CHAPTER XV
PLANS FOR A COOPERATIVE COMMENCEMENT
It was Saturday afternoon and time for the "Merry Hearts'" meeting,which had been postponed for a day to let every one recover fromThursday evening's excitement.
"Come along, Betty," said Roberta Lewis, poking her head in at Betty'shalf-open door. "We're going to meet out on the back campus, by Nita'shammock."
"Could you wait just a second?" asked Betty absently, looking up from amuch crossed and blotted sheet of paper. "If I can only think of a goodway to end this sentence, I can inform Madeline Ayres that my'Novelists'' paper is done. She said I couldn't possibly finish it byfive. See my new motto."
"'Do not let study interfere with your regular college career,'" readRoberta slowly. "What a lovely sentiment! Where did you get it?"
"Helen gave it to me for a commencement present," said Betty, drawing avery black line through the words she had written last. "Isn't it justlike her?"
"Do you mean that it's like her to give you something for commencementthat you won't have much use for afterward?"
"Yes," laughed Betty, "and to give it to me because she says I made hersee that it's the sensible way of looking at college, although shethinks the person who got up these mottoes probably meant it for a joke.She wishes she could find out for sure about that. Isn't she comical?"
"Yes," said Roberta, "she is. You haven't written as much as you'vecrossed out since I came, Betty Wales. We shall be late."
Betty shut her fountain pen with a snap, and tossed the much blottedpage on top of a heap of its fellows, which were piled haphazard in achair beside her desk.
"Who cares for Madeline Ayres?" she said, and arm in arm the two friendsstarted for the back campus, where they found all the rest of the senior"Merry Hearts" waiting for them. Dora Carlson couldn't come, Eleanorexplained; and Anne Carter and Georgia thought that they were too new tomembership in the society to have any voice in deciding how it should beperpetuated.
"It's rather nice being just by ourselves, isn't it?" said Bob.
"It's rather nice being all together," added Babbie in such asignificant tone that Babe gave her a withering glance and summarilycalled the meeting to order.
The discussion that followed was animated, but it didn't seem to arriveanywhere. There were Lucile and Polly and their friends in the sophomoreclass who would be proud to receive a legacy from the seniors theyadmired so much; and there was a junior crowd, who, as K. put it, were a"jolly good sort," and would understand the "Merry Hearts'" policy andtry to keep up its influence in the college. Everybody agreed that, ifthe society went down at all, it ought to descend to a set of girls whowere prominent enough to give a certain prestige to its democraticprinciples, and who, being intimate friends, would enjoy working andplaying together as the first generation of "Merry Hearts" had, andwould know how to bring in the "odd ones" like Dora and Anne, whenopportunity offered.
"But after all," said Rachel dejectedly, "it would never be quite thesame. We are 'Merry Hearts' because we wanted to be. The idea justfitted us."
"And will look like a rented dress suit on any one else," added Madelinefrivolously. "Of course I'm not a charter member of 19--, and perhaps Iought not to speak. But don't you think that the younger classes willfind their own best ways of keeping up the right spirit at Harding? Ivote that the 'Merry Hearts' has done its work and had its little fling,and that it would better go out when we do."
"Then it ought to go out in a regular blaze of glory," said Bob, whenmurmurs of approval had greeted Madeline's opinion.
"I know a way." Betty spoke out almost before she thought, and then sheblushed vividly, fearing that she had been too hasty and that the "MerryHearts" might not approve of her plan.
"Is it one of the things you thought of while you were being run awaywith?" asked Madeline quizzically.
Betty laughed and nodded. "You'd better make a list of the things Ithought of, Miss Ayres, if the subject interests you so much."
"Was there one for every scratch on your face?" asked Katherine.
Betty drew herself up with a comical affectation of offended dignity. "Ialmost wish I'd broken my collar-bone, as Bob thought I ought to. Thenperhaps I should get a little sympathy."
"And where would the costumes for the play have been, with you laid upin the infirmary for a month?" demanded Babbie with a groan.
"Do you know that's the very thing I worried about most when Lady wasrunning," began Betty, so earnestly that everybody laughed again.
"Just the same it wouldn't have been any joke, would it, about thosecostumes," said Bob, when the mirth had subsided, "nor about all theother committee work that you've done and that nobody else knows muchabout."
"Not even to mention that we should hate to have anything happen to youfor purely personal reasons," said Madeline, shivering in the warmsunshine as she remembered how that dreadful pile of white stones hadglistened in the moonlight.
"I think this class would better pass a law: No more riding by prominentseniors," declared Katherine Kittredge. "If Emily Davis should getspilled, there would go our good young Gobbo and our Ivy Day orator,besides nobody knows how much else."
"Christy is toastmistress and Antonio."
"Kate is chairman of the supper committee and Portia."
