“Don’t you think,” suggested Rachel, “that first we’d better let Betty, who has just said she prefers to manage her own affairs, say what she wants to do about Mary’s elections?”
“When you are elected——” began Mary, but Helen, Rachel, and Christy, the serious members, silenced her.
“Now, Betty,” ordered Rachel. Betty looked solemnly from Helen to Christy, from Christy to Madeline, and finally at Mary.
“Would you really do it, girls?” she asked at last.
“Of course,” said Helen quietly.
“You can count on me, if you want me,” Christy told her.
“I can’t promise till I’ve looked over the freshman,” Madeline qualified. “If she is anywhere near as interesting as she sounds, I’ll ‘undertake’ her theme-work with much pleasure.”
“I’m simply dying to display my one accomplishment,” Mary declared feelingly.
Betty gave a long, happy sigh. “Then of course I want you all to help,” she said. “I was just about in despair when I came rushing down here. And now—you’re not regular tutors. You understand things. You know how I feel—and how Prexy feels. I couldn’t explain to a regular tutor that for some unknown reason Prexy cares a lot about Marie’s passing her exams. And I couldn’t tell them why she herself needs so much to stay on here. But you’ll see it all. Oh, dear! I’m so happy!” Betty crunched one of Cousin Kate’s cookies, and smiled radiantly at Mary, who had “elected” everything so beautifully.
“Well,” inquired Babbie, after a polite interval, “now can we begin to celebrate and plan weddings?”