“When I see the ‘final’ I can judge better how successful you’ve been,” Miss Raymond told her cordially, “but I imagine you’ve done good work. The best writers don’t make the best teachers. What was her subject?”
Betty blushed again. “‘Little Girls.’ I’d kept telling her to take something definite and something she knew about, instead of hope, and Japanese gardens, and things of that kind. But ‘Little Girls’ is a sort of ridiculous title, isn’t it?”
“It sounds rather promising to me,” Miss Raymond said. “I hope I shall have the opportunity of reading about ‘Little Girls.’ Will you explain our arrangement to Miss Ford?” And Betty felt that she was dismissed.
She hurried over to tell Eugenia how far she had succeeded, and Eugenia cheered up perceptibly over the ray of hope held out to her, and even found heart to taste the fudge that her sympathetic roommate had made to comfort her.
Betty finished off her evening with a call on Miss Ferris, who assured her, in answer to her apologetic account of the situation, that she didn’t in the least regret, nevertheless, having practically compelled Betty to tutor Eugenia.
“And Eugenia is quite right; you can’t stop now,” she declared laughingly, and then grew serious. “This episode is hard on both of you, but it will result in her practicing, if she doesn’t fully accept, a higher code of honor. Then you say she has learned to work, and this is her chance to show it. Miss Raymond won’t be hard on her if she shows that she means to do her best. You didn’t think I expected you to change all her spots in a minute, did you?”
Betty went home, feeling that a great load was off her shoulders. To be sure, she was perfectly certain that Eugenia’s theme was lost “for keeps,” but nobody, not even Eugenia, seemed to blame her. And something would surely happen to make things come right.
At home something had already happened to make things interesting, in the shape of a telegram from Babbie, who had decided to come up to Harding, although Madeline had not yet carried out her plan of sending for her. And so she didn’t know a word about the ploshkin or the dinner project. It wasn’t to discuss those, certainly, that she was coming to Harding.
CHAPTER XIII
MORE “SIDE-LINES”
On the afternoon of her arrival Babbie had tea, alone and very early, at the Tally-ho. Just after Nora had served her, Mr. Thayer appeared. He came over to Babbie’s table to shake hands, as a matter of course, and he lingered over the process until the very least Babbie could do was to invite him to share her repast.