CHAPTER XVII
SATURDAY ESCAPADE
For Mimi, the next few days rolled slowly into a week. There wasconstant fear that Madge would yet develop flu or pneumonia. Frailappearing people were not always delicate, Mimi concluded when a weekpassed and Madge had not so much as sneezed. Mimi, in her concern, hadhovered near for days. Just like an old hen with one chicken, Mimi toldherself. She could better understand how Mother Dear fussed and fumedover her when she had "been exposed." All week, too, she had her eyespeeled for a letter postmarked in Germany. It was too soon to hear fromDaddy but she couldn't keep from watching and hoping. The secondsemester was well under way and the routine of a new schedule wasbecoming habit.
"Betsy," Mimi exclaimed the third Saturday after the skating party, "Ihave to do something exciting or bust!"
"I feel a fit coming on, too," Betsy agreed sprawling on the bed in agrotesque pose.
"Let's do something about it," Mimi laughed.
"Name it. 'Barkus is willing.'"
"Yes. Name it. What is there to do within these four walls that we havenot tried? We have raided the kitchen at all hours, cooked after lightbell, invaded College Hall, used the telephone without permission, cutassembly--all of it."
"None of that is very devilish. I want to do something wild and woolly."
"Like slip away from the campus!"
Once the words were out Mimi clapped her hand over her mouth. It wastoo late. She had said the very thing both of them were thinking.
"Would we dare?" Betsy breathed. Her blue eye was glittering, her browneye clouded with fear.
"Dare? Madam! Is that a challenge? Did I ever take a dare?"
"Not since I've known you."
"This will not be an exception. Let the 'ways and means committee' meetat once."
"Uh--Oh! What's up?" Sue cried as she and Chloe came in. Sue slung herbooks at the table. Chloe put hers in a neat stack. "Dirty work afootat the cross roads. I can tell by the smooth and oily waves," she maderippling motions with her arms and hands, "that a storm is brewing. Whyare your heads so close together, amigas mias? Confess."
Betsy and Mimi flushed guiltily.
"We'd better tell them so that if anything happens----"
Her pert face a question mark, Mimi was looking at Betsy.
"Yes, we'd better," Betsy agreed.
"We are breaking jail," Mimi said tersely.
"When?" from Sue.
"How?" from Chloe.
"Right after lunch." from Betsy.
"Disguised and out the servant's entrance." from Mimi.
"Well blow us down!" from Sue and Chloe.
"Don't stand there paralyzed," Mimi ordered. Now that the decision wasmade she was eager for action. "Y'all will have to help us borrow ourdisguises but first, cross your hearts and promise not to tell a soul."
The promise was given. They wished they had courage to join in but theywere ruled out at the first suggestion. Four people would be tooconspicuous. Two might prove too many.
Mimi could hardly swallow her lunch. The fated hour of two o'clockwould never come. This was the hour washwomen waited for girls to claimlaundry and to pay.
As soon as the bread pudding dishes were empty and every possible tasteof chocolate sauce scraped up, the four occupants of Tumble Innhastened to their suite and closed the door.
"Shall we lock it?" Chloe asked.
"No," Betsy answered promptly. "Pile things against it so that it wouldtake a minute or two to get in but don't lock it. If Mrs. Cole tried itand it didn't open she'd 'smell a mouse' sure enough."
Mimi laughed aloud as she had a mental picture of Mrs. Cole wrinklingup her nose and sniffing. Any kind of conspiracy intrigued her and sheset about changing her appearance in high glee.
From girls larger than they, they had borrowed skirts and long coats.Even their shoes were so large and run over, Mimi's feet flapped likeCharlie Chaplin's as she moved nearer the mirror.
"My own Mother wouldn't know me," she commented.
"No, but Mrs. Cole will unless you do something about that unruly mopof red hair," Sue contradicted.
Here was a problem. A beret would expose her features. The hair was notlong enough to tuck under a hat with a brim and stay up. Regardless ofthe number of bobby pins put in, drake tails kept slipping down aroundMimi's neck.
Then Chloe had an inspiration.
"Wear a veil. Lots of the colored people do."
There was a fifteen minute search for a veil. At that, a makeshift wasused. Chloe draped a piece of black georgette around the crown of thehat and let it hang over where the red hair shone the brightest.
By the time Mimi was ready, Betsy was practically losing her skirt.When she moved toward the door it fell at her feet. Another five minutesearch. Sue dashing about borrowing safety pins. Now Betsy switched herhips rapidly like a Spanish dancer but the skirt stayed in place.
Looking more like caricatures or comic valentines than bona fideservants, the two girls ventured forth.
Mimi trembled and held her breath while Sue opened the door and peereddown the hall. Getting safely from Tumble Inn to the service entrancewas the most hazardous part of the whole journey. Once they reached theentrance they could run--oh how they could run--if there was danger ofbeing recognized.
"The coast is clear," Sue announced.
Looking squarely into each other's eyes, the two silently pledgedloyalty and secrecy. Mimi understood as clearly as if Betsy had saidaloud, "No matter what happens, we are in this together."
Not taking any one's word, Mimi looked both up and down the hallherself. Then grabbing Betsy's hand she jerked her over the thresholdof Tumble Inn to the middle of the corridor. They walked by the seconddoor of their suite as if they had never seen it before.
When they were halfway to the turn, they heard Chloe and Sue gigglingbehind them.
"Go back, meanies," Betsy hissed. "Do you want to get us caught?"
"Yes," Sue hissed back. "If you're caught before you get out we couldsay we were playing. Afterwards, well--it's your funeral, but don't saywe didn't warn you."
Mimi wavered but Betsy walked determinedly ahead and Mimi was soon instep with her again.
