“Never mind,” said the brown-eyed blonde, “people are sure to be punished in some way or another. I wouldn’t get up early on Sunday morning, and go to church if I did not firmly believe that.” “Goodness me,” said the president, “it must be awfully late, girls, and I promised Tom to adjourn early and meet him down town. I do wonder if he has been waiting for me all this time!” “I’ve seen Jack,” said the girl with the dimple in her chin, as the friends went down the stairs; “met him on the street this morning.” “And, I suppose you hurried right on, and never said a civil word to him,” returned the blue-eyed girl. “Indeed I didn’t. I called after him to wait for me, and—” “And I suppose he thought that I had told you to talk to him, since you were so eager. You needn’t tell me a word that you said—I don’t want to hear anything about it. Did—did he look sort of hollow-eyed and worn?” “‘M—I can’t say that he did. But he said that he thought he must give up chafing-dish suppers.” “I should think he must have bad dreams,” said the blue-eyed girl, viciously. “He—he told me that he had called at your house the other day, and—” “I suppose you let him go on thinking that I meant that message for him. A nice friend you are, Emily Marshmallow!” “Why, Dorothy, I—” “You don’t surely mean that you explained it all, and actually let him think that I wanted to apologize! Well, if anybody had told me such a thing of you, I never would have believed it.” “No, I didn’t,” said the girl with the dimple in her chin, “I didn’t say a word, for just then Frances joined us; and if _you_ are clever enough to get a private word with any man, after Frances sees him, I am not!” Chapter VII Woman in Legislation “Let us discuss ‘Woman in Legislation,’ to-day,” said the president. “I had written you a note, Marion, to prepare a paper on it, but I found it in my desk this morning.” “Too bad,” said the girl with the eyeglasses. “I should have been delighted to do it.” “Why, Marion,” cried the girl with the Roman nose, “have you forgotten? You said you were too busy painting dinner cards to touch it. That was when I told you that Evelyn wanted you to do it, you remember.” “No, I don’t,” snapped the girl with the eyeglasses. “Of course I shan’t have a minute to prepare a paper for next week; but I should have been delighted to—” “Girls,” said the president, “only think! Tom says this club is actually making me masculine.” “Mercy, you must have convinced him that you had the better of him in an argument,” cried the girl with the Roman nose. “No—but I forgot to mail some letters he intrusted to me the other day when he was going out of town. By the way, it seems to me that when legislation is in the hands of women. What are you girls whispering about over there in the corner?” “We are only comparing samples of bicycle suitings,” said the girl with the dimple in her chin. “Dorothy has a larger selection than I, and—”