what proved to be one of the happiest weeks mimi spent at sheridan had a fearful beginning. when she dashed in the post office between classes to see if she had a letter from germany, the disappointment of not finding one was enough. on top of that, there was a note asking mimi to come to dr. barnes’ office at one o’clock!
mimi crushed the notice. after all, they had not slipped in saturday unobserved. perspiration popped out on her forehead and around her mouth. mimi, who usually danced through life on her tiptoes expecting “sprises,” had her head bowed in misery. there was no time to wail. she was late to geometry now.
after a miserably forty-five-minute class period during which she broke her recent perfect recitation record, mimi fled to college hall and confided in dit.
“we didn’t intend anything terrible, dit; honest we didn’t. we just wanted to slip out to see if it could be done.”
“don’t look so woebegone, mimi. your guilty conscience is torturing you. dr. barnes may want something entirely different. i shouldn’t mention the summons to anyone if i were you until i found out what it was. in case it is a punishment, don’t worry. don’t cry. just look out the window and watch the green grass grow.”
“watch the green grass grow.” so that’s what the college girls meant. mimi had heard the expression a dozen times.
“after all dr. barnes won’t put you in stocks or tickle your feet or cut off your ears. let him fume until he gets tired and then he’ll let you go.”
bolstered by dit’s encouragement, at one o’clock, mimi knocked timidly on the door of dr. barnes’ private office. he had not come back from lunch so his secretary asked mimi to wait. mimi wanted to ask her why she was summoned, but her tongue stuck tightly to the roof of her mouth each time she tried to speak. mimi teetered on the edge of the chair. she couldn’t be still yet. she never touched the chair back. with great effort she tore her mind from prospective punishment. she tried to think of rainbows or balloons, but there was no beauty for her now. for the first time, thinking “hojoni” failed.
while she sat here, chloe, with special permission to miss english and gym, was being photographed for the beauty section of the annual. while many envied, no one questioned her place. she really was the most beautiful prep. already sue had had her picture taken with both the orchestra and the glee club. betsy’s would be with the soccer, as well as the basket ball, team. oh dear! mimi’s woes were increasing with every thought. why had she broken her nose when she knew she could have been on the basket ball team? there was still tennis, but the tournament was three weeks off and the pictures for the annual were being made now!
“thank you for coming promptly, miss mimi,” dr. barnes said as he entered briskly and hung his hat on the stand in the corner behind his desk. “i have three things to speak to you about and i do not want you to be late for your one-thirty class.”
three things! mimi swallowed hard. she hadn’t been that naughty!
“first,” dr. barnes was saying, “you will be glad to know that i recently had a most interesting letter from your father. he asked me to tell you that i was sending him a copy of our complete record of clorissa. being a close friend of chloe’s aunt marcia, i was able to send him much information not on our records. all of this is strictly without precedent and must not be mentioned outside this office. do not tell even clorissa.”
dear dr. barnes. he was helping, too. why had she been so afraid? if he were a close friend of aunt marcia’s, then she could not possibly, by any stretch of imagination be freida; that was out.
“there are two more things yet,” her guilty conscience whispered, but mimi wouldn’t listen. how nice to talk to someone about daddy, and about chloe, the problem nearest her heart.
“what time is your last class?”
“i have gym from two-forty-five to three-thirty, sir.”
“you are excused from it this afternoon. you may receive a caller in the south parlor at three o’clock.”
“dr. barnes!”
dr. barnes twinkled behind his glasses and funny little wrinkles of fat made rolls above his ears and below his bald spot. he had been asked not to tell who the visitor was and mimi could not worm the name out of him. only the importance of the third thing he was telling now could have saved mimi from her elephant-child’s curiosity.
“i have been finding out things about you, miss mimi.”
it was coming now—why had her feet ever strayed from hojoni——. but dr. barnes looked proud and not aggrieved.
“rumors have been coming to me of what an excellent horsewoman you are. the bridle club here——”
mimi put up her hand. stop, dr. barnes. are my ears deceiving me? wait until this much soaks in.
dr. barnes mistook her flushed face and raised hand as a gesture of modesty and embarrassment.
“don’t be too modest. we are glad to know sheridan has someone who can represent us worthily in the annual spring show of the bridle club. i have arranged for you and four other sheridan students to be entered. there are several good mounts available. beginning tomorrow and at three-thirty every afternoon the rest of the week you will go to the club stables and be coached for the events you are to enter. some faculty member will chaperon you.”
“let miss bassett,” mimi interrupted. why had she ever quaked in her boots when dr. barnes’ name was mentioned? he was kindly and human as could be, not an ogre at all.
“do you like my plans, miss mimi?”
“they’re precious, perfectly precious!”
that was the most mimi could say for anything. she must get out of this office quickly and whistle between her teeth, or clog or jump up and crack her heels together twice before landing or she would explode right before dr. barnes. she forgot about her visitor until she was seated in spanish class. no chance to tell any of her news. she stood it as long as she could, then scrawled headlines and held up her notebook so that sue could read three rows away:
am riding for “s” in horse show
company at three. hotcha!
sue grabbed a pencil.
who?
la profesora was looking, so mimi shook her head. besides, what could she say? she didn’t know herself who was coming. whoever it would be, they would find her looking her best.
when the two-forty bell rang, mimi dashed up to tumble inn and put on a clean uniform. then she cleaned her nails and put some lotion on her hands. now for her hair. a pat here and a pat there. at three o’clock sharp, looking like a typical sheridan girl, mimi entered the south parlor.
a youth was standing facing the fire, his back to the door. in spite of the fact that he had grown since last summer, and regardless of what angle she glimpsed him—back, front or side—mimi would recognize him.
