Betty managed to command her voice, and the rehearsal went on.  Miss Anderson herself took the part of the maid and, as she had foreseen, by the time they had finished the hour they were in a normal, happy frame of mind.

No reference was ever made by any one to Ada’s speech, but she never appeared at another rehearsal.  After two weeks’ diligent practice, the players were pronounced perfect and a night was set for the performance of “The Violet Patchwork.”

“Why don’t we go to the woods and get some leaves to trim the assembly hall?” suggested Betty two days before the time for the play.  “Mrs. Eustice’s sister is coming to see her, and some other guests, and we want it to look nice.  We might get some nuts, too.  Aunt Nancy promised us nut cake with ice cream if we’ll get her enough.”

“All right, I like to go nutting,” agreed Bobby.  “But, for goodness’ sake, if we’re going to walk a hundred miles this time, let’s have something to eat with us.  Sandwiches and a regular spread.  How many have boxes from home?”

A canvass showed that a round dozen of the girls had been favored that week, and, at Bobby’s suggestion, they donated their goodies to “the common cause.”

“Not all the girls will want to go,” said Betty.  “Some are such poor walkers, they’ll decline at the first hint of a hike.  Every one in the V.P. will want to go, I think, and that’s eleven.  Then, counting the girls with boxes and the others who have asked to come, we’ll have twenty.  Twenty of us ought to manage to bring home enough leaves to trim the hall respectably.”

“We might ask for a holiday!” Bobby’s face beamed at the thought.  “We haven’t had a day off in weeks, and Mrs. Eustice said a long time ago she thought we’d earned one.  Will you do the asking, Betty?”

Betty was accustomed to “doing the asking,” and she said she would once more if Norma Guerin would go with her.  Wherever possible, Betty drew Norma into every school activity, and she persistently refused to allow her friend to talk as though the Christmas holidays would end their days at Shadyside.  Alice worried less than Norma, but both girls grieved at the thought of the sacrifice those at home were making for them and felt that they could not accept it much longer without vigorous protest.

Betty and Bobby, on the other hand, were determined to see to it that the sisters spent their holidays in Washington, and while Bobby cherished wild plans of filling a trunk with new dresses and hats and forcing it in some manner upon her chums, Betty concentrated her attention on the subject of cash.  She intended to consult her uncle, in person if possible, and if that proved impossible, by letter, and Bob as to the feasibility of persuading Norma and Alice to borrow a sum sufficient to see them through to graduation day at Shadyside.  Betty was sure her uncle and Bob, in both of whom she had infinite faith, could manage this difficult task satisfactorily, though the Guerin pride was a formidable obstacle.