence that parts of Beverly Gray at the World's Fair read like a brochure, for several sections describing the sights and exhibits are copied from the fair's official 1933 guidebook. Blank undoubtedly used the guidebook as a general reference, and in some places reproduced its words similarly or exactly. Parts of World's Fair, such as the description of the Lama Temple, reproduce whole passages almost verbatim from the guidebook. Other parts repeat words and phrases without appropriating the entire relevant text.

Some of the sights described in World's Fair are not described in the guidebook (or if they are, are done so in considerably less detail), and it is likely that Blank used additional sources to craft her depictions of the fair. For instance, World's Fair lists five names of the Sky Ride's "rocket cars"—"Amos," "Andy," "Madame Queen," "the Kingfish, and "Lightnin'"—that appear nowhere in the guidebook. Another example occurs when Blank rhapsodizes about "a sculpturing of the famous, human painting 'The Doctor' by Luke Fildes. To the girls "the figures of the mother, father, little child, and the kindly doctor seemed to live before their eyes. It seemed impossible that the figures were not real. The very heartrending anxiety of the scene seemed to reach out and grasp the spectators. The work of art was a very sincere, very touching tribute to the family doctor. It was mute evidence of his understanding love, compassion, and tenderness." This passage immediately precedes Blank's plagiarized description of the Transparent Man, yet the guidebook only mentions the sculpture in passing, noting that a "[l]ife-size reproduction of Fildes' 'The Doctor.'" was exhibited by Petrolagar Laboratories, Inc. Be they newspaper articles, books, or other materials entirely, Blank would have needed sources other than the guidebook for some of the information contained in World's Fair.

Examples of plagiarism include the passages in the following table, listed by order of appearance in World's Fair. Instances of identical language are highlighted in yellow.

Beverly Gray at the World's Fair	1933 A Century of Progress guidebook
"Lenora, oriental minded, got a big thrill out of the Lama Temple, or Golden Pavilion of Jehol. The windows in the latter were enclosed in carved grills in red, blue, yellow, and gold. The Chinese guide, speaking excellent English, described for everyone the treasures contained in this reproduction of a bit of old China. One of the things which delighted the girls was the 'prayer wheel' which the devotees turned instead of repeating their prayers. One turn of the wheel is the equivalent of so many million prayers. Bronze and gilded wooden Buddhas, images of numerous other gods and goddesses, altar pieces, trumpets so long that the player required an assistant to hold them up, incense burners, masks used in sacred dances, silver lamps, and rare oriental carpets all further intrigued the girls."	"Carved grills, in red, blue, yellow and gold, enclose the glass window panes. The cornice beams are gilded and carved with images of dragons, cats, and dogs. Hundreds of pieces of carved wood form the ceiling. A Chinese guide, speaking excellent English, describes for you the treasures contained in the Temple. One of the interesting objects he points out is the 'prayer wheel,' which the devotees turn instead of repeating prayers. One turn of the wheel is the equivalent of many million prayers. There is an interesting temple drum, trumpets so long that the player requires the services of an assistant to hold them up, bronze and gilded wooden Buddhas, images of numerous other gods and goddesses, altar pieces, incense burners, trumpets, masks used in sacred dances, silver lamps, temple bells, and rare carpets."
"They descended to the ground floor and at the north end they came upon a giant man. Six feet tall he was, standing upon a pedestal three and one half feet high. . . . As if the girls were suddenly endowed with X-Ray eyes they could see what the human body looked like. The attendant explained the parts of the human body, pointing them out as they were electrically illuminated in the glass statue. The Transparent Man was brought to the Century of Progress from Dresden, Germany, one of only two in the world, and he had required eighteen months to make."	"At the east end of the ground floor there stands a giant man. He is six feet tall, and rises from a pedestal three and one-half feet high. He is transparent. As though you were suddenly endowed with X-Ray eyes you may view the inside of the human body. This transparent man, composed of cellon, and brought to A Century of Progress from Dresden, Germany, is one of only two in the world, and required 18 months to make. He cost $10,000. He properly begins the story of the science of medicine in this theater of the sciences."
"The girls entered the spherical building on the hillside by the lagoon to see The World A Million Years Ago. There they beheld examples of prehistoric creatures which, if they had been in the flesh, would have terrified the bravest man. . . . They saw a series of six dioramas displaying the animals of the ice age and 'man' before the dawn of history. In the main area the gigantic prehistoric beasts were endowed with 'electric life' and they saw them moving, breathing, uttering cries, just as they did in their natural habitat. 'A platybelodon, glyptodon, triceratops, pterodactyl, and a brontosaurus,' Lenora read. 'Spell those words!' Beverly suggested. Lenora frowned on her. 'Spell them! It is all I can do to say them.'"	"The World a Million Years Ago It is hard for us to conceive of a world inhabited by monsters other than those of industry. But, when we cross the broad plaza at Twenty-third street to a spherical building on the hillside by the lagoon, we see examples of prehistoric creatures that would, in the flesh, terrify the bravest man. Step onto a platform, in motion, and you will be transported through 'The World a Million Years Ago.' You are carried past a series of six dioramas displaying the animals of the ice age and 'man' before the dawn of history. Then you enter the main arena. Here, gigantic, prehistoric beasts are brought to life—a platybelodon, a huge hairy mammoth, a giant gorilla, saber-tooth tiger, and ground sloth are seen in conflict. Also, the glyptodon, triceratops, pterodactyl, the massive brontosaurus, and the vernops and dimetrodon in a death struggle are represented in their natural habitats—seem to be alive, breathing, uttering cries, and moving."
"'Think what that all means,' Connie said, waving a hand to the lights below. 'Thousands of years ago this was all vast stretches of ice, with glaciers moving sluggishly along and now—it really gives one something to think about.' 'Indeed it does,' Beverly agreed. 'First man had to discover fire, then oils from animals and then kerosene. Look what we have today!' 'A Century of Progress!' Virginia exclaimed. 'And what progress!'"	"Nobody knows how many thousands of years ago, this spot that now blazes with light, was a part of vast stretches of ice. Glaciers moved sluggishly against the cold sky, and sun and moon and stars were the only illumination. Centuries rolled by and man discovered fire and used it to warm his wigwams, caves, and huts. Oils from animals came into use for lighting, then came kerosene; today we have electricity."

Characters

Beverly

Tribulations

One of the most distinctive features of the Beverly Gray stories is the sheer number of predicaments Beverly faces. Kidnappings, plane crashes, and near death experiences attack her with a vengeance; what would be a story of a lifetime to anyone else, repeated endlessly to anyone who would listen (not to mention therapists), finds Beverly seemingly unconcerned.

Kidnappings

• by Hermit Woman (Freshman, ch. 12)
• by smugglers (Sophomore, ch. 8)
• by gypsies (Junior, ch. 3)
• by kidnappers (attempted) (Senior, ch. 17)

Wild animals

• Pawed by bear (Freshman, ch. 15)

Injuries

• Sprains ankle (Freshman, ch. 10)
• Knocked unconscious (Freshman, ch. 20)
• Breaks rib and arm (Sophomore, ch. 21)
• Twists ankle (Junior, ch. 13)
• Sprains ankle (Senior, ch. 19)

Menaced with weapon

• Held at gunpoint (Freshman, ch. 27)
• Held at knifepoint (Sophomore, ch. 17)
• Dodges throwing knives (Junior, ch. 13)
• Dodges bullet (Senior, ch. 17)
• Held at gunpoint (Senior, ch. 17)

Assorted assaults

• Attacked by thief (Sophomore, ch. 16)
• Choked unconscious (Sophomore, ch. 19)
• Knifes gypsy (Junior, ch. 11)
• Struck unconscious (Junior, ch. 11)

Other

• Lost in blizzard (Freshman, ch. 9)
• Rescues Shirley from fire (Freshman, ch. 23)
• Trapped in smugglers' den (Sophomore, ch. 19)
• In plane crash (Sophomore, ch. 21)
• Falls through ice (Junior, ch. 17)
• Arrested (Senior, ch. 17)