“honky!” she cried. “you’re the last person i ever expected to crash this gate!”
“mimi, hello!”
she extended both her hands to him as they met in the center of the room. it was the way she had seen miss jane greet dick.
“it’s great to see you and not nice to ask questions but i have to know this minute why you’re here.”
“well, dad had business in nashville and i egged him on to bringing me. this morning, as i had hoped, he saw he’d have to stay overnight, so i asked him for the car and drove on over here. we were afraid i couldn’t see you so dad phoned dr. barnes long distance and he said i could come ahead.”
“how is the gang? gee! i missed you all christmas! when have you seen cissy? von? has king been ridden any this winter? oh, honky! i’m going to ride in a horse show saturday!”
“not so fast, lady, not so fast.”
mimi chattered away and honky followed as best he could. she remembered to thank him politely for helping fix her christmas box. once again when she was on the verge of telling the great mystery about chloe, she was saved. sue, chloe, and betsy came in, arm-in-arm. sue broke loose to shake hands with honky and to introduce the suite mates. then her questions began.
before they had half finished “pumping” honky, or before near as many girls as wanted to had passed the open doors and looked in, mrs. cole sailed in erect in her stiff skirt tails and suggested that honky call again sometime.
“in other words, here’s your hat; now what’s your rush?” mimi giggled when mrs. cole sailed on by.
“can’t you walk out to the car with me, mimi?”
“why, yes, i will anyway.”
was she glad she went!
she came back in with an arm load. honky gave her a big box of candy—not chocolates in a fancy box—but a whole carton of assorted five-cent candy bars. he knew mimi liked them better and that they would last longer. the suit box was from cissy. honky had been thoughtful enough to phone the day before he left and when he blew his car horn on his way out, cissy had had the box ready.
sue had a hunch something like this might happen so the three suite mates had waited at the door for mimi. as honky drove off mimi waved from the steps and the three yelled from the door.
“scram, honky,” betsy called, but not loud enough for him to hear, “you are keeping me from my food!”
“your food,” mimi teased. “i’m going to eat it all myself—string, box, paper, food!”
“don’t ever say that,” the girls yelled.
“sure ’nough, let’s sneak up to tumble inn before we open it or there won’t be a greasy spot around.”
“food!” olivia cried, meeting them in the hall. “i, the great gourmand, detect the presence of delicately browned viands!”
“aw boloney!” betsy fibbed. “don’t you know clean clothes come in suit boxes.”
it wasn’t an outright story, but it discouraged olivia. when they opened the box and saw what a real feast mammy had prepared, they were gladder than ever she had not followed.
six rolls of sandwiches—three tuna fish and three pimiento cheese—a loaf of orange bread, a date loaf, a quart jar of peach pickles, and a drained carton of mixed pickles mimi liked better.
mimi was so happy and grateful. she intended to write cissy that very night but she was too excited about the horse show. she wished she could have her own king to ride. she could even hurdle on him. there were several points she intended to ask honky about changing gaits in the ring, but the time was too short. at least she had sent cissy a world of thanks by him. that eased her mind when she delayed writing. until it was over, the show was first and foremost.
mimi knew that appearance counted much with the people in the grand stand and that often judges were influenced by applause. therefore, she gave careful attention to her habit. her best outfit was black and white. she hoped for a sunny day so that her white gaberdine pants would not seem too out-of-season. her black patent leather boots shone. she punched another hole in the belt betsy gave her christmas. she brushed and brushed her derby and finally fastened a chin strap to it. she would need her hands for something besides grabbing for her hat. to break the monotony of black and white and to identify her further, she sewed a sheridan green satin arm band on her sleeve. she fastened her white entry number to the green satin band.
she rode hard and heeded carefully every instruction the groom gave. the horses were pedigreed thoroughbreds and accustomed to the show ring. mimi, at home in the small english saddles, gained skill and confidence each afternoon.
she was not particularly surprised when the day of the show she, the youngest of the entrants, won the coveted good hands cup class. putting morning star through the customary walk, trot and canter was a cinch. mimi felt sure that if given a chance, he could go through them by himself. when the ten contestants were thinned to five and mimi with the four remaining in the ring was asked to change mounts, she was not disturbed. easily she flung herself off morning star and one foot in the stirrup, one hand on the pommel, with one swing she was astride blue boy. walk, trot, canter. what a stance blue boy made before the stand. fore feet forward until he nearly bowed. neck arched, head high.
“steady, blue boy, steady-o,” mimi fondled. she was erect in the saddle but her voice was easy and lazy.
blue boy walled his eyes at the judges as they walked around him but he did not flinch.
after a brief conference in which the judges compared notes, the head field judge stepped up to mimi on blue boy.
with all the grace in the world mimi accepted the cup and the blue ribbon. with the latter between her teeth, the cup held high in one hand, mimi cantered past the grand stand and out of the ring.
the cheers of the sheridan rooters followed her. this was the highest award a sheridan girl had ever won in a bridle club show. for this, mimi would have—not a picture smothered in a club or team or an orchestra—but a whole page picture mounted on blue boy in the annual. she hoped it would be opposite chloe’s. since they had lived together all year it would be dandy to have their pictures next each other’s.
