CHAPTER X
BETSY SPRINGS A SURPRISE
Mimi and Olivia sat back to back under one of the biggest trees on thecampus. Each held an open Spanish Grammar on her drawn-up knees. Eachhad her nose between the pages.
"I think I know the first five vocabularies now. Ask me, Olivia."
"Spanish or English?"
"You say English and I'll say Spanish and spell it."
"O. K. Here goes--the table?"
"La mesa. L-a--M-e-s-a."
"Every day?"
"Todos los dias--T-o-d-o-s l-o-s d-i (accent)-a-s."
Olivia kept on down the list and could not catch Mimi on a single one.Then they changed and it was Mimi's turn to quiz. Olivia knew them all,too.
"Guess we're pretty good, huh?"
"Gee, we ought to be; it's all review but, oh, those verb forms! I hateto have to cram but I have to think about Dr. Barnes mailing my gradesall the way to Germany and how terrible Daddy and Mother would feel ifmine weren't good."
"You needn't worry. You may not be an A or an A plus but you're an Aminus or B plus easy."
"Wish I could believe you."
"But you can. With my excellent 'I. Q.', intelligent quotient if youdon't follow me, I can classify people by their mentalities; predictsuch trivial matters as grades."
"A-hem! All right, Miss Brainless Wonder tell me when I'll get ananswer from a very important long letter I mailed my Daddy one weekago, to be exact."
The thought of that letter made prickles of excitement up anddown Mimi's spine. She'd love to talk to Olivia about it. Shehoped she hadn't broken her promise to Chloe not to tell a soul,when she had written it to Daddy. No matter what youcross-your-heart-and-vow-not-to-tell you can always tell yourparents. Mimi was sure of that when she had written Chloe'stragedy to Daddy. She had felt better ever since. Not that Daddycould do anything about it--he was too far away--but again hemight when he came home. At least there was some one to whom shecould unburden when she couldn't keep from talking about themystery another minute.
"Bad habit I have acquired--talking to myself. Mimi! Look at me. I'veexplained twice already about the answer to your letter and you haven'theard a word of it. Atten-shun, please! Now, for the third and lasttime, you will--"
Before Olivia finished waving her arms around and succeeding inclouding her eyes as if she were going into a seance, Betsy camerunning toward them from the gym. She ran easily and lightly, archingher knees high. Her middy collar was streaming behind her. Her sockshad flopped down over the tops of her gym shoes.
"Guess what?" she panted.
"Must be something grand the way your eyes are shining."
Betsy's one blue eye and one brown eye with their frames of thick curlylashes always fascinated Mimi but when Betsy was thrilled as she wasnow, her eyes were the cutest things Mimi ever saw. "Hurry and tellbefore I die."
"Yes, before she with the carrot top is devoured by her ravishingcuriosity."
"Jack, my big brother who graduated from Vanderbilt last June, iscoming to take me to Nashville to the big Thanksgiving football game!"
Mimi and Olivia jumped to their feet. Away went the text books and awayalmost went Olivia's shell rimmed glasses. By throwing her head back,she managed to balance them on the tip of her nose. While she and Mimijoined hands ring-around-the-rosie-fashion about Betsy, all threeshrieked.
"And that's not all!" Betsy gasped when the three had let off the firstburst of steam. "I can invite a guest and I'm asking you, Mimi--can youpossibly go?"
"Can I? Can a duck swim?"
"I mean, will Mrs. Cole let you without a written permission?"
"She'll _have_ to. Oh Betsy, I'll be a wreck if she won't. Let's askher _now_."
Leaving Olivia to gather up the notebooks and Spanish grammars, Betsyand Mimi clasped hands and ran toward Prep Hall--up the steps two at atime--knock, knock on Mrs. Cole's door.
"If she's not here!" wailed Mimi.
Mimi despaired that the door would ever open and doubled up her fist topound her impatience out on the door before they gave up and left. Shedrew back her fist. As it went forward it met thin air. The door openedback before the advancing fist and Mimi almost pummeled Mrs. Cole inthe stomach! She tripped trying to balance herself.
"Come in young ladies," Mrs. Cole invited. They had interrupted hertea. "Have seats."