Main characters

Alpha Delta girls

The Alpha Delta Sorority is founded at the beginning of Beverly Gray, Sophomore. It operates as an unofficial organization for its six charter members, all girls who, living in Chadwick Hall, became friends in Freshman. Periodic meetings are called—formally at the beginning and end of every term, and beyond that on an ad hoc basis—though they essentially serve as ordinary gatherings of friends. The sorority thus has no true official function at Vernon College, but exists as a perspicuous representation of the girls' friendship. Six additional girls, all juniors, are inducted at the end of Senior. The sorority thereby lives another day at the college, while it becomes twelve friends, not just six, who form the basis for the continuing adventures in the Beverly Gray Mystery Series.

Anne White

Beverly's childhood friend from Renville, Anne likewise heads to Vernon College in the footsteps of her mother. She too is nineteen at the start of her collegiate education. She is "a dainty blonde," "gracious and contented," and embodies "forbearance." Like Beverly she is a skilled tennis player, and in Freshman is asked to try out for the reigning state champion Vernon team; unlike Beverly, by Senior she is the captain.

Shirley Parker

Hailing from a privileged Manhattan background, Shirley is Beverly's roommate throughout their four years at Vernon.

Lenora Whitehill

Lois Mason

Rosalie Arnold

Constance "Connie" Elwood

As Beverly is the de facto leader of the Alpha Delta girls, so is Connie the leader of the six juniors who join the Alphas at the end of Senior. She, along with the rest of them, is not introduced until this book, and so does not appear during her freshman or sophomore years (Beverly's sophomore and junior years, respectively).

Kathleen Ryan

Ada Collins

Evelyn DeLong

Virginia Harris

Phyllis Tanner

The Lucky Circle

Eight people form Beverly's group of childhood friends, and collectively refer to themselves as the Lucky Circle. In addition to Beverly and Anne, who are also Alpha Deltas, two girls and four boys are members; Shirley is added as an "honorary member" over winter break in Junior.

Jim Stanton

Boyd Marshall

Tommy Chandler

Gordon Brewster

Joan Roberts

Barbara West

Characters in Beverly Gray, Freshman

Name	Description
Beverly Gray
Anne White
Shirley Parker
Lenora Whitehill
Lois Mason
Rosalie Arnold
Helen Chadwick Gray	Beverly's mother
John Gray	Beverly's father
(Unnamed)†	Helen Chadwick's father
Grace Conister†	Anne's mother
Philip White†	Anne's father
Mr. Parker‡	Shirley's father
Mrs. Parker‡	Shirley's mother
(Unnamed)†	Shirley's governess
Geraldine "Gerry" Foster
Margaret "Mickey" Mowre
Georgia Lane*	Sophomore friend of Gerry & Mickey
Marian Warren	Junior, tennis captain
Caroline Johnson
Tom
(Unnamed)	Masquerade dance ticket taker
(Unnamed)	Masquerade dance judge
(Unnamed) (1+)	Calls out in darkness at dance
(Unnamed)*	Junior who finds lights
(Unnamed)	Calls from inside Chadwick Hall
(Unnamed) (2)*	Romeo & Juliet stage hands
(Unnamed) (2)†	Sophomore roommates of Beverly & Shirley after fire
Miss Wilder	Vernon College dean
Mrs. Dennis	Chadwick Hall house mistress
Miss Tommasin
Professor Emma Martin
Theodore Brown
Professor Jackson†	Biology professor
Professor Adams
(Unnamed)	Basketball referee
Andrew T. Crandall
(Unnamed)†	Firemen
(Unnamed)†	Chadwick Hall maids
(Unnamed)†	Chadwick Hall cook
(Unnamed)†	Chadwick Hall janitor
(Unnamed)	Vernon College nurse
(Unnamed)*	Train conductor
(Unnamed)*	Vernon taxi driver
Jim Stanton
Tommy Chandler
Barbara West
Gordon Brewster
Joan Roberts
Boyd Marshall
(Unnamed)†	Boyd's father
Big Bertha
(Unnamed)†	Bertha's dead daughter
(Unnamed)†	Sheriff
(Unnamed)†	Sheriff's men
(Unnamed)†	Guards sent to arrest Bertha; one killed
(Unnamed) (3)†	Bear hunters
Old man Gorner†	Owns wagon in Renville
Beyer†	Owns stable in Renville
"Terry"	Beverly's "wire-haired fox terrier" in Renville
"Mr. Bruin"

