"Jane is better, Clara. What can I do for the prettiest little freshie of them all?"
"Now don't tease, please," and blue eyes vied with dimples as star attractions. "I am so excited----"
"I see you are!"
"Miss Allen!" quite severely. "Are you really laughing at me?"
"Why, Clara, my dear, cannot an old friend tease just a little bit to show her love for the Babes? You know, Clara, sometimes I am so sorry I have to grow up."
Reassured, and again smiling, Clarisse took on still another attitude, determined to emphatically emphasize the seriousness of her mission. She could not guess that Jane's apparent joking had a motive, if not sinister, then deeply planned. Jane was stalling. She was using up time to kill time, and she played against time for time. All of which college girls are supposed to understand as within the ethics of school girl diplomacy.
"Well, Janie, it is this way," again attempted the persistent freshman. "We have our show all planned. It is entirely original--we wrote every word of it and Nellie composed the music. Did you know that?"
"No, I did not!" admitted Jane, now showing interest.
"Of course you didn't. It was all a deep secret. But just when we were ready to drop the girls down the chimney--oh, that was another secret----"
"Trust me. I shall never disclose the dark, dire secret," Jane assured her.