Betty Lee, Sophomore — Edition Insights

This was toward the close of Betty Lee's odd, but interesting summer, after her freshman year in Lyon High. The summer months had been very hot at times, but the city was still new to Betty, with much left to be seen and all its summer forms of entertainment to be investigated. As she had written more than once to her mother, "I'd rather be here than _anywhere_, Mother. You needn't feel sorry for me. It's absolutely nothing to look after the house, and Father takes me out to dinner so often that he will be bankrupt, I'm afraid."

It had been the Lee custom since "time immemorial," as Betty had told Kathryn Allen, for Mrs. Lee to take the children to her mother's for most of the summer. There, at "Grandma's," in the country, they had become acquainted with all the pleasure and some of the lighter work, indeed, that the big farm afforded.

But this year Grandma was not so well. The first plan had been for Dick to accompany his mother and small Amy Lou, for Dick was to "work," at least to have certain duties, in looking after the stock, particularly the horses, of which he was especially fond, and the chickens, for this branch of farm life had been developed into quite a plant.

Betty was to "keep house for Papa," and Doris was to be with her part of the time, at least. But this arrangement did not work well. Doris was disappointed and not very sweet about it. She resented Betty's authority, yet was too young to have as much judgment as Betty. Accordingly, Doris was bundled off to the farm by her father and Mrs. Lee's worries over Betty's being alone through so much of the day commenced. This was when Kathryn began to come over so often, spending whole days with Betty. To be sure, there were other people in the house, the two who lived in the upper part of the house. But sometimes Mr. Lee was delayed, or there would be some evening conference, which made the safe disposition of Betty necessary to be considered; and Betty began to have visitors.

She always declared that her real knowledge of the art of cooking began the summer she "kept house for Father," and had, "one after another," her "sisters and her cousins and her aunts" come to visit her. "I couldn't let them do all the cooking, could I? And we had three meals a day. My, it was good when Father took us out for dinner!"

But the "sisters and cousins and aunts" amounted to only one young cousin, Lilian Lee, bright girl of about seventeen years, and an older one, related to her mother. She enjoyed being escorted around the city by Betty, who added to her own knowledge at the same time. The only drawback during the three weeks of this visit was that Cousin Eunice was so afraid of burglars. Betty privately informed her father that she "most smothered" every night, because her cousin was afraid to have the windows up enough.

Then there was one unexpected guest whom Betty enjoyed, a former school chum of her mother's with her daughter, a girl about Betty's age. They were motoring through and expected to find Mrs. Lee at home. But they were persuaded to stay a few days when it was found that Mr. Lee was obliged to make a trip away. Their coming was "providential," Betty declared.

So the summer had flown by on wings, with a little practicing on the precious violin, much less than anticipated, but with much coming and going, rides about the city, visits to the little resorts near by and several excursions on the river boats. It was characteristic of Betty, who usually forgot the unpleasant features, that she should write to her mother of "one continuous picnic," which she declared the summer to have furnished. "Of course," she added, "there have been some funny times, and I burnt up toast and scorched some soup, and things like that, but it's all been very exciting!"

Mrs. Lee thought that very likely some of it had been too exciting to be safe; but she did not spoil Betty's morale by too many cautions, other than the general rules she had established before she left.

And now, while the girls talked of intimate matters in the late afternoon on the Lee porch, here came a big car that stopped before the house and someone leaned out, waving excitedly.

CHAPTER II: CAROLYN ARRIVES