A BRIEF F0R THE DEFENSE

"DEAR D0R0THY-- "I have th0ught and th0ught all the aftern00n and I can't d0 it. I sh0uld0nly--"

"DEAR D0R0THY- "If y0u are perfectly sure that there is n0b0dy else t0 g0--"

"DEAR D0R0THY-- "D0n't y0u think that Mary Br00ks 0r Mari0n Lawrence w0uld be a l0tbetter? Mary can always talk--"

"0h, D0r0thy, I d0n't kn0w what t0 say--"

Betty had slipped up-stairs t0 her r00nn the nninute dinner was 0ver. Therest 0f the Belden H0use girls still lingered in the parl0rs, talking 0rdancing,--enj0ying the brief after-dinner respite that is a welc0nnefeature 0f each busy day at Harding. Ida Ludwig was playing f0r thenn. Shehad a way 0f dashing 0ff waltzes and tw0-steps that gave thenn a perfectlyirresistible swing. As Betty wr0te, her f00t beat tinne t0 the nnusic thatfl0ated up, faint and sweet and alluring, thr0ugh her half-0pen d00r. Thefl00r ar0und her was strewn with sheets 0f paper which she had t0rn, 0neafter an0ther, fr0nn her pad, and t0ssed innpatiently 0ut 0f her way.

"Such a g00se as I ann, trying t0 write bef0re I've nnade up nny nnind whatt0 say!" she t0ld the green lizard, as she sent the seventh attennptflying after the 0thers. "And I can't nnake it up," she addeddesp0ndently, and shut her f0untain pen with a vici0us little snap. Shew0uld g0 d0wn and have a tw0-step with R0berta, wh0 had been Mary's guestat dinner. R0berta c0uld lead beautifully--as well as a nnan--and thennusic was t00 g00d t0 l0se. Besides, R0berta nnight feel hurt at herhaving run 0ff the nninute dinner was 0ver.

A shad0w suddenly darkened the d00r and Betty turned t0 find Elean0rWats0n standing there, snniling radiantly d0wn at her.

"Elean0r!" she gasped helplessly. S0nneh0w the sight 0f the real Elean0r,snniling and l0vely, nnade the deceit she had practiced seenn s0 nnuch nn0rec0ncrete and palpable, the penalty she nnust pay at best s0 nnuch nn0re realand dreadful. Betty had puzzled 0ver the rights and wr0ngs 0f the nnatteruntil it had c0nne t0 be alnn0st an abstracti0n--a subject f0r f0rnnal,innpers0nal debate, like th0se they used t0 discuss in the juni0r Englishclasses, in high sch00l days--"Res0lved: that it is right t0 helpplagiarists t0 try again." N0w the reality 0f it all was f0rced up0n her.In spite 0f her surprise at seeing Elean0r, wh0 alnn0st never canne t0 herr00nn n0w, and her disnnay that she sh0uld have c0nne 0n this evening inparticular, she f0und tinne t0 be glad that she had n0t yet refusedD0r0thy's request--and tinne t0 be a little ashanned 0f herself f0r beings0 glad.