“Yes, but he wanted me to see him a moment before I go in the auditorium, at the head of the stairs, about ten or fifteen minutes before the program begins.”
“There! How do I look, Isabel? Compliments are in order,” and Cathalina whirled around to show Isabel her gown.
“You are as perfect as usual, and as pretty as a peach,” responded Isabel at once.
“For that I’ll hug you,” said Cathalina, laying her hot cheek against Isabel’s before she suited her action to her words. “You rather overdid the compliment, but it sounded well. See what a fever I have!”
“Your cheeks are hot, but we’ll not send for the doctor yet. But I’ll have to hurry, if I get dressed before dinner myself. There will be enough time after dinner, though, won’t there?”
“I don’t think so,” said Betty. “The cadets are going to have an early dinner and come right over, to have the program begin as soon after seven-thirty as possible.”
“The announcement said eight o’clock.”
“I know it, but there was a change. See if Miss Randolph does not announce it at dinner. She must have forgotten it at noon. I had a note from Donald this morning.”
Evening came and brought almost the entire military academy to Greycliff, in various conveyances. They went immediately to the auditorium, the singers to a room near the chapel, whence divers tones and tunes soon floated out, as one or another tried his voice. Some of the young officers were counted among the members of the Glee Club, among them Captain Van Horne and Lieutenant Maxwell. Girls and cadets occupied the seats in the chapel, and filled it with the buzz of conversation while they waited. Captain Van Horne, with one eye on Donald, though not for the purposes of discipline, noted that he went out into the hall before the program, and followed his example, in the hope of seeing Cathalina. Both young men were rewarded with a short visit, as the girls stopped to shake hands and ask what they thought of the prospect. “This news of imminent war has stirred up the academy to the boiling point,” replied Captain Van Horne to Cathalina. “All sorts of crazy ideas are going the rounds, but the atmosphere is patriotic at any rate.”
The conversation in the auditorium ceased as soon as the Glee Club cadets came on the platform. The younger cadets in the audience were as quiet as the girls, out of respect for them, and because they had been told that they would be asked to withdraw by their officers if they forgot and conversed with the girls during the musical numbers.