Part 17 (2/2)
”He talked sense, though,” a.s.serted Lee, warmly.
”Of course. The Turners always do.” Laurie steered Ned toward the entrance of East Hall. ”Well, good night, Lee. See you at the fete!”
Upstairs, Ned tossed his cap to the bed, plumped himself into a chair at the table, and drew paper and pencil to him. ”Now,” he said, ”let's figure this out. I've got to talk turkey to those fellows to-morrow.
What's your idea, partner?”
”Hey, where do you get that stuff?” demanded Laurie. ”Why drag me into it? It's not my fete. I don't own it.”
”Shut up and sit down there before I punch your head. You've got to help with this. The honor of the Turners is at stake!”
So Laurie subsided and for more than an hour he and Ned racked their brains and gradually the plan took shape.
CHAPTER XII-THE COMMITTEE ON ARRANGEMENTS
”It's like this,” explained Ned. He and Laurie and Polly and Mae Ferrand were in the little garden behind the shop. The girls were on the bench and the boys were seated on the turf before the arbor, their knees encircled with their arms. A few yards away Antoinette eyed them gravely and twitched her nose. On the porch step, Towser, the big black cat, blinked benignly, sometimes s.h.i.+fting his gaze to the branches of the maple in the next yard, where an impudent black-and-white woodp.e.c.k.e.r was seeking a late luncheon.
”There are two sub-committees,” continued Ned, earnestly. ”Whipple and Cooper are the Committee on Finance and Publicity, and Laurie and I are the Committee on Arrangements. I told them I had to have help and so they took Laurie in.”
”No thanks to you,” grumbled Laurie, who was, however, secretly much pleased.
”It's going to be next Sat.u.r.day afternoon and evening, and this is Tuesday, and so there isn't much time. We were afraid to make it any later because the weather might get too cold. Besides, the team needs the money right off. I looked in an almanac and it said that next Sat.u.r.day would be fair and warm, so that's all right.”
”But don't you think almanacs make mistakes sometimes?” asked Polly. ”I know ours does. When we had our high-school picnic, the almanac said 'showers' and it was a perfectly gorgeous day. I carried my mackintosh around all day and it was a perfect nuisance. Don't you remember, Mae?”
”Well, you've got to believe in something,” declared Ned. ”Anyway, we're going to have it at Bob Starling's, and if it's too cold outdoors, we'll move inside.”
”You mean at Uncle Peter's?” exclaimed Polly.
”Yes. We thought of having it at school first, but Mr. Hillman didn't like it much; and besides, the fellows would be inside without having to pay to get there! You see, it's going to cost every one a quarter just to get in.”
”And how much to get out?” asked Mae, innocently.
Ned grinned. ”As much as we can get away from them. There'll be twelve booths to sell things in-”
”What sort of things?” Polly inquired.
”All sorts. Eats and drinks and everything. We're getting the storekeepers to donate things. So far they've just given us things that they haven't been able to sell, a pile of junk; but we're going to stop that. Biddle, the hardware man, gave us a dozen cheap pocket-knives, but he's got to come across again. We've been to only eight of them so far, but we haven't done so worse. Guess we've got enough truck for one booth already. And then there'll be one of them for a rummage sale. We're going to get each of the fellows to give us something for that, and I'll bet we'll have a fine lot of truck. Each booth will represent a college and be decorated in the proper colors: Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and so on. And-and now it's your turn, Laurie.”
”Yes, I notice that I always have to do the dirty work,” said the other.
He hugged his knees tighter, rolled over on his back for inspiration, and, when he again faced his audience on the bench, smiled his nicest.
”Here's where you girls come in,” he announced. ”We want you two to take two of the booths and get a girl for each of the others. Want to?”
”Oh, it would be darling!” cried Polly.
”I'd love to!” said Mae.
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