CLASS POLITICS.
Early Saturday morning Isabel flew into the suite occupied by Eloise,
Helen, Pauline and Juliet. “I’ve something to tell you,” said she. “Your
class meeting comes this morning, doesn’t it?”
“Yes,” replied Juliet, “at ten o’clock.”
“Well did you know that some of the girls are planning to put in Myrtle
Wiseman for president, and the other girls of that set for all the other
offices?”
“What?” Eloise came to the door of the bedroom, her comb in hand, her
long, dark hair falling around her shoulders and framing her bright
face.
“Margaret told me last night before ‘lights out.’ While we were at our
meeting last night, Margaret, I mean Virginia, was in the library
reading, and two girls came in and began to talk without paying any
attention to her. There was hardly anybody there, she said, on account
of all the meetings, and these girls talked in a low tone. They thought
she was a new girl and wouldn’t know anybody, I suppose, in our crowd.
At first Virginia said that she did not pay any attention, then she
caught the names of some of you girls. All she got was that all of your
crowd were to be kept from holding any office, and that Myrtle Wiseman
was to be president. She remembered that name.”
“Myrtle hates Hilary so, and none of us have been more than polite since
she made trouble between Hilary and Lilian last year. She _is_ a
trouble-maker, they say. But I wonder that they would put her up for
president, because there are stronger girls in that crowd. I wonder who
those girls in the library were.”
“Virginia did not know them.”
“I suppose they came in late after some meeting?”
“Probably. I imagine that these are only Myrtle’s special friends and
there might be some hope for us that Myrtle might be defeated.”
“Dorothy Appleton would make a good president.”
“She would be too much influenced by Myrtle and the rest, Juliet.”
“O, I don’t know about that, Eloise. Dorothy is pretty independent,
especially if anything important comes up. I think Dorothy wants to be
fair.”
“Would you mind, Isabel, going over and telling Hilary and the rest, and
asking them to come to our suite after breakfast?”
“I’ll go, and I suppose Virginia and Avalon and I are to say nothing
about what we heard?”
“If you please for the present. And thank you so much, Isabel, for
telling us. We’ll tell you how it all comes out.”
“Did you hear that, Pauline?”
“I’m not sure that I got it all. Myrtle Wiseman for president?”
“Yes. Wouldn’t that be awful!”
“We’ve been too busy with our clubs we’re starting to pay any attention
to class doings. But I guess we do not want any offices.”
“No, but we don’t want to be run by people like that, either.”
“Class spirit is rather important sometimes.”
“Yes, I wish we had talked with the other girls more.”
“I just thought that it would be like the usual meetings without any
doubt that we could get good officers to represent the class.”
So ran the conversation. After breakfast the other girls came hurrying
in. “What shall we do about it? Anything?” was the general query.
“For one thing,” said Eloise, “when they nominate Myrtle one of us can
hop right up and nominate some one else.”
“One of our own crowd?”
“Not necessarily, but one not so opposed to us as Myrtle is. She would
even work against us, you know.”
“I tell you what I think would be the best thing to do,” said Pauline.
“Hear, hear! Pauline!”
“They would be expecting us to nominate one of our girls and if we pick
out a girl outside that everybody likes she would stand a good chance of
being elected. They will have to work to get Myrtle in, you know. She is
not a popular girl at all.”
“That is a good idea, Pauline,” said Lilian, “and if we could get the
best girl _in their own crowd_ they would not know _what_ to do. Do you
remember how the great generals always did, Caesar and the rest, plan to
divide the enemies’ forces?”
“Well I don’t see that we would make any mistake in putting Dorothy in.
She is popular, and independent, and I’m sure she would never stand for
anything mean if she knew it, and we’ll see that she knows it if ever
anything comes up in the class meetings.”
“Would you or Hilary be willing to nominate Dorothy? It would have more
effect if you would, because the girls would immediately think why.”
“O, no, Eloise, please; we want to forget that awful time!”
“Let Pauline do it,” said Cathalina. “Pauline has been here several
years and her athletic ‘prowess’ gives her influence.”
“Yes, and I think Pauline could do it without any special feelings being
aroused. That would be better,” said Hilary. “We don’t want to split up
the class or anything. I don’t hate Myrtle at all. I’m sorry for her,
but I wouldn’t want her to run anything I was connected with.”
“Hear our good old Hilary. She is right. Let’s not talk to anybody, but
handle it all at the meeting. If we could get one of Dorothy’s chums to
second the nomination and give her a little boost, it would be fine.
Pick out Julia Merton or pretty little Margaret Brown, Pauline, and sit
by her. They are crazy about Dorothy.”
“All right, Eloise,” said Pauline. “I can honestly do my part for
Dorothy. I like her very much.”
“Poor Myrtle!” said Hilary.
“Don’t get soft-hearted, Hilary,” admonished Eloise. “If it were just
some kind sacrifice you could make for her I wouldn’t say a word, but
when it comes to letting a whole class in for trouble it is different!”
“Be on time for the meeting, girls,” was Pauline’s last word, as the
girls of Lakeview suite departed.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be there when the meeting is called to order.”
The girls were a little excited, not knowing just what to expect from
Myrtle and her friends, but feeling sure that Dorothy would prove more
popular and receive a majority of the votes. There was the possibility
that more names would be presented, but that did not matter as long as
Myrtle were not elected. It turned out better than they had hoped.
