SPRING
The months of March and April had come and gone. The days had passed in
unvarying monotony for the most part.
Now and again, however, some little incident found its place and added
the necessary interest to the school life. The long term after Christmas
is always tiring, and Easter vacation had come as a relief. By the time
this chapter opens the grounds of Seddon Hall gave proof of spring--warm
days and sunshine beckoned the girls out of doors, and early flowers
rewarded their frequent rambles in the woods. In less than three weeks
school would close, and another Senior class would graduate. Polly and
Lois had seen the same thing happen year after year, but now that the
time was approaching for them to go, they experienced the same feeling
of regret and wonder that every girl knows who has ever finished and
received a diploma.
Fortunately they did not have much time to wonder at the coming change
in their lives, for there are many events that crowd themselves into the
last few weeks of a Senior's school life, occupying most of her time.
To-day was a particularly busy one. There was a Senior class meeting to
decide on the Senior play. The photographer was coming to take the class
picture. There was a basket ball practice, for Field Day was not far
off, and an art exhibition in the evening. The latter was an entirely
new idea instigated by Miss Crosby. Every girl who could draw or paint
had offered the best her portfolio could yield, and these had been
framed and hung on the walls of the Assembly Hall.
A committee of judges composed of the faculty and two important friends
of Miss Crosby, who had promised to come up especially, were to award a
medal for the best painting and for the best sketch. Add to all of this,
the fact that Louise Preston and Florence Guile--two of the old
girls--were expected on a visit, and you have an idea of the events to
which the Seniors looked forward, as they jumped out of bed at the first
sound of the rising bell.
And Polly and Lois had another cause for excitement. To-day was the day
of the inter-collegiate track meet, and Bob was running in one of the
relay races. So many school duties had made it impossible for them to
go, but Jim had promised to wire them the results.
Betty met Polly and Lois, as usual, in Roman Alley, and they discussed
the plans for the day, as the water ran in their tubs.
"Do you think the Dorothys are going to vote against 'The Merchant of
Venice'?" Betty asked, dropping down on the lower step of the stairs.
"I'll simply refuse to act, if we have to have Tennyson's 'Princess.' I
think it's a silly thing."
"Oh, Bet!" Lois protested.
"Well, I do, and we'd never learn all those yards of verse by
Commencement."
"I think we can make the Dorothys agree," Polly said, confidently. "Mrs.
Baird is coming to the meeting, and I know she'd rather we gave the
'Merchant of Venice.'"
"What about the class picture?" Lois asked. "How are we going to have it
taken--all standing in a stiff group, as usual?"
"Jemima, no!" Betty exclaimed. "The officers all sit, I insist; else
what proof have we of our importance?"
"Bet, do be sensible," Polly pleaded. "This is really important. Oh,
here comes Ange," she said as a kimono came in sight around the bend in
the stairs.
"Come on, lazy one; we're having a meeting," Betty called. "Subject
under discussion, the Senior class picture. Have you any valuable
suggestions to offer!"
"Yes, I have," Angela replied, unexpectedly, "and it's a very clever
one, if I do say it myself," she drawled. "I may as well warn you that
if you don't agree with me, I'll be awfully offended."
"Then maybe you'd better not tell us," teased Lois.
"Oh, but I will. Now listen to me." Angela sat down beside Polly. "It's
about the picture. Of course you all want something different, don't
you? You know our class has always been noted--"
"For its originality," Betty finished for her.
"Yes, we know, go on," encouraged Polly.
"Well, I thought that instead of an everyday white dress and diploma
kind of a pose, we'd have a very informal, sailor suit, you know, group
taken.
"Good idea! It would be much simpler and better taste," Lois agreed.
"Now wait," Angela went on. "I haven't finished. Instead of having it
taken indoors, with a plain wall for a background, it would be much
nicer to have it taken out of doors, either on the Senior porch or out
on one of the rocks, side of the pond."
"That would be perfect," Polly exclaimed, enthusiastically.
"No class has ever done it before, and I know Mrs. Baird will be
overjoyed at the idea of having something a little different from those
awful set pictures her office is lined with."
"It is a good scheme," Betty said slowly. "But oh, my children! Do you
think for one moment that the Dorothys will ever agree?"
"You leave the Dorothys to me," Polly said. "I'll see that they agree to
everything."
The meeting was held immediately after school in one of the classrooms.