* No speaking lines in book

^† Mentioned in book, but does not appear or speak

^‡ Mentioned in book, but does not appear or speak, and name is sourced from another work

Characters in Beverly Gray, Sophomore

Name	Description
Beverly Gray
Anne White
Shirley Parker
Lenora Whitehill
Lois Mason
Rosalie Arnold
Helen Chadwick Gray‡	Beverly's mother
Mr. Parker
Mrs. Parker
Geraldine "Gerry" Foster*	Friend made in Freshman; now a senior
Alison Cox	Editor of the Comet, newspaper of Vernon College
May Norris
(Unnamed)†	Vernon College student; daughter of Mr. Maxwell
Mr. Maxwell	Father of a Vernon College student
Mrs. Dennis	Chadwick Hall house mistress
Miss Wilder	Vernon College dean
Professor Leonard
(Unnamed)†	Chadwick Hall maids
Larry Owen
(Unnamed)†	Larry's Secret Service partner
Inspector Dugan
(Unnamed) (2)*	Policemen
(Unnamed)	Weller's soda clerk
Pete	Head smuggler
Wah Fang
(Unnamed)	Smuggler
(Unnamed)	Smuggler
(Unnamed) (6)	Smugglers
Andrew Horler†	Original owner of Horler Mansion
(Unnamed)†	Andrew Horler's wife
(Unnamed)†	Andrew Horler's son
(Unnamed)†	Andrew Horler's son's wife
(Unnamed)†	Old man; purchased Horler Mansion
(Unnamed)†	Killed old man
(Unnamed)†	Neighbor; discovered old man's body
(Unnamed)†	Sees men moving boxes at Horler Mansion
(Unnamed)*	Vernon airport mechanic
"Sir Galahad"*	Chief mechanic; does emergency repairs
(Unnamed)*	Second mechanic; does emergency repairs
Mrs. Thompson
Jake Thompson*
Dr. Grimm*
Jim Stanton
Tommy Chandler*
Freddy Blakewell
(Unnamed)*	Football coach
(Unnamed)*	Football doctor
Carl	Parkers' chauffeur
Chalmers	Parkers' butler
Marie	Parkers' maid
The Abberlys†	Family in New York
(Unnamed)*	Married friend of Shirley in New York
(Unnamed)	Red headed boat steward who plays saxophone
(Unnamed)*	Taxi driver with nine children
Charlie Blaine	Reporter for the Herald Tribune
(Unnamed)*	Murderer in Chinatown
Duke of Abernethy	Guest of honor at a ball in New York
Mrs. Cathelwaite	Guest at a New York ball; owns $250,000 emerald
Madame deFreigne
Comte Paul le Follette*	Guest at a New York ball
Comte Raoul le Follette*	Guest at a New York ball
"Comte de Bourgeine"	Jewel thief posing as a French count
(Unnamed) (2)*	Policemen

* No speaking lines in book

^† Mentioned in book, but does not appear or speak

^‡ Mentioned in book, but does not appear or speak, and name is sourced from another work

Characters in Beverly Gray, Junior

Name	Description
Beverly Gray
Anne White
Shirley Parker
Lenora Whitehill
Lois Mason
Rosalie Arnold
Helen Chadwick Gray
John Gray
Grace Conister‡	Anne's mother
Philip White‡	Anne's father
Mr. Parker†	Shirley's father
Mrs. Parker†	Shirley's mother
Geraldine "Gerry" Foster
(Unnamed)†	Gerry's aunt
Margaret "Mickey" Mowre†	Friend made in Freshman; graduated last term
May Norris
(Unnamed)	May's roommate
Josephine Carter
(Unnamed)	Vernon girl, alerts Shirley to Jim's arrival
(Unnamed)†	Sophomore, saw Shirley with May
Miss Wilder	Vernon College dean
Mrs. Dennis*	Chadwick Hall house mistress
(Unnamed)*	Literature teacher
(Unnamed)*	Choral instructor
(Unnamed)†	Courtney Hall house mistress
(Unnamed)†	Vernon College doctor
Mr. Forsythe	Manager of the Forsythe Film Company
Andrew T. Crandall‡	President of the Forest Theater Guild
Karl†	Weller's soda clerk
(Unnamed)*	Hotel Wildon bell boy
Orlenda
Dimiti
Anselo
"Cheeko"	Anselo's pet monkey
(Unnamed)	Gypsy; robs safe in office of Mrs. Dennis
(Unnamed)	Gypsy; introduces girls to Orlenda
(Unnamed)	Gypsy; woman who brings Beverly food
(Unnamed)	Gypsy; takes ride in Red Bird II
(Unnamed)	Gypsy; grandmother of above man
(Unnamed) (2)	Gypsies; sit outside the grandmother's wagon
(Unnamed) (2)	Gypsies; prepare the grandmother for police search
(Unnamed)	Gypsy; introduces self as leader (may be Dimiti)
(Unnamed) (2)	Gypsies; fight with Jim and Larry
(Unnamed)	Gypsy; clubs Jim & Larry unconscious
Inspector Dugan
(Unnamed)	Art shop owner
(Unnamed)	Workman at County Fair
Larry Owens
Jim Stanton
Boyd Marshall
Tommy Chandler
Gordon Brewster
Joan Roberts
Barbara West
Bucky Harris
(Unnamed)*	Male figure skater
(Unnamed)*	Female figure skater
(Unnamed)*	Renville doctor
(Unnamed)*	Renville minister

* No speaking lines in book

^† Mentioned in book, but does not appear or speak

^‡ Mentioned in book, but does not appear or speak, and name is sourced from another work

Characters in Beverly Gray, Senior

Name	Description
Beverly Gray
Anne White
Shirley Parker
Lenora Whitehill
Lois Mason
Rosalie Arnold
Helen Chadwick Gray	Beverly's mother
John Gray*	Beverly's father
Mr. Parker	Shirley's father
Mrs. Parker†	Shirley's mother
(Unnamed)†	Lois's father
(Unnamed)†	Lois's mother
(Unnamed)†	Lois's younger sister
Connie Elwood
Kathleen Ryan
Ada Collins
Evelyn DeLong
Virginia Harris
Phyllis Tanner
Caroline Johnson
(Unnamed)	Announces arrival of film company
(Unnamed) (2)	Sophomores; in awe of Beverly & Lenora
(Unnamed)	Freshman; complains of Connie & co.
(Unnamed) (2)	Sophomores; complain of Connie & co.
(Unnamed)†	Freshman Lenora's senior "crush"
Mrs. Dennis
Miss Wilder
(Unnamed)†	French professor
(Unnamed)*	Basketball referee
(Unnamed)	Senior; basketball center
(Unnamed)*	Junior; basketball guard
(Unnamed)*	Wayne Seminary dean
(Unnamed)*	Tennis referee
(Unnamed) (2)*	Vernon College tennis players: 2nd match
(Unnamed) (2)*	Wayne Seminary tennis players: 1st match
(Unnamed) (2)*	Wayne Seminary tennis players: 2nd match
(Unnamed) (2)*	Wayne Seminary tennis players: 3rd match
Mr. Forsythe
Marcia Lyman
Conway Grant*
(Unnamed) (2)†	Mr. Forsythe's assistants
Mr. Smith
(Unnamed)	Hotel Wildon bellboy
(Unnamed)	Hotel Wildon clerk
(Unnamed) (2)	Hotel Wildon authorities
Andrew T. Crandall†
Jim Stanton
Joan Roberts
Tommy Chandler
Gordon Brewster
Boyd Marshall
Barbara West
Larry Owens†	Secret Service agent and suitor of Beverly
(Unnamed) (2)	Kidnap Shirley
(Unnamed)	Policeman; arrests Beverly & Shirley
(Unnamed)	Chief of police
(Unnamed)*	Policeman
(Unnamed)*	Truck driver
Cat	In kidnappers' house