Myrtle was promptly nominated and the nomination was seconded by a
special friend. Pauline rose quickly and nominated Dorothy, who was not
present. This made a little stir among the girls and evidently threw
confusion into the camp of the enemy, for as Pauline had hoped, Julia
Merton, tall and of the studious type, seconded the nomination of
Dorothy with great spirit. Dorothy was elected with a large majority,
and two sweet girls without “political” attachments were chosen for
vice-president and secretary. The danger was past! Isabel and Avalon
were coached not to say a word about the matter, and while Myrtle and
her friends viewed Pauline and the rest with a bit of suspicion, they
finally concluded that it was just the old affair that could of course
be counted on to prevent their accepting Myrtle.
“Pauline was terribly prompt in nominating Dorothy,” said Myrtle.
“Yes, but I expected Hilary and Lilian to be on their feet at once,”
said her friend who knew something about last year’s difficulty. “I
don’t see how they _could_ know anything about our plans.”
That afternoon there was the hoped for trip to the city. Several small
parties wanted to go and were put in charge of as many teacher
chaperons. Greycliff had a shining new motor ’bus, which took them to
the village, and there they caught the early afternoon train for the
city.
Isabel had told Lilian about Virginia’s desire to buy some clothes under
her oversight and Lilian had run in to see Virginia once or twice to
confer. “Better have a list of things we want to get,” she said,
“because the city is a dizzy place and I’m always tempted to get
something I don’t need.”
“Her check was a nice big one,” Isabel told Lilian. “I think she’d
better get her winter fixings, a good coat and a one-piece Sunday dress
that she could wear on different occasions, and maybe a skirt that hangs
right for school and a pretty sweater.”
“You make a list with her,” said Lilian, “and then I’ll go over it
later, and we must think about colors that she ought to wear. Cathalina
will be along and her ideas will be good on that.”
Never had Virginia had such a day, from the time when the ’bus with
“giggling Greycliff girls,” according to Isabel, started from the
school, to the shadowy evening hours when she returned laden with
packages, with more to be sent out Monday. She squeezed Isabel’s hand
happily, as she sat between her and Avalon and whispered, “Wait till I
write to my good old Dad that sent me here where I could know you girls,
and sent me that check for clothes.”
“It’s funny about clothes,” said Isabel. “They don’t make your
character, of course, but it does seem to have an awful effect on you to
have the right things to wear, a sort of support to your—um—moral
courage.”
Virginia’s hair was so “scraggly and faded in spots,” as she said, that
Lilian had advised her to have it cut nicely while she was in the city,
and wear it fluffed about her face, tied on the side with a wide ribbon,
as the girls were wearing it then, when their hair was short. This
performance so changed her that she insisted on stopping at one of the
places of quick photography and having a picture made to send home to
her father. “I’ll write under it, ‘This is me, would you know me?’ and
tell him that I expect to put something inside of the head, too, before
I see him again. He works so hard! O, I can wear my new dress to the Y.
W. reception tonight, can’t I?”
“Of course you can,” replied Avalon, “your pretty pumps, too. It’s a
good thing we did not want to get much ourselves!”
“Yes. I’m sorry you have had so much trouble for me.”
“O, I did not mean that; it was fun. But as we did not get any big
things, we could bring some of yours that you need right away.”
They had wisely not tried to run all round getting things here and
there, but had chosen one big department store, which carried good
things at all prices, and had taken Virginia from one department to
another, shopping for themselves too, till Virginia said she was dizzy
with clothes and happiness. And when they were about ready to drop, they
met their chaperone at a tea room near, where Virginia sat in silent
bliss, eating whatever the other girls suggested, and looking around at
the place and people to her heart’s content. They would return too late
for the Greycliff meal, but in time for the reception, which was from
eight to nine-thirty, probably ten, as the girls thought.
Both Lilian and Isabel came around to assist in Virginia’s toilet. “You
can’t make me pretty,” said Virginia, “but I do look nice, and not so
different,—and I think that you are the loveliest girls I ever saw or
heard of!”
Lilian gave her a bright, sympathetic smile, but told her that she was
entirely mistaken as to her character, while Isabel bowed with her hand
on her heart and offered her an arm of escort to the parlors.
The “Y. W.” reception was like most receptions for the purpose of having
the girls meet each other. There was a receiving line of girls and
faculty. Then a committee was on hand to take the girls to a table where
they were tagged with their own names. The old girls were told to make
themselves useful in introducing themselves and others to the new girls,
but the new girls received special attention. At a pretty table, covered
with white linen, flowers, and sparkling glasses, lemonade was ladled
out of a cut-glass punch bowl, and served with wafers. The faculty were
cordial and wore their company apparel, doing their best to meet the
girls naturally on a social footing, to forget class work and to
remember names. Fortunately, the scheme of having names pinned on
prevented many mistakes on the part of both faculty and girls.
“Were your slippers comfortable?” asked Avalon of Virginia on the way
upstairs.
“Not very, but they will be when they are not so new,” Virginia replied
hopefully.
“Your name is ‘Hope,’” Isabel reminded her. “Well this has been a week!
But I’ve had a great time. Is your roommate coming next week?”
“I think so, but I dread it a little.”
“It will be a lot better for you to be with somebody. It’s too lonesome
by yourself, especially when you’re new.”
“I can’t like anybody as well as you and Avalon.”
“Don’t say that,—who knows?”