Mrs. Baird was there, and sat beside Lois. Everything was very formal
and quite according to Parliamentary rules.
Lois mentioned the subjects that were to be discussed, and before any
one else had a chance to speak, Polly rose and asked to be permitted to
offer a suggestion.
When it had been granted, she laid before them Angela's idea for the
picture. Mrs. Baird was so charmed that she forgot to be formal, in her
enthusiastic praise of it.
When that point was settled, Lois mentioned the play.
Betty jumped up at the first words and gave several very good reasons in
favor of the "Merchant of Venice." Evelin and Helen agreed with her and
though the two Dorothys voted for "The Princess," the majority was in
Betty's favor.
It was decided that Mrs. Baird and Miss Porter should cast each girl in
her part.
Towards the end of the meeting, there was a knock on the door. Polly
opened it. Louise Preston and Florence Guile stood in the hall.
"Don't let us disturb anything," Louise said, "but Miss Hale told us
Mrs. Baird was here."
Polly pulled them into the room. "Oh, but I'm glad to see you," she
cried. "We thought you'd never get here."
The meeting broke up at once, for the girls crowded round to welcome
them. They had both been Seniors when the present class were Freshmen.
Now they were Juniors at College, but like most of the Seddon Hall
graduates, they always came back, at least once a year. The girls were
all delighted to see them for they had been two of the most popular
girls who had ever been in the school.
When the greetings were over, Polly and Lois claimed them, and carried
them off to the gym. Louise had been Captain in her Senior year and was
now on her college team, and Polly wanted her advice.
"Now, Lou, tell me just exactly what you think," she said after the game
was over, and they were all four in her room.
"I think your team is fine, Polly, really," Louise said, sincerely,
"but--"
"Yes, it's that but, I want to hear about," Polly prompted.
"The guards are your weak point. That one girl made four fouls. Miss
Stewart didn't see them all, but I did," Louise said.
"That's Eleanor Trent, she's used to boys' rules," Lois explained.
"Then she's hopeless," Florence said with finality, "and she'll never
get over it."
"Who's the girl that was guarding you?" Louise asked.
"That's Maud Banks; she's been a sub for only a little while," Polly
said. "I put her on to take the place of a girl who didn't come back
after Easter. Why?"
"I think she ought to be on the big team," Louise declared. "She's a
splendid player."
Polly considered. "I guess you're right," she said.
"You and Lo and Bet pass as well as ever," Florence said. "Lois, where
did you get that Princeton banner?" she asked, changing the subject
abruptly.
"Frank gave it to me."
"It's coming down to-night and my banner takes its place," Polly said;
"that is, if something happens."
"What?" Louise demanded.
But Polly's explanation was cut short by a timid tap at the door.
"Come in," called Lois. It was Phylis and Janet.
"We've come to take you out for a walk, sister," Phylis said to
Florence. "You promised you'd come back right after practice and you
didn't."
Florence laughed. "Mercy, what a rude awakening. Here I've been feeling
just as if I were back again and then my small sister knocks at the door
and reminds me I'm only a visitor!"
"Their coming makes me think of the way you two used to knock at our
door," Louise said. "Remember?"
"Only Lo and Poll were never as respectful as Jane and Phylis," Florence
teased, putting her arm around her sister. "They used to bounce in
unannounced and eat up all our peanut butter."
"Florence, you shouldn't talk like that," her sister admonished her.
"You forget Polly and Lois are Seniors," she said with dignity.
"A thousand pardons!" Florence laughed. "So they are."
"I see you have your defenders just as we had," Louise remarked.
"I think it's time to go," Janet announced, and she didn't understand
why everybody laughed.
"Tell us about the exhibition to-night," Louise said, as they started
for their walk, and Janet explained:
"All the girls who are at all good, put things in," she concluded.
"These two friends of Miss Crosby are both artists and they're very
important. I hope Lois gets the prize."
"Do you think she will?" Florence asked.
"I don't know, but Maud Banks says she's sure to," Janet replied.
Polly and Lois, after their visitors had left, hurried back into their
sailor suits and joined the rest of the Seniors in the reception room,
where the photographer was waiting.
Lois explained about the picture and led the way to the pond. He
selected a rock and grouped the girls around it. This took so much time,
that Lois hurried to the studio to find it was too late to make the one
or two alterations on her canvas that she had wanted to.
"Oh, dear," she said to Miss Crosby; "I never realized how late it was
getting. What will I do?"