* No speaking lines in book

^† Mentioned in book, but does not appear or speak

^‡ Mentioned in book, but does not appear or speak, and name is sourced from another work

Characters in Beverly Gray at the World's Fair

Name	Description
Beverly Gray
Lenora Whitehill
Shirley Parker
Lois Mason*
Constance "Connie" Elwood
Kathleen Ryan
Ada Collins
Virginia Harris

Publication history

The Beverly Gray series was published in the United States from 1934 to 1955. Four publishers were responsible for the series output during this time: A. L. Burt (1934–1937), Blue Ribbon Books (1937–1938), Grosset & Dunlap (1938–1954) and McLoughlin Bros. (1955).

A. L. Burt (1934–1937)

A. L. Burt was responsible for publishing the first eight titles in the series, from Beverly Gray, Freshman through Beverly Gray in the Orient. The first four titles were copyrighted on June 1, 1934 and issued concurrently as a "breeder set," a common practice at the time. Books five and six (Career and World's Fair) followed in similar fashion, both copyrighted on June 14, 1934, while the next two works followed in yearly intervals. Although A. L. Burt's president retired and sold the company to Blue Ribbon Books in early March 1937, the copyright for the final book published by A. L. Burt, Beverly Gray in the Orient, was actually issued on April 15 of that year.

The A. L. Burt editions had a uniform appearance. Approximately 8 inches tall and 1.5 inches thick, they were composed of gray cloth boards with black lettering, and supplied with light blue endpapers with an etching of village buildings. The publisher was denoted on the lower spine as "A. L. BURT/COMPANY."

Blue Ribbon Books (1937–1938)

Blue Ribbon Books dust jacket to Beverly Gray at the World's Fair. The rectangular yellow box at the bottom of the spine was added to cover up "A. L. Burt Company."

Blue Ribbon Books announced the purchase of A. L. Burt on March 4, 1937. Robert de Graff, president of Blue Ribbon from May 28 of the previous year until February of the next, described the purchase as "supplementary," bringing together "the fiction list of the A. L. Burt Company and the non-fiction books issued under the Blue Ribbon imprint." Taking over approximately 2,000 titles from A. L. Burt, Blue Ribbon indicated its intention to continue "the Burt name" on "fiction and juvenile titles"; each Beverly Gray book was thus referred to as "A Burt Book" on the title page. The company had to that point been a reprint specialist, and, at least vis-à-vis the Beverly Gray series, its specialty did not change. No new titles were commissioned for the series by Blue Ribbon, although from 1937 to 1938 they reprinted the eight works already issued by A. L. Burt. From April 15, 1937 (Orient, A. L. Burt) until October 15, 1938 (Treasure Hunt, Grosset & Dunlap) it would be seventeen months until another Beverly Gray book was copyrighted.

The initial Beverly Gray books issued by Blue Ribbon used the same stock as the A. L. Burt editions. The books were bound in cloth boards of the same color and size, while the copyright remained under the name of A. L. Burt. The only changes were to the spine, where "B U R T" replaced "A. L. BURT/COMPANY," and to the title page, where "A Burt Book/BLUE RIBBON BOOKS, Inc./New York" replaced "A. L. BURT COMPANY, publishers/New York Chicago."

Blue Ribbon began using colored boards after the initial printing runs with gray boards, perhaps reflecting the exhaustion of binding materials acquired from A. L. Burt. The size and composition of the books remained the same. The first printings without gray boards were probably those with boards of a light pinkish-purple color and light blue endpapers. At least three titles—Sophomore, Senior and Orient—were printed in this format, and others may exist. Subsequent printings used a variety of different colors, and switched to dark blue endpapers. Blue boards were used for Freshman, green (black lettering) for Sophomore, green (purple lettering) for Junior, and red for Career. As a general (but not necessarily absolute) rule, each format was unique to one title. If not intentional, this may have reflected a practice of printing each book individually whenever stocks ran low, and using whatever binding materials were on hand at the time.

