“Have we or have we not?” Aunt Augusta again demanded, and just then a most wonderful thing happened!

Jane stood in our midst!

Oh, Jane, you were a miracle to me, but I must go on writing about it all calmly for the sake of the Five!

I made a mad rush from my rocker to throw myself into her arms, but she stopped me with one glance of her cold, official eye that quelled me, and stood attention before Aunt Augusta.

“Madam President,” she said in her grandest parliamentary voice, “it was by accident that I interrupted the proceedings of what I take to be an official meeting.  Have I your permission to withdraw?  I am Miss Shelby’s guest, Miss Mathers, and I can easily await her greetings until the adjournment of this body.”

Oh, Jane, and my arms just hungry for you!

“Madam,” answered Aunt Augusta, in her grandest manner and a voice so filled with cordiality that I hardly knew it, “it is the pleasure of the chair to interrupt proceedings and to welcome you.  Evelina, introduce us all!”

It was all just glorious!  I never saw anybody get a more lovely ovation than Jane did from my friends, for they had all heard about her, read with awe clippings I showed them about her speeches and—­were about ready for her.

Sallie kissed her on both cheeks, Mamie laid the baby in her arms with a devout expression, and Nell clung to her with the rapture of the newly proselyted in her face.  Aunt Martha made her welcome in her dearest manner and Caroline beamed on her with the return of a lot of the fire and spirit of the youth that hanging on the doled-out affections of Lee Greenfield had starved in her.

And it was characteristic of Jane and her methods that it took much less time than it takes me to write it, for her to get all the greetings over with, explain that she had sent me a letter telling me that she was coming that must have gone astray, get everybody named and ticketed in her mind, and get us all back to business.

Aunt Augusta explained the situation to her with so much feeling and eloquence that she swept us all off our feet, and when she was ready to put the question again to us as to our willingness to embark on our defiance of our fellow-townsmen, the answer of enthusiastic acquiescence was ready for her.

“Of course, as none of you have any official municipal status, the invitation will have to be given informally, in a social way, to the Commission through Miss Shelby’s friend, Mr. Richard Hall,” said Jane, when Aunt Augusta had called on her to give us her opinion of the situation in general and the mode of procedure.  “We find it best in all women-questions of the present, to do things in a perfectly legal and parliamentary way.”

“Must we tell them about it or not?” asked Mamie, in a wavering voice, looking up devoutly at Jane, who had held young Ned against the stiff white linen shirt of her traveling dress just as comfortably as if he were her own seventh.