"Everybody who's anything is a lot of things, I guess," said littleHelen Adams. She herself was in the mob that made the background for thetrial scene in "The Merchant of Venice," and she was as elated over herpart as any of the chief actors could possibly be over their leadingroles. But that wasn't all. She was trying for the Ivy song, which ischosen each year by competition. She had been working on her song insecret all through the year, and she felt sure that nobody had cared somuch or tried so hard as she,--though of course, she reminded herselfsternly it took more than that to write the winning song and she didn'tmean to be disappointed if she failed.
"Order please, young ladies," commanded Babe, who delighted to exerciseher presidential dignities. "We are straying far from the subject inhand--to adapt the words of our beloved Latin professor. Betty Wales wasgoing to tell us how the 'Merry Hearts' could go out with a splurge."
"I object to the president's English," interrupted Madeline. "Theconnotation of the term splurge is unpleasant. We don't wish to splurge.Now go ahead, Betty."
"Why, it's nothing much," said Betty modestly, "and probably it's not atall what Bob is thinking of. It's just that, as Helen says, everybodywho is in anything is in a lot of things and most of the class are beingleft out of the commencement plans. I thought of it first that day wehad a lecture on monopolies in sociology. Don't you remember MissNorris's saying that there were classes and masses and excellentexamples of monopolies right here in college, and that we needn't waituntil we were out to have a chance to fight trusts and equalize wages."
"Oh, that was just an illustration," objected Bob blandly. "Miss Norrisdidn't mean anything by it."
"She's a Harding girl herself," Betty went on, "and it's certainly true,even if she didn't intend it to be acted on. Thursday night when I wentover the things I had to do about commencement and thought I couldn't doany of them I felt dreadfully greedy."
"But Betty," Rachel took her up, "don't you think it takes executiveability to be on committees and plan things? Commencement would be atsixes and sevens if the wrong girls had charge of it."
"Yes, of course it would," agreed Betty. "Only I wondered if all theleft-out people are the wrong kind."
"Of course they're not," said Madeline Ayres with decision. "What isexecutive ability, anyway?"
"The thing that Christy Mason has," returned Bob promptly.
"Exactly," said Madeline, "and that is just practice in being at thehead of things,--nothing more. Christy isn't much of a pusher, she isn'tparticularly brilliant or particularly tactful; but she's been oncommittees as regularly as clockwork all through her course, and she'slearned when to pull and when to push, and when to sit back and make therest push. It's a thing any one ca
n learn, like French or bookkeeping orhow to make sugar-cookies. I hate it myself, but I don't believe it's adifficult accomplishment."
"Perhaps not," protested Bob, "but it takes time, if it's anything likeFrench or cookies--I never tried the bookkeeping. We don't want to makeany experiments with our one and only commencement."
"Why, I'm an experiment," said Roberta hastily, as if she had justthought of it and felt impelled to speak.
"Yes, but you're the exception that proves the rule," said Nita Reesebrusquely. Nita's reputation for executive ability was second only toChristy's and she was badly overworked, and tired and cross inconsequence. "I don't think I quite get your idea, Betty. Do you wantK., for instance, to give up her part in the play to Leslie Penrose,who was told she could have it at first and cried for a whole day whenshe found there had been a mistake?"
"Come, Nita," said Madeline lazily, but with a dangerous flash in hergray eyes. "That's not the way to take our last chance to make more'Merry Hearts.' Let Betty tell us exactly what she does mean."
"Please do, Betty," begged Nita, half ashamed already of herill-tempered outburst.
"Of course I don't want K. to give up her part," began Betty with agrateful look at Madeline and a smile for Katherine. "I only thoughtthat some of us are in so many things that we're tired and rushed allthe time, and not enjoying our last term half as much as we might."
"My case exactly," put in Nita repentantly.
"Whereas there are girls in the class who've never had anything to dohere but study, and who would be perfectly delighted to be on somelittle unimportant commencement committee."
"But they ought to realize," said Babbie loftily, "that in a bigcollege like Harding very few people can have a chance to be at the headof things. Our commencement is pretty enough to pay our families forcoming even if the girls they are particularly interested in don't haveparts. Being on a committee isn't a part anyway."
"Girls who are never on them think it is," said Helen Adams.
There was an ominous silence.
At the end of it Babbie slipped out of the hammock and sat down besideBetty on the grass. "It's no use at all fighting you, Betty Wales," shedeclared amiably. "You always twist the things we don't want to doaround until they seem simple and easy and no more than decent. Ofcourse it's true that we are all tired to death doing things that theleft-outs will be blissful at the prospect of helping us with. But it'sbeen so every year and no other class ever turned its play and itscommencement upside down. And yet you make it seem the only reasonablething to do."
"Lucky our class-meeting happened to be postponed," said Bob inmatter-of-fact tones, "Makes it easier arranging things."
"A cooeperative commencement will send us out with a splurge all right,"remarked Babe.
Thus the B's made a graceful concession to the policy of trying moreexperiments with 19--'s commencement.
