"And you're not scared to death of her?"
"Of Tilly Drake, as mamma calls her? I see myself. You won't be either, though perhaps it is wise to allow you to retain a little wholesome fear. Let me tell you something: Tilly's dignity is all assumed. I'm letting you into a secret, mind. I believe in my heart of hearts that she is as much scared of the girls as they are of her, and so she takes refuge in the heavy dignity. You'd better come and see her. I know Charity Shepherd has some alcohol. It would be against her New England thrift to allow herself to be out of it, so I'll go there. If I tell her it is for Miss Drake, she will give it to me. Ordinarily one has to bind and gag her in order to get it, for she will not succumb to fair means. She'll let me have it for Miss Drake though."
The girls looked at each other as Lee danced out. "Shall we go?" said Janet. "I'm willing."
"I'll go if you will keep me in countenance," returned Edna. "If you see me frozen with fright, just chip in and keep the ball of conversation rolling. Fortunately it's just the next room, so if we make any dreadful breaks, we can run and look the door before Miss Drake can catch us."
Janet laughed. The idea of the dignified Miss Drake phasing them home was too absurd.
"My teeth are fairly chattering," said Edna in a whisper, as they reached Lee's door, "and just feel my hands, Janet."
"They're like ice. You poor thing, I believe you actually are rattled," Janet returned, and just then the door opened to admit them. "Here are two frightened doves, Miss Drake," said Lee. "Come up and meet the ogress, girls."
Miss Drake laughed. She looked very handsome and quite approachable as she sat there in her plumed hat, wearing a very feminine cloth skirt, and a white silk waist on which was pinned a bunch of violets. In the class-room, she dressed severely in a plain black gown with no ornaments at all, and the effect of the becoming hat and the soft lace at throat and wrists was to alter her appearance decidedly. She held out a welcoming hand to the girls. "I'm glad to meet you in this informal way," she said. "Do I really scare you?"
Edna sat down uneasily on the edge of a chair, but Janet was more confident. "I think I don't usually come from your class quite as stiff with fright as Ted does," she answered. "It usually takes me quite an hour to get her limbered up. Professor Satterthwaite is my Gorgon. When he turns those penetrating eyes of his upon me, I feel the blood slowly congealing in my veins, and can't for the life of me tell a theorem from a broomstick. I think I shall give up mathematics, if I live through this semester."
"I used to feel just that way about Professor Satterthwaite when I was a freshman," said Miss Drake, "so you have my warmest sympathies."