They proceeded blithely down the street, dressed in their best, in honor of the evening which was generally observed in the town as the gala time of the week, when the stores were kept open to accommodate the workingmen who were paid that night, and the young people promenaded Main Street as far as the ice-cream parlors.
When the girls reached "Clyde's Parlors and Restaurant," as the highly gilded sign in the window proclaimed it, they found the place crowded.
Ivy gave Laura a nudge and the latter, turning suddenly, collided with another girl.
"I beg your pardon—Oh, Hermione, is it you?"
"You can't think it's my ghost that nearly knocked your hat off! Ah, there's your other two-thirds, Alene and Ivy! How d'you do, girls?" She paused for a chat until Vera with several other girls came along on their way out of the store.
"Ah, good evening, Alene! Let me introduce my friends," she said, proceeding with the ceremony and totally ignoring Laura and Ivy.
"And these are my friends, Miss Lee and Miss Bonner," said Alene.
Vera soon hurried her party away, but they had gone only a few steps when she paused at a show case, apparently much interested in its contents.
"I want to see what Alene Dawson is going to buy!" she explained in an undertone. "That's the reason she likes to go with those girls; she can 'show off' more with them and act the Lady Bountiful! Mamma says it's a shame for her uncle to allow her so much money to throw away!"
Hermione shrugged her shoulders.