“All I can say is,” Laura commented dryly, “if you’ve lost that, you might just as well go out and drown yourself, because if you don’t, Mr. MacKenzie will roar so loud when you tell him that the earth will just open up and swallow us all.”
“I know it.” Bess was almost in tears. She didn’t like to be roared at. She took scoldings harder than anyone else in the crowd, because at home she had always been made to feel that what she did was right.
“Bessie, you’re such a silly,” Nan laughed. “You’ve got the wrong pocket-book. That isn’t the one you had with you this morning. You had the little black one and that’s over there on your trunk. Remember, you put it there when you came in so that you would be sure to know where it was when you wanted it again.”
Bess laughed too now. “Isn’t that just like me, always hunting for something and always finding it just where it ought to be?”
“I do that too,” Laura sympathized as they three left the room. And so does everyone, but Bess had a habit of getting confused and impatient as soon as things went wrong and using all her energy in getting excited. Nan generally remained calm and found things. Laura was calm too and that because she never took anything very seriously. If she couldn’t find one thing, another would do, and so she always went happily on her way.
Bess was thinking of this, as Nan pushed the button for the automatic elevator. “But you couldn’t have substituted anything for the visitors’ pass.” She directed her remark to Laura as though they had been talking over the thing she was thinking about.
“Whatever are you talking about?” Laura laughed. “Or, is it a secret? You know what happens to people in this country who go around talking to themselves? They throw them to the bulls. Now, come on, Bessie,” she finished. “You may be a harum-scarum child, but we love you. Cheer up.”
At this, the elevator jolted and settled to its place on the first floor and the three girls stepped out to find Adair, Alice, Walker Jamieson and the rest all waiting for them.
“Thought you had cold feet, and were backing out.” Walker Jamieson greeted them with this sally as they all walked down the entrance stairs and out to their waiting car.
“Look!” Nan pointed at a street car they were passing.