“Till half-past seven in the evening isn’t ‘night duty’!” protested Marjorie. “And by the way, John said he would drive down and get us, so you needn’t be afraid.”
“Oh!” remarked Lily, with a significant look at her chum. “Is this ‘John Business’ going to be an every-day matter?”
“Now, listen, Lil; you’re a poor one to tease,” retorted Marjorie; “when you were the first girl in this house to have a caller!”
“The first, but not the last!” laughed Lily, triumphantly.
“Well, I thought it would be nice to have John’s help tonight, for I hope our day is going to be so strenuous that we’ll all be very tired. It will save you the trouble of taking your car back to the garage after you come home. And by the way, girls, will you all jot down any suggestions that you think of during the day in that notebook in the desk at the tea-house? And whoever is there last each night, must take a careful inventory of the supplies left on hand!”
“Marj,” said Alice, admiringly, as she started to clear the table, “you certainly are some executive! I wouldn’t be surprised to see you president of the United States some day.”
“Thanks, Alice—but I don’t aspire to the job. I prefer something easier.”
“The president’s wife?” suggested Lily, in the same bantering tone.
“I see,” said Marjorie, solemnly, “that we shall have to institute some system of kitchen police as punishment for too much frivolity. I had thought it would not be necessary with girls of our age and responsibility, but I guess I will have to install it in self-defense.”
“It seems to me,” remarked Lily, archly, “that some people do a lot of bossing!”