Van swallowed something in his throat, and bent all his energies to settling the different articles in the trunk.
"Percy," said Polly presently in a lull, "I do just envy you for one thing."
"What for, pray?" asked Percy, settling his beloved eyeglasses for a better view of her.
"Why, you'll be with Joel and Davie," said Polly. "Oh, you don't know how I miss those boys!" She rested both hands on the trunk edge as she knelt before it.
[Illustration: "OH, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I MISS THOSE BOYS!" ]
"I wish you'd been our sister," said Van enviously, "then we'd have had good times always."
"Oh, I don't see much of Joel," said Percy. "Dave once in a while I run across, but Joel—dear me!"
"You don't see much of Joel," repeated Polly, her hands dropping suddenly in astonishment. "Why, Percy Whitney, why not, pray tell?"
"Why, Joel's awful good—got a streak of going into the prayer-meetings and that sort of thing," explained Percy, "and we call him Deacon Pepper in the class."
"He goes to prayer-meetings, and you call him Deacon Pepper," repeated
Polly in amazement, while Van burst out into a fit of amusement.