“Oh, it’s made princess,” she cried, “and see the lace! Why, it’s fairly covered. Betty, isn’t my mother a darling?”
Betty gazed admiringly at the filmy, beruffled gown, with its rows upon rows of tucking and shirring, and its dainty trimmings of hand embroidery and real lace. “It’s a perfect beauty, Babbie,” she said, “and you’ll look like a beauty in it, you’re so slight and dark.”
Babbie, who had found a note pinned to the dress, gave a little squeal of pleasure. “Here’s a check for a hat,” she said. “Mother says that I don’t need a new white hat one bit, but that considering I’ve lived within my allowance I may have one. Oh, Betty, I do feel guilty about that maid’s wages. And yet the money has helped Emily Davis a lot—a little of the money, I mean. And what could I do with a maid?” Her eyes fell on the chaos on Babe’s bed. “I wish I had one for an hour to straighten out that mess. I shall make Babe help because I was hunting for her history note-book when I emptied them out, and she had it all the time herself.” She turned to Betty. “What’s the matter with you, Betty Wales? You’re as sober as a judge.”
Betty waited a minute. “Oh, Babbie, I hate to tell you, but I do want you to help. You know Rachel tried to pick out some of the girls to usher who hadn’t had as many good times as the rest of us, like Helen and Lotta Gardner and that quiet Miss Ray who doesn’t seem to have any friends. They all seemed so pleased, but to-day Lotta and Miss Ray came to her and said they’d decided they couldn’t stay to commencement. Rachel felt around and found out that the trouble was they thought their dresses wouldn’t do to usher in. They had heard that everything was going to be so very elegant this year. And just now, while I was down at Rachel’s, Emily Davis came in and refused for the same reason. She didn’t want to spoil the grand effect, she said, with a dowdy dress. We tried to make her think her dimity was all right, but we couldn’t.”
“Well?” questioned Babbie coldly, putting out a slim hand to straighten a fold in her new gown.
Betty hesitated. “Why, I thought that if some of us—in ‘The Merry Hearts’ perhaps—should agree—I thought—oh, Babbie, of course you want to wear it.”
“Yes,” said Babbie briefly, “I want to wear it. Don’t you want to wear yours?”
Betty nodded. “It’s nothing so elegant as this, but it’s very dear, and it’s not—not what you’d call simple. Babbie——”
“Yes.”
“Do you know, I think Rachel is worrying about her own dress. She wouldn’t admit it, but she brought it out to show me, and it’s very plain and it’s been washed a lot of times. You know she and Christy walk at the head of the Ivy Day procession, in front of the senior president and vice-president. Of course Christy will have a lovely dress and the seniors’ officers are both wealthy girls. Rachel said she hoped her class wouldn’t be ashamed of her.”