"Why couldn't you be her proxy?" said Mrs. Conway.
"Proxy? What is proxy, mother?"
"It is some one appointed in the place of another to do what would otherwise be done by the first person; for instance, in this case you could be proxy for Reliance and vote for her. She could sign a paper which would make it very plain."
"Oh, mother, will you write the paper and let me take it to her to sign?"
"Certainly I will." She drew the writing materials to her and wrote a few lines. "There," she said, "I think that will do."
"Please read it, mother."
Mrs. Conway read: "I hereby appoint Edna Conway to be my proxy and to vote upon any question which may come up before this meeting.
"Signed—"
"That sounds very important," said Edna, clasping her hands. "Show me where she is to sign her name, mother. I know she will be perfectly delighted that I can speak for her."
Reliance truly was pleased, the more that the sending of such an important legal document gave her a certain position with the others. She signed her name with a flourish, and Edna, armed with the indisputable right to take her place, started off for Hewlett's old blacksmith shop. This sat back some distance from the store, and was used as a storage place for empty boxes and such things.