Grosset and Dunlap (1938–1954)

Grosset & Dunlap purchased the "entire juvenile business" of Blue Ribbon Books in mid-1938. By that point Grosset was publishing such successful series as Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, The Dana Girls, Tom Swift Sr., and Judy Bolton as part of "one of the largest and most active juvenile lists in the business." Many of these series were produced in partnership with the Stratemeyer Syndicate, but a number of independent series, such as the Beverly Gray and Judy Bolton mysteries, and later such series as Ken Holt and Rick Brant, also enjoyed decades of publication. The Beverly Gray series would last until 1954 with Grosset & Dunlap, then see one final year of publication with its McLoughlin Bros. division.

With the purchase of Blue Ribbon Books came "their stock" of Beverly Gray books. The first Grosset & Dunlap editions were thus actually Blue Ribbon books with Grosset & Dunlap dust jackets. The later Blue Ribbon formats—those printed after the formats using gray or light purple boards—are typically found with Grosset & Dunlap instead of Blue Ribbon Books dust jackets. A number of hybrid printings next emerged as the Blue Ribbon stock was variously exhausted. Multiple copies of Junior were printed with boards and pages acquired from Blue Ribbon; A. L. Burt was named on the copyright pages, Blue Ribbon Books on the title pages, and Grosset & Dunlap on the spines and dust jackets. Orient saw similar treatment, with leftover Blue Ribbon pages bound into green boards produced by Grosset & Dunlap, while some copies of Senior had Blue Ribbon pages bound into orange Grosset & Dunlap boards. Other examples of hybrid printings likely exist, although they are infrequently found; their existence reflects not the production of entire printing runs, but rather the using up of leftover materials.

McLoughlin Bros. (1955)

In June 1954, Grosset & Dunlap purchased "the complete stock and goodwill of McLoughlin Bros," a "publisher of toy books since 1828." McLoughlin thereafter became "a division of Grosset & Dunlap," with the Clover Books imprint used to publish the Beverly Gray series. Clover Books was primarily used as "a reprint line for juvenile titles that were still profitable enough to merit publication in a cheap format but were no longer selling sufficiently well to continue in their original hardback edition," and the switch to this imprint portended the fate of the Beverly Gray series. Only one more book would be published before the series was cancelled.

McLoughlin printed Beverly Gray's Surprise, the final work in the series, in 1955. It additionally reprinted the previous nine books (Journey through Scoop), which had originally been issued by Grosset & Dunlap. The ten books were numbered from G-16 (Journey) to G-25 (Surprise), with G-1 through G-15, representing the books not reprinted by McLoughlin, left unassigned.

International editions

From 1944 until 1970, translations of several Beverly Gray books were published in Iceland and in Norway. Twelve works were initially published by the Icelandic publisher Norðri. The first of these, Beverly Gray nýliði (Freshman), was translated by Gudjon Gudjonsson, with the eleven succeeding titles translated by Kristmundur Bjarnason. The first four translations (Freshman through Senior) were later reprinted by another Icelandic publisher, Iðunn. Either intentionally or mistakenly, both Norðri and Iðunn used the pen name "Clarie Blank" rather than Blank's true first name. Between the publication and republication of these Icelandic translations, seven Norwegian titles were issued by the publisher Forlagshuset.

