“Fine idea!” cried Madeline. “We have a lot of musical and literary talent in the class that isn’t being used anywhere. We’ll turn it over to the Ivy Day committee with instructions to build their program accordingly.”
“But we must manage things tactfully,” interposed Babbie, “as we did about the junior usher dresses. We mustn’t let the left-overs suspect that we are making places for them.”
“By the way,” said Madeline, “have you heard that this year’s junior ushers are going to keep up the precedent, out of compliment to us?”
“Pretty cute,” cried Babe. “I hope they’ll manage to look as well as we did.”
“And as we are going to again this year in our sweet simplicity costumes,” said Babbie, with a little sigh of regret for the wonderful imported gown that her mother had suggested buying as part of her commencement present.
It was growing late, so the “Merry Hearts” made a hasty outline of procedure, and delegated Rachel to see Marie Howard and ask her to help with the plan as far as she could at the approaching class-meeting. Luckily this was not until the following Tuesday, so there was plenty of time to interview all the right people and get the coöperative campaign well established before Marie rose at the meeting to read what would otherwise have seemed an amazing list of committee appointments. Emily Davis gave up Gobbo at once and Christy, after weighing the relative glories of being toastmistress and Antonio decided that she could help more at the class supper. Both girls declared that they were delighted to be relieved of part of their responsibilities.
“Those toasts that I hadn’t time to brown properly were getting on my nerves,” Christy declared.
“And my Ivy oration was growing positively frivolous, it was so mixed up with young Gobbo’s irresponsible way of changing masters,” confessed Emily. “I’ve wanted to drop out of the play, but I was afraid the girls would think me as irresponsible as Gobbo. Leslie Penrose knows my part and she can step into the place as well as not.”
It was a surprise to everybody when Kate Denise joined the movement, without even having been asked to do so. She gave up everything but her part as Portia, and used her influence to make the rest of the Hill girls do the same.
“I guess she remembers how we did them up last year on the dress business,” chuckled Bob.