If they could get downstairs without being seen, they were temporarilysafe. At least Mimi could breathe deeply then. She had to hold to therail to keep from stumbling in her floppy shoes and heavy skirts. Thiswas harder than high heels and a junior bridesmaid's dress, only thenshe couldn't hold to the bannister. Betsy clutched her arm. She darednot speak. Someone was coming up stairs. They would meet on thelanding. It was too late to flee.
"Don't let it be Mrs. Cole. Don't let it be Mrs. Cole."
Mimi was concentrating again.
The girls separated to single file, Mimi two or three steps ahead. Sheheld her head down and as far to one side as she dared, but she wasrolling her eyes frantically to see who was coming up. It wasn't Mrs.Cole. She was sure of that now, but it was someone she knew. It wasOlivia!
Mimi's first thought was to stop her and confess and pledge her tosecrecy. Her second thought was better. She would test her disguise.Slow feet stepping down, down, down. Hurried feet stepping up, up, up.They met. Olivia brushed past and did not recognize either of thegirls. Mimi breathed easier. However, it wasn't a fair test, for Oliviawas mumbling: "The drawbridge dropped with a surly clang, and over it acharger sprang, bearing the maiden knight, Sir Launfal."
Mimi should be studying too. She had memory work piling up again.
"Olivia didn't know us," Betsy was whispering with a sigh of relief."You go on out and walk slowly and I'll catch up with you before youget out the drive."
Her pulse pounding, her whole body smothered with excitement andborrowed clothes, Mimi edged her way through the half dozen or moreservants and opened the door. True, they eyed her queerly and one largenegress snickered out, but if they knew anything was amiss, they didnot tell. They had seen stranger "goin' ons" than this in the y
earsthey had worked for the school girls.
As badly as she wanted to run, Mimi shuffled along slowly until Betsywas beside her. Then quickening their gaits, they left the campusbehind and turned down College Avenue toward town.
"We did it!" Mimi exclaimed.
"Don't crow yet." Betsy cautioned. "Let's get off this main street. Thechemistry prof lives two blocks down."
Silently they turned down a side street; Mimi recognized itimmediately. This was the way the taxi driver had brought her toSheridan. That day seemed so far away now. It was as if all her lifehad been lived on a Sheridan schedule.
"Now, whew!"
Betsy relaxed.
"Omigosh! That's the longest short distance I ever traveled."
"Now that we are out, what are we going to do?"
"Go to the picture show and sit in the balcony."
When Mimi said, "O. K." she did not realize that they were going to theone place they would be most likely to be caught. When she realized itlater, she shuddered.
The girl at the ticket window stared at them with open curiosity, butsince neither betrayed the slightest facial emotion, the girl did notcomment.
In the semi-darkness of the lobby, Mimi felt safe for the first timesince leaving Tumble Inn. Groping up the steps to the balcony, theygiggled and giggled. When they were seated and when their eyes wereadjusted to the light, Betsy punched Mimi and pointed. Two rows infront of them were five Preps and a _faculty chaperon_!
The culprits slid down in their seats. Suppose? No, don't! Nothing todo but watch, and when the other Preps left, pull hats down and duckheads. Keeping one eye on everyone who went out was very distracting.This was one show Mimi could not tell about afterwards. They had stayedthrough practically all of it before the other Preps left, and thefaculty member, to their immense relief, passed without seeing them.
When the great Garbo posed in the open window and let her hair fallforward half hiding her face, Mimi punched Betsy.
"This is where we came in."
"Sh-sh-sh." Betsy cautioned.
Then Mimi heard the familiar voices too. From the rear, her hat wasknocked over on her nose. Sheridan girls chaperoned by Mrs. Cole werefilling the row behind them. Mrs. Cole was sputtering and giving ordersregardless of the fact that she was disturbing the entire balcony. Mimiand Betsy froze to their seats. No matter what happened, they could notleave now. Without speaking to each other, they agreed to stay stilluntil these girls saw the show and left.
Mimi never knew how long a show could be until she sat through this onethe second time. Betsy despaired and went to sleep! How could she?Every nerve in Mimi's body was taut. Suppose? No, don't. Why had sheever come? Why didn't she think how heartbroken Mother and Daddy wouldbe if she were suspended? If she did get back to Sheridan and slip inwithout being caught she would never, never be so foolish again._Never!_
What time was it now? It must be late. Two o'clock plus two wholeshows. Omigosh! Suppose they were absent from supper? But if Mrs. Coleand her girls were there, Mimi and Betsy would be too. Giving them onlya two-minute start, the culprits flung caution to the wind and ran forthe side street. It was almost dark.
"Let's phone Chloe and Sue to meet us at the back of the campus withour uniforms."
"Never," Betsy snapped. "Don't you know we couldn't talk to themwithout giving our life history first. Then someone would likely listenin. There is always the chance that one is phoning for a boy and makinga date. No," Betsy decided, "the only way back in is the way we cameout. Let's cut across."
Every minute counted. Provided they got back in, they had to changeclothes before they could go to supper.
When they reached the edge of the campus, Sue and Chloe rushed up. Theywere all but hysterical.
"Thank heavens, you're back. We've been worried to death."
"Out of our way. We never saw you before," Betsy said without slowingup.
"Run lay our uniforms out so we can get dressed."
"You have six minutes," Chloe said as she and Sue sped to Tumble Inn.Anything to help.
"Please let me get in safely," Mimi prayed under her breath. "I'llnever slip out again. I'll study the----"
Before she finished praying she was safely through the door and runningdown the hall. If she met anyone, she did not remember. She was insideagain. She had not been caught.
Study hall that night was a haven. Relieved and safe again, Mimi poredover her books. For several days to come, she had perfect recitations.