"We will begin with Miss Ashe," she said, busying herself with some papers on her desk. "You may read what you have prepared on the Emerson work, Miss Ashe. Come to the front of the room, please."
Blue Bonnet half rose in her seat and her face flushed scarlet.
"I am not prepared, Professor Howe. I am sorry--but--"
"Have you been ill, Miss Ashe?"
"No, not ill, but--"
"Take your seat and remain after the cla.s.s is dismissed, Miss Ashe."
"This afternoon, Professor Howe? Oh, I can"t to-day. It is impossible--"
Professor Howe made no reply and pa.s.sed on to the next pupil.
Blue Bonnet did some quick thinking during the next few minutes. How she was to write a theme and get ready to go to Cambridge by three o"clock, was beyond her ability to calculate. Professor Howe would surely excuse her when she explained; explained that she had tried to write the theme and failed--she felt sure of that. But Professor Howe for once was adamant. No explanation sufficed; no amount of pleading prevailed. Blue Bonnet remained after cla.s.s and, cross and late, reached her room just as Sue and Annabel were leaving theirs, well groomed and immaculate.
"I reckon you"ll have to go on without me," she said, her eyes filling with tears of vexation and disappointment. "Professor Howe"s on a regular rampage to-day. She"s kept me all this time over an old composition on Emerson. She"s made me loathe Emerson for all time. I shall perfectly hate him from this hour forth. Go on, don"t wait! I won"t spoil everything for the rest of you."
"Nonsense," Annabel said, pushing Blue Bonnet into her room and taking out her clothes from the closet. "Just hurry a little. The boys aren"t here yet. It won"t hurt them to wait a few minutes anyway. It"s no killing matter. Wash in a little cold water; it"ll freshen you."
Blue Bonnet emerged presently from the bathroom, rosy and happy, gave her hair a vigorous brushing, and got into the becoming silk waist that Sue held ready for her.
"Thought you were going to wear your crepe de chine, Annabel. Sue said you were. Did you change your mind?"
"Yes, Sue made such a fuss; said you girls were going to wear your suits. I suppose it is more sensible. Here are your gloves. Lucky they"re clean! Got a handkerchief? Come on."
Three more attractive girls it would be hard to find than Annabel, Sue and Blue Bonnet, as they made their way to the reception-room, where the boys were waiting.
Billy presented Sue"s escort. A rather fine-looking young fellow by the name of Billings--Ben Billings. "An awfully common name," Sue sniffed to Blue Bonnet at her first opportunity. "Never could abide the name of "Ben.""
"Oh, I don"t know, Sue," Blue Bonnet replied, "it"s probably short for Benjamin. Benjamin Billings isn"t so bad. I think it"s quite high sounding."
But Benjamin Billings proved to have a.s.sets, if he did have a common name. It transpired that he lived in Boston, was a member of a well-known family. In fact the very elegant looking limousine which waited at the curb proved to be his property--or his mother"s--and the party went forth in it, gaily.
The ride to Cambridge was delightful. The car just crowded enough to make every one merry and responsive. Blue Bonnet sat squeezed securely between Mrs. White and Billy Hemphill.
Arriving at the college, Billy, who seemed to be the master of ceremonies, went a little ahead of the party, and throwing open the door of his room hospitably ushered the guests in.
"This way," he said, leading them through the sitting-room to the bedroom beyond. "You"ll want to take off your wraps."
A trim maid in a neat cap stood waiting to a.s.sist the girls with coats and rubbers.
"They"re doing it up brown," Sue whispered as Billy left the room.
"They"ve engaged this maid along with the caterer. Just wait! I do hope they haven"t forgotten that heavenly ice-cream like they had before. The kind with the nuts! Oh, girls; look! Isn"t that perfectly killing?"
Sue pointed to a vase of flowers on Billy"s dresser. They were exquisite pale yellow roses, about which were tied--as stiffly and properly as Billy would have tied his own necktie--two shades of ribbon, green and white, the colors of the North school.