"Thank you, Mrs. Cole." Betsy found her voice first. "We're toothrilled to sit down. We came to ask permission to go to Nashville,Thanksgiving, to the football game."
"Nashville?" Mrs. Cole humped her eyebrows as if she had never heard ofthe place before when every Thanksgiving for more years than she'd careto admit she had been besieged for permissions to go there to the game.
"Yes, ma'am. My brother Jack will drive by on Wednesday afternoon andpick us up. We can get to Nashville early Wednesday night and come backThursday night after the game."
"With proper permission from your parents, Betsy, you, of course, maygo but, Mimi, it is different with you. This school, in the absence ofyour parents, is fully responsible for you. I cannot think of givingyou permission without consulting Dr. Barnes."
Mimi was wilting under Mrs. Cole's droning.
"You would have to take a chaperon, of course."
"But my brother is going."
"He is not Mimi's brother." Mrs. Cole bit off the words. "You may seeif you can find a teacher to accompany you in case Dr. Barnes givesconsent. Now run along."
Run along they did. As fast as they could go they went to Miss Taylor'sstudio. They stopped outside and listened. Miss Taylor was giving alesson. There was nothing to do but wait. They sat down in the corridorand leaned against the wall.
"Concentrate, Betsy, concentrate. Say over and over to yourself, MissTaylor go to Nashville, Miss Taylor go to Nashville."
"O. K."
For five minutes neither spoke. By then Mimi was so sure Miss Taylorwould go to Nashville that she began to think of other things.
"What are you going to wear?"
"That tweed suit. Your plaid wool and camel's hair coat would be grand."
"Are you sure? I want to look nice. I'll wash my pigskin gloves and geta new beret. Oh, but my nose! Does it look very bad to you, Betsy? Tellme the truth."
"In another week we'll never know anything was ever the matter with it.The swelling is gone and the bruises are fading fast. You don't have ahump."
"That was the good part about the fracture being a little to the sideof the bridge and the wound on the inside. Oh, Betsy if she won't letme go--I'll--cable--Daddy!"
"With what?" A voice asked. Sue had stepped out of the studio and hadbeen listening, "What's up?"
Disregarding Sue and knocking her violin case awry they grabbed MissTaylor one on either side.
"Thanksgiving? I'm sorry but I am going to Memphis for that wholeweekend."
Blam! That quickly a bubble bursts. One pin prick and a balloon isflat. Two dejected figures slink down the corridor to Tumble Inn.
"Why not ask your beloved Dit? Seniors can chaperone." It was Sue'svoice and she had been lagging near. She couldn't help but beinterested in other people's business.
"I couldn't bear to have her refuse me."
"I'll go ask her by myself," Betsy volunteered. "I'll take Jack'spicture and tell her she can ride in the front seat with him and--"
While Betsy was gone Mimi rummaged in the closet for the plaid wool.Right now before another thing happened she'd take it to the office tobe sent to the cleaners.
Mimi had never learned that "haste makes waste." She grabbed up thehanger and as she swung out of Tumble Inn, a sickening sound stoppedher.
B-z-z-z--
She knew before she looked. She had torn the plaid dress! One of thepockets had caught on the door knob and besides the ripping, there wasa tear.
"I would," Mimi moaned.
"Remove the scowl," Betsy called from the landing of the stairs. "Ditcan go. We'll have to pay her ho
tel bill. Do you think you can manage?"
"Sure. I haven't spent anything this month so far. I must have knownsomething like this would happen. But, Betsy--look what this clumsy oxhas done to the plaid wool dress!"
Betsy examined it carefully.
"Not so bad," she consoled--"gimme."
"Where to?"
"College Hall. Janice does sewing, mending and darning. You can get anything done in College Hall; typing, hair set and, best right now,sewing. You needn't go. I'll drop it there on my way to the library.See you at supper. Cheerio."
"Cheerio," Mimi echoed. She was not too cheerful at that. There wasstill Dr. Barnes' permission or refusal with which to reckon.Unconsciously she started to concentrate, "Dr. Barnes let me go, Dr.Barnes let me go"--I won't think that another silly time. It didn'twork on Miss Taylor but I do wish to my soul, I had Mammy Cissy'srabbit foot.