"One man, one office--that's our slogan," declared Katherine, when Babehad announced that the vote in favor of Betty's plan was unanimous. "Nohard and fast policy, but the general encouragement of passing aroundthe honors. I haven't but one myself, so I shall have to look on and seethat the rest of you do your duty."
"Let's make a list of the vacancies that will probably occur in ourmidst, as it were," suggested Rachel.
"I wonder if we couldn't lengthen the Ivy Day program and make room fora few more girls in that way," put in Eleanor. "The oration and the songdon't take any time at all."
"Fine idea!" cried Madeline. "We have a lot of musical and literarytalent in the class that isn't being used anywhere. We'll turn it overto the Ivy Day committee with instructions to build their programaccordingly."
"But we must manage things tactfully," interposed Babbie, "as we didabout the junior usher dresses. We mustn't let the left-overs suspectthat we are making places for them."
"By the way," said Madeline, "have you heard that this year's juniorushers are going to keep up the precedent, out of compliment to us?"
"Pretty cute," cried Babe. "I hope they'll manage to look as well as wedid."
"And as we are going to again this year in our sweet simplicitycostumes," said Babbie, with a little sigh of regret for the wonderfulimported gown that her mother had suggested buying as part of hercommencement present.
It was growing late, so the "Merry Hearts" made a hasty outline ofprocedure, and delegated Rachel to see Marie Howard and ask her to helpwith the plan as far as she could at the approaching class-meeting.Luckily this was not until the following Tuesday, so there was plenty oftime to interview all the right people and get the cooeperative campaignwell established before Marie rose at the meeting to read what wouldotherwise have seemed an amazing list of committee appointments. EmilyDavis gave up Gobbo at once and Christy, after weighing the relativeglories of being toastmistress and Antonio decided that she could helpmore at the class supper. Both girls declared that they were delightedto be relieved of part of their responsibilities.
"Those toasts that I hadn't time to brown properly were getting on mynerves," Christy declared.
"And my Ivy oration was growing positively frivolous, it was so mixed upwith young Gobbo's irresponsible way of changing masters," confessedEmily. "I've wanted to drop out of the play, but I was afraid the girlswould think me as irresponsible as Gobbo. Leslie Penrose knows my partand she can step into the place as well as not."
It was a surprise to everybody when Kate Denise joined the movement,without even having been asked to do so. She gave up everything but herpart as Portia, and used her influence to make the rest of the Hillgirls do the same.
"I guess she remembers how we did them up last year on the dressbusiness," chuckled Bob.
"She's a lot nicer than the rest of her crowd," Babbie reminded her,"and I think she's tired of acting as if she wasn't."
"I hate freaks," said Babe, "but it is fun to see them bustle around,acting as if they owned the earth. Leslie's whole family is coming tocommencement, down to the youngest baby, and the fat Miss Austin isfairly bursting with pride just because she's on the supper committee.She has some good ideas, too."
"Of course they're proud," said little Helen Adams sententiously."Things you've never had always look valuable to you."
Helen had won in the song contest. Her family would see her name and hersong in print on the Ivy Day program, and May Hayward, a friend of hersand T. Reed's in their desolate freshman year, was to be in the mob inHelen's place.
All the changes had been made without any difficulty and no one wasworrying lest experiments should prove the ruin of 19--'s commencement.Mr. Masters had protested hotly against Christy's withdrawal from theplay, but the new Antonio was proving herself a great success and evenMr. Masters had to admit that the whole play had gained decidedly theminute that the actors had dropped their other outside interests. Butthe great difference was in the spirit of good-fellowship that prevailedeverywhere. Everybody had something to do now, or if not, then her bestfriend had, and they talked it over together, told what Christy hadsuggested about the tables for class-supper, how Kate was having all herown dresses made for Portia and Nerissa couldn't afford to, so EleanorWatson had lent her a beautiful blue satin, or what the new Ivy Daycommittees had decided about the exercises. There was no longer amonopoly of anything in 19--. Incidentally, as Katherine pointed out,nobody was resting her nerves at the infirmary.
Betty would have been perfectly happy if she hadn't felt obliged toworry a little about Georgia Ames. Ashley Dwight had been up to see hertwice since the prom. Betty felt responsible for their friendship andwondered if she ought to warn Tom that she really didn't know anythingabout Georgia. For suppose Georgia hadn't had anything to do with theWestcott house robbery; that didn't prove anything about her havingtaken Nita's pin in the fall.
If Madeline had spoken to her protegee, as she intended to do, aboutexcluding the Blunderbuss from her acquaintance, Georgia had paid theadvice scant heed. The Blunderbuss came to see her more and more oftenas the term went on. To be sure Geor
gia was very seldom at home when thesenior called. Indeed her roommate was getting to feel decidedly injuredbecause Georgia never used her room except to sleep and dress in.