"Oh, but I couldn't think of it!" exclaimed Evelyn, recovering her courage. "I have had no experience in such matters! Why, that would be politics!--and I have always felt,--it has seemed to me,--I simply can't consider it!" She had gained her composure now. She had been called a bachelor of arts, and she felt an impulse to laugh. "Ah! we had expected that it would seem strange to you at first," said Mrs. Atherton, who appeared to be in charge of the grand strategy of the call, while Miss Morris carried the rapid firing guns and Mrs. Wingate lent moral support, as of a shore battery. Mrs. Atherton had risen. "We have all set our hearts on it, and you must not decline. Think it over well, and when you come to the first meeting of the Council in September, you will, I am sure, be convinced of your duty." "Yes; a very solemn obligation that wealth and education have laid upon you," Miss Morris amplified. "A solemn obligation," echoed Mrs. Wingate. The three filed out, Miss Morris leading the way, while Mrs. Atherton lingeringly covered their retreat with a few words that were intended to convey a knowledge of the summer frivolities then pending. "I should be very glad to have you come to see me at my rooms," said Miss Morris, wheeling in her short skirt as she reached the door. "I have rooms in the AEtna Building." "Do come and see us, too," murmured the convoy, smiling in relief as they turned away. Evelyn sat down in the nearest chair and laughed. "I wonder whether they think college has made me like that?" she asked herself. At dinner she gave her father a humorous account of the interview. Grant was away dining with a playmate and they were alone. Porter was in one of his perverse moods, and he began gruffly: "I should like to know why not! Haven't I spent thousands of dollars on your education? The lady was right; you are, at least so I have understood, a bachelor of arts. Why a bachelor I'm sure I don't know--" He was buttering a bit of bread with deliberation and did not look at Evelyn, who waited patiently, knowing that he would have his whim out. "It seems to me," he went on, "a proper recognition of your talents and education, and also of me, as one of the oldest citizens of Clarkson. I tell you it is good to get a little recognition once in a while. I have a painful recollection of having been defeated for School Commissioner about ten years ago. Now here's a chance for the family to redeem itself. Of course you accepted the nomination, and after your election I'll expect you to bring the school funds to my bank, and I'll say to you now that the directors will do the right thing by you." He was still avoiding Evelyn's eyes, but his humor was growing impatient for recognition. "Now, father!" she pleaded, and they laughed together. "Father," she said seriously, "I don't want these people here to get an idea that I'm not an ordinary being."