Beth, as class president, was chairman of this social committee; but she saw so much opposition arrayed against her that she feared the good times of the other girls would be spoiled if she did not withdraw. Her act in doing this—with the excuse that she was too busy to fulfil the duties attached to the chairmanship—did not please either her own friends or the opposition.
“Say! what do you do that for?” Molly Granger demanded. “Want to ‘crab the film?’ We need you to suggest ideas—and carry ’em out, too. Now, you just see! The hop this week will be a fizzle.”
“Oh, be an optimist, honey,” Beth said, laughing. “Look on the bright side.”
“That’s all right. I know how to be an optimist,” Molly returned, though still resentfully. “It’s like the old fellow with the two teeth.”
“Who was he?” asked her chum.
“Why, this poor old chap could only eat the plainest kind of food, and couldn’t read anything, or play anything, or make anything. Just the same he seemed pretty cheerful and thought this world a pretty fine place to live in.
“‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I’m goin’ on eighty-two. I’ve been bald-headed thirty years, a widower for twenty-five, had indigestion nearly all my life, can’t hear unless folks holler at me, can’t see to read, ain’t reliable on my feet any more, and I’ve only got two teeth left—but, thank God, they hit!’
“That’s an optimist,” concluded jolly Molly. “But there’s nothing very optimistic in the outlook for our evening parties if you back out, Bethesda. I can’t see what you are thinking of.”
Beth dared not tell her chum just what she really was thinking of. It seemed to Beth Baldwin that the only way to stop friction in the senior class was for her to resign as class president.
Larry Haven seemed to have considerable business to see to for his clients at Jackson City or in the vicinity that spring. And he came frequently to Rivercliff to call. On the other hand, Mr. Roland Severn was quite a favorite with Miss Granger. One or the other, sometimes both, were at the senior receptions all those last months of Beth and Molly’s stay at Rivercliff.