l made." He put his hand on
her shoulder.

"I'm dumbfounded!" the doctor exclaimed. "I had no idea girls did
anything as strenuous as this."

"You must be tired out?" Mrs. Farwell said, "and you'll catch cold. Do
hurry back to school and change."

Polly and Lois started.

"I wish Jim had been here," Lois called over her shoulder to Bob.
"Perhaps he might have changed his mind about basket ball being a good
enough girls' game," she said.

"He'll be here to-morrow," Bob replied. "And you can trust me to see
that his mind is changed," he promised.

CHAPTER XIX

THE SENIOR DANCE

History classroom, converted temporarily into a dressing room, was a
scene of busy confusion. The Seniors were being "made up"--a woman had
come from New York especially for the purpose.

It was almost time for the play to begin and everybody was in a hurry.
Outside the Assembly Hall was rapidly filling and the murmur of voices
penetrated to the dressing room.

"There must be a perfect swarm of visitors," Betty said. "I know the
minute I get on that stage I'll forget every one of my lines," she
added, as she looked critically at herself in the glass. She was playing
the part of Shylock, and her long beard and gray wig disguised her
almost beyond recognition.

"Do you think I need some more lines on my face?" she asked Miss Crosby,
who was acting as stage manager.

"No, Betty dear, I don't; I think you're quite ugly enough," Miss
Crosby answered her. "Are you ready, Polly?"

"No; I'm still struggling with this sash," Polly answered, coming out
from behind a screen dressed as Bassanio.

"I'll fix it. There!" Miss Crosby tied the refractory sash and then
stood off to view the effect. "You make a very gallant and graceful
Bassanio," she said.

"Where's my Portia?" Polly inquired.

Lois was being "made up"; so she could only laugh in response. She was
charming in a full black velvet gown, trimmed with heavy white lace, and
her hair was crowned by a cap of pearls.

Angela, in dark green, was no less lovely as Nerissa. Evelin made a
dignified Antonio, and Dot Mead a jaunty Gratiano. Helen played the
double role of Salarino and the Moor, while Dorothy Lansing took The
Prince of Arragon and the Gaoler.

On account of the small number of Seniors, all of the lesser characters
had been omitted, and the play had been cut down to three acts.

The first--the Venetian street scene, where Antonio bargains with
Shylock. The second-