"You'll leave your canvas just as it is," Miss Crosby answered. "I'm
glad the light is poor. I didn't want you to make any changes. Come down
to Assembly Hall and help me to hang up the rest of the sketches, will
you?" she asked.
The two artists who were to act as judges came in time for dinner. The
girls had a glimpse of them as they passed the guests' dining-room.
"Why, they're men," Betty exclaimed. "One's fat, old and bald, and the
other one's young. I thought they were going to be women."
"No, of course not." Lois laughed. "Miss Crosby told me all about them,
they're quite famous. Do you know I'm scared to death," she admitted.
There was no set time for the exhibition that night. The Assembly Hall
was open at seven-thirty, and the girls came in and looked at the
pictures when they wanted to.
The two imposing visitors, who both wore tortoise shell rimmed glasses
on broad black ribbons, walked about glancing at a picture now and then,
and talking to the faculty.
"They make me awfully nervous; let's get out. I think some of the girls
are dancing in English Room," Lois said. She was with Polly and Louise
and Florence.
"Then how will we know who gets the medal?" Louise inquired.
"The bell's going to ring at nine o'clock," Polly explained. "Then
everybody will come back, and the winner's names will be announced from
the platform.
"Well, let's look once more at Lois' canvas," Florence said. "I'm crazy
about it."
They crossed the room and stopped before a picture of an apple orchard
in Springtime. Lois had chosen to paint it, because it was her favorite
spot in the grounds, and she had put into it all the joy and sunshine of
a May-day.
"Lo, it's good," Polly whispered earnestly. "It makes me want to dance."
"Have you seen Maud's sketches, they're great," Lois said. The critics
were standing near and she felt suddenly self-conscious.
"I think the one of the chicken yard is awfully clever, but, of course I
love the yellow dog best of all."
Maud, when she had heard of the exhibit, had chosen her puppy friend for
one of her models. The girls admired the clever result, and then left
the room.
At nine o'clock the bell rang. It was five minutes before all the girls
were back in the room, and Lois was among the last. She was almost
afraid to listen for the names. When everything was quiet, the older of
the two men came to the edge of the platform--the medals in his hand.
"This unexpected, but none the less, charming evening," he began; "has
caused me a great deal of pleasure. It is a privilege to be among you."
"Oh, do hurry," groaned Polly.
"And I am indebted to our friend Miss Crosby, for the honor. With the
assistance of your faculty--whose judgment I am sure you respect most
heartily," he added, with a quiet smile; "I have chosen that very
delightful painting of the apple orchard--without hesitation--as the
most noteworthy and promising canvas in the room. It is with the
greatest pleasure that I present Miss Lois Farwell with the medal."
Lois walked up to the platform. Her head was swimming and all the color
had left her cheeks.
"Thank you," she said, as the medal on its purple ribbon slipped into
her hand. She seemed to be treading on air as she walked back to Polly.
Maud received the other medal for her clever and original treatment of
the yellow dog; her comment was typical.
"Oh, I say, thanks a lot!" she said, as she accepted it.
Miss Crosby detained Lois after the girls had all gone and introduced
her to the two men. She heard their praise and criticism of her work
with a beating heart. She was tempted to think it was all a dream, when
she was back in her room, but the card she held in her hand, that the
artist had given her, was proof of reality.
"Polly," she said, excitedly, "you should have heard the nice things he
said to me, and he told me that if I wanted advice, to come to him.
Imagine! I'm much too thrilled to go tamely to bed."
"I know," Polly agreed; "my heart was in my throat when he was talking.
I thought he'd never stop. To-morrow I'm going to write Aunt Kate all
about it. Think how delighted she'll be."
Lois smiled happily. "I know she will. She's always been so adorably
interested in everything. I wish I had something to eat," she finished
prosaically.
"I'll go see if Bet and Ange have anything," Polly offered.
She tip-toed out of the door--for the good night bell had rung--and
started toward Betty's room. One of the housemaids was just coming down
the corridor.
"Here's a telegram for you, Miss Polly," she said. "Mrs. Baird told me
to bring it up; it's just come."
Polly took the yellow envelope and tore it open. "Lois," she cried,
joyfully, rushing back to their room. "Look! a wire."
"Bob a hero--he's won his letter."
(Signed) "Jim."
"Isn't that wonderful?" Polly demanded. "Now we'll never get to sleep,"
she added, laughing.