ver ours.
From early dawn until the dim twilight
We were to them a bright and shining light.

(Refrain)
Weep if you can; slowly, lightly tread.
They are gone. The Middler class is dead.
Th' Middler--class--is--d-e-a-d."

With this, the Seniors arose. Six again took possession of the long box.
The procession filed slowly from the room, while Azzie played a dirge.

The Middlers and Freshmen followed after them, and the laughing and
chattering began again. Every one was humming "The Middler--class--is
dead."

The line of girls passed down the main hall, the audience following them
to see what new thing was to take place.

The members of the faculty, with Dr. Morgan, stood here. At the sight of
their smile-wreathed faces, the gravity of the Seniors gave way. Landis
laughed aloud. The others followed her example. The lines broke. The girls
gathered about the teachers, talking and making merry over their
escapade.

"I never realized what a nervous strain it is to control oneself so long,"
said Nora, joining Dr. Morgan. "I felt as though I must shriek and laugh,
and there I had to sit and pretend to be overcome with sorrow."

Dr. Morgan had been glancing over a special edition of the evening paper.
She folded it quickly as Nora came up to her. "You did admirably, Miss
O'Day," she said. "I could not be present all the while."

Nora O'Day did not hear. She was leaning forward, her lips parted; her
eyes, bright with excitement, were upon the paper.

"May I see this for a moment, Dr. Morgan?" she asked excitedly. "What is
it about the strike?"

She had the paper in her hand, reading the article before Dr. Morgan had
time to reply. It was a full resume of the trouble at Bitumen from early
fall until the present, telling of the threatened attack upon
Superintendent Hobart and the new miners and the call for State troops.
The correspondent prophesied that the militia could not arrive in time to
prevent bloodshed, the capital being two hundred miles from the scene of
trouble, and the railway up the mountain having already been destroyed by
the miners.

Nora grasped the meaning instantly. There was no mention made of the name
of Dennis O'Day. He was not a miner. In the eyes of the world, he had no
power. Miners themselves did not realize that it was he alone who
instigated the strike, and that their leaders had been his choice.