But Mother was not to be decoyed away from her favorite topic.
"I must look it over," she continued firmly.
It seemed to me that every eye in the room was calmly penetrating my whites and carefully looking over the underwear in which Mother took such an exaggerated interest. "Socks!" suddenly exploded Mother. "How are you off for socks?"
"Splendidly," I said in a hoarse voice. A girl behind me snickered.
"And have you that liniment to rub on your stomach when you have cramps?" she went on ruggedly.
"Enough to last through the Fall season," I replied in a moody voice. I didn't tell her that Tim the barkeep had tried to drink it.
"Polly!" suddenly exclaimed Mother. "Polly! Why, I forgot to tell you that she said that she would be up this afternoon. She must be here now."
The world swam around me. Polly was my favorite sweetie.
"Oh, Mother!" I cried reproachfully, "how could you have forgotten?"
At that moment I heard a familiar voice issuing from the corner, and turning around, I caught sight of the staff reporter of the camp paper, a notoriously unscrupulous sailor with predatory proclivities. He had gotten Polly in a corner and was chinning the ear off of her. As I drew near I heard him saying: