Girls High School of Brooklyn - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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+geT 'back To Bobby. Poor Bobby is being punished Too severely. buT we'll ix T aT. 4 They laid Their plans and The china was boughT and sTored under The linen in The small closeT aT The end of The hall. Ten-ThirTy was The hour seT for The exchange. When The grand- faTher clock boomed, five whiTe and shivering shapes. were huddled in The hall benT on This nefarious expediTion, which surely would have hor- rified The very sedaTe families of These young ladies. When The worThy old clock again performed iTs duT , The wicked deed was accomplished. The newly-purchased china had, usurped The place of The old seT in The cabineT in The library. Dorisl had! fnoT closed an eye since she and The oThers had changed The china. A New England conscience had made her pillow sTrangely hoT and uncomforfable: yeT she could noT bear To go To The oTher girls and confess herself such 'a weakling. She jumped suddenly from her bed and ran on silenT feeT ouT of her room down The hall To The linen closeT. Yes. There iT was., The real seT. Quickly she gafhered if up and sped down sTairs Trembling: sTopping every momenT for sounds, she accomplished The exchange. Now- quick-up-sTairs-down The hall!-back To bed. Was ThaT a door opening ouT There? No-iusT imagined iT! Sleep now! The door she had imagined she heard was .Barbara's: no sleep had visiTed Miss Barbara Dane eiTher. Somehow The ThoughT of her moTher had persisTed in spoiling her nighT's resT. MoTher was a lady! MoTher had TaughT Bobby ideals and This didn'T seem sporfing. Oh, heck!!- BuT Anne and Jean and The resT will Think ThaT If have gone 'Elsie Dins- more' on Them. Won'T Tell Them. Have To be a coward for The Time being anyhow. Now followed The same program gone Through by Doris. and once more The china seT was laboriously exchanged. Anne made The exchange Two hours laTer. She had slepT, buT been visiTed wiTh dreams in which Miss ApplegaTe had died a paTheTic deaTh clasping The false china To her breasT. Anne sped To The 'linen closeT in Tears and in one bedroom slipper. Towards dawn a pale and shivering Phyllis crep-T down The sTairs soon followed by Jean. 'They had held ouT as long as possible. buT The memory of Two frighTened freshmen pupils and a kind lady known as Miss Applegafe who had eased Those home-sick days wiTh genTleness and a liTTle judicious spoiling was Too much for Them. For The fifTh Time The china was changed. and The genuine seT reposed on The shelf undisTurbed aT lasT. LaTe The nexT afTernoon Miss ApplegaTe invifed The girls To her room for Tea. They saT around The dainTy Tea Table. pale arnd' raTher silenT. buT The principal seemed noT To noTice Their sTrange manner. WhaT THE BLUE AND GOLD Page Eleven

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oT Miss AppIegaTe's prize seT! China was Miss ApplegaTe's one weakness. She was as enThusiasTic abouT The Willow paTTern as a bride abouT her Trousseau. and was con- sidered a connoisseur. Now This was well known To her pupils and The whole school was aware oT The anTicipaTed visiT To be paid Miss Apple- gaTe by an experT who was To esTimaTe The inTrinsic value oT The rose and buTTerTIy seT. LeT's see how much They're worTh. said Jean. NoT ThaT I really care. she apologized. buT, well iusT IeT's. As no obiecTions were raised, The Tour girls Tiled inTo The shop. A bleary-eyed old man inquired in a Thin piping voice whaT The young ladies wished. Doris spoke. Uh-we'd like To price The china in The window. WaII-I I Tell you: I could charge mebbe TwenTy dollars apiece. cuz iT's a mighTy Tine imiTaTion oT a seT easily worTh more Than ThaT. BuT bein' ThaT you look like nice young ladies, I'II sell iT To you Tor TiTTy cenTs a iecel p FiTTy cenTs apiece? gasped Doris. I don'T see how- WalI-l. resumed The man, you see The old lady up aT The school has The real seT. and iT don'T do people much good To buy. cuz every- body knows ThaT hers is The only real seT. Doris looked aT Jean and Turned To go ouT. Jean said. I am noT sure. buT I Think we'll be back To buy The china: we've goT To Think iT over irsT. When They were once more in The sTreeT Phyllis said. Jean. whaT-4 LisTen. inTerrupTed Jean. ThaT china is a good enough imiTaTion To Tool us who have seen iT nearly every day Tor years. Now. Doris keep sTiII! IT we could buy This seT and puT iT in The case insTead oT The real one. The nighT beTore ThaT experT comes. he would say ThaT iT was OT no value. and our revenge would be compleTe. She'd be so humiIiaTed. Jean you're Terrible-- began Phyllis. BuT Doris inTerrupTed her. IT's a good idea. Jean. buT iusT Think. iT's worTh nearly Two hundred dollars. We shou'Idn'T aTTempT anyThing so serious. BuT don'T you see? She would have iT valued again. and Then we'd swiTch The seT again andeveryThing would be all righT. We'd iusT give her a IiTTIe scare. explained Jean. Yes. said Anne. I see your poinT. and I Think iT's swell. g Jean shoT an approving glance aT Anne and Turned To Doris who said. I don'T like iT. buT iT you are sure-- OT course we're sure. snapped Anne. Come on. we've goT To THE BLUE AND GOLD . Page Ten

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was This she was saying?-- and Mr. Thompson says ThaT he never saw a more perfecT example of LowesTofT-a museum piece--offered me Twice whaT I Thoughf iT was worTh, buT I would noT parT wiTh iT! Anne looked guiITily aT The oTher four buT found Them all looking guiITily aT her. Phyllis casT down lashes on suddenly flushed cheeks: buT when she raised Them. she noTed oTher blushes. Doris. Jean, and Barbara discovered no 'looks of amazemenT or of bewildermenf. only of confusion. The TruTh dawned. Did you--? Oh, Anne. you never---? Don'T Tell me you--? Do you mean To Tell me--17 Jean, you wrefch,--I Five pairs of eyes Turned Towards Miss ApplegaTe: confession Tumbled from five pairs of lips. Miss Applegafe looked sTrangeIy calm. l knew iT all The Time, she announced. In The sTunned silence which followed she Told Them ThaT Mr. PraTT. The old man in The shop where They had boughf The china. had come To her wiTh his suspicions and doubTs. She had decided To IeT Things Take Their course and see iusf whaT Their years of Training and Their own consciences would lead Them To do. She had done, she admiTTed. a liTTIe spying. She had seen some queer doings during The nighT. BuT The SparTan lady conTinued, I'd raTher have had The Tea seT smashed Than inTerrupT The experimenf. In The morning I made sure The real seT was There. and Then I inviTed you girls here To waTch The lasT acT of The play. Anne murmured. Can you ever forgive us? Barbara said Miss Applegafe imperfurbably, will you please pour The Tea? A A COUNTRY BREAKFAST Slowly inTo my drowsy senses driffed The pungenT odor of breakfasf coffee. I wriggled down inTo The big bed To escape The smell: iT was Too cold: I did noT wanT To geT up. Again I poked my nose ouT of The covers. This Time The odor of sausages mixed wiTh The fainT smell of wood smoke and of real maple syrup. Then The smell of meITing buTTer. I could bear iT no longer. I jumped ouT of bed. washed hasfily in icy waTer, pulled on my clofhes. and Tumbled down sfairs. As I opened The kiTchen door The combined odors of a counTry breakfasf assailed me. I inhaled conTenTedly: I was back aT The Valley Farm again! FLORENCE STEVENSON. THE BLUE AND GOLD Page Twelve