Her plan, into which Robin, Marjorie and Leila gladly entered, had a triple motive. She was anxious that Eileen’s talent should be recognized on the campus. She was determined that the unharmonious sophomore class should be brought into harmony. She intended to hammer away at this plan until she accomplished that harmony. Last of all, she liked giving house plays. Phil had a soul even more bent on democracy than was that of Marjorie, if such a condition could be. Robin often said to her: “Truly, Phil, if you had lived in the days of ’76 you would have managed somehow to annex your name to the Declaration of Independence.”
After the rehearsal the hard-working actors, managers and prompters were treated to frozen custard and sponge cake by Barbara Severn. She declared Leila to be a slave-driver and that the custard and cake were needed by the cast as nourishment.
“If I am a slave-driver, why is it you are offering me custard and cake?” Leila demanded, as Barbara presented her with a plate of the frozen sweet.
“Merely because you have worked harder than your slaves. You are what I should call a unique slave-driver,” Barbara sweetly explained.
“And you have far more good sense than you sometimes appear to have,” Leila complimented. Whereupon the two beamed at each other and shook hands.
“Don’t fail to be here for another rehearsal Thursday night and the dress rehearsal on Saturday night,” were Leila’s parting words to the cast, delivered in the middle of the front walk to the actor group who had followed her out on the veranda.
She started across the campus in the pale winter moonlight with Marjorie and Jerry, grumbling in pretended displeasure at the amount of things she had to do during the next few days.
“Don’t say a word!” Marjorie exclaimed. “Two more rehearsals this week, the Beauty contest on Friday night, Muriel’s birthday’s next Monday. Saturday afternoon we have to go into town to buy presents. Monday afternoon we’ll have to go over to Baretti’s to trim the birthday table. Sunday I have to write letters, study and do a dozen and one small things. I can say now I have nothing special on hand after Monday, but long before then I’ll have a new lot of stunts planned for the rest of next week.” Her tone grew more despairing with each enumeration.
“You have so much trouble, Beauty, I’ll say nothing of my own,” was Leila’s commiserating return, delivered with an unsympathetic grin. “I am like an Irish fish out of water without Midget. That much I will say.” Vera had gone to New York for a few days’ visit with her father before he sailed on an all-winter cruise on the Mediterranean.
“I never saw an Irish fish. How does an Irish fish look?” Jerry critically demanded.