extra pennies. You run along and pick out your present."

And then, do you know, in spite of all that and our promise to meet her,
we forgot every bit about it till half-past four! You see, it was
election day, and we were frightfully busy. After the fifth hour
recitation we hurried into the ragged blue overalls that we had worn in
one of the torchlight parades. Lila punched up the crown of an old felt
alpine hat, and I battered my last summer's sailor till it looked
disreputable enough. Then we rushed over to the gymnasium to join our
gang of wardheelers.

We found the judges sitting at bare tables with their lists before them
and wooden booths along the walls. And then--oh, I can't do justice to
the fun we had! Some of us hung around outside and tried to scare away
opposing voters by telling how the judges might make them sing scales or
slide down ropes or wipe off their smiles on the carpets or chant the
laundry list or write their names in ink with their noses, if they should
be challenged. We actually succeeded in frightening away several timid
freshmen. The rest of the gang pretended to stuff ballot-boxes and buy
votes, just as we had read in the papers.

Berta, Lila and I voted while wearing our overalls. Then we dashed back
to our rooms and dressed in our ordinary clothes and attempted to vote a
second time. Such fun! The judges recognized us and refused to accept our
ballots. Such an uproar as we raised! The other wardheelers stormed to
the rescue; the lists were scattered, and the tables overturned. Of
course it was only a joke, and most of us were too weak from laughing to
clear away the disorder in time for the polls to close promptly.

And then we happened to remember Martha.

There it was half-past four and it would certainly be five before we
could get ready and catch the car and reach the corner of Main and
Market. So we let it go and decided that she would be tired of waiting by
that time and start for home, and we might most likely miss her anyhow,
even if we should collect the money and try to keep the engagement. And
besides that we were having such a picnic telling about the turmoil at
the polls that we hated to waste a minute away from the scene. Berta had
a splendid idea about dressing up as policemen and borrowing the express
wagon belonging to the janitor's grandson, and then tearing over to the
gym as if we had been summoned to arrest the hoodlums and take them to
jail in the patrol. It was