Dust jacket to Beverly Gray í III bekk (Iðunn, 1969)

Icelandic titles

#	Title	English Title		Pub. by Norðri	Pub. by Iðunn
1	Beverly Gray nýliði	1	Freshman	1944	1967
2	Beverly Gray í II bekk	2	Sophomore	1945	1968
3	Beverly Gray í III bekk	3	Junior	1946	1969
4	Beverly Gray í IV bekk	4	Senior	1946	1970
5	Beverly Gray fréttaritari	10	Reporter	1947	N/A
6	Beverly Gray á ferðalagi	16	Journey	1948	N/A
7	Beverly Gray í gullleit	8	Treasure Hunt	1948	N/A
9*	Ástir Beverly Gray	11	Romance	1949	N/A
10	Beverly Gray í New York	5	Career	1949	N/A
11	Beverly Gray í Suður-Ameríku	12	Quest	1950	N/A
12	Beverly Gray vinnur nýja sigra	13	Problem	1950	N/A
13	Beverly Gray og upplýsingaþjónustan	14	Adventure	1951	N/A

*Although the books were numbered, no #8 was ever issued for an unknown reason.

Norwegian titles

Title	English Title		Pub.
Beverly Gray på college	4	Senior	1960
Beverly Grays hemmelighet	21	Secret	1960
Beverly Gray det forsvunne maleriet	23	Discovery	1961
Beverly Gray på egne ben	5	Career	1961
Beverly Gray som journalist	10	Reporter	1961
Beverly Gray og den mystiske rytter	18	Mystery	1962
Beverly Gray og den stjålne medaljongen	16	Journey	1962

Bibliography

Works by Clair Blank

Beverly Gray

• Blank, Clair (1934). Beverly Gray, Freshman. A. L. Burt Company.
• Blank, Clair (1934). Beverly Gray, Sophomore. A. L. Burt Company.
• Blank, Clair (1934). Beverly Gray, Junior. A. L. Burt Company.
• Blank, Clair (1934). Beverly Gray, Senior. A. L. Burt Company.
• Blank, Clair (1935). Beverly Gray at the World's Fair. A. L. Burt Company.
• Blank, Clair (1938). Beverly Gray on a Treasure Hunt. Grosset & Dunlap.

The Adventure Girls

• Blank, Clair (1936). The Adventure Girls at K Bar O. A. L. Burt Company.
• Blank, Clair (1936). The Adventure Girls in the Air. A. L. Burt Company.
• Blank, Clair (1936). The Adventure Girls at Happiness House. A. L. Burt Company

Other

• Blank, Clair (1940). Lover Come Back. Gramercy.
• Blank, Clair (1941). Linda Ross at Hamilton. Unpublished manuscript.

Primary sources

• Official Guide Book of the Fair, 1933. (1933). Chicago: A Century of Progress.

Secondary sources

• Abreu, John E. (May 1984). "Beverly Gray, Juvenile Soap: A Golden Anniversary Retrospective (part 1)". Yellowback Library.
• Abreu, John E. (July 1984). "Beverly Gray, Juvenile Soap: A Golden Anniversary Retrospective (part 2)". Yellowback Library.
• Allcock, Doug (June 2009). "A Peek at Beverly Gray." Yellowback Library.
• Axe, John (July 2000). The Secret of Collecting Girls' Series Books. Hobby House Press. ISBN 978-0875885773.
• Axe, John (July 2002). All About Collecting Girls' Series Books. Hobby House Press. ISBN 978-0875886350.
• Bourke, Sean (July 1995). "American Juvenile Series Books in European Editions". Yellowback Library.
• Chenu, Julius "Bob" (Jan 1982). "Beverly Gray Series, by Clair Blank". Yellowback Library.
• Enright, John M. (Mar 1990). "It's Gray, It Has Two Legs, And It Travels Around the World". Mystery & Adventure Series Review.
• Grossman, Anita Susan (Jan 1989). "Mystery of Clair Blank". Yellowback Library.
• Grossman, Anita Susan (Dec 1989). "Clair Blank and Her Publishers: A Look at the Written Record". Yellowback Library.
• Grossman, Anita Susan (April 1994). "A Note on McLoughlin Brothers and Clover Books". Yellowback Library.
• Grossman, Anita Susan (October 1998). "Lover Come Back: A Synopsis Of Clair Blank's Forgotten Novel". The Whispered Watchword.

External links

• The Adventure Girls at Project Gutenberg
• The Official Guide Book of the Fair, 1933 at the Internet Archive