"Who's got the safety pins?"
"Be careful, you'll tear that lace!"
"I can't get into these shoes, they're too small!"
"I've grown out of this skirt since last theatricals."
"It's miles too short!"
"Has anybody seen my belt?"
Each one was so occupied in finishing her own hasty toilet that she could not give much thought to the others, and it was only when all were ready that Patricia asked:
"Where's Chrissie?"
The girls looked round in consternation. She was certainly not in the dressing-room. Betty ran on to the platform, drew aside the curtain a little, and, beckoning Annie Turner from among the audience, sent her and six other Intermediates in search of the missing performer. They returned in a few minutes to say that they could not find her. Marjorie, meantime, had explained the cause of the quarrel.
"It's sickening!" raged Betty. "For her to go and spoil the whole thing, just out of temper! I'd like to shake her!"