"Well, it"s perfectly dear of him, anyway," Sue said, as the girls shook with laughter. "Of course the bows _are_ funny, but the boys have done the best they knew how, and it"s a pretty compliment, _I_ think."
A pretty compliment it was, elaborated upon in the sitting-room. Vases stood in every available corner and s.p.a.ce, and the same bows ornamented each bouquet. The girls were eloquent in praise of them.
"Why didn"t you try a four-in-hand on this one, Billy?" Sue asked, pointing to a carefully arranged effect of the "string-tie" variety. "Or a--what you call it--an Ascot! An Ascot would be stunning on those orchids."
A laugh went round the room in which Billy joined good naturedly.
"See what you fellows escape by not having a sister," he said, nodding toward McVickar and Billings. His tone was severe, but the loving look that shot from his eyes to the dimpled face close to his own belied the words. Any fellow would have been proud to have had such a sister. Billy appreciated the fact.
"Anyway, I didn"t tie the bows," he added. "McVickar did it. "Fess up, old man. He"s been at it all day--sluffed his cla.s.ses to tie the bunch."
It was Sue"s turn to become embarra.s.sed.
"Really?" she said. "Well, they"re perfectly lovely--and the idea"s so new. I"ve never seen it used before. I think you should be congratulated, Mr. McVickar. It"s a gift to be able to originate!"
Even Billy regarded Sue with admiration, but a knock at the door prevented further discussion.
"Pardon me," Billy said to Mrs. White on the way to open the door.
"Surprising how many interruptions a fellow has in a place like this."
On the threshold stood a young man, groomed within an inch of his life; hair faultless; shoes immaculate; tie and scarf pin elaborate.
"Oh, a thousand pardons, Hemphill. Didn"t dream you were entertaining.
Just looking for a book--Calculus. Haven"t seen it knocking about, have you? Fancied I left it here last night. No--No! Couldn"t think of stopping. Oh, if you feel that way, old chap--"
Billy, by this time, had got the intruder inside the room and was presenting him to the guests. Mr. Williams looked about with apparent embarra.s.sment and took a seat by Blue Bonnet.
"Fear I"m intruding. Awful bore--fellows running in like this. Didn"t dream Hemphill was entertaining. From Boston, I presume, Miss--beg pardon, didn"t quite catch the name."
"Ashe," Blue Bonnet said, casting a rather amused glance at the young man"s elaborate afternoon toilet.
"Miss Ashe. Not the Ashes of Beacon Street? They"re relatives of mine--distant, of course."
"No. I"m from Texas."
"Texas! You"re rather a long way from home, aren"t you? Texas seems farther away to me than Paris. Great country that--Texas. Lots of cattle and Indians and--"
"I don"t know about Indians. We have cattle--lots! And cowboys. Maybe you"re thinking of cowboys?"
But cowboys were farthest from Mr. Williams" mind. Translated his thoughts ran something like this: "Mighty pretty girl, blooming as a rose. Wonder how many of us the chaperon"s going to stand for. Plague take it, why didn"t Stuart give me a show--needn"t have tread on my heels this way."
But Stuart, at the door, stopping only a half moment for a lost overcoat--so he said--was being presented to the ladies. And in Stuart"s wake came others. It was amazing how many things had been lost oh the campus; or in Billy Hemphill and Hammie McVickar"s rooms.
Mrs. White began to feel nervous. She was in a quandary. She could hardly take her charges away before tea, neither could she ask the young men to leave. She finally decided to settle down comfortably and close her eyes to any irregularities. After all there could be no real harm.
With the utmost cordiality Billy and his room-mate insisted upon their friends remaining to tea, and the men needed but little urging. They made themselves generally agreeable, a.s.sisting in the entertaining; pa.s.sing tea and sandwiches with ease and aplomb.
Mr. Williams kept the seat next to Blue Bonnet and Hammie McVickar dropped